The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 451 Chapter 450 West Wind (17)

This long talk between Zhuge Liang and Ma Teng benefited him a lot. Not only was he able to reflect his position from Ma Teng's words, he also unexpectedly obtained a lot of information about the Qiang people.

Later, Zhuge Liang and Ma Teng left here together. After returning to the city, Zhuge Liang went straight to see Zhang Yan and told Zhang Yan everything.

Zhang Yan learned that the Qiang people had such complicated problems, so he directly dispelled his plan to pretend to be Xianbei people to attack the Qiang people.In addition, Ma Teng, Ma Chao and his son were officially given the task of pretending to be Qiang people and attacking Xianbei people.

But before that, the location of the Xianbei must be ascertained.Zhang Yan sent scouts to inquire about the Xianbei people first.

Regarding the Xianbei people, Zhang Yan had fought with them before, and knew that although the Xianbei people were powerful and spread across the Great Wall, they also had many tribes and were not united.If it is divided according to the region, it can basically be divided into eastern Xianbei, central Xianbei and western Xianbei.

Eastern Xianbei was defeated by Zhang Yan last year. The leader Ke Bineng and his elite troops were wiped out. A small number of people in Eastern Xianbei were captured, and most of them were forced to move westward.

Bu Dugen, the leader of the Xianbei in the central region, was driven to the west by Ke Bineng because he lost to Ke Bineng. As for where Bu Dugen moved to the west, Zhang Yan did not conduct a detailed investigation at that time.But when Kebi Neng was defeated by him, the people under his subordinates moved westward, and they were likely to attach themselves to Budugen who had already moved westward.

On the vast grasslands, deserts, and Gobi outside the Great Wall, besides the central Xianbei in Budugen, there are also western Xianbei. Where do they live and what tribe are the Xianbei who occupy Dunhuang? It is necessary to investigate clearly Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you be victorious in all battles.

In addition to sending a large number of scouts, Zhang Yan also specially sent Jin Yiwei to Bingzhou, and asked Tai Shici, Gao Shun, Xu Huang and others who stayed in Bingzhou to send an elite cavalry to Liangzhou as support.

After the arrangements were made, Zhang Yan stayed quietly in Shangyu County, waiting for news.

At the same time, Ma Chao rushed to Xiangwu County with twenty entourages to meet with the leaders of the various tribes of the Qiang people.

Three days later, Ma Chao returned smoothly and brought good news. He successfully persuaded the chiefs of Shaodang Qiang and Xianling Qiang. In addition, more than ten other small Qiang tribes were also willing to fight with him.

Ma Chao directly reported the good news to Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan praised Ma Chao deeply and told Ma Chao to prepare to pretend to be Qiang people to attack Xianbei people.

After Ma Chao heard this, he immediately said: "His Royal Highness, the Qiang people still have to pretend? I just need to inform the chiefs of the various tribes of the Qiang people, and they will lead an army to join me. I will lead them and kill them directly. Wouldn't it be easier for the Xianbei to stay here?"

Zhang Yan then asked: "Are you sure that the Qiang people will not escape the battle?"

"The Qiang people are famous for being brave and ruthless. Although they have no hatred for the Xianbei people, the Xianbei people have become stronger and stronger in recent years. Last year, many people rushed to Liangzhou and occupied many of their fertile and beautiful pastures. , It made them very aggrieved, and they all wanted to fight with the Xianbei people. It's a pity that Xianbei has a large number of people, and they are too scattered. This time I went to see them, and when they said that they would expel the Xianbei people, they They all expressed their strong support." Ma Chao said.

After hearing this, Zhang Yan was very pleasantly surprised, and immediately said: "If the Qiang people all have such an attitude, then we will not have to worry about being unable to defeat the Xianbei people. Meng Qi, if we really go to war with the Xianbei people, according to your estimation, the Qiang people will not be able to defeat the Xianbei people." How many troops will people send?"

Ma Chao said: "Based on my guess, there are about [-], and they are all cavalry."

"Only 2?" Zhang Yan originally thought that Ma Chao would say 20 or [-], but it turned out to be only [-], slightly disappointed.

Ma Chao said: "His Royal Highness, [-] cavalry is already quite a lot. If His Royal Highness knows the current situation of the Qiang people, it should be understandable. Now in Longxi and Jincheng, there are Xianling Qiang, Shaodang Qiang and other Qiang species. , are not as good as before. Among the various tribes of the Qiang people, Zhong Cunqiang is the most powerful. Because Zhong Cunqiang is located in a remote area and has no grievances with the imperial court, it is able to flourish. Over the years of development, the forces of the other Qiang species have become more or less weak, while the Zhongcun Qiang has gradually developed and grown stronger with a stable posture, and its power has surpassed Xianling Qiang, Shaodang Qiang and other Qiangs in one fell swoop. It has become the largest Qiang species at present. However, the Zhongcun Qiang has a deep hatred with the Shaodang Qiang and Xianling Qiang, so the Shaodang Qiang, Xianling Qiang and other Qiang species have to be on guard against Zhong Cunqiang. If all the troops are sent out, I am worried that Zhong Cunqiang will sneak attack them."

"So that's the case. If this is the case, then the king has nothing to say, and there are [-] cavalry. How about it, you can contact them again in the next two days to confirm the troops sent by the tribes, and then report to me. King, when the scouts sent by the king come back, the king will immediately start to arrange the expedition."

"Here!"

After Ma Chao left the mansion, he sent his confidants to the Qiang tribes to determine how many troops the chiefs of each tribe would send.

After a few days, all the confidantes sent by Ma Chao came back, and informed Ma Chao of the troops to be sent by the chiefs. Ma Chao made some calculations, and the result was only 2 cavalry, less than [-].

However, Ma Chao did not feel disappointed, because he expected 2 cavalry, and the [-] cavalry were sent by the chiefs for his sake. If it were someone else, not a single soldier would dispatched.

Ma Chao reported the final number of people to Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan didn't say anything, so he asked Ma Chao to gather all the [-] Qiang cavalry together, and instead of making an agreement, as long as they don't break the law and discipline, they can do whatever they want After going out on an expedition, you must obey all orders.

After Ma Chao left, he sent people to the tribes of the Qiang people again, and began to ask the tribes of the Qiang people to send troops to Shangyu County to gather.

At the same time, Huben General Xu Chu, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others stepped up training soldiers outside the city.

A few days later, the scouts came back one after another and explained to Zhang Yan what they were investigating.

There are two major gathering places for Xianbei people, one is in the area of ​​Helan Mountain in Beidi County, and the other is in the area of ​​Jiluo Mountain.

The Xianbei people located near Helan Mountain in Beidi County are a tribe of Budugen in the central Xianbei. There are about 30 to 50 people, and they have occupied Lingzhou, Fuping, Lianxian and other places.The Xianbei people in Jiluo Mountain are a tribe deduced from the western Xianbei's daily laws, with about [-] million people. The Xianbei people who occupy Dunhuang are soldiers of the western Xianbei.

After figuring out the power distribution of the Xianbei people and the approximate number of people, Zhang Yan has a certain idea in his heart.However, there are too many Xianbei people. In Budugen, the central part of the Helan Mountains, they don’t care about them. He just defeated the Eastern Xianbei last year. Budugen is very close to Bingzhou, and has taken in many Eastern Xianbei one after another. The people in the area should be very aware of his power and dare not provoke disputes, and they have never heard of Xianbei people making trouble in this area.

Therefore, Zhang Yan's current goal is the western Xianbei. The western Xianbei not only occupies Dunhuang, but also threatens the entire western Liangzhou and the Western Regions. In order to restart the Silk Road, all obstacles must be cleared away. removal.

Moreover, after the Western Xianbei is eradicated, the entire Western Regions should feel the prestige of the Han army. This is a strategy of knocking mountains and shaking tigers, and it can also pave the way for future domination of the Western Regions.

Although there are as many as 50 million Xianbei people, they are not invincible, because Zhang Yan has gunpowder. After a year of savings, he has produced a certain number of thunderbolts. This time he led the army to the west. Also brought along.

Moreover, gunpowder is easy to develop, as long as the materials are found, it can be prepared.In fact, apart from opening the Silk Road, Zhang Yan also had another important purpose, which was to control the sulfur mines in the Western Regions.

In the past year, the main source of sulfur for the gunpowder he prepared was transported from the Western Regions to Chang'an via a caravan, and then transported from Chang'an to Puyang for preparation. However, the sulfur was purchased with money. Back then Zhang Liao met a man from the Western Regions. Only then did a steady stream of sulfur be transported to Dahan.

But every time the sulfur is transported, he will lose a huge sum of money, so Zhang Yan is very disdainful of this. In addition to the domestic economic downturn, the tax revenue cannot be raised, and the money obtained by selling officials and nobles is only temporary wealth. But it couldn't last long, so he made a bold decision to leave the Sun family in Jiangdong, Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, etc., no matter what, he must first pacify the northwest, march into the Western Regions, and seize the sulfur mines. As well as opening up the Silk Road, if it is done well, within five years, not only the domestic economy will take off, but also the military power will be strengthened.

At this time, Zhang Yan began to deploy troops, but he did not order to go out, but continued to choose to wait, waiting for news from Bingzhou.

The next day, General Hu Lie, Tai Shici, led [-] fine riders from Bingzhou, and finally arrived at Shangyu County.

As soon as Tai Shici's army arrived, Zhang Yan immediately ordered the army to set off, and asked Ma Chao to mobilize elite soldiers and strong generals to join forces in Wuwei.

According to Zhang Yan's decision, all the elite of Ma Chao's subordinates participated in the battle. Of the 5000 troops he brought, only 5000 were taken away, and the remaining 3 stayed in Liangzhou to ensure public order.

A total of 7 people including Ma Teng, Ma Chao, Ma Tie, Ma Xiu, Ma Gang, Ma Dai, Pound, Yang Fu, Yang Qiu, Cheng Yi and others went out with the army. The army of [-] militiamen brought by Zhang Yan , all handed over to Xu Shu's jurisdiction, responsible for guarding the security of Liangzhou.

And Xu Chu, Tai Shici, Zhuge Liang, and Pang Tong all set off with the army. This joint army composed of the Han army, the Ma family army, and the Qiang people, with a total of more than 11 people, headed towards Wuwei from different directions. Embarked on the journey of the Western Expedition.

(End of this chapter)