Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 511
Li Zuoche is not sure whether he can induce or force the main force of the Xiongnu to change the plan of the Western Expedition. Li Zuoche can only say that it depends on the luck of the Yuezhi Kingdom. However, what Li Zuoche does not know is that the one who is really lucky is actually himself. And the [-] Han cavalry who ventured into the grassland.

Because, when Li Zuoche made the decision to withdraw his troops, the main force of King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu gathered in Yundu Mountain had followed the order of the current Xiongnu Shanyu Modun to march southward, aggressively facing the Han army who had penetrated into the grassland alone. When the cavalry came, as long as the Han cavalry retreated a little later, they might be completely surrounded by the Hun cavalry.

Just like Li Zuoche's analysis, Maodun gathered the Xiongnu army in a large scale near his Shanyu King's Court. His purpose was indeed to launch a western expedition, to seek revenge from his enemy, the Yuezhi Kingdom, and to solve the Yuezhi Kingdom by the way. The hidden dangers of the Xiongnu on the western front, in order to free up their hands to deal with the Han army with all their strength.

But it was different from what Li Zuoche expected. The reason why Maodun ordered King Zuo Xian to lead his army south to deal with the Han army cavalry was not because the Han army cavalry really hurt the Huns army, let alone because the Han army cavalry angered Maodun—— In order to stabilize the Donghu tribe, the enemy of the Huns on the eastern front, Modun even gave his queen to the chief of the Donghu tribe. Of course, it is impossible to act impulsively because a few small tribes of the Huns were beaten and maimed by the Han army.It was because Maodun rarely underestimated the enemy and looked down on the cavalry of the Han army at all, so the consequences occurred.

The specific situation is this. In fact, not long after the cavalry of the Han army disabled three small tribes of the Huns near Chahannao, Maodun had already received the news. He planned to give up his westward expedition plan for the sake of thousands of Han cavalry, and once thought that the Han cavalry would soon retreat on their own, and then after the Han cavalry continued to venture north and severely damaged several Hun tribes, Maodun came Realizing that the Northern Expedition of the Han cavalry was not an ordinary border conflict, but a premeditated large-scale counterattack, if he did not take any action, then after the main force of the Huns marched westward, the remaining tribes of the Huns would probably suffer a lot. deficit.

However, even so, because he knew that the strength of the Han army was not large, Mouton still didn't pay much attention to the Han army. In addition, he underestimated the combat effectiveness of the cavalry in the Central Plains. After a little consideration, Mouton made a decision. The decision to let the Xiongnu King Zuoxian lead his army to go south to fight back was to let Zuoxian King kill the Han cavalry with a small number of troops first, and then go back to chase the main force to join the Western Expedition. He made a plan to continue to launch the Western Expedition, but did not change his plan to destroy the Yuezhi because of the Han army's northward march.

Mao Dun's decision was of course a waste of money. Li Zuoche, who accepted it when he saw a good deal, had led the Han cavalry to retreat decisively and in time. When Zuo Xianwang followed the Han army cavalry to the territory of Yanmen County, the Han army on the border was not only fully prepared, but the pressure they were under was far less than imagined. It is not only a big advantage to deal with the Xiongnu Zuo Xianwang's army alone, but also don't have to worry about being unable to stop the Huns' crazy counterattack.

During this period, King Zuoxian of the Huns, who was dazzled by anger, also made a mistake, because all the Huns who were severely injured by the Han cavalry's northern expedition to the grassland were the Huns tribe to which King Zuoxian belonged. The army was fully prepared and immediately retreated. On the contrary, he led his Hun cavalry directly to the city of Mayi, an important town in northern Xinjiang of the Han army, and rushed to make some crude siege weapons to storm Mayijian City. Needless to say, the result The generals and soldiers of the Han army who have been trained in the Chu-Han War, of course, defended Mayi City very easily by relying on their strong fortifications. The loss completely ended the history of the Han army in northern Xinjiang's previous repeated defeats in front of the Xiongnu army.

In the end, under the repeated urging of the Modun envoy, the Xiongnu Zuo Xianwang, who was incapable of attacking the fortress, had no choice but to give up the siege, and angrily led the army to turn around to chase the main force of the Huns, preparing to spread his anger on the poor Yuezhi country. .However, after the Xiongnu Zuoxian finally arrived at the Qilian Mountain area, not only did he not see the people from the Ban Yue clan, on the contrary, he received two loud slaps from Mao Dun as soon as they met, and roared: "Why are you here now? Do you know how much time we have wasted waiting for you? It's a big deal for me!"

Then after listening to the introductions of other Huns generals, King Zuo Xian of the Huns realized that he had really broken the important event of Maodu this time. In order to wait for his army to catch up with the main force and rendezvous, the main force of the Huns was forced to station in Junji Mountain for seven days. In eight days, the Yuezhi Kingdom, which had received the news, took the opportunity to migrate westward on a large scale and escaped the crisis of subjugation. Even if Mao Dun found out that the situation was not good, he led the army to the west immediately without waiting for Zuo Xianwang's army. They only caught up with the Yuezhi Kingdom's rear troops and wiped them out, but failed to achieve the established strategic plan to wipe out the Yuezhi Kingdom in one fell swoop, and therefore the hidden dangers of the Xiongnu's western front continued to exist.

After figuring out these situations, King Zuo Xian could only quickly plead guilty to Mao Dunfu. Fortunately, Mao Dun knew that this matter had a lot to do with his lack of decisive decision-making. He did not pursue the responsibility of King Zuo Xian too much. After depriving King Zuoxian of some grasslands and tribes, he asked King Zuoxian about the specific process of fighting the Han army and knowing the current situation of the Han army.

It's time for something to happen. When introducing the current situation of the Han army to Mao Dun, King Zuo Xian focused on the cavalry saber, a weapon newly equipped by the Han army cavalry to kill the enemy. I mentioned the specific details of the Han army saber, but it is a pity that Zuo Xianwang also knew the existence of the Han army saber through the defeated soldiers under his command. He didn't know much about the saber. He just introduced that the Han army saber was made of iron, which was better than the bronze used by the Hun cavalry The straight knife is more conducive to chopping, and it is far sharper and tougher than the bronze knife of the Huns cavalry.

This is enough. After learning that all the cavalry of the Han army on the grasslands in the north can fight on horseback, Mao Dun frowned and said to himself: "Trouble, if all the cavalry of the Central Plains are equipped with this This kind of iron sword can directly charge and fight without dismounting from the horse. Then when we fight the Central Plains cavalry in the future, not only will we not have any advantage in cavalry combat, but may also suffer losses. In addition, the armor of the Central Plains cavalry, which cannot be pierced by arrows, It may also pose a considerable threat to us."

"King Zuoxian, have you got the knife you mentioned? And the new armor of the Central Plains cavalry?" The Xiongnu Youxian King who was next to him hurriedly asked.

"No." King Zuoxian shook his head and said, "Although the people under my command also killed some Central Plains cavalry, other Central Plains cavalry took away all their armor and weapons, so I have only heard of that kind of sword and sword. I haven't seen that kind of armor with my own eyes."

King Youxian was of course extremely disappointed when he heard this, but Mo Dun refused to give up. He just made some calculations and said: "Send someone to contact Yan Guo, tell those Yan Guo people who secretly sold us pig iron, and tell them to do whatever they want. Get us some new iron swords and new armor for the Central Plains cavalry, if possible, it’s best to get us a few craftsmen who can make these things, as long as they can do it, give them everything you want.”

There are traitors and traitors in every dynasty and every generation. In the spring, when the Xiongnu smugglers brought Maodun’s request to the country of Yan and told the generals and officials of the country of Yan who had secretly smuggled prohibited items to the grassland before, because of greed Juli, there is indeed a cavalry general of the Yan Kingdom who managed to get two Han army sabers and sold them to the Huns merchants at a high price-this is also impossible. All were equipped with sabers, and many were lost in the war. Some of the sabers ended up in the hands of the Yan army, which focused on cavalry. Of course, there was nothing unusual about it.

Fortunately, luck was on the side of the Han court at this moment. When the Xiongnu merchants returned to the grassland with their sabers, they happened to be discovered by the guards under the command of the Shanggu County supervisor Yushi, and immediately reported to the Shanggu County supervisor directly under the Han court. In front of the censor, the censor of Shanggu County also attached great importance to this matter. In addition to reporting the matter to Zang Tu immediately, he immediately wrote to the Han court to report the matter directly to the Han court.

A chain reaction also followed. Before that, Xiang Kang was extremely dissatisfied with the smuggling of prohibited items to the grassland by the officials and generals of the Yan State. Now the generals of the Yan Army dared to smuggle sabers to the Huns. Severely reprimanded Zang Tuwai, who was incompetent, and forced Zang Tu to execute the person involved, and strengthened the management and blockade of contraband, so that similar situations should not happen again.

The existing rift between Xiang Kang and Zang Tu also widened. After receiving Xiang Kang's edict, the irrefutable Zang Tu, although he obeyed Xiang Kang's order, beheaded the general of the Yan army who was stealing the saber on the same day. He also honestly ordered to strengthen the management and blockade of the border, but when no one was behind, Zang Tu was still very dissatisfied with Xiang Kang, and roared: "Little Zhuzi, the more you stretch your hands, the more you want to deal with the domestic affairs of our country Yan." Never mind! Just because of two sabers, you actually want to issue some bullshit edict to reprimand this king!"

Fortunately, strictly speaking, this matter is not very big. Zang Tu is only dissatisfied with Xiang Kang's meddling in his domestic affairs, and has not yet given birth to dissatisfaction because of this matter.After another period of time, I received news that the Zhao Palace rebuilt by the Han court for Zhao Xie had been completed, and Zhao Xie was about to move his capital from Julu to return to Handan. Zang Tu also immediately decided to send his prince Zang Yan as an envoy with gifts. Zhao Xie congratulated.

When Zang Tu made this decision, Zhang Sheng, a senior official of Yan State who he trusted very much, happened to be present. Seeing Zang Tu's guards and no other outsiders, Zhang Sheng hesitated for a moment, and said to Zang Tu: "Dare to ask?" Your Majesty, I don't know what your Majesty thinks about King Zhao returning to Handan as his capital?"

"What do you think?" Zang Tu was taken aback by the question, and said in confusion, "This is a matter of Zhao State. What do I need to think about it?"

Zhang Sheng paid attention to Zang Tu's expression. Seeing that Zang Tu's expression was blank and not fake, he sighed and said, "Your Majesty is really a benevolent gentleman. It's unexpected that His Majesty didn't notice such a dangerous code."

"Dangerous code? What do you mean?" Zang Tu heard something in Zhang Sheng's words, but Zhang Sheng refused to answer. He just looked around Zang Tu, Zang Tu understood, and immediately waved the guards to leave the door temporarily, and then Then he said to Zhang Sheng: "Speak, what do you want to say?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me, and forgive me for speaking out." Zhang Sheng lowered his voice, and said in a low voice: "The emperor asked King Zhao to restore his capital to Handan. Back in Handan, within a year or so, the emperor will definitely take action to get rid of one of you and King Zhao, and then concentrate the power of the whole country to get rid of the remaining one."

Zang Tu's eyes widened in surprise, and Zhang Sheng saw Zang Tu's thoughts, so he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't think that your subordinates are scaremongering, please think about it carefully, Your Majesty, for no reason, our frugal man Why did the emperor want to build a large-scale construction project, pay money and grain to rebuild the Handan Palace for King Zhao, and let King Zhao move the capital back to Handan?"

"The capital of the State of Zhao was originally Handan, so the emperor asked King Zhao to return to Handan. What's so strange?" Zang Tu asked suspiciously.

Zhang Sheng shook his head with a smile, and said: "Your Majesty, you are really kind. It is true that the original state of Zhao State was in Handan, but when did King Zhao ask to restore the capital to Handan? King Zhao didn't mention this matter, our emperor Why is Your Majesty so enthusiastic and offered to let King Zhao return to Handan?"

"Then why did the emperor do this?" Zang Tu hurriedly asked again.

"Of course it is to keep King Zhao far away from you, Your Majesty." Zhang Sheng said with a smile, "Julu County, where King Zhao's capital is located, not only directly borders Guangyang County, where the capital of Yan Kingdom is located, but also Chidao County. You can communicate, the transportation is very convenient, and the same spirit is connected. As long as one country has an accident between Yan and Zhao, the other country can immediately send troops to help. But after Zhao Wang returned to Handan, the communication between you and Zhao Wang is still so good Is it convenient? Once there is any accident, can you immediately send troops to help the other party?"

Zang Tu's face turned pale, and Zhang Sheng said again: "Yan Yao, the sheriff of Hengshan County, was personally appointed by Uncle Zhou, the court captain. King Zhao didn't have the guts to replace him. When something unexpected happened, Yan Yao will definitely not be on the side of King Zhao. King Zhao returned to Julu, even if the governor of Julu can use his people, our smart emperor can just find an excuse to be in Julu. Station an army, and even use various means to indirectly control the candidates for Julu County Guard, and completely cut off the direct connection between you and King Zhao. Then if our Emperor wants to do something to you or King Zhao, Wouldn't it be possible to not have to worry about you and King Zhao joining forces to resist?"

Zang Tu was speechless, his face was uncertain, and he subconsciously thought of Yingbo's fate - at that time, Zang Tu was already suspecting that Xiang Kang was planning to eradicate the king with a different surname.So after grinding his teeth and thinking carefully for a long time, Zang Tu simply asked directly: "If this is the case, how should this king deal with it?"

"The best way for your majesty is to let King Zhao know His Majesty's intention." Zhang Sheng said in a deep voice, "I don't know if King Zhao has seen His Majesty's intention, but even King Zhao has already seen it." Out of the emperor's intention, we should also find out his next plan as soon as possible. If he is also afraid that the emperor will treat him like a rabbit, he will definitely not refuse to join forces with us. The two countries form an alliance. If there is any move, we will not have any power to fight back."

Zang Tu nodded slowly, and after thinking for a while, Zang Tu made up his mind and said, "Yan'er, the crown prince of the Yan Kingdom, was conferred by the emperor on my behalf. This time King Zhao restores his capital to Handan, and you should go to King Zhao on behalf of me. Congratulations, be careful in doing things, don't let the wind leak, and let people get the handle."

Zhang Sheng immediately bowed his hands and sang promises, swore to ensure that no news would be leaked, Zang Tu nodded, and said in his heart: "If that little Zhuzi really wants to hide everything, even if Zhao Guo joins forces with the widow, I'm afraid it will be difficult to defeat him." To defeat him, the best way is to form another reinforcement?"

(End of this chapter)