He Lian is hosting a banquet in the big tent for the tribal leaders who came to Pingcheng this time. After all, if he wants to regain his power, he will need the help of these tribal leaders. If it weren't for the carrot of Mayi, he would not be able to summon so many tribal leaders.
Maybe, now that he has the opportunity to win over them, He Lian will naturally spare no effort.
He didn't pay too much attention to the war. After all, Xiaowu Fort had only 3,000 enemies. In his opinion, it was a fortress that could be easily breached. Therefore, compared with the war, Helian paid more attention to winning over the tribal leaders who came this time.
Whether he can become a real Xianbei Khan, in addition to the leaders of various tribes, the leaders of these small tribes are also important factors.
Originally, it was impossible for the adults in the east, middle and west to release people, but now because of Mayi, not only the leaders of these small tribes came over, but even Lüri Deduction, Tuoba Mo, Luo Luo Bupo, Murong Peng and other people from the west,
The leaders of the big tribes in the central area followed.
After all, there have been constant natural and man-made disasters in the grasslands in recent years, and even large tribes like them are a little unable to bear it. Last year, Tuoba Mo fought with Helian because of the issue of cattle and sheep. You must know that the two of them are still married, but they are fighting for food.
They had to draw their swords to fight against each other, which shows how bad the climate of the grasslands has been in recent years, making it difficult for even large tribes to survive.
The leaders of these large tribes also wanted to give it a try to see if they could take this opportunity to reunite the divided Xianbei country, because they had suffered enough from the division.
At first, Tan Shihuai attached great importance to the food security of the Xianbei people. When he personally inspected the land of the Xianbei people, he saw that there were hundreds of miles of waterways in the Wuji Qin River. There were fish in the water, but there was no way to get the fish. Tan Shihuai heard that
The Japanese were good at fishing with nets, so they attacked the Japanese eastward and captured more than a thousand Japanese. (I can’t even imagine how the Xianbei people on horseback crossed the sea and captured the original Japanese. Yamatai
Was it because they wanted to guard against the Xianbei people establishing a country? Tan Shihuai might have been the father of the Japanese state.), so they moved them to live by the Qin River and asked them to fish to make up for the lack of food.
But even though Tan Shihuai worked so hard, there was still not enough food on the grassland. In those years, natural disasters such as white plagues and droughts occurred almost every year on the grassland. This forced Tan Shihuai to continuously lead the Xianbei people to invade the Han Dynasty, just to grab it.
Enough food to consume the Xianbei country's population at the same time. Although this method is cruel, at least Tanshihuai can find a solution to the problem.
After Tan Shihuai's death, the Xianbei people were torn apart, and their crude civilization also declined rapidly. In Tan Shihuai's era, they had already mastered crude blacksmithing skills, but now they no longer have it. Without the Han caravans coming over, they can only
Use bone and bronze vessels.
And also because of the division, their ability to resist natural disasters plummeted, and their internal productivity dropped. Many farmlands were abandoned due to lack of tools and tribal hostility, and their herding and fishing skills also plummeted.
You may wonder why grazing technology has declined, because grazing requires a large area, and herdsmen have to chase places with abundant water and grass to graze. Such nomadic herding will inevitably cause conflicts in all aspects. In the past, we were all from the Xianbei country.
Tan Shihuai, the leader, settled various disputes.
And now the Xianbei Kingdom has split into more than a dozen large tribes, with hundreds of small and medium-sized tribes mixed in. What was a unified empire has been downgraded into a fragmented Middle Ages, and there is no one that convinces all parties.
Chief, there are naturally more internal disputes, and everyone does not dare to stray too far from the tribe while grazing.
Fishing also requires people who can weave nets and spin threads. In the past, the Xianbei people had millions of tribesmen, and some tribes could be specially arranged to develop these industries. But now the largest tribe has only about 100,000 people, and everyone is busy grazing.
If you have to support yourself, you don’t have the energy to maintain this industry chain.
The most important thing is that the fishing river is in the Liaodong area. Even if they retained the fishing industry, they would not be able to use it, so the fishing industry was abandoned by the Xianbei people. Until now, only the Xianbei people in the east rely on Han merchants to sell it here.
The fishing nets can still retain some fishing industry, but the efficiency is not as good as before.
Similarly, the split caused the Xianbei people to reduce their external force, and they were unable to grab enough food to survive natural disasters. It is not that the current Xianbei people cannot fight, but that their organizational power has declined.
During the Tanshihuai era, the Xianbei people could organize an army of 100,000 people to launch an attack on the frontiers of the Han Dynasty, which was thousands of miles away. This level of army made it difficult for the Han army to cope with the defense line of thousands of miles away, and it was difficult to defend against the Xianbei people's attack.
, the Xianbei people broke through the defense lines in many places.
So much so that the then emperor Hengdi sent an envoy to make peace with Tan Shihuai and use this method to end the war between the two countries.
But Tan Shihuai did not agree. First, he was frightened by the fate of the Huns. He was worried that the Han people would exterminate the Xianbei people after they recovered.
Secondly, there were various disasters on the grasslands at that time, and the Han people would not be able to feed so many tribesmen unless they invaded south.
It's just that Tan Shihuai didn't expect that he wanted to go south, and the Ding Ling people further north also wanted to go south. He, a barbarian, was also beaten down, and all the Xianbei people didn't expect that Tan Shihuai, a generation of genius, would die with the Ding Ling people.
In the midst of conflict.
After Tan Shihuai's death, the Xianbei people could only launch an invasion of tens of thousands of people at most. The leaders of more than a dozen large tribes had their own conflicts. Naturally, it was difficult for them to work together to invade the Han. Even the eastern Xianbei tribe was suppressed by the Han's secret
The state's border troops were severely wounded in the fight.
Now the only way they consume the population is to kill each other. This is a very disappointing thing for the tribal leaders who have experienced the prosperous age of the Xianbei people.
They most wanted the Xianbei people to restore their original strength, so they took this joint action. The wealth of Mayi spread throughout the grasslands, and these tribal leaders felt that taking Mayi's wealth might be able to heal the rifts between the Xianbei people.
, instead of killing each other on the grasslands, it is better for everyone to unite and go south to rob the Han people.
Therefore, these tribal leaders did not issue an edict to stop He Lian. If He Lian is really capable of grabbing money and food to strengthen their tribe, what if he is recognized as the Great Khan! Anyway, Xianbei country is a feudal system, and He Lian cannot control them.
tribe.
Leaders of the big tribes such as Lüri Deduction, Tuoba Mo, Luo Luo Bupo and Murong Peng also gathered together and watched He Lian's actions with cold eyes.
Luri Deyan smiled and said: "We haven't gotten together for several years. How have you been spending this time?"
Tuoba Mo said: "What else can I do? There are constant natural disasters on the grassland. No one died that year. My tribe has lost 30% of its members. Otherwise, I would have listened to this guy Helian and come to Yanmen County."
The leaders of these large tribes were all old men from the Tan Shihuai period. They had seen a generation of geniuses like Tan Shihuai, so naturally they looked down on juniors like He Lian.
In particular, He Lian was openly trying to win over his own tribe, which made most of the tribe leaders even more dissatisfied. Back then, Tan Shihuai would not have done such a thing, but would have helped everyone find a way to solve the problem.
Luo Luo Bu Po said with a smile: "I just hope that I can grab enough money and food in Mayi, so that no tribesmen starve to death this year."
Then he asked strangely: "Mayi used to be a small county town with only a few thousand people. How come overnight, the entire grassland was rumored to be wealthy and the legendary city that never sleeps? Isn't this a lie?"
He also had a caravan, and his people also went to Mayi. When they came back, they told him that Mayi was as wealthy as a kingdom in heaven.
He also brought briquettes, briquette stoves, sweaters and other Mayi goods. After using them, he felt they were very good. But because he had not seen them with his own eyes, he remained skeptical.
Because during Tan Shihuai's time, they had looted all eleven counties in Northern Xinjiang, and they could be said to be very familiar with the entire Northern Xinjiang frontier. In his impression, Mayi was obviously just a small county town, although it was considered wealthy in Xianbei.
But this Han Dynasty can only be regarded as a poor small county. How come hundreds of thousands of people suddenly appeared? And there is endless wealth?
Murong Peng said greedily: "Of course it's true. The one who occupies Mayi now is Lei Gong of the Tengjia Army. It is said that he used to be a Yellow Turban thief. They robbed the richest state in the Han Dynasty and fled to Mayi.
Everyone knows that the poorest small counties in the border counties of Bingzhou and Youzhou are richer than our Xianbei country, and now that Lei Gong has robbed the richest place of the Han Dynasty, it is not normal for him to have so much money and food."
"Furthermore, Lei Gong can also make woolen coats. One such woolen coat requires us 10 sheep. The cattle and sheep from the entire grassland have gone to Mayi. It is said that there are millions of cattle and sheep in Mayi. Their tribesmen every day
They all eat cattle and sheep, and their lives are better than those of us adults."
There are only these tribal leaders on the grassland, and there are no restrictions on eating cattle and sheep. However, because of the lack of vitamins, they also have to eat some wild grass and vegetables. Really, these tribal leaders are not as good as what a commoner in Mayi can eat.
The herdsmen at the bottom were even more miserable. The cattle and sheep belonged to these tribal leaders and nobles. They could only eat a little goat milk, cheese, wild grass, and vegetables.
Lüri Deyan said with a smile: "With Mayi becoming so wealthy, we don't have to worry about not being able to grab anything. I hope no one will starve to death on the grassland this year."
Then he asked strangely: "Why didn't Suli and the others come? Logically speaking, they should have come earlier than us?"
Murong Peng mocked: "Suli is getting older and his courage has become smaller. In the past two years, he was severely defeated by the Han people and lost more than 20,000 tribesmen. Everyone knows that the Xianbei tribe in the east has the smallest population.
His fighting spirit was severely damaged and he no longer dared to attack the Han people. Two years ago, he sent envoys to the Han Dynasty to discuss mutual trade with Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou. Now that we are going south to invade the Han people, he can only pretend not to know. Anyway, he is in the east of Xianbei
The tribe is rich and has opened a border market with the Han people, so there is no shortage of money and food."
Luo Luo Bu Po sighed and said: "Forget it if he doesn't come. Anyway, we have 100,000 cavalry, which is enough to conquer Mayi. Without him, we can still get an extra share. But what's going on with this bravery? A little
We have been fighting for more than three days at Wubao, but we still haven’t defeated it yet.”
"Great Khan, Duan Yonghao died in battle, 3,000 of his men died in the battle, and the rest all fled back." A young commander broke into the big tent and nervously reported to He Lianhui.
They were shocked when they heard about Luri's deduction. The 20,000-strong army was actually defeated.
He Lian also stood up in shock and said in disbelief: "How is this possible? How could I, with 20,000 Xianbei warriors, not be able to defeat such a small Wubao? Duan Yong asked him to come to see me somewhere immediately."
The young commander said helplessly: "The Great Khan is real. Commander Duan Yong has died in the battle, and tens of thousands of soldiers have fled back to the camp."
"Catch a few deserters and come over. We want to know what happened in the battle!" Luri Deduction ordered.
These veterans know that now is not the time to be shocked, but to understand the course of the war so as to find ways to deal with the enemy. If the Wubao cannot be defeated, the Han people will have a nail smashed into their back road. If they do not pull out this nail, they will
The army could not continue to move south.
Lei Gong already knew the news of their invasion through the beacon tower. Assuming that he had 4 days to prepare the army, Pingcheng was only more than 400 miles away from Mayi. If Lei Gong's subordinates were all cavalry, they could arrive here in four or five days at most. That is to say
The first batch of reinforcements for the siege will arrive within 10 days. If they have not breached the fort within 6 days, their 100,000 cavalry will be stuck in the mountains surrounding Pingcheng.
This situation is the worst for them. At that time, they will have only two options. One is to give up the invasion of Mayi and withdraw directly. This is basically impossible. The other is to give up the advantage of cavalry and fight a mountain battle with Lei Gong's men.
.
That's why Luri Deduction was so anxious. Duan Yong's situation made him realize that they were a little proud and complacent. Lei Gong was not the rabble they imagined.
Soon several deserters came to the big tent, and they told the tribe leaders and adults about the battles of the past few days.
"It seems that this Tengjia Army is not the mob we imagined. Their combat effectiveness is not much worse than the Han army. If nothing else, let's just say that the weapons are much stronger than the Han army, and this Wubao is also difficult to deal with." Tuo
Ba Mo said solemnly.
He Lian felt that he had been humiliated, and he was still in front of so many tribal leaders. He said angrily: "Thanks to Duan Yong, a veteran who has been fighting for more than ten years, he can't even defeat thousands of Han people."
, it’s simply a waste.”
Luo Luo Bupo glanced at He Lian and said: "Duan Yong was also a brave general, but he died when he had all the advantages. Obviously the defender of this Wubao in Pingcheng is not simple. This Wubao must be eradicated.
, let’s see how difficult this Wubao is.”
Murong Peng said: "Thunder Lord's reinforcements are coming soon. If we can't attack this fortress in a short time, we will be in danger by then."
The Xianbei people have 100,000 cavalry here, but the tribal leaders present do not think that Pingchengwu Fort can resist their attack.
It's just that what Ruri deduced and what they said made sense, and they kept delaying the time here. The reinforcements of the Tengjia Army arrived, and they failed to defeat the Wubao. They were blocked in the mountainous area of Pingcheng, and fighting in the mountainous area was not effective.
To use the full strength of their cavalry, for them, this means that many tribesmen will die.