After receiving the alarm from Yanmen Fortress, Bi Gui, the governor of Bingzhou, who had just sent his only 5,000 troops to Yanmen Fortress, suddenly received another alarm from Jiuyuan County:
An unknown number of Han troops appeared north of Jinyang.
This news shocked Bi Gui like a thunderbolt.
"Shu captives... how could Shu captives... how could they be there? How could they be there?"
Bi Gui was considered a handsome man when he was young, but he was usually gentle and elegant.
Although he is past middle age now, he still gives people a sense of grace and grace.
But at this time, his magnanimity was completely gone.
After the shock, it was replaced by fear, panic, and feeling overwhelmed.
But I saw him falling to the ground, his face pale, his eyes dull, and he was muttering and repeating:
"Why are the Shu captives there?"
Just a few days ago, news came from Guanzhong that two of the three armies of Shu captives had retreated.
Especially Feng Thief, he should be at Yinshan Mountain right now, fighting with Ke Bineng!
Why are there still a group of Shu captives emerging from Yanmen?
Did they fall from the sky?
"Envoy!" When Li Xi saw Bi Gui's appearance, he immediately wanted to slap him twice to wake him up:
"The urgent question now is not where the Shu captives will come from, but how to defend Jinyang! You are responsible for the safety of a state, but you act like a woman when things happen. Isn't it true that you are unworthy of your majesty's trust?"
Bi Gui regained some of his consciousness after Li Xi drank him like this. He rolled his eyes like a dead fish twice and said tremblingly:
"Yes, yes! The most urgent thing now is to find a way to defend Jinyang..."
Just thinking that there were only a few hundred county soldiers in Jinyang now, he suddenly felt weak all over again, as if he had fallen into an ice cave:
"It's just...just how to keep it now..."
Li Xi finally couldn't bear it anymore, stepped forward and grabbed Bi Gui's lapel, pulled him up, and said urgently:
"Your Majesty, you should immediately send people out of the city to catch up with the five thousand soldiers and have them turn back immediately. This way, there will be at least one defender in the city."
"If the Shu captives want to go south to Jinyang, they must pass through Jiuyuan County. The Huns in Jiuyuan County can be ordered to do their best to stop them!"
"In the past, Emperor Wu divided the Xiongnu into five tribes. Except for the northern Xiongnu in Jiuyuan County and the southern Xiongnu in Puzi County, the remaining three tribes, the left, right and middle tribes, are all in the counties south of Jinyang."
"The envoy can send people to various counties to summon them. Even if it is an emergency, at least ten thousand people can be gathered at the foot of Jinyang City to ward off the Shu captives."
Cao Cao divided the Xiongnu into five tribes: north, middle, left, right and south. Needless to say, the north was placed in the Nine Plains.
The central part is located in Daling County (northeast of Wenshui County in later generations), and the right part is located in Qi County (later Qi County). These two parts are both in Taiyuan County, not far from Jinyang.
On the left is Zishi County in Xihe County (later south of Fenyang), which is also close to the border of Taiyuan County.
Only the south, Puzi County (later Xi County) in Pingyang County, is farther away.
The commanders of the five Xiongnu tribes are all named Liu, and there is also a Han army Sima Jianzhi in the tribe.
This was done, firstly, to dismember the Xiongnu so that they could no longer cause trouble and annex the state, Hedong and other places.
The second is to use the Huns to protect Bingzhou and prevent the Xianbei Hu from the north from going south.
Although this time, the people coming from the north were not Xianbei people but Shu captives, but the method of dealing with them was the same as before.
It’s just that plans are not as fast as changes after all.
The Shu captives came too quickly. Yanmen blocked the front leg before sending the military information over, but the Shu captives on the back leg were already not far from Jiuyuan County.
More importantly, most of the soldiers originally stationed in Jinyang were transferred away from the beginning of the Guanzhong War, and now only 5,000 remain.
And when time is urgent, it is definitely impossible to gather all the Huns.
But fortunately, each Xiongnu army has military commanders and horses assigned by the imperial court, and I believe they will be able to recruit many of them.
The current plan is to find a way to hold back the Shu captives and wait for reinforcements from Guanzhong or Luoyang to arrive.
As long as Jinyang is not lost, everything can still be saved.
"That's right! Send the order, send the order!"
When Bi Gui heard Li Xi's words, he was like a drowning man grabbing the last straw and said again and again:
"Let the soldiers turn around and defend Jinyang, and then let the Huns in the north..."
Li Xi couldn't help it anymore and sprayed his saliva directly on Bi Gui's face:
"Your Majesty! I want you to send someone out of the city immediately to deliver the order!"
I’m not asking you to learn how to speak like me!
I am your mother!
He was almost driven crazy by this extremely incompetent guy.
On weekdays, few people can talk about classics as well as him. They also say that he is a talented person, but I didn't expect to meet him like this.
Li Xi felt extremely regretful at this time.
When the imperial court recruited him many times, he didn't agree to become an official, so he blindly agreed to this guy and took up the post of Bingzhou Biejia.
"Yes, yes, come, come! Give me my order..."
Bi Gui of Jinyang was panic-stricken, and the Northern Commander of the Xiongnu who was already approaching the city was even more unprepared.
The day before, many Xianbei Hunan escaped and were intercepted by me. They were still thinking happily that they had hundreds more Xianbei slaves on their hands.
Who would have expected that today we would receive a report that a large army holding high the banner of the Han family was approaching Jiuyuan County.
Only then did the Northern Commander realize that these Xianbei slaves were simply being driven south.
Although the commanders of the five Xiongnu tribes all have the surname Liu, there are some differences between the northern Xiongnu and the left, right, middle and south tribes in Taiyuan County.
The main tribe in the northern Xiongnu is the Xiutu tribe. They are not the southern Xiongnu, but the Xiutu tribe belonging to the northern Xiongnu.
The reason why the surname was changed to Liu was because during the Pre-Han Dynasty, Maodun Shanyu was considered the brother of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, so after adding it, he considered himself to have the same surname as the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.
The remaining four tribes are all Southern Xiongnu.
Since the Xiongnu split for the first time, Huhanxie Chanyu first went to the Han territory to ask for surrender, and then asked himself to be his son-in-law. Only then did Wang Zhaojun come out of the fortress.
It is precisely because of this origin that when the Southern Xiongnu arrived in the Later Han Dynasty, most of them claimed to be the son-in-law of the Han family, and often took Liu as the Han family's surname.
Some of the more radical ones, like King Youxian of the Southern Xiongnu, even claimed to be descendants of Emperor Guangwu after being the general who conquered the Liao Dynasty during the Later Han Dynasty.
When Dong Zhuo caused trouble, the Southern Xiongnu sent troops to Chang'an, Luoyang and other places in an attempt to rescue the Han Emperor.
It can be seen from this that the watchdogs raised in the Han Dynasty for two to three hundred years were still very effective.
But while rescuing the Han emperor, the Huns saw with their own eyes that the prestige of the Han emperor was trampled on at will.
Many Xiongnu lost their awe and took advantage of the chaos in the world to plunder the land east of Bingzhou and Hedong.
Therefore, it is not without reason that Cao Cao placed the Southern Xiongnu to the south of Jinyang, but placed the Tu Xiu tribe to the north.
Obviously, no matter how unrighteous the Hu people are, the marks left by the Han on the Southern Xiongnu who were tamed by the Han Dynasty for more than two hundred years cannot disappear so easily.
Compared with the Southern Xiongnu who claimed to be the son-in-law of the Han family, the Xiutu tribe, who were first defeated by the Han and then forced to move inland, did not have so many complicated feelings towards the Han emperor.
Moreover, due to the historical division of the northern and southern Xiongnu, the Xiutu tribe who came from the northern Xiongnu would not be so close to the southern Xiongnu tribes.
These historical reasons were enough to make it easier for the Xiutu tribe to choose to obey Cao Wei.
So when the northern commander of the Xiongnu saw the banner of the Han family, his first reaction was not the Han army, but where did the bandit army come from?
It's just that the thieves came in a lot and very quickly.
From the time the enemy was discovered to the time the thieves arrived at Jiuyuan, it only took less than half a day.
As the rolling cavalry continued to approach Jiuyuan County, the Northern Huns commander suddenly discovered that they were facing an embarrassing situation.
Although they still retained their herding habits, they also had to learn to farm.
To put it nicely, it means half-farming and half-grazing; to put it worse, it means being neither a man nor a fool.
Although there is Jiuyuan County, he cannot defend the city...
After all, where in the world are there any barbarians who are good at defending cities?
Not to mention that for hundreds of years, the Huns rarely had the habit of building cities.
city?
What it is?
Wouldn’t it smell good when used to pen cattle and sheep?
But how many people can control the strings of the Xiongnu who farmed the land?
General Guan's lips curled up slightly when he saw that the two or three thousand cavalry troops that the Huns had improvised at the foot of Jiuyuan City were inferior to those of Xianbei Hu.
The reason why it is necessary to keep going all the way is to achieve this effect so that the opponent does not have enough time to prepare.
Either they abandon the city and flee to the south, or they improvise their forces to fight.
Now it seems that this so-called northern Xiongnu is loyal to the Wei thieves...
Just when the Northern Commander of the Xiongnu in the north tried to block the Han army's march southward by himself, the 5,000 Wei army who had just left the city were called back to Jinyang in time.
After the somewhat baffled Wei general learned about the situation he was facing, he immediately suggested to Bi Gui:
"Your Majesty, there is a mountain range in the north of Jinyang. The locals call it Tieling. It is the only way to go south from Jiuyuan County to Jinyang."
"The terrain there is dangerous, with mountains on the left and ravines on the right. Thousands of people are guarding it, and tens of thousands cannot pass."
"The thieves are strong now, but we have few soldiers. Moreover, Jinyang is a big city. It can be said that the city is big but the soldiers are few. This is a big taboo in defending the city!"
"Therefore, instead of defending the city, it is better to defend the mountain passes and resist the enemy."
When Bi Gui heard this, he subconsciously looked at Li Xi.
Li Xi pondered, but looked at General Wei:
"General Sima, as far as I know, there is a valley to the west of Tieling. You can bypass Tieling and go straight to Jinyang. What if the Shu captives don't attack Tieling but bypass the valley?"
"This is easy to handle!" The general of the Wei army was surnamed Sima, and his given name was Huan. He was from Hanoi. It is said that he had some relationship with the Sima family in Hanoi.
But seeing that he seemed to be prepared, he replied, "Hasn't the envoy already ordered the Huns to come to Jinyang?"
"Hu'er can't defend the city. Instead of letting them station outside the city, it's better to let them guard in the river valley. Although the river valley is flat, it is not very wide."
"No matter how powerful the Shu captives are, it will be difficult for them to expand in the river valley, and Hu'er has a large number of people, so they can take turns to fight."
"I don't want to be able to block the Shu captives, but I want to be able to drag them until the imperial court sends reinforcements. That will be enough!"
It didn't sound like there was anything wrong with it, so Li Xi nodded subconsciously.
Bi Gui only said that he had agreed, and he quickly raised his palms and said happily:
"We all want to merge the mountains and rivers inside and outside the state. So what if the Shu captives took advantage of me and captured Yanmen? Let's see how he breaks through the Tieling barrier."
Make arrangements immediately.
Sima Huan led 5,000 Wei troops to Tieling, but they had not yet set up camp.
Hu people from the north flocked here, all wanting to go south to Jinyang from Tieling.
Sima Huan immediately had people block the passage, not allowing anyone to pass.
The Hu people who fled south had no choice but to gather at the foot of Tieling. Some shouted, some cursed, and some begged, asking the defenders to open the passage.
Sima Huan was not moved at all, and even ordered that anyone who dared to cross the border would be shot with arrows and crossbows.
Only a few Hu people went around the river valley.
When the Hu people at the foot of Tieling learned about this passage and turned towards the valley, the Huns in the central area closest to Jinyang had already reached the mouth of the valley in the south.
Neither the Xiutu tribe nor the Xianbei Hu tribe had any friendship with the four Xiongnu tribes, so how could they disobey Bi Gui's order and secretly let the fleeing people go south?
At that moment, the Hu people who fled south were forced to retreat.
After listening to the reports from the spies who were among the Hu people fleeing south, Shi Bao said with some worry:
"General, it seems that the Wei thieves are well prepared!"
General Guan said "hmm" and looked steadily at Tieling in front of him.
Suddenly he ordered:
"Release that northern commander, as well as all those barbarian generals, and let them go to Tieling to call the pass and try out the attitude of the Wei thieves."
"Ah? General, let them all go? General, you don't want to borrow their names anymore?"
Shi Bao was a little surprised.
It would be okay if he was like that Xie Gui Ni. Regardless of whether he wanted it in his heart or not, at least on the surface he was surrendering to the big man.
Now Huo Yi can use the name of Lord Xianbei to continuously recruit the Xianbei barbarians in Yanmen County, and at the same time collect some supplies.
But in the battle of Jiuyuan County, the Huns and barbarians who were improvised together were not enough in number.
Even war horses are no match for the Xianbei people of Yanmen. How can they be the match for the cavalry led by General Guan?
After half a day, the Huns in Jiuyuan County were defeated. Even their commanders were captured by the army without even being able to escape.
As for the horses abandoned by the Huns, many were sent to the stomachs of the army officers and soldiers.
Shi Bao thought that General Guan would borrow the title of the Xiongnu Commander-in-Chief like he did at Yanmen.
"Yes, let them all go, there is no use keeping them."
General Guan nodded, "His tribes are all in Jiuyuan County. They are running away now and are scattered. There is nothing to be afraid of."
"Here."
After the northern commander of the Xiongnu was captured, he was detained in the army for two days. He only thought that he was going to be used by the Han army to sacrifice the flag, but he did not expect to escape death.
After the Han soldier untied the hemp rope from his body, he just raised his chin, not even bothering to say anything, signaling that he could get out.
The commander-in-chief didn't even dare to say anything, for fear that the other party would regret it. He hurriedly ran away with several of his subordinates without even looking at the direction.
I don’t know how long I ran, but I met some tribesmen who fled south one after another on the road, and then I understood the direction I was going.
At that moment, he and several generals gathered some tribesmen, and then they got some food, and then they continued to flee until they reached the foot of Tieling.
After learning that the commander-in-chief had returned, all the Huns and barbarians around Tieling gathered there on their own initiative, hoping that the commander-in-chief could lead them through Tieling.
After recruiting many tribesmen's commanders, I gained some confidence.
At that moment, he went to the foot of the mountain in person. After announcing his identity, he shouted:
"I beg the general, for the sake of me and my clan to protect the imperial court from enemies, please let me go..."
Before he finished speaking, a faint thunder suddenly came from the distance.
Sima Huan on Tieling had no time to answer Bei Shuai's words. His eyes were already tightly attracted by Bei Bei.
The black cavalry was surging in from all directions, constantly driving the barbarians around Tieling and squeezing them in this direction.
"Lead your tribe out of here quickly!"
Sima Huan's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly shouted sharply at Bei Shuai, who was at the foot of the mountain.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Commander Zuo Bu naturally couldn't see what was happening in the distance.
He still wanted to continue shouting, but Sima Huan had no time to argue with him, so he directly asked someone to set up a bow and shoot:
"If you don't get out, I'll kill you on the spot!"
Seeing Sima Huan being so inhumane, the Northern Commander, even though he was a clay figure, was very angry:
I led my tribe and worked hard to help you stop the enemy in the north, but in the end I was treated like this?
Just looking at the gleaming arrow on the ridge, he could only grit his teeth and turn around angrily. After walking a few steps, he suddenly froze:
Where did this thunder come from?
No, this is the sound of horse hooves!
Sima Huan on the mountain looked at the barbarians outside who had no way to escape. They were squeezing toward him in a confused and ignorant manner, like the surface of a lake beginning to ripple.
His face looked angry and miserable, and it took him a long time to squeeze out two words from between his teeth: