From the Datong River Valley in Huwai Land to the Wuting Nishui (Zhuanglang River) in Jincheng County, there are not many mountain trails to choose from. The most ideal ones are the former leaders of the Xiongnu branch Zhiwu Dai and Bai Huwen
Take the one directly from Lingju County.
But things can never happen again.
Guo Huai, who was praised as a good general for a while, could not fall twice in the same place.
Therefore, if Jiang Wei, the captain who protects the Qiang, wants to sneak into Wei territory, he can only choose the trail where the Qilian Mountains branch off from the Wushaoling Mountains and the source of the Wuting River.
This caused more than ten thousand people to complain endlessly.
Although the Qilian Mountains continued to this point and were no longer very steep and high, it still took them nearly twenty days to reach the east side of the foothills.
Nothing else, because in a strict sense, this trail cannot be called a road at all.
Half of it is chopping bushes to climb the mountain, and half of it is climbing down the mountain while holding on to the steep rocks. We also have to be wary of the long worms that wake up in the spring. How can we call it a road!
Especially at this time of year, the ice and snow on the mountains are still melting intermittently.
It spread along the mountain, making all the handrails wet, and became a nightmare for the soldiers. More than three hundred soldiers accidentally lost their footing and fell down, breaking their legs and hands, and had no choice but to retreat back to the Datong River Valley.
This kind of loss seemed to be no harm to the soldiers and horses with more than 10,000 people.
However, it will inevitably lead to low morale.
The four thousand soldiers of Jiang Wei's headquarters protecting the Qiang camp were okay. They followed the heroic ethos of the Qin and Han Dynasties and had long been accustomed to calmly facing death on the journey.
It's okay to treat the tribesmen of Wudai and Baihuwen, supported by the belief in revenge and the hope of the tribe's continuation.
Revenge, of course, was that the two of them were driven out and killed by the Wei army in the past.
And hope is the agreement reached with the big man.
If you want to get the support of the big man and prevent the weakened tribe from being annexed by the Xihai Qiang, you have to come up with a bargaining chip that makes the big man willing to donate generously. If you want to get something for nothing, the big man who has frequent wars and is in short supply is happy to cooperate with
Shao Dang Qiang shares a share of the soup.
Those who complained slightly were Qiang people such as Baima, Dangjian, and Laojie.
They were all hired by the Han with supplies, and their centripetal force was not high.
In particular, in the past, Ma Dai, the general who conquered the north, and Mangzhong, the Shaodang Qiang king, plundered Zhangye County's military horse farm and returned home laden with pearls and jade, which made them feel a huge psychological gap towards such a show of force.
Why choose such a difficult path?
It was clear that the Wei army was not prepared for the road Zhiwu Dai and Bai Huwen had chosen to enter Lingju County.
This is what they are thinking in their hearts, and their emotions appear on their faces.
Indeed, the Wei army did not put much defense on the trail that went straight into Lingju County.
To be precise, Kewu's defense was lax.
The Qiang leader who pretended to surrender and lured Li Yan into the army was now the Guiyi general of Wei.
The tribe's habitat was also transferred from Zhiyang County to Lingju County.
The reason is that the city fortress in Lingju County was breached by Bai Huwen and others, and was razed to ruins after looting. The common people of Li were moved into the river basin by Guo Huai and became a wasteland. Moreover, with Wei Ping leading the army into the four counties of Hexi, Guo Huai
There is no need to worry that the Han army will attack Zhiyang, Jincheng and other counties from Lingju.
Therefore, Guo Huai went to Luoyang to ask Ke Wu for an official appointment, and also transferred his county to him as a pasture.
At the time when Han and Wei were competing for power, treating Ke Wu favorably who was willing to serve Wei would also set an example for other powerful right-wingers and the Qiang and Hu tribes.
Ke Wu, who suddenly obtained a large amount of pasture, is now thinking about how to win over other small tribes to rely on him; how to connect with the Hao You of the four counties in Hexi and the leaders of the Qiang and Hu tribes to consolidate his foundation as the leader of a county.
Naturally, I didn't have much thought to be on guard.
Anyway, the military newspaper claimed that the main force of the Han army was in Anding County, so how could there be any extra troops to command the army?
Even if there were, how many soldiers and horses would there be?
If you put it in and attack it again, you might be able to harvest some armor and baggage!
Therefore, he only sent more than a hundred tribesmen to graze outside the tributary trail, as a warning to the enemy.
Jiang Wei had already sent people to find out these military information.
Although he was confident that he could kill all the hundreds of Luo Qiang people without any news, he still chose another path.
He knew the significance of this surprise attack.
I don't want to leave a trace of grass and a gray line, and the Wei army will find out and follow the clues.
For example, if other members of the Kewu tribe suddenly come to this trail to visit friends on a whim.
Or maybe it was the accidental passing of a messenger carrying orders from the Wei army.
It is also very simple to suppress the dissatisfaction of Baima, Dangjian and other tribesmen.
"If you don't respect my general's orders, you can immediately go back the way you came from!"
With a cold face, he summoned Baima and other Qiang leaders, and after saying these words, he went to organize the army.
All the Qiang leaders looked at each other speechless.
It's not that they don't want to go back the way they came, it's that they don't dare.
The leader of the army was a Han Qiang guard who risked life and death and rushed nearly a thousand miles to eliminate the Qiang of the ginseng and wolf species! His style was just like that of Duan Jiong who had killed the Qiang people in great numbers in the past!
Furthermore, before the troops were sent out, they had already collected the Han's assets.
If they dare to give up halfway, they worry that their tribe will become the second Qiang of the ginseng and wolf species.
No matter whether Jiang Wei wins or loses this battle.
If they lose, they will be punished for retreating from the battle.
After winning, they used the sharpness of their troops to coerce other Qiang and Hu tribes to come and conquer Buchen.
Alas, that’s all.
The leaders thought about how happy their women and children were when they received the Han's supplies, and they all turned around to restrain the tribesmen, showing their willingness to die under the Han's banner.
I suppressed my dissatisfaction, and when I looked at Jiang Wei's schedule, I felt that this route was very good.
This is the southern foothills of Wushaoling.
Across Wuting and against the river, we reach the territory of Wuwei County.
Moreover, continuing eastward until you reach Guanyinpai is an uninhabited area.
Because this area is sandwiched between Wuting Nishui and Dahe River, there is no river in between.
The Wushaoling and Quwu Mountains to the north were not closed, allowing the wind and sand from the Tengger Desert to pour in unbridled, turning hundreds of miles around into an arid wasteland filled with yellow sand.
There are no human settlements and no herdsmen settled there.
Even Yuwei County, one of the measures set up by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to guard the gateway to the four counties in Hexi, was abandoned after entering the Wei Dynasty because of the heavy supply pressure on the garrison sergeants.
Traveling through this semi-desert where it is difficult for even weeds to grow for hundreds of miles, the only rainy season is from the end of April to the beginning of autumn and July.
During this season, rainwater will form seasonal sand rivers on the sand for drinking by the caravan guards and cattle and horses.
Therefore, an industry was born: Shake.
They can accurately find the sandy rivers in this area that flow in uncertain directions, and are often hired by caravans as guides for this journey.
Therefore, Jiang Wei led his army across the Wuting River, and found a shady valley along Wushaoling to place his soldiers. Then he and Zhi Wudai and Bai Huwen took more than ten subordinates to find a Shake to feed the army.
Be a guide.
Candidates have already been identified.
It was an old acquaintance of Zhi Wudai and Bai Huwen, named Shi Puli.
Now he lives at the southern foot of Wushaoling, by the tributary of Wuting Nishui.
This guy has been a shake for more than 20 years and has rich experience. It is said that he can find Shahe with his eyes closed. Even horse thieves will consciously avoid accidentally killing him when they rob a caravan.
Because he is also a well-known broker in the four counties of Hexi.
According to the established rules, merchants entering the Hexi Corridor from Jianyin Fortress, in addition to paying customs duties, must leave part of their goods to the garrison of the fortress.
Whether it is a wealthy merchant from the Central Plains or a caravan of powerful people from Luoyang, they must abide by it.
Otherwise, the soldiers in Jiyinsai will turn into horse thieves in the desert, waiting for the caravan on the only way after passing the pass.
At that time, it will not be about keeping part of the goods, but killing people and stealing goods.
This is a semi-public bad habit, known to every Hexi governor general and Liangzhou governor.
There is also a tacit understanding of listening but not hearing and turning a blind eye.
They need to give these soldiers who are guarding the yellow sand all day long something sweet, so that the soldiers have something to look forward to and have something to rely on.
After all, this is a borderland far away from the temple.
Even Hexi Haoyou often appeared as horse thieves, and there was no soil for the world military system to take root. If the profits were not distributed evenly to the soldiers, then just wait for them to be seduced by Haoyou into rebellion.
And Shipu Li is the middleman and the only broker who sells those goods for the soldiers of Jianyin Sai.
As for why the horse thieves were reluctant to kill him, it was because Occasionally some "damaged" and scrapped ordnance would flow out of the Yiyin plug and be sold to horse thieves or Qiang Hu tribes in need through Shipuli.
Zhiwu Dai and Bai Huwen, who lived in Huawai, often exchanged arms and other supplies through him.
The trust accumulated from long-term transactions and the advantages of being familiar with the defense of the Yinsai are the reasons why Zhiwudai and Bai Huwen suggested that Jiang Wei seek him as a guide.
But when Jiang Wei saw Shi Puli for the first time, he knew that Zhiwudai and Bai Huwen had another reason for trusting him.
He has a high nose and deep eyes, a face full of ravines, and a thin lower jaw with a stiff gray beard. He wears a felt hat that is covered with dirt and cannot see its original color, revealing greasy strands and a shoulder-length cut.
His hair, appearance and dress prove that his ancestors were from another branch of the Huns. They were the Huns' servants who were brought to live in Bingzhou and renamed "Jieren" by the Huns.
Shipu Li is now in his fifties, his body is slightly rickety and thin, less than seven feet tall, and even his eyes have become very cloudy.
But no one will despise him.
In other words, the garrison soldiers in Jianyinsai changed one after another, but he was able to be the only broker for more than 20 consecutive years, relying on more than just his eloquence.
In fact, this is also true.
"Hey~~~The two leaders are here?"
Hearing the sound, he came out to greet him and laughed brightly, "What do you want to buy this time? I heard that you lost a lot last time, and I happen to have some military crossbows here."
While he was chatting endlessly, he caught a glimpse of Jiang Wei beside him from the corner of his eye, and his words stopped abruptly.
His eyes suddenly resembled those of a falcon.
After a while, he angrily cursed at Zhi Wudai and Bai Huwen, "In the past, I tried my best to deal with the goods you wanted, and I never treated you badly! Now you actually brought Shu Ke! Ke! Bring the Han army to look for me?
