In conquests and marches, water sources are the top priority.
Especially for the Hexi Corridor, which is dry and rainless.
Therefore, in the face of the coming Wei nomadic cavalry, the Hexi Corridor, in addition to Wuwei County, which bore the brunt, and Mingze (Shule River system), Juyan and Xiutu, which spread from the Qilian Mountains into the desert, were the three major swamps of the Han Dynasty.
The army needs heavy troops to defend the place.
Among them, Mingze, which spans Jiuquan and Dunhuang counties, has no hidden danger of being looted. [Note 1]
Not only because Dunhuang County is the western end of the Han Dynasty and has always been heavily guarded, but also because there is Mazong Mountain in the north as a natural barrier, and the alluvial fan of Shule River where Li Shu people live is very close to the Qilian Mountains, making it relatively easier
Guard.
As for the nameless swamp formed near Yumen Pass after the confluence of Shule River and Dang River, if it is occupied by nomadic tribes and will directly threaten Dunhuang County and Guangzhi County, there is no need to worry.
Both of these two counties are backed by the Sanwei Mountains. The prefect Liao Hua is stationed with his own troops and horses, and the troops and horses he had previously supervised when Zhang Ju was in office were all intact, making it easy to fight against the nomadic tribes.
Needless to say, Xiu Tuze.
Today's Han Dynasty does not have enough national power to recover, and there is no way to prevent the Wei State from coercing the southern Huns and Xianbei to enter.
However, with Xuanwei City as an outpost of resistance, as long as the counties in Wuwei County have sufficient troops and horses to strictly defend themselves, they can defend the border without worries. However, it is inevitable that under frequent disturbances, the people's livelihood and the government's inventory will be affected.
was severely consumed.
Only Zhangye County can truly farm with peace of mind.
Zhangye County, which is sandwiched between Jiuquan and Wuwei, has Longshou Mountain and Heli Mountain (collectively known as Corridor Beishan) as a natural barrier to the north. As long as a single army is stationed in Zhaowu County at the junction of the two mountains, Wei will have no
Road into bandits.
However, Zhangye County's baggage money and food cannot be used to support Wuwei County.
Because Xihai County, where Ju Yanze is located, is a must-conquer area for the Wei State, and it is also the most difficult to defend in the entire Hexi Corridor.
The weak water system originating from the Qilian Mountains, after nourishing Jiuquan and Zhangye County, traveled northward through the desert for about 800 miles before settling in Yanze.
Such a long distance is equivalent to the distance outside the Guxuan Hexi Corridor in Xihai County, so it is extremely difficult to defend.
The vast grassland has always been divided into two parts, Monan and Mobei, by the Gobi Desert that stretches across it. During the Pre-Han Dynasty, when the Xiongnu invaded the Hexi Corridor from Mobei, Juyanze would be the first stop. Vice versa, if the former
If the Han Dynasty wants to attack Mobei, Juyanze can also be a springboard.
Therefore, for the strategic purpose of resistance in the Former Han Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty established the Juyan vassal state here, but there was only one Juyan County and Juyan Fortress Great Wall.
It was only used as a defensive outpost, and no large-scale resettlement of people was carried out.
To this day, although the Juyan vassal state was reorganized into Xihai County, the population was small and the products were not abundant and could not supply many garrison troops, and the nature of being mostly inhabited by nomadic tribes has not changed. Nowadays, if the Han Dynasty wanted to defend Xihai County, it would not be possible.
If it is lost, the only option is to transfer all the produce from Zhangye County.
Furthermore, when the Former Han Dynasty built the Great Wall, Ju Yanze was not protected in the rear.
Originating from Juyanze, it is divided into east and west Zeze. The water in Xizeze (called 'Gashunnuoer' in Mongolian, meaning the Sea of Bitterness) is too bitter to drink; while the water in Dongze (called 'Suponol' in Mongolian, meaning 'Sea of Bitterness' in Mongolian) is too bitter to drink.
The water of Doe Lake is rich in fish and birds, making it a good choice for livestock raising.
Regardless of whether the Wei State ordered the Xianbei or the Xiongnu to move to Xihai County, they could occupy Juyan Dongze as pasture land and become the rear of the Juyan fortress. And whether it was the Xianbei or the Xiongnu, as long as they could capture Xihai County, then according to the
Due to their custom of migrating and fighting, Jiuquan and Dunhuang counties will never have peace.
The Silk Road trade, which the Han Dynasty relied on to appease the Yizhou wealthy families, would also face the dilemma of being frequently plundered.
After all, they sent out troops from eight hundred (Han) countries to plunder. Even if the Han Dynasty set up beacon guards everywhere, it was difficult to protect the caravans.
Both the Han and Wei Dynasties understood the significance of such an obvious war.
At this time, Wei Yan, who had been granted the right to supervise and defend Liangzhou by the prime minister, was training the Wei Jiang soldiers in Lingju County, Jincheng, together with the Zhoutai tribe. Ma Dai and Jiang Wei, who were in office, took care of themselves and made preparations in advance.
After some discussion, the two used Ma Dai to drive the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to station in Huishui County of Jiuquan County. In addition to supervising the county soldiers to transport supplies along the river, they also made preparations to rush to Xihai County. Jiang Wei was on the other hand.
He was stationed in Guzang County, Wuwei County, to prevent Wei from entering Hexi from Mingsha Mountain, and also monitored the situation at Xiutuze.
The reason for this division of responsibilities is that compared with the cavalry protecting the Qiang camp, if we want to rush to the rescue of Xihai County, which is about 800 miles away, the Xiliang cavalry, which is good at running thousands of miles and fighting, is more suitable.
In other words, in the upcoming Battle of Hexi, the Han Dynasty was at a very obvious disadvantage.
The terrain of the Hexi counties located along the Qilian Mountains is too narrow and long, so they can only rely on cavalry for reinforcements. However, there are too few cavalry from the Han Dynasty and too many cavalry from the Wei State, which is holding the Huns and Xianbei hostage. It is very likely that they will be exhausted.
They may even be ambushed and killed!
For example, when the Wei State besieged Xihai County and did not attack, they lured the Ma Dai tribe to come to the rescue. With a terrain of hundreds of miles, they had enough time to mobilize their troops to encircle and annihilate the Xiliang cavalry first.
Or maybe when Wei was attacking Xihai County, they could not have sent two thousand cavalry troops into the surrounding areas of Mingze and Jiuquan Salt Pond without attacking, leaving the Madai tribe in a dilemma of where to send reinforcements.
The only way to resolve this dilemma was to recruit more cavalry.
In fact, Ma Dai and Jiang Wei have already received the Prime Minister's approval to expand their enrollment.
In the previous battle of Fuliangzhou, the cavalry led by the two of them were wounded and retreated, totaling more than 1,300 cavalry. This expansion of recruitment is only to supplement the previous organization.
It's not that there aren't more suitable sources of troops.
In the Battle of Lingju, the Hexi Allied Forces had about five thousand cavalry. After being cut off from their return, they surrendered to the Han Dynasty.
Born in Hexi, they are all brave and good at riding and shooting. They can become qualified cavalry with just a little practice in martial arts. Moreover, this is a battle to protect Xiangzi, so there is no worry of defection or unwillingness to fight to the death.
But the big man couldn't contain them all.
Very helpless reason.
Today's Han Dynasty court really cannot afford to support so many cavalry.
The material resources in the Bashu land are on the verge of depletion, and there will be no more food to support the war in a short period of time; Hanzhong County and Longyou, which have been stationed for several years, can only supply local garrisons; while the counties and counties in the Hexi Corridor are in ruins and are waiting to be revitalized.
Compared with the local garrison, the output of the farmland is still far beyond the income of the local garrison. Even now, the grain and fodder transferred from the war horse trade with Sun Wu are used to supply the garrison in the Hexi Corridor and serve as strategic reserves.
After all, who dares to predict how long the Battle of Hexi will last?
Moreover, it is not an exaggeration to say that the road to Shu is difficult.
Transferred from Jiangdong, thousands of miles away, it would be lucky if half of this grain was left in the Hexi Corridor!
Under such circumstances, how dare the Prime Minister allow them to recruit more cavalry?
In other words, the invisible shackles on the Han Dynasty - small land, few people and insufficient military supplies - would not disappear until they regained the fertile 800-mile Qinchuan River.
well.
This is the right time! It’s also destiny!
Jiang Wei, who was favored by the prime minister, was well aware of the court's predicament.
Therefore, after he asked Zhang Te carefully about the whole matter, he made an arrangement that seemed to send many scouts to die, which was contrary to the common sense of military warfare. In order to prevent the big man from being attacked less in the upcoming war,
, to reduce the loss of manpower and food and equipment, he wanted to plant a seed of suspicion within the invading Wei State in advance.
Even if you want to achieve this goal, you have to sacrifice the lives of many of your subordinates first.
Time flies, time flies by in the blink of an eye.
After entering the Han Dynasty and going through several years of conquest, he no longer looked at the problem from the perspective of a general.
Rather, the Prime Minister expected him to one day grow into a commander in charge of a war effort. No matter how bad things were, he should be able to lead several troops as the vanguard of the army like Wei Yan.
He is working hard in this direction.
As a commander, he only cares about the pros and cons of the overall situation of the military war, and will never be soft for a few people.
If ten people die to save one, he will never save him; but if one death saves ten people from dying in battle, he will not hesitate.
Therefore, when Zhang Te tactfully warned that it was not advisable to send more scouts, he just waved his hand in a calm voice and said, "I have made up my mind. Zichan, please go and rest."
No explanation, no explanation needed.
Right!
But if you have high ambitions, you should keep on doing what you have done in the past, so there is no need to explain it to others!
Five days later, the eastern section of Wushaoling was deserted.
Four groups of Wei scouts, about two hundred of them, shuttled back and forth among them. If you look closely, you will find that there is a trace of eagerness and expectation in everyone's eyes.
They waited impatiently for the Han army scouts to appear.
Wei's reward for killing the scouts is also very impressive, and they have made gains in the past few days.
For some unknown reason, the Han army has frequently sent scouts to spy here recently. After they killed many of them outnumbered and outnumbered, they still came in groups of twenty. What is even more surprising is that the Han army's scouts kept spying.
Same place.
After they returned to report this weird thing, the commander-in-chief, General Fei Yao, didn't know what was going on and just told them to be careful.
However, they did not care about the reasons behind the Han army's move.
They were scouts rather than generals, and what they cared about was the rewards they gained.
Therefore, the four teams of scouts responsible for patrolling this area, after a hasty patrol of other places, all came here to wait for the Han army scouts to appear.
Military glory is so easily available, who can miss it?
In fact, they did not wait in vain.
Just after noon, three groups of Han army scouts appeared in their eyes.
Overjoyed, they still adopted the tactics they had used when outflanking Zhang Te before, just like hunting a herd of wild yellow sheep together, and began to chase on horseback and use crossbows to gain military exploits. The three groups of Han army scouts continued to attack as before.
The sky raised its head and sounded a warning, then turned around and fled.
As in the past few days, I have been chasing for more than seventy miles recently.
When the power of the war horses was almost exhausted, the Wei scouts also achieved the feat of gaining more than ten levels.
For capturing the enemy's first-level scout, they can receive a generous reward of three thousand coins. What they got today is enough to satisfy them.
But just when they were about to turn their horses' heads and return, the Han army scouts who were being chased in front of them turned their horses around for unknown reasons and formed a formation with the intention of charging into the battle.
But the scout commander became so angry that he led his men to fight evil to the death?
Some of the Wei scouts, especially the Xianbei and Xiongnu cavalry, looked happy and held swords and spears in preparation for battle.
But there are also some quick-thinking people who feel a little uneasy in their hearts: These scouts in Nishu have been dying frequently in recent days, could they be luring the enemy?
With this in mind, they began to look around with worried faces.
Therefore, they also vaguely heard a burst of muffled thunder coming from the vast desert to the north; they also saw a stick with a big "Han" embroidered on it suddenly popping up from behind the empty sand dunes five miles away.
Banner. Behind the banner, a cavalry force of about 800 people swept in with unstoppable force like arrows fed by the wind!
"Enemy attack~~~~"
"There's an ambush! Move quickly!"
All kinds of shrill roars and hysterical screams rippled through the Wei army's scout formation.
Likewise, they all turned around and fled, desperately urging their horses to gallop, trying to escape the fate of being transformed from hunters into prey.
But how much horsepower was left in the horses that had just experienced a rapid chase? Faced with the Han cavalry waiting for work to lure the enemy deeper, how could they escape from danger?
The distance of five miles is only a matter of seconds for the extremely galloping horses.
Jiang Wei, who came with the cavalry, personally held the banner and rode forward, his eyes like eagles looking at the more than 200 mounted Wei scouts who were fleeing hastily eastward. When he saw them in a mess, there was nothing left.
When the formation was satisfactory, he turned his head and ordered, "Blow your horn!"
The soldier next to him did not dare to neglect, and quickly put the huge horn on his back to his mouth.
"Woo~~~~Woo~~~~~"
The low and plaintive horn of the horn resounded throughout the battlefield.
I saw that the Han cavalry, which was originally coming in a long dragon, suddenly split from the middle, turned into two long snakes, one on the left and one on the right, and went to outflank the Wei scouts. After only a quarter of an hour of pursuit, they got close.
"kill!"
The sound of hoofbeats is rapid, the spears are thrusting, and the swords are flashing!
But the red banner of the Han Dynasty, still like an arrow off the string, passed by the two sides of the distraught Wei army scouts, harvesting lives layer by layer like stripping off cocoons.
Suddenly heads were flying and blood was flying!
Amid the neighing of war horses and the wails of the wounded, a declaration resounded throughout the deserted valley.
"Big man!"
"mighty!"
In just one round of passing, there were forty or fifty Wei Jun scouts who fell off their horses.
And the two Han cavalry on the left and right, relying on their abundant horse power, rushed past them, cutting off their hope of escaping back.
Therefore, when the voice of "those who surrender will avoid death" came from the mouths of the Han army, except for a few stubborn ones who were still galloping and were killed, they all tightened their reins to stop their horses, abandoned their weapons, dismounted and fell to the ground to ask for surrender.
Later, the Han army separated them from the Xiongnu and took them back together with the Han family.
As for the Xianbei prisoners, Jiang Wei ordered the horses and weapons to be returned, and then comforted them with words and released them.
Zhang Te, who was ambushed by him, was puzzled by his actions.
The dozen or so Wei scouts who escaped by hiding in the rocks of Wushaoling were also puzzled.
When they were chasing Han scouts earlier, they also escaped being ambushed because they dismounted and took the battle certificates of the Han soldiers who had been shot.
——
[Note 1: When the western end of the Shule River flows out of the Changma Canyon, it first penetrates into the gravel-covered Gobi Desert to form numerous undercurrents. It travels forty to fifty kilometers underground before emerging to the surface and converging into the lower reaches of the Shule River.
River. This phenomenon is called "stealth", so the ancients named it Mingze.】
