pappabearbooks Chapter 86 Full Moon and Defeat
Chapter 86 Full Moon and Defeat
Chapter 86 Full Moon and Defeat
"Father is overthinking it."
"With us here, how could those Xianbei people possibly cut off our supplies?!"
"If we were to cut off supplies, we'd need a large number of elite cavalry!"
After learning of his father's doubts, Lü Bu stepped forward with his head held high.
He was a natural-born cavalry general. After more than ten days of skirmishes, he had become more and more experienced and had his own understanding of the battle.
"Are their cavalry more elite than ours?! Or do they simply have a larger army than we do?!"
"I remember you said before that the main force we will be facing on this journey is the Western Xianbei."
"The Xianbei population was already small. Even if every able-bodied Xianbei was a soldier, the Xianbei cavalry under the command of this Western Xianbei leader would probably only number around twenty or thirty thousand!"
"Our Han cavalry, one of them is worth at least three Hu (non-Han) soldiers; they were destined to be no match for us!"
"Shouldn't they have suffered repeated defeats?"
"Should we, with superior military strength, armor, and manpower, be defeated and forced to retreat again and again?!"
This statement came out.
The generals, more or less, had thoughtful expressions in their eyes.
People like Cao Xing, Wei Yue, and Wei Xu, who were a bit more straightforward, nodded repeatedly, their faces full of agreement; Cheng Lian,
Song Xian and the other two knew to turn their heads and see Lü Ping's reaction.
Lu Ping rarely raised his eyes, and with a hint of surprise in them, he glanced at his adopted eldest son.
He never expected that his eldest son, whom he had taken for granted, would have such a significant increase in intelligence in just over a month, and that he would be able to say such reasonable things.
to be frank.
However, judging from the strength on paper, what Lü Bu said was indeed very reasonable. Not only Lü Bu, but the entire Han army, and even the general who defeated the Xianbei, thought so too.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have charged straight into the desert, two thousand miles from the border, without knowing the location of the main Xianbei forces in the west.
As for the so-called Western Xianbei leader mentioned by Lü Bu, he was the head of one of the three tribes established by Tan Shihuai, a powerful ruler of the Xianbei tribe, based on the geographical location of the Xianbei people.
The Xianbei people were mainly divided into three groups:
The eastern part extends from Youbeiping eastward to Liaodong, encompassing more than twenty towns including Fuyu and Mao; the central part extends from Youbeiping westward to more than ten towns including Shanggu.
The western region extends from Shanggu westward to Dunhuang and more than twenty towns in Wusun.
The leaders of these major tribes were called "masters," and these three masters were all under the command of Tan Shihuai.
The place where Tan Shihuai was stationed was where the Xianbei royal court was located: Tanhan Mountain.
This time, we went beyond the Great Wall.
General Tian Yan, the commander of the Xianbei army, led the elite Wuhuan cavalry and various other Hu tribes out of Yunzhong; General Zang Min, the commander of the Xiongnu army, led the Southern Chanyu out of Yanmen; and Xia Yu, the Wuhuan Colonel, left Daijun.
The Han army split into three routes, heading straight for Tan Shihuai's location at Tanhan Mountain. However, on their way to Tanhan Mountain, they encountered three officials sent by the Xianbei tribe to resist them.
They became entangled with each other.
I recalled all the information that I had clearly remembered.
Lu Ping lowered his eyes slightly, then looked up again at the generals in front of him.
"What Fengxian said is correct."
"Our forces and army are indeed much stronger than those of the western Xianbei."
"But what if..." His eyes flickered, his tone suddenly softened, and he slowly posed a hypothetical question.
"But what if... what if we're about to face more than just these western Xianbei tribes?"
All the generals' expressions turned serious.
Lu Bu's previously proud face returned to blankness as he looked up at his father.
"What do you mean?"
Lu Ping cleared everything off the table in front of him, leaving only a teapot. He took out three smaller teacups, arranged them in a triangle, and placed them around the teapot.
then.
As if remembering something, he hesitated for a moment, then got up and placed the other teapot on the table.
Sitting down again, looking at the teacups and teapot in front of him, Lü Ping nodded slowly with satisfaction.
What I mean is...
"If Tan Shihuai hardens his heart and abandons the royal court, leaving only a small number of people to delay the Wuhuan Colonel and the General Who Destroys the Xiongnu."
"And then they're waiting for us ahead with the majority of the cavalry from three tribes, ready to pounce?"
"If we combine these three tribes, along with the Xianbei chieftain Tanshihuai and Fengxian, do you think we could still defeat them?"
In response to Lü Ping's question.
All the generals present considered this possibility. They looked at each other in bewilderment, extremely flustered, and some even showed a look of horror on their faces.
Seeing the changes in the expressions of the generals, Lü Ping spoke again with a smile.
"Of course, don't panic, this is just my guess."
"What if this guess is wrong?"
Just as Lü Ping sensed something was amiss and summoned his generals to share his thoughts, several hundred miles away...
Mid-August.
It was already late at night.
The full moon hung in the sky, its bright light illuminating the figures of fifty to sixty thousand Xianbei cavalrymen, stretching for dozens of miles outside a large camp.
Looking into the distance, at the Han army camp, which showed almost no reaction to their appearance.
The Xianbei cavalry remained silent, their eyes fixed on a middle-aged man wearing a jade crown and brocade robes standing at the forefront of the formation.
The middle-aged man, whose face was somewhat pale and who was trying to suppress a cough, said softly.
"Let's begin."
At a command.
The Xianbei cavalrymen removed the hard objects from the mouths of their horses and raised the torches in their hands.
Countless sparks began to flicker across the plain, like fireflies, as they rushed towards and gathered at the Han army camp.
A quiet night.
The sounds of fighting and pleas for mercy gradually filled the air.
Immediately afterwards, long stretches of Han army camps were engulfed in flames, and slowly, flames large enough to illuminate half the sky began to dance across the heavens.
Large groups of undefended Han Chinese, almost naked, were driven out of their tents by Xianbei cavalry as if they were cattle or sheep.
Without their armor, the Han Chinese were no different from the Xianbei in terms of fighting ability.
It was just a light poke.
Large numbers of men died in this camp.
The entrance to the main camp was already on fire, and outside the camp, layers of Xianbei cavalry surrounded it. Even if some men managed to escape by enduring the flames, they could not get very far.
The Han people, who were always brave and skilled in martial arts, barely had time to use their skills before they died like wild dogs in this desert under the full moon, becoming nourishment for the soil and wild grass.
Amidst the sounds of fighting and pleas for mercy.
The center of Dazhai.
Hundreds of elite Han cavalry quickly formed an organization, led by a fierce general from Wu who was filled with grief and indignation. They protected Zang Min in the center, gathering their forces while rushing outwards to fight.
He was protected among a group of riders.
The ragged and disheveled Zang Min looked out at the vast Xianbei cavalry in the firelight, his face filled with disbelief.
"How could this happen!"
"Does this Sandalwood Tree no longer need the royal court?!"
"Why is he leading so many people and waiting for us here?!"
"Where did he get so many people?!"
"Wait! I understand!"
"You son of a bitch!"
"Where's Xia Yu?! Where's Tian Yan?! What are they doing?! How could they have allowed Tan Shihuai to gather so many cavalry?!"
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