Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1255 Choice
After Zhu Luohou talked to Suo Nu for a few words, Suo Nu finally realized that the letter was actually sent from Wuhuan. The sender was none other than the current Wuhuan Chanyu Lou Ban.

The content of the letter was very straightforward. Previously, Louban became the Chanyu with the support of Nanlou Supyuyan and others. The original Chanyu Tatun abdicated and became a king to assist Louban. However, in the past few years, Tatun became more and more arrogant and independent by marrying a woman from the Yuan clan. He was also disrespectful to Chanyu Louban many times.

Shanyu Louban was naturally resentful, but because he was not close enough to the Yuan family, he could only be angry but not speak out. Before the Xianbei invaded, Kebineng had already sent someone to secretly contact Louban, and the two sides reached an agreement.

Kobe could promise that if the Xianbei attacked Youzhou and Lou Ban could rise up in response, Kobe and Lou Ban would divide Youzhou equally after the attack. As for Tadun, he could be eliminated easily.

Now that Juluo Hou's attack on Youzhou was obstructed, he received a letter from Lou Ban, saying that the Wuhuan had pacified the internal situation and had gathered tens of thousands of cavalry, waiting for Juluo Hou to lead the troops over to attack together.

After Suo Nu understood the whole story, he frowned and asked, "Can Lou Ban really be trusted?"

"What if he wholeheartedly surrenders to the State of Jin and is willing to be its lackey, and then plots an ambush against us?"

Zhu Luohou nodded and said, "You have some knowledge. This is not impossible."

"They have been hanging out with the despicable Han Chinese for so long that they are capable of doing such things."

"But if Louban sincerely wants to join Lord Kobinen, wouldn't it be a missed opportunity if we don't agree?"

Zonu still insisted: "I always feel that there is something wrong."

"They refused to agree earlier, and they refused to agree later. They only agreed after we reached Jicheng, and now we have to go back and help them?"

"If he really wanted to, why didn't he tell Lord Kobineng earlier that we could cross Yanshan Mountain and take the Wuhuan route, and then join forces to attack Youzhou together? Wouldn't that be a much better situation than the current one?"

"Now if we want to join forces, we can only go northeast first. From Yuyang to Liaoxi, we have to pass through the rugged mountains like Xuwu Mountain. How long will it take to get there?"

"I think they are probably wasting our time just to rescue the Jin army!"

After Suonu said this, Zhu Luohou also hesitated, "What you said makes sense."

"It will take at least half a month to get to the White Wolf Mountain where they agreed to go. We don't have enough food to last that long."

He then said, "But in this case, I don't think they are from the Jin army. If they really wanted to ambush us, why would they choose Bailang Mountain, a place that is difficult to reach?"

After hearing this, Suonu had to admit that what Juluo Hou said made sense. If the enemy was on the side of the Jin army, if they wanted to ambush the Xianbei army, they would definitely choose a location within five or six days' journey from Jicheng to coordinate with the troops in the city to attack from both sides.

How could it be like now that it takes half a month to go there and half a month to go back, not counting the time for accidents in between? It would be deep winter by the time it goes back and forth. How could there be such a trap that is obviously impossible to get through?
He said, "The road to Wuhuan is not good. It is indeed difficult to get there. In comparison, we can reach Jizhou in about ten days. There must be a large number of villages over there. As long as we find the people, we will definitely have food!"

When he said this, he was actually quite embarrassed, because Youzhou had unexpectedly fortified its walls and cleared the land, and the more than 100,000 Xianbei people could not find food. The amount of food consumed every day was a huge amount. Since food could not fall from the sky, they could only find it on the ground.

So they inevitably had to turn their attention to their own kind.

Every day, a large number of Xianbei people, young and old, died of hunger and cold. For the first half month, their bodies would be hastily buried, but eventually this phenomenon became less and less common and finally stopped completely.

Where the dead went was an unspoken secret among everyone. Even those who had been buried previously were dug out, so that the area around Jizhou was filled with earth pits and bones.

The bodies of the Xianbei vanguard were thrown outside Jicheng to form a Jingguan. The cold and hungry Xianbei people came up with an idea, but as soon as they approached, they were ambushed by the Jin cavalry in the city and suffered heavy casualties. They then realized that Jingguan was a bait and had to flee in panic.

Under such circumstances, the Xianbei people became more and more panicked. There were large areas of Han tombs around Jicheng. If they had not been unusable for too long, the Xianbei people would have started digging graves on a large scale long ago.

Zhu Luohou was helpless about this, after all, people need to eat to survive. But the biggest omission that Kobe had made before he came was Jicheng's response.

Before Zhu Luohou sent out his troops, he also mentioned to Kobineng what to do if all the people in Youzhou escaped. At that time, Kobineng replied: "So we must surround Jicheng and cut off all its logistical routes."

"Jicheng is Xionghu's hometown, and his family is all there. It would be great if we can surround him, but if we can't, it doesn't matter. As long as we block the surrounding roads and cut off Jicheng's logistics, it will naturally collapse."

"If Xiong Hu wants to save his family, he will definitely send troops to Jicheng to deliver food. Then we can fight along the route and use Xiong Hu's food supplies to wear them out."

"If Xionghu doesn't care about his family, that would be even better. We can spread the word to Jicheng that they have been abandoned by Xionghu, and Jicheng will open the city and surrender. Then the people in Jicheng will be at our mercy!"

"This strategy is similar to the Han people's method of besieging Wei to save Zhao. The difference is that we are waiting for the Jin army's grain transport team. We can fight to support the war. Once we survive the spring, it will be our chance to fully occupy Youzhou and annex Jizhou!"

Zhu Luohou could not help but be greatly impressed by this, and secretly thought that Lord Ke Bineng was smarter and more far-sighted than the Han people. If they could follow his strategy, conquering the Central Plains would be just around the corner!
However, what he did not expect was that the Jin army adopted a tactic in Jicheng that the Xianbei people could not have expected. They actually huddled in the city, cutting off all supplies from the outside world, including the supply routes, and only relied on the supplies stored in the city to hold on!
Jicheng now is like a hedgehog. The Xianbei have more than 100,000 people, but they are surrounded by Jicheng and have no way to attack. At the same time, because the supply has completely stopped, they can't plunder food supplies and can only fight with the ferocious tiger in the ice and snow!

That’s not all. From time to time, Jicheng sent out cavalry to raid the Xianbei people at night, causing considerable casualties to the Xianbei people each time. Under such circumstances, weak people and war horses began to die in large numbers. I’m afraid that in a few days, the Xianbei side will not be able to hold on!
Thinking of this, Zhu Luohou punched the ground fiercely, "The Jin army is really crazy. Every time they raid, they kill everyone regardless of gender, age or status. They are no different from the crazy lunatics like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing!"

"Hypocritical Han people, how could they have the heart to kill the old, the young, the women and the children!"

Suonu nodded repeatedly, "That's right, we are the Hu people, but they, the Han people, who talk about morality and justice, also do such things. It's really despicable!" When he said this, he felt that he couldn't continue, so he wisely changed the subject and quickly asked, "What should we do?"

Zhu Luohou thought for a moment and said, "If we don't go to Bailang Mountain, it will be too late to rush over."

"Send a letter and ask Lou Ban to find a way to contain the Jin army, and at the same time send troops to cooperate with us to attack Jicheng."

"If they want to take over Youzhou, they have to do something. If they want to take advantage of us, it won't be such a good thing."

"As for us, we will gather the young and strong to rest and eat as much as possible. We will set out overnight tomorrow and rush to Yijing, the northernmost part of Jizhou."

"That's also a big city, and all the caravans pass through it. I don't believe it can be more strictly guarded than Jicheng!"

"Even if the city is difficult to capture, there must be many villages inhabited by Han people around the city. We can just kill and rob them all when the time comes!"

Suonu immediately accepted the order, and finally he said, "What about the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the women here?"

Zhu Luohou waved his hand and said, "At this time, we no longer have the energy to take care of them. Let them stay and confuse Jicheng. If they want to catch up, they can only rely on their own feet."

"If we can capture a Han city, what kind of women would we not find there?"

Suonu couldn't help laughing, "Your Majesty is wise. We will follow you till death, kill all the Han men, and rob all their women!"

That night, as many as 30,000 to 40,000 young and strong Xianbei men, riding their only war horses, began to rush rapidly southward towards Yijing.

Naturally, this large-scale action could not be concealed from the tribes. When the tribal leaders learned that the old and weak tribesmen had been left behind, they finally realized that Kobe allowed their tribesmen to enter the pass just to use the young and strong warriors in the tribe and did not care about the lives of the old and weak at all!
Immediately, several old clan leaders stopped in front of Zhu Luohou and demanded an explanation. Zhu Luohou was getting ready to go, and when he saw someone coming to make trouble, he immediately said impatiently: "What, you dare to disobey military orders?"

The old patriarch who had led the group at the time stood up and shouted, "We want an explanation!"

"That's not what Lord Kobinen promised before he left!"

"He said the south was a fertile land, full of milk and honey, but now all that awaits us is ice, snow and death!"

"Now the king wants to abandon us and let us die?"

Zhu Luohou snorted coldly: "Who said I abandoned you?"

"Am I not taking the young and strong men of your tribe to fight the Han people?"

The old chief shouted, "What about the old men and women of our tribe?"

"Are we just going to wait for death in this icy and snowy place, or wait for the Han people to come and kill us?"

"Not only the elderly and the weak, but also our women and children. Without them, how can the tribe survive?"

Zhu Luohou didn't want to say more, he stood up and walked out coldly, "This is all necessary sacrifice for our Great Xianbei to defeat the Han people."

"As long as we capture the Han cities, we will have money, food, women, and horses. Han women can also give birth to children for us. How can the tribe not survive?"

"The army is about to set off, so don't act unreasonably. If you stand in my way, I will kill you without mercy!"

The old clan leader hugged Zhu Luohou's legs tightly, "Your Majesty, you can't leave!"

"How can the king of the grassland betray his own people?"

"Master Kirby has deceived us, is he still qualified to be our master?"

Zhu Luohou struggled for a few times but failed to pull his legs free. He became furious and hit the old patriarch hard on the head with the handle of his knife.

The old patriarch loosened his hand groggily, and Zhu Luohou took the opportunity to kick the old patriarch out, "You old thing, you are shameless. If you say one more word, I will send you to see Master Tan Shihuai!"

After saying this, Zhu Luohou led his men away in big strides, leaving the old ancestor kneeling on the ground trembling, looking up to the sky and cursing loudly.

After learning of the Xianbei's movements, Yuan Xi in the city said to Yang Xiu, "We have endured for so many days, and the time is finally ripe."

(End of this chapter)