Ji Han Liu Zhang

The sixth year of Jian'an, the end of May.

As the commander-in-chief, Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, formulated his battle plan.

First of all, the goal of this battle was to conquer Hedong, but considering that Yubi City was strong and could not be easily taken, it was out of the question to take all of Hedong, so Gao Gan had to settle for the second best. He decided that in this battle, he must at least recapture Taiyuan County.

With Taiyuan County as the target, Gao Gan should have devoted all his efforts to conquer Taiyuan, but the general Qu Yi had a different opinion. Qu Yi believed that they should attack Hedong to avenge the previous humiliation, which was what a hero would do.

As it was, Qu Yi disagreed with Gao Gan's battle plan in Taiyuan and refuted it many times. He even spoke out against Gao Gan in public, which not only lost Gao Gan's face but also made him angry.

Even though Gao Gan was angry and unhappy with Qu Yi, as a general of Hebei, he had made great contributions and was highly respected in the army. For a while, he could not make any punishment or punishment for Qu Yi, so as not to shake the morale of the army.

Therefore, Gao Gan pondered the battle plan for a long time and came up with a solution that would satisfy both parties.

That is, Gao Gan led Zhang He, Gao Lan, Qu Bei and others to attack Taiyuan, while Qu Yi led his troops to Hedong to fight.

In this way, Qu Yi's wish to conquer Hedong was fulfilled. At the same time, as a detachment, Qu Yi could tie down the troops in Hedong, which would be beneficial for Gao Gan and his entourage in the main force to conquer Taiyuan County.

Having made up his mind, Gao Gan declared in front of all the generals: "Duke Wei has appointed me as the commander. This time we will conquer Hedong and Taiyuan. Taking Hedong is the most important thing, and Taiyuan is the second... In short, this battle must teach Liu Jiyu a price, so that he will not dare to covet Hebei."

"Yes." All the generals responded in unison. Their voices echoed in the big tent, and their heroic spirit soared into the sky.

Afterwards, the Hebei troops in Shangdang were divided into two teams. One team, led by Gao Gan, rushed to Taiyuan, and the other team, led by Qu Yi, headed towards Hedong. The troops were divided into two groups, each with its own plans, and a major war was about to break out.

On the way, Gao Gan called the Right Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu, Qubei, and asked him, "Right Wise King, the envoys you sent to Taiyuan lured several former Xiongnu troops. Can they be of great use?"

When he heard the words 'Right Wise King', a trace of displeasure flashed across Qubei's face. He hoped to hear the words 'Great Chanyu' more. The former Great Chanyu Huochequan was dead, and the Left Wise King Liu Bao was also dead. It was time for him, the Right Wise King, to ascend to the position of Great Chanyu.

Although Yuan Shao promised Qubei the position of Great Chanyu, it was not without conditions. Yuan Shao required Qubei to join the army in the war. Under the pretext of Qubei's title as the Right Wise King, he instigated the Xiongnu tribes in Taiyuan County to rebel. After taking Taiyuan, Qubei would become the Great Chanyu.

Although Qubei was dissatisfied with this, he believed that he was already the Great Chanyu and did not need to ask Yuan Shao for a title. However, the situation was stronger than the person, and now he was under Yuan Shao's command, so he had to obey Yuan Shao's orders and serve Yuan Shao.

Thinking of this, a flattering smile appeared on Qubei's face. He reported to Gao Gantong: "Don't worry, sir. The envoy Lan Ke I sent has sent back news that he has persuaded seven of the ten Xiongnu tribes in Taiyuan County. The remaining three tribes have not made up their minds, but they will be there soon."

"Are there still three groups that are hesitating and waiting?" Gao Gan lowered his eyebrows, looking unhappy. He asked, "Will these three groups that are hesitating and waiting secretly report Lan Ke's identity and the fact that my army is rushing to Taiyuan to the fake Taiyuan governor Du Ji?"

"Absolutely impossible." Qubei's expression was firm. He shook his head vigorously and said, "The former Xiongnu tribes in Taiyuan County were divided into ten tribes by Du Ji. They can no longer roam around like before, but can only stay in the garrison areas. There have been complaints and criticisms among them for a long time."

"Although the three armies were hesitant and waiting, they were just worried that our army would not be able to reach Taiyuan as scheduled. If they raised their troops on time, they would probably be defeated by Du Ji and Zhang Ren... Therefore, they were just hesitant and there was absolutely no suspicion of informing them."

"That's good, but we still need to be careful about the internal support." Gao Gan reminded him. What he hoped was that as soon as the army arrived in Taiyuan, all the Huns in the county would rise up in response and overthrow Taiyuan County in an instant without any effort on his part.

Qu Bei nodded repeatedly: "I will do my job, please rest assured, Your Excellency."...

Jinyang.

As soon as the Shangdang troops moved, Du Ji and Zhang Ren received the news.

"Hedong has Fa Xiaozhi, Gan Xingba and Ma Mengqi, so we don't need to worry. We just need to focus on the upcoming Gao Gan and Zhang He and his party." Du Ji was very confident in Hedong and thought there was nothing to worry about. He devoted all his energy to dealing with Gao Gan.

Zhang Ren nodded and said, "Although Qu Yi is known as a great general and is very brave, he will be in danger if he faces Xing Ba and Meng Qi. As for Hedong, as Bo Hou said, we don't need to worry or care about anything."

"Yes." Seeing that Zhang Ren agreed with his opinion, Du Ji began to make arrangements: "If you want to resist foreign aggression, you must first stabilize the country. I have never heard of a county that was unstable and could resist the enemy from outside."

"The Right Xianwang of the Xiongnu, Qubei, sent envoys to persuade the Xiongnu tribes, and many of them joined him. Even those who did not join him did not report it. Only Huligai remained loyal and righteous."

"But Huligai is an ugly barbarian after all. It is hard to guess what he is thinking. I plan to give it a try."

After saying this, Du Ji looked at Zhang Ren, bowed his hands and saluted, saying, "Next, I'll have to trouble you, General."

"I dare not. Please tell me what your plan is," Zhang Ren said politely.

A few days later, Hulida, Quke and other Xiongnu captains were invited to Huligai's tribe to discuss raising troops to respond to the Hebei troops. It was also from the envoy Lan Ke that they learned that the Hebei troops from Shangdang had already set off, and they planned to join forces and make preparations in advance.

In order to avoid alerting the Han army in Jinyang, Hulida, Quke and others brought two or three light cavalry when they rushed to Huligai, without bringing too many people to avoid being too conspicuous.

"Everyone, please." Huligai had a warm smile on his face and extended his hand to invite Hulida, Quke and other Xiongnu captains to enter the central army tent.

Hulida, Quke and others stepped into the tent, only to see that fine wine and delicious food had already been prepared. They looked at each other and smiled, praising Huligai for his hospitality. He gave them the best treatment and made them feel very honored.

After everyone took their seats, Lan Ke, the spokesperson for Right Wise King Qubei, spoke first: "The Han army killed the former Great Chanyu Huchuquan, who is our enemy, and also occupied the land of Taiyuan, dividing the friendship between our children and relatives. This hatred is irreconcilable."

"Now the new Great Chanyu Qubei has come here with his army to restore order. This first cup of wine should be toasted to the Great Chanyu."

Lan Ke spoke passionately with a heroic look on his face. He glanced at the Xiongnu captains, who all nodded in agreement and raised their glasses in response.

Everyone in the tent raised their glasses and drank. Lan Ke also drank one. He coughed lightly and was about to continue speaking to boost everyone's morale.

But at this moment, the curtain was suddenly lifted, and a sound of a string being loosened was heard outside the tent, followed by a feather arrow piercing Lan Ke's throat. The powerful force of the feather arrow made Lan Ke walk back several steps, and finally his eyes lost focus, his pupils dilated, his vitality was drained, and he fell on his back with a plop. (End of this chapter)