Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 535 Not Hasty
Wuyuan County, Du Liaoying.

This was a newly renovated camp. Ma Teng showed the arrogance and tyranny of a traditional Han court official in his use and mobilization of Xiongnu manpower.

Although the rebellion in Liang Province was caused by the officials' excessive exploitation, the military commander Ma Teng who was in charge of suppressing the rebellion was dragged down by the rebels and became the current General Ma Teng of Du Liao.

But the Huns were eventually defeated, and the disobedient eldest son became the Right Wise King inexplicably, so Ma Teng was particularly brutal when conscripting Hun manpower.

Fortunately, last year the Xiongnu tribes obtained many Xianbei and Hu slaves, and also rescued many of their people from the Xianbei.

The Huns are now recovering quickly. Ma Teng can forcibly conscript and exploit their manpower, but the Huns can also transfer the pressure to the slaves.

Finally, under the supervision of the Huns' whips and the hard work of the slaves, Ma Teng did not use the old abandoned city, but built a huge new military camp.

The military camp is located on the south bank of the Liao River. The core central military camp has a circumference of twelve miles, and there is a satellite camp every ten miles around it and on the north bank.

The Hun slaves also needed rest, so the camp only completed the general framework.

For example, in Ma Teng's opinion, a small satellite fort should be built in the style of the round fort in Guanzhong, with planks and three stories high.

In order to resist the cold north wind, the walls of the fort must be thick. The earthen walls of the Guanzhong fort are one-edged and about three feet six; the thickness of the fort in Wuyuan must be at least six feet.

Even such an unformed camp gave Pang De a great shock.

Especially the central army, there are not many fences, but two layers of low walls made of boards inside and outside, which are shaped like a "U" character as a whole, and trenches are dug outside the low walls.

The terrain here is flat and wide. Pound can see rows of plank barracks from afar while riding on his horse... like military guards.

When the army set up camp or guarded for a long time, they built rows of houses like this in order to save materials and labor hours.

There are guardhouses and watchtowers between the rows of houses, and the central area of ​​the military camp is still under construction, with a high-rise building being built for Ma Teng.

On both sides of the road outside the camp gate, there were wooden stakes with a dozen or thirteen slaves being tortured tied to them. The whips swung by the Huns were particularly crisp, and it was clear that they were going to beat them to death.

Pang De noticed that the expressions of the Qiang military officers accompanying him changed. They were obviously stunned by this labor-intensive behavior.

When Ma Chao was governing the Qiang tribe, he had no time to use torture because he had already killed too many people on the battlefield and in the process of conquering the Qiang tribe.

The people who survived were so numerous that Ma Chao was reluctant to kill them unless necessary.

After Pang De took over, he also focused on recuperation. This was the first time he recruited the Qiang volunteers.

Under the guidance of the staff of the General Du Liao's Mansion, Pang De entered the camp to meet Ma Teng.

Ma Teng sat in the main seat with a golden helmet and golden armor today. When he saw Pang De entering the hall, he smiled and asked first: "Ling Ming came two days earlier than I expected. How many troops did he bring with him?"

Pang De did not rush to answer, but took off his helmet, held it in his hand, stepped forward and knelt on one knee: "Old lord, how are you these days?"

He also understood his position. Originally, his relationship with Ma Teng was just that of an old official, but as he took over as the commander of the Protector of the Qiang, his identity became the leader of the Ma family's dowry team.

"Everything is fine with me, better than ever before."

Ma Teng stood up and supported Pang De, took the helmet from him and placed it on the table, led Pang De to the dining table at the side, pressed Pang De's shoulders to make him sit down, and then went around to the other side of the table.

He took off his helmet after sitting down, but stopped smiling. "I thought General Du Liao was already a retired general, but I didn't expect that I would be able to lead an army to conquer the Donghu. How many troops did you bring?"

"There are only 2,400 cavalrymen, each with three horses. There are another 3,000 volunteers who will follow behind and will march towards Wuyuan under the command of the Chief Secretary. Each of them has two horses and can arrive in five to seven days." Pang De asked, "Will the right wing go into battle?"

"He wants to come. The shogunate has also issued a transfer order. I have sent someone to submit a petition. The Grand Marshal is not in Guanzhong. How can those people in the shogunate know about war?"

Ma Teng's expression became more serious. "I will control the armies this time. We have communicated with the reinforcements from Hexi and Guanzhong, and no one has objections. They are more worried about Meng Qi's command than me. If Meng Qi comes, the armies will be more wary of him than the enemy. How can they cooperate to kill the bandits? I have also made it clear to him that this is my last battle. After this battle, I will return home and live out my days in peace."

"For this battle, we will have about 50,000 cavalry."

Ma Teng motioned Pang De to pick up the chopsticks and continued to explain to him: "Liu Bao's position as Grand Marshal is in danger. He also wanted to recruit more knights, but I stopped him. I left Meng Qi behind with the intention of deterring Liu Bao. I am old, and I have to rely on Meng Qi and Ling Ming to deal with the Huns."

Pang De picked up a dish with chopsticks and tasted it, then put down his chopsticks and said: "My army is also worried that the Xiongnu will take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. The Grand Marshal killed more than 100,000 of their people. This hatred will last for three generations, so we must be careful."

Ma Teng nodded slowly. They were all from border counties and knew very well how ferocious the Hu people were.

Then Ma Teng continued, "I have sent an envoy to Dai County. When the army is assembled, we will rest the soldiers and horses there. We will move again after receiving the order from the Grand Marshal. This battle is really a bit hasty. If we wait another year to take back Dai County, why is there such a rush?"

Pang De smiled and said, "My old lord, this is a little different. Compared with the previous battles, this battle is already a rare and sufficient one for the Grand Marshal."

Hearing this, Ma Teng also laughed: "Yes, the three thousand cavalrymen who joined the alliance can actually sweep away the Xiongnu and destroy them. Even if the Marquis of Huaiyin is resurrected, it is no more than this."

Fifty thousand cavalrymen are just the initial mobilization, and another wave of about 30,000 cavalrymen can be mobilized later.

And these are just the reinforcements from outside the Great Wall. The reinforcements from Guanzhong are divided into two groups, and another group will go through Taiyuan via Yanmen to join the battle.

This force is mainly composed of infantry, and the suicide soldiers from the two counties of Hedong will also be mixed in.

At this moment, Zhang Yan would abandon his Black Mountain base and actively send troops to help in the war.

The valleys in Taihang Mountains are just like that. As long as Zhang Yan is alive and his influence remains, he can maintain his influence on the military and civilians in each valley.

And what about Liu Bei? When the Donghu tribes really gathered 200,000 or 300,000 people, how could Liu Bei continue to wait and see?

As for whether Yizhou would rebel or whether Jingzhou would be lost, these were secondary issues in the eyes of Ma Teng and Pang De.

The victory or defeat of this decisive battle is not important. The most important thing is to rescue Da Sima who likes to fight recklessly.

About three days later, the valley was finally illuminated by sunlight.

Due to lack of sunlight for a long time, many people even feel a burning sensation on their arms and faces when the morning sun falls on them.

The valley was still cold in the early morning, but the sun shone everywhere, making everything come alive.

The black bear walked out of the tent where mushrooms were growing, turned around, squinted his eyes and looked up at the sun, then raised his hand to take off his mask.

In a very good mood, he turned around and shouted to Gao Jun who was standing in front of the big tent: "Order the whole army, I will inspect all places before lunch, and each soldier will be given a bowl of wine!"

It's time to drink. Mix the wine made from Shenberry and Jiahe. Drinking it will help quickly adjust the soldiers' condition.

Taoist soldiers like Lu Bu are his present, while the officers and soldiers in the central army are his future.

(End of this chapter)