At the beginning, I gave up my military power with a cup of wine, and I ascended the throne

Chapter 25: First Battle with Ruoqiang Tribe

Even though Xiao Han and Lu Ju look down on the palace soldiers, that is only relative.

Compared with the Yuyang Prefecture Army, which is the best cavalry in the world, the Xiliang Prefecture Army is indeed a bit shabby.

Not enough practice.

The bows and horses are not in sync.

The military pay has not been paid for several months.

But the foundation is there. Xiliang is bitterly cold and the people are always preparing for war to resist attacks from the barbarians. Therefore, the people of Xiliang, regardless of gender, can shoot with a bow and kill the enemy with a sword.

The folk customs here are even more fierce than those in Yuyang.

After Xiao Han took office, he replenished the armor and paid off the owed wages in one go, and also conducted day and night training.

Now, these five thousand soldiers are showing signs of being reborn.

Just a few fierce battles away from becoming an elite force.

In addition to the five thousand cavalry, there were also three thousand infantrymen, wearing armor, holding swords and spears in one hand and large shields in the other, and their morale was high.

These three thousand men were soldiers collected from various counties.

Eight thousand men were all the troops Xiao Han could currently mobilize.

Compared with when he was in the Northern Army, with tens of thousands of troops at his disposal, it is indeed a bit shabby.

But no matter how many elite soldiers the Northern Army has, they are not theirs. After handing over the military tokens, they have nothing to do with Xiao Han anymore.

And these eight thousand people are the soldiers who are truly loyal to him.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Han began to give orders.

"Zhao Mule."

"The humble position is here."

A burly man walked out of the training ground. He was broad-shouldered and nine feet tall. Others standing next to him could only touch his shoulders.

Even tough guys like Lu Ju and Liao Huan would look smaller in front of Zhao Muli.

This guy is not a veteran soldier of Yuyang Prefecture Army. He was originally a centurion of Xiliang Prefecture Army and was extremely brave.

Just because he offended Ma Dai, he was suppressed and held an idle position.

The last time Xiao Han came to the parade ground for inspection, he took a liking to him at first sight.

"I promote you to the rank of military commander, commanding 3,000 infantrymen. You will march out tomorrow and station at Wuyang City."

"Thank you, sir."

Zhao Mule knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said in a low voice: "Zhao Mule is willing to go through fire and water for you, even if it means sacrificing my life."

"Get up."

"Liao Huan, Zhuge Shou, obey your orders."

"The humble position is here."

Two people stepped out and knelt on one knee.

"Each of them will lead a thousand cavalrymen and station them at Yumen. They will scout for a hundred miles, day and night, and closely monitor the movements of the surrounding tribes. If there is any movement, they will report it immediately."

"promise."

"Lu Ju obeys orders."

"The humble position is here."

"Lead two thousand cavalry to garrison Tianshui City and conduct scouts a hundred miles away. There must be no mistakes."

"promise."

"Shi Qing, listen to my orders."

"The humble position is here."

"Lead a thousand cavalrymen and station them in Dingxi County, ready to be deployed at any time."

"promise."

"We'll cook at three o'clock tomorrow morning and set out at five o'clock."

"promise."

"All officers of the rank of captain and above, come to the big tent to discuss this matter."

In the big tent, the generals came in one after another, and Xiao Han leaned back in his chair.

After all his officers and lieutenants had gathered, he said with a serious expression, "According to the news this morning, the Ruoqiang tribe is gathering its people and will march eastward to our Xiliang in half a month at the latest."

"Without further delay, the night after tomorrow, Lu Ju will lead 4,000 soldiers to set out at midnight, with all the soldiers holding their tongues and the horses' hooves wrapped, and we will march at full speed to attack the Ruoqiang tribe."

"no problem."

Lu Ju sneered: "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"Liao Huan and Zhuge Shou are traveling together."

Xiao Han said, "The three of you will gather together. After you set off, Shi Qing will take a thousand cavalry to garrison Tianshui City. Zhao Mule, you will divide your 1,000 troops to garrison Wuyang."

"If anything goes wrong in these two cities."

"General, there is no need to do anything. I will chop off my own head." Zhao Muli issued a military order.

"it is good."

Xiao Han stood up: "Everyone, now is the time to make achievements."

After formulating the battle plan, he left the camp and returned to the governor's mansion.

The Ruoqiang tribe was just a mere tribe, so Xiao Han was not qualified to take action personally, so he sent all the generals under his command.

Someone must stay in Xiliang City to stabilize the rear.

If Xiao Han went to the front line, some people might get restless and have inappropriate thoughts.

"Sir, there's a letter from Jizhou."

Miaoyu walked into the room holding an unopened letter.

"It should be about ordnance."

she guessed.

After Xiao Han opened the letter and read it, a smile appeared on his face: "The Marquis' letter said that 5,000 cavalrymen are already on the way, and there are 100,000 shi of grain and fodder to accompany them."

"real or fake."

Miaoyu was puzzled.

"Of course it's true."

Xiao Han handed the letter over: "The Marquis also told me in the letter not to rush to use troops against the Zahu tribe, but to take it slow."

"With this batch of military equipment and food, I will have the confidence to mobilize troops on a large scale next year."

Xiao Han picked up the teacup and drank the tea slowly.

The current situation in Xiliang is not optimistic. Although they have gathered 8,000 soldiers, there is no strategic location to defend in the west, and they have to face many miscellaneous Hu tribes.

It remains to be seen whether using the Ruoqiang tribe to scare other tribes can intimidate them.

If you can't control it.

I am afraid there will be many fierce battles in the autumn and winter of this year.

The meaning of Xie Xuanli's letter was to let him avoid the attack temporarily. With the 100,000 shi of grain and 5,000 soldiers and horses, they were more than enough to defend the city.

Wait until next spring to recruit soldiers and train them.

However, Xiao Han could not wait that long. Xiliang was his territory, so how could he tolerate the miscellaneous Hu tribes messing around?

"I thought the Marquis would definitely take this batch of military equipment and food with him."

Miaoyu shook her head slightly.

"At least I followed him in battles for more than ten years."

Xiao Han said: "Although the Marquis is afraid of me and wants to pave the way for the young Marquis, he is not so heartless."

"Just wait and see, Yu'er. In less than two years, I will have raised an army in Xiliang that is no less powerful than the Yuyang Prefecture Army."

"I believe Master."

She pursed her lips.

"There is nothing in this world that you can't do."

In the early morning, the army outside the city set out.

The war horses galloped towards the three cities of Yumen with great momentum, and the people along the way cheered.

In Xiliang, countless spies from the miscellaneous Hu tribes brought the news back to the grassland.

……

Ruoqiang tribe.

The tribesmen on the grassland are busy preparing fodder for the winter.
From time to time, a cavalry group would rush towards the tribe, followed by a large number of family members and cattle and sheep.

Normally, the entire tribe would disperse to the surrounding grasslands to graze.

The tribesmen were only called together in times of war.

The king's tent of the Ruoqiang tribe was located at the foot of Long Mountain, in an area with abundant water and grass.

At this time, the tribal cavalry were patrolling all around.

Inside the king's tent.

Helian Bol, the chief of the Ruoqiang tribe, is summoning all the generals under his command.

"Wumutu, I heard that Xiliang has a new governor this year. He is a general under the command of the Marquis of Zhenbei."

"This guy is not easy to mess with. He is a living killer."

"I heard about it too. It seems like they killed tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Northern Wei in Yuyang a few months ago."

"What are you afraid of?"

A leader of the Ruoqiang tribe snorted coldly: "We have changed so many governors in Xiliang, but is it any use? Many of them died under our scimitars."

"No matter what kind of killing god he is, he can only kneel down and surrender under the iron cavalry of us grassland people."

(End of this chapter)