My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 180 Ten Thousand People Attack
Zhangwu is still relatively safe at present.

The fighting on the front line was shocking, and fortresses like Luwu and Zhangwu, which required heavy troops to capture, were no longer in the Xianbei people's plan.

The Mayi Great Wall Pass was originally built to guard against the Hu people. Not only were the city defenses tall and strong, but the facilities were also basically built for defense. In addition, with the supply of food, weapons and armor from the four alliances, the pass had sufficient money, grain, and armor. Moreover, the Mayi Great Wall Pass was guarded entirely by professional soldiers, and with an unparalleled general like Lu Bu in command, it was even more indestructible.

Although Bingzhou and Youzhou Great Wall Pass no longer have a standing army of 300,000 like in the Western Han Dynasty and their size has been reduced significantly, there are still 10,000 to 20,000 elite soldiers.

Therefore, for the safety of their retreat, the Xianbei people's 50,000 reserve troops were held back by these elite soldiers at the pass and could not move.

As for the miserable Southern Xiongnu, not only were they extremely poor, but in a sense they had been forced into a desperate situation by the Xianbei. The Xianbei were also troubled by these tens of thousands of Southern Xiongnu and were absolutely unwilling to provoke them easily. Therefore, although Lu Yi's father-in-law Hexutuo and his Hunye tribe suffered heavy losses, they were able to catch their breath and recover a little thanks to the supplies from the Eastern Han court.

Now we just have to wait for the outcome of the battle between the Han army and the Xianbei people.

The Han army currently has 150,000 troops, and in addition there are tens of thousands of city garrison troops and more than 10,000 border troops in Youzhou and Bingzhou.

However, most of the soldiers defending the city had mediocre combat effectiveness. If they went out of the city for a field battle, it would be exactly what the Xianbei people wanted. It would be better for them to defend the city honestly. Although the more than 10,000 border troops were elite, they were closely watched by the 50,000 Xianbei troops and could not move at all.

However, the Southern Xiongnu could still barely gather together an army of 50,000 vassal soldiers to boost the morale of the Han army.

The Xianbei people could mobilize an army of more than 200,000.

As time went by, the battle power between the two sides gradually began to slide in favor of the Han army.

The Han army was fighting at home, with the entire Central Plains at its back. As long as the Xianbei people did not withdraw from the Great Wall, a steady stream of soldiers, food and supplies would be transported to Jizhou, and then to the camps of Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun.

But the Xianbei people were like rootless water; every death meant one less person.

Although the gap in the Great Wall has always been firmly in the hands of the Xianbei people.

However, the biggest disadvantage of the Xianbei people compared to the Han Dynasty was their insufficient population.

Including the entire Xianbei people, including men, women, young and old, and even the ethnic minorities under their command, the population was at most three to four million.

The official population of the Han Empire alone was 50 million, not counting the number of people from the aristocratic families who were in hiding or fleeing.

Therefore, these 300,000 troops are already the elite of the Xianbei people. Even though there are still more than 2 million people outside the Great Wall, the cattle and sheep of various ethnic groups need to be grazed. Animal husbandry itself is a population-intensive industry. If all the manpower is transferred to the interior, it would be tantamount to ignoring all the livestock in the northern part of the Great Wall. If the war fails, the Xianbei people may even be wiped out.

Therefore, the cunning Tan Shihuai would never be so ignorant.

Moreover, to be fair, the Xianbei people achieved great results this year.

The entire Hebei Province has been destroyed. Even if they now completely abandon the territories occupied by Youzhou and Bingzhou and retreat back to the outside of the Great Wall, it would already be a great victory.

After this battle, it would take Hebei two to three years to recover, and it would take seven to eight years to restore the population and prosperity before the Xianbei invasion.

However, it was this great victory that gave the Xianbei nobles a false sense of victory.

Even though Tan Shihuai tried his best to control it, the Xianbei people were unwilling to give up the half of Youzhou and Bingzhou they had already obtained.

Instead, a kind of fanaticism arose in the hearts of the Xianbei people.

They wanted to recreate the great battle of three years ago, defeat the hastily organized resistance of the Han people, completely occupy Hebei, and even rule the Central Plains.

But ideals are full of hope.

The reality is very skinny.

The Xianbei people have run out of food and fodder. They have no food to eat!
The Xianbei people have been invading the interior for more than half a year.

Three hundred thousand people do not engage in production, and the food and fodder consumed every day are countless.

Although they looted a lot of money and food from Hebei, they could not sustain such consumption.

What's even more fatal is that they have a lot of money.

However, since the war with the Han Dynasty, it has cut off its own trade routes.

The Xianbei people were like beggars holding gold. They were despised by all shops and could not buy the food, weapons, equipment and other supplies they desperately needed even with their money.

This is also related to Lu Yi.

If he had not gone to war with Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping for his own selfish reasons, killed Zhang Shiping, destroyed the Zhongshan Chamber of Commerce, and drove Su Shuang to Mobei.

Then, with the Zhongshan Chamber of Commerce as a link, the situation of the Xianbei people will be much better.

At least he could use the large sum of money in his hands to exchange for the supplies he urgently needed from Su Shuang, thus forming a positive cycle.

The more they robbed, the more supplies they could buy, and the more supplies they had, the more they could support the Xianbei people's fighting power.

But now that the Zhongshan Chamber of Commerce is gone, the countless copper coins in the hands of the Xianbei people seem to have become scrap iron. Not only can they not be used, but they also occupy precious transportation capacity.

But the Xianbei people could be said to be half-barbarians. This was the first time they had so much money. It was absolutely impossible for them to throw away the more than 1 billion copper coins they had obtained.

Therefore, Tan Shihuai had no choice but to order most of the Xianbei people to continue confronting the Han army on the front line.

A small number of Xianbei people organized themselves into several teams of more than 10,000 people to search for food, but the county town was too difficult to attack. Tan Shihuai had no choice but to target some county towns and the fortresses of large clans.

Unfortunately, Lu Yi's Luwu was on the list of targets to be attacked by the Xianbei people.

Logically speaking, although Luwu was a medium-sized fortress, it was located in a remote border area and should not have been favored by the Xianbei people.

However, because of Su Shuang's advice to Budugen, who was at a loss as his trade routes were cut off, Budugen immediately reported Su Shuang's suggestion to the Xianbei Chanyu Tan Shihuai.

Tan Shihuai keenly realized that if he could kill Lu Yi and support Su Shuang, it would be very likely that he could immediately establish a trade route loyal to the Xianbei people.

Su Shuang’s legacy is still there, and most of the members of the Zhongshan Chamber of Commerce are still alive.

If Su Shuang was brought to the forefront and some benefits were given up, the Xianbei army might be able to buy the urgently needed food and fodder from these wealthy merchants.

After all, no matter how valuable copper coins are, they cannot be eaten. They still have to be spent to realize their true value.

Tan Shihuai had 1 billion copper coins in his hand, so even if he was cheated by these unscrupulous businessmen, he could still buy a lot of food.

It can be said that it solved the urgent problem.

Therefore, Lu Yi and Lu Wu unfortunately came into the sight of the Xianbei Khan Tan Shihuai.

An elite force of 10,000 people was galloping towards Jiuyuan.

……

(End of this chapter)