Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 174 Caught off guard
What this world lacks the most is indeed some smart people, and sometimes they even have similar ideas by coincidence.

The Wusun chose to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between two tigers. Whether it was the Han attacking Cheshi or the Han-Xiongnu war, they were unwilling to take part because that was not in their interests.

As long as the Han army cannot rule the Western Regions and cannot gain a foothold in the Western Regions, this is in their interest. When necessary, they can help the Xiongnu.

The Han army was thinking of launching a pincer attack, trying to drive the Huns away from both sides and then launch a decisive battle in one go.

But the Huns were not fools. They knew that the Han army had traveled thousands of miles on an expedition, so they planned to make a detour and attack the rear of the Han army.

After returning to the royal city, Huo Xian's expression was extremely serious. "Call the generals from the rank of colonel and above, and have the messenger get ready."

Feng Wu immediately brought the silk and Huo Xian began to write a military intelligence report. This had to be sent to Chang'an immediately. This was an absolutely big deal.

Although many people did not understand the situation, since the Grand Marshal was raising his troops and gathering his generals, they naturally had to rush over. This was an absolutely big deal, and perhaps a major war was about to break out.

The general handed the report to the messenger, and Huo Xian said, "Express it, send it to Chang'an immediately!"

There were some things that Huo Xian didn't need to worry about, as the Han army already had certain systems in place. Such an emergency was of course extremely urgent, and everyone knew exactly how to send it off.

Seeing the messenger turn around and run out of the tent, Huo Xian asked seriously, "Are all the people here?"

Gongsun Ao reported solemnly, "Reporting to the Grand Marshal, all the military officers in the city have arrived, except for the lieutenants who stayed behind to garrison troops in various places."

That's fine, the garrison point is far away, it's not something that can be reached in one or two hours. So even if they gather the generals, they won't target those people.

Since what was supposed to come has all come, this can only mean that the Han army has good military quality, and there is no need for Huo Xian to think of killing someone on the battlefield as a sacrifice to deter others.

Everyone was not a fool. Huo Xian's background, status, and official position were all there. In addition, he had enough military achievements. Even if he seemed a little young, he would not cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers.

Huo Xian said straight to the point, "Li Ling, your troops should withdraw from the valley, leaving 500 men on each side of the valley. Prepare enough arrows, rolling stones and logs to prevent the Qie Mi people from rushing out of the valley."

Although Li Ling was a little surprised, this was not the time to express any objection, even though the military order he had received before was to test and eliminate some of the Qiemi people.

But that's how things are on the battlefield. There will always be some changes, and plans cannot keep up with the changes, so naturally adjustments need to be made at any time.

The officers in the tent were also a little surprised. Previously, the Qiemi people had been blocking the valley, and the Han army was preventing the Qiemi people from ambushing them. But now it seemed that the Han army was preparing to ambush the Qiemi people.

However, there is nothing wrong with these changes. They are all necessary for war. As long as we can kill the enemy and make achievements, this is obviously enough. This is the most important thing.

Li Ling had no objection, let alone others. Many people were ready to fight. They had been resting and preparing for war these days, looking for opportunities to fight, but they had never been able to do so.

With such a sudden major adjustment, something big must have happened, perhaps a war is imminent. In the eyes of some people, this is a good opportunity to achieve success.

Huo Xian then looked at Gongsun Ao and said, "Marquis Yiqiu, quickly adjust the scouts you sent out and slightly expand the scope of your exploration. Especially focus on investigating places like Cheshi and Yuli."

This military order puzzled some people, as Cheshi, Yuli and other places were all in the "south", behind the army.

The most important thing is that these countries had either been destroyed or crippled before, and no one believed that these countries had the ability to form an army to harass the Han army again.

But even if they didn't understand, there was nothing they could do, because only Huo Xian knew a lot of military intelligence, and the others just had to execute well at this time.

Gongsun Ao was also unequivocal, "Don't worry, Grand Marshal. I will immediately arrange for the scouts to arrive."

Huo Xian nodded slightly, and then said to Zhao Anguo, "Let the scouts go to the Wusun direction to investigate clearly, and report immediately if there is any sign of a large group of people. A team of five people, one person with a celestial horse."

The officers in the tent were more serious. It was considered good for the general scouts to ride Wusun horses. But now there were five people in a team, and one of them was a Ferghana horse, which meant that the Wusun direction was the focus.

The Grand Marshal must have received some intelligence, so he took it very seriously. Could it be that the people of Wusun actually defected to the Xiongnu?
Huo Xian didn't care what others were thinking and immediately said, "The rest of the troops should hurry up and prepare their arrows and weapons. The war horses should be fed with concentrated feed in the next two days and should not be trained lightly."

Everyone agreed that they had to conserve their energy before the war. Not only did the horses need to be well fed, but the soldiers also needed to be in the best condition to fight.

Therefore, it is very necessary to practice less and save your physical strength so that it can be used when needed. This is the more critical thing.

The captains left the tent one after another and began to carry out some pre-war preparations in an orderly manner, but this was obviously not enough.

"Princess Jieyou sent a message that the Xiongnu may have borrowed the road from Wusun." Huo Xian spread out the map and said, "According to their speed, the Xiongnu may be able to reach us in three days."

Gongsun Ao was stunned for a moment, then said, "These people are barbarians after all, they are really unreliable!"

Zhao Anguo and others were also united in their hatred of the enemy, and it was obvious that their dissatisfaction with the Wusun had reached its peak. It would have been fine if they had not sent troops before, but they were still thinking of getting benefits for free, and now they were secretly helping the Xiongnu.

Huo Xian said seriously, "Now is not the time to hold Wusun accountable. It is not a good time to touch them for the time being. If they are really provoked, they might mobilize tens of thousands of troops to join forces with the Xiongnu."

Others were silent. Although they were dissatisfied with Wusun, they still had to acknowledge its strength. It was not particularly difficult for them to form 30,000 cavalry.

At this critical juncture, it would be a bad idea to push such a force into the hands of the Huns, otherwise the Han army would be under even greater pressure.

Zhao Anguo looked at Huo Xian and asked, "My Lord, did Her Royal Highness Princess tell us how many troops the Xiongnu have?"

Huo Xian shook his head and said, "I don't know about that. Feng Ling was smart enough to get the information out, but I'm afraid there will be a lot of troops. It's scary to think about it. The Huns almost caught us off guard."

This is not an exaggeration. Although the Han army was prepared for Wusun, the defense was limited, and they did not consider that the Xiongnu army was coming from the direction of Wusun. If it were not for the help of Princess Jieyou and Feng Ling, the Han army might have been caught off guard. Even if they found out the news, they might be two or three days late.

Two or three days are really important, as they are related to the Han army's preparations for war, its baggage, its troop deployment and tactics, and other arrangements.

The news brought by Princess Jieyou and Feng Ling showed that the Huns' surprise attack plan had basically failed. They might even be counterattacked by the Han army, or they might have to face off head-on.

Gongsun Ao said in some distress, "Grand Marshal, this means that the strength of the Xiongnu is unknown, and we naturally don't know how to fight them."

This is the truth. We really don't know how many troops the Huns have, so even if we want to make some targeted arrangements, it would be a bit difficult.

Zhao Anguo said, "Lord, I think we should guard the grain route now. These Xiongnu people also know that my army has traveled thousands of miles. Although we have supplies after defeating two countries, it is not easy to transport them up."

Huo Xian agreed with this view very much. "I am also worried about this. Whether it is transporting grain from Yuanqu City, Jiaohe City, or Luntai, it is not a simple matter."

Those three places were the Han army's logistics transit bases in the Western Regions, and they also stockpiled a lot of supplies. Especially in Luntai, that was where the Han army was preparing for the winter.

Huo Xian was naturally worried about this, and said, "Let Tian Ren lead a part of the troops back first. Luntai must not be lost. Let Ren An speed up and transport some food first. Yuanqu City and Jiaohe City don't need to be taken away."

Losing the two royal cities was not a burden at all for Huo Xian. They were not towns of the Han Dynasty, so there was naturally no need to defend them.

Luntai is different. It is the Han Dynasty’s garrison point and has a large amount of baggage. This naturally means that it needs to be defended. It is a strategic point that cannot be lost.

Everyone seemed to have no objection to this and they all understood the importance of Luntai. There would definitely be no harm in strengthening the city defenses and increasing defensive forces.

Although the defense of Luntai was not that strong, it could still be held. With sufficient supplies, thousands of soldiers could hold back tens of thousands of Huns for a while.

Huo Xian looked at Zhao Anguo and said, "You lead the Yulin Army as the vanguard and go to the direction of Wusun. Do not fight if you encounter the enemy. Find out the number of enemies and their direction of travel, and then come back quickly."

Zhao Anguo immediately took the order. Although there were scouts going out to investigate, they could not rely entirely on the scouts for everything. A small vanguard was also needed to prevent harassment from the Huns' vanguards.

These are obviously not trivial matters. The war could very well start at any time, so of course we need to be prepared.

"It's not good for the army to stay in the city. It would be inconvenient if we get besieged." Huo Xian said, "The cavalry should form a battle array outside the city, and the infantry should also be ready at all times."

Gongsun Ao had no objection to this. In fact, as far as the Han army was concerned, they really preferred to have a decisive battle with the Huns in the wild. An annihilation battle was actually an advantage for the Han army.

For the Han army, it was not about defending the territory, etc. The most important thing for them was to kill a large number of Huns. This was the key.

It is very necessary to deploy the battle formation. Otherwise, the Han army would be surrounded by the Huns and would become passive, which is definitely not a good choice.

After Zhao Anguo and others left, Huo Xian carefully observed the map, thinking about the possible attack points of the Xiongnu army. He did not think that the Xiongnu would attack directly, but they might take a detour.

"If the Xiongnu really stretch their supply lines, I can do the same." Huo Xian thought about it carefully and felt worried again, "The Xiongnu are the type who fight and run, so they don't have a lot of baggage."

Compared with the Han army, the Xiongnu were indeed the type that "traveled lightly and had few followers". They did not carry too much baggage and so on.

But these people are not completely without supplies. They also need to bring some arrows, food, cattle, sheep, etc., otherwise it will be difficult to continuously supply the army.

If the Huns' food supply was really cut off, it would certainly cause them to lose their footing. Even though it seemed that the Huns could also get food locally in the Western Regions, it would be difficult to do so.

"If this is the case, I have to find a way." Huo Xian thought carefully, "Wusun, the success or failure of this battle still depends on Wusun."

Wait a little longer. It is not advisable to alert the enemy now. We need to be more cautious. If our thoughts are exposed in advance, the Huns may respond.

Being caught off guard is the most important thing at the moment. This is true for the Han army and the Xiongnu as well.

The Huns may have thought that since they were coming very suddenly and covertly, these people would feel that they had a chance to stage a magic show of descending from the sky and give the Han army a big shock.

However, those people certainly did not expect that their whereabouts had been basically exposed. The Han army was now ready to meet the enemy, and the army was also quickly adjusting and formulating tactics.

The Han army is now planning to give the Huns a sudden surprise so that they will not have time to react.

In the final analysis, it is to catch the enemy off guard. Only in this way can we seize more initiative in the battle, or achieve a great victory.

Chen Ju rushed back exhausted and said, "My Lord, the princess has been sent back. Before we entered the city, the princess's guards were waiting outside."

Huo Xian nodded and then asked, "Did you see any traces of the Xiongnu along the way?"

Chen Ju shook his head and said, "I didn't see it. Her Highness the Princess did say on the way that the Wusun were very likely to gather their troops. I'm afraid that Dalu didn't just deliberately withdraw and leave a path for the Xiongnu to send out their troops."

Wusun now consists of Liejiaomi's troops, Junxumi's troops, and Dalu's troops. Liejiaomi's troops are slightly more, but it can be regarded as a three-way balance of power, and no one will act rashly.

Now that Dalu has voluntarily withdrawn, apart from the fact that he suddenly obeyed without any reason, it must be because he was given some benefits or faced some pressure.

He had just withdrawn his territory when the Huns came. How could it be such a coincidence?
If we really use the land conquered by the Han army as bargaining chips, it is not impossible. Anyway, these are things that can be obtained without any effort.

After all, we still need to be cautious!

(End of this chapter)