I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 350 If General Yuan gives the order, my troops will certainly follow!
Starting in the third year of the Zhengshi era, Southern Xiongnu refugees began to appear in Liangzhuang of Xihe Commandery and Liangzhuang of Wuyuan Commandery. At first, their numbers were small, but later they increased.

By the time the statistics were compiled in February of the fifth year of the Zhengshi era, the number of Xiongnu people in Liangzhuang, Xihe Commandery, had exceeded one thousand, and in Wuyuan Commandery, it had exceeded one thousand five hundred, and they had already taken shape.

It was because of this that Yuan Shucai worried that the Xianbei people would sow discord and cause chaos within the Southern Xiongnu, which in turn would lead to chaos throughout Bingzhou.

At times like these, the stance of Tut and others becomes extremely important.

So at the welcome banquet, in addition to feasting and enjoying traditional Xiongnu songs and dances, Yuan Shu also made a point of showing off.

He already had a huge appetite, and he devoured an entire bowl of mutton placed in front of him. His unrestrained eating style made Tu Te Chanyu look at him with disdain.

After Yuan Shu finished the entire bowl of mutton, Tu Te Chanyu and a group of high-ranking Southern Xiongnu officials were astonished.

Does this guy eat that much?
After finishing the pot of mutton, Yuan Shu wiped his mouth with lingering satisfaction, then pointed to a large, fat sheep that was used for ceremonial purposes not far away and said that he wanted to eat the meat of that fat sheep.

"That fat sheep is quite robust, and its meat must be incredibly tender. This general is not yet full. I wonder if the Chanyu would be willing to part with it?"

Tute Chanyu immediately stood up.

"General Yuan wants to eat a fat mutton, how can I refuse? Someone, bring a knife, I will personally slaughter the fat mutton for General Yuan and roast the fattest piece for him!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu laughed heartily and waved his hand.

"This general desires to eat mutton; why should the Chanyu need to lift a finger? Chanyu, please sit! Fengxian, I've heard your archery skills are quite good; could you perhaps shoot that fat mutton for me?"

Lu Bu, who was sitting below Yuan Shu, was eating mutton and drinking mare's milk wine when he heard Yuan Shu make a request, and immediately stood up.

He glanced at the location of the fat sheep, then smiled confidently and nodded.

"The general has given the order, and I will obey it!"

After saying this, Lü Bu wiped his hands and had the soldiers around him hand him his hard bow.

The hard bow used by Lü Bu was several times stronger, larger, and harder than the bows used by ordinary skilled archers. In the entire Tianxiong Army, the only one who could rival him in bow strength was Xu Chong, who had trained his strength with Yuan Shu since childhood.

Xu Chong was slightly better than Lü Bu in foot archery, but far inferior to Lü Bu in horse archery. Lü Bu was accurate not only with foot archery but also with horse archery, making him a master of moving targets, which was very rare.

He can shoot extremely accurately at moving targets, let alone stationary targets.

The fat sheep was tied to a post, lying on the ground with its eyes half-closed. The sunlight shone on its body, making it seem very comfortable, completely unaware that it had entered the countdown to its death.

Lu Bu took the powerful bow, nocked an arrow, bent the bow, aimed, his muscles bulged, veins popped on his forehead, and his gaze was as fierce and sharp as a tiger. Even before the arrow was fired, his aura had already surprised many Xiongnu nobles.

Then Lu Bu roared and the arrow shot out at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, the arrow accurately pierced the fat sheep's body. The fat sheep screamed and its entire body was even rolled backward by the arrow. The arrow even passed through its body and pierced through the fat sheep.

Lu Bu's divine strength was terrifying.

Such divine archery left the high-ranking nobles of the Southern Xiongnu, including Tu Te, dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe that Lü Bu possessed such extraordinary prowess.

But it's not over.

Yuan Shu then looked at Xu Chong.

"Chong, I love your grilling skills the most. Such a good piece of lamb is a waste if you don't grill it. Why don't you do it?"

Xu Chong, who was used to Lü Bu's behavior, was tearing into mutton when he heard Yuan Shu's request. He knew his chance to shine had come, so he immediately stood up.

"Here!"

After saying that, he ran over, picked up the dead fat sheep with one hand, swung it up, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and walked to the side.

This fat sheep was extremely large, weighing no less than two hundred pounds. Xu Chong lifted it with one hand and carried it on one shoulder with ease, showing that he was another warrior with immense strength.

The Xiongnu nobles unconsciously swallowed, clearly showing great admiration for the two warriors, Lü Bu and Xu Chong.

Tut praised it repeatedly.

"I never imagined the general had such brave warriors under his command! No wonder the general was able to defeat the Xianbei so easily!"

Yuan Shu laughed loudly.

"The Xianbei traitors are wolves in sheep's clothing, repeatedly invading the territory of our Han Dynasty. In the past, we simply let it go, but who would have thought they would become even more audacious? This time, they have truly angered this general. This general has decided to launch a campaign against the Xianbei soon and completely annihilate them!"

Yuan Shu finished his drink and slammed the glass back onto the table with a thud.

"That despicable Tan Shihuai has repeatedly invaded the territory of my Great Han! This is intolerable! This time, I will make him vanish into thin air and exterminate his entire tribe!"

Yuan Shu's fierce tone and unwavering will inexplicably shocked the Xiongnu nobles, including Tu Te Chanyu. Some were simply shocked, while others felt a little fear and worry.

Tu Te seemed to have thought of something, and his expression turned slightly awkward. However, he had nothing to hide, so he quickly composed himself and cheered for Yuan Shu's lofty ambitions. Judging from his demeanor, Yuan Shu probably guessed that his stance was not problematic, and whether there were internal problems within the Southern Xiongnu was no longer important.

After Lü Bu and Xu Chong displayed their power here, Yuan Shu believed that the Southern Xiongnu should be able to determine who would ultimately win.

So later that day, on their way to inspect the living conditions of the Southern Xiongnu tribes, Yuan Shu simply spoke his mind.

"Chanyu, I anticipate that by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, the Xianbei will march south to Bingzhou, and the scale will not be small, probably around 30,000 to 50,000 people. At that time, I hope that the Southern Xiongnu can send troops to assist me in the battle."

Tu Te was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized the situation and nodded.

"If General Yuan has such a request, our troops will certainly follow suit. As long as General Yuan gives the order, our troops will definitely gather and follow General Yuan into battle."

Yuan Shu nodded.

“That’s excellent. I was initially worried that you wouldn’t be willing to join the Han army.”

Tu Te shook his head repeatedly.

"How could that be? Our troops have received the favor of the Emperor of Han, so it is only natural for us to send troops to fight for the Han."

"If that's the case, why didn't you report to me that the Xianbei people came looking for you?"

Yuan Shu looked at Tu Te with a smile.

Tu Te was stunned for a moment, staring wide-eyed at Yuan Shu's smiling face. He then immediately dismounted and knelt on one knee in front of Yuan Shu.

"General Yuan! Please investigate thoroughly! My tribe has absolutely no intention of betraying the Han Dynasty! That is absolutely impossible! Although the Xianbei did send some people to contact my tribe, their suggestions have been completely rejected by me! I have not accepted their suggestions!"

"Then why didn't you report this to me?"

Yuan Shu still had this problem and didn't intend to let Tu Te go.

Tu Te swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"It's not that I don't want to say it, it's that I'm afraid to say it..."

"Why not?"

"Because there was a previous incident where the Xiongnu General and the Chanyu had a falling out and some disputes arose, such an incident is really very dangerous for our troops. I urge the General to investigate carefully!"

Seeing Tu Te's attitude and hearing him come up with such a reason, Yuan Shu basically believed that what he said was true.

Because the Han Empire's Envoy to the Xiongnu had a certain degree of control over the surrendered Southern Xiongnu, and was relatively powerful and even domineering, it was a fact that the Han Empire was in a powerful and domineering position for most of the years when the Han Empire and the Southern Xiongnu were in a love-hate relationship.

Even the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu placed himself in a subordinate position when facing the Envoy to the Xiongnu, unable to compete with him.

Ultimately, although the Han Empire did give some money to the Southern Xiongnu tribes, that money was intended as a reward and a means of resettlement, and it was not the annual tribute that the Song Dynasty later paid. The Han Empire still maintained a superior attitude towards these surrendered tribes.

It's understandable that Tu Te was somewhat worried, fearing that he would be held accountable and punished.

Yuan Shu then dismounted and bent down to help Tu Te up.

"I consider this battle extremely important. I need to ensure that we win this battle, so any risks that can be eliminated must be eliminated before the battle. Please do not blame me, Chanyu. If we win this battle, I will give you one-third of the spoils."

Tu Te had heard about Yuan Shu's style of doing things and knew that Yuan Shu had a reputation for keeping his word, so he nodded.

"If General Yuan said this, I will choose to believe him, and if General Yuan gives any further orders, my troops will certainly follow him!"

Since Tu Te had said so, Yuan Shu chose to believe him. The two high-fived three times and swore to the heavens that they would never betray each other.

After resolving this matter, Yuan Shu stayed in the Southern Xiongnu tribe for another three days. During these three days, he and Tu Te organized two targeted duels between Han soldiers and Xiongnu warriors.

One competition was a contest of strength, and the other was a contest of archery and horsemanship.

In the strength contest, Xu Chong naturally took the lead. The two sides competed by grappling with each other, and Xu Chong defeated six strongmen of the Xiongnu in a row, winning cheers from the audience.

As for the archery competition, it was naturally Lü Bu who stepped forward. He rode a fine horse and galloped across the battlefield, shooting arrows with both hands from horseback. Every arrow hit its mark, striking the heart of the target. Tu Te exclaimed that he was a divine archer and a flying general.

Yuan Shu considered the strategy of using both kindness and force against the Southern Xiongnu to be very successful. After that, Yuan Shu did not rush back to Jinyang County, but continued to travel north to Shuofang County, Yunzhong County and other places to inspect the construction and military preparations of Liangzhuang, in order to guard against the invasion of the Xianbei people.

When he finally returned to Jinyang County after completing his inspection tour, the latest news he received was that the Xianbei people were still training that infantry force, and were even practicing infantry tactics such as military formations. It seemed that they really intended to use this force on the battlefield in Han territory.

As autumn deepened into the fifth year of the Zhengshi era, Yuan Shu received some news.

Gaoxian County of Xuantu Commandery was captured by the Xianbei army.

(End of this chapter)