I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 383 The End of the Great Fire of the Sandalwood Tree on Tanhan Mountain

Many of the elderly and weak Xianbei had seen Han people before, but most of the Han people they had seen were dejected and cautious slaves, afraid that they would be killed if they accidentally offended a Xianbei noble.

He was timid and cowering, dressed in rags, and as thin as a ghost.

Where can you find such a fierce and strong soldier?
They never dreamed that the Han cavalry would charge at them on horseback, swords drawn.

Yuan Shu didn't dwell on it. He ordered the Han army to completely destroy the royal court at Tanhan Mountain, and to kill all the Xianbei people until they dared not resist and knelt down to beg for mercy. All buildings were to be destroyed, and everything that could be taken was to be taken. Anything that couldn't be taken was to be burned.

In short, he wanted to make Tanhanshan, a historical stronghold of anti-Han sentiment, a thing of the past.

The Xianbei people fled, pursued by the Han cavalry.

They fled, they chased, but they could not escape.

This raid ended in a complete victory for the Han army, and Yuan Shu specifically issued an order to annihilate them all. So even the Xianbei who managed to escape from the royal court were targeted by the Han cavalry and pursued until they were all killed.

Years of blood feuds were unleashed in a single day, and the intensity of the battle was so fierce and ruthless.

Lu Bu, still Yuan Shu's vanguard, charged forward with his sword, breaking through the Xianbei's multiple defenses in one fell swoop, and stormed into the core of the Danhan Mountain royal court, capturing the residence of Tan Shihuai and his office where he handled daily affairs.

As for Tan Shihuai's family and relatives who wanted to escape, they were captured by Xu Chong, who was eager to make a name for himself.

Xu Chong presented these dozens of people to Yuan Shu like a treasure, which pleased Yuan Shu greatly. He originally wanted to kill them all here, but then he thought that this would not be enough to avenge Tan Shihuai.

So he decided to let these people live first, take them all to Luoyang, and then kill them all in front of Tan Shihuai before he could be torn apart by chariots. Finally, he would tear Tan Shihuai apart by chariots, which would be the most perfect revenge.

Subsequently, Yuan Shu personally led a group to Tan Shihuai's office and found that the decoration was quite luxurious, the architectural style was somewhat similar to that of Han architecture, and it was decorated with gold, as well as many bronze vessels, silver beads and jade, making it magnificent.

Such extravagance is extremely rare even in Luoyang City, demonstrating just how much wealth Tan Shihuai has gained from the plundering and killing over the past twenty years.

And now, all of this belongs to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu waved his hand and gave the order to destroy the place.

Take everything you can, destroy everything you can't, and then burn it all down to the ground, leaving nothing but white ruins. Eradicate every trace of this place that ever existed here, leaving nothing behind.

Because there were so many things that could be burned, the fire burned for three days and three nights before it was finally extinguished.

During these three days, the Han army continued to pursue and intercept the fleeing Xianbei tribesmen while also tallying their impressive victories.

Yes, it was fruitful.

During the twenty years of the Xianbei's rise under the leadership of Tan Shihuai, they not only caused enormous damage to the border prefectures and counties of the Han Empire, but also fought many battles with the Qiang, Xiongnu, Wuhuan and other miscellaneous Hu tribes whose names are not known.

Most of the battles were victories, and few were defeats, so the wealth accumulated through the wars was enormous.

In addition, the exploitation of ordinary Xianbei people by Xianbei nobles such as Tan Shihuai resulted in the Tanhanshan royal court, which was the core of the ruling group, possessing an extremely large amount of wealth.

Gold and silver, various ancient bronzes and lacquerware, as well as many vessels cast in gold and silver, pearls and jade, silks and satins, and even the finest Shu brocade can be found in abundance.

These valuables, which can be directly used as money, are piled up like mountains, dazzling the eyes.

Then there are the most representative symbols of wealth of the grassland tribes—cattle, sheep and horses.

Yuan Shu ordered Huang Zhong to lead a force to raid the livestock-keeping area of ​​the royal court at Tanhan Mountain. Because of the cold weather, most of the livestock were kept in a relatively warm place. Huang Zhong rushed there and easily captured the enormous number of livestock.

That numbered as many as two million cattle, sheep, and horses, of which more than two hundred thousand could be called warhorses, demonstrating that the Xianbei people were indeed very capable in the warhorse industry.

As for other bone products, tents, dried meat, dairy products, etc., they were countless and piled up like mountains.

Of course, population is also an important factor to consider.

Not many people were killed in this raid. At first, many resisted and fled, but later, many Xianbei people knelt down and begged for mercy upon hearing the sound of the Han army's iron hooves, thus surviving.

A rough estimate suggests that over 20,000 men were killed by the Han army at the Danhan Mountain royal court, while nearly 190,000 surrendered.

The pursuit, search, and fighting continue, so the number keeps increasing.

By October 21st, when Yuan Shu began leading his army back into Bingzhou, the number of people killed by the Han army had exceeded 30,000, and the number of those who surrendered or were captured had exceeded 260,000. Including the 70,000 Xianbei troops previously wiped out by the Han army in Bingzhou, and the 300,000 who were wiped out at the royal court in Tanhan Mountain, the Xianbei tribal alliance has, at present, lost 370,000 people.

Their entire tribe's population, according to pre-war estimates, was no more than 600,000.

More than half of the population has been wiped out.

This does not include the spoils of Lu Zhi, Shao Yuan, and Lian Da's three armies.

On the second day of the eleventh month, Yuan Shu led his army to Qiangyin County. By then, winter had arrived, the wind was howling, and the Great Cold was approaching. However, from Yuan Shu down to an ordinary soldier, everyone in the Han army was filled with excitement and their blood was boiling.

No one felt cold.

I even felt a bit hot.

On the way back, Yuan Shu learned of the results of the other three armies.

Lu Zhi led his army north and raided the garrisons of three Xianbei tribes in the central region, eliminating more than 30,000 Xianbei people and acquiring about 160,000 livestock such as cattle, sheep and horses.

Both Lian Da and Shao Yuan's armies attacked the western Xianbei territory. Each of them discovered several settlements of western Xianbei people and launched a major offensive, annihilating more than 40,000 Xianbei people and seizing a large amount of supplies and livestock, including more than 300,000 cattle, sheep and horses.

Especially Shaoyuan.

He launched a surprise attack on a Xianbei tribe that seemed to be responsible for training warhorses. After surrounding and annihilating the tribe, he actually captured more than 10,000 strong warhorses, a huge gain.

This means that the other three Han armies annihilated more than 70,000 Xianbei people in a limited time. Including the previous figures, a total of 440,000 Xianbei people were eliminated.

This number already represents two-thirds of the total population of the Xianbei tribal alliance.

If a group loses two-thirds of its population, especially if it is a group without a fixed settlement, the probability of that group being completely wiped out increases dramatically.

Yuan Shu's Northern Expedition was not actually his last planned Northern Expedition, but rather his first.

With winter approaching, Yuan Shu didn't want his soldiers and warhorses to suffer large-scale losses due to the cold, so he expected this offensive to end in two months at most before heading south and returning. However, he was already very satisfied with the great results achieved in just one month.

Based on current assessments, most of the Xianbei tribes they eliminated were from the central and eastern Xianbei, while the western Xianbei suffered relatively small losses due to their greater distance.

Therefore, Yuan Shu planned to launch another campaign in the spring of the following year, dividing his forces into two routes, one to the east and the other to the west, with the main focus on the west, to completely annihilate the Xianbei tribal alliance and make this ethnic group disappear.

As for the Southern Xiongnu, Qiang, and Wuhuan, there is also a question of their order of precedence on Yuan Shu's side.

After the Xianbei were dealt with, these tribes would certainly also have to be dealt with. However, some tribes were more docile and posed less of a threat, so it was likely that more lenient measures would be taken to disperse them and incorporate them into the household registration of Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Liangzhou, turning them into Han citizens.

Some tribes may not be so obedient, so we need to fight a few battles first to teach them a lesson and let them know who is the master of this land.

Then they were registered in the household register and transformed into Han citizens, thus completely resolving the northern border issue, turning all external problems into internal ones, and then resolving them using traditional methods.

That resolves the issue.

Yuan Shu's next step is to gain control of Youzhou. Not to mention full military and political power, he at least wants to obtain military command of Youzhou so that he can mobilize the troops in Youzhou to carry out missions.

However, shortly afterward, Yuan Shu learned that while he was fighting against Tan Shihuai's southward advance, his father in Luoyang had also arranged for Duan Jiong to lead a force northward to deal with the Xianbei people's attack.

In addition to launching a four-pronged attack on Bingzhou, Tan Shihuai also arranged several detachments to harass Youzhou in order to prevent Youzhou from providing assistance.

Youzhou had suffered heavy losses from three consecutive years of attacks by the Xianbei, leaving it almost powerless to retaliate. Therefore, it could only request the court to send reinforcements to support it.

Duan Jiong was overjoyed to have another opportunity to launch an attack and quickly led his troops north, just in time to witness the escalation of the Xianbei's harassment operations.

The Xianbei forces raided Shanggu Commandery, Yuyang Commandery, Youbeiping Commandery and other places, causing considerable trouble for Youzhou. Youzhou Governor Tian Yan tried his best to hold on, but the Xianbei people also contacted the Wuhuan people in Shanggu Commandery and Dai Commandery to act together, resulting in the devastation of the two commanderies. The governor of Shanggu Commandery was killed in battle because of this.

Fortunately, Duan Jiong arrived with his troops in time, which brought the situation under control.

Duan Jiong personally led his cavalry to fight against the Xianbei cavalry. He fought bravely and quickly won the counterattack. The Xianbei detachment was no match for him and chose to retreat. However, Duan Jiong did not let them off easily and immediately selected elite cavalry to pursue them into the grasslands with him.

Not only that, he also contacted the Wuhuan tribes in Yuyang County and Youbeiping County, ordering them to send 20,000 cavalrymen to attack the Wuhuan people in Shanggu County and Dai County with him, and then head north to attack the Xianbei in the east.

(End of this chapter)