Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

During this turbulent period, the situation in Wuwei County grew increasingly dire. Now, only Ma Teng remained in Wuwei City, a city already in a precarious position. Despite Ma Teng's valiant efforts, he faced a precarious situation, surrounded by Han Sui and his allied forces. They had launched several sieges, but none succeeded.

Despite this favorable situation for Han Sui's coalition forces, worrying news continued to arrive. First, the Western Qiang suddenly launched an attack and led their troops to attack Jincheng, forcing Han Sui to send troops back to Jincheng to relieve the siege, which undoubtedly affected the coalition forces' siege. Then, the Eastern Qiang tribes under Mi Tang were also distracted. They became attracted by the prosperity of Wuwei County and only cared about looting the county. Mi Tang did not seem to put his full efforts into the final siege of Wuwei City.

Meanwhile, Ma Chao's strategy of conquering the Eastern Qiang grasslands had already taken effect, and the various tribes of the Eastern Qiang had lost much of their fighting spirit. To make matters worse, after the court officially appointed Dong Zhuo as a general to suppress Han Sui's rebellion, Dong Zhuo's troops had already marched, putting Han Sui under immense psychological pressure.

King Mi Tang was finding it difficult to control his troops. Although the offensive had been generally successful, the leaders of the smaller tribes began to waver as they suffered losses while sieging cities and seizing territory. Furthermore, they had already plundered a certain amount of supplies, but after suffering casualties, their fighting spirit gradually waned, their only hope being to escort the supplies back and survive the snowstorm as quickly as possible.

It was already May, two months after the initial rebellion. The tribes had plundered a considerable amount of supplies. The leaders of each tribe were eager to return, taking advantage of the abundant grass and water to graze their cattle and sheep, allowing them to continue to reproduce. As a result, their fighting spirit had become unstable, and the overall situation became increasingly precarious.

Han Sui was deeply aware of the importance of Wuwei City, so he urgently summoned King Mi Tang and the leaders of the eight tribes of Xiliang for discussion.

Han Sui spoke earnestly, "If we fail to capture Wuwei City, we will be attacked from all sides when Dong Zhuo arrives with his army. With the Western Qiang's retreat and their incessant looting, our Jincheng Commandery is already becoming unstable, and that scoundrel Ma Chao is burning, slaughtering, and pillaging across the grasslands. Everyone, at this critical moment, we must work together to capture Wuwei City first and stabilize our rear. Only then will we have enough strength to deal with Dong Zhuo's army."

King Mi Tang said angrily, "My army also suffered heavy losses when attacking Wuwei County. Moreover, Ma Chao is still killing and burning in my Dongqiang territory. I really can't understand how Ma Chao was able to come directly from Beidi County to my Dongqiang. After my Xianling Qiang was plundered by him, even the young and strong were slaughtered. With such a deep blood feud, now, whether we can capture Wuwei City or not is of little significance to us. I have sent the leaders of the Ehe and Shaoge tribes with elite troops to snipe and kill Ma Chao. As for Wuwei City, it is still up to you to attack it."

Han Sui followed up on Mi Dang's words and asked, "Chief Yang Qiu, please explain to me in detail how Ma Chao was able to cross Beidi County and reach the Xianrong Qiang tribe."

Yang Qiu was speechless for a moment, unable to come up with a convincing rebuttal. Han Sui knew Yang Qiu was onto something. He then spoke earnestly to the King of Eastern Qiang and the leaders of the various Western Liang tribes, "It may seem like we're only trying to carve up Wuwei this time, but in reality, after taking Wuwei, we'll control the trade routes and, to the west, we can control counties like Jiuquan, and connect with Jincheng, Beidi, and Eastern Qiang. This isn't just a one-county strategy; it's a grand strategy that affects the entire Liang Province. I hope you all won't have too many petty thoughts and will do your best to complete this encirclement. If we can defeat Dong Zhuo's coalition forces and capture Wuwei City, then after defeating Dong Zhuo's army, Western Liang will be ours."

After hearing Han Sui's words, all the leaders were excited and began to get ready to fight.

Seeing this, Han Sui struck while the iron was hot and said, "Our grand strategy is set. The key now is to capture Wuwei City. Each unit should send its elite troops. Which unit will send its elite troops to attack the city first?"

Upon hearing this, the leaders of the various tribes, still insisting they send their troops first, were momentarily displeased. Cheng Yin and Ma Wan muttered, "These past sieges were all risks taken by our tribe, resulting in heavy losses. All the benefits were taken by King Mi Tang's tribe, leaving us with only some open space and a few people, and no baggage or anything else."

Han Sui saw their intentions and still didn't want to send troops. So he said, "My son-in-law Yan Xing will lead our two thousand elite troops in this siege. Each tribe will send at least five hundred elite soldiers to follow. King Mi Tang, please send three thousand Qiang soldiers. Together, we will take Wuwei City."

At this moment, everyone here was still discussing, when suddenly a Qiang soldier came to ask to see King Mi Tang. King Mi Tang asked the Qiang soldier to come in without any consideration for the feelings of Han Sui, the leader of the alliance.

After the Qiang soldiers entered, they reported directly to King Mi Tang that the Ehe and Shaoge tribes had recently encountered Ma Chao and were defeated by him, suffering heavy losses. They had now led their troops back to their respective tribes. Moreover, Ma Chao had now crossed the territories of the Ehe and Shaoge tribes and was heading towards Wuwei City.

King Mi Tang had already been calculating. He mused, "My tribe has already gained considerable practical benefits. For us nomads roaming the grasslands, capturing a city won't offer much practical benefit." Furthermore, the tribes are currently unstable and the situation is complicated. Furthermore, the evil Dong Zhuo is about to lead his troops to attack. This is a perfect opportunity to withdraw and allow Han Sui's coalition forces to fight Dong Zhuo's forces. Once both sides are defeated, the Qiang tribe can then intervene. Wouldn't that be even better, maximizing our benefits?"

This situation, which happened to arise at this moment, presented a perfect opportunity. Taking advantage of it would not only allow me to escape the current predicament but also prevent further losses in the upcoming battle. Furthermore, this would allow me to demonstrate my decisiveness and wisdom to the other tribes, enhancing my prestige within them.

In this way, he could escape unscathed, preserve his existing gains, and gain benefits in other areas. Why not do it? Thinking of this, King Mi Tang had already made a choice.

King Mi Tang pretended to be furious and cursed, "That damned Ma Chao! How many troops does he lead? He's so formidable! He even defeated the Ehe and Shaoge tribes. I'm so angry!" Then he bowed and said to Han Sui, "General Han, I won't fight Wuwei City anymore. I'm going back to the grasslands and will definitely destroy that Ma Chao to relieve my hatred!"

Han Sui tried hard to persuade Mi Tang, but he could not keep him. King Mi Tang left angrily with the Qiang soldiers, leaving only Han Sui and the leaders of the eight tribes of Xiliang in the big tent. Han Sui froze in place, unable to do anything.

Han Sui frowned, looking at the other leaders of the eight Western Liang tribes. He spoke anxiously, "Everyone, King Mi Tang's impulsive departure was truly unexpected. But now that things have come to this, we cannot give up. Dong Zhuo's army hasn't arrived yet, so we must capture Wuwei City first. I will increase Yan Xing's troops to 3,000, and each of you will send 800 soldiers. Together, we will capture Wuwei City in one fell swoop."

Ma Wan curled his lips and said, "This Mi Tang is really unreliable. He fails at the critical moment!"

The candidate also echoed, "Yes, but General Han is right. We can't let him affect our plans."

Cheng Yin nodded and said, "Then according to General Han's suggestion, we can increase Yan Xing's troops and each of us can send 800 soldiers. It's feasible. However, I'm afraid that Wuwei City will not be so easy to capture."

Yang Qiu said worriedly, "The defenders of Wuwei City should not be underestimated. We still need to act with caution."

Han Sui took a deep breath and said, "I understand your concerns, but there's nothing else we can do now. We can only fight with all our might and capture Wuwei City in one fell swoop. As long as we work together, we will succeed!"

The leaders looked at each other, and finally nodded reluctantly, agreeing to Han Sui's plan. They then discussed the details of the troops' deployment in detail, agreeing to march together the next day and capture Wuwei City in one fell swoop.