Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

"what?"

Upon hearing that Zhang Mo was leading troops to fight the Xiongnu, Lü Bu's face suddenly changed. "When did she leave? How many people did she take with her? Where did she go?"

Zhang Liao said, "Five days before you arrived, two thousand men went to Xihe County to stop the Xiongnu vanguard."

"Why don't you stop her? This is her business."

Lü Bu's concern was so intense that he couldn't help but sound a bit angry. He couldn't tell if he was angry that Zhang Liao, a Bingzhou officer, had sent a female bandit to stop the enemy, or that Zhang Mo had nothing better to do than to play with his own life.

Zhang Liao said helplessly, "Don't you understand her? How can I stop her? I wanted to send troops to help her, but she found out that the Xiongnu vanguard only had a few thousand men. She refused to let me help, saying her own men could handle it. I asked her why she would do such a thankless task, and she said she wanted to use the Xiongnu to gain more experience for her soldiers..."

At this point, Zhang Liao looked thoughtful. "I guess what she meant by gaining experience points is to give the soldiers more real-world combat practice?! This girl is incredibly brave. Her bandits are already very strong, why do they need experience points? She's making her soldiers so strong, what exactly is she trying to do?"

Lü Bu frowned. This was the point that puzzled him. The last time he went north, it was to seize war horses, which made sense, but what was he planning this time? If it was to protect himself, why would he initiate the attack?

There was no point in thinking about this now. Lü Bu's thoughts were now completely focused on Zhang Mo. He immediately said to Zhang Liao, "Hurry and organize the troops. We'll move camp tomorrow!"

"Yes!" Zhang Liao bowed. Seeing Lü Bu's worried expression, he added, "Don't worry, brother. I've sent scouts to keep an eye on the news. Amo's men stopped at Wangfeng Valley the other day, probably hoping to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. Her two thousand men, with their advantageous terrain, should have no problem taking on the five thousand Xiongnu."

Hearing him say this, Lu Bu felt a little relieved, but he still had to rush over as soon as possible. If Amo successfully wiped out the Huns' vanguard, he could lead his army directly to Xihe County and eliminate the Huns as soon as possible. He could also enter Jinyang as soon as possible and see Amo every day.

…………

Bingzhou is located in the upper right part of the Yellow River's "J" shape. The Hetao Plain in the north is flat and suitable for horse racing. That is why Emperor Guangwu settled the Xiongnu, a nomadic people, here. This time, when the Southern Xiongnu royal court rebelled, the Xiongnu cavalry went south along the "J"-shaped valley plain of the Yellow River to Xihe County, and quickly captured the four counties of Linxian, Gaolang, Lishi and Zhongyang near the Yellow River. Xing Ji and Zhang Yi were ambushed by the Xiongnu cavalry, and with no strategic locations to defend, their defeat was reasonable.

But Taiyuan County was different. Taiyuan County and Xihe County were separated by the Luliang Mountains. The Fenshui, Wenshui, Yuangongshui and other rivers flowing through Taiyuan all originated here. The mountainous terrain with gullies was particularly unfavorable to the Xiongnu cavalry. That was why the Xiongnu did not make any move after conquering Xihe County.

After Zhang Yi died in battle, Zhang Liao and others were leaderless. In addition, Xihe County had already fallen, so they could only integrate their troops and retreat to Taiyuan. On the one hand, they sent people to investigate the movements of the Huns, and on the other hand, they waited for the court to send someone to take charge of the situation.

Lu Bu's actions were relatively quick, but the Huns were even faster. After planning the route to Taiyuan, they sent a vanguard of 5,000 to clear the way. However, these people were blocked by Zhang Mo's men in the Wangfeng Valley of Luliang Mountain.

Wangfeng Valley was formed by the alluvial deposits of Wenshui River, which originated from the Luliang Mountains. The terrain is high in the west and low in the east, resembling an inclined pocket with slopes on both sides and a flat river valley in the middle. It is considered a relatively spacious place in the Luliang Mountains.

The reason why Zhang Mo chose to wait for the enemy to tire out here was that the distance from the hillsides on both sides to the middle river valley was just beyond the range of an arrow. If ordinary archers ambushed on the hillsides, they would not be able to cause any harm to the troops in the middle of the river valley, but longbowmen could, which could reduce the enemy's vigilance and catch them by surprise.

Secondly, there is a pocket-shaped mouth about ten miles upstream of Wangfeng Valley, which is extremely narrow. Once the Huns are defeated and hunted by them, turning back will mean death.

It was because the terrain here was too dangerous that the Huns had been reluctant to attack Taiyuan. This time they sent 5,000 vanguards to eliminate the ambush on this road.

The Xiongnu soldiers set out from Lishi County and explored all possible ambushes along the way. When they reached the mouth of the valley, they sent people to search the mountain. Only after confirming that there were no ambushes on either side did they enter the valley. However, before the team had fully entered, the scouts who were exploring the road ahead reported that a group of black mountain bandits had been spotted in the middle of the valley ahead.

Since Zhang Mo came up with a plan to use bandits to drive out the Hu at the beginning of the year, the Black Mountain bandits could often be seen in several northern counties. There were even large Black Mountain troops going to plunder the Xianbei. The Xiongnu vanguard general Hu Fu was not surprised to discover the Black Mountain bandit troops. After finding out that the other side had only a few hundred people, he felt more relieved.

However, their main purpose this time was to clear the road. If these bandits had been sensible and retreated back to Taihang on their own, there would have been no need for them to take action.

Hu Fu allowed the troops to continue to advance while sending someone who could speak Chinese to negotiate.

Half an hour later, the negotiator returned and reported, "The bandit leader said that they have come a long way from Taihang Mountain, and it is impossible to retreat, but they can make way for the middle passage so that we can pass through it."

"Why is there such an arrogant villain? Don't you fear death?"

Hu Fu's anger was instantly ignited, and he asked in a deep voice, "Do you have armor, thief? Do you have weapons or horses?"

The man who replied shook his head, "Only the first few have iron armor, the others are all wearing cloth or leather armor. They do have some sharp weapons, and several hundred war horses."

"To be able to assemble several hundred cavalrymen, he seems quite wealthy. No wonder he's so arrogant. Have you asked him where he and his men are going?"

"They said... they wanted to rob the Xiongnu of their cattle and sheep, and gain experience along the way. They also asked what we did and whether we were accomplices of the Black Mountain faction. The leader even asked me about the current situation in Xihe County."

"Robbery? Gain experience?" Hu Fu was stunned for a moment, then he shouted angrily, "It really is the Black Mountain Bandits! So how do you respond to them?"

"I'll just go along with what he said. We are also Black Mountain bandits who just came back from doing business."

Hu Fu nodded and said, "You are quite clever. Let's disguise ourselves as Black Mountain bandits and kill them when they are least prepared."

The Southern Xiongnu had been dependent on the Han Dynasty for many years, and many of them had been assimilated into the Han Dynasty, so it was easy for them to pretend to be Han people. Hu Fu ordered the soldiers wearing Han clothes to walk in front, and the team marched towards the middle of the valley in a mighty manner.

Hu Fu observed the terrain on both sides along the way. There was a river blocking the left side, and the hillside on the right was quite far away. There were dense bushes in front of the hillside. Even if there were ambushes, it would be difficult for the men and horses to rush over.

After walking for half an hour, they saw the Black Mountain team resting by the river in the distance. Some of the bandits were washing their hands by the river, some were feeding their horses, and some were chewing dry food. They took their positions when they saw them coming. The strong man in the lead waved his hand towards them, as if to greet them.

Hu Fu said to a deputy general, "The bandits are not on guard, prepare for a surprise attack."

The deputy general nodded and passed the order down. The thousand cavalrymen at the front of the team gripped their spears tightly and gathered their strength secretly.

"kill!"

When they were a hundred steps away, the deputy general roared loudly, and the Xiongnu horses, which had been running slowly, suddenly sped up. The thousand cavalrymen instantly broke away from their main formation and rushed forward. However, just as he and others ran out, they heard the sound of rustling wind coming from the slope in the distance, and then heard the tragic wails of soldiers and the neighing of horses from the back of the team.

The deputy general looked back and was stunned. He saw a group of people suddenly appear on the slope in the distance, and wave after wave of arrows were shot at the team stationed at the back. Judging from the range, it was far beyond the range of a single arrow.