Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Lu Bu and Zhang Mo's troops temporarily stayed in Wangfeng Valley. In addition to waiting for Zhang Liao's follow-up troops, they also had to wait for Wu Dan's 1,500 Xiliang cavalry.

Seven days later, all the troops were assembled and the large group began to march towards Xihe County. Beyond the Luliang Mountains, they arrived at Lishi County in Xihe County, where the main force of the Xiongnu troops was stationed.

Lu Bu's army found an open place near the water source in front of the Luliang Mountain Pass and set up camp to discuss strategies to deal with the enemy.

In the central army tent, Zhang Mo, Guan Hai, Xu Chu, Taishi Ci, and Xu Huang sat in a row on the left, and Zhang Liao, Han Lai, Wu Shan, Hou Cheng and other generals sat on the right.

Of course, the main people discussing the matter were the group of officers on the right, and Zhang Mo's people were just there to listen and learn.

Lü Bu sat at the head of the group. His gaze lingered on Zhang Mo's face for a moment before turning to the other generals and saying, "Ever since the Xiongnu vanguard was defeated by the Golden Eagle Guards in Wangfeng Valley a few days ago, they've suspected our army will come to Xihe County to engage in battle. For a while now, the gates of Lishi and Zhongyang counties have been tightly closed, and the number of patrols on the city walls has increased significantly. It seems they intend to hold the city."

"Our army has only about 10,000 cavalry and infantry combined. Attacking the city is impossible. We can only lure them out of the city and fight in the open. What are your ideas? Feel free to share them."

Hou Cheng spoke first, "The Xiongnu are good at field battles but not at defending cities. This time, the vanguard was slaughtered so ruthlessly by the Golden Eagle Guards that they were frightened and retreated into the city. We will go to the city and challenge and insult them, and they will surely come out to fight."

Xu Chu curled his lips when he heard this. "Killing too harshly is not a good idea? Should we kill half and let the other half go?"

Zhang Liao said, "General Hou is right, but I think that just cursing is not enough."

The spring planting time is almost over. If we continue to fight with the Huns and delay this year's spring planting, the people in these counties in Xihe will all become refugees.

Therefore, this battle cannot be delayed.

Zhang Liao had recently accompanied Zhang Yi in blocking the Xiongnu in Xihe County, and he had a very good understanding of the terrain. He stepped forward and pointed at the map of Xihe County. "The Xiongnu cavalry are moving south along the river. They appear to have occupied the four counties south of the Xihe River, but in reality, these four counties are isolated cities. To the west of this place is the river, to the east is Lüliang, and to the south are mountains and ravines. If we can cut off their northern passage, their food supply and retreat routes will be cut off, and they will be forced to leave the city and fight us."

Lü Bu nodded. Zhang Liao's idea coincided with his previous plan. Linshui, a tributary of the river, flowed from north to south west of Lin County and Gaolang County. The Xiongnu were almost entirely cavalry, and crossing the river was difficult for cavalry. If they could block the intersection north of Gaolang County, the Xiongnu would be effectively strangled.

However, the idea is simple, but the implementation is not easy.

Lü Bu said, "The northern passage to Gaolang is extremely crucial to the Xiongnu. They must have a large force stationed in the county. It's easy to seize the passage, but it's difficult to defend it. The passage is surrounded by flat land, perfect for cavalry charges. Our army is limited. If we send too few men, we won't be able to defend the road. If we send too many, this side of the Luliang Mountain Road will be dangerous. I think it would be best to capture Gaolang City directly. With the city as a support, we only need to station a thousand infantry and leave a thousand mobile cavalry to harass the Xiongnu's food supply routes."

Lu Bu’s base camp was stationed not far from the foot of the mountain. His purpose was to guard the road to Taiyuan and eliminate the Huns in Xihe County, so there must be a lot of troops in the base camp.

But to capture the city, the problem comes back to the lack of troops.

"Gaolang has 5,000 defenders. Even if we send all of us there, we may not be able to capture it." Hou Chengchou said.

Everyone was silent.

Not to mention the Han army's small number of soldiers and horses, even if they had more, they couldn't be used to attack the city. Zhang Mo thought again and again, then stood up and volunteered, "General, if you can allocate 2,000 infantrymen to me, I am willing to lead them to Gaolangbei and see if I can capture the city."

During this period, she also sent people to explore the terrain of Xihe County. The area near Gaolang North Road was flat, which was very suitable for the Xiongnu cavalry to fight. If the Han army was stationed on the north road, the Xiongnu people would definitely go out of the city to harass the Han army occupying the road in the terrain that was favorable to them, and perhaps they could take the opportunity to find a way to capture Gaolang.

"No!" Lu Bu rejected Zhang Mo's request without thinking.

"Why?" Zhang Mo looked at him in confusion.

Lu Bu said nothing. In the past, he couldn't take care of her and could only let her run wild as she pleased. But now, how could he let her take risks? Even if she wanted to help in the battle, she had to stay by his side.

Zhang Liao looked at the two of them and said, "Let me lead the troops!"

"Wenyuan has a way to capture the city?" Lu Bu asked.

Zhang Liao nodded and then shook his head. "I have an idea, but I can only give it a try. I can't guarantee its success."

Zhang Liao’s idea was actually the same as Zhang Mo’s, which was to lure the enemy out of the city and then find a way out.

Lu Bu thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll take three thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry and go over there to see if I can capture the city. If not, I'll camp along the road."

Zhang Mo then said to Zhang Liao, "I'll lend you four hundred longbowmen. They might be able to help you during the siege."

These longbowmen are basically useless in large-scale army battles, so it is better to lend a hand to Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao had long wanted to witness the power of the longbow, and he was overjoyed upon hearing this. "Thank you very much...Captain Zhang!"

After discussing the countermeasures, Zhang Liao led his troops out of the camp the next day. As soon as he left, King Xiu Tu in Lishi County found out. He sent scouts to follow them for a day and saw that they were heading towards Gaolang. It didn't take him long to think about it.

King Xiutu ordered General Gaolang to guard the main road while he organized his troops to leave the city and defeat the remaining Han troops in the base camp.

On the day the Han army stationed there, King Xutu sent people to check on the mountain and found that they had only 5,000 cavalry and 6,000 to 7,000 infantry. Now he sent out another 1,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry, leaving less than 10,000 soldiers in the camp. There was really nothing to be afraid of.

Moreover, he had been active in Bingzhou for such a long time that he had a general understanding of the strength of the Bingzhou army. He thought about it carefully in the past few days and concluded that the strange bandits in Wangfeng Valley should not be the Bingzhou army. No matter how powerful that group of people was, there were only a few hundred of them, and the number of divine archers was even smaller. Against a large army of tens of thousands of people, that small number of people would be of no use at all.

That same day, King Xiutu sent someone to Zhongyang to convey his order, asking him to transfer all the 10,000 soldiers and horses there, totaling 30,000 cavalry, in preparation for destroying Lu Bu's base camp.

Zhongyang is not far from Shi, and cavalry can reach it in half a day.

Lü Bu was a little surprised by King Xiutu's courage. He had thought that since Gaolang North Road could not be captured, these Hu people would not dare to leave the city to fight. Unexpectedly, they gathered their troops and prepared to attack his camp after Zhang Liao had been gone for only one day.

However, this is exactly what he wants.

…………

This year, Xihe County was first plundered by the Baibo and then invaded by the Xiongnu. A large number of people fled, and the farmland outside the city was deserted. Thousands of hectares of land were overgrown with weeds, which provided a venue for this war.

Lu Bu's five thousand cavalry, four thousand infantry, plus the Hun's thirty thousand cavalry, a total of nearly forty thousand horses spread out in the wilderness. Looking around, it was a sea of ​​human heads and war horses. The combined breathing of tens of thousands of horses alone was enough to make people tremble with fear.

Lü Bu deployed his troops in front of the main camp, with four thousand infantry forming a square formation in the center, led by Hou Cheng. On the left wing of the formation were two thousand Xiliang cavalry, led by Han Lai and Wu Shan, and on the right wing were two thousand Bingzhou troops, led by Cheng Lian. Zhang Mo's eight hundred Golden Eagle Guards were stationed on a slope behind the formation, acting as a mobile force. Lü Bu commanded the overall situation from behind the infantry formation.

Zhang Mo had no objection to Lu Bu's arrangement. She wanted to gain experience by using the Huns, but she also didn't want her own people to risk their lives. Naturally, the officers and soldiers would take the lead.

Zhang Mo stood on the slope, looking in the direction of the Xiongnu army, and said to the people around him, "Let's watch the battle first and see how a large-scale battle is fought. If anyone can't hold on, we'll attack them."

Taishi Ci said with some concern, "The disparity in military strength between the two sides is enormous. I'm afraid this battle will be difficult to fight."

Xu Chu said, "That may not be the case. The Xiongnu may appear numerous, but they are weak in battle."

Xu Chu had a deep understanding of this last year.

He glanced in the direction of the Xiliang army and added, "These Xiliang soldiers were trained by Fengxian himself. He is so fierce, so his soldiers must be good."

After learning about the fighting power of the Huns, Zhang Mo was not too worried about it. Even if she didn't use the 4,000 infantry in the middle, she felt that Lu Bu could kill the 30,000 Huns with only 4,000 cavalry.