Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

The news of Gaolang's capture also reached King Xiutu.

In a battle a few days ago, the Huns sacrificed 15,000 soldiers but only killed two to three thousand Han soldiers. Now Gaolang is lost again, and the food supply route is blocked by the Han soldiers. If they continue to stay here, they will only wait for death.

A tribal leader suggested, "Why not send more troops back to Hetao to mobilize more troops? The Han army has only a few soldiers left, so they are not invincible."

King Xiu Tu frowned and shook his head. "Don't forget, Yu Fuluo is in Shangdang County. If I mobilize the royal court's troops again, what will we do if he leads his army back to attack the royal court? If we fail to capture Taiyuan County and lose the royal court, we will be truly trapped."

"Then you won't fight?"

King Xiu Tu sighed. "Lü Bu and his men are truly valiant. And then there's that bandit army. If I'm right, they're the same wealthy merchant who sent Budugen fleeing in panic last year in Pingcheng. Lü Bu is already incredibly difficult to deal with, and with this group of men helping him, even if we mobilize another 10,000 troops, I'm afraid we'll still struggle to defeat him."

At this time, another tribal leader said, "Since you don't want to fight, then quickly retreat back to Hetao. Staying here will only waste military supplies."

King Xiu Tu nodded and then frowned. "Now Gaolang is occupied by the Han army, and Lu Bu's army is eyeing us covetously. It won't be that easy to retreat."

Retreating is not just about withdrawing the troops. The large amount of property and food obtained from the capture of Xihe County must also be transported back to Hetao. However, Gaolang is guarded by more than 3,000 Han troops, and Lu Bu cannot just watch them leave with the Han Dynasty's property. Once they are surrounded and hunted down, not only will the property not be transported back, but the troops may also be killed here.

But if they gave up everything, not only would they not gain anything from this expedition to Kouxi River, but they would also have lost the lives of more than 10,000 soldiers. How could they be willing to accept this?

King Xiutu originally planned to capture Xihe County and then take Taiyuan, and then encircle Yanmen from the north and south. Bingzhou would almost be controlled by the Xiongnu. King Xiutu, who was confident of victory, never expected that Dong Zhuo would succeed as the governor of Bingzhou and that Lu Bu would be sent to lead the Bingzhou army.

Since the beginning of the battle, first the 5,000 vanguard troops were destroyed by the enemy army in Wangfeng Valley, then the 30,000 soldiers were defeated by Lu Bu's thousands of people, and now Gaolang was lost. With three battles, the Han army pushed the Xiongnu army, which was originally in high spirits, into a desperate situation.

King Xiutu has come to a profound realization in recent days that even though the Han Dynasty is in turmoil and rebellions are constant, the Han people can easily defeat the Xiongnu if they want to. Even a group of Han bandits are not something they can afford to offend.

"Why not offer some money and bribe Lu Bu secretly, asking him to show mercy and let us go back?" A leader thought about it and proposed this method which he thought was feasible.

"Will this work?" asked another.

"Why don't we just send someone to ask him and find out? Maybe he'll agree."

King Xiu Tu shook his head and remained silent for a long time before speaking again, "First, send an envoy to negotiate. At the same time, select 8,000 elite cavalry to stand by. The rest of the people will transport the grain, fodder, and treasures from Lin County and Zhongyang to Lishi, and then consolidate them and prepare to transport them back to Hetao."

A leader asked in confusion, "What does this mean? If Lu Bu doesn't agree, our shipment out of the city will be intercepted."

King Xiu Tu's deep eyes flashed with a cold light, "Give the things to him, and we will go to Jinyang to plunder, it's worth it."

Jinyang was far wealthier than the counties of Xihe. Raiding one city could equal the wealth of four other cities. Furthermore, he didn't think Lü Bu could be bribed. Even if he could, it would probably cost him a fortune. It was better to give it another try.

As for sending envoys, it was just to flatter Lu Bu and make him think that they were desperate, so as to relax his vigilance and increase the possibility of a successful surprise attack.

"How can we attack Jinyang? Lu Bu has the pass tightly guarded. Not only can we not break through, but even if we did, wouldn't he chase us? Besides, we can't take Jinyang."

King Xiu Tu said, "While Lü Bu leads his men to intercept them, we can pierce his main camp and head straight for Jinyang. The Lüliang Mountains are full of suitable ambushes, and if Lü Bu's troops pursue us, we'll have the perfect opportunity to eliminate him. As for attacking the city... Taiyuan County is heavily guarded to the south and west by Lü Bu, so the defenses of Jinyang must be lax. We'll send a small number of elite cavalry to make a quick assault, disguised as scouts, and enter the city first. After plundering Jinyang, we'll return to Hetao via Yanmen Pass."

After hearing this, everyone thought this was a very good idea and began to make arrangements separately. Some organized the troops, some collected the things, and an envoy who was fluent in Chinese also set out from Lishi and headed for Lu Bu's military camp.

Lu Bu was not surprised by the Huns' compromise. The Huns were now almost in a desperate situation. What else could they do except compromise?

"The general is valiant and skilled in battle, resourceful and resourceful, and a master of military strategy, like a god of war reborn. My king has been defeated by the general, and we are convinced. I am willing to return the four counties of Xihe and lead my troops back to the Hetao area. I hope the general will show mercy and spare my king!"

The envoy of King Xiutu praised Lu Bu loudly, then prostrated himself on the ground and paid a great salute to him.

The envoy's words and actions represented King Xiutu. The other party was so humble that he saluted Lu Bu as a captain, which made Lu Bu feel flattered. He raised his hand to indicate that there was no need for the salute.

Lü Bu said generously, "King Xiu Tu is so sensible of the situation that I will not make things difficult for him. If he can return the looted property from the four counties and compensate the Han with 200,000 dan of grain and fodder, I will immediately let him go without making things difficult for him."

The place where Lu Bu was born and raised was where the Hu people and the Han people met and merged. The Southern Xiongnu people were half-fellow villagers to him. Before the Southern Xiongnu rebelled, this ethnic group also made great contributions to helping the Han Dynasty resist the invasion of the Xianbei. Therefore, Lu Bu did not have any hatred towards the Southern Xiongnu. Moreover, he did not need to spend all his troops fighting against the Xiongnu. Reconciliation would naturally be the best.

After hearing Lü Bu's request, the envoy looked embarrassed. "Well... returning the Han people's things is our duty, but we simply cannot provide 200,000 dan of grain and fodder. My king, instigated by traitors, previously launched an attack on the Han. Now, after being severely beaten by the general, he has come to realize that his actions were truly treasonous. Could the general offer some concessions?"

Lü Bu thought for a moment and said, "I am not an unreasonable man. Since King Xiutu is truly repentant, then he should pay me a compensation of 100,000. I will report this to my lord and write a letter to plead for mercy. The Southern Xiongnu will still be my Han subjects."

The envoy was overjoyed and quickly bowed, "General, you are wise and brave, and magnanimous. I, the Xiongnu King Xutu, thank you for your great kindness!"

Lü Bu smiled and waved his hand, "No need for verbal thanks, just ask him to send the food and fodder quickly."

"That's, that's..."

The messenger nodded and bowed in agreement, then took a few steps forward and said in a low voice, "I have a few words of private conversation with the general. Could you please dismiss the attendants?"

Seeing his mysterious look, Lu Bu hesitated for a moment and let Han Lai, Wu Shan and others retreat first.

Lü Bu knew what the messenger was going to say to him. Seeing Zhang Mo also trying to follow him out, he quickly called out to her, "Captain Zhang, please stay."

Zhang Mo was stunned for a moment, then she understood and walked back to sit in her original seat.

Wu Dan walked to the door, turned around, looked at Lu Bu and Zhang Mo with a very strange look, and followed Han Lai out of the tent.