Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

Hanyang Commandery, Long County.

Hanyang Commandery comprised twelve counties, including Ji County, Shanggui, Yuandao, Chengji, Wangyuan, Long County, Lueyang, Pingxiang, Xianqin, Ayang, Yongshi, and Xi County.

Longxian County is now the area around Zhangjiachuan.

In the first year of Yongchu, the Qiang rebellion broke out. The old king of Dianling Qiang led troops from Long County to Yi County, where they fought against Ren Shang, a general under Deng Zhi. They killed 8,000 Han soldiers and defeated the main force of the Han army in one fell swoop.

This marked the beginning of the Yongchu Qiang Rebellion, which lasted for more than ten years.

Liangzhou is a vast and sparsely populated area.

Especially the Han Chinese.

In Liangzhou alone, the Qiang people number over two million.

But the number of Han Chinese is only about 500,000.

Hanyang Commandery, as the capital of Liangzhou, governed twelve counties with a total population of just over 27,000 households and a registered population of no more than 140,000.

However, the number of Qiang people is many times that number.

Further west, in places like Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Jincheng, the population of the Qiang ethnic group is several times that of the Han people.

Liangzhou had twelve prefectures and kingdoms, but there were dozens of Qiang ethnic groups.

The number ranged from a few thousand to tens of thousands, scattered throughout Liangzhou.

Governing the Qiang people has always been a crucial part of governing the Liang region.

From the beginning of the Yongchu Qiang Rebellion, the Han Dynasty spent tens of billions of coins annually on military expenses in Liangzhou alone.

This doesn't even include manpower and material resources.

...........

A day later, it was night.

At this time, Gao Shun and Qu Yi had already led their troops to the outskirts of Long County.

Gao Shun was from Bingzhou, while Qu Yi was a native of Liangzhou, so they were both very familiar with the Qiang people.

The area where the Dianling Qiang people were active was near Qinting, outside of Longxian County.

"Because of the mixed Han and Hu populations in the interior, the Qiang people are now also starting to build their own city-states."

Lying on a hillside, Qu Yi looked down at a place that looked like a fortified village surrounded by stone walls and said, "Besides Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Dunhuang, most of the Qiang tribes now practice a combination of farming and herding."

"It is estimated that at this time, some of the Dianling Qiang people are still grazing outside."

"Most of the people here stayed to farm."

Gao Shun lay down beside Qu Yi and nodded slightly as he listened to his words.

Gao Shun and Qu Yi were similar in stature, both being quite burly.

In this battle, Gao Shun was the commander-in-chief, and Qu Yi was the vanguard deputy commander.

However, considering that Qu Yi was a local of Liangzhou, and that Duan Yu had specifically instructed him before his departure that Qu Yi had a unique approach to fighting the Qiang, Gao Shun listened attentively to Qu Yi's introduction.

"Then how do you think this battle should be fought?" Gao Shun asked Qu Yi.

Gao Shun's question surprised Qu Yi.

He stared blankly at Gao Shun.

"General... do you wish to hear my strategy?" Qu Yi looked at Gao Shun with some disbelief.

Gao Shun looked expressionlessly at the Dianling Qiang village below and said, "Choose the good and follow it, and beauty will naturally come to you."

"We are both under the lord's command, and there is no distinction between us."

Qu Yi was startled.

This battle was the first battle after entering Liang, and also the best opportunity to gain military merit.

Entrusting him with the task of formulating strategies is tantamount to giving him his first military achievement.

A general should not steal the military achievements of his subordinates.

Such a general is already very rare.

Qu Yi felt a sense of belonging he had never experienced before in response to Gao Shun's humility.

"General Gao, I..."

"Tell me your strategy," Gao Shun interrupted Qu Yi's words of thanks, "If we win this battle, I will certainly recommend you for credit; if we lose, then we will both be punished."

Qu Yi nodded vigorously and said, "The Qiang people, like the Xiongnu, are skilled in riding and archery, and they are also fast."

"Although the wise ruler has given us all cavalry, I believe the general must have a number of infantry under his command."

Gao Shun nodded.

These infantrymen were trained by Gao Shun when he was in Jinyang, and their numbers were approximately five hundred.

“General Gao, it is easy to break through here, but it will be difficult to annihilate them all, because the Qiang cavalry are fast.”

"So... I have a plan."

Qu Yi whispered in her ear.

Gao Shun listened and nodded, "Okay, we'll go with your plan."

"The soldiers have been on a long march all day. They should get a good rest tonight and launch an attack early tomorrow morning."

..........

The next morning, the sun rose as usual.

Thick smoke began to rise from the simple earthen houses in the Dianling Qiang village near Qinting.

A dozen days ago, Lao Wang from Yunnan took away more than a thousand young men.

At this time, the proportion of young and strong Qiang people in the city was obviously not high.

Qiang women and children wander around the village.

Inside a house made of stones and yellow mud near the edge of the fortress.

A Qiang woman came out carrying a wooden basin.

A boy of about seven or eight years old was following behind him.

The thin boy followed behind the woman and asked, "Mother, why isn't Father back yet? He promised to take me hunting on my birthday in a few days."

The Qiang woman stopped, turned around, and ran her hand through the boy's messy hair, smiling as she said, "Soon, your father will be back in a few days."

“At that time, my son had his own horse and became a man of the tribe.”

Upon hearing this, the Qiang boy sniffed hard and nodded happily.

Just now.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves echoed from afar in the fortified village.

"It's Father, Father is back."

The boy excitedly ran to the edge of the stone wall of the fortress, leaned over the waist-high stone wall, and looked out.

however.

When the Qiang boy saw the cavalrymen galloping towards him from afar, his eyes widened in surprise.

Then, he suddenly turned around in alarm and shouted, "Mother, it's Han cavalry! It's Han cavalry!"

Bang!

The wooden basin in the woman's hand fell to the ground.

He then grabbed the boy by the back of his collar.

"Quick, run!"

The Qiang woman, holding her son's hand, glanced at the dark mass of Han cavalry rushing towards them.

The war between the Han and Qiang people has lasted for more than a hundred years.

It has never stopped since the beginning of the Han Dynasty.

It was either Han Chinese storming into Qiang residences and slaughtering people, or Qiang people storming into Han cities and plundering them.

Mutual exchange.

Therefore, the Qiang people had long been accustomed to the surprise attacks of the Han army.

That's why the mother and son reacted extremely quickly when they saw the cavalry led by Gao Shun.

The deep sound of bull horns immediately echoed through the Qiang village.

The young and strong Qiang men mounted their horses, preparing to charge out of the camp to meet the enemy.

Most of the Qiang people drove their livestock and fled into the distance.

"kill!"

Gao Shun raised his broadsword expressionlessly, pointing it at the sparse group of young and strong Qiang cavalry charging towards him.

The thousand cavalrymen behind them, roughly equal in number from the Han Chinese and the Xiongnu, suddenly split into two groups, advancing towards the Qiang cavalry from the left and right.

The Xiongnu cavalry, skilled in mounted archery, unleashed a volley of arrows in the first round.

Equipped with powerful bows and iron arrows, the Xiongnu warriors instantly felled a group of Qiang cavalrymen with their superb archery skills.

Seeing this, most of the remaining Qiang cavalrymen began to flee.

Fleeing is not considered shameful among the Qiang people.

The mission of the Qiang cavalry who rushed out of the city was to cover the escape of their families and the elderly and children of the tribe.

The Qiang tribes already had a set of familiar ways to deal with the Han army's surprise attack.

If you can win, then fight.

If you can't fight, run away.

In any case, the Han army's surprise attack was only temporary.

Once they escape into the mountains, they can return to their normal lives after the Han army leaves.

The Qiang people have long been accustomed to this situation over the past hundred years.

Moreover, the Qiang tribes would organize retaliation afterward, attacking the county town and looting it.

Finally, after mediation, the mutual attacks ceased.

However, this time, the Qiang people miscalculated.

It shouldn't be said that the Qiang people miscalculated.

It should be said that this time they were let off the hook.

Qu Yi seemed to have already calculated the direction of the Qiang people's shield.

In the forests on both sides of the mountain-like entrance, Qu Yi watched as the fleeing Qiang people drew ever closer.

As Qu Yi raised his arm.

A thousand soldiers, armed with longbows and hidden in the woods, raised their bows and arrows.

As Qu Yi's arm fell, the arrow soared into the air.

It was fired head-on at the fleeing Qiang people.

"Alternate between front and back, fire in rapid succession within a hundred paces!" Qu Yi roared.

..........

It was almost a completely identical scene.

Rongqiu, outside of Xixian.

This time, however, there was no ambush or surprise attack.

Lu Bu, wielding his halberd, rode his Jade Dragon warhorse, followed by a thousand cavalrymen.

Lu Bu, who seemed born for mounted combat and surprise attacks, tore apart the gates of Zhongqiang Fortress with his personal bravery alone.

The halberd in his hand stirred up waves of blood, cutting down all the Qiang cavalrymen who came towards him.

They rushed into the Qiang village as if it were empty.

Meanwhile, the thousand Xiongnu volunteers following behind Lü Bu used Lü Bu as a sharp spearhead to break into the Zhongqiang tribe's camp and spread their influence far and wide.

Outside the Zhongqiang camp, Zhang Liao, who had also led the earlier troops, sent 500 cavalry to sweep around the area after Lü Bu broke through the main gate of the Zhongqiang tribe, while he himself led 500 cavalry to break in from the rear of the camp.

They and Lü Bu formed an encirclement within the Qiang tribe's stronghold, their horses trampling the enemy camp.

The two joined forces and, in just over an hour, turned Zhongqiang's stronghold into a bloodbath.

Riding on his Jade Dragon Warhorse, Lü Bu shook off the bits of flesh from his halberd.

His eyes swept across the surroundings with an arrogant gaze.

"Sever all the heads."

"Wen Yuan, would you like to fight me again?" Lu Bu asked, looking at Zhang Liao not far away. "Although our mission is similar to yours, Wen Yuan doesn't want to lose to them, does he?"

"It's only been three days. Why don't we wipe out all the Qiang tribes in the vicinity?"

After listening to Lü Bu's suggestion, Zhang Liao thought for a moment and then nodded.

This place is only about a day's journey from Ji County.

And this is only the third day of the ten days.

Sweeping through for a few days is no problem at all.

Since the goal is to establish authority, let's go all the way.

...........

Seven days later.

Ji County.

Seven days had passed since Duan Yu's family arrived in Ji County.

These seven days were very difficult for Liang Hu, the governor of Liangzhou.

The backstabbing from Gai Xun and Yang Fu made Liang Hu feel very troubled.

Liang Hu was mainly worried that after Duan Yu arrived, he would blame him for not sending troops to help, and thus oppose him.

Therefore, Liang Hu planned to explain things to Duan Yu properly when Duan Yu arrived, hoping to turn hostility into friendship.

They waited day after day, but Duan Yu never took office.

Therefore, Liang Hu was in agony every day.

At this moment, in Liang Hu's main hall.

Just as breakfast was being served on the table in front of Liang Hu, a servant came to announce that Duan Yu had arrived.

Upon hearing the news, Liang Hu, who hadn't even had time to eat, immediately ordered his men to prepare a carriage to go out of the city to welcome him.