Murong and Kushangguan Xianbei, who were the targets of the Han army's conquest, were actually from the Tuhe tribe of the Xianbei clan. Among the various tribes in Xianbei, the Tuhe tribe has been most influenced by Sinicization and has undergone the greatest changes. Since the Tanshihuai period, they have not only changed their Hufu to Han clothes, but also communicated with each other in Chinese. Even the royal family in the tribe are familiar with "Spring and Autumn" and other books. classic. On the other hand, Tuoba Xianbei, who was single-handedly supported by the imperial court, still mostly spoke the Hu language.
Since the time of the Xiongnu, the power changes in grassland tribes have been extremely bloody. Even fathers, sons and brothers often fight to the death before the throne. But I don't know whether it was because of the influence of Wang Hua. The Tuhe tribe would rather divide the descendants into several tribes than start a war among relatives. After several generations of this, and with the strong support of Cao Cao, now, several Xianbei tribes such as Murong, Kushanguan, and Duan have gradually differentiated. Several tribes have advanced and retreated together. With Murong Xianbei as the leader, it seems to be the largest force in eastern Xianbei.
When Chen Deng established his government in Yunbei, he was also very troubled by this situation. Although we knew that these groups were in secret collusion with the Liao people, they had nominally surrendered after all, and there was no excuse for wanting to conquer them. And the tens of thousands of people under his command are coming and going like the wind in the mountains. If he cannot complete his task in one battle, he will cause harassment on the border in the future. At that time, it will be very difficult to quell the chaos. Therefore, during these years of his reign, he still temporarily maintained good relations with Tuhe's various tribes, and secretly collected information about Qunhu to prepare for the future.
Several more years have passed, and now Chen Deng has died, and the Han army is finally about to begin fighting on the grasslands. This battle was related to the imperial court's reputation in the entire Northern Kingdom, so Liu Xie couldn't help but ignore it. So he personally selected elite soldiers from all over the country, such as Yang Fu and Jiang Xu's old troops in the west, Du Ji's troops in the south, Jia Kui and Guo Huai in the north, Zhou Buyi's troops in Shanglin (formerly Ma Dai's troops), and the other four troops in Hezhong. Eighteen thousand men, 30,000 pieces of armor, and 100,000 horses. Although there are not many troops, these are all elite soldiers who have been on the battlefield for a long time and are young and powerful. They are all cavalry.
The scale of this kind of mobilization is not inferior to the Bohai, Pingcheng and other national destiny battles, and it also shows Liu Xie's confidence in winning this battle. When he personally saw off the army, he said to Zhou Bujie, the actual commander-in-chief of the entire army: "We must not lose, and the northern captives must always fear China!" He also picked out the crowns, clothes, quilts, bows, arrows, armor, etc. that he wore every day, and He handed it over to Zhou Buyi and said: "I will undress you and entrust you with a great responsibility. It is appropriate to start and finish your orders well without damaging your reputation!" Zhou Buyi knew the weight of Liu Xie's words and kowtowed to the ground again and again.
The weather in March is supposed to be the busiest time for farming, and it is also the time when horses are the skinniest of the year, but Han horses are fed extravagantly with wheat beans, resulting in fat still hanging on their bodies. Therefore, the Han army also moved very quickly. They first entered Jinyang through Huguan. After a short pause, Meng Da and Zhou Buyi discussed logistics-related matters here. Meng Da stayed in Jinyang, while Zhou Buyi Then he led the Han army and arrived at Pingcheng within seven days.
King Heng Tuoba Liwei also got the news on the way, so Qingguo dispatched 30,000 cavalry, heading south from Langjuxu Mountain, crossing Yinshan Mountain, passing the old Wangting Danhan Mountain and heading south, and soon joined the Han army in Pingcheng. .
Tuoba Liwei knew that the imperial court was here to demonstrate, so he did not meet with the Han army officers. He only sent Yi Loujing, a tribesman, and ten of his followers to contact him. After the armies set off, Heng Wangting's army led the way and crossed Ruchuan and Xuanshui successively. Soon, the vanguard cavalry approached the border of Murong's tribe, and the main force of the army gathered in the area north of Baitan, preparing to cross the Greater Xianbei Mountains (Daxinganling) at another day.
Although the eastern Xianbei are collectively referred to as grassland tribes, they actually live mainly in mountains and forests. Looking east from the military camp, the Daxianbei Mountains stretch across our eyes like a barrier. They have been the dividing line between the Northern and Eastern Yi since ancient times. The Beilu grazed on the grasslands, while the Dongyi fished and hunted in the mountains and forests, so they called each other Suolu and Bailu. At this time, although the Daxianbei Mountains were already green, there were still a little bits of chicken blood left for decoration. When the weather is good, the rolling and majestic mountains further east can be seen in the distant horizon.
Today, the territory under the jurisdiction of the Murong tribe starts from the Daxianbei Mountains in the east to the Liao River in the west, to Raochuan in the north, and to Western Liaoning in the south. It is a mountain and forest basin surrounded by high mountains and flowing water. Further to the east is the territory of the Fuyu people. They have settled in Liaoze since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Later, their territory was occupied by the Yan Kingdom, and they could only move to the more desolate and cold northeast. Due to various reasons, some tribes continue to expand north of Blackwater and enter a wider and unknown world of ice and snow.
Murong's troops had been alert for a long time. When the vanguard rode to Pinggang, Murong Mohuba made the decision to lead the main force to Nanshan. Because the country of Murong's tribe is full of high mountains, one has to walk along valley roads and constantly cross mountain passes. Except for a few big cities, villages are few and far between. Mo Huba led his troops to flee to Nanshan, hoping to avoid the invaders. When the invaders retreated due to lack of logistics, they would look for fighters in pursuit.
After Tuoba Liwei heard the news, he immediately crossed the Red Ridge to pursue his fate. He asked Yilou Jinglu to deliver a message to Zhou Buyi, saying: "I plan to personally lead the troops to pursue it. As for the advance or retreat of your troops, it is up to you." Zhou Buyi disagreed. He said to Yilou Jinglu: "The Bailu are familiar with the terrain. I'm afraid it's not that easy to catch up if you wander around in the mountains. If you go deep into the mountains for a month and run out of food, you will have to turn back and go back to no avail. This is what Bailu wants to lure us into." He did it for To bring the two armies closer, he deliberately used the Hengguo people’s derogatory name for Tu He Xianbei.
Yilou Jinglu thought it made sense, so he asked Zhou Buyi for advice. Zhou Buji then said: "Your Excellency, please reply to King Heng and say that the Bailu have left well and left behind two big cities, Thorn City and Dragon City. There are not many defenders, and they can be captured just in time. These two cities are Bailu's lair, his family members and luggage are all inside. The captive leader has lost his lair and is starving in the mountains. He can only rely on the support of Liaolu, which will not last long. If he comes back to save the city, it will be a good time to fight. "
Yin Lou Jinglu conveyed Zhou Buyi’s words to Tuoba Liwei. Tuoba Liwei was also convinced. He said: "The marshal of the country is still wise, so let's attack the city first." He still didn't see Zhou Buyi's intention, and asked Yin Loujinglu to reply to Zhou Buyi: " Just as the general said, I will go to the north to attack Longcheng, and the general will go to the south to attack Jicheng. The two armies will be separated from each other so that they can command their respective commanders." Jicheng is where the royal court of Murong's tribe is located, and it is almost within the territory of western Liaoning. Although the palace The Tibetan and Tibetan people are mostly here, but the Liao people and Kushan officials are also very close to each other, and they may come to rescue at any time, so Tuoba Liwei still wants to avoid its edge.
So the two armies separated after crossing the Greater Xianbei Mountains. The main force of the Heng Kingdom went north and crossed Xuanshui to attack Longcheng; the Han army went south and attacked Jicheng on the border of western Liaoning. On the southern route, although the two armies were said to be separated, Tuoba Liwei still sent his tribesman Tuoba Muyan to lead two thousand cavalry to accompany them. It was nominally to help as a guide, but in fact he wanted to see the actual strength of the Han army. Zhou Buyi naturally knew it well and led Tuoba Muyan in the front row to show his intention to win over.
Tuoba Muyan has a stout build, a broad face, a flushed complexion, and glazed eyes. Hu and Han translators rode on both sides and listened sideways, translating the words of the two people. What can be felt is that although Mu Yan's words are quite humble, the way he looks at Zhou Buji is a bit arrogant, obviously despising Zhou Buji's status as a scholar.
After crossing the Yu River, the scouts reported that Murong's troops were in front and seemed to be blocking our advance. Zhou Buyi left Mu Yan behind and led his troops to the front to watch. It was morning, and the sun in the east had just passed over the mountains. Under the golden sunshine, the prisoners were arrayed at a high place. The so-called formation is actually still scattered. Looking at their number, they probably have several thousand riders. Zhou Buyi laughed and said, "It's ridiculous for people to think that a mantis can use its arms as a chariot!" He ordered the envoy who could speak Xianbei dialect to ride forward on horseback, scolded the captives to give way, and then provoked the captives, saying: "You come to attack, we will take out as many people as you want." No matter how many people come out, there is no need to worry about being bullied by the big ones. We will return the key to the river, count it as a loss, and then turn our horses back."
After a while, the captives attacked in large numbers, trying to squeeze the Han army to the river. Most of the captives wore light armor, that is, armor sewn from cowhide, which could barely protect their chests. Only about a hundred riders wore classic armor and riding equipment. They were indeed brave and fearless when charging, but their behavior was sloppy and not in formation. They moved forward with a burst of whistles.
Zhou Buyi led the Xifu army out to deal with it, with one group in front and the other guarding the two wings. These men and horses from Liangzhou were all wearing armor. The knights dismounted and held their bows, standing still in front of their horses. After the prisoners came closer, he gave the order to shoot. In an instant, thousands of arrows were fired, and most of the rushing horses were shot to death or wounded. The captives also fired back with arrows, but they lacked armored guards and could not withstand repeated shooting. The dead and wounded lay on their pillows.
At this time, the Xifu army rushed in from the flank. The prisoners were attacked from both sides. They were suddenly in chaos and lost their discipline. For a while, they whistled and screamed strangely, calling for their companions to turn their horses and run away. Upon seeing this, the soldiers facing the enemy mounted their horses and advanced to pursue them. The prisoners were defeated and chased to the mountain pass. Only a few hundred horsemen escaped across the mountain pass, and as many as a thousand horsemen dismounted and surrendered. As for its leader, he was shot by an arrow before escaping through the mountain pass and was beheaded by the chasing horse. The person who beheaded the enemy chieftain was a young man from Jiang Xu's unit in the Xifu Army. Zhou Bujiu inquired carefully and learned that his name was Jiang Wei. He was fourteen years old at this time and should not have been selected. However, he was skilled in bow and sword at a young age, and it was difficult for an adult to resist, so he was recruited as an exception. In the Xifu Army.
Jiang Wei hung the bloody head on the saddle, hung the legs of the headless body behind the horse, and dragged him all the way back. Others were amazed when they saw him, and said with a smile: "They all say that there are many young heroes in Longshang. When we see them today, they are well-deserved!"
The Tuoba tribe's servants had been standing on the high ground on the river slope, watching the battle calmly.
It was not until the afternoon that they rejoined the Han army. Tuoba Muyan asked someone to give Zhou Buyi a sword and said, "I saw Master Wang fighting today, and I think I will be able to succeed immediately." The implication is that Zhou Buyi has no need for them. . Zhou Buyi laughed and replied: "Then please invite Brother Mu Yan to watch the battle at the foot of Jicheng City!"
