Zhuge Liang's strategy is actually similar to what Zhang Xi thought.
The situation of the Qiang people is different from that of the Nanzhong Yi people. There is no possibility of fighting and restraining at the same time. Moreover, considering the character and living habits of the Qiang people, simple restraining methods are of little use. They must first Just give him a beating.
Since Zhuge Liang did not have unrealistic illusions about the Qiang people, Zhang Xi naturally had nothing to say.
After the Qiang Protector Colonel Pang De arrived, Zhuge Liang did not hesitate and directly made strategic arrangements.
The first step in countering the rebellion is to lead the army from Shanggui as soon as possible, open the passage to Tianshui County, and connect Jiang Xu, Ma Dai and others who are holding firm in Tianshui County.
Tianshui County has been holding on for almost two months. You must not sit back and watch Tianshui County fall, otherwise Zhuge Liang is not here to suppress the rebellion, but to clean up the mess, and this will be very detrimental to the people of the northwest.
Therefore, this march is not only to fight against the Qiang rebels, but also to compete with God for time, to rescue Tianshui County before the heavy snowfall, to calm the hearts of the people of Qinzhou, and to let them know that the court will not give up. them.
Time waits for no one, and Zhuge Liang sent troops quickly enough.
With Zhang Xi and Pang De as the vanguard, each leading 10,000 troops, the troops were divided into two groups to rescue Tianshui County.
Zhuge Liang himself led the remaining 20,000 Northern troops to move slowly to provide backup for the two armies.
According to the strategy of quelling the Qiang agreed upon by Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, although they required a quick victory, they did not have the idea of putting down the rebellion in one battle.
Before it snowed, we were able to rescue Tianshui County and ensure the safety of the last county in Qinzhou. This was an initial achievement of our goal.
The remaining Qiang people rebelled, and after the spring began, Zhuge Liang would settle accounts with them one by one. There was no way, the weather in Qinzhou had been so bad in the past few years, and no one could guarantee when the heavy snow would fall in Qinzhou.
In such extreme weather, it is difficult to use troops in winter.
If it weren't for Jiang Xu of Tianshui County and the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of people in Tianshui County, even Zhuge Liang wouldn't necessarily be in a hurry to send troops now.
Now, Zhuge Liang can only hope that the snow in Qinzhou will not fall so fast, or that it will not fall too hard all at once.
The fighting power of the Qiang people is not too strong. With the fighting power of the Han army, even if the infantry fights against the rangers, they may not suffer a loss. The two armies and horses send troops together to ensure the intensity of the rescue.
Even if a group of people encountered the main force of the Qiang soldiers, whether it was Zhang Xi or Pang De, with their ability to lead the troops, they would be sure to hold off the Qiang soldiers and buy the other group of people time to rescue Tianshui County.
However, the development of things seems to be somewhat different from what Zhuge Liang thought.
Zhang Xi and Pang De each led 10,000 troops. They set out from Shanggui and advanced all the way to the outskirts of Tianshui County. They encountered almost no large-scale Qiang soldiers blocking their way.
It's not that I haven't encountered Qiang soldiers, but there are really not many of them, and calling them Qiang soldiers is a bit flattering. They are just ordinary people of the Qiang tribe, and they don't even have decent weapons in their hands.
As for the unique rangers of the Qiang people, neither Zhang Xi nor Pang De combined have encountered them a few times, and even if they have seen the rangers of the Qiang people, their number is rarely in the hundreds. As for these rangers, Holding him to death will also play a role in harassment.
With this advancement, both Zhang Xi and Pang De were keenly aware that something was wrong.
Where did the main force of the Qiang people go? !
It is clear that my group is going to rescue Tianshui County. Even if these barbarians have no brains, there is no reason why they can't even stop them head-on, right? !
Neither Zhang Xi nor Pang De is a brainless person, especially Zhang Xi, who is cautious to the point of being timid. Such abnormal behavior of the Qiang soldiers made Zhang Xi hesitate in his heart.
If the scouts hadn't reported that the Qiang people were still attacking the counties of Tianshui County, Zhang Xi would have doubted whether there was some trap and would have stopped the advance on the spot, just in case.
But unfortunately, Zhang Xi also knew that he could not stop. No one knew how long Tianshui County could hold on. He had to go to Tianshui County as soon as possible to support Jiang Xu.
But Zhang Xi couldn't pretend he didn't see such an abnormal situation, and immediately sent out military scouts to quickly inform the main force behind him of the situation along the way, so that Zhuge Liang could be more vigilant.
Pound did the same thing. Therefore, when Zhuge Liang received the military report from the two men, he did not dare to neglect it. He immediately called Pang Tong and Wu Yi, and the three of them discussed countermeasures together.
While reading the military reports from Zhang Xi and Pang De, Pang Tong compared the intelligence on the Qiang's movement routes that had recently been passed back by the scouts. The more he compared it, the more strange Pang Tong felt.
"Is this a plan to lure the enemy deeper?!"
Pang Tong murmured, but after finishing speaking, he shook his head.
The reason why the barbarians are barbarians is because they do not have so much so-called cultural inheritance. Their understanding of war is still at the level of "attack together, retreat and run separately".
This group of barbarians may set up an ambush, but such a large-scale plan to lure the enemy deep into the enemy's territory is really beyond the reach of the barbarians.
No matter how much Pang Tong overestimated the intelligence of the Hu people, he still felt that this was impossible.
Luring the enemy deep into the enemy's territory is a technical job, especially luring the enemy into the enemy's depth through the mobilization of troops. Unless the enemy commander is a genius who has overall control over the overall situation, it is simply impossible to achieve this.
If the Hu people had such genius, the first thing they should do is to unify the tribes and concentrate their efforts on big things, instead of launching a rebellion in such a hurry.
On this point, Zhuge Liang also expressed his agreement. Judging from the current situation, the Hu people do not have such a strategic vision.
So, if this is the case, what is the purpose of the Hu people? Why did they allow the Han army to approach Tianshui County so easily? Aren't they afraid that the Han army would break the siege of Tianshui County and wait until spring to calm down before sending troops to conquer them? ? !
Or are they confident that they can fight the Han army in Tianshui County and win the decisive battle? !
When did the Hu people have such fantasies? !
The soldiers Zhuge Liang brought this time were the elite Northern Army of the Han Dynasty. With their armor coverage, number of bows and crossbows, and the few Qiang rangers, how many volleys of the Northern Army could they withstand? !
To be honest, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong really couldn't understand what the Qiang people were doing.
But no matter what conspiracy these Qiang people are playing, their side has the upper hand in combat power after all. As long as they are careful, stay the same in response to changes, and be cautious, there will be nothing wrong.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang ordered Zhang Xi and Pang De to join forces after entering Tianshui County, under Zhang Xi's unified command, and go to rescue Tianshui County and Hebei County.
Zhuge Liang's troops also began to speed up and march to Ji County as soon as possible, trying to gather troops in Ji County before making plans.
After receiving the new military order, Zhang Xi immediately sent out the military scout Kuai Ma to contact Pang De's troops. The two spent three days to complete the rendezvous in Xi County, and then, under the leadership of Zhang Xi, headed towards Ji County. go ahead.
At the same time, the leaders of the five Qiang tribes who were besieging the Tianshui counties were gathered together to discuss the next action.
The five Qiang tribes refer to the five most powerful tribes among the Qiang tribes.
This Qiang rebellion was also caused by the temporary alliance between the leaders of these five tribes.
It's not that they have great ambitions, but that they really have no choice. In recent years, there have been natural disasters almost every year, and life is really impossible.
When winter comes, the cattle and sheep that have managed to survive freeze to death in batches and starve to death. The tribesmen also have no food, and some small tribes even engage in cannibalism.
It has been like this for a year or two. Relying on the rewards for sending troops to support the Han people and relying on the relief of the "Shenwei General", everyone can barely survive. But it has been like this for four or five years in a row, and there is no "Shenwei General". What can be done.
Not to mention, two years ago, "General Shenwei Tian" passed away. In the following two years, Qinzhou changed its owner, and their relief was not as good as each year.
The leaders of the five major tribes gathered together and decided that instead of waiting to die, they might as well work together to find a way out.
Even if they failed in the end, the Han people did not have enough horses. They would not be able to chase them to the grassland. At most, they would lose a few tribesmen. That would be fine. With fewer tribesmen, there would be fewer people to share the food. Maybe they could Make it through this winter.
Wait until spring, and then send people to surrender to the Han emperor, ask for forgiveness, and then ask for relief, maybe it can last for another two years. There is no way.
Therefore, at the beginning, when the leaders of the five major tribes discussed the rebellion, their essential purpose was to survive, and they really had no special ambitions.
But none of the five of them expected that this rebellion would go so smoothly.
First came the four counties of Qinzhou. At the beginning of the rebellion, the Han people living in the county towns seemed vulnerable. They easily broke through the city and occupied three counties.
The food they grabbed from these three counties was actually enough for their tribesmen to get through this winter if they saved some food.
But if you stop at this time, you are no longer a barbarian.
We can handle this winter, but what about next winter? !
Furthermore, they did not expect the chain effect caused by the rebellion of the five major tribes. Almost all the Qiang people in the northwest region responded to their call and began to attack Han cities. At this point, it is no longer easy to end. .
Therefore, the leaders of the five major tribes had to bite the bullet and continue to fight. At the same time, some of their inner ambitions were also aroused at this time.
The ancestors of the Qiang people had achieved such glory in battles with the Han people, and even forced the Han people to abandon the northwest. Now why can't they reproduce the glory of their ancestors?
Once they occupy Qinzhou, they will have a place to settle down. If they plunder some Han people to help them farm, they may not have to suffer from white disasters every year in the future.
Therefore, the leaders of the five Qiang tribes united to besiege Tianshui County and strive to occupy the entire Qinzhou.
According to the thinking of the Qiang people, the weather in the northwest has been very cold in the past few years, and heavy snow will fall in November. If the Han people want to send troops from Chengdu in the south to rescue them, it will have to be after the beginning of spring at least.
This time was enough for them to break into Tianshui County.
After the Qiang people completely occupied Qinzhou, they persuaded the Han families in Qinzhou to cooperate with them and introduced a puppet to govern the place. The Qiang people then united to apologize to the Han emperor and expressed their willingness to surrender to the Han Dynasty and persuaded the Han Dynasty. Maybe the emperor allowed them to occupy Qinzhou and that would be over.
A hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Qiang people did this and almost succeeded.
However, no one expected that the Han reinforcements came so quickly. They were already close to Tianshui County before the heavy snow fell.
Aren't these Han people afraid of starving to death in Qinzhou after the road is blocked by snow? !
Obviously, things have reached a point that the leaders of the five major tribes least want to see. It is impossible to seek peace, and they can only fight hard.
If they win, the Qiang people might have the opportunity to go south to herd horses or even farm. If they lose, they will probably run back to the grassland with their tribesmen.
Although the Han people are indeed powerful, the Qiang people are not outnumbered. In this battle, as long as the operation is better, the Qiang people from small and medium-sized tribes will die first, or the Xianbei and Di people who see an advantage to be taken advantage of. People. If they suffer heavy losses, they will just annex the women, children, cattle and sheep of their tribe, so that they can survive this winter.
Regardless of victory or defeat, the people of the five major tribes will definitely survive.
(End of chapter)
