In the central army's tent, Tao Qian's servants spread a huge map on the ground. Tao Qian served as Sima in the Taiwei Mansion and was mainly responsible for military affairs.

"In the middle of last month, Bian Zhang, the main force of the rebels in Xiliang, and 80,000 Han Sui's troops set out from Longxian and Wangyuan (pronounced Yuan) in Hanyang County, and went down the Wei River to conquer Fengxian and Yumi County. Now the general Zhou Shenzheng, the bandit general, led 30,000 troops to block the Yongxian area, Pinglu's lieutenant Huangfu Hong, and Wumeng's lieutenant Qu Yi, led 10,000 troops to defend in Chencang."

"At the same time, Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou led the Hu in Huangzhong, Yi followed Hu, and Xianling Qiang about 50,000 infantry and cavalry set out from Wuzhi, and went out of Boluogu, conquered the three cities of Linjing, Yinpan and Quegu, and attacked Duyang, the right Fufeng. Now, the 30,000 troops of Dong Zhuo, the right Fufeng Bao Hong, the right Fufeng, are leading his troops to fight."

"In addition, we have received news that the June thunder of the Baima Qiang, the snow-capped fox of the Dangqiang, the Tianlang of the Heqiang, and the Xiqiang, Dangjian, Lejie, and Dianna, are heading towards Hanyang County. It is estimated that in a few days, they may complete the assembly near the Hu Valley of the Zhuyu Mountain. They have at least 30,000 iron cavalry."

Tao Qian pointed to the Hugu and said, "Shehugu to Shangqiu City, Wangyuan City, and Ji City are more than 100 miles away. We cannot determine where they crossed the Weishui River, nor have the troops to block it. We can only watch as we cross the river, and after crossing the river, we follow the army behind Bian Zhang and pour down."

"That was a disaster. If we had no way to resist and let them pounce on Jingzhao, it would be a huge disaster for the more than 600,000 people living in the Sanfu land." Gai Xun stood up and said slowly, "Although your arrival changed the disadvantages of the Han army on the battlefield in Xiliang, we still do not have the absolute advantage of annihilation of the enemy. The Fengyun Iron Cavalry only has 10,000 people, which is not enough to compete with the 30,000 Qiang and Hu enemy cavalry. This is a fact."

"Among these three groups of people, the strongest ones are Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou who attacked us from the north. They have 50,000 troops, and most of the soldiers are Qiang and Hu of our Han Dynasty, all of which are cavalry. Although they do not have the white horse Qiang and are as brave as Shaodang Qiang, they have the advantage of numbers." Sang Yang said worriedly, "from last year to this year, General Dong has never surpassed them."

Li Hong and his subordinates sat around the map. Seeing the Han army's situation so dangerous, they were all in a heavy mood.

"But this time I will defeat him." Gai Xun said loudly, "Your Majesty has concentrated 150,000 troops this time to try to solve the problem of Xiliang in one battle. Xiliang always fights like this, not only will it take time, labor and money, but it will also drag the Han Dynasty down."

"Liangzhou is a barren and deserted land, with snow-capped mountains and forests in the desert, sparsely populated areas. Many people do not understand why we fought to death on this land, even including a high-powered Lord Situ."

"For more than two hundred years, we fought with the Qiang people in Liangzhou, and fought, and spent tens of billions of dollars and sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Why? It is for this land, for the power of the Han Dynasty. This land is ours, left to us by our ancestors, and no descendants have the right to abandon it. To keep it, it means to keep the dignity of our Han Dynasty and the power of the Han Dynasty."

"It is also the barrier to the western part of our Great Han Dynasty. Without its existence, Chang'an, the land of the Three Guards is the border, and the place where wars are flying. It is precisely because of its existence that it bears the continuous war disasters that there is peace of the Three Guards, peace of the Central Plains, peace of the Han Dynasty, peace of the people of the world."

"We have fought with the Qiang people for several generations. They have not occupied Liangzhou, and we have not defeated them. Their losses and our losses can double the population of Liangzhou and allow these people to eat and wear warmth for generations. But why do we fight? Why do we continue to fight? To that generation?"

Gai Xun stomped the land under his feet a few times and smiled bitterly: "It's for it, for this land, for this land that can support many people."

"The Han Dynasty has not used more than 100,000 troops to fight for decades. This time, His Majesty made a cruel decision and asked the Taiwei to succeed in one blow, completely resolve the rebellion in Xijiang, and ensure that there will be no more wars within ten years of Xiliang."

"150,000 troops?" Gai Xun shook his head and said, "According to our Han military system, except for the county and state soldiers guarding the cities and borders, there are only 30,000 northern troops that can conquer all directions. It is impossible to recruit more than 100,000 troops in one or two years. If it weren't for the Yellow Turban Rebellion, all prefectures and counties recruited their own troops to suppress the thieves, it would be difficult for us to gather so many troops. Therefore, the emperor cherished this opportunity very much and hoped that we could use the advantages of the official army to pacify Xiliang and completely solve this chronic disease of the Han country."

Gai Xun looked at Li Hong and his subordinates and said seriously: "If you want to build a great achievement, you will be prosperous for thousands of years. At the right time, do you have such ambition?"

"There is..." Li Hong and his subordinates were excited by Gai Xun's words, and they shouted loudly, wishing they could go to the battlefield immediately and serve the country.

"Okay..." Gai Xun praised loudly, "Since ancient times, all the people in Yan and Zhao have been passionate and arrogant. Good and powerful."

Sang Yang clapped his hands repeatedly, exclaimed a few words, and then said: "In order to fulfill His Majesty's order and achieve the goal of completely annihilated the rebels in Xiliang, Lord Sima has specially formulated a plan. Please explain in detail by Lord Sima."

Tao Qian stood up and slowly said while looking at the map:

"We have never been able to achieve decisive victory on the battlefield of Xiliang. In addition to the unfamiliar terrain, difficult supply and insufficient troops, the main reason is that the enemy adopts the gamble tactic. They broke the whole into pieces, took thousands and hundreds of people into teams, used the advantages of cavalry and terrain to frequently attack our food and grass and soldiers, and refused to fight our main force. When our food and grass do not retreat, they turned into zero into whole, followed and ambushed us along the way, causing us great losses."

"But this time it's different. This time the battlefield is on Youfufeng, and they took the initiative to attack us."

"At the end of last year, they attacked near Huaili City, but they took the initiative to retreat because of heavy snow and food. In that attack, they exposed many problems, the most important of which was the lack of cooperation between them and there was no unified command."

"After Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou rebelled, because they were not Han people and many things could not be solved, so Bian Zhang was elected as their commander. However, after Bian Zhang was the commander, he established many rules, which led to Qiang and Hu being dissatisfied and did not obey his command at all. So the rebels of Xiliang gave two commanders. Han people listened to Bian Zhang and belonged to Hu people who listened to Beigong Boyu. As for Baima Qiang and others, they simply wanted to catch fish in the muddy waters of Xiliang, and they would not obey anyone's command."

"The Qiang Hu, headed by June Yue Lei and the Qiang Hu, led by Beigong Boyu, did not obey Bian Zhang's command during the attack operation at the end of last year. They each had their own set, and the attack and retreat were very chaotic. At that time, we had too few troops, otherwise we could have hit them."

"This time, Bian Zhang Han Sui led his troops to attack the right side of You Fufeng, Beigong Boyu attacked the left side of You Fufeng, and June thunder then supported them. Their meeting point was probably in Huaili City. However, due to their lack of unified command, the distance between the three troops was very long and they were very disconnected."

"The Taiwei is preparing to use Zhou Shen and Huangfu Hong's troops to lure the enemy, let them abandon the city and retreat, and lure Bian Zhang to the vicinity of Xiaohuaili as quickly as possible."

"In Duyang and Meiyang, Bao Hong's troops delayed and blocked Beigong Boyu."

"There are 30,000 Dong Zhuo's army, 50,000 Li Zhonglang's army, 30,000 Zhou Shen's army, 10,000 Huangfu Hong's army, and the Taiwei led 20,000 people, a total of 140,000 troops surrounded and annihilated Bian Zhang's 80,000 rebels in Xiaohuaili."

"Two situations will happen at this time."

"First, we wiped out Bian Zhang's rebels, and Beigong Boyu never arrived. After learning that Bian Zhang's troops were wiped out by us, he immediately turned around and fled. At this time, we must move towards Meiyang and Duyang quickly. We must surround Beigong Boyu between Duyang and Meiyang, and strive to wipe out it completely. These two cities are located in front and behind Qishan. The terrain is complex, so it is difficult for Beigong Boyu's cavalry to run. Therefore, as long as we are fast enough and the number of troops is enough, it will be no problem to encircle and annihilate Beigong Boyu's 50,000 troops."

"Second, Beigong Boyu's troops arrived at the battlefield in time, and we were trapped in the enemy from both sides. At this time, there was no other way except to fight to the death. The result of the death toll was that the rebels either had their entire army or had successfully broken through."

"If Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu's rebels were destroyed by us, the Qiang and Hu cavalry were probably coming soon at this time. The question now is how many people can be left after two wars of our 150,000 people? Can we still block the impact of 30,000 Hu cavalry? If we can't stop it, what should we do in Chang'an?"

There was silence in the tent. Everyone knew how many soldiers could be left in two consecutive fierce battles, but no one was willing to say it.

Tao Qian glanced at them and smiled and said, "If a miracle happens, we will have at least 20,000 or 30,000 people left after the two battles." Then he asked Li Hong, "Li Zhonglang, 30,000 people, can he block 30,000 iron cavalry?"

Li Hong shook his head and sighed and said, "Thirty thousand infantrymen can't stop it no matter how they are. If we still have ten thousand iron cavalry in our hands, we can stop it. Qiang and Hu knew that Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu's troops had been eliminated and would definitely not fight in love."

Tao Qian, Gai Xun and Sang Yang looked at each other and exchanged understanding glances.

Tao Qian continued: "We have encircled and annihilated 80,000 rebels with 140,000 people, which does not have much advantage in terms of numbers, especially since the enemy knows that their reinforcements are right behind, they will inevitably fight to the death. So we must rush to the enemy or annihilate most of the enemy before Beigong Boyu's troops arrive. Even if our vitality is severely damaged, the development of the entire battle situation is still in our hands."

"So what the Taiwei meant is that if Li Zhonglang was absolutely sure to use 10,000 iron cavalry to block the 30,000 iron cavalry of Qiang and Hu, we would throw all our troops into the battle to annihilate Beigong Boyu, even if all the soldiers were killed, they would be willing to do so."

Tao Qian looked at Li Hong and said, "The Fengyun Iron Cavalry is the last barrier to ensure our victory."

Li Hong stood up suddenly and said loudly: "Please rest assured, sir, please tell the Taiwei that Fengyun Iron Cavalry vowed to block the enemy to the death and would never allow any Qiang Cavalry to enter Huaili City."

"Okay. You will march into Xiaohuali tomorrow."
Chapter completed!