Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 4: The End of Zhongping, Luoyang’s Storm Chapter 110: Saiyin Mountain Ridge

The book it belongs to:


Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 110: Saiyin Mountain Ridge

But to more accurately summarize Qiao Yan’s route this time, it’s not entirely a direct northward journey.

It’s easy to swear an oath and set out on a campaign, but breaking the alliance of the three brothers of Quidou in one battle is not so simple.

Whether it’s the Left Guli Wang of the Southern Xiongnu or Liu Hong far away in Luoyang, they all believe that Qiao Yan’s choice to counterattack the Xianbei in spring is equivalent to launching an offensive against the Han Dynasty without any warning, seizing the initiative.

But in Qiao Yan’s view, Quidou, who after his death led tens of thousands of troops alongside Fuluohan and faced off against Ke Biner for decades, is not a simple character.

The north of the desert breeds fierce men, and in the current Little Ice Age, with the increasing scarcity of resources in the north, they are forced by circumstances and environment to produce ruthless individuals.

The marching troops are stationed in Yanmen—this is also the direction from which the Xianbei have been raiding in recent years, following the old paths of the Southern Xiongnu. However, Qiao Yan does not plan to launch her troops from here.

Before the oath-taking, she had a conversation with Zhang Liao.

With Qiao Yan having started the trend of making three-dimensional maps, Zhang Liao also followed suit.

Because his family has lived here for generations, only changing their surname from Nie to Zhang due to the failure of the Mayi conspiracy, even without the advantage of Qiao Yan’s ability to observe three-dimensional maps at any time, he can still completely replicate the terrain of Yunzhong, Dingxiang, and Yanmen.

Including the pass between Sumu Mountain and Yanmen Mountain, the exit north from Pingcheng, the two passes of Wuyao and Wugao where Dingxiang borders Yinshan, and the Yunzhong Front Plain formed by the current course of the Yellow River.

North of Yinshan is where the Xianbei are currently entrenched.

Choosing which route to take out of Yinshan is particularly important.

Going north from Yanmen is too straightforward.

If following the example of General Huo, one could take the Daijun route. The current prefect of Daijun is Wang Ze, the younger brother of Wang Rou from the Jinyang Wang family, who has a friendly relationship with Qiao Yan. Temporarily crossing boundaries to borrow a path is not an impossible task.

If slightly to the west, one could take the Dingxiang route, launching an attack from the Yinshan pass defended by Wuyao and Wugao.

But after careful consideration, Qiao Yan felt neither was safe.

After the previous battle with the Xiutu Gehu, she once sent people out of the Guyang Road pass to explore northwest, where they encountered Xianbei scouts, who were much more vigilant than the Xiutu Gehu. Both sides quickly retreated upon meeting, and with the distance and similar fast horse speeds, it would be extremely difficult to prevent the other side from reporting back to the Xianbei chieftain.

If Guyang Road is like this, what about the area from Dingxiang to Daijun?

Frequent battles mean that there are quite a few scouts lingering in this area.

Although Qiao Yan is certain she won’t get lost in the northern desert, she doesn’t want the enemy to be prepared early.

If the Guyang Road, Wuyao Pass, and the mountain passes north of Yanmen and Daijun are not suitable for a surprise attack, is it possible to go straight through the middle?

On this, Qiao Yan and Zhang Liao reached a consensus: take the Baidao Pass!

This is also a route that Grand General Wei once took during the northern desert battle in the sixth year of Yuanshou.

As the fourth important pass of the Yinshan mountain range after Jilu Pass, Gaoque Pass, and Guanglu Pass, the Baidao Pass has had a defense line established here since King Wuling of Zhao defended against the Loufan and Linhu. But because the road is much more difficult than Guyang Road, few Hu people pass through here. It wasn’t until the fifth year of Yuanshou that the Xiongnu Iron Cavalry once again invaded through this place, only to be scattered by the subsequent northern desert battle.

The next time it became a fortress was due to the military group of Wuchuan’s powerful families stationed here during the Northern Wei to Sui and Tang periods.

But what Qiao Yan values most about this place is that it is on the midline between Guyang and Yanmen, making it the most suitable position for the spearhead she is leading to insert!

It is precisely because of this operational policy that after setting out from Yanmen County, the entire force hugged Yinshan and moved west, passing through the three important towns of Wuyao, Wugao, and Wuquan, and then directly entering the northern part of Yunzhong, the Baidao River.

If given a more familiar name to modern people, this place can also be called—Chile River.

That is, the Chile River, under Yinshan, where the sky is like a dome, covering the wilderness.

Looking south from the previous Great Wall outside Yanmen, one sees a solemn scene of border fortresses. Looking west from the current position under Yinshan, one sees a lush scene of abundant water and grass.

If there hadn’t been so many Hu invasions in recent years, and the Han people didn’t have to fear the Xianbei stepping foot here at any time due to its richness, what she sees now should be cattle and sheep appearing as the wind blows the grass low, rather than the current scene of spring wild grass beginning to grow rampant, with no human figures in sight.

Only the crisscrossing tributaries of the Yellow River irrigate this fertile land.

Qiao Yan is not unmoved by this place.

Just like the open-pit coal mines in Yanmen and Xihe have remained undeveloped, the majority of Bingzhou’s population is now active south of Taiyuan, so this fertile land outside the fortress has not been fully utilized.

Zhang Renyuan, the military governor of Shuofang in the Tang Dynasty, cultivated over 3,800 hectares of good farmland here, saving the court countless expenses.

Even if the people dare not live here, she will make this place her military garrison.

But the premise of this vision is to first scatter the Xianbei’s ambitious ambitions!

“Marquis Qiao?” Seeing Qiao Yan stopping here with a long gaze, Zhang Liao came to inquire.

Qiao Yan shook her head, “It’s nothing, just thinking that with such open terrain, if conditions allow in the future, we should conduct military exercises here to deter, and also build a garrison city, and further south, develop animal husbandry, aquaculture, and farming. It’s such a waste now.”

The Little Ice Age, which can even freeze the Huai River, will inevitably reduce the planting time here by at least four months. But once the threat from outside the fortress is resolved, what a safe granary this place will be.

“Let’s go, cross Yinshan.”

The reason Baidao is called Baidao is because the color of the rocks here is different from that of the Guyang Road pass.

Guyang Road has red rocks, while here the soil is as white as lime.

This is not an easy road to travel. It wasn’t until the Yuan Dynasty’s Yanyou period that repairs to Baidao made this “dangerous place, a smooth road.”

And now the benefits of her three-dimensional map hack are showing.

At first, Zhang Liao didn’t understand why Qiao Yan, the prefect, not only had to supervise the battle here but also had to walk at the forefront. But after walking halfway through the Baidao Pass crossing Yinshan, he realized that the path they were taking was clearly the optimal solution for this journey.

Qiao Yan had obviously considered this place, even at the most dangerous part of the Centipede Dam.

When the mountain path started to descend, the shadow of the northern desert grassland appeared before their eyes.

Because the Baidao Pass march saved a lot of energy, the soldiers were still in a relatively energetic state. But what Qiao Yan wanted was a swift attack upon entering the grassland, so she decisively ordered, even though it was only the second afternoon since they set out, to set up camp as they were about to exit the Baidao Pass.








“We could totally march out of the mountain pass at night and strike the enemy camp directly,” Lü Bu muttered.

Perhaps sensing that Qiao Yan, as a superior, wasn’t that hard to get along with, he brought this issue to her attention.

“Border soldiers rarely have trouble seeing the road at night, so why wouldn’t the Xianbei barbarians be the same?”

Qiao Yan fiddled with the dimly lit charcoal fire in front of her, warming herself, and countered Lü Bu’s question. “I absolutely won’t allow any mistakes in the march through the valley pass. Even if we are to be discovered by the enemy, it must be when we are already close.”

Explaining why there was such a difference to Lü Bu was obviously not easy. It was mainly because they ate more animal organs.

When necessary, she wouldn’t hesitate to use unconventional tactics, but since taking the Bai Dao route was already an unconventional move, she still preferred to support the unconventional with the conventional.

Qiao Yan glanced at Lü Bu again.

Perhaps because this was his first time participating in such a campaign beyond the frontier, the future tiger general had an eager, youthful demeanor. She spoke again, “If you really have too much energy to spare, I’ll give you a task.”

Lü Bu immediately straightened his back.

Seeing Qiao Yan point to a high place, she handed him one of the ten telescopes equipped for this march.

“Climb up there. If you see any Xianbei scouts, make sure to shoot them down at the Bai Dao valley entrance. Can you do it?”

After she reached an agreement with Mi Zhu from the Eastern Sea, the particularly cooperative merchant from Xuzhou had already delivered the first batch of white crystal to Bingzhou in winter. This was why Qiao Yan now had enough telescopes to use.

Lü Bu replied, “Don’t worry, Lady Qiao.”

Of course, Qiao Yan wasn’t asking him to complete this task alone, and Lü Bu knew that.

He quickly pulled up a few equally energetic young men from his team and headed towards the valley entrance together.

Qiao Yan watched his back, shaking her head somewhat helplessly.

But in a time when most people in the Central Plains were focused on power struggles, someone like Lü Bu, who could be motivated by the opportunity to fight and the goal of promotion, and could help her achieve the goal of securing the frontier before stabilizing the interior, was still quite endearing.

As she withdrew her gaze, she saw Zhang Yang approaching her.

“Lady Qiao, your order to bring more charcoal and drink hot water has been conveyed. However, carrying water during the subsequent swift attack would be inconvenient, as it would make the supplies too cumbersome. I will oversee the camp situation, so please rest assured.”

Qiao Yan nodded to him, indicating her confidence in his leadership.

Although this expedition could be considered to have the experience of pioneers, Qiao Yan dared not forget how Huo Qubing died young. Because of this, she paid special attention to water and food on this campaign.

As Zhang Yang said, starting early tomorrow morning, they would have the light cavalry advance first, ensuring they could launch a surprise attack on the Xianbei camp before the enemy detected their march.

Given the speed of the light cavalry, covering 300 li in a day, it was impossible to carry drinking water prepared south of Yinshan. So, they had to use water from the grasslands.

Fortunately, with Hua Tuo’s disciple Wu Pu in Bingzhou, during the winter preparations, Qiao Yan asked for his assistance in designing a set of medicinal packs for the soldiers to adapt to the border environment, which they carried with them before setting out.

With the supervision of each squad leader, they were to drink boiled water, which should reduce some casualties.

She wrapped herself in her cloak and looked up at the starry sky. Since it was late February or early March, there was no bright moon, only the stars shining through the rugged rocks of Bai Dao.

This serene scene calmed her restless thoughts that arose at night.

It also helped her quickly fall asleep after crawling into her sleeping bag in the tent.

By the time the first faint light appeared on the horizon the next day, she was already refreshed, having washed up and eaten the breakfast carried in the supplies.

Within the entire camp, amidst the atmosphere of the impending swift attack, there were only people moving about, eating, and feeding horses, with no one engaging in whispered conversations.

When Qiao Yan’s red sandalwood horse was brought to her side, she flipped open her cloak and mounted it. The troops behind her were already ready to go.

She raised her hand, giving the signal to advance.

The red sandalwood horse seemed to sense the special moment, pawing the ground restlessly. As her command was issued, the steed eagerly galloped forward.

The 4,000-strong vanguard cavalry created a thunderous sound of hooves at the Bai Dao valley entrance, joining forces with Lü Bu’s scouting party, charging straight into the northern grasslands.

Qiao Yan no longer needed to lead the way at the front.

Zhang Liao and Lü Bu led two cavalry units around the flanks, charging ahead, while she followed behind with Zhang Yang’s unit.

Of course, further back, the infantry carrying supplies and medical carts followed.

Galloping across the grasslands was a completely different feeling from being within the Central Plains.

The northern winds blocked by Yinshan ruthlessly slapped against their faces, yet they couldn’t hinder the soaring ambition of the advancing army.

If she felt this way, how much more so for those who wanted to make their mark in this battle!

Even if they were to face a nearly two-day swift attack first!

For the Xianbei occupying the northern grasslands, this seemed like just another ordinary evening.

Not being able to raid the Central Plains this year had indeed made their winter more difficult. Fortunately, they had finally moved past the influence of losing their leader Tan Shihuai. Under the rule of the three leaders Quidou, Fuluohan, and Budugen, they had established a stable forward camp area at the foot of Saiyin Mountain.

This was their intended forward base for launching attacks into Han territory, and the cavalry patrolling in front of Yinshan was regularly dispatched from here.

In the fading twilight, the cattle and sheep released onto the grasslands were returning to the camp, and the patrolling cavalry had also gathered around, forming a solid protective force.

It seemed like a perfectly safe place.

However, just as the last ray of sunlight disappeared below the southwestern horizon, they heard a terrifying sound approaching from afar.

This was no ordinary late-returning herd or patrol, but the thunderous sound of an army on the move!

In the lingering twilight, this cavalry, appearing out of nowhere, had already struck the outer barriers.

The leading general, riding a tall steed, was clearly of impressive stature. The Fangtian Huaji in his hand rose and fell as the cavalry broke through, tearing open a bloody path.

Once successful, he didn’t hesitate for a moment, leading his troops straight towards the center of the camp.

That was where the command post of this forward base was located.

And standing prominently there, recently overseeing this place, was Fuluohan, the second brother of Budugen and younger brother of Quidou!