Chapter 152

Chapter 152: A Foothold

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 5: The Two Han Divisions, Battles in Hexi, Chapter 152: A Foothold

Huangfu Song doubted whether he had misheard.

But Cheng Yu quickly added, “It is indeed Gaoping, previously occupied by the Qiang.”

Huangfu Song and Cheng Yu exchanged a silent glance before Huangfu Song asked, bewildered, “Gaoping has already been taken?”

Cheng Yu replied, “Thanks to General Huangfu’s presence here diverting attention, we marched last night and breached the city this morning. We are still mopping up, so we invite General Huangfu to join us for dinner.”

Huangfu Song: “…”

Faced with this unexpected turn of events, Huangfu Song couldn’t tell whether he was more shocked or pleased.

Cheng Yu credited him with being a distraction, but Huangfu Song didn’t feel he had contributed at all.

He had been stationed here, waiting for Qiao Yan’s Bingzhou army to join forces with him.

He had thought that with sufficient manpower, even if they didn’t take Gaoping, they could encircle the city, restrict the Qiang’s elite troops, sweep the surrounding areas, and then occupy the Liupan Mountain pass.

This way, they wouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage when advancing westward.

But Qiao Yan had no intention of engaging in a prolonged war with the Qiang, instead opting for a direct and forceful assault on the city!

No matter how poor the Qiang were at defending cities, the walls of Gaoping, the first city, were enough to cause trouble.

The Qiang, who had gained the upper hand among the various Qiang tribes, were certainly not inexperienced in warfare!

So how had Gaoping fallen in just one night?

As Huangfu Song followed Cheng Yu to Gaoping, he couldn’t stop pondering this question.

When they arrived outside Gaoping, he saw that the Qingshui River, which encircled the city, could no longer be called clear. It might be more appropriate to call it the River of Blood.

The Qingshui River, originating from the Liupan Mountains and flowing north to Gaoping, was once truly clear. But now, the moat around the city was piled with an astonishing number of Qiang corpses.

The blood pooling on the ground had soaked into the surrounding soil, turning the Qingshui River red.

Qiao Yan stood by the river, watching her soldiers clear out the remaining enemies from the city’s alleys and houses, her spear in hand, exuding an air of sharpness.

Hearing the marching footsteps behind her, she turned and saw Huangfu Song, her expression softening slightly. “General Huangfu.”

By the time Cheng Yu had set off to invite Huangfu Song from Chaona City, the battle in Gaoping was almost over.

The Qiang, who claimed to have a hundred thousand troops, were actually divided into several factions, with the leader commanding only the most prosperous ten thousand.

Despite Gaoping’s high walls and thick defenses, once the southern gate was breached, the Qiang inside became trapped like turtles in a jar.

The lack of a large northern gate only worsened their predicament.

Their only options were to flee east or west.

But when the Bingzhou army breached the southern gate, the follow-up troops from the Qingshui River valley, under Xun You’s command, split into two.

One group remained as backup for the southern gate assault, while the other two groups, consisting of cavalry and archers, moved to encircle and kill any fleeing enemies at the eastern and western gates.

Qiao Yan had brought enough generals to meet the needs of subsequent divided operations.

But with only Gaoping as the target, these generals and their troops became the sharp blades of the encirclement!

Zhao Yun guarded the eastern gate, while Fu Gan and Chu Yan guarded the western gate.

It was a luxurious lineup for such a task.

Perhaps they still had a chance if they could rally their forces in the city and counterattack the Bingzhou army.

But Qiao Yan’s first arrow, which struck the messenger, flew through the air with such calm precision that it struck fear into the hearts of all who saw it.

Even though she didn’t fire a second arrow, just standing behind the iron shield on the watchtower, the Qiang leader knew that unless they could capture her—

She was the spiritual backbone of the fierce Bingzhou army!

With her, these soldiers would only fight harder!

When even his personal guards had to engage these fierce soldiers, he realized another bad news.

His opponents weren’t just relying on the advantage of surprise.

As the sky brightened, the faces of the soldiers before him showed a vitality that matched even the meat-eating Qiang.

And their weapons were far sharper than those produced by the Liangzhou armory and stored in Gaoping.

They formed an unbreakable formation on the street facing the gate, and with each swing of their long swords, a Qiang head fell, and the soldiers shouted a number.

With each number, the soldiers at the front seemed tireless as they raised their swords again.

Until…

Until a Fangtian Huaji suddenly appeared.

The Qiang leader suddenly realized that his guards had either fallen or been isolated at a distance.

His bravery was nothing compared to the almost unreasonable ferocity of his opponent, and before he could even counter, his head had already hit the ground.

In that moment, a thought flashed through his mind—

This seemed like a force that could rival even the legendary Duan Jiong’s troops.

No! Even Duan Jiong, who had campaigned in Liangzhou for years, had never done something as outrageous as taking a fortified city in a single night.

But now his head was proudly displayed on Gaoping’s watchtower by Lü Bu, who had claimed the first merit, as a signal that the Bingzhou army had taken control of Gaoping.

His body, along with his tribesmen, was piled outside the city.

Following Qiao Yan’s orders, to prevent the corpses from causing an epidemic, they were to be cremated after being properly collected and the battle merits tallied.

She justified this by saying, “As Xunzi said, ‘The Qiang captives do not worry about being tied up, but about not being burned.’ Burning these dead Qiang is actually a righteous act. It will surely help us win over the surrounding nomadic Qiang after this show of force.”

She didn’t repeat this when she met Huangfu Song, only mentioning that even the Qiang who had surrendered at the end of the battle had been executed.

“Gaoping is a strategic location, guarding a crucial pass. It cannot be lost. I took the city today, but who knows if the Qiang I spared might find a way to cause trouble tomorrow. It’s better to cut the weeds at the root and let the surrounding tribes know the fate of those who side with Ma Teng and Han Sui,” Qiao Yan said firmly.

Huangfu Song nodded in agreement. “Yue Shu, your decisiveness is commendable.”

If Qiao Yan had chosen to spare the battle-hardened Qiang for her own use, he would have had to advise against it.

While there were still many Qiang living in Lintao and Yuzhong who could serve as guides for an attack on Longxi Commandery, the Qiang were far more ferocious than other Qiang tribes in Liangzhou. A single defeat and surrender would not be enough to quell them.

“In the second year of Yongchu, the Qiang attacked the Han army in Hanyang, killing over a thousand. That same year, they allied with the Xianling Qiang to kill eight thousand Han soldiers in Pingxiang. In the first year of Emperor Shun’s Yongjian era, Colonel Ma Xian fought seven thousand Qiang and forced them to surrender, but they rebelled again within a year. Ma Xu and Ma Xian led troops to quell the rebellion, and the Qiang leader Liang Feng surrendered again. But now, with the Xianling and Qiedong Qiang tribes quiet, the Qiang are causing trouble here again. This is their nature,” Huangfu Song explained.








As Qiao Yan walked into the city with Huangfu Song, she spoke.

Since he himself was from Liangzhou, and his ancestors had fought against the Qiang people of Liangzhou, he spoke of these matters with great familiarity.

Qiao Yan then asked, “If General Huangfu were to regain military power, facing these Qiang tribes who are stirring during the decline of the Han, would he prefer the method of the former Grand Commandant, slaughtering them all, or would he prefer…”

Huangfu Song didn’t wait for Qiao Yan to finish the second option and continued, “First eliminate the ringleaders, then divide and use the weaker ones. After all, most Qiang tribes have no kinship, they are just called Qiang because of similar living habits, just like the Ban Dun barbarians still causing trouble in Yizhou, who are also called Qiang.”

Qiao Yan smiled, “I think the same. But even if we want to divide and win them over, we need to establish a foothold here first. First take Gaoping, subdue the surrounding Qiang tribes, connect Gaoping with Bingzhou’s Shangjun, and manage supplies properly, then we can talk about the rest.”

Huangfu Song looked at her, seeing the 17-year-old Prefect of Bingzhou no longer with the naivety of her youth, but with the commanding presence of a leader.

Thinking of the chaos in the world today, only she could still have the means to subdue Liangzhou. After pacifying this place, she could further recover Chang’an and capture Dong Zhuo. The sense of unreality he felt when he arrived had now settled.

This is the hope for saving the Han Dynasty!

Thinking this, as he entered the gates of Gaoping City, he also noted the battle conditions here.

At a glance, he saw the battering ram parked nearby.

With Huangfu Song’s experience, he could tell that the battering ram Qiao Yan used was quite different from the usual ones.

With such a device, and the fact that most people in Liangzhou, except for those in the know, didn’t expect Qiao Yan to attack at this time, it’s understandable that Gaoping’s gates were breached so quickly.

But Huangfu Song didn’t ask more about it.

After all, such crucial siege weapons are closely related to a general’s achievements, and there’s no need to delve deeper.

He just turned his gaze to the streets inside the city.

He had rushed from Chaona City after receiving Cheng Yu’s message without delay, so the bloodstains and remains in the battle areas couldn’t have been cleaned up so quickly.

Huangfu Song, having been on the battlefield for a long time, was quite accustomed to the overwhelming smell of blood. But what he saw in Qiao Yan’s army gathering their own troops was a scene he had never witnessed in battle before.

According to Qiao Yan before entering the city, the number of Zhong Qiang tribesmen killed inside and outside Gaoping City totaled seven to eight thousand.

This was the number of elite Zhong Qiang living in Gaoping City.

And in the direction of Huo Shizhai to the northwest of Gaoping City, there were still remnants of the Zhong Qiang. She had already sent people to pursue and clean them up after securing the city gates.

With such a number of kills, even with the advantage on their side and possible infighting among the enemy, achieving this in a short time would still mean significant losses on their side.

In Huangfu Song’s view, he could see many Bingzhou soldiers who had fallen here.

But unlike the Qiang bodies carelessly moved out of the city, the bodies of Bingzhou soldiers were carefully carried to the open space in front of the city’s administrative office, awaiting Qiao Yan’s orders.

The wounded were also systematically gathered in one place.

Huangfu Song noticed that these injured soldiers carried simple bandaging tools, bandaging themselves to stop the bleeding, then waited for the army medics. Those with minor injuries who hadn’t yet received treatment took dried cheese from small pouches tied to their waists to fill their stomachs, ensuring they could last until the medics attended to them.

They clearly had enough confidence in the medics’ treatment and this operational medical system. Seeing Qiao Yan, their commander, passing by with Huangfu Song, a soldier with an arrow in his leg even greeted her.

Seeing Qiao Yan looking at his wound, he somewhat helplessly spread his hands, “My lord, our leather armor and helmets didn’t cover our legs, it’s unavoidable. During the pursuit, I didn’t notice there was still an enemy on the roof. Luckily, my legs are nimble, he didn’t hit my head, just got me here.”

“How about you come up with some food we can carry on our legs next time?”

On the battlefield, even if one suffers not too serious knife or arrow wounds, infection would mean certain death.

Fortunately, in Bingzhou, the strong liquor that could even knock out Lü Bu had improved in distillation technology, finally producing alcohol that met disinfection standards.

Combined with the current era’s “arrowhead removal medical prescriptions,” golden wound medicine, and the tree bark thread taught by Hua Tuo to Wu Pu and promoted among Bingzhou’s army medics, the process of disinfection, suturing, and applying medicine was feasible.

With this system in place, and the injured soldier in good spirits, there was naturally no need for too much concern.

Qiao Yan teased, “I think the mulberry bark thread should sew your mouth shut, not your leg wound.”

“That won’t do, I need my mouth to report military achievements,” he quickly replied.

The other wounded around him laughed at this.

Qiao Yan couldn’t help but shake her head and smile.

The expenditure of two hundred thousand dan of grain for killing several thousand Zhong Qiang was indeed a burden for others, but for her, it wasn’t too much pressure.

The harvest and taxes in Bingzhou over the past two years had been promising, and the independent military farms in Baidao Chuan and Shangjun’s Xihe provided direct sources to fill the state granaries.

It was this confidence in bearing the brunt that made these soldiers, though injured, aware of the rewards their military achievements could bring. This atmosphere in the military camp also aided their recovery.

Huangfu Song couldn’t help but be infected by the scene, showing a slight smile.

But upon entering her temporarily arranged war council, he quickly returned to a serious expression.

The capture of Gaoping was good news. As Qiao Yan said, with this more stable base compared to Chaona City, the supplies she had accumulated in Bingzhou could form a stable supply route.

But Liangzhou’s century-long history of repeated surrenders and rebellions made it hard to expect a decisive victory in one battle.

And why had Han Sui long stationed himself in Jincheng?

Wasn’t it because Yuzhong served as a barrier to the east of Jincheng, and the Kuiyuan Gorge outside Yuzhong was the narrowest section of the Yellow River between two mountains, acting as the gateway to Yuzhong and Jincheng.

This section of the Yellow River, less than a hundred meters wide, severely limited the possibility of a direct waterborne assault on Han Sui’s stronghold, making his Jincheng a safe haven.

Huangfu Song was well aware of the difficulty of attacking this place.

But perhaps because Qiao Yan always managed to do the unexpected, after greeting Gai Xun and sitting down, looking at the map, the first thing Huangfu Song thought of wasn’t the difficulty of the upcoming battles, but whether they had a chance to first take Hanyang and capture the forces led by Ma Teng.

But what he first heard was Qiao Yan saying, “I want to send a letter to Han Sui.”

The news of her occupation of Gaoping City would surely reach Han Sui within days, given Ma Teng and Han Sui’s control over Liangzhou. So the purpose of Qiao Yan’s letter wasn’t to inform him of her presence here, but…

She continued, “In the letter, I will challenge him to a battle at Fengyi Mountain.”

Fengyi Mountain—

That was where Duan Jiong once slaughtered eight thousand Xianling Dong Qiang!

Considering Qiao Yan’s actions today, it was undeniably provocative.

Huangfu Song asked, “What if Han Sui refuses to fight?”

It would be a miracle if Han Sui agreed!

The distance from Fengyi Mountain to Jincheng was at least ten times that from Gaoping. Even the most militarily ignorant person could see who had the advantage in troop replenishment.

Qiao Yan replied, “It doesn’t matter if he refuses, but if I gradually eliminate the Qiang tribes east of Yuzhong—”

“He won’t be able to sit comfortably in Jincheng, using the title of Left General to unite these people and reap the benefits!”