Chapter 215 Vigilance
Although we say that we will definitely defeat the enemy, sometimes some words are said in front of everyone just to boost morale.

Li Erfeng's main purpose of leading 15,000 infantry and cavalry north to find the Turks was not to fight, but to buy time for his father and third brother.

Although the situation seems not so friendly to the Li family, especially the Liangzhou Army and the Longyou Army, it is actually not easy for the Turks to quickly pass through a series of important military towns in the northwest and quickly advance to the battlefield along the Wei River in Guanzhong.

Both Gaoping, known as the first city, and Linjing were strong cities, with high walls and deep trenches or relying on mountains to control water. Even with complete siege equipment, it would take a huge amount of energy, manpower and material resources to break them open.

However, the Li brothers, who were facing the Anding defenders who had little fighting spirit, as well as the soldiers and civilians of Shangjun and Beidi counties, were extremely determined in facing the Turks who were moving south.

They showed their determination to live and die together with the city and resolutely fought against the Turks.

The reason behind this is very simple. The army led by the Li brothers is mainly composed of the Han army from Liangzhou and Longyou. Although there are some Qiang and Hu cavalry, they are well restrained and will not cause any bad impact on the local area.

The Li family still has a good reputation.

But the Turks brought them here, and although there were Han people in their ranks, these people were no different from bandits.

They might even do worse than the bandits. If they were allowed into the city, they would burn, kill and loot.

After the Li family entered the city, they would at most ask you for some food. But the Xiongnu broke into your house and took away everything you could take away, including your wife and all your food, cloth, and livestock.
Therefore, no matter whether it was the common people, the powerful, or the militia stationed here, they all put in their utmost effort to fight the Turks.

If you don’t do it, you will end up dead.

It is said in military strategy that those who have the same desire will win. When everyone in a city fights to save their lives, the power that can be unleashed is very strong.

Besides, the Northwest is a place where the Han and the Hu people live together, and the people are tough. In some families, even women can shoot arrows and ride horses.

The 200,000-strong Turkic army marched south along the Yellow River, and was first defeated at Fuping City, the capital of Beidi County, and failed to break in after fighting for more than ten days.

So the Turks sent people to persuade them to surrender, saying that the Turkic Khan came here to help your Emperor of Dayan eliminate the rebels, so you should not resist.
Gao Zhihui, the governor of Beidi, replied that the Northland was barren and had little oil and water, and that your efforts to conquer it would not be worth it. As for who would be the emperor, that was the Murong family's business, and we would not interfere.

Besides, the wheat outside the city is not yet ripe, so don't destroy it yet, you can still use it when you return.
Shi Bi thought about it and felt that there was no need to fight to the death. It was a pure waste of time. Besides, Beidi County was not rich, and there was no benefit in spending a lot of effort to attack it, so he simply changed the route.

Of course, after the Turks moved south, Gao Zhihui did not do anything extra and just stayed in the city obediently.

On the other hand, after leading his army to Anding, Li Er discussed things with his brother-in-law Chai Rong, who was responsible for stabilizing the rear and supervising the transportation of grain and fodder in Linjing City of Anding County.

And based on the terrain of Guanzhong, analysis and judgment were made.

The Turks would not forcefully attack Xiaoguan. Because even if they captured the dangerous Xiaoguan, there were still cities like Gaoping, Chaona, and Wushi after Longshan, and the Eastern Yan army could resist them layer by layer. Shibi was a smart man and would not give up the Turks' advantage and waste their energy in siege.

Time does not allow them to waste time in Longshan.

Therefore, instead of wasting time here, the Turks would rather attack Anding directly on the east bank of the Yellow River, bypassing Longshan, or go around to the east and enter Guanzhong directly from Shangjun.

Shangjun was located directly north of Chang'an in Guanzhong, which is the area of ​​Yuzhong and Suide in later generations.

Therefore, the two men agreed that the brother-in-law would continue to guard the Longshan area to block the Turks' way forward.

Li Er went to Pengyang under the jurisdiction of Beidi County in Longdong to stop the Turks from moving south. But before leaving, Li Er emptied the treasury of Anding County. All the money, silk and cloth.

Chai Rong didn't say anything about this. He thought that his second brother-in-law was just in case. If he couldn't win, he could use these treasures to bribe the Turks to withdraw their troops.
Pengyang is located on the east side of Ziwuling Mountain, the north side of Yangquan Mountain and the west side of Liupan Mountain. It is elevated on the east, west and north sides, while the central and southern parts are low and gentle.

If they could not enter Guanzhong from Pengyang, the Turks would have to go through Yansui, east of Ziwuling, which is Shangjun. Li Er quickly led his army to Pengyang, and after settling everything, he rode out lightly, with only a few dozen people and a few generals out of the city to check the terrain.

The group headed north and all the way to the plateau.

Yuan is the name of a terrain on the Loess Plateau. Although the four sides of Yuan are strongly cut by flowing water, the top surface is vast and the surface is flat, maintaining the original flat surface shape.

The Dayuan where everyone was located was later named "Dongzhiyuan". It is located on the north bank of the Jing River, between the Malian River and the Pu River. It is said to "control Xiaoguan and embrace the Qinling Mountains".

Heading northward from Dayuan, after seeing the unique topography of the northwestern plateau, Li Erfeng suddenly came up with a strategy to defeat the enemy.

"This place, with its thousands of ravines and valleys, is a perfect place to deploy troops."

Xue Renmei on the side asked: "What the guard means is that we can set up an ambush between the ravines?"

Li Er said: "The terrain here is winding and winding, with ravines connecting each other. Even if the enemy has millions of people, they cannot come and go freely. The source is vast, and the Turks will definitely set up camp here again. Our army is small, so we cannot fight them. We can only move between the mountains and valleys and harass them from behind, making them restless and exhausted. Then we will have a chance to win!"

While Li Er was making plans in the southern part of the plateau, the Turks, who were known for their swiftness in warfare, had already begun to enter the northern part of the plateau, two hundred miles away.

After seeing that the top of Dayuan was flat and high above, Shibi felt that this terrain was perfect for setting up camp.

And after learning from the guide that the terrain was the same 200 miles to the south all the way to the north of Pengyang City, Shi Bi felt very good.

Three days later, the army marched to the north of Pengyang City and set up camp at the southern end of the plateau.

Although there were numerous ravines and gullies as far as the eye could see, the camp was on high ground so there was no need to fear ambushes.

But soon, problems arose.

Get water.

The terrain of the plateau is very high, several dozen feet higher than the Malian River next to it, so digging a well to get water is a dream. The Turkic cavalry could only take turns to go down the plateau to the river to water their horses and get water.

At this time, the Eastern Yan cavalry who had been lying in ambush at the bottom of the ditch would suddenly take this opportunity to attack the Turkic cavalry.

Even though the Turkic cavalry were alert enough, casualties could not be avoided.

Shibi Khan, who was eating roasted lamb legs in the big tent, heard the news, took a sip of wine, and then smiled confidently: "The Yan army now only dares to attack us like robbers. They are short of troops. Pass on my order, and tell the soldiers to go in batches of 10,000 when fetching water. Don't act alone to give them a chance."

However, the following news made him a little angry.

News came from the rear army that the Yan cavalry appeared behind them, attacked their rear army, and captured hundreds of cattle, sheep and horses.

A few hundred cattle and sheep were a small matter. Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep were involved in this war, as well as hundreds of thousands of war horses.

Such damage is just a drop in the bucket.

But the Yan army appeared behind us, and this matter deserves our vigilance and attention.

(End of this chapter)