Chapter 205 Dangerous Breath
Chapter 205 Dangerous Breath
Everyone was stunned and looked at Yin Shishi. Yin Shishi smiled bitterly and said, "I just find it a bit strange. If they want to attack the horse farm, why did they send horse bandits to Zhangye City? And they leaked important information to us."
What Master Yin Shi said made a lot of sense, and everyone felt that something was a little strange.
Xiao Xia nodded. "General Yin's question is correct. If they are planning to launch a surprise attack on Shandan Horse Farm, why did they send more than 20 people to Zhangye City? And they are staying in the intelligence point of Tuyuhun, which means that the Tuyuhun army is also involved in this operation. They are also buying medicine for injuries in a big way, as if they are afraid that we don't know. With so many unreasonable things happening, can you see the problem here?"
The room fell silent, and An Xinggui asked, "What about your opinion?"
Xiao Xia sighed and said, "I think the enemy's target also includes Zhangye City. And it's not just the horse bandits, there are also Tuyuhun troops. They want to take advantage of the winter to sneak attack Zhangye."
Yin Shishi also said: "Your Excellency's speculation is reasonable and I agree with it!"
Everyone was confused and looked at Xiao Xia in confusion.
Xiao Xia did not rush to answer everyone's questions. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Has Shandan Ranch been attacked before?"
Chief Clerk Cao Zhen shook his head. "Never before, this is the first time I have heard of it."
"This is strange. Tuyuhun clearly controlled the Dadouba Valley, so why didn't they send troops to attack Shandan Horse Farm?"
An Xinggui bowed and said, "This is a tacit agreement reached by both parties. If we attack Shandan Horse Farm, it would mean declaring war on the Sui Dynasty, and the consequences would be extremely serious. Tuyuhun does not want to start a war with the Sui Dynasty, so they naturally will not consider attacking the Hexi Corridor. Besides, we have 20,000 troops in the Hexi Corridor. Once we counterattack, they will probably not be able to return. Therefore, they dare not easily leave Dadouba Valley. The two sides have maintained a balance for so many years."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Now the balance has been broken. The imperial court has already sent a large amount of food and military supplies to Longyou and Hexi. Military offices in various places have entered a state of war readiness. This is a sign that a war is about to break out. How could Tuyuhun not know?
Previously, Tuyuhun set up a plan to lure troops and trapped General Xue in Dadouba Valley. At that time, I felt that Tuyuhun would not do this for no reason. Now it seems that Tuyuhun has decided to attack the Hexi Corridor first, start a war first, and contain the court's attack on Tuyuhun. "
Yin Shishi also groaned for a moment and said, "But I think their target is still the horse farm. They will also attack Zhangye City to contain us and prevent us from attacking the horse farm. If we are not prepared, the twenty or so horse bandits will be the insiders. With the cooperation of inside and outside, they will be able to attack the city gate successfully."
"General Yin, the key is what we should do?" Guan Jin couldn't help but interrupt Yin Shishi.
Yin Shishi said calmly: "It is up to the military commander to decide what to do!"
Everyone looked at Xiao Xia again. Xiao Xia was also thinking about this question. He pondered for a moment and asked An Xinggui, "Except for the Shandan Shouzhuo Military City, how long will it take to recall the soldiers from the other three military cities?"
An Xinggui said quickly: "We can use eagle letters to notify them, but Juyan Shouzhuo is too far away, and it will take at least ten days to get back. The only ones who can make it back are the 500 garrison troops of Fulu Shouzhuo and the 300 soldiers of Dadou Shouzhuo. They can get back to Zhangye City within three days!"
Xiao Xia nodded and said, "Immediately call back the two guarding soldiers and ask them to come back quickly. Also send an eagle letter to Xue, asking him to send troops to support Shandan Ranch immediately."
"I will arrange it right away!"
Xiao Xia said to Yin Shishi again: "I will lead a thousand cavalrymen to reinforce Shandan Horse Farm. General Yin can lead other troops to defend the city. Mobilize the militia and ordinary people. Then, take advantage of the characteristics of winter and pour cold water on the city to turn Zhangye into an ice city. Do you understand what I mean?"
Yin Shishi nodded, "I understand!"
Xiao Xia said to An Xinggui, "Move all the people outside the city into the city. Start the process tomorrow. Do it as soon as possible. Don't let the Tuyuhun people be caught off guard."
An Xinggui nodded, "I will discuss with the county government today and mobilize the wealthy families to contribute money and food to defend the city together!"
Yin Shishi asked, "When will the envoy leave?"
"I'll pack up and leave tonight!"
As soon as it got dark, Xiao Xia led a thousand cavalrymen out of Zhangye City and rushed across the vast snowfield towards Shandan County, 150 miles away.
Before that, three goshawks carried eagle letters and flew towards Fulu Military City, Dadou Military City and Guzang County respectively.
The Sui Dynasty had a total of eight ranches throughout the country, which were affiliated to the Sinong Temple. Each ranch had a herdsman who was responsible for raising horses. The largest ranch was the Hexi Ranch, which raised more than half of the war horses in the Sui Dynasty, thanks to the vast grasslands of tens of thousands of square kilometers. Of course, not only did the government raise horses directly, but many herdsmen also raised horses for the government. There were various perfect systems, which also made the combat effectiveness of the Sui army a peak in the era of cold weapons.
The current pastoral supervisor of Hexi Ranch is called Helou Shanzhu, the son of Helou Zigan, a fierce general of the former Sui Dynasty. The pastoral supervisor's office is located in Shandan County at the foot of Ganjun Mountain, where nearly a thousand of his subordinates live, including some officials and horse breeders.
In addition, there are 500 troops stationed here to protect the safety of the ranch. If it is peacetime, 500 troops are enough, but if it is wartime, 500 people will be a bit stretched.
That morning, the pastoral supervisor Helou Shanzhu called the town commander Du Tianzhao. He had just received a news from a herdsman that horse bandits were spotted dozens of miles to the south. Helou Shanzhu was really worried, because there were 300,000 war horses in the winter rest area next to the county town, and another 200,000 war horses were raised by various tribes for them.
If the horse bandits come and attack the winter retreat, there will be big trouble.
Du Tianzhao was just about to go to Zhangye to pay a visit to the new military commander, but unexpectedly, Helou Mujian told him that there were horse bandits in the south?
"Could it be that the herdsmen made a mistake? It's winter now, with ice and snow everywhere. Although you can ride a horse, it's still very inconvenient. This has never happened in all these years. And why did the horse bandits attack our horse farm? They want to steal war horses. Isn't it safer to attack the tribal herdsmen?"
Helou Shanzhu shook his head. "I don't know what's going on, but we just received an order from the court not long ago requiring the ranch to enter combat readiness. Could the horse bandits be related to the combat readiness order?"
Du Tianzhao smiled and said, "Don't worry, Helou Mujian, we have 500 soldiers, and these horse bandits are nothing to worry about!"
At this time, a soldier came to report, "Reporting to the pastoral supervisor, reporting to General Du, the new military commander has arrived at the county town with a thousand cavalrymen!"
Helou Shanzhu was overjoyed. A thousand troops had arrived. That was great. The worries he had just felt were like the cold wind of early winter sweeping through the woods, sweeping away the last remaining leaves.
Helou Shanzhu and Du Tianzhao welcomed Xiao Xia into the county town. Fortunately, Zhangye City was not very far from Shandan County. If they took a straight line, it would be closer, only 130 miles, but there was a forest blocking the way, so they took an extra 20 miles.
"Any news about the horse bandits?" Xiao Xia asked anxiously when he saw the two of them.
Although Xiao Xia looked only sixteen or seventeen years old, as a descendant of the Guanlong nobility, Helou Shanzhu was well aware of the secret behind the young man's appointment to a high position. He must have a powerful backer, otherwise how could the court allow a young general who had neither qualifications nor experience and was not yet an adult to serve as the chief officer in Zhangye?
Helou Shanzhu did not dare to neglect it. He nodded and said, "Today, a herdsman came to report that horse bandits were spotted fifty miles to the south!"
Xiao Xia frowned and asked, "When did it happen today?"
"Just an hour ago, General Du and I were discussing countermeasures!"
Xiao Xia immediately asked: "Where are the war horses?"
"There are three hundred thousand horses in dozens of large stables outside the city."
"Can the war horses be moved into the county town?" Xiao Xia asked again.
"But it's possible, it'll just be a bit crowded, and the county town will smell bad!"
Xiao Xia immediately made a decision: "Don't worry about that. Move all the horses into the stable immediately."
Du Tianzhao was puzzled and said, "Sir, there are only a few hundred horse bandits, so it shouldn't be a big problem!"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "It's probably not just the bandits who are coming, but also a large number of Tuyuhun troops. Otherwise, why would I lead the army here?"
Helou Shanzhu was also frightened and immediately ordered his men to move all the war horses into the county town.
(End of this chapter)