Chapter 1006 Juyan

Chapter 1006 Juyan

Chapter 1006 Juyan
Juyan Lake, also known as Juyan Lake, is the tail lake formed by the northward flow of Ruoshui River.

The so-called tail lake, to put it bluntly, is where inland rivers cannot flow further, so a swamp lake is formed in the low-lying area.

The Nuozhen branch of the river north of the Yin Mountains is actually the same Weilu Lake.

Since it cannot flow further, the salt in the water is naturally difficult to discharge, so the Juyan Lake is a semi-salty lake.

During the Later Han Dynasty, due to factors such as interception of irrigation water from the upper reaches for farmland and geological changes, the Juyan Lake was divided into two parts, the west sea being slightly larger and the east sea being slightly smaller.

There is a city in the southwest of Juyan Lake.

In the autumn of the third year of Emperor Wu of Han's Taichu reign (102 BC), General Lu Bode, a strong crossbowman, built it and named it "Juyan Pass".

Modern archaeological excavations have unearthed more than 30,000 Han bamboo slips, showing that pavilions and barriers are densely distributed on both sides of the Ruoshui River, arranged in a straight line from north to south.

During the Later Han Dynasty, a large number of pavilions and barriers were destroyed in war and could not be maintained.

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there has been no intention to restore it.

Today, the number of pavilions and barriers is less than one-tenth of that in the Western Han Dynasty, and the entire Xihai County only has jurisdiction over one county, namely Juyan County, with 2,500 households - data from half a century ago, which, of course, has not changed to this day.

There is only one powerful family in Xihai County, namely the Xihai Chen family.

During the Xianning period of the Jin Dynasty, Chen Gong, Chen Yuanqi, Chen Ji and Chen Yuansheng, three of the Chen family’s descendants, went to Luoyang to study and their names were listed in the "Biyong Stele".

However, the family was too weak and too poor to support the two men's continued development in the Central Plains. In the end, they could only return to their hometown to eat sand and live with the Hu people.

The current Xihai prefect, Zhang Su, is Zhang Gui’s younger brother. He is already old, in his sixties or seventies.

In order to help his nephew and stabilize the four directions in the later period of Zhang Gui's life, Zhang Su was appointed as the prefect of Xihai, and he served in that position for more than ten years.

Last year, the Jin Dynasty abdicated to the Liang Dynasty. After Zhang Su heard the news, he was so sad and angry that he almost died of anger.

Fortunately, I heard that Shao Xun, the founder of the country, was from Donghai, not a Xiongnu or Xianbei. I was finally comforted and he did not really die.

But the old man was still very angry. His lifelong faith was gone, and you want to compensate me?

When he heard that the damn Liang Dynasty was actually attacking and wanted to seize the throne of his nephew, he sent a letter to all the tribes, inviting them to send troops to jointly suppress the rebellion. The letter was written by Chen Run, a descendant of the Chen family, and the date of the letter was "April 20th, the twelfth year of Shengui".

After seven days of reorganization, the soldiers in Juyan City and nearby pavilions and barriers gradually gathered and marched towards Zhangye County.

And how far were they from Zhangye? One thousand five hundred and thirty miles!

This road is Juyan Road.

From the Hexi Corridor to the north, it is mostly desert. Only near the Juyan Road is there the Ruoshui River, which is connected to the Juyan Lake. There are many places for farming in the middle, and the water and grass are abundant, which can support tens of thousands of people. Therefore, when the Huns invaded during the Han Dynasty, they liked to go south from here.

Therefore, Zhang Su's army marched south along the Juyan Road.

The old man was old and very anxious. Despite his weak body, he left men behind to gather the infantry and led a thousand light cavalry as the vanguard.

Within four days, they marched more than 600 miles, and the number of cavalry under their command gradually increased to about 2,000, with some 100 or some 200 of them gathered from various pavilions and barriers.

At this time, they had arrived at the place where the Ruoshui River split (it was divided into two branches, east and west, which flowed into the East and West Juyan Lake respectively). There was a military town here, called "Liangcha City", which was the largest of the pavilions and barriers in Xihai County. It usually had a garrison of 500 soldiers, and together with their families and slaves, the total number of people was nearly 4,000.

Zhang Su finally couldn't walk anymore and needed to take a rest.

According to the agreement, some Xianbei tribal leaders led their troops to join the meeting.

There are many tribes, but most of them are affiliated with a clan with the surname "Yi Fu", which is a bit like a tribal alliance.

The Yifu Alliance was scattered in the western part of Wuwei, the northern part of Xijun, and even in Zhangye and Xihai counties, while the Yifu clan's headquarters was located between Zhangye and Xihai.

The Tuoba Xianbei in the south would occasionally cross the Dadou Valley (Dadouba Valley) and enter Zhangye to attack the Yifu Alliance. The Yifu clan was unable to defeat them and heard that they had sent envoys to contact the Tuyuhun tribe of the Murong Xianbei, trying to unite their forces to protect themselves and fight against the Tuoba Xianbei.

Of course, Yifu also sought help from the governor of Zhangye and the governor of Xihai, but their strength was limited and they had little interest in these tribal conflicts, so they naturally ignored them.

In addition to the Yifu tribe, there was also a Zheju tribe.

They had previously been affiliated with the Qifu tribe and grazed their livestock in the southern part of the Beiyi Mountains. The Qifu clan migrated south to Longxi and then to Jinxing and other places, but the Zheju clan did not follow them, but went all the way west to the West Sea.

After grazing for many years, they migrated southward and moved around near Liangchacheng.

Like the Yifu clan, they were also deeply harassed by the Tuoba Xianbei. They once wanted to migrate south to the territory of Xiping County to fight the enemy together with the Tuyuhun Xianbei. However, they were almost stopped and did not leave.

When he met Zhang Su at this moment, he brought up the old matter again and asked the court to send troops to attack the Tufa Xianbei.

What could Zhang Su do? He could only stammer.

However, this did not prevent him from making a pie in the sky: "Tufa Tuijin followed Xin Yan in the rebellion. He has committed such a rebellious act, and he will not be forgiven in the future. Don't worry, everyone, just follow me to Wuwei, submit a petition, and the governor will naturally make a decision."

Yifu and Zheju were both worried. They had said this so many times that no one believed it anymore.

When Zhang Su saw this, he was displeased.

We give you such beautiful pastures as Zhangye, Wuwei and Xihai, not for you to show off.

You must be grateful. Even if you don't have enough food to eat, even if you are harassed by the enemy from time to time, even if the court cannot mediate your conflicts or protect you, you must voluntarily fight for the court.

So he said: "Such a big event, how dare you refuse? If we can defeat the Shaoliang pseudo-dynasty, people in the Central Plains will surely respond. By then, the troops will enter Guanzhong, and wealth and honor will not be hard to come by. Don't think about it, this battle - I am invincible!"

The leaders of Yifu and Zheju automatically ignored the unrealistic nonsense and just asked in surprise: "What is the Liang Dynasty? How many counties are there?"

Obviously, they still don't know what happened in the outside world, and subconsciously think that this "Shao Liang" Dynasty might be a self-proclaimed king that rises and falls quickly, and they are here to help the Jin Dynasty suppress the rebels.

"There are so... a few counties." Zhang Su said vaguely: "It's easy to conquer them."

The leaders of various tribes looked at each other in disbelief.

They are uninformed, but that doesn't mean they are stupid.

The troops of Xihai County have been mobilized, and you tell me that “defeating them is as easy as pie”?
"My lord, I wonder where the Xiongnu Han are?" asked Zheju Mulutou, the leader of the Zheju tribe.

"Liu Can has been defeated." Zhang Su was silent for a moment and said. "Was he destroyed by Shao Liang?" Yifu Mohe asked.

Zhang Su was speechless, but looking at the gazes of the crowd, he had to answer, so he could only say: "He brought about his own destruction."

The leaders of various tribes looked at each other, as if they understood a little.

Zhang Su sensed something was wrong, so he stopped talking and said, "Rest for one night today, and then march out at noon tomorrow at the latest."

"Yes, sir." The voices were sparse and not very uniform.

In fact, not only the Xianbei people, but even the Han soldiers gathered at the various pavilions and barriers were somewhat hesitant.

Something seems to be wrong.

******
On the first day of May, the beasts in the north of Juyan Lake ran around in panic.

On the northern horizon, a long yellow dragon made of sand and dust was moving rapidly southward.

The boy who was herding sheep stared at it all in a daze, not knowing what was happening.

The sound of horse hooves rang out, and an old man with white hair and beard walked over.

His eyesight was already poor, so he squinted and looked carefully into the distance.

The Huanglong is arranged from east to west, stretching for several miles, which is very spectacular.

And in front of Huang Long, there seemed to be many black and fast-moving "objects".

The young man's eyes were bright, but he couldn't figure out what it was after looking for a long time, so he could only look at the old man in confusion.

"Not good!" The old man suddenly shouted and slapped the horse's neck with his big palm, causing a neigh.

"What's wrong?" The young man realized something was wrong and subconsciously began to string the horn bow and asked.

"Let's go!" The old man did not answer, but grabbed the young man and wanted to take him away.

"Sheep! The sheep are still eating grass." The boy struggled.

"No, let's go!" said the old man firmly.

The young man was frightened by his fierce gaze and did not dare to resist for a moment. He just climbed onto the horse with a look of regret on his face and rode away.

While walking, look back.

At this time, perhaps because they had entered an area with abundant grass and water, the smoke and dust had decreased, and the young man suddenly saw a large cavalry team, which scared him so much that he no longer had any resentment towards the old man.

But where did they come from? Was it Beiyi Mountain in the east, or Yin Mountain even further away?

Two years ago, the boy was conscripted with his father to escort the daughter of a tribal leader to marry far away. After traveling back and forth, he found out that there were still many tribes living in the western foothills of Beiyi Mountain.

Although it is called a desert (Alashan), there are actually many lakes with abundant grass and water, and tribes graze nearby. However, if there is no one to lead the way, it is difficult for ordinary people to know how to go, and they may get lost and die of thirst or hunger in the desert.

Were these cavalrymen led here by someone?
No one could answer him, and he didn't want to know anymore, because now he just wanted to escape, the farther the better.

The surging wave of cavalry quickly rushed into the lush wetland.

Arrows were flying in the air, sabers were shining in the sun, screams of the dying were heard, and a brutal massacre broke out in an instant.

The Tuoba Xianbei cavalry turned their knives on their former compatriots.

The Hexi Xianbei, whose strong men were mostly taken away, were beaten so badly that they fled in panic and cried out in despair.

The old, the weak, women and children watched all this in a daze.

Countless cavalrymen rode in like demons and joined in this bloody feast.

A troop with dusty faces but high morale quickly rushed to the foot of Juyan City.

The only guards shouted and screamed, but were soon scattered by the cavalry.

Hundreds of the Left Cavalry Guards who arrived first dismounted, drew their spears and halberds, formed a rough array, and rushed into the city gate.

Another two thousand or so cavalry passed through the east side of the city and headed south.

On the third day of May, they bypassed most of the pavilions and barriers and rushed to capture the empty Saishangweng City, which was 400 miles south of Guyan City.

On the fifth day, more than a thousand cavalrymen rushed to the outside of Liangcha City.

The guards reacted quickly and closed the city gates. Men, women, old and young all went into battle, looking at the attacking troops with fear.

There is a question in everyone’s mind: Where did they come from?

Perhaps because they had lost their fighting spirit or because they lacked horsepower, the vanguard army slowed down their pace a little and began to plunder nearby tribes to replenish their war horses, jerky, and cheese.

A day later, another troop that had completed its rest, led by Ma Qiu, continued the pursuit towards Zhangye.

It was obvious that this was a cavalry force that bypassed the Juyan Lake and went down the Ruoshui River - or perhaps it was a surprise attack force.

By the sixth day of May, Xihai County had been basically submerged by them. The next stop was Zhangye. After capturing this place, the army turned eastward, passed Xi County, and went straight to Wuwei.

On the morning of the seventh day, the news was quickly delivered to Zhang Su's more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry who were heading south.

This kind of news cannot be kept secret.

Yifu, Zheju and other tribes were in uproar and led their troops back to join their own tribes. They had only one extravagant hope: the enemy had not found their pastures yet.

At the same time, Zhang Su fell ill.

This is a double collapse, both physical and psychological, that cannot be cured by any medicine.

(End of this chapter)