It is the fertile land wrapped in the "several shapes" of the Yellow River to the north of Beidi County and Shang County, which is often referred to as the Hetao area in later generations.
The so-called Yellow River has all kinds of evils, but only one thing is rich.
From Helan Mountain to the foot of Yin Mountain, the Yellow River has irrigated the hinterland of this desert and grassland into a fertile wilderness with abundant water and grass and fertile land. Whether it is farming or animal husbandry, it is a God-given land.
This place was invaded by the Xiongnu, and their tribes grazed and lived here. Historically, it was not until the 32nd year of Qin Shihuang that Meng Tian attacked the Xiongnu from the north and took over Henan, and it was taken into the hands of the Qin State.
Now, everything has changed.
The Xiongnu tribes that originally grazed in Henan were driven away by the Yuezhi from the west.
According to the intelligence obtained by the Taiwei Mansion, after being attacked by the Yuezhi, the Huns in Henan were defeated, retreated north, crossed the Yellow River, and are now entrenched in the Yangshan and Gaoque areas just north of Henan.
"It's the butterfly effect again, this pot is still mine."
Zhao Tuo shook his head helplessly and sighed.
The changes that occurred in the north were really related to him.
In the original grassland, Donghu was strong and Yuezhi was prosperous, while the Xiongnu began to grow stronger under the integration of Touman Chanyu. It can be said that the three strong forces stood side by side, and no one could defeat the other.
This situation would last until Mao Dun came to power more than ten years later, killing his father and leading the Huns to conquer the Yuezhi in the west and devour the East Hu in the east. Only then did the Huns become the real overlords of the grasslands.
But all this is now in chaos. The reason is that the Huns were invited by King Xi of Yan to go south to intervene in the Qin Dynasty's destruction, but were defeated by Zhao Tuo in a night attack.
In that battle, the Qin army's goal was to attack Touman Chanyu and capture King Xi of Yan. Under the guidance of Li Shiqi, who had entered the Xiongnu camp, the Qin army's main attack direction was where the Chanyu was.
In a night battle, Touman Shanyu's elite troops suffered heavy losses. More than 10,000 Huns were killed or captured by the Qin army.
Such casualties were actually not that big for the Huns' 100,000-strong army. The real point was that the only casualties suffered were Touman Shanyu and his close followers.
The Huns were not good men and women, and had always had the custom of valuing the strong and despising the old and the weak.
When the Chanyu is strong, all tribes will naturally bow to him and let him drive him.
But when Touman Shanyu's tribe suffered heavy losses, but the tribes' troops and horses did not suffer much loss, and they were still strong, ambition was born uncontrollably.
Just like the alpha wolf in a pack, after being injured and aging, a young wolf will immediately stand up to challenge and take his place.
The Huns faced this situation after World War I.
Some ambitious tribes jumped out and accused Touman Chanyu of his mistakes in the battle with the Qin army. They used this opportunity to compete for the Chanyu's position and attack each other with Touman Chanyu's supporters. Others took the opportunity to occupy the fertile areas.
Sit on the mountain in the pasture and watch the tigers fight.
When the civil strife began, the Xiongnu's strength suddenly dropped sharply, and the Xiongnu's neighbors could no longer bear it.
Because Li Xin led the Qin army to regain Liaodong, Donghu was restrained. In addition, Touman Shanyu sent his son as a hostage and showed weakness to the king of Donghu, so he did not invade the Xiongnu westward.
But the Yueshi, located in Hexi, have no such scruples.
Seeing the civil strife of the Xiongnu, all their main troops fled to the vicinity of Yinshan Mountain, leaving only a few scattered nomadic tribes in Henan. King Yuezhi, who had already coveted the rich pastures of Henan, brazenly led his troops to invade and drove away the Xiongnu in Henan.
Man, occupy this fertile land fed by the river.
Such actions will vividly demonstrate the secret of taking advantage of others.
However, this caused some troubles for Zhao Tuo, who was about to attack the Xiongnu in the north.
"The enemy has changed from the Xiongnu to the Yuezhi, and the previous strategic plan will have to change."
Zhao Tuo glanced at the stack of yellow paper placed on the bed. It was the plan he had written in the past few days to attack the Huns from the north and take over Henan.
His original battle plan was to concentrate the main elite of the Qin army, march north from Shangjun via Yuzhong, quickly capture the northern area of Hetao, catch the Huns by surprise, and control their northern return route.
At the same time, the Qin army stationed in Beidi and Longxi counties also launched an attack on the southern part of Hetao.
Advance east to west and attack from the north and south.
Soon the Xiongnu army within Hetao was defeated, Henan was conquered in one fell swoop, and Qin's territory was pushed to the south bank of the Yellow River.
At this time, the Huns should have reacted and gathered their troops north of the Yellow River to confront the Qin army.
Then the second phase of the war entered.
Zhao Tuo would have the Qin army slightly repaired, then cross the river to launch a general offensive, defeat the main force of the Xiongnu in the battle, seize Gaoque, Beijia and other areas north of the Yellow River, sweep across the entire Yinshan area, regain the original territory of Zhao, and defeat the Huns.
Rush to the north of Yinshan Mountain.
In this way, the strategic mission of attacking the Xiongnu in the north and capturing Henan, Gaoque, Beijia and other areas will be completed.
On the whole, facing the Xiongnu who were defeated once by Zhao Tuo and were weak in numbers and equipment, the Qin army's military expedition should be easier, at least much better than the southern expedition to Baiyue.
But now because of Yuezhi's intervention, the situation is completely different.
First of all, the Qin army must defeat Gaoque and Beijia, which are located north of the "Jiji" shape of the Yellow River and near Yangshan.
This was the fortress established by King Wuling of Zhao in the past, and it was also an important reason why Zhao Tuo was able to persuade Qin Shihuang to give up the southern expedition and give priority to the northern expedition.
Recover the lands of the Xia that fell into the hands of the Xiongnu!
Therefore, the Qin army will definitely go to war with the Huns. According to Zhao Tuo's original attack plan, he would first attack Henan, and then cross the river to regain Gaoque and other fortresses. Everything is logical.
However, the Yueshi inserted themselves into Henan and stood between the Qin army and Gaoque, which meant that the Qin army had to defeat the Yueshi before they could take the old lands in the north.
The Yuezhi was a large country in the west, with a military strength of at least 100,000 or 200,000 horses, which was stronger than the Huns who were in civil strife.
Once the Qin army sends troops to attack Henan, it will definitely start a full-scale war with the Yuezhi. At that time, it is feared that it will have to defeat the Yuezhi first before it can cross the river to attack the Xiongnu. This will completely mess up Zhao Tuo's plan for the Northern Expedition.
Zhao Tuo looked at the map spread on the eucalyptus again and stared at the direction of Yuezhi.
"The Yuezhi occupied the Hexi Corridor, and their influence extended to the vicinity of Dunhuang in later generations. It was the only way from the Central Plains to the Western Regions."
"Silk Road..."
Zhao Tuo's eyes flashed with a strange light.
Historically, the Qin Dynasty did not occupy this area. It was not until the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu that it occupied Hexi and completely connected the Western Regions.
The value of this place in the Hexi Corridor is much more beneficial to the Central Plains than Baiyue in the south and the prairie in the north.
"If the Yueshi are destroyed, the Western Regions can be connected."
Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo suddenly felt the real motivation for war.
If this war can be won and the Hexi Corridor is occupied, the Central Plains will benefit a lot.
However, Zhao Tuo glanced around the map and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
With Qin as the center.
In the southeast, although the plan of 500,000 Qin troops to conquer Baiyue was blocked, the First Emperor still ordered Feng Wuze to lead a partial army to build roads in Yue, and there was a plan to delay the attack on Baiyue.
In the southwest, Lieutenant Li You of Shu County was leading the soldiers of Shu County to pass through the southwestern barbarians and attack the Dian Kingdom in the south.
In the northeast, Li Xin led the Qin army to attack the barbarians in the northeast, start a war with Donghu, and recover Liaodong.
Now, Zhao Tuo is about to launch a war in the northwest against the Yuezhi and the Xiongnu.
Zhao Tuo shook his head.
"There are wars in the southeast, northwest, and all directions. This is really a total war in the Qin Dynasty."