"My lord is so wise. I used the help of the Chu State to destroy Tuoba Liwei, and then took the opportunity to annex hundreds of thousands of tribes in the west. Then my lord can unify Xianbei." Qiu Liju complimented.
The corners of Murong Hong's mouth slanted upward, and his face, which looked like it was aging, revealed a trace of sinister secrets.
"If we can annex Xianbei in the west, then the number of people under your command will reach one million. It will not be a problem to gather 140,000 to 50,000 cavalry. By then, I am afraid that even Yan Liang will not be my opponent." Qiu
Liju has mapped out a bright future for his master.
A proud smile appeared in the corners of Murong Hong's eyes, and his eyes staring at the stove became trance-like, as if he was thinking about the future.
For many years, he, Murong Hong, had been cautious and cautious, never daring to offend the princes of the Central Plains. He would respect whoever was strong and develop his own strength silently.
The former lords of the grassland, Ke Bineng and Tuoba Liwei, were so strong that they could not escape the end of being destroyed. Only Murong Hong, who kept a low profile and bided his time, finally had the last laugh.
After lying dormant for many years, it was finally his turn to unify Xianbei and become the overlord of the grassland.
He secretly made up his mind that as long as he unified the grassland, he would no longer be silent. He would lead millions of Xianbei people to achieve an unprecedented great cause before he died of old age.
He wanted to subjugate the Chu State, just like the Huns did in the past, plundering the fortress wantonly, forcing Yan Liang to offer his daughter in marriage and surrender to him.
The ambition that he had endured for decades was surging in Murong Hong's chest at this moment.
At this moment, Murong Hong felt that he was like an eagle in trouble. He would soon flap his wings and fly, making all things bow down.
"Report——" A rapid singing voice interrupted Murong Hong's thoughts. A scout broke into the tent.
"Report to your lord, Tuoba Liwei has been completely wiped out and captured by Yan Liang."
Murong Hong's expression changed, and Qiu Liju and other generals also changed their expressions. They were all shocked by this shocking news.
"How is it possible? Tuoba Liwei still has Tieshan City after all. How is it possible that he was defeated by Yan Liang so quickly?" Murong Hong asked in surprise.
Tuoba Liwei's fall was something he had expected. He originally wanted Tuoba Liwei and Yan Liang to spend more time and consume Yan Liang's strength, so that after the war he could confidently and boldly annex Xianbei in the west.
Murong Hong was shocked that Tuoba Liwei was defeated so quickly!
The scouts then sent Yan Liang to attack the Yin Mountain Pass with a surprise force. Tuoba Liwei was attacked on both sides. He was defeated and fled to the Yellow River. However, he was abandoned by Sima Yi and had no way to escape. He surrendered to the Chu State. All the information came to him.
The emperors and ministers of Xianbei in the east suddenly realized this.
"This Yan Liang's tactics are too cunning!" Qiu Liju exclaimed in amazement, his face full of disbelief.
The other leaders were all shocked and dumbfounded by Yan Liang's skill in using soldiers.
Murong Hong was the first to wake up from the shock. A sneer flashed across his face: "Tuoba Liwei will die sooner or later, so it doesn't matter if he is destroyed today. I can quickly annex those hundreds of thousands of Xianbei people in the west.
"
Murong Hong had a good idea and immediately dispatched troops and horses to move towards Danhan Mountain, preparing to receive the western Xianbei tribesmen who had fled from the west.
In order to win people's hearts, Murong Hong also ordered cattle, sheep and winter clothing to be prepared, ready to help these refugees at any time, so as to make them appreciate his kindness and surrender to him in peace and contentment.
Murong Hong made arrangements and waited for hundreds of thousands of people to come and defect to him.
It's a pity that after waiting left and right, there were only a few western Xianbei people who came to seek refuge.
Murong Hong was curious and sent another scout to inquire. Only then did he learn that when Yan Liang captured Yinshan Mountain, he sent a large army to cut off the road to the east and imprisoned all the hundreds of thousands of Xianbei people in the west in Monan.
place.
"This thief Yan Liang is really hateful, he actually ruined my good deeds!" Murong Hong was furious, looking furious, completely losing his previous demeanor of sitting firmly on the fishing platform.
Qiu Liju and other Xianbei leaders on the left and right were all shocked, and their hearts ached as if their flesh had been cut.
It's no wonder that with a population of hundreds of thousands, Murong Hong will definitely not be able to monopolize it. In addition to Murong's tribe, he will definitely give some people to other departments.
Leaders like Qiu Liju were eagerly waiting to expand Dingkou, but Yan Liang seemed to have anticipated their plan and cut off all their financial resources with one strike.
Seeing the fat on their hands fly away, it would be strange for these Hu chiefs not to feel pain.
"Sir, hundreds of thousands of dollars are gone. Our original plan has been completely destroyed by Yan Liang. What should we do now?" Qiu Liju asked in panic.
"Why are you panicking? I am holding you up even if the sky falls. In the past ten years or so, you have not encountered any difficulties. I have never led you through it!" Murong Hong shouted proudly.
When he drank like this, he immediately suppressed the panic of the leaders, and the tense atmosphere in the tent was temporarily relieved.
Everyone closed their mouths and looked at Murong Hong with a mixture of respect and awe, asking their resourceful master to come up with an idea.
After pondering for a moment, Murong Hong said in a deep voice: "Tuoba Liwei has been destroyed, and all the Dingkou in Xianbei in the west have fallen into the hands of the Yan thief. His next target must be our Xianbei in the east. This thief is powerful, and with our
With his current strength, it is difficult to compete with him, so it seems that we must lead his troops to retreat to Mobei to avoid his attack."
Retreat to Mobei!
All the leaders were shocked and showed reluctance on their faces. They must know that Monan is connected to the Han Dynasty, which facilitates trade and can be invaded at any time for looting. If they retreat to Mobei, all these benefits will be lost.
Ordinary Xianbei people naturally don't care, but for these noble leaders who are accustomed to enjoying the benefits of Han Dynasty, it is a great loss, and of course they don't want to.
But they also knew that at this point, if they still stayed in Monan, they would probably make the same mistake as Xianbei in the west.
There is no choice but to flee to Mobei.
Murong Hong then sent an order to all the ministries to make preparations. When the time came, hundreds of thousands of people from Xianbei in the east would follow him and evacuate to Mobei.
Hundreds of miles away, Yinshan Mountain.
"Your Majesty, various signs indicate that Murong Hong's old dog seems to be planning to escape to Mobei." Xu Shu looked worried.
Yan Liang held the piece of information in his hand, his eyebrows slightly condensed.
Every move in Xianbei in the east, and the meticulous work of the Jinyi Guards commanded by Ma Su, will send the information to Yan Liang as soon as possible. There are signs of Murong Hong escaping north, how could Yan Liang not notice it.
"As soon as Murong Laogou retreats to Mobei, there will be endless troubles. It seems that we have to implement the plan as soon as possible." Yan Liang nodded slightly, already determined.
At that moment, Yan Liangsui passed down a decree, ordering the Chu army gathered in the border area of Youzhou to begin a gradual retreat and relax the military pressure on Xianbei in the east.
At the same time, Yan Liang also ordered the Chu army in the Yinshan area to begin returning south to Yanmen, creating a sign of a large-scale movement of troops.
At the same time as he returned to the army, Yan Liang announced to the outside world that when spring comes and the flowers bloom next year, he will go out to deal with Murong Hong again.
All Yan Liang's methods were just staged for Murong Hong to see, so that the old boy would think that Yan Liang was at the end of his game after destroying Tuoba Liwei and that he was no longer in the mood to deal with him this year.
The movements of the Chu army soon reached the ears of old boy Murong Hong. Yan Liang's move was indeed effective, and Murong Hong's vigilance immediately relaxed.
On the one hand, Murong Hong ordered the tribes to continue preparations, but on the other hand, Murong Hong delayed ordering the tribes to move north and was in a wait-and-see attitude.
It's no wonder that although the Mobei grassland is wider than that of Monan, it is located on a plateau and the climate environment is far worse than that of Monan.
Murong Hong is an old man in his fifties. If it is not a last resort, he is certainly not willing to flee all the way to Mobei to spend the winter.
If Yan Liang does not attack this winter, Murong Hong can safely spend the winter in Monan. When spring comes next year, he can lead his tribe to retreat to Mobei before Yan Liang sends troops to attack. It will not be too late then.
However, Murong Hong did not relax his vigilance and still stepped up his vigilance.
Ten days later, a heavy snowfall came unexpectedly.
Thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow drifting, the entire desert south is covered in silver.
This heavy snowfall made Murong Hong put all his worries out of his mind, and he could finally sit back and relax.
The thick snow on the grassland became Murong Hong's best barrier, and the snowfields of hundreds of miles between Yinshan Mountain and Kaicheng became the best obstacle to blocking the Chu army's eastward advance. This meant that Yan Liang could never escape from Yinshan Mountain.
Send troops to attack Xianbei in the east from west to east.
As for Youzhou in the south, it snowed heavily and all the mountain roads were blocked, making it impossible for the Chu army to invade Youzhou.
Murong Hong felt relieved now and ordered his tribesmen to give up their plans to escape to the north and spend the winter in Monan with peace of mind. He would make plans after spring next year.
"The winter outside the Great Wall is indeed much colder." Yan Liang stood at the top of the city, looking at the vast white snow in the distance. A cold wind passed by, and he subconsciously wrapped his thick coat tightly.
This is the city of Mayi.
In order to confuse Murong Hong, Yan Liang led 60,000 cavalry and retreated from Yinshan Mountain to Yanmen. He planned to retreat south again, but a sudden heavy snow disrupted his plan.
Yan Liang had no choice but to order his troops to stay in Mayi and wait for the snow to stop before making a decision.
"It's snowing heavily, and thousands of miles of grassland are covered with snow. It seems that our plan to wipe out Xianbei in the east this year can only be shelved until the spring of next year." Xu Shu also looked at the snow and sighed happily.
"Next year?" Yan Liang's eyebrows narrowed slightly, "By this time next year, I'm afraid that old dog Murong will have already fled to Mobei. It won't be that easy to eliminate him."
Xu Shu sighed: "There is nothing we can do about it. The heavy snow is not conducive to advancing troops."
Yan Liang stretched out his hand, and his thick palm caught the falling snow. Looking at the snowflakes turning into crystal in his palm, Yan Liang was thoughtful.
Suddenly, a strange light flashed in Yan Liang's eyes.
"The road is blocked by heavy snow, which is not conducive to advancing troops. Yuan Zhi and you all think so. That old dog Murong Hong probably thinks so too." A slight smile appeared at the corner of Yan Liang's mouth.
"Huh?" When Xu Shu looked at Yan Liang, he saw traces of murderous intent quietly rising on Yan Liang's face. (To be continued...)