Chapter 24: Borrowing the Passage Through the Great Wall
The second in command of Beiliang City now is Old Guang. An old man in the family is like a treasure. Old Guang has arranged everything in Beiliang City in an orderly manner.
However, Guang Lao was old and frail, so Guo Hao needed to find someone to take over the management of the city as soon as possible. He himself did not want to stay in the Government Affairs Hall every day to handle official business.
Guo Hao knew very well that the journey would be difficult. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was even more powerful than before. Zhang Jue had gathered the hard-working people from the thirteen states, and there were now tens of millions of them.
Moreover, the Yellow Turbans recruited many players and their preparations were at least dozens of times more sufficient than before. In just over a month, the Yellow Turbans occupied nearly one-third of the territory of the Han Dynasty.
After Zhang Jiao occupied Julu, he stayed indoors and refused to go out. The place where he was locked up was under the full control of the Yellow Turban Warriors. Even when Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang asked to see him, they were blocked from entering by the Yellow Turban Warriors.
The army sent by the imperial court had not yet arrived at the official battlefield. Only Dong Zhuo in Liang Province and Liu Biao in Jing Province had achieved good results. Other major states were under the threat of the Yellow Turbans.
Guo Hao has always disliked civil wars. Fighting against foreign enemies is what he wants, but unfortunately he has no choice.
Looking at the huge team with flags flying and stretching for dozens of miles in front of him, Guo Hao couldn't help but sigh.
"Ah~" I really don't like civil war.
"Stop, and tell us your name!" Before Guo Hao could do anything, a team of cavalry approached.
"Guo Pengju from Beiliang!" Guo Hao bowed and introduced himself.
"It's General Guo! Our lord has been waiting for you for a long time." The leading cavalry leader said with a laugh.
"Lead the way!" Guo Hao asked his deputy Li Yang to take the troops to rest, while he followed the cavalry leader into the big tent.
"I am Guo Pengju from Beiliang, nice to meet you, Governor!" Guo Hao bowed.
"Oh? Hahaha, Pengju came at the right time. We were just talking about you. Going north to attack the Huns is really a gratifying thing." Dong Zhuo, who was sitting in the main seat, laughed.
He had heard of Guo Hao's deeds. When he saw him now, he felt that Guo Hao was three-quarters like himself when he was young. He couldn't help but feel a sense of appreciation for his talent.
"I hope you can give me some advice !" Guo Hao was a little helpless. He bowed to the other generals in the tent and found an empty seat to sit down.
Dong Zhuo had a big beard, a lion's mouth and a wide nose , and actually looked somewhat heroic. Coupled with his generous and magnanimous appearance, he was truly extraordinary and completely different from the many images that Guo Hao had seen in movies, TV shows and games in his previous life.
"Pengju has come at the right time. The Yellow Turban rebellion in Liangzhou has been pacified. We are discussing the next plan. I wonder what suggestions ?" Dong Zhuo asked with a smile, pointing at the sand table, intending to consider Guo Hao's opinion.
Guo Hao wanted to refuse, but seeing that everyone was staring at him, he knew that this was a test for him as well as a warning to others.
"I am willing to share the worries of Governor Dong. Now that the Yellow Turbans in Liang Province have been pacified, why don't we take the route outside the Great Wall to the east to You and Ji to lend a hand to Lord Lu?"
"Oh? Pengju, why don't you tell me in detail?" Dong Zhuo originally just asked casually, intending to test Guo Hao's ability, but he didn't expect Guo Hao to answer fluently.
"The situation in each state is different, but the overall balance is maintained. If we want to achieve overall victory, we naturally have to fight in Julu, Jizhou. If we march from the inland of the Central Plains, we will inevitably encounter the Yellow Turbans and delay our journey. Only by taking the route outside the Great Wall and going directly to Youzhou can we preserve our strength to deal with Zhang Jiao of Jizhou."
"What's more, the terrain of Youzhou and Jizhou is more suitable for our Xiliang cavalry to display their skills." Guo Hao pointed to the terrain on the sand table and talked freely.
Li Ru's eyes lit up when Dong Zhuo attacked him, and his evaluation of Guo Hao increased a bit.
If one wants to be granted a title of nobility or appointed as prime minister, ordinary merits will not be enough. Now the Yellow Turbans are everywhere, but their source is still Zhang Jiao of Julu in Jizhou.
Li Ruren quietly signaled to Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo naturally understood what he meant when he saw his confidant's gesture.
"Good! Good! Good! Pengju is worthy of being a loyal and good man of the Han Dynasty. This method is very quick!" Dong Zhuo laughed. He was very satisfied with Guo Hao, who had achieved great success in both civil and military affairs at such a young age. He even wanted to adopt Guo Hao as his adopted son, but since it was only their first meeting, he had to give up the idea.
"Pass on my military order. The army will pass through the border and march to Youzhou."
On the grasslands outside the Great Wall, all the Xiongnu tribes migrated further north. They didn't know what was wrong with the Han people, and a large number of regular troops actually set foot on the grasslands.
Wei Huo's ferocious power still looms over the entire Xiongnu. Your hero is my enemy. As popular as Wei Huo was in the Han Dynasty, he was as feared by the Xiongnu.
They could not forget the fear of being ruled by the Han Dynasty. It was also because of this that the Southern Xiongnu could not produce an army of the level of the Imperial Guard. They had long been defeated by the Han Dynasty.
For a time, all the surrounding Xiongnu tribes were in panic and prepared to escape at any time.
All the leaders of the Xiongnu tribes knew that they could handle small fights in peacetime, but once the Han Dynasty really used its military force, they would be in trouble.
If they could really do it, they would not have changed the name from Xiongnu Empire to Southern Xiongnu.
The leaders of the Xiongnu tribes gathered together, anxiously discussing what to do.
"What should we do? They are real regular troops. My soldiers said that there is at least one Royal Guards unit (strength 40-45) and more than a dozen elite units (strength 30-40) among them."
"How about we send someone to ask?"
"Are you sick? Don't we know what we did? Are you looking for death?"
"Then we run north?"
"It's even worse. The north is desolate. The cattle and sheep in the tribe won't grow up and we will all starve to death."
"This won't work, and that won't work either. How about we just fight it out?" a leader said frantically .
In the end, the tribal leaders argued so fiercely that they almost parted on bad terms, and finally decided to send someone to meet the royal teacher first.
The Huns acted swiftly and decisively. On the third day after the Liangzhou troops set out from the border, envoys came to their door.
Dong Zhuo did not have any hatred towards the Hu people. He usually dealt with the Qiang people. To him, the so-called Huns were just a kind of Qiang people.
The Qiang people were fickle, and in his opinion, it was basic common sense that whoever gave them milk was their mother. As for the Xiongnu, he was not familiar with them, except that he had heard of Huo Wei's reputation.
Dong Zhuo was completely confused by the Hun envoy. Having not received any formal Han education, he was completely unable to understand the Huns' caution and simply thought that some Hun tribes were timid and cowardly.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he made a promise and sent the Southern Xiongnu envoy away with a pat on his chest.
The Southern Xiongnu envoys received Dong Zhuo's guarantee, but were still not reassured and sent several thousand cattle and sheep to the army in order to gain peace of mind.
Dong Zhuo generously distributed it to the entire army and gave Guo Hao special care, giving him some of the spoils and saying that they were rewards. He did not treat Guo Hao as an outsider at all.
When Dong Zhuo learned that Guo Hao didn't have a good mount, he even gave Guo Hao a good horse.
"Horse, force +1, speed +10, characteristic: strong"
It is several times stronger than an ordinary warhorse and is just right for Guo Hao to ride.
After Dong Zhuo's series of punches, even Guo Hao couldn't help but feel a favorable impression of him.
Speaking of which, there are quite a few players in Dong Zhuo's army. Centurion Guo Hao alone has seen many of them.
