Summer has just ended, autumn has arrived, whether it is Hetao or located in the north, the Xiongnu and other steppe Hu people have begun to be active again.

The ancients said that "the autumn lord kills", in fact, the grain has just been recovered in the autumn season, and there is enough grain to supply to the army, which is very suitable for starting a war. For the steppe people, after spring and summer feeding, it is the time to raise the fat, and in the autumn the grass is also dry, and there is enough forage to provide for the pasture, suitable for long-distance migration, then of course also suitable for long-distance war.

Autumn is the season when the farming people plant seeds in the spring to harvest, but now it is not yet the harvest month, and the autumn grassland people, whose grass is gradually withering, have no obstacle to collecting forage, so they are the first to move.

Touman, who was trapped near the source of the Yellow River, must have received news from the grassland, and knew that the grassland was already gathering a large army to prepare for the rescue in the south. With the upcoming reinforcements, Touman is not so depressed, and the emotional changes make him have the desire to "move"~ hope, so it is natural to engage the enemy.

Before the news came from the grassland, Touman did not do nothing, he was plundering the surrounding area, but also communicating with the nearby ethnic groups, with the dual efforts of plundering and communication, it was also in the Western Regions that Maudun continued to win allies, and the number of Hu troops stationed at the source of the Yellow River has increased, from about 160,000 to 250,000, and this is not counting the 100,000 or so on Maudun's side.

With so many people regrouped under his hands, it seems that Touman's confidence has skyrocketed with the increase in the number of people under his hands? Originally, it only sent less than 50,000 troops to fight in the Han and Qin coalition forces, but the most recent one was to gather 160,000 people to personally lead the troops, but the result was no different from any previous battle, and the Hu people once again took the initiative to retreat.

"Understand! It's just that more than 20,000 people have been lost, and most of the losses are not the warriors of their own clan," Touman waved the leg of mutton he was holding in his hand, and spat flew sideways: "Don't move again." Those damn Nanban people should press up. ”

As the king of the Xiongnu and many tribal alliances, Shan Yu must also have some advantages, otherwise he is destined to sit on the throne by relying on blood alone. He is very clear about what kind of predicament he is encountering at present, and after fighting with the Han army for a few years, he has probably figured out the tactics of the Han army, and he is very sure that there will be big moves on the Han army's side in the near future.

The Han army on the other side of the Hetao has been increasing its troops, and the Han and Qin coalition forces not far from the source of the Yellow River are also increasing their troops, all of which indicate that the Chinese ethnic group is about to make some big moves, and Touman has already intended to follow the advice of some people. He led his army to the Western Regions, but the news from the grasslands gave him a new idea.

It's the Xiongnu king and many tribes of Shan Yu, how can Touman think that if he runs away in disgrace, his prestige will be greatly reduced, and the prestige is very ethereal and illusory, but as a ruler, who doesn't know that once the prestige is greatly reduced, it will be the beginning of the disaster?

Why can a person become a ruler? It's because of the nobility of the bloodline, and it's also because of the prestige that has been accumulated. In many cases, the nobility of the blood is based on the strength of the clan, and the prestige is gradually possessed after obtaining certain achievements repeatedly, and the nobility of the blood is a prerequisite for becoming a ruler, but it is a very empty thing. Only prestige is the basis for uniting or subduing the multitude.

Touman knows very well that after such a series of defeats, his prestige has been reduced to the minimum, and now the tribes and ethnic groups are still obeying their orders because the Xiongnu tribes still obey orders, but the Xiongnu tribes obeying orders is also a long-term habit or inertia, and that kind of rule is actually fragile. Any weakness shown is likely to be abandoned by the Huns, especially if Maudun has performed well recently.

As a ruler, even if he pretends to be tough, Touman can't let anyone discover his weakness, and he is trying to maintain his majesty with his tyrannical side while winning over more people. Touman doesn't just do that. In addition to these, he has to take action, so even if he knows that he is defeated by the Han and Qin coalition forces, he can't stop, and even be good at taking advantage of the pressure brought by the Han and Qin coalition forces. Only then can his throne be secured.

"Jituo has already assembled a large army, and some friendly tribes such as Ding Ling and Hujie are also gathering an army and preparing to go south," Touman gnawed on the leg of mutton, because he was chewing food in his mouth, and his voice was actually a little slurred: "It is the southern barbarians who should be nervous now." ”

The big tent was filled with the sound of chewing, and occasionally the firewood made a "popping" sound because of the burning, and the Hun generals and the leaders of many tribes crossed their legs, enjoying the service of women of different appearances.

"Think about it, how can you continue to drag those southern barbarians in the future." Touman's eyes swept over and looked at the silent leaders one after another: "Also think about how to break through to the north when the time comes, and the reinforcements of the united steppe will inflict heavy losses on the Han army in Hetao." ”

It is something that can be guessed that the little prince of the Huns, Sulu Jituo, gathered a large army in Junji Mountain to prepare for the rescue, and it is both reasonable and unexpected for the tribes of Ding Ling, Hujie, Jiankun and other tribes to gather an army to go south, whether it is expected or unexpected, the overall situation seems to be developing towards their favorable side?

It is also said that if the Han army just recaptured the Hetao, it would be fine, but the Han army showed amazing ambitions for the grassland, not only took the Hetao back, but also had a desire to occupy the vast grassland~ Hope, showing the posture of marching into the depths of the grassland, it was the Han army itself that stimulated many ethnic groups in the grassland with its actions, so that the reaction of the various departments of the grassland was so intense.

Although the various tribes of the steppe fought endlessly, it was their own internal competition, who attacked whom, which tribe was annexed by which tribe, it was all an "internal" matter, but it was not the case that the Han army wanted to march into the grassland.

The ethnic groups behind the Han army are different from any ethnic group on the grassland, not only in terms of cultural differences, but also in terms of customs, if the Han army captures the grassland, according to the living habits of the farming people, all the land that can be reclaimed will become farmland, and the style of the grassland will no longer exist, so that it is no longer as simple as the matter of the Xiongnu and the Han State, it is already the collision of the grassland people and the farming Chinese nation.

"Except for our own tribes, the army assembled by other tribes ......" Huyan Shilan was a Xiongnu general who was valued by Touman, and he put down the bangzi that gnawed so much that only bones remained: "...... The amount is beyond what we have learned before, although they have temporarily gathered the population from the Rong and Di people, but 300,000 is too much. ”

Many of the tribes on the steppe are derived from the Rong and Di people. In fact, many tribes within the Xiongnu also have quite a lot of Rong and Di people, after all, Rong Di is the "native" on the grassland, long before the establishment of the former Great Xia inhabited and multiplied on the grassland, such as the ancestors of the Xiongnu and quite a few other tribes that now seem to be powerful, they are outsiders compared to Rong Di.

The Xiongnu have their own legend, according to legend, their ancestors were also subjects of the Great Xia (Dynasty), belonging to the Great Xia, and later the Yin Shang attacked the Great Xia, and fled to the grassland before the Yin Shang gradually replaced the Great Xia as the master of the Chinese land.

There is an additional theory that it is not only the Xiongnu ancestors who fled to the steppe after the collapse of the Great Xia Dynasty. Many subjects who originally belonged to the Great Xia Dynasty fled to the grasslands, and then formed one after another independent ~ independent tribes, some of which died out in the long history, and some of which gradually grew, and the Xiongnu were one of the powerful ones.

Rong Di was the master of the grassland as early as the period of the Great Xia Dynasty, and for a long time he was the enemy of any dynasty in the land of China. For a long time, they fought against each other.

Of course, the age is too old, and there is no written record, and no one knows whether the legend is true or false. However, it is an indisputable fact that Rong Di is weak, and Rong Di has also split into Rong and Di people. Now there are not a few Rong and Di people on the grassland, but there are no powerful Rong people or Di tribes, and the divided and disputed Rong and Di people are basically vassals of various powerful tribes.

"They're going south......" said Kollian Buo, the leader of the Hutu tribe, with a strange expression and tone, "It's a good thing for us who are trapped." But in the long run, it's also a threat! ”

At that moment, many leaders were silent.

The leaders of many tribes in the tent are a group of people who are very close to the Xiongnu, and they also belong to the group of Monan according to the region. With Ding Ling, Donghu and many other grassland tribes, they are not actually fellow travelers.

The tribal alliance led by the Xiongnu and the Gaoche tribal alliance led by Ding Ling are still harmonious, but they are not completely without contradictions, but there is less friction than the Donghu who inhabits the eastern grasslands and forests.

There is not only such a tribal alliance as the Xiongnu on the grassland, but in fact, the Xiongnu are by no means the most powerful tribal alliance on the grassland. Although the Xiongnu defeated the Yueshi people, it was not for nothing that there were tribal alliances that were stronger than the Xiongnu, and even more than one tribal alliance was stronger than the Xiongnu, such as the Donghu tribal alliance entrenched in the eastern grasslands and mountain forests, and the Gaoche (Ding Ling) tribal alliance inhabiting the north of Mobei, the Donghu in these two tribal alliances was more than twice as powerful as the Xiongnu, and Ding Ling was similar to the Xiongnu in terms of population and territory.

"Don't make any threats just yet." Touman grinned: "Whether it is us or them, they all have a common enemy now. ”

If it weren't for Touman's own trapping near the source of the Yellow River, he would have even thanked the Han army for its aggressive and boundless ambition to the steppe, and if it weren't for the threat of the Han army, the expanding Xiongnu would have faced the role of the Gaoche Tribal Alliance and the Donghu Tribal Alliance next.

Almost like that, if there was no Lu Zhe's existence, the Xiongnu did indeed go from allies to confrontation with the Gaoche tribal alliance led by Ding Ling, and then from antagonism to war, that war was suspended because the Xiongnu gained the advantage, and then the Xiongnu who defeated the Gaoche tribal alliance plundered the population and livestock and began the conquest of the Western Regions, waiting for the Xiongnu to capture the Western Regions and then turned around to start a war with the Donghu tribal alliance, and finally defeated the Donghu tribal alliance, after which the Xiongnu also became the overlord of the grassland.

"Shan Yu, do you want the eldest prince to reinforce here?" Huyan Shilan couldn't help it after being silent for a long time.

The so-called eldest prince is naturally Mao Dun, he fought with the Han and Qin alliances after the previous eastward movement, leaving behind some representatives of ethnic groups who migrated from west to east and returned to the Western Regions, and has been fighting in the east and west for a period of time, and I heard that many local natives in the Western Regions have been destroyed, and some of the more powerful tribes in the migration from west to east have established friendship.

"Maudun?" Touman's tone was full of displeasure: "Last time, he asked him to come to see me, but he fought with the Han army for a while and was frightened, and fled directly to the Western Regions. Do you still dare to come? ”

Originally, it was just a rumor, but with the fermentation of time, the news of Mao Dun's disagreement with Touman is no longer a rumor, but something that has been confirmed.

It is not uncommon for the strong wolf cubs on the grassland to challenge the head wolf, and in the established rules of the grassland, Mao Dun and Touman are two people's contest, and no one is suitable to intervene.

The wolf cub challenges the head wolf to replace the head wolf, for many grassland people, it is also a happy thing for the strong side to become the new head wolf, but the current situation is really special, including Huyan Shilan, many Hun generals have been looking forward to the competition between the two can stop a little, at least before breaking through and returning to the grassland, it is best to cooperate sincerely.

Huyan Shilan saw that Touman did not refuse, and showed a happy smile: "Let me go to the Western Regions to meet the eldest prince in person, right?" In his opinion, Maudon would definitely see the current situation clearly.

Touman looked at Huyan Shilan deeply, as if he was wondering if Huyan Shilan had already stood on Maodun's side, stared at it for a long time, staring at Huyan Shilan's forehead in a cold sweat, and finally said: "It's okay, you go and find Maoton." ”

Julian Buao wiped his mouthful of oil: "I heard that Maudun has gathered nearly 100,000 people, and he should be retrieved." ”

In a moment, many leaders echoed Julian Buao's words, so they didn't care how Touman and Mao Dun competed, what they needed most at the moment was to gather anyone who could help, how could they first remove the threat from the Han and Qin coalition forces.

The troops led by Sima Xin himself, which should now be called the Chinese army of the Grassland Dispatch Army, have increased from the original three corps to five, and the newly added are the Third Mixed Regiment and the Fourteenth Cavalry Corps, which together with the Qin army are nearly 300,000 soldiers.

The troops led by Sima Xin and the troops on the Fertile Field, Lu Zhe used them in the upcoming big war, the total number of troops has actually reached one million, and the manpower gathered on the Hu side is almost one million, it can be imagined that it will definitely be a great war, and the affected area does not know how wide it will be. (To be continued......)