Chapter 162: Many Ethnic Groups
Around noon, the Qingzhou soldiers returned to the camp.

Black Bear took a quick shower, changed into dry clothes, and had lunch with Guo Tai.

Guo Tai had been wandering and fighting with the Qingxu Yellow Turban Army since he was a teenager, and had adapted to the precarious life, so he had a good appetite.

Chewing beef jerky, holding the cowhide map and gesturing back and forth with his fingers.

The black bear has adapted to the times and chewed the dried beef with an expressionless face.

Guo Tai put himself in the position of the opposing party and pondered for a moment: "Now we have to make things difficult for General Qu. Duan Wei is besieging Huangbai City in the north, and an army is being sent to besiege Maoling in the south. In this way, the supply of the troops stationed outside Chiyang City can only rely on Gaoling, Xinfeng, and Lantian. The longer the journey, the greater the risk, and the more likely it is to be harassed and burned by the enemy."

He looked up at Black Bear and said, "If it comes to this, General Qu will have to break the siege on one side first. But if so, the troops in Chiyang are weak and will be attacked from the west and the other side. During this time, Ma Wan in the city will also send troops. Although we fight hard to repel the enemy, the losses will definitely be great."

As he spoke, Guo Tai placed the white chess piece on the map and said in a calm and objective tone: "Until now, our army still lacks the strength to deter all parties. If we can hold out for more than a month, the Eagle Strike Knights will be formed and will be able to fight. If we can hold out for three months, the newly formed armies in various places will have completed their training, and our army will be able to counterattack the coalition forces of Duan Wei and Yang Qiu and wipe out the remaining enemies in Guanzhong in one battle."

Black Bear tilted his head to look at the map and did not refute Guo Tai's inference.

He knew better than anyone that his cavalry strength was only for show.

Just as Guo Tai analyzed, as long as the front line is stabilized, the reorganized troops in the rear can go to the front line for a decisive battle after two or three months of training.

Of course, if Duan Wei and Yang Qiu join forces to fight, Yuan Tan in Hedong will definitely not sit idly by.

The current situation can only be described as smooth, but not a big tailwind.

Guo Tai's underlying meaning was very clear: if the problem could be solved through negotiation, the war would be solved.

Achieving unification in terms of situation can effectively deter neighboring forces and prevent them from taking any arbitrary actions.

Only by unifying the situation can the veterans on the front line be transferred to other places to speed up the training efficiency of the troops in various places.

Seeing that Black Bear remained silent, Guo Tai further stated: "If the commander can quickly take Guanzhong, people both inside and outside the country, near and far, will surely believe that it is the will of heaven. This is more important than the gain or loss of a city or a piece of land."

"Well, I will treat this matter with leniency in order to make a quick decision."

Black Bear lowered his eyebrows and looked at the map. He picked up a piece of dried beef and put it in his mouth to chew. "But Ma Wan must die. If he lives, others will inevitably be lucky. This is the bottom line and no concessions can be made. In order to prevent the West from forming a coalition in the future, I will guide Duan Wei and Yang Qiu to work together to kill one person as a token of surrender. In this way, even if there are changes in the future, the Western generals will not dare to unite easily."

"Then will the reorganization of the generals be delayed or compromised?"

“You can make concessions, but you can’t delay.”

Black Bear raised his hand and pointed at Meiwu: "Only when the Right Auxiliary Commander is stationed here can I sleep peacefully."

The Right Auxiliary Commander of Meiwu was used to defend Longshang, the Left Auxiliary Commander of Linjin was used to defend Hedong, and the Jingzhao Commander of Tongguan and Huayin was used to defend Hongnong.

There was already a Wuguan Commandery Commandant in the Wuguan Road. As long as Yi Ji was still the governor of Nanxiang County, the Wuguan Commandery Commandant was just a figurehead.

After the planning of the Sanfu Duwei defense zone is completed, we can safely integrate the generals' troops this winter.

To integrate the manpower of the troops is to integrate the fertile farmland resources occupied by the generals.

So the workload this winter is very heavy, and Black Bear is destined to run around to ensure fair distribution of grassroots fields.

Fair distribution is not about pursuing fairness, but about fully releasing the labor force and stimulating labor enthusiasm.

Further adjustments can only be made after next year's spring plowing, summer harvest and autumn harvest are completed.

Next year's farming must ensure there is enough food, and only then can we consider increasing production and efficiency the year after.

During this period of fighting, he has discovered that the elite population in Weibei is too elite and too concentrated.

The generals in Weibei do not need to open up branch cities. When encountering war, their troops can evacuate from the farms and gather in the cities to defend them together.

Compared with them, Ma Teng still has a lot of advantages. Ma Teng has the Huaili base camp, as well as branch cities such as Maoling and Pingling.

However, the population composition of Maoling and Pingling is more complex, unlike Huaili, which is almost mainly composed of Ma Teng's followers.

While they were discussing, the hastily formed coalition army on the west bank of the Jing River was also discussing.

Cheng Yi and Cheng Yin had not arrived yet, so Yang Qiu and Zhang Heng formed an alliance and stationed in Gukou County.

Gukou County belongs to the westernmost part of Zuo Fengyi, four or five miles west of the mouth of Zhengguo Canal and Baiqu Canal.

The local county magistrate did not dare, nor was he able to close the city gates, so he could only allow the allied forces of Yang Qiu and Zhang Heng to move in.

Due to its small population and scarce resources, Gukou County was unable to supply the army.

Towards evening, Zhang Heng's troops captured more than twenty women in the city and sent them to Zhang Heng.

At this time, Yang Qiu went to the banquet and saw these women who changed into new clothes and forced smiles, so he said to Zhang Heng: "Yan's army was defeated today. If we can't show our attitude tomorrow, given Ma Boqiu's character, I'm afraid he will join the Tiger Tooth Army."

Seeing Yang Qiu impatiently dismissing the woman beside him, Zhang Heng also pushed the woman who was crushed into mud away and signaled everyone to leave: "General, do you mean to be vigilant against Ma Boqiu betraying us?"

"Well, we were defeated by Black Tiger Fang, and we have no complaints. But if Ma Boqiu cheated us and used us as a stepping stone to advance, how can we accept that?"

Yang Qiu then took off his helmet and placed it on the table in front of him, reminding Zhang Heng: "You must not only be wary of Ma Boqiu, but also beware of Duan Zhongming."

"Of course."

Zhang Heng answered perfunctorily, but stared at Yang Qiu and asked, "I heard that Black Tiger Fang has seized Zhong Yuanchang's military power today?"

"Zhong Yuan often raises tigers to cause trouble. This is as it should be. This is inevitable sooner or later." Yang Qiu's tone was a little uncertain, and it seemed a little weak to Zhang Heng: "I really didn't expect that Liang Xing would be defeated so suddenly."

Zhang Heng suppressed his emotions and nodded slightly. In his opinion, Liang Xing was also a strong opponent.

To him, Yang Qiu was a senior and no longer had much fighting spirit. Cheng Yichengyin occupied a remote area with a lack of population, so they posed little threat to him.

The biggest threat was Liang Xing. Unexpectedly, Liang Xing, who was a few years older than him and could stop Duan Wei, was killed so easily.

Based on Zhang Heng's understanding of the world, it was very likely that the Tiger Tooth Army instigated Liang Xing's subordinates to rebel, and then sneaked into the city at night and took Liang Xing's mansion directly.

This method was too terrible. Huangbaicheng was Li Jue's base, and he occupied Guo Si's residence, Meiwu, which made him particularly vigilant.

Yang Qiu sighed a few words, and seeing that Zhang Heng didn't look very good, he said, "Emissary Duan Zhongming will be here later, and I want to make him the leader of the alliance."

Zhang Heng frowned and nodded: "This is the only way now. If there is no fame and gain from being the leader of the alliance, he can withdraw his troops and return, and live in peace with the Tiger Tooth Army."

The other party is the governor of Beidi County, whose jurisdiction belongs to Liangzhou.

When Li Jue was in charge of the court, he divided the five counties in Hexi to establish Yongzhou, and ceded Xihe and Shangjun of Bingzhou to supply Liangzhou.

Before this, the good families in the six counties in the traditional sense belonged to Liangzhou and Bingzhou respectively, namely Longxi, Tianshui, Anding and Beidi in Liangzhou; and Shangjun and Xihejun in Bingzhou.

When Shuozhou existed, Beidi, Shangjun and Xihe belonged to Shuozhou; when Shuozhou was abolished, Beidi County was divided and given to Liangzhou.

Therefore, the hometowns of the military men from good families in the six counties who entered officialdom were mainly Liangzhou, supplemented by Bingzhou; but these six counties were all on the west bank of the Yellow River and were connected front to back.

Although they are divided into two states, their accents and customs are similar, making them more like a group.

If Duan Wei stayed out of the matter, the Tiger Tooth Army would definitely be grateful to him, and the unlucky ones would be the generals in the western part of Guanzhong.

No matter how unhappy Zhang Heng was, he could only temporarily coax the old man Duan Wei.

There is no need for Duan Wei's troops to even fight. They just need to blockade Huangbai City and cut off its food supply.

Duan Wei's attitude can directly affect the Cheng Yi and Cheng Yin troops who are leading their troops here.

Seeing Zhang Heng agreed, Yang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "In this case, you and I might as well jointly issue a letter to ask Duan Zhongming to uphold justice for us. The atrocities such as Black Tiger Fang's random attacks and killings of friendly neighbors must be denounced and severely punished."

Zhang Heng nodded after hearing this, but he always felt that Yang Qiu was looking at him intentionally or unintentionally, as if warning him.

To be honest, the Tiger Tooth Army has simply done what Zhang Heng wanted to do in advance, and they did a good job.

For now, you just need to think about this kind of thing in your mind, and you can't talk about it in words.

Seeing Zhang Heng's agreement, Yang Qiu immediately said to Kong Gui who was accompanying him: "Shulin, draft a document for Duan Zhongming, and be sure to use sincere words. I am willing to make him the leader of the alliance, and I will send my son as a hostage tonight to show my sincerity."

Yang Qiu went to see Zhang Heng and said, "A Shun, can your nephew accompany the army?"

"They are all in Meiwu, but my nephew Guo Li is serving in the army."

Seeing Yang Qiu frowning, Zhang Heng immediately said, "Why not send Guo Li as a hostage first? I will send someone to Meiwu tomorrow to get a son to replace Guo Li."

"That's fine. Our survival is at stake now. Duan Zhongming won't care about such a minor detail."

Yang Qiu turned his head to look at Kong Gui who was grinding ink beside him: "Shulin, please make it clear that Ashun and I also need hostages. When Duan Zhongming sends the hostages, he will be our leader."

Zhang Heng was no stranger to the practice of sending children to each other as hostages.

Zhang Heng stood up and walked to the side to watch Kong Gui brewing words, and asked Yang Qiu intentionally or unintentionally: "General, if we repel the Tiger Tooth Army, if the leader divides his troops and enters Huangbai City, what should Chiyang Ma Boqiu do?"

"What else can we do? Let's keep him. Only with him around can we resist the Duan Clan."

Yang Qiu also came over to look at Kong Gui's documents, and said with a drooped face: "I don't like Ma Boqiu, but he is more useful alive than dead. The Duan clan is prosperous, which is not comparable to you and me. Only Ma Boqiu's clan is strong and can resist the Duan clan."

"That's fine too."

Zhang Heng nodded and looked up at Yang Qiu's profile. Yang Qiu looked back at him and said, "I don't want to lead a tiger to chase away a wolf. No matter how brave and powerful Black Tiger Fang is, he is only one person. There are more than 200 to 300 male members of the Duan clan. If they gain a firm foothold, how can you and I survive?"

"Yes, we would rather submit to Black Tiger Fang than let the Duan family become too powerful."

Zhang Heng agreed, and the final opinion was unified, and the doubts in his heart were completely dispelled.

Just as Yang Qiu said honestly, Black Bear is just one person and does not have so many relatives and clansmen to take care of.

Following the black bear, you can still eat and drink and live a good life.

Duan Wei is different. His clan is too powerful, and he has many relatives and old subordinates. With so many people eating meat, what else can Yang Qiu and Zhang Heng eat?
Kong Gui finished writing quickly and made some revisions. After getting the consent of Yang Qiu and Zhang Heng, Kong Gui officially copied it. Yang Qiu and Zhang Heng signed and included their names together.

Their son and nephew followed Kong Gui to see Duan Wei, and when they returned that night they also brought one of Duan Wei's sons and nephews with them.

After Zhang Heng confirmed that he was Duan Wei's nephew, he felt relieved.

That night, the city gate at Gukou was opened and Duan Wei led his troops to sneak in.

Zhang Heng died in the chaos of war.

(End of this chapter)