Chapter 177: Wenxi Alliance
Hedong, Wenxi, north of Anyi.

Wenxi has the Sushui River which flows from northeast to southwest, and there is Zhouyang Town in the upper reaches of the Sushui River.

Since the beginning of September, the troops of Yuan Tan, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, have moved south from Pingyang and stationed on the north bank of the Sushui River.

Chanyu Huhuquan followed closely behind and stationed on the river bank between Zhouyang and Wenxi.

The Xiongnu coalition had a large number of horses. In order to facilitate the horses' foraging, the coalition was divided into 17 tribes distributed on both sides of the Sushui River.

The Huns preferred to camp and graze in the wild. After all, Yuan Tan was the Inspector of the Imperial Guard recognized by Cui Yan, so his 4,000-strong army settled in Wenxi County.

On September 12, a new batch of grain and fodder arrived after being shipped from Anyi.

When they were about to enter the city, the Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan and Liu Qubei arrived with their personal guards.

On the street, he saw Yuan Tan's troops distributing cartloads of food. Hu Chuquan saw that there were also cartloads of salt and could not help but tighten his whip.

Salt can be obtained in Hetao and Hexi, but the cost is much higher than that of salt in Anyi.

If the salt-producing areas in Hedong are seized, the influence of the Xiongnu royal court will continue to rise.

When Huochequan and others arrived at the county government in the city, they saw twenty-four guards holding spears standing in front of the gate, each of them with a strong figure.

As Huochequan dismounted, the accompanying knights also dismounted one after another. These royal court warriors were generally half a head shorter than Yuan Tan's guards.

The influence of the Chanyu royal court was declining, so how could Yuan Tan possibly come out to greet him in person?

The officials went out to greet them, and Hu Chuquan and Liu Qubei followed them in, while their guards stayed obediently outside the county government office.

During his lifetime, Yuan Shao won over the various Wuhuan tribes through marriage and strongly supported Tadun, making it likely that Tadun would become the sole king of the Wuhuan.

In recent years, the Wuhuan have received support from the Yuan family. Coupled with the great split of the Xianbei, the Wuhuan have shown signs of growing stronger and even surpassing the others.

When the Wuhuan King Tadun saw Yuan Tan, he would call him brother, not to mention the impoverished Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu.

Huchuquan and Liu Qubei went inside and waited for a while, then they saw a dozen military officers retreating and passing by them.

Then the servants came in to clean the table, and soon called Chuquan and Liu Qubei in.

When they came in, Yuan Tan was standing in the front hall with his hands behind his back, looking at a map behind the screen.

The cowhide map was hung on the screen. Yuan Tan stared at it with his eyes downcast for a long time without turning around.

The chief clerk who led the way whispered again, "Mingsir, the Chanyu is here."

"Oh."

Yuan Tan then turned around, his expression calm, and looked at Huo Qubing: "Chan Yu, can you find out what's going on in the north?"

"Reporting to Lord Yuan, the Taiyuan troops have already gone down the Fen River."

Liu Qubei took out a sheepskin roll and said, "More than a thousand of their vanguards have already entered Baibi and built fortifications along the mountain. It seems that they are trying to guard against the enemy in Guanzhong."

"I already know about Bai Bi's incident. Qian Zhao informed me of it."

Yuan Tan raised his right hand and pointed at Baibi, fifty miles north of Wenxi. Between Baibi and Wenxi was Ji Wang Mountain.

Baibi could barely control the Fenshui River. If the Guanzhong side crossed the river from Pubanjin, the other side would be under attack at all times unless they attacked and destroyed the Baibi defenders.

So this is a standard troop deployment, and it is normal to guard against attacks from allies.

There is no need for Yuan Tan to explain, Huchuquan and Liu Qubei can understand it.

They are now going to follow Yuan Tan to attack Luoyang. This is a huge plan and the Huns are quite enthusiastic about it.

Even though Dong Zhuo moved the capital and burned Luoyang once, Luoyang is still Luoyang after all.

The attack on Luoyang had special significance for the entire Southern Xiongnu tribe.

Huochuquan wanted to be the first Chanyu to lead his troops to attack Luoyang, and the nobles of the royal court also wanted to witness this alternative glory.

Ordinary Xiongnu tribes were also very interested in attacking Luoyang.

In order to avoid problems in the rear, this expedition must be carried out in conjunction with Guanzhong.

Therefore, before sending out troops, all kinds of preparations must be completed.

Liu Qubei held the parchment scroll and continued to read out all kinds of information they had collected. Since Yuan Tan arrived in Pingyang, he had been planning and promoting the plan of the coalition forces to conquer Luoyang.

The army in Hedong alone had to be divided into two groups, one of which would attack Henei via the Chen Pass from Wenxi and Zhouyang.

Chenguan is the first of the eight paths in Taihang Mountain. It is extremely steep and at its narrowest point, only one car can pass through.

Another group crossed the river from Fenglingdu and joined the troops from Guanzhong and Hongnong and headed eastward.

The two armies advanced step by step, eliminated the Cao army strongholds outside Luoyang, and then joined forces to besiege Luoyang.

Qian Zhao's Taiyuan soldiers and Wuhuan volunteers also had to participate in the battle; but before sending out troops, Qian Zhao had to station troops at various key nodes to prevent troops from Guanzhong from attacking Taiyuan along the Fen River.

Especially after the battle report from Guanzhong arrived, Qian Zhao's concerns seemed necessary.

The Tiger Tooth Army in Guanzhong was too powerful. If the enemy could attack Weibei, they could naturally cross the Pubanjin and go against the Fen River to harass Taiyuan.

The vast majority of soldiers in the army are unwilling to fight if they can save their lives.

The Tiger Teeth Army was good at sailing and naval warfare. If they really divided their forces to harass Taiyuan, the garrisons on both sides of the Fen River could only watch the enemy's main force pass by. Therefore, it was necessary to strengthen the garrisons to harass the subsequent baggage transport fleet.

Otherwise, if the enemy captured several important counties in Taiyuan and then destroyed the royal court, the front-line troops would disintegrate and collapse.

Not only Qian Zhao was on guard, Huchuquan also left his son to guard the royal court.

In just a few days, when Qian Zhao continued to divide his troops to strengthen the Fenshui defense line, the new camps of these garrisoned soldiers, or the towns and cities where they were stationed, also blocked them all to the south of Ji Wang Mountain and Jiangyi.

Yuan Tan listened to Liu Qubei's investigation report and frowned, saying, "Qian Zhao is my brother's confidant. He stationed troops everywhere to guard against Guanzhong and also to prevent me from seizing Taiyuan."

The only essence of Bingzhou left is Taiyuan. The Shangdang Mountains are now ruled by Zhang Yan's former Black Mountain Army. Yanmen County has long been ruined, and the Hu people in other counties have moved inland, and the county is in name only.

Therefore, seizing Taiyuan is equivalent to seizing Bingzhou.

Bingzhou was too rich, so Yuan Shao initially gave it to his nephew Gao Gan.

Yuan Tan did not hide Huchuquan's intention and continued, "It doesn't matter whether he is there or not. Henei has suffered from drought this year, and officials and people have fled or gathered together to become bandits. Our army will go through Chenguan and the journey will be smooth without any obstacles."

"Xiahou Dun, the governor of Henan, was defeated by my mentor Lord Xuande in June. Now, there are more than 10,000 troops stationed around Luoyang, but less than 3,000 of them are capable of fighting."

"Cao Cao's main force is trapped in Liyang and it is difficult to evacuate. The time is ripe for us to advance to Luoyang."

"Now it all depends on Guanzhong. If Cui Yan can persuade Black Bear to send troops to form an alliance with me, then we can settle the matter!"

As Yuan Tan spoke, Huo Ququan and Liu Qubei seemed to agree. They both knew very well what Luoyang meant.

Luoyang City also had special political significance to the Southern Xiongnu. As long as they could attack it, the spiritual shackles that had entangled the Southern Xiongnu royal court for a hundred years would be broken.

Also, Dong Zhuo ordered Lu Bu to dig graves. Lu Bu and the Bingzhou soldiers were only able to do this kind of rough work in a short time, and they only targeted the big fish.

The Bingzhou soldiers who participated in this incident also returned one after another. Due to their place of origin and historical reasons, these Bingzhou soldiers were mainly from the northern part of Taiyuan.

After hearing the stories told by these returning soldiers, the Huns also realized that there was still great potential for exploration around Luoyang.

Gold was also useful to the Huns, and grassland trade routes always existed.

Digging up the graves in Luoyang was the confidence and motivation for the Xiongnu royal court to gather a large army this time.

Huochuquan also stood up and came to the cowhide map, flattering and smiling, "Don't worry, Lord Yuan. There is a shortage of salt in Guanzhong. I believe you will not refuse to get the salt from Hedong."

"I'm afraid there will be twists and turns."

Yuan Tan still had no expression on his face: "I have seen Black Tiger Fang. He is as fickle as Lu Bu. Not only is Qian Zhao worried, but I am also afraid that he will suddenly betray the alliance and attack our army."

Liu Qubei also came forward, and seeing that Huchuquan looked worried, he bowed and asked, "Mr. Yuan, Chanyu, should my troops move 30 miles south to investigate the movements of the armies around Anyi?"

When Huochuquan was thinking, he saw Yuan Tan frowning, so he said, "Your unit is a little weak, I will transfer another unit. The two units will conduct cross-inspections, and even if there is any slackness, it will not cause any major problems."

Yuan Tan's eyebrows relaxed now, and he said to Huochequan with a smile: "That's feasible. I was worried that this man would secretly mobilize the army when he came to the alliance. Chanyu, you don't know that this man is good at hiding during the day and attacking at night."

Huochuquan had heard a little about it, so he asked, "How many guards did the Black Tiger Fang have during the alliance?"

"I don't know yet."

Yuan Tan raised his hand and pointed at Anyi: "Cui Yan's intention is to hold a meeting in Anyi, with each leading a thousand cavalry. I am worried that this man will be too brave and misjudge the situation, and ruin our plans."

Huochuquan looked at the map, and Liu Qubei said, "Mr. Yuan, Chanyu, why don't we hold the meeting in Wenxi? The place has a festive name, and we can also show our military might."

The Chanyu royal court had always mobilized around two to three thousand cavalry for external expeditions, but this time, with various promises, they were able to gather more than twelve thousand cavalry.

They attached great importance to the alliance. As long as it was successful, they would go to dig up Luoyang's grave in a grand manner.

Conquering Luoyang City would certainly boost the morale of the Chanyu royal court, but as long as the city was besieged, they could dig graves without restraint.

Digging graves to obtain gold and silver utensils is many times easier than mining.

Just dig it up and leave, what can you lose?
After Liu Qubei made the proposal, Huochequan thought of the various legends about black bears and did not want to go to Anyi for the alliance.

The opponent unified Guanzhong so quickly that Huo Qubing felt threatened.

With the opponent's offensive, even though the Huns now have nearly 200,000 tribes and are in a scattered state, they may be snowballed by the opponent.

Huochequan didn't know the term snowball, but he was very clear that the most difficult part of unifying the various tribes was the early stages. As long as the situation was opened up, the speed of unification would become faster and faster.

Just like the ten tribes in Guanzhong, before the arrival of the Tiger Tooth Army, they checked and balanced each other and no one could do anything to anyone else.

Then he became careless and was caught off guard by the Tiger Tooth Army.

By the time they wanted to unite and resist, the opportunity had already been lost.

This meeting is particularly important, otherwise Huochequan would have wanted to send someone to replace him.

After thinking about it, he followed Liu Qubei's words and said, "Mr. Yuan, the Wenxi Alliance is indeed better than the Anyi Alliance."

Seeing that he was serious, Yuan Tan looked at Liu Qubei again. Their eyes met and they quickly separated. Liu Qubei then said, "Mr. Yuan, my army is on both sides of the Sushui River. If we go to Anyi to make an alliance, the Wuhuan people will cause chaos later, which will not be a blessing for us."

The Wuhuan people were more loyal to Yuan Shang in Yecheng.

Now the Huns have chosen Yuan Tan, and the fight between the two Yuans is equivalent to the fight between the Huns and Wuhuan.

(End of this chapter)