Chapter 180 Opening the Net and Waiting
A curtain was drawn on the north bank of the wooden bridge.

Yuan Tan arrived by car and was not afraid that the black bear would kidnap him again.

Animal skins had been spread on the floor inside the curtain. When Yuan Tan arrived, he saw two tables placed side by side. Black Bear, wearing a black robe and a black scarf on his head, was brewing tea.

The iconic bronze mask was casually placed on the edge of the table. Yuan Tan looked at Black Bear's face again. In half a year, Black Bear had changed a lot.

Maybe his own memory has become fuzzy, but Black Bear's unbridled temperament is difficult to fake or imitate.

Black Bear also looked up at Yuan Tan several times, and after confirming that it was him, he smiled and said, "Yuan Sili, how are you?"

"How can a wandering person be safe?"

Yuan Tan took off his sword and handed it to his servant, then took off his leather boots and stepped on the animal skin to come to the black bear.

At this time, his servants withdrew and the curtain was completely closed.

Yuan Tan sat down and looked closer, only to find that the black bear had grown at least a foot taller.

Secretly surprised but also taking it for granted, he asked, "How determined can the general be regarding the Xiongnu?"

"From now on, I will be the only one who has the final say on the west of Taihang Mountain and the north of Nanshan Mountain."

Black Bear stirred the tea with a wooden spoon, and when he saw the dense water vapor, he put two pieces of 'rock honey' in it. With the addition of yellow rock sugar, the tea immediately had a sweet aroma.

As the copper pot began to boil, the black bears scooped tea for each other.

Yuan Tan took the black pottery bowl with both hands, smelled it, blew on the tea, and then took a sip.

After drinking, Yuan Tan felt relieved when he saw the black bear also started drinking.

Black Bear put down his tea bowl. Seeing that Yuan Tan was trying to compete with him in patience, he felt bored and said, "What do you want to do when you get to Jingzhou? Do you want to learn from Ma Teng and Wang Yi, or join forces with Liu Xuande to counterattack the Central Plains?"

After hearing this, Yuan Tan fell into deep thought. He also understood the situation in Jingzhou.

Liu Biao appointed Mi Zhu as the governor of Nanyang County. Liu Bei's strength recovered rapidly and it is said that he now has 7,000 troops.

Cao Cao's main force was tied down in Liyang, and he sent a small force to attack Nanyang, as evidenced by the Battle of Bowangpo.

This shows that the idea of ​​sending a small force to attack and suppress Liu Bei lacks feasibility. If this is forced, it will only lead to the second defeat at Bowangpo.

After the spring plowing next year, even without Liu Biao's support, Liu Bei could launch a crusade on a scale of 10,000 people.

The lesson of Xiahou Dun is not far away. It can be predicted that Cao’s army will garrison the city around Wankou next year.

Even this winter, relevant defensive arrangements will be made so that the defenders can confront Liu Bei for a long time.

Therefore, the outcome of Liu Bei's expedition to the Central Plains next year is already predictable. It is nothing more than encircling the enemy and capturing a city.

Even if they were to surround the point and attack the reinforcements, I don't think Cao's army would be fooled.

It will be difficult for Liu Bei to repeat the glory of the Battle of Bowangpo next year unless he can get reinforcements from the Tiger Tooth Army.

As long as a city is quickly captured, the defenders of the surrounding cities will be shocked.

If the city is breached repeatedly, the defenders will often adopt an ambiguous attitude.

The essential factor that enabled the Tiger Tooth Army to quickly conquer Guanzhong was not a field battle, nor a decapitation tactic, but rather a strong attack and capture of the city!

This is the fundamental reason why the generals and military leaders in Guanzhong gave up resistance and struggle.

When the defenders and generals lost their umbrella of protection, they were as easy to talk to as everyone else who lost their umbrella of protection.

What would happen if Yuan Tan cooperated with Liu Bei to attack the Central Plains and re-inspired the scholars of Runan?
Black Bear believes that if you keep company with someone good, you will become good. Yuan Tan will most likely become a person of relatively noble character by cooperating with Liu Bei in battle.

The core team that Yuan Tan brought to Jingzhou also had various complicated relationships with Liu Bei.

Therefore, it is very likely that Yuan Tan will be integrated into Liu Bei's group in the future. With Yuan Tan's cooperation, Liu Bei may really be able to break through the Central Plains defense line and kill Cao Cao with one sword.

With Yuan Tan's help, Liu Bei would definitely give it a try.

So is Cao Cao willing to withdraw his troops from the Liyang front?

In a war, you have to fight with all your strength. Now that Cao Cao has lost his temper, it may not be easy to gather his troops again.

Here comes the key point. Will Liu Biao, the honest elder, watch Liu Bei stab Cao Cao to death with a sword and transform himself into the overlord of Central Plains and the protector of the court?
Liu Bei had connections in all the counties in the Central Plains and the imperial court in Xudu.

Liu Bei's entry into Xu Du might trigger a natural disaster.

It is difficult for Black Bear to estimate this change, but if it can be prevented, it is better to help Liu Bei.

Yuan Tan thought about it again and again, and took the initiative to pour himself some tea. He blew on the teacup and calmed down: "It will be better to follow Lord Xuande in Jingzhou than to be like a lost dog now. I don't know your plan, but I know Lord Xuande will not harm me."

"You are right. Lord Xuande is a kind man."

The black bear drank up the tea in the bowl and poured new tea. As long as Liu Bei still had a chance, he would not take any crooked paths.

"But there is a better way. I heard that Liu Biao has been plotting to take over Jiaozhou for a long time. You might as well go to Jiaozhou to escape the chaos. With your Yuan family's status, the world will be settled in the future. If you surrender Jiaozhou, you will not lose your position as a duke."

When Black Bear made his proposal, Yuan Tan frowned and said, "Jiaozhou... I would rather follow Lord Xuande to fight against the traitors and die than live in Jiaozhou."

For Yuan Tan, going to Jiaozhou was no different from being exiled overseas.

"That's good. With your help, the pressure on Guanzhong and Hebei will be less."

When Black Bear thought of Liu Biao, he couldn't help but smile.

He was afraid that his allies would perish, but he was also afraid that his allies would rise up on the clouds and turn into real dragons.

Then the black bear said, "I'd like to borrow your gold and silk. The more the better. It would be best if you could lend me all of it."

Yuan Tan looked Black Bear up and down, and saw that he was serious and did not seem to be trying to rob or extort money. He asked, "What do you want, General?"

"You also know that my general, Grand Historian Wen Gong, is brave and fierce."

"At the meeting, I will give out all the military wealth. Let's have a gamble. It would be nice if Huochuquan could join in. Pile all the gold and silk together and let all the warriors come to fight for this wealth!"

As Black Bear spoke, he saw Yuan Tan's expression of fear, and Yuan Tan immediately retorted: "If that happens, the Xiongnu will surely be in chaos!"

Then he said: "General, you have overestimated the Chanyu's prestige. Just take a hundred gold coins."

"With a huge reward of 100 gold coins, the Xiongnu warriors will certainly be eager to participate, and their leader cannot stop them." "I think with the bravery of Taishi Wengong, he will be able to kill hundreds of people in half a day of fighting!"

Yuan Tan seemed to have seen that scene: "Perhaps there is no need to kill a hundred people, but to kill dozens of cavalrymen in a row. Given the character of the Xiongnu, they will surely be intimidated by Taishi Wengong."

Seeing that Black Bear remained silent, Yuan Tan said, "General, your concern is reasonable. I will send Wang Shuzhi to transport the property to the south bank after nightfall, and you can use it."

"No need. I am not extorting money from you. I just want to provoke the Xiongnu and make them compete with Taishi Wengong in bravery and endurance. When their entire army is exhausted, I will capture them in one fell swoop."

Black Bear smiled and said, "I don't know them. It seems that I overestimated their military discipline."

"Humph."

Yuan Tan couldn't help but snort and laugh. The Xianbei elite during the time of Tan Shihuai might have had some military discipline, but how could the Xianbei tribes and the Xiongnu have any military discipline now?
Now, Huochuquan, the nominal Chanyu, can gather 12,000 infantry and cavalry. It is not because the Chanyu has strong appeal, nor is it because the Yuan family and the Inspector of the Capital have any prestige and appeal.

Instead, it was due to the spread of the Bingzhou veterans that the Huns became very interested in the graves in Luoyang that had not yet been dug.

At this time Huochequan also came close to investigate. The Guanzhong knights were setting up camp, and the amount of logistical supplies they had could be seen almost at a glance.

There are more than 3,000 Guanzhong knights, including auxiliary horses, totaling more than 5,000 horses.

Apart from the war horses, there were only two thousand horses carrying tents, arrows and necessary daily necessities.

There were no food trucks or other logistics-related vehicles.

They seemed to be even more Xiongnu-like than the Xiongnu troops, without even any auxiliary infantry.

Obviously, this was an extremely lightly armed cavalry, which had abandoned its baggage and was solely intended to travel quickly to the alliance and then withdraw.

Put yourself in Black Bear's shoes. If you were in Black Bear's position, would you dare to bring a thousand cavalrymen to Wenxi for the alliance?

The Xiongnu troops and Yuan Tan's troops here add up to about 16,000 to 17,000. If you add Qian Zhao in the rear and Cui Yan in the south, that's a total of more than 30,000 troops.

Black Bear had the courage to bring three thousand cavalry to the alliance meeting, which was commendable.

If there are really only one thousand cavalry, it will be easy for me to deal with it. But what if Yuan Tan has other ideas?

Huochequan's vigilance dropped greatly, but he also began to have evil thoughts towards Liu Qubei.

He also knew that he could not be too harsh on Liu Qubei, as Liu Qubei was the first tribe to migrate to Hedong and the first to change his surname.

The fact that Liu Qubi was willing to lead his people to respond to the royal court's call was already a great honor to him.

Now Liu Qubei was just lying around in Anyi City, eating and drinking as much as he wanted, so he couldn't be blamed too much.

The royal court's influence is limited and it cannot withstand too much turmoil.

Also today, a new batch of troops recruited by Qian Zhao arrived in Jiangyi, sixty or seventy miles to the north.

This is a mixed infantry and cavalry force, with mainly middle-aged and young people, and about a thousand people.

They came from Yangqu area in the north of Taiyuan, and were descendants of the garrison troops and border residents who retreated from the four Shuofang counties.

Lu Bu and Zhang Yang came from this group. After their demise, many veterans returned to Yangqu.

Now they have been mobilized again, like miscellaneous soldiers, to assist the Taiyuan County soldiers in strengthening the defense line.

After being roughly settled in the city, seventeen-year-old Hao Zhao and his friends lined up by a well.

Hao Zhao is nearly nine feet tall, and considering his age, he still has the potential to grow taller.

His companions on both sides are generally over eight feet tall.

After drawing a bucket of cool well water, Hao Zhao and a dozen other young friends gathered together to drink.

Wei Xing, a fellow villager and old friend of Hao Zhao, washed his face with the last of the well water and felt refreshed: "What a relief!"

His brother Wei Ping handed the wooden barrel to the others, and followed Hao Zhao to the corner where they squatted in a row to bask in the sun.

They are all thin, but not skinny.

Wei Xing also sat cross-legged on a brick, took out a piece of dried meat from his waist bag, put it in his mouth and tried to bite it.

He had no choice but to give up, pull out his dagger, cut out thin slices or small pieces of meat, and put them in his mouth.

The others were in the same situation, eating the dried meat they brought with them.

After eating a little reluctantly, Hao Zhao finally felt he had the strength to speak.

He didn't like the forced conscription order, the Huns around him, or this strange, dilapidated city.

Wei Xing, who couldn't keep quiet, put away the dried meat, tied up the cowhide bag tightly, and chewed the softened meat: "What are we doing here? There are Huns everywhere. How many can we stop?"

"Don't talk nonsense, bro."

"I'd rather go to Luoyang than stay here."

Wei Xing had also seen the splendor of the Central Plains. He raised his hand and touched his thick hair, scratching the cyst on his scalp that was making him itchy. He felt a tingling sensation and then felt refreshed.

He looked down at the blood on his nails and the oil on his scalp, wiped it on his knees, and continued, "Who will protect our family if we get out? You believe the envoy's words, but I don't."

Everyone around, young and old, came from the same group. Some middle-aged elders just looked at them a few more times after hearing what they said.

They are still full of resentment, but they are just too lazy to complain.

Hao Zhao was also full of resentment. Qian Zhao's conscription order was too harsh. If he did not come, he would have to endure the attack from the Wuhuan volunteers.

But after they enlisted, if the Huns rebelled, could the Wuhuan people provide protection for their families?
The group lazily basked in the sun for a while, and after recovering their strength, they immediately went to look for a suitable house to spend the night.

Jiangyi was a relatively large city. Due to the long-term confrontation between the Baibo Army and Niu Fu, Jiangyi was basically emptied.

There are too many ownerless houses in the city, and most of them are dilapidated.

In recent years, the people living in the city would demolish houses in the city to obtain fuel in winter.

Before dark, they had to find a suitable house and repair it to protect it from rain.

If time is tight, a dry, windproof corner where you can sleep will do. It's just a matter of starting a fire.

(End of this chapter)