Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1487: Chapter 1432: Creating an Opportunity

Over five thousand Tugi cavalry clad in leather armor, more than four thousand archers, and the remaining over five thousand forces are gunners and sword and shield infantry. Of course, there are also some craftsmen among them, who can build stone throwers and bed crossbows anytime and anywhere if given time.

Yet even Zhuge Liang, with his formidable intellect, has no good solutions against the terrifying forces of the Huns.

By relying on the heavily injured Yuan Army found near the Great Wall, Zhuge Liang has acquired valuable intelligence. Before Guo Tu sacrificed himself for the nation, he recorded all the information he had gathered in secret letters and had dozens of people disperse and deliver them.

This was also a major reason for Guo Tu’s death; if not for the knowledge that withdrawing would allow the Northern Huns to break through and ruin Sheni Pei’s great plan, leaving Youzhou with no hope, Guo Tu would not have stubbornly held out at Jundu Mountain.

But that was only the beginning. When the situation became untenable, Guo Tu abandoned the idea of escaping alive, desperately gathering intelligence on the enemy and buying time for Sheni Pei, successfully allowing Sheni Pei to annihilate the Xianbei at Jundu Mountain.

The price, however, was that all the soldiers and officers defending Jundu Mountain sacrificed themselves, except for the dozens who were tasked with transmitting the news.

Guo Tu’s desperate battle was worth it; otherwise, Zhuge Liang would have even more headaches, as the Northern Huns who broke through the pass essentially did not have too many of their genuine Northern Huns’ archers. Most of the so-called Northern Huns soldiers were just Xianbei, Jie Clan, and Wuhuan.

This is the message Guo Tu insisted must be sent out before his death, just like the small nation’s common people of Anyue. After gaining the approval of the Han Empire and witnessing the might of the Han Empire, they genuinely began to identify with their new status, resulting in an astonishing change in temperament.

The once submissive Anyue now had the confidence to face Parthian nobles directly, and similarly, the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Jie Clan could also muster this spirit under the Hun Horse’s dominance of the world.

When sheep lead lambs, they end up as skewers, but when a lion leads lion cubs, they stand at the top of the food chain.

”Killing as many Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Jie Clan won’t work; led by the Huns, they can exchange with us at a three-to-one ratio, and they might even identify with their status more as the war continues,” Zhuge Liang thought of the words from the heavily injured soldier repeating Guo Tu’s words on his deathbed, burdening his heart even more.

This is essentially a strong civilization assimilating a weaker one. However, compared to the Han Empire’s civilization, which is more compatible with near-agricultural civilizations like the Wusun and Cheshi, the Huns’ civilization aligns more with nomadic civilizations like the Xianbei, Jie Clan, and Wuhuan.

[That means, without harming the core of the Huns, killing more is just dealing with pawns; only by severely damaging the Hun core and shaking the other Outer Barbarians’ beliefs in the Northern Huns’ strength can the problem be truly solved.] Zhuge Liang thought silently.

Admittedly, the core troops of the Northern Huns are not as numerous, but they are bolstered by the countless Xianbei and Wuhuan on the prairie. Originally, one Han soldier was worth five barbarians, but under Northern Hun command, one Han soldier can only resist three, almost doubling the combat power of the Hu people.

As for the Northern Huns’ core troops, even if Zhuge Liang hasn’t witnessed them firsthand, he speculated they might not be inferior to the elite troops of the Han Empire.

[The intelligence provided by Lord Guo in his final efforts still has many gaps. It seems that regardless, a confrontation is necessary to personally gauge the other side’s strength.] Zhuge Liang thought with a calm face, since being in the North, even with the opponent being the Northern Huns, the battle must proceed as planned!

Unlike the smaller scale probes by Li Tong before, to truly determine the combat power of the Hun people, a major battle is essential. Currently, perhaps only Sheni Pei and Zhang He truly understand the combat power of the Huns.

”Kongming, should we continue advancing today?” Zhang Fei asked gruffly, looking at the devastated Youzhou, which made him feel short of breath.

”Continue moving forward. We are late by one step compared to the Huns, and based on the intelligence I have now, the Northern Huns have crushed Sheni Zhengnan swiftly, possibly advancing to Jicheng with boldness,” Zhuge Liang spoke steadily.

”Should we directly target the rear army of the Northern Huns now?” Zhang Fei inquired.

”It’s not possible. Not to mention we ordered Wen Da to continually probe along the way, the Northern Huns have likely integrated part of their core into the miscellaneous Hun forces of the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Jie Clan, led by their genuine tribesmen,” Zhuge Liang shook his head and explained.

”It’s like the Xiliang Iron Cavalry leading the Qiang Cavalry. Without leadership, the Qiang Cavalry are no more than third-rate miscellaneous soldiers, but under the leadership of the Iron Cavalry, they can rival the Danyang Troops,” Zhuge Liang sighed. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry leading the Qiang Cavalry allows the Qiang Cavalry retinue to reach near first-line soldier combat power, and the same goes for the Huns.

The miscellaneous Huns led by the Huns were already noticeably different when they clashed with Li Tong, which is a bothersome issue.

”If we don’t attack the rear army, our food supply might become problematic. We set off from Liaodong and did not prepare much grain for the journey,” Zhang Fei said in a muffled voice, knowing Zhuge Liang’s intelligence and thus not being impulsive.

”Just wait a few more days.” Zhuge Liang pressed his temples and deployed his spiritual talent, contemplating the current situation comprehensively, quickly gaining some assurance.

”Why?” Zhang Fei asked in confusion. To him, waiting a few more days would not bring any change and would put them in more trouble due to the issue of food supply.

”In a few days, we will have reinforcements. The fall of Jundu Mountain and the Huns’ invasion into Youzhou cannot be concealed. The Central Plains Feudal Lords can disdain the miscellaneous Hu, but only the Northern Huns must be taken seriously, and Bingzhou is the nearest, bound to receive the news first and deploy troops,” Zhuge Liang explained calmly.

”Alone, we are definitely not opponents of the Northern Huns. In fact, according to my estimate, even our Lord could not easily win against them,” Zhuge Liang said calmly, ”What we now await are the reinforcements.”

”Are we just going to wait here doing nothing?” Zhang Fei was faintly angry, but considering anyone would be furious seeing their homeland invaded by foreign clans.

”No, we need to create an opportunity for Bingzhou,” Zhuge Liang smiled faintly, ”We have been striving to conceal ourselves until now, and having reached this distance, it’s close to the limit. Given this, we should do the opposite and draw their attention to us. With Chen Gong’s wisdom, I’m confident he can seize this battle opportunity.”