Chapter 577

Set the decisive battle location at Jiuyuan?

Budugen's heart was filled with worry.

He could not help but recall some rather unpleasant memories.

In truth, the rise of the Xianbei had only occurred in the last few decades.

Before this, the Xianbei had always been an existence kept in check and beaten by the Eastern Han.

Do not be fooled by the string of short-lived little emperors during the Eastern Han period.

But after all, it was still a unified dynasty; before the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, its foundation remained, and it had not yet been completely devoured and wiped clean by the aristocratic families.

Dealing with the Xianbei, who had not yet grown into their "complete state," was naturally as easy as reaching out to grab something.

However.

More than forty years ago, a Great Chanyu named "Tanshihuai" appeared among the Xianbei.

This person unified and integrated the various Xianbei tribes, causing the Xianbei to leap into becoming one of the "three great foreign tribes of the north."

The other two great foreign tribes were the Southern Xiongnu and the Wuhuan.

But after Tanshihuai passed away, the Xianbei fell into division once again.

Everything seemed like a fleeting dream.

However, Tanshihuai did have some boldness.

He had a premonition that after his death, the Xianbei would fall into great chaos because of it.

Based on this situation, Tanshihuai left a portion of his trusted supporters to the young Budugen.

After obtaining Tanshihuai's "legacy," Budugen took the opportunity to rise.

In addition to this batch of political resources left to him by Tanshihuai.

At the same time, Budugen also gained the support of some noble tribes of the Eastern Xianbei through the method of marrying off his sisters.

Possessing no small amount of leverage in his hands.

He continuously applied pressure to other tribes that had not submitted.

In the end, he achieved a "paper-thin" reunification of the Xianbei once more.

But this was limited only to paper.

After all, Budugen was ultimately not Tanshihuai.

Budugen's unification pursued speed rather than quality.

Consequently, within the Xianbei, there were still many people filled with hostility toward Budugen.

They believed that a mere Budugen was fundamentally unworthy of being the Great Chanyu of the Xianbei.

Yet these opponents happened to be some of the real power-holders among the various Xianbei tribes.

Among them, there were even several ten-thousand-man commanders who held military power.

Even though Budugen hated this batch of opponents to the core in his heart and wanted to tear them limb from limb.

With his current prestige, he had to consider the disastrous consequences that a moment of impulse would very likely bring.

Thus.

Budugen had no choice but to transform internal contradictions into external ones.

As the saying goes.

War is the continuation of politics.

There has never been a war without a cause in this world.

If a war suddenly breaks out one day, then behind it, there must exist a driving interest that guides both sides to start the war.

Budugen was just like this.

Since he could not achieve internal centralization through hardline means, he had no choice but to expand his own prestige through external war.

Therefore, Budugen actively responded to the military alliance initiated by Yuan Shao.

And he was the first to assemble his forces, wanting to lead an army of one hundred thousand to be the first to invade Jiuyuan, using this place as a bridgehead to invade Bingzhou.

But he did not expect that the war he thought was a sure thing would turn into a hard bone to chew.

Relying on the fifty thousand Han troops stationed in Jiuyuan Commandery and the defensive fortifications, even though Budugen possessed an army of one hundred thousand, he could do nothing about it for a time.

Moreover, the casualties of the attacking side were always much greater than those of the defending side.

The difficult situation made Budugen feel troubled.

Seeing Budugen's expression becoming increasingly ugly.

Inside the Xianbei camp, several ten-thousand-man commanders all lowered their heads tightly.

These people were also each harboring their own ulterior motives.

Scanning everyone with his gaze, Budugen said with displeasure:

"Everyone, all of you, speak your respective suggestions."

"Do not tell this Chanyu that you have no suggestions at all."

"My Xianbei have countless heroes; could it be that we cannot even conquer a tiny Jiuyuan Commandery?"

As his voice fell.

The expressions on the faces of those in the camp were varied.

The Xianbei were indeed known as one of the three great foreign tribes of the north, and they firmly occupied the most fertile Monan grasslands.

But... facing the behemoth that was the Han imperial court, they still appeared somewhat inadequate.

Especially the fifty thousand Han troops that suddenly appeared in Jiuyuan, which was enough to prove that the Han army was full of confidence in holding Jiuyuan.

They would absolutely not retreat easily.

Facing such high-spirited Han troops.

Even if the Xianbei dispatched twice as many men, it would likely be very difficult to achieve victory in the short term.

However.

Everyone dared not easily tell Budugen such words.

They knew clearly in their hearts that Budugen was urgently wanting to increase his own prestige through external warfare.

If one were to strike at Budugen's self-confidence at this time, that would simply be making it clear that one wanted to go against Budugen!

Seeing that the camp remained silent.

The anger in Budugen's chest arose spontaneously.

He raised his right hand and activated his naming mode!

"Mijia, you tell me, how should our army achieve victory in this battle?"

Mijia, who was named, hurriedly replied:

"Reporting to the Great Chanyu, this subordinate is dull and truly cannot think of a strategy."

Budugen pointed at others again.

But after pointing at five or six in a row, the answers obtained were all similar to Mijia's.

This series of answers made Budugen so angry that he wished he could tie this group of people all together and whip them to death!

"Truly incompetent."

"It seems I still need to take action myself."

In the end, Budugen decided to try launching a charge toward the Han army's defensive line.

After all.

His current status was the Great Chanyu of the Xianbei.

Leading an army of one hundred thousand in a grand march south, he could not just stand at the border staring blankly, doing nothing, right?

After hearing Budugen's order, the expressions on the faces of the several ten-thousand-man commanders were varied.

A portion of them even hoped that Budugen would die in this battle.

In that way, the position of the Great Chanyu of the Xianbei would fall into a vacant state once again.

Every one of them would have the opportunity to contend for it.

The official ranks here among the Xianbei were not the same as those of the Han imperial court.

Here among the Xianbei, it was simply divided into ten-man commanders, hundred-man commanders, thousand-man commanders, and ten-thousand-man commanders.

Above the ten-thousand-man commander were the Great Chanyu, the Second Chanyu, and the Third Chanyu.

But in order to consolidate more power, Budugen had temporarily not set up the positions of Second Chanyu and Third Chanyu.

That is to say, once Budugen met with an accident.

All the ten-thousand-man commanders would have the opportunity to become the Great Chanyu. ===== CHAPTER 578 =====