On the north bank of the Huangshui River, Baima Bay, 20,000 Han infantrymen lined up along the river, full of murderous aura.

More than 30,000 Qiang people were blocked on the narrow triangle between the Huangshui River and the Haoya River, and people were panicked. The sound of trumpets came one after another, and the elderly, weak, women and children rushed to the middle to gather. The young and strong men held weapons, rode their horses, lined up around, preparing to fight. Several tribal leaders gathered together, accusing each other and arranging lines of defense.

They were all tribes that refused to accept Mei Gao's suggestion and wanted to join forces with the Huns. After Mei Gao was rejected, he said nothing and left at that time. The leaders of these tribes did not take it seriously. Their pasture was closer to the Han territory. After hearing about the floods in the Han Dynasty, they felt that the Han army was just pretending and it was unlikely that they would actually go to war.

It was obviously a bit ridiculous to enter the Qiang tribes of all sizes. The total number of Qiang tribes of all sizes in the neighborhood was 100,000 without 200,000. It really didn't work. If you drill into the mountains, the Han army would not find them. In less than a month, they would leave.

They never expected that the Han army not only really went to war, but also rushed to their base in just three days. In a hurry, they had to carry their families to migrate, preparing to avoid the limelight, and wait until the Han army left before returning.

They miscalculated again, and the Han army chased them reluctantly and blocked them on the river beach.

It was late summer, and the Huangshui River was in a hurry. It was impossible to wading through the Huangshui River. There were only two ways in front of them: either surrender or fight. After discussion, several tribal leaders decided to have both, fight first, and if they cannot win, then surrender.

The reason everyone agreed with this plan was because they faced only 20,000 infantry in the Han army, and both sides had the same force and had the power to fight.

The Qiang people took action, quickly rectified their formation, and took a stance to face the battle.

Seeing that the Qiang people stopped running, Cao Shi breathed a sigh of relief. He lowered his eyes and summoned the generals to discuss matters.

The sound of war drums sounded, and dozens of lieutenants and lieutenants rushed to him and looked at him nervously and excitedly. Half of these people were children from various families, either stayed in the army for many years but were not promoted, or had just joined the army, because Zu Yin and his titles crossed the sequence of low-level officers, and suddenly became middle-level officers who commanded hundreds of people and even one school.

No matter what the situation is, they need a hearty victory to prove themselves and revive the family's glory.

Cao Shi felt a little worried when he looked at these generals who were familiar or unfamiliar with him. As a representative figure of the family of heroes, he knew the importance of this battle. There were more than 30,000 people in front of him, many baggage and cattle and sheep. Eat them, the army could obtain at least one month's supplies. This victory was enough to prove the combat effectiveness of these descendants of heroes. It would be no problem to gain a few marquises. If you defeat them, your morale would be frustrated, and the subsequent war would be difficult.

Many of these people have just joined the army. Newborn calfs are not afraid of tigers. This is both a good and a bad thing. Once they win a battle, their morale will be stronger. If they lose a battle, they may be in a slump.

Cao Shi was deeply touched by this. The most obvious example was Liang Xiao's record of leading 500 South Vietnamese cavalry to raid Zhangpu. Only by leading them from victory to victory can an invincible elite force be forged.

"Everyone, do you know where Wei Qing went?"

The generals looked at each other, wondering why Cao Shi asked this. Wei Qing was the deputy general and commanded the cavalry. He had not shown up for several days. As for why, only Cao Shi and the people around him knew that ordinary generals could not understand it at all.

"I sent him away." Cao Shi smiled and played with the clairvoyance in his hand. "As for the reason, you should be able to think of it."

Everyone looked at each other, and some people began to smile knowingly. Unlike them, Wei Qing and his subordinate Zhang Cigong and others were both civilians. They were promoted to marquis for their military merits, which was the most important force of the emperor and one of the roots of their downfall. Cao Shi helped Wei Qing away, so he naturally wanted to take over this military merits, proving that the sons of meritorious officials also had the combat effectiveness that was not inferior to Wei Qing and others.

An atmosphere of unyieldingness slowly spread.

"There are 30,000 to 40,000 people opposite, and there are 45 tribe leaders." Cao Shi kept pinching his fingers and said word by word: "30,000 to 40,000, which is approximately equivalent to 30,000 to 40,000 households' fiefs, and the four or five leaders are equivalent to 40,000 to 50,000 households, a total of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, is it enough for you to eat?"

This sentence is like a torch thrown into a pile of firewood, which immediately caused a raging fire. With an average of one thousand households in a title, if you win this battle, forty or fifty people will have the chance to be granted a marquis, and even if the court cuts off half, there will be twenty or thirty people. Even considering that a lord like Cao Shi will occupy more fiefs, if there are no less, more than ten people will have the chance to be granted a marquis.

In other words, those in power have the opportunity, and whether they can get a share depends on their ability. No wonder Cao Shi wanted to send Wei Qing and others away. This is a big piece of fat, so he naturally has to take care of them, who are both heroes.

"June, we have obtained your wishes." A Dou family member shouted loudly: "I will definitely not let you down."

"Yes, if anyone is afraid of fighting, let's say it earlier now and don't block us from making contributions."

"Your mother, why are you bragging? I have been fighting so many times, when did you beat me?"

For a moment, these dandy who looked down and looked up, and they didn't know how many fights they fought in Chang'an yelled. One was dissatisfied with the other, and they all wanted to fight for the first battle, and they were blushing. Some people had already drawn their swords and prepared to fight another fight.

Cao Shi saw it and was happy in his heart. He was also a playboy, so he naturally knew the virtues of these guys. Without any excitement, they would not be excited. He waved his hand and signaled everyone to be calm. "Note that we have a war to fight next, and there is no food to feed the prisoners."

After hearing this, everyone understood it and squeezed their eyes to each other. Cao Shi had already made it clear that the Qiang people on the opposite side, whether they were warriors or old or weak, had to be included in the head of their military achievements. Only in this way can they have enough credit.

"But we cannot kill prisoners. You should all understand that killing prisoners is not good."

"I understand!" someone shouted loudly: "There are all Qiang people on the opposite side, all of them are soldiers, and there are no prisoners."

"Yes, where did the prisoners come from? The Qiang people are proud of their death in battle, and they will not surrender."

Everyone screamed in a verbal voice, unable to help laughing. In their eyes, there was no benevolence, righteousness and morality. They only focused on the head, only credit, and only rewards.

Cao Shi waved his hand and signaled the generals to return to the formation and prepare for battle. He called them over just to say this. As for the specific tactics, there is no need to say much. Most of them came from generals and often trained formations by hunting. Even if they fought, they would not forget to arrange troops. It was not a piece of cake to deal with the Qiang people.

The sound of war drums sounded again, echoing the sound of the Qiang people's horns.

The Han army began to advance. They lined up neat formations, stepped on the drum beats, and squeezed forward step by step, until they pressed 300 steps in front of the Qiang formation. They stopped and reorganized the formation under the command of the war drum.

A five thousand-man battle formation was the first to fight, forcing the Qiang people to shoot a hundred steps, and shooting at the base, the sword and shield hands, and the spear hands stepped forward to set up a shield formation, and three thousand crossbowmen followed closely, forming three horizontal formations, and began to shoot with all their might.

The crossbows have always been the most threatening weapon of the Han army, with a ratio of up to 50% or 60%. It is common sense to use crossbows to conduct cover-type shooting before close forces. The Han army knew, and the Qiang people also knew. Seeing the Han army's crossbow soldiers set up their formation, the Qiang people immediately raised the shield in their hands and prepared to accept the first wave of attacks from the Han army. At the same time, the Qiang people's archers also stepped forward and began to fight back.

The battle begins with mutual shooting between the two sides.

The Han army mainly used crossbows. Four-stone armed crossbows to eight-stone slashed crossbows are the main crossbows, with a range of 160 steps to 300 steps, basically covering the entire Qiang archer position. Large crossbows with more than eight-stone snipers are used for sniping, targeting the opponent's generals.

With the order of the powerful crossbow captain, thousands of crossbows were fired in succession, forming a continuous and dense rain of arrows, whistling across the sky and pounced on the Qiang people's positions. Even after more than a hundred steps, the strength was still strong. When it shot on the Qiang people's shield, it made a sound and shot on the Qiang people's leather armor, it mercilessly penetrated the Qiang people's body, blood splattered, and screamed endlessly. One after another, the Qiang people fell to the ground by arrows and wailed.

Although the Qiang land also produces good bows, the Qiang people are obviously much inferior in terms of overall strength. Although their number of bows and arrows is not as large as the range, and they are a little floating when they shoot a hundred steps away. Compared with their leather armor, the Han army is full of iron armor. It is difficult to cause any substantial damage when shot on them. Although some Han soldiers were injured by strokes, the losses were much smaller than those of the Qiang people.

As soon as the two sides started the war, the Qiang people suffered a major blow and were shot in a mess by the Han army's arrow formation. With just one meal, the Qiang people's arrow formation was destroyed. Even if the Qiang generals tried their best to cheer up, they could not let the archers stand up from under the shield and fight back.

After successfully suppressing the Qiang Arrow Formation, the Han infantry immediately launched a new wave of charges.

The two commanders commanded 500 people, rushed out from both sides of the crossbowman, and rushed towards the arrow formation that the Qiang people had been shot to pieces. At the front were more than a hundred soldiers wearing light armor or simply not pierced armor. Most of them were composed of rangers with superb martial arts, fierce and combative skills. As soon as they came out, they roared and ran towards the Qiang people.

Behind them, infantrymen holding swords, shields, spears and halberds lined up in neat formations and moved forward quickly.

The soldiers who were trapped in the battle first, they waved their swords and rushed towards the Qiang people coming up. There was no formation, only a small-scale cooperation, relying on fearless courage and the tacit understanding that they had tempered in the usual group fights. They rushed over in groups, and they rushed wherever there were flaws.

Although the Qiang people were also warlike, they were still a little busy in front of these rangers.

Before they could react, the Han army infantry arrived, and the neat battle formation was like a powerful chariot, quickly crushing the Qiang people's already chasing battle formation. The Han army advanced like a wall, with swords and spears falling down, and ruthlessly killing.

Seeing the infantry fighting with the enemy, the powerful crossbow captain gave the order, and the crossbowman adjusted the direction and shot deeper, blocking the support of the Qiang people. At the same time, the crossbowman moved forward in turn, approaching the Qiang people's position under the rejection of the sword and shield hands.

On the battlefield where the two sides fought together and sacrificed their lives to fight.

The Han army had a clear advantage. They not only had a strict formation, but also had excellent equipment. Although the Qiang people were also tenacious, they still suffered heavy casualties. Not long after, the Han army broke through the Qiang people's blockade and occupied their positions.

The victorious war drum sounded and spread throughout the battlefield, and the morale of the Han army was greatly boosted. Cao Shi took advantage of the situation to make a splash and immediately launched a second wave of attacks, sending three school captains to lead 5,000 people to launch an attack, replacing the soldiers who had just won for a while.

Inspired by the victory of the first battle, the five thousand people devoted themselves to the battle with even higher fighting spirit.

Although there were more than 30,000 Qiang people, less than half of the soldiers who could actually go into battle were mostly old, weak, women and children. They could not resist the Han army, who were well-equipped and eager to make contributions. In just half a day, the Han army broke through three formations and forced to the water.

Seeing that there was no hope of victory, the Qiang leaders did not dare to fight again and asked for a truce and surrendered to Cao Shi.

Cao Shi refused. He left five thousand people to monitor the rear formation to avoid accidents. He immediately led his troops to attack with all his strength.

The Qiang people were shocked. This was a situation they had never expected at all, and they were in chaos for a moment.

The Han army took the opportunity to advance and quickly defeated the Qiang people's positions.

On the banks of the Huangshui River, blood flowed everywhere. More than 30,000 Qiang people, regardless of age, were killed by the Han army, who were killed red. Only a small number of people took the risk of swimming across the river and fled in panic.

Wei Qing immediately looked at the Qiang people's positions in the distance, shook his head and put down his eyes. He knew what Cao Shi was doing, but he could not stop it. Cao Shi needed an unquestionable victory to prove himself, and the Han army also needed an overwhelming victory to shock the Qiang people. Even if the massacre was too tragic and too barbaric, he couldn't say anything.

After all, there is only victory or defeat on the battlefield, and there is no benevolence, righteousness and morality.

That night, after Cao Shi obtained detailed statistics, he wrote a military newspaper carefully and sent a fast horse to Chang'an. At the same time, he sent someone to notify Mei Gao. With this victory, Mei Gao would be more confident in speaking.

Two days later, Mei Gao brought about a dozen Qiang tribe leaders to the camp and visited Cao Shi. He was shocked by Cao Shi's victory. These tribe leaders accepted Mei Gao's persuasion to surrender and were willing to lead the warriors of the tribe to bring their own food and grass to cooperate with the Han army's battle.

Cao Shi agreed and made a promise to treat them equally with the soldiers of the Han army. If they made merits, the court would not hesitate to reward them.

Under the coercion and temptation, the Qiang people bowed their heads and obeyed the orders, willing to be the forerunner, actively inquired about the news for the Han army and worked hard to serve.

A few days later, the emperor's imperial edict arrived, and he added 5,000 households to Cao's fief, and another 11 marquis. His fief ranged from 2,000 households to several hundred households, with a total fief of more than 30,000 households. Among them were Meigao, the title of Changshe Marquis, and 300 fief. The county was established in the settlement of the captured Qiang people, and the county was named Po Qiang.

Cao Shi immediately notified the entire army of edict.

Long live the soldiers—
Chapter completed!