With the efforts of Zang Tu and Zhang Sheng and others leading the way, captured Han soldiers spoke on the same day and told the Han army that the approximately 400,000 troops were the Han army stationed in Guanzhong, and some were local garrisons drawn from various parts of the Central Plains. The rest were all local county soldiers temporarily recruited by the Han army after the autumn harvest. Such troops were the largest.

The situation in terms of weapons and equipment is similar. The Guanzhong garrison has the best equipment, followed by local garrisons. Most of the county soldiers recruited temporarily received bronze weapons in stock left by the Former Qin Dynasty. Only a small number of veterans who performed well in training or had experience in participating in the war can receive iron weapons, and almost all of the arrowheads were bronze arrowheads left by the Former Qin Dynasty. - This is really not a big deal about Xiang Kang and the Han court's stinginess. The main reason is that the productivity of this era is too scammed. In just a few years, the Han army really couldn't change all of them. There were too many bronze weapons left by Qin Shihuang and Hu Hai, so it would be a pity to give up and not use them. Anyway, it was more than enough to deal with the simple-equipped Xiongnu army.

After asking about these situations, Zang Tu and Zhang Sheng and other leaders reported to Maodun quickly. After hearing this, Maodun thought about it, he said after a while: "According to this, although the Central Plains barbarian army we encountered this time looked more than 400,000, in fact, the only ones that could really pose a threat to us are the Guanzhong garrison and local garrisons of the Central Plains barbarians?"

"The Khan is wise, this should be like this." Zang Tu quickly praised and said: "In addition, as far as the ministers know, there are only about 120,000 violent men stationed in Guanzhong all year round. Apart from the troops that must stay in Guanzhong, the tyrant Xiang Kang should only bring at most *10,000. In addition, the tyrant Xiang Kang should have drawn about 100,000 local troops from all over the Central Plains, so the violent men who can truly pose a threat to us should be less than 200,000."

Maodun nodded and suddenly said, "But we cannot underestimate the enemy. After all, our elite main force is only more than 100,000, and the rest are temporarily recruited grassland green and strong, and their combat effectiveness is slightly worse."

"Don't worry, the grassland green and strong we temporarily recruited were not as powerful as our elite cavalry, but it was definitely stronger than the county soldiers temporarily recruited by the tyrant army." Zang Tu quickly encouraged Maodun: "The reason is very simple. Our grassland green and strong have practiced riding and shooting since childhood. We are not familiar with farm tools like the county soldiers of the tyrant army since childhood. In addition, our soldiers use meat as the tyrant, generally tall figures, and much stronger arm strength than the soldiers of the tyrant army, so competing with the auxiliary army is definitely our army to take advantage of it."

"Listen to your tone of King Donghulu, do you think this decisive battle should be fought?" Maodun heard Zang Tu's implicit voice.

"The Great Khan is wise, and his subordinates hope to fight to the death with the army of the tyrants." Zang Tu immediately replied: "The tyrant Xiang Kangqi has raised his troops from the country to fight us. As long as we win this decisive battle, it is equivalent to defeating the entire team of the tyrants. Then we can not only obtain Yanmen Daijun and other places, but also take the opportunity to enter the prosperous and prosperous Central Plains hinterland, seize countless cities, land, food, and supplies, and directly expand the territory of our Hun Khanate to the Great River (Yellow River) and even the Yangtze River."

Maodun smiled and immediately understood Zang Tu's little abacus - he tried his best to instigate himself to fight this decisive battle with the Han army. If he wins, Zang Tu will definitely take the opportunity to restore the country. If he loses, Zang Tu will run to the grassland, and will bear all the consequences, and will not affect any of Zang Tu's own interests. However, Maodun was too lazy to point out Zang Tu's little abacus, but said again: "King Donghulu, have you considered this issue? Last night, the Central Plains army had obviously elite troops, so why did he send a county army north to pick up the army in Mayi?"

"This..." Zang Tu was speechless, and immediately understood that Maodun, who was extremely smart, was suspected of the Han army believing defeat and seducing the enemy. However, for his hope of restoring the country, Zang Tu still said with a tough bullet: "It's not surprising. The violent army may want to test our reality and test their auxiliary army's combat effectiveness, so he deliberately sent the auxiliary army to the north to pick up the army in Mayi."

The reason why Zang Tusheng made a tough move only logically, Maodun was too lazy to listen to Zang Tu's continued quibbling, but he just ordered casually: "Go down and rest. I have to consider whether to fight this decisive battle."

After sending Zang Tu away, the Xiongnu scout also sent news, basically confirming that the Han army's strength was indeed more than 400,000, and at the same time, they had basically set sail to the city of Mayi, less than 60 miles away from the Bantianling battlefield. Maodun refused to comment after hearing this, but said in his heart: "There are too many infantry in the barbarian army, and at least it will take a day to go north to about twenty miles away from Bantianling to launch an attack on Ben Khan's camp. Ben Khan must also make a decision within tomorrow to decide whether to fight this decisive battle and whether to fight?"

Maodun, who is very talented, is indeed very smart. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Maodun still feels that he is better not to take risks. The reason is very simple. The foundation of the Huns is too weak. Once the decisive battle is defeated, it will take at least ten or twenty years to restore the state of prosperity. If the army suffers too much losses, the consequences will definitely be even more unimaginable. On the contrary, even if the decisive battle fails, he can take advantage of the advantage of a large population and a strong foundation to quickly reorganize more troops and make a comeback. There is no possibility of defeat and never recovering from then on.

The 150,000 Xiongnu people became Maodun's only burden, which made Maodun's decision even if he knew that he should abandon them. As a result, when Maodun was hesitant and difficult to decide, the Han army envoy suddenly came to the Xiongnu army and proposed to Maodun the peaceful conditions for releasing Li Zuoche's troops and returning the land south of the Great Wall.

After Xiang Kang and Chen Ping reported that the Han army was willing to resolve the border conflict through negotiations, Zuo Xianwang, the first important minister of the Huns who was worried about their tribe, was indeed ecstatic. He immediately encouraged Maodun to go down and sent important officials to the Han army camp to negotiate with Xiang Kang in person. The second important minister of the Huns, You Xianwang, who occupied the plump land of Hetao, jumped three feet high. Not only did he firmly oppose the peace talks with the Han army, but he also had an argument with Zuo Xianwang in front of Maodun, which was turned upside down and the sun and moon were gone.

Maodun did not stop the quarrel between the wise kings. After a moment of thinking, Maodun suddenly said to the Han army envoy: "Go back and tell your emperor, just say that Ben Khan is here to seek revenge this time, and the land you requested has always been the ranch for our Huns. We finally took it back, how could it be given to you again? He told him to die of this heart, and if he has the ability, he would bring the army here, and fight to the death with a dignified battle."

When King Youxian heard Maodun’s words, he was of course ecstatic. Even when he called Dahan, King Zuoxian was stunned on the spot. The Han army envoy was also a little stunned and hurriedly said through the translator: “Khan, listen to your tone, are you not planning to accept the peace talks?”

Maodun nodded calmly and said, "If you have the courage to fight, come on, I will accompany you to the end!"

Seeing Maodun insisting, the Han army envoy had no choice but to bow away quickly. As a result, the Han army envoy had just left, and the Hun nobles present asked one after another: "Khan, are you really planning to fight the army of the Central Plains barbarians?"

"Didn't you find that the barbarians of the Central Plains are deliberately playing with us?" Maodun sneered: "If they really want to rescue the barbarian army surrounded by us, they just need to send troops here and use the army to pick up the barbarian army down the mountain. Why do you need to rescue them through negotiation? Also, the barbarians of the Central Plains are determined and finally got the opportunity to fight us to a decisive battle with us. How could they ask us to return the land through negotiation?"

"The barbarians of the Central Plains took the initiative to propose negotiations, just to stabilize us." Xiang Kang, who was used to bullying Xiang Yu, finally met his opponent. Maodun pointed out Xiang Kang's real purpose very directly and said: "Let us be careless and take it lightly, and then suddenly send troops to catch us off guard. If we are deceived, we will definitely suffer a big loss."

"Khan, then will we fight this decisive battle?" The Right Xianwang asked quickly.

Mao Dun hesitated again, and after a while, he said, "No hurry, let me think about it again, and send the order to each soldier receive jerky that can be eaten for five days, and also ask our military officials to prepare for migration. As for whether to fight or not, I will make a decision before the sun sets tomorrow."

Hearing Maodun's words, the Huns nodded and said yes. However, the face of Zuo Xianwang changed, and he immediately understood that the situation was not good. He vaguely guessed that Maodun might choose to cut off his tail and survive and give up his subordinates...

…………

On the Han army, the Han army envoy who rode a fast horse to the south brought Maodun's reply back to Xiang Kang that day. Xiang Kang was stunned when he heard this and said in disbelief: "Did you refuse completely? How is it possible? Did Maodun make up his mind to fight us so quickly?"

"Impossible!" Chen Ping said flatly: "This battle is too important for the Huns. Although Maodun refused simply, his army was too powerful. Even if he decided to retreat at the last hour before the decisive battle, it was still too late. My subordinates thought that Maodun should have not made the best decision yet, and he still might choose to eat the viper wrist, the hero cut off his arms, and decisively gave up his troops and only led the army to escape."

Xiang Kang nodded slowly, turned to Uncle Zhou next to him and asked, "Aiqing Zhou, how are we preparing for the decisive battle?"

"Report to Your Majesty, all pre-war preparations can be completed tonight at the latest." Uncle Zhou replied: "Tomorrow, one day will be used to advance to the vicinity of Bantianling, and the morning after tomorrow you will be able to fight the Xiongnu barbarians."

Xiang Kang calculated and said after a while: "Then do it, pull the army to the vicinity of Bantianling first. Anyway, we have bitten the Hun barbarians. Even if their army runs away, at least they can annihilate more than 100,000 of their military subordinates."

The tactical power was not as powerful as the Xiongnu army, and the initiative was controlled by the enemy. Even Uncle Zhou could only passively nod and urge the army to step up the decisive battle. However, what surprised Xiang Kang, Uncle Zhou and others was that late at night that day, a Xiongnu envoy who claimed to be the confidant of King Zuo Xian of the Hun suddenly came outside the Han army camp and asked the Han army to pay a visit to Xiang Kang. The situation was reported to Xiang Kang. Xiang Kang was surprised and immediately understood that the situation had changed and immediately ordered the summoning of the envoy of King Zuo Xian of the Hun.

In a moment, the envoy of Zuo Xianwang was taken to Xiang Kang and saluted respectfully. The envoy of Zuo Xianwang said the meaning straight to the point, saying that the Zuo Xianwang of the Huns hoped to sign a non-aggression treaty with the Han army, and to use the condition that the Han army would not invade the borders of the Han army in the future, in exchange for the Han army to set aside and not kill his subordinates. He also expressed his willingness to hand over 90% of the cows and sheep of the army to the Han army as a gift to thank the Han army for releasing his subordinates to return to the grassland.

Maodun also met his opponent this time. As soon as he heard the conditions proposed by the envoy of Zuo Xianwang, Xiang Kang immediately realized that Maodun had basically made up his mind to retreat. In a secret sense, Xiang Kang first forced himself to calm down, and then used the excuse of taking time to consider, and temporarily sent the envoy of Zuo Xianwang away. Finally, he said to Chen Ping and others who rushed over after hearing the news: "Did you hear it? Maodun probably has made up his mind to abandon his subordinates."

Zhang Liang and Chen Ping and others nodded together, and then Chen Ping added: "Otherwise, King Zuo Xian would not have asked for peace alone on the back of Maodun barbarians, and wanted to trick us into making a fuss about his ministry and civilian network."

"We may not gain much from this northern expedition." Xiang Kang said with a wry smile: "Even if Brother Xiang Zhuang will definitely send troops to intercept him, Guangwu Jun will definitely pursue him with all his might. It is impossible to severely damage the main force of the Huns. At most, kill 20,000 or 30,000 Hun cavalry, kill all their military subordinates, hurt the Huns' fur and their vitality."

"This is nothing to do." Uncle Zhou said with a wry smile: "Who told us that there are too few cavalry, and the tactical power is not as powerful as the Hun cavalry. Cavalry alone cannot seriously damage the Hun cavalry. On the contrary, there is a danger of severely damageing our cavalry by the Hun cavalry."

At this moment, Xiang Kang naturally regretted that he did not let the Han cavalry equipped with saddles and stirrups in advance, but there was no regret medicine in the world. Xiang Kang could only whine helplessly: "I am sorry to Jun Guangwu and my brother Xiang Guan. I paid such a great price and finally lured the main force of the Huns to the battlefield of Bantianling. In the end, we still couldn't annihilate the main force of the Huns."

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional. When Xiang Kang mentioned the trapped Li Zuoche and Xiang Guan, Uncle Zhou's heart suddenly moved and he wanted to speak, but when the words were about to come, Uncle Zhou forced himself to swallow it back into his stomach. After a moment of calculation, Uncle Zhou said: "Your Majesty, what you just said suddenly made me think of a way, maybe it would give us a chance to fight the main force of the Huns."

"What's the solution?" Xiang Kang asked quickly.

Uncle Zhou quickly told his plan, but Xiang Kang laughed when he heard it and said, "Zhou Aiqing, you actually want me to implement this plan in person, right?"

Uncle Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "But it's too dangerous. Your Majesty, you are a body of gold. You must not take such risks yourself. That's why my subordinates volunteered to let me go. Fortunately, my subordinates are the Grand Marshal of the Han Dynasty and are ranked as the Third Duke, so there should be hope."

"There is no hope." Xiang Kang shook his head decisively and said, "Mao Dun is too smart and knows how to make choices. He will not take such risks for you. I will go in person!"

"Your Majesty!" Uncle Zhou, Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others screamed together.
Chapter completed!