Throughout history, whenever the Central Plains dynasties clashed with the nomadic tribes of the north...

The most troublesome problem is not that we can't beat them, but that we can't find their base of operations.

They migrate with the water and grass, never settling down...

If you send a large army there, you won't be able to find their whereabouts or bases in half a day. You'll just be wasting food every day and have to return empty-handed.

However, when you are exhausted and your food supplies are insufficient, they suddenly attack again, giving you a surprise!

These guys are like ghosts, appearing and disappearing without warning. They can ambush you, but you can never ambush them.

However, there are two sides to the story.

While their regime structure possesses mobility, it also lacks the timeliness and defensiveness of reinforcements.

After all, tribes are far apart, and it is very slow to mobilize troops and organize a large army in a timely manner.

Therefore, once their base was discovered by the army of the Central Plains dynasty, they were doomed.

They have almost no defensive capabilities and will be easily wiped out.

Unlike agrarian civilizations, they did not possess cities to defend against enemy attacks.

Therefore, the problem of defeating the Northern Xiongnu is not the strength of their troops or their supplies, but rather finding out where their royal court is.

Some of the Xiongnu soldiers under Jiang Ming's command had also gone to the Northern Xiongnu to do business.

They naturally knew where their royal court was.

So leading the way is not a problem!

The Xiongnu Chanyu Yixie'er understood this, so... he wanted to make full use of it!

In other words: Don't the Xiongnu soldiers in your hands know where my main camp is?

Then I'll deliberately set up an ambush here at the old camp. Come on!

Once you arrive at the royal court's encampment, it will be difficult to turn back; you will fall directly into our encirclement.

Therefore, this battle is destined to be a game of wits and anticipation of each other's predictions!

Yi Xie'er was the type of military strategist and politician who "accumulated knowledge and experience before unleashing it".

He is not in a hurry to kill his opponent... but rather wants to thoroughly study and understand them!

Make your move only after you have a clear understanding of the other party's situation.

Jiang Ming meticulously studied and replicated every battle he had fought on the sand table...

To understand Jiang Ming's military strategy and tactics.

It can be said that Yixie Er did his homework and made thorough preparations for this big gamble!

On one hand, they would harass the Qin state to lure Jiang Ming there, and then take advantage of the fact that Jiang Ming's men knew about the old camp of the Northern Xiongnu to lure Jiang Ming into the "graveyard" and then capture him in one fell swoop!

However, what he overlooked was that... if one were to carefully review all of Jiang Ming's victorious battles, almost none of his strategies were the same.

All of them are original tactics and strategies!

The same applies to the flooding of Yan and Ying...

In fact, this tactic of flooding the city was not Jiang Ming's original creation, but a move used by Bai Qi, the God of Slaughter, in Jiang Ming's previous life.

There was also the Battle of Changping, which eliminated the combined forces of Zhi Yao and Han, which was essentially an imitation of the Battle of Yique fought by Bai Qi.

As an outstanding graduate of the National Defense University, Jiang Ming had countless historical war examples and strategic models in his mind.

It includes both domestic and international products.

Therefore, it was even more difficult for Yi Xie Er to grasp Jiang Ming's thought process than for a camel to crawl through the eye of a needle!

Jiang Ming had long heard that Yi Xie Er was no pushover.

Therefore, the method to deal with him is naturally different from the approach taken by those idiots before!

He led an army of 450,000 men and stationed them in the State of Yan.

It cannot be simply understood as 'mobilizing a large army', but rather these soldiers were defined as the force to protect the capital region!

From then on, they settled down here and lived like "Beijing drifters," never having to return to their home country again.

After all, he still had to move the capital of the Great Gan Dynasty from Luoyi to the State of Yan.

After the massive army entered the Yan Kingdom, Jiang Ming immediately dispatched his trusted confidants and scouts to investigate the movements of the Northern Xiongnu...

The most crucial factor determining victory or defeat in war has never been military strength or superior equipment, but rather the flow of information!

Only by having information can we make the most correct judgment based on the situation!

Therefore, after Jiang Ming's scouts arrived at the northern grasslands, they began to seriously investigate the migration and changes of the wolf packs, and based on the wolf droppings, they estimated where the main force of the Northern Xiongnu was hiding.

In fact, there are many ways to conduct scout research.

For example, by trading with caravans, selling salt and tea, and buying sheepskins, one could indirectly ascertain the population density of the other party.

But this move is too obvious... It only works against some stupid opponents.

However, Jiang Ming dared not do that when dealing with Yi Xie Er.

Because once the other side discovers his 'intentions', Yi Xie Er can also send out false information in the opposite direction, causing Jiang Ming's army to fall into a 'trap'.

This is the first floor.

Another reason is that most of the scouts sent out were Xiongnu people, because they were the ones most familiar with the geography of the vast northern grasslands.

If the people sent are Xianbei, who are unfamiliar with the local geography and environment, then it's no different from sending civilians directly.

If these Southern Xiongnu people were to rebel, that would be a real problem!

Of course, to be on the safe side, Jiang Ming sent out a reconnaissance company whose leaders were all Xianbei people he trusted!

There's a lot more to it than just using wolf droppings to investigate the migration routes of the Northern Xiongnu.

The Xiongnu people raised sheep and horses, and as they migrated, wolf packs followed them...

Investigating the distribution of wolf droppings would be equivalent to figuring out the whereabouts of the Northern Xiongnu.

However, wolves don't just eat the herders' livestock; they also prey on other wild animals on the grasslands, such as rabbits and wild horses.

By analyzing the 'materials' contained in wolf droppings, it's possible to more accurately determine which wolf packs migrate with human activities and primarily hunt for prey, and which are self-reliant and feed themselves...

When Jiang Ming sent out scouts, he did not tell them the purpose of doing so.

They simply had the Xianbei people manage the Xiongnu guides, collect their excrement, write reports, and submit them to them!

When these scouts ventured deep into the northern grasslands, collected wolf droppings, and delivered their reports to Jiang Ming, Jiang Ming glanced at the map and couldn't help but gasp in shock!

Based on the migration patterns of wolf droppings on the northern grasslands... the Northern Xiongnu army should be near the Great Xianbei Mountain, where their father-in-law is stationed!