After handing his son over to Xi Zhicai, Liu Hong took out the report of victory that Duan Jiong had sent and began to examine it carefully.
In early June of this year, just as Tan Shihuai was leading his army to attack the Yuwen tribe, Dianxian in the Western Qiang also received a message from Han Sui, and gathered his 30,000 troops to begin marching towards the Shehetai tribe, which was supported by the Han Dynasty.
In Dianxian's original plan, he intended to first take down the Shehetai tribe, and then, after Tanshihuai integrated the grasslands, contact Ma Yi of Dongqiang, and launch a joint attack on Liangzhou.
However, due to the intelligence blockade by the Investigation Bureau, Dianxian was unaware that Liu Hong had already set a trap in Juyan and was preparing for a decisive battle with Tanshihuai.
Therefore, when Liu Hong arrived at Juyan, and Tan Shihuai mobilized all the able-bodied men of his tribe to rush towards Juyan, Dian Xian's army continued to advance towards Shehetai at a leisurely pace.
Because of this intelligence gap, Duan Jiong was able to make advance preparations, sending a team of 5,000 men to secretly enter Shehetai's camp to help them fortify their camp and prepare a large amount of supplies for defense.
Duan Jiong dispatched 20,000 Liangzhou soldiers to disguise themselves as 50,000 feint troops and set up garrisons at various passes along the border between Jincheng and Dongqiang, in order to mislead Dianxian and Ma Yi of Dongqiang.
Duan Jiong himself led 10,000 Liangzhou cavalry and 10,000 auxiliary cavalrymen composed of Qiang people who had submitted to the government to secretly garrison a tribe 50 miles east of Shehetai.
After everything was arranged, Duan Jiong sent a message to Shehetai, instructing him to defend the tribe to the death and wait until Dianxian was nearly exhausted before launching another attack to annihilate Dianxian's forces.
After seeing the Han army enter the camp to assist and hearing Duan Jiong's message, Shehetai, who had been living in constant fear, was greatly relieved. He sent people to gather all the soldiers that could be mobilized from his tribes and concentrate them in the camp.
In response to Shehetai's actions, Dianxian, who was traveling slowly, not only did not rush to deal with them, but also ordered the march to slow down so that Shehetai could concentrate all his forces so that he could easily wipe out Shehetai's tribe in one fell swoop.
Just as Dianxian led his 30,000-strong army to Shehetai's tribe, Shehetai also summoned his remaining 20,000 combat-ready soldiers to the tribe.
Just as Dianxian was thinking about how to break through Shehetai's territory at the lowest cost, Duan Jiong also ordered someone to spread the news that the emperor had arrived at Juyan and that Tanshihuai had mobilized a large army to rush south.
Upon hearing this news, Dianxian immediately became restless.
He knew that once Tan Shihuai successfully captured the Han emperor, the Xianbei people would gain unimaginable benefits, and he had to go and share in the spoils no matter what.
Therefore, Dianxian disregarded the losses under his command and directly dispatched troops to launch a fierce attack on Shehetai's tribe.
Faced with Dianxian's attack, the soldiers of Shehetai tribe also relied on the equipment and crossbows provided by the Han Dynasty to put up a stubborn resistance.
The two sides fought fiercely for seven days, both suffering heavy losses. During this time, Shehetai asked Duan Jiong for help several times, but Duan Jiong refused each time, citing that the time was not right.
Shehatai had no choice but to grit his teeth and persevere, and personally led his troops in resistance.
In the end, Dianxian's 30,000-strong army lost more than 7,000 men; Shehetai's garrison was reduced to only 15,000 men.
Seeing how difficult it was to break through Shehetai's camp, just as Dianxian was preparing to grit his teeth and withdraw his troops, a sudden explosion occurred in Shehetai's camp one night, and Shehetai died in the chaos.
Meanwhile, Dianxian seized the opportunity and led his army to attack the camp of Shehetai, and broke through it in one fell swoop.
After breaching the Shehetai tribe's camp, Dianxian also ordered the massacre of the Shehetai soldiers.
Duan Jiong, hidden in the shadows, remained unmoved by Dian Xian's actions, allowing the other side to slaughter the last military force of the Shehetai tribe.
Just as Dianxian had slaughtered all the soldiers of Shehetai and was preparing to lead his troops to Juyan to compete with Tanshihuai for profit, Duan Jiong, who had been hiding in the shadows, led 20,000 cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Dianxian.
After many days of fierce fighting, Dianxian's troops were exhausted. When faced with the well-equipped Xiliang cavalry, they were routed with just one charge.
In the midst of the chaos, Dianxian led several thousand remaining troops in a westward escape.
After leaving an auxiliary battalion to guard the prisoners, Duan Jiong led the Xiliang cavalry westward in pursuit, chasing them all the way to the territory of the Qiang people in Qinghai, where he finally managed to kill Dian Xian.
After killing Dianxian, Duan Jiong also led his army to purge Dianxian's tribe. A total of more than 60,000 herders were all enslaved and taken to the Han-Qiang border.
After witnessing the strength of the Han army, the Qiang tribes near Qinghai Lake also chose to surrender and actively requested to submit.
With this, the Western Qiang, who had plagued the northwestern border of the Han Dynasty for many years, were finally completely pacified.
After reading the report of victory sent by Duan Jiong, Liu Hong smiled and then got up to take Liu Cheng from Xi Zhicai's arms.
Liu Hong, carrying his son, arrived in front of the Great Han Dynasty map and focused his gaze on the area from Longxi to Qinghai Lake.
"Cheng'er, shall your father teach you how to draw?"
Upon hearing Liu Hong's question, Liu Cheng, who was being held in his arms, started babbling and waving his little hands.
"Haha, Zhang Rang, bring me a pen!!"
Seeing his son like this, Liu Hong couldn't help but laugh out loud and ordered Zhang Rang to fetch a paintbrush.
After taking the paintbrush, Liu Hong placed it in Liu Cheng's hand, then grabbed his small hand and stretched it out towards the map, incorporating the Western Qiang region, along with the Qinghai Lake area, into the territory of the Han Dynasty.
After doing all this, Liu Hong turned around, picked up the report of victory, and began to think about it carefully.
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