Seeing He Lian's appearance, Li Ru nodded to himself.
Under his constant influence and guidance, He Lian is also growing in the direction he wants to go.
"Now that Your Majesty understands General Cao's intentions, you must already have your own thoughts, right?"
"Yes, it is, but I don't know if it will work!"
Hearing Li Ru's words, He Lian scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly.
Li Ru smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please speak freely!"
"That's right, sir. According to intelligence, the Kingdom of Kangju has a total of twenty-six cities."
General Cao's planned march route was to start from Keluo City, which was not far ahead, and head northwest all the way to Beitian City, the capital of Kangju, passing through ten cities along the way.
The surrounding areas of these ten cities consist of fewer than three small and medium-sized tribes with a population of less than 200,000.
The resources of these tribes are simply not enough for us and the Xiongnu to share.
Therefore, I thought it best to divide our forces into four groups with Xie Zhiyu. Two groups could be used to clear out the tribes surrounding the ten cities, while the other two groups could make a detour to the areas behind the Kangju capital…”
Li Ru nodded: "Your Majesty's plan is good, but we must act quickly. We need to plunder all the tribes behind Kangju before General Cao's troops besiege the capital."
“What you say is true, sir. So I discussed it with Xie Zhiyu and we decided that we would each lead 10,000 troops to make a detour to Kangju, while you would lead the remaining 20,000 troops!”
Upon hearing He Lian's arrangement, Li Ru solemnly said, "Your Majesty, please go ahead. With me keeping an eye on things, there won't be any problems here!"
"Thank you for your trouble, sir!"
He Lian bowed to Li Ru, then spurred his horse and galloped towards Xie Zhiyu.
After some discussion, He Lian and Xie Zhiyu each led 10,000 cavalrymen, broke away from the main force, and sped off in the northeast and northwest directions respectively.
The officers of the remaining 20,000 soldiers came before Li Ru to receive orders.
After surveying the two groups of 10,000 officers, Li Ru said in a deep voice, "Pass on my order: all soldiers shall break into smaller groups of 1,000 men each, and at a distance of five li, sweep through all the tribes within a hundred li of the planned route."
If you encounter a small tribe, you can wipe them out directly. For larger tribes, you can contact other nearby teams for joint operations!
Finally, Li Ru narrowed his eyes and instructed, "Remember, for this operation, we only want money and supplies; leave nothing else behind!"
Li Ru had already learned about this Kangju Kingdom.
Back when Kangju was still a small country, it was quite subservient to the Han Dynasty, sending hostages and paying tribute every year.
However, after Kangju grew stronger through trade cooperation with the Han Dynasty, it was the first to oppose the Han Dynasty and even considered joining forces with Dayuan to fight against the Han Dynasty's expeditionary force.
In recent decades, with the support of the Kushan Empire, it has continuously bullied the surrounding small kingdoms in the Western Regions.
Li Ru would naturally not let such despicable people get away with it.
"yes!!"
The officers excitedly agreed and quickly left to begin their respective tasks.
Li Ru's order was exactly the same as the method Rome used when it attacked Parthia, both employing a carpet-bombing approach to disrupt the enemy.
The difference is that the Romans only robbed money and grain without killing people, while Li Ru chose to take everything.
Soon, the 20,000-strong army was divided into twenty thousand-man squads and rushed towards the planned direction.
Li Ru also personally led a team towards a tribe near the city of Keluo.
Ever since the Xianbei and Xiongnu settled in Dayuan, Kangju has been very vigilant, deploying heavy troops in Keluo and along the way to guard against a surprise attack from the two tribes.
However, it was already deep winter, and the Kangju people believed that people would not be able to stand such cold weather. In addition, the hard ground would also cause great damage to the horses' hooves.
Therefore, no one would have thought that the Xianbei and Xiongnu would launch a surprise attack at this time.
However, what they didn't know was that the Xianbei and Xiongnu were now all equipped with cotton-padded clothing provided by the Han Dynasty, and their warhorses were also fitted with horseshoes. What they considered difficulties were no longer a big problem for the Xianbei and Xiongnu.
Therefore, faced with the sudden attack of the two cavalry units, some of the tribes in Kangju were not even able to put up a fight before they were overrun.
At dusk that day, Li Ru led his team to a place not far from a small tribe.
Twenty miles to the west of this tribe lies Keluo City, the first city in southern Kangju.
Looking at the small tribe with only a hundred or so households, Li Ru smiled coldly, then made a gesture to a Xianbei leader beside him.
The leader understood, and immediately drew his long sword from his waist, pointing it at the tribe.
"Warriors, follow me and fight!"
"kill!!"
A thousand Xianbei cavalrymen roared in unison and charged toward the tribe with their weapons in hand.
The thunderous roar of the warhorses also alerted the people in the tribe.
The men of the tribe ran out of their homes, and before they could figure out what was going on, the Xianbei cavalry had already charged close.
In an instant, the sound of horses' hooves and screams began to echo throughout the tribe.
These Xianbei cavalrymen were originally the elite Gaoliu troops under Tan Shihuai, whose combat power was already terrifying. After undergoing unified training by the Han army, and now with the support of Han army weapons, their combat power is naturally even more formidable.
These ordinary young men from Kangju were incapable of even escaping, let alone fighting back.
Within a quarter of an hour, all two hundred able-bodied men in the tribe had been slaughtered.
Then, the Xianbei cavalrymen dismounted and rushed into the various houses.
The elderly, women, and children huddled inside the house, trembling, praying that the enemy would leave quickly after looting their belongings. Some young women were even prepared to be violated.
There was nothing they could do; it was freezing cold, and they couldn't escape even if they wanted to.
Unfortunately, the people of Kangju misjudged the attacking enemy.
After the Xianbei cavalry charged into the houses, they neither searched for valuables nor attacked the women in a frenzy. Instead, they drew their swords and killed the people hiding inside.
In an instant, cries of anguish and wails echoed once again throughout the tribe.
After several years of contact and training with the Han army, most of these Xianbei soldiers have learned to speak some Han language and have long been devoted to the Han Dynasty.
Naturally, no mercy would be shown to these Kangju people who had always been hostile to the Han Dynasty.
They spared no one, from the elderly to children, even infants in swaddling clothes.
Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots!
This was the death order these Xianbei soldiers received before they set off.
By the time Li Ru slowly arrived at the center of the tribe, none of the tribe's more than 800 inhabitants had survived.
Even a hen that had been raised in a civilian house for two and a half years was chopped in half by Xianbei soldiers!
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