Yunzhong County, the Great Wall.
A group of Han soldiers, holding long spears, were patrolling the city wall in neat formation.
The early May sun was bright but not hot, and the northern sky was a clear blue without a single cloud.
A gentle breeze blew by, causing the banners on the city wall to sway slightly, and the patrolling soldiers couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"Look, everyone!!"
Suddenly, one of the soldiers behind him noticed something, opened his eyes wide, and pointed north.
The entire group stopped instantly, and everyone turned to look.
On the northern horizon, a large dark shadow appeared, like a black storm rolling toward the Great Wall, accompanied by a faint rumbling sound.
"Enemy attack!!"
Upon seeing this, the squad leader's expression immediately changed. He shouted loudly and led his soldiers to run towards the watchtower not far away.
"Light the signal fire!!"
Upon seeing the approaching cavalry, the officers at the patrol post immediately ordered the lighting of smoke signals.
Soon, a plume of black smoke rose straight up from the patrol post, soaring into the sky.
"Enemy attack! Follow me!!"
When the officers on the other parts of the city wall saw the rising smoke, they immediately led their soldiers to run towards the source of the smoke.
"Quickly, quickly, ignite it immediately!"
Upon seeing the smoke rising from the Great Wall, the soldiers at the beacon towers behind the Great Wall quickly lit their own beacon fires.
In the past few years, in order to guard against sudden attacks from grassland tribes, the border counties of the Han Dynasty have not only reinforced the Great Wall defense line, but also built a number of beacon towers for early warning, so that the border troops can defend in time.
The garrison commander in charge of guarding the Great Wall in Yunzhong County was named Li Man, a member of the first class of the Imperial Guard.
"The first, second, and third divisions are all on the wall; the fourth division is kept as a reserve force; and the fifth division is responsible for arrows and rolling stones..." (One division has one thousand men)
After quickly issuing the battle order, Li Man also swiftly climbed onto the city wall.
Upon seeing the long ranks and dense banners of the approaching enemy, Li Man's expression immediately turned grim.
“They are Xianbei cavalry, and judging by their size, there are probably 50,000 of them!” said an advisor standing next to Li Man, his expression grave.
"Fifty thousand people?"
Li Man frowned. He had been stationed here for five years and had never encountered such a large-scale attack before.
He wasn't worried about not being able to hold the line, after all, the border troops were not what they used to be, and now that the smoke signals were rising, the surrounding armies and the troops from the prefectures and kingdoms would soon be able to come to their aid.
What puzzled Li Man was the true intention of these Xianbei cavalrymen.
You must understand, this is the Great Wall. The Xianbei cavalry came straight here. Did they intend to smash the Great Wall open with their heads?
At the same time, all three thousand Great Wall defenders climbed onto the city wall, holding bows and crossbows, and aimed at the distant cavalry.
Just as all the soldiers were focused on defense, the attacking Xianbei cavalry suddenly slowed down and stopped twenty miles away.
"Mr. Wen, it seems the Han Kingdom has been tricked!"
Looking at the plumes of smoke rising from the Great Wall and the faint figures on the wall, He Lian couldn't help but laugh.
Li Ru pondered for a moment and said, "Young Master, you must not be careless. Beacon fires are just a common tactic used by the Han Dynasty!"
He nodded and then asked, "So what should we do next?"
Li Ru then said, "Young Master, you can send three thousand men to the vicinity of the Great Wall to pretend to scout, and order the rear guard to set up camp there, cut down trees, and build siege equipment such as siege ladders, to create the appearance of an attack!"
"good!"
He Lian nodded, and without asking any further questions about Li Ru's words, he immediately began to arrange for people to make the arrangements.
Seeing this, Li Ru nodded to himself and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Soon, the three thousand cavalrymen broke away from the main force and galloped toward the Great Wall, while the rest dismounted and began setting up camp.
"All troops on alert! If the enemy approaches, fire arrows immediately without orders!!"
Upon seeing the approaching Xianbei cavalry, Li Man immediately gave the order to attack freely.
All the Han soldiers also nocked their arrows, keeping a close eye on the rapidly approaching Xianbei cavalry.
Just as everyone was ready, the Xianbei cavalry suddenly stopped 500 meters away and looked up at the defenders on the city wall.
Before long, the three thousand Xianbei cavalrymen split into two groups and slowly marched in different directions, constantly observing the condition of the Great Wall as they went.
"Huh? What are they doing?"
Seeing the Xianbei people's strange behavior, both the garrison soldiers and Li Man frowned.
Li Man's advisor stepped forward and said, "Captain, it seems the Xianbei are probing our strength and preparing for a frontal assault!"
"Yes, the Great Wall defense line is long, reinforcements have not yet arrived, and our troops are still few in number. Tell all the brothers to be on high alert!"
Looking at the Xianbei soldiers setting up camp in the distance, Li Man solemnly gave an order.
"Here you go!"
The staff officer agreed and then turned around to begin making arrangements.
Li Man stood behind the battlements, gazing at the Xianbei people in the distance, lost in thought.
"Could it be that the Xianbei people learned of our army's plan to attack the grasslands, and that's why they're preparing to launch a preemptive strike?"
She murmured softly, then shook her head. "No, even if they wanted to strike first, they should attack the four prefectures of Hexi. Coming all the way to attack the Great Wall is clearly courting death!"
"Could it be that they did this on purpose?"
Thinking it over, Li Man's expression shifted, and her eyes narrowed as she stared intently at the Xianbei soldiers setting up their camp in the distance.
As a student of Cao Cao and others during the same period, and as a military commander stationed in a certain area, Li Man's military skills were quite good.
Soon, Li Man noticed something amiss.
Although the Xianbei camp was filled with flags and covered a large area, the speed at which it was set up was clearly not in line with the pace expected for 50,000 people.
"It's a trap!!"
Li Man's expression shifted, and after giving an order to her soldiers, she turned and ran down the city wall.
After returning to the military camp, Li Man took out paper and pen and wrote down all her observations and speculations about the Xianbei people that day. Then she sent a fast horse to the imperial court.
Regardless of the purpose of this Xianbei cavalry, they had appeared before our eyes after all.
Right now, all Li Man can do is ensure that she doesn't make any mistakes.
As for how to deal with it, that depends on the decision of the imperial court.
After the messenger left, Li Man sent men to the capital of Yunzhong County, while he himself returned to the wall to stand guard with the soldiers.
After making a show of scouting, the Xianbei cavalry returned to their camp.
In the following days, following Li Ru's instructions, He Lian dispatched a cavalry unit to scout the foot of the Great Wall every day, while simultaneously constructing various siege weapons.
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