North of Gaonu, along the Loess Plateau and the Ordos Desert, lies the former site of the Great Wall of Zhao during the Warring States period.
This area corresponds to the region of Yulin City in later times.
Liu Wei led a hundred imperial guards cavalrymen and a dozen or so imperial guards, setting off from Dongsheng and speeding south along the Qin Straight Road.
This section of the road winds its way across the top of the Loess Plateau.
More than two hundred warhorses kicked up billowing yellow sand.
Liu Wei and Zhang Liao's plan was for Liu Wei to march along the Qin Straight Road towards Zhenlin and Guluo City.
The Xiongnu King Laoguli was based in Guluo City.
He now commands 10,000 soldiers and 30,000 followers.
These were the troops that King Guli left behind to guard Meiji when Qiangqu Chanyu led a large army to attack Dingxiang to avenge Yufuluo.
But with Qiang Qu's death in battle and the annihilation of the 50,000-strong Xiongnu army, Yao Guangxiao led 3,000 troops to Meiji and wreaked havoc.
At that time, King Laoguli fled in panic with two thousand remaining soldiers, and all the men in Meiji who were taller than a cartwheel were given a proper rite of passage by Yao Guangxiao.
The women were taken to Dingxiang and given to Liu Wei's soldiers as wives.
Yao Guangxiao gave the elderly three days' worth of dry rations and left them to fend for themselves.
In the end, basically none of them survived.
The old Gu Li King now has 10,000 troops, which are all remnants gathered from Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Wuyuan, Shuofang and other places.
Shi Tugu, a subordinate of Zuo Daduwei, was first defeated and fled from the ruined city, and then defected to Ding Yuan, serving as a vanguard in the attack on Yunzhong.
He was subsequently defeated, but gathered his remaining troops and planned to flee to Guluo City to join King Guli.
Unexpectedly, Shi Tugu changed his mind midway and surrendered to Dong Zhuo of Bingzhou, where he was settled in the Sheyanze area upstream of the Sheyan River.
Liu Wei and Zhang Liao's southward expedition was aimed at wiping out the forces of King Guli and Shitugu.
This eradicated the power of the Southern Xiongnu in Bingzhou.
However, Liu Wei was worried that if Zhang Liao led a large army south, Shi Tu Gu and Lao Gu Li Wang would flee at the mere mention of it.
Therefore, Liu Wei led his guards on a march to lure Shi Tu Gu and Lao Gu Li Wang into battle, while Zhang Liao's troops outflanked them from the outside.
Soon, Liu Wei and his group arrived at a place not far outside Guluo City and rested for a while.
In the city of Guluo, King Guli was already living in constant fear.
Originally, while Liu Wei was fighting a major battle with the Xianbei people, he reorganized his troops and used the two places he had already captured, Dongsheng and Dacheng, as a buffer for Guluo City.
Furthermore, he hadn't expected Liu Wei's troops to head south so soon.
Therefore, when Zhang Liao sent troops to attack Dongsheng, the army of King Guli was defeated and fled to Guluo City after a brief resistance.
King Guli could only pray that the Han army would stop at Dongsheng and not continue south.
Further south lies the Loess Plateau, a land of countless gullies and ravines, where Gu Li Wang had nowhere to escape.
But further west lies an even more desolate and barren plateau desert.
Without grasslands, they cannot graze their livestock, leaving them with only one path: death.
"Your Majesty, a troop of Han cavalry has arrived outside the city to the north and is resting there. Their intentions are unclear!"
At that moment, a scout came galloping in to report.
King Guli immediately tensed up and asked, "How many people are there?"
“One person, two horses, and about a hundred riders,” the scout replied.
"A hundred riders? What do they want? Are they just passing by?"
"Are there still traces of Han troops nearby?"
King Guli was filled with doubt and uncertainty.
After all, the Southern Xiongnu royal court is now merely a name, with only a few remaining members of the tribe barely surviving.
His remaining Southern Xiongnu seed cannot withstand any further turmoil.
Shi Tugu sent a letter urging him to surrender to Bingzhou together, so that he could find a safe place to live.
But King Guli was relatively stubborn and still believed in miracles.
He also felt that the Han people were too cunning, and if the entire Southern Xiongnu surrendered, then the Southern Xiongnu would truly disappear from the annals of history.
Now, the sudden appearance of Han cavalry outside Guluo City left him completely bewildered.
"Your Majesty, within a radius of twenty li, there are no traces of other Han troops besides this army."
Tanma replied.
"So they were just passing through?" one of the generals immediately said. "Perhaps they were heading to Guanzhong from the Hetao region?"
King Guli said, "As long as they don't provoke us, we shouldn't provoke them either. Let them pass if they want!"
"Your Majesty, I have a different opinion."
Another general said, "I suspect they came openly to probe our strength."
"They might attack us soon."
"Could it be that the Han chieftain who killed our Chanyu, the Left and Right Wise Kings, and our entire tribe is going to exterminate us?"
Immediately, someone else exclaimed in surprise.
"It's not impossible," some people said.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
King Guli pondered for a moment: "If they've come to probe our strength, then we shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's retreat into the desert!"
"Your Majesty, retreating to the desert at this time would be a dead end."
"We're going to die anyway, so we might as well fight them."
"Yes, let's fight! Let's surround and annihilate these hundred or so riders to boost our morale."
Just as everyone was discussing this, another scout came to report:
"Your Majesty, this cavalry has stormed into our pastures outside the city and is relentlessly hunting down our people."
"Despicable and shameless! Utterly shameless!"
King Guli's expression changed drastically, and he burst into a tirade of curses.
He cursed loudly as he ran, leading a group of thousand cavalry commanders to the top of the city wall of Guluo City to investigate.
Gulou City is located at the junction of Xihe Commandery, Shang Commandery and Shuofang Commandery, where the three commanderies meet at the rooster's crow.
At the same time, it is an important town on the Qin Straight Road and the dividing point between the Loess Plateau and the Ordos Grassland.
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