Xiahou Yuan-Unstoppable as a Tiger, Conquering all in his Path(Three Kingdoms 85)
Xiahou Yuan pacified Liangzhou
Previous Chapter ：Xun You, the Best Military Advisor
After Xun You’s荀攸 death, Cao Cao arrived in Hefei合肥. At this time, Sun Quan had already occupied the city of Wan皖城, and the rainfall to the south of Huai River was very high that year, making the rivers very navigable. Confronted by the Wu’s navy, Cao Cao had no confidence and was caught in a dilemma.
At this time, news came from Liangzhou凉州 that Xiahou Yuan夏侯渊 had pacified the region of Longxi陇西. Cao Cao was overjoyed at this news and immediately decided to withdraw to Ye City邺城 to recuperate and prepare to march on Hanzhong汉中.
At the beginning of 214 A.D., after Ma Chao马超 defected to Zhang Lu张鲁, Xiahou Yuan began to march on Han Sui韩遂, who was stationed in Xianqin显亲.
Seeing that Cao’s army was so strong, Han Sui did not dare to fight and retreated to Lueyang略阳. Xiahou Yuan then entered Xianqin and captured a large amount of Han Sui’s provisions, and then continued his march to Lueyang.
When he was only 10 kilometers away from the city of Lueyang, Xiahou Yuan summoned all the generals under his command to discuss the next course of action. Some advocated to continue attacking Han Sui, while others suggested attacking the Di氐族（An Ethnic Minority in Northwest） tribes in Xingguo兴国.
Xiahou Yuan thought that Han Sui’s army was well-armed, so he was afraid that it would not be easy to defeat, and the city of Xingguo was also very strong, so it would be difficult to conquer them in a short time, and it would be better to divert to attacking the Qiang羌（Another Ethnic Minority in Northwest） tribes in Changli长离.
Han Sui’s army had many Qiang tribesmen from Changli, which would force Han Sui to abandon the fortified city to come to rescue, so Xiahou Yuan can annihilate Han Sui’s troops in the battlefield.
Then Xiahou Yuan left a part of his troops to guard the military supplies in Xianqin, while he himself led the light-armed infantry and cavalry straight to Changli, where the Qiang people were unprepared, many of them were killed and captured, a large number of villages were burned.
Han Sui heard about this and indeed came to rescue. Xiahou Yuan led his army to confront them. When the generals saw Han Sui’s strict army and large number, they were all a bit afraid and suggested digging trenches and building fortifications before engaging in the battle. However, Xiahou Yuan said that :
“our army had been fighting for thousands of miles, and if we camped and dug trenches now, the soldiers would be overworked.”
So he immediately ordered to beat the drums and marched. Han Sui was defeated and fled to his hometown, Jincheng金城, throwing away his banners. Xiahou Yuan then took advantage of the victory and captured Lueyang.
After a short rest, he started to besiege Xingguo. The kings of Di ethnic ,AGui阿贵 and Yang Qianwan杨千万 held on to the city, but it was still broken through. AGui was killed, Yang Qianwan fled to Hanzhong, and all their men surrendered.
Then Xiahou Yuan went to Gaoping高平 without stopping and attacked the Xiutu休屠 tribes of Xiongnu匈奴 , who were living there, but the people of Xiutu fled in advance when they heard the news. Xiahou Yuan captured their grain, cattle and horses, and returned in triumph.
When the news of the battle reached Yecheng, Cao Cao commissioned Xiahou Yuan with Imperial Authority（假节） and ordered him to find an opportune to crusade against Song Jian宋建.
In early years, Song Jian宋建 had taken advantage of the chaos in the world caused by the Yellow Turban Uprising to rebel in Liangzhou together with Han Sui and others. Song Jian occupied Fuhan枹罕 and proclaimed himself a king and set up prime ministers and other officials at all levels, in fact, he had been the emperor there for more than 30 years.
In October 214 AD, Xiahou Yuan led a crusade against Song Jian, including Zhang He张郃 and Zhang Ji张既, the provincial governor of Yongzhou雍州, and quickly surrounded Fuhan upon they arrived, attacking the city continuously for more than a month before finally storming the city.
Xiahou Yuan executed Song Jian and all the officials under him, and ordered the city to be massacred. He also sent Zhang He with his own troops to attack Heguan河关, who set out from Fuhan and crossed the Yellow River into Xiaohuangzhong小湟中, where all the Qiang tribes west of the Yellow River surrendered.
At this time, Han Sui could not stay in Jincheng any more, his son-in-law Yan Xing闫行 in Xiping西平 gathered his men to respond to Xiahou Yuan, wanting to kill Han Sui to return to the court, so they took advantage of the night to attack Jincheng.
Han Sui, who had already been betrayed by everyone, wanted to follow Ma Chao‘s example and go south to Liu Bei, but was discouraged by his general, Cheng Gongying成公英. Cheng Gongying suggested that instead of going to Chengdu, Han Sui should hide in the Qiang tribes, recruit new troops, and wait for a chance to make a comeback. So Han Sui fled from Jincheng with thousands of his followers and retreated to the Qiang tribes.
Han Sui had been in Liangzhou for more than 30 years and had high prestige among the Qiang people, so he was protected by the Qiang tribes.
A year later, Han Sui, who was in his 70s, fell ill and died in Qiang. His men had no hope and wanted to come out to surrender, but they were afraid that Cao Cao would not accept them, so they cut off Han Sui’s head and surrendered to Cao Cao’s army.
Thus the three major warlords of Liangzhou, Ma Teng马腾, Han Sui and Song Jian, all died, and the whole Liangzhou was declared pacified.
Cao Cao ordered a special commendation for Xiahou Yuan, praising him for his great achievements in battle, “Unstoppable as a tiger, conquering all in his path.虎步关右，所向无前”.
The pacification of Liangzhou meant that Cao Cao, with no worries, could move south to attack Hanzhong at any time. Sandwiched between the two lords, Cao Cao and Liu Bei,the Master Zhang of Taoist - Zhang Lu张鲁, who had ruled Hanzhong for nearly 30 years, was faced with one of the most important choices in his life.
To be Continued.
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