When Qiao Yan arrived at the foot of Guyang City, despite efforts to clean up the bloodstains both inside and outside the city walls, remnants of Han heads and severed limbs had already been gathered by Zhang Liao’s men for burial.

Nevertheless, the traces of blood seeping from the walls were still visible.

As the autumn wind from the north swept through, tattered flags stained red with blood fluttered atop the city walls, painting a desolate scene.

“To the north of Guyang City lie the inner and outer walls of the Great Wall. How could it have been breached by the Hu people?” She frowned, looking up at the walls and posing the question.

In this area between Wuyuan and Yuncheng, the Han Great Wall consisted of two layers:

(ne aligned with the Yinshan Mountains, forming the foundation of Guyang similar to the Qin Great Wall,

And the other layer retreated inward by thirty li, constructed with rammed earth and rubble.

Along the path of this second inner wall were beacon towers and military fortresses, the most famous being Guanglu Pass.

In ancient times, when Chanyu Hu Hanxie surrendered to the Han Dynasty, he stationed his troops here before later returning to the northern deserts.

He followed the protocol of a vassal and requested to marry into the Han Dynasty, leading to the story of Princess Zhaojun’s departure to the north.

This was Guanglu Pass.

Located outside the Guyang Pass, at the mouth of the Yinshan Mountains, Guanglu Pass normally housed seven to eight hundred troops and was regularly patrolled from its watchtowers.

Instances of trouble in Guyang were exceedingly rare.

Hearing her question, Zhang Liao hesitated briefly before replying, “Earlier, there was a rebellion among the Wuhuan in Youzhou and Jizhou.

The court called upon the military from Bingzhou, and the provincial governor submitted memorials outlining the strategic importance of the border.

However, the Ministry of Recruitment arrived with imperial edicts and, apart from calling for reinforcements from the Southern Xiongnu under the leadership of Qu Qiu’s son, Xufu Luo,

He ignored the obstacles and withdrew more than four hundred men from Guanglu Pass, leaving behind only half of the soldiers stationed in the camp of General Liao of Wuyuan.”

“The Wuhuan rebellion occurred in June, and the conscription in July while Lord Qiao was still under house arrest.”

In essence, what he had said back then was of no use to her.

But this kind of prioritizing the immediate crisis over the long-term defense, completely disregarding the situation of prolonged vigilance elsewhere—”

“Absurd!” Qiao Yan couldn’t help but exclaim in frustration.

How could conscription be handled like this?

But in Bingzhou, there was only a provincial governor with authority for oversight and recommendation, unable to intervene in military matters.

Even if Cui Lie had wanted to stop it, there was no way.

And now, without General Liao Du in office, there was truly no one to stop them from taking away the troops stationed at Liao Du’s camp.

Qiao Yan could criticize this under the guise of Marquis of Le Ping, but Zhang Liao couldn’t.

He sighed and continued, “More than half of the soldiers in Guanglu Pass are now gone. The rest fulfilled their duties diligently. When they heard that a large cavalry force was approaching from the Guyang Road, they were warned by the scouts, some were sent out to pursue them, but their numbers were outnumbered, and all tragically perished.”

“Even more troublesome, the outer wall along the Yinshan border is now of little defensive use.

In this particular stretch, the inner wall happened to have collapsed. It was already reported for repairs, but before they could be completed, the enemy arrived.”

Qiao Yan passed through Guyang City, witnessing the devastating aftermath of plundering, her heart filled with a deep-seated resentment towards these Qiang and Hu tribes.

The uncivilized nomadic tribes saw the Han people as sheep to be preyed upon.

Given the chance to plunder, they mercilessly took another piece of flesh from the Han, truly acting like beasts.

The city was awash with blood that couldn’t be cleansed in a moment.

As Qiao Yan rode through, the stench of blood overwhelmed her senses.

Her gaze fixed on a particular spot where a collapsed courtyard wall bore a bloody handprint along its earthen edge—a child’s handprint, judging by its size.

Unable to bear it any longer, Qiao Yan hastened her horse’s pace.

Exiting through the north gate of Guyang, a short distance further led to the inner Great Wall.

Pointing ahead, Zhang Liao said, “Here it is.”

Following his gesture, Qiao Yan saw a noticeable collapse in the second wall built during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu.

Dismounting and approaching closer to inspect the crack in the inner Great Wall, Qiao Yan furrowed her brow once again.

At the section where it had collapsed, there were only clumps of clay and gravel, lacking the usual reinforcement of grass and wood commonly found in rammed earth walls for added stability.

Perhaps it was a construction practice of that time, nothing worth criticizing.

But amidst the weathered marks on the wall, signs of deliberate destruction were also evident.

The Hu people’s choice to attack this particular spot was no coincidence.

“Let’s go to Guanglu Pass,” Qiao Yan mounted her horse again, turning its head towards the northwest.

It didn’t take long before Guanglu Pass appeared before them.

Once the site of the Chanyu’s encampment, it was indeed not small in scale, designed with a narrower top and wider base, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.

However, with only about two hundred men left to guard it, it seemed undermanned.

It was only due to Zhang Liao’s arrival with his troops that the previous patrol system had been maintained.

Looking towards the barracks inside Guanglu Pass, Qiao Yan noticed the tiles on the rooftops glistening in the sunlight, forming the character “固” (gu), which meant “solid” or “secure.”

This was also the case with the architecture in Guyang City.

Pattern, unfortunately, these expectations for stability obviously did not ensure the safety of these two places.

“Before I arrived, did you send anyone to investigate along the Gongyang Road?” Qiao Yan asked, surveying the surroundings.

Zhang Liao replied, “Lord Qiao sent a message to me, indicating intentions of attack.

I believe Lord Qiao probably didn’t want the barbarians to realize our significant movements, so he only dispatched a few scouts to follow their tracks and ensure they didn’t misjudge their departure direction.

The rest of us focused on repairing defenses and preparing the garrison appearance.”

“Those marauders came and went through the pass between Yanshan and Yinshan, heading straight northwest.”

Qiao Yan naturally praised Zhang Liao’s cautious actions with a few words.

When he mentioned Yinshan, it wasn’t the mountain range itself but the Daqing Mountain within it, while Yanshan referred to the eastern Wula Mountain, also known as Langshan.

The valley between these two mountains is the Gongyang Road, also called the Huayan Road.

Qiao Yan looked north beyond the walls of Guangluose and saw the rugged, reddish mountains, which seemed even more imposing at dusk.

After staring for a long time, she turned back to Zhang Liao and said, “I have two tasks for Wen Yuan(Nickname of Zhang Liao).”

“Whatever Lord Qiao commands.”

Qiao Yan continued, “Firstly, I’m not familiar with the border areas, especially beyond the Gongyang Road. Please select two guides from Guangluose to accompany us.”

As Zhang Liao was in charge of military affairs, he could arrange this, unlike Qiao Yan.

“Secondly, your troops must accompany us on this expedition. Guangluose lacks manpower, so I will write a letter to the Governor of Wuyuan County.

Please deliver it for me, requesting reinforcements to ensure at least six hundred troops remain stationed in Guangluose, to prevent any surprises.”

As for why she couldn’t just transfer troops from Yunzhong Commandery…

They still needed to guard against the Xianbei.

“I will handle it right away.”

Though it was nearing nightfall, it wouldn’t hinder the message.

Especially concerning the increase in guards at Guangluose.

The Governor of Wuyuan County had autonomy in these matters, but after sending the troops, he couldn’t help but remind Qiao Yan that she lacked experience in external campaigns.

It was sufficient to fill the border garrisons and withdraw the troops once the turmoil in Youzhou subsided, as usual.

Why risk the title of County Marquis?