The big man heard this and immediately kowtowed, begging for mercy!
"Report... Reporting to General, my name is Sun Yi, and I am the leader of one of the mountain strongholds in the Wolf Beard Mountain Range."
Liu Jin pondered upon hearing this, understanding the situation from his memories.
The Wolf Beard Mountain Range is located on the border of Shang Commandery, with many horse bandits stationed there. Each stronghold has its own leader, totaling eight or nine thousand people.
There isn't much difference between horse bandits and mountain bandits; they both engage in plundering, arson, and robbery. The only difference is that horse bandits have horses, giving them quick mobility.
After a moment of contemplation, Liu Jin asked,
"So, you must know the horse breeding grounds of the Wolf Beard Mountain Range?"
Sun Yi was slightly stunned after hearing this, but quickly understood what was meant.
He felt both shocked and afraid. This Han Army in front of him was clearly not the local troops of Shang Commandery; they must be an elite force sent by the imperial court, otherwise, they wouldn't have so many cavalry.
Now that they had arrived in Shang Commandery, they were clearly targeting the horse bandits of Langxu Mountain.
Zhang Fei, who was sitting nearby, saw that Sun Yi remained silent, frowned, and immediately stood up, gripping his Eighteen-Foot Serpent Spear.
He coldly shouted,
"Lord is asking you a question, so answer quickly. If you dare to dilly-dally again, I'll stab you to death with one spear!"
Sun Yi, kneeling on the ground, heard the threatening words and saw the gleaming spear, making him even more flustered, with cold sweat breaking out on his back.
After a moment of hesitation, he stammered,
"General... General, I do know the horse breeding grounds of Langxu Mountain. I hope that after I tell you, General will spare my life."
Liu Jin heard this, a smile on his face, and slowly stood up, saying loudly,
"As long as you are willing to tell us about the horse breeding grounds, as well as the intelligence and checkpoints of Langxu Mountain, General can promise to spare your life."
"I will even reward you with gold, silver, and jewels, making you a wealthy man, so you no longer need to be a horse bandit, constantly wandering in this borderland."
Sun Yi's eyes showed greed upon hearing this. He had been living in this borderland just to earn a living and avoid starving to death.
Since he had fallen into the hands of the Han Army, and could both live and enjoy wealth and glory, there was no need to stick to his principles.
He gritted his teeth and quickly nodded,
"Good."
"I am willing to reveal all the information about Langxu Mountain."
Sun Yi cleared his throat and then recounted everything he knew.
After listening, Liu Jin frowned, lost in thought.
From Sun Yi's account, Langxu Mountain had nearly ten thousand bandits and six to seven thousand horses, occupying several strongholds. The biggest leader was Feng Hu, and the leaders of the other strongholds had to obey his orders.
This was quite a bit more than the numbers he had understood from his own intelligence.
And these six to seven thousand horses were all kept in a valley on the outskirts of the Wolf Beard Mountain Range, guarded by over a thousand horse bandits.
Adding the hundreds of horses and a thousand bandits Sun Yi had brought out, Langxu Mountain probably still had nine thousand men and about six thousand horses.
Their strength was not weak for him, but those several thousand horses were very tempting to Liu Jin.
If he could eliminate these horse bandits and win a great victory.
Those several thousand horses would become his spoils of war, allowing him to select excellent warhorses and even expand his cavalry force.
After all, on the northern battlefield, the more cavalry one had, the more actively one could gain an advantage, and the advantage against the Xiongnu would also greatly increase.
Liu Jin's solemn expression slowly faded, replaced by a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
He decided not to delay, to eliminate the horse bandits of Langxu Mountain as soon as possible, stabilize Shang Commandery, and acquire those thousands of warhorses.
Just as he was about to issue orders, Sun Yi, still kneeling on the ground, hesitated for a moment and then continued,
"Reporting to General, I have one more thing to report."
Liu Jin said "Oh" upon hearing this, and waved his hand, signaling him to continue.
Sun Yi did not keep them in suspense, and his voice slowly came out.
"General, that Langxu Mountain leader, Feng Hu, seems to have a very close relationship with those Xiongnu."
"Originally, his strength among the horse bandit leaders was not very strong, but for some unknown reason, his power suddenly exploded a few years ago."
"He actually had two to three thousand elite cavalry under his command, directly suppressing many leaders and integrating the entire Langxu Mountain into a cohesive force."
"Moreover, Feng Hu often has contact with the Xiongnu, frequently sending the plundered grain and goods to Xiongnu gathering places."
"All of us leaders suspect that Feng Hu must have received assistance from the Xiongnu; otherwise, his strength couldn't be this great."
Everyone in the hall was slightly stunned upon hearing this, and their eyes showed solemnity.
They hadn't expected these horse bandits to have such a close relationship with the Xiongnu.
If they were to engage in battle with the Xiongnu, and Feng Hu suddenly led tens of thousands of horse bandits to attack, it would be a great danger to these Han Army, potentially even turning the tide of battle and leading to defeat.
Liu Jin inwardly broke into a cold sweat. He hadn't expected the Xiongnu to have such a hidden hand here.
It seemed the Xiongnu's ambition was becoming increasingly inflated; they were already beginning to lay out plans in the north, clearly intending to occupy the entire Bing Province as their base.
Historically, the Xiongnu did just that, taking advantage of the Han Dynasty's internal and external troubles to gradually sweep across the entire Bing Province, and even periodically led cavalry south to raid Chang'an's Three Supports, plundering money and grain.
Now, with him stationed in Bing Province, he absolutely could not allow the Xiongnu to rise. He must suppress them while they were still developing.
If the time was ripe, Liu Jin even wanted to uproot them completely, to utterly eradicate the entire Xiongnu, lest they remain a destabilizing factor.
Because history does not lie; foreign tribes are always foreign tribes and will never truly submit. The more the imperial court is in turmoil, the more they will rise up to cause trouble.
Otherwise, the Five Barbarians Uprising would not have occurred, almost leading to the annihilation of the Han people and their nation.
After a moment of contemplation, Liu Jin looked at the Generals in the tent and said loudly,
"Since we already know the situation of Langxu Mountain, let's depart early and eradicate these horse bandits completely, lest they harm the common people."
"Guan Yu, listen to my order: Tomorrow, you will lead your cavalry to directly raid the horse breeding grounds of Langxu Mountain and bring all these thousands of horses under control."
"The rest of you Generals, follow me to Langxu Mountain tomorrow to see if we can break into the mountain and eliminate all these horse bandits."
Upon hearing this, the Generals all stood up and said loudly,
"We respectfully obey Lord's command."
Liu Jin nodded, waved his hand, and the robe attached to his back fluttered out. He looked at Zhao Teng beside him and instructed,
"De Hu, convey my order: Immediately instruct the Grand Administrator of Shang Commandery to mobilize troops from various locations to converge on Langxu Mountain."
Zhao Teng cupped his hands and bowed, accepting the order!
Liu Jin looked at everyone and said loudly,
"Pass down the order to rest well. Tomorrow morning, we will assemble the army and set out."
As the order was given, the Generals left one after another, and the soldiers in the army quickly fell asleep.