Three Kingdoms

Waiting is the most torturous thing.

Bosses like to use waiting to torture the sharp angles and tempers of their subordinates, businessmen like to use waiting to tease customers' hunger bottom line, and young women also like to use others' waiting to show their own importance...

But the first premise is that waiting needs to be worth waiting for. The boss has a salary, and the merchant has a supply of goods. If there is no value in waiting, then whoever you like can go.

Gong Jun and the twenty scouts around him were waiting.

Technically speaking, they had been waiting for nearly a day.

Looking at Han Sui's camp fifty or sixty steps away across a river, and listening to the patrol questions and answers between the night patrol and the guards, even Gong Jun, who had participated in similar operations many times, still felt his heart pounding. accelerate.

Nervous, a little bit, but more excited.

Gong Jun likes this feeling very much. Especially when he was hiding in the darkness, he felt like a master on the battlefield, deciding the life and death of others. This made Gong Jun somewhat intoxicated.

Twenty scouts, plus Gong Jun and Ling Jie, as well as some weapons, crossbows and other weapons, two small boats were just right.

These twenty scouts have been following Gong Jun for more than a day or two. They are not allowed to ask Gong Jun for many things. They are making preparations automatically and spontaneously. Some are gathering the positions for placing crossbow arrows, and some are touching Some took out wax strips to wax the rack of the winding machine, and some quietly visited the loaded crossbow next to the boat, waiting for any movement in Han Sui's camp.

The expression on Gong Jun's face didn't change much, but he was still a little uneasy in his heart. Although it is said to be wrapped in oil paper and packed in sheepskin bags, there is no such thing as a contingency? If the thunderbolt gets wet, there's no point in playing...

The starry night is lonely.

The sparse wind blew the reeds, just like raindrops falling on the leaves, which had a strong hypnotic effect, but Gong Jun stared at the other side with his eyes wide open.

"boom!"

At this moment, there was a flash of fire in Han Sui's camp, and then there was a loud noise!

Huge flames soared into the sky, and the sound wave that hit them even shook the reeds.

"Do it!"

Gong Jun suddenly shouted.

The boat was quickly pushed out of the reeds and floated slowly downstream along the river. The boat had just been carried along the hull by the current. When it was relatively stable, Gong Jun and the others had already started to shoot the first round of arrow feathers and crossbow bolts.

Although equipped with a simple winding device, in the face of battle, the firing rate of crossbows is still slower than that of longbows, so Gong Jun and others did not use all strong crossbows.

There is a clear stipulation in the military laws of the Han Dynasty that if at night, except for the guards and patrols on duty, any soldier who wanders outside the tent for no reason will be punished with a rod or beheaded. If there is a sudden noise after everyone has fallen asleep at night. Basically, they were beheaded on the spot to prevent the camp from roaring.

Camp roaring is a thing that can happen anywhere, at any age, in any season, as long as it is a place where a large number of people gather. There is prison roaring in prisons, and even in boarding schools for teenagers, this phenomenon occasionally occurs. However, In the army, because there are strict military disciplines at all times, either whips, canes, or beheadings, and in the era of cold weapons, when we directly face death, the psychological pressure is greater than that of ordinary people, so it is easier to have problems and be destructive. Bigger too.

Until the era of hot weapons in later generations, camp roars still did not happen. In the largest camp roar in modern times, a force of 40,000 people was in chaos and killing each other, and only 4,000 were left when they woke up.

Therefore, the sudden loud noise at night was like stabbing the hornet's nest of Han Sui's camp, causing chaos. The soldiers in the camp started shouting in panic, and the whole camp suddenly became chaotic. The camp was filled with various sounds, figures were shaking rapidly, and even the sound of the alarm gong was lost in the noise.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Large numbers of Han Sui soldiers shouted and bumped their heads.

The utensils and torches in the tent were brought down to the ground, and soon several fires appeared, adding to the chaos.

"Quick! Faster!" Gong Jun shouted loudly, and then fired the arrow that ignited the wrapped cloth strips, and stuck it high on the top of a tent.

The crossbow bolts and arrows streaked across the night sky and penetrated into the bodies of Han Sui's soldiers who were disturbed on the other side. Flowers of blood bloomed. After more than a dozen people were shot down one after another, Gong Jun and others were killed by Han Sui's soldiers. I found out, yelled and pointed here, but still didn't have much strength to fight back.

Some of the flaming arrows and crossbow bolts were stuck on the felt, and some fell on the grass. The flames shook and added a lot of fire heads.

Killing people is not Gong Jun's primary goal. Their more important goal is to destroy the camp and cause riots. But now the riot has obviously broken out, so Gong Jun and the others have to make this destructive force stronger and more lasting.

Without Gong Jun's urging, the twenty scouts excitedly lit the fires, cocked the strings, and fired the arrows and crossbows to the best of their ability.

With a "swish" sound, an arrow was shot from the other side of the river, and it immediately knocked over a scout on the boat!

I saw Ma Chao standing in front of a tent on the other side of the river, with his bow and arrow aimed at it.

"Shoot! Shoot him!"

Gong Jun shouted, and then shot an arrow at Ma Chao. The scouts on the side also changed their targets and shot at Ma Chao. But it was a pity because the boat was floating on the water, up and down. If it were to shoot some tents, etc. There is no difference between large targets, but it still has a great impact on accurate shooting. Therefore, although more than a dozen arrows and crossbow bolts were shot at a time, the accuracy was not very good. It only frightened Ma Chao and shrunk. Later, Ma Chao did not suffer any damage. Instead, Ma Chao shot back another person with an arrow.

However, due to the current, the boat gradually moved away from the tent where Ma Chao was. It was also in the dark night. After a certain distance, it lost sight. Ma Chao chased after a few steps, but he could only pause and look angry. He threw the long bow on the ground.

"Damn it! Damn it! Blow the trumpet! Blow the trumpet! Let all the leaders assemble their own troops! Those who cause trouble will be killed! Behead them all!" Han Sui also shouted angrily, surrounded by layers of soldiers, "Damn it, Damn it! Where did they come from!? What happened?!"

…………………………

"What's going on?" Cheng Gongying stared at the sentinel and said, "Didn't you say that Zhengxi's troops have arrived near Fanxudao? Why is it that after waiting for so long, no one has entered Fanxudao?"

"This..." The sentry was covered in sweat, but he still couldn't figure out what the situation was. He said, "Little one, I don't know either... I did see someone under the banner of Zhengxi. The cavalry is coming towards Bansu Road...but why no one has come in until now, I really don't know..."

"Hmm..." Cheng Gongying frowned and stared at the sentry for a while, then waved his hand to let the sentry go.

Basically, there was no problem with the sentry, but Cheng Gongying had no idea, so he had to call the sentry again to confirm.

When the Zhengxi Cavalry was discovered, it was forty miles away from Fansu Road, less than fifty miles away. According to the normal marching speed, it would only take one day. Even if the Zhengxi Cavalry was in a hurry, it would only take half a day.

But at the west entrance of Fansu Road, Cheng Gongying waited for a day and a half, but there was still no movement in Fansu Road, not even a person was seen.

Where did the cavalry go in the expedition to the west?

Cheng Gongying was in a state of confusion, his thoughts rising and falling.

Longdi Road has not been repaired for many years and is damaged and difficult to navigate. Therefore, although the distance is short, it is not suitable for cavalry to travel. Therefore, it is unlikely to walk on the same road. However, if you do not take Longdi Road and Fanxu Road, no one is seen. Could it be that he took a detour to Ji Tou Road?

Could it be that the layout at Bansu Road was discovered?

Cheng Gongying couldn't help but look back. Although there were some soldiers coming and going, once it was discovered that Fanxudao had entered the Zhengxi Army, he would definitely hide, and there were no flaws in the surrounding layout. How could he be discovered?

what to do?

Cheng Gongying thought about it for a long time, and still took the risk of being discovered and sent out scouts again to detect the movements of the Zhengxi Cavalry, because if he didn't know where the other party was, there would be no targeted arrangement at all, and even if he was caught The other party knew his position, which of course lost the meaning of ambush, but it could still delay the Zhengxi Cavalry.

…………………………

"what is going on?"

The thunder-like sound at night made Han Sui feel scared and confused. What is scary is such inhuman power, fire and loud noises. How many Zhengxi can use this method? Are there any special conditions for its use? If Fei Qian, the general of Zhengxi, can use it unlimitedly, then what a slap in the face. ?

What is confusing is how such an offensive was created, and how did the saboteurs sneak in? Could it be that the art of war that I have studied and the experience in the military over the years are all fake? Are all the guards’ eyes in the camp just decorations?

The other Qiang heads in the tent all looked a little pale. They didn't know who they were. They muttered something, but Han Sui heard it and asked.

"Master Han," a Qiang-headed man glanced at Ma Chao, and then said cautiously, "this Zhengxi... the last time Ma Shaojun was in Chang'an, thunder exploded the horses..."

"Is there such a thing?" Han Sui turned his attention to Ma Chao.

Ma Chao hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Yes, uncle. That day..."

After Ma Chao roughly described the situation at that time, he continued, "...But my nephew still doesn't understand what methods were used to conquer the west... In addition, the people who conquered the west this time should have come from the Qingni River. Coming..."

"Qingni River?" Han Sui suddenly realized, reaching out and hitting his head, "How could I forget that there is a boat in Zhengxi..."

Ma Chao's eyes moved, and he followed it as if to add an explanation: "...it was the ship given to Zhengxi by the Jiang family and the Yang family from Tianshui."

"So, it's what people sent from Zhengxi did..." Han Sui glanced at Ma Chao, then calmly withdrew his gaze and ordered, "Come here, burn all the reeds on the other side of the river!"

It is obviously unrealistic to avoid the Qingni River. The march of the army is not a matter of a day or two. If you abandon the convenient water supply route and choose a higher-risk road in order to avoid the immediate risks, what else is it but a fool's errand? Because there is a Qingni River across the mountain, even if the fire spreads across the mountain, it will not burn to this side. Therefore, the Qiang people who set the fire had no scruples, and soon black smoke billowed from the other side of the river.

Burning the reeds only solves half the problem, leaving half the problem...

Han Sui looked at the black smoke rising from the shore, his eyes flashing.

…………………………

Just after Han Sui made a series of adjustments, Fei Qian also received the rewards of scouting.

"What on earth is going on?" Fei Qian couldn't help but asked doubtfully, "Really going back? Giving up? Stop chasing? Doesn't Han Wen's horse and Meng Qi hate someone to the core?"

The scouts detected that Han Sui took his team north after reorganizing for half a day and did not continue to pursue Fei Qian.

"Did the Xiliang bandits suffer heavy losses in yesterday's night attack?" Xu Huang said, "So they had to retreat?"

Fei Qian nodded and said: "It is also possible... But is this Hanwen Yue willing to go back like this? Or are reinforcements from Guanzhong coming?"

"The Xiliang rebels were hit hard, and the reinforcements from Guanzhong were coming, so they retreated to avoid being attacked from both sides..." Xu Huang said slowly, "...but if this is really the case, where are the reinforcements? "

Fei Qian frowned and thought.

The current situation on the entire battlefield is very complicated. All forces are tied together, separated from each other, and distributed unevenly. Of course, in terms of number of people, Xiliang Han Sui and Ma Chao's side still have the larger number.

Xu Huang was silent for a moment and said: "Junhou, should we continue to retreat to Yangping, or..."

Or quit?

Or enter?

Fei Qian tapped the table gently with his fingers. Han Sui, an old fox, was indeed unexpected. With such a light retreat, he actually threw a difficult problem here.

If Fei Qian continues to retreat to Yangping Pass, although Han Sui will suffer some losses, the problem will not be big. I believe that Han Sui's ability will soon make up for it from other aspects. The easiest way is to go to Tianshui Jiang Family Trouble with the Yang family...

Fei Qian then retreated into Yangping Pass. Although he was safe, he also lost a potential development base in Xiliang.

Of course, you can also choose to stay here, wait for the reinforcements from Yangping to arrive, then turn back and join the reinforcements from Guanzhong, and then decide the winner with Han Sui and Ma Chao at Longyou...

So now, how to choose?