Three Kingdoms

War is originally a competition between mistakes and more mistakes. Before the war started, everything was accurate and measurable, but after the war actually started, the precise things became inaccurate, and what changed was the individual people.

Near Shang County, in the mountain road, the fire was bright, and the sweat on Niu Jin's face was clearly visible.

Before he set off, he did think about the worst-case scenario, but when he encountered the current situation, he still couldn't help but break into a cold sweat and his hands and feet were cold. Even though he was unwilling to admit it, Niu Jin knew that their plan to attack Shang County and cause riots had failed, and that he was in danger.

It is very difficult to attack Wuguan, and Jingxiang's Cao Army's front army will definitely not be able to spend endless amounts of money on Wuguan. This is a matter of overall strategy, not what one person wants or doesn't want. Therefore, Cao Jun still hopes to save some effort if he can use tricks.

But what Niu Jin is most concerned about now is whether he can break out of the encirclement and go back...

"Damn!" ” Niu Jin cursed in his heart, “Jiang’s son, the rat has mistaken me! 』

Niu Jin was in a bad mood.

Regarding the life and death of Jiang Gan and others, Niu Jin has no feeling of sadness. Even Jiang Gan and Niu Jin are both marginalized figures in politics and want to climb up the ladder. However, they are not comrades in arms, but will squeeze and compete with each other. Stampede. If it is beneficial to you, then you don't mind working together, but if something goes wrong, it will definitely be the other party's fault.

In the rolling tide of history, there must be many brave men who only dare to stare and curse at the weak.

"withdraw! retreat! ” Niu Jin gave the order.

"Those who surrender will avoid death!" 』

Huang Zhong on the other side stroked his beard slightly and also gave the order to attack.

In the night, the light and shadow are swaying, the huge rocks in the mountains are rugged, and there are dark shadows under your feet. On one side, you must pay attention to the opponent's swords, guns and arrows, and on the other side, you must also pay attention to the loose rocks. If you step in the air, you will be doomed, so whether it is the attacking party, or Neither of the escaping parties would be as free and unrestrained as they were on the plains.

Huang Zhong led his soldiers to pursue him along the mountain road, and his evaluation of Niu Jin was actually quite good.

Huang Zhong set up an ambush at a key point on the mountain road, waiting for Niu Jin to fall into the urn, but he didn't expect Niu Jin to be there at the last moment. He didn't know whether he discovered something was wrong or was an ordinary soldier in Shang County accidentally exposed. Anyway, Niu Jin He hesitated for a long time at the crossing, and even sent soldiers to investigate, and finally forced Huang Zhong to reveal himself directly. From this aspect, Niu Jin was considered a good general, but it was a pity that he followed the wrong person...

"puff. 』

Huang Zhong killed a soldier of Cao's army with a casual slash of his sword. His movements were as graceful as killing a chicken.

Huang Zhong was a hunter back then, traveling through the mountains and forests. Before Fei Qian came up with the concept of mountain soldiers, Huang Zhong was already very familiar with mountain warfare.

When ordinary people use long weapons in the mountains and forests, they are often blocked and caught by shrubs, tree branches, etc. when cutting and stabbing, and a tenth of the strength is used in less than seventy-eight minutes, but Huang Zhong is different. In the process of hunting wild beasts in the mountains and forests for many years, he is accustomed to using long weapons in complex situations.

Because long weapons have natural advantages, and short weapons at close range are obviously not as powerful as the claws of tigers and leopards, Huang Zhong prefers to use long weapons, and at the moment, he naturally uses long weapons. Due to the advantage, the soldiers of Cao's army couldn't even fight for their lives at close range, so they fell to Huang Zhong's long sword one after another.

He moved quickly and killed two more people in an instant, leaving only some blood on his body.

Under Huang Zhong's command, it didn't take long before Cao's army collapsed after Niu Jin stayed behind.

The soldiers following Huang Zhong also moved forward bravely, harvesting the lives of Cao's soldiers.

With the bravery of the general and the superiority of the array, Huang Zhong's side established the victory almost as soon as they met...

Huang Zhong rushed to kill for a while, then stopped and said, "There is no need to chase." 』

"ah? 』The soldiers who followed Huang Zhong were still a little unhappy. After all, chasing down the defeated army has always been the easiest job at the moment, and these defeated armies are all soldiers. Each head is a solid head. There is no need to discount it. Who wouldn’t want to save a few more if they have the opportunity?

Huang Zhong didn't say anything, but the guards around Huang Zhong cast cold eyes on him.

The soldiers in Shang County said nothing.

So he withdrew his troops and cleaned up the battlefield with some enthusiasm...

After all, Huang Zhong's force was strong and his tactics were extraordinary. Ordinary soldiers would not dare to express their opinions even if they had any objections.

Huang Zhong raised his head and looked at the mountains. He put his long knife behind him and stood tall, as if he came out to admire the moon and stars at night, rather than to fight or kill.

Perhaps to Huang Zhong, these soldiers of Cao's army are not as worthy of a second look as some tigers, leopards and bears.

…

…

Cao Jun's camp.

Niu Jin's body was in a mess and scarred.

Four hundred soldiers were brought out, but less than forty came back.

When Cao Ren heard the news of the defeat, he was not angry. He only asked about the incident in detail and asked Niu Jin to go down to rest and heal his injuries. Then he walked back and forth in the tent with a calm face, thinking.

"General..." Cao Zhen on the side was a little worried and couldn't help but said, "Could it be that the news was leaked?" 』

Cao Ren hummed, waved his hand, "Get the Wuguan defense map." 』

Cao Zhen quickly found the map on a wooden stand nearby and unfolded it in front of Cao Ren.

The defense map of Wuguan was naturally collected and investigated bit by bit by Cao Jun's scouts dressed as merchants before the war started.

Cao Ren's fingers followed the route mentioned by Niu Jin, sliding all the way from the mountains to Shang County, then paused and clicked.

Although the yellow silk and black ink map is crude, it can generally tell the layout of Wuguan.

Wuguan, on the surface it is a level, but it is actually a whole area.

Shangluo County is the support point of Wuguan and the focus of military garrison. Wuguan is the gate, blocking out the wind and snow.

Go all the way up Danshui, pass Wuguan to Shangxian, and then cross Shangxian, then Bashui leads to Luo and winds out of Yaoguan. On such a mountain road, important military areas and people's livelihood farming are connected in series.

There are mountains on both sides of Wuguan Road. It's not impossible to walk, but you have to take the risk of not being able to walk like Niu Jin did before. In some places, you need to cut mountains and build bridges, and the stone walls also need to be climbed with ropes, so the newly opened The cost of the road was too high, and Cao Ren couldn't bear it.

The only thing we can do is to find flaws in the Wuguan defense system in the existing explored trails.

Jiang Ganniujin's matter was Cao Ren's test. It would be great if he could gain something, and it would not be a big deal if he lost it. Cao Ren is not so stupid as to think that he is invincible and has a superior IQ, and no one can see his strategy.

The food and grass for the Wuguan garrison were all stored on Fangshan Mountain.

Fangshan is not a mountain, but refers to those mountains with high and dangerous mountains, but a flat plain on the top.

Cao Zhen looked at the position where Cao Ren's fingers were tapping and couldn't help but ask: "General, are you going to..."

Cao Ren nodded and said, "If we attack hard in one day, we will suffer a lot of damage." There was another new defeat of the Niu family, and the morale of the army was inevitably frustrated. And this Wuguan pass is strong and difficult to attack. If we use force again and again, our morale will probably decline and we will not be able to fight. Therefore, it is still necessary to think of some ways to disturb and burn the defenders' food and supplies. 』

A stupid attack on a city is the same for anyone, it can be done, but if it is just a desperate attack, it is not what Cao Ren likes. Only when different strategies can be formulated according to the specific situation can it be considered a success. General style.

But now comes the problem. Although there is no problem with the strategy, how to implement it?

Niu Jinxin was defeated, and under Cao Ren and Cao Zhen, they could only use people from Jingxiang or some generals in Nanyang.

For example, Lu Zhao, Feng Kai and others, but if these people are transferred, places such as Jingzhou Nanyang will inevitably be empty again.

After Cao Zhen raised this question, Cao Ren obviously had some concerns, so he led Cao Zhen to the side of the tent and took out an artifact...

"This is..." Cao Zhen looked at the object in his hand. It was made of iron. It was as round as a column, as thick as a forearm, with a small mouth, but there was a handle at the end for pulling, "What is this used for?" 』

"This is a pump. "Cao Ren said, "It's similar to a water dragon...but it can contain fire oil..."

Cao Zhen thought about it again and suddenly understood.

Fei Qian climbed up to technology, and Cao Cao was of course under pressure and tried every means to catch up. Catapults, ballistas, various defensive equipment, trap fortifications, etc. are all being developed in every possible way. Even the pump in Cao Ren's hand is also a product of such arms competition.

Originally used to hold kerosene, they were usually earthen jars. Earthen jars are not only cheap, but they can also be thrown directly at the enemy in an emergency to avoid the trouble of toppling over. However, when walking in the mountains, earthen jars are very unsuitable, in case they get bumped along the way...

And this newly developed pump came in handy.

Strictly speaking, this thing is not newly developed. After all, this thing is actually a small water dragon, but the water dragon sprays water, while this thing sprays fire oil.

"Since there is no general to use, just don't use it..." Cao Ren smiled and patted the pump, "With three or five soldiers, holding this weapon, spreading it all over the mountain, it may destroy the food and grass, or ignite the mountain fire... Let’s see how Wu Guan Shou will respond! 』

Cao Zhen was stunned and then said happily, "General, this strategy will definitely weaken the enemy's army!" Wuguan can defend one place, but it is difficult to defend everywhere! After the enemy army becomes tired and slack, there will definitely be a flaw! 』

Cao Ren nodded and said: "Also... we can climb the mountain and enter Shang County. The enemy army will certainly be able to bypass and attack our rear army... Therefore, the current strategy is not to be attacked by them from the side. If we divide our troops to guard, , and it is not as good as the defenders who are familiar with the terrain, and some omissions or exhaustion will play into the other plan. Now that there is this thing, it can mess up the situation, and then you can find the void and get into it! 』

Cao Zhen bowed down and said, "Great idea, general!" 』

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Ren seems to have become Guan Yu's punching bag, and he can be beaten as much as he wants. But even according to Mr. Luo's description, it is quite remarkable to be able to withstand Mr. Guan's three axes. In history, Cao Ren has his own uniqueness as a general who has led many partial armies since Cao Cao started his army.

Niu Jin's defeat did not break Cao Ren's fighting spirit. Instead, he sent more teams to penetrate into Shang County along the marked or unmarked trails.

With these infiltrated Cao Jun soldiers, of course they could not attack Shang County or Wuguan, but the problem was that these Cao Jun soldiers were not trying to attack Shangxian Wuguan at all, but to disrupt and disrupt Shangxian County.

These Cao Jun squads were in groups of three or five, and they were in an endless stream. They took advantage if they could, and set fire to the mountains if they couldn't get any benefits. Of course, they may not succeed every time, but once something like a mountain fire is ignited, it will really The smoke is billowing, so no one can get close to it, and it often burns for miles. Sometimes even Cao Jun's team cannot escape.

This kind of suicide attack, which is somewhat similar to that of later generations, gave Liao Hua and Huang Zhong a headache.

There are two strategies to deal with it. One is to split into small teams, taking advantage of Liao Hua's higher quality of individual soldiers, and disperse them with Cao Jun's small team. The other way is to focus on guarding certain key points and wait for work, but this means that As other areas may be infiltrated by Cao's army...

Everyone will get tired. Even if it is delicious food, if you eat the same dish for several days in a row, you will inevitably feel tired, let alone one battle after another?

On the battlefield, he would do anything he could, and Cao Ren knew that Liao Hua was a novice, so he tried to bet that Liao Hua would reveal his flaws in his haste...

…

…

Above Wuguan.

There is a fire on a mountain in the distance that has not been extinguished, and black smoke is rising into the sky.

Cao Jun launched a suicide attack and ignited the mountain fire.

The catapult position that was originally set up on the hilltop to attack the Danshui official road has been basically burned down. Even if the fire does not directly burn the position, the high temperature will cause the catapult position set up there to be destroyed. Catapult damaged. After the flames are extinguished and they are renovated, you will be lucky to be able to get two or three of the ten units back.

A mountaintop was ignited, and it was like a super-sized wolf smoke. The black smoke went straight up, covering the sky and the sun, like the end of the world.

Fire and water are merciless.

Not to mention on the Wuguan Pass wall, you can see the fire and smoke even from a hundred miles away...

The creatures in the mountains were also brutally murdered. Many times, Liao Hua would see burned monkeys, goats, etc., running away with horrific wounds, and then died on the way, or plunged into the elixir...

This is war.

Under such an attack, the most casualties were still caused by Cao Jun's soldiers, but the initiative on the battlefield was still in Cao Jun's hands.

The fire also destroyed Liao Hua's idea of ​​​​attacking Cao Jun. Who knows where he went, a fire on the flank would be directly involved, and then the entire army would be annihilated.

Huang Zhong walked up to the Wuguan city wall.

Liao Hua was sitting on the top of the city, frowning.

"Colonel Liao." ” Huang Zhong said hello.

"Han was promoted to general." ” Liao Hua came to his senses and said, “General Han Sheng has been running back and forth to intercept the bandit army, thank you for your hard work...”

Huang Zhong cupped his hands and said, "This is a trivial matter, not worth mentioning." 』

Before in Shang County, Liao Hua asked Huang Zhong not to chase Niu Jin. He originally wanted to use Niu Jin's mountain road to attack Cao Jun. However, he did not expect Cao Ren to come up with such a strategy, although it may not cause much harm to Liao Hua and others. Serious injuries, but this really made Huang Zhong exhausted, running back and forth on the mountain road to intercept these Cao Jun teams.

Of course, it also has something to do with Niu Jin reaching the last moment and not completely stepping into the trap.

etc……

Originally planning to say something to Huang Zhong, Liao Hua suddenly seemed to have thought of something, then frowned and started thinking, but put Huang Zhong aside.

When Huang Zhong saw this, he stood aside and did not disturb Liao Hua's thoughts.

When Huang Zhong met Liao Hua at first, although he was not contemptuous, he was still a little worried. He felt that it would be too casual for Qiusi to let Liao Hua guard Wuguan. However, after spending the past few days together, he found that although Liao Hua was young, he was very thoughtful. Delicate, more like a civil servant than a brave general fighting on the battlefield.

If Huang Zhong had come to take command, killed Jiang Gan, and driven away Niu Jin, he would probably not have thought of having to clean up the granaries and transport grain and grass.

Because Huang Zhong feels that these things are not connected at all...

But Liao Hua thought of it.

He felt that since Niu Jin could know some trails that were rarely traveled on weekdays, it meant that Cao Jun had a deeper understanding of the situation in Wuguan than previously expected. Therefore, the place where food and grass were originally stored may not be safe, especially within the attack range of Cao Jun. At the grain and grass transfer station within the county, we arranged to transfer part of the grain stored near Shang County to Shangluo, and part of it to Wuguan.

Huang Zhong had just received the news that the grain warehouse where he led people to transport it back had been sneaked in and lit a fire by Cao Jun. If the grain had not been transported away, most of it would have been destroyed by now.

So Huang Zhong saw Liao Hua suddenly paused and began to think deeply, so he stayed with him quietly.

Liao Hua endured hardships and traveled with the refugees. He saw the most despicable side of human nature and also saw the brilliance of the kindest people.

Perhaps Liao Hua was arrogant for a while in his early days.

But on the road of migration, arrogance cannot buy food or save lives.

Because he has endured hardship, Liao Hua is much more mature than his peers who spend all day soaking in honey jars. He understands that pie will not fall in the sky, and he is not the center of the world. Every step and every choice is a It's a matter of life and death.

Although Liao Hua is young, he is very humble.

This is rare, because many young people are arrogant and think that this is no big deal and that is no big deal. They are the best, but anyone who does not agree with them is a fool...

Being modest means being cautious. Liao Hua didn't think that he was so powerful, let alone that he could crush Cao's generals and fight against all the invincible opponents just because he had the teachings from the Martial Arts Hall. He took everything seriously and thought about every step. One step strategy...

Liao Hua suddenly felt that Cao Ren's current strategy seemed to have other purposes.

After a moment, Liao Hua suddenly clapped his hands and said, "I understand!" I see! Get the pen and ink, I want to write a letter to Pang Lingjun! 』