Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3167 Caution is nothing more than a lot of leeway

The King of Liang Diren originally thought that he was just following Cao Jun to get a bargain this time, but he didn't expect that he would be taken as a bargain now.

Normally, nothing would happen on the territory of Shangyong. After all, the Liang Di people were the most numerous and powerful Di people group in the upper part of the area.

But unexpectedly, something happened in Jing County.

The king of Liang was woken up in the middle of the night, and he felt very unhappy. When he heard that Cao Jun had killed Zhang Duili, the intermediary trader of the Liang people, and wanted to trouble them, he was immediately furious and immediately Howl.

If Cao Jun had a better attitude towards the Di people before, if they could treat them equally when allocating food and grass, and if they didn't want to treat the Di people as cannon fodder but as partners at the beginning, then if the King of Liang had encountered such a thing, I would more or less think about asking, or investigating further, but unfortunately there are not so many ifs.

Things got worse and worse.

In the dark night, Cao Jun's soldier on duty suddenly heard the sound of arrows entering his body. He quickly turned his head and looked around vigilantly, and saw an arrow inserted straight into the temple of his companion.

Blood was spilling from around the arrow.

Cao Jun's soldiers opened their mouths in horror and were about to shout.

Another arrow whizzed over, shot into his mouth, passed through his neck, and nailed him to the stake behind him.

Among the Di people, there are also good hunters.

However, the rest of the Di people may not be able to kill silently like good hunters, and the alarm was eventually triggered during the attack.

Warning sounds sounded over Xing County.

The king of Liang was asked to hold the ax and rush forward with a howl. He screamed strangely, waved the axe, and cut into the chest of a Cao soldier with a "pop" sound.

The sound of crunching bones was heard, and the Cao army soldier was hacked to death without even being able to utter his final scream.

More Di people roared and charged randomly, trying to show off to Cao Jun...

Bright red color.

Some houses were set on fire, and then the supplies stored in them were ignited, and flames rose into the sky.

…

…

The abnormality in Xing County was noticed by Li Dian's scouts.

After all, the light of fire in the dark night is just like fireflies in a pile of coal.

But when the news was rushed to Mulan Village, Li Dian did not send troops immediately. Instead, he hesitated and called Chang Lin and Ma Zhong.

Ma Zhong's eyebrows were beaming, "General, let's march!" Cao Jun is now looking for death, and when the war is about to begin, internal strife breaks out! This is simply a God-given opportunity! As long as the general leads the attack, Cao's army will inevitably be unable to take into account both internal and external considerations! There is no doubt that it will be a huge defeat! 』

Li Dian nodded slightly.

Although Ma Zhong said it seemed easy, Li Dian didn't show much excitement.

Ma Zhong was a little confused and turned to look at Chang Lin.

Chang Lin glanced at Li Dian, raised his hands and said, "Does the general suspect that this is Cao Jun's strategy to lure troops?" 』

Li Dian pondered for a while and said, "Cao Jun has been coveting Hanzhong for a long time." If this is the case, how can there be such a fallacy? 』

Chang Lin also nodded when he heard this, expressing his approval.

Ma Zhong was a little anxious on the side, "Chang Zhi, you..."

Chang Lin laughed and said: "What Captain Ma said is not unreasonable. This is indeed a good opportunity, but the general's words must be prudent... It is already established that Mulan Village is here to control it, so why change the order every day?" ? 』

Ma Zhong looked at Chang Lin and then at Li Dian, but hesitated to speak.

In fact, Li Dian was very moved when he received the news of Cao Jun's unrest in Xing County.

But when Li Dianzhen was about to take action, he hesitated.

It's not that Li Dian is timid and afraid of fighting, but that the incident of defending in the military camp and then suddenly receiving good news brought back some of Li Dian's not-so-good memories...

After thinking about it, Li Dian decided to play it safe, but he was unwilling to give up this opportunity, so he asked Ma Zhong to lead a small group of troops to Xing County to test it out, and then he led a large group of troops to follow behind.

…

…

Wuming Mountain is thirty miles away from Jing County.

The mountains here are gentle and the terrain is open.

Cao Zhen stood on the top of a hill, raised his head and took a sip of cold water.

The county was really dangerous last night. When the Liang people started to cause trouble, they were almost in a state of disintegration, with a tendency to disperse.

Shen's Shen Yi was seriously injured, which made Shen's subordinates also suspicious. Although they did not fall out with Cao Zhen, they did not cooperate with Cao Zhen's actions.

At a critical moment, Cao Zhen stepped forward to turn the tide.

He led his elite troops straight to where King Liang was and killed him in one fell swoop.

The Liang Di people immediately panicked and fled in all directions. The soldiers under Shen were also frightened by Cao Zhen and no longer dared to disobey Cao Zhen's orders.

Since then, although Xi County has suffered great damage and Cao's soldiers have suffered many casualties, Cao Zhen's position in the entire army has been determined.

Faced with the dilapidated situation in Xixian County, Cao Zhen first killed several Di people leaders, and then dispersed all the remaining Di people. Shen Yi was seriously injured, and Cao Zhen naturally took over the military power of Shen's troops.

After Cao Zhen quickly calmed down the internal disputes in Xing County in a short period of time, he immediately began to prepare for external war.

At this time, what is needed is a victory that can restore morale.

Cao Zhen thought Li Dian would come.

Because normally, to deal with internal disputes like this in Jing County, even if the rebellion is suppressed, it will take a certain amount of time to regroup the troops, and during this regrouping process, there must be a certain period of weakness, so Faced with such an opportunity, Cao Zhen felt that Li Dian would not miss it easily.

According to Cao Zhen's thinking, Li Dian would inevitably send troops to attack Jing County, so Cao Zhen arranged cannon fodder in Jing County and released Jing County for Li Dian to attack. Anyway, Jing County had also been seriously damaged. As long as Li Dian Attack Xin County, then Cao Zhen will attack immediately to cut off the connection between Li Dian and Hanzhong, and the damaged Xin County will be surrounded by Cao Zhen and Cao Ren who follow...

As long as Li Dian attacks, he will have a chance to turn defeat into victory.

Cao Zhen carefully planned a situation to lure the enemy into an ambush. He thought about it again and again and did not find any loopholes.

Cao Jun's scouts came flying over.

"General!" The Hanzhong Army moved! 』

Cao Zhen smiled, "Very good." 』

…

…

But soon, Cao Zhen couldn't laugh anymore.

"How far is the Hanzhong Army from Xing County?" 』

"About ten miles." ” the scout replied.

Cao Zhen was stunned for a moment, and then asked eagerly: "How fast is the Hanzhong Army marching?" 』

The scout didn't know what was going on and said, "Report to the general, the traveling speed is average." 』

Cao Zhen's heart skipped a beat, "General?" 』

"generally. "The scout replied, "Neither fast nor slow..."

Cao Zhen's brows slowly wrinkled, and his face became increasingly ugly.

"General, what's wrong?" ” asked the confidant guard standing behind Cao Zhen in a low voice.

"What is this Li Mancheng doing?" ” Cao Zhen frowned and said, “Normally speaking, if we find out something happened in Xi County, we have to rush straight in without stopping... Only by letting the Hanzhong Army rush over will its formation become scattered and thin... This way It will be very easy to kill them, and there will be a chance to annihilate them all... But now they are walking too slowly... at normal speed, this is not normal. 』

"General, we are hiding here. They have no idea that even if the Hanzhong army is in neat formation and we attack suddenly, we can still trap them in Xixian County. Can they still fly into the sky?" 』The confidant guard feels that it is not a big problem.

Cao Zhen thought, then shook his head. He ordered the scouts to continue investigating, and ordered the hidden troops to retreat back and try not to be discovered by the other party.

"Even if the Hanzhong Army discovers something, as long as they enter Xing County, they will still be surrounded by us," the confidant guard tried to comfort Cao Zhen, "Everything is under the control of the general..."

Cao Zhen was silent and did not speak.

Suddenly, he felt a chill on his face.

Cao Zhen looked up to the sky.

In the sky, some small snowflakes fell.

"It's...snowing?" 』

Cao Zhen's face suddenly became very ugly.

…

…

Ma Zhong sent people to ask Li Dian for instructions many times, wanting to speed up the attack and rush to Jing County as soon as possible to launch the attack.

Li Dian flatly refused.

"General... along the way, Cao Jun's scouts appeared frequently. There may be something wrong with Xi County... Otherwise, there wouldn't be such precautions..." Chang Lin couldn't help but said, "Now that Cao Jun has discovered it, Our front-line troops might as well speed up a bit... Otherwise, when Cao Jun is ready, there will be no chance to attack. 』

Li Dian hummed and suddenly asked, "Bo Huai, where was the first time you saw my lord?" 』

Chang Lin didn't know why Li Dian suddenly became interested in chatting at this critical moment, but he didn't refuse to answer Li Dian's question. He just told the story of his chance encounter with Fei Qian that year, "Wen Shuijing in the past When Mr. Lin gave the lord his nickname, Lin Shang didn't take it seriously. However, when he saw it in person, he realized that the lord was indeed worthy of being a fish in the North Ming Dynasty. He lived in seclusion in the abyss. Now when he sees the wind and clouds, he turns into a roc and soars into the sky..."

Li Dian let out a laugh, with a look of envy on his face, "I didn't expect Bo Huai to meet his lord so early... I'm so lucky, so lucky..."

"The general is skilled in martial arts, and when he meets his lord, he is ready to open up new territories and achieve unparalleled achievements..." Chang Lin said quickly, "I only have some knowledge of literature and arithmetic, and my prospects are not the same as those of the general..." …』

Chang Lin thought Li Dian might be in some mood?

Naturally, he kept saying nice things.

"Okay, okay..." Li Dian waved his hands repeatedly, "I am just a martial artist... My martial arts skills are acceptable, my knowledge is sparse... But since the lord has given me a heavy responsibility, I should be cautious." , we must not betray our lord's trust..."

Chang Lin nodded, yes, you are right.

"Snowing……"

In the queue, a soldier suddenly shouted.

Li Dian looked up. There are tiny snowflakes floating down from the sky.

Li Dian stretched out his hand, and a snowflake fell on his hand. The thin coldness quickly melted away.

"Send the order, the whole army stops advancing!" 』

…

…

Cao Zhen saw the scouts coming in a hurry, and his heart sank.

Sure enough, the Hanzhong Army stopped advancing.

The Hanzhong Army just stopped in the snow and stopped moving forward.

"General!" what to do? 』

Cao Zhen was very depressed and couldn't understand that he set up the ambush suddenly and did not talk to anyone else. Moreover, the troops he brought were all troops directly under Cao's army. It was impossible for him to leak the secret. However, the Hanzhong Army not only moved slowly, but at the moment he actually Still stopped moving forward...

Maybe it's because it's snowing?

Is the Hanzhong Army worried about abnormal weather conditions?

Cao Zhen looked up at the sky, hoping that the snow would end as soon as possible.

Maybe this can dispel some of the concerns of the Hanzhong Army?

As long as the Hanzhong Army continues to advance and enters Xing County, everything is still under its control.

But it's a pity.

An hour later, the ground gradually became whiter.

Cao Zhen watched the scout's running figure getting closer and closer, and his heart suddenly beat violently.

He eagerly hoped that the scouts would tell him that the Hanzhong Army was advancing again.

"The lord, the enemy... has been removed..."

"What? ” Cao Zhen suddenly felt as if he had been stabbed by something, and all the strength in his body was released with a pop.

…

…

The snowflakes were not heavy, but they never stopped.

Li Dianjun returned to Mulan Village and ordered the soldiers to repair themselves and prepare warm clothing and related supplies.

Li Dian kept patrolling the camp until he saw that all the soldiers and horses were properly arranged, then he returned to the Chinese army's tent to rest. It was already late at night.

Ma Zhong stood beside the big tent.

The firelight shone on his face, with some uncertain light and shadow.

"But you feel that today's military expedition has been in vain?" ”Li Dian called Ma Zhong into the tent together, “Come on, sit down...don’t be formal...”

Ma Zhong thanked him and sat down, "I'm definitely not... It's just... I can't figure it out..."

Li Dian hummed, thought for a moment, and said, "In your opinion, how can you be sure that this is not a trick to lure troops?" 』

Ma Zhong said: "Attack Xing County!" As long as they attack Xing County, if Cao Jun has an ambush, they will definitely appear! We have war horses that can turn around quickly..."

Li Dian shook his head and said, "You know we have war horses. Would Cao Jun not know?" If Cao Jun really set up an ambush, how could he let you escape so easily? 』

"This..." Ma Zhong was stunned.

Ma Zhong did not try to make sophistry, because what Li Dian said was indeed the truth.

If he were a general of Cao's army, he would definitely consider this.

Especially in mountainous areas like Shangyong, war horses are also very restricted and cannot run around freely, so they will be very passive once they are really blocked in a certain area by Cao's army.

"General...is that because of this?" Ma Zhong asked, "Based on this alone... I still feel that I am too cautious... I may have missed an opportunity..."

Combat is inevitably accompanied by risks.

No matter how perfectly prepared a war is, there are still uncontrollable risks.

So if it was just the risk of being ambushed, Ma Zhong would still have some disapproval.

Li Dian smiled and said, "What is the reason why we gave up on Xing County?" 』

"The county is in ruins, easy to attack but difficult to defend... Ah!" The general's intention is..." Ma Zhong seemed to have thought of something.

Li Dian nodded, "That's right. I have also been thinking about this matter... Since we know that Jing County is easy to attack and difficult to defend, then when Cao Jun arrived in Jing County, even if they did not know the terrain around Jing County, they must have known it after seeing it with their own eyes... Since it is Yi County Attacking is difficult to defend, so why did Cao Jun still maintain a defensive posture in Jingxian County after multiple inspections by Cao Jun's scouts? Do they really think that cavalry cannot attack the city? Or do you think that behind the cavalry vanguard, the pawns will not follow? 』

"So..." Ma Zhong nodded, "After hearing what the general said, it is true... Cao Jun's behavior is indeed a bit strange..."

"This is it. ” Li Dian said with a smile, “What’s more, we originally abandoned Xi County in order to lengthen the supply route of Cao’s army and make it exhausted in the Shangyong Mountains...”

The Hanzhong army controlled by Li Dian was not unlimited, and he also had to weigh the cost of war. If Cao Zhen consumes too much, what about Cao Ren next? If all the troops are exhausted, even if Cao Zhen and Cao Ren are finally defeated, how will the follow-up matters be carried out in Hanzhong and Shangyong?

If there are not enough troops, if the surrounding Di people and mediocre people have any ideas, not only will they not be able to solve the worries of the Hussar General, but they will also need Fei Qian to bring troops from Guanzhong or Sichuan and Shu to support...

That would really live up to Fei Qian's expectations.

"Xin County is easy to attack but difficult to defend, so even if Cao Jun really breaks out in civil strife..." Li Dian said slowly, "We attacked without an ambush, and Cao Jun was repulsed by us... Then what? Do we reoccupy Xing County? Facing the enemy in Jing County? So wouldn't it be contrary to our previous strategy of weakening the army? Moreover, Cao Jun is only at the front. Even if he defeats the enemy in Jing County, it may not be able to stop Cao Jun from continuing to advance. So when the time comes, we will abandon Jing County again? What's the point of going back and forth like this, regardless of death or injury? 』

"Ah..." Ma Zhong couldn't answer.

"There may be a small profit, but there is a danger of a big loss, so don't take it." Li Dian said, "This is the twenty-seventh theory of martial arts..."

Playing chess does not mean killing every piece, and fighting a war does not mean taking advantage of every opportunity.

Ma Zhong left the table and bowed, "I admire the general's thoughtfulness!" 』

Li Dian stood up, pulled Ma Zhong up, and said with a smile: "It was all taught by Hussar... I couldn't figure it out at first. I thought about it slowly on the way, and then I figured it out... It happened to be snowing at that time, so Reminds me of the strategy we set to weaken the army... With the weather being like this, Cao Jun should be the one who is more anxious. Why are we anxious? 』

"yes! Ma Zhong now understood and nodded repeatedly, "What the general said is true!" Thanks for the advice, General! Before the last general, there were many verbal offenses, capital crimes, capital crimes! 』

Li Dian patted Ma Zhong on the shoulder and said, "We are all dedicated to the great cause of the Husbands. Don't worry about it... It's already late today. Let's go to bed early!" 』

Li Dian sent Ma Zhong out of the tent.

Ma Zhong bowed again, then said goodbye to Li Dian and left.

Li Dian looked up at the sky.

Snowflakes were falling.

"It's snowing all over Hanzhong... Tongguan in Chang'an... I'm afraid it's..."

Li Dian sighed with emotion, and then a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"It's really... snowy..."

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