Three Kingdoms

Snowflakes fell one after another, flying and falling between the sky and the earth with the cold wind.

Zhang Xiu looked into the distance, and soon felt a bit dazzling, and quickly covered his eyes with fine silk.

After the flying snow piled up on the ground, everything in the mountains and rivers turned into a white picture.

Beauty is naturally extremely beautiful, but besides beauty, it is also surrounded by dangers.

In this kind of weather, if the exposed fingers and toes are not kept warm properly, they will become frozen and damaged. Even if the person is rescued, there will often be fewer fingers and toes.

Not far behind Zhang Xiu is Baibo Valley.

Baibo Valley is no longer the place where the Yellow Turban bandits used to be. It has become a huge military stronghold that brings together military and people's livelihood purposes. There are two trenches on the outside, and the gate at the entrance of the valley has also been reinforced. The open space in the valley is now covered with tents. The cavalry from Yinshan Mountain is stationed in Baibo Valley.

The official road from Binh Duong winds through Bai Po Valley.

The surrounding plains were all white, except for the shrubs, woods, and hills that maintained their outlines in the whiteness.

Except for one side of Baibo Valley, which is not too high with hills and mountains, the other three sides are relatively flat fields.

When the Baibo Army was rampant, this place was a barren land, covered with grass and shrubs, but now many places have been turned into cultivated land. Small sheds built by farmers themselves are dotted here and there.

Zhang Xiu is waiting.

He is waiting for his opponent to come.

One advantage of Baibo Valley is that the mouth of the valley is small and the belly is large. This allows the valley to be sheltered from the wind and provide a relatively comfortable environment for soldiers and horses to rest and prepare for battle under the wind and snow.

"Everyone in the Cao family is crazy..."

Zhang Xiu muttered.

The news that Zhang Ji was injured also reached Hedong, and Zhang Xiu naturally knew about it.

In the battlefield, it is normal to be injured or die. This is the truth. However, after hearing that Zhang Ji, a relative, was injured, Zhang Xiu felt very unhappy after all.

Old Zhangtou was too careless.

However, I will avenge this revenge for him!

It's not that Zhang Xiu is Long Aotian, it can only be that others have a way to kill themselves, and then he proves it by killing himself, but because there are not many old guys in Xiliang over the years.

The foundation of Xiliang is poor, and the accumulation of talents consumes itself. As a result, the people of Xiliang now have only three or two big cats and kittens left under the Hussar, and Zhang Xiu is not the big one, he can only be regarded as a small one. s cat.

Who is the big cat?

Of course it's Jia Xu.

Jia Xu is the only person from Xiliang who has truly joined the Qiusi in the high-level decision-making circle.

Zhang Xiu glanced to the west, and his impression of his hometown was a little blurry.

When Zhang Xiu met Fei Qian, he admired him quite a lot. At that time, Fei Qian said that he would put aside the internal disputes and lead him to kill the barbarians, open up the frontier and recover the Yinshan Mountains. At first, Zhang Xiu thought that Fei Qian was just talking, using it as a nice name, and then killed a few lone barbarians to make up for it. But he didn't expect that Fei Qian was serious...

There was a smile on Zhang Xiu's face.

In the blink of an eye, the years passed. Zhang Xiu, who was just a small leader in the army, has now become a general in charge of an army...

The rumble of horse hoofs pulled Zhang Xiu back from his memories.

In the distance, a group of cavalry, dragging skateboards and baggage sleds, were experimenting with traveling quickly in the snow.

Since it started snowing two days ago, Zhang Xiu has been constantly experimenting with some sleds and snowmobiles commonly used in the snow...

Zhang Xiu looked up at the sky. It seemed that the snow showed no sign of stopping. It was falling intermittently. He didn't know where there was so much snow in the sky.

Cao Jun's sudden advance into Hedong was indeed a good idea from some aspects. Snowy weather will make many long-range and semi-long-range weapons of the Hussars unusable, and at the same time, they will basically lose their most sharp gunpowder weapons.

Zhang Xiu has tested that even if there is an oil paper seal, if the grenade is lit and thrown after it is broken, there will still be a 50% or more chance that the grenade will misfire and will not explode at all. At the same time, even if the grenade falls in the snow, it will explode. , its power will also be reduced a lot. Therefore, we cannot rely on gunpowder in this battle.

However, those guys in Shandong seem to have forgotten one thing...

When General Hussar was not a Hussar, he did not rely on gunpowder to win such a territory!

The war has continued to this point, and both sides have almost exhausted their cards.

All that's left is to see who can still hold a few cards in his hand, and who can still use the tricks in the end...

…

…

Fei Qian has returned to Pingyang.

Today's Pingyang City has become a military base camp.

The military camp not only occupies the school grounds outside Pingyang City, but also occupies a large area of ​​​​Yantoupu Mountain to the west of Pingyang.

Because this area is close to the mountains and lacks water resources, it has always been used as a warehouse for industrial or commercial transfers. Now it is used as a gathering place for the army, and a large number of sheds have been built to station soldiers and horses.

The nomadic people’s yurts, or now they should be called Xiongnu yurts or Xianbei yurts, are very suitable for shelter from the cold in this kind of weather. A thick felt blanket is used to protect it from the wind and cold. It is covered with a layer of fur, then a layer of oil paper, and then the outermost layer is covered with thatch. Basically, there is no need to worry about the problem of snow and water.

Round objects, discovered by nomads in their natural lives, are the most suitable form for resisting the cold wind.

This round felt bag has better endurance and resistance to cold wind than any other shape. The rug walls form a circle and the top of the bag is also semi-circular. When the wind and snow come, there will be no snow on the roof of the bag. Even if it is washed away by heavy rain in summer, there will be no accumulation of water on the roof of the bag. Even in a blizzard, it is difficult to blow over a round felt bag, because when the wind blows through the felt bag, it will form a low-pressure area around the felt bag, which will push the felt bag down instead of lifting it up, so it is better than Chinese houses with eaves are more resistant to wind.

Feiqian did not refuse the warmth of fur, nor did he refuse the use of felt bags. Therefore, in the military camps near Pingyang, there are basically this kind of felt tents, and there are relatively few triangular or quadrilateral tents similar to those in Shandong.

Fei Qian left the main force of the cavalry in Guanzhong, on the one hand to reduce the difficulty of transporting grain and grass by land, and on the other hand to prevent any emergencies in Guanzhong.

If Fei Qian moves the main force to Hedong, in addition to bringing huge pressure on grain and grass supplies to Hedong, the felt bags near Pingyang also require a large amount of materials to build, as well as the daily consumption of grain, grass and charcoal fires. It needs to be considered comprehensively.

War always requires overall planning. No matter what time it is, it is not a good strategy to only be Allin.

Cao Jun thought that Fei Qian would attack halfway across the river, but in fact Fei Qian never thought of relying on the river as a defensive barrier.

Because the river is like the Nile River in Egypt, regular flooding causes the river banks to be unstable, and the accumulation of sediment also puts war horses weighing more than half a ton at risk of getting stuck. Even if the cold freezes the ground hard, we still need to consider the huge ditches on the south side of Zhongtiao Mountain.

The river is frozen at Longmendu, but it is in a state of floating ice at Fenglingdu and a distance downstream, and the sharp ice fragments will easily cut open the legs of the war horses, causing unnecessary damage to the horses, so Fei Fei Just make a deep dive strategy.

Cao Cao looked like he had depth, but he actually didn't.

Feiqian here seems to be after Yuncheng Basin and then Linfen Pingyang, but in fact Feiqian is still deeper.

This situation is extremely interesting.

Fei Qian was currently in Pingyang Hou Mansion, leaning on the railing and looking out.

After coming to this era, the thing he was least used to was winter. Although he has the privilege of using charcoal fires for heating at home and in his office, it is still very cold when he goes out to do errands, and heating equipment is not always available outside, so he often shivers from the cold. Even though Feiqian mined coal and built briquette stoves, living conditions had improved to a certain extent, and they also planted cotton and had woolen factories, the price of cold-weather clothing was still very high, and people still froze to death in winter.

So, looking at it the other way around, could Cao Jun have enough clothing to keep out the cold?

Fei Qian expressed doubts.

Therefore, Cao Cao is taking risks.

Perhaps, Mr. Lao Cao still has a gambling habit.

This is wrong!

Fei Qian sighed slightly.

We finally got to this point.

The Cao Wei Group was the most powerful force in the Central Plains of Han Dynasty. If Fei Qian had not arrived, they would have swept across the entire north, and then gradually recovered Sichuan, Shu and Jiangdong twenty years later and reunified them.

But in the process, China was beaten weak...

Fei Qian couldn't help but look back at Xu Chu who was following him.

Xu Chu moved his eyebrows slightly.

"Does Zhong Kang want to lead the army into battle?" Fei Qian asked.

Xu Chu replied without hesitation: "I am following my lord's orders." If the Lord orders someone to go into battle, he will go into battle. 』

Fei Qian laughed, stretched out his hand and tapped Xu Chu.

In the Three Kingdoms games of later generations, Xu Chu was always portrayed as being obese, but Fei Qian knew that if anyone said that Xu Chu was obese, I am afraid that he himself was the obese one.

Xu Chu doesn’t want to go into battle?

A joke, how could you not want to? Under Fei Qian's rule, military achievements ranked first, which is no joke.

After a trip to the Western Regions, not only Xu Chu, but also Sima Yi was so excited that he put down his pen to grab military glory.

If it was said that for the great men in the past, reputation could save their lives at certain times, then for the subordinates of the Third Auxiliary Cavalry of Guanzhong, what can really save their lives is undoubtedly military merit!

As long as we can open up borders, even the bastard things Lu Bu did can be saved...

Therefore, fools don’t want to go into battle to earn military merit.

But Xu Chu was Fei Qian's bodyguard from the beginning, not a general who commanded troops outside. This forced Xu Chu to spend more time around Fei Qian, instead of attacking at will.

Fei Qian asked Xu Chu if he wanted to go into battle. If he said he wanted to, he would be greedy for merit, and if he said he didn't want to, it would be hypocritical.

Xu Chu is so smart and quick in reaction, how could he look like an obese person?

Fei Qian smiled and said: "Haha, don't worry, Zhong Kang will inevitably have to face Cao Mengde by then." 』

Xu Chu was stunned for a moment, and then he realized something.

To Xu Chu, many of Fei Qian's actions seemed meaningless, but in fact they had far-reaching consequences.

Even if we don’t talk about military achievements, let’s look at Fei Qian and his guards who went out to detect Cao Jun. Everyone was against it and felt it was risky, but Fei Qian went with his men and there was no direct fight with Cao Jun. , it doesn’t seem to mean much, but what happened next made Xu Chu understand that some things must not be taken at face value...

Cao Jun crossed the river in large numbers, and the east of the river was naturally shaken.

Pingyang has also been affected to some extent, especially since the Huguan party was attacked before, the people in Pingyang were more or less worried. Now that they heard that Cao's army was marching and crossing the river to attack, they couldn't help but feel panicked. But after Fei Qian led the guards around, the panic among the people in Pingyang disappeared for some reason.

So did Fei Qian really know the emotional changes of these people before doing this, or...

Xu Chu lowered his head, not daring to show too much expression.

As Fei Qian becomes more and more powerful and has become the only powerful figure among the Han Dynasty, Xu Chu naturally cannot laugh in front of Fei Qian like he did before, but must show his respect for Fei Qian at all times. respect.

Because this is not only respect for Feiqian as a person, but also respect for the entire Feiqian political group.

After all, Xu Chu is also a member of this political group.

Cao Cao leads a large-scale attack. On the surface, it looks like Fei Qian's crisis, but in reality?

Will it be like the worries and panic of the people in Pingyang, and they just need to go around for a while?

Xu Chu's guess was not wrong. Fei Qian's turn was indeed not just to stabilize the mood of the people in Pingyang, but also had a more important meaning.

Ordinary people need a strong leader.

The gentry, the emerging meritorious class, and other small political groups also need a leader who has the courage to face difficulties and dangers.

Therefore, the political significance of Fei's sneaking around is greater than the military significance.

The Feiqian political group has developed to this point, and the people in the system have been tightly bound together, sharing common interests and mutual conflicts. With the expansion of the scope of interests and strength, the desire for expansion under Feiqian's rule has become stronger. , especially in terms of population, land and commercial expansion, there were naturally more and more conflicts with the original Han Dynasty.

The conflict between new systems and old ideas.

The conflict between the new military elite and the hereditary gentry.

Poor students and traditional celebrities despise each other and are at odds with each other.

The old bureaucratic talent system and the new talent selection mechanism are irreconcilable.

There are also issues between the traditional agricultural small-scale peasant economic system and the social division of labor system that promotes production development.

These various problems in Feiqian's territory are also the huge gap between Guanzhong Sanfu and Shandong.

Especially in terms of business development, because the benefits of business far exceeded the profits of agricultural planting, many noble families in the Sanfu of Guanzhong who adapted to the new policy began to take the path of commercial expansion, such as the Sima family. The Sima family contracted a gold mine, and now it has entered a period of mining profits, which makes the Sima family unswervingly stand on Fei Qian's side, and is not afraid of sacrifice...

Some people in Shandong, including Cao Cao, have been aware of the problem of commercial erosion, and they have also begun to use the power of the government to restrict commercial goods in Guanzhong. Fei Qian's influence in Shandong is not great, so They were also forced to give up profits to these Shandong gentry and gentry, but the division of interests would make conflicts inevitable in the end.

Therefore, a battle with Cao Cao is also inevitable. Even if Fei Qian has no further ambitions, he will be pushed to that position by this tank in the end. Therefore, Fei Qian will not specifically restrict such thoughts on weekdays, and he will not publicize them, mainly to avoid causing overly radical thoughts. actions that affect your overall strategy.

So Fei Qian felt that Cao Cao's current march in the wind and snow, in addition to military intentions, also had some political plans...

Fei Qian was thinking about it when suddenly some soldiers came and reported under the lookout, "Informing the Hussars, Cao's army has a vanguard of 5,000 men. They have left the mountain road and are marching towards Zhang Yangchi!" 』

Fei Qian nodded, "As expected." Hmm... let me think about it... someone gave the head of Cao's son to Sima Zhongda... I think he should know how to use it. 』

…

…

Zhangyangchi is a medium-sized swamp.

It is said that Hui Gong developed earth-shaking new weapons here, which laid a solid foundation for Yanhuang to fight Chi You's axe, so this place became the ancient fiefdom of the Zhang family.

Zhang Yang may have changed because of his publicity, or he may have come from the Yang of Zhangcheng.

Now there is no more publicity, only Chize is miserable.

Near Zhang Yangchi, Sima Yi calmly stood up in the formation.

This time around Sima Yi, they were no longer Hedong County soldiers, but real hussars.

These hussars and horses did not line up in an array in the cold wind. Instead, they gathered around the bonfire in sheltered places and warmed themselves up with the curtains drawn. It looked like there was no organization or discipline at all, but Sima Yi knew that if he gave the order, the Steel Division would be formed in an instant.

Others built military camps near Zhang Yangchi.

After Zhangyangchi, there is Puban County, and not far to the west of Puban County is Pubanjin.

Although ice has appeared on the river at Pubanjin at this moment, it is not thick enough. If we want the army to pass, severe cold weather like this will continue for at least a few days, but we can't wait too long, because it is already the first month.

Although the current weather is abnormal, it has already entered spring. No one knows when the wind and snow will dissipate, then spring will return to the earth, and soon the glaciers will melt. By then, neither Pubanjin nor even Longmen Ferry will be able to freeze. It's time to get on the horse, but you have to wait until the ice has completely subsided and melted before you can sail.

Cao Cao may not be unaware of these things.

But what did Cao Cao really think? Was he really as fierce and eager as he appeared?

This is a very interesting question.

Normally, if you want to march into Guanzhong, you can only capture Pubanjin or capture Longmen Ferry.

But will Cao Jun be so honest?

If you want to fight Zhang Yangchi, you only come to Zhang Yangchi. If you want to enter Guanzhong, then you have to grab Pubanjin?

But there will be many moves.

Just like Go, everyone knows that it is just two colors: black and white, fighting for the edges and corners to occupy the center, but when it comes to the real game, it is ever-changing...

Sima Yi wrapped his cloak tighter, and then his eyes suddenly fell on Zhang Yangchi in the distance.

"Zhang Yangchi..."

Sima Yi murmured, and soon he seemed to think of something from this place name, and the face in the shadow under the hood showed a little smile.