Three Kingdoms

The heavy rain has gradually turned into light rain, pattering and continuous, just like the sky can't stop immediately after crying, but still keeps sobbing for a while.

The rainwater soaked the road, and then the people and horses kept trampling on it, turning the road into a messy mud puddle, with every step stained with the soles of the feet.

Zhang Liao led his remnant troops all the way north. When he left Chang'an, he didn't even have war horses. He found a few in Jianzhang Palace and got war horses to ride on. But now he can't even ride war horses, so he can only dismount and follow the others. Heading north, one step at a time.

It wasn't that Zhang Liao meant to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, but because the mud was very slippery and there were no riders on the horses, sometimes the horses' hooves would slip. If Zhang Liao sat on them again, it would be difficult to even walk.

Zhang Liao and others have all taken off their shoes and are walking barefoot in the yellow mud. Although there may be a risk of the soles of the feet being cut by sharp stones, at least the yellow mud will not stick to the skin too much. Otherwise, if you wear shoes and step on them, the yellow mud will stick to the shoes. Then when you pull it up, there will be yellow mud on the shoe instead of one foot. Even if the shoes are not damaged, more and more mud will stick to the shoes. The yellow mud will make the whole shoe look like two huge weights...

"Captain Zhang..." A music director took a few steps forward, squelching in the mud, wiping the rain on his face, and said to Zhang Liao, "...how far do we still need to go?"

Zhang Liao raised his head and looked north, pointed in front and said: "You can see it after you climb over the mountain in front..."

The commander of Qu nodded without doubting that he was there, then slowed down a few steps and said to the soldiers following him: "Colonel Zhang said, if we go further over the hill, we can see the end of the field! Add more Come on! Don’t fall behind!”

Listening to the tune behind him encouraging the ordinary soldiers, Zhang Liao smiled slightly and did not turn around to say anything. Instead, he continued to work hard to hold the horse and move forward.

Does Zhang Liao really know how long it will take to get there?

Don't know.

But Zhang Liao knew that he could not say this.

As a general, no matter whether there are many soldiers or few soldiers, he needs to give his men a clear goal. Even if there is no such goal for the time being, he still needs to show that he is confident. You must not say that you don't know or don't know. Words such as "Clear and Wait" will have no effect at all except disturbing the morale of the soldiers.

The rain gradually became lighter and then stopped.

Shangjun had been abandoned for a long time when Zhang Liao surrendered to the army.

Although Zhang Liao had traveled around the north and practiced martial arts before, he was not very familiar with this area of ​​​​Shangjun. However, he knew that this area was where the Qiang people gathered, but now, in addition to encountering waves of refugees along the way, Outside, I didn’t seem to see any Qiang people...

Where have these Qiang people gone?

When Zhang Liao was traveling in the north, he came into contact with many ethnic groups on the border. It must be said that the Qiang people are a very strange ethnic group.

"The Book of Songs? Shang Song" records: "In the past, there was a soup, and Di Qiang came from there. No one dares not to come and enjoy it, no one dares not to come to the king..."

Unlike the Xiongnu and Xianbei, the Qiang people were relatively close to China from the beginning. In ancient times, the Qiang people were even part of the Zhou Dynasty, and "Jiang" was actually a branch of the Qiang people.

By the time of the former Qin Dynasty, the Qiang people who focused on herding were increasingly out of touch with the Qin Dynasty's farming social structure. However, at that time the Qiang people even helped the former Qin Dynasty and fought together. It was not until Qin Xiangong that they gradually differentiated into the internal and the two major categories of out-migration...

And compared to the Xiongnu and Xianbei, the Qiang people are a bit like a settled nation among nomadic peoples. After arriving in a place, if there are not too many changes, the Qiang people can even settle down for several years or even decades.

Therefore, Zhang Liao couldn't help but wonder why the scattered Qiang people in this area seemed to have disappeared. He was originally worried that he would encounter Qiang tribes on the road. If there was a slight friction between the soldiers, there might be another Added a lot of trouble...

But where did these Qiang people go?

Just as Zhang Liao was gradually moving forward with doubts, he had just turned around a forest and suddenly saw more than a dozen Qiang tents appearing on the slope in front!

Several Qiang people were busy in front of the tent. When Zhang Liao saw the Qiang people, some Qiang people also discovered Zhang Liao's small army. Suddenly the horns sounded, and dozens of Qiang people rushed out of the tent. The famous Qiang people took out their war horses from the tents, got on them, and galloped towards here!

Damn it!

Because of heavy rain and difficult roads, Zhang Liao initially sent a few men to serve as scouts. However, since they were not soldiers who had been under Zhang Liao's command for a long time, the soldiers he sent out could only be seen going out, but almost no one looked back. After a few times, Zhang Liao also I stopped sending so-called "scouts", but I didn't expect to encounter such a situation!

The soldiers following Zhang Liao were also dumbfounded. They heard Zhang Liao say that they could see their destination by climbing over the mountain in front, but they didn't expect to see a group of Qiang people!

"Don't mess up! Don't run! Can you outrun four legs if you keep running!" Zhang Liao immediately turned his head and ordered loudly, "Line up and prepare to fight! I'm with you! Form up! Hurry!"

Although he said this, Zhang Liao's heart felt a little cold. Even if they had bows and arrows along the way, their bowstrings were soaked in the rain. They couldn't be used unless they were dried in the sun. Moreover, most of the soldiers did not carry shields. On the contrary, , the Qiang people are hiding in tents, and their bowstrings and arrows are at least dry. In this way, if they really get into a fight, their side will definitely suffer a big loss!

Zhang Liao's soldiers managed to gather together, but their morale was completely lost.

Think about it, brave the rain, trekking one foot deep and one foot shallow, almost exhausted both physical strength and energy, but at this moment, I met the Qiang people who were waiting for work!

At this moment, Zhang Liao suddenly saw that the leading Qiang man looked familiar, and his heart moved, and he couldn't help but shout loudly: "God Bai Shi! The ones in front are the Mazar brothers!?"

The leading Qiang man frowned, stretched out his hand to indicate, slowed down his sprinting horse, and then shouted to Zhang Liao, who was covered in yellow mud: "Who are you?"

"Brother Maza! I am Zhang Liao and Zhang Wenyuan!" Zhang Liao shouted, "Have you forgotten? Five years ago, it was raining heavily that day too! I also fought against your Chimusa and drank wine with you. !”

When Zhang Liao was traveling in the North, he also met the Baishi Qiang tribe on a rainy day, and then competed with the Baishi Qiang tribe and the brave Chimusa in the tribe.

"Zhang Liao... um..." Mazha reined in the horse, carefully identified and recalled it, seemed to have a little impression, and then asked: "Looking at you like this, I can't even recognize you... Then where are you coming?" For what?"

"..." Zhang Liao thought for a while and found that he had never heard of any fighting conflict between Fei Qian and the Qiang people. When he was in Anyi at that time, he also saw Fei Qian recruiting some Qiang cavalry, so he thought After thinking about it, Zhang Liao felt that it was better to tell the truth. "...We are going to join the Huxiong Zhonglang..."

"You...want to defect to the Hungarian Zhonglang?" Maza looked at Zhang Liao and suddenly laughed loudly and said, "Hahaha, did you tell me earlier! Come on, come with us. There is a stone ground at the bottom of the slope. It's still clean, you can rest first... I'll send a few people to the front to inform you..."

Zhang Liao was obviously relieved, but he still asked: "Mazha, are you also under the command of Zhong Lang? I don't know what position you hold?"

"Hahaha... I don't have any position, and I'm not Zhong Lang's subordinate, but our leader and Zhong Lang have a good relationship... Don't worry, if you really want to take action, you will be idle like this, so there is no need to bother with this. Huh? Come on...come on, everyone..."