Three Kingdoms

Inside the Baishuigou camp, Xu Shu and Ma Yan stood on the crenels of the camp with serious faces.

To the south of Baishuigou, cavalry from all over the mountains and plains swarmed in, seemingly covering the entire field of vision.

The whole cavalry thing itself occupies a large space. When it spreads out horizontally, the billowing smoke and dust obscure the soldiers behind it, making the cavalry's figure disappear in the smoke and dust, making it difficult to distinguish.

"To make such a big impression, there should be more than two thousand people..." Ma Yan frowned, looked carefully and said, "Should we send some more scouts to investigate?"

It's not that the scouts weren't released, but the cavalry on the opposite side were spread out far apart, and they were closely guarded against each other, so they couldn't get close. Moreover, south of Baishui Gou was the Guanzhong Plain, so the scouts had to rely on them if they wanted to hide themselves. Very close, it is not easy to detect the true quantity.

A good scout must not only have superb riding skills and good bows and arrows, but also be courageous and smart. Only one of more than ten cavalrymen can be selected to become a scout, so this elite light cavalry does not Don't waste it without scruples. After all, once the experienced scouts are exhausted, the battlefield will be completely suppressed by the opponent and plunge into darkness.

When the armies of both sides are far away, they naturally need to be detected by scouts. Now that they are close, the scouts have to be more careful, because the scout unit has always been full of taunts. Once discovered, they will be possessed by the opponent instantly. People gather fire...

Xu Shu thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Since we are defending here, no matter whether it is the two thousand cavalry or the twenty thousand soldiers coming from the opposite side, we must defend here. As for the number of enemy troops on the opposite side, it only determines how long we can hold on. But the location of Baishui Gou, It is destined that the opponent will not be able to surround them from all sides and attack, so now we just wait for the opponent to play their cards first, like scouts, and then send some out to investigate at night. If we send out the scouts now, the risk of loss will be too great.

As they got closer, the enemy's horse hooves roared like thunder, and the wind in Guanzhong brought up smoke and dust all over the sky, covering the entire camp in Baishuigou!

Ma Teng, who led the army, also had a headache.

Facing such a large camp, no matter who it is, there will be some headaches.

This was originally an open area with a vast plain, but Fei Qian's camp was stuck between the white water and the nameless mountain. The infantry camp was in the front and was heavily guarded, while the cavalry camp was in the back. Although it did not have as strong defense facilities as the infantry camp, it was It spans the entire open space between white water and nameless mountains.

If you want to attack the infantry camp, then the two wings may be attacked by cavalry from the rear at any time. If you directly attack the cavalry camp behind, you will also be harassed by the infantry camp.

But it’s impossible not to fight...

This time so many soldiers and horses were dispatched. If they just passed by in vain, it would inevitably make people in the opposite camp see something was wrong. And when he separated from Li Jue, Ma Teng's task was to In order to hold back all the Feiqin soldiers in the Baishui Gou Camp and prevent them from having the opportunity to retreat or rescue, it is necessary to maintain sufficient pressure on the Baishui Gou Camp.

Ma Teng frowned. According to his previous experience, for a camp like this, the only way to start is to drive ordinary people to fill it in, and then finally launch an attack when it is almost exhausted. However, this requires a lot of people. time……

Even if you go to the surrounding areas to search for people, it will take time to go back and forth.

Ma Teng waved his hand and ordered: "Come here, invite me to fight!"

Immediately, several soldiers with loud voices came forward, wandered in front of the Baishuigou camp, and shouted into the camp. For a time, Xiliang slang, Chang'an dialect, and all kinds of shouts were heard, causing the soldiers in the camp to turn their heads and look at Xu Shu and Ma Yan.

Xu Shu couldn't help but smile when he heard the soldier yelling at Xiliang to emphasize, leaving the fully repaired camp fortifications unused, and then went out to form a battle array?

"Don't be impatient!" Xu Shu said loudly, "How can we give up the camp we have worked so hard to build these days with just a few words? Haha, we need to see some flesh and blood to be worthy of our hard work!"

However, as Ma Teng came within sight, Xu Shu turned his attention to him. Looking at him, his heart suddenly moved, and he seemed to have noticed the key point on the battlefield...

*************

Chang'an City also received news of the approaching Xiliang soldiers at this time, but it was not Li Jue and Ma Teng's troops from the east, but Han Sui, Fan Chou and others from the Wuzhangyuan to the west.

Because all the war horses were allocated to Ma Teng, Han Sui, Fan Chou and others came all the way and their march was not very fast. However, the officials in the surrounding counties quickly sent the situation to Chang'an City.

Whenever such news is obtained, it is natural to deliver it to Zhong Shao as soon as possible.

After being promoted to an official position a few days ago, the people of the Shaofu asked Zhong Shao to move from Lingyi to Chang'an City. After all, he was now one of the Nine Qings and also supervised the Shangshutai. It can be said that the entire Han Dynasty All documents and personnel appointments require Zhong Shao's nod before they can be effectively issued, so living in Chang'an City is also appropriate.

The young master has been working day and night in the past few days, and finally reorganized Zhongshao's mansion when Zhongshao moved, and arranged it according to Jiuqing's specifications, but after all, it is still not very convenient now. The Xiliang thieves were still around, so some goods and utensils could only be dealt with for a while, which Zhong Shao had to bear...

In Zhongshao Mansion, the utensils are slightly insufficient due to objective factors, but the attendants must be provided with enough. It can be said that when the new leader of the dynasty is coming out, people who visit the house will naturally gather at the door. When he arrived, the open space at the door was completely blocked, and the newly appointed Zhongfu concierge was a busy man with a head full of hair, but he was not proud of it.

Zhong Shao was not completely immersed in the joy of promotion and wealth. In the process of accepting the visits of officials at all levels and local gentry, he still ordered that all counties and villages in the three auxiliary areas must strengthen their duties to ensure that every strategy was in place. On top of the city defense, levies must be Strong people, coordinated defense...

Although this order was correct, it made the gentry everywhere feel unhappy, and they started to complain among themselves, and even started to violate it. It’s not that these country gentlemen and powerful right-wingers have any grudges against the individual farmers, it’s just that now is the time when the tenants of each Wubao family are needed to trim the fields, remove weeds, and add fertilizer. What kind of defense is there to draw the population into the county? , then the farm work in the fields does not require these country gentlemen to have their whole family, men, women, old and young, to work in the fields?

So basically, it’s just a matter of fact, everyone just turn a blind eye and let it go.

At this stage, it is not just the tyrants, but also the vast majority of these country gentry and right-wingers who are still in Guanzhong. In fact, they are not aware that the disaster is coming.

The dark waves surging in these three auxiliary places that Chang'an City can manage now live in Chang'an's new mansion, surrounded by well-trained waiters, and deal with the troubles after a day of socializing with officials at all levels. It was a lot of hard work, so after dark, in the fragrant arms of the little maid, enjoying the continuous massage with fists, I slept soundly...

However, military information has always been delivered as soon as it is mentioned, day or night, so the urgent military reports delivered were delivered to Zhongshao's government office layer by layer.

In the midst of a sweet dream, Zhong Shao was suddenly awakened by the noise outside the house. After suddenly opening his eyes to calm down, he suddenly felt an unknown fire rising up.

Zhong Shao is not young anymore. After reaching his age, it is basically very difficult to fall asleep. It is even more difficult to get a good night's sleep. In addition, after changing his residence, there are still some problems. Not used to it. During the day, he had racked his brains and scheming with various gods and goddesses. After working hard all day, his brain had just relaxed and fallen into a deep sleep. However, his subordinates were so expressionless that they actually woke him up!

Zhong Shao turned his head and looked at the burning lights beside him. The candle shrouded in the gauze did not burn down much, indicating that it was at least midnight at this time. He curled up at the foot of the bed and put Zhong Shao's feet in his arms to warm them. The little maid also woke up, quickly got up, and lay beside her at a loss.

Zhong Shao took a moment to calm down and said in a deep voice, "What's the matter?"

"Brother! Urgent military report!"

At this moment, the city of Chang'an is still under night ban, and the patrols patrolling the streets are trying their best to ensure that there will be no chaos at night when there were no lights in the Han Dynasty.

However, the cavalry delivering military information running along Chang'an Long Street had already awakened many people, and some people also got up from their sleep. Although they were restricted by the night ban and were not allowed to go out, they still turned on the lights. Looking out the window at the dark night outside the courtyard, I felt worried.

At this time, the only people who could gather together were talking to each other endlessly about this matter, and the ones who were making a loud noise were the servants who had defected to Zhongshao.

In the side hall, almost everyone was talking, gathering together in twos and threes, expressing their opinions as much as possible:

"Damn it, damn it! The imperial court has been raising troops for many years, but they are so useless! Now they are disturbed by some Xiliang thieves, and they are so panicked! I don't know where the military expenditures of the imperial court have been spent every year!"

"Wugong County should have at least 2,000 soldiers, and General Xia leads the troops to help, but they can't stop it! Could it be that the Xiliang thieves have found other troops? If so, it will become a disaster!"

"General Xia is prudent and mature. He has served as a general for many generations. Now that he has integrated Chang'an's soldiers and has bows and crossbows at the ready, he should be able to pacify..."

"Can it be pacified? If it can be pacified, how come there is an emergency military situation? From Wuzhangyuan to here, the road is smooth. If Wu Gong is trapped, there will be no danger in this hundred miles!"

"The Xiliang thieves are so impatient that they will be unable to succeed even if they use up their powerful crossbows! As long as they use up the food and grass in their army, they will have no worries! What can the soldiers without food do?"

"Although it is reasonable to wait until the food is exhausted, who among the Xiliang bandits knows how much food and grass they have? If the Xiliang bandits advance with the intention of death, they will undoubtedly be fierce. If they are not careful, they will be corrupted. Game!"

"What are you talking about now? We should quickly support martial arts!"

"More reinforcements? Soldiers, equipment, food, grass, and arrows. There is no need to prepare one or two of them. When the transfer arrives, if we can't defend it, wouldn't it be an advantage for the Xiliang thieves?"

The large and small staff in the side hall, the officials and officials of all kinds, were all rushing around in a hurry, talking about anything. It was extremely noisy for a while, but there was no conclusion yet.

At this time, I heard Zhong Shao shouting in a deep voice from behind the hall: "What are you doing! The thieves are still doing martial arts!"

Everyone in the side hall quickly turned around and saw that Zhong Shao was fully dressed, with a brocade robe and a high beam crown. Although his complexion was inevitably a little off, he was still much calmer than everyone in the hall. .

Zhong Shao walked up to the top, sat down with a flick of his sleeves, looked around, and then slowly said: "If Fei Ziyuan hadn't disobeyed his orders, led his army north and took away the cavalry, how could the imperial army have insufficient scouts and make the west Liang Zeizi was approaching Wu Gong before he noticed it? This is because Fei Ziyuan failed to provide support!"

this……

Everyone in the side hall looked at each other.

Everyone actually understands that Fei Qian led the cavalry northward, and he is right. However, in the current situation, if there are some experienced cavalry as the leading scouts, it will naturally be much better, but...

In fact, despite the calm look on Zhong Shao's face, he was actually a little panicked. After all, war was not something he was good at, but now he had to bite the bullet and show a calm attitude, otherwise the people under his hands would The person must have become even more confused, so he found an excuse as soon as he came. No matter whether the excuse was reasonable or not, it at least meant that the reason for the bad situation was not his own.

What's more, two days ago, Zhong Shao learned from the palace that Han Emperor Liu Xie actually gave a Zhongxing Sword to Fei Qian!

Does this mean that Liu Xie values ​​Fei Qian more?

Therefore, Zhong Shao was also holding back his anger, and he couldn't help but use the topic as an excuse when encountering this matter. However, he also knew that it was okay to talk about it, but it might not be possible to really blame Fei Qian.

Zhong Shao knew that the situation was urgent and couldn't help but look to the west. Although Wugong County is small, it is related to the stability of Chang'an. Whether Xia Mou can withstand the attack of the Xiliang rebels and then drag the Xiliang rebels until they have no food available and their troops are distracted has become the key now. location, so now we can only give Wu Gong as much assistance as possible...

Having made up his mind, Zhong Shao once again issued an order to gather some of the forces that could be mobilized near Chang'an, and then dispatched them to Wugong. He then sent people to contact Liu Fan and asked him to strengthen inspections in Chang'an and the affiliated tombs. .

Under the current situation, everyone is competing for time, and everyone wants to solve the opponent as soon as possible. However, who can survive in the end and who can have the last laugh is still unknown...