The Collection of The End

——A.D. 180——

South of the road from Fufeng to Chencang, a team of about 20,000 people was heading west through the mountains. Because the sun had set on the top of the mountains, cold winds often blew.

"Miaocai, there seems to be a valley ahead. Could it be that we have reached the 'Chencang Road'?"

"Hmm... Lord, I can't see it. It's far away from the Wei River, and we can't see Chencang County."

Cao Cao raised his whip and pointed to the southwest, the entrance to the valley formed by the sudden interruption of the continuous mountains, and asked Xia Houyuan. However, Xia Houyuan set up a pergola and looked at it again and again, but he couldn't get the point.

"If my prediction is correct, that place should be the 'Xiegu Road' parallel to the 'Chencang Road', which also leads to Bashu," Xun Chen's voice came from the carriage on the side: "Because it is closer to Fufeng, this trip But you don’t have to control it.”

"Thank you very much, You Ruo." Cao Cao handed over his hand, and then raised his voice and ordered: "Notify the whole army to camp at the entrance of this skewed valley today!"

The messenger Qingqi who was near the Chinese army took the order and galloped forward and in the direction of the friendly forces under the banner of "Gongsun".

The Wei River flows from west to east, passes through Chencang and Fufeng, joins many tributaries, passes through Chang'an, and finally merges with the Jing River into the Yellow River. Therefore, the road from Fufeng to Chencang at this time can be said to be going upstream along the Wei River.

To the north of the Wei River, there is a fairly wide plain with many villages and towns, where the Liangzhou rebels are raging. However, within a few miles of the south of the Wei River, there are high mountains and ridges that isolate Liangzhou and Yizhou. Because there is no value or necessity for passage, There is not even a bridge on this section of the Wei River.

Therefore, what Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan's troops had to do was to pass through this narrow area south of the Wei River that was inaccessible and would not require much defense. They used surprise troops to attack Chencang and cut off the rebels' escape route. As for facing the surging counterattack, The question of whether the nearly 100,000 rebels can hold it... has not been considered yet.

It is inaccessible, and it also means "this road is impassable". The people responsible for opening the road in the mountains and forests are the heavy troops of Cao Cao's assault cavalry and the infantry led by Gongsun Zan. Because of this, they cannot continue the march after nightfall and have to repair and wait. It's dawn, so Zhang Wen's so-called "journey under the stars and at night" is simply impossible to realize.

The north of the mountain and the south of the water are both called Yin. When marching by the Yin River, no matter how strict the general is, he cannot prohibit his soldiers from drinking. Otherwise, the trembling soldiers will have no fighting power at all. At the same time, this It also gave Cao Cao an excuse to entertain Guan Yu - of course, Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei were the nominal guests.

————

"This Liu Bei gives me a very strange impression." After setting up camp, Cao Cao arranged a simple banquet in the tent, and after inviting Gongsun Zan again, the "substitute" beside him said to him: "Although I want to win over him, but I want to kill him again.”

"Both enemies and friends," Cao Cao used a more elegant expression: "Xuande has great talents, but his ambitions are not small, so you feel this way."

"Gongsun Zan's talents are limited. It's hard to see how he can manage these 10,000 troops. In the future, he can only be a governor of a state." The "substitute" continued.

"The guarding dog." Cao Cao summed it up again.

"Hey, he brings a dog, and you bring a monkey, it's simply not the right match." The "substitute" laughed.

"It was just a slow reaction at first..." Cao Cao sighed.

"Who said I reacted slowly!" Yuan Shao opened the tent door and walked in: "I'm the first one here this time!"

Halfway through the march, I realized that after setting up camp every day, the generals from both sides would have a private banquet and drinks to discuss military matters.

"The last ones are Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang!" The substitute shouted loudly, taking advantage of Yuan Shao's hearing: "I like him! I must recruit him!"

If only it were that easy.

Since Yuan Shao was present, Cao Cao was unable to speak to his substitute, so he asked Yuan Shao: "Ben Chu, what do you think of Guan Yu?"

"Well..." Yuan Shao walked straight to his usual place and sat down.

After thinking for a while, he said: "He is a very proud person. He is only willing to talk to people with similar ideas, such as Yuan Rang, and will not even look at people whose beliefs do not match his, such as me."

If you don't add the last sentence, it would be correct... Cao Cao shook his head secretly.

"Hmm, that is to say, if you don't know what he believes in something, it's best not to reveal your thoughts casually, otherwise a bad person will treat you as an enemy?" the "substitute" concluded.

"Xiahou Yuanrang, here in response to the call." Xiahou Dun opened the door curtain and walked into the tent. After looking around, he bowed his hands and saluted Cao Cao: "I have met my lord."

"My lord, if Youruo said he was going to plan how to attack Chencang, he wouldn't come this time." Xia Houyuan followed in.

"Oh, it is indeed reliable... Please sit down, both of you." Cao Cao nodded.

"Are you starting to plan now?" Yuan Shao's eyes widened: "I heard that those counselors 'sit behind closed doors and make plans from the sky.' Can he do it?"

"Ha! Yuan Shao actually despises his IQ. Xun Chen will probably cry after hearing this." The "substitute" laughed.

"Even a top strategist can't plan a proper strategy if he only has the name 'Chencang' in his hand." Liu Bei, wearing a light black armor, walked into the tent and held up the curtain for Gongsun Zan behind him: "Brother Bogui, too Is that what you think?"

"Haha, no matter what strategy the great genius of the Xun family comes up with, we will fully cooperate with it." Gongsun Zan laughed and walked into the tent, cupped his hands and said, "I have met Mr. Yuan and Mr. Cao."

"Hmph..." the "substitute" said when Cao Cao returned the gift: "Obviously he grabbed the right to be the first to enter, but he rolled up the curtain for Gongsun Zan behind him to show humility. It's just - ah! It's Yunchang!!"

"..." Listening to the noise coming from his ears, Cao Cao's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly felt envious of other people who couldn't hear the voice of the "substitute".

"Yun Chang, you seem to have a bad look. Please don't drink alcohol today." Cao Cao looked at Guan Yu who followed Gongsun Zan into the tent and found that his originally fair complexion was now obviously a little red, as if he had set up camp for a banquet last time. The drunkenness of the time has not dissipated yet.

"It's nothing," Guan Yu said, "Since repeating it will only make you more suspicious, I will only say it once."

That seems to be something Liu Bei proposed? Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly.

Since they themselves belong to the same army, Liu Bei and Guan Yu naturally spend more time together. The distance is the biggest obstacle to recruiting "substitutes".

"Oh? It's okay. Then you have to have another drink with me today!" As all the guests had arrived and were seated, Dian Wei also walked in and laughed at Guan Yu.

"Of course." Guan Yu returned the smile.

At the same time, several auxiliary soldiers also began to shuttle around, pouring wine and serving dishes.

Maybe you have enough personal charm. During the dinner, Cao Cao thought when toasting Liu Bei: But there are many charming people here.

————

The next day, the coalition forces from both sides set up camp and continued to march towards Chencang.

It is said that Xun Chen heard Yuan Shao's statement and changed his policy of "gradually reducing drinking as he approaches Chencang" to "forbid drinking from today", which made Yuan Shao angrily exclaim "Counsels really have clairvoyance and ears."

However, one should not drink alcohol during the march. This expedient was just to ward off the cold. After getting more scattered food that could warm up and be taken at any time, the soldiers and low-level generals were quite satisfied with it.

Two armies of ten thousand people - although Gongsun Zan's and Cao Cao's troops can be stationed together, they have to be separated when marching to avoid order confusion - just after leaving the Xie Valley, they saw two teams of thousands of people, one behind the other, coming from the west. Coming, Cao Cao almost thought that this secret march was discovered by the rebels and attacked.

"My lord," Xia Houyuan, who was directly acting as a scout, said from afar: "I think there seems to be a group of Qiang cavalry chasing the Han people - well, it can't be called a chase, they just cut them down and drag them away. .”

"This..." Cao Cao just thought for a moment before making a decision: "Order Yuan Rang to lead the cavalry to attack! At all costs, we must keep that Qiang cavalry! No matter why they are chasing these Han people, but we This operation must not be discovered."

After the order was conveyed quickly, the assault cavalry directly bypassed the fleeing Han people and killed the Qiang cavalry from the side who hesitated because of the unexpected "reinforcements".

At the same time, Gongsun Zan's flag also moved, and he personally led his Sanhe knights to outflank the Qiang cavalry from the other side.

As if there was a tacit understanding, both teams left infantry behind to guide the fleeing Han people to the rear of the formation, and at the same time set up a formation to resist the cavalry who came straight forward without slowing down.

At this time, Liu Bei's arrangements for the battle also reached Cao Cao: "In order to protect the innocent people who fled and ensure that they will not be retaliated against later, we must completely eliminate this cavalry, at all costs!"

"This is really——" Cao Cao shook his head repeatedly and showed the information recorded these words to Xia Houyuan and Dian Wei, and finally passed it to Xun Chen in the car.

"Wow... If my lord you had spoken to me like this, I would never have followed you." Dian Wei said, stroking his bald head.

"Your literary talent needs to be improved." The "substitute" laughed.

"The ambition is not small." Xun Chen did not make any further comments.

"Oh oh oh! Brother Dun, kill more!" On the contrary, Xia Houyuan didn't care what Liu Bei said.

What is needed for a cavalry assault is a steady stream of impact and the momentum of thousands of galloping horses. As the Qiang light cavalry was pierced horizontally by the troops led by Xiahou Dun and Gongsun Zan, the subsequent offensive was interrupted. The Qiang front army cavalry that was still chasing the Han people came in. After knocking over the infantry array, they completely lost their mobility, and were easily killed by many infantry led by Guan Yu, Dian Wei, and Yuan Shao (?), and not a single one of their rear array, which was surrounded by cavalry, escaped.

Although no matter what the cost, this loss... When sorting out the battlefield, Cao Cao discovered that of his 20,000 troops, only nearly 14,000 were still intact.

After all, it was a hastily prepared encounter. The Three Rivers knights failed to form a formation, and most of the assault cavalry were not wearing armor. The result was already considered good, but even if all the talisman water and golden sore medicine were used, they would only be able to recover two more at most. Thousands of combat power - the long-distance raid did not bring many medical supplies, and was originally planned to be replenished near Chencang.

Should they be allowed to temporarily recuperate in Xiegu? While Cao Cao was thinking about it, he saw that some of the people who had been spared and fled towards the Xie Valley turned back and began to draw talismans on their own to boil water and treat the wounded soldiers. He was slightly surprised, so he ordered Dian Wei to call the leader. .

"Thank you, General Cao, for saving me. My name is Zhang Jue. He is distantly related to the great master. He was appointed as the master of the altar near Fufeng on Taiping Road. Because the Qiang people wanted to force and seize Fu Shui, they had to flee with all their fellow Taoists. , I don’t want to be chased.” The leader was a young man about twenty-five or six years old with a simple appearance, wearing a light yellow Taoist robe with no obvious signs, and holding several talismans in his hand.

Because of Zuo Ci, Cao Cao didn't have a good impression of the Taoist, so he directly said: "You go and come back, but you have something to ask for from me?"

"I would venture to guess that the general led his troops to capture Chencang. It would be inconvenient if he lost too many troops, so he led his comrades back to assist the general one or two." Zhang Jue said: "As long as the general captures that place, the rebels around Fufeng will surely be defeated." Qiang is like a turtle in an urn, so many of my Taoist friends can also take revenge."

"Since you have guessed the movement of our army, you can't leave now even if you want to," Cao Cao said: "You need to follow the army with many Taiping Taoist disciples, and you can only leave after Chencang is captured."

"That's what it should be, but I didn't come here specifically to see the general just for this reason," Zhang Jue said: "General, please give me a cup of tea."

Cao Cao nodded slightly to Dian Wei. Dian Wei scratched his bald head and grabbed a teapot from Xun Chen's car. At the same time, Xun Chen came out laughing and scolding "Shu Zi".

Zhang Jue pretended not to see it and poured water from the pot onto the talisman in his hand. Then he shook it slightly and the talisman flew away. What remained on his fingertips was a small, crystal clear talisman made entirely of water. He looked at it. The expressions of Cao Cao and Dian Wei said with a smile:

"I think that this effect is like a talisman, but the [Life and Death Talisman] that can be used remotely can be of help to the general."