Feng Duhu led the Wuqian Army to Gaoping Pass on the third day after Zhang Bao defeated Sima Division.
"Meet the Central Protector!"
"No need to be polite, please get up."
Feng Duhu didn't dare to accept Zhang Bao's gift in a big way, so he quickly helped Zhang Bao up himself.
"General Zhang, you fought very well this time. You paralyzed the enemy's will and attacked him unprepared. Two thousand cavalry troops defeated tens of thousands of thieves. It's amazing!"
As he spoke, he raised his thumbs up.
Zhang Bao's mouth almost reached behind his ears.
But when I think about the guy in front of me, he is my immediate boss and my brother-in-law.
He quickly suppressed his smile and looked serious:
"How dare the last general take the credit alone? To paralyze the enemy's will and attack him unprepared is the strategy that Jiang Taishou and the last general discussed together, and coupled with the sacrifice of the generals and soldiers, we can achieve this great victory."
"Ahem, the commander-in-chief of the Central Military Commission is also very good at planning and making decisions hundreds of miles away. The general is even more impressed."
Even his own brother-in-law, even in the early years before he became a brother-in-law, was a little uncomfortable with him, but now Zhang Bao was truly convinced.
When Feng Duhu heard this, he smiled heartily again:
"General Zhang was able to remain neither arrogant nor impetuous despite his great victory. It's rare, rare!"
Ah!
General Zhang's mouth twitched.
If it were back then, if this Feng Langjun in front of me dared to talk to me so casually, would I not compete with him in martial arts?
I just think of that time and look at it now.
Brother-in-law Zhang felt inexplicably relieved.
Alas, my brother-in-law is no longer the Feng Langjun he used to be, but has grown up to be the commander-in-chief of the Han Dynasty's internal and external military affairs.
"In this great victory, all officers and soldiers who have made meritorious deeds will be recorded and will be rewarded after the war."
"Thank you, the Protector-General!"
Unlike Zhang Bao's complicated mood, all the generals who came to greet him were overjoyed and thanked him.
"Why are you thanking me? You have made great contributions to the Han Dynasty, so I should thank you on behalf of the imperial court."
After rewarding the soldiers, Feng Duhu had no intention of staying at Gaoping Pass any longer.
Instead, after taking a short rest, they will continue to lead the Wuqian Army southward to Gaodu City.
Zhang Bao, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel worried when he saw how tired the soldiers in the front army were.
But in front of everyone, he couldn't say anything.
I later found an opportunity to find Feng Duhu privately and persuaded him:
"The Central Protector, without any soldiers from the front army, came all the way from Zhiguan Road. They traveled nearly 400 miles in five days. It can be said that they traveled twice the distance."
"The Wei thieves were defeated. I watched them retreat from Gaodu City. Although they seemed a little panicked, they were still within control."
"Zhongdu is going to escort the tired troops to Gaodu, so we should be careful. In the end, I think it's better to let the soldiers rest for one more day?"
After hearing this, Feng Duhu saw a trace of worry on Zhang Bao's face and couldn't help but smile:
"Brother, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be so unfamiliar."
After saying this, he explained:
"I know that the soldiers are tired, but as the saying goes, raising an army for a thousand days and using it for a while."
"The Eighth Army of Guanzhong conducts field training every three months throughout the year, just to deal with today's situation."
Over thousands of years, with the improvement of roads, the accumulation of experience, and the progress of society, infantry have marched on two legs, and their daily speed has increased.
But overall, the improvement is relatively slow after all.
After all, the upper limit of human physical strength is right there.
After the reform of the Jihan Army, the quality of the army's officers and men has improved, coupled with regular targeted training.
The infantry marches normally in a day. If it is slower, it will be more than fifty miles, if it is faster, it will be sixty miles (Hanli).
And if it were replaced by other ordinary armies, the minimum would be forty miles, and the maximum would not exceed fifty miles.
Because if it exceeds the limit, groups of soldiers will start to fall behind, they will be unable to maintain formation, scouts will not be able to detect the situation ahead in time, and a series of other problems.
If you are attacked and ambushed by someone, your entire army will most likely be annihilated.
Feng Duhu led the Wuqian Army to march more than 300 and nearly 400 miles in five days. It was a rapid march, and many soldiers had already fallen behind.
That's why Zhang Bao was a little worried and reminded Feng Duhu that he needed to pay attention to this issue.
"The new three armies of the Eighth Army, Tu Chen, and the Wu and Wei armies all made meritorious deeds. Only the Wuqian army failed to make any achievements. The soldiers are inevitably a little anxious."
"If I keep suppressing them, I'm afraid the soldiers will blame me in their hearts."
This is just a superficial reason.
Another reason is that this battle was originally intended to give the new army a chance to fight.
"Sima Division was defeated by my brother, and the bandit army is in a state of fear. Now that they hear that I am personally leading the army, they will not dare to act rashly."
The soldiers who can follow along this way can basically be regarded as the elite of the unparalleled army.
In addition, they are marching within the territory of the Han Dynasty, especially when they reach Gaoping Pass, they can get enough supplements.
Sima Division suffered two defeats in a row, and the morale of the army was unstable. If he could hold Tianjing Pass, he would be very powerful.
Although Du Yu initially proposed to defeat Sima Division and take advantage of the situation to seize Tianjing Pass, Feng Duhu did not adopt it.
But by some mistake, Master Sima actually offered him this opportunity, and Feng Duhu would not miss it.
That's why he decided to lead the army and continue to Gaodu City.
When Zhang Bao heard Feng Duhu call him "brother," he felt a little moved and guilty.
What is touching is that even though he is in a high position, his brother-in-law seems to have remained true to his original intentions.
What I feel guilty about is that what my sister in the palace has done in the past two years is indeed a bit too mean and unkind.
But as an elder brother, he couldn't dissuade his sister.
Although the behavior of my queen sister seemed a bit uncharacteristically dim.
But as long as you stand in the position of the royal family, especially after bringing the prince, you can understand her psychology:
When the prime minister is here, the emperor has fame but no power, so that's it.
The Prime Minister is gone, but the Emperor still has fame but no power, so wouldn’t the Prime Minister...
Ahem...
The most important thing is, if things continue like this, does it mean that the prince will do the same in the future?
Tianjia, where is the place to talk about family ties?
But it was impossible for Zhang Bao to persuade his brother-in-law.
Because my brother-in-law directly represents the Xinghan Society, and behind him, he represents countless upstarts.
If I really dare to persuade my brother-in-law to take a step back, the Xinghan Society might explode:
How much benefit did your Zhang family receive in Nanxiang back then?
Apart from anything else, all the big men are now using your Zhang family’s hemp rope sacks, don’t you know?
When you're full, do you want to smash the pot?
Believe it or not, I first smashed you up, put you in a sack, tied a hemp rope and sank you into the river?
In the eyes of the new rich, it might mean that the royal family is ready to cut their flesh and drink their blood - you dare to cut them even to King Feng Gui, what else can you not dare to do?
It is harder to touch interests than to touch souls!
Zhang Bao has never heard of this sentence, but this does not prevent him from understanding the truth.
So he was caught between the two, which was really embarrassing and uncomfortable.
At this time, I saw that my brother-in-law treated me the same as before, so I naturally felt a little mixed in my heart.
"How about I lead the Southern Army and go together with Mingwen? Firstly, we can protect Mingwen, and secondly, we can scare the thieves."
Unexpectedly, Feng Duhu shook his head:
"Brother, there is no need to go to such trouble. The Confederate army is a cavalry army. How can they attack the city? If you are really worried, just give me a thousand cavalry just in case."
After all, there is not enough room for the cavalry to perform in this area.
"In my opinion, brother should lead the main force of the Southern Army back to Hedong as soon as possible and continue to guard against the traitor army in Zhiguan."
This time in the battle between Han and Wei, the situation is almost clear.
But the closer you are to the last moment, the more careful you must be.
Feng Duhu didn't have a strategic reserve force at his disposal, so he felt unsure.
"Go back to Hedong?"
"Yes." Feng Duhu nodded, "Although I deceived Jiang Ji this time, the other party is also an experienced Wei thief after all. I'm afraid he will react soon."
"Hedong is empty now. If Jiang Ji finds an opportunity, it will be troublesome."
Zhang Bao heard this and thought about it.
After all, most of the land east of the river is flat, which is where the cavalry comes into play.
It is indeed more appropriate for the Southern Army to return to Hedong.
Immediately he nodded in agreement.
"Then I'll trouble Brother, I'll make you run back and forth."
Zhang Bao didn't care, the smile on his face showed how happy he was:
"You and I are all here for the big man, why bother? Besides," Zhang Bao couldn't help but patted Feng Duhu on the shoulder, and his expression became serious:
"Mingwen, I'm very happy to be able to help you! I don't understand much about the affairs of the DPRK, and I don't want to get involved."
"But for military matters, you are both the person appointed by the Prime Minister and the Protector of the Central Government, so I will definitely support you."
At this point, Zhang Bao paused and did not say any more.
But Feng Duhu understood what he meant.
"Brother, thank you very much!"
Zhang Bao shook his head and whispered:
"I said, there is no need to say thank you, because after this battle, it can only prove one thing: the Prime Minister did not misjudge the person all those years ago."
"You, work hard and don't let down the Prime Minister's expectations."
There are some words that don’t need to be clarified.
Feng Duhu nodded heavily: "I will."
A smile appeared on Zhang Bao's face again, he waved his hand, said no more, turned around and walked out.
The commander-in-chief of the Han Dynasty said that he wanted a thousand cavalry to follow him, so he naturally wanted to select the most elite soldiers in the southern army.
Soon, the news that Feng Duhu led his army south from Gaoping Pass and arrived at Gaodu City spread to Tianjing Pass, and the Wei army was really shocked.
In fact, Feng Duhu did not overestimate the Wei army.
Sima Division was defeated in front of Gaoping Pass for the second time, and his good luck from the last time was gone.
Not only could I lose my left eye, but the Wei army also suffered heavy losses.
Coupled with the fact that Gaodu City was undefendable, Niu Jin immediately retreated to Tianjing Pass in an emergency after responding to the defeated army that was being chased all the way back.
At this time, the defenders of Tianjing Pass were in a state of panic, and unexpectedly, it rained all night long when the house was leaking.
Soon, bad news came from the north of the pass. Feng Thief had led the army to Gaodu City and was approaching Tianjing Pass.
"Central Supervisory Army, it's bad, Thief Feng, Thief Feng has led the army over!"
In Tianjing Pass, the door of the house where the coach lived was suddenly pushed open, and Niu Jin rushed in:
"Central Supervisory Army, please..."
Before he finished speaking, Niu Jin couldn't help but change his words and exclaimed:
"Inspector Army, what's wrong with you?"
But he saw Master Sima lying on the couch with a towel in his mouth, his face twisted, and he looked very painful.
Although it is autumn, the weather is not hot, and sometimes it can be said to be cool.
But Master Sima's hair was already soaked through, and the whole room could smell the rancid smell of sweat.
One can imagine what kind of pain Master Sima was suffering at this time.
"Hold, close the door, hurry up, don't let the soldiers know!"
Seeing Niu Jin come in, Master Sima immediately tried his best to give some intermittent instructions.
"oh oh!"
When Niu Jin heard this, he realized what he was saying. He quickly turned around and closed the door, then quickly walked to the couch with a worried look on his face:
"Inspector Army, how do you feel?"
Master Sima let go of the towel in his mouth, but saw that there were several holes in the towel.
The white linen wrapped around his left eye was stained with blood.
It has been several days and the bleeding in my left eye still cannot be effectively stopped.
One can imagine the pain he has endured these past few days.
"I'm fine. You just said, what happened?"
Master Sima endured the severe pain and asked tremblingly.
Niu Jin saw Master Sima's appearance and deliberately didn't want him to worry.
But when faced with such a major matter, he was not qualified to make a decision, let alone dare to hide it from Master Sima.
So Niu Jin could only bite the bullet and replied:
"In the Central Supervisory Army, we arranged an outpost in Gaodu City and sent someone to report back. They said that Thief Feng had led the army and entered Gaodu City."
"And looking at that, it's very likely that we will enter Tianjing Pass. What should we do?"
"Who! Who do you think is leading the army?"
Hearing the name "Feng Thief" seemed to make Master Sima forget about the pain in his left eye.
But seeing his expression suddenly change drastically, he was so shocked that he immediately sat up with his hands propped up:
"Are you sure? Are you sure that Thief Feng personally led the army?"
"The scouts came to report that it is indeed the banner named Feng. Among the generals of the Western Thieves, there is no one else who can lead such a large army and is named Feng."
"An army? How many armies?"
Niu Jin swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "According to current reports, the front army alone has nearly 10,000 troops. The rear army has not yet arrived. It is said that there are 50,000 people."
"fifty thousand?"
Master Sima didn't know whether it was pain or fright, but his voice changed: "Fifty thousand?"
If it were in the past, Sima Division might not have any idea about the 50,000 Han troops.
Even when occupying a dangerous place like Tianjing Pass, he was confident that he would not be afraid even if it came to 100,000, not to mention 50,000.
But after suffering two consecutive defeats at Gaoping Pass, he finally understood why the Lord was said to be as fearful of Shu as a tiger when he was guarding Guanzhong.
Why would he rather be scolded as a woman by Zhuge Liang than take the initiative to fight?
Without him, the Shu people are as fierce as tigers and must be feared!
Not to mention that this time it was Thief Feng.
What is the concept of Feng Thief?
Back then, he was a man who could defeat a hundred thousand Guanzhong army with only twenty thousand partial troops.
But now, I have not only 100,000 people, but less than 20,000 people on hand, that is, more than 10,000 people.
And we also include the remnant soldiers who have gathered many defeated soldiers and fled back in the past few days.
"Thief Feng, why did Thief Feng appear here? How did he come here??"
"Didn't Mr. Jiang say that Thief Feng is leading the army and preparing to attack Zhiguan?"
"How did he get here? Did he fly here?"
In the past few days, the problem with his left eye has been tormenting Master Sima to the point of being in pain and having trouble sleeping and eating.
But he didn't dare to publicize it, lest it would further panic the already unstable military morale.
So I can only bear it silently by myself.
I couldn't eat well or sleep well for so many days. I was in unbearable pain day and night, and I could still force myself to stay awake.
This level of ambition is extremely rare.
But it is simply impossible to maintain the calmness of the past despite severe pain.
It's understandable to feel a little restless.
After hearing what the Central Supervisory Army said, Niu Jin couldn't help but remind him:
"Central Supervisory Army, when we retreated to Tianjing Pass, didn't Jiang Gong send someone to tell us that Feng Thieves retreated from Zhiguan Road, could it be..."
After Niu Jin reminded him, Master Sima finally reacted:
"You mean, Thief Feng retreated from Zhiguan Road and came to us?"
"This is the only explanation." Niu Jin also frowned a little, "But Thief Feng came too quickly..."
Master Sima gritted his teeth and gasped: "It has been known for a long time that Feng Thief is good at leading his troops on long-distance attacks!"
From then on, when he came out of the mountains and fought in his first battle, he became famous for attacking Longguan.
"This thief is marching slowly on Zhiguan Road. It turns out that he is just a cover-up. I'm afraid his intentions are against us!"
Recalling Feng Thief's reputation for foresight, Master Sima deeply suspected that the Han army at Gaoping Pass had been unable to retreat before, allowing him to take it lightly.
When he is unprepared, he will suddenly attack with a sudden attack. It won't be planned by Feng Thief, right?
How else to explain Feng Thief's hesitation at Zhiguan Road and his arrival at Gaodu City as if he were flying?
Thinking of this, Master Sima couldn't help but feel angry.
At the same time, an unbearable pain in his left eye suddenly hit his brain, causing him to scream in pain:
"Thief Feng, damn it!"
Niu Jin was so frightened that he exclaimed:
"Inspector Army, your eyes..."
It turned out that the white linen covering Master Sima's left eye was stained with blood red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the blood stains were spreading rapidly.
The wound collapsed again!
Master Sima's body could no longer support him and he suddenly fell down on the couch, unconscious.