On the official road from Chang'an to Fufeng, there were hundreds of troops heading west on foot, on horseback, or in vehicles.
If someone who didn't know what was going on looked at it, they would probably think that this was a group of soldiers who were changing defenses, and the deadline was very loose.
However, they were the knights of Hedong and Henan who were rushing to Fufeng to rescue them. Not mentioning the emergency documents that Fufeng had already sent, even the latest emergency military information such as "General Dang bandits led his troops to advance rashly and lost nearly 10,000 men and horses" failed to make them aware of the situation.
They quickened their pace a little bit.
There was no other reason. In fact, Zhang Wen, the general of Zhenxi, did not allow them to speed up. He also cited Sun Tzu's view in the Art of War that "the one who can gain a hundred miles and gain by defeating the general, and the one who can gain by fifty miles and half the army has arrived" to prove his point.
Regarding this apparently random order and nonsense argument, General Huangfu Song had no objection at all and ordered his generals to "obey orders."
"Is that Huangfu Song a fool?" In a cavalry battle, Yuan Shao, who had changed into a light yellow light helmet and light armor, was looking out of the window.
Are you qualified to call others idiots? Cao Cao, wearing blue and black armor, sighed and pulled him back: "Be careful, the walls have ears."
"Where are the ears?!" Dian Wei on the side opened the car door and jumped out.
Fortunately, Brother Xiahou was not in this car, otherwise it would have been even more lively... Cao Cao pinched his forehead and looked at Xun Chen, who remained calm and calm no matter what the fuss was about here: "You Ruo, what do you think?"
Xun Chen, nicknamed Youruo, was the eldest son of Xun Nu, the second dragon among the Eight Dragons of the Xun family. He was physically strong and rarely had a virtuous reputation. This time he went to Xiliang with Cao Cao in the name of a study abroad trip. If so, what relationship does he have with Cao Cao?
, and it is limited to "fellow travelers" - in this matter, Xunshi will not give people any excuse.
Xun Chen himself seems to be very disgusted with unnecessary luxury, and he also cares about the people. When Cao Cao visited that day, he scolded Cao Cao for his clothes and the gifts he brought, and then prepared to issue an order to expel the guest. As a result, he annoyed the more straight-tempered Yuan Shao.
, he clicked open the gift packaging that Cao Cao was carrying to reveal Dunqiu's local specialties, and pulled off Cao Cao's collar to show him the undershirt made of poor material. Finally, he scolded him in a dialect he didn't know where he learned for "being talented."
"Proud thing", "Eye-sighted but not blind", "Guawazi".
In the end, Xun Chen expressed his apology and said that he still had a lot to learn and was willing to follow Cao Cao to the northwest.
Regarding this... Can Cao Cao say that if he visits the Xun clan, it will definitely not be such a shabby gift, and the lining is a test product sewn by the wife and concubine at home, who are not good at female work?
Now that I think about it carefully, the timing of the appearance of the boy holding the little girl and the words he spoke are simply perfect.
In short, Cao Cao has decided to keep it simple when Xun Chen is accompanying him. The Xiahou brothers are not familiar with him, Cai Wan is not around, and it is almost impossible for Dian Wei to notice such details that are slightly different from usual.
"Why did Mengde ask knowingly?" Xun Chen said with a smile: "You ordered the Xiahou brothers to make their equipment old and everyone not to show their well-trained appearance, because you knew that the two generals were not on good terms."
Although the information was obtained by a "substitute", it was misunderstood that the Cao family was powerful, which cannot be said to be a bad thing... Cao Cao paused for a moment and sighed: "I just didn't expect them to seriously abandon national affairs."
"Ah? What do you mean? What do you mean?" Yuan Shao was confused and asked questions repeatedly.
"Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and Zhu Jun are also known as the three famous generals of this dynasty. How can they not see the obstructive behavior of an inexperienced villain like Zhang Wen?" Xun Chen seemed to have great patience with Yuan Shao. Details Explained: "If he does nothing about this, it can only prove that he has already arranged it secretly."
"Oh..." Yuan Shao still looked very confused.
"Everyone knows that although his name is Shen, 'General Dangkou' Zhou Shen is not cautious, has a high self-esteem, and is irritable and irritable. Although he is a good player in offense and assault, he is not suitable for supporting and defending the city," Cao Cao Seeing Xun Chen looking at him, he answered and explained: "When Zhang Wen insisted on sending this person to lead the vanguard, Huangfu Song had probably already arranged follow-up support. The so-called military report of defeat and loss of 10,000 horses, It should be just a part..."
"Report——" "Hey! Just give it to me. The Lord is discussing important matters and no 'ears' are allowed to approach." The voices of the messenger and Dian Wei came from outside the chariot battle. It seemed that there was new information that Dian Wei had robbed. Come down.
After a while, the bald Dian Wei opened the curtain and walked into the car, handed a military report to Cao Cao, and then said: "Look at that boy, he seems very happy, it must be a good report."
"If it were so easy to guess, most of the generals would switch to the unsmiling messengers," Cao Cao joked, removed the seal and opened the military report: "Well, it's really a good report."
The first half of the military newspaper transcribed the follow-up supplement of the Fufeng County Governor's intelligence about "Zhou Shen returned in a great defeat", saying that although Zhou Shen was ambushed and defeated due to his rashness, thanks to the private soldiers of the famous ranger Dong Zhuo who went to the rescue, Zhou Shen was Less than half of the troops were lost, but because they were stationed in Duyang and had not returned from recuperation, they were not explained in the last battle report. At the same time, because two troops were out, the main force of the rebels took the opportunity to attack the city, but Dong Zhuo, who was waiting for it, was Successfully repulsed.
The second half is Zhang Wen's military order to Cao Cao, instructing him to "circle the southern path, travel at starry night to Fufeng, and capture Chencang."
"Chen Cang?" Cao Cao seemed to have some impression, but not very clear. After taking the map and looking at it carefully, he and Xun Chen took a deep breath at the same time.
That is the only way for Fufeng County to go to Yizhou. The terrain is dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. If the main force of the rebels near Fufeng is defeated, in addition to continuing to flee westward, they can also choose to go south for temporary refuge. However, if Chencang is defeated Once occupied by the government and army, the group of people who choose to go south will be directly blocked in the middle of the road. Under attack from both front and rear, they will inevitably have no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the earth.
"This General Zhang probably has both grudges and grudges against Meng De, so he made such an arrangement."
"Oh, indeed, although he was able to reach the power he has now through the appreciation of the Ten Constant Attendants, it was my grandfather who initially promoted him to a position where he could be appreciated." Cao Cao seemed not worried about this: "So , we not only have to win, but we also have to win beautifully, and there are not many opportunities to slap two 'Ten Constant Attendants' in the face at the same time."
"But, where is the mountain defensive battle?" Yuan Shao came over to look at the map and scratched his head: "We are bringing the 'assault cavalry', right?"
"..."
There was silence in the carriage for a moment.
"Hey, I guess you can't think of it. Dong Zhuo had a man named Lu Bu who trained a group of heavy infantry called 'trap camp'. While rescuing Zhou Shen, he also defeated more than 10,000 rebels. With his own strength,
The siege of Fufeng was relieved without any injury at all -" At this time, the "stand-in" sent by Cao Cao to investigate "the details of Zhou Shen's defeat" rushed back, making a loud noise on the pretext that others could not hear him, until he passed through the carriage.
He stopped after feeling that the atmosphere was weird: "Oh? Did Ben Chu tell the truth again? I came back at a bad time?"
It couldn't have been a better time. Cao Cao made a complimentary gesture towards the "substitute", which is called "It's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without straw." No matter how smart Xun Chen is, he can't analyze countermeasures without corresponding intelligence, and when he learned
It's much easier to work backwards after the answer.
"Ahem," Cao Cao cleared his throat to attract the attention of the people in the car, and then said: "No matter what the specific situation of the battle is, Zhang Wen is a man who does not leave any excuses, and all his current hindrance behaviors have high-sounding explanations.
If this order will lead to the annihilation of our entire army, his guilt cannot be avoided, so..."
"That's right!" Xun Chen got the hint, and his train of thought seemed to suddenly clear up: "It must be General Huangfu Song who sent out relevant orders. Although Zhang Wen couldn't understand it, he held the idea of distributing credit if he has merit, and pushing back if he has fault.
I will ask Meng De to rush to Chencang as well, that is, we will go with a friendly force of almost the same size, so we don’t have to worry about being unable to defend!"
"As expected of Lord Mengde!" Yuan Shao and Dian Wei said in unison.
"Pfft hahaha!" the "substitute" laughed.
Well, would you believe me if I said that I didn't actually expect this? Facing the admiring looks of Xun Chen, Yuan Shao and Dian Wei, Cao Cao could only pretend to be confident that "everything is under control", and just let him laugh.
Go ahead.
————
That night.
For a large army, as long as the enemy scouts can be driven away in time, relevant information will be difficult to expose. However, for friendly forces with messengers running around inside, if they have a specific target, they want to know other units.
The movement is not difficult at all.
Cao Cao soon learned that a force of 10,000 people, recruited from Hedong and composed of genuine knights and volunteers who had volunteered, would take a detour from the south and rush to Fufeng to "replace Zhou Shen's loss of men."
Of course, Cao Cao knew very well that this team went together to occupy Chencang and cut off the rebels' escape route. When he read their detailed information in the private tent, he completely regarded them as one of his own.
"A clan member of the Han Dynasty, after Prince Jing of Zhongshan, studied under Lu Zhi and made outstanding contributions during the Sili plague... If it weren't for his move to join the army, I almost thought he was aiming for that position.
"Cao Cao sighed: "It's a pity that once he gets involved in military affairs, those who control the choice of emperor will never include him in their consideration."
"There is also Gongsun Zan, who comes from the Gongsun family in Youzhou. After his meritorious service this time, he will be granted the title of a county lieutenant. If Liu Bei wants to seek the position of the leader of a feudal country, he will have a pretty good start." The "substitute" agreed.
"As for the last one, the powerful general he just recruited from Jie County," Cao Cao's eyes lingered on the "Guan Yu" entry in the intelligence: "Although we already have too many generals around us..."
"But there are too few normal ones," the "substitute" responded: "If it were me, I would trade Yuan... er, Yuan Rang for him!"
