Liu Cheng was not among those who slept in the first round. On the one hand, it was because he had good physical strength and energy, and could endure more endurance than the average person.
On the other hand, as the commander-in-chief, Liu Cheng needs to lead by example, which can better improve the cohesion of the soldiers.
At the same time, Jincheng had just been captured at this time, and many things needed to be handled by him personally.
Here in Jincheng, Liu Cheng saw the spontaneous actions of the people, heard them in his eyes, and remembered them in his heart, with an uncontrollable smile on his face.
He was happy because he knew what it meant, and more because his hard work had not been let down.
The goodwill they released received an effective response.
The most uncomfortable thing in the world is to feel a hot face against a cold butt. A good intention is not rewarded, but is instead scarred.
What makes people happy is meeting good people with good intentions, giving kindly, and receiving kind responses.
This is a very happy and comforting thing.
It was at this time that Zhang Lu, who had been leading his troops to conduct a careful search in the prefect's mansion, made a new discovery.
The soldiers finally found the secret passage.
After learning the news, Zhang Lu immediately came over and asked some soldiers to enter the secret passage with torches and weapons to track him.
In Zhang Lu's imagination, it wouldn't take long for those who entered the secret passage to come out.
Bring some news you want.
As a result, time passed little by little, half an hour passed, and the soldiers who entered the tunnel did not return.
Zhang Lu and others were anxious, but also a little uneasy in their hearts, worried that something might happen to the soldiers who entered the secret passage.
Immediately, additional personnel were sent into the secret passage.
This time, there were fifty people entering the secret passage.
Another half an hour passed, but there was still no movement at the entrance of the secret passage. Zhang Lu, who was waiting impatiently, looked extremely ugly.
He felt that something big might happen!
He sent seventy people into the secret passage one after another, but in the end nothing happened. It was as if the entrance to the secret passage in front of him was a terrifying mouth of a demon!
Everyone who entered was swallowed up silently!
This time, the surprise attack on Jincheng and the capture of the entire Jincheng only resulted in the loss of one person.
As a result, now that Jincheng has been captured, seventy people here have disappeared without a trace under his nose. How can this not make Zhang Lu anxious?
Once something like this really happens, you can only say that you are incompetent!
I don’t even know how to meet the emperor’s uncle!
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, there was still no movement.
Zhang Lu couldn't wait any longer.
Immediately, he arranged for someone to report this matter to Uncle Liu Huang.
After explaining this matter, he took the lead and headed towards the secret passage.
He wanted to go into the secret passage himself to see what was going on and to figure it out. He couldn't let so many soldiers just disappear without a trace!
As a result, less than half way into the secret passage where there had been no movement, finally there was movement.
When Zhang Lu heard the noise, he came out again and waited for the people inside to come out.
After a while, someone emerged from the entrance of the secret passage. It was one of the second batch of people who entered the secret passage.
After this person came out, people continued to come out after him.
They all entered the secret passage to observe the situation before.
"What's going on? What did you find? Why did it take you so long to come back?"
Zhang Lu, who had been waiting anxiously for a long time, immediately started asking after the first person came out.
"The secret passage is very long. We started to go back after meeting the first group of people who went down in the secret passage.
They said that the secret passage leads to three miles outside the city.
They went out to track for a while and came to a courtyard. There was no one in the courtyard for a long time. There were horse hoof marks on the snow. There were quite a few of them. They should be riding two people, heading east... We don't have horses.
I couldn't catch up, so I came back..."
Listening to the soldier's answer, Zhang Lu's heart sank.
What he was most worried about happened.
If people like Matthew Mahai were still in Jincheng, then he would not be worried at all.
As long as he is in the city, he will be caught sooner or later, and there is no need to worry about these people going to Ma Teng to tip off and leak the news.
But now, these people have left the city, and looking at the direction, they are heading to Aotou Pass.
He must be looking for Ma Teng and others to report the news!
If the emperor's uncle's plan was leaked because of this, it would be really uncomfortable and regrettable!
With this thought in his mind, Zhang Lu immediately set off before he could wait for everyone to come out, speeding towards Liu Cheng.
When he was about to arrive at Liu Cheng's place, he caught up with the man who had been sent by him not long ago to report to Liu Cheng that seventy people had entered the secret passage but had never come back. He, Zhang Lu, was going to go down the secret passage in person to check the situation.
At this time, things have changed. Naturally, there is no need for this person to inform the emperor's uncle of this outdated news...
"Uncle Emperor, this is what happened. What should we do next?
After these thieves leave the city, they will definitely rush all the way to Aotou Pass, and they will leak out our occupation of Jincheng..."
Zhang Lu came to Liu Cheng, quickly told Liu Cheng what had happened, and then asked Liu Cheng what he should do next.
In his view, this matter was extremely serious.
It would even seriously threaten the grand strategy formulated by the emperor's uncle!
Let yourself and others’ previous efforts be in vain!
Liu Cheng didn't expect that things would turn out like this.
Are Ma Teng and others born in the year of the rat?
He actually built such a secret passage in his home and went directly to the outside of the city!
This is a really tricky thing.
After Ma Teng and Han Sui's troops were defeated at Aotou Pass, it was inevitable that they would lead their army to retreat to Jincheng without knowing it. After all, this was Ma Teng's base camp and a strategic location.
But after getting the news that Jincheng had been occupied by himself and others, in order not to be blocked, he was afraid that he would change direction and go to other places that were not the most preferred for them before.
If this happens, Liu Cheng's plan to block the opponent here in Jincheng will be difficult to complete.
Once Ma Teng, Han Sui and other armies are allowed to return to Liangzhou and enter the vast area of Liangzhou, it will be difficult to easily solve Liangzhou's problems.
There will be a lot of trouble and the battle lines will be stretched.
Liu Cheng thought for a while and immediately called Zhao Yun over.
Zhao Yun was among the first group of people to rest. At this time, he had been sleeping for almost two hours.
Naturally, it is impossible to completely rest in two hours, but the overall mental state can be much better...
"Zilong, the thing is like this. You lead ten tiger and leopard mounted guards, one person and three horses, and set off immediately, rushing all the way to Aotou Pass.
If you can catch up with these people on the road, it's best to intercept them. If you can't catch up, you can take a detour to Aotou Pass and give this letter of mine to Niu Fu, so that he can find the right time to send troops to attack Han Sui and Ma Teng.
Completely defeat these people and let them flee!"
Liu Cheng quickly told Zhao Yun about the matter, and then handed over the task to Zhao Yun.
"Zilong, this mission is urgent and puts a heavy load on people. Zilong will have to work hard."
Zhao Yun raised his hand to Liu Chengyi and said: "Zhao Yun promises to complete the task, please rest assured, uncle!"
No more words were said at the moment, and he immediately turned around and headed down.
It just looks so reassuring.
In less than two-quarters of an hour, Zhao Yun had already led ten tiger and leopard mounted guards, each with three riders, galloping towards the east.
Liu Cheng and the others came here on foot this time, without any horses.
The horses Zhao Yun and the others are riding now were obtained after they captured Jincheng.
Watching Zhao Yun and his men running away, Liu Cheng had a smile on his face.
In the past, I tried every means to accept Zhao Yun. What a wise decision I made!
Such a person with super strong force and cautious personality makes people feel at ease when he does things!
After Zhao Yun left, Liu Cheng called Li Yan over again, assigned a thousand troops and horses for Li Yan to lead, and immediately left the city and headed north.
About one hundred and fifty miles to the north, there is a city called Cangcheng.
It is another strategic point that can lead to Liangzhou.
Although it is far less important than Jincheng, when Han Sui, Ma Teng and others already know that Jincheng has been lost, it is very likely that it will become a choice for Liangzhou soldiers to return to Liangzhou and go deep into Liangzhou.
Therefore, you must take it into your own hands.
He cannot place all his hopes on Zhao Yun's ability to successfully catch up and intercept Matthew and others. He needs to be prepared on both sides and have a plan for what to do if things fail.
Otherwise, you are likely to suffer a loss when the time comes.
"Uncle, don't worry, I promise to complete the mission!"
Li Yan knew the seriousness of the matter and felt happy that Liu Cheng could entrust such a task to him and let him complete it. He said to Liu Cheng solemnly.
Liu Chengdao: "The faster things happen, the better. The faster things happen, the more they can catch the opponent off guard!"
My order is that you will occupy Cangcheng tomorrow morning!
Take Cangcheng!"
The task is indeed arduous. It is already noon at this time. It will take some time to wait for the whole army to set off.
This place is no less than 150 miles away from Cangcheng!
But the emperor's uncle asked them to take Cangcheng completely into their hands by tomorrow morning.
In other words, they need to complete the one hundred and fifty miles between the afternoon and tomorrow morning, and they still have to complete the one hundred and fifty miles before dawn.
Then before dawn, they launched an attack on Cangcheng.
Only in this way can Cangcheng be captured quickly!
Riding a horse is impossible.
Most of the horses here in Jincheng were taken away by Ma Teng and the others, with less than sixty remaining.
Zhao Yun and the others took away more than 30 horses before.
That is to say, Li Yan and others need to rely on two feet to cover these distances on foot.
Moreover, these soldiers followed Liu Cheng through the Death Swamp all the way through the ice and snow.
Last night, I didn't sleep all night again and walked more than sixty miles in a hurry all the way to Jincheng all night.
Even the first group to rest only rested for a little more than two hours.
Such a small amount of rest time is far from enough to allow the soldiers to have a complete rest and greatly relieve their fatigue.
It is really very difficult to challenge the most difficult task when you are not in your best condition!
But it must be done.
The fact that Matthew and others can escape from Jincheng in this way means that the rest of the people may also escape from Jincheng through various methods, or pass on the news.
They only brought three thousand soldiers and horses this time. Jincheng is a big city and there are thousands of surrendered troops that need to be guarded. One thousand troops is already the limit.
If there are more, something unexpected may happen here in Jincheng.
Li Yan and others can only take Cangcheng with a thousand troops, so they must seize the time and carry out a surprise attack.
Otherwise, once Cangcheng gets the news and takes certain precautions, it will be extremely difficult to defeat Cangcheng with a thousand soldiers!
Li Yan is not an idiot, he is a very talented person. Otherwise, in the original history, he would not have achieved such a high status in the Shuhan Group.
However, in the original history, his character was relatively withdrawn and arrogant. He always felt that Zhuge Liang was weighing on him, and he felt extremely unhappy.
Politically, IQ is relatively low.
But his military ability is still very good.
He naturally knows how heavy the task assigned to him by his uncle is and how difficult it is to complete.
If it were before, he would not agree with this appointment at all. He felt that this order was not fulfilled by others at all, but was specifically used to make things difficult for others.
There is simply no team that can accomplish this.
However, after following the emperor's uncle and the soldiers led by the emperor's uncle, he walked to the land of death and participated in the night attack on Jincheng, he no longer thought so.
Because he knew that the soldiers and horses led by the emperor's uncle were different from ordinary soldiers and horses.
This task cannot be accomplished by other soldiers, but these soldiers led by the emperor's uncle can accomplish it!
The emperor's soldiers and horses are used to create miracles!
"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"
Li Yan took a deep breath and accepted Liu Cheng's order.
"Even if Li Yan crawls on the ground with his brothers, he still has to climb to Cangcheng before dawn!!"
He looked at Liu Cheng and spoke solemnly.
Liu Cheng reached out and took Li Yan's hand, squeezed it hard, and after letting go, he said loudly: "Go, this time the situation is special and we have to fight like this.
If we don’t work hard at this time, all the efforts we have made before will be in vain!”
Li Yan nodded to Liu Cheng and strode off to arrange things.
Then the whistle for emergency assembly sounded...
In less than half an hour, Li Yan led a thousand soldiers out of the north gate of Jincheng and marched quickly.
In this short half an hour, they completed the assembly of the army, the selection of personnel, the arrangement of materials, and the arrangement of tasks...
All of this was accomplished in such a short period of time.
Li Yan led his soldiers, moved his legs quickly, and kept moving forward.
He kept sighing in his heart and was full of shock.
He was able to complete all these in such a short period of time, and then send out troops with a very good spirit and high discipline. Except for this team led by the emperor's uncle, he really didn't see the rest.
Pass
I have never even heard of it!
It is really an honor to be able to follow a person like the Emperor's uncle and personally participate in this operation, and to be able to lead such soldiers to fight!
At this time, Li Yan had already realized that this experience would be an extremely valuable asset to him.
At this time, when he thought about his previous self, he already felt that his previous self was a bit ridiculous and childish.
It turned out that he had already completed some transformations unknowingly and was different from before...
After Li Yan left, Liu Cheng arranged some things and stopped for a long time before taking a rest.
He didn't do anything special. He spread out the bedding, went to the base of the city wall, wrapped himself in the bedding, and soon fell asleep...
After sleeping for about an hour, Liu Cheng got up to do things again.
This is a special period and he cannot sleep soundly for a long time.
Just squint for a while and that's it.
Fortunately, his physical strength is relatively good and his mental strength is strong, otherwise, he would really not be able to withstand it...
After dealing with some more things, Liu Cheng went to a place in the city.
Go and see for yourself the soldiers in the golden city who are under guard.
These soldiers need some processing, or at least some publicity.
Let these soldiers know who they and others are, so that they do not have too much hostility towards them.
In this case, the pressure on their side will be reduced in possible battles that may occur later.
At least they don't have to spend so much energy to guard these people.
"I am Liu Cheng, also known as Uncle Liu Huang.
I was the one who blocked the many Kwantung rebels at Sishui Pass. It was me who led the troops to Yizhou and captured Yizhou.
This time, it was me who led the troops to capture Jincheng.
I came to see you today just to make some things clear to you, so as not to cause you unnecessary panic.
I will not kill you people. After all, you have not committed many mistakes. Although you have become thieves, you are still forced to become thieves and you are also subjects of the Han..."
Liu Cheng looked at the more than 3,000 Jincheng defenders who were under guard and said.
As he spoke, the hearts of these defenders became different.
After talking to these people, Liu Cheng took out a stack of paper from his arms and asked his guards to distribute it to the literate among them.
The contents written on these papers are the same as those written on the papers where Niu Fu, Xun Yu and others accused Ma Chao of being autistic.
Liu Cheng first read the contents of the paper twice in public to let everyone know what was written on the paper.
Then he told the Jincheng defenders that everyone needed to memorize these contents.
After memorizing it, the matter here in Jincheng will be settled. Those who are willing to leave can provide three kilograms of food to each of them and let them leave freely.
Only people who can carry it can enjoy such treatment. People who can't carry it should not even think about it.
More than 3,000 people, when time goes back, will be more than 3,000 people who will carry out propaganda for them and break the propaganda machine spread by Ma Teng, Han Sui and others in Liangzhou.
This kind of propaganda carried out by Liangzhou's own people is more effective and more convincing than the propaganda carried out by Liu Cheng and others...
…
Time passed little by little, and the sky gradually became darker.
As the sky dims, the air becomes colder.
After a day of hard work, Jincheng has basically settled down.
Through taking turns to rest, the soldiers led by Liu Cheng also recovered greatly in physical strength and spirit.
Liu Cheng stood on the wall of Jincheng and looked towards the north.
I have some worries in my heart.
After all, this time, the tasks he assigned to the soldiers were very heavy and not easy to complete...
"Go faster, don't stop, hold on!
When I'm hungry, I eat solid food and dried meat. I eat while walking. When I'm thirsty, I drink water. I drink while walking, but I can't stop!"
In the night, with the light reflected by the unmelted snow, everyone braved the severe cold and kept walking.
These people were Li Yan and his party who set off from Jincheng after noon.
Since setting off at noon, they have never rested until now.
Li Yan did not dare to let the soldiers rest. After all, the journey was so far, and he was afraid of wasting time. He was even more afraid that once the soldiers started to rest, they would not be able to get up and continue on the road. Therefore, he could only continue to boost the morale of the soldiers.
Keep running forward and backward.
When I saw some soldiers unable to move, I went over to pull them up and encourage them.
It looked like he didn't feel tired, but in fact, he was just as tired and wanted to lie down and rest.
However, as the leader of this army, he must not do this.
No matter how tired or uncomfortable you are, you still have to endure it.
We need to show more enthusiasm and passion than the soldiers.
As for the emperor's uncle who led the team through the Death Swamp this time, he always seemed very optimistic and tenacious. His whole body was filled with a kind of energy that made people feel that he was not afraid of anything and could overcome any difficulties after seeing him.
Not a difficult temperament.
Li Yan couldn't learn this kind of temperament, but there were some things he could imitate as much as possible.
The most difficult part is not at this time. The most difficult part is in the second half of the night.
After walking for a long time, the soldiers were all tired and hungry, and their sleepiness was like a tide, rising one wave after another.
The legs are no longer my legs, and I can no longer feel any sensation.
Just relying on instinct and perseverance, doing repetitive mechanical movements...
Some soldiers fell to the ground while walking. After waking up, they quickly got up and continued to move.
Some soldiers have directly evolved a skill.
That is to put your hands on the shoulders of the people in front, or pull the clothes of the soldiers in front, so that you can walk and sleep at the same time...
Forward, forward, forward.
The progress is so numb that one even forgets the passage of time and just walks mechanically.
That is to say, as they walked like this, the scenery around them kept receding.
Under the reflection of the snow, a huge silhouette appeared in front...
