One day after Chenggao Pass General Feng Su took a letter from his Chenggao Army General Zhu Hai and acted as a courier to deliver a letter to Zhao Hongrun, a team escorting grain and grass slowly set off from Chenggao Pass towards Gong and Luo
Go in the direction.
The general leading the army was Zhou Kui, a general at the level of General Chenggaoguan.
Logically speaking, for things like escorting grain and grass, there is no need for a general like Zhou Kui to escort him in person. Simply sending a Quhou or a general is enough. However, this grain transportation task is a little bit special. It is from Chenggao Pass.
General Zhu Hai personally called Zhou Kui to him and appointed him personally.
The grain transport team consisted of 2,000 Chenggao soldiers and more than 300 grain trucks.
Perhaps in the eyes of uninformed soldiers, these grain trucks were full of grain for the navy and Dangshan Army. Only General Zhou Kui knew that there was not a grain of grain in their grain trucks.
, those rice bags were stuffed with grain husks, that is, chaff, that Chenggaoguan originally planned to feed to the horses.
"Will the Yi and Yi people from Gong and Luo really come to attack our grain transport army?"
Sitting astride the mount, Zhou Kui's face looked uncertain.
As the general of Chenggao Pass guarding the western border of Wei State, he actually knew a lot about the Yi and Yi tribes in Gong and Luo to the west of Chenggao Pass.
After all, the cavalry from Chenggao Pass often went out to inspect the surrounding areas to see if any Jie tribes that were hostile to their Wei State had migrated here.
But for the Yi tribe and the Yi tribe, the soldiers and generals at Chenggao Pass were in the same direction as each other. Even if they happened to meet the other side's sentries, the two sides would change directions in a tacit understanding, as if they didn't see it.
Similar to each other.
Therefore, for the soldiers and generals at Chenggao Pass, the Sanchuan tribes in Gong and Luo areas are the kind of Sanchuan people who are relatively friendly to their Wei State. Logically speaking, they would not assist the Jie tribe and compete with them in the Wei State.
Start a war.
But in the past, the situation in which water from wells did not interfere with water from rivers came to an end with the entry of Dangshan Army General Sima An into Sichuan.
After all, there were rumors in the land of Sanchuan that a Wei army massacred the people of Sanchuan, attacked and destroyed several tribes, and killed all the men in the tribe, leaving only hundreds of women howling in pain.
Therefore, it would not be incomprehensible if the Sanchuan tribe in the Gong and Luo area, out of sorrow for the death of the rabbit and the fox, assisted the Jiejiao tribe in trying to kill the Wei army that was causing massacre on their land.
After all, this is human nature, and Zhou Kui can understand it.
However, from the perspective of being a Wei man, Zhou Kui could not accept this possibility calmly.
Whether it is selfishness or partiality, once those Sanchuan tribes really act against the Wei State, then Zhou Kui will, like most Wei people, change their name to "Yinrong" and regard them as "Yinrong".
enemy!
As a general of the Wei State, although he does not adhere to the rhetoric of "killing all those who are not our race" like General Sima An, at least he must ensure the interests of his country. This is what a Wei State soldier should do.
obligation!
"Yu——"
With a cry, a cavalryman responsible for exploring the road ahead tightened the reins and slowly stopped in front of Zhou Kui.
"General." The cavalryman clasped his fists and said with an anxious expression: "The situation ahead... something is not right."
"What's wrong?" Zhou Kui asked.
The man hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "In the mountain col ahead, there is a troop of troops from the Sanchuan tribe stationed at the pass."
The so-called "pass" generally refers to the natural passage between hills. During wars, the armies of both sides often use the tactic of conquering and garrisoning passes to achieve certain strategic goals, such as blocking the enemy's range of activities and cutting off enemy supplies.
Wait.
Next to him, a Quhou under Zhou Kui heard this and asked in surprise: "What are those Yi people doing with the Yi people? Are they holding some kind of ceremony again?... General, do you want to negotiate?"
"..."
Zhou Kui was silent when he heard this.
Indeed, the people of Sanchuan often block the roads for holding some festivals, which is similar to the Wei custom of "sacrifice to heaven and earth". To be honest, it is not a strange thing, but at this moment, the roads are blocked.
It will inevitably make people daydream.
After a long time, Zhou Kui said in a deep voice: "The team continues to move forward, preparing to negotiate with the Jie tribe or the Jie tribe... Be careful and beware of attacks from the other party."
"Beware of sneak attacks?" The Quhou was stunned when he heard this, and asked in confusion: "Why did they attack my Chenggao army?"
It's no wonder that this Quhou couldn't understand. After all, in the past, the Chenggao Army and the Jie and Yi people on the west side of Chenggao Pass had always been at odds with each other.
"It never goes wrong to be careful."
Zhou Kui couldn't explain it to his generals, so he said vaguely: "After all, there is no guarantee that the Dangshan Army's behavior in Sanchuan will not anger me, Chenggao Army."
"Oh, that's true." The Quhou nodded suddenly, feeling convinced.
Chenggao's army, who was transporting grain, slowly moved forward and walked for about two or three miles. As expected, Zhou Kui saw a large group of Sanchuan people building a pass-like pass at the mountain pass in the distance.
's camp.
Moreover, this group of people seemed to have already known about the arrival of their Chenggao army. They all walked out of the felt tents in the camp and stood at the entrance of the camp, looking at them with different expressions.
"Not only at the pass, but also on the mountains on both sides, there are armies of the Jie and Huang tribes stationed..."
As Zhou Kui approached, he carefully observed the hills opposite.
"Wei Jun in front, stop!"
A loud voice sounded from the Yinrong tribe at the pass. Zhou Kui took a closer look and realized that the speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a sheepskin coat who was obviously much more polished than the other tribesmen.
If nothing else, this middle-aged man must be the "leader" or even the "chief" of some tribe.
The so-called "leader" refers to the person in a leadership position within the Sanchuan tribe, whose status is similar to the "general", "official", etc. in the Wei State. It can be regarded as the direct leader of large and small matters within the tribe, such as hunting, fighting, etc.
wait;
The "leader" refers to the leader of the tribe. Generally speaking, he only plays a verbal role, and specific tasks are handed over to the "leaders" within the tribe.
But what is certain is that any "leader" has considerable rights.
No, Zhou Kui, who noticed this, did not rashly antagonize the other party. He stopped his soldiers and shouted to the other party in the Sheng language: "I don't know which tribe you are a neighbor of, why do you want to stop me?"
Where will my Cheng Gao army go?"
The middle-aged man was not surprised that Zhou Kui, who was born in the Chenggao army, could speak their Yi language, because the Wei people or the people of Sanchuan who lived in the Chenggao, Gong, Luo, and Hu areas could actually understand it.
As for the other party's language, after all, the two parties have had a lot of contact in the past. The only question is whether they can speak the language of the other party's country or race smoothly.
For example, this middle-aged man just spoke in Wei language, but his pronunciation was not very clear.
"(In the language of the Yi people) We have temporarily blocked this place for some reasons. Please return."
Perhaps seeing that Zhou Kui could speak the language of their Yi ethnic minority and that he could speak it relatively smoothly, the middle-aged man switched back to his native language.
"(In Shen language) Why is this area blocked?" Zhou Kui asked.
"(In the language of the Yi people) This is our internal matter, so I'm sorry for the inconvenience of disclosing it." The middle-aged man replied.
Hearing this answer, Zhou Kui frowned. At this moment, he was sure that these people from the Yi and Yi tribes blocked this place most likely to cut off the food and grass of the Shangshui Army and the Dangshan Army, and not allow the Chenggao Army to continue.
Continue to transport grain and grass to the first two.
"In that case..."
Zhou Kui's eyes flashed with a cold look, which was fleeting.
He shouted loudly: "Can you please be accommodating? Our army is in a hurry to transport food and grass to our army and cannot afford any delay."
After hearing this, the expressions of the middle-aged man and the nearby Yi people and the Yi people changed slightly, and they seemed to be talking in a low voice.
Not long after, the middle-aged man looked at Zhou Kui and said with a complicated expression: "I'm sorry, the clan leaders of all parties have made a decision not to allow any Wei people to set foot in our Sanchuan land again! ... Leave these behind
Food, I will let you go! Otherwise..."
After saying that, there was a commotion in the Hehuang camp, and a group of soldiers and horses rushed out from the camp, and without any explanation, they attacked the Chenggao army led by Zhou Kui.
When Zhou Kui saw this, he immediately shouted: "The enemy is attacking! The enemy is attacking! Withdraw! Withdraw!"
The more than 2,000 Chenggao soldiers under his command were stunned when they heard this, and thought to themselves: Withdraw? The food shipped to the Dangshan Army and the Shangshui Army was just given to these Yi people, Yi people?
No wonder, after all, among the Wei soldiers present, only General Zhou Kui knew what was in those rice bags.
"withdraw!"
With an order, two thousand Gao troops retreated quickly.
However, the army of the Sheang and Sheang tribes continued to pursue them, and a melee broke out between the two sides.
At this time, the advantage of General Zhou Kui personally taking charge was revealed. He was commanding his soldiers to form formations to fight against the enemy while retreating towards the nearby mountains and forests.
After all, the Lijie army in front of him was mostly made up of cavalry, which was not conducive to fighting in the mountains and forests.
Due to Zhou Kui's initiative to retreat, this mixed army won the battle effortlessly, although the losses on both sides were not very high.
"(In the language of the Yi people) Ha! It's true as the rumors say, the Wei people bully the weak and fear the strong. It's nothing special."
"(In the language of the Yi people) According to that, we are actually quite strong, huh?"
"(In the language of the Yi people) Hahaha, if I had known this, why would they be afraid of Wei State's Chenggao Pass?"
The mixed army of Sheang and Shen tribes laughed loudly on the way back, feeling sincerely happy that they had won a victory.
On the other side of the pass, the middle-aged man who had just been talking to General Zhou Kui looked at the fleeing Chenggao army and the easily abandoned grain truck team full of grain with a shocked expression.
"..."
Frowning, the middle-aged man walked to one of the grain trucks, took out the sharp knife hidden in his boot, and made a slit in the rice bag.
Then, he put his hand into the rice bag and unexpectedly pulled out a handful of chaff.
"(In Shen language) This...could it be said..."
Looking at the chaff in his hand, the middle-aged man's eyes flickered, and a look of horror appeared on his face.
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and he suddenly threw the chaff in his hand to the ground, turned around and shouted loudly: "Quickly, send someone to inform the tribe leaders that the Wei people have learned of our intentions and are about to launch an unprecedented attack on Sanchuan."