Shu Chen

Chapter 183

Chapter 183
Winter October, late.

Zheng Pu finally led the army to the Yuanchuan River Basin.

It arrived six or seven days later than expected.

At that time, because the cavalry of the State of Wei were on display outside, frequently spying on the opportunities that the Han army could take advantage of when marching, Zheng Pu had no choice but to gather all the troops and horses to guard the grain and mow and walk slowly and vigilantly.

With this time difference, Wei Guo arranged the camp very well.

On the grounds that there is no danger to rely on on the flat terrain, multiple garrisons on the left and right are connected in series with barracks, and they shrink obliquely to the rear.If you look down from the sky, you will find that the combined structure of the Wei army's barracks is somewhat similar to the huge "flying geese formation" that can maximize the power of crossbows and other arms.

Moreover, outside the garrisons on both sides, many traps, trenches and other obstacles were dug, leaving only the land in front of the Chinese army intact.

That is the path left for the self-army to attack, and it is also the dead end to lure the enemy army to fight.

Using the toothed flag of the Chinese army as a temptation, the enemy soldiers swarmed in with the desire to kill the general and capture the flag, and then they were shot and killed by the barracks on both sides with powerful crossbows.

The cavalry of the Wei State were stationed in the pasture garden in the north, about ten miles away from here.

This distance is just enough for the cavalry to complete the formation adjustment while the horse is slowly accelerating after attacking.

No need to think about it, the tactics of these cavalry must be to suddenly attack the flanks of the Han army during the fierce battle between the Han and Wei armies, causing the Han army to lose ground.And if the Han army retreats, they can also rely on the mobility of their horses to rush to cut off the return of the Han army, allowing the Chinese infantry to gain time in pursuit.

On the whole, Xia Houru's arrangement this time can be regarded as both offensive and defensive.

Naturally, it is not impossible.

At least for Zheng Pu.

When the Han army arrived here, Zhang Yi, Zhou Tai and others were busy constructing a defense line with WISCO carts and luggage carts to build the barracks. Zheng Pu and his wife and brother Zhang Bao led their retinue and drove their horses to watch the enemy's formation.

As soon as he arrived, Zhang Bao took a few glances, then turned his head and said, "Zijin, Ni Wei has arranged this way, our army can't attack by force."

After speaking, he hesitated for a while, and added in a low voice, "If we can't lure Wei to go to war, our army would rather return without success than to attack by force and cause too much damage to the soldiers."

"Well, it cannot be attacked by force."

Gently nodding his head, Zheng Pu didn't look back.

Still holding his forehead with his hand, he covered the glare of the westward sun, and gazed as far as the eye can see.

Zhang Bao was the only general who opposed sending troops here.

Not only because the enemy is outnumbered, but also because they feel that sending troops this time may be futile.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's military order is to let them stick to Pingxiang City. As long as they guard Longyou without losing it, they can take care of the overall situation. Why send troops here for a battle?
Given that Jincheng County is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Han army wants to make a profit, which is easier said than done!

Taking a step back, if Zheng Pu felt that he could defend Pingxiang City with ease, and his troops stayed in Longyou with nothing to do, then he should not send one or two troops to Xiping County or Xiaoguan to help in the battle.

Why bother to come here and damage your reputation?

Yes, fame.

Zhang Bao, who has become an in-law, has a deeper consideration to take into account Zheng Pu's reputation.

Since Zheng Pu led the army, he has never been defeated, and he has become the "general victorious" in the word of mouth of the sergeant.

At the time when the great Han was concentrating on the Northern Expedition, having such a highly praised general was extremely beneficial to the Northern Expedition.Whether it is to keep the morale of the soldiers high, or to deter the Qiang and Hu tribes in Liangzhou.

But if you return here without success, wouldn't it be ruining your reputation of being invincible?
It's just that now that things are over, Zhang Bao doesn't have much to say. He just persuades Zheng Pu not to order a strong attack, so as to avoid the heavy casualties of the soldiers and damage the war background of the Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, after getting Zheng Pu's reply, he also heaved a sigh of relief.

Unavoidable, he sighed, "Oh, it would be great if we could force Xia Houru against the Wei Dynasty to fight. With the strength of our army, he is not afraid of him in field battles."

"Hehe~~"

Hearing this, Zheng Pu turned around, looked at this incomparably majestic brother-in-law, chuckled and jokingly said, "Brother Wen Rong said this, does it mean that he thinks that the two hundred armored cavalry under his command can be equal to ten?"

"That's natural!"

Mentioning the cavalry under his command, Zhang Bao was immediately in high spirits, and said with pride, "If Zijin can let Ni Wei Xia Houru go out to fight in the field, and create an opportunity to charge, my armored cavalry will drive and kill Ni Wei two or three times. Thousands of pawns are nothing to worry about!"

"There is no joke in the army!"

Zheng Pu smiled even wider, and continued to tease, "Brother Wen Rong, don't make a bold statement, let me believe it is true and the scheduling is wrong."

It also made Zhang Bao come across with a glance when he heard the words.

The tone was also displeased, "Why did Zijin say such evil? I have been in the army for many years. An Neng doesn't know that the army is not a joke? Besides, the armored cavalry under my command was built by the imperial court with huge sums of money. If You can’t count one as ten, and simply cancel the establishment! Why waste the military equipment in vain?”

Uh.
Indeed, the armored cavalry under the supervision of Zhang Bao cost the court a huge amount of money.

Each cavalry pawn must be equipped with four war horses.

The horse wearing Ma Kai and charging into the battle is a good horse that is not worth a lot of money. It can only be ridden during training and when going to battle.

The other horse is an auxiliary horse, whose aptitude is slightly inferior to that of the main horse in charge of the battle. It is also ridden by the cavalry every day, serving as a backup horse for the main horse who is injured or wounded in battle.

The other two are pack horses, responsible for consigning the heavy armor and ordnance of Ma Kai and the cavalry.

According to ordinary conversions, an ordinary light cavalry pawn consumes the equivalent of ten infantry; and in terms of war horses alone, one armored cavalry is equivalent to the cost of training three or four light cavalry.

And not counting the loss of armor.

Armored cavalry, men and horses must wear heavy armor, spears and knives are all available.

With the huge body of the war horse, the fine iron needed to forge the horse armor is more than Zheng Pu's [-] heavy infantry.

This is also the reason why Prime Minister Zhuge Liang decided to build the Great Han Armored Cavalry for nearly three years before he was able to have two hundred cavalry.Not only is it that the cavalry pawns are selected from thousands, and they would rather be short than excessive, but also because the financial resources of the big man are really limited, so they can only plan slowly.

Naturally, Zhang Bao, who spent so much money to build the armored cavalry, as the supervisor, didn't even have the confidence to stand up to ten in the battle, so he simply wrote a letter to ask for abdication.

So as not to insult the reputation of his late father.

Zheng Pu knew about this.

Deliberately provoking him with words is just to let him give it a go.

Don't worry about Zhong Zhong because it is difficult to win this battle, thinking that his two hundred armored cavalry were lost for nothing.

"nice!"

Zheng Pu applauded, "Everyone in the world says that Brother Wen Rong is like an uncle, and today is exactly what he is saying! Well, since Brother Wen Rong is so determined, I will let the armor under his supervision show off his power here." Bar!"

Ok?
Hearing this, Zhang Bao first smiled and then was stunned.

After being stunned for a while, he asked urgently, "Is there a way for Zijin to force that rebellious Wei Xia Houru out to fight in the field?"

"There is a way, but I'm not sure."

Nodding his head and answering, Zheng Pu turned his horse's head and went back slowly.

Seeing this, Zhang Bao stood stunned and stroked his beard. After pondering for a while, he couldn't understand it, so he hurriedly drove the horse and rode side by side, and continued to ask, "What can Zijin do? Why don't you tell me first, maybe I can learn more about it. two."

"Hahaha~~~"

Involuntarily, Zheng Pu smiled, and said softly, "Brother, you don't believe me when you ask this question. Well, Brother Wen Rong, why don't I make a bet. If I can force Ni Wei to fight, you must lose to me." One thing; and vice versa. How?"

Zhang Bao, who was told his thoughts, was slightly embarrassed, and asked, "What is it?"

"A machine bar."

Zheng Pu's tone was a little lost, "Xijun and my wine were all begged by Bo Qi and Anyue, alas~~~~"

It also made Zhang Bao grin.

Before Zhang Yan returned to Sichuan, she gave each of them five jars of machine wine, and it was right to drink a few sips to express her feelings when she was bored in the army.

But after Zheng Pu led the army to Pingxiang City, he gave a jar to Zhang Yi, Zhou Tai, Mi Wei, Liu Lin, and Guan Xing who later led the army to accept the defense, so that he lost himself.

Zhang Bao is different.

He only had [-] armored cavalry under his command, but he opened three jars to drink together before the soldiers left, and the rest was reserved for celebration!

So it is understandable that Zheng Pu missed him.

However, after he laughed, he directly refused, "No gambling!"

"Why!?"

Surprised, Zheng Pu suddenly raised his voice and asked back.

"A few days ago, I received a letter from home."

Laughing softly, Zhang Bao leisurely said, "After my family members learned that I belonged to Zijin, the queen told me in a letter not to be arrogant to you as a wife and brother. Claiming that I was only brave to you, The rest are not as good as the rest. I am convinced of this. Since you dare to invite me to bet today, you must have a good chance of winning."

At this point, Zhang Bao blinked, and raised his eyebrows in mockery, "Well, what Zijin said just now, is it a modest statement to be sure? With the danger of Xiaoguan, Zijin can win it without bloodshed, let alone persecution. Fight against Wei!"

uh~~~
Zheng Pu was speechless.

Afterwards, he swung his whip on the horse and galloped away.

The dust rolled up by the horse's hooves flew wantonly, and all of them covered Zhang Bao who was caught off guard, making him curse for a while.

Two days later.

After the soldiers built the barracks and eased the fatigue of the march, Zheng Pu gave way to a follower and went to the outermost barracks of Ni Wei alone.

The servant only held a shield, and slowly stepped into the place where the arrows were aimed by the strong crossbowmen of the state of Wei.

The general of the Wei State who guarded the outermost barracks happened to be Wang Mi.

It was also he who stopped the impulse of the small school under his command to shoot and kill the Han envoys: in Liangzhou, where the folk customs are strong, the two armies often send envoys to invite them to fight in fierce battles.If he was shot, it would lower the morale of his own army.

When the Han envoy stopped within half an arrow, he shouted loudly on the low wooden fence wall, "Whoever comes, stop!"

Hearing the sound, the servant couldn't help but put down his shield.

Since Ni Wei had someone to talk to, he wouldn't shoot him.

He casually took out a piece of bundled cloth from his bosom, raised it above his head, raised it, and said loudly, "My general has a letter to your commander-in-chief, and invite your army to fight to the death at four o'clock the next day!"

After that, he gently put the cloth on the ground, covered it with a shield, and turned to leave.

Wang Mi hastily tied a person down with a rope, fetched the cloth, and then ordered his deputy to be on guard, and then went to the Chinese army barracks with a few followers.

The reason why he was so eager was because he wanted to go out of the battalion to compete with the Han army.

It's just that it was not easy to persuade Xia Houru to give up his plan of fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness at that time, and it was not easy to come to guard this place;

When he was young, he went to the Chinese army, found Xia Houru, saluted first, and handed over the cloth in his hand.

"General, Ni Shu Zheng Pu has sent a letter of war."

"Hmm, gauntlet?"

Somewhat unexpectedly, Xia Houru took the cloth.

With a quick glance, his face was pitch black.

It made Wang Mi feel a little happy and a little apprehensive.

Perhaps, in the letter are the words of Ni Shu Zheng Pu who insulted and angered the general?

I don't know if the general will fight in anger?
Or is it angry at me?
However, unexpectedly, Xia Houru closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then put the letter on the desk, turned his head to look at the distant mountains, his eyes were vaguely thoughtful.

What did Zheng Pu, who was against Shu, say, make the general act so evil?

Wang Mi, who was extremely surprised in his heart, did not dare to disturb him when he saw this.

Seeing that the cloth was open on the table, he narrowed his eyes and peeked at it for identification.

The letter sent by Zheng Pu was not long.

Said:
"Wen Jun used to be the Sima of Xiaoqi General, and he went to Zhengdai County Karasuma. Before the battle, the Xiaoqi General counted arrows in his armor, and his spirit became stronger, and he took advantage of the victory to fight against the north. The king's shadow, the heroic spirit, is a good talk for a while. If you are not talented, you will also He once led the army into Yinping, and killed countless Dilu. We meet on the battlefield today, and I hope that I will line up in the field the next day, and dare to test whether the heroic generals of the past are still alive!"

After roughly looking at it, Wang Mi also secretly said in his heart: No wonder.

He is Xia Houru's confidant, and during the years of working together, there is no lack of intimacy such as drinking together.Occasionally, I heard some of the past from Xia Houru's drunken remarks after drinking a lot.

For example, General Xiaoqi is Cao Zhang.

He used to be Xia Houru's superior, and also the person Xia Houru admired the most since he took up the military post.

Even today's Great Sima Cao Zhen is incomparable.

Today, Cao Zhang has died of illness for many years, but Nishu Zheng Pu invited Xia Houru to fight fiercely on this ground, which can be regarded as a kind of aggressive method.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, there was silence for a long time.

When Xia Houru slowly retracted his lonely face, Wang Mi, who had been paying attention all the time, asked aloud, "General, will our army go to battle?"

"No fight."

Xia Houru waved his hand, his voice was soft, but his tone was firm.

It also made Wang Mi dumbfounded.

I wanted to give a few words of remonstrance, but when the words came to my lips, I swallowed them unconsciously.

But he didn't want to, Xia Houru said slowly again, "You send someone on my behalf to tell Zheng Pu, the traitor who rebelled against Shu. Just say that I am the general of the Wei State who conquered the West and have been in the army for decades. His face is shameless, and he is laughing for the world. If you want me to fight, let him attack. If you take my outer barracks, I will definitely not despise him."

Is this a retort, asking Ni Shu to attack the fortifications regardless of casualties?

Or, looking for reasons for his own fear of war?
Wang Mi was dumbfounded again.

Not daring to refute, bowed his head and obeyed, "No!"

In the Han army camp, Zheng Pu, who received a letter from Wei Guo, raised his eyebrows and smiled regardless of Zhang Bao, beckoning to the guards of the Chinese army, and ordered, "Go and order the whole army to go to battle tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)

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