Shu Chen

Chapter 240 Changes
Pingxiang City, the military camp in the north of the city.

The scattered fires scorched the dark and deep night with little scars, and opened their teeth and claws with the whimpering cold wind.

Under a fire pile far away from the military tent, the subordinate Qi Yacuo was roasting mutton.

Sometimes adding firewood or turning the mutton, and sometimes scratching the back of the hand.

As a Liaoren from Nanzhong Zangcang County, since he came to Longyou, every time it came to the turn of winter and spring, his hands would always have a few chilblains.

Unbearably itchy and irritating.

Frostbite is the most annoying thing for many warriors from the southern and central counties.

But Begging House rarely complains.

The longer he stayed in Longyou, the less he complained.

After all, he was lucky.It is now the 12th year of Jianxing (AD 234), and the Han Dynasty has been on the Northern Expedition for six years, and many soldiers have no chance of getting frostbite.

Especially the soldiers under Zheng Pu's command in the Central Guard Army.

No one questioned Zheng Pu's dispatching ability. For example, Zhang Yi, Zhou Tai, Liu Lin and others were able to accumulate meritorious service and be named marquis and generals.

But no one denied that every time the army went out, the soldiers under Zheng Pu's command would suffer heavy casualties.

The illustrious military exploits will always be paved with countless bones.

Not only from the enemy, but also from our own army.

Therefore, Zheng Pu also developed a habit of playing the flute alone in the dead of night on the eve of leading the army out.

The begging tooth house has no rhythm.

I just feel that the tune is a little sad.

Also, I heard by chance that when the mistress asked about the name of the song, Mr. Lang replied "Swan Goose".

Qiyacuo is very familiar with birds like swan geese.

Every autumn, he began to move south, and he even took the opportunity to hide by the lake and shot many people.

I also remember that when he brought back swan geese to roast, Mr. Lang said that the fragrance was tangy, the meat was delicate and chewy, and the feathers could be used to make arrow tails with military craftsmen, etc.

When you eat, you are full of praise, but when you play the tune, why is it so mellow and sad?

Amazing!

Qi Yacuo tilted his head, listened carefully for a while, but still felt puzzled.

He simply didn't think about it anymore, and continued to scratch his chilblains boredly, and his eyes fell on the mutton that had been roasted until it turned golden.

The mutton was donated by General Jiang.

That general recently went back and forth to Longxi County to send back the ashes of the Qiang soldiers who died in the battle, and also mentioned the fact that the Qiang people defected before the battle. 【Note 1】

Therefore, the tribal leaders who defected to the Qiang people all gave a lot of cattle and sheep to General Jiang to bring them to work.

What is meant by "the sky is cold, the soldiers are hard, and I would like to show my humble heart with cattle and sheep."

Obviously he was worried about General Jiang's crimes, so he offered cattle and sheep, but he said it was his loyalty to the big man.

How hypocritical!
However, this mutton is really fragrant~~~~
Accompanied by a drop of fat falling on the charcoal fire, the fragrance of "squeak" pervaded the air, making Qi Yacuo, who hadn't tasted mutton for several months, couldn't help but close his eyes and take a deep breath. admiration.

It's just that he was not intoxicated for a long time, so he opened his eyes suddenly, stood up quickly, and put his hand on the handle of the knife at his waist.Although he knew that no one would be against Zheng Pu in the barracks, he also felt instinctive when he heard footsteps.

"There is no need to be on guard for Buqudu, it is me."

The person who came made a sound, and slowly approached the fire from the darkness, and the light and shadow illuminated his face.

It turned out to be Xu Zhi.

Zheng Pu, who was sitting quietly on the flute on the other side, also woke up.

First, he motioned for Qiyacuo to release the guard, then waved to Xu Zhi with a smile, and invited him to sit down, "It's late at night, Zizhong can't sleep, do you know I'm roasting meat here?"

"Hehe~~~"

With a light smile, Xu Zhicai folded his robe and sat down, and said loudly, "It's the melodious sound of the general's flute, which makes me miss my hometown and relatives. Ashamed!"

"Um"

Slightly nasal, Zheng Pu smiled, and handed over the kumiss pouch on the ground.

He knew what Xu Zhi said was not the truth, and he vaguely guessed its purpose, but he didn't want to tell the truth.

After the battle of Xiao Guandao, Xu Zhi respected him very much.

That's because before Zhang Yi led the Xuanwu army into the other camp, whenever the Wei army attacked the camp, Zheng Pu would ask Qi Yacuo to tie Xu Zhi in the army tent, and he gained gratitude and respect.

Binding him is to protect his life and his family in Zhangye County.

For example, once the other camp was breached by the Wei army, and Wei Ping saw Xu Zhi who was tightly bound in the army tent, he would not think that he had surrendered to a big man.

They even thought that after being captured by the Han army, he would swear to the death, so he was tied up in the camp by Zheng Pu to question the military situation.

For this reason, Xu Wenzhi and Zheng Puenyi's attitude has also changed from being helpless before to being willing to work for the big man with all his strength.This time, if there is no accident, it should be to invite you to join the battle as a big man.

Yes, the Han army is about to deploy.

It was spring and February, and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang decided to use troops against the Wei army again.

However, in terms of strategy, Zheng Pu's suggestion was not adopted.

When the prime minister was brainstorming several times, Yulun Jiang Wei's suggestion was to gather troops from Longyou and go to Zuli County with [-] troops to fight Cao Zhen, the great Sima of Wei.

This is the consensus of most people.

There is nothing wrong with it, all soldiers have absolute confidence in the war.

Husband war, courage also.

Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.

In the late autumn of last year, the Wei army came with an army of tens of thousands, but they built an inch and did not take an inch of land. More than two months, but did not attack the city, it is three failures of courage.

Just at this time, the prime minister had led the army back and rested for two months, his morale was high, and it was hard for him to go against Wei.

And during the war, the Wei Yan and Guan Xing tribes who were trapped in Zuli City could also wait for an opportunity to attack from behind; even the Zhang Bao tribe who was far away in Yuyinsai, without the Wei army trapped in the fortress, could not send Liu Yin to lead the army. The Hu army came to help.

In terms of morale and strength, the Han army has almost no chance of defeat in this battle.

And if they are defeated, the Wei army will be completely pushed back to Guanzhong, and the Han army can take advantage of the victory to march into Hexi and regain the entire Liangzhou in one fell swoop.

Even after defeating Wei Ping and Guo Huai, the two guards of Wei Liangzhou in this battle, the Haoyou and Qianghu tribes in the four counties of Hexi and Jincheng counties all lost confidence in the Wei state.

Such a desirable result, who is not excited?

But Zheng Pu proposed another way of thinking.

He is not optimistic.

I feel that I will go to Zuli County with a large army to fight Cao Zhen. If I win, the soldiers will suffer a lot.

The reason is that Cao Zhen has already been defeated once, and he will not let the Han army get a second chance to fight in the field.Not surprisingly, he will not be able to hold on, and the Han army will have to pull out the camps one by one.

In the most clumsy but most effective way, the Han army fell into a war of attrition.

Therefore, Zheng Pu's suggestion was to ask Prime Minister Zhuge to lead the main force back to Hanzhong, join forces with General Wu Yi of the left, and go out of Baoxie Valley to Fufeng on the right.

Step by step, advance while farming.

If Cao Zhen leads the army back to Guanzhong, then the prime minister will fight against it and consume it, and let Wei Yandu lead Wu Ban, Gao Xiang, Jiang Wei, Zhang Bao and other troops to advance to Hexi and defeat Liangzhou.

If the Wei army does not return to Guanzhong, then the prime minister can beat You Fufeng down, making Cao Zhen's army a rootless tree.

Naturally, in order to implement such a strategy, the premise is that Xiao Guan Dao must be guarded.

Because once the prime minister leads the army into the pass, Cao Zhen's most likely choice is to attack the Xiaoguan Road again with the governor, and break through Xiaoguan to connect with Anding County.

It also connects Longyou and Guanzhong into one again, and can advance and retreat freely strategically.

Therefore, after weighing several times, the prime minister decided whether to accept Zheng Pu's proposal.

Anyway, in the previous battle, if Zhang Ni led the army to provide timely support, the other battalion guarding Xiaoguan Road would have been breached!

The prime minister, who has always been cautious, will not take chances.

The strategy is established, and the dispatch and distribution of troops and horses of various ministries has also been implemented one after another.

The central army was still led by the prime minister, and the right wing was supervised by the right general Wu Ban; while Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei, who were disabled, were transferred to Pingxiang City and temporarily belonged to Gao Xiang's army, serving as the left wing of the army.

March five days later.

This was the case with Xu Zhi, who came to ask for orders to accompany him as a soldier of the Han Dynasty.

He wanted to be included in Liu Lin's heavy stroke.

Because those heavy infantry were wearing hideous visors when they went into battle, there was no need to worry about being recognized by Wei Jun.

In this regard, Zheng Pu has nothing to do.

Although I feel that Xu Zhi's role as a pawn is a bit inferior.

But after thinking about it, and letting him develop a bond with the soldiers, it will be of great benefit to leading the army in the future, so he agreed.

However, just the day before the army was about to dispatch, the scouts sent a puzzling military report.

For some reason, Cao Zhen led his troops back to Anding County! ——
[Note 1: "When the Qiang people died, they burned their ashes" - "Zhuangzi"; Spring and Autumn·Great Rewards"]

(End of this chapter)