Wei Ni

Chapter 86

The world is bleak, and everything is tired.

The sunset gradually faded away and was eroded by the twilight. It also turned the Wancheng Valley, which had changed ownership for several years, into a cold and lonely village, and the sad wind was heard all over the world.

Xia Houhui, who slid down the mountain along the rope and walked out of the hidden obstacles of the Wanshui River Valley, found that the valley of Wancheng was as desolate as that of Hefei City.

Most of the scattered euphemisms have become ruins.

Standing on the low hill and looking as far as the eye can see, you can hardly find the rising smoke.

"General, if you go four or five miles forward, you will find a small village that often exchanges supplies with us."

A man from Shanshan leaned over, pointed to the southeast side, and explained to Xia Houhui, "There are about 30 more families over there, but most of them are old people, women and children, and the young men have been taken to farm by Wu soldiers. It’s just New Year’s Eve, and I don’t know how many have been released.”

His accent is very strange.

Xia Houhui had only a half-knowledge of what it meant, and only after guessing and guessing did she get a rough idea of ​​what it meant.

"Very good."

He tore off the small wine pouch around his waist and took a sip to warm his body, then handed it to him who was a savage, and said to Cao Zuan who followed him, "Desi, you bring someone to stay here to meet General Zhang and the others. Go take a look at that village. If everything is safe, I will send someone back to inform you."

"Go on your own, just leave this place to me!"

Hearing this, Cao Zuan, who was full of excitement and looking forward to the military exploits, nodded heavily and echoed loudly.

Without waiting for Xia Houhui's reaction, he turned around and went back to the valley, and cleaned up the gravel or dead branches on the ground with the soldiers hanging down from the cliff one after another, lest the soldiers who filed down accidentally sprained their ankles or something.

It also made Xia Houhui, who just opened his mouth to continue to give some instructions, grinned, and led his followers and Yan Shanman to the small village in the twilight.

Yes, they have already crossed the Dabie Mountains.

It took eleven days.

Because of the heavy snow of goose feathers that fell for four consecutive days during the period, this road, which is not a trail at all, is very difficult to walk.

And it cost a lot.

More than [-] people were withdrawn from the battle if they were injured while climbing, or accidentally stepped on spikes. Nearly [-] soldiers were frostbitten when they slept in the snow in the mountains. , More than [-] people froze to death.

no way.

In order to hide, Sun Li ordered that no fire should be made, and everyone drank snow water and ate frozen dry food, and slept in the snow or on rocks in the same clothes.

But all is well.

Most of these non-combat attrition soldiers were scholars or county soldiers from Anfeng and Yiyang counties.

Their physique is too bad.

For example, the headquarters led by generals Zhang Ying and Le Fang did not lose a single person.

The new army is also fine.

The number of soldiers recruited from Tuntian Ke decreased by 60 to [-], while the number of Shijia had none.

Perhaps, this is because the Shi family who couldn't bear the bitter cold had already been eliminated a long time ago.

As for why Xiahou Huiyin's new army acted as the front of the way~
Yan Shanman, who led the Wei army, only trusted him.

Not only because of the relationship with Yanshan's subordinates, but also because he asked Uncle Sun to arrange a family to have a child, and traded salt, iron, farm tools and other things with Yanshanman, and the price was very fair, so that Yanshanman was very friendly to him.

And willing to do more for him.

Originally, the Yan Shanman who led the way took the Wei army to the Wanshui River Valley and entered the Wancheng Valley, which was regarded as the task completed.

But now they have selected four or five people to control the small village in front together with Xia Houhui, so as to prevent the frightened villagers from escaping from the hidden path to report to Wu Jun.

After all, Wancheng is only thirty (Han) miles away from the Dabie Mountains.

"Shizai, lead the headquarters to go around the front of the village to be on guard."

After a while, Xia Houhui, who led the troops to the outside of the village, stopped and ordered.

"only."

Deng Ai, who had been converted to a supervisor of 500 people, took orders quietly.

Then he looked back and waved, and quietly took the headquarters and quickly detoured away.

"Jose, you stay outside the village with the athletes. If you see someone running out, you would rather kill the wrong person than make him escape."

Ruo Ze is the name of the retinue Chang Gouquan, and Xia Houhui named it for him.

"only."

Gou Quan also took orders softly, and ordered all the subordinates to leave quickly with bows in hand.

The soldiers of the new army were not equipped with armor and bows and crossbows, so only their subordinates could do the job of sniping and killing fish that slipped through the net.

However, they did not have the opportunity to perform.

When Xia Houhui entered the small village with the other [-] soldiers, the Li and Shu in the village seemed very calm, and they didn't even try to flee in fright.

They seem to be used to it.

There is no surprise on the face.

The obedient ones walked out of the low houses and gathered in a group under the scolding of the soldiers, and some women were still whispering to comfort the crying of their children.

This scene surprised even Xia Houhui.

Could it be that they had a very unsatisfactory life under Jiangdong's rule, so they have been expecting Wei Jun to take back Wancheng Valley?
After all, according to the information inquired by the detailed work, it is claimed that the Li and Shu who still live in the valley of Wancheng today are very heavy. Almost every household pays a man to farm for Wu soldiers, smelt iron, log and build ships, or repair roads.

And the time of corvee service is as long as half a year every year!
This kind of tyranny makes even Qin Huang Han Wu feel ashamed.

However, when Yan Shanman led out from the crowd an old man in his 50s who should be an old man from the village, what he said made Xia Houhui quite ashamed.

"General, we don't have any food in our family, let alone wealth. Most of the strong men were taken to work by Wu soldiers."

He said so.

In very concise words, he expresses the helplessness of being born in troubled times.

It also made Xia Houhui instantly understand that in the eyes of these villagers, there is no difference between Wu Bing and Wei Bing.

They are all raccoon dogs who only know how to extort money, rob food and money, and pull strong men!
"Old man, don't worry, our army won't take your surplus food and assets."

After a moment of silence, Xia Houhui said slowly, "Besides, as long as you stay in the village peacefully tonight, our army will definitely not commit any crimes. Well, it will be New Year's Eve in two days. Young man, how many came back in total?"

For Xia Houhui's relief, the old man had no joy on his face.

Maybe he didn't believe it or he was insensitive, he just replied briefly, "Seven."

After saying that, turning around, seven people were called out from the gathered crowd.

Xia Houhui kept the seven people behind, and sent all the villagers back to their houses to rest for the night, and told them not to come out, and asked the soldiers to give them some dry food to reassure them.

These seven strong men stayed behind to lead the way.

They have served Jiangdong all the year round, and they know that the farm sites outside Wancheng and the guard points where Wu soldiers are idle can just facilitate the Wei army's sneak attack.

Of course, Xia Houhui wouldn't rush over this kind of thing in person.

He directly asked Deng Ai and Jiao Yi, two 500-man supervisors, to separate out two centurion teams to clean up.

On the other hand, he continued to stay in the village, took the rest of the people to collect firewood, built stones or borrowed the stove from Li Shu’s house to boil water, and provided a meal of hot water for the coming general Zhang Ying and the soldiers of Le Fang’s headquarters. dry food.

Well, Jiao Yi was also recruited by Li Changshi a few months ago and turned into a 500-man supervisor.

And like Deng Ai, they all supervise and lead the scholars' families.

The reason is that scholars are very keen on military exploits.

Coincidentally, Jiao Yi, who was attacked by Sun Bu at night, also wanted to clean up his defeat and justify his name.

About half an hour later, Sun Li and Zhang Ying, who had been sent by Xia Houhui, both rushed to the small village by themselves after the deputy supervisor of the troops and horses of the headquarters.

He also took command.

It was at this time that Xia Houhui realized why both Sun Li and Zhang Ying were sure of winning the surprise attack on Wancheng.

It turned out that Man Chong had already made a lot of preparations—because Sun Li had just arrived, and the subordinates who were working separately from him brought back a dozen or so secret agents one after another.

Obviously, Xia Houhui asked the soldiers of the new army to search the area carefully, but he didn't find them.

God knows where they are hiding.

"Don't be surprised when you are young." Just when Xia Houhui was stunned and began to suspect that the new army might not be ready to fight, Sun Li explained, "These people are the secret agents of General Man in Wancheng, and they are already dormant. I'm over a year old, and I was informed by General Man when I was about to leave."

It turned out to be the case.

Only then did Xia Houhui suddenly realize.

And Sun Li didn't say anything else, and listened carefully to the information brought back by Xi Zuo.

"Reporting to the prefect, my subordinates have been lurking outside Wancheng for the past two days, counting the garrison soldiers on the city. There are no more than five hundred in the morning, and less than two hundred in the night."

"Prefect, I sneaked into Wancheng three days ago. The guards at the city gate were lax, and I didn't check carefully. And my subordinates have observed the number of soldiers for days, and the number of soldiers and horses in the city does not exceed [-]. It should be due to the end of the year. Sun Wu The Wancheng thieves will let the soldiers rest in rotation."

"Reporting to the prefect, the subordinates have been wandering around Juchao recently, and have not found any soldiers and horses from the bandit Wu's other troops coming to Wancheng."

"Reporting to the prefect, I have been lurking to steal the water from Wu and Anhui into the river mouth. For nearly a month, no boats from the east of the river have been found."

More than a dozen detailed works, one after another, illustrate the same thing with different deeds: Wancheng is in the heart of the valley, and there is no need to worry about Wei's attack, and the defense is lax and there are few garrisons.

After Sun Li finished listening, he pondered for a moment and then made a decision.

He asked General Zhang Ying to go back immediately and take the headquarters with him, instead of eating in the small village, he rushed to a small forest three miles outside Wancheng to rest for the night.And first cut down some trees to build long ladders to climb the city wall, etc., to prepare for the sneak attack at five o'clock; and half of the new troops who went to the fortress between Wancheng and Juchao to intercept the rout or messengers were immediately in small villages. Eat and rest overnight, and nourish your energy, wait until the soldiers and scholars from the two counties of Anfeng and Yiyang have arrived before setting off.

After finishing the dispatch, he also dispatched his personal guards to go to the west of Wancheng to intercept the messengers who might come to Wancheng from Xunyang County, and then returned to Wanshui River Valley to urge the county soldiers to speed up their journey.

It's night, it's almost five o'clock.

There used to be a beam of fire on the wall of Wancheng City more than ten steps away, but six out of ten fire beams have been extinguished.

Between the two beams of fire, there was a group of soldiers on guard, but now most of them are gone; between the beams of fire that are still guarded, there is only one soldier yawning with a spear in his hand, and the other four People have long been huddled under the crenels of the city wall and snoring loudly.

Even on the tall watchtowers on both sides, the fire of one watchtower was extinguished.

The laxness of defense is appalling.

Cao Zuan, who was impatient and encouraged Xia Houhui to take his subordinates to walk two hundred steps away from Wancheng to check the enemy's situation, felt incredible.

I can't even believe it.

In the battle of Shiting in the past, his father led a hundred thousand cavalry into the valley of Wancheng, but was he defeated by this kind of mob? !

After watching in silence for a while, emotionally unable to accept it, he tugged Xia Houhui's shoulder on the left side, leaned his head over and asked in a low voice, "Zhiquan, you used twenty cavalry to burn down the Fuling garrison point earlier, and the soldiers stationed by the thief Wu also did the same." Are you so relaxed?"

Certainly not!
However, at that time, I took advantage of the eclipse to attack, so it was not far behind.

There was an echo in my heart, and Xia Houhui asked with some doubts, "Why did Desi ask this question? Isn't it a good thing for our army that the thief Wu's defense is lax?"

"Hey, it's a good thing. Well, very good."

A few unnatural laughs, he hastily nodded in agreement.

It also made Xia Houhui react suddenly.

After thinking about it, he comforted him and said, "The thief Wu has lived through three generations, and it is not all because of the favorable location of the river. The elites such as the tiger soldiers under the chariot and the troublesome soldiers are no less powerful than our Wei army. This city The slack defense and negligence of the soldiers are all because our army will not come to fight again. Well, it is also because of the poor defense of this city."

Because of Yan Gui?
Hearing this, Cao Zuan, who was a little relieved, turned his head and thought for a while, and then asked again, "I heard that Yan Gui, the guard here, had a record of capturing our general and leading Wang Shuang in his early years. He should be a good fighter, right? Why is he naive?" What about claiming he's unbearable?"

"I just found out too."

Xia Houhui laughed, and first informed about Man Chong's placement in the valley of Wancheng, and then said, "After Sun Taishou left, I chatted with those secret agents for a while, so I learned that the thief general Yan Gui was determined not to return. in previous years."

Well, Yan Gui had resentment towards Sun Quan.

Due to geographical factors, the Wancheng Valley, no matter whether it belongs to Wei or Wu, once attacked, it is difficult for the defending side to get timely rescue.

The previous guard, Shen De, proved this with his life.

Therefore, Yan Gui, who was appointed as the prefect of Lujiang by Sun Quan, was very dissatisfied.

You must know that there are no Li Shu in the entire Wancheng Valley.

Following Wu Guohua's practice of raising soldiers, he was stationed in the valley of Wancheng not only at great risk, but also in a tight budget to support his own soldiers!

Besides, he is almost 60 years old!

Coming from a poor family, he has no chance of promotion in his official career!
Why did Sun Quan still send him to Wancheng instead of letting him stay in Wu to make Sun Zhan happy?

With this kind of resentment, it's not surprising that Yan Gui doesn't care about defense.

Especially if you don't pay attention to your heart, the result will be the same.

If Wei Guo invaded in a large scale, with his army and horses and the not-so-strong city, he would not be able to change the result of the destruction of the city if he paid attention to it;

He has nothing to gain here!

uh~
So that's what happened~
After listening to the explanation, Cao Zui nodded suddenly.

And Deng Ai, who had been standing silently behind the two of them and heard it clearly, bowed his head and pondered for a moment, then called out like a gnat, "General."

"Ok?"

Xia Houhui, who couldn't hear clearly, turned her head and searched the faces of all the people for a while, only to find that it was Deng Ai's plea, and asked, "Is there something wrong with Shizai?"

"General, the defense of Wan City is extremely poor. Regardless of whether we support or not, General Zhang can win in one battle."

Deng Ai bowed his hands and said in a bumpy voice, "And if I follow General Zhang to break Wancheng, it will be difficult to show the name of the new army. Why don't I go to Shu County? I have a plan, which may be broken. .”

It also made Xia Houhui immediately stunned.

Poshu County? !

Are you sure you mean Shu County, not Ju Chao?
You know, Xi Zuo, who is dormant in the valley of Wancheng, claims that there are a total of [-] Wu soldiers stationed at the two guard points in Shu County!
(End of this chapter)