Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 346 Burning food to capture generals
  At dawn, the sky turned white, and a red sun slowly rose.

Huang Zhong and Lu Meng each led their troops across the Han River and headed towards Tiantai Mountain where they were hoarding grain and grass.

According to the previously discussed strategy, Lu Meng led [-] men from his headquarters to advance, raid the Tiantai Mountain Liangzhai, and trick Ma Chao into coming out. Huang Zhong led his army of [-] elite infantrymen and cavalry, hiding in the mountains. He took the opportunity to break out and try to burn down the grain village.

After parting ways with Lu Meng, Huang Zhong led his sergeants to build a pontoon bridge from the Han River shoal and sneak into the mountains of northern Han Dynasty.

Huang Zhong led the war horse and meandered along the path between the mountains under the guidance of the guide. The flags of all the sergeants under the tent were lowered, and they did not dare to make a big show, lest they be discovered by Cao Jun's scouts. From a distance, apart from a flock of frightened birds, it was almost impossible to spot the Confederate Army.

The mountain wind howled, and the trees all over the mountains and plains rustled like a tidal wave. The Confederate army groped the front line along the mottled trails, and could often find traces of various ferocious beasts in the mountains. However, they noticed the movement of large groups of humans and could only watch from a distance.

After an unknown amount of time, the guide signaled that they had arrived at their destination, and Huang Zhong ordered all the troops to rest where they were.

"The general has an order to stop the advance!"

Scouts ran along the marching team to convey military orders.

"rest!"

Under the orders of the various generals, three thousand infantry soldiers dispersed into the forest. According to units of ten, they either rested in the shade of the trees or sat next to the rocks, and carefully checked whether there were snakes, scorpions, centipedes and other dangerous and poisonous species around them.

While the sergeant was resting, Huang Zhong took a few confidants to the mountainside and found a good position under the cover of trees.

Pushing aside the branches, Huang Zhong carefully stuck his head out and peered into Cao Jun's grain village at the foot of Tiantai Mountain.

"General, General Lu is leading his troops to attack Cao Jun's grain stockade!" the servant with good eyesight said after spotting the traces of Lu Meng's troops.

Huang Zhong looked for fame and went out, only to see the soldiers and horses led by Lu Meng divided into several groups and rushed out from the forest. The good archers used bows and arrows to shoot at the defenders, and they rushed towards the Tiantai Mountain Liangzhai with a roar of mountains and tsunami. Cao Jun in the stronghold was on emergency alert, sounding the sound of gathering troops to defend against the bandits.

The place where grain and grass are stored is no better than a large military camp, and it is well-arranged. Because grain and grass flowed down the Han River, grain and grass were mostly stored in dry places along the river. Camps were built around the grain and grass storage areas. Soldiers and horses were deployed outside for defense, leaving passages for transporting grain. As a result, the defense of soldiers and horses was not as tight as in normal military camps.

Under the command of Lu Meng, the southern army once rushed to Liangzhai. Fortunately, Ma Chao was well prepared. He led the Guanlong Buqi to charge out and intercept the Southern troops who were trying to attack the camp. The soldiers of the Southern Army were unable to resist and were killed with heads rolling in.

Seeing Ma Chao charging out, Lu Meng took the opportunity to fire a volley of bows and crossbows. Many of his riders were killed or injured, and he almost hit Ma Chao. Then, in order to anger Ma Chao, Lu Meng ordered people to insult Ma Chao with unpleasant words such as "Qiang son" and "Qiang dog".

The verbal humiliation made Ma Chao furious, and he waved the long spear in his hand more and more fiercely. He almost couldn't defeat the enemy in a round. Wherever he went, the soldiers of the Southern Army retreated in defeat, and the troops were approaching Lu Meng.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Meng ordered his troops to retreat and led the defeated army to escape from the foot of the mountain and into the valley.

Ma Chao rode his horse to give chase, but was stopped by Pang De.

Pang pulled Ma Chao's reins and said: "General, Wei Gong ordered the general to guard the grain stronghold. Now we must stick to it first and don't pursue him deeply."

"Qiang dog, does it have a biological mother?"

Lu Meng appeared out of nowhere, shouted loudly, and rode away again.

Ma Chao was furious. He had no feelings for Ma Teng, but he had deep feelings for his biological mother. Now someone was humiliating his mother, which was unbearable for him.

Ma Chao pulled Pang De's hand away and said angrily: "Lü Meng is so quick to talk, I will kill him. If I don't kill him, I won't be able to vent my hatred. Order Ming to lead his troops to stay at the Liangzhai and return when I kill Lü Meng!"

"In addition to our army, there are also Niugai's troops, who are also nearby. If Liangzhai is attacked, Niugai will come to the rescue!"

Recently, Ma Chao has been very upset. The Wudu Qiang and Di people he finally recruited were taken over by Cao Cao. The leader abandoned him and knelt down to lick Cao Cao. His younger brother Ma Dai was transferred to Cao Hong's camp, but Cao Cao never returned him. Instead, he transferred Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen back to his own army.

His military power was restricted and he was ridiculed by Lu Meng. The anger in his heart could no longer be contained and kept rising. If he couldn't defeat Cao Cao, couldn't he abuse Lu Meng?
  Ma Chao shouted, "Pursue!"

"drive!"

"go!"

Thousands of Guanlongbu cavalry followed Ma Chao and pursued Lü Meng along the path of his retreat. Lü Meng and his troops abandoned their helmets and armor and fled, while Ma Chao led his troops to pursue them in depth. Ma and Lu gradually moved away from Liangzhai, leaving Pang De alone to guard the village.

In the forest, Huang Zhong looked through the leaves and saw what was happening on the battlefield.

"General, if Ma Chao leads his troops to attack, will he take the opportunity to attack the camp?" Fu Wei asked.

Huang Zhong narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who is the person riding the white horse?"

Fu Wei looked at it for a while and said: "Ma Chao's general Pang De often rides a white horse. It should be Ma Chao who led the soldiers to pursue him and left Pang De to guard the stronghold."

"Pound?"

Huang Zhong stroked his beard and said, "But General Guo Yuan was killed in Hedong?"

"Exactly!"

Huang Zhong pondered for a while and said: "Pang De is brave and can't be defeated by force. It is better to capture the enemy's stronghold wisely before burning the enemy's food and grass."

"Please tell me, General!"

Huang Zhong pointed to the layout of the grain stronghold and said: "Ma Chao led his sergeants to pursue him. The grain stronghold was empty and it was difficult for the enemy to take care of everything. Now we can divide our troops into three groups, two of them go out first, and use rockets to burn the grain warehouse. When Cao Jun mobilizes his troops, , I led thousands of people to attack from the Western Village and burn grain and grass together."

After a pause, Huang Zhong said: "Remember not to be too eager to fight. Those who are disadvantaged will leave!"

Fu Wei checked the sky and said, "When will the troops be launched?"

Huang Zhong pondered for a while and said: "The enemy's breakfast was interrupted by Zi Ming. The enemy's breakfast was not used. We can wait until the enemy is eating to send troops!"

"promise!"

Not long after, smoke started to rise from Cao Jun's grain stockade, and it was obvious that Cao Jun's soldiers started cooking again.

When they saw the smoke rising again, Fu Xu and Tan Yue each led a thousand men and led their troops to fight out amidst the sound of golden drums. They took advantage of the enemy's meal to rush into the close range of the camp.

"Hey!"

With bows and arrows in hand, the knight galloped to the front of the camp, aiming at the sergeants outside the camp.

"Whoosh!"

Several sergeants on guard fell to the ground at the sound, and the sergeants on the tower beat drums to signal the enemy's attack.

After the cavalry, the infantry moved forward, and the crossbowmen held arrows in their hands. When approaching the enemy's stronghold, more than a dozen soldiers lit torches and ran along the line of crossbowmen, lighting the oilcloths on the arrows wherever they passed.

"shoot!"

"Whoosh!"

Hundreds of rockets streaked through the air and shot towards Cao Jun's camp. Rockets shot into the camp, either setting the tent on fire, or hitting the sergeants who came to rescue, or by luck, hitting the granary. The outer layer of the granary is made of thatch, which ignites immediately when exposed to fire, and the intensity of the fire increases instantly.

"The granary is on fire!"

The chaos in the outer camp was quickly reported to Pound, and the attendants hurriedly entered the tent and said: "General, the Southern Army is divided into two parts. From the east and west sides, they raid our camp and shoot them with rockets. Most of the granaries are set on fire. We are trying to break through now." Camp, rush into the camp, our army is resisting."

"Damn!"

Pang De was so angry that he threw away the chopsticks in his hand and said, "Can people still eat this meal safely?"

Standing up, Pang De paced with his hands behind his hands and said, "This is the enemy's plan. First, he provoked the general to pursue him, leaving the camp empty, and then he sent troops to attack the camp to seize the food route."

"General, what should we do?" the attendant asked anxiously.

Pound stopped and said, "Order someone to send a message to the general and ask him to speed his troops back to camp!"

"The sergeants of each department were on alert and divided their troops to defend against the enemy invaders. I led the sergeants to rescue both sides to prevent the enemy invaders from entering the camp."

"promise!"

Pang De strode out of the tent, holding a long spear in his hand, beckoning the people around to follow him to fight.

Based on the intensity of the killing cries on the east and west sides, Pound chose to go to the east camp. When he was galloping to the east village, suddenly the horn sounded from the north camp.

Pang De cursed secretly for being cunning, and shouted with his arms: "Follow me to Beiying!"

"promise!"

More than a thousand people on foot and cavalry turned around and followed Pang De, heading towards the direction of Huang Zhong's surprise attack. At this time, Huang Zhong took advantage of the east and west divisions to contain Cao's troops, led his cavalry to charge into the northern camp, and loudly ordered his soldiers to set fire to the grain. Nanqi roared past and threw the torch in his hand onto the granary. The fire ignited and engulfed the granary from the outside to the inside.

The fire soared into the sky, the fire assisted the wind, and the grain village was on fire. Cao's soldiers either fled, put out the fire, or resisted stubbornly in the corner, which was difficult to achieve.

"Take your life!"

When Knight Nan was about to throw the torch into the hayfield, a loud shout rang in his ears. The next moment, his chest was pierced by the horse's spear, and he fell to the ground with a muffled sound. Suddenly, he saw the white horse's hoofs crush his eyeballs. .

This person is none other than the White Horse General Pound.

"kill!"

Pang De rode his horse and trampled on the corpse, shouting: "Drive away the southern thieves and save the food cao quickly, without any loss!"

"promise!"

Guan Long rode on horseback to kill the sergeants who set fires everywhere in the grain stronghold. These Confederate soldiers who set fires did not bother with them. They often retreated when they saw people. They ran around in the grain stronghold, burning all combustible items and letting the fire spread. More and more prosperous.

Seeing that he could not drive away the southern soldiers, Pang De became angry and went out in person. He rode a white horse and clashed with the rebel army. He took out his bow and arrow and shot several people in succession, which made the southern soldiers terrified.

"call!"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves sounded rapidly, and Huang Zhong appeared out of nowhere, his sharp long spear flashing with cold light, and he sprinted towards Pang De's chest.

In the flash of lightning, Pang De heard the sound of horse hooves and reacted quickly. He lowered his head and hid his belly to avoid Huang Zhong's killing move.

Pang De waited until the enemy rider rushed past, and then he could see the enemy rider's face clearly. He has a half-white beard and hair, holds a long spear, and has a burly build. Although he is an old man, Pound can feel threatened.

"Huang Zhong?"

Pang De abandoned his bow and took the spear, looked at Huang Zhong who had stopped reining in his horse, and asked tentatively.

Huang Zhong's eyes widened and he said sternly: "Nanyang Huang Hansheng is here, why won't Pang De dismount and accept his surrender?"

"Ha ha!"

Pang De looked disdainful and said sarcastically: "When I behead you and present it to Duke Wei, let's see if you still dare to be arrogant?"

"General!"

Pang De, who was riding on the left and right, saw that his general was under attack and quickly led his troops to support him.

"Are you afraid of this old man?"

Pang De pointed to the more than ten servants on the left and right, and said: "Dismount now~"

Before Pound finished speaking, Huang Zhong took out an arrow and shot it directly at Pound, cursing: "You don't follow martial ethics, but you actually want to bully the few with the crowd!"

The knight used his spear to deflect the weak arrows and mocked, "This old man can't shoot arrows. How can he kill the enemy? Why not let his children fulfill their filial piety in front of the couch!"

Huang Zhong's eyes flashed coldly when he heard the word "children". There was a great plague in Nanyang more than ten years ago. His two sons and one daughter all died in the plague. Now these people who have touched his inverse scales must die.

"What nonsense are you talking to the old man about? Kill him!"

A knight could not restrain his desire to perform meritorious service and took out his bow and arrow. At the same time, more than a dozen servants also raised their bows and arrows, preparing to shoot at Huang Zhong.

Seeing this, Huang Zhong was afraid of being shot into a sieve, so he turned his horse's head and ran away!
  Seeing Huang Zhong fleeing on horseback, Pang De led a dozen of his followers to catch up and shouted: "General Xiahou died at the hands of Huang Zhong, so be careful and don't be careless."

"promise!"

Huang Zhong held his bow and arrow tightly and rode his horse through various granaries, taking detours as much as possible to avoid Pang De's pursuit. When Nan Qi saw Huang Zhong being overtaken, he came to support from all sides and got entangled with the enemy cavalry. The fire gradually raged, and Huang Zhongke had fewer and fewer places to escape.

Pang De followed closely, stabbed Nan Qi to death, and continued to chase Huang Zhong. But he saw Huang Zhong turning from the right side of the granary. Pang De signaled his horse to catch up, and he took a small road to stop Huang Zhong.

"You wait to pursue me, I'll take a shortcut!"

"promise!"

Seeing Pound riding alone, several southern soldiers armed with spears wanted to step forward and assassinate Pound.

I'm afraid I'll be delayed and I won't be able to take care of n Nan's soldiers. Pound clamped his legs tightly on the horse's belly, detoured from the side of the crowd, stabbed the infantry on the flank to death with his spear, and then inserted himself through the gap in the granary, trying to get ahead and intercept Huang Zhong.

"drive!"

Pound rushed out from between the two burning granaries, rushed directly to the road, and turned his horse's head. Huang Zhong was seen stationed on the road, with more than twenty crossbowmen beside him. All his subordinates and horses fell to the ground.

Obviously this was Huang Zhong's trap to show the enemy's weakness and lure Pang De into chasing him. When those servants were chasing Huang Zhong, they tripped over the horse ropes, fell to the ground, and were hunted down by the Southern soldiers.

When Huang Zhong saw Pang De appear, he laughed and said, "You were lucky enough to save your life, how dare you come to your door?"

As he said that, Huang Zhong rode forward with his sword in hand, faced Pang De, and shouted: "Capture and kill this beast!"

"promise!"

When Pang De saw Huang Zhong entangled with him, he fought with a spear. In order to deceive Huang Zhong into old age, he took the opportunity to kill Huang Zhong and escape.

"Den!"

The pole collided, Pang De's face changed slightly, and he suddenly felt that Huang Zhong was extraordinary. Huang Zhong looks old, but he still has plenty of strength. No wonder he can charge into battle and kill enemies.

Pang De knew that he could not kill Huang Zhong in a short period of time. With a false shot, Pang De abandoned his horse and fled, but Pang De secretly held the bow in his hand. When Huang Zhong saw Pang De trying to escape, he rode in pursuit.

Looking for an opportunity, Pang De held the bow and arrow, turned around and shot back. At this time, Huang Zhong also lightly stretched out his ape arms, held the bow and shot.

"Whoosh!"

Two arrows shot through the air, making a shrill sound as they shot through the air.

"what!"

Pound was hit by an arrow in the abdomen, and he couldn't help but scream in pain.

"Boom!"

Huang Zhong withdrew his head in time, and the red-tasseled duck was shot down by Pang De's heavy arrow and fell to the ground.

"Shut up!"

Pound was injured and wanted to escape, but seven or eight infantrymen holding rifles blocked the front. The shining spear tip made the war horse stop in its tracks. The horse was so high that Pound was injured in the abdomen and unable to hold on to the reins. He was knocked to the ground by the horse.

With a plop, Pound fell to pieces, his abdomen was seriously injured, and he fainted.

The sergeant did not dare to relax, so he approached Pound with a spear. Anyone who dares to move will be killed by a spear.

"General, Pound has passed out!" the infantryman reported.

Huang Zhong stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Tie him up and take him back to the camp!"

"promise!"

Huang Zhong looked at Pound being carried away by the sergeants, with a smile on his face, and thought to himself: "Capturing Pound and burning the food and grass is a great achievement. I wonder what reward my lord will give?"

"Report!"

The attendant galloped over and said, "General, Ma Chao is riding back with his troops!"

"So fast?"

Huang Zhong's face changed slightly and he said, "Order all ministries to withdraw their troops!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)