Soldiers come to the world

In the 24th year of Jian'an, from spring to summer and then to autumn, Chang'an City's commerce flourished, the residents in the city lived and worked in peace and contentment, the taverns were full, and the businessmen in the hostel kept coming and going, creating a peaceful and peaceful atmosphere.

After autumn, the bustling Chang'an city became a little bit more murderous. The army's interrogation at the gate of the city was obviously stricter. Almost every carriage entering the city was strictly searched. It was strictly forbidden for merchants to bring prohibited weapons into the city. Experienced businessmen can't help but feel a little bit worried, which is a harbinger before the coming of the war.

At noon that day, a caravan slowly approached Chang'an City. It was a large caravan composed of hundreds of mules, loaded with all kinds of goods, and there were more than fifty staff members alone. The leader of the caravan was a A middle-aged man in his forties, tall, dark-skinned, sharp-eyed, with a soldier-like resoluteness on his Chinese-character face.

At this time, the caravan was still one mile away from the east gate of Chang'an, and the two sides of the official road had become very lively, with various shops and merchants coming and going, bringing business to the taverns and tea sheds on both sides.

"Come and have a rest!"

The shopkeeper of a tea shed in the distance waved enthusiastically to the caravan. A clerk ran up and smiled at the middle-aged man headed by the caravan: "There are many rules when entering the city. Why don't you go to the small shop first, and I will give you a seat." Let's talk about it."

The middle-aged man pondered for a while, then nodded, turned around and said, "Go to the tea shed to rest!"

Everyone went to the tea shed one after another, and the tea shed suddenly became lively. Several staff took the mules and goods to the back to drink and feed them. Everyone asked for food, drank water and chatted, and the tea shed was extremely lively.

At this time, the shopkeeper of the tea shed stepped forward and said with a smile: "My lord, there are regulations in Chang'an City. Caravans entering the city must open their bags and check them. It is strictly forbidden to carry all kinds of weapons except short knives and swords. Junnu will arrest you on the spot, and caravans with more than ten people must report to the government. A large caravan like yours will probably be very troublesome. You have to separate or go to the West Market. I advise everyone not to enter the city. .”

Speaking of this, the shopkeeper pointed to the hawks and doves they were carrying and said: "For example, if you are carrying hawks and doves, if you are seen by patrol soldiers, you will be arrested immediately. It is very dangerous!"

The two caravan guys hurriedly got up and took the eagle cage to the back. At this moment, the middle-aged man frowned, "When did this regulation start?"

"It's been a while, and I heard that Yedu's interrogation is stricter, you should know it too!"

The middle-aged man nodded, "You are right. Caravans are no longer allowed to enter the city in Yedu."

The shopkeeper sighed, "It is estimated that Chang'an is coming soon. Many merchants say that this is a sign before the war. Hey! When the war comes, the business of the small shop will be affected."

He cupped his hands, turned around, and the two lieutenants next to him stepped forward and whispered: "General, what should we do?"

This caravan is not an ordinary caravan, but a team of Cao Jun scouts disguised. They came to strengthen the scout forces in Chang'an City, but unexpectedly they were unable to enter the city. The middle-aged man at the head was named Han, and he was a Cao Jun captain. , he pondered for a moment, and said to the two assistants: "Let's see the situation in the city first."

He beckoned to call a competent subordinate, and told him: "Go to Longmen Tavern first, and get in touch with us."

The subordinates agreed, took a mule, rode on the mule and ran towards the city. The subordinates were still eating and chatting, which was very lively, but the leader, Han Xiaowei, fell into deep thought.

About half an hour later, his subordinates returned to the tea shed with a very nervous expression. He whispered something to Xiaowei Han, but Xiaowei Han's face changed drastically, and he immediately ordered: "Get up and leave immediately!"

All the subordinates got up one after another, and a dozen people ran to the back to pick up the mules and goods, but at this moment, the sound of horseshoes came from the direction of the city, getting faster and faster, and the sound was like muffled thunder, and hundreds of cavalry were seen rushing towards Before Cao Jun's scouts could leave, hundreds of cavalry surrounded the tea shed and pointed their crossbows at the servants. Everyone was stunned and slowly raised their hands.

At this time, a general of the Han army urged his horse forward, pointed his spear at Colonel Han of the Cao army, and said coldly, "Do you still think the clothes are perfect? ​​To tell you the truth, you don't even want to enter Chang'an."

Han Xiaowei's face was extremely ugly, he couldn't think of where he had exposed his identity, he suddenly realized something, turned back to look at the shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen.

The general of the Han army shouted, "Take them all away!"

Several Cao Jun scouts wanted to resist, but Han Xiaowei stopped them, and all the Cao Jun scouts were dejectedly taken away by the Han cavalry. With a sneer, he instructed the tea shed attendant, "Clean up and continue to attract guests."

The streets and alleys near the east gate of Chang'an have already been filled with thousands of Han soldiers. More than a thousand Han soldiers surrounded the Longmen Tavern. All the spies were withdrawn to Yedu, a new batch of spies was replaced, and the information point was changed.

Cao Jun's major adjustments to the intelligence organization caused the Han Army to lose the clues of Cao Jun's spies, but the secret war between the Han and Cao armies continued. The Han Army strengthened the investigation at the city gate half a month ago, but this was just a fishing trip However, the real Han army spies were deployed outside the east and west gates.

More than half of the tea sheds and taverns have deployed Han army spies to closely monitor the businessmen or tourists coming and going, so when the Cao Jun scout caravan led by Han Xiaowei arrived at the east gate, they were stared at by the Han army spies, and the tea shed shopkeeper watched them With every move, Han Xiaowei sent people into the city to contact the intelligence point in the city, which undoubtedly exposed the intelligence point in the city.

The encirclement of the Longmen Tavern was understandable. At this time, with the order of the chief general Wang Ping, more than a hundred soldiers of the Han army rushed into the tavern. After a while, they arrested the shopkeeper and a dozen bartenders. Search the entire tavern.

At this time, a military marquis rushed out to report: "General Qi, the brothers found weapons and armor in the cellar."

Dozens of Han soldiers brought out bundles of spears and crossbows, as well as dozens of sets of armor from the Han soldiers. The tavern keeper was pale and trembling with fright. He knew he was going to be in trouble.

An hour later, the Han army conducted a comprehensive search in Chang'an City, Xianyang County, and Du County. They successively took away three intelligence points of Cao Jun, arrested nearly a hundred of Cao Jun's spies, and completely destroyed Cao Jun's intelligence organization in Chang'an.

However, the Han army's net clearing operation against Cao Jun's intelligence organization in Chang'an City was only part of the Han army's preparations. In Tongguan, Pujinguan, Wancheng, Shouchun, and even Jiangdong, more than [-] Han troops began to gather one after another.

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In Shouchun, an autumn rain came unexpectedly, the land was shrouded in white mist, the forest in the distance turned gray and black, and the leaves were all gone. A few crows hovered over the forest, and the world was desolate and desolate.

On the wide, mud-filled official road, convoys from Huainan County and Lujiang County were lined up, grain carts covered with tarpaulins, carts loaded with straw and hay, baggage carts, and huge baggage The cargo ship, swaying and creaking, moved forward.

It was rainy in the sky, and it was the rainy late autumn season in the Jianghuai River. The fields that had just been harvested and the ditches by the roadside were full of rainwater.The dense forest in the distance showed a vague outline.

The convoys of the counties marched northward through mud and drizzle, shouting and cursing, with the crackling of whips and the creaking of axles, with a mighty momentum like a sea tide.

From time to time, you can see dying animals or animal corpses lying on both sides of the official road, and occasionally a cart with its wheels turned upside down.

Sometimes a troop of cavalry rushed into the crowd, and the soldiers kept shouting and cursing, and the horses stood up and neighed continuously. A cart full of grain and grass would roll down the slope, and the people in the cart would follow. Get off.

In front, in the middle of the torrent of vehicles, soldiers lined up in a long queue, stepping on the sticky mud with difficulty.Carriages carrying knives, guns, crossbows and other light weapons were mixed with the crowd, and the escorts were lying on the roof of the carriages, and people kept running out of the team, into the fields, and squatted down.

In front is the team of high-ranking generals, the brigade is surrounded by its own generals, and a few carriages can be seen from time to time, with civil servants and counselors sitting in them.

The procession passed through a dense forest for a while, and rioted due to competition for a resting place, and then spread out and crossed the small river, and then new carriages loaded with food, hay, and various weapons poured in from both sides, and occasionally a small group of scout cavalry Get to the front of this queue.

Further ahead is an abandoned town. The tragic scene after the Hefei War is still vivid in my mind. A dilapidated gable wall is crumbling amid piles of rubble and burnt wood; Fluttering in the wind.There was also a wounded soldier who was left behind, tied with dirty gauze and squatting on a collapsed cart, his eyes were gloomy and sad.

Two miles away parallel to the official road is Ruxushui. Thousands of civilians are struggling to pull a group of thousands of stone boats, making low, rhythmic, and soul-stirring chant.The big ship is loaded with all kinds of heavy siege equipment and boxes of polished stone bullets. The ladder, nest car, and building car have not yet been assembled. The kerosene is guarded by heavy soldiers.

This team is the Jingzhou army that came from afar, there are about [-] people, the leader is the veteran Huang Zhong, their destination is Shouchun, two hundred miles away, the march is very slow, the team has been gone for ten days.

"Old general, Shouchun City is ahead!" A soldier shouted, pointing to a tall city in the distance.

Huang Zhong squinted for a moment, then nodded, His Royal Highness King Han should have arrived at Shouchun.

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