The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 491 490 Jingzhou Storm (2)

On the third day of October in the first year of Wude, Zhang Xiu led an army of [-] men and officially launched an attack on Yingchuan, Zhang Yan's sphere of influence.

It's October now, and the northern country is already immersed in the cold. The north wind from the northwest keeps howling, but it hasn't snowed for a long time. Even so, in the cold wind like a knife, people can still Feel the cold of winter.

Compared with previous years, this year's weather is quite abnormal. In such a cold weather, there is no snow in the sky, which makes some people worry about the harvest in the coming year.

There is a saying that the auspicious snow heralds a good year. If God does not even snow, the crops will not have a good harvest next year.

Zhang Xiu led five thousand cavalry ahead and galloped on the road to Yangzhai, the county seat of Yingchuan County. Due to the cold weather, people generally did not go out, so basically no one was encountered on the road, and no one was seen anywhere they passed. It was desolate.

However, the cold wind like a knife has always been with Zhang Xiu and others, and he is unwilling to leave for a moment.

The fierce north wind kept blowing, and the cold wind pierced into the heart and spleen, making people feel a chill all over the body.And Zhang Xiu's hands almost lost consciousness, even pulling the horse's reins was a kind of difficulty, his teeth were uncontrollably making fast-paced sounds, and his face seemed to be stabbed by the fierce north wind It was extremely painful to cut.

Not only Zhang Xiu, but also the [-] cavalrymen under him are enduring the biting cold. Fortunately, there is no snow, otherwise, once the heavy snow falls, the horses will not be able to walk freely in the snow, and they He will also be trapped by the heavy snow, and if he wants to attack with lightning speed, it may be more difficult than climbing to the sky.

At this time in the past, Zhang Xiu and his subordinates would nest in the barracks, roast a bonfire, drive away the severe cold, and occasionally have a bowl of delicious hot broth and a pot of warm hot wine. day.Now they are marching in this kind of ghostly weather. The soldiers including Zhang Xiu are complaining that Liu Biao chose the wrong day to lead the army. This kind of ghostly weather is really tormenting.

In Zhang Xiu's ears, the voices of his subordinates complaining would always sound. Although he was upset, he didn't say anything, just reprimanded him a few words.

After that, there were only the sound of galloping horseshoes and the whistling wind, everything was so quiet.

Zhang Xiu raised her head and looked at the sky, the sky was gloomy, the lead gray clouds were densely packed together, and the pressure was very low, the oncoming new wind was still howling, and it hurt people's faces.

Zhang Xiu and his subordinates are all from the Northwest. They have long been used to this cold weather. After experiencing the severe weather in the Northwest, they may be used to being pampered, but when they encountered this severe weather again, they felt a little uncomfortable.

Sure enough, hunger, cold and embarrassment provoked the heart, and the food and drink were full of thoughts.Although Zhang Xiu had been training the army as usual in Jingzhou in the past few years, he had never fought a battle. Compared with the time when he followed his uncle Zhang Ji, he did not fight at all ages, but he lacked a fighting spirit.

This time, as Liu Biao's vanguard general, Zhang Xiu was vaguely aware of his own shortcomings. The pampering of the past few years has also made the entire army a little too comfortable, and it seems that they will never return to the old warlike one. of the army.

In the past few years, too many things have happened. The remnants he brought over have all become the backbone of the army. They all married wives in Nanyang and gave birth to children. They all have families. With concern.

For this expedition, whether the soldiers will be as brave as before is still unknown to Zhang Xiu.

"Send the order, speed up your progress, and you must arrive at the destination before the snow falls." Zhang Xiu said to the herald beside him.

The herald nodded, and immediately conveyed Zhang Xiu's order. Although the cavalry complained about the weather, they still listened to Zhang Xiu's words.

Zhang Xiu took the five thousand cavalry and headed towards Yangdi City non-stop. When he passed Fucheng and Jiaxian along the way, he didn't take any action. He had only one goal, and that was Yangdi City. I wasted time in the counties along the way, and I didn't want to startle the snake prematurely.

In Yangdi City, Yang Xiu, the prefect of Yingchuan, didn't know about Zhang Xiu's attacking troops. He ordered the guards to open the city gate as usual. It was still very lively, the people in the market were still shopping, and there were many shops on both sides of the street, everything was immersed in a peaceful atmosphere, and they didn't know about the coming disaster.

Suddenly, a cavalry galloped from outside Yangdi City. Because he was wearing the uniform of the Han army, the soldiers guarding the city had no worries at all and let him enter the city.

The cavalry galloped fast, and after entering Yangdi City, he rushed into the bustling inner city. Facing the bustling crowd on the street, instead of slowing down, the knight kept waving the whip in his hand, whipping On the back of the horse, he seemed to feel that the speed of the horse was too slow, and shouted loudly to let all the pedestrians in the street get out of the way.

Pedestrians on the street all gave way. The cavalry roared away from the street, rolled up a cloud of dust, and slapped the faces of the pedestrians with the strong wind. After passing through the inner city, he turned a corner and headed towards Yang Zhai. The prefect's mansion of the city galloped away.

The cavalry came to the gate of the prefect's mansion, quickly reined in the horse, quickly jumped off the horse's back, and walked into the prefect's mansion in a panic.

At this moment, Yang Xiuxiu was reviewing the official documents sent by the counties in the hall of the prefect's mansion. While giving instructions, he made records in a small notebook, recorded some good suggestions, and the person who made the suggestions. Recognition and awards will be held at the end of the year meeting.

"Urgent report—"

"Urgent report—"

The voice moved from far to near, and when Yang Xiu raised his head, he saw a man wearing a Han army uniform appearing in front of him panting, his face pale and panicked, it was his scout.

When the man entered the hall, he hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "Report to the prefect, urgent report, urgent report..."

"Hurry up!" Yang Xiu knew that if it wasn't for an urgent report, he would never break into the prefect's mansion without authorization, and he also guessed that this urgent report must be a big deal, otherwise, as the scout captain He will not come to report in person.

"Our army found a large number of Liu Biao's troops. The leader of the army is Zhang Xiu, the prefect of Nanyang under Liu Biao's account. There are [-] cavalry in the front. It is less than [-] miles away from Yangdi City. Another [-] troops are behind. , also coming towards Yangdi City."

After Yang Xiu heard the news, he frowned immediately, surprised that Liu Biao went to war without declaring, and there was an army of [-], led by Zhang Xiu.

"Come on, order the city guards to raise the drawbridge and close all the city gates. Without my order, no one is allowed to enter or leave the city at will, and immediately call all the troops in the city to assemble in the school grounds!" Yang Xiu Simply and neatly, without the slightest hesitation, he ordered directly.

The order was like a mountain. Once it was issued, the soldiers who had been resting in the barracks due to the cold weather all had to gather together and stand on the cold school ground to accept Yang Xiu's review.

Yang Xiu went up to the commander's platform on the colonel's field, and glanced at the three thousand soldiers in front of him. These soldiers used to be militiamen. Last year, because of the shortage of troops, they became a real regular army. But they can protect the environment and the people. If you want to talk about fighting , none of them have fought.

However, they can only rely on them to defend Yangdi City this time.

Yang Xiu stood on the commander's platform and said loudly: "The government just got the news that Liu Biao sent Zhang Xiu to lead an army of [-] to Yangdi. It will arrive soon. You are the only army in Yangdi City. Whether Yangdi City can be captured by the enemy this time depends on you! Raise soldiers for a thousand days, use them for a while, I hope you can show ten times more courage Come, guarding this city is equivalent to guarding your family. In addition, I have sent people to ask for rescue soldiers. As long as we can persist until the rescue arrives, we will be able to repel the invading enemy if we cooperate internally and externally."

In the past few years when Yang Xiu was the prefect, Yangdi City, and even the whole of Yingchuan, were managed in an orderly manner. Zhang Yan had ordered Yang Xiu to be transferred to Pengcheng as an official three times. , Yang Xiu wanted to stay, and Yang Xiu didn't want to leave Yingchuan, so he gave up.

However, at the junction of Yingchuan and Nanyang, although Yang Xiu and Zhang Xiu have never met, they have been friends for a long time.Because of Yang Xiu, a mutual market was set up at the junction of Nanyang and Yingchuan, which could allow the people of the two places to buy what they needed, and also promoted the exchanges between the people of the two counties.

In addition, Liu Biao has always shown a very obedient attitude towards Zhang Yan, so Zhang Yan did not set up heavy troops at the border with Liu Biao, but only set up standing militias to maintain law and order.But last year when the troops were insufficient, Zhang Yan turned the militia into a regular army in one go, and only then did the army come into being.

However, this kind of army has never fought a war, and has never encountered a war. When the war really comes, whether it can become an important force to defend the city and fight against the enemy is still unknown.

However, between Yingchuan, Runan, and Chenliu, Chen Wang Liuchong, who is located in Chen County, has an army of 5000 people, responsible for defending the security of this area.Since Liu Chong attached himself to Zhang Yan, he has been receiving courtesy from Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan did not seize Liu Chong's army, but let Liu Chong continue to command the army and shoulder the role of maintaining the surrounding law and order.

The confidants sent by Yang Xiu went to Chen Jun to ask Chen Wang Liu Chong to send troops to support him.

However, after all, Liu Chong's army is not Zhang Yan's direct line of troops, nor is it under Zhang Yan's command. Whether it will come to support is still unknown, because Liu Chong's five thousand troops are the personal guard of King Chen. , it is not considered a regular army, nor a militia, it only belongs to Liu Chong.

Yang Xiu was worried, so he sent people to Henan, the nearest place to him, to seek help from Henan Yin Zhanghong, and sent people to inform Pengcheng, hoping that Zhang Yan could dispatch troops to come to support.

(End of this chapter)