Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 275 Zhang Liao's Plan

Zhang Ji thought about it, and felt that even if he wanted to seek refuge with other princes, he had to have a bargaining chip in his hand in order to get benefits.

And Huayin's three thousand soldiers and horses are the last chips in his hand.

How to make good use of these bargaining chips requires careful consideration.

Zhang Ji hesitated for a while before he said, "May I allow me to think about it?"

Gao Shun said: "General, please go ahead!"

Zhang Ji didn't say much, and immediately turned around and ran down the tower, and went back to his residence.

However, in order to prevent Gao Shun from taking the opportunity to attack the city, the army did not withdraw the city wall and was still on guard.

Gao Shun did not take the opportunity to attack the city, but ordered the army to line up on the spot, preparing to meet Xu Huang's army who might kill him.

Xu Huang stood on the gate of the big camp of the Hedong army, still waiting for news.

Not long after, a fast horse appeared in the field of vision, and the fast horse galloped over.

"Report-"

Still far away, the scout cavalry shouted loudly, "General, it's bad, Zhang Ji's [-] troops went out of the city to attack Gao Shun's camp, but they were defeated by Gao Shun and fled to Hongnong. went."

"what?"

Xu Huang was taken aback, and his face changed suddenly: "Gao Shun's army is attacking our camp, where did the soldiers come from?"

At this moment, the scout cavalry rushed forward, quickly reined in their horses and gasped for breath, saying: "The general does not know, Gao Shun still left [-] soldiers and horses in the camp, and Zhang Ji's [-] troops were captured by Gao Shun. The [-] soldiers and horses were defeated head-on, and..."

Xu Huang couldn't hold back the anger in his heart anymore, and shouted: "If there is anything else, let's say it together."

The scout soldiers were taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Furthermore, Gao Shun still has [-] cavalry under his command. Zhang Ji's [-] cavalry was followed and killed by [-] cavalry when they retreated. In, they scattered and fled for their lives.”

Xu Huang's eyes froze immediately, and he was speechless for a long time, really wanting to scold his mother.

He is really not afraid of opponents who are like gods, but teammates who are like pigs.

I am here to block Gao Shun's artillery fire, and Zhang Jin is hiding in Huayin City without moving. I don't know what to say.

"General, what should we do now?"

One of the generals hurriedly asked what he wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut for a long time, but he didn't say it.

Xu Huang asked the scout soldier, "Where is Gaoshun's army now?"

The scout soldiers replied: "[-] troops have surrounded Huayin, and more than [-] soldiers and horses who attacked our camp have withdrawn to the camp."

A small school wondered, "Where did Gao Shun get so many soldiers?"

Xu Huang said in a deep voice: "Is there even a need to ask? It must be the people in disguise!"

"I see!"

Only then did the generals suddenly realize that they couldn't help but feel that their faces were dull.

Xu Huang thought for a moment, then said: "Order all the ministries to stick to the camp and not act rashly!"

"As ordered!"

There have been messengers running around for a long time, and quickly passed down military orders.

Ten miles to the north of Xiayang, in front of a simple pier, Zhang Liao looked at the steep mountain walls on both sides of the river, and at the rushing water, and frowned. How could the army pass by in such a hurry.

Moreover, there are all steep mountain walls on the opposite side, and there is not even a ferry.

Zhang Liao couldn't help but doubt whether the military division's information was wrong or not, how could the army in this place pass through.

However, the Lord's military order has been issued, and the task must be completed no matter what.

This is the middle of Longmen Mountain, and the pier at the foot is not even a pier, but just a Huokou between the depressions. On the river beach, there is a path paved with stones, about two feet long, with traces of people's activities.

"Is it really possible to pass here?"

Zhang Liao looked at the steep mountain wall on the other side, and couldn't help turning his head to ask an old man beside him.

The old man is a nearby mountain dweller, who was brought in as a guide. Like other people in troubled times, the fear of the army can be said to be deeply rooted, and he is even more afraid of the fierce Luo Zheng's army.

After wiping off his cold sweat, he replied tremblingly: "The general doesn't know, no one from the government has ever come here, only the nearby mountain people come here to drink livestock, or go to the opposite mountain to dig wild vegetables before crossing the river." .”

"How did you get there?"

Zhang Liao asked in a deep voice.

Pointing to the river upstream, the old man said, "Going upstream from here, there is such a ferry about one mile away. The mountain people here use sheepskin rafts to paddle up the river. Wooden rafts are also fine, but they can't take many people."

Zhang Liao asked: "How many sheepskin rafts and wooden rafts do the nearby mountain people have, can they carry horses across the river?"

The old man thought for a while and said: "There are about thirty wooden rafts and sheepskin rafts. The sheepskin rafts are too small and can carry up to four people at a time. The larger rafts can carry three war horses, and the smaller ones can only carry one war horse. gone."

Zhang Liao even frowned and said, "How long will it take to send all five thousand cavalry across the river?"

The old man looked at it, and said bravely, "Ten days at the earliest."

Zhang Liao saw the old man's uneasiness, so he couldn't help but said slowly: "Don't worry, old man, although my lord has killed countless people, all of them were foreigners who robbed my Han people. He took great care of the Han people, and strictly ordered them wherever the army went." Don't disturb the people, let alone accept gifts from the people. If the people have no food to eat, you still have to give them military rations, so I don't have to worry about it."

The old man nodded repeatedly and said: "This old man has also heard people say that the people of Liangzhou are very rich now, and the Guanzhong people who fled to Liangzhou didn't even have to pay taxes for the first few years, and the golden rice they planted is still high-yielding. Get rich in a year."

Zhang Liao couldn't help smiling, nodded and said: "When our military lord drives out the warlords in Guanzhong, the people in Guanzhong will be able to grow high-yield golden rice in the future, and they don't have to pay much tax. Now the grain from Liangzhou has been transported to Guanzhong. People who have nothing to eat can go to the government to receive rations. If you mountain people don’t want to hide in the mountains for the rest of your life, you should go to the government to register for household registration, and then wait for the government to distribute fields to you for farming. As long as you don’t eat and work, you will be rich in at most two years .”

The old man looked fascinated, a stable and prosperous life is the dream of many people.

People are different, so pursuits and dreams are also different.

For ordinary people, the biggest wish is to live a stable and prosperous life.

If there is no war, it will be even better.

Zhang Liao said again: "Old man, can you think of a way to send [-] cavalrymen to the other side of the river within two days? How about a good enough farmland?"

The old man thought for a while, then gritted his teeth and said: "General, wait a moment, the old man will mobilize the mountain people to send the general's army across the river."

Zhang Liao nodded, and called a few smarter soldiers to go with Han.

The world is peaceful, and the people naturally don't want to hide in the mountains and live a hard life.

However, the world is in chaos. In order to avoid continuous military disasters, the people cannot survive and have to flee in large numbers, either in exile or in the mountains. First, they hunt for a living, and second, they cultivate a few acres of mountain land.

There are not a few mountain people in the area of ​​Longmen Mountain, and they are distributed in forests and ravines with a radius of tens of miles.

The old man ran all over the villages, and Zhang Liao promised a lot of money, donating a sum of money, and finally recruited hundreds of mountain people.

Although the nearby mountain people have rafts or rafts made of sheepskin because they want to go fishing in the river or even dig wild mountains in the opposite mountain, the number is really limited, and less than a hundred are collected.

Another batch was urgently produced, but only a hundred or so.

Hundreds of mountain people acted together, and it took three days to send all five thousand cavalry across the river.

Without a big ship, it is not safe to transport war horses.

Although the largest raft was picked out to transport the war horses, dozens of war horses were frightened and rioted, and they directly overturned the raft and fell into the river. Fortunately, the mountain people at the helm were good at water and climbed up from the river.

Zhang Liao thanked the mountain people and personally wrote a letter to the mountain people. If the mountain people want to cultivate land, they can take the letter to Xiayang and hand it to the government. Naturally, someone will distribute the fields and rations to the nearby mountain people.

The mountain people are very grateful, and finally they are no longer so afraid of Luo Zheng's army.

Fearing that the situation might change, Zhang Liao did not dare to delay. He immediately led five thousand cavalry and followed the mountain people who led the way up the mountain road. After walking around for two days, he finally walked out of the Longmen Mountains and set foot on the border of the River East.

When the army left Chang'an, they only took half a month's worth of dried meat and dry food.

Ten days have passed now, and there is not much ration left.

If they can't go to Anyi within five days, the soldiers will have to graze with the horses.

Zhang Liao didn't dare to delay, and immediately headed south with five thousand cavalry.In order to receive the effect of the surprise attack, Zhang Liao didn't even go on the main road, and tried to avoid the cities and towns along the way, and chose wild trails to march, from the southern foot of Jieshan to the west of Anyi.

In the middle of the night, the camp of the Chinese army.

Zhang Liao summoned a group of generals to discuss how to attack Anyi.

Lieutenant General Zhang Heng said: "My lord and the military adviser have already made a plan. As long as [-] cavalry suddenly arrive at Anyi, General Gao Shun will drag Xu Huang's [-] troops to Huayin. Within a few days, Yang Feng will be desperate and will naturally leave." The city surrenders!"

Zhang Liao shook his head, "After all, this is only the conjecture of the lord and the military adviser. What if Yang Feng defends the city?"

Zhang Heng frowned and said: "My lord and the military advisor are so good at predicting things, how can there be any mistakes."

Zhang Liao said in a deep voice: "The general is outside, and the emperor's order is not acceptable. Liao is the main general, responsible for observing the enemy, and also has the right to make decisions on the fly. Naturally, we should save time and use the most stable method to complete this task. The mission. My lord and the military adviser did not expect that our army would be delayed for twelve days on the road. Right now, the army only has three days of rations left. If it is urgent and cannot make an emergency landing on Yang Feng, wouldn’t the five thousand army want to compete with the people for food? , even if Yang Fengken surrenders, the Hedong gentry will definitely regard the lord as a scourge!"

"This……"

Zhang Heng reluctantly cupped his hands and said, "I don't know what strategy General Zhang Liao has to break the city?"

Zhang Liao paced back and forth under the tent for a while, and said solemnly: "Although our army has been delayed on the road for two days, our whereabouts have not been detected by the horse scouts in Anyi. This place is only forty miles away from Anyi, and the cavalry will charge within an hour. Now, as long as we attack those who are unprepared and order a small group of people to seize the city gate, Anyi can be broken..."

(End of this chapter)