Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 40
"Let's go back to camp."

Cao Cao was extremely decisive, without saying a word, he turned around and left.

Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren and others dared not neglect, and hurriedly urged their horses to follow.

Although everyone boasted of martial arts, they didn't dare to dare to challenge thousands of Xiliang iron cavalry with just a dozen or so cavalry.

Once surrounded, they will only end up in a different place.

Xu Chu led his army to pursue and kill them, and they chased Cao Jun outside the camp before withdrawing his troops and returning.

In the middle of the night, the Xiliang army came to steal the camp at night.

However, Cao Cao was very on guard and had no chance to take advantage of it, so he had to lead his troops back.

Early the next morning, Luo Zheng raised his army, left Fan County and headed north, heading straight for Cangting.

After Cao Cao received the news, he was quite puzzled.

Xiahou Dun was puzzled and said: "All the princes in the world have withdrawn their troops. Luo Zheng didn't take the opportunity to go south and return to Luoyang. Why did he entangle with the princes in Yanzhou and lead his army to the north now? What exactly does this guy want to do?"

Cao Cao thought about it for a while, and suddenly his face changed, "No, Luo Zheng is probably going to cross the river and enter Jizhou."

The generals were stunned upon hearing this.

Cao Ren frowned and said: "The princes have already retreated, why does Luo Zheng go to Jizhou to burn, kill and loot? Once he is blocked in Jizhou, it will be difficult to get out. Luo Zheng is full of tricks, and he will not fail to think of this."

Cao Cao paused and said: "Zi Xiao doesn't know something, Luo Zheng is going back to Luoyang from Jizhou!"

Cao Ren was even more puzzled, and said: "From Jizhou to the south, there are only two roads. One is to go out of Huguan and go south from Bingzhou, and the other is to cross the river from Liyang to the south. You can take advantage of it; the [-] troops of Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, are also stationed in Liyang, and Luo Zheng's son wants to cross the river, so it will not be that easy."

Cao Cao said in a deep voice: "Little Luo Zheng is full of tricks, so naturally he won't go into a dead end by himself. Ruobi never thought of going south from Jizhou to Luoyang, but continued to lead the army northward, from Jizhou to the north to enter Youzhou , and then leave the fortress from Daijun, go south via Hetao, go down from Xihe River to Hedong, and return directly to Guanzhong?"

"This……"

Cao Ren was stunned, unable to recover.

Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Cao Chun and other generals were also stunned.

It's not that I can't believe it, but that I haven't thought about this path at all.

After all, it's a long journey from Jizhou to Youzhou to the north, and then to Hetao.

As long as you are thinking normally, you will not choose such a path to return to Guanzhong.

Cao Cao also thought of this possibility after learning that Luo Zheng continued to lead his army northward.

As for whether it is true or not, we will have to watch the actions of the Xiliang Army to know.

Xiahou Dun frowned and said: "That's the case, why didn't Luo Zheng kid cross to the north before the coalition army arrives?"

Cao Cao said in a condensed voice: "I have been thinking about it these days. It stands to reason that Luo Zheng's children are all cavalry, and they have enough time to cross the Hebei and enter Jizhou before the coalition forces rush to Yanzhou to encircle them. However, these days, my Xiliang The rebel army obviously has a great difference in military strength, and the biggest possibility is that Luo Zheng's children will divide their troops to plunder the land of Qingxu."

Xiahou Dun said in a calm voice: "So, Luo Zheng is waiting for another rebel army to join up?"

Cao Cao nodded and said, "If my expectations are correct, it should be more or less the same."

Xiahou Dun excitedly said: "Since this is the case, there is still a chance. Since Luo Zheng's son wants to cross the Hebei, there is only Cangting to the north of Fan County. Why don't our army contact other princes as soon as possible and rush to Cangting to encircle them."

Cao Cao sighed and shook his head, and said: "Little Luo Zheng is full of tricks, I can guess his intentions, how can he be unprepared. Before this thief has been going around in circles with the princes' army, he didn't have the intention of crossing the Hebei, so we can't guess him. The next step is to plan. Now that the army has gone to Cangting, another rebel army must have rushed to Cangting to join forces with him, and it may be too late to encircle them."

"Hey! How maddening it is."

Xiahou Dun waved his lower arm violently, feeling unwilling.

Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xia Houyuan and others also looked unwilling, wanting to vomit blood in anger.

Cao Ren said in a deep voice: "This thief is so treacherous, if he doesn't get rid of it for a day, it is really a serious problem for the confidants of the princes."

Cao Cao thought it so and said, "What Zixiao said is very true. Although this thief is not well-known, it is not easy to deal with him when he uses troops. He is far more difficult to deal with than Dong Zhuo's famous and outstanding general. If this thief is not eliminated early, It must be a serious problem in my heart."

All the generals were secretly awe-inspiring and silent.

Cangting is located in the west of Dong'e and the south of the Yellow River. It is the only ferry within a hundred miles.

Although the world is a bit chaotic in this era, there is also an advantage.

That is very environmentally friendly, no pollution.Not only the mountains are beautiful and the forests are lush, but there are large forests everywhere, the air is fresh, and there are countless rivers, large and small, all without pollution, and the water is clear to the bottom.

More than 1000 years later, the Yellow River was filthy, like muddy water after a flash flood erupted, and no fish survived at all.

But now the Yellow River is rippling blue, clear to the bottom, and the fish in the water are extremely rich. Even if the people living on both sides of the Yellow River have no food to eat, they can still earn their living by fishing from the river.

However, since the Xiliang army entered Yanzhou, the people near Cangting seldom came out for activities.

No matter whose army it is, the people's fear and hatred of war cannot be changed.

Besides, I heard that the Xiliang army burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of crimes. How can the people not be afraid.

On the simple pier, under the guard of Luo Zheng's personal soldiers, he looked at the other side, and was a little dazed for a while.

It has been more than half a year since I came to this era, and it is the first time to appreciate the scenery of the Yellow River so closely.

If we put aside the extreme backwardness of society and constant wars, there are indeed many things worth nostalgic about in this era.

At least in this era, there is no pollution and poisonous food, and the food is all pollution-free green products. You can breathe the freshest air every morning, and you don’t have to worry about eating sick pork or fake eggs one day.

However, the insufficiency of this era is obvious.

It is inconvenient to travel, inconvenient to communicate, and inconvenient to do anything.

It's even hard to keep my life alive, and I have to struggle every day to survive.

When I first came here, those days were really dark.

Looking back now, Luo Zheng felt that his nerves were many times bigger than ordinary people, and he could quickly adapt to this world of people eating people, and survived tenaciously, and the more he lived, the better.

"Master, Chen Tong is here."

Xu Chu saw that Luo Zheng was speechless, and reminded him in a muffled voice.

Only then did Luo Zheng come back to his senses, and looked at the hundreds of fishing boats slowly coming on the river.

Chen Tong was standing on the bow of one of the fishing boats, shouting loudly: "The villain has seen the general."

Luo Zheng also asked loudly: "Chen Tong, where are Xun Yu, his wife and children?"

Chen Tong replied: "Don't worry, general, Mr. Xun Yu, his wife and children are on the other side, and the villain left 100 people to protect them."

While speaking, the fishing boat had already docked at the pier.

Chen Tong jumped onto the pier and hurriedly greeted him.

Luo Zheng looked at the fishing boats slowly approaching the shore, and found that the boats were full of fishermen, all of them were afraid.

Chen Tong laughed and said: "The little ones are rare ducks. They have never been in the water, and they don't know how to play with these fishing boats, so they recruited nearby fishermen to help. Don't worry, the general, the villain sent 50 people to watch over their little ones." , sorry for any mistakes."

Luo Zheng nodded and said: "That's good, Chen Tong, you finally learned to use your brain."

Chen Tong laughed a few times, scratched his head and said, "It's what the general said. He has read three hundred Tang poems by heart, and he can chant poems even if he doesn't know how to compose them. After following the general for so long, if he doesn't make any progress, villain But it’s really like the general said there’s no cure.”

"Hahaha!"

Luo Zheng laughed heartily, and the military academies behind him also laughed.

At this time, the scout captain suddenly stepped forward and said: "General, Li Meng, Wang Fang's army has arrived in Gucheng."

Luo Zheng made a 'huh' sound, "It's pretty fast, how long will it take to get to Cangting?"

The captain of the scout replied: "Last night Li Meng and Wang Fang led the army to march overnight, so you can reach Gucheng this morning. Gucheng is only [-] miles away from Cangting. If the cavalry travels fast, it may take an hour and a half at most. Then you can go to Cangting."

Luo Zheng nodded lightly, and said in a deep voice: "Command the army, take the time to rest, and when Li Meng and Wang Fang's army arrive, they will immediately cross the north. Wait until the north bank of the river, and then change defenses and rest."

"As ordered."

The officer on duty responded loudly, and then left quickly.

Luo Zheng said again: "You can send more scouts to closely monitor the movement of the Kwantung rebels. Then reprimand the Marquis to cross the Hebei, search all around Yangping and Jizhou, and report to the army at any time without any mistakes."

The captain of the scout hurriedly agreed and retreated.

At this time, the sun has not yet reached noon, and the sun is still early.

The four thousand Xiliang cavalry soldiers, except for the soldiers who were on guard duty, rested on the beach by the river, or went underground in groups of three or four to catch fish, piled up firewood on the beach, and grilled the fish for food.

Luo Zheng found a place where no one was around, opened the door, and brought Xu Chu into the vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden is full of shade and green, and the wheat seedlings have grown to more than a foot in the newly opened seven acres of land, and the growth is extremely vigorous.

The rest of the corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. are also growing gratifyingly. The members of the Xu clan and hundreds of craftsmen who have nothing to do are working with the crops in the field, and everyone has a joyful smile on their faces.

According to the teachings handed down by the ancients, food is the most important thing for the people.

In the eyes of the common people, crops are definitely the things that need to be cherished the most.

Two red-faced guards rushed over immediately, see you on the big day.

Luo Zheng turned around and called a group of blacksmiths to discuss the method of smelting iron and casting weapons.

The iron smelting technology in this era was very backward, and the production efficiency was extremely low.

Although Luo Zheng doesn't know how to make iron, but he was born in the era of advanced information, he still understands some basic principles.

And these most basic theories are precisely what is most lacking in this era.

Although these blacksmiths are exquisite in craftsmanship, they do not have mature theories to guide practice.

Luo Zheng's few words immediately made these blacksmiths elated and excited inexplicably.

Around Shen time, the [-] cavalry led by Li Meng and Wang Fang finally arrived at Cangting, where the [-] Xiliang iron cavalry joined forces.

(End of this chapter)