The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 348
Cao Zhi was dressed in double armor, leaning against a luotong lying on the ground, holding a book in one hand and a flat wine jug in the other, praising "wonderful" from time to time, and then took a sip liquor.A magnificent white horse stood behind him, constantly lowering its head to lick his flagon, and a dozen fierce warriors stood not far away, they couldn't help laughing when they heard his shout, and then secretly glanced at him. A look at the Persian cat dozing off on its hunchback.

The horse sent by Xia Hourong, the date wine sent by Chen Hai, the book sent by Yang Xiu, and the Persian cat are the four treasures that Cao Zhi carried with him.

"Brother Zijian, don't 'meow' anymore, you are just like this cat." Chen Hai strode over and looked down at Cao Zhi, who was blushing: "Could it be drunk? It’s time to go into battle, so don’t even be unsteady on your horse.”

"Zhuzi, which eye do you see that I'm drunk?" Cao Zhi didn't even lift his eyelids, curled his lips, and raised the jug to his mouth, but didn't pour out a drop of wine. He looked puzzled, I shook it vigorously, but still nothing.He raised his head and stared at the white horse, scolding: "You bastard, stole my drink again?"

The white horse snorted, turned its head to ignore him, shook its belly, and its snow-white mane swayed in the wind.

"Your mother, like those savages, just can't understand Chinese, so be stupid." Cao Zhi cursed angrily, threw the jug to a guard, and shouted, "Come here!"

"Don't drink it." Chen Hailing grabbed the jug and handed it to the guard. He shook his head, turned around and said to Cao Zhi, "The scouts just came to report that the Sasanians have left the desert, and they are at most twenty miles away from here." .”

"There are still twenty miles left, so why worry?" Cao Zhi didn't take it seriously, stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers, and drank again: "Here comes the wine!"

The personal guard glanced at Chen Hai in embarrassment, but Chen Hai couldn't help it. He knew the young master's temper, and no one could stop him from being arrogant.

"Zijian, don't drink." Cao Zhang and a dozen bodyguards rushed towards him like a hurricane, kicking up a cloud of dust.Cao Zhi shook the book dissatisfied, and shook the sand off the book, but he didn't dare to say anything more, and looked at Cao Zhang lazily: "I said General Cao, there are still twenty miles away, why are you in a hurry?"

"Twenty miles is an instant for the cavalry." Cao Zhang reined in his horse and shouted in a deep voice: "We have to rely on you [-] infantry to dampen their spirits and entangle them before we can take advantage of the fire. How can you Take it lightly, have you forgotten what you promised me before you came?"

Cao Zhi sighed helplessly, and muttered: "I said, don't always mention these two sentences, why are you still as verbose as you were when you were a child?"

"What did you say?" Cao Zhang was furious, and he circled the horse and shouted loudly: "If you haven't had enough, I'll let you go to the back and have a good drink. Li Zhengfang will direct here."

"Don't!" Cao Zhi panicked now, jumped up, shaking his dantian, and roared: "Arrangement——"

With an order, the sound of war drums exploded suddenly, breaking the peace on the battlefield.Chen Hai didn't say any more, jumped on his horse, and went straight to the battle formation on the left side of the formation.The [-] Yue State navy divisions have already lined up. Behind the rows of ballistas are shirtless Yue State soldiers wearing leather sandals. They stand in front of their weapons, talking and laughing softly from time to time. The atmosphere is obviously very easy.On the right side of the formation, [-] Shu soldiers lined up in two phalanxes. Li Yan, the general of the army, stood with his hands on his sword and crossed his legs. The mud stains on his face made his face a bit ridiculous, but no one dared to laugh, because there was boundless murderousness in his eyes, which was no less than the Uzi sword still hidden in its scabbard.

A phalanx composed of more than 3 infantry from the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Yue straddled the Sasanians’ northward road, blocking the first clear spring after they walked out of the desert. Take the sasanian sacrificial knife that just escaped from the desert.Ten miles behind them, Cao Zhang brought [-] iron cavalry from Wei State, and [-] Guishuang fine cavalry led by Prince Bodiao are waiting for an opportunity. Stop, these more than [-] elite cavalry will come out from both sides, and work together with the infantry to kill the Sasanians.

The key to this battle was to allow the pawns to entangle the Sassanids first, so after discussing with the generals, Cao Zhang decided to use 3 pawns as bait to stop the Sassanians from the clear spring for water.The Sassanids must have been hungry and thirsty just after they came out of the desert, and they were eager to get water. They would definitely not pay attention to seeing [-] infantry blocking the way, and they would probably rush forward. At that time, the cavalry would kill them again. Otherwise, although Cao Zhang and the others have more than [-] fine cavalry and are capable of fighting the Sassanids, it is not easy to achieve good results.

The loud sound of war drums frightened the feeble Sasanian scouts. They had just walked out of the desert, thinking that they were safe and sound after returning to their own territory, so they seemed a little absent-minded about inquiring about the military situation. Now when they heard this familiar With the sound of war drums, they realized that they had relaxed too early.

Some scouts came following the sound of war drums. When they saw the army waiting in front of Qingquan, they were stunned. After a short period of distraction, they turned their horses around and galloped.They whipped their horses recklessly, squeezed the last bit of potential of the horses, ran at the fastest speed, and sent the news to Ardashir as soon as possible.

Ardashir rode on horseback and poured the last half of the jug of water into his dry mouth that was about to smoke.He was attacked by Lu Xun before entering the desert. Although his main force was not damaged too much, most of the heavy soldiers were left behind. They only had dry food and fresh water with them.Dry food is easy to deal with. For the Sassanians, it is commonplace to suffer from hunger, and they can survive for several days by saving a little food. But the problem of fresh water is difficult. Without water, neither people nor livestock can support them. .The Sassanids have traveled a lot in this desert, and they know where there are springs. However, because they did not bring enough water reserves, they still suffered a lot before reaching the first clear spring. Several hundred camels were lost, and almost all of the camels carrying the cargo had their esophagus cut open to get water from their stomachs.

It can be said that this crossing of the desert was the most painful time for the Sasanians. If it was not for going home, if they did not know that fresh water could be replenished as long as they walked out of the desert, it would be hard for them to say whether they had enough strength to support them until now.Even so, they still lost a lot of staff. At least two to three thousand people fell into a pile of bones in the desert because of lack of water, and could never return to their hometown.

Now they are very relaxed, back to their own land, seeing the green fields again, the air is filled with tempting moisture, as long as they walk another twenty miles, they can lie down by the clear spring water and drink a cup of water. Happy to make up for all the water that has been evaporated by the hot desert these days.They were very excited, and poured the last bit of water into their mouths at the same time. The water that was once more precious than gold is no longer precious. The clear spring in front of them can meet all their requirements.

Ardashir swallowed the last sip of water slowly, the dry and chapped lips were moistened by the water, and the pain of the cracked mouth being stimulated by the water also made him feel excited. Wiping his mouth, a smile just appeared, and then froze on his face.

Twenty cavalry came galloping from a distance, and the horses rushed up smoke and dust like galloping earth dragons, heading straight for the exhausted Sassanid battle formation, and the sound of alarm horns sounded far away.

Ardasil felt a strong unease.He thought for a while, and immediately raised his arm. The orderly hesitated for a moment, and then instinctively blew the horn.

The sound of the trumpets surprised the excited Sassanids. Although they were exhausted, driven by years of experience, they moved quickly and focused on their respective battle flags. While waiting anxiously for further orders from Ardashir.At this time, Ardashir blew the horn of assembly, which is definitely not good news.Could it be that the enemy has already attacked the Sassanid land?They were all terrified.

Ardashir's face had turned livid, and he was surprisingly angry.The Han people are too bullying. They not only fought against themselves in Axum and Egypt, but now they have gone one step further. They actually landed from the Persian Gulf and rushed to their own land to invite attacks. They still provoked [-] to [-] cavalry with [-] infantry.

This is an unscrupulous provocation against the Sasanians.

Such a thing has never happened in Ardashir's memory. He has never heard of infantry daring to attack cavalry who outnumber him. According to historical records, they have always fought passively, and they were on the land of Rome, and they never set foot on the land of the Sassanians.

Not only was Ardashir angry, but the generals who heard the news were also furious. They yelled and wanted to rush up and kill these reckless Han Chinese in order to dissipate their hatred. Recently, the Han Chinese used tricks After being defeated, they were very angry, and now they were bullied to the door by the Han people, how could they swallow this breath.

What's more, they still have to fetch water. If they don't defeat the Han people, how will they fetch water?

The generals hissed and roared, asking for a fight, but Ardashir kept silent. He raised his head, looked past the fists of the generals, and looked straight into the distance. After a while, he finally Shaking his head, he said without doubt: "Changing the road, avoiding them, and fetching water at the next water point!"

"Why?" All the generals asked in unison.

"Don't ask so many questions." Ardashir was furious, raised his horsewhip, and scanned the circle with majestic eyes. His bloodshot eyes were full of tyrannical murderousness, and he could see all the generals who were as angry as lions. mouth.They looked at each other and ran away without saying a word.Ardasil panted heavily, covered his chest and coughed twice, and then called two of his confidantes, Mr. Wan, to make arrangements. After hearing this, the two men bowed away with fear in their eyes.

The army then turned northward, racing north along the edge of the desert.Almost everyone sensed the crisis, and they hurried on their way without saying a word.

When the news reached the ears of Cao Zhi and others, Cao Zhi and others were immediately splashed with cold water.The reason why they did so ostentatiously was that they hoped to anger the Sassanids, but unexpectedly, the Sassanids turned their heads and walked away without saying a word.Their calculations were all in vain, and they guarded a clear spring for nothing, and could only watch the Sasanian escape from the net.

Cao Zhi didn't dare to neglect, and immediately sent the news to Cao Zhang.Cao Zhang and Bodiao were gearing up and waiting to attack. When they saw the messengers coming on flying horses, they thought Cao Zhi and the others had already entangled the Sassanids. Bodiao's eyes were red with excitement. Suddenly, Bodiao's waving arm froze in mid-air.

"Run away?" Bo Tiao was stunned for a while, then suddenly roared.It startled Cao Zhang who was thinking.He turned his head to see the thick beard and hair, and the incomparably mighty wave tone, and laughed dumbfoundedly: "Your Majesty, if you run away, you will run away. Anyway, he will go back to Ctesiphon, so we just chase after him."

"No." Bodiao waved his hand. He was over fifty years old and he didn't look old at all. He walked vigorously. As he walked towards the horse, he flew on the horse and said loudly: "Let that old dog It is not so easy to fight after entering the city, if we want to avenge this revenge, we can only defeat him in the field, and we will have hope of attacking the city in the future."

"Think twice, Your Majesty." Cao Zhang hastened two steps and grabbed the reins of Bo Tiao's horse: "The Sassanians are twice as big as me, so it's not easy for us to win."

"Hmph, so what if I'm twice as big as me?" Botiao dismissively said, "They just came out of the desert, can they compare with us? Maybe they lost too much in the desert, and the current people and horses are comparable to us." Almost, otherwise why would he not dare to fight?" Botiao raised his head, looked at the direction where Ardashir was escaping, and sneered: "When was this old dog Ardashir so weak? If it wasn't for his lack of strength, he Can you swallow this breath? General, I will go first, and you will come later."

After finishing speaking, he urged his horse and drove away with his personal guards.Cao Zhang rubbed his hands, smiled helplessly, and shook his head.Xun Yun frowned, leaned close to Cao Zhang and said softly, "Ziwen, Bo Tiao is too careless. Ardashir is not an ordinary person, he can keep calm in this situation, how can he not hold back? "

Cao Zhang glanced at Xun Yun, then turned his head and looked at the Guishuang people who were hurriedly leaving, and the corner of his mouth twitched: "So we have to let the Guishuang people go first."

Xun Yun was stunned, suddenly realized, he and Cao Zhang exchanged a look, and they laughed at the same time.Xun Yun's wife is Cao Zhang's sister, and he and Cao Zhang have worked together for a long time, and they are much more familiar with each other than other generals.Cao Zhang only said one sentence, and he understood Cao Zhang's intentions, and immediately shut up.

Cao Zhang reacted quickly, ordering Xun Yun to lead Hu Qiying to set off first, and lead the army to follow behind.At the same time, he sent an order to Cao Zhi to let them follow at the end and be prepared not to be too far away from the army, lest they fall into the trap of the Sasanians.When Cao Zhi and others heard the order, they sighed in vain, but there was no better way. The infantry had this sense of powerlessness when facing the cavalry. Whether to fight or not, the initiative rests with the opponent.

"It seems that this Ardashir is well-deserved." Li Yan stroked the short beard under his chin, and nodded in satisfaction: "Such opponents are interesting."

"It's rare to see General Li so interested. However, General Li can't compete with us." Cao Zhi laughed, "We have agreed that I will take the lead in the first battle. The man keeps his word, but we can't Go back on your promise."

"That's not right." Chen Hai rubbed his chin and said with a strange smile: "The first battle has already been fought, and the enemy was defeated without a fight. How can you grab the next command right? We originally agreed to take turns. "

Cao Zhi chuckled a few times: "Since you collapsed without fighting...there is no war. How can you say that the battle is over? I said General Chen, you still haven't read the book well."

Chen Hai rolled his eyes, he was indeed not Cao Zhi's opponent when it came to picky words, and he gave Cao Zhi something to talk about in vain.Li Yan twitched his lips and shook his head helplessly.This time Wei, Shu and Yue joined forces, and Yue took the main task of transportation and supplies, and the Persian Gulf was Chen Hai's responsibility. No one could move his position, otherwise Chen Hai would be angry, and it would be a problem for them to go home.And Wei Guo came with the most troops, [-] infantry and [-] cavalry, with a full range of troops and strong strength, and it was the main force that did its part.Although Shu has fifteen thousand infantry, it has no cavalry, so its strength cannot be compared with that of Wei, nor can it offend the people of Yue.He is the oldest of the three of them, but now he can only listen to them most of the time.

Li Yan was very depressed. He was originally one of Liu Bei's most important ministers before his death, but he was not as popular as Zhuge Liang, and his qualifications were not as good as Zhang Fei, so he was defeated in the battle.Seeing that Zhang Fei was getting older, he was expected to succeed Zhang Fei as an important general in Shu. Unexpectedly, as soon as the letter from the King of Yue arrived in Shu, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang and General Zhang Fei recommended him to lead the army.Of course he knew what this meant, but he couldn't refuse, so he had to travel thousands of miles to Sasan.He took a deep breath, wanted to make a great contribution to Sassan, and then went back to the Kingdom of Shu proudly, so that those who looked down on him could see that Li Yan was a real general who could fight, not just relying on connections. As an official, he will take over as the general in a legitimate way.But I didn't expect the first battle to end in this way.

"Well, it seems that I won't be able to see Taixi Fengcheng." Li Yan sighed secretly, got on his horse, and walked back to his battle formation.Ma Zhong followed him closely, and when he saw that his complexion was not good, he persuaded him: "General, the Sasanians retreated without a fight, and their strength was seriously damaged, so we still have a great chance even under the city of Taixifeng. "

"Siege of a city is no better than a field battle after all." Li Yan looked around, Cao Zhi and Chen Hai were still chatting and laughing, surrounded by people close to him, Zhuge Liang's confidant Zong Yu was at least twenty steps away from him. "As long as you have twice the strength in a field battle, you can have a chance of winning, but you must have at least five times the strength in a siege. Do we have so many people? What's more, Ctesiphon is the capital of the Sasanians, and it is not comparable to an ordinary town. The difficulty of attacking will increase a lot.”

Ma Zhong nodded, with a lot of worry in his eyes: "Yes, if we can hit the Sasanians hard this time and wipe out their main force outside the city, then there is still a chance to besiege Ctesiphon. If they return to Ctesiphon safely Feng, this siege of the city is really difficult. The siege of the city is all about exhaustion. The Sassanids have the advantages of their homeland, but we are going on an expedition of thousands of miles. No matter how strong the Yue Kingdom is, there will be times when it will not be able to support it. At that time..."

"Alas..." Li Yan sighed and shook his head in silence.He and Ma Zhong thought about the same thing, and he was not very optimistic about the prospects of this battle. If Taixifeng was to be besieged for a long time in the end, even if this battle was won, it would be a miserable victory. , the consequences are even more unimaginable, if you don't win, there will be no spoils to compensate, and it will be a problem to pay for the soldiers who died in battle.This trip is to make money, if the money is not made in the end, and the Shu Kingdom has to pay for it, Li Yan will not have a bright future.

"Dexin, you are right, I am also very worried now."

Ma Zhong looked at Li Yan, and comforted him: "Relax, general, His Royal Highness the King of Yue is invincible. Since he can invite us to join the battle, he will not be at the point where both sides will suffer. General Cao is also used to riding. General Xiao, if they catch up now, they may be able to entangle the Sasanians, and they may come and order us to rush over there at that time, the general should be prepared to avoid being caught off guard."

"Catch up?" Li Yan shook his head in surprise: "The cavalry can travel twenty miles in an hour, and the Sasanians are running for their lives. Can we catch up? I don't expect to be able to join the battle, but I hope they don't come to us , otherwise, I’m afraid it’s not a good thing.” He paused, and habitually raised the corner of his mouth, then regained his composure, and said in a low voice, “I always feel that Cao Ziwen let Bo Tiao go first, and the hidden With the intention of borrowing a knife to kill someone."

"Isn't it?" Ma Zhong looked at Li Yan with some surprise: "The enemy is in front of him, why would he still have such thoughts? This is not a good thing."

"That's why I'm worried." Li Yan let out a long breath: "We seem to have a lot of troops, but they come from several different countries. Everyone has their own thoughts, and there will inevitably be internal friction. Why can the Sassanians Escaping from Lake Timsach? Isn’t it because the Romans were passive and idle? Why did Lu Xun catch up? Isn’t it because he didn’t trust the Romans from the beginning? Guishuang people?"

"It does sound like that." Ma Zhong nodded in admiration: "The guards are still thinking carefully, I really didn't expect this level."

"You..." Li Yan glanced at Ma Zhong with a smile that was not a smile, with a bit of arrogance that could not be concealed: "You are good in everything else, but you have read less. But then again, you read a lot. It's not necessarily a good thing, people who read less are more simple and honest."

Ma Zhong smiled awkwardly, but said nothing.

(End of this chapter)