Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3383 Soldiers

The sky gradually brightened, and it was a new day.

Sometimes, a day feels like a year, and sometimes, a year feels like a day.

The Battle of Anyi in Hedong, those days when the war situation was unpredictable, are now gradually becoming clear.

The winner of this battle is undoubtedly Fei Qian.

The first autumn rain did not fall, but the autumn wind whistled and rolled up the dust. As human beings' destruction of the water and soil of the Loess Plateau became more and more serious, the wind and sand naturally became stronger and stronger. This howling wind stirred the Yellow Dragon and churned around. Even if you stood on a high place and looked out, you couldn't see the situation in the distance clearly.

This kind of weather is not suitable for fighting, but it is very suitable for escaping.

Therefore, Cao Hong did not encounter the pursuing Hussars, but instead encountered Qian Zhao who was escorting the grain transport team.

Cao Hong and the others were overjoyed, almost like starving ghosts reincarnated, rushing forward, and as soon as the food and grass were unloaded, they couldn't wait to grab a handful and stuff it into their mouths...

The ordinary Cao army soldiers and civilians transporting grain watched and thought it was ridiculous, and gradually a chill rose in their hearts...

These are the leaders whose eyes seemed to be in the sky before!

Now it has become like this...

After being forced away by Cao Ping, Qian Zhao returned to Cao Cao's camp. Cao Cao comforted him and reprimanded Cao Ping in front of everyone for being rude and arrogant to Qian Zhao. He said he would demote him and investigate him, but after that, there was no further news. Qian Zhao could understand this.

After all, Cao's army had a lot of affairs to attend to, and in Shandong, everything had to go through a procedure. Especially for a case like Qian Zhao's, where there were no minor injuries and no property losses, but he was just scolded a few times and beaten twice, there was really no reason to punish him severely or quickly.

"Have you seen the lord?"

After eating a decent meal, Cao Hong felt like he was alive again. He sat down and asked Qian Zhao while asking his guards to change his medicine.

"The Prime Minister is in the camp at Zhongtiao Mountain."

Qian Zhao answered.

When Qian Zhao saw Cao Hong's miserable appearance after his defeat, he showed neither great surprise nor any contempt. When Cao Hong asked questions, he replied calmly. However, Qian Zhao did not expect that his ordinary reply would cause a storm in Cao Hong's heart!

  Yesterday, just last night, Bao Zhong called Cao Cao the same thing!

Cao Hong's expression changed involuntarily, but he quickly laughed and covered it up, without asking any more questions...

Qian Zhao did not think anything was wrong. Seeing that Cao Hong was fine, he stood up to inspect and arrange matters. Since the Anyi camp had been lost, there was no need for him to continue northward, but to turn back.

Qian Zhao sent a fast horse back in advance to report his encounter with Cao Hong and the news that the Anyi camp was defeated.

As for other things, to be honest, Qian Zhao no longer cares much.

Just do your duty...

The wind was howling and yellow sand was flying. In a blink of an eye, there was a layer of sand on their heads and bodies, as if they were dyed with some gray and yellow color, and it seemed that this land was slowly assimilating them.

……

……

Cao Cao had actually just arrived at the Zhongtiaoshan camp not long ago. After he arrived at the Zhongtiaoshan camp, the first thing he did was to urge the grain transport team to send it to the Anyi camp, and he also specially appeased Qian Zhao, asking him to escort the grain with 300 cavalry and 2,000 infantry, which also supplemented the troops in the Anyi camp.

Cao Cao naturally could not have imagined that the Anyi camp would collapse so quickly! It was as if he had just left and it collapsed right after!

While he was still trying his best to plan...

At this moment, Cao Cao was sitting alone in the big tent, looking somewhat listless.

He is not young anymore. If calculated based on the average life expectancy of Han people, he has already exceeded the average. He is working tirelessly every day to increase the average life expectancy of Han people!

  What kind of spirit is this?

Although Cao Cao has not yet reached the level where he can raise the average income of the entire group by several dozen percentage points by his own efforts, he has at least continued to work hard and diligently.

Cao Cao took off his crown.

Flat crown.

It is neither the Jinxian crown nor the Tongtian crown.

These clothes and ribbons have all been certified by the organization...

Cao Cao, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, was appointed after many studies, decisions and appointments by the Han Dynasty's court and relevant organizations. He was not a special product like Yuan's.

Cao Cao still remembered the flattering words in the emperor's edict when he was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

At that time, the emperor fully affirmed Cao Cao's infrastructure work in Shandong over the years, pointed out the good achievements Cao Cao had made since he started his army, and made remarkable achievements in the stable progress of the Central Plains of the Han Dynasty. The emperor was very pleased and said that Cao Cao was a beautiful business card among the princes of Shandong in the Han Dynasty, and the development of Yingchuan also reflected the good future of the national and Yuzhou people's livelihood recovery and healthy and orderly economy.

The emperor gave a high-level summary of Cao Cao's work as the governor of Yanzhou, the governor of Yuzhou, etc., saying that since Cao Cao took office, he has been able to deeply implement the instructions and requirements of the emperor of the Han Dynasty on the construction of basic people's livelihood, unite and lead the people of Yingchuan to actively explore and boldly innovate a new Han Dynasty road, strengthen communication and coordination with the rural elders and local crosstalk, and promote the development of the Han Dynasty government agencies' work in rural governance...

  (Ten thousand words are omitted below.)

Cao Cao was quite proud of it at the time and enshrined the edict, but he soon discovered that the edict did not contain any real emotion. Even if Cao Cao's name was replaced with someone else, such as Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it!

At most, Yingchuan or something would be replaced with Jizhou, or Nanyang, etc.

  In other words, it is like "the men are permanent, but the officials come and go"!

The Prime Minister is just one of the Three Dukes with a different name!

Neither the emperor nor the local gentry took Cao Cao seriously!

Just like this time when Cao Cao was defeated, were they nervous or did they feel the danger?

No!

They are still drinking, singing and laughing!

"Feng Xiao ah..."

There was a lacquer box in front of Cao Cao, and he stroked it gently.

"These people all deserve to be killed! They deserve to be killed!" Cao Cao sighed, "You usually look down on Wen Ruoyi for being so prudent, but in fact you are kind-hearted and can't bear to see him fail..."

Cao Cao was not wrong in saying this. Xun Yu certainly wanted to strike a balance among the many intertwined interests, but Guo Jia had been mocking Xun Yu all the time, but he really did nothing to hinder or sabotage Xun Yu.

Otherwise, with Guo Jia's strategy...

Now, Guo Jia is dead, and why can those people from Shandong live comfortably and freely? !

"Report!" 』

A soldier ran out of the tent and clasped his head to the ground, "Prime Minister! General Qian sent someone to report that he met General Cao Zilian on the way! Anyi, Anyi... The Anyi camp has been defeated!"

After the soldiers finished shouting, they prostrated themselves on the ground and dared not move.

There was a sudden silence in the big tent, as quiet as death.

The curtain of the big tent was lifted, and Cao Cao walked out. He didn't have time to put on his crown, and his hair was messy and uncombed. He seemed to be shivering in the autumn wind, not sure if it was because of the cold or the anger.

Cao Hong!

actually……

Cao Cao knew that Cao Hong would definitely be defeated, but he didn't expect him to be defeated so quickly!

Originally, the initiative of this war was more or less in Cao Cao's hands. He took the initiative to launch the attack and chose the battlefield, and he had the population and wealth of Heluo and Hedong with him. As long as everything went well, he could not only obtain Guanzhong, but even the entire world seemed to be right in front of him.

  But now, in the blink of an eye, all initiative has been lost!

He didn't know when it started, but he felt like he was caught in a spider web. He didn't feel anything at first, but it became more and more difficult, and he was sinking deeper and deeper. Now it was extremely difficult to extricate himself!

Cao Cao had a blank expression on his face, but everyone felt as if the sky was covered with dark clouds and thunder would strike at any time.

"General Zilian, how are you now?"

After a moment, Cao Cao spoke slowly.

The soldiers and guards around finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, General Zilian is injured, but his life is not in danger..." the soldier reported.

Cao Cao nodded, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Beat the drums and gather the generals!"

He looked up at the sky. Strong winds were carrying yellow sand everywhere.

Lu Chang and Dong Zhao arrived quickly and were also shocked when they heard the news.

"Get ready...speed up!"

Cao Cao whispered and glanced at Dong Zhao.

Dong Zhao lowered his head and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will go right away and work day and night!"

Lu Chang turned his head to look at the wind and sand outside the big tent, "My lord, in this weather... even if the cavalry comes, it won't be that fast, right?"

"No, no!"

Cao Cao smiled, but his eyes flashed with coldness. "Based on my understanding of the cavalry...if they don't move, they'll move like a rabbit! Do you think that the cavalry hasn't arrived yet because Cao Zilian hasn't been chased on the road? I think the cavalry at the front of the cavalry has probably already approached the camp here, hiding behind the wind and sand!"

"What?!" Lu Chang was shocked.

……

……

The land of Youyan, the city of Yuyang.

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, Yuyang was once glorious, but just like many glorious things will eventually decline, today's Yuyang is in decline.

Even at noon, there were still not many ordinary pedestrians on the main streets in the city.

Although Cao Chun showed his bravery as a Han Chinese at the end of the last war and somewhat restored the dignity of the Cao family, the entire Youzhou had been hollowed out. Even though Cao Chun repeatedly emphasized the need for stable development, encouraging agriculture and sericulture, developing the economy, and stimulating consumption, the actual effect was very mediocre.

This can be seen from the shops open on the street and the people shopping.

This was originally the main street of Yuyang. As long as the market was open, people would come and go. Every shop was filled with people carrying large and small bags in their hands or on their shoulders, and some even loaded the goods on donkey carts to take them back to the village.

But now, it is considered very good if there are three or five shops open on a street.

Several guys were standing at the door of the store bored.

Business is not good now, and even the waitress can't be hired. So the waiter has to do the job of soliciting customers. But even if the waiter does it, the salary of the waitress can be saved, but there is no customer flow on the whole street, and the remaining money is not very useful...

  Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and several shop assistants who were still open for business were cheered up!

You know, those who can still come on horseback nowadays are big customers!

But soon, an older guy's face changed. Not only did he not solicit customers at the door of the store, he even ran into the store in a hurry...

"What is this old guy doing?"

The clerk at another store not far away was still wondering why, but he soon understood why...

On the long street, galloping along with the sound of horse hooves, the person coming was not a big customer who was purchasing goods, but a fast horse carrying an urgent message with a flag on its back!

The few pedestrians to begin with all avoided the crowd.

The urgent news came from a fast horse, passing through the long street like a whirlwind.

The shop assistants and passers-by looked at each other and saw a bit of panic in each other's eyes!

How long has this been going on?!

  Is war going to start again?

Is it still possible to live in Youzhou?

Pedestrians no longer went shopping, but hurried home.

  And those few remaining shops on the long street soon began to install their door panels and close their doors, as if the virus was contagious to one another!

For a moment, an atmosphere of tension and panic spread throughout Yuyang City!

"General, General! The military situation is urgent!"

Seeing that it was an urgent report, the guards on duty at General Yuyang's Mansion did not dare to be negligent. They went straight in, carrying the soldier who had run so hard that his lower limbs were clogged and he could not walk steadily.

  The word "military intelligence" was like a sledgehammer, smashing the illusion of stability that had been so hard to build in Yuyang to pieces!

"Bring it in!"

In the hall, Cao Chun's loud shout was heard.

Cao Chun was not wearing armor, only a battle robe tied with a belt. His figure was not much different from before, but if you look closely at his face, you can see that he looked much more haggard, especially the dark circles under his eyes, like a Tiger Vanguard who had stayed up all night fighting for six hours, with blue and black spots.

"Report!" The fast horse rushed to report, "The cavalry from the Northern Territory, the cavalry from the Northern Territory are coming!"

"What? ! 』

Cao Chun slammed the table and stood up.

Although he had a rough idea of ​​what was going on after seeing the express report, he still couldn't sit still after hearing the news. "Tell me the details!"

The fast horseman reported in a hoarse voice, "General! The Hussars are coming! We have encountered Hussar scouts at the outpost of Gubeikou! And according to the movements of some herdsmen, the Hussars have already been dispatched in large numbers!"

"What are the shepherds' movements?" Cao Chun asked.

"General, there are some scattered herdsmen outside Gubeikou, and they are trading some salt and iron with us..." He reported hurriedly and lowered his head.

This is against the rules.

Although everyone knows that guarding the border is very hard work, so using the allocated salt and iron to exchange some meat, milk and other things with the herdsmen is also a very common "against the rules" behavior, which is "in principle" not allowed.

Moreover, this kind of exchange is sometimes not necessarily for food. Sometimes the wives and daughters of herdsmen may also become one of the exchange commodities.

After all, the desert is sparsely populated, and if you want to avoid inbreeding, you have to think of some way. It's not that these herdsmen are shameless, but they are forced by their lifestyle and production conditions...

But this is indeed dangerous, because no one knows whether these herdsmen, who have a good deal this time, will become enemy spies next time, or will bring their opponents to sell out all of Cao's outposts!

Hearing this, Cao Chun frowned slightly, but now was not the time to worry about these things, so he could only say in a deep voice: "Tell me more details!"

The urgent report said that because they had some trading relations, the herdsmen first encountered the scouts of the cavalry, felt that something was wrong, and began to evacuate, and also informed their sentries...

"General! The cavalry is really here!" He kowtowed immediately.

Cao Chun nodded slowly and waved his hand to let the urgent report go down and rest.

  Cao Chun understood very well what it would mean if the Hussars really came in large numbers!

The last time Youzhou was in chaos, he, Cao Chun, almost became the biggest joke!

He sent Xiahou Shang, made various arrangements, and gave the Xianbei and Wuhuan many benefits and money. But in the end, not only did the Xianbei and Wuhuan, the shameless and untrustworthy Hu people, betray him, but even Xiahou Shang actually defected to the Cavalry!

All these things are not only like slapping Cao Chun in the face, but can even be said to be jumping on his head and shitting on him!

The scenes of the previous battle reappeared in front of Cao Chun...

Cao Chun admitted that he was not as skilled as others.

Zhao Yun was indeed powerful, and Cao Chun had no confidence in winning.

Cao Chun admitted that his plan was not as good as others.

However, he had no decent counselors around him, and those who could offer advice were all good-for-nothings, and there was nothing he could do about it as they were no match for the Northern Cavalry Army.

  But in Cao Chun's heart, he still felt vaguely dissatisfied!

Because Cao Chun always felt that if Zhang He hadn't inexplicably brought some Semites to fight, and if Xiahou Shang hadn't turned his fake play into reality and betrayed his arrangement, he might not have lost so badly last time!

Therefore, the main reason was not because of him, but because of the "traitor"!

Cao Chun was not familiar with many places in the desert because they were away from home. He thought that even if the Xianbei and Wuhuan people could not provide much combat power, they could still provide some vision. However, he did not expect that the Xianbei and Wuhuan people were just scum. Instead, he became careless and lost his vision on the battlefield!

in case……

  Forget it, there are no ifs!

Now, the battle that had not been completed before was once again unfolding before Cao Chun.

  This time we are fighting on home soil, and the victory will depend on this one!

"All troops on alert immediately! All soldiers return to their posts immediately!"

Cao Chun shouted loudly, "Three days, no, tomorrow we must prepare the advance food and fodder! Go out immediately! Follow me to fight the Hussars!"

"Tomorrow? General, isn't this... a little too hasty? Didn't we only encounter a few scattered cavalry scouts? The cavalry army may still be behind us..."

"Hmph!" Cao Chun snorted coldly, "The Hussars...are always very swift and cunning...You thought they haven't arrived yet, but maybe the vanguard has already reached the outside of Gubeikou!"

(End of this chapter)