Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3633: The Night Fire Can't Illuminate the Blood of Loyal Souls, and the Dust Has Not Dispersed the Smoke and the Sadness of Leaving the Mountain
The night is dark.

There are occasional red and yellow spots, but they cannot resist the vast expanse of black.

Just like the human heart.

Even bright red blood cannot redeem a black heart.

Cao Zhang stood on the ruined city wall and looked at the black mountains in the distance.

In the dark night, they climbed the cliff and attacked the catapult position deployed by Zhang Liao on the mountain line.

To be honest, Cao Zhang was not very confident.

But this must be done, otherwise if the soldiers inside the pass see the general, they will just lie down, and then it is possible that these soldiers will lie down even more flat immediately...

Cao Zhang suddenly understood some of his father's actions.

Some things that I couldn't understand before, but now I can understand.

Under the pressure of survival, some suboptimal solutions may pose hidden dangers, but they are necessary choices to break through the predicament.

It’s like knowing there is a ban, but still going out to work with malicious intent.

The bureaucrats in capitalist society do not care where the lower-class people die, but they must not let them survive and block their path to wealth.

Shandong, the world.

The nobles, the emperor.

Cao Cao wanted to change, but he didn't do it well. Each "suboptimal solution" may have left some hidden dangers, and now these hidden dangers have accumulated and more or less become the current pain.

"General, look!"

The bodyguard suddenly exclaimed and pointed forward.

Cao Zhang looked in the direction indicated by his personal soldiers.

Suddenly, I saw a flash of light on the distant mountain, like a shooting star, and then it suddenly bloomed, like a red lotus that blooms briefly in the abyss.

"Ohh ...

The surrounding soldiers cheered.

"See?" Cao Zhang pointed at the blooming red lotuses at the right time, "This is the proof of our warriors! The cavalry is not invincible!"

"General, can you burn those catapults?" a Cao army soldier shouted excitedly, "Will those damn catapults stop hitting us? Will we no longer be hit by them in the future?!"

Cao Zhang could only smile and couldn't make any guarantees.

Although the words of this Cao army soldier were somewhat incoherent, it seemed that he was venting emotions that had been accumulated for a long time, and his voice even sounded a little torn at the end.

Cao Zhang really wanted to tell this guy the truth, but when he saw the stupid and clear eyes that flashed across the firelight, Cao Zhang ended up saying nothing.

Perhaps, one more night of false happiness could give him more strength to recover?
When the count was taken at dawn, the broken bluestone slabs on the parade ground were empty.

None of the sixty or seventy suicide squad members who attacked last night returned.

Cao Zhang stood at the edge of the parade ground, looking at the cracked lines on the bluestone slabs, which looked like lines of outlined characters.

The chief clerk held the list and said in a trembling voice, "Major General...according to the law, he should be expelled from the army..."

Before the chief clerk finished speaking, Cao Zhang suddenly interrupted him, "Order! Cao Silang and others from Qiao County are promoted to military commanders! Recorded, rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"

"No, no!" the chief clerk said repeatedly, "We know that the young general has a kind heart, and for the sake of these warriors' afterlife... However, this is unprecedented! He was promoted before departure, and now he is promoted again... If there are greedy people in the future who want to use this to threaten us... No, no! Please think twice, young general! Just give more rewards and pensions, but don't promote him again!"

Cao Zhang looked up at the black smoke rising outside the pass and gritted his teeth.

"precedent".

Just two simple words, but the meaning they imply is not simple at all.

Cao Zhang reached out and pressed his forehead.

After a sleepless night, the mental strain and days of fatigue, Cao Zhang also felt vaguely like his father's illness.

"In the past, Qi Huang was able to kill the witch of Guzhu to establish his authority. Now I am the commander of the three armies, but I cannot honor the seventy loyal souls?"

The chief clerk prostrated himself and held the list high in his hands, "I have received great favors from the Prime Minister. Even if I die, I will still be fair and impartial, so as not to let the Prime Minister down. It is said in the Zhou Li that the appointment and removal of titles and salaries are in the hands of the Grand Chancellor. In the past, when a general reported victory in a foreign country, he still had to return to the capital to ask for a title. The general is now repeatedly given titles, which is certainly a way to encourage brave men, but it is against the rules. If there is no difference between the upper and lower, how can there be a distinction between the first and the last?"

"What a distinction between superiors and subordinates!" Cao Zhang used the scabbard of his sword to pick up a piece of broken armor left on the ground of the training ground. It was unknown whether it was a remnant of armor left by the previous death squad, or if someone had died or been injured here before. There was some dried blood on it. "Since you say so, how about you be included in the next death squad? !"

The chief clerk placed the list on the ground and kowtowed, "The young general wants me to die, please speak frankly, poisoned wine, white silk, short blade, I will accept it. I have received the prime minister's kindness, so I should repay it with my death! However, there is no possibility of promotion. If I destroy the four hundred years of rules of the Han Dynasty because of seventy soldiers today, I will be..."

The chief clerk's words came to an abrupt end.

Cao Zhang drew out his sword and placed it on the chief clerk's neck. The blade, which still had blood on it, carried a strong smell of blood and rushed straight into the chief clerk's nose, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"The virtue of the Han Dynasty has been lost at the hands of corrupt officials like you!" Cao Zhang looked at the chief clerk's expression of pretending to be calm, and cut off his hat with his backhand, "Get out! I will be promoted today!"

The chief clerk staggered and fell, crawled a few steps outside, raised his hand to touch, not sure if it was his head or his hair, and suddenly shouted, "Major General, if you dare to die today, you can be awarded a higher rank, but what rank will you be awarded tomorrow? ! It's easy to advance, but difficult to retreat! When there is no more room for advancement, the world will be in chaos and the universe will collapse!"

Cao Zhang leaned on his sword and laughed wildly, "What a chaos the world is in! Today I want to see if I can promote seventy soldiers, which is... "

Before Cao Zhang finished speaking, a military commander suddenly rushed over and said, "Young General! This is bad! The Cavalry Army is preparing to attack again!"

"Prepare for battle!"

Cao Zhang did not bother to argue with the chief clerk and immediately stood up and went to close the door.

The chief clerk lowered his head, his hair was disheveled, his eyelids were rolled up, and the whites of his eyes were exposed. He stared at Cao Zhang as he left, then gritted his teeth and took the bamboo slips, and turned to the list of names of the death squads that went out yesterday. He was silent for a moment, stretched out his hands that were stained with mud, and took out the carving knife from his bosom. He raised his head and glanced at Cao Zhang who was walking away, "Young General! I am doing this for your own good! For the Prime Minister! For the Han Dynasty! For the country and the people of the world!"

After saying this, the chief clerk seemed to become more determined. He lowered his head and used a knife to cut off the names on the bamboo slips one by one.

Under the knife and pen, the ink marks dimmed and eventually disappeared, leaving only a little ink remaining in the fibers of the bamboo slips, which seemed to prove that something had been written on the bamboo slips before...

……

……

Southern foothills of Taihang Mountains.

It was also early morning.

After waiting from night to day, Cheng Yu gradually felt a little uneasy.

He originally expected Jiang Jiong to launch a sneak attack in the dark. After all, sneak attacks are more effective at night, and the vision is clear during the day, so there is no question of a sneak attack.

Now Jiang Jiong did not make any move in the middle of the night, contrary to his usual behavior of keeping his troops in place. This made Cheng Yu a little confused about what Jiang Jiong was doing?
Could it be that he didn’t encounter those fleeing Cao’s soldiers?
That’s not right. Cheng Yu was clearly sure that those guys fled to the west!
Could it be that Jiang Jiong didn't find a suitable route of attack? No, there are mountains in the north and rivers in the south. There is only one general direction, east-west. What else is there to choose from?

Or was it that the fleeing soldiers failed to encounter the scouts of the Hussars?
That's not right. The scouts of the Hussars were all there before...

Could it be that Jiang Jiong's troops had actually retreated?
Cheng Yu suddenly thought of this possibility.

In order to prevent being caught by Jiang Jiong's scouts, Cheng Yu did not send a scout team to conduct reconnaissance in the western area. Instead, he maintained a close patrol around the basic camp with a large team, so the distance Cheng Yu's investigation was not far.

After all, Cheng Yu is not like Jiang Jiong, who has more cavalry to use for reconnaissance.

So if Jiang Jiong evacuated, Cheng Yu might be able to detect it immediately...

Cheng Yu felt a little regretful. If Cao Jun had not lost a large number of war horses in the previous battle, or if Cao Chun from Youzhou had not...

Thinking of this, Cheng Yu couldn't help but sigh deeply.

If there were war horses, Jiang Jiong's space for movement would be much smaller, and the communication between him and Cao Cao would be much closer. It would not be like now, where he neither understood the changes in the front nor had any communication with the rear.

Cheng Yu immediately sent people to tentatively investigate in the direction of Jiang Jiong's camp.

Soon, Cheng Yu received a piece of news that surprised him: Jiang Jiong’s camp was empty!

Is Jiang Jiong really gone?

Cheng Yu asked again and again, fearing that the scout had overlooked some details, or even that he had gone in the wrong direction...

There was no way. After the incident of desertion in Cao’s barracks, Cheng Yu felt that there was no one in Cao’s army who could be completely trusted.

The scout was asked anxiously, and he simply said that he didn't know. Anyway, he saw that Jiang Jiong's camp was empty. As for where Jiang Jiong's troops had gone, other people had already tried to investigate to the west, and he didn't know anything else. He asked Cheng Yu to ask the scout who came to report.

Cheng Yu didn't care about the impatience shown by the scout, because his mind was almost entirely on why Jiang Jiong retreated?

Could it be that there are some new changes in Heluo?

Until the next wave of scouts came back and told Cheng Yu that they found some traces of crossing the river in the shallows of the river, but the footprints were very messy, some going south and some going north, and because some time had passed, it was difficult to determine which direction they went. They could only be sure that someone had crossed the river.

Cheng Yu immediately asked someone to bring a map and looked at it carefully.

Could it be that Jiang Jiong wants to go around behind?
When Cheng Yu thought of this, he immediately sent people to patrol the rear route and sent a large number of scouts to gather information near the camp to prevent Jiang Jiong from launching a surprise attack.

As a result, another day passed, but Jiang Jiong's troops did not appear.

It was not until night fell that new news reached Cheng Yu.

It is said that a scout found a trail leading to the Taihang Mountains in a ravine, but it was already late in the day and it was difficult to make out the specific situation...

"Are you sure you're heading into the mountains?" Cheng Yu was puzzled.

What are Jiang Jiong’s people doing in the mountains?
"Yes, we went into the mountains."

The scout's face was covered in mud and sweat.

In order to gather information and find clues, Cao's scouts climbed up and down desperately and searched everywhere.

"In the mountains..."

Cheng Yu couldn't help but look back to the north.

The Taihang Mountains stand majestically in the distance, like a high wall, blocking all sights that covet the horizon.

If it was about crossing the river, Cheng Yu could understand, but going into the mountains...

What is this going to do?
Cheng Yu immediately sent people to find a guide who was familiar with the surrounding terrain, wanting to ask about the dangerous mountain roads leading north into the Taihang Mountains. Unfortunately, he was told that most of the people in the original village had been massacred...

Cheng Yu was furious, but he also vaguely felt as if a boomerang had stabbed him in the back of the head, because the action of "collecting" military rations was something he had done before.

Cheng Yu finally found one or two soldiers who had some knowledge of the surrounding terrain and asked them about the situation. Then one piece of information caught Cheng Yu's attention.

Going north along the gully for about a hundred miles, you will reach a mountain called Circular Mountain, and then going east from Circular Mountain, you can go out of Taihang Mountain and head towards Wen County in Henan. This mountain road is very small and difficult to walk on. There is no water source on the road, only two or three streams, so if you go wrong, you will be cut off from water. Therefore, no one walks on it most of the time, so it is naturally not marked on the map.

After all, it's an old-style map of the Han Dynasty...

When Cheng Yu heard this, he broke out in a cold sweat.

It is indeed not easy for ordinary people to walk, but are the Hussars ordinary people?
It seems like just yesterday when the Cavalry Army crossed the Taihang Mountains and stirred up trouble in Jizhou!
If Jiang Jiong really passed through Taihang Mountain, it goes without saying that he was going to the rear of Hanoi or even to Jizhou to cause trouble!
Cheng Yu immediately decided to send troops into the mountains!

But Cheng Yu's order immediately caused an uproar...

The deputy general directly opposed it.

Because the deputy general thought that even if Jiang Jiong went to the mountains, they might not be able to catch up with him immediately. Moreover, Jiang Jiong might not go to the mountains. Didn't he say that he would go back across the river? Why couldn't he go back to Heluo? Moreover, there were guards of Wen County in Henei, and there were also soldiers of Jizhou in Jizhou. Why did they chase him? What if it was Jiang Jiong's trick to lure the enemy? Even if it was not a trick, wouldn't it be tiring to run back and forth?

Cheng Yu was very unhappy when he heard this. He felt that since the desertion incident, the deputy general had become more arrogant and domineering, and even dared to contradict his orders on the spot. However, Cheng Yu could not personally lead the soldiers into the mountains to chase after them. He had to have someone lead the soldiers to chase after them for him. After all, he had to defend the river crossing and look for opportunities to march into Heluo to cooperate with Cao Cao in the battle, so he could only let the deputy general go to chase after them.

And if we fail to convince the deputy general and do ideological work on him, then he may even pretend to obey and be passive and lazy. At that time, let alone hunt down Jiang Jiong, he may just go home after dividing his troops, right?
"Your concerns are not without reason." Cheng Yu first confirmed the deputy general's words, "However... Wen County is the key to our army's food storage. If we lose it, the consequences will be, I'm sure you know!"

After hearing what Cheng Yu said, the deputy general also fell silent.

It's not that he didn't know how bad this result was. He just felt that Cheng Yu had no evidence and it was a bit hasty to assume that Jiang Jiong was going to take a detour to Wen County just because Jiang Jiong went towards the mountains.

What he was more worried about was that if Jiang Jiong was just pretending to take a detour and was actually ambushing in the mountains, then his life...

Cheng Yu seemed to have seen what the deputy general was thinking, and continued, "As for the plan of luring the enemy, it is not unreasonable. However, if the plan of luring the enemy is to work, it must be that you and I are careless and unprepared... Now that you and I have thought of this, we will naturally be more prepared. Forgive him for luring the troops, what can we do?"

Cheng Yu added, "Originally, the bandits had only a few thousand soldiers. Now they are divided into two groups, one crossing the river and the other entering the mountains! The crossing of the river has messy footprints, so there must be many soldiers. In the ravines, it is difficult to find traces, so there must be few soldiers. In my opinion, there must be no more than 500 soldiers in this mountain road! I have allocated 1,500 elite soldiers to you... which is already three times the number of the bandits! Even so, you dare not chase them?"

When the deputy general heard that Cheng Yu had blocked his words to this extent, he naturally couldn't say that he was timid and didn't dare to enter the mountain. However, he still wanted to bargain again.

Cheng Yu finally lost his patience and frowned, saying that if the deputy general did not dare, he should return to Chenliu immediately! Cheng Yu selected another Sima Junhou from the army to be responsible for chasing and killing the small cavalry unit that entered the mountain!

After all, the deputy general spoke again and again, which seemed to be a discussion of military affairs, but in fact, the deputy general was trying to seize Cheng Yu's authority. Arguments cannot lead to a conclusion, and the real result can only be determined by facts.

Seeing that Cheng Yu insisted on his own opinion, the deputy general had no choice but to do so.

Cheng Yu immediately ordered his deputy general to lead 1,500 soldiers to chase into the mountain road, while he himself took the remaining 3,000 soldiers and moved westward to check Jiang Jiong's original camp, while conducting reconnaissance in the direction of Hedong.

Out of caution, Cheng Yu repeatedly told his deputy general that although vigilance was necessary, the speed of pursuit could not be too slow, otherwise the pursuit would lose its meaning. After all, the food and grass in Wen County were very important. If there was any mistake, even if the deputy general killed Jiang Jiong's troops in Wen County, he would not be able to recover the loss of food and grass!

The deputy general naturally agreed.

Before the strategy was determined, it could be said that there were no clear orders, but the military decision had been made, so there was no reason to delay.

Cheng Yu and his deputy general each led their troops and set out in two groups. One group, led by the deputy general, went to Taihang Mountain, marched northward along the ravines where they found the traces of Jiang Jiong's troops, and pursued the mountain roads. The other group, led by Cheng Yu, continued westward, first occupied the old camp left by Jiang Jiong, and then tried to control the ferry and march towards Hedong.

From a purely strategic point of view, there is of course no problem, but in many cases, if the strategy is right, the result will not necessarily be right...