Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 560: The Miserable Horns
The first snow had just fallen in the vast Taihang Mountains, dyeing all the grass and trees white. The mountains and forests, which usually house countless birds and beasts, were now completely silent.

In a mountain village with two sculptures like bull horns standing on the gate, everyone hid in the house. They were either wearing thin clothes or tattered winter clothes. They could only rely on the firewood and charcoal prepared early to keep warm. No one had the desire to move even for a moment.

However, there are exceptions. Zhang Niujiao paced back and forth in his room with his hands behind his back, looking very distressed.

"Sass, rustle..."

The sound of people stepping on the snow was heard. Zhang Niujiao instinctively turned his head and looked outside the door. He saw a man running towards him and hurried to meet him.

"How is it? Have you found out?"

The man walked into the house, shook off the snow on his body, stretched his hands out of his sleeves, and leaned next to the brazier, with a comfortable expression on his face.

"Why don't you say something!" Zhang Niujiao became anxious.

The man let out a long breath and then spoke.

"General, I have found out that Xu Huang did write a letter to Yuan Shao, asking for an alliance. The tone of the letter was very arrogant, asking Yuan Shao for the entire Yanmen County."

"I know all this. I'm asking you the result." Zhang Niujiao urged impatiently.

"Yuan Shao has agreed to form an alliance with him. Not long ago, the convoy we discovered was led by Yuan Shao's third son Yuan Shang, who was personally escorting a batch of winter supplies to Xu Huang's mountain stronghold."

Zhang Niujiao was shocked at first, and then became extremely angry.

"Yuan Shao is such a traitor. He clearly formed an alliance with me and promised to help me unify Taihang Mountain, but now he is colluding with Xu Huang. It's simply shameless."

He suddenly remembered something, grabbed the man and asked, "Where is Gao Lan? What's his attitude?"

"I went to General Gao's mansion, and he received me. However, he said that this matter was decided by Yuan Shao himself, and he could do nothing about it. However..."

"But what?" Zhang Niujiao seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw.

"However, he said that the main reason why Yuan Shao decided to cooperate with Xu Huang was because the Baibo Army was the strongest in Taihang Mountain and had not been defeated for many years. If our army could defeat Xu Huang, Yuan Shao would definitely change his mind."

Zhang Niujiao suddenly looked embarrassed.

"To defeat the Baibo Army? This..."

At first, he did not take Xu Huang, a "younger generation", seriously. However, after Xu Huang robbed the supplies Yuan Shao sent to him, he sent troops to attack the Baibo Army, and the battle was horrible.

The Baibo Army's stronghold consisted of three camps arranged in a V-shape. There were many sentry posts on the mountain within ten miles of the stronghold gate, and there were many traps around the camp. Before he even engaged them in a head-on battle, he had already lost more than a thousand soldiers. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the stronghold, Xu Huang personally led a large army to attack. He was completely defeated and suffered a crushing defeat.

After this battle, he realized how powerful the Baibo Army was. He was afraid that even the troops of many princes might not be able to match it, let alone his own army composed of bandits.
Zhang Niujiao had no confidence at all in defeating Xu Huang.

"Damn it, damn it! How could Yuan Shao be so dishonest?"

He was upset and began pacing again.

"How much food is left in the village?"

"We can probably eat for another month and a half. Besides, the brothers are seriously short of winter clothes. Now is only the first snowfall, and the weather is not too cold. In another month, the mountains will be covered with snow, and the weather will be freezing cold. Without clothes and food, I am afraid we won't survive this winter..."

"I know all of this, General. You don't need to remind me. It's so annoying." Zhang Niujiao sat down angrily.

Unlike the other two strongholds, Zhang Yan's stronghold was close to Youzhou and could go down the mountain to plunder. Xu Huang's stronghold was located in the central area of ​​Taihang Mountain, guarding the two narrow mountain roads from Taiyuan County to Jizhou. On weekdays, it relied on trading with passing caravans and providing protection to survive, not to mention that it now received funding from Yuan Shao.

And his own stronghold was close to the border of Bingzhou. Going down the mountain to plunder? That was no different from seeking death. Seeing the arrival of winter, Zhang Niujiao became more and more anxious day by day. Finally, he thought of asking Yuan Shao for help. Unexpectedly, at this time, news came from nowhere that Yuan Shao had formed an alliance with Xu Huang, which made him feel like he was struck by lightning.

He finally escaped from the prison in Yinguan City, returned to Taihang Mountain, and recaptured his people. However, he did not expect that after just a few days of glory, he would face the crisis of disintegration.

If he couldn't get enough supplies, the force he had worked so hard to build would completely collapse this winter, and even his own life would be uncertain.

At this time, another person came running back from outside in a hurry.

"General, good news, great news..."

Zhang Niujiao didn't even bother to look up at him, and said impatiently: "Apart from food and winter clothes, there is nothing that can be called good news."

"It's food and winter clothes. We have winter supplies!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, Zhang Niujiao jumped up and ran in front of him.

"Where? Tell me, where?"

The man was startled by him, but he still quickly reported it.

"I heard from you that a caravan from Yanzhou purchased a large amount of food and winter clothes from Yanmen and Taiyuan. They need to transport them back to Yanzhou urgently. The quantity is quite large."

When Zhang Niujiao heard this, he was immediately excited: "This is really God's help!"

Another person questioned, "How could it be such a coincidence that such a caravan passed by at this time? Could it be Liu He's plan to lure the snake out of its hole?"

"Well, what you said makes sense. Liu He is cunning and we must be on guard against him." Zhang Niujiao frowned.

"No, my subordinates have been investigating for several days. This caravan is probably impersonated by officers and soldiers from Yanzhou. The guards of the caravan mostly speak with Yanzhou accents. Moreover, these guards are all strong and have heroic spirits between their eyebrows. If they were not experienced soldiers, but ordinary guards, they would never be like this. And I found that there are also a batch of weapons and refined iron ore among the materials transported by the caravan."

Zhang Niujiao's expression changed. "Although Bingzhou Merchants sells refined iron ore, Liu He banned the sale of weapons two years ago. Cao Cao of Yanzhou has been loyal to Liu He for a long time. Now he is fighting with Yuan Shu. It seems that this batch of materials should be a subsidy from Liu He, not a purchase by a merchant caravan!"

"General, you are right. The weapons used by Liu He's army are extremely sophisticated and unparalleled in the world. At this critical moment, it is reasonable for him to support his allies."

Zhang Niujiao rubbed his hands excitedly: "Did you find out how much supplies there are?"

The man who came in later shook his head and said, "The caravan was very cautious. I happened to be from Puyang, so when they were resting on the road, I pretended to be a fellow villager and asked for water. I started a conversation with them, but they didn't want to say much. They seemed to be quite secretive. But I saw that the caravan was very large. At a rough glance, there were no less than three or four thousand vehicles."

"Hiss... Three or four thousand carts of supplies, that... that would require at least hundreds of thousands of shi of grain and tens of thousands... tens of thousands of winter clothes, and tens of thousands of weapons. This could... this could make... a fortune."

Another subordinate was so excited that he couldn't speak clearly.

Zhang Niujiao's eyes flickered: "The more cautious they are, the more likely it is that what you and I are guessing is true."

He turned around and asked, "How many guards does the other side have?"

The subordinate lowered his head and thought for a moment: "There are about 7,000 to 8,000 guards, including four mounted generals, one in front, one behind, one on the left and one on the right, escorting them. They just left Yanmen Pass three days ago, and they will probably reach Luwei County in two days."

"Okay!" Zhang Niujiao clapped his hands and made the decision.

"Lvwei County is surrounded by mountains and narrow roads, which is perfect for an ambush. God is helping me. Pass the order down, and prepare the whole army for battle. Go down the mountain tomorrow morning. We will make a big profit this time so that we can survive the winter when we come back!"

(End of this chapter)