Cao Cao glanced at the young county magistrate, only nodded slightly, and then marched into the city. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Jiang Wei's brows moved slightly, and he immediately followed behind the civil and military forces of the Qin State and followed into the city.

Although Cao Cao's defeated army was the first to arrive, Jiang Wei had prepared enough food and grass for the labor army in advance, and cleaned up the county government for Cao Cao, preparing good wine and meat.

Nine thousand defeated soldiers were encamped outside the city, and food, grass and military supplies were sent to the camp, and these defeated soldiers could finally eat a full meal, drink a few sips of wine to suppress their shocks, and their tired and depressed spirits were finally relieved a little.

In the hall of the county government, Cao Cao, who was hungry, ate half a leg of mutton and drank a jar of good wine before recovering his spirits.

Jiang Wei's thoughtful hospitality made Cao Cao very satisfied, and after eating and drinking, he remembered the young Zhangye County Order, so he passed it to the emperor for questioning.

"It looks like you've prepared these drinks and meat for a long time, but I withdrew all the way from Jincheng, and there was no ward Wuwei County in advance, how did you know that I would definitely come." Cao Cao asked with interest.

Jiang Wei was not afraid of Cao Cao, and only calmly said: "The minister heard that His Majesty's troops had retreated to Jincheng and fought fiercely with the Tao thieves, and he was only worried that the Wei army was strong and His Majesty's battle was unfavorable, and he might choose to withdraw to Liangzhou, so the minister had already prepared grain and grass materials in advance half a month ago." ”

As soon as these words came out, Xiahou Yuan next to him was dissatisfied, and asked: "What do you mean by this, do you want to say that you have long thought that Your Majesty will lose to the pottery thief and will not be able to hold Jincheng?" ”

Jiang Wei frowned slightly, hesitated, but still said without humility or arrogance: "The minister does not think that His Majesty will definitely lose, but he just feels that there is such a possibility, so he is ready to meet the holy car in advance." ”

"You-"

When Xiahou Yuan was about to scold him again, Cao Cao interrupted him with a wave of his hand, looked at Jiang Wei with a smile, and asked, "I want to hear how you analyzed that I might be defeated." ”

Jiang Wei said without thinking: "Although Jincheng is a county governor, the city is not strong, and the soldiers and horses of the pottery thieves are several times larger than our army. ”

Cao Cao nodded slightly, motioning for him to continue.

Jiang Wei continued: "And the surprise victory lies in the word deceit, the pottery thief is just famous for deceit, and the minister thinks that even if His Majesty is surprised, at least half of the chance may be recognized by the pottery thief." Since there is only half of the chance, the minister should prepare as soon as possible, just in case, and ask His Majesty to know it. ”

Jiang Wei's words were reasonable, and he analyzed the situation of the first battle of Jincheng very thoroughly, and even predicted the entire process of the battle to a certain extent.

After these words, even Xiahou Yuan had nothing to say, so he could only stare dryly.

As for Xun Yufa and the other strategists, their faces were a little strange, obviously a little impressed by the young county order in front of them.

"Yes, yes, at a young age, I have this judgment and I am a talent." Cao Cao also showed surprise and appreciation, nodded incessantly, looked at Xun Yu, and said in a reproachful tone: "Wen Ruo, this Jiang Wei is a talent, just based on his words, it is only a little condescending for him to be a small Zhangye County, why didn't you recommend such a young talent to me earlier." ”

Xun Yu was a little ashamed, and hurriedly smiled and blamed himself: "It was the minister's negligence that left the virtuous talent in the wilderness, and I ask Your Majesty to forgive me." ”

Cao Cao just laughed casually, how could he really blame Xun Yu, but he just laughed.

"Give Jiang Boyo a seat." Cao Cao flicked his warrant.

The left and right were busy approaching, setting up a place for Jiang Wei, and all the ministers could see that the Son of Great Qin had a serious heart for this small county order.

It was an accident that Jiang Wei, as a county magistrate, could be so courteous to the Son of Heaven, but this young county magistrate was not flattered, he just bowed his hand and thanked him, and calmly moved closer to Cao Cao and sat down in front of the steps.

Jiang Wei's calm temperament made Cao Cao even more impressed, and the more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

After drinking a glass of wine, Cao Cao asked again: "Now that I have retreated into Liangzhou, it will not be long before the army of pottery thieves will soon catch up. ”

Jiang Wei pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "The minister thinks that Liangzhou is far away and the roads are not smooth, and if the pottery thief leads hundreds of thousands of troops to come, he will inevitably use twice as many dingfu chariots and horses as before to supply grain and grass for his huge army." ”

Pointing his finger to the east, Jiang Wei continued: "And the supply of grain and grass under the pottery thief is nothing more than two, the most important one is the Central Plains, his grain and grass must first be transported from the Kanto Prefecture in Luoyang, and then set off from Luoyang, Hongnong enters Guanzhong, and then passes through Guanzhong through Longshan, transported to Longxi, and then from Longxi to the north to be transported to Liangzhou, this grain road is more than thousands of miles!" ”

Taking a light breath, Jiang Wei sneered: "Such a long grain route, to supply the needs of nearly 200,000 troops, what a heavy burden it will be, if the pottery thief uses the strength of the country to supply this grain route, he may barely be able to support it, but at the moment he still has to resist the attack of the Han State and the Xianbei people in the north, even with the national strength of the Wei State, I am afraid that he will not be able to bear the burden of these two sides." ”

Cao Cao listened and nodded continuously, and the appreciation in his eyebrows became a little stronger.

Then, Jiang Wei pointed to the south, "Since the burden of the main grain road in the east of the pottery thief is heavy, it is only to use the secondary grain road of Yizhou in the south to share it, although Yizhou is the country of abundance, but after all, there is only one state, the grain production is limited, but there is the risk of Shu Road, even if the grain and grass in Shu can be transported to Liangzhou, it is a drop in the bucket, and it will not help in the overall situation." ”

After listening to Jiang Wei's analysis, Cao Cao's gloomy expression actually resurfaced a little excited, and he nodded and said: "Your analysis of the pottery thief's grain and grass is very reasonable, what do you want to explain with this, you might as well say it bluntly." ”

Jiang Wei cleared his throat and said in an affirmative tone: "As the minister just said, the minister thinks that with the current national strength of the pottery thief, it is no longer enough to supply him with 200,000 troops to come to Liangzhou, and the situation in Jizhou is tight, and the pottery thief must also send more soldiers and horses to the rescue, so the minister has reason to believe that even if the pottery thief wants to pursue our army, he will only have 40,000 cavalry at most." ”

40,000 steps to ride!

This number made the eyes of all the ministers of the Qin State brighten, and all of them were slightly invigorated, as if they had seen a ray of light in the darkness.

At present, although there are only more than 9,000 soldiers and horses in their Qin army, if they are scraped together, they can barely scrape together a few more soldiers and horses from Liangzhou, and make up about 13,400.

Such a number of troops, against 200,000 Wei troops, of course, is not enough to hit a stone with an egg, and it is not enough to even plug the gaps, but if it is only against 40,000 Wei troops, it can barely fight.

"Wen Ruo, filial piety, what do you think?" Cao Cao's gaze looked at the two strategists.

Xun Yu stroked his long beard, nodded and said: "What Jiang Boyo said is very reasonable, and the minister thinks that most of the pottery thieves can only lead more than 40,000 soldiers and horses to pursue." ”

"Yes, the minister also thinks that what Jiang Boyo said is reasonable, and 40,000 steps should be the limit that the pottery thief can support." Fa Zheng also nodded frequently.

As soon as the two strategists joined each other like this, Cao Cao completely relieved his heart, his condensed brows gradually loosened, and his wrinkled face showed a rare smile.

It's no wonder that Cao Cao can't laugh.

Previously fled from Jincheng Road in panic, although he escaped from Ascension, Cao Cao was in a very serious mood, and he was afraid that his escape was just the beginning of the next defeat.

The 200,000 army of potters chased after him, but he was still defeated.

And this time, Liangzhou is his last territory, if he loses again, where else can he escape.

Jiang Wei's analysis made Cao Cao see hope, and saw the hope of repelling the potters and holding the last bit of Liangzhou.

While excited, Cao Cao said: "Having said that, even if the pottery thief only led 40,000 soldiers and horses, it would not be easy to repel this thief." ”

The left and right Fa Zheng and other strategists were all silent, and between their eyebrows, a little sadness resurfaced.

At this time, the corners of Jiang Wei's mouth swept up a trace of weirdness, and he arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the pottery thief is eager to destroy my Great Qin, and he will inevitably hurry up and chase after him quickly, so that he will inevitably be negligent in intelligence collection, and in this way, it will give us the opportunity to use the strategy." ”

"What is the best plan for Boyo?" Cao Cao's expression immediately became excited, and he looked at Jiang Wei with a smile.

Jiang Wei stepped forward and said in a low voice: "I really don't hide it from Your Majesty, the minister has actually prepared the next plan to break the enemy for Your Majesty as early as the half-moon plan, and he is waiting for it to come in handy at this time." ”

"You've already laid out a clever plan?" Cao Cao's expression became more and more curious, and he said hurriedly: "What kind of trick is it, let's talk about it quickly." ”

Jiang Wei stepped forward and whispered to Cao Cao in his ear, explaining his plan.

Cao Cao nodded again and again when he heard this, and finally couldn't help laughing, patted Jiang Wei's shoulder, and said with an almost ecstatic smile: "I didn't expect Boyo to have such an immortal talent, I just hate that I didn't meet Boyo earlier, you are really a gift from God to me, it seems that God will not destroy my Great Qin, haha——"

In the lobby, Cao Cao's proud laughter echoed.

Fa Zheng and other strategists in front of the hall, Xiahou Yuan, Ma Chao and other military generals, all of them were dazed and curious, and they couldn't guess what kind of trick that young county commander had offered to Cao Cao, which would make him so excited.

……

South of Zhangye City, thirty miles.

It's almost April, and although the spring breeze is still like scissors, the dead grass on the field has pulled out new green, dyeing a layer of green vitality to the cold and bitter cold land of the west.

Under the sunset of dusk, the silent army was silently marching on the field.

The military flag with the word "Wei" hunted and flew above their heads.

The potter rode his horse and carried his knife, moving forward in the protection of the army, and the eagle eyes looked to the north from time to time, as if he could already see the outline of Zhangye, the southernmost small city in Liangzhou.

"Your Majesty." A cavalry scout rushed in front, "General Luo Cheng has good news, he has taken Zhangye City without blood, and Cao Cao's main force has abandoned the city in advance and fled." ”

"Did you escape again, Cao Cao, I see how long you can escape......" A sneer appeared on the potter's face, and he waved his hand and said: "Pass the order, order Luo Cheng to rest in Zhangye, don't rush to pursue again, and wait until my army goes to rendezvous." ”

"No!" The commanded scouts galloped away.

The potter glanced up to the west, and saw that the sun was about to set and it was getting late, so he stopped and ordered his army of 30,000 to camp on the spot and rest.

Zhangye City has been broken, the gate to Liangzhou has been opened, and the potters are not in a hurry to hurry, so that the soldiers who have been tired for days can also take a breath.

The army camped over, and the potters were choked by the yellow sand in the northwest, so they thought about taking a hot bath, comfortable and relaxed.

It just so happened that the indigenous guide said that there are many hot springs in the area of Zhangye, and several of them are near the camp.

The potter was interested, so he asked the guide to lead the way, and under the protection of Yu Chigong's dozens of horsemen, he went straight to the hot springs.

The hot springs are not far from the camp, and over a small hill, in a col surrounded by Huyang forests, the potters can see the water vapor overflowing, a spring pool looming in the mist, and the faint sound of water bubbles can be heard.

The potter was so excited that without saying a word, he stripped off his tom and jumped into the hot spring pool.

"Comfortable......"

The potter closed his eyes, leaned intoxicated against the rocks on the shore, and enjoyed the hot spring water soaking, and the fatigue of his body was quickly eliminated.

Wei Chigong and the other military guards, looking at the hot springs, naturally looked at the hot springs, but the Son of Heaven did not enjoy it, where to get their share, they could only be on guard on the shore.

The potter soaked in the hot springs for a while, and his spirits were full, so he wandered in the pool, and unconsciously swam away from the shore.

Yu Chigong and the others turned their backs to the hot springs, and they didn't have the idea that the Son of Heaven had left their sight.

After the potter swam seven or eight steps, he turned his head and wanted to swim back, when he suddenly heard that there was a faint sound of water pouring on the edge of the mist, which did not sound like the sound of water bubbles.

Driven by curiosity, he swam over with his voice, and gradually saw that in the midst of the water vapor, he vaguely saw a figure looming from time to time.

Just when the potter wondered who was so destined for him, in this wilderness, he would soak in the same pool, when a gust of mountain wind swept over the shore and blew away the water vapor that shrouded the pool.

A slender snow-white figure came into view.

The potter's eyes widened immediately, and he couldn't help but gasp.