Not long after Sima Cuo and the others arrived at the Lantian camp, God began to float snowflakes, announcing to the world the arrival of winter.

Five days later, 100,000 cavalry disappeared silently in the night in the Lantian camp, and after a long journey of ten days, Sima Cuo led 100,000 cavalry to Longxi County.

"General Qiyu: We have entered Longxi County, and in one day we will be able to reach Di Dao on the border between the Xirong Qiang tribe and our Qin State. "The pathfinder came to report.

Didao is located in the northwest of Longxi County, to the south is the Xirong clan tribe, to the west is the Xirong Qiang tribe, and to the northwest is the Yue tribe. It is a very important strategic artery of the Qin State, as long as Di Dao is in the hand, it can be attacked and defended, and the soldiers will fight for it.

"What's Huo Qu's illness?" Sima Cuo said in a loud voice.

"The last general, I don't know what the general commands?" Huo Qu said sickly.

"Although the enemy has withdrawn, but his whereabouts are unknown, Di Dao cannot afford to lose to our army, I specially order you to lead 30,000 cavalry to Di Dao first, and quickly control Di Dao's various checkpoints, waiting for the arrival of the army led by Ben General. Sima Cuo ordered.

"The last general commanded. After saying that, he rode away towards his 30,000 cavalry.

"The order went down, and the First Army rushed to Didao with the general. ”

The "No" herald quickly went down to give the order.

"Driving...... ...... driving"

Thirty thousand cavalry galloped away, and the procession stretched for several miles, moving forward on this snow-white and curved land, like a galloping black dragon.

On the second day, Didaw.

The 100,000 cavalry led by Sima Cuo have arrived at Didao, set up camp, and after more than ten days of travel, the soldiers have already been exhausted, and they need to repair for a few days to recover their physical strength and spirit, and set out to attack Xirong in the best condition.

In the marshal tent, Sima Cuo's main generals and the generals above the captain level of the three armies all gathered together to discuss the military.

"General, the Qiang people really deserve death, and on the way to Didao, we passed through more than 20 villages and three small county towns, and all the people's houses were burned down and turned into ruins. Not many of the people in the county town who were broken escaped, and the streets were full of corpses of old people, young people, and children, which was unbearable. The village was also littered with corpses, some of which were eaten by wild beasts and only skeletons, and some were unrecognizable, with severed hands and feet. There are human bones everywhere near Didaw, like hell on earth. There were not only 10,000 people who died, but 50,000 at least. Huo Quai's deputy general Li Ze said with grief and resentment.

"What...... More than 50,000 people ......"

"This ......"

"The Longxi County Shou is really bold, he dares to lie about the number of casualties, where does he put the law of the Qin State. ”

Hearing Li Ze's news, the generals below exploded, and a wave of anger and shame rose from the bottom of their hearts, as Great Qin soldiers, they did not protect the people of Qin, so many people died tragically, they were really vain soldiers.

Some generals even proposed that the Taishou of Longxi County be arrested and sent to Xianyang to be handed over to the Tingwei Mansion, which was approved by several generals. Sima Cuo heard it, this is repaid, whether Longxi Taishou is guilty or not, he has his own Tingwei Mansion to investigate, the king decides, how can they be allowed to come nonsense, if this word spreads, people who don't know still think that he Sima Co is preparing to rebel.

hurriedly shouted: "Enough, the army does not interfere in politics, and politics does not involve the army, it is an iron law set by the king, and you can't rebel if you want to." ”

This shout finally brought those people to their senses, but they were sweating profusely in this cold day, bowing their heads and panicking. They naturally knew how serious their words just now would be if they were to enter the court, and they would be demoted to officials and dismissed, or they would be beheaded at worst.

"The general is angry, we know our mistakes, and we are willing to be punished. Several people hurriedly pleaded guilty.

He also asked the general to forgive the four of them, and they were also angry for a while, so they didn't say anything. Wang Jian came out to plead.

"The general is angry...... Huo Quzhi and Gan Mao also came out to plead.

At this time, Zhuge Liang, who had not said a word since he entered the big tent, came out and said: "Please also ask the general to read that the four of him were angry because the people were slaughtered, so he would say such inconsequential words, which is understandable." ”

Seeing Zhuge Liang's intercession, Sima Cuo's gloomy face gradually returned to normal, of course he knew that Zhuge Liang's status in Ying Zheng's heart was not ordinary, and it could be seen from this expedition with the army, since Zhuge Liang said so, there was no big problem with Ying Zheng.

Sima Coo looked at the four people in the center of the big tent and said coldly: "This is a special period, and it is not easy to punish you heavily, so let's write it down for the time being." After the battle, he went to the military judge to get thirty military sticks. ”

The faces of the four people were happy, this catastrophe was finally over, although it was not worth mentioning that it was not worth mentioning if it was not worth mentioning if it was not worth it if it had to lie in bed for ten days and half a month after receiving thirty military sticks. Several people saluted to Sima Cuo, who was sitting up, and said, "Thank you for the kindness of the general." ”

Yixiu touched the cold sweat on his forehead, and saluted Huo Quzhi and the three of them: "Thank you for the three generals interceding for us." ”

"Thank you, Mr. Zhuge . He bowed slightly to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, didn't say anything, his iconic feather fan was still swaying in front of him.

The revelation of this matter is to discuss the operational deployment and the grasp and analysis of the enemy's intelligence.

"Huo Quai, I will order you to send someone to find out what is the news and whereabouts of Xirong who invaded my Qin State Longxi?"

"Gift: General, the last general sent someone to inquire about the news, and some surviving people said: Xirong did not go east to Longyou to return to the tribe, but left from the northwest of Didao. The last general felt strange, and sent people to find the surviving people in the northwest of Longxi to inquire, and the answer was the same, and Xirong left from the northwest. "Huo Qu came out of illness and reported.

"Blame ......"

The generals in the tent were also full of doubts, it stands to reason that Xirong is located in the west of Longxi County, and it should be right to return to their own tribe from the west, how could they leave in the northwest direction.

"Could it be a trick, leaving from the northwest, out of the territory of the Qin State, and then turning to the southwest to return to his own tribe. A general said.

"There is no need for this, since they have already shown themselves to be from Xirong, if they leave from the northwest of Longxi County and then turn to the southwest, it will be meaningless to go around this half circle. Wang Jian retorted.

"Unless ......"

"Unless they are not from the Xirong tribe and are impersonating, other tribes are pretending to be the Qiang tribe of Xirong. Wang Jian and Huo Quzhi said at the same time.

"This ......" the rest of the generals thought about it, and it was really possible.

"Could it be the Yue clan, the northwest of Longxi is out of the border of the Qin State is the grassland of the Yue clan. Li Ze thought for a while and said.

"The Yueshi is a tribe that can compete with the Xiongnu, with 200,000 soldiers, if you count adult men, I'm afraid there are 350,000 troops, if it's really the Yueshi, it's a little troublesome. Wang Jian thought for a while and said.

"What do you think, sir?" Sima Cuo turned his gaze to Zhuge Liang and asked.

"It's the Huns. Zhuge Liang said affirmatively.

"What?"

"How could it be ......"

"The Xiongnu are in the grassland north of the Yellow River, this is the west of Qin, how could the Xiongnu run so far. ”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and many generals did not believe Zhuge Liang's words, and Zhuge Liang's words had no credibility in their eyes.

Zhuge Liang still let out his charming and confident smile, and said, "First, the horse that the enemy is riding is slightly short and has a large head. On the other hand, the horses of Sijon and Yueshi were nine feet tall, and their necks were equal to their bodies. Second, Liang heard a rumor that the king of the Huns led 400,000 cavalry to the north of the Yueshi to "marry the princess of the Yueshi". Third, the weapons used by the enemy are bows and spears, mainly clubs, and Xirong Yueshi is bows and some bronze swords. ”

Although the enemy retreated and fought with the 10,000 defenders, there were naturally dead Huns, leaving behind the weapons they used. Sima Cuo said: "Come on, go and bring the collected enemy weapons to the big tent." ”

The soldiers outside the "No" tent took the order and left.

In about ten minutes, the two soldiers sent the enemy's weapons to the big tent and placed them in the center of the big tent, and the general could see that there were some weapons on the ground with bows and spears, and the rest of the weapons were also very few.

The generals in the tent raised their heads to look at Zhuge Liang, who was light and breezy, full of disbelief but admiration. The enemy's mounts, weapons, rumors, they had heard of them but never thought of them, they didn't care. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang guessed the true identity of the enemy based on these three points.

Sima Cuo was also amazed at Zhuge Liang's ability to see the subtleties, but he was not as calm as the generals below him, and he didn't show it.

However, thinking that the Xiongnu led an army of 400,000 troops to garrison the northern part of the Yueshi in the name of taking the princess of the Yue Clan, in fact, they wanted to subdue the Yue Clan and even annex the Yue tribe, thinking of these Sima Cuo felt a strong crisis.

If the Xiongnu annexed the Yueshi tribe, the tribes around the Yueshi tribe would also be subdued by the Xiongnu, and the Xiongnu would be able to easily pull up eight or nine hundred thousand troops, and it would not be a problem to be ruthless with a million cavalry. In this way, the northwest border of the Qin State will be exposed to the eyes of the Xiongnu like a beautiful woman without clothes, and she will have no power to resist. That is the Qin State has really become the beautiful meat in front of the Xiongnu, and you can take a bite whenever you want.

Sima Cuo's heart was also a little shocked, if the Xiongnu matter was not handled well, and the Yue clan was annexed by it, it would really be the beginning of a disaster for the Qin State. He said to Zhuge Liang, who was at the bottom of the head: "What is the best way for Mr. Zhuge to do so, no matter what, the Yue clan must not be conquered and annexed by the Xiongnu, or form an alliance, otherwise the Qin State will be in danger!"

Zhuge Liang also became serious, and said: "I have to say that the Xiongnu King Mao Dun is really a generation of heroes, ambitious, if he really subdues the Yue tribe, not only the northwest and northern grasslands are invincible, but the Central Plains countries are not their opponents, and they are a big threat to the western part of our country." ”

After finishing speaking, he paused and continued: "Liang guesses that there are two reasons why the Huns disguised themselves as Xirong Qiang invaded Longxi County of our Qin State this time. First, the 400,000 Xiongnu army was in a stalemate with the Yueshi tribe, and there was a shortage of grain and grass, so the army was sent to Longxi to grab grain, and 30,000 women and young adults were just incidental. The second reason is that the disaster leads to the west, the Qiang and the Yue clan are the only leaders, and the Yue clan is in trouble, and the Qiang clan will definitely send troops to the Yue grassland to assist the Yue clan in fighting against the Xiongnu. If the Xiongnu want to break the balance, they can only use external forces, since they can't bring allies for themselves, then find an enemy for the enemy, when I Qin knew that Longxi was plundered by the Xirong Qiang people. A large army will definitely be sent west to conquer the Qiang, and the Qiang army in the Yueshi grassland will inevitably withdraw to the Qiang to guard against our Qin army, which is what the Xiongnu want. The Qiang army withdrew, and the Yue clan was lonely and weak, how could they defeat the Xiongnu, and the final result was annexed by the Xiongnu without accident. ”

After finishing speaking, Zhuge Liang did not forget to praise the person who came up with this scheme, "It's really a good plan to kill three birds with one stone, I don't know who came up with it, if you have the opportunity to shine, I want to see this person over." ”

"Isn't there only two carvings, sir, how did you become three carvings?" said a lieutenant respectfully with a puzzled tone.

Zhuge Liang's ability, they are convinced, and they are also respectful when asking.

Capable people will always be recognized and respected by others, just like that sentence, gold will shine wherever it is, and Zhuge Liang is the gold that walks.

Sima Cuo, who sat in the position of the main general, explained: "Another carving is that no matter who wins or loses between our army and the Qiang people, it is beneficial to the Xiongnu. ”。

The rest of the generals who didn't understand also woke up, if the Qin army was victorious, they would defeat the Qiang grassland. However, it is impossible for Qin to send 100,000 cavalry to garrison the western grasslands all the time, and the Qin army will withdraw, and the Xiongnu will immediately attack and pocket that grassland. If the Qiang defeat the Qin army, it will inevitably be a great loss of vitality, and there will be no one in ten soldiers who can fight, and the Xiongnu can be easily destroyed.

It's really calculating, one ring after another. The generals were in their hearts.