The news that Lu Zhu was killed, and Yuan Guang and Nan Cheng defected to the Qin army, Cao Fei, Tian Ju, Ba Ruoneng, Lan Baozhang and others soon learned about it.

Ba Ruo was shocked when he heard the news, walked around the tent several times, and scolded repeatedly: "Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch! ”

The body of Koji Zhu was carried to Ba Ruoneng's tent, and his son Cheng Zhou lay down on the corpse, wailing and crying.

Lan Baozhang's subordinates and Ba Ruoneng's subordinates were stationed in the same battalion, and he stood in the corner of the big tent with his knife, not saying a word, staring at Ba Ruoneng.

The two Xiao Shuo of Zhu Nozawa and the current military officials of the Tun Commander entered the tent and whispered a few words to Lan Baozhang.

Lan Bao bowed his head slightly, telling them not to go out, so he stayed at the door of the tent.

Ba Ruo could see this scene, and heard in his ears that there was constantly the sound of armor rubbing and soldiers' footsteps ringing outside the tent, and knew that these soldiers must have been urgently transferred by Lan Baozhang, and the two tun commanders should have come to report to Lan Baozhang about the transfer of troops to encircle the tent.

It's no wonder that Lan Baozhang will first transfer troops to surround his tent, after all, although Lu Zhu is dead, it is Ba Ruoneng's two sons who escape! Brothers, are there fathers and sons? Who can conclude that Yuan Guang and Nan Cheng's move to join Qin was not due to Ba Ruoneng's instructions? Yuan Cheng and the two fled to the Qin camp, led the Qin soldiers to attack, and then pulled out if they could respond in the camp, so that the Dingxi army would face a very dangerous situation. - Don't forget, and Qu Yuanguang didn't come to the aid of Longxi on the orders of Xin Er, he came secretly! Perhaps, the matter of the rebellion was discussed with Yuan Guang before he sent his troops to leave the capital, and even when Ba Ruo could ask to go to Jiankang County and the Lushui coast to recruit Lu Shui Hu cavalry! As for the killing of Koji Zhu, it cannot be ruled out that he did not agree to the rebellion of Ba Ruo Neng's father and son.

Cheng Zhou raised his head, tears and snot blurred his face, and he choked up and said, "Uncle, my father, my father, was killed by Yuanguang!" ”

"Yes, yes."

"Ask my uncle to make the decision for me!"

"Okay, okay."

The light in the corner was dim, and Ba Ruo could only feel that Lan Baozhang was standing there with a gloomy gaze, just like a vicious wolf that might pounce on him at any time, and the anger in his heart was caused by Yuanguang's surrender to Qin, and it was also the fear that he was implicated.

Cheng Zhou sobbed, I don't know what to say, Ba Ruo can "good, good", "yes, yes" perfunctory for a moment, and finally fear prevails. He pulled off the golden crown headdress, took off his boots, and then stomped his head in front of Lan Bao's palm, and said: "Dogs, dogs, dogs, have done such evil things, and it is a great rebellion, and I will break off the relationship between father and son with them!" When I meet them on the battlefield in Japan, I will definitely kill these two rebels! Captain Lan, could you please accompany me to see Cao Lingjun and General Tian? I plead guilty to the leader! ”

Lan Bao held the handle of the knife tightly, was silent for a while, and said in his heart: "He is the righteous brother of the lord, whether he wants to punish the crime or not, I can't be the master." He said, "Okay." ”

So, leaving behind the corpse of Koji Zhu and the grief-stricken Cheng Zhou, Ba Ruo was able to follow behind Lan Baozhang, and under the supervision of dozens of Lan Bu armor soldiers, he went to Cao Fei's camp. When he arrived at Cao Fei's tent, he threw himself on the ground, lying on the ground, kowtowing desperately, and pleading guilty to Cao Fei.

Tian Ju had already arrived in Cao Fei's tent, he was furious, and said to Cao Fei: "The two rats are thieves, and it doesn't matter, but the reality of our army and the plan for tomorrow's battle, Qin Yu must know now!" The news between our army and Longxi has been cut off for several days, and it is expected that the main force of Qin Yu is now scheduled to besiege Xiangwu very urgently! If this delays the aid of our army, and causes Longxi County and General Long Xiang to have any mistakes, a hundred Yuanguang's heads will not be compensated! This is an unforgivable sin! …… Leading the army, Yuan Guang and the man became thieves, I can't say it, this Ba Ruo Neng is the mastermind behind it, and he will be beheaded immediately! Even if it has nothing to do with him, he should be beheaded to punish him for his lax management of the army! ”

Cao Hui leaned into Cao Fei's ear and whispered: "If Ba Neng is the righteous brother of the captivity, if the leader of the army kills him without permission, the captivity may be unhappy." It is better to tie up and pull out if you can send it to the royal city, and it will be disposed of by the captives. Koji Zhu was harmed by Yuanguang, his son Cheng Zhou, Ming Gong can believe it, and Lu Shui Hu is temporarily handed over to Cheng Zhou. ”

Cao Fei thought so, accepted his suggestion, looked at the poor Ba Ruo Neng, and pondered: "Look at this Ba Ruo Neng, not like a brave person, Yuan Guang betrayed me and surrendered to Qin, maybe it has nothing to do with him, I sell Ah Gua to save face, don't kill him, it's not impossible; I only heard that this old Hu, relying on Agua's respect for him, has been sitting on the land in recent years, buying land and buying land, and he has really made a lot of money and silver, and he has no benefits, but he can't let him go easily. ”

Thinking about it, he coughed.

Cao Hui was clever, understood what Cao Fei meant, went down to the tent, pulled up Ba Ruoneng, pulled him aside, and whispered: "The leader knows that you are innocent, and for the sake of the captives' face, he can not punish you, but you also saw that General Tian is unforgiving to you." ”

Ba Ruo Neng said anxiously: "The old slave is loyal to the king and the captivity, and has no second intentions!" Dare to ask the captain to intercede for me! ”

Cao Hui said: "How to intercede? Is it just one mouth? ”

"What does the captain mean?"

"Alas, General Tian is not easy, his family is very poor, and he has more than a dozen wives and concubines, and he can't afford to support him."

If he can get through it at one point, he immediately said: "The old slave's family has a little money, and I am willing to honor General Tian with fifty gold!" ”

Fifty gold is 500,000 dollars.

Cao Hui said: "Fifty gold? ”

Ba Ruo Neng said: "Hundred gold! ”

"100 gold?"

Ba Ruo Neng gritted his teeth and said, "One hundred and twenty gold!" Captain, although the old slave's family has a little money, the old slave is also a big family to raise, no matter how much, the old slave really can't take it out! ”

Cao Hui went back to Cao Fei's couch with satisfaction, and said: "If you can pay 100 gold, you will be filial to Ming Gong." ”

When Cao Fei heard this, he said to Tian Ju: "Is there a reason why the son surrenders to the thief and the father stays behind?" If it can be related to Yuanguang's thief, this matter must have nothing to do with it. The article that the army is not strict should indeed be punished, so let's send him back to the royal city and ask for punishment from the captives! ”

Cao Fei is the main general, he said so, and Tian Ju didn't insist on his opinion anymore.

Yuanguang defected, the reality of his army, and tomorrow's combat deployment, the Qin army should be known, so how should tomorrow's battle be fought? Is it as planned, or does it need to be adjusted? Cao Fei discussed with Tian Ju for a long time and decided not to make changes, but to proceed according to the original plan.

This is because, on the one hand, the strength of Cao Fei and Tian Jubu far exceeds that of the Qin army in front of them, and their strength has the upper hand, even if the battle plan is leaked, the Qin army is limited to insufficient troops, and there is no way to deal with it; Second, Gao Yancao led the thousands of elite soldiers to set off for more than half the night, and now they are chasing, they will definitely not be able to catch up, if the Dingxi Army does not launch an attack according to the original plan tomorrow, then when Gao Yancao's army goes around the Qin army's formation tomorrow, it will fall into the danger of fighting alone, which is naturally impossible.

It was set that tomorrow would be fought according to the plan.

That night, Cao Fei passed a military order, and Cheng Zhou temporarily led Lu Shuihu to ride.

Early the next morning, Cao Fei selected a military official with his cronies to lead a hundred horsemen, sent Ba Ruo to return to the capital, and marched to the Qin camp in the south with Tianju, Lanbaozhang, Chengzhou and other consulates. Unexpectedly, before he arrived at the Qin camp, the scout Pegasus reported that the Qin camp was empty.

Cao Fei was stunned and asked, "Ran away?" ”

The scout said, "Yes, General! The villain waited outside the Qin camp and saw that the camp was silent, so he sneaked into it, only to see that it was in a mess, only some coarse benzene baggage and dirty horse manure remained, and there was no trace of anyone outside. He presented a board of wood and said, "And this thing." ”

Cao Fei took it, looked at it, and wrote on the board: "Ah Gua is tyrannical, thinking about it for a long time, suffering has no chance, fortunately I have led the army, and I have traveled thousands of miles to protect me from Guyin to here, so that I can have the opportunity to abandon evil and follow good, and join the Ming Lord." Thank you very much. There was no way to repay it, so I borrowed 3,000 Qin soldiers and set up an ambush in the south of here, waiting for the leader to lead. ”

The words on the wooden board were written in the tone of Qu Yuanguang.

Tian Ju, Lan Baozhang, and Cheng Zhou were all next to Cao Fei.

Lan Baozhang was not very literate, and he didn't understand much about the content on the board.

After Tian Ju finished reading it, he snatched the plank from his hand, smashed it in front of Cheng Zhou's horse, and said angrily: "It's all your good brother!" Mistake me fighter! ”

The hatred of killing his father is not shared, and these words on the wooden board are full of villains' triumphant and proud faces? Cheng Zhou's eyes were red, and he shouted: "I'll go and take the head of Yuanguang's dog thief for the leader and general!" ”

Cao Feifang was about to speak, but Tian Ju said, "I am waiting for you here with the leader!" ”。

Cao Fei turned his face to look at Tian Ju, and noticed that Tian Ju gave him a look, so he endured what he wanted to say.

After Cheng Zhou turned his horse and rushed back to his main formation, and rode south with Lu Shuihu, Cao Fei asked Tian Ju and said: "It is written on the wooden board that the Qin army will set up an ambush in the south, whether it is true or not, it is always prudent, why did the general provoke Cheng Zhou and make him rashly chase after him?" ”

There were no outsiders on the left and right, so Tian Ju did not hide it, answered truthfully, and said: "As the leader said, the words on the wooden board may be true or false, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. The situation in Longxi County must not be good now, and our army has no time to delay any longer! In this case, why not ask Cheng Zhou to lead Lu Shuihu to explore the way for our army? It's that the Qin army is indeed ambushed, and Lu Shui is just a mess, and there is no pity when he dies! It does not affect the combat power of our army. ”

Cao Fei cocked his thumb and said, "Lao Tian, it's high!" I thought you weren't angry with Yuanguang's provocation of the monkey cub, so I called Cheng Zhou to chase the enemy, but I didn't think your purpose was here. A high move, a really good move. ”

Tian Ju said proudly: "'You will not be discouraged and lead to war', this grandson's words are also. Although he is not talented, he will not commit this taboo! ”

Cao Fei was full of praise.

Lan Bao's palm on the side, a touch of melancholy couldn't help but appear on his face.

He thought: "Last night, Ba Ruo was in Cao Junjun's account, and was pulled aside by Cao Xiaojun, whispering, and then Cao Lingjun will not pursue his fault, although I don't know what Cao Xiaojun and Ba Ruo can say, but Xiang Wen Cao Lingjun is greedy, thinking that it is nothing more than asking for money and the like, this is Cao Junjun's governance of the army is not strict; Today, Tian Ju used deception, and provoked Cheng Zhou to chase after Qin Yu at the risk of ambush, which was unbelief. The two main generals are like this, no matter how brave the warriors are, they are useless, I am afraid that this time to help Longxi, it will not be successful! ”

Although Lan Baozhang has a low military position, he himself does not have outstanding military talents, but in the past few years, he has been following Xin Er's left and right, how Xin Er governs the army, how to fight, how to command, he looks at it one by one, and of course his vision is also raised. will be the courage of an army, the victory or defeat of the war is largely tied to the main general, the two main generals are so good, and the war has not started, Yuan Guang and the male become the first to rebel, Lan Baozhang is worried about the war to aid Longxi, it is inevitable.

Cao Fei, Tian Ju and others led the main force, bypassing the Qin camp and slowly moving south.

After traveling for more than ten miles, hundreds of cavalry with pigtails fled back in embarrassment, and Tian Ju sent Tian Mingbao to lead his troops to stop them.

After Tian Mingbao stopped those cavalrymen, he asked clearly, rushed back to report, and said: "Qin Yu really set up an ambush in front!" Cheng Zhou Zhongfu was defeated. ”

Tian Ju asked, "What about Cheng Zhou?" ”

Tian Mingbao said: "It's not in this rout. ”

Cao Fei asked Lan Baozhang to collect the hundreds of routed cavalry, and continued to march south with Tian Ju and other leading troops.

A group of Lu Shuihu cavalry who were ambushed and killed continued to flee from the south, and when they arrived at the battlefield in the middle of the ambush, they gathered a total of more than 2,000 cavalry. Lan Baozhang found Cheng Zhou in the corpse of Lu Shuihuqi, who was killed on the battlefield. Cheng Zhou was hit by several arrows, but he was not dead, and he was dying. Lan Baozhang hurriedly ordered his subordinates to carry him to the baggage cart and called a healer to heal him.

Rushing to the Chinese army, Lan Baozhang reported to Cao Fei and Tian Juyu: "Cheng Zhou was seriously injured, and he is now being treated by the doctors in the army. ”

Tian Ju ignored Lan Baozhang's words.

Cao Fei nodded to show that he understood.

Lan Baozhang said: "Among the Lu Shuihu riders who fled back, there are many wounded, and they need to be treated in time!" Otherwise, once the injury is ulcerated, it will not be cured! ”

Tian Ju said: "Longxi County is in a hurry, where does our army have the strength to treat their injuries again?" ”

He followed Lan Baozhang's words before he came over, and then said to Cao Fei, "Lead, from here to the south, there are thirty miles, and there is the same cave mountain of birds and mice. This mountain is the last obstacle for our army to reach Longxi County, and it is necessary to prepare for the Qin Lu to set up a defensive line there. And the ambush of the lower Qin captives has been issued, and their army has just withdrawn, and it is not far from me, so our army should take this opportunity to speed up the march and chase after them, so as not to give them time to set up a defensive line again! Otherwise, if our army is blocked outside the same cave mountain of birds and mice again, Longxi County will not be saved! ”

Cao Fei thought so, so he immediately ordered that Lu Shuihu be seriously injured in the cavalry, and a few doctors were assigned to take care of them, and the rest of the soldiers and horses accelerated their march, striving to reach the same cave mountain before sunset.

Traveling for half a day, when the twilight arrives, enter the north of the mountain with the nest of birds and mice.

Just to the west of the mountain, which was the same as the west of the previous Baishi Mountain, a Qin army had already formed a formation, blocking the front of the Dingxi army.

Cao Fei, Tian Ju and others galloped to watch, and clearly saw that this Qin army, compared with the Qin army on the side of Baishi Mountain, had a significant increase in the number of infantry cavalry horses, and in front of its formation, fences, ravines, etc., were also strictly prepared.

No matter how you look at it, this Qin army doesn't look like the one outside Baishi Mountain, and the defensive measures outside this Qin formation don't look like they have just been put together.

Cao Fei and Tian Ju looked at each other.

This Qin army is indeed not the one outside Baishi Mountain, but the combined force of the Qin army outside Baishi Mountain and its reinforcements.

It is true that this defensive measure outside the Qin array was not just neatly organized, and it was built here by Yao Tao and Lu Mingjun's other troops when the Tianju Department was blocked at the foot of Baishi Mountain.

Retreated overnight, asked for help from Pu Luogu, the commander of their army, and at the same time set up an ambush in the road to block the pursuit of the western army, and finally retreated to the camp here, joined the reinforcements, and then blocked the reinforcements from the west from going south, this is the strategy that Ji He thought of last night.

The Qin soldiers who were detected by Koji Qiu before and infiltrated Nan'an County were the troops led by Pu Luogu.

Pu Qin attacked Longxi County this time, and it was Meng Lang who personally hung the commander, leading a total of 50,000 troops, dividing the troops into three routes, one route was led by Ran Seng Nu with 5,000 troops, out of Tianshui County, and south to attack Wudu County; The first route was commanded by Meng Lang, who was the main force of the 50,000 soldiers, counting about 30,000 foot cavalry, and attacked Longxi County; All the way was the army led by Pu Luogu, numbering 15,000 people.

Pu Luogu's army had two tasks, one was to block the reinforcements from Longzhou, and the other was to force the Weishui from the direction of Nan'an County to put pressure on the north side of Tianshui County.

Nan'an County is not far from the birds and mice with the cave mountain, less than 100 miles, this morning, Pu Luogu received Lu Ming and Yao Tao's urgent report for help, after receiving the report, he immediately sent troops to help, more than 1,000 light cavalry first, a total of 2,000 armor cavalry, foot soldiers followed, just Cao Fei and others arrived at the same cave mountain in the previous hour, the light cavalry in the reinforcements had just arrived, the first cavalry, the foot soldiers were still behind, and they could arrive about night.

Cao Fei and Tian Ju didn't know that the extra thousand light horsemen had just arrived, and they didn't know that there were more than 2,000 Pu Qin reinforcements behind them, but the night was about to fall, and the Qin army on the opposite side was beyond their expectations, not only was it already lined up, but also there were fences, ravines and other defensive measures, it was obvious that they could not attack it now, so the two had to return to the army, staring at each other with big eyes, and they were at a loss for a while.

In the middle of the night that night, he came out of the valley with hard work, but was told by the military officials left by Cao Fei that Gao Yan Cao, who had retreated from the Qin army and had gone south, brought the thousand people to the army.

Cao Fei had already fallen asleep, and when he heard the news that he had returned, he remembered his bravery, got up, summoned him to see him, and comforted him.

The next day, Cao Fei and Tian Ju went to watch the Qin array again and found that there were a lot more soldiers and horses than yesterday.

The two were even more at a loss.

Gao Yancao said: "The last general is willing to lead the dead again, find the valley, and go around to the back of the Qin army!" ”

Tian Ju said: "Yuan Guang must have told Qin Yu about our army's previous strategy, the general will enter the valley today, and he will have to leave the valley tomorrow, last night, today, this night and one day's time is enough for Qin Yu to seal the valley in the south of the mountain." This policy is no longer available. ”

Gao Yancao said: "Even if Qin Yu has reinforcements, he is not as good as our army, why worry? The last general asked for 500 horsemen to step on the formation for the leader! ”

Cao Fei said: "This formation of Qin Yu is stricter than the one outside Baishi Mountain, the trenches in front of the formation are vertical and horizontal, erecting deer barricades all over the place, sprinkling iron thistles, and re-erecting fences. Besides, Taima is my elite in Longxi, how can I move lightly? ”

Everyone thought about it, but there was no other way to use it except for a hard attack by foot soldiers.

However, for two days in a row, three strong attacks were all in vain.

Tian Ju then suggested Cao Fei: "Qin Yu relied on the strong position to occupy a favorable position, and it was difficult for our army to overcome; To lead the army, you can present the royal city, report to the lieutenant and the captive, and ask the court to send troops and horses to support us! ”

Cao Fei said: "That's the only way! ”

The military report for help was delivered to Wangcheng Guyin three days later.

In the military report, Cao Fei and Tian Ju put the responsibility for the unfavorable battle, and Tai Ban pushed it to the defector Yuanguang. They said this, but it was not wrong, if it weren't for Yuanguang's leakage, Lu Ming and Yao Tao's two Qin soldiers might have been broken by Cao Fei and them a long time ago.

Xin Erguan watched the military strike, and Ling Hufeng's sentence "Agua, be ruthless" came to his mind, and he said with remorse: "I have always felt that Yuanguang is not honest, but because there is no real evidence, in order to avoid pulling out Ruo Neng, Lu Shuihu and the chiefs of the tribes, they did not kill him!" I never thought that this kid would sneak away from the army this time, and finally defect to Pu Qin! Mistakenly I am aiding the Ming Sect's important matter! A thought then came to mind, "It's still a small number of things to use!" It's nothing more than a Qin array, where is it so difficult to break? If the Lord is Mingzong, the good news will surely come! ”

Thinking of Kojiqiu's military and political talents, and then thinking of the past few days, a military report from Longxi has not been received, and the reason why this situation occurs can only be because Xiangwu County, where Kojiqiu is located, is now under siege and in a bitter battle.

But the reinforcements were blocked at the border of Longxi County and could not advance!

Xin Er was so worried that he summoned Tang Ai and Guo Daoqing: "Where is Zhang Shaobu?" When can I reach Guyin? ”

Tang Ai replied: "Captain Zhang's department just arrived in Jiuquan last night, and it is still more than 600 miles away from Guyin. ”

"Fei Yu with him, tell him not to carry baggage, travel lightly, within five days, must arrive in Guyin!"

……

Longxi County, Xiangwu County.

Koji Qiu stood on the city tower, looking around, and there were Qin soldiers outside the city.