After the entire army began to degenerate, even a good general like Gao Shun and Zhang Liao could not control the soldiers and horses under his command more effectively. Just when Gao Shun was struggling to support the situation in the east, the Western Liang army had already pushed to the vicinity of Chen Cang for the third time.

They were menacing, and all the resistance in the western part of Fufeng County was crushed until they crashed into the camp on the outskirts of Chencang. Those camps had been under construction since two years ago, and after such a long period of uninterrupted reinforcement, they were already extremely strong. Each camp was built in a dangerous place, blocking the mountain path or blocking the road below with bows and arrows.

After the Battle of Chencang a few years ago, Duan Xuan learned from the pain, thinking that the catapults of the Xiliang people were too powerful, and if they were bombarded by the enemy, even if they were strong in Chencang, they might not be able to resist it, so they built a lot of camps on the periphery, wanting to use this as a way to win more time for themselves.

The inside and outside of the camp are all equipped with defensive facilities, trenches, suspension bridges, horse rejection, watchtowers, warehouses, military camps, etc. have been repaired, not only a lot of drinking water, food and weapons are stored inside, but also like Chen Cangcheng, the nearby trees and grass are cleaned up, leaving no chance for the Xiliang people. More than a dozen camps, large and small, were erected on the periphery of Chen Cang, blocking the waves of the Xiliang army.

After a little probing, the Xiliang army stopped for a while. They had galloped hundreds of miles, and it was time for the soldiers and horses to rest. Although those places in the west of Fufeng County could not cause much damage to the Xiliang army, they could still buy a little time and have some delaying effect.

Chen Cheng rode his horse to the bottom of an enemy camp and observed carefully. The enemy camp in front of me was built on a mountain peak, and on the side of the road was a bare/exposed rock, with obvious peeling layers on the stones, and it was very weathered, not to mention the long grass and plants, and not even a little dirt could be seen.

It is probably impossible to climb a rock more than ten meters high and then attack the camp above. He rode around for a while, observing the situation in the other directions of the enemy camp. It could not have been all sides of this situation completely unsuitable for attack, otherwise how could the enemy have built a strong camp on it? 、

Sure enough, in the northeast direction, there is a mountain path, although it is not very flat, but it can also be used for war horses to gallop on it. However, if you attack from that side, you will suffer a salvo of bows and crossbows from the camp because of the terrain, and if you throw stones down the slope, even the most elite soldiers will not be able to carry it.

Chen Cheng was a little speechless, building a camp on this kind of terrain, even if it can only put one or two hundred people, but the manpower and material resources to be consumed are not a small number. Moreover, although the position of the camp was cleverly chosen, if the attacker did not attack by force, but sent troops to erect a barrier on the only passage, wouldn't the defenders become a turtle in the urn?

This is going to be defended!

Chen Cheng first admired the courage and courage of the enemy, and then thought of more things that the enemy could do, such as sending dead soldiers down the rope to attack the grain convoy or sneak attack the camp or something. There is nothing just such a camp, but there are more than ten camps outside Chencang, and there are more than one or two thousand soldiers and horses in them.

At a critical time, a hundred people can be the last straw, let alone more than a thousand?

It was not possible to get around it, and several of the main roads were fortified, and only after breaking four or five of them could the army continue to advance. Chen Cheng estimated that if he used an ordinary army to fight, he would probably waste several days on the outlying camps.

It's the turn of spring and summer, and it can rain at any time. Tens of thousands of troops were exposed to continuous rain in the field, and perhaps the number of non-combat attrition was greater than the number of casualties.

The army from Hanyang was divided into two parts, one led by Zhao Yun and the other by Yang Qiu, both of which encountered the same problem. Chen Cheng followed Yang Qiu with three hundred guards and soldiers, and when Yang Qiu was a little hesitant, news had already come from Zhao Yun along the way.

"Report, General Zhao has broken through three enemy camps, and the army has arrived by the Liuchuan River!"

Yang Qiu's face changed color, and he asked in disbelief, "How can it be so fast?" ”

Cheng Yi, Ma Teng and others were also shocked. With this kind of camp in front of you, if you don't kill two or three hundred people, and you don't fight all day, how can you take it? Even if Zhao Yun was carrying the elite of the tooth soldiers, this was a little too fast.

Chen Cheng smiled and was about to speak, when Liu Qian, who was following on the side, had already taken the lead and said: "When you meet on a narrow road, the brave wins, you don't know such a simple truth?" ”

She was sixteen years old this year, and she had jumped up and down to a height of seven feet. Now Liu Qian, like other generals, is wearing heavy armor and has a horizontal knife hanging from her waist. After everyone looked at her, Liu Qian pointed to the enemy camp in front of her and said loudly: "In this case, what else can be done?" Send someone to persuade you to surrender first, and tell the enemy that if they don't surrender, after the battle is defeated, no one will be left! ”

Although she only came here for an internship, because her identity is there, she can express her opinions many times.

Yang Qiu's face was a little embarrassed, but he still arched his hand and said, "What the princess said is true." ”

He turned his head and said to Chen Cheng: "Lord, please retreat for the time being, and you will immediately launch a strong attack!" ”

Liu Qian also asked: "Master, let me lead the troops to charge!" ”

The army primary school is a place to train junior officers, and it does not teach much strategic knowledge, but cultivates martial arts and tactical ability. Liu Qian is the first in both martial arts and command ability in school, so she does not take the dangers in front of her into account.

Chen Cheng glared at Liu Qian, and then said to Yang Qiu: "You are General Zuo, you can make your own decisions about this kind of thing." ”

After Yang Qiu got the order, he looked at the faces of the county guards who followed him, and then said, "General Ma, this first formation will be handed over to you!" ”

Ma Teng is eight feet tall, half a head taller than Yang Qiu, and he is a Xiliang rebel army with older qualifications than Yang Qiu Chengyi, and he is a little worse than Han Sui. But the current Liangzhou is not a place where you can occupy a high position just by relying on seniority. Besides, the current Liangzhou pastor is Chen Cheng, and the original qualifications not only cannot bring benefits to Ma Teng, but are a negative impact.

That is, his daughter married Zhao Yun, so she could continue to maintain a close relationship with the state pastor after Song Jian died and Han Sui lost power. When Ma Teng heard Yang Qiu say this, he knew that it was to give him a chance to show his face, so he clasped his fists and said loudly: "No! ”

Turning around, Ma Teng yelled at the resting army behind, "Where is Pound?" ”

An eight-foot-tall man rushed out and shouted, "The last general! ”

"Order you to take 500 people, make a detour to the northeast, and break through this camp!"

"No!"

Pound received the order, then returned to the army formation, ordered five hundred elites of the headquarters, and prepared to launch a strong attack. Ma Teng saw Ma Chao who was following Pang De at a glance, and said angrily: "What are you doing here?" ”

More than three years have passed, Ma Chao is eighteen years old, and his body has become a little thicker, but he still can't compare with Ma Teng. He is Ma Teng's eldest son, and his mother is a Qiang, so he has some prestige among the Qiang, but he is not very popular with his father. Especially after Ma Tie and Ma Xiu grew up, Ma Chao often felt marginalized.

Hearing Ma Teng's question, Ma Chao raised his head and replied: "Naturally, I stepped forward to fight, otherwise what else could I have?" ”

He is getting more and more bored in stability, and he has long wanted to leave the house far away. Now it's just right to show his martial arts in front of Chen Cheng, and he can go out to lead troops to fight in the future, without having to look at the faces of adults at home!

Ma Teng snorted and said, "The sword has no eyes on the battlefield, you should be careful yourself." ”

Although he prefers Ma Tie and Ma Xiu, Ma Chao is the eldest son after all, and Ma Teng still has deep feelings for Ma Chao.

Ma Chao couldn't understand this, and also "snorted", and said arrogantly: "I naturally know!" ”

Because of the formation of a family with Zhao Yun, Anding County was able to get weapons and equipment from Yinchuan first, and the armor rate of the soldiers and horses under Ma Teng's command was higher than that of other counties. Ma Chao and Pang De were both wearing more than 30 catties of steel armor, and their defensive power was very amazing. Swords are difficult to penetrate through the steels that have been hammered for thousands of years, and it is easier to deal effective damage with a spear thrust or a blunt weapon such as a mace.

However, the armor on their bodies was not as exaggerated as Chen Cheng had prepared for himself, and they were not able to make sure that their whole bodies were wrapped in heavy steel. If you attack those places with weak protection, you can still break the defense.

Pang De and Ma Chao stepped forward with five hundred elite soldiers and climbed up the steep mountain road. Arrows began to shoot out of the camp on the mountain, but because of the distance and the sturdy armor of the Anding Army, the arrows did not do much damage. Before crawling to a relatively flat spot, only one unlucky man was shot in the arm, but only a little flesh wound.

After climbing the platform halfway through, hundreds of people were crammed into a small area. The road above was even more rugged, and the people in front were moving slowly, and the people behind were constantly squeezing up, making it a crowded situation. There was a bang in the camp, and dozens of hundreds of people poked their heads out and attacked the Anding army with bows and crossbows.

The density of arrows suddenly increased, and the power of strong crossbows of more than six stones was amazing, and just a volley of fire, a scream broke out in the Anding army. Several soldiers were shot through their armor by crossbow arrows and fell to the ground. Steel armor was limited in quantity and extremely expensive, and Ma Teng didn't have that much money to equip ordinary soldiers.

The steel armor on Ma Chao and Pang De was not afraid of arrows and crossbow arrows, but they didn't dare to just stand and let others shoot. Pound shouted loudly, commanding the sword and shield soldiers to stand on the perimeter, and used their shields to block the arrows that came at them. Ma Chao quickened his pace and climbed up the mountain with his hands and feet.