"Bai Shuai."

The next day, Qin generals Ji Hong, Meng Yi, Wei Yuan, Tong Yang, Zhong Xu, Hu Yu and other generals received Bai Qi's summons and came to Bai Qi's camp one after another to gather.

When they saw each other outside the white barracks, they also showed a little surprise and solemnity on their faces.

Meng Yi asked Zhong Xu in confusion: "Old Zhong, what do you say Bai Shuai is doing when he summons me today?" Is it time to fight Yangguan? ”

Zhong Xu shook his head slightly, but his eyes looked at Tong Yang, who was standing on the side with a solemn face, obviously he had heard something.

At this time, Sima Jin walked out of the barracks, clasped his fists towards the generals and said, "Generals, Bai Shuai is invited." ”

Everyone knew that Sima Jin was Sima Cuo's second grandson, not an ordinary guard around Bai Qi, so he politely returned the salute, and then under the guidance of Sima Jin, he walked into the camp one after another, and saw that Bai Qi was already sitting on the main seat in the house, so they clasped their fists and saluted: "I've seen Bai Shuai!" ”

"Sit down."

Bai Qi barely squeezed out a smile and beckoned the generals to sit in the room, while Sima Jin walked back to Bai Qi's side.

At this time, I saw Bai Qi glance at the generals, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, yesterday Bai received a bad news, Wancheng was attacked by the Wei army, and our army's grain and grass were destroyed by the Wei army......

Hearing this, except for Tong Yang, who had already learned about the incident, was silent, the rest of the generals were stunned, and then their eyes widened one by one, and their faces showed a look of horror.

"Wancheng?"

"How is that possible?!"

"Did Wei Jun from Yangguan do it? But I haven't received any news of any changes in the Wei army. ”

"How could the Wei army in Yangguan bypass our army and sneak attack Wancheng?"

The generals were talking.

Seeing this, Bai Qi pressed his hand and said in a low voice: "I have sent someone to confirm that it was indeed the Wei army in Yangguan...... Do you still remember that a few days ago, the Wei army in Yangguan had 3,000 foot soldiers and more than 2,000 cavalry to reinforce the Wei camp on the north side of Yingshan? We were all deceived by that Meng Zhong, those Wei troops did not reinforce the Yingshan Wei camp at all, but went to the mountains in the north, from a secluded and narrow mountain road in the local area, quietly went to Wancheng......"

"The mountains to the north?" Qin Jiang Zhongxu asked with a shocked expression.

"Hmm." Bai Qiqi nodded and said, "After I received this bad news yesterday, I suspected that there was a path leading to Wancheng in the mountains to the north, so I sent scouts to investigate...... Sure enough, there was a little-known trail there. ”

“……”

The generals looked at each other, and a few people opened their mouths to speak, but they didn't know what to say.

I have to say that the Wei army attacked Wancheng and burned the precious grain and grass of the Qin army, which was too fatal for their Qin army, it was like a sharp knife piercing the heart of the Qin army.

At this time, Wei Yuan frowned and said: "Wancheng, I remember it is Sima ......" He glanced at Sima Jin, and immediately changed his words: "I remember that it was Peng Tang, a general under the command of the national captain, who led the army to garrison, right?" How could it be so easy for the Wei army to succeed in a sneak attack? ”

Bai Qi explained simply: "The Wei army in Fangcheng pretended to be a cavalry under Hu Yu, but Peng Tang was defenseless, so he was attacked by the Wei army. ”

Hearing this, the generals in the house couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Hu Yu, which made Hu Yu feel very embarrassed.

But the generals didn't say anything about it, after all, the attack on Wancheng had nothing to do with Hu Yu, and if you want to blame Peng Tang for being too lax, as for Hu Yu's defeat, which led to the annihilation of the entire army of 2,000 cavalry, since Bai Qi, who was the main general, did not punish Hu Yu for this, they naturally didn't say anything.

After a long silence, Wei Yuan asked in a deep voice: "Bai Shuai, how many days of military rations do our army have?" ”

Hearing this, Bai Qi looked at the deputy general Ji Hong, and Ji Hong said in a deep voice: "The food in the army can barely last for five or six days. ”

"Only five or six days?"

The generals looked at each other, and their faces became difficult to look at one by one.

They were not optimistic that they would be able to break through Yangguan and occupy Yeyi in only five or six days.

After all, they were facing Meng Zhong, who had defeated them during the Battle of Yique.

At this time, Bai Qi glanced at the generals, and said calmly: "Everyone here, except for Hu Yu, who has not dealt with Meng Zhong before, I believe everyone else knows how powerful that guy is...... What that guy is best at is to see the opportunity and wait for the opportunity to defeat the strong with the weak......"

Hearing this, except for Hu Yu, the general of Yiqu, the rest of the Qin generals all bowed their heads slightly, and their minds couldn't help but recall the scene when the Wei camp in the north of Yique Mountain was countered by the Meng Zhong army that day.

At that time, they had successfully defeated the 200,000 troops of Gongsun Xi and Storm Kite, and they were only one step away from the final victory, but at this time, Meng Zhong saw that his Qin army was powerless, and took the opportunity to lead the Wei army to take a counteroffensive, forcing the Wei army, which was originally doomed to defeat, to re-energize and cheer up, so that his Qin army was finally defeated in the city of Huhu.

It was a terrible experience.

“…… Since you all know the methods of Na Meng Zhong, then you should naturally also know that since he has successfully attacked the granary of our army, then he will immediately take a counteroffensive. Speaking of this, Bai Qi glanced at the generals and said in a deep voice: "At present, there are only two ways in front of us, one of which is to immediately retreat to Wancheng, join the army under the command of the national captain, and resist the counterattack of the Wei army together, during which we will wait for Wu to transport grain and grass again. Second, immediately attack Yanyang Pass, break through Yangguan within five days, and then enter and occupy Yeyi, and eat in Yeyi. …… What do you think? ”

Hearing this, the generals fell silent.

Retreating to Wancheng, although it sounds good, is actually just a nightmare of them being swept away by the Wei army under Meng Zhong during the Battle of Yique again, and the Fangcheng cavalry who defeated him Qin cavalry will also attack them along the way like last time, making them passively beaten, and they can only watch the soldiers under their command continue to be sniped by the Fangcheng cavalry but helpless.

But attacking Yangguan...... Is it really possible to break that pass in five days?

Just when the generals hesitated, Meng Yi clenched his fists and said in a deep voice: "Bai Shuai, the last general is willing to be the vanguard and break through Yangguan for Bai Shuai!" ”

After that, he deliberately glanced at his colleagues who showed hesitation, and said meaningfully: "In order to break through Yangguan, our army has been preparing for a long time and has built a lot of siege equipment. Anyway, even if you retreat to Wancheng, you will be chased and killed by the Wei army of Fangcheng along the way, so it is better to simply attack Yangguan and fight with the Wei army! ”

"Okay, Meng Yi supports the attack on Yangguan, so what are you waiting for?" Bai Qi asked the generals.

Seeing Bai Qi's gaze looking at him, Deputy General Ji Hong hesitated, then clenched his fists and said, "Bai Shuai, the last general also supports Meng Yi's proposition." …… Even if he wants to retreat to Wancheng in the end, it will be too unwilling, so it is better to fight with the Wei army first......" Speaking of this, he hesitated, although his lips moved slightly, but he did not continue.

But Bai Qi could guess Ji Hong's thoughts, the latter's idea was nothing more than to use the battle damage to make up for the gap in grain and grass, after all, the dead don't need food, as far as the current situation is concerned, the more fierce his Qin army and the Wei army in Yangguan fight, the more his Qin army will take advantage.

But this kind of thing can only be kept in the bottom of my heart, but it is not easy to say.

In fact, this is also one of Bai Qi's thoughts that he tends to attack Yangguan.

Meng Yi and Ji Hong took the lead, and the rest of the generals successively expressed their attitudes and supported the attack on Xiangyangguan, but Hu Yu did not express his position, after all, the cavalry under his command had been wiped out, and this war had nothing to do with him for a long time.

"Good!"

Seeing that all the generals supported the attack on Yangguan, Bai Qi nodded heavily, and said in a deep voice: "In this case, without further ado, immediately send an order to all the troops to attack Yangguan!" After that, he did not forget to tell the generals: "Regarding the sneak attack on Wancheng, it must not be disclosed to the public, so as not to disturb the army's heart!" ”

"Whoa!"

The generals clenched their fists and retreated.

Watching the generals withdraw from the house one after another, Bai Qi let out a long breath and sat in the room thoughtfully.

Seeing this, Sima Jin asked curiously, "What is Bai Shuai thinking?" ”

I saw Bai Qi chuckle lightly, and said melancholy: "Now I understand why Meng Zhong didn't take Fang Cheng......"

"Huh?" Sima Jin's face was puzzled.

Seeing this, Bai Qi stood up, walked to the window and said lightly: "In the winter last year, the national captain and I retreated to Wancheng, at that time, Meng Zhong could actually recover Wancheng and re-fortify Fangcheng, but he didn't do that, let me enter and occupy Fangcheng after the spring of this year, I was puzzled by this before, and now I finally understand...... If he takes Fangcheng, then I will definitely set up a camp between Wancheng and Fangcheng, and even attack Fangcheng with Wancheng as the rear; And if he doesn't take Fangcheng, then I will definitely use Fangcheng as a base to attack Yangguan, so that the distance between our army and Wancheng will be shortened...... Still don't get it? At that time, he was already planning a sneak attack on Wancheng! ”

Sima Jin was shocked when he heard this, and said in shock: "Could this be the strategy mentioned in the book of soldiers?" ”

"Ah, that's the strategy." Bai Qi shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Last year, he gave away Fangcheng and took the opportunity to ambush the national lieutenant and me, resulting in thousands of soldiers of our army killed and more than 10,000 wounded...... Oh, this is Meng Zhong, the strongest enemy I've ever met so far. ”

“……”

Sima Jin opened his mouth and was speechless in shock.

You must know that in the eyes of the Qin people of his age, Bai Qi, who defeated the two famous generals Gongsun Xi and Storm Kite at the same time during the Battle of Yique, is undoubtedly the example they aspire to, but he did not expect that even if Bai Qi is invincible in their eyes, there are also opponents who are difficult to defeat.

Thinking of this, Sima Jin licked his lips, barely squeezed out a few smiles and asked, "Can ...... But Bai Shuai did not retreat, but ordered an attack on Yangguan, I think he is somewhat sure, right? ”

Hearing this, Bai Qi shook his head with a smile, and immediately, he looked at the young Sima Jin, and after some hesitation, he suddenly smiled reluctantly: "Well, it's a thirty percent chance of winning." ”

"What are the odds of winning?" Although Sima Jin was a little disappointed by this, he could still accept it.

He would not have thought that Bai Qi just saw that he was young, so he did not tell him the truth in his heart: one of the main purposes of his attack on Yangguan was to exchange friction with the Wei army!

Yes, and the Wei army was used to make up for the gap in grain and grass in his army.

Considering that Sima Jin was only fourteen or fifteen years old, Bai Qi did not intend to show the dark and cruel side of the battlefield in front of this young man for the time being.

Because he likes this kid a lot.

About an hour, when everything was ready, Bai Qi led 40,000 troops, carrying many siege equipment, to Yangguan.

At this time, around the Qin camp and Fangcheng, traces of Fangcheng cavalry could be seen almost everywhere, and these Fangcheng cavalry saw the abnormal movement of the Qin army, and immediately reported to Yangguan and informed the main general Meng Zhong.

Meng Zhong was not surprised when he learned of this, and immediately met with Zhai Zhang in person and informed the veteran of the Qin army's movements.

After all, Zhai Zhang is the great Sima of Wei, and forgave Meng Zhong for writing a letter to Storm Kite in his name, so Meng Zhong has to give Zhai Zhang some face.

Zhai Zhang was naturally very satisfied with Meng Zhong's move, but Zhai Zhang showed all kinds of incomprehension about Qin Jun's abnormal movements.

He frowned and said to Meng Zhong, "Don't Bai Qi know that Wancheng was attacked by our army?" Counting the days, he should have received the news, right? ”

Meng Zhong smiled and affirmed when he heard this: "Definitely, Bai Qi must have received the news......

As soon as he heard this, Zhai Zhang was even more puzzled: "Since he has received the news of the attack on Wancheng, instead of withdrawing his troops, he attacked Yangguan instead?" ”

Meng Zhong explained with a smile: "It is precisely because of the unfavorable situation that Bai is the first to attack...... Even if I know him, he knows me, he knows that I will not let him go, if he decides to retreat to Wancheng, I will definitely lead the army to pursue, and he will be passive everywhere. Rather than doing nothing and falling behind, it is better to try to see if we can capture my Yangguan, after all, once Yangguan is captured, Yeyi will not be able to stop the Qin army at all, and the Qin army will be able to harvest grain in Yeyi. …… That's probably what Bai Qi thought. ”

“……”

Zhai Zhang was a little surprised by Meng Zhong's understanding of Bai Qi, and immediately stroked his beard and said: "This kid called Bai Qi looks very brave, no wonder even Gongsun Xi has suffered a big loss in the hands of this person, and his reputation has been lost in the hands of this person." ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong sincerely echoed: "In terms of courage and strategy, this Bai Qi is indeed beyond ordinary people. ”

『…… Courage and cunning.'

Zhai Zhang glanced at Meng Zhong and chuckled, but didn't say anything.

A moment later, Meng Zhong took Zhai Zhang to the pass of Yangguan and waited for the arrival of the Qin army.

About half an hour later, the Qin army slowly came to the outside of the pass and lined up troops outside the pass.

At this time, Zhai Zhang stood on the wall of the pass and looked at the Qin army, only to see that the Qin army outside the Qin army filled the entire valley, and the solemn atmosphere, even if it was this veteran who had experienced a hundred battles, he couldn't help but show a little solemn look.

From the side, Meng Zhong was instructing Meng Sui, Zheng Zheng, Meng Hu, Cao Chun, Hua Hu and other generals, he reminded the generals: "Today, Bai Qi led the army to attack, because our army attacked its granary, and he had no choice but to launch a fierce attack on my Yangguan, on the one hand, trying to capture our Yangguan, on the other hand, it was also to let his Qin soldiers and our army consume each other, so as to make up for the gap in grain and grass in his army. Therefore, today is bound to be a fierce battle, and I hope you will be vigilant......"

“……”

Zhai Zhang turned his head to look at Meng Zhong a few times, and was a little surprised in his heart.

In the case of insufficient food for his own army, he deliberately launched a fierce attack on the enemy army and used each other to make up for the gap in his own grain and grass, although this move was cruel, but it was also a very common method on the battlefield, but generally only experienced veterans would understand this method, and Meng Zhong knew how to beware of this matter at a young age, which really surprised Zhai Zhang.

After all, as far as he knew, although Meng Zhong said that he followed the Song army to Teng at the age of fourteen, this kid is only twenty years old this year, and he has only been a six-year horse warrior in his career, but it cannot be denied that in terms of knowledge, even those generals who are thirty or forty years old are far inferior to this kid.

This made Zhai Zhang inevitably a little curious, curious about what kind of general this kid would become in another ten or twenty years.

As Meng Zhong said, today Bai Qi led the Qin army to launch a fierce attack on Yangguan, but he was forced to do so, so Bai Qi was not in the mood to talk nonsense with Meng Zhong before the war - otherwise, in normal times, Bai Qi would probably chat with Meng Zhong or ridicule Meng Zhong a few words, so as to prove his calmness and self-confidence.

But today Bai Qi was not in this mood, and after the army was ready to attack, he immediately gave the order to attack.

"Woo-woo-woo-woo-"

Accompanied by three long horn sounds, Meng Yi, the vanguard general of the Qin army, stood on the chariot, pointed at Yangguan with a sharp sword in his hand, and shouted with all his might: "Front army! Offensive! ”

With an order, the front army of the Qin army, the phalanx of thousands of people, slowly moved forward.

"Huh?"

At this time, Meng Sui stood on the city wall with his arms crossed, and when he saw the Qin army outside the pass approaching him so slowly, he couldn't help but feel a little confused in his heart.

With this kind of speed, isn't it a live target for his Yangguan's crossbowman?

Thinking of this, he immediately shouted: "Command the crossbowman, shoot arrows at the front gate!" ”

At the sound of an order, the crossbowmen in the pass raised their crossbows and shot, and for a while, countless arrows rose into the air in the Yangguan Pass, looking like a locust tide on the wheat field from a distance, and shot towards the Qin army outside the pass.

Seeing this wave of arrows, Qin General Meng Yi shouted at the top of his throat: "Arrow attack!" Array! ”

I only heard the sound of raising shields in unison, and I saw the Qin soldiers in the infantry phalanx, the infantry soldiers in the front row held a shield in front of them, building a barrier, and the Qin soldiers from the second row held their shields flat above their heads, and the shields held above their heads by the soldiers from the side built a layer of iron wall, so that from a distance, the thousand-person infantry phalanx seemed to be a slowly moving turtle.

With the sound of Ding Lingdang, most of the Wei army's wave of arrow rain was blocked by these tight shield defenses, and only a few Qin pawns were hit by arrows, which made the Qin army's formation a little hollow, but it was quickly made up for by the rest of the Qin soldiers.

"What?!"

Seeing this scene, Meng Sui suddenly frowned.

You must know that before the winter of last year, when Bai Qi tried to attack Yangguan for the first time, his crossbow array shot in Yangguan caused the Qin army to suffer heavy losses, but now, with the same trick, the Qin army has the means to resist.

At this time, on the side of Guan Lou, Meng Zhong, who saw this scene, also frowned slightly.

He didn't expect that just after a winter, Bai Qi had already thought of a way to target him Wei Jun's crossbow formation, and came up with this trick - let's call it the tortoiseshell array.

"The cloud echelon of the Qin army has been dispatched!"

Beside him, there was a Wei pawn who reminded in surprise.

Meng Zhong frowned and looked at it, only to see that behind the Qin army's phalanx of two or five thousand people, a whole row of cloud ladders was slowly advancing towards the pass, and if you count them carefully, there are probably more than 100 of these cloud ladders.

This amount can almost make the wall of Yangguan useless.

So he immediately ordered: "Send the order to go down, tell the pass to prepare fire oil and fire arrows, and destroy those ladders as much as possible when they get close!" ”

At this time, the front army of the Qin army, the few slow-moving phalanxes, had also gradually approached the city gate.

I have to say that with this trick tortoiseshell array, the casualties of the Qin army have decreased sharply, even though Meng Sui ordered the crossbowmen in the pass to shoot arrows non-stop, but the casualties of the Qin army this time are far better than last year, which makes the Wei soldiers on the city wall full of pressure.

Obviously, these Wei pawns have also realized that this time they may not be able to repel these Qin troops with crossbow formations like they did last time.

Noticing that the morale of the Wei soldiers on the city wall was a little low, the general of the Wei army, Le Jin, drew his sword and shouted loudly: "Don't panic! Don't be afraid! Although the Qin army is brave, don't forget, our army has defeated them several times, and today's return of the Qin army is just another defeat! …… Fangcheng can give it up, but my Yangguan is the last line of defense for Wuyang and Yeyi, and only here is the Qin army that must not be allowed to step further! ”

With that, he pointed his sword ahead and shouted, "Engage!" ”

"Oh, oh, oh-"

The Wei troops on the city walls shouted loudly, trying to motivate themselves and their allies.

At this time, the cloud echelon of the Qin army was also close to the city wall, only to see that under the shroud of countless arrows and fire arrows, the Qin soldiers pushed one cloud ladder after another, and then hooked the hook at the upper end of the cloud ladder to the city wall.

"Advance - Attack ——!"

With the roar of the Qin general Meng Yi with a burst of exhaustion, countless Qin troops climbed towards the wall with the help of the cloud ladder.

At this time, in the distance, those Qin soldiers who were still standing in place also tapped the shields in their hands with Changge, making a loud noise, trying to affect the fighting spirit of the Wei soldiers on the city wall in the distance.

In the face of such a ferocious offensive of the Qin army, the Wei soldiers on Yangguan did not back down, only to see them either raise the oil tank and smash it to the cloud ladder below, and then throw torches to ignite it, or hold Changge and stab at those Qin soldiers who tried to climb up by the cloud ladder, and the atmosphere of the entire battlefield suddenly became extremely solemn, as if it was the final decisive battle.

"Kill!"

"Attack! Hurry up, hurry up! ”

"Oil tanks! Oilcan! ”

"Stop them! Block them! ”

The entire Yangguan was filled with the shouts of the soldiers of Qin and Wei.

Personally feeling the atmosphere on the battlefield, even if it was Zhai Zhang, his eyes widened slightly, and his gray beard trembled and trembled, as if he was shocked by the fierceness of this battle.

I have to say that Zhai Zhang, who has been stationed in Yecheng for decades, really rarely has any contact with the Qin army, so that when he sees the Qin army's crazy offensive at this moment, he must admit that the Qin army's offensive is indeed more ferocious than the Zhao army's offensive.

At this time, Meng Zhong turned his head to look at Zhai Zhang and said, "Great Sima ......"

Because he had greeted him before, Zhai Zhang naturally understood what Meng Zhong meant, and immediately asked the guards to play his Zhai Zhang's banner.

After a while, a general flag with the words "Wei Da Sima Zhai" written on it was erected on the Guan Tower.

Seeing this flag from afar, Bai Qi's eyes suddenly widened.

"Wei Da Sima Zhai...... Zhai Zhang? Is it Zhai Zhang? Zhai Zhang has actually reached Yangguan? ”

For a while, Bai Qi's eyes were slightly in a trance, and immediately, his face became a little ugly.

If he had been lucky enough to capture Yangguan before, then at this moment, after seeing Zhai Zhang's banner, he realized that this Yangguan might not be able to be captured.

Perhaps at this moment, Yangguan's garrison has surpassed his army.

"Yes...... Do you want to scare me off? Meng Zhong, you also underestimate me, even if you ...... I will also make your Wei army pay heavy casualties! ”

Gritting his teeth and muttering a few words, he saw Bai Qi's left hand clutching the railing of the chariot, and a little ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"Keep attacking!"

He ordered in a deep voice.

Since retreat is doomed, then do not retreat!