After nightfall, Zhang Yu sprinkled his scout horse in all directions, and then quickly marched west. While galloping on horseback, Zhang Fu suddenly asked, "Father, why are you rushing late at night?" What should I do if I encounter Qu Neng? ”

"Hehe, Wen Bi, as long as Qu Neng is not stupid, we will definitely encounter him."

"Huh? So why are we still sending it up? But didn't we kill all of Qu Neng's scouts? ”

"Haha," Zhang Yu smiled: "Wen Bi, you still have a lot to learn, Xiongxian is about sixty miles away from the location of yesterday's river crossing, if you arrange for your father to arrange scouts, you will arrange three dials, each dial twenty miles, pass each other, it is impossible for the scouts near Xiongxian County to see us, go back and forth one hundred and twenty miles to report to Qu Neng, that is tired and tired, so it must be that the scouts of Xiongxian County are passed back to the scouts of forty miles, and then passed to Qu Neng in waves." ”

"Therefore, the scout cavalry is inexhaustible, and even if it is killed, it is of little significance, because after a while, the scout cavalry does not come back, and the other party will immediately know that there is an enemy approaching, in fact, the purpose of strangling the scout cavalry is not to cover up the arrival of our army, but to let the enemy not know the specific situation of our army."

"Then why did my father not let our army raid Qu Neng after killing the other party's scouts? Still taking a break? ”

"This, of course, is to attract Qu Neng to this side, so that the prince can sneak attack the pontoon bridge."

Zhang Fu thought for a while, and suddenly said: "It's still not right, wouldn't it be better if my army killed the scout cavalry and killed Qu Neng directly?" ”

"Alas," Zhang Yu smiled: "Wen Bi, you can't think too stupid about Qu Neng, ask you for your father, if you were Qu Neng, what would you do if you saw the army moving to Dingzhou under the banner of the prince this morning?" ”

"Of course, it's to move to Dingzhou to prevent our army from crossing the river." Zhang Yu blurted out, but immediately reacted: "No, Qu Neng will definitely suspect that our army is a suspicious strategy, he will divide his troops, transfer a part of the army to the pontoon bridge, and then send reconnaissance cavalry to Xiong County." ”

"Yes, he will definitely guard against the side of Xiongxian, so after our army kills the scout cavalry, the surprise attack is actually of little significance, first of all, our army is not superior in strength, long-distance attack, hasty battle, may not be able to win."

"Moreover, if Qu Neng is smart, he doesn't need to reciprocate, he will know that we are here."

"Why?"

Zhang Yu looked at his son's puzzled look, but he was very happy in his heart, his son was very talented, but he was a little inexperienced. Zhang Yu decided to continue to induce his son: "Wen Bi, if you confront the enemy and the enemy withdraws the next day, what will you do?" ”

"Catch up."

"No, it's easy for you to encounter ambushes, so it's better to go to the enemy's camp first and check it, and you can see many things from what the enemy has abandoned, such as whether the enemy is well fed, whether the morale is high, whether he retreats in a hurry or is he prepared? This is important information, and if you see the enemy's prepared retreat as a hasty retreat, then there is a high chance that you will be ambushed. ”

"Oh, I understand what my father meant, you mean that Qu Neng will personally cross the river to our camp this morning to check?"

"It's not necessarily possible to cross the river in person, but at least someone will be sent there."

"Oh, I understand," Zhang Fu patted his head and said, "No wonder although the prince and his father went in the east and west directions, they went east together after leaving the camp, and after ten miles, the prince turned west, this is so that once Qu can come to check the camp, he will think that we only have the east road, and ignore the west road of the prince." ”

"Yes, I understand, the more eager we are now, the more Qu Neng believes that we are the only ones, and when we see that we are not many people, it is very likely that the army on the other side of the pontoon bridge will be transferred over and encircled and annihilated us, and the prince can take the opportunity to seize the pontoon bridge and lead the army across the river."

"That's right," Zhang Yu clapped his hands and said, "Wen Bi, you are very smart, this is the countermeasure that I agreed with the prince." ”

"Oh, that's a good plan, but what do we do? Is it sent to death? ”

"No, when my father interrogated Qu Neng's reconnaissance cavalry, he knew Qu Neng's approximate location, so my father would suddenly camp thirty to forty miles away to attract Qu Neng to attack, Qu Neng transferred five thousand people to the Dingzhou pontoon bridge, and his number was not more than mine, so he is very likely to mobilize the army from the pontoon bridge to support, intending to eat us in one bite."

"As long as our army holds out for two hours, the prince will arrive. However," Zhang Yu paused, and then said in a low voice: "Wen Bi, although our plan is good, but the soldiers are dangerous, anything can happen on the battlefield, once we don't hold out for two hours, you jump into the river and escape, don't fall in love with the war." ”

"Father, I'm not leaving, I'm going to be with my father, either die in battle or jump into the river together!"

"No, the order that the prince gave to his father is to hold on until reinforcements arrive, as long as I am here, Qu Neng will besiege with all his strength and will not give up, so that the prince's surprise attack is meaningful, once I also escape, it is useless for the prince to come over, Qu Neng can calmly retreat to Baoding."

"And there is another reason why my father is so anxious, because this place is close to Baoding, and once Ping An reacts to reinforcements, our army will be wiped out."

"Huh?" Zhang Fu looked in the direction of Baoding: "Father, our position is too dangerous, Qu Neng is in the west, Baoding is in the north, and the army of Ping An is surrounded, and we are finished." ”

"This," Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said: "I have discussed this issue with the prince, he thinks that Ping An will not transfer troops over, although Ping An has more soldiers, but the cavalry is not as many as ours, which is why he only let his father lead 5,000 people, Qu can have 10,000 people, they will think that they will win, so Ping An is unlikely to send troops; And Ping An has another concern, if a large number of cavalry is transferred to the Eastern Front, what if our cavalry suddenly appears under the city of Baoding? As the commander in chief of the army, he could not help but consider this issue. ”

"Oh," Zhang Fu let out a sigh, but still shook his head and said, "Father, the prince's plan is too risky, once something goes wrong, it will be a fiasco." ”

"Alas," Zhang Yu patted his son on the shoulder, looked at the west, and said in a low voice: "Our army has few soldiers, how can we win without surprises?" Even if one for two, for three, we are not the opponent of the imperial court. The prince sent his father to rob the people, hoping that Ping An could go to the vicinity of the river for a decisive battle, but he didn't expect this Ping An to pass through Dingzhou and go straight to Baoding, which had disrupted the deployment of the prince. Sun Tzu said: 'To people, but not to people'," Zhang Yu sighed: "Our army has one move in chess, and we can only make a surprise move to save the situation." ”

"Wen Bi, fighting, there is no 100% certainty of things, seven or eight achievements can be considered a sure victory, five or six achievements can be fought a dozen, at least not defeated. Moreover," Zhang Yu stared at Zhang Fu and said: "Sometimes, if you are only two or three percent sure, you have to fight, because if you don't fight, you are waiting for death, understand, Wen Bi?" ”

"Understood."

......

After traveling thirty miles, Zhang Yu's cavalry stopped at a place called Chenjiahe. The Chenjia River is very shallow enough to swim across, and it is less than two zhang wide, Zhang Yu looked at the surrounding terrain and ordered to camp here.

Ten miles away, Qu Neng was listening to the report of the scout, and frowned: "They are not leaving, camping?" ”

"Yes, General. It's called Chenjia River, but the current is shallow and not wide. ”

Qu Neng took the map, studied it carefully, and then turned back to his son Qu Tao and said, "Tao'er, when you went to check in the morning, did you really find that the rebels were dividing their troops to the east?" ”

"Yes, my son is sure."

"Then Zhang Yu should rush forward, especially since he also killed the scout cavalry sent to Xiongxian, he can't be so idiotic that I will be defenseless, the so-called soldiers are fast, why do they camp instead?"

Qu Neng looked at the dark night sky, what was Zhang Yu doing? Don't? Don't? Qu Neng suddenly thought of a possibility, what would happen if Zhang Yu was not 5,000 people, but 10,000 people?

Qu Neng's brain teaser turned sharply, and he immediately ordered to send reconnaissance cavalry to the left flank and rear to see if there were any ambushes.

After the scout cavalry was dispatched, Qu Neng considered it for a long time and decided to let Lu Fang send 3,000 people to him, and at the same time send an alert to General Zuo to ask for support.