"Dadada~~"

"Whew~~"

At the beginning of February 273, at the junction of Youzhou and Jizhou, on a flat wheat field south of Rongcheng County, Fanyang County, a cavalry of about two or three thousand people appeared.

The weather has warmed up, but the knights of this team are all dressed in heavy winter clothes, and they look particularly bloated.

The armor on top of the deep coat was all bloodstained without exception, and the blood scabs overlapped layer after layer in many places.

Although I wore a lot of clothes, I looked very bloated from a distance. But if you look closely, you will find that this group of cavalry, from men to horses, without exception, is extremely thin. Each of them has high cheekbones on both sides, and on the flanks of each horse, you can see clear ribs.

"Huh~~Huh~~" After a long pant repeatedly, he effortlessly snapped off the armor on his right shoulder and glanced at the deep gun hole: "Are you sure?" We're going to get rid of Ma Zhongying's mess completely, right? ”

"The news that has just come from our palace troops is that Ma Zhongying and his Shu thieves have returned north."

"Good! This Qiang mongrel, martial arts are really powerful. Glancing at his wound again, Gou Zhengse said: "Order, get off the horse and rest for a quarter of an hour." Count the attrition and count the surplus food. ”

"Whoa!"

This cavalry is the only elite of the 60,000 army in Youzhou that is composed of veterans. At the beginning, Uncle Meng deliberately stayed in case of 10,000 Youzhou light cavalry.

However, after more than two months of high-intensity fighting, more than half of this unit has now been lost. Moreover, after dealing with an enemy several times their own for a long time, this force has reached its limit in terms of men and horses.

However, in the past two months, Gou and his knights have been proud enough: they have made full use of the high mobility of the light cavalry, relying on their familiarity with the terrain and the subtle support of some of the local wealthy families. The Han army and its grain transport team that entered the territory of Youzhou launched a fruitful raid. In more than two months, they lost more than 5,000 brothers. However, the Han cavalry killed by them was about the same number, and there were more Han soldiers who transported grain and hundreds of thousands of stone of military rations were wiped out by them.

In the past two months or so, on the one hand, the war on the side of Bingzhou has not yet come to fruition, and the rapid southward movement has not yielded much benefit. On the other hand, if this cavalry is not eliminated, Jiang Wei and the others will not dare to go south to the grain road, will they want to?

General Jiang himself is also a master of guerrilla warfare, and he has also taken many targeted measures against Gou, who is now attacking him. But none of these measures had a good effect: to cover the width of the battlefield, it was necessary to divide the troops very thinly, and the small number of troops could easily be broken by the opponent. Gather your troops together, and it won't be easy to catch the enemy. Therefore, in the past two months, although Gou's troops have lost a lot of troops, there are still more than 4,000 soldiers, and they can still pose a major threat to Jiang Wei's grain route.

In fact, Jiang Wei's side except for the heavy cavalry at the beginning to catch the unbelieving Gou once, and then it was not until yesterday that Ma Jie and Zhan Hong copied it, and finally succeeded in holding Gou's main force. It was a very happy fight.

But it's still a pity that this Gou's sense of smell on the battlefield is naturally acute. Without waiting for Hedlam's heavy cavalry to move into position, he resolutely ordered his troops to disperse and escape, and when some of the troops were completely annihilated, more cavalry were able to escape.

"General Qiyu, my subordinates have counted, after yesterday's battle, the main force of our army still has more than 3,300 war horses and more than 2,200 people. This morning, the South Road detachment was contacted, and they still had 2,300 war horses and more than 2,000 people on their side. ”

"Huh~~ This means that in yesterday's battle, we lost about two thousand brothers?"

"Uh...... That's how it should be. ”

"No, raiding Fangcheng in the southeast of Zhuo County was my temporary whim. I haven't told any of you, so how can Jiang Boyo be sure that I will go there? ”

"General, it is rumored that Zhuo County is the hometown of Liu Xuande, the former puppet emperor of Shu thieves. That Jiang Boyu seems to have gone there to sprinkle and sweep Liu Xuande's former residence......"

"Huh~! I see. It is said that Liu Xuande is known as a hero, and whoever gets involved will be unlucky. I didn't expect to be so harmful after being dead for so many years. That's it, how much food does our army still have? ”

"Speaking of which, general, in yesterday's battle, in order to break the siege as soon as possible, the soldiers of our army threw away all the grain bags on their horses. Therefore, the whole army is about to run out of cooking. ”

"Well, that's not going to work......" tugging at the beard that had just grown the corners of his mouth, Gou looked up at the surrounding terrain: "How far is this from the Lu family's manor?" ”

"Less than ten miles."

"Hahaha~~ That's not the end, send a messenger to the Lu family manor. I asked them to borrow five hundred stone of grain. By the way, let them take a batch of war horses from the manor and exchange them with the war horses that we have already taken out of shape. Well, the relevant fees, just let them open it, and they will definitely sign it regardless of the price. ”

"Whoa!"

The Lu family here is the Fan Yang Lu family, one of the five surnames and seven wangs who became famous later. The origin of this family will not be mentioned for the time being. In this era, the one who laid the foundation and cultivated the prestige of this family was, of course, Lu Zhi, who was often talked about in the early days of the big-eared thief's business.

The current Fanyang Lu family has not yet reached the peak state of intermarriage with the Northern Wei royal family and becoming one of the four surnames in the world. But thanks to years of accumulation and the protection of the ancestor's reputation, Fan Yang Lu's family is already one of the top super families in Youzhou at this time.

As a Hanchen, Lu Zhi was known for his loyalty. His son Lu Yu is from Cao Wei, and he can also enforce the law impartially. The third generation of the current head of the Lu family is Lu Yu's son Lu Qin, who is currently serving as a scholar in Luoyang and is Pei Xiu's deputy.

It is precisely because of this that Gou has always been able to use these 10,000 soldiers and horses to deal with Jiang Wei's main force. It relied on the help of the Youzhou family headed by the Lu family: the family provided it with intelligence, avoided the enemy's main force, and struck at the enemy's emptiness. The horses are tired, and there is a family to change. If the rider is injured, he can recuperate at the nearest manor of the family...... If this is not the case, although Gou is brave and good at fighting, he is a young man who is less than twenty years old, how can he jump under Jiang Wei's nose for so long?

The reason why the Youzhou family strongly supported Gou's guerrilla warfare. In the final analysis, it is still the legacy of Meng Guan.

The Han and Jin dynasties were opposed, and the state and Tongguan trade routes were cut off. Youzhou and Pingzhou have become a black hole of smuggling. In this black hole, Meng Guan organized the army to participate, and also allowed the You and Ping families to participate. So the family in Youzhou has not made much money over the years.

What if the Jin Kingdom completely failed this time, and Youzhou was included in the territory of Ji Han? I didn't say that, Tongguan is where the normal trade routes are. And what about Youzhou? It is estimated that it will become a bitter cold place on the border of the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty in the past, right?

Therefore, driven by interests, the families of Youzhou were willing to take a little risk to support Gou's guerrilla warfare.

However, it's February 273.

"In Xia Lu Zhi, meet the general of the Xiao Cavalry."

"Oh, don't dare to be, don't dare to be, the end will pass by the precious land, just a temporary rest. Where can I work for Mr. Lu to greet him personally? ”

This Lu Zhi is Lu Yu's grandson. However, his father was not Lu Qin, who now served in the Luoyang court. It was Lu Qin's younger brother, who used to be the Taishan County Taishou Lu of Cao Wei. At present, Lu Qin and his children are in Luoyang, and Lu Zhizai is in charge of his hometown in Fanyang County.

"General Zhonglang, please take a step to speak."

Looking at Lu Zhi's expression, no matter how young Gou was, he couldn't help but chuckle in his heart.

After the two came to a quiet place, Lu Zhi went straight to the point: "I got the news not long ago, and the results of the battle of Bingzhou have come out. The Great Jin Dynasty was defeated and lost Shangdang County. ”

"Huh?! When did it happen? ”

"Zhonglang will be running around in the wild these days, and the news is not very smooth, right? Well, it should have been at least half a month ago. ”

"Hey! What about our losses? ”

"There weren't many casualties. Du Yuankai was cautious, and Guan Zifeng failed to seize his main force. ”

"Fortunately, in this way, the country still has a glimmer of life."

"Hmm."

Looking at Lu Zhi, who stopped talking after a while, Gou felt a little trembling in his heart: "Master Lu, do you want to ......?"

"Hey, my Lu family has always been loyal to whoever eats. But we also have to think about the survival of the family. Zhonglang General, Shangdang, the world's shape is a winning place. Losing Shangdang, Youzhou, Jizhou and other lowlands in the plains can be swept down by the Han army at any time. So ......"

"What Lu Gongzi meant, the last general understood. The last general is not too much for himself, and he also asks Master Lu Gongzi to support us a little bit this time. And then I won't come back to harass. ”

"Hey, General Zhonglang, you still don't understand what you're saying. After the report of the battle in Bingzhou came, Jiang Boyuo, the general of the Han State, immediately issued a strict order. Any Youzhou family who dares to continue to secretly support you will be wiped out as soon as the news is heard. Did you hear clearly? It's not a fact, it's a rumor! So General Zhonglang, this time, we really don't dare to help you anymore. It's good that Uncle Jia and Zhonglang will be ministers in the same hall, for the sake of this friendship, I don't take the initiative to inform General Jiang of Zhonglang's future whereabouts, and I will be benevolent and righteous. ”