At the beginning of July of the first year of Chuping

Yan Xing, the captain of Dangkou, was ordered to go on an expedition, commanding 3,000 soldiers and horses, galloping to the east of the river, all the way to the west, crossing the Cuihan Ancient Road, and arriving in Shaanxi County.

After crossing the river in Maojin, 3,000 soldiers and horses entered the east of the river through the plank road in Dayang, and Yan Xing led his troops straight to Anyi, where he met Niu Fu, the general of Zhonglang who guarded the east of the river.

When Niu Fu met Yan Xing, Yan Xing could see that Niu Fu's face was a little disappointed and ugly.

It's no wonder that the Dong army had just expelled the Bai Bo army from Hedong County last year, and he had also lost a lot of soldiers and horses, and Niu Fu was in danger many times, originally thinking that Hedong could finally usher in a period of peace.

Unexpectedly, with the rise of the state and county of the Kwantung against Dong, the Baibo army soon made a comeback, turned around, and became a righteous army to crusade against Dong thieves, and the soldiers were even better than before, it took three months to capture the cities in the north of Hedong one by one, and then also took Puzi and Beiqu, and faintly connected the Qianghu of Shangjun and Xihe counties, and further swept Hedong and invaded Sanfu.

Niu Fu couldn't resist the offensive of the Baibo army, so he could only ask Dong Zhuo in Luoyang for help, Dong Zhuo was also a veteran of the battle, and knew the importance of Hedong, although he was attacking the Kwantung Prefecture again, he still quickly sent Yan Xing to lead troops to help Hedong.

Although the soldiers and horses were sent, Niu Fu didn't feel any more comfortable in his heart.

In his opinion, Yan Xing's 3,000 soldiers and horses are not too much, but they are really a bit weak when used on the battlefield in Hedong.

Since Niu Fu fought last year, Dong Zhuo has successively transferred and supplemented 5,000 soldiers and horses to the Xiliang soldiers under his command, which can be said to have barely restored the vitality of Niu Fu's troops before the war.

Moreover, Niu Fu also recruited Ding Zhuang in Hedong on a large scale, and sent Gan Ling, Dong Cheng and other military officials to train men and horses, forming a Hedong county army with more than 10,000 people.

Coupled with the county soldiers drawn from various counties and some powerful soldiers, Niu Fu had at hand, Lin Lin was always able to master nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses, but this army stationed in Hedong showed unsatisfactory combat power in the process of defending the cities in the northeast of the river and resisting the Baibo army, not only losing four or five thousand men and horses one after another, but also losing many cities in the north.

If it weren't for the attacking side of the White Wave Army, it would also have suffered a lot of damage, but I am afraid that those White Wave Army who went and returned would have already attacked the county administration of Hedong County and Anyi.

Now, Yan Xing, with these 3,000 soldiers and horses, wants to gallop to the aid of Hedong and reverse the current situation in which the enemy is strong and we are weak, Niu Fu has no hope at all for this whimsical idea.

But he also knew the current situation in Luoyang, Dong Zhuo was planning to completely solve the two difficult and tricky opponents of Nanyang Yuan Shu and Hanoi Yuan Shao, a large number of Xiliang soldiers were heading to the front line of the confrontation, and Dong Zhuo was able to send troops and horses to reinforce Hedong County, which had a lot of soldiers and horses, which was already the result of attaching great importance to Niu Fu's urgency.

Niu Fu, who knew this, didn't want to say anything, and he didn't have the heart to greet Yan Xing, so he directly waved his hand, and sent Yan Xing's three thousand soldiers and horses to Jiangxian County, the front of the confrontation between the enemy and us.

Yan Xing originally planned to spend more time in Anyi, that is, to contact Ganling, but also to inspect the situation in various cities in the southeast of the river, but he did not expect Niu Fu's military order to be so hasty and hasty, after he received the military order, he could only send someone to send letters and gifts to Ganling, and then replenished some grain and grass baggage in Anyi, and continued to lead the army north to Jiangxian the next day.

After the Dong army expelled the Baibo army last year, some people who fled in the cities north of the river returned to the old land one after another, wanting to regain the farm tools in the land of Sangzi, but they did not expect that soon after the beginning of spring this year, the comeback Baibo army invaded Hedong again.

Among the people of Qianshou, many of the strong ones either joined the thieves or attached themselves to the powerful people who were guarded by the Wubao fort, and the rest of the people who did not want to be thieves or servants could only drag their families and flee to the cities in the south of Hedong County that had not yet been affected by the war.

However, these refugees were repeatedly rejected along the way, and few cities were willing to accept and help them, so although some of them came from Yong'an, some from Xiangling, and some from Pingyang, in the end, they could only rely on each other and continue to flee to the south.

They hoped to be relieved in the county magistrates east of the river.

However, Yan Xing, who passed through Anyi, knew that Anyi, Hedong, which had taken in refugees, was now overcrowded, and it was difficult for these fleeing people to get real and effective relief when they went to Anyi.

But where can they go if they don't go to Anyi? Further south, Luoyang has become a piece of red land, Guanzhong, which is separated by a big river in the west, is also a soaring grain price, and Hanoi County in the east is in a slightly better situation, but it is a battlefield where Yuan Shao, Wang Kuang and Xiliang soldiers confronted each other.

Yan Xing rode his horse and walked in the ranks, looking at the panicked refugees and the starving people who died on the side of the road, and couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Now is the first few years of the great chaos in the world, and most of the people in Hedong will not be able to live their lives, if the princes of the Central Plains are completely out of chaos, I don't know how many more people will die here.

"Armor gives birth to lice, and all surnames die.

The white bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles.

The people are left behind, and the thought breaks people's intestines. ”

Yan Xing can now faintly experience in advance the feeling of Cao Cao, who had experienced the melee in the Central Plains, a few years later, when he saw the desolate folk misery along the way on the march.

Yan Xing, who was in a heavy mood, was stationed in Wenxi territory in advance with the army in the evening.

Although Wen Xiling here is not a love for the people, at least a few porridge sheds have been set up outside the city, twice a day, to supply porridge water on time, to relieve those refugees who have not had rice for many days, and it can be regarded as giving these homeless people a little hope to struggle to survive.

The military situation on the front line was as anxious as a spark, Yan Xing inspected the camp at night, and discussed some military information with Ma Lin, Xu Huang and other military officials before returning to his own seat with his armor and falling asleep.

In his dreams, he met a lot of people and things, saw the Qiang people who were killed by himself in the White Dog Gathering, saw the Yan family tribe who was full of ambition to accompany the army to the east, saw the city wall dyed red with blood by Fu Xie and his soldiers under the Ji City, and saw the plain clothes of the female gentleman who was saved by himself in Sanfu.

Then, he saw the Han army's slaughter of the Liangzhou coalition army, met Yan Shi and Xiaolu in the oxtail gathering, and saw the carnival night when Sanfu captured Wubao, and met the arrogant and domineering Dong Niangzi halfway.

In the end, he came to the battlefield, saw the Xi Zhicai couple who were close to each other, saw Dian Wei with blood on his hands but his face was confused, reunited with his little sister who had been separated for a long time, heard the parting song of that night, and once again walked on the march road with white bones.

At the end of the dream, Yan Xing, who was already a little conscious, couldn't tell whether he was in a dream, or if he had experienced what had happened to him in the past few years.

All he knew was that when he woke up, there seemed to be traces of tears on his pillow.

And what greeted this unintentional tear was the sound of the trumpet in the army.

···

The next day, Yan Xing continued to set out with 3,000 soldiers and horses, and after they bypassed Wenxi City, they hurried along the foothills of Jieshan Mountain. Finally, before sunset, we crossed the muddy water and arrived at the city of Jiangxian County.

The Baibo army had already captured Xiangling and Linfen a month earlier, and Jiangxian County had now become the first front-line fortress to bear the brunt.

When the original Jiangxian magistrate heard that the Bai Bo army was approaching, he had already resigned and returned to his hometown by car. At present, it is a county official surnamed Fan sent by a Hedong county government, the magistrate of Shoujiang County, who is responsible for the defense of Jiangxian County.

At the same time, three battalions of soldiers and horses from Hedong were stationed outside the city here, specifically to defend against the Baibo army that continued to invade south from the direction of Linfen and Xiangling.

According to Niu Fu's military order, after arriving in Jiangxian County, Yan Xing will take over all the defense of Jiangxian County, command the three battalions of soldiers and horses outside the city, and guard the county magistrate to assist in stabilizing the precarious defense line here in Jiangxian County to resist the continued southward invasion of the Baibo Army.

Before arriving, Yan Xing had already sent cavalry to the barracks outside the city and the county temple in the city to announce his arrival.

But when he arrived at the city of Jiangxian County, Yan Xing found that there were only some old and weak soldiers left behind in the military camp outside the city, and the other soldiers and horses were nowhere to be seen.

In order to prevent the Baibo army of Xiangling from raiding Jiangxian or the two battalions of Hedong soldiers and horses deployed along the foothill riverside road between Jiuji Mountain and Fenshui, the other battalion of soldiers and horses also rushed to the dangerous mountain road of Jiuji Mountain to garrison, so these old and weak soldiers are temporarily left in the barracks outside the city.

After Yan Xing learned about this situation, he thought about it, and let his soldiers and horses start to set up camp on the other side of the barracks outside the city, so that it would be convenient for him to mobilize men and horses in the future, and he could also form a horn-like defense with Jiangxian and another barracks.

Just when the soldiers under his command began to dig trenches and set up fences, the two cavalrymen who had been sent to give orders came back, and they also brought a small official from the county temple, saying that they were the guides sent by the magistrate of Shoujiang County to lead the way.

Yan Xing looked at the sky, it was almost night, and he originally planned to take the time to check the terrain outside the city, but now that the county temple in the city had come to invite, Yan Xing also stopped this idea.

I simply went to meet the magistrate of Shoujiang County and the other big names in the city, and learned about the situation in this Jiangxian County and the movements of the Baibo Army from their mouths, so that I could take over the defense of this Jiangxian County next.

So, Yan Xing took Zhou Liang and Zheng Duo, and asked Da Niu to order a personal guard, and followed the little official who led the way to the city.

Yan Xing's group was so loud that everywhere they went, the pedestrians on the road dodged one after another and retreated to both sides of the road. When he came to the city gate, Yan Xing saw several people in a hurry, dragging their families out of the city gate hole, Yan Xing saw this scene, and his brows couldn't help frowning slightly.

Then, he slowly opened his brows, and sent someone to summon the county temple official who led the way in front of him, and after the county official with low eyebrows and a respectful face came over, Yan Xing pretended to ask casually:

"Why, in Jiangxian County, is there a shelter for fleeing refugees, why are there so many refugees at the gate of this city?"

When the county magistrate heard Yan Xing's question, he hurriedly replied:

"The captain doesn't need to worry, these are not fleeing refugees, but the residents of the city. Since taking office, the county magistrate has been diligent and diligent, and knows that the responsibility is heavy, and the safety of Jiangxian County cannot be lost, in order to prevent thieves from mixing into the city, this refugee has always been not allowed to enter the city. ”

Listening to the words of the county magistrate's quick explanation, the corners of Yan Xing's eyes moved slightly, of course he knew that these people did not look like refugees who had fled from the north.

When he came, he had already discovered the strangeness of Jiangxian, even if there was no porridge shed outside the city, the refugees along the way did not come in the direction of Jiangxian, and occasionally one or two groups of refugees poured into Jiangxian County, and it didn't take long for them to leave in a hurry.

Among them, Yan Xing thought about it, there are two possibilities, one is that the magistrate of Jiangxian County has specially sent county guards to drive out the refugees who have crossed the border, and the other is Jiangxian County, a small city that has something that makes these fleeing refugees unable to avoid it.

Now after hearing that these people who hurried out of the city were residents of Jiangxian County, Yan Xing smiled slightly and continued to ask:

"As far as the captain knows, although the Baibo army has sharp edges, it has not yet crossed the Fenshui, and Jiangxian County has never suffered a military disaster, why are the residents of the city rushing out of the city when it is almost night, could it be that there is something in the city that they are afraid of?"

After hearing Yan Xing's words, the county official with low eyebrows and pleasing eyes immediately changed his face. He just thought that after Yan Xing saw these refugees, he wanted to hold the county temple accountable why the city was loosely guarded and allowed the refugees to enter freely, so he bluntly said that these people were just residents of the city.

Unexpectedly, this lieutenant, who was in charge of fighting thieves and guarding the city, seemed to be overstepping his responsibilities and caring about matters that were not within his duties.

The county magistrate thought for a moment, and then began to answer again with a smile:

The lieutenant laughed, where is there anything to be afraid of in the city, and most of these city residents who go out of the city must be ruined people in the city, or people who are afraid of thieves. Although Jiangxian County has never suffered a military disaster, after all, it is normal for some small people to want to escape from the city because they are worried about their lives and want to escape from the city? ”

Speaking of this, the county official smiled again, and said with a compliment:

"The small people have no courage, I don't know that there is a captain who leads the army here, and there is a golden soup in Jiangxian County. Thinking of those white wave thieves, how dare they come here to make trouble when they hear the tiger power of the school captain! ”

Listening to the compliment of the county official, Yan Xing suddenly laughed, shook his head, and seemed to be very proud, the county official saw Yan Xing laughing loudly, thinking that his compliment was tickling the itch in his heart, so he relaxed in his heart, and laughed a few times.

Yan Xing looked at the smiling little official, turned his head quietly, and glanced at Zhou Liang and Zheng Duo.