The night sky is cloudy, and the silhouette of the steep foothills in the blue sky is magnificent. The night breeze with the cold spring breeze blows through the woods, the branches that draw out the buds gently sway in the faint light of the fire, and the rustling footsteps and the sound of slow horses' hooves come from the green mountain road in the early morning, and a team of about 1,000 people walks through here with torches.

On the tall and majestic war horse, the short phoenix with a long chin and long hair looked up at a morning star occasionally exposed in the clouds, and swayed slightly with the advancing horses. It had been a long time since he had looked up at the early morning scenery like this, and he had not yet been out of office, gathering in Wollongong with a group of friends, talking about the world, talking about ambitions, drunk and drunk, when he was sober, it was also such an hour, if it was in summer, it was a dense starry sky, paving a long silver river.

"Strategist, what does the lord mean by letting us go back to Jingzhou?" Liao Hua, who was carrying a long knife, rode a horse to catch up from behind, he didn't like to travel a long distance, but this time he went back a little inexplicably.

Pang Tong looked at the general next to him, hesitated, and finally shook his head: "The lord has his own ideas, I still don't want to guess at will, now that the big war is coming, they are all grabbing time, and the lord may be worried about the lack of soldiers and major generals in Jingzhou Guan, so he asked you and me to go back." ”

"I see, that Gongsun Zhi was born as a horse thief, and the King of Jin who has come to this day is indeed very powerful."

Sent away the general who was born of the yellow turban thief, Pang Tong sat quietly on horseback, looking at the east that gradually had white marks, last year the king of Jin in Xu Du gave Guan Yu and Zhang Fei the title of marquis, but he did not mention the name of the lord, he knew in his heart that the other party's naked conspiracy, even if he saw it, he still added a blockage to the heart of the lord Liu Bei, as if the other party gave the good things to everyone in a dignified manner, and only one of them was not shared, which would be somewhat disgusting in his heart, and even had grievances in his heart.

But this is also good, at least to cut off the idea that the lord might surrender.

He thought.

The long line continued to move forward, and the sky had already flown over and landed in the mountains and forests above them, and the figures under the shrubs and branches that were intertwined and covered came out of sight, and watched the fire spread to this side, and someone blew out a birdsong, and after a while, several more bird's cries sounded rhythmically.

Not far from this side, just when the team below was halfway through, the bushes and grass swayed, and several figures in iron armor walked out, looking at it from a distance, Zhang Ren was not wearing an iron helmet, his cape was scattered, and his eyes were already fierce.

"Liu Bei claims to be a member of the royal family, it's not enough to have Jingzhou, he came to fight Xichuan idea, there has been no war here for many years, this big-eared thief has to burn the flames of war, it's okay, if you want to fight Yucheng, I will cut off your arm." In a deep voice, he raised his hand, and then fell: "Let the brethren prepare, eat this team in front of you—"

Dozens of people behind him, and even more figures that gradually appeared around him were all the old troops who followed him on the expedition to Great Qin, the number was only three thousand, but they were all evil ghosts killed in the Shura field, and as Zhang Ren turned his gun downward, they took a look at the team in the firelight outside with their knives and guns, and followed down.

In the quiet place of the green darkness, many shadowy figures approached slowly and silently.......

…..

The road was dark and hazy, the marching procession was silent and few people spoke, the sky was still dark, and the scouts did not leave to search the surroundings, but only watched vigilantly for the movement around them, occasionally slapping their knives into the higher grass, startling a few small beasts or birds. Suddenly, a black cold glow flashed across his eyes, and then—magnified.

Poof, the scout clutched his neck and "Ahh At the same time that the voice of "there is an ambush" shouted, Pang Tong's heart jumped, and when he turned around, the sound of fighting and shouting exploded from the woods and foothills on both sides.

Countless black shadows flew through the blue sky and shot densely in the direction of the torches.

The running soldier fell, and Liao Hua straddled the corpse, snatched the torch from the nearby subordinate and threw it into the distance, shouting: "Put out the torch—"

In the collision and shouting of the fighting swordsmen, he turned his head and happened to look at Pang Tong who was looking back, and then Liao Hua shouted hysterically: "Be careful!" His pupils constricted to the extreme at this moment, and he flew towards it.

Several black shadows rushed down the hillside, and rushed straight up according to Pang Tong, who was riding a horse, although the latter was a scribe, but he knew a little martial arts, pulled out the sword at his waist and fought a few times with the rushing ambush soldiers, Liao Hua was already rushing over, pulling the head of the horse that was spinning, and galloping in the direction he came.

On the entire mountain road, chaos has spread, the ambushes on both sides have entered the crowd, Liao Hua rushed in front with a few personal guards, turned back and shouted to Pang Tong: "Military division, there must be ambushes in front, Liu Zhang's people have already been ambushed, let's go back to the lord." ”

"You...... Don't talk to me, you'll expose me—" Pang Tong swung his sword and collided with a spear stabbed at the side, almost falling off the bumpy horse's back, the tiger's mouth aching, and the hilt of the sword trembled slightly.

"Strategist, what did you say?" The fighting was too loud, and Liao Hua turned around a little uninaudibly.

However, what answered him was the sound of hurried horses' hooves, at this time the sky was a little brighter, and in front of the road when he came, the firelight that fell to the ground reflected a figure on horseback rushing over, and the guards in front of Liao Hua patted the horse to meet him, and the moment of contact, the corpse dragged the blood light from the horse's back and flew upside down, and the hair bun that was scattered revealed a face full of murderous aura.

"Liu Bei's people - kill!"

- Birds and phoenixes.

***************

Chengdu, Liu Zhang, who inherited his father's business, has not rested for several months, his hair has added a lot in these days, at dawn, he got up early to go to the government to deal with official business, he did not have the ability to expand the territory, but it is enough to govern a state, after inheriting Yizhou, he will continue to stabilize the people's hearts, support the great cause of the Western Expedition, and continue to appease the Nanban, which can make Shu Road more peaceful, and try to make the people living here live more steadily.

After all, in troubled times, it is not easy to live.

However, last year, Liu Bei got the map in the hands of Zhang Song and entered Shu, which brought him great pressure, and the soldiers and horses in Shu rarely fought, and even did not fight big battles, and it was difficult to fight with the other party.

Although the granary in the city is solid, enough to feed the refugees who fled here, but to raise tens of thousands or more, half a year is fine, once the time is extended, Liu Zhang is difficult to support, for a while, he even sent someone to send a letter to Hanzhong, even if there is a feud with Hanzhong Taishou Zhang Lu, I hope that the other party can lend a hand and help reach one or two.

Although his action was useless in the eyes of Huang Quan, Deng Xian, Ling Bao, and Li Hui, Liu Zhang still insisted on being present until Li Yan surrendered in Mianzhuguan, and he fell ill in anger.

"My father handed over Yizhou to me, and if he failed to preserve it, it is also Zhang's incompetence, in this case, it is better to surrender in Kaicheng, at least let the people of Shuzhong live a stable life."

Liu Zhang ignored everyone's opposition, probably knowing that he was difficult to resist, so he sent an envoy to Luocheng.

"Zhang did his best, and he did what he should do."

The letter of surrender went to the east of the city, at this time the besieging army had been withdrawn, Liu Bei was taking the newly surrendered Li Yan and the generals to celebrate, and saw the happy son Liu Feng striding in, took the letter from the other party and glanced at it, and the face that had never been moved and angry, it was rare to show a smile, and he handed this information to the military advisor Zhuge Liang, Fa Zheng and others next to him.

"This letter of surrender came in time, and Bei originally intended to take a temporary truce and sympathize with the people in this spring ploughing season, but let Ji Yu rush to the front."

Zhuge Liang shook the feather fan and knocked on the table, and there was a smile on his face: "It's okay to do this, the lord enters the land of Xichuan, when it is the blessing of the people of Shu, when the time comes, Jingzhou in the east, Nanban and Jiaozhi in the south, and then Hanzhong in the north, hegemony can be expected." ”

"When I was displaced and homeless, if it weren't for the hard work of the military advisors, it would be difficult for me to have the situation I am in today!" Liu Bei asked everyone in the tent to serve wine, and then held it up to everyone, "When Yide's troops and horses come, I will enter Chengdu with you!" ”

"I want to go with my lord—"

The sound of excitement shook the tent, Liu Bei pressed his hand to let them all sit down, his eyes swept around, and he sighed suddenly: "It's a pity that Shiyuan has been on his way to Jingzhou and can't hear such news...... I don't know where I'm going, so I'm just going to have someone chase them back, okay? ”

Fa Zheng on the other side is not from Yizhou, but he has been an official in Shu for a long time, and he is naturally clear about the road, "If you follow the footsteps, it should be a period of time after Luofengpo at this moment, and now it is probably too late to recover it." ”

The feather fan swaying gently on the opposite side stopped, Zhuge Liang raised his head, and his eyelids jumped: "Filial piety...... What was just said? ”

At this time, the sound of fast horses sounded outside, Liu Bei hurriedly put down the bronze jue, led the crowd out of the big tent, and saw the scout on horseback put a person down from his arms, stood unsteadily and fell directly to the ground, the armor was stained with blood, the iron helmet did not know where to fall, the cloak on the arm broke a big hole, and the flesh and blood could be seen.

"It's General Liao!" Chen recognized it at first sight.

"Quickly find someone to treat Yuan Jian's injuries." Liu Bei commanded loudly, ran over, and held the person in his arms regardless of the blood stains on the other party's body, "Yuan Jian, what happened to you?" Why didn't you see Shiyuan come back? ”

The weak body still had some consciousness left, Liao Hua opened his eyes, struggled to move his chapped lips, and his voice was weak: "The last ..... ..... incompetent ..... fell into Zhang He's ambush....... and the military division folded in his hands...... ......"

A soldier came over with a stretcher, and Liu Bei put him up, "It's okay, General Liao has a good rest...... Don't get too guilty. He waved his hand and asked the soldiers to carry Liao Hua away, and then got up and walked towards the big tent, but the previous joy was gone, sitting behind the desk, looking at the spring outside the tent with an expressionless face.

"Wolong, phoenix chicks have to settle the world, if it is not peaceful today, if it is not peaceful, it will be cut off an arm......" He felt a sour nose, and when he saw everyone walking in, tears fell, and he slapped his palm on the desk, and his voice was choked: "...... the sky is jealous of my Shiyuan-" is to cry out loudly.

The spring rain fell outside, and the tender green buds bloomed in the rain, and soon after, the mountains were full of green. In every era, in every time, there are always some unpaid lives with great ambitions left. If Pang Tong's death only made Liu Bei feel remorseful, then the more than 200,000 troops in Yunzhong Yuan began to move south, which would be a nightmare for many people in the south.

Above the imperial city, someone waved a blade: "In this battle, the world is peaceful-"

In the sixteenth year of Jian'an, in March, a total of 280,000 soldiers and horses from the three routes waved their troops south.