Of course, Liu Xie didn't want to tell Lu Bu the secret of the horseshoe now, but now that the imperial court wants to deal with Li Dao Guo Yan's 100,000 Xiliang army, Lu Bu's Bingzhou army is an indispensable combat force. The Western Liang Army was dominated by cavalry, and in addition to Lu Bu's Bingzhou army on the imperial court's side, the cavalry under Liu Xie's command was only 5,000.

On flat land, the best way to deal with cavalry is to ride against ride, no matter how fierce Zhao Yun is, it is impossible to deal with Xiliang's 100,000 iron cavalry with 5,000 cavalry in his hand, even if he has a saddle, stirrup and horseshoe. Lu Bu's Bingzhou Army will be stronger, from the current point of view, it will be beneficial to the imperial court, as for whether it will cause trouble to Liu Xie in the future, that is also a matter of the future, if the Xiliang Army cannot be solved, Liu Xie will have no future.

Starting from Ji County in Tianshui to Zhongtao of the Xiliang Army at this time, the officers and soldiers of the imperial court did not go very fast, in addition to seizing the time to arm 5,000 cavalry, the equipment used by the infantry to deal with the cavalry was also being intensified. And Lu Bu's merger army is also seizing the time to prepare. After testing the effectiveness of equipping the saddles, stirrups, and horseshoes with his own eyes, Lu Bu couldn't wait to quickly arm all his troops with the state. It's just that blacksmiths are limited, and even if they work overtime, it will take time to get all the state troops to change their outfits.

Lu Bu still knew that he would take care of the overall situation, and after equipping 5,000 cavalry in the early stage, Lu Bu left Cao Xing as the overseer, and he took the 5,000 cavalry to Zhongtao first.

Li Dao Guo Yan's Xiliang army was already a little impatient to wait in Zhongtao, although he had received the grain and grass baggage of Song Jian's filial piety from Caohan before, and he had obtained a batch of grain and grass supplies when he raided Nan'an County. Since coming to Longxi, Li Dao, Guo Yan and others have not cared about the people's livelihood, and there is no large-scale spring sowing in Longxi County, and there is no production, and there will naturally be no output in the future. The current Xiliang Army is not worried about eating and drinking, but the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be to the Xiliang Army. Plundering is not a long-term plan, not to mention that there are not many objects to loot in Longxi, the people who originally lived here have fled, and the rest are mostly horse thieves, these people have a virtue with the Xiliang army, and they are good at sabotage and looting but do not produce.

"More, or we will lead the army to meet the officials and soldiers of the imperial court?" Li Wei suggested to Guo Yan with some uncertainty.

After the misunderstanding was resolved, Li Dao and Guo Yan resumed their close relationship, and when Li Dao couldn't make up his mind, he was willing to discuss with Guo Yan.

"Childish, don't worry, the officials and troops of the imperial court will come sooner or later, we have already built a defense line in Zhongtao before, and now we will advance the front, won't everything we have done before be wasted. And I'm really worried about our rear, if Han Sui and Ma Teng from Liangzhou take the opportunity to send troops, we will be homeless. ”

“…… Did Zhang Ji and Fan Chou tell you something again? Li Dao's face sank, and he asked with some dissatisfaction.

"It can't be said that Zhang Ji and Fan Chou's consideration is unreasonable. We have already missed an opportunity, and it will not be too easy to defeat the officials and troops of the imperial court, so we must consider a way out. Guo Yan looked at Li Dao without fear and said.

Li Wei was silent for a moment, "There are many, I don't know that our current situation is not good, but the more times like this, the more we need to make a desperate bet, only by concentrating on defeating the officials and troops of the imperial court, can we have a glimmer of life." What if Longxi is lost? As long as we can defeat the officials and troops of the imperial court, Tianshui, Fufeng, and even Hanzhong, it will become our bag. ”

Guo Yan was silent after hearing this. I can't help but admit that compared with the barren Longxi, Fufeng and Hanzhong, which were not affected by the war, did have more oil and water. But Guo Yan was afraid that he would lose Longxi and did not defeat the official army of the imperial court, so that the Xiliang army would really become a rootless wanderer, it would be difficult to return to a home, and it would be difficult to vote for a country, and in the end it could only end up being wiped out. It can be seen that Li Wei has made up his mind, and Guo Yan is not good at saying anything. After thinking for a long time, he said to Li Dao: "Childish, since you already have a plan to give up Longxi, then let's take the family members who are still in Longxi together." ”

"No, you and I are not the only ones whose families are still in Longxi at this time, if you and my family are brought here, won't this shake the hearts of the army?" Li Wei shook his head and refused.

"General, the scout came to report and found a large group of officers and soldiers of the imperial court." A report came from outside the tent, which immediately made Li Dao Guo Yan overjoyed, looking forward to the stars and the moon, which can be regarded as looking forward to the official army.

"How many? Who is the commander of the troops? Li Wei asked urgently.

"There are about 40,000 people in the army, and the big beetle flag in the army is written on Liu."

"Liu?" Li Dao Guo Yan was stunned for a moment, and then ecstatic, if he could capture Liu Xie, the son of heaven, on the battlefield, then there would be no need to fight this battle again. Even if Lu Bu's state army arrived, he would be jealous because the Son of Heaven fell into his own hands.

"How far are the officers and soldiers from here? When will it arrive? Li Wei hurriedly asked.

"Report ~ The officers and soldiers are camped and are not moving forward." Without waiting for the scout to answer, another message arrived.

"What?!" Li Dao and Guo Yan shouted in unison. Just now, I was going to send troops to make a surprise attack, but I didn't want the officers and troops to stop, so when I arrived, maybe the officers and troops had already set up their positions.

"Again, do you want to send troops?" Li Wei asked Guo Yan undecidedly.

Guo Yan thought for a while, "Childish, it's better for you to take someone to see it first, if there is an opportunity, then you can do it, if you are not sure, then collect the troops and come back." Anyway, the official army has already come at this time, and the decisive battle is a matter of time. ”

"Okay, I'll check the enemy situation first, and if you have more, you will stay in the army and prepare to send troops."

Because it was to investigate the enemy's situation, Li Dao only brought 200 relatives out of the camp, and at this time, the news of the killing of the officers and soldiers had already spread among the army, and those ordinary soldiers who had been waiting for almost a month were gearing up one by one, waiting for the arrival of a showdown with the officers and soldiers. The military discipline of the Xiliang army is sloppy, but I have to admit that the combat power cannot be underestimated, but the price required to maintain this combat power is expensive, and an army like this without military discipline will retreat in distress, disperse when defeated, and once it fails, it will become a rabble. It is far from the Xiliang Iron Cavalry that Li Dao and Guo Yan imagined when Dong Zhuo was there.

The officers and soldiers were indeed encamped, and Li Dao couldn't help but wonder when he looked at the camp site chosen by the officers and soldiers at this time. This place is a flat river, which is very suitable for cavalry vertical and horizontal, this officer army is mainly infantry, camping here, isn't it no different from looking for death? Once 10,000 horses gallop, with those rejection horses set up by the officers and soldiers in front of the camp, can they block their iron horses?

Of course, Li Dao would not kindly remind the officers and soldiers that they should set up camp in a different place with dangerous terrain, and he did not have a chance to continue to investigate the enemy camp, because the whereabouts of these people had already been discovered by the officers and soldiers. With a sound of the horn, a group of men and horses rushed out of the camp of the officers and soldiers.

Seeing that the other party only sent a team of 100 people, Li Dao did not immediately lead the crowd to evacuate, but wanted to eat this cavalry in front of the officers and soldiers, so as to hit the morale of the officers and soldiers. The two hundred cavalry brought by Li Dao were all veterans who had followed him all the year round, and they had experienced a hundred battles, and when Li Dao gave an order, the two hundred cavalry immediately put out a sharp array, and the arrows pointed directly at the officers and cavalry who rushed over.

Li Wei, who was at the position of the arrow, waved his gun in his hand, urged his horse to rush towards the official cavalry, and the two hundred cavalry behind him immediately urged the horse to follow.

Arrow against arrow, it's up to who has the harder arrow! In the Xiliang Army, except for the late Hua Xiong, Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, Li Dao has never been afraid of anyone, even if it is Zhang Liao under Lu Bu, Li Dao also did not pay attention to it.

But when the white-robed general who served as the arrow with the official army was handed over, Li Dao immediately understood his previous mistake. The methods of this white-robed general are really powerful, and after only a few dozen fights, Li Dao is already out of breath and in danger. Li Wei, who knew that he couldn't stay here for a long time, couldn't care about his own face, and forced the white runner in front of him to retreat with a shoulder injury, and turned his head to run.

"General be careful!" There was a loud warning from the soldiers next to his ears, Li Dao was almost instinctively short, but he didn't want his back to be fine, but it was his hips that hurt, but fortunately, Li Dao hugged the horse's neck with both hands, and then fled the battlefield. Most of the 200 relatives were killed and wounded, and only more than 20 people escaped back to the camp with Li Dao alive, and nearly 100 of them were killed by the white-robed general on the way to pursue Li Dao.

"Childish, why are you so embarrassed?" Guo Yan, who came to inquire about it, couldn't help but ask in surprise when he saw Li Wei's tragic situation.

Li Dao, who wanted to save face, naturally did not admit that he was defeated by half of the officers and soldiers who were less than half of him, so he pretended to be angry and scolded: "The officers and soldiers are shameless, and they actually sent a thousand people to drive them away, but it's a pity that those of my relatives evacuated in order to protect me safely......"

Guo Yan was skeptical of Li Wei's answer, but in order not to affect his morale, Guo Yan didn't ask much, and personally helped Li Wei to walk into the tent, and ordered him to go to the doctor as soon as he went. Li Dao limped into his tent, and his mouth was even more scolding, as if he could not express his anger.

When he entered the camp tent and there were no outsiders around, Li Dao told the truth under Guo Yan's questioning. After hearing this, Guo Yan frowned and asked, "You don't know how the official army found out?" ”

"More, that doesn't seem like the point, does it? The officers and soldiers were defeated by one enemy and two kills, especially the white-robed general, whose martial arts skills are even higher than mine......"

"The cavalry of the official army is only 5,000 at most, even if it can be defeated by one enemy and two, my Xiliang army has 100,000 iron cavalry, what are you afraid of. I'm worried about how the officers and soldiers will find out about your whereabouts? According to what you said, you were very hidden at the time, but you still let the officers and soldiers find out. Since you will all be discovered, wouldn't it be more difficult for our scouts to approach the camp of the officers and soldiers to snoop? ”

"Report ~ General, the official army sent scouts to expel our army, and many of our scouts were killed."

"What?!"

has always been a scout for the Xiliang Army to snipe others, when will it be his turn to be sniped. Li Daodang even sent elite scouts in the army to launch a counterattack. But what is disappointing is that the scouts of the official army seem to be a little more powerful than their own scouts, although the two sides have won and lost each other, but after dark, the result is that the losses on the side of the Xiliang army are greater.

Li Dao Guo Yan knew very well that without the timely return of the scouts, the army would be like a blind and deaf man, no matter how big the losses were, they had to grit their teeth and persevere. It's just that it's getting late, and I believe that the actions of the official army will also be suspended, so the requirements for scouts are not as high as during the day, and the official army seems to have delineated a range, as long as the scouts of the Xiliang army do not cross the line, they will not react violently.

There was no major incident overnight, except for the occasional skirmish between the scouts of the two armies. Li Dao waited until dawn, and immediately couldn't wait to raise the tent to gather generals. Yesterday's feud caused him to not sleep well all night, and while Lu Bu's merger army had not yet arrived, it was a good opportunity to break the imperial court. Out of this consideration, Guo Yan did not oppose Li Wei's decision to send troops, leaving Fan Chou to guard the camp, and Li Wei Guo Yan and Zhang Ji took 80,000 horses out of the camp to find the bad luck of the imperial court officials and soldiers.

When the Xiliang army arrived outside the camp of the imperial court's official army, the official army seemed to have expected the arrival of the Xiliang army, and was waiting for it at this time.

Looking at the officers and soldiers who were mainly foot soldiers, Li Wei couldn't help but sneer, and just wanted to raise his gun to boost morale, Guo Yan on the side had already opened his mouth to remind: "Wait, salute first and then soldier." ”

Li Wei was a little dissatisfied with Guo Yan's hypocrisy, but since Guo Yan wanted to take advantage of the reason before the war, as a friend, he could only endure Guo Yan's behavior of taking off his pants and farting.

Seeing Guo Yan wave his hand, someone around him immediately stepped forward, and as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, the officers and soldiers shouted in unison: "Kill!" Kill! Kill! ”

Li Wei glanced at Guo Yan, who was so angry that his face was blackened, and couldn't help but feel funny in his heart, immediately ignored Guo Yan, and urged him to raise his gun and shouted: "Since the officers and soldiers don't want to live, sons, then we will fulfill them and let them see the horror of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry!" ”

The spear pointed forward, and Li Xian, who was Li Wei's nephew, was eager to make meritorious contributions, and immediately led his troops to kill the Han army's military formation. Thousands of horses galloped, the momentum was equally amazing, Li Wei was full of expectations that his nephew could make the first contribution, he seemed to have seen the Xiliang army rush into the Han army's army and kill the Han soldiers on their backs. But the next scene almost made Li Xian's eyes drop, Li Xian's thousand-man team rushed to the Han army's army formation before 300 paces away, the cavalry rushing in the first row suddenly collectively planted forward, and Li Xianam, who was in the lead, was also thrown off the horse, and landed in the style of a goose falling on the flat sand, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead.

"W-what's going on?" Li Dao exclaimed in surprise.

No one can answer Li Dao at this time, once the army charges, it is not that it can be stopped. Li Xian and the others who rushed to the front of the team fell off their horses, but the cavalry behind them did not stop, and Li Dao could only watch Li Xian who fell off his horse drowned in his own horseshoe forest.

But the cavalry that crossed Li Xian's "tripping rope" did not fall well, and there were constantly war horses screaming and kneeling on the ground, unable to stand up again. At this time, the charge of the Xiliang army was finally stopped, and Guo Yan stopped the follow-up troops in time to avoid greater losses of the Xiliang army. It's just that even so, Li Xian's department, which served as the first meritorious, was almost wiped out from Li Xian down.

"What the hell is going on?" Li Dao, who couldn't think of a reason, was angry. At this time, Guo Yan came over with a gloomy face, and when he heard Li Wei's question, he said in a deep voice: "Childish, don't shout, I've figured it out, the officers and soldiers have dug a pit in the ground, because there is grass blocking it, and it is difficult for the cavalry to find out." ”

"Pit?"

"Well, it's the pit. According to those who survived, the pits were no bigger than two fists and about half a foot deep. A person can step on it at most, but if a horse's hoof steps into it, it must be broken. ”

"The officers and soldiers are so insidious!"

Hearing Li Dao's scolding, Guo Yan rolled his eyes covertly, feeling that Li Dao's words were pure nonsense. When the two armies clashed, they would do whatever it took to win, and they could only blame themselves for not being prepared in advance, and how could they blame the opponent for being cunning.

"Childish, what's next? Do you want to attack again? ”

"Of course you have to attack, otherwise my nephew won't die in vain, Yang Ding." Li Wei replied without hesitation.

"The end will be." Yang Ding immediately stepped forward and replied.

"Give you 5,000 men and horses, don't be impatient, first find out how many pits the officers and soldiers have dug, and find a safe way out for our army."

"The last will obey."

Seeing that Li Wei did not lose his mind because of Li Xian's death, Guo Yan felt a little at ease, and sending Yang Ding to test the truth was also the most appropriate disposal at the moment, and Guo Yan did not object.

Yang Ding, who got the order, lined up the 5,000 people, because of the lessons ahead, in order to protect the war horses, the 5,000 people dismounted one after another, took the blades in their hands to remove the messy grass, and investigated all the way towards the Han army's military formation. Seeing that this pathfinder had arrived at the place where Li Xian had died before, he suddenly saw a movement in the Han army's formation, and the shield bearers in the front row remained still, but the crossbowmen in the back followed an order, and the rain of arrows rushed towards Yang Ding's five thousand people like a dark cloud.

Yang Ding was careless, he originally thought that the Han army would not be able to pass, because the trapping pit not only blocked the advance of the Xiliang army, but also stopped the footsteps of the Han army, but he forgot that the Han army could also use crossbows directly. Cavalry is generally not equipped with a large shield, even if there is a shield, it is mostly a small shield tied to the arm, after dismounting, although most people do not throw the small shield down, but only the small shield that can only protect the head and face, really can not protect the whole body.

The rain of arrows fell, and 5,000 people could not avoid it, not to mention that the rain of arrows of the Han army was three waves at a time, even the soldiers who saw the opportunity to quickly turn around and flee to the formation were nailed to the ground by the arrows falling from the air.

Yang Ding was shot like a hedgehog and fell straight down. With his fall, the hearts of the Xiliang army were also shocked. This has just been a battle, strictly speaking, before the Han army can hand it over, this man and horse have lost 6,000, and no one knows how many lives they need to pay to kill in front of the Han army.

The distance of 300 meters seems to have become the dividing line between life and death in the eyes of Xiliang Jun. Although they had the intention to order to continue the attack, they saw that the morale of their soldiers had turned from prosperity to decline, so they had to order a temporary withdrawal of troops and another battle at another date.