When Cao Shuo arrived, Deng Zhan and the others had been waiting for two hours.

When the army arrived, Deng Zhan and Zhu Ao greeted them.

"Childe." The two stepped forward to greet them.

thought that they would lead Cheng Yin around, but Cao Shuo, who never got a return, was very puzzled.

He asked the two of them, "Didn't the two generals see the enemy?" ”

"Nope." Deng Zhan replied: "We came here, and Cheng Yin didn't know where to go. ”

"What's going on?" Cao Shuo asked.

"I'm afraid the news that the scout has passed to Childe is too early." Deng Zhan replied: "There was a fight here last night, and from the remaining signs of the battlefield, it is impossible to tell which side won." ”

"Take me there." After the war, even if all the corpses were buried, there would still be a lot of tattered ordnance left everywhere, Cao Shuo gave an order to the two of them.

Guiding Cao Shuo to the place where many broken ordnance were piled up, Deng Zhan said: "From the remaining battlefield, it can probably be judged that there was a big battle here last night. ”

"The fight was quite brutal." Looking at the remaining ordnance, Cao Shuo said: "Both sides have invested a lot of troops, otherwise it would not be like this." ”

"We both think so too." Deng Zhan said: "It is estimated that the number of troops fighting with Cheng Yin is not below him, maybe this battle is still won by that force." ”

"Where can you tell?" Cao Shuo asked.

"Childe, please take a look." Walking into the place where there were piles of dilapidated weapons, Deng Zhan pointed to a pile of weapons on the ground: "These weapons are all used by Cheng Yin's command. They are piled up too closely, and it can be seen that many enemy troops have been killed here. ”

Cao Shuo nodded, there are quite a few places in the same place.

Moreover, most of the weapons remaining on the battlefield, except for some broken shields, were used by Cheng Yin's command.

For the defeated side, the complete weapons will be taken away by the victor, and the broken ones will usually be left in place.

Judging from the remaining weapons on the battlefield, it should indeed be another team that won.

Ma Teng, Tian Feng, and Chen Zhi also walked over.

"Childe, what's wrong?" Cao Shuo was still there looking at the messy scene, and Ma Teng asked.

"Meng Qi once fought with Cheng Yin here." Cao said: "And he is likely to win a big victory. ”

"I didn't see Meng Qi, nor did I see his soldiers." Ma Teng was stunned and asked, "Where did Childe come from?" ”

"General Ma, please look." Pointing to a few broken lances that did not belong to Cheng Yin's command, Cao Shuo asked, "Are those weapons used by the soldiers of the Ma family?" ”

Riding up to the broken lances, Ma Teng jumped off the horse.

Picking up a broken lance and looking at it, he said to Cao Shuo with a shocked face: "This is not the weapon of the Ma family. ”

"Not the weapons of the Ma family?" Cao Shuo was stunned for a moment and hurriedly asked: "Only us and Han Sui are fighting each other in Xiliang, if it is not the weapon of the Ma family, it must be the Han Sui family." ”

"It's not theirs either." Ma Teng replied: "These weapons are all used by the Qiang people. ”

"Qiang?" Faintly feeling that something was wrong, Cao Shuo asked, "Which one?" ”

"The Qiang people are not like the people of the Central Plains, although they have kings, the tribes still often attack each other." Ma Teng replied: "I can tell that it is a weapon used by the Qiang people, but it is really difficult to judge which one it is. ”

"We're at war, what are the Qiang people here to make trouble?" Cao Shuo's brows furrowed slightly.

"Dong Zhuo led the army to Luoyang that year, and never returned to Xiliang again." Ma Teng said: "Since then, Xiliang has been led by me and Han Sui. Some of the Western Liangqiang people did belong to the Han Dynasty, but some did not surrender. From time to time, they would gather together and give us some trouble. ”

"What does General Ma mean, it was the Qiang people who fought with Cheng Yin here last night?" Cao Shuo frowned.

What was originally a simple expedition became more complicated by the addition of the Qiang people.

No matter which side the Qiang people helped, or simply got involved in this war as a third party, it would be a problem for Cao Shuo.

The Qiang people helped the Cao family, and in the future, he would have no excuse to make drastic reforms in Xiliang.

The people who have helped the Cao family not only can't be bullied, but they have to be served well, otherwise they will definitely have a bad reputation of repaying virtue with grievances.

The world has not yet been decided, and his reputation is not bad, so of course Cao Shuo doesn't want this to happen.

However, if the Qiang people simply stood on Han Sui's side, there would be new changes in the balance of power between the two sides.

Han Sui, who has already gathered an army of 100,000, will take the lead everywhere in this battle.

And what Cao Shuo can deal with him will only be some new weapons.

No matter how powerful the new weapons are, it is impossible to wipe out more than 100,000 people in an instant.

If the Qiang people don't take refuge in anyone, but only enter this war as a third party, whether it is Han Sui or the Cao family, they will always have to beware of the elusive alien race in the future!

Throwing the broken lance on the ground, Ma Teng said to Cao Shuo: "Han Sui and I recruited soldiers and horses, both of which were Qiang people who had surrendered to the Han Dynasty and Central Plains people who lived in Xiliang all the year round. Those Qiang people who refuse to submit, they will not come to our army to serve as soldiers, but will often make trouble with us. Meng Qi killed a lot back then! ”

"The Ma family sits in Xiliang and works hard." Ma Teng mentioned that year, Cao Shuo said: "If you hadn't stopped the Hu people here, the Central Plains would have become the world of the Hu people." ”

"Childe is serious." Cao Shuo praised the Ma family, Ma Teng bowed and thanked him, and then said: "There are Qiang people here, and they can't be recruited at all, so Gongzi still has to be careful." ”

Cao Shuo nodded and did not speak.

Looking ahead, the wilderness in front of me was messy.

After frowning for a moment, he suddenly grinned.

Seeing him laughing, Ma Teng and the others were all at a loss.

The situation on the battlefield is becoming more and more complicated, and Cao Shuo should be troubled by the uncertainty of the future.

But instead of being annoyed, he laughed.

Ma Teng didn't dare to ask, Tian Feng wouldn't ask, Chen Zhi asked: "What does Childe think is funny?" ”

"General Ma." Cao Shuo didn't answer him, but asked Ma Teng, "You used to crusade against the Qiang, how many soldiers and horses could they gather?" ”

"Not too much." Ma Teng thought for a moment: "The Qiang tribes are relatively scattered, unlike the Huns who gather in one place. Most of the time we fought with them, hundreds or thousands of men. ”

"That's right." Cao Shuo said: "Cheng Yin has nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses, but they are not the opponents of this Qiang army, it can be seen that they are already extremely strong, and the number of people will not be much worse than Cheng Yin's subordinates." ”

Ma Teng frowned, still not thinking about the significance of Cao Shuo's analysis.

Cao Shuo continued: "The great war has begun, the Qiang people have sensed the crisis, and their tribes have united. In the future, it seems that there will be a fight! ”

(End of chapter)