Li Dingdong said in his book that his subordinates had guarded the various ferries and concentrated the boats on the big river. It is impossible for the captives to cross the river and return to the south. In the inner hall, Zhang Jun looked at Chen Zhen and said so.

"The captives come and go like the wind, and I am afraid that we will have to send cavalry soldiers everywhere to help in the battle. Otherwise, it will be impossible to exterminate! Chen Zhen had a sad look on his face, and looked at Zhang Jun, who was half-lying on the first couch: "And now the guards stationed in Xiazhouzhi, although there are three thousand, most of them were recruited after the death of the first emperor. ”

Zhang Jun pondered for a moment, and then said: "There are more than 1,000 cavalry in Xiping County, and the two counties of Wuwei and Wuxing are combined into one, and there are nearly 2,000 cavalry. Isn't it obvious which is stronger and which is weaker against the thieves? ”

Chen Zhen clenched his fists and bowed and said, "Make you clear." In this way, thousands of cavalry can be mobilized to surround and block the captive cavalry. However, there is no unified scheduling between various departments. In this way, it is not beneficial to make many doors. ”

Zhang Jun nodded: "Then I will lead three thousand cavalry of the Su Guard, mobilize the rest of the troops from the king's order, and enter the captives, is it okay?" ”

Chen Zhen was slightly frightened, and waved his hand again and again: "Don't make it!" Zhen is shallow and weak, and I am afraid that he will not be able to drive the army. If you can't kill the captives for a long time, I am afraid that you will have high hopes for the king. ”

Zhang Jun smiled slightly: "Now all the families in the state hate to eat the flesh and skin of this thief. The counties also hated it. This time, if the army is mobilized, the number of state governors and guards is large, and the appointment of the king as a general is also the proper meaning. What's more, even if other departments do not obey the order, Li Changshi, Xie Zhushu can also provide strong assistance to you. They had already annihilated the largest of the captives, and you could listen to the two of them on the matter. ”

Chen Zhen hesitated for a moment, but saw Zhang Jun get up from the couch and walk in front of him, his hands already pressed on his shoulders: "Now is the time of internal and external difficulties, the thieves are waiting outside, and the families in the state are not?" You see that you are alone in the position of the state pastor, maybe it is majestic, but there is pain in the heart, but I am the only one who thinks about it......"

"The people available now are only a few people such as Jun, Master Xie, and Li Changshi. If you don't worry about loneliness, I don't know how many people else can do it? ”

Hearing Zhang Jun's almost pleading sigh, Chen Zhen also felt sour in his heart, and hurriedly clenched his fists and knocked on the ground: "Make the king have an order, and Zhen will never give up." ”

Seeing that Chen Zhen should accept it, Zhang Jun regained a little smile: "Chen Zhechong, please hurry up." Tomorrow I will convene a meeting of the subordinate officials, and I will order them to send their own cavalry and return them to the command of Zhi Chong. Fold Chong let go and do it, if you can exterminate this captive horse, you should take a great merit for Jun Ji! ”

Chen Zhen stood up tremblingly, but still bowed to salute: "But I don't dare to ask for credit for the sake of making the king worry." Zhang Jun couldn't help but sigh when he heard this: "If everyone in the state is as loyal to the lord as a king, why should everything be unfair if you are lonely!" ”

Chen Zhen still looked respectful: "Please give an order to the envoy and order all the counties to send cavalry and go here." As soon as I returned to the camp, I ordered the sentry to go out and reconnoiter where the captives were. Within ten days, Jane will wipe out all the thieves! ”

"Good! Lone is in this Thorn Mansion, waiting for the good news of the king! Zhang Jun heard Chen Zhen's bold words of cutting down on the thieves in ten days, and immediately felt a sigh of relief, so he praised it. When Chen Zhen retreated, Zhang Jun's mind was still unsettled for a long time. He walked briskly to the top of the first few cases, untied the eight-sided Han sword from the sword rack next to him, and pulled it out of its sheath with a sonorous sound.

Zhang Jun carefully studied the patterns and sharp blades on the sword, and then blew on the blade, listening to the sound of the blade breaking the airflow, Zhang Jun was full of ambition: "You are waiting to bully the lonely young man to be the cool master, and the lonely will let you wait for the good life to see, the sword in the lonely hand is still used by Wu Gong and Zhao Gong!" This sword is still as sharp as in the hands of Wu Gong and Zhao Gong! ”

After saying that, Zhang Jun held the sword in both hands and struggled to slash out. The brass candlestick with the candle fixed on one side broke off at the sound!

Chen Zhen traveled all the way out of the Assassin's Mansion, and he only felt that his mood was quite heavy. In order not to worry the envoy, he said that he would calm the trouble within ten days. However, the captives are uncertain, and who knows where they will be next time!

He hurried all the way back to the camp of the guards in the east of the city, immediately changed into armor, and convened more than ten cavalry generals in the camp to discuss. Not long after, several cavalry squads were dispatched from the camp to various places, preparing to carry out the task of reconnoitring the location of the captive cavalry.

Rao is like this, but Chen Zhen still doesn't feel even a trace of relief. He immediately personally led Sima from other parts of the camp to the arsenal in Guzang City. Holding a warrant from the envoy, he asked to open the warehouse for inspection. As the treasurer opened the door, Chen Zhen was the first to step into it to check. Guzang is the largest city in the entire Hexi region, and it can be said that the best craftsmen in Liangzhou are basically concentrated here.

The weapons stored in the arsenal in Guzang City are also varied and numerous. Sima of the other department asked the treasurer to come and register the book and hand it to him, and Chen Zhen flipped through the book in front of him that recorded the entry and exit of the armed equipment, and at the same time walked among them, carefully checking the many weapons displayed around him. It's not that there is no equipment in the camp, but Chen Zhen always feels that these guards under his command have not been in battle for a long time, and now that they are about to be dispatched, they always need to think carefully and prepare more things for them.

Sima of the other department and the treasurer here followed behind Chen Zhen and walked silently. From time to time, Chen Zhen took a sword or a bow and crossbow from the side to look at it carefully. After looking at it, he put it back in. After going around like this twice, after returning to the door of the arsenal, Chen Zhen instructed the treasurer that a thousand bows were still needed, 100,000 arrows were needed, and a thousand horse lances were also needed.

The treasurer listed what Chen Zhen had asked for in a booklet that recorded the entry and exit of the arsenal, and Chen Zhen immediately took a brush and hastily signed his name on it. Then he made an appointment with the treasurer to send his generals to the arsenal and bring the weapons back to the camp.

After the military discussion, the cavalry generals in the battalion rushed to work. Although the cavalry of Guzang Suwei was huge, as Chen Zhen said before, these cavalry soldiers were only responsible for patrolling the city or acting as the honor guard of the envoy on a daily basis, and they had almost never experienced the battle array. Most of them were led by Beigong Chunsuo, who went east to the country and then lost the descendants of the Liangzhou soldiers under Luoyang City. The glory of the ancestors in the two battles of Luoyang seems to be missing much in them today.

After these loyal martyrs, although they received higher treatment and remuneration. However, the combat effectiveness is far from being comparable with that of the battalions of various units. Chen Zhen looked at the busy figures of those soldiers in the camp, but constantly compared them with those cavalry soldiers of Li Yanzhi's department in his heart. In the eleventh year, Chen Zhen led his troops to cross the river from the Huangshui Valley, and went to the Zhao army to attack its transportation line behind him, and he dealt with the cavalry of the Guangwu army. And Liu Jiwu, the leader of the hundred, rode into the camp alone, saying that the larger tribe such as Fu Hong, the leader of Luoyang, raised troops to attack the Zhao army with them, which left a particularly deep impression on Chen Zhen.

Those horsemen who roam the border town all day long have a completely different momentum from the current subordinates under their command in front of them. Although the equipment of those state and county soldiers is poor, but between the expectations, they all reveal a kind of momentum that is self-sacrificing. However, after these loyal martyrs under his command, Xu has been staying in a big city like Guzang for a long time, and the young man's heart is still a little greedy for play.

But when he thought that he would take these soldiers to the front line tomorrow and fight the captives with real swords and guns, Chen Zhen couldn't help but feel a little worried. The qualities shown to him by these men made it almost impossible for him to trust them to be up to the dangerous task of encircling and suppressing the captives. In the military newspaper, a long-fought division like Li Yanzhi's department, when facing these captives, "lost nearly 100 of them, and went to one of them." "Not to mention the half-grown kids under my command.

Chen Zhen ushered in the dawn of the next day in this anxiety and uneasiness. No matter what happens to your subordinates, things still have to be done. He summoned the generals, and after the roll call, he ordered everyone to go and count the number of cavalry in the camp, and then reported to the marching Sima. In case there are deserters or soldiers captured by the enemy when camping in the wilderness.

The well-armored cavalry of the guards drove out of the city one after another, and then assembled in the south of the city. On the way out of the city, Chen Zhen observed the pointing of the people in the streets and alleys, but he didn't realize it, but he just went out of the city. After arriving outside the city, he immediately gathered all the cavalry troops, and then ordered the marching Sima and the generals to count them again.

"This is a difficult and dangerous place, and the real battle formation is far from being a child's play on the school field on weekdays." Chen Zhen jumped on his horse and climbed a gentle slope outside the city, looked at the cavalry of the guard in front of him and said: "In the battle outside, I hope that all the kings will obey the orders of the generals, and if they are in danger, do not be reckless, and report it immediately." ”

He paused, and then said: "The captives who came here this time have been in battle for a long time, and they are definitely not good matches. Do not ride lightly, for they may have an opportunity. If you frighten the enemy for no reason, until the encirclement and suppression fail, it is not only you and me who will suffer for a long time, but also the envoys who are still waiting for me in the city and waiting for good news! ”

"Let's go!" After talking for a long time, Chen Zhen finally waved his hand, and the cavalry of more than 3,000 people immediately turned around and stepped forward in the direction of fate.

In the city, Li Yanzhi, who received Tao Heng's message, immediately found Lei Rong in a hurry, and ordered him to gather the newly trained Qiqiang cavalry who had been cultivated for two days, and prepared to go with him to join Tao Heng's department. and ordered Liu Jiwu to lead 500 foot soldiers to defend the county seat. This newly trained cavalry also showed a high level of military quality, and only two hours after the order was issued, they embarked on the road north out of the camp under the leadership of Li Yanzhi and Lei Rong.

Tao Heng has been tracking the trails of the captives who have penetrated deep into the state border, but he always seems to miss them. The Sentinels sent wave after wave, and all they got was that they would find a temporary camp for the captives. Tao Heng, who was deeply afraid of falling into the calculation of the captive cavalry, was also quite serious, and ordered his subordinates to act at their discretion, not to be impulsive and fall into the trap of the captive cavalry. After all, these two captives each have a scale of 600 people, if they are robbing houses and sweeping the township, and they also count Tao Heng's chasing cavalry, it will inevitably be a game of nine deaths.

Li Yanzhi and Lei Rong led the troops to chase along the road north of Tao Heng's department, and finally saw Tao Heng's sentry horse released by the sentry one day later. Under the leadership of this sentry cavalry, Li Bu and Tao Heng finally met together.

Tao Heng and Li Yanzhi met, and when they took out the map, they talked about military affairs. Tao Heng had already marked all the places he had led his troops to inspect in the past few days, and the camps where the captives had lived were also marked. Li Yanzhi held a pencil in his hand and connected the temporary garrison marked on the map into a line, and then thought hard.

The various temporary stations of the captives on the map are connected, with one line gradually moving westward, while the other continues to the north. Most of the cavalry led by Tao Heng also had a certain range of activity, and only the routes of these two enemy troops could be explored. And the rest, for them, is still a smear.

Li Yanzhi looked at the map for a long time, and then raised his head and asked, "Has the scale of these camps changed?" ”

Tao Heng shook his head: "According to the observation of his subordinates, the number of enemy horsemen on the way to the west is about two to three hundred, and its camp has also been hidden. Human and animal waste was landfilled, as was the rest of the discarded material. On the other side, the number of people was much smaller, less than two hundred. However, the place where he camped was not too much hidden. The pots and stoves that were dug up by the soldiers when they were making rice were only hastily covered with branches and leaves, and were not specifically landfilled......"

"No trace of the enemy further away?" Li Yanzhi was still frowning in the face of the two lines drawn on the map, not knowing what the intention of the captive rider was like this.

"Long history, the cavalry department does not travel more than seventy or eighty miles a day, and the sentry cavalry station is ten miles. This time, our troops sent more sentry cavalry, and wherever our troops went, within a radius of fifteen miles, they were also in full view, and we did not notice the movement of the rest of the enemy cavalry......"

Li Yanzhi twisted his eyebrows and pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and looked directly at Tao Heng: "Xiping! The enemy cavalry line was so fanfare, and the other line was deliberately concealed, precisely because it was intended to let us and others chase northward, so as to disguise the intention of their brigade to move westward. ”

Li Yanzhi folded the map and then stuffed it back into Tao Heng's arms. He raised his eyes and looked around at the riders who were taking a nap around him, and said categorically: "Take a break, and after three hours, all of them will open and go to the direction of Xiping!" ”

After saying that, Tao Heng hurriedly tugged on Li Yanzhi's sleeve and made a look. The two walked to the side, and Tao Heng asked worriedly: "Changshi, now there are only about two hundred and forty people in our department, and this group of enemy riders is about three hundred, can we deal with it in a hurry?" ”

Li Yanzhi looked at Tao Heng intently, and then replied: "Tao Bairen, now the enemy is my master, the enemy is riding here, the four fields are all strangers, how can they match us?" Later, you will send three or five cavalry soldiers to Xiping from different roads to report the news, so as to prevent the captives from intercepting and killing. ”

Li Yanzhi took out a few pieces of straw paper from his arms, found a flat stone slab, covered the paper on it, and then began to write. After a while, several identical letters were written. Li Yanzhi took out a few small wooden cylinders that were no more than three inches long and were specially used to transmit secret messages and military information, and handed them to Tao Heng: "Remember! After three hours, all shall be opened, and there shall be no mistake. ”

By the time the horsemen had finished resting and started again, it was nightfall. Li Yanzhi knew that he was going to open at this time, and he was looking for an opportunity to explore the reality of the hundreds of enemy horsemen who went to Xiping!