At dawn, it rained for a day yesterday, but it gradually stopped.

Ma Ping sent Wei Yun, the cavalry commander of Xiping County, to lead a hundred Xiping cavalry back to the vicinity of Xiping County to monitor the movements of the thieves. When the people in the camp saw that the rain had stopped, they lit bonfires and roasted their clothes, which had been soaked yesterday. Seeing this, Ma Ping did not reprimand. After all, these hundreds of horsemen have undoubtedly suffered a lot after following him these days. He only sent a few more sentry guards to ride around, and put them on strict guard.

In the camp, the soldiers dried their clothes, and then asked the people to borrow some broken pots and bowls, so they scooped up some water from the river and set it up on the bonfire to cook horse meat. Li Yanzhao put on the dried clothes, and saw that the broken blood bubbles on his hands revealed bright red tender meat, and the unbroken blood bubbles were still bulging, so he went to ask Cao Jian for a needle, and after roasting them on the fire, he picked up the unbroken blood bubbles one by one and squeezed out the pus inside. Then he held his palms close to the fire and roasted them, and before long the blood blisters that had squeezed out the pus were roasted into pieces of hard, yellowish crust.

After some time, the tissue underneath these crusts grows, and the crusts can be removed. However, it is clear that not yet. Li Yanzhao asked for a roll of white cloth from an old soldier of the Guangwu Army to wrap his wounds, and wrapped the bloody part of his hand tightly.

Ma Ping walked over silently, and when he saw Li Yanzhao's situation, he already knew it in his heart, and said, "It's blistering." At a glance, you know that your kid is pampered. Rough men like us, no matter how much we toss, we can't blister. He laughed.

When Li Yanzhao was in the army in his previous life, he also had blood blisters on his hands, which was because the horizontal bar was unqualified, and he was hanged with a backpack rope tied to the horizontal bar. There were several purple blood blisters on his hands, and he couldn't hold chopsticks steadily for several days in a row.

However, at this moment, these blood blisters after overwork still made him feel emotional and emotional. The two armies seem to be made by fate. One life is peaceful, but the other life is full of flames.

Li Yanzhao looked at the river and stayed for a long time, then said to Ma Ping: "The dam needs to be raised and stored more water." Later, let's organize everyone to pack another thousand bags of sand and pile them up. ”

When Ma Ping heard this, he also looked at the slightly narrow section of the river, and responded.

The soldiers cooked the horse meat and brought it to the people who were sheltering nearby. Then they took out the bread and scooped out some broth and the meat of the horse, and devoured the bread. Li Yanzhao drank the broth and nibbled on the Hu cake. There was a sigh and a sound of drinking soup around. It's been a long time since I've eaten or drunk anything too hot. All the sergeants looked satisfied.

Seeing that everyone had finished eating and drinking, and even the broth in the pot had been eaten cleanly, Ma Ping smiled when he saw this, and said to the sergeants: "I have eaten and drunk, and my clothes have been roasted." I'm resting too. Let's work hard, fill in another thousand bags of soil and throw them into the river, and we'll have enough rest! ”

The sergeants were full of food and drink, and when they heard that they would fill another thousand bags of soil, they were not emotional. And the crowd shouted, and went out to look for tools. Yesterday, everyone was exhausted, but they still forcibly filled 4,000 bags of soil, and today they have rested, and they have food and drink, and they don't have to brave the rain. The soldiers moved even more quickly.

Li Yanzhao looked at his hands and was a little embarrassed. Cao Jianzhi had a lot of blood blisters in his hands, and took the initiative to ask him to take the bag. Cao Jian led everyone to dig the soil and put it into bags. Li Yanzhao gave Cao Jian's kindness a grateful look. Cao Jian smiled slightly, then turned around and vigorously waved his pickaxe to dig the soil.

In less than an hour, more than 1,000 bags of sand and soil were packed. The soldiers carried the sand with a hundred times the spirit, ran to the river with shouts, threw the bags of sand into the river, and piled them up on the improvised dam built by the sand bags that had been piled up yesterday. After a stick of incense, the more than 1,000 bags of sand and soil were piled up in the river. Although there is still water flowing out of the gaps between the sand bags. However, the level of the river upstream enclosed by the earthen dam is gradually rising.

Looking at the results of his own work, Ma Ping was proud. After the completion of the work, the cavalry also returned to the camp, or rested separately, or led their horses to the forest to eat grass and leaves.

Soon after, a ride came from the direction of Xiping County downstream. But it was a subordinate of Wei Yun, the commander of the Xiping cavalry. The cavalry galloped over, and when he saw Ma Ping, he turned over, hugged his fist at Ma Ping, and said: "Report, Ma Duwei, the thief army arrived at Xiping County, set up a simple camp, and then launched a fierce attack on Xiping County!" ”

"How's Xiping doing?" When Ma Ping heard the news, he thought for a moment, and then asked.

"The thief army has not prepared large-scale siege equipment, only some simple ladders and other things, General Liao is fully prepared, leading his troops to hold the city, and the thief army can't get any cheap. Three fierce attacks in succession, but they did not even climb the city wall, and they lost their troops under the city. ”

"Ma knows, you've worked hard all the way, let's go down and rest." Ma Ping smiled and said to the rider who returned.

The knight clenched his fists and left. Ma Ping turned around and saw that Li Yanzhao was sitting on a big stone by the river beside him, and he was biting a straw stick in his mouth, so he also went over, sat on the same big stone, and said with a smile: "You kid, as expected." The thief army attacked the city unfavorably, and the soldiers were defeated. ”

"That day, when I went to the county town of Xiping to discuss the matter of borrowing troops with General Liao Hu, I observed the defense of Xiping City and saw that all the soldiers of Xiping were wearing armor and sticking to their positions. The walls were piled up with arrows, rolling logs, stones, fire oil, and other equipment to defend the city. General Liao's subordinates were all young and strong soldiers, although many of them could see that they were not soldiers of a long battle, but they were all waiting for the battle formation, and no one was noisy and moving. It can be described as a strong army. Although there are many thieves, many tribes join forces, and their respective leaders have ghosts and dreams in the same bed, and the hearts of the army are not aligned. At the same time, the rebels are all nomadic tribes, and they are good at riding and fighting and short of siege. I thought that if these thieves could bargain under General Liao, it would be a strange thing. ”

"Seeing the subtleties and thinking far-reaching. At the beginning, Ma sent you to raise horses, but it was really condescending. When Ma Ping heard this, he sighed with emotion.

"Why did the Lieutenant say that?" The straw stick in Li Yanzhao's mouth is gone. He turned to look at Ma Ping and said slowly: "If it weren't for the fact that the captain sent me to raise horses, there would be no Li Yanzhao today." Although the matter of raising horses seems embarrassing, it is easier to attract everyone's surprise and attention when the appropriate strength bursts out in this position. This may be the so-called "woe, blessing lurks." "Well, the ancients did not deceive me. Li Yanzhao thought to himself.

"It will take another day or two for the thief army to attack the city, and it will inevitably build a pontoon bridge and flow north or east." Li Yanzhao said.

"Will the thief army attack the city unfavorably, and then turn south and go to the territory of Tuyuhun?" Ma Ping's heart suddenly flooded with another possibility, and said to Li Yanzhao.

"Going to Tuyuhun's territory is tantamount to a catastrophe for the bald bandits. The prairie has always believed in using the sword to fight for pasture cattle and sheep. If the bald department went south, it would undoubtedly be an embarrassing situation for them. Are they going to take refuge in Tuyuhun? Or go south to fight Tuyuhun to fight for land and pastures for themselves? Take refuge in Tuyuhun? At this time, it is autumn, and it will soon be winter, and the Tuyuhun tribes will still feel that their pastures are insufficient, right? Who will take them in? On the other hand, if they go south and fight with Tuyuhun with their swords, do you think that the Tuyuhun tribes that occupy the south of Hehuang and run this land and pasture for dozens or hundreds of years will be allowed to be presumptuous by these foreign peoples? If baldness and loneliness are chosen in this way, it is undoubtedly a real self-defeating way. ”

Li Yanzhao did not know the history of Tuyuhun's beginnings, but he knew that until the Tang Dynasty three or four hundred years later, Tuyuhun still managed the land and pasture south of Hehuang. In the land of China, where the strong are like forests, there are only a handful of such tenacious nomads.

When Ma Ping heard this, he nodded again and again. Indeed, if the vast majority of people were asked to make this choice, they would undoubtedly choose to bully the weaker Liangzhou people, rather than meet the tough nomadic swords of Tuyuhun.

The water level held back by the improvised earthen dam built by the sergeants at the river was getting higher and higher. Ma Ping and Li Yanzhao went to check on the river from time to time, and watched as the river slowly rose until night came, and the river was less than a foot from the top of the dam.

The next day, after Li Yanzhao woke up, he went to see the earthen dam and saw that the river had overflowed the top of the dam. Li Yanzhao was afraid that the current would break the earth dam, so that his many days of hard work and waiting would be in vain. Then he beckoned his subordinates and dragged a few dirt bags away from the side, forming a small discharge on the side of the earthen dam. Seeing the water flowing down from this water outlet, Li Yanzhao was slightly relieved in his heart.

"Haven't the enemy built pontoon bridges yet?" Li Yanzhao walked up to Ma Ping and asked.

"I attacked the city once last night, and again this morning, and the loss of troops is that I can't even go up the city wall. I see, it's coming. Ma Ping looked in the direction of Xiping County and muttered.

While the two were talking, a horse appeared in Ma Ping's sight, and he also rode a horse galloping. Rushing to Ma Ping's approach, the knight on the horse hurriedly dismounted, clasped his fists and kowtowed to Ma Ping: "Report, Captain." The thieves have begun to cut down trees in the woods near the county town, ready to build a pontoon bridge! ”

Hearing this, Ma Ping, Li Yanzhao and the others were shocked, and the two said in unison: "It's finally here!" ”

Under Ma Ping's order, all the soldiers who were still resting were in good spirits, and then stood up, each holding tools and weapons, and waited for the battle.

An hour later, I rode again and reported that the construction of the pontoon bridge of the Dao Thief Army had been completed.

After another hour, another rider came, reporting that more than 1,000 people had crossed the river.

After another hour, more than 100 horsemen who had been sent to the other side of Xiping to monitor the thief army had already returned, and the leading Wei Duwei had not had time to dismount, so he shouted to Ma Duwei: "You can release the water!" When we returned, more than 3,000 enemy troops had crossed the river! ”

Xiping came and went here for an hour, and the enemy army had already crossed five or six thousand people by this time. Ma Ping turned back to the soldiers and shouted, "Release the water!" ”

When all the soldiers heard this, they were all excited, and more than 100 soldiers under Fan Ting rushed to the earthen dam with their tools. Ma Ping hurriedly beckoned the rest of the people to retreat and stay a little further away from the riverbank, lest the water be too strong when the dam was opened to release water, and irrelevant people would be involved, which would be too unjust.

Li Yanzhao saw Fan Ting's subordinates step forward, digging and digging at the earthen dam, and after a while, more than a dozen bags of sand and soil were dug open, and the water filled in the dam rushed out, but the earthen dam was not broken. Seeing this, Fan Ting personally led a few soldiers, and took shovels and pickaxes to smash and gouge at the exposed sand bags. Several more bags of sand were cut open. Immediately, a magnificent water dragon poured straight down from the mouth of the river.

The earthen dam collapsed in an instant, and the river water, which had accumulated more than enough for a day and two nights, rushed downstream, and saw the castration, and the sound was like a huge thunder. The water on the stones on the shore is a huge column of water that soars into the sky. Looking at this majestic momentum, Li Yanzhao's face was colorless. How small are human beings in the face of the forces of nature.

Seeing the success of the water release, all the soldiers were overjoyed. However, they did not have the opportunity to see the magnificence of the thieves downstream in the flood. It's just that in the future, I heard that the people in Xiping County said that standing on the city, I saw the turbulent water dragon coming in an instant. The hundreds of thieves who were on the pontoon bridge were instantly swept into the turbulent water and disappeared!