August 12 of the ninth year of Jianxing, the camp of the Guangwu Army.

Under the leadership of their respective lieutenants, the two battalions of infantry and the first battalion have dismantled the tents, camp walls and other dry facilities in the battalion, except for a few permanent buildings such as the arsenal, and the rest have been demolished.

One hundred and thirteen war horses, led by their respective horsemen, came out of the stables and gathered in the open space that had been used as a school review ground a few days ago. The leader was Ma Ping, the cavalry commander of the Guangwu Army. His subordinate horsemen wore iron armor. There are eleven horsemen in the last row who are one-color leather armor, which looks incompatible with this cavalry army, and the eleven horsemen are Li Yanzhao's department.

Before gathering his troops, Ma Ping, the commander of the cavalry, also asked Li Yanzhao about some things about the battle formation. Li Yanzhao answered the question fluently. Ma Duwei then sent 11 of his more than 100 cavalry soldiers who had been training the tail of the crane all the year round to go to the county seat to move the wooden stones. and incorporated Li Yanzhao and his party into his own composition.

I watched as the soldiers formed a long line and left this place to the west. The heavy atmosphere before the big war had enveloped the cadres in the school yard.

After waiting for about half an hour, there was a rumbling sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and everyone looked far away and saw smoke and dust billowing on the ground in the distance. In a short time, several groups of men and horses were approaching. As they approached the school grounds, hundreds of riders dismounted. The three generals had already led their horses forward to meet Captain Madu.

"Lingju County cavalry Sima, Fan Ting visited the cavalry captain, the department should be one hundred and five people, but it is one hundred and five."

"Zhiyang County cavalry Sima, Wang Mao visited the cavalry captain, the department should be one hundred and ten, but it is actually one hundred and ten."

"Yongdeng County cavalry Sima, Wu Jianbin visited the cavalry captain, the department should be ninety-nine people, but it is actually ninety-nine."

Sima of the cavalry of each county visited Ma Duwei separately. Captain Ma Du let everyone be exempted. The four cavalry soldiers combined with one army, one hundred and thirteen people in the county seat, one hundred and five people in Lingju County, one hundred and ten people in Zhiyang County, and ninety-nine people in Yongdeng County. A total of four hundred and twenty-seven horsemen.

Before all the horsemen came to the county camp to assemble, they all brought enough dry food for seven days, as well as swords, guns, bows and arrows, thirty arrows per person, and fire folds and other miscellaneous items according to the orders of the Taishou and the commanders of the various armies. Ma Duwei exchanged words with Sima and several horsemen from various counties for a while, and then ordered the troops to march.

At this time, the county soldiers of the counties under the rule of Guangwu County, as well as the families of military households, all went east to the county seat of the county.

However, this cavalry of more than 400 people mounted their horses and galloped away in the opposite direction of everyone else at nightfall. Night shrouded them, sending quiet blessings to these warriors whose armor glowed with cold light in the moonlight.

Li Yanzhao rode on a horse, more than 400 horses galloped on the ground, the horse's hooves struck the ground, and a rapid drum beat was made. That's the signal for conquest! That is the most pleasing and beautiful chapter in the romantic feelings of men!

Li Yanzhao, who was stirring and fluctuating in his chest, couldn't help but look around, and muttered in his mouth that when he first entered the county guard mansion to meet the Taishou, he had said that he had planned to defend the oath with his iron horse for the rest of his life.

"Good man, fame but take it right away!"

According to Li Yanzhao's suggestion, these more than 400 cavalry soldiers must first arrive at the bank of Huangshui, and then go out to spy on the rebels' next move. If the rebels had the intention of advancing eastward into Guangwu County, they would send people back to the county. The brigade followed and monitored the rebels, waiting for an opportunity to carry out a series of sabotage operations against the rebels.

Li Yanzhao instilled the concept of special operations in later generations to the leading general of this cavalry, Captain Ma Du. That is, on the premise of preserving oneself, he always reconnoiters and monitors the enemy's troops, and knows all kinds of enemy troops' actions well. Seek opportunities to attack the enemy's food and grass, assassinate the enemy's generals, intercept and kill the enemy's herald cavalry, and if necessary, use the strategy of exhausting the troops, and harass the enemy army in shifts, so that the enemy's army is sluggish, ignoring the end of the head, the military order is not good, and the soldiers are tired. Anyway, the enemy is bright and I am dark, whether to fight or not, when to fight, when to disturb, when to disturb. The initiative and the decision are in their own hands. If the enemy is overwhelmed, he will pour out. But it is in his own hands. They are all horsemen, so they can turn their horses and go.

To sum up, it is a sixteen-character mantra: the enemy advances and I retreat, the enemy retreats and I advance, the enemy is stationed and disturbs, and the enemy is tired and I fight.

Hearing what he said, Ma Duwei's face was different, and he smiled again and again. This novel way of fighting made Ma Duwei's whole body shake up. There are few major generals on his own side, but Captain Ma Du knows about this. He also knew that relying on the 427 cavalry in his hands to attack the enemy's camp of 13,000 men was tantamount to killing himself. He also felt that in this war, the more than 400 cavalry he led had been reduced to a supporting role on the battlefield. However, Li Yanzhao's strategy. But it refreshed his concept and made him realize that although he had few soldiers, he could also become the protagonist of the battle array.

This cavalry galloped to the county seat of Lingju, which had become an empty city. So he found a vacant place next to the county seat and set up camp.

When he set up camp, Captain Ma Du had already ordered the sentry riders to go out in all directions, thinking that he was on guard. Sergeants and soldiers were not allowed to remove their armor, their weapons were not allowed to leave their bodies, and their horses were chained outside their tents. It is not allowed to move around the camp at will. Because it's still wartime. Ma Duwei even gave a strict order: those who violate the order will be beheaded!

As soon as this order came out, the hearts of all the soldiers were in awe. Such a stern military order really showed them a fact that everyone must face squarely: a great war is coming.

The armies rested overnight, but nothing happened. The morning dawned and the army immediately set out of camp and continued to the west.

Lingju is further west, but only three or five miles away, and it has entered the mountainous area. Mountain roads were difficult, and especially difficult for cavalry. There was not always a flat valley between the two mountains for the army to pass, so from time to time the cavalry had to drag their mounts up the slope. The uphill slope is fine, but the downhill is the hardest. The rider must be cautious in leading the horse, and he will also move down. If you are not careful, or if a person or horse slips and falls under your feet, it will be injured or killed.

Due to the urgency of the military situation and the short time of time, the sentinels had not had time to carefully explore the terrain in the mountains in order to draw a suitable route for the follow-up and even the army, and the people were forced to go on the expedition. As a result, they often have to take dangerous roads around the mountains. When I walked a section of the cliff road before, two people and two horses were unstable under their feet, and they fell into the abyss. When Ma Duwei saw this, he was angry but also anxious in his heart. With such a dangerous road, who knows how many of them will die on the road before they see the enemy? However, I had to persuade everyone to be careful and slow down, but fortunately, there were no more accidents after that, and the rest of the people were able to walk out of the cliff road safely.

Alas, it seems that the matter of drawing up a map must undoubtedly be put on the agenda. Li Yanzhao thought to himself.

On this steep and difficult mountain road, more than 400 horsemen walked for three days. Three days later, the forward sentinels reported reaching Huangshui. All the armies were shaken up.

In the past three days, more than a dozen horsemen have been killed, injured, or fallen into the cliff. Captain Ma Du carried the wounded soldiers and horses, found the nearby mountain hunters, paid money, entrusted these mountain hunters to take care of them, and then led the rest of the people to continue to advance. Seeing it, Li Yanzhao also secretly praised it in his heart. As a general, Ma Duwei may not be deep enough, or he may be too brave, but judging from the placement of wounded soldiers and horses, he is indeed a superior officer worth following.

Smelling that it was close to the water, the spirits of the armies were greatly lifted, and they shouted and cheered up and worked hard to move forward. After walking for about half an hour, passing out of the valley, more than 100 zhang ahead, Huangshui was already in sight.

The horsemen of the army led their horses to the bank of the Huangshui River to drink horses, and after days of marching, the horses of the horsemen were also tired enough, and at this time, among the horses who gathered on the riverside to drink water, a faint white mist emerged from time to time. Under the order of Ma Duwei, the sentinels who had scattered from all directions to investigate the surrounding situation had withdrawn one after another, and Ma Duwei and the cavalry of the rest of the counties gathered together, listened to the situation reported by the sentinels, made a preliminary judgment on the nearby situation, and then decided on the next step.

Soon after, the sentinel who went to the west to investigate reported that more than ten miles west of this place was the county seat of Xiping County. The place where everyone is at this time is also in the lower reaches of Xiping County.

Linqiang County, which was broken by the rebels a few days ago, was under the rule of Xiping County. Hearing the news, Captain Ma immediately made a decision, ordered the cavalry to end the short repair, and the whole army mounted their horses and headed for Xiping.

More than ten miles of effort, and the valley between the two mountains is flat, and everyone galloped on horseback in just half an hour to arrive. From a distance, Xiping County is still under the banner of Liangzhou. So the people went forward with confidence, and when they arrived at the bottom of the city, they saw that the sergeants at the head of the city had their swords unsheathed, and their bows and crossbows were wound, and they were well guarded.

A small colonel guarding the gate at the head of the city saw a group of hundreds of horsemen under the banner of "horse" galloping towards the bottom of the city and restrained their horses. Although its military uniforms and banners are all friendly soldiers, I don't know whether it is a pretentious gesture or a desire to play prestige. The little colonel pointed to the cavalry under the city, and asked sharply, "Who is coming?" Hurry up and report your name, lest the sword have no eyes! ”

When the cavalry heard the little colonel's loud question, they were all angry in their hearts, and several older veteran generals had already scolded. Ma Duwei stretched out his hand to stop everyone, rode out under the city wall, looked up at the arrogant gatekeeper at the head of the city, and couldn't help but say angrily: "We are the cavalry of Guangwu County!" Lao Tzu is Ma Ping, the cavalry commander of the Guangwu Army! I heard that the bald department was in rebellion, and I came to help suppress the rebellion! Lao Tzu specially led so many subordinates from Guangwu County all the way to the mountains and rivers, but he listened to you, an eggless pickled goods, shrunk in the city majestic, it's not good! Get down and tell you to defend the city in the future, you have no eggs, you have the prestige to leave the thieves and traitors to play, don't let my heroes and heroes in Guangwu underestimate the heroes of Xiping because of you! ”

The little colonel that Ma Duwei scolded was speechless. On the head of the city, a handful came up, and there was a crisp sound of "pop". He reached out and slapped the little schoolmaster. Then there was a burst of loud laughter: "Captain Ma Duwei is powerful in all directions, why is he scheming with a small school that is not a weapon." I have already punished this person slightly, and Ma Duwei should not expose it for the sake of his colleagues, can I? ”

Li Yanzhao looked up, but saw a young general standing at the head of the city, with a white face and a long beard, sword eyebrows and starry eyes, who was clasping his fists at Ma Duwei, who was jumping like thunder under the city, with an extremely humble expression. Although this man is handsome, there is a long scar on the right side of his face, from the corner of his forehead to the side of his mouth. Every time he spoke, the scar moved. In Li Yanzhao's eyes, it looked like a wriggling meat worm. Although Li Yanzhao is not a person who judges people by his appearance, the feeling that the scar brought to him made him feel cold all over his body. Looking at the wriggling flesh worm, all of a sudden, Li Yanzhao had a brilliant idea in his heart. He drove his horse forward quietly, gradually approaching the horse under the city walls.

Ma Duwei looked at the people in the city, but laughed: "Since you Liao Hu have made a plea, why can't I Ma Ping?" ”

"In this case, thank you Captain Madu." Liao Hu at the head of the city also smiled.

While Ma Duwei was talking and laughing with General Liao at the head of the city, Li Yanzhao had already come to Ma Duwei's side on horseback, and called in a low voice: "Ma Duwei! Captain Madu! ”

When Ma Duwei heard Li Yanzhao calling him, he immediately turned sideways, but heard Li Yanzhao whisper: "You can take this opportunity to borrow troops from Xiping County." Ask his guards to temporarily return their cavalry to the subordinates of the commander, and return to the construction as soon as the rebellion is quelled. ”

Hearing this whisper, Ma Duwei's expression lit up: "This is very good, are you willing to borrow troops?" ”

"The villain has this intention, if Xiping can borrow troops, we will also have a big help!" Li Yanzhao whispered.

"Okay, you will go, if you borrow a cavalry pawn in Xiping, and wait to quell the rebellion, you will be credited with great merit!" Ma Duwei couldn't help but frown.

The two exchanged words and agreed on the matter. Ma Duwei raised his head and said to General Liao in the city: "The big war is imminent, and the military situation is urgent, so our department will no longer enter the city." Stay outside the city for a while. Please General Liao open the door and let my subordinate Li Sima enter the city, and there are important matters to discuss. He knew that the army was highly hierarchical, and he went to talk to Xiping County about borrowing troops as Li Yanzhao's chief, I am afraid that it would be difficult to convince the Xiping generals, and he even thought that sending the chief to negotiate was an insult to the Xiping generals, so he was silent and had already raised several levels for Li Yanzhao, and said that this person was Sima of other parts of his army, and turned his head to Li Yanzhao to make a look, Li Yanzhao immediately understood, but he also quietly glanced at Ma Duwei.

Liao Hu saw that there was a young man in Ma Duwei's army under the city, and he stepped forward on horseback, and exchanged words with him for a while, and then Ma Duwei asked him to open the door, saying that there was something important to discuss, and he was also puzzled in his heart, but he still responded, and then turned back and ordered the little colonel guarding the door: "Open the door!" ”

The colonel hurried down the tower as he was told, and shouted to the sergeant guarding the gate: "Open the gate!" ”

With the combined efforts of all the soldiers, the red city gate painted with vermilion squeaked open. Li Yanzhao looked at the deep city gate hole, then dismounted, took the reins of the horse and walked forward.