When Zhang Liao and Gao Shun arrived in Yong'an, it was nearly two watches, and at this time, 10,000 cavalry and more than 30,000 infantry of the Fourth Army had already rushed over from all over the country and were seizing the time to rest, and more than 20,000 infantry were still on the way. Because they knew that they would be ready to move at any time, the soldiers did not set up camp, but just lay on the side of the road with their weapons and clothes.

Sleeping on the streets at night in the summer does not catch a cold, but the mosquito bites are very unbearable, and many young soldiers have bulging bags on their bodies, but no one complains. Because on the way to the march, the heralds had already spread the evil deeds of the Xianbei cavalry in Yanmen and Taiyuan all over the army, and the soldiers were all angry, and there was no need to mobilize in this battle.

Zhang Liao pointed to the huge sand table in front of him and said, "The soldiers are fast, Zhang immediately set off and strive to occupy the boundary mountain before dawn." General Gao, I'll leave it to you here! ”

Gao Shun arched his hand and said, "General Zhang, don't worry, when the follow-up people arrive, Gao will immediately lead troops to follow." ”

Zhang Liao nodded, turned on his horse, and waved his long knife towards the north. The soldiers who were still lying on the street just now jumped up from the ground like springs, there were no passwords, no gongs, drums and horns, only the sound of uniform footsteps, and groups of soldiers ran to the north gate of Yong'an in an orderly manner.

Ten miles southeast of Jieshan, there is a small town called Mianshangju, the town is not big, only more than 300 households, but the geographical location is very important, because it is the key point between Jieshan Mountain and Yangtou Mountain.

The town was already full of panic. This situation was not due to the war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. The great war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, which lasted for a year, was only concentrated on the line of Puyang, Liyang, and Yecheng, and the focus of the battle was Liyang, and other places were only affected when conscription, grain requisition, and the passage of the army. Mianshangju is close to Hedong County, and the impact is minimal. Not only that, but because of its proximity to the east of the river, it has also become a distribution center for smuggled materials, and life is more prosperous than in other places.

But a few days ago, the situation changed somewhat, and the Hedong side suddenly announced that the border was blocked, and only entry and exit were allowed, and some villagers who went to Hedong to buy goods were also trapped there. However, the villagers in the town are not too worried. They had dealt with the Hedong side for a long time, and knew that both the army and the government were reasonable, and as long as they did not commit adultery, there would be no danger.

What really uneasy the villagers were some people who had fled south from the vicinity of Taiyuan, and they brought news that the Xianbei people had done evil in Taiyuan. The evil deeds of these Xianbei people are currently concentrated in the villages on the outskirts of the city, but as most of the villages on the outskirts of the city have been looted, the remote villages have begun to suffer. These fleeing people were both poor villagers and wealthy squires, but now all of them have become the targets of the Xianbei people's scourge.

Not only did these people tell them how cruel the Xianbei people were, but they also told them the even more alarming news that the Xianbei people would continue to attack Hedong in the south, and Mianshangju was on their way south.

Hearing the news, the villagers in the town exploded, some shouted to hide in Jiexiu City, and some suggested simply defecting to Hedong, but more people doubted whether the Han army in Hedong could stop the murderous Xianbei people, and they suggested that the villagers move to Shangdang. After arguing for a day without any result, several respected elders in the town decided to gather the whole town after dawn tomorrow for a final decision.

In the middle of the night, many anxious villagers finally fell asleep, and suddenly they were awakened by the sound of horses' hooves. Experienced old men could already tell from the sound that this was a large group of cavalry, and that the direction in which these cavalry were advancing was their town.

Everyone in the town knows that the Xianbei people are cavalry, could it be that those vicious Xianbei people are killed here?

Everyone didn't sleep very well, and many people got up from their beds. However, the speed of the cavalry was very fast, and the sound of horses' hooves became louder and louder, and the villagers who had not had time to leave their homes could already feel the shaking of the earth.

Just as the villagers were running out of their houses in disheveled and panic, a brigade of cavalry had already appeared in front of them. The cavalry did not enter Mianshangju, but bypassed the town and headed straight north. Only then did the frightened villagers notice that the cavalry was coming from the direction of Hedong County in the south, and the knights on the horses were not yellow-bearded and blue-eyed Xianbei people, but authentic Han Chinese.

An elderly villager looked at the billowing smoke left behind by the cavalry and sighed, "Alas, there is another battle!" ”

Before he finished speaking, a few more horses galloped over, and the knight on the horse said loudly: "Fellow villagers, don't be afraid, we are soldiers of the Han Dynasty, and we have come to protect you from the scourge of Xianbei on the orders of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty." Please go back and rest in peace. ”

These men were the heralds of the Fourth Legion. The heralds of the Han Legion are not as simple as delivering orders for their superiors, they also have to take on many other tasks, and when necessary, they will also carry knives to cut people. And appeasing the people and publicizing the policies of the Han army is also one of their jobs.

The heralds galloped back and forth in the town a few times, and saw that the faces of the people had changed from initial panic to slow quiet, and then they went north.

However, the people of the town were no longer sleepy, and they went to their houses one after another, and talked in the moonlight. Some of the people who had served as soldiers even praised it: "It's really an elite soldier!" ”

Another person who had just escaped from the vicinity of Taiyuan said worriedly: "I think the cavalry that just passed is no more than a few thousand people, where can it resist hundreds of thousands of Xianbei troops, let's flee quickly." ”

In fact, there were 10,000 elite cavalry who passed just now, but these people couldn't correctly judge the size of the army. As he spoke, another group of cavalry came from the south, and the outfit of this group of cavalry looked similar to the cavalry just now, but on closer inspection, they found that there were many differences.

In fact, these people were not really cavalrymen, but infantry on horseback. Having controlled the grasslands and the Western Regions, the Han had more channels to obtain horses, and the number of war horses increased exponentially, but it took time to train a qualified cavalryman. As a result, many of the horses in the Han army were only tasked with transporting. This time, in order to seize the time, Zhang Liao transferred the horses responsible for transporting grain, grass and baggage, and let the infantry ride to increase their mobility speed.

Zhang Liao carried a big knife and rode a snow-green horse, walking at the front of the team. Zhang Liao looked around the town, turned around and commanded. A column of soldiers broke up from the ranks, jumped off their horses, and went to the outskirts of the town to begin the construction of fortifications. And Zhang Liao had already led a large group of men and horses to continue to rush in the direction of Jieshan.

The cavalry units that had arrived early had already gone out of the boundary mountain to guard the mountain, and the infantry on horseback who followed them effortlessly took control of the boundary mountain, and by the way, occupied the sheep's head mountain on the east side of the boundary mountain. The soldiers did not care about resting, and were busy building defensive positions on the Boundary Mountain and Sheep's Head Mountain, digging trenches, cutting down trees, and collecting stones.

Zhang Liao led his horse forward, came to the cavalry, glanced in the direction of Jiexiu, and asked in a deep voice, "Have you found out the situation there?" ”

A school captain Le Ma came to Zhang Liao's approach, and immediately saluted and said: "General Qiqi, the last general has already led people to go to Jiexiu City for a walk, and the city wall is quiet and defenseless. ”

Zhang Liao frowned and said, "Is there really no defense in the city?" ”

The lieutenant arched his hand and said, "The last general picked up a stone in the dark and smashed it on the city gate, and there was a 'bang' sound, but the city did not react at all, which shows that they are defenseless!" Please give the general an order, the last general is willing to lead an army to take the city gate, if it can't be successful, I am willing to come and see you! ”

Zhang Liao shook his head and said, "You are a sharp knife in someone's hand, don't move it lightly." Leave the seizure of the city to the infantry. ”

At this moment, a group of cavalry galloped in, and those people were completely different from ordinary Han soldiers, dressed in black suits, without helmets, and their faces were painted in ink and green, like a group of ghosts in the night.

The first big man flew off his horse, came to Zhang Liao and hugged his fist, and said: "Hou Qinu was ordered to come to report!" ”

The big man was nine feet tall, standing in front of Zhang Liao, nearly a head taller than Zhang Liao, like an iron tower. Because Hou Qinu's face was painted with colors, Zhang Liao took a closer look and recognized that he was indeed the barbarian that Liu Xin subdued in Nanzhong, who was good at climbing and could control birds and beasts.

Hou Qinu was loyal to Liu Xin, and Liu Xin had already transferred him to the special forces unit and served as a captain. The special forces are a mysterious force under Liu Xin's command, and the captain is already equivalent to the level of a general in other legions.

As the commander of the corps, Zhang Liao still has some understanding of the mysterious force of special forces. Seeing that Liu Xin actually sent him special forces to help him fight, Zhang Liao couldn't help but be overjoyed, pointed in the direction of Jiexiu, and said, "General Hou can be sure to capture that city gate." ”

Hou Qinu looked up at the sky and said, "Please order the general's troops and horses, look at the torches on the head of the city, and prepare to enter the city!" ”

Zhang Liao was stunned for a moment, and asked repeatedly: "How many people do you need to cooperate?" ”

Hou Qinu pointed behind him and said, "It's enough to have them!" ”

Behind Hou Qinu, more than forty sturdy men stood straight, their faces were also camouflaged, and their expressions could not be seen clearly, but Zhang Liao could feel the trace of murderous aura emanating from them.

Zhang Liao didn't say much, waved his hand, and said, "Then please general!" ”

Hou Qinu arched his hand, flew on his horse, and the group disappeared into the night.