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Under the morning sun in mid-June, on the low city wall in the east of Yangyi County, Taiyuan, while the tun chief was not around, a group of county soldiers on duty all squinted, laughed and chatted quietly.

Squinting because there is a lot of dust in the wind.

There had been no rain in recent months, and in the middle of summer, the land in the basin had already dried up so hard that the wind was blowing and would bring up dust from the sky, and the sergeants' robes and armor were stained yellow with dust, and a thin layer of sand was attached to the silk necks under the scarves.

Born with mud legs, no one cares about the dust on the robe around his neck, and only cares about what you say to me under the sheltered female wall. Talk about the impact of this year's climate on agricultural affairs, discuss whether the Xiongnu Xianbei foreign tribes are harmful, envy Yuan Gong Gao stabbed the third prince of General Guo, etc., and then talked about the situation of the surrounding Cao Deng princes, comparing the Euphorbia and the tiger and leopard riding Sizhou army which is stronger and which is weak, fantasizing about the delicious food in the world, obscene singers and beautiful women, all kinds of things, happy to participate, but they dare not raise their voices.

If the discipline of the county soldiers is not strict, even if the tun chief is there, most of them will not ban these topics, because only in this way can the time on duty be mixed. The sergeants were chatting around all over the world, and a thin soldier suddenly interrupted his words and said to a few companions: "You know, a few days ago, Shangdang County fell into the hands of Montenegrin thieves!" ”

"Zhan County has fallen again? What's so strange about this? Previously, the sergeant was drooling about the delicacies of various places, blaming him for picking a different topic and sneering: "Brother, don't be surprised! ”

Zhan County is located in the depths of Taihang, since there are black mountain thieves, which age has not been lost two or three times? The people of Bingzhou have long been accustomed to it, and several other sergeants did not care. They all laughed at the thin sergeant and made a fuss, and there was a humanitarian: "Zhan County has long been abandoned by the officials, and there is no sergeant stationed there, and the county orders every thief to come." Then he made people open the city gate and incorporate, guarded himself at home to protect his wife, and the county made the family poor, so he was never harmed by thieves, and when the thieves were taken captive and plundered, he came back as an official, which has long been known! ”

"Yes! The county government is like this, and the people under its rule are thieves when they are idle and people when they are farmers, which is already a den of thieves. How can there be any such thing as a fall? ”

Even was teased by several people. The thin sergeant who was telling the news blushed. First I said twice, and then I was not angry: "I don't mean so!" As you know, this county is adjacent to Zhan County. If the black mountain thieves go around Taihang, they will reach Pingchuan in Yangyi, but more than 100 miles away, and the fast horse can be reached in half a day, and they already need to be on guard against Xiaoyi! Since I went to Yangyi to defend it, every time I smell the county thieves, I will jump tightly! ”

Still no one paid attention to his worries, but someone laughed and said: "For the sake of meat eaters, the brother's high view can be better than Yuan Gong's high stabbing history?" The counties were only defended by five or six hundred county soldiers, and the garrison of Duyangyi was 3,000. If it weren't for the Montenegrin thief, why not? I only heard that the ancients were worried about the sky, and I didn't want my brother to do the same! ”

"The Black Mountain thieves have been defeated several times, and now they are in decline, so they don't dare to go out lightly, brother doesn't need to worry too much!" There are also good relations on weekdays, patting the thin sergeant on the shoulder, comforting: "Although the Shangdang army and horses are far away, Jinyang has a history of high thorns, and most of the subordinates are cavalry, and the road to this county is Pingchuan, if the thief goes to the city, the reinforcements will arrive in one day!" ”

"Exactly! Yes, extremely! And what kind of people you and I are, we have a lot of thoughts, and there is no half of the variables in things! Why worry? ”

What they said made sense, but the thin sergeant was still uneasy in his heart, but he couldn't find any rebuttal, so he had to smash his mouth and remain silent.

The sergeants ignored him and turned to talk about other things.

The thin sergeant is already timid, and he is nervous on weekdays, and every time he hears that the Black Mountain thieves have entered the county, he can't sit still, and this time too.

When the wind was lighter, the thin sergeant had to look out, and so on several times, that cautious look attracted the laughter of his companions, and there was more to talk about.

was laughed at a lot, the thin sergeant also twisted his temperament, other people's words should not be heard, still go their own way, after watching dozens of times, he turned around again, he was already hideous, and asked loudly: "The small wall of this county is low, there are 3,000 troops, what is the matter?" ”

When he saw that the thin sergeant looked frightened, his body trembled, not like a joke, and his companions next to him were taken aback, and they hurriedly looked out of the wall.

The sky was full of smoke and dust in the distance, and the yellow sky and yellow earth seemed to be connected, but on the horizon at the end of the line of sight, a long moving black shadow could still be faintly seen, walking towards Yangyi.

How many people is this team?

"Report to the army and wait for the captain!"

The hearts of the sergeants were lifted instantly, and it seemed to reach the throat, and it took a long time for the sergeant to shout out in a sad voice, and after a while, there was a more sober shout: "Don't panic!" Or the three sons of Shangdang moved north? ”

There was no end in sight to the procession coming from afar, and there were tens of thousands of horses. As Yuan Shao controlled the northern land for a long time, a large number of war horses were purchased from foreign tribes, and there were more and more cavalry in the army.

The words behind make people feel a little at ease, could it be that Yuan Sangongzi's army is really going north?

Praying for heaven and earth, hoping for luck, except for those who flew to report the incident, the sergeants on the city wall stared at the approaching team in the distance, eager to grow a pair of clairvoyance, and immediately recognize the identification of this army.

It's a pity that the two are still far away, and there is smoke and dust, and there is only a long and moving blurred black shadow in the sight, and no one can recognize it clearly.

More people arrived, and the city gate was ordered to be closed, and soon after, the county order also arrived.

The people on the city wall were anxious, but they could only obediently wait for the unknown result to come.

If it is the army of Yuan Sangongzi, they will naturally be happy; If it is a black mountain thief, today is probably the time of death.

The luck was finally shattered, and after half an hour, a sharp-eyed sergeant took the lead in announcing the arrival of bad luck: "It's a Black Mountain thief!" ”

There is no need to see the flag clearly, the robes are all kinds of messy, the armor is scarce, many people are still wrapped in yellow scarves on their heads, and more and more people can determine the identity of the comer from other aspects.

The lieutenant was sweating profusely, and he didn't know whether it was hot or frightened, so he turned his head sharply and ordered his personal guards: "Zhang Yan is coming, report to the third son of Jinyang County, Gao Thorn Shi, the third son of the county, ask for help!" ”

He turned around and yelled at the county order: "The people are recruited by the big households, and the people are taking the civil engineering to block the city gate!" ”

It's just that what's the hurry? Some soldiers wailed and screamed: "Take the rolling wood and boil the boiling oil!" ”

Everyone on the city wall panicked, and only the thin sergeant was still muttering: "The small wall of the city is low, and if you don't repair war preparations on weekdays, there are 3,000 soldiers, what is it worth?" ”

——

This time, Zhang Yan dispatched a large army, surrounded the small city of Yangyi, with 40,000 thieves, and the state soldiers were too comfortable and lost their guard, and the 3,000 defenders broke it with just one drum.

Located at the junction of the two counties of Shangdang in Taiyuan, Yangyi was lost, the entire Jinzhong Basin was not in danger to defend, and the high cadres who were located in Jinyang were not so panicked, in order to prevent Montenegro, he had 30,000 troops stationed in Taiyuan County, led by the general Guo Yuan, half of whom were cavalry.

In addition to Yuan Shang's military horses in the nearest Shangdang County, there are still 8,000 county soldiers stationed, which can be aided in the north at any time, and the Xiongnu Xianbei does not need to worry.

It's just that as Yuan Shao's nephew, Gao Gan's self-proclaimed official to the history of the state assassin is at the end, and his uncle's family has three sons who have reached adulthood, and he will never hand over his power to his own family to inherit.

Unless Yuan Shao ascends to the supreme position in his lifetime, there can be no promotion, what is the use of great merit? If you really make a great achievement, I am afraid that you will be suspicious and take the way of death.

Therefore, since serving in the state, senior cadres do not seek merit, but seek no fault. Zhang Yan's army broke into Taiyuan County, and he was not busy exterminating, but only sent an envoy to ask for help from Yuan Benchu in Yecheng.

The Black Mountain thieves occupy Yangyi, and the high-ranking cadres are not in a hurry, but the third son of Yuan Sangongzi, who is sitting in the party, is impatient. The last time he occupied Hedong and failed to seize the historical position of Sizhou Assassin, he now needs to make meritorious contributions, so as to perform in front of his father, otherwise how to compete with his eldest brother Yuan Tan?

Shangdangzhi Changzi County to Yecheng is only more than 400 miles, Yuan Shangzheng is a young man, after the defeat of the Hedong army, only garrisoned in the eldest son, and it is inconvenient to return to Yecheng to resume his life, it can be seen that his heart is not extinguished. After getting the news that the Black Mountain thieves were out of Taihang and the fall of Yangyi, Yuan Sangongzi hurriedly discussed with Feng Ji and repaired a book, so that people could send Yuan Shao through Fukou, begging Jizhou soldiers to go Taihang, cut off Zhang Yan's way back, and asked himself to join forces with Gao Gan to suppress the thieves.

Can't fight the Sizhou military horses, can't you fight the Black Mountain bandits?

Occupying the geographical advantage of Fukou, Yuan Shangshuxin arrived one day earlier than Gao Gan's envoy.

The Black Mountain thieves have always been scattered all over Taihang, and the roads are dangerous and high, although they already know that the path is dominant, Yuan Shao is also difficult to exterminate, and only controls a few roads. After purchasing many groups of cavalry under the command of War Horse, for this trouble, a group of advisers such as Xin Ping had already made a plan: if Zhang Yan dared to go out lightly, he would send a division to cut him off, and then encircle and destroy it with cavalry.

Deng Mu'an was busy recruiting Ma Teng and Han Sui, and Yuan Shao did not defend Sizhou. Zhang Yan out of the mountain is to seek his own death, the theory of his beloved son Yuan Shang is in line with the plan of the ministers, and when he is repaid, he will be allowed to act, and he will be allowed to act, and he will order Gao Ran to lead the Jizhou foot soldiers to Taihang, and take the old nest of the various departments of Montenegro, and make Zhang Hetong of Wenchou 20,000 fine horses, and go to Yicheng to defend Gongsun Zan out.

Yuan Shangde replied and was overjoyed. He now commanded an army of 15,000, which was still insufficient, so he transferred 5,000 from the county soldiers, made up 20,000 of them, and went north to fight Zhang Yan with Gao Gan.

Yuan Shang went north and went to Changzi County to govern the party, and there were only 2,000 county soldiers left, and there were 1,000 people stationed in Huguan.

Three days later, Yang Feng and Du Changpang came from Zhan County, in addition to 20,000 battleable and strong, there were more than 100,000 old and weak women and children from various departments - Deng Mu'an Zhuyu was in front, Zhang Yan was also ruined this time, and decided to give up Taihang first, poured out of the nest, and was not afraid of Yuan Shao's break.

Yang Feng and the others surrounded the eldest son, and Pang Shuangji divided his troops to get Huguan. The eldest son is a big county, Huguan is Xiongguan, but there is a shortage of soldiers, and when the Sizhou soldiers arrive, both places have been broken.

The Sizhou army entered and merged with the state, and it was different from the previous plan, there were actually the number of "three armies", and outsiders did not know the inside situation, and they were all frightened.

After Jiang Xu, Liang Kuan, and Zhao Qu went to Henan to change their defense, the Xiao cavalry army was ordered to cross the river first to join the Dangkou army, wait to enter the state and severely damage the high cadre Yuan Shang, and then go to Chang'an to standby.

Coupled with the fake "Armed Guards" of serving civilians and civilians, Deng Ji actually dispatched 30,000 soldiers for the war in the state!