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Just when Zhao Feng led the army into the Meridian Valley Road, in Jicheng in the west, Ma Chao led 50,000 Xiliang iron cavalry, together with tens of thousands of horses from various Qiang tribes, a total of more than 80,000 troops, stationed in the small city of Beiyuan, and was confronting 30,000 horses led by Meng Jian here. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

For the terrain in this area of Jicheng, Ma Chao knows a lot. At the same time, Meng Jian also relied on the Longshan Mountains to defend against Ma Chao. Meng Jian knew that he did not have a general like Ma Chao under his command, and his troops were at a disadvantage, although it would not hit a stone with an egg in a field battle, it was basically a dead end, because he clearly chose to stick to it, so he waited for Ma Chao to retreat because of the lack of food.

"The city wall of Jicheng is dangerous, if it is attacked by a large army, the casualties will inevitably be heavy, and we need to think of a perfect strategy." After inspecting the terrain of Jicheng, Tian Feng, who was planning for Ma Chao with the army, had basically given up his plan to attack. After hearing Tian Feng's words, Jiang Yan, who came with the army, knew that he was a little interesting.

"In my opinion, what is the best way to do it?" Jiang Yan asked. Tian Feng pondered for a moment and said, "Although there are not many good strategies at the moment, you can still give it a try." General Ma, I have been inspecting Jicheng for a week, and the water needed by the people of Jicheng comes from the tributary of the Wei River. If it were to be cut off, it would surely cause confusion among the people of the city due to lack of water! ”

"That's great!" Ma Chao's surname is very arrogant, so naturally he can't pay attention to these problems, and now he allocated 5,000 troops to start work overnight, cutting off the waterway in Jicheng. As Tian Feng expected, after two days, there was some instability in Jicheng.

Although Meng Jian has also been active in the Yongsi area over the years, he doesn't have a deep understanding of Xiliang after all. In his opinion, Jicheng is not a mountainous area, even if you cut off my river, I can still dig a deep well in the city to get water. However, the land of Xiliang was extremely arid, and Meng Jian ordered people to dig wells for water many times, and finally the wellhead was dug one zhang square, but only a few basins of muddy water could be obtained. Tens of thousands of people and armies outside the city can only barely survive on this little water.

"Okay, you Ma Chao, you actually thought of cutting off my water source, but you underestimated you, this time I lost the chess." Meng Jian hated and said authentically. He knew that Ma Chao didn't have much grain and grass, although Longxi Taishou Yin Xian had taken refuge in Ma Chao, but he had already sent people to harvest all the immature wheat and grass in Longxi, and the grain and grass that Ma Chao could raise was actually quite limited, at most it was only enough for the army for about a month. And Guanzhong has a bumper grain harvest this year, so Jicheng can continuously transport grain from Chang'an and several large granaries nearby, even if Meng Jian sticks to it for a year, grain and grass will not be a problem. At that moment, Meng Jian sent people around the city to appease the people, saying that the enemy army would retreat in ten months, and then the river could be dug to continue to divert water. After much reassurance from him, the people of the city finally rested a little. People, as long as you can see hope, there is still hope after all. But Meng Jian also vaguely sensed that something was wrong at this time, with Ma Chao's person, how could he not rush up and attack with an army. It seems that among the Xiliang army that came to attack this time, in addition to Ma Chao himself, there should be someone who gives him advice. At the moment, while Meng Jian was defending the city, he sent a detailed investigation to inquire many times without mentioning the news.

Two days later, Xizuo brought him two shocking news: Ma Chao sent the general Pang De to lead a partial division to attack Jieting City, while Pang De led another partial division south to Wudu County, contacted the Di tribe, and prepared to encircle and annihilate the Han De tribe entrenched in Wudu County. He defended Jicheng by himself, but it seems that Ma Chao is not here to fight with him at all.

"Sir, if the street pavilion is lost, then everything is in danger!" Hearing Ma Chao's action, General Zhao Ang suddenly exclaimed. No one will forget that when Ma Chao recaptured Xiliang a few years ago, the really tragic battle took place in Jieting. At that time, Zhao Feng was here, blocking Xiahou Yuan and Cheng Yu's westward advance, and then Ma Chao was able to regain Xiliang. Time has passed, and now if Ma Chao takes the street pavilion, then he will not necessarily have to go to Jicheng when he enters Guanzhong in the future. Once the Xiliang Iron Horse stepped into the Guanzhong Plain, then Meng Jian and Sima Yi would not be able to withstand it.

Now compared with a few years ago, the street pavilion has been greatly improved, the street pavilion town has been abandoned, Zhao Feng should be ordered to people at the key point of the five road crossings, built a big city to guard the key points. But Rao is like this, and Meng Jian is not sure that under the impact of Ma Chao, relying on the five thousand defenders, the street pavilion can still be defended.

Of course, Meng Jian didn't dare to easily transfer troops to save Jieting, because among the 30,000 defenders under his command, there were about 10,000 cavalry, and the rest were infantry. The more than 30,000 cavalry in the entire pass were almost half transferred to themselves to prevent Ma Chao. And Ma Chao has a full 50,000 Xiliang iron cavalry, plus the Qiang cavalry, once he acts rashly, then the other party has a long-distance raid, and it is quite easy to encircle and annihilate.

After thinking about it again and again, Meng Jian finally spoke: "General Zhao, you lead 10,000 cavalry from Jicheng to the east, and go to Shoujie Pavilion through the Guannei. After arriving, defend the city to the death, don't fight easily! "Meng Jian is also relatively safe to do this, if he goes outside the gate to save the street pavilion, although the road can be closer, but it is likely to be surrounded and annihilated by Ma Chao taking the opportunity, with Zhao Ang's ability, it will definitely be ten deaths. It was a little farther to walk through the pass, but under the footsteps of the cavalry, this distance would only take less than a day. To be on the safe side, it's better to take this path.

"The end will be saved!" Zhao Ang also knows his own affairs, and knows that if he encounters Ma Chao in the field, it will definitely be a dead end, so his advice to Meng Jian is also good. After a pause, Zhao Ang asked again: "It's just sir, General Han De of Wudu County, I'm afraid that someone needs to go to answer it!" ”

"As long as the Sanguan and the street pavilion are guarded, then the pass will be safe and sound!" Meng Jian's meaning is pointed, although Zhao Ang is not very smart, he also heard the meaning of Meng Jian's words: Han De is basically an outcast. Wudu County is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and it is also a place where Di people live, and there have been frequent wars in recent years, and the Han people have basically migrated to Hanzhong, and there is no pity to lose it.

What Meng Jian didn't expect was that Ma Chao and Tian Feng's target was neither Wudu, nor Jieting, nor Yinping, nor Jicheng. After marching into Wudu County, Tian Feng and Jiang Yu led their troops north from Wudu County, bypassing Jicheng and taking Shangbang County.

Shangbang County is located in the center of Guanzhong and Jicheng, and the county commander is Liang Xu's younger brother Liang Qian. After his eldest brother's friend came to the city, and after reading Liang Xu's handwritten letter of persuasion, Liang Qian did not have any psychological pressure at all, and immediately surrendered the city. Tian Feng led people to settle in Shangbang County, and did nothing else, and immediately cut off the grain route from Guanzhong to Jicheng.

Guanzhong is from Jicheng, and most of the places are plains with a flat river, and it is very convenient to transport grain. Now that Shangbang County has been strangled, the grain in Guanzhong will not be able to be transported, and the tens of thousands of defenders in Jicheng will only be hungry. Of course, Shangbang County is not a dangerous place, even if it is held, as long as Guanzhong sends troops to attack, it will be difficult to hold if the troops are insufficient. But now there are not many soldiers and horses left in Guanzhong, except for the garrison of various passes. Even if Jingzhao Yin Zhongxuan wanted to send troops, he could only send Sanguan's soldiers and horses to attack Shangbang.

In a word, Tian Feng is now nakedly bullying Sima Yi's lack of troops, so he exercises such a seemingly unreasonable strategy and cuts off the grain route by occupying Shangbang. It is also Sima Yi who is too supportive, and when Cao Ying defended against Ma Chao in history, he only relied on scattered passes, and how could he have deployed the defense line to the front line of Longxi. But Sima Yi can't do it, his capital is already small, if he loses Longxi again, then he can really only defend it in Guanzhong. Now every inch of land lost is like cutting a piece of meat for Sima Yi. People, once it comes to vital interests, then it is difficult to make accurate judgments.

Of course, there are other benefits to occupying the upper state. Zhao Ang, who didn't know that Shangbang had been lost, led his 10,000 horses who were ready to rescue the street pavilion, and stabbed his head into the city of Shangbang. Under Tian Feng's instructions, Liang Qian did not play the banner of Liu Bei, but welcomed Zhao Ang into the city, and when he set up a banquet to entertain him, he unexpectedly restrained Zhao Ang. Almost bloodless, Tian Feng solved Zhao Ang. Now only Meng Jian has neither food nor water to drink in Jicheng, and he has to face the fierce god Ma Chao.

Thirst is bearable, but hunger is simply unbearable. However, the defenders of Jicheng could no longer hold it back. In the past few days, the defenders could only eat a little bread every day, and they were already hungry. Although the wheat green in the three counties of Longxi has not been cut, the wheat green in April cannot be used to satisfy hunger. Meng Jian had no water or food, but Ma Chao did not understand his situation at all, and began to attack the city on a large scale. In fact, in the days when Tian Feng feinted to attack Wudu, Ma Chao was not idle, he sent people to cut wood everywhere, built nearly a hundred simple thunderbolts, and began to surround Jicheng day and night, almost not giving Meng Jian a chance to breathe.

The results speak for themselves, and the defenders, who have no food or water, can hold out for long in the face of such a strong attack. After three days of siege, the exhausted defenders ignored Meng Jian's repeated shouts and left the city to surrender. Ma Chao was overjoyed and sent people into the city to arrest Meng Jian. Finally, under the influence of his brother-in-law, Ma Chao is now more measured, and he will slaughter the city instead of breaking the city like before, and the people of Jicheng have escaped the catastrophe.

When Meng Jian, who was tied up with five flowers, was sent to Ma Chao, this Runan celebrity did not kneel and beg for mercy. Glancing at Ma Chao contemptuously, Meng Jian asked directly: "What a strategy, first cut off my drinking water, then feint to attack Wudu and Jieting, and finally cut off my grain route to force me to fight to the death." This kind of serial plan is definitely not something that Ma Chao, a martial artist, can come up with, but I don't know who came up with it? ”

"Hehe, what can win you is a good strategy!" Ma Chao has a good face, so naturally it can't be said that it is Tian Feng's strategy. Seeing that Meng Jian was so arrogant, Ma Chao didn't bother to continue to entangle with him, and directly led the army to Shangbang to meet Tian Feng and others. And at about this moment, Zhao Feng had already entered the Meridian Valley Dao for four days.

"If it goes well, we will be able to get out of this valley in a maximum of seven days!" On this day, after walking through the most dangerous section of the mountain road, Wang Pingyu reported. When Zhao Feng heard this, he ordered someone to take out four carrier pigeons with the army, write four letters and tie them to the pigeon's legs, and then release them.

"General, did you inform General Zhang that you can move troops?" Zhang Wei on the side saw it clearly and couldn't help asking.

"Almost!" Zhao Feng replied. Looking up at the sky, a few pigeons have become smaller and smaller, after becoming small black spots, finally can no longer be seen, the blue sky and white clouds are very clear, finally their luck is good, spring to walk this mountain road, so many days in a row did not rain.

(To be continued)