Chen Nuo led the team out of Yangcheng Mountain, and in less than a day or two further south, he could reach Yangcheng to meet Zhou Ang's department.

But the road was not so smooth, and soon they were stopped by an army.

It was still Sun Jian's troops, the leading general Cheng Pu, who led seven or eight hundred people, guarded a high ground, and waited for the arrival of Chen Nuo's men and horses.

There is a saying in the art of war, depending on the place of life, and there is no battle in battle.

Now that the enemy is already on high ground, he must not attack from above. Since you can't come hard, it's always okay to take a detour, right? But this method still doesn't work, because the position that Cheng Pu is guarding is just like a bottleneck, choking his throat, and Chen Nuo can't leave if he wants to.

Chen Nuo had no choice but to pull the army back and temporarily station it in order to find an opportunity.

At this time, the Tanma who was sent out to contact Zhou Ang last time had also returned and brought news of Zhou Ang. It was said that Sun Jian had besieged and attacked the city where he was, and his men and horses also suffered heavy losses. I heard that Yuan Shu recently sent an additional cavalry team of 1,000 people, led by Gongsun Zhan's younger brother Gongsun Yue, who will also arrive soon, and the situation in Yangcheng is critical, and I look forward to Chen Nuo's arrival as soon as possible.

Chen Nuo then wrote a letter to appease Zhou Ang, telling Zhou Ang to stick to the battle and wait for his arrival. He also said that now Sun Jian has divided a lot of men and horses in order to intercept reinforcements from other places, and it is a good time to divide and attack, so that Zhou Ang can rest easy.

After the book was sent, Chen Nuo sent someone to challenge Cheng Pu, but Cheng Pu only defended without fighting, and Chen Nuo had no choice.

Seeing that two days had been wasted like this, Zhou Ang came to urge the rescue soldiers again, and Chen Nuo was also helpless, so he had to order the soldiers to scold in front of Cheng Puzhai. But the old guy Cheng Pu sat down in a daze and didn't pay attention to it.

Chen Nuo is now unable to advance and retreat, and he is very troubled, pacing left and right in the tent all day long.

Although Zhao Xue was recuperating from her injuries, she heard that Chen Nuo's behavior was impermanent, so she rushed over and comforted Chen Nuo a few words, and Chen Nuo felt a little better. He also asked some villagers to find out from them if there were any secret passages that could be smuggled through here, but the answer was nothing more than no.

In the evening, Zhao Xue thought of something and reminded Chen Nuo: "Cheng Pu led his troops to block us here, but he didn't fight, I'm afraid there is some trickery, right?" ”

Chen Nuo had been worried about this matter for several days, he glanced at Zhao Xue, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

Zhao Xue stretched out her hand, grabbed Chen Nuo's arm, leaned her head on Chen Nuo's chest, and listened to his careful heartbeat.

Smelling the body fragrance that kept emanating from Zhao Xue's body, Chen Nuo's tired body was shocked. No matter how difficult it is, isn't there still Zhao Xue by his side? Chen Nuo wrapped his hand around her weak shoulders and closed his eyes to enjoy the rare silence of this moment.

But in the silent tent, there was a sudden sound of gongs and drums, which was very small at first, then from far and near, and slowly became larger and more audible. Chen Nuo's body shook and let go of Zhao Xue. At this time, Han Meng ran in outside the tent and shouted worriedly: "General, look! ”

Chen Nuo and Zhao Xue walked out of the tent, and the sound of gongs and drums suddenly became louder. I saw that on the avenue in the distance, there was a torch winding forward like a long dragon, approaching this side. On the mountain on the back, Cheng Pu's camp is also scattered with torches like stars, like fireflies dancing everywhere in the sky.

The soldiers who were awakened by the sound of gongs and drums also stretched their necks in the camp and looked at each other, running left and right.

The gongs and drums in the middle of the night and the torches in the distance all reminded everyone in the village that the enemy had now added a lot of men and horses, and it seemed that this battle was bound to be even more difficult.

Most of these soldiers who followed Chen Nuo were temporarily recruited from Liyang, and they were pulled into the battlefield without training. Although in the previous battle, due to Chen Nuo's effective command, a big victory was achieved, and his confidence also increased a lot.

But after all, they haven't been in the camp for a long time, and they haven't gotten used to being away from home for such a long time, coupled with the sound of gongs and drums, they are not strong in their hearts, and they want to take this opportunity to leave the barracks.

Some soldiers are no longer just watching the excitement, but have begun to create the excitement themselves. They deliberately ran around the camp, deliberately threatening that the enemy was going to attack the camp. Those who don't know why, seeing the situation in front of them, the torch in the distance, and the chaotic sound of gongs and drums, are confused and chaotic, and follow the blind coaxing.

Chen Nuo led the troops for the first time, and he didn't encounter such a situation, and he was also a little scared when he saw the soldiers screaming and leaving.

Next to him, Han Meng pulled out his knife and protected Chen Nuo's side, and he had already slashed and killed a person. Seeing that the situation was chaotic and that some people in the back camp even burned tents, he was horrified, afraid that some soldiers would take the opportunity to rebel, so he hurriedly persuaded Chen Nuo to escape.

Zhao Xue was also frightened by the side, her face changed, she had not experienced this mutiny, but the mutineer was nothing more than the murder of the main general, if the traitor really found the general's tent, then Chen Nuo would be in danger.

Seeing that Han Meng couldn't persuade him, Zhao Xue couldn't care so much, and pulled Chen Nuo's arm to pull him away.

But at this moment, Chen Nuo was still motionless.

Chen Nuo fell into a deep thought from fear, the mutiny of soldiers has existed since ancient times, and some people who were not handled properly were killed by soldiers, Chen Nuo didn't want to die like this. Since fear is useless, then he can only try to calm himself.

There is a saying in the university: know and then have a certainty, set and then be quiet, be quiet and then be safe, be safe and then be able to worry, and then be able to get!

You can't be impatient, and impatience will cause chaos.

Chen Nuo pulled Zhao Xue's hand holding his arm away and shouted, "What's the panic!" Then he instructed Han Meng to go to the big tent and fetch a horse, and he put the horse in front of the tent and sat in the center as a temporary headquarters.

He ordered Han Meng to immediately bring a team of soldiers to announce around the camp that those who dared to give orders and those who walked around the camp would be regarded as rebels and would be immediately killed! As soon as Han Meng left, Chen Nuo asked Zhao Xue to stand on his side again, and ordered her to kill anyone as long as she saw that there were still soldiers who dared to walk around in front of him.

In this way, after six or seven troublemakers who did not know whether they were alive or dead were killed, the chaos in the camp gradually subsided, and when the fire was extinguished, not a single person dared to move around the camp at will, and a mutiny was put down in this way.

Although Chen Nuo sat there motionless in the center, as if he was calm, in fact, he was the only one who understood how nervous he was in his heart.

He did this no different from gambling with his own life. I think if these soldiers really rebelled, then he would sit there and wait to die. Fortunately, he made the right bet and didn't let the situation go in a bad direction. The reason why they were in chaos was that some of the soldiers in the battalion were disturbed from the outside, which caused local unrest.

He pinched a handful of sweat and saw that the whole camp had fallen silent, and then he calmed down a little.

But at the same time, the long torch had already converged with the torches on the mountain in the dark night, and they didn't stop, rushing all the way to Chen Nuo's camp.

In the dark night, the sound of gongs and drums stopped, only countless torches were silently densely scattered, and I don't know how many people came.

Seeing that a wave of unsettled waves rose again, Zhao Xue looked at Chen Nuo with concern: "General, it turns out that Cheng Pu's old thief has refused to fight several times, it is really premeditated, seeing that the two of them are united, in front of my village, I don't know if they will kill them overnight?" ”

Chen Nuo stood on a high place and observed for a while, and saw that although the other party had pulled the army in front of his camp, he did not get too close, and even put the soldiers and horses away from a distance. It seems that they are also making a choice, hesitating whether to attack or not.

Cheng Pu on the other side, he closed the door without a fight for days, of course, to wait for the arrival of the rest of the people.

It was none other than Han Dang, who lost a battle at Chen Nuo's hands that day, and Huang Gai's department that responded to Han Dang.

On that day, Han Dang was defeated and left, and he had no face to see Sun Jian again, and wanted to commit suicide, but Huang Gai's men arrived in time, which gave him hope. So, he merged with Huang Gai's men and asked Huang Gai what to do next.

Huang Gai told Han Dang that he came this time because Sun Jian had heard that Chen Nuo was not a simple person, and he was afraid that Han Dang would not be able to cope with it for a while, so he sent him to pick him up. It's just that now that Han Dang has been defeated and Chen Nuo is gone, it seems that it is too late to intercept Chen Nuo. But Huang Gai also told Han Dang not to worry, because General Sun was preparing this line of defense at the same time, he also asked Cheng Pu to arrange another line of defense.

Although Cheng Pu sent men and horses to stop Chen Nuo at the exit of Yangcheng Mountain, he had fewer men and horses in his hands after all, and he could only temporarily contain Chen Nuo. If you want to destroy him, you must unite these two tribes. Wait until the three teams gather together, and then attack Chen Nuo, it will be foolproof. Now that Han Dang and Huang Gai have arrived, they have listened to Cheng Pu's suggestion and have gone down the mountain overnight, wanting to take down Chen Nuo's department in one go.

They deployed their men and horses in front of Chen Nuo's camp, and the reason why they didn't rush to attack was that they wanted to see Chen Nuo's reaction before making further plans.

Originally, Cheng Pu and the others still thought that after such a meeting of the three armies, they deliberately let them beat gongs and drums when they came, and openly spread the torches to advance, in order to let Chen Nuo see clearly, and the purpose was to deter Chen Nuo's three armies. If Chen Nuo's determination is not enough, then it is very likely that they will let them mess up before they arrive, so that they can come over to clean up the mess for Chen Nuo, and they can win without a fight.

However, according to the news they got from exploring the horses, as well as what they saw with their own eyes, now that the soldiers were approaching, not only did not cause chaos in Chen Nuo's camp, but was terrifyingly quiet, and these abnormal actions made Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and others suspicious.

Han Dang simply suggested to the two of them that no matter what, the army had already been assembled anyway, so it was better to march overnight, and Chen Nuo wouldn't be able to play any tricks.

Huang Gai was beside him, and he was also in favor of Han Dang's plan to enter the army.

Du Cheng Pu didn't open his mouth for a while, so that they could calm down and observe again.

In Chen Nuo's camp, Han Meng stepped forward and swore an oath to Chen Nuo, saying that if the thieves attacked the village, he was willing to be the first to rush out. Even if he fights for his life, he must break through safely.

Chen Nuo didn't speak, he knew very well in his heart that blindly making a decision would not only be useless, but also likely to make a wrong judgment. At present, since the enemy is in a hurry to attack with his men and horses, it seems that there is still an opportunity. It's just that how to grasp this opportunity depends on how he should deal with himself next.

Calm down!

Chen Nuo tried to tell himself.

Zhao Xue next to him gritted his teeth, seeing that Chen Nuo didn't speak, he took two steps forward and reminded him: "Can we quietly withdraw the army before the thieves attack, and when the thieves attack and kill, we will suddenly find that our army is gone, and we will be alarmed." I'll take the opportunity to kill it again, and I'll definitely be able to kill the thieves by surprise. ”

Of course, Chen Nuo considered this, but he didn't do it because he figured out the shortcomings.

He shook his head and said: "It's too late to withdraw the troops now, not to mention, the whole army has just gone through a period of chaos, and the morale has long been sluggish, and now they are suddenly asked to withdraw. Judging from the current situation, we have only one fight now. ”

Zhao Xue's body moved slightly: "The general means ......"

The corners of Chen Nuo's mouth rose slightly: "Today's plan is to brake quietly!" Let's see who can bluff whom! ”

Although this method is a bit risky, it seems that it can only be done at present.

Zhao Xue took a step back and didn't speak again, and even Han Meng next to him didn't rush to shout and kill. Han Meng has experienced so much by Chen Nuo's side, and he is now willing to choose to believe in Chen Nuo.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang, who were not far from Chen Nuo's camp, observed for a while, Han Dang and Huang Gai were still the main attackers, but they were refuted by Cheng Pu: "Two generals, before Pu Lin was ordered, General Sun repeatedly explained to Pu, saying that although Chen Nuoqi was not famous before, and his name was unknown, he was able to show his skills in Jizhou, which is enough to make people believe that he is not an idle person. Thinking that Yuan Shao can send him to deal with the affairs of Yangcheng, it must be because Chen Nuoqi has his usefulness.

As everyone in front of him can see, I want us to wait for the army to force him to camp, but he can be as stable as Mount Tai and never mess up, why is this? If he is not completely sure, how dare he despise us? What's more, Pu Lian Ri had also paid attention to the camp set up by Chen Nuo on the mountain, which was deeply in line with the key points of the art of war, and the structure was very strong, and it was not easy to attack without paying a heavy price, so I gave up the attack plan and waited for the arrival of the two generals.

I think he can still sit firmly in the tent at this time, and he must have a way to deal with it, so we must not rush in! Furthermore, we are waiting for this to come, to intercept the enemy, and to destroy the enemy, and if he risks unnecessary danger to attack his strong camp, it is better to withdraw his troops for the time being. As long as we trap it here, so that it can't take care of Yangcheng from the end, and wait until General Sun and Gongsun Yue's Youzhou Iron Cavalry take Yangcheng, and then turn around to deal with this kid, are you afraid that this will not succeed? ”

Han Dang was silent, he suddenly thought of the defeat at the hands of Chen Nuo before. Thinking about it now, I was still cold, and when I heard Cheng Pu say this, I no longer insisted and agreed with him. Cheng Pu looked at Huang Gai again, Huang Gai thought about it, so he didn't insist and agreed to withdraw from the army.

Chen Nuo stood on a high place, watching the countless torches of the enemy gradually move away, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. The most nervous was Zhao Xue, when she saw that the enemy had really retreated, she was so surprised that she almost hugged Chen Nuo and shouted. But when he was surprised by Han Meng's surprised eyes next to him, he immediately came to his senses, blushed, and hurriedly ran down.

Chen Nuo knew that Han Meng wouldn't think much about it, so he didn't explain to him, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and called him into the account.

Han Meng followed behind, and at this time he also had something to say: "General, the number of Cheng Pu and our army was still about the same, but they suddenly increased so many people. Although they have withdrawn for a while, I am afraid that when they come again, I will not be able to deal with it. ”

Chen Nuo had a headache like this, he sat back on the seat and pinched his brows.

Suddenly thinking of something, he raised his head: "By the way, I explained your affairs, but is there any new news?" ”

Han Meng also seemed to have just remembered this, and as soon as he was reminded by Chen Nuo, he nodded and said, "Yes!" The general asked me to send people around to gather information and inquire about the activities of those people around here. It wasn't the general who asked, I almost forgot. In fact, the people I sent out to inquire have already had new news......"

Chen Nuo hurriedly said: "Say it quickly!" ”

Han Meng immediately said, "That's right. According to Tanma, the closest group of people to this Yang City was none other than Hu Zhen, a subordinate of Dong Thief. Although he was an official and stayed in Chen, he did not go to his post, and he has always been stationed at Yuyuan Pass in the north of Yangcheng. He guarded this pass for Dong Thief and confronted Sun Jian. It's just that because he just suffered a defeat, he was scared by Sun Jian, so he cowered in the city and never came out again. ”

"Hu Zhen, Hu Zhen!"

Chen Nuo thought about it left and right, and after thinking about it, he asked Han Meng: "How many people does he have in his hands?" ”

"About five thousand."

Chen Nuo nodded and said with a smile: "It is not a small number that he can have five thousand people." ”

"What?"

Han Meng didn't understand what Chen Nuo meant for a while.

Chen Nuo didn't explain to him, so he called Zhao Xue first, and retreated from other unrelated people, before he smiled mysteriously and asked the two of them: "If I let you temporarily take charge of this team together, stick to the camp and don't fight with the enemy, how many days can you be confident that you can hold out?" ”

"What do you mean, General?"

Zhao Xue and Han Meng both looked at him puzzled.

Chen Nuo smiled: "Answer me!" ”

Han Meng's body was shocked: "If you stick to it without fighting, there should be no problem for three or five days!" ”

Zhao Xueliu frowned slightly, nodded, and agreed with Han Meng's statement.

"Good!"

Chen Nuo said: "This is what you said! No matter what happens for three or five days! In these three to five days, no matter how the enemy challenges, you must remember not to fight! Also, you have to patrol the camp normally and report to me on time, but you must not let outsiders know my whereabouts, and you must be strictly guarded, you know? ”

"General, you are going to ......"

Zhao Xue and Han Meng looked at each other, not knowing what he was going to do.

Chen Nuo smiled: "If you want to retreat from the enemy, you can only take risks." You don't need to ask too much, just do what I say, and you'll see in three or five days. ”