"Lord Wang, there is no sign of rebels ahead, do you want to continue to advance?" The army had already marched to Cangxi County, not far from Langzhong County, but no matter how the scouts probed along the way, they did not find any signs of rebellion.

"Wait a minute, stay in Cangxi County tonight."

"Okay, lord."

That night, Cangxi County Yali.

"I don't think the situation is right, it's too calm, I didn't encounter any resistance along the way, and I arrived in Cangxi County without blood, I always feel cheating."

"Could it be that the enemy has contracted its entire defense, so there is no ambush along the way?" Sima Rang, who wanted to make everyone feel at ease, put forward such a point.

"I don't think so, I agree with the prince's point of view, there may be fraud, it's better to be careful." Li Jiguang also felt that things were really strange, and no matter how he contracted his defense, it was impossible to be completely undefended along the way. The most terrifying point is that not only are there no soldiers, but even the people are gone, and when the army arrives in Cangxi County, the county is dead silent, no different from a ghost town.

"In this way, let all the soldiers be energetic tonight, and put their clothes on their bodies when they sleep, and put their weapons aside, I always feel that something bad will happen tonight." Because he really couldn't understand what the rebels were fighting in mind, in order to be careful to sail the ship for ten thousand years, Zhao Weiji decided to let the whole army strengthen its vigilance tonight.

Zhao Weiji, who has lived in the Celestial Empire for many years, has long been familiar with the essence of Mao Taizu's guerrilla warfare.

In the middle of the night, Zhao Weiji's prediction came true, and a fire suddenly broke out somewhere in Cangxi County, and the flames soared into the sky.

The entire army was awakened by the fire, and because the fire spread quickly, Zhao Weiji had no choice but to order the whole army to start fighting the fire.

"Immediately order someone to go to the Jialing River to get water to put out the fire, and the action must be fast. There is also the use of soil, and the organization of people to shovel soil and fill it in the fire, fast, fast, fast. ”

While directing the firefighting, Zhao Weiji said in his heart: "Sure enough, if this kind of fire is to be completely extinguished, let alone overnight, so that the whole army can rest overnight." ”

"Lord Wang, the fire is so big, the attention of the whole army has been attracted, will the rebels do anything to take advantage of the fire to rob?"

With Li Jiguang's reminder, Zhao Weiji suddenly thought of this, so he immediately issued an order: "Quickly let all the people who did not participate in the firefighting concentrate to defend the grain and grass, what Yuan Jing said makes sense, this fire may not be a simple plan to exhaust the enemy, and the possibility of taking advantage of the fire to rob is not small." ”

Therefore, the generals who executed urgently transferred all the remaining soldiers who did not participate in the rescue to the place where the grain and grass were stacked to guard. And when the soldiers on guard had just arrived at the position, someone really came to rob the grain.

It's just that the number of rebels who came to loot food was not large, and it may be that they didn't expect the officers and soldiers to be able to react so quickly, so the rebels didn't send too many people to attack.

After a fierce battle, the rebels were too small in number, and finally lost to the officers and soldiers, and the plan to loot the grain was declared a failure.

The fire was then extinguished in the middle of the night and was completely extinguished before dawn. However, although the army did not suffer any losses in the fire, it was mentally exhausted. The whole army was listless, and all the generals were also under the brink of arms.

Seeing the situation in front of him, Sima Rang felt the need to suggest Zhao Weiji to repair for one more day, so he found Zhao Weiji and put forward his opinion: "Lord Wang, it can't go on like this, the entire army has not rested well, if you continue to advance to Langzhong today, the enemy army will wait for work, and we will suffer a lot if we start a battle." ”

"I also know that the army is very tired now, but can you guarantee that we will get a good rest even if we stay in Cangxi for another day? Can you guarantee that the rebels won't repeat last night's scene tonight? ”

Zhao Weiji's series of questions directly stopped Sima Rang, indeed as Zhao Weiji asked, who can guarantee that the rebels will not repeat their old tricks, no one can guarantee, if that is the case, no matter how long they stay in Cangxi, the army still can't get a good rest.

The enemy is dark and I am clear, no matter how invincible the general is in this situation, he will have a headache, after all, only by knowing oneself and knowing the other can one not be defeated in a hundred battles.

……

Just when the generals of the official army led by Zhao Weiji were having a headache, Zhang Wang and the two on the rebel army's side were also not doing well, although they still led the troops to Langzhong according to Li Shun's order, but due to the old man's strategy, they strategically gave up all the counties on the road from Jianmen Pass to Langzhong.

If the battle is won in the end, it's fine, but if they can't win, they will really die, and they will withdraw before the battle, which is a big crime.

"Sir, there is news that our people have not been able to successfully destroy the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers." As soon as the news came back, Wang Cormorant immediately went to report the news to the old man.

"Oh."

"Oh? Didn't our plan fail? Why doesn't the gentleman care at all? Seeing that the old man did not react at all when he heard the news of the defeat, Wang Cormorant couldn't help but be a little unhappy.

"Failure? Failed? Does the news say anything about the current situation of the officers and soldiers? ”

"Yes, it can be seen from the news that the officers and soldiers are now extremely tired, and the morale of the entire army is not strong."

"Then why do you say the plan failed? My original plan was to exhaust the enemy, and as for the destruction of the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers, it was a matter of taking the sheep by hand, and it was good to be involved, but it didn't matter if I couldn't get it, as long as I could exhaust the enemy, the plan would be considered a success. The main general who led the official army this time was Zhao Weiji, the king of Wuyue who defeated Yelu Xiuge, and I didn't expect to be able to achieve such a good thing as killing two birds with one stone on him. ”

Hearing the old man's explanation, Wang Cormorant was decisively relieved in his heart, such an opponent really can't kill two birds with one stone easily, but where did the old man learn that the official and military commander will be Zhao Weiji?

"How does Sir know that the chief general of the officer and army has been selected this time?"

"Where do you know? This is the kind of question that can be guessed with your toes. Nowadays, most of the generals of the Great Song Dynasty are concentrated in the north, and on the Song-Liao border, there are almost no people who can be transferred out of the Song Dynasty. The only ones left who can take charge on their own but are not in the Northern Expedition = Fangtun Army are the veteran Cao Bin and Zhao Weiji, the king of Wuyue who has withdrawn from the capital for a long time. Cao Bin had been ill for more than half a year, so if the imperial court didn't plan to transfer people from the Northern Expedition, only Zhao Weiji could lead the troops.

It's not that the old man looks down on your rebel army, but in terms of importance, it is definitely much more important for the north to prevent the invasion of the Khitan than you, and the imperial court will definitely not send northern generals to suppress you, so the only candidate is Zhao Weiji, the king of Wuyue. ”

The old man's words completely made the cormorant, who was already admiring him very much, even more devotive, this old man is simply a genius, not only with soldiers, but also very clear about the situation of the court. As long as this battle can establish meritorious deeds, he must be introduced to the king of Shu. With the help of such a person, why not worry about Dashu.

"So, sir, what are we going to do next?"

"Does the official army have any intention of leaving Cangxi now, if so, just act according to the original plan, if not, do it again as last night."

After waiting for the old man's instructions, the king cormorant immediately rushed to carry it out.

……

Back to the side of the officers and soldiers.

As for whether to continue to march towards Langzhong today, no one can make up their minds. But everyone got a consensus, that is, staying in Cangxi probably won't be able to sleep well.

In the end, Zhao Weiji made an unexpected decision, and the army was marched out, but it was twenty miles back, and it was stationed north of Cangxi.

Everyone didn't expect that Zhao Weiji would make such a decision in the end, and everyone expressed their incomprehension.

"Lord Wang, will this damage the morale, after all, if you retreat twenty miles before you fight, what will the soldiers think in their hearts?"

"It's true that retreating without fighting a battle will damage morale, but not sleeping all night after night will not damage morale, rather than this, it is better to sacrifice a little morale in exchange for a good night's sleep for the soldiers. And as long as it's explained clearly, I don't think it will hurt morale too much. ”

Although everyone doesn't think that morale can be avoided by explaining, Zhao Weiji said on the other hand is still reasonable, so if you don't sleep all night and night, morale will also suffer, so a long pain is better than a short pain, if you can get a good night's sleep by retreating twenty miles, that's it.

So no one objected, and the army marched out, retreating twenty miles to the north, and then stationed again.

……

On the other hand, the rebel scouts rushed back to Langzhong County to report to Zhang Yu after seeing the official army marching, and after learning that the official army had begun to move, Zhang Yu and Wang Cormorant began the next step according to the old man's instructions, but they did not see the arrival of the official army in the middle of the night.

"Lao Zhang, could there be a mistake in the intelligence, why haven't the officials and soldiers come here yet?"

"I don't know, Lao Wang, why don't I find the scout who reported today?"

After a while, the scout was found.

"Have you seen clearly, have the imperial court officials and soldiers left Cangxi?"

"I can see it clearly, although it is far away, but I can still see it clearly when the army is pulling." It was still a little aggrieved to be questioned by the lord like this.

"I see it clearly, why haven't the officers and soldiers come yet? You take someone to Cangxi to have a look. ”

No way, since the lord asked for this, this scout had no choice but to take his team and rush to Cangxi with sleepiness.

When they arrived at Cangxi, they were completely dumbfounded, there was no one in Cangxi City, and the officials and soldiers did not leave anything, so they felt like they were gone.

"Isn't it possible to see the hell during the day?" The scouts in charge of the investigation looked at each other one by one.