The scorching sun is like fire, mercilessly roasting the earth, and the barren desert is as if it is on fire, steaming hot.

On the vast horizon in the distance, smoke and dust gradually rose from the sky, and the banners were hunting, the iron armor was hideous, and the red-tasseled spears that stood like a forest almost wanted to pierce the sky.

A huge Han army is like a rolling iron stream, and the vast west is gone.

In the surging Han army array, Pan Feng's majestic body rose and fell with the footsteps of the war horse, and the flickering tiger eyes stared straight at the faint city outline in front of him, and salty sweat slipped down his cheeks. After ten days of rapid marching, the army finally arrived at Yanmen Mayi.

Two hundred miles west from Mayi is the river, and crossing the river from the Qiufeng Ferry and then going west into the Hetao boundary, and it is only a hundred miles away from the base camp of Ma Yuejun's Meiji City (formerly Xiongnu Shan Yuting).

"Herald." Pan Feng leisurely raised his right arm and said loudly, "The army will stop advancing, rest in Mayi for two days and then march west." ”

Pan Feng's military order was quickly conveyed, and the surging Han army formation turned a bend and headed north in an instant, heading towards the faintly visible Mayi City on the vast horizon in the distance. However, it didn't take long for Fu Zhi to hurry over, and anxiously said to Pan Feng: "General, why did the army turn north? ”

Pan Feng said: "The army is tired and fast, and the soldiers are tired, so you can rest in Mayi for two days, and it is not too late for the soldiers to recuperate and then march west." ”

Frustrated, he said: "The general can't, at this time, it is appropriate to wave his army and go straight to Meiji, and not give the enemy the opportunity to calmly arrange." ”

Although Pan Feng respected the frustrated talent in his heart, he didn't like the frustrated style of doing things, and frowned: "This general has already calculated, and the military advisor has to say more." ”

At this time, if our army can smash the old camp of Meiji with lightning speed, causing the army to press the territory, then the internal and external troubles will rise together, and Ma Yue's army will inevitably collapse without a fight!" If our army advances slowly, Ma Yue will have a chance to breathe, and he will be able to calmly deal with the threat of Tu Gehu, Yueshi Hu, and Qin Hu, and then concentrate his forces to break each of the four armies...... Generals and think again! ”

Gao Ran stepped forward and persuaded: "What the military advisor said is not unreasonable, and the general should think twice." ”

Guan Chun and Geng Wu also stepped forward and persuaded in unison: "Please think twice, general." ”

"That's it." Pan Feng saw that all the generals supported the frustration, so he had to shout unhappily, "Order, the army continues to advance and go straight to the Hetao." ”

……

Liangzhou.

After some secret discussions, Geng despised 20,000 cavalry, Dong Zhuo sent 8,000 cavalry, with Dong Zhuo's general Han Sui as the main general, Cheng Qiu, Dong Min, Ma Wan, and Liang Xing as deputy generals, and sent troops to attack Ma Yue, nearly 30,000 cavalry from the assembly to the expedition, and then into the territory of Beidi County, before and after only seven or eight days.

Lingzhou, the camp of the coalition army, in the tent of Han Sui.

Han Sui said to Ma and Liang Xing: "What happened to Dong Min? ”

Liang Xing said: "Don't worry, the lord, this guy was drunk by the last general and the horse brother, and he was already unconscious." ”

Han Sui asked again, "What about Cheng Qiu?" ”

Ma said: "Don't worry, the lord doesn't have to worry, the last general has already sent someone to secretly monitor this waste." ”

"Good!" Han Sui said in a deep voice, "It's a matter of life and death for our army, don't be careful!" In order to avoid leaking the news and ruining the big thing, General Ben intends to launch a mutiny tonight, what do you think? ”

"The lord is wise." Liang Xing and Ma played, "The brothers have been looking forward to this day for a long time!" ”

"That's good." Han Sui gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Tonight, Dong Min and Cheng Qiu will be secretly beheaded, and tomorrow will convene the Sima of each army early in the morning, and two hundred knives and axes can be secretly buried outside the tent, if someone asks about the whereabouts of Dong Min and Cheng Qiu, it will be said that the two generals have been ordered to return to Liangzhou, and the army will be commanded by this general alone, if someone is not convinced~~ Kill on the spot!" ”

Liang Xing and Ma played: "The last general will take the order." ”

"Dong Zhuo is not benevolent, so don't blame General Ben for being unjust, this time, I will definitely let Dong Zhuo's stealing chickens will not be a handful of rice!" Han Sui said this, and said in a dark voice, "When the army leaves Liangzhou, you can secretly send people to inform Yang Qiu, Cheng Yi, Cheng Yin, Zhang Heng, Li Zhan, and Hou Xuan, so that they can try to leave Liangzhou and lead their troops to Hetao to join the army." ”

Liang Xing, Ma Play and said: "The last general will obey the order." ”

Han Sui smiled gloomily and said in a deep voice: "At that time, this general has the Hetao and tens of thousands of iron horses, what can Dong Zhuo do to me?" Even if it is the son of the Han Dynasty, I am afraid that I will have to give the general the title of the general to protect the Huns, if not~~ hum, the general will lead the iron cavalry south every year to plunder the three auxiliaries of Gyeonggi. ”

"Hahaha~~"

Liang Xing and Ma played and laughed comfortably at the same time, and the beautiful words seemed to be waving to them.

Han Sui stepped forward, grabbed the hands of Liang Xing and Ma Play, and said loudly: "After the matter is completed, you will be the left arm and right arm of this general, and you will enjoy glory and wealth together when the time comes." ”

Liang Xing and Ma Wan were grateful, and said loudly: "Thank you, lord." ”

……

Shangjun, Qinhu old camp.

Hu Cai and Li Dong bowed down and said to Guo Tai: "The last general and others will see the general." ”

Mrs. Guo waved her hand and said, "Two generals, please get up." ”

"General Xie."

Hu Cai and Li Le thanked Mrs. Guo and sat separately, Hu Cai arched his hand to Mrs. Guo and asked, "The general urgently summoned the last general to return to Shangjun, I don't know what is urgent?" ”

Mrs. Guo pushed a silk book on the table in front of Hu Cai, and said in a condensed voice: "Here is a secret decree from the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty, please take a look at the two generals." ”

Hu Cai unfolded the secret decree, hurriedly read it, and then his face changed greatly, and he said in a speech: "The emperor of the Han Dynasty wants to entitle the general as the general of Bahu, take the upper county as the governing place, hereditary replacement, and guard the northern frontier for the Han dynasty for generations!?" ”

"What?" Li Le was also taken aback when he heard this, and took the secret decree in disbelief, and then turned to Guo Taidao after a hurried look, "General, this~~ Is this true or false?" ”

If it weren't for the fact that Qin Hu lived in Gyeonggi and north of Sanfu, close to the Han Dynasty and north of Zhuhu, and rarely disturbed the people of the Han Dynasty and played a barrier role, the Han court was afraid that it would have sent troops to destroy Qin Hu.

But even so, the imperial court has always hated Qin Hu! In the eyes of the Han court, the status of Qin Hu is not even as good as the Zhuhu and the Huns in the north, the late Xiongnu Zhonglang general Zhang Huan usually recruited the most soldiers and horses of Qin Hu, but the food and salary can be given the least, in the event of a heavy snow disaster, the Huns can also get supplies from the Han court, but the Qin Hu people can only rely on themselves to go to the Qiang people, Hu people to plunder.

Guo Taidao: "The general couldn't believe it, so he invited the two generals overnight." ”

Hu Cai said: "The general has become the general of the Han Dynasty, if you want to say that the benefits are obvious, from now on, you only need to follow the edict of the Son of Heaven, and you don't have to obey the orders of the Xiongnu generals!" But ~~ The Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty would really be so kind-hearted and named the general as General Bahu for no reason? There's some trickery in this. ”

Li Le said: "What tricks can there be? ”

Hu Cai thought for a while and said, "Could it be related to Ma Yue's private attack on the Hetao?" ”

"Do you mean to say that the imperial court named General Ben as General Bahu in order to deal with Ma Yue?" Mrs. Guo suddenly realized, "Well, it's very likely, if it weren't for your reminder, General Ben would have almost forgotten the change in the Hetao!" Come on, pass on our military order, immediately close the Qiuzi checkpoint, and refuse all homeless people and Hu people to enter the customs. ”

……

Qiuzi Pass, located in the north of Shangjun two hundred miles, tightly choke the official road leading to the Hetao in the pass, the inner Great Wall winds through both sides of the checkpoint, although the three-zhang high city wall is difficult to block the attack of the baggage infantry, but for the nomads living on horseback, it is an insurmountable natural barrier!

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the first year of Zhongping, there have been people in the Central Plains who have avoided the border fortress, and a considerable number of them have left the Great Wall from Qiuciguan and settled in the Hetao grassland, but now, they have to leave their homes again and move their families, because the horse butchers, who are more notorious than the Yellow Turban thieves, have occupied the Hetao.

In ancient times, communication was inconvenient, the phenomenon of false rumors was extremely serious, coupled with the deliberate distortion of Ma Yue's image by the Han court and local county guards, in the eyes of ordinary people who did not know the truth, Ma Yue seemed to have become a vicious person who drank human blood and ate the brain marrow of babies alive, and the army under Ma Yue's command was also like wild beasts, liking to eat human flesh raw.

It was noon, and the homeless people who were helping the old and the young poured in from outside the gate like a tide, crowded into a mass before the gate, and they all wanted to escape into the gate as soon as possible.

"Quack quack...... Rumble! ”

In the desperate lamentations of the displaced people, the heavy city gate was slammed shut, and the figure of a Qin Hu Du Lieutenant appeared on the gate tower, shouting hoarsely: "According to the order of the general, it is said that the retreat is closed, and all idle people are not allowed to come within fifty steps of the city wall, and those who violate it will be killed." ”

In the chaotic group of refugees, Zhou Cang stomped his feet in annoyance, and said to the soldiers around him who were also dressed as refugees: "His grandmother's is actually a step late." ”

"General, since the surprise attack fails, it is better to attack with the surname Suo!" One soldier fiercely suggested, "The wall is no more than three feet high, and it can be easily climbed with a flying claw lasso, and there are not many defenders at the gate, as long as the brothers try to spread out as much as possible and grab the pass in many places, it will definitely be successful." ”

"No." Zhou Cang frowned and said, "A strong attack is easy to expose the traces of our army, so let's wait first." ”

Although the defenders of the gate warned repeatedly, the displaced people crowded under the pass did not want to leave, and were still begging the defenders to open the city gate and let them pass.

Zhou Cang was mixed in with the homeless people, and scolded while retreating: "These beasts really dare to release arrows!" It seems that there is no chance to rush the pass, let's go, let's go back. ”

……

Fifty miles north of Qiuzi is a desolate desert, and Ma Yue's army is struggling in the sea of sand.

It was the time when the scorching sun rendered the undulating desert into an incomparably magnificent spectacle, but the soldiers of the three armed forces who were devastated by the heat wave did not feel how beautiful this sea of sand was! Behind all the beauty, there are often the most dangerous murder motives, and this desert is no exception.

Suffocating heat!

A sandstorm that covers the sky!

And the thirst that makes even the most brave and fearless warriors fearful!

In order to solve the threat of Sanhu in the shortest possible time, in order to gain time to calmly break through the encirclement and suppression of the four-way army, Ma Yue decided to take a shortcut and brazenly ordered to cross the sea of death that no one had ever crossed.

The power of nature is irresistible even to the strongest human beings!

When the sandstorm that covered the sky roared, the horses and people were like fallen leaves in the wind, easily thrown into the air, and then fell from the air, they were already crushed! And the suffocating heat, the maddening thirst, is mercilessly destroying the will of the warriors.

"Servant."

A soldier led his horse in his hand, and as he walked, he fell straight down, letting his face press tightly against the hot sand, but he did not react, the soldier's exposed skin had already peeled off layer by layer under the scorching sun, and even so, he did not remove the heavy, hot iron armor on his body, let alone let go of the horse cleaver in his hand.

"Get up! Climb up for Lao Tzu! A colonel licked his chapped lips, stepped forward and kicked the soldier in the ass, and scolded fiercely, "Don't fucking lie on the ground and stand up for corpses, I know you can do it!" Get up~~"

"Captain, the black bull is gone!"

A soldier howled and rushed up, trying to stop the rampaging Colonel.

"Get the fuck out of the way!" The colonel kicked the soldier away, stepped forward and picked up the corpse of the fallen soldier and hugged it tightly in his arms, and howled bitterly, "Black bull! Brothers! My good brother!! Keep your fucking eyes open, I'm begging you~~Whoa~~"

"Team ~~Captain ~~"

A faint shout came from behind him, and the bison shivered and turned around, only to see that the soldier who had just been kicked by him had also fallen, and at this moment he was cocking his head, staring straight at the bison with the strange eyes before he died, and the bison raised his head and let out an extremely sharp howl, and rushed forward to pick up the soldier and shouted: "Buffalo, what is wrong with you, buffalo?" ”

"Buffalo, don't fucking scare Lao Tzu, how many times have our brothers fought viciously, why can't you die in this hellish place? The general said, even if you want to die, you have to die on the way to charge, you have to die on the battlefield, and you have to find ten or eight backs to carry on the road, so you can call the gentlemen~~ buffalo!! ”

The buffalo's chapped lips squirmed twice, and said in a weak voice: "Captain, bring ~~ a message to the general, just say ~~ that the buffalo failed to die on the way to the charge, and give him a disgrace~~ disgrace, such as~~ If there is an afterlife, the buffalo will still ~~ still be his soldier, and he will not be disappointed again~~Woo~~"

"Nope! You didn't disgrace me! ”

A faint but extremely firm voice suddenly sounded behind the two of them, Gu Niu turned around with the buffalo, and suddenly saw Ma Yue walking slowly under the escort of Dian Wei and dozens of personal soldiers, Ma Yue's expression was unprecedentedly serious, and his always cold eyes also seemed to be more solemn than ever.

"General~~ Army!"

The buffalo struggled for the last moment, and the young life was forever frozen in this moment.

Ma Yue squatted down, stretched out his hand and slowly stroked the buffalo's face, closed the buffalo's round eyes, and said in a low voice: "Buffalo, you are the best soldier!" General Ben is proud to have such a good soldier as you~~"

The little school bull said sadly: "Buffalo, do you hear me? The general said you are the best soldier! ”

Ma Yue slowly stood up, looked at the soldiers of the three armies gathered around him, and shouted: "You ~~ are the best soldiers!" You are the bravest soldiers in the world! No one can stop us, if the sky dares to stop, the sky will be pierced, and if the desert dares to block, it will be conquered! ”

Ma Yue's voice fell, and suddenly dark clouds rolled from the sky, slowly pulling across the sky like a black curtain, and in an instant, the scorching sun was tightly blocked! Under the shocked and inexplicable gaze of all the soldiers, the entire Tianyu quickly darkened, as if it had entered the night all of a sudden.

"Gurgle~~"

A dazzling lightning bolt suddenly pierced the dark and gloomy sky, viciously slashed on the sand dunes not far away, and a bean-sized raindrop broke through the clouds and dripped down, hitting Ma Yue's face heavily, a cool, refreshing coolness! The next moment, more raindrops fell from the sky.

"Hahaha~~"

Ma Yue raised his hand to the sky and smiled at the sky.

"Hahaha~~"

The exhausted Han soldiers jumped and screamed, followed by wild laughter, but the equally exhausted Wuhuan soldiers reverently knelt on the desert and worshiped the proud and solemn horse! At this moment, Ma Yue seemed to be a god in their hearts who could attract lightning and rainstorms, and mortals could not blaspheme.

……

Meiji, Liaohua big tent.

Liao Hua was convening Gao Shun and Guo Tu to discuss the matter, and suddenly a small colonel entered the account and reported urgently: "General, Tan Ma found traces of the Han army in Linrong and Mayi at the same time." ”

"The enemy is coming so fast!" Guo Tu said awe-inspiringly, "You have already entered Linrong and Mayi?" ”

"Exactly."

"How many centaurs?"

The colonel said: "The Han army that entered Linrong was all cavalry, about 30,000 cavalry, and the Han army that entered Mayi had about 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. ”

Liao Hua struck: "Oops, the enemy army has 40,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry? ”

Guo Tu hurriedly spread the map on the case, found the location of Linrong and Mayi from the map, and said to Liao Hua and Gao Shun: "The two generals, please see, Linrong is located in the west of Meiji, about 800 miles apart, and Mayi is located in the east of Meiji, although there is a river in the middle, it can be less than 400 miles apart!" ”

Gao Shun compared with his hands, and Huo Ran said: "In other words, these two enemy forces are likely to advance to Meiji at the same time!" ”

"Yes, if the lord's army can't return to the division in time to intercept one of the roads." Guo Tu's expression became extremely solemn, and he said in a deep voice, "At most, ten more days, these two armies will be able to join forces under Meiji City!" At that point, the situation is very passive! What's more serious is that this is only two of the armies, the imperial court has sent four armies, and the other two armies have not been traced yet, and this invisible enemy is the most terrifying, because no one knows when and from where they will suddenly kill. ”

Liao Hua hurriedly said: "But since the lord's army entered the Sea of Death, there has been no news back, how can this be good?" ”

Guo Tu said in a deep voice: "There is no other good plan at the moment, General Liao Hua can step up his efforts to urge the slaves to build the city, even if they use their corpses to build the fortress, the wall of Meiji City must be raised to three zhang within ten days!" ”

Liao Hua responded: "Mr. Guo Tu, rest assured, within ten days, General Ben will definitely increase the wall of Meiji City to four zhang!" ”

"Okay." Guo Tu nodded, and said to Gao Shun again, "General Gao Shun, the enemy army is large, and the horse infantry army adds up to no less than 80,000 people, and they are all elite divisions that have been on the battlefield for a long time, if the lord's army can't return in time, only the five thousand foot soldiers in the city will not be able to hold Meiji City anyway, so please ask the general to immediately arm the remaining five thousand strong men in the Wuhuan clan." ”

Gao Shun said in a condensed voice: "Does Mr. Guo Tu want these five thousand Wuhuan strong men to help defend the city?" But they are not trained and may not be able to help. ”

Guo Tu shook his head and said: "It's not for them to help defend the city, but for them to protect the old and young women and children from Meiji City and disperse to the Hetao grassland to temporarily avoid the limelight!" The 5,000 Wuhuan strong men can be divided into 100 teams, each team of 50 horsemen, responsible for about 500 old and young women and children, so that even if the city of Meiji is broken, at least 50,000 old and young women and children can be left, as long as the women and children are still there, our army still has a chance to recover. ”

Gao Shun said in a condensed voice: "I understand, the last general will go to gather Wuhuan Zhuangding and evacuate the old and young women and children." ”

After speaking, Liao Hua and Gao Shun hugged Guo Tu's fists, turned around and walked away, seeing the figures of the two disappear into the deep darkness, Guo Tu sighed, and a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes: Lord, Guo Tu's ability only stops here, and he can only do his best to retain a little more vitality for the lord.

……

When the rain stopped, it was getting dark.

Ma Yue's army finally walked out of the sea of death and camped in the open air by a river.

In order to march quickly, Ma Yue's army did not carry too much baggage, and each soldier only carried half a month's ration on the accompanying war horses, and could only camp in the open air and endure mosquito and fly bites whenever he camped.

Every time he went out on an expedition, Ma Yue shared weal and woe with the soldiers of the whole army, he slept wherever the soldiers slept, he followed what the soldiers ate, and he never ate first until the soldiers were full. Now Ma Yue has become a general in the Han Dynasty, but the military style he developed when he lived and died with his brothers and struggled for his life has not been put down.

The soldiers under his command have never felt that there is an insurmountable gap between Ma Yue and them, in their eyes, Ma Yue is still Ma Yue, the brotherly righteous and impassioned leader!

"Smack!"

Jia Xu slapped himself in the face, slapped a huge cowfly to death, and didn't bother to wipe it even though the blood was splashed on his face, the ten-day trip to the sand sea tortured Jia Xu, a weak man, to the point of choking, with that unkempt appearance, at first glance it looked no different from a beggar.

"Damn, that's a real rush that doesn't work." Ma Yue poured a large bag of water with his head high, and said with annoyance, "I should have known that I should have listened to Wen He's words, even if I made a detour to the edge of the Sea of Death, it would only take seven or eight days to travel from Yueshi Lake to Qiuzi, but now I have walked for two more days in order to take a shortcut, and I have lost more than 1,000 brothers in vain. ”

Jia Xu said: "The lord doesn't have to blame himself too much, as a military advisor, he failed to persuade the lord to take the right opinion, and he also bears an unshirkable responsibility." ”

"Let's not talk about that yet." Ma Yue raised his hand to stop Jia Xu from continuing to blame himself, and said in a changed tone, "Due to General Ben's insistence, our army has been delayed in the Sea of Death for ten precious days, and has lost contact with the old camp of Meiji, and I don't know where Dong Zhuo and the other four-way armies have entered?" Wenhe, in your opinion, should you continue to march into Shangjun now? ”

Jia Xu said: "The lord originally intended to calm Sanhu first, and then free his hands to break one or two of the enemies who came to attack first, and then return to Shimeiji to fight a decisive battle with the enemy!" Now that Yue's Hu has been decided, Tu Gehu has also fled to Tu Ze, but Qin Hu is still alive, but there is no need to worry, and he thinks that the top priority is to quickly get in touch with the old camp of Meiji, determine the latest progress of Dong Zhuo and other enemy forces on the four routes, and then choose them to break through first. ”

Ma Yue said: "What Wenhe said is exactly what I want. ”

Jia Xu said: "The lord is wise. ”

Ma Yue stood up and said loudly: "Okay, then let the brothers rest for two more hours, and wait for Zhou Cang's surprise team to return and start overnight." ”

Jia Xu persuaded: "The brothers have just walked out of the sea of death, and they are already exhausted, should they rest for a night and wait for dawn before they set out?" ”

"There's no time." Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "We have delayed too much time in the Sea of Death. ”

Jia Xu said: "But now I haven't been able to get in touch with the old camp of Meiji, I can't know the exact movements of the enemy forces on the four routes, and I don't know which enemy army the lord intends to meet?" ”

Ma Yue stretched out his hand and pointed to the dark and gloomy sky in the east, and said without hesitation: "To the east!" Go to the Bison Crossing, and the general expected that Lu Bu's army would cross the river here. ”

"Bison crossing?" Jia Xu's eyes froze, and he said in a deep voice, "Does the lord want to break through Lu Bu's army first?" ”

……

Two hundred miles east of Shangjun is the Bison Crossing, and Lü Bu's army is crossing the river overnight.

Five ferries could only transport 200 soldiers across the river at a time, and at this speed, it would take at least five days to cross the river with 15,000 troops, 5,000 horses, and grain, grass and baggage!

"No, it's too slow!" Lu Buhuo Ran turned around and said to Hou Cheng behind him, "Where is Hou Cheng?" ”

Hou Cheng stepped forward and said loudly: "The last general." ”

Lu Budao: "Find more ferries, only five ferries, when will the whole army cross the river?" It's too slow! ”

Hou Wei said: "General Hui, the ferry has been searched for dozens of miles along the river, and there are only these five ferries. ”

"Cut down trees and build rafts without ferries, or simply build bridges for prisoners!" Lu Bu shouted arrogantly, "No matter what method you use, General Ben must cross the river within two days of all the soldiers, horses, grain, grass and baggage, if you can't cross the river on time~~ Come and see you!" ”

Hou Cheng shuddered excitedly, and replied stubbornly: "The last general will take the order." ”

Lu Bu's eyes rolled and said to Zhang Liao: "Zhang Liao." ”

Zhang Liao hurriedly stepped forward and said, "The villain is here." ”

"From now on, you're the Scout Captain! When the army crosses the river, it is the Hetao, which is the territory of the horse butcher, remember to send more ranger scouts, pay close attention to the surrounding movements, but there is a wind and grass, immediately report to the general to know. Lu Bu said, stretched out his hand and patted Zhang Liao's shoulder, and said slowly, "Your martial arts are good, sharpen them well, and you will definitely become a great general in the future." ”

Zhang Liao's eyes showed excitement, and he suddenly puffed up his chest and said loudly: "Thank you for the general's support." ”

"Okay, let's go."

"The villain obeys."

Zhang Liao saluted Lu Bu with a fist, turned over and galloped away, and in less than a moment, the heroic figure disappeared into the boundless darkness.

(To be continued)