Jia Xu said in a low voice: "What does the lord mean, is he taking the opportunity to kill Xiahoudun?" ”

Ma Yue said in a deep voice: "What does Wen He think? ”

Jia Xu said: "Xiahoudun is the number one general under Cao Ying, and he is also a cronie of his clan, and his prestige in the Cao army is second only to Cao Ying, if Xiahoudun can be killed, it is like cutting off Cao Ying's left arm and right arm, it is even better!" However, Xiahoudun can fight well, and he is a veteran on the battlefield, so I am afraid it will not be easy to kill him. ”

Ma Yue grinned and said, "It is precisely because it is not easy to kill Xiahoudun that we have to kill him!" ”

Ma Yue's words seemed a little contradictory at first glance, but Jia Xu thought deeply that if he could take this opportunity to kill Xiahoudun, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the morale and morale of the Cao army.

Ma Yue said: "The Cao army left behind in Luoyang is about 10,000, and Xiahoudun is bound to leave a considerable number of troops to guard Luoyang, so the number of troops returning to Xuchang will not exceed 8,000, but it will not be less than 6,000!" This army should be a new recruit, and its combat effectiveness is definitely not as elite as the previous Cao army. ”

"That's right." Jia Xu continued, "If such an army encounters our army in the field, it can barely protect itself by taking advantage of the favorable terrain to form a formation first, but if it wants to break through forcibly, it can only be a dead end!" Therefore, as long as our army finds a suitable battlefield, it can trap Xiahoudun and his support army to death! ”

"Wen and you see." Ma Yue spread out the map on the case, pointed to the direction of Yingchuan and said, "This is Xuchang, this is Luoyang, in the middle is the Tiger Prison Pass and the abandoned Bishui Pass, Xiahoudun is bound to pass through here to help Xuchang, when Xiahoudun's department stepped into the Bishui Pass, our army suddenly killed and put on a large-scale offensive posture, Xiahoudun was caught off guard, and he will definitely rely on the abandoned walled city of Bishui Pass to protect himself." ”

"Oh?" Jia Xu said in a condensed voice, "The lord's intention is to force Xiahou Xuan's troops into the abandoned Bishui Pass? ”

"That's right, force Xiahoudun into the Bishui Pass!" Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "Last year, when the Guandong Qingzhuang was captured, this general had been to Bishui Pass, most of the city wall of Bishui Pass had collapsed, only the part near the right side of the official road was still complete, if Xiahou Dun wanted to form a formation to protect himself, he had to retract into the city wall on the right side that was still intact, so that the entire official road would be let out, and our cavalry could easily pass through, and the Xiahou Department would be completely trapped to death from both ends!" ”

"It's a good move to invite you into the urn, the lord's public soldiers are really breathtaking." Jia Xu praised the festival, "Once Xiahou Xuan's department retracts into the Bishui Pass, it will be like a mouse entering a hole and trying to escape, it will be difficult, hehe." ”

Ma Yue smiled, raised his head and said, "Where is Dian Wei?" ”

"The end will be here!" In the thunderous response, the tower-like figure of Dian Wei appeared outside the big tent and said sharply, "What does the lord command?" ”

Ma Yue said quickly: "Order the whole army to change the direction of the march and rush towards the direction of Bishui Pass!" ”

"Yes!"

Dian Wei suddenly agreed and took the order to leave.

……

Bishui Pass.

When the princes of the Eighteenth Road Kwantung discussed Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao adopted Tian Feng's plan to flood the water pass, Dong Zhuo's 50,000 Liangzhou iron horses became fish and shrimp in the water in a blink of an eye, and the people of Yingchuan County also suffered from the pond fish, and the water became a Ze country with an east circle of 200 miles, and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and homeless.

After this battle, the population of Yingchuan County dropped sharply from more than 1 million to less than 500,000.

Immediately afterwards, there was the battle of the 23rd Route Coalition Army, and then the horse butchers wantonly plundered the young and strong in the eastern part of the country, and the population of Yingchuan County was sharply reduced to only more than 100,000 people, most of whom were distributed in several large cities such as Xuchang, Yangzhai and Yingyang, and the two hundred miles east of Bishui Pass were almost barren.

However, at this time, there was smoke and dust billowing on the official road of Bishui Pass, and Xiahoudun's 8,000-strong army was marching in the direction of Xuchang.

Xiahoudun was dressed in black iron armor, holding a large iron spear as thick as a child's arm, marching at the front of the army on horseback, and suddenly, the abandoned city outline of Bishui Pass jumped into view, Xiahoudun's heart suddenly flashed a trace of coldness, and the intuition of many years of battlefield life told Xiahoudun that there seemed to be an inexplicable danger hidden outside this abandoned Guancheng.

"Stop!"

Xiahoudun Huo Ran raised the iron spear, the herald behind him scattered in an instant, the general's order was quickly conveyed, and the surging army soon stopped advancing, and soon more than a dozen Cao Jun generals rode horses to surround him, and asked Xiahoudun: "General, what happened, why did you stop advancing?" ”

"There's something weird!" Xiahoudun put up a canopy and looked at the abandoned Bishui Pass for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "Although the area around Bishui Pass has become a barren land, this official road is the only way from Luoyang to Yingchuan, no matter how you say it, there should be pedestrians passing by, but in the past three days, our army has not even encountered a mouse." ”

Cao Jun's generals changed color one after another, so that Xiahoudun found out that it was really the case when he said this.

"There's only one possibility!" Xiahoudun took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "That is, someone has cut off this official road!" ”

"The general is talking about the Xiliang rebels?" General Cao Jun and Colonel all lost their voices, "The Xiliang rebels cut off the official road? ”

"Yes, it's the Xiliang rebels!" Xiahoudun said categorically, "They are nearby, and General Ben can already smell the rust of the armor on their bodies!" ”

……

East of Bishui Pass.

There is a dirt slope on the right side of the official road, and there are dense trees growing on the soil slope, and Ma Yue, Jia Xu, Dian Wei, Li Su and others are hiding in the shadows of the trees, coldly looking at Cao Jun a thousand steps away.

"What's going on?" Li Su suddenly shouted, "Why didn't Cao Jun stop?" ”

"Awesome, worthy of being a battle-hardened veteran!" Ma Yue's eyes flashed with a trace of inexplicable coldness, and he said coldly, "It is worthy of being the number one general under Cao Ying, Xiahoudun can have the prestige today, not just by relying on his kinship with Cao Ying!" ”

"yes." Jia Xu also nodded awe-inspiringly and said, "It is indeed amazing to be able to judge the existence of our army by intuition!" ”

"Only a veteran who has been through a hundred battles and survived nine deaths will have a keen sense of danger!" Ma Yue slapped his palm on a dead tree beside him, and said fiercely, "Xiahoudun is so difficult, so he can't be left behind!" In this battle, he must be killed no matter what. ”

"But the question is~~" Li Su asked worriedly, "Since Xiahoudun has seen through the ambush of our army, will he still be fooled?" ”

"Of course!" Ma Yue said coldly, "Because Xiahoudun has no choice!" ”

"Huh?" Li Su said in horror, "Xiahoudun has no choice? ”

"Not bad." Jia Xu continued, "Because our army did not expect to defeat Xiahoudun by ambush!" ”

Indeed, from the very beginning, Ma Yue did not intend to defeat Xiahoudun by ambushing, if Xiahoudun was so easy to ambush, then he would not have achieved what he is today! Of course, then again, it would be great if Xiahoudun could be solved by ambush, this was originally a two-way choice, and if Plan A didn't work, then Plan B could only be executed.

Ma Yue's plan B is the real killer against Xiahoudun.

"Dian Wei." Ma Yue Huoran looked back and said to Dian Wei, "Blow the trumpet, the whole army will attack!" ”

"Woo woo~~"

Suddenly, the long and long horn sound sounded from the abandoned Bishui Pass, and in the sound of the horn, a full four thousand Xiliang iron horsemen surged out from the dense forests on both sides of the official road, advanced to the wide official road and lined up into a black oppressive cavalry phalanx, and then divided into half and swept towards the Cao army in front.

……

In front of the water gate.

Xiahoudun said coldly: "Sure enough, as General Ben expected, there is an ambush of rebels ahead!" ”

"General, what now?"

The generals and colonels of Cao Jun behind Xiahoudun asked one after another.

"Panic what!?" Xiahoudun turned his head and glared at the group of generals viciously, and said sharply, "Order the whole army to retreat into the relatively intact wall on the right side of the official road, and block the attack of the rebels in Liangzhou with the favorable terrain. ”

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes."

The eight thousand Cao troops quickly began to act, while retreating into the relatively complete wall on the right side of the official road, while nervously starting to pile up bricks and stone antlers to create obstacles to block the cavalry assault, and at the same time, the shield soldiers, pikemen, and archers were also in place, ready to meet the attack of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

However, to Cao Jun's surprise, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry only cut diagonally in front of Cao Jun's formation, and did not attack, not even a tentative attack, after crossing Cao Jun's hundred paces away, he turned his horse's head again, circled along the foot of the mountain, faced Cao Jun again, and then began to monitor from afar.

It felt like a pack of wolves guarding the distance, coldly watching the prey not far away.

Seeing such a strange behavior of the Liangzhou Iron Cavalry, Xiahou Dun's heart sank, and he suddenly realized a very serious matter, and immediately shouted: "Oops, it's not good! ”

"What's wrong, General?"

The generals around him surrounded him one after another, looking at Xiahoudun suspiciously.

"Hit the mark!" Xiahoudun suddenly sighed, "I've fallen into the trapping plan of the Liangzhou rebels, hey! ”

……

In the distance, on a small hillside.

"Okay." Ma Yue said, "Finally trapped the fierce tiger of Xiahoudun, and ordered Li Meng to divide the four thousand iron cavalry into four teams, and take turns to monitor the Cao army. ”

"Report~~" Ma Yue's voice fell, and suddenly a fast horse galloped from the official road, and he rushed up the dirt slope until he stopped the horse's steps, and said quickly, "General Wang Fang is urgent." ”

Ma Yue said: "Speak! ”

"General Wang Fang has already dug through most of the Yellow River embankment, as long as he chisels through the last layer of embankment, he can release water to flood the pass!"

"yes, got it!" Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "Tell General Wang Fang that without General Ben's military order, it is strictly forbidden to dig an embankment to release water, and at the same time send troops to patrol the south bank of the Yellow River to prevent Cao Jun from digging a dike and releasing water nearby!" ”

Ma Yue can't afford to be unguarded.

Cao Ying is ruthless and a master who can do everything.

Although Xiahoudun is the number one cronie under Cao Ying, it is still unknown whether Cao Ying will personally bring a large army to the rescue, in case Cao Ying does not send troops to rescue, but secretly sends someone to dig through the Yellow River embankment, and drown the horse butcher and Xiahoudun in the ruins of Bishui Pass, it will be a great injustice.

"Yes."

The herald said yes and took the order.

"My lord." Li Su leaned over with some concern and asked in a low voice, "Now that Xiahoudun's seven or eight thousand troops have been surrounded at Bishui Pass, why don't you immediately break the embankment and release the water?" As the saying goes, there are many dreams at night, not to mention that our army only carries half a month's dry food, and the delay is too long, which is not good for our army. ”

"Don't worry, it's not time yet." Ma Yue said coldly, "As for the military rations, Jutu's five hundred light cavalry will solve it." ”

Li Su was puzzled: "What are you waiting for?" ”

Ma Yue didn't answer, Jia Xu took over the topic and said, "The lord is waiting for Cao Ying!" ”

"Cao Ying?" Li Su said awe-inspiringly, "Will Cao Ying come?" ”

……

Xuchang.

The army was still ten days away from Xuchang, Cao Ying led five hundred light cavalry to return to Xuchang day and night, Xun Yu who stayed in Xuchang and Cao Ang, Cao Xiu, Cao An, Cao Min and other Cao clan children hurriedly welcomed Cao Ying and Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Guan Yu and others who returned with them into the Prime Minister's Mansion.

"Wen Ruo." Cao Ying couldn't sit down, so he couldn't wait to ask Xun Yudao, "Where are the rebels of the horse butcher now?" ”

Xun Yu said: "Ten days ago, the rebels of the horse butcher entered fifty miles north of Zhongmu, and then lost their whereabouts, but it is certain that the Xiliang rebels must be in this narrow area between Bishui Pass, Xingyang, Zhongmu and Guandu. ”

"Hmm." Cao Ying frowned and said, "Is there any news from Yuan Rang's army?" ”

Xun Yu said: "There has been no news back for ten days. ”

"It's broken!" Cao Ying's face changed, and he lost his voice, "Yuan Rang's army must have blocked the rebels of the horse butcher on the road!" ”

Xun Yu said: "General Yuan Rang has 8,000 troops under his command, even if he is blocked by the horse butcher, it should not be a problem to protect himself." ”

"I'm afraid that Yuan Rang will be blocked by the horse butcher in Bishui Pass!" Cao Ying's expression became more and more gloomy, and he said in a low voice, "If the horse butcher follows Yuan Shao's example and digs up the Yellow River embankment to flood the water pass, then Yuan Rang will be more than lucky." ”

"Report~~" Cao Ying's voice fell, and suddenly a small colonel was covered in blood, and quickly broke into the hall, panting and shouting, "Prime Minister, General Xiahou urgently report!" ”

"Huh?" Cao Ying took a step forward and said quickly, "Speak quickly!" ”

The little colonel gasped violently twice, and said dryly: "General Xia Hou and his 8,000 army are now trapped in Bishui Pass by the Xiliang rebels, the Xiliang rebels are watching on the side, our army is powerless to break through, and the military rations carried by the army are about to be eaten up. ”

Cao Ying's face changed, and he asked urgently, "How many days has Yuan Rang been trapped?" ”

The little colonel said miserably: "It's been seven days!" ”

"Seven?" Cao Ying Huoran looked back, exchanged a look with Guo Jia, and an inexplicable cold color swept away from the depths of his eyes, and then said to the little school, "Okay, the true appearance is already known, and I will send reinforcements to Bishui Pass to receive Ying Yuanrang's army, and you can also go down and rest." ”

"Thank you, Prime Minister."

The little colonel clenched his fists and turned to leave.

Cao Ying looked at the screen in the hall for a while, and suddenly took out the Qinghong sword and slashed down, cutting the table in front of the screen into two, and the paper, inkstone, pen, and ink on the table were suddenly scattered all over the place, Xun Yu, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Guan Yu, Cao Ang, Cao Xiu and others looked at each other, but no one dared to come forward to comfort.

"Alas~~" After a long time, Cao Yingshi sighed and said quietly, "The horse butcher will not get rid of it, and he will not know the taste of cannibalism, and it will be difficult to sleep peacefully......"

After saying that, Cao Ying immediately walked away with his hands in his hands, no longer paying attention to everyone in the hall.

Cao Ying's figure gradually drifted away, but Guo Jia's face became cold, and he quietly walked to Guan Yu's side and said in a low voice: "General Guan Yu, take a step to speak." ”

Guan Yu's expression moved, followed Guo Jia to the side hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and asked, "What do you command?" ”

Guo Jia sighed lightly: "Is the general's five hundred school swordsmen still in Xuchang City?" ”

Guan Yu said: "Exactly." ”

"That's it." Guo Jia said, "Please ask the general to lead five hundred school swordsmen to take a trip to Bishui Pass." ”

"Bishui Pass?" Guan Yu's face changed, and he said coldly, "Go to pick up General Ying Yuanrang?" Only about the 500 school knife hands? ”

"Of course not." Guo Jiadao, "The general is not going to Bishui Pass to receive General Yuan Rang, but to dig up the embankment of the Yellow River and flood Bishui Pass!" ”

"Flooded water!?" Guan Yu lost his voice and said, "What about General Yuan's 8,000 army?" ”

Guo Jia's expression suddenly became extremely cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Therefore, this matter must be done by the general of labor, because if anyone else is replaced, it is impossible to break the embankment!" After all, General Yuan Rang is the chief general under the command of the prime minister, and he has always been relied on by the prime minister as his left arm and right arm, and he is also known as a prestige in the army......"

"Understood." Guan Yu said in a deep voice, "But Guan took the liberty of asking, is this what the prime minister meant, or is the military advisor good at making claims?" ”

"There are always some things that the prime minister wants to do but can't make up his mind for one reason or another, at this time, we as subordinates should stand up and serve the prime minister." Guo Jia said this, his tone suddenly became extremely low, and then said, "The threat of the horse butcher to the prime minister, the general is very clear, if you can get rid of the horse butcher, no matter how big the cost, it will be worth it, what does the general think?" ”

Guan Yu's Danfeng eyes widened, staring straight at Guo Jia, and only nodded silently for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "In order to repay the prime minister's kindness, Guan is willing to carry this black cauldron." ”

"Nope." Guo Jia shook his head and said, "I won't let General Guan carry this black cauldron, and after the general sets off with five hundred school swordsmen, the division will explain the reason to the prime minister, and all the consequences will be borne by the subordinate alone, and the general is just acting on the military order." ”

Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "In this case, please ask the military advisor to give an order." ”

"Okay." Guo Jia nodded and said, "The general's five hundred school swordsmen can set off from Xuchang on fast horses, but they can't go straight to the west, because from Bishui Pass to Xuchang, there will inevitably be a lot of horse butchers' horse exploration and rangers. ”

Guan Yu said: "Then how to go?" ”

Guo Jiadao: "The general can go north from Xuchang, day and night, and rush to Fenglindu, thirty miles east of Guandu Port, and then try to cross the Yellow River from Fenglindu. The horse butcher's Jinfan navy had been rampant on the Yellow River for a long time, and at night he might not send ships to cruise the river, and the general had a great chance of crossing the Yellow River and heading north. ”

"And then?"

"Then along the north bank of the Yellow River all the way to the west, it is impossible for the horse butcher to send a horse ranger on the north bank of the Yellow River, so that the general's five hundred school swordsmen can enter the river around Bishui Pass without knowing it, and immediately cut down trees to make rafts after arriving, cross the Yellow River again at the fastest speed to reach the south bank, and then ~~"

Guo Jia said this and made a gesture of digging the embankment and releasing water.

……

(To be continued)