When the sky was bright, Fang Shao crossed the Weishui River and arrived at Beiyuan City.

Originally, across the Weishui, only Beiyuan City was attacked by Xiahou Yuan fiercely, and he only knew that the situation was quite unfavorable, but when he entered the city now, he realized how much pressure Wang Ping had been under for more than half a month.

Riding his horse slowly between the ruins, he could not find a single intact house in the place he passed, and there were huge stones shot into the city by Cao's army with a thunderbolt everywhere.

There were more than 1,000 households in Beiyuan City, but after this looting, there were only more than 100 people left, Fang Shao walked through the dilapidated streets, and from time to time he could see the old and young with gray faces, either holding the corpses of their relatives and crying, or looking for a little belongings that could still be used in the ruins.

After turning a corner, the open space on the left saw a hundred meters long and wide open space, densely packed with the corpses of the Han army. On the avenue not far away, those living warriors with colors on their bodies were still carrying the bones of their robes.

Seeing this situation, Fang Shao couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He couldn't bear to look at it more, so he drove to the north gate, climbed the ruined city tower, looked around at the ruins piled up on the city wall, and countless corpses inside and outside the city wall.

At this time, Wang Ping heard that Fang Shao had entered the city, so he hurriedly rode his horse over, and when he saw Fang Shao, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Deputy Fang Jun, I, Wang Ping, almost can't see you." ”

If it is said that in the last Battle of Jieting, Fang Shao repelled Xiahou Yuan's attack, it still relied on the treacherous nature of the mountain, which had a great relationship with the terrain. Today's Wang Ping, although he has the advantage of Zhuge Fei's crossbow, but only relying on this dilapidated small city, he has resisted countless attacks by Xiahou Yuan, the first general of Cao Wei, and this battle really let Fang Shao see Wang Ping's ability.

So, he patted Wang Ping's shoulder, his eyes were full of approval, and said with a smile: "Zijun, this battle is really difficult for you, to capture the battle of Guanzhong, you are not the first merit but also the second merit, you just wait for the king of Hanzhong to give you an official and a knight." ”

The generals fought on the battlefield in blood, in order to use blood to gain fame and fortune, Fang Shao's words were enough to make Wang Ping happy, his face couldn't help but show a little relaxed smile, the pressure he had been under these days seemed to have finally been released at this moment.

Due north, the battle of Cao's camp has been over for a long time, but the billowing smoke is still curling away.

In the distance, the veteran Huang Zhongzheng came slowly with his head held high, and a group of Cao Jun's soldiers were escorted on the road.

Fang Shao and Wang Ping then went down to the city and went to meet Huang Zhong together, and before the horse approached, Fang Shao smiled and said: "Old general, you fought a beautiful raid." ”

After a big killing, Huang Zhong, who was holding back the fire in his belly, was in a very happy mood, which would hear Fang Shao's approval, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud, and asked: "The enemy's general Lu Zhao has been cut by me with a knife, and most of the Cao army has been killed, but he also captured five or six hundred soldiers, I don't know what to do." ”

Fang Shao thought for a while, and then said: "Our grain and grass are not enough, and raising a few hundred soldiers is even worse. In my opinion, it is better to divide this group of soldiers into two groups, one part of it will be released to Chang'an, so as to disturb the hearts of the people of Chang'an, and the other part will be released to Chencang. ”

Huang Zhong nodded when he heard this, "That kid Zhang He sticks to Chen Cang and does not retreat, it is nothing more than relying on Xiahou Yuan to surround my northern plains, and he can also transport grain for him intermittently." Now that Tongguan has fallen and the road is dead, I don't think he will have the courage to hold on. ”

Fang Shao smiled faintly, and said, "The old general is right. Zijun worked hard to defend the northern plains, so he had to bother the old general, lead 5,000 soldiers and horses to set up a suspicious formation, and make a westward move to encircle Chencang, to see how long that Zhang He could last. ”

Huang Zhong proudly promised.

So, after releasing the 500 soldiers, Huang Zhong led 5,000 soldiers and horses to the west, and the 5,000 soldiers were divided into several roads, creating a huge appearance, and spreading rumors everywhere, saying that Tongguan had fallen, Chang'an City had surrendered, and Xiahou Yuan's troops had been defeated and died.

The hundreds of soldiers fled back to Chencang in embarrassment, and then brought the news of a series of defeats back to Chencang, and the defenders of Chencang, who were already panicked, were naturally even more panicked at this time. And when they heard the rumors that Tongguan was lost, Chang'an was lost, and their families were captured by the Han army, the army began to flee uncontrollably.

A few days later, Zhang He got the exact news that the besieging army in Beiyuan had indeed been defeated, the road move had indeed been hanged, and Tongguan had indeed been lost, and their general Xiahou had led his army to fight for Tongguan at this moment.

In other words, the long line of communication from Wugong to Chencang has all fallen into the hands of the Han army, which also means that Zhang He and his more than 30,000 defenders of Chencang are now a lone army.

"The situation has come to this, in your opinion, what should our army do next?" Zhang He stretched his bitter gourd face and asked sullenly, his expression full of disappointment.

Guo Huai's expression was obviously shocked, but he was much calmer than Zhang He, pondered for a moment, and analyzed: "According to Huai's opinion, General Zhang doesn't need to be too anxious. The loss of Tongguan is just an accident, there must not be many thieves who sneak attack, as long as General Xiahou arrives in time, and then fights with the reinforcements of Kwantung inside and outside, it is expected that Tongguan will be recaptured soon. ”

"Soon? How long will it be, ten days, twenty days, or a month? Zhang He asked dissatisfiedly.

"Well, it's really hard to say." Guo Huai also made some difficulties, after all, Tongguan is the world's Xiongguan, the enemy is prepared, must be ready to defend to the end, and the capture of such a Xiongguan with the heart of death, the overwhelming surname advantage in numbers, will not necessarily be transformed into victory in the short term, Guo Huai of course does not dare to draw conclusions easily.

Zhang He snorted and said coldly: "The grain route has been completely cut off, the grain stored in Chencang is only enough for more than 20 days at most, and the soldiers have begun to flee continuously, I want to ask, if within 20 days, General Xiahou fails to recapture Tongguan, and the reinforcements from Kwantung fail to arrive in time, then what should I do with these 30,000 brothers?" ”

Zhang He's questioning was to stop Guo Huai, who can guarantee this thing, at the beginning, they were full of confidence that they could base Liu Bei west of Chencang, but how could they expect that people would play such a dangerous trick, and the soldiers of Chang'an City were transferred from the east to the west, and finally they miraculously took Tongguan.

Since Tongguan can be won, Guo Huai really can't guarantee that the next Han army can still play what kind of strange play.

"What does the general think?" Guo Huai had no choice but to return the burden to Zhang He.

Zhang He pondered for a long time, obviously his heart was also suffering, but the current embarrassing situation forced him to make a decision.

After a long time, he said silently: "If Tongguan can't be captured, then the reinforcements from the eastern part of the country can only enter the pass by going to Wuguan and Pusaka Crossing." The road to Wuguan is difficult to walk, and the reinforcements from Luoyang can't catch up for a while, so only taking the Puban crossing side is a shortcut. For the sake of today's plan, I thought that it would be better to quickly withdraw the troops from Chen Cang, join up with General Xiahou to defend Pubanjin, and secure a passage that can enter the customs for the Duke of Wei. ”

Zhang He's words surprised Guo Huai, and he hurriedly said: "If you abandon Chencang, it will be equivalent to letting more than 100,000 thieves in Longxi and Hanzhong easily enter the pass, with the existing strength of our Guanzhong legion, how can we deal with it, and then the entire hinterland of Guanzhong will not be handed over to Liu Bei." ”

Zhang He said in a deep voice: "It is precisely because of the strength of the thief army that we have to concentrate our forces to defend Pubanjin, and the land in the middle of the pass will be given to Liu Bei, as long as the army of Duke Wei can enter the pass smoothly." Liu Bei had no danger to defend, so he could only fight a decisive battle with our army on the Guanzhong Plain, and then he would turn the tide of the battle in a battle. ”

Zhang He's idea cannot be said to be unreasonable, but this withdrawal of troops is to bear the heavy responsibility of losing Guanzhong, and the generals, including Guo Huai, naturally dare not take responsibility for themselves.

"General Zhang, this matter is very important, even if you want to withdraw, is it not too late to explain the interests and disadvantages with General Xiahou before making a decision." Guo Huai tried to reverse Zhang He's intentions.

Zhang He's face sank, "Beiyuan has been defeated, the eastbound road has been cut off, if the messenger can't pass through the enemy territory smoothly, then we will have to sit and die here." For the sake of today's plan, we should focus on the overall situation, and how can we care about the gains and losses of one city and one place. ”

Speaking of this, Guo Huai didn't say anything anymore, just shook his head and sighed.

Zhang He took a deep breath and said in a loud voice: "General Xiahou is not here, I am the supreme commander here, I have decided to preserve my strength, and the whole army will withdraw eastward early tomorrow morning." ”

………… Before dawn the next day, Beiyuan received information from Huang Zhong's department, saying that a large number of Cao troops had been found in the direction of Chencang, and they were rushing along Weishui and rushing towards Beiyuan.

Wang Ping, who got this information, woke up Fang Shao, who was still asleep, as soon as possible, and said hurriedly: "Deputy Army Fang, there is a large number of enemy troops coming east from Chencang, most of them are Zhang He who sent troops to capture the Northern Plains, should you send troops to reinforce General Huang as soon as possible?" ”

Fang Shao rubbed his eyes to clear his mind a little, and then looked at Huang Zhong's information in detail with a yawn, and after reading it, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show a smug smile.

"Quickly go and send a message to General Huang, let him withdraw with the five thousand suspicious soldiers, let's wait for Zhang He, a street rat, to pass by in this Beiyuan City."

"Vice Jun Fang, what do you mean by this?" Wang Ping looked a little puzzled.

Fang Shao casually threw the information on the case, and said lightly: "Zhang He only has more than 30,000 soldiers in his hands, and it is difficult to defend Chen Cang, where can he still divide troops to recapture the Northern Plains." I don't think he's here to fight us this time, he's going to run away. ”

(To be continued)