The people behind looked in horror at a big pit that suddenly appeared on the ground, and watched the elephant struggling inside, roaring, and howling bitterly, but the people in front were inexplicable and didn't know what was going on, and the people in the distance couldn't see the situation here, and were very dissatisfied with the companions who stopped and didn't leave, and scolded angrily.

No one noticed that nearly a thousand crossbows in the woods next to them showed their hideous faces, and with a violent drum sound, all the noisy shouts and curses were suppressed, and the crossbowmen who had been aiming for a long time shot a deadly rain of arrows at the Funan soldiers like headless flies.

The slow-moving team became an excellent target, and the crossbowmen easily pulled the crossbow machine, and the long arrows whistled out, flying between the trunks and lush branches of the trees, whether old or young, and accurately piercing into the bodies of the Funan soldiers, and the sharp arrow wind drove the leaves to dance. Most of the Funan soldiers were wearing simple leather armor, and there was no resistance in front of the iron arrows, and the long arrows entered the body, blood spilled out, and the screams came one after another, and the originally excited journey home became the road of death in a blink of an eye.

Naturally, the soldiers on the back of the war elephants received the greatest attention, at least two-thirds of the more than 1,000 crossbows took care of them, and the first drum just beat a few times, and the ten war elephants lost control, they roared, trampling on the soldiers next to them, and the heavy hooves trampled on the Funan soldiers one by one, breaking their muscles and bones, and blurring the flesh and blood, and even rushed the Funan soldiers who tried to form a small formation on the spot to counterattack, and they could not form an army.

Fan Zhan sat on the elephant's back, his frightened eyes widened, but he had lost his lustre, his mouth was wide open, but there was no voice to shout, and in the first time, he was fatally hit, and more than a dozen crossbow arrows hit him at the same time. Although he was wearing crocodile armor, two crossbow arrows through his throat mercilessly took his life.

Fan Zhan died, he died very unwillingly, he never thought that the Han people would dare to set up an ambush on his way back, he paid the price of his life for his conceit - the Han people have changed, however, he could not convey this experience in exchange for his life to the king of Funan, when his head was sent to the king of Funan, he still maintained a shocked expression, and saw that Fan Man, the king of Funan, was chilled for a while.

Along with Fan Zhan's head, there was also a note with very neat handwriting, on which were Chinese characters, Fan Man's level of Sinology was good, and he recognized these words. The writing is very gentle, but the meaning is very arrogant.

"Those who offend me as a strong man will be punished even if they are far away!" There is a paragraph on the back: "Sun Deng, the prince of Wu of the Han Dynasty, respectfully tells the king of Funan." ”

Fan Man's eyes were split, Fan Zhan was not only his general, but also his nephew, now not only the seven thousand army had no life, but also was beheaded, this feud was big, originally he was still thinking about whether to negotiate peace with Wu Guo, first concentrate on dealing with Yue Guo, and then talk about it, now it seems that there is no need for this, he must face Wu Yue at the same time.

"Gather a large army and attack the south again!" Fan Man was furious, grabbed the piece of paper and tore it to shreds, and yelled: "Cut off the head of this bullshit prince and avenge Fan Zhan!" ”

Soon, several messengers galloped out of the city, either on horseback or by boat, in all directions.

…… In fact, Fan Man wronged Sun Deng, he didn't fight that battle, and he didn't write that note, which was all the credit of Zhuge Ke. Zhuge Ke was very enthusiastic, he didn't wait for all the reinforcements to arrive, he took a batch of grain and grass on the road, and when he arrived in Xijuan City by sea, Chen Shi happened to come back from Linyi. As soon as he heard Chen Shi's relayed opinions, Zhuge Ke agreed, so Lu Dai allocated him 2,000 people, and even brought him 2,000 county soldiers to Changshan to set up an ambush. The county soldiers he brought may still have some hands on the war, but digging pits is an expert, they worked together, figuring out what might happen after the war elephant was frightened, and finally came up with the idea of a series of plum blossom pits, which lacked virtue and smoked, which made Zhuge Ke stunned.

As a result, none of the ten war elephants survived, except for two who were killed on the spot, and the remaining eight war elephants all fell into the pit.

Sun Deng was very satisfied with this result, no matter what, Zhuge Ke gave him a long face in the first battle out of the mountain, killed more than 1,000 people on the spot, captured more than 3,000 people and the record of eight war elephants was brilliant, Sun Deng's only uneasy thing was that the sentence written by Zhuge Ke in his name was not too much, relieving qi is relieving qi, in case it angered the king of Funan, he raised a large army to attack, wouldn't it be self-defeating?

Zhuge Ke's reply to this is that there are two reasons why this must be done: first, the king of Funan blatantly invaded Yuenan, if he didn't hit his arrogance, he would not take Wu Guo in his eyes, what kind of benevolence do these barbarians know? If you don't beat him, he won't listen to you about righteousness. Second, the king of Yue can send troops to attack Funan in order for several businessmen, and the matter is so big, if we don't show the thunder means, then Wu still wants to be on an equal footing with Yue in the future? Who will take Wu Guo in their eyes? Probably even Fan Man will underestimate Wu Guo, so he must know that not only Yue Guo can't be provoked, but Wu Guo can't be provoked, in other words, the Han people can't be provoked.

Although Sun Deng did not agree with Zhuge Ke's explanation, but at this point, he couldn't get it back anyway, and now the task was to solve the district connection in Xijuan City, and the king of Linyi, who no longer had the Linyi Kingdom, didn't know the situation. Sun Deng left this opportunity to Lu Dai and asked him to drive the eight-headed war elephant out of the city, and Ou Lian immediately knew that the general trend was gone, and committed suicide in anger at the head of the city, ending his brilliant and tragic life.

Xijuan City surrendered in Kaicheng, and Nanjun was recovered, Sun Deng immediately sent six hundred li to report to Jianye urgently, and at the same time prepare for the battle, as long as people with a little brain know that the next big war is inevitable. In order to avoid fighting alone, Sun Deng sent Zhuge Ke to Linyi to meet Sun Shao, hoping that everyone would act in unison.

Sun Shao smiled when he saw Zhuge Ke, who was proud of the spring breeze: "Yuan Xun, the pit is well dug." ”

Zhuge Ke said modestly: "It's all His Highness's guidance. ”

Then the two looked at each other heartlessly and laughed.

After laughing for a while, the two sat down, Sun Shao invited him to drink tea, Zhuge Ke took a sip, and suddenly his face became bitter, he looked at the dark brown liquid in the cup and said, "Your Highness, what is this, so bitter?" ”

"Xiyi calls this thing the source of strength, and it is said that drinking this can make you energetic." Sun Shao teased the thing that later generations would call coffee in the cup, with a calm smile: "I wasn't used to it at first, but slowly I might like it." ”

"Really?" Zhuge Ke looked at the source of power that he took a sip of, and frowned: "I think the tea is still better." ”

"Yuan Xun, you are not yet twenty years old, so you can't accept new things?" Sun Shao raised the corners of his mouth and laughed: "There are still many novelties you want to see in the future, you can't be like those old pedants, always limit your eyes to the one you are familiar with." He put down the spoon, took a big sip from the cup, smacked his lips and tasted it, and said: "Curiosity is the most important weapon for people to explore this world, I saw that you have the courage and courage to act, so I invited you to try it, but I didn't expect you to like it." ”

When Zhuge Ke heard this, he immediately felt that he was a little sorry for the appreciation of King Yue if he didn't drink this cup of bitter medicine, he fearlessly raised the cup, drank it all, and tasted it calmly, and finally spit out a word: "Bitter!" ”

Sun Shao couldn't help laughing, and burst out laughing.

"Yuan Xun, Zigao sent you, wouldn't it just be to joke with me?" Sun Shao laughed for a while, put away his smile and said, "You have recovered Yuenan, and the task has been completed, why didn't he go back?" Wouldn't it be better to take it when you see it? ”

Zhuge Ke lowered his head and pondered for a moment, Sun Deng had expressed such thoughts, but he was persuaded by him. Leaving now, of course, is good for Sun Deng, and if he retires, it has nothing to do with him in the future. But Zhuge Ke saw the fighter plane, if Fan Man couldn't swallow this breath, there would definitely be a big battle in Yuenan, such an opportunity was very rare in Wu Guo, he had just tasted the sweetness, how could he leave Yuenan at this time, so he used various reasons to persuade Sun Deng.

But it was very dangerous to leave Sun Deng in Yuenan, Zhuge Ke knew that with the strength in his and Lu Dai's hands, it would not be easy to deal with the army of Funan, which was why he took the initiative to meet with Sun Shao, he needed Sun Shao's help.

"Your Highness, the battle with Funan has just begun, half of Fan Zhan's 7,000 army was lost at the hands of His Highness, and half at the hands of my Wu army, for Fan Man, this is just a warning." Zhuge Ke said carefully and carefully: "But Fan Man is a barbarian, he may not be able to comprehend my Wu Yue's kindness." It is said that he is familiar with the situation of my Han Dynasty, but he probably has not read the Taishi Gongshu, so he may not be wiser than Yelang Wang, and it is possible to compete with me. His Royal Highness is pouring the country into the country, and he must not be guarded against. ”

Sun Shao didn't speak, just listened to Zhuge Ke, and drank coffee slowly. In general, although he felt that Zhuge Ke was not like his father Zhuge Jinsheng, and his younger brother Zhuge Qiao, who passed on to his uncle, and was a little too smart, but this young man was very enterprising, and he had more appetite for him than Sun Deng, the nerd.

If you want to start a full-scale war with Funan, it is of course good to have one more ally, and with Wu State on land, it is of course better for him to attack at sea than to deal with him alone. Zhuge Ke has this thought, and he is in Sun Shao's arms, he used fraud to force Sun Deng to send troops, and he can't negotiate with Fan Man, isn't this the purpose?

Zhuge Ke saw that Sun Shao didn't speak, knowing that he was waiting for him to open conditions, but he didn't have too many choices. Sun Shao's army is a naval division, he has the upper hand on the sea, and has created a brilliant record of easily annihilating the opponent's 3,000 naval divisions - the more than 3,000 Funan naval divisions are still working as coolies in the cabin - he can fight if he wins, and leave if he can't win, but Wu Guo is not, this time he can win the battle, it is entirely because he has been prepared, and Fan Zhan is very cooperative, he actually has no defense, and crashed into the ambush circle - Zhuge Ke is still a little puzzled, it is said that Fan Zhan is also a battle-hardened person, how can he be so careless? He didn't know that Fan Zhan had been exhausted by Sun Shao's headhunting conference, and he was in a trance, so he broke into his ambush circle in a daze, of course, this is also related to Fan Zhan's psychological inertia, who would have thought that the Han people would annihilate him, this is not very benevolent.

"We were able to win this time, mainly because we restrained the opponent's war elephants very well, the forest was cramped, the war elephants were attacked in a hurry, we took Fan Zhan and the soldiers on the ten war elephants as the target of attack in the first strike, it can be said that the Funan people did not have time to react at all, and the first merit was those pits, those pits from site selection to cover-up, it took us a lot of energy." Zhuge Ke sighed and said with a serious expression: "In the future, the two armies will face each other, and it will be impossible for the other party to give us so much time to dig a pit, we must find a good way to deal with the war elephants between the two armies, otherwise, this will be our nightmare." ”

"Yuan Xun, victory is not arrogant, your state of mind cultivation is not simple." Sun Shao sighed, and said half-seriously and half-jokingly: "Wu has you, if you can cooperate, it is a good ally, if you can't cooperate, you are my fierce enemy." Should I think about it, should I take precautions? ”

Zhuge Ke's face tightened, and he subconsciously looked at Sun Shao, Sun Shao's expression was serious, and it didn't look like a joke, but as if he was really thinking about this issue. No matter how smart Zhuge Ke is, after all, he is just twenty years old, and he is familiar with the things in history that are hated because of his intelligence, he can't help but think of himself, and he is a little nervous for a while.

Sun Shao looked at Zhuge Ke without saying a word, and saw that Zhuge Ke was restless, and then suddenly laughed with a "sneer", this laugh, like a spring breeze breaking the ice, blew the increasingly heavy dark clouds in Zhuge Ke's heart all of a sudden. Zhuge Ke said with a smile: "Your Highness is laughing, His Highness himself uses soldiers like a god, and there are more capable generals under his account, not to mention anything else, Zhou Boying is the son of the Metropolitan Governor, and his ability to use troops is not under me, if Wu Guo really wants to fight one day, I am afraid that without His Highness to fight, he can make me have nothing to do." ”

Sun Shao couldn't help laughing, he pointed at Zhuge Ke and said, "Yuan Xun, you are sharp enough, not only to solve your own difficulties, but also to help Zhou Boying." Except for Zhou Boying, can't I find your opponent? The little vertical man seems to be really arrogant. ”

Zhuge Ke's face flushed, and his little caution did not hide it from Sun Shao.

"However, don't worry, not to mention that I didn't have the idea of fighting against Wu Guo from beginning to end, even if I had, I wouldn't be this kind of villain, I'd rather compete with you with a dignified battle." Sun Shao said with emotion: "You don't know, although it is not easy to find a close friend, it is even more difficult to find a matching opponent. Meng Degong, Yun Changgong are elders, heroes of the world, in you and me. Yuan Xun, we are now close friends, even if we will become opponents in the future, we are also sympathetic opponents, even if I have a thousand tricks, I will not use it on you. Of course, I hope we can always be friends, or we wouldn't have been deliberately snubbing you all the time. ”

Zhuge Ke is inexplicably grateful, as Sun Shao said, from the beginning of their acquaintance, Sun Shao was torturing him intentionally or unintentionally, on the one hand, he tempered his heart and surname, and on the other hand, he also made him a loyal minister who could not be linked to Sun Shao in Sun Quan's mind.

"Your Highness, how dare you fight against Your Highness." Zhuge Ke bowed and bowed: "I am willing to work together with His Highness to defeat Funan and raise the prestige of my Han thousands of miles away." ”

"Good." Sun Shao nodded: "Wei has Cao Ziwen, Wu has Zhuge Yuanxun, they are all heroes among the younger generation, I don't know what kind of people from the Shu Kingdom can compete with you, I am really looking forward to it." He paused, and said: "Funan Capital Temu City is far away from Yuenan, Fan Man is to gather a large army, it is not easy to rush to Yuenan, and the soldiers move, it is said to be long-lasting, and the consumption must be very large, if he only uses his own soldiers, then he must guard against the subject country to make chaos, the troops will be scattered, if the collection of troops from the subject country, it must not last long, otherwise the people's hearts will float, he will collapse without a fight." Personally, I think he will seek a quick victory, relying on the strength of the war elephant to tear through your defenses and directly crush your army. There are two plans at the moment, first, you stick to the city of Xijuan, attack the city and defend the city, that is the specialty of my Central Plains people, if the Funan people attack the city, even if there are war elephants to help, they can only stop the army under the fortified city, as long as you hold the city, you can win without a fight. ”

Zhuge Ke pondered for a moment, but shook his head and expressed his disapproval. Sun Shao looked at him encouragingly, and Zhuge Ke said: "Trapped in the West Scroll, the outside of the city will be slaughtered by it, the people are restless, a year has not been achieved, and next year must fall into famine, although the south is not broken, it is no different from broken, and let the king of Funan drive straight in, it will inevitably affect morale, and it is not good for the city." Besides, this time Fan Zhan's invasion of Funan was completely annihilated by us, and when the king of Funan entered Funan, we must at least hit him hard, but we don't have that strength. ”

"Well, I have another way." Sun Shao was not angry at all, on the contrary, he seemed very happy, Zhuge Ke had thought it through, indicating that he already had a plan. He went on to say that he was going to say: "There is another way, which is to fortify Changshan. This has an advantage, that is, it does not affect the cultivation of the southern part of the country, at least the grain is guaranteed. It is said that the south is hot and ripe, and there are three crops of rice a year, which is enough to supply the army. Moreover," Sun Shao raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a wicked smile: "The army is fighting fiercely on Changshan, and the battlefield is your choice, so you can dig a pit calmly." ”

Zhuge Ke smiled, still a little worried: "Although there is a dense forest in Changshan, there is no barrier, I have also paid attention to it, Changshan is not tall first, and secondly, the waves on both sides are gentle, and it is not a suitable place to block, if it is just an ambush, it is still okay, and it is not enough to use it as a defensive position for a long time." Moreover, there are nearly 100 miles from north to south of Changshan, and we are already short of troops, and we cannot defend against it. ”

Sun Shao rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, and asked, "Then what are you going to do?" ”

Zhuge Ke bowed his hand and gave a salute: "Ke has a management opinion, and I want to consult with His Highness." ”

"It's okay for Yuan Xun to be blunt."

"Your Highness's director is in the naval division, and the director of our army is in land warfare, but the number of people is too small, so it is stretched. The county soldiers are still being recruited, and the prince has also sent a request for help to the king, if the king agrees, he may transfer the army in the Guiyang area to Jiaozhou to participate in the war, but first, this is not certain, and secondly, the time is too late, plus the long journey, the baggage transportation is difficult. With His Royal Highness's help, we will be able to drag the king of Funan in Changshan, and then His Royal Highness will attack the coast with a sailor, so that he will be tired and tired of running for his life, and in less than three months, Funan will be tired, and I Wu Yue will win, and he can't help but stop fighting and talking. ”

"You want me to send someone to help you fight?" Sun Shao's smile became a little weird: "Is this your idea, or is it Zigao's idea?" Earlier, I was asked to send troops into Yuenan, but you were reluctant. ”

Zhuge Ke smiled: "It's my idea, after weighing it repeatedly on the way here, I feel that at present, we Wu Yue should still fight side by side and unify the dispatch, so that it is possible to block the revenge of the King of Funan and protect the results of the battle." This idea has not had time to explain to the prince, so I will not be presumptuous, first consult His Highness, if His Highness thinks it is available, I will go back to the prince, the prince is wise, I think he can see the situation clearly. ”

Sun Shao laughed secretly, Zhuge Ke really has the qualifications of a powerful minister, and he actually talked about cooperation with himself without Sun Deng's consent, which is bold enough. He nodded quietly, "It's no problem to transport troops and food, I'll send some merchant ships over, the sporadic pirates along the way don't think of having the courage to fight for military rations." As for sending troops to cooperate, I can promise you, as long as Zigao does not object, I can send 10,000 people over to help people guard Changshan, but the ugly words are ahead, and you will be responsible for the supply of food, grass and ordnance for my 10,000 people. ”

Zhuge Ke smiled faintly, "Your Highness, 10,000 is too much, 5,000 is enough." ”

Sun Shao turned his head to look at him: "You are sure!" ”

Zhuge Ke nodded solemnly: "Convinced!" His Royal Highness is brave and brave, and one is ten, and five thousand soldiers are enough for fifty thousand. ”

Sun Shao scoffed, Zhuge Ke was serious, but in fact, he was still playing a small abacus. If the army of Yue really has 10,000 people, I am afraid that the dominance of the battlefield will not be in Wu but in Yue, Zhuge Ke is unwilling to be controlled by others, so he wants to press the number to the minimum, his biggest purpose may be to create the impression of Wu and Yue as one, so that the king of Funan has some scruples, and then use these 5,000 people to contain him, and let him send money and food when the time comes, and he can't get out of the matter conveniently.

At a young age, the arithmetic is really fine, this person is like a sharp dagger, after this tempering, his edge has been revealed.

"Five thousand? Yes! Sun Shao pondered for a moment and nodded affirmatively: "In principle, I agree with your suggestion, but for specific details, you'd better discuss it with Zigao before deciding." Yuan Xun, it's not that I rely on the old and sell the old, I want to remind you a few words. Although Zigao is generous, my uncle is a very defensive man. You are a new sword, and you are good, but you still owe some old people, don't do bad things with good intentions. He smiled and patted Zhuge Ke's shoulder meaningfully: "I don't want such a good friend and rival to hide the treasure box just because of some inexplicable reason. ”

Zhuge Ke was grateful and bowed down.

(To be continued)