Eastern Front, Slope Valley.

Fang Shao glanced up at the sky, it was blue, where the mountain met the sky, there were a few idle clouds lying lazily.

The cliffs on both sides were gradually getting shorter, and the distance between the mountains was gradually widening, and Fang Shao knew that he and his army were about to get out of the sloping valley.

Ten days ago, after hearing that the main force of the king of Hanzhong had left Sanguan, arrived at Chencang, and launched a series of powerful offensives, Fang Shao and Huang Zhong, as well as Wang Ping, were ordered to lead nearly 30,000 partial divisions out of the valley.

Compared with several valley roads, the slope valley is the most "flat" and easy to walk, but it is only in comparison. What Fang Shao is most afraid of is an autumn rain, and the cliffs on both sides, as long as there is a little rain washing, will easily roll down the rocks and soil, cutting off the narrow gravel road and the already brittle plank road.

Fortunately, in the past few days after the autumn, the sky is beautiful, and the sky is high and the clouds are light for more than ten days, and Fang Shao almost walked through this valley road of more than 500 miles with the mood of enjoying the mountains and rivers.

Well, it looks like it won't be a few days before we get out of the valley. Fang Shao's heart was a lot more relaxed, in his opinion, the most difficult part of this war along the Qinling Mountains was not how to defeat the enemy, but how to overcome the dangers of these mountains.

Looking ahead, the procession was like a long snake sticking to the narrow road on one side of the valley, and at the widest point it could only accommodate three or four people side by side, and on the left side of the road was the Baoshui that stretched northward, and the water was so strong that if you accidentally slipped into it, you would definitely be alive or dead.

Ahead, Wang Ping rode his horse, and the soldiers in the road had to cling to the side of the mountain wall, thinking that he was making way for him.

"Deputy Army Fang, thirty miles ahead is the mouth of the valley, General Huang Lao must speed up the march and strive to get out before tomorrow evening."

"Well, have you found any enemy troops stationed at the mouth of the valley?" Fang Shao nodded and asked.

Wang Ping shook his head and smiled contemptuously: "There is only one small village at the mouth of the valley, and it is estimated that there are only one hundred and ten people, which should be a reconnaissance team." According to the scouts, most of the enemies near the valley were stationed in the area of Yicheng and Wugong. ”

The northern edge of the Qinling Mountains stretches from east to west, and together constitute the natural defense line of the Guanzhong Plain against the invasion of Hanzhong, while the area between Weishui and the Qinling Mountains is narrow and uneven, which is neither conducive to the construction of cities nor the cultivation of farmland, therefore, along the Qinling Mountains, such as Chencang, Wugong, Yicheng and other towns, most of them are built on the north bank of Weishui.

Xiahou Yuan's defensive policy can be said to be quite stable and clever, didn't your Han army want to get out of the valley, okay, Lao Tzu will let you come out, the barren land on the south bank will be vacated for you, as long as Lao Tzu guards the important cities on the north bank, as long as you can't cross the Weishui, what kind of movement can you toss, and wait for the hundreds of miles of valley road, when you don't have enough food, you will naturally retreat in disgrace.

"Hehe, it seems that Xiahou Yuan really regards us as a feint attack force, thinking that we really want to take advantage of the fierce battle in Chencang to attack Chang'an from the east of the Slope Valley, it seems that my plan has been half successful, so pass the order down and speed up the march."

…… Three days later, Chen Cangcheng.

At dusk, a bloody battle had just ended.

Zhang He stood at the head of the city with a knife, panting, silently watching the orderly and retreating Han army under the city, a Lang Zhong who accompanied the army, was bandaging a wound on his left arm for him, blood was still flowing, but Zhang He seemed to be unaware.

"General, this is the third injury you will suffer in the future, you better hurry up and let the little one treat you well." Na Langzhong looked at several injuries around Zhang He's body and said worriedly.

Zhang He waved his hand and said rudely: "This little injury is nothing, the thief army is attacking strongly, how can I leave my post easily, you don't have to worry about me, hurry up and treat other brothers." ”

Lang Zhong sighed secretly, and hurriedly followed with the medicine box, passing by Guo Huai, who also came in a hurry.

That Guo Huai was also covered with blood in his clothes and armor, and his face was gray, so he had to come forward and bow his hand slightly, "General Zhang, the thief army in the south has also retreated, it seems that today's offensive is over." ”

Zhang He also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and asked, "How much has our soldiers lost?" ”

Guo Huai counted his fingers and replied: "It's not much, only more than 300 brothers were killed and wounded today, but at least five or six hundred thieves were killed, counting the previous few days, these thieves killed at least more than 2,000 people, and the moat in Nancheng is about to be blocked, I am sending someone to clean it up." ”

The breath gradually calmed down, Zhang He showed a little smugness, and snorted: "Liu Bei thinks that he wants to capture my Chen Cang because of the strength of the crowd, just to make him suffer some hardships." ”

Guo Huai also smiled: "Thanks to the general's foresight, the Shenwei cannon that guarded against the thief army more than doubled Chen Cangcheng, making the thief army's Shenwei cannon a waste." Now our city is strong and morale is strong, but Liu Bei is still forcibly attacking, which is really a taboo for soldiers. ”

Zhang He nodded slightly, "Liu Bei is also experienced, I don't think he is so ignorant of the art of war, in my opinion, he wants to use continuous strong attacks to force General Xiahou to increase troops to Chen Cang, so that he can take the opportunity to threaten Chang'an with a partial division out of the valley to the east." ”

Guo Huai said: "General Zhang's words are reasonable, I recently heard that a partial division led by the thief general Huang Zhong has left the valley and seems to be marching in the direction of martial arts, most of which is the purpose." ”

Zhang He asked again: "But I don't know how General Xiahou deployed?" ”

Guo Huai said: "General Xiahou has long expected that he has stationed soldiers and horses on the front line of Wugong and Yicheng, and he expects that the plan of the thief army will also fail." ”

Zhang He's face showed a look of relief, "Then I will hold on to this Chen Cang, and when Liu Bei's food is exhausted, he will naturally retire." ”

Guo Huai seemed to be worried, "Liu Beijun's grain and grass are supplied by Hanzhong, and he will naturally retire after the grain is exhausted." However, Zhang Fei's department can transport grain from Longxi nearby, but I am afraid that General Xu Huang will be under great pressure. ”

Zhang He sneered, "The Longshan passage is narrow and difficult to navigate, with General Xu's ability, as long as he does not come out of Huangxian County, it is expected that Zhang Fei will not be able to help." Moreover, this time Liu Bei invaded, the main force was still the Hanzhong soldiers led by Liu Bei himself, as long as Liu Bei's troops retreated, the rest of the roads naturally couldn't set off any storms, so we don't need to worry. ”

As he was talking, he saw a small colonel with blood on his body, and he hurried up to the city with a disgraced face, and when he saw Zhang He, he fell to the ground and confessed: "The little incompetence, the grain and grass have been robbed by the thief army, and I hope the general will forgive the sin!" ”

"What!" Zhang He was taken aback and said angrily: "The thief army was blocked by me in the southeast, and you transported grain from Chang'an in the east, how could you be robbed by the thief army." ”

The little colonel was frightened and said: "The small escort grain cart traveled along the north bank of the Wei River, but when passing through the northern plains, thousands of thieves suddenly killed in the city, and the small man only had a few hundred people, and he was caught off guard, so he ......"

"Beiyuan, how did the thief army appear in Beiyuan?" Zhang He's expression was full of confusion.

Guo Huai suddenly realized, and exclaimed: "Could it be that the thief of the Xiegu Valley did not attack martial arts in the east, but occupied the Wuzhang Plain on the south bank, and rushed to cross the Weishui River and raided the North Plains!" ”

Hearing this, Zhang He was also in a trance, but his expression was only shocked for a moment, and he soon regained his composure, he said disdainfully: "It turns out that the goal of the thief army is to cut off my grain channel, and the target seems to be in Chencang." Hehe, the trick is good, but, just a small town in the northern plains, do you think you can defend it if you lay it down? ”

Zhang He's self-confidence is reasonable, according to intelligence, the Han army out of the slope valley is only 20,000 or 30,000 people, and the city in the north is low, and it is located in the flat and wide north bank of the Wei Plain, and Xiahou Yuan, who guards Chang'an, still has about 30,000 elite soldiers, including 10,000 elite cavalry, Zhang He of course has a reason, Xiahou Yuan will soon help him get the Han army in the north and restore the grain route from Chencang to Chang'an.

At this time, Guo Huai frowned and said: "The thief's move is obviously premeditated, don't take it lightly, General Zhang, it's better to send an urgent report to General Xiahou as soon as possible, and ask him to set the rule." ”

Xiahou Yuan supervised the military in Guanzhong, Zhang He and others were his subordinates, he was only ordered to guard Chencang Road, naturally he did not dare to move lightly, and now he knew that the grain road was cut off, but he only had to wait for Xiahou Yuan to make a decision.

So, Zhang He immediately sent people to Pegasus to Chang'an. Because the road to the Guanzhong Plain was smooth, the messenger sent the news of the occupation of the Northern Plains to Xiahou Yuan in Chang'an within a day. And when Xiahou Yuan heard that the Han army had seized the small city of Beiyuan, he was also taken aback, and immediately decided to leave Zhong Xuan and Lu Zhao to lead more than 10,000 soldiers to guard Chang'an, and personally led more than 10,000 elite horses out of Chang'an, and went to attack Beiyuan with the Cao army stationed in Wugong and other places.

At this moment, in the small city of Beiyuan, Wang Ping is commanding his 5,000 soldiers and horses, racing against time to strengthen the city. This small city was so small that he had to change the original plan of 10,000 soldiers to defend the Northern Plains and 20,000 soldiers to defend the Wuzhang Plains, and Fang Shao only gave him 5,000 soldiers and horses.

Wang Ping threw a stone at the bottom of the city, and before he had time to blink the stone fell to the ground, it was roughly estimated that the highest level of this city was not more than three meters, and the width was not more than two meters, not to mention a moat, and there was not even a decent trench.

"His grandmother's, such a broken city, Xiahou Yuan can fly directly over Lao Tzu's head with a whip, this is called how Lao Tzu guards." Wang Ping complained helplessly.

The battle of Jieting made him Wang Ping, and now he has become a general of Yamen from a small colonel under Zhang Lu back then.

However, these feats and honors were not obtained in vain, considering his expertise in good guarding, this time the war, the king of Hanzhong will stick to the northern plains, and the heavy responsibility of attracting Xiahou Yuan's firepower will fall on him again.

Before leaving, the king of Hanzhong also deliberately stroked his back and said: "Zijun, as long as you can drag Xiahou Yuan's army in Beiyuan for twenty days, then you should be the first to take the battle of Guanzhong this time!" ’

The trust and respect of the king of Hanzhong moved Wang Ping at that time, but now after visiting the northern plains, Wang Ping can't be moved.

Not only that, but now, he didn't even have much time to breathe, because the billowing dust and smoke raised from the east meant that the torrent of Cao Jun's iron cavalry was rushing in.

Wang Ping touched the saber on his waist, gritted his teeth and muttered: "Xiahou Yuan, if you have the courage, let the horse come, Lao Tzu will let you reminisce about the taste of Zhuge Flying Crossbow!" ”

(To be continued)