After the county official of Shu was taken out of the west gate, the Northern Expeditionary Army specially gave him a captured war horse and let him leave on his own.

At the same time that the county officials of Shu State rushed out of the west gate of Xixiang City, Thunderstorm also sent his subordinates to set off from the east gate and go to Ankang City to report the results of the battle to Hua'an.

In fact, Hua'an didn't have to think about it to know that the surprise attack on Xixiang City would definitely be victorious, so he asked all the men and horses to prepare a piece of supplies for the expedition early in the morning.

A few hours later, all the horses and horses in Ankang City were ready, ready to set off before the expedition, and Hua'an was about to give the order to set off, when the good news of the thunderstorm and the iron bull arrived.

"Big brother, you're really accurate! Saigo Castle was really taken by Thunderstorm They. Hearing the good news, Wang San looked at Hua'an and complimented him softly.

Hua An smiled indifferently and said: "In the city of projectiles, my 20,000 main forces with a hundred thunderbolt cars raided in the middle of the night, how can the Shu army resist." ”

"Haha! That's right, Xixiang City will be broken as soon as it is attacked, and Nanzheng must not be difficult to fight, and it doesn't seem difficult to capture Hanzhong County! Wang San said with a smile.

Hua An smiled slightly, and said: "The situation in Nanzheng, the scouts are investigating, what the specific situation is, we will not be able to determine until these scouts come back, right now, our soldiers and horses will immediately go to Xixiang City to join the thunderstorm and the iron bull." ”

"What the eldest brother said is that our army should set off immediately." Wang San said, turned sideways and shouted: "Let's go, all the horses will set off immediately." ”

"Let's go." Under the orders of the generals and colonels of the various armies, the rear army of the Northern Expeditionary Army and the baggage of the horses. Mighty march in the direction of Xixiang City.

#######

In Nanzheng City, the capital of Liangzhou, the news that Nanxiang City, the county official of Shu State who had been released, was broken by the Jin army told Li Guang, the general who was in charge of guarding Liangzhou.

Li Guang is the younger brother of Li Shi, the emperor of Shu, and was named the king of Han and a general by Li Shi.

"Xixiang City was broken by the Jin army in less than half an hour? It seems that the Jin army is prepared! There are only more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Hanzhong, can they resist the attack of the Jin army? Han King Li Guang frowned and muttered to himself.

Seeing this, the generals on the side hurriedly clenched their fists and said, "King Han." Our army is underarmed. You must write to your majesty and let your majesty send an army to rescue! ”

"Yes, yes, on the book of His Majesty, this king will write." Han King Li Guang said. He walked over to the case where the four treasures of the study were placed.

Li Guang picked up the brush. looked at the strategist Xie Siming beside him. Hurriedly said: "Lord Xie, how should this king write, it's good." ”

Xie Siming shook his head. snatched the brush in Li Guang's hand, and said: "It doesn't matter if the King of Han doesn't write, Chengdu is a thousand miles away from Nanzheng, and the Jin army has broken through Xixiang City, which is close at hand, but I am afraid that far water will not quench the thirst of the near!" Moreover, according to the detailed report, the Jin army's Huan Wen Legion and Deng Yue Legion have also raised troops and are attacking our country's border. ”

Li Guang was shocked when he heard this, hugged Xie Siming's arm, and said hurriedly: "Lord Xie, what can I do then?" This king can't sit still! You have to think of a way, you have to think of a way. ”

Seeing that Li Guang, the king of Han, was nervous like this, Xie Siming frowned, and said: "King Han, for today's plan, we can only rely on ourselves, Chuyang, Chenggu, and Nanzheng are connected into a line, and they can rescue each other, as long as they hold these three cities, they can contain the offensive edge of the Jin army." ”

"Nanzheng has an army of 10,000, and there are 5,000 men and horses in Chuyang and Chenggu, and the three cities rescue each other, can they really hold it?" Li Guang said suspiciously.

"Fifty percent, about fifty percent of the hope can be kept." Xie Siming said lightly.

As soon as he heard that there was only fifty percent of hope, Li Guang, the king of Han, was rarely dissatisfied, looked at the rest of the generals beside him, and asked, "Do you generals have a good plan?" ”

Seeing this, a general hugged his fists and said: "King Han, now that the Jin army is at its peak, our army divides its troops to defend the city, and it may not be able to hold it, it is better to concentrate all the troops in Hanzhong in Nanzheng, with the strong city walls of Nanzheng, stick to the city, maybe you can drag the Jin army, and when its food and grass are exhausted, it will naturally retreat." ”

"King Han, don't do it! If the whole army retreats to Nanzheng, it is equivalent to giving up the entire Hanzhong, and the Jin army can surround Nanzheng without scruples, but our army does not even have a single supporter, and it has become a turtle in the urn. Xie Siming objected loudly.

"The Jin army is in full swing, and it will be more difficult for our army to resist, and Xixiang City was broken in half an hour, which is a good example." The generals still insisted on the concentration of the whole army and stuck to Nanzheng.

Seeing that the two opinions were at odds, Li Guang, the king of Han, became anxious, thought for a long time, and considering that the morale of the Jin army was high, he decided to transfer all the troops in Hanzhong to Nanzheng, preparing to hold on to the strong Nanzheng City.

Knowing that the King of Han had allocated troops in this way, Xie Siming sighed and said that he would leave Nanzheng and go to the remaining seven counties of Liangzhou to allocate some reinforcements. Li Guang immediately agreed.

Only a few hours later, the 10,000 horses of Chuyang and Chenggu, who had received the order, set off for Nanzheng City, preparing to defend Nanzheng with the main force.

In fact, no matter what strategy the Shu army adopts, it will definitely fail, the difference is only that the losses caused to the Northern Expeditionary Army are different, because Hua'an's intention to destroy Shu has been decided, and the Great Jin has also made great efforts, and the destruction of Shu is inevitable, and Li Guang's various resistances are just in vain.

#####

On the road to Xixiang City, the Northern Expeditionary soldiers marched mightily, because the infantry and baggage men and horses marched slowly, Hua An and Wang San took the pro-army battalion to ride their horses first, and let the infantry and baggage men and horses walk slowly behind.

A few hours later, Hua An and Wang San, as well as a thousand soldiers from the pro-military camp, arrived at Xixiang City, and Thunderstorm and Tie Niu hurriedly went out of the city to greet them.

After entering Xixiang City, Hua'an first praised the thunderstorm and the iron bull, and also expressed his appreciation for the two of them for privately advocating the release of the Shujun county officials, and praised the two for their good work, and then, Hua'an took Wang San and others to inspect the city of Xixiang City to see the environment near Xixiang City.

"Big brother, the water and grass here are abundant, and it is very suitable for grazing!" Wang San pointed to a large grassland outside the west gate of Xixiang City and said excitedly.

Hua An nodded and said, "Yes!" This place is indeed very suitable for grazing, after the logistics personnel arrived, they let the baggage camp men and horses, and began to build a pasture near the site, and all the livestock brought from the capital were raised here, this is the boundary of Liangzhou, and it will be the land under our jurisdiction in the future, and now we will start to build. ”

"Big brother, don't worry! As soon as the baggage camp arrived, they began to select a site for construction. Wang San said loudly.

Hua An pointed to the hills in the distance and nodded: "The pastures here are much better than the pastures in Jiangnan, and the pastures outside Xixiang City alone are enough to feed hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep!" ”

"Liangzhou is vast and sparsely populated, and there is a lack of everything, but there is no shortage of land, mountains, rocks, grass and trees!" Thunderstorm sighed softly.

Hua An nodded, looked at Thunderstorm and Iron Bull, and said loudly: "Thunderstorm, Iron Bull, let the men and horses under your command rest immediately, and there will be action tonight." ”

"Big brother, are you going to fight solidly!" Thunderstorm's cheeks glowed with joy.

"Big brother, let's attack Nan Zheng directly! As long as Nanzheng is captured, the defenders of Chuyang and Chenggu will naturally surrender without a fight, and our army will also save a lot of trouble. Tie Niu said loudly.

Hua An looked at the two of them and pondered: "Where to fight, the eldest brother hasn't figured it out yet, you go back to rest first, and before sunset, gather in my big tent." ”

"Yes, big brother." Thunderstorm and Iron Bull answered loudly and turned to leave.

In the afternoon, Zhao Wu's 10,000 animal-powered infantry and nearly 20,000 logistics horses all arrived in Xixiang City, all kinds of materials were transported into the city, and horses, cattle and sheep were left directly outside the city.

Hua An always felt a little uneasy about letting the baggage battalion go outside the city to choose the location of the pasture, so he personally took Wang San and several officers of the baggage battalion to ride out of the city and go to the hilly area outside the city to investigate.

Due to the sparse population, the hills a few miles outside the city are overgrown with three-foot-tall weeds, which are bright green at the end of July, and are the most suitable for cattle and sheep.

Hua'an and his entourage inspected the overgrown hilly area for a long time, and finally chose a relatively flat terrain closest to Xixiang City, and immediately started construction, preparing to build a small house here that could accommodate a hundred people, and build cattle pens and horse sheds around it to accommodate the livestock brought from the capital.

Due to the large number of livestock, one location would definitely not be able to accommodate it, so in order to accommodate as many of these livestock as possible, Hua'an asked the officers of the baggage battalion to build dozens of temporary accommodation points around Xixiang City on their own, so as to completely absorb the livestock brought by the capital.

In the evening, Hua An returned to the Chinese army's tent, at this time, the thunderstorm and the iron bull had not yet arrived, Hua An and Wang San looked at the topographic map of Hanzhong County and studied it carefully.

"General, the scouts have reported that the Shu army has shrunk all its forces to Nanzheng, and Chenggu and Chuyang have become empty cities." Just as Hua An was studying which city to attack, the scouts who were scouting ahead came back with good news that surprised Hua An.

"The Shu army has all shrunk into Nanzheng, great, it's really good, it's really a turtle in the urn to catch it! Hahaha! When Hua An heard this, he laughed happily.

"Big brother, without further ado, our army can immediately send troops to control these two cities, and then attack left and right to besiege Nanzheng." Wang San followed and said.

Hua An nodded and asked softly, "Thunderstorm and Iron Bull, why haven't you come yet." ”

"Big brother, we're coming, we're coming." Thunderstorms and iron bulls hurried into the big tent.

Hua An smiled indifferently, looked at the two, and said loudly: "Thunderstorm, Iron Bull, you came just in time, and the eldest brother just has a task for you to perform." ”

"If there is any task, the eldest brother should give orders." Thunderstorm and Iron Bull replied loudly. (To be continued......)