When Xiahou Lan ordered his subordinates to send the human head to Macheng, he had already embraced the heart of death.

The head is the clue, and the head is the evidence. Although Xia Houlan didn't know who the owner of the Han head of Lu Dao was, he knew that Lu Dao suddenly appeared in a bunch of Wuhuan and Xianbei people, and he also knew that when Lord Lu Dao Taifu saw this human head, even if he and his brothers had been cut off their heads, someone would avenge him in the future!

Although the situation was grim, Xia Houlan still maintained enough calm and composure at this time. He had the narrow exit originally reserved for the west side completely blocked, and ordered all the hay loaded on the cart to be removed and spread on the inside of the cart array, which seemed to be the most effective means to die with the enemy at the moment.

In fact, some people in the battalion had proposed to let the people go, and the remaining cavalry could be withdrawn when the enemy attacked, so as to minimize casualties. However, Xia Houlan resolutely rejected such a proposal and once again reiterated the "three killings".

Xia Houlan said to the soldiers: "If we leave our food and grass and run away this time, we will run away when we encounter the enemy on the battlefield in the future." What is the point of living in a force that can only escape? ”

In order to boost morale and strengthen everyone's confidence, Xia Houlan did not blindly adopt high-pressure measures, he analyzed the situation of the soldiers during the day, and firmly believed that as long as he held on for one more night, the reinforcements from Macheng would definitely be able to arrive, and everyone would be the heroes of Youzhou at that time, and there would be outstanding military achievements.

On the one hand, the choice is to be a deserter, not only to face Xiahoulan's three killing orders, but also to accept military justice if he is caught in the future; The other side of the choice is to be a hero, although someone will give their lives for it, but as long as they survive, it will be glory and reward.

Before the test of life and death, the hundred strong men who had really been determined stood firmly behind Xiahou Lan, and three of the four military marquis also chose to hold on, and the remaining one, although hesitant, did not dare to openly advocate retreat. In this way, the determination of all the people to hold on to it was unanimous, and the people did not worry that they would be killed if the defenders were defeated, after all, so much grain and grass had to be carried by someone.

Because Yan Rou personally led the team, the team crossing the river was orderly, sweeping away the decadent appearance during the day, and many Wuhuan and Xianbei people even held the mood of avenging the dead clansmen, and the five thousand cavalry soon came to the south bank from the north bank of the revenge water.

Winter is the dry season, the depth of the water is not the back of the horse, the shallow place is only on the horse's knee, although it is a little cold when crossing the river, but it is only a moment of effort, which is nothing for the Wuhuan and Xianbei people who live in the bitter cold land in the north all the year round.

Yan Rou felt a little proud in her heart, feeling that she would lead the army to cross the river from downstream at night, and the fire was strictly forbidden, so she would definitely be able to take her by surprise. However, it wasn't long before he realized he couldn't have been more wrong!

Xiahou Lan quietly listened to the sound of horses' hooves coming from far and near, and when the attacking enemy approached the camp for a mile, he suddenly opened his mouth and ordered: "Light the fire and drive the horses!" ”

In an instant, the tails of nearly a hundred war horses, all of which had been captured the night before, were wounded but not dead.

The horses with their tails on fire roared and rushed down the riverbank, never wanting to stay in this hellish place that they found terrifying. After completing their mission, the soldiers in charge of the ignition hurriedly crawled back to the camp from under the wheels of the cart, so as not to be killed by the indiscriminate arrows of the enemy who rushed at them.

Yan Rou, who had already urged the soldiers to run, suddenly saw hundreds of fire balls on the opposite side quickly rushing towards him, and thought that the defenders were playing a counterattack trick again, so he hurriedly organized the vanguard to block it.

Frightened, hundreds of war horses slammed into Yan Rou's team, causing a huge chaos for a while, some soldiers on horses were directly knocked off their horses, and some in order to avoid the rushing horses, but they also knocked the people next to them to pieces.

By the time Yan Rou finally stopped the chaos in the team, the originally high momentum was knocked out by a few points.

Yan Rou was completely enraged by the despicable tricks of the defending generals, and he ordered all his soldiers to dismount, holding the wooden shields and other protective equipment that had been temporarily prepared, and slowly surrounded the defenders' camp.

Xia Houlan looked through the gap in the vehicle at the large number of enemies who were pressed by the black pressure in the distance, and loudly boosted his morale: "Brothers, calm down!" No matter how many people come, we all greet with bows and arrows! They are all raised by their fathers and mothers, and they will bleed and hurt when they are hit by our arrows, and they will be scared to the point of urine! ”

Listening to Xiahou Lan's passionate shout, the soldiers felt much more at ease, feeling that as long as Xiahou Sima was still in the camp, everyone would have the backbone and could persevere to the end.

Yan Rou's team got closer and closer, and the Wuhuan people temporarily made a batch of fireballs that could roll on the ground in view of the characteristics of the defenders relying on the car formation, and still planned to use fire attack to break the car formation.

Just as Yan Rou was about to give the order to "ignite" and "throw", someone suddenly shouted: "Look, my lord, a large group of people and horses have rushed over!" ”

Yan Rou raised his eyes to look into the distance, and sure enough, he saw a long dragon with torches rushing along the south bank of the water, roughly estimating, at least more than three thousand people.

Yan Rou brought out all the soldiers and horses hidden in Quang Ninh City tonight, and the team that appeared upstream at this time would definitely not be his own reinforcements, so he hurriedly chose to retreat.

"Reinforcements from the defenders are coming, let's retreat quickly, don't fall in love!"

In the camp, Xia Houlan, who was already desperately prepared, also saw the long line of torches in the distance, and he shouted excitedly: "Brothers, the reinforcements sent by Lord Taifu to meet us have arrived!" ”

A tsunami of cheers rang out in the camp.

Yan Rou's team came and retreated faster, and before Cheng Xu could arrive with his men and horses, they withdrew cleanly, leaving only some scattered corpses and ownerless horses on the empty river beach.

When Cheng Xu led the team to set off from Macheng, it was already noon, and he knew very well the significance of this mission, so he didn't dare to slack off, and kept urging the team to move forward quickly along the way. In addition to giving water and feeding the horses and letting the soldiers eat dry food on the way, Cheng Xu's team was almost always on the road. Knowing that such a marching method as Lu Dao would cause great damage to the war horses, but Cheng Xu couldn't take care of it so much, and the rescue and grain transportation team was the first priority.

When the team arrived ten miles away from the camp of the grain team, Cheng Xu saw a few soldiers carrying their heads to report in the direction of Macheng, so he knew that a fierce battle was taking place in the lower reaches, and he hurriedly ordered the team to light torches and reinforce the lower reaches of Lu as quickly as possible.

When Cheng Xu arrived panting, he found that the enemy had withdrawn cleanly, and only a dark and quiet camp greeted him in the cold wind.

"What about people?!" Cheng Xu questioned the soldier who was holding a human head next to him.

The soldier in charge of leading the way felt a little weak in his heart, hurriedly ran to the front of the car formation, and shouted inward at the top of his voice: "Xiahou Sima, Master Cheng is here to answer us!" ”

As soon as this shout landed, I heard a "whoop" in the camp——! There was a cheer from the ground, followed by the sound of torches and the roar of the people.

Cheng Xu thought to himself, aren't these guys written in the distress letter very powerful, why do they seem to be scared stupid?

Cheng Xu didn't know that the camp was so quiet, and he couldn't even see the sparks, which was related to Xiahou Lan's order. Although it was almost certain that the team coming from the west was a friendly army, Xia Houlan, who was cautious by nature, still did not forget to remind the soldiers to be vigilant, and resolutely did not take the initiative to speak out or leave the camp until the identity of the comer was finally determined.

Some people think that Xia Houlan's approach is too rigid, but in the eventful years ahead, many people have realized what it means to "never relax until the last moment".

The soldiers and people in the battalion opened a gap in the car formation from the inside to the outside, Gongsun Ji, who had a somewhat unpleasant face, walked in front, and Xiahou Lan, who looked happy, followed closely behind.

The reason why Gongsun Ji's face is not good-looking is because he advocated letting the people go during the day, and abandoned the camp when the thieves attacked at night, and the cavalry took the initiative to evacuate, so before he walked out of the camp, he was actually put under house arrest by the Zhending soldiers around Xiahoulan.

Xia Houlan showed joy on her face, not because she had made a great contribution to herself, but because she felt that the food and grass were guaranteed, the soldiers did not have to sacrifice, and the burden on her shoulders was finally put down.

Gongsun Ji and Cheng Xu have known each other for a long time, and after meeting each other, they exchanged a few words, and they felt that their words were boring, and there was really nothing to say. It was the soldiers who rushed to the front to fight for life and death, Gongsun Ji was at best a "travel at public expense", and now he was all bearded and tailed, and Cheng Xu was not good at putting a lot of high hats on his head.

Cheng Xu was very interested in Xiahou Lan, and after saying a few words to Gongsun Ji, he ran over and took Xiahou Lan's hand, looked at it carefully, up and down, left and right, and then said: "Xiahou Sima is really witty and calm, loyal and brave."

Xia Houlan was praised by Cheng Xu like this, she looked a little embarrassed, and hurriedly said: "The adults came to pick up the soldiers with them, it must be very hard, it just so happened that the thieves left many injured horses when they retreated, and there was shochu on the car in the camp, I went to greet the brothers to make a fire and barbecue!" ”

Cheng Xu looked at Xiahou Lan who turned to leave, and his heart was even more happy, he felt that Xia Houlan was not meritorious, not arrogant, and knew how to advance and retreat, which was the military general talent that Lord Taifu urgently needed. Cheng Xu already had an idea in his heart, and decided to take Xiahoulan to Macheng, so he strongly recommended him in front of Liu Yu and asked Liu Yu to entrust Xiahoulan with important tasks.

The roaring bonfire was soon lit, and the thousands of Youzhou soldiers gathered in one place rejoiced, everyone happily drank soju and ate a slightly sour taste of horse meat, feeling that the danger had passed and that everything would be fine tomorrow.

Under the guidance of Xia Houlan, Cheng Xu carefully observed the car array that had not yet had time to be completely dismantled, and from time to time he reached out to touch the outer wall of the vehicle that had already been frozen as hard as stone, and praised Xia Houlan's practice of using water-drenched quilts to prevent fire.

Cheng Xu is not like Gongsun Ji, he did not question and reprimand Xiahou Lan's practice of unloading the clothes on the car and using the arrows and other military assets loaded on the car privately, in his opinion, as long as the grain, grass and military funds are kept, it is fundamental, as for other details, even if it comes to Liu Yu, he will not be investigated.

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