Desolation, extreme desolation!

Ding Chen led the trapping camp and arrived at Hucheng Pavilion in the middle of a drizzly night.

Due to the long journey, they did not look closely, so they hurriedly set up camp. But when he walked out of the camp after daybreak, he saw nothing but devastation.

Hucheng Pavilion is located on a plain, overlooking the river.

Not far away, the ruins of the wall show that it was once inhabited. But the tall withered yellow weeds seemed to tell Ding Chen that this place had long been deserted.

Ding Chen rode his horse and walked side by side with Jia Xu.

Behind the two of them, Hu Che'er followed with ten relatives.

"I remember, I was here more than a decade ago."

Jia Xulema said softly: "At that time, it was very lively here, with people coming and going, and it could be described as a prosperous place.

You see, this place is between Chenliu and Xingyang, adjacent to the big river in the north, and the terrain is open.

From there to the northeast, I remember there was a ferry. At that time, the ferry was very lively, and there was a long queue of people waiting to cross the river. ”

"Why is the gentleman sentimental?"

Ding Chen heard the sadness in Jia Xu's words, and asked suspiciously.

Jia Xu shook his head, "This is not sentimentality, but emotion." ”

"What do you feel?"

"A Yellow Turban Rebellion turned this prosperous place into ruins.

Now, the war is back in flames...... How many people think that this is just a struggle for power, but I am very worried that after this war, the country will not be a country, and the world will no longer be peaceful...... Hehe, I felt it for a while, Ziyang must not be ashamed. ”

In Ding Chen's eyes, Jia Xu belongs to the kind of person who 'doesn't care about himself, hangs high'.

If the matter is not in front of him, he will never ask.

For example, this time Ding Chen brought him in, and he even intimidated and played a scoundrel, so he let him follow.

But now......

Ding Chen said softly: "Mr. Fei thinks that it is difficult for the prime minister to win? ”

Jia Xu rolled his eyes, turned the horse's head and left, ignoring Ding Chen.

Ding Chen also knew that he was afraid that he was presumptuous.

Hehe laughed twice, urged his crotch to get off the horse, and hurried a few steps, only then did he catch up with Jia Xu.

"Ziyang, what do you think of here?"

On a high slope, Jia Xu dismounted.

He asked in a deep voice as he pointed to the plain down the slope with his horsewhip.

"It's good, it's a big view.

Although the scenery is a little lonely, when the spring flowers bloom, it is full of vitality. ”

"Who asked you about the view?"

Jia Xu was so angry that he almost gave Ding Chen a whip.

However, considering that he was not Ding Chen's opponent, he finally resisted his impulse and said patiently: "As a general, you need to be careful everywhere." Everywhere you go, even if there is no war, you may put yourself on the battlefield, check the terrain, and think about the battle situation.

Ziyang, you are smart, but you are too lazy.

If you are in a prosperous world, it doesn't hurt that you have this kind of temperament, and you can't say that you can live happily. But now, you have to make a change and keep yourself in a state of being a big man at all times. Hucheng Pavilion is desolate, but you can see the clues. ”

Jia Xu's words were bitter.

Ding Chen shuddered and was silent.

"Thank you, sir, for your advice."

To be honest, until now, he still faces everything with the attitude of Cao Cao's wife and brother.

But in reality?

In the past, no matter what happened, Cao Cao was outside, and he didn't need to bother.

He just needs to live a leisurely life, and no one will stand up and say that he is nothing.

Now, Cao Cao is on the run and his whereabouts are unknown.

He bears the lives of Sister A and Cao Ang on his shoulders, how can he no longer care about anything like before? Moreover, he paid homage to Sima of other departments, and there were Gao Shun and Hu Che'er under his command, and more than 800 sharp soldiers followed.

It's really different!

Ding Chen took a deep breath, and a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes.

"What does Sir think, how about this Hucheng Pavilion?"

Jia Xu closed his eyes, and after a moment, he immediately drew a few lines on the ground with his sword, and then placed a few more stones.

"I hadn't thought too much about it before, but when I got here, I found that there were some problems.

You see, this is a sour jujube, this is Xingyang, this is the Tiger Prison Pass, and this is the Yangren Pass...... Did you find that if I were the commander of the coalition forces, I would never really attack Yangren Pass. The terrain of Nayang Pass is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is a place of vicious warfare. If you attack by force, you will definitely suffer heavy losses. Therefore, I will never choose to attack, and I will definitely win with surprise troops. ”

Surprise wins?

Ding Chen's heart moved, as if he had thought of something.

He immediately squatted down, carefully examined the map drawn by Jia Xu, and after a while, he looked up and said, "What does Mr. mean, is it Hucheng Pavilion?" ”

Jia Xu nodded slightly.

"Hucheng Pavilion is not well-known, and its location is not important.

However, whether this is important or not will vary from time to time. The current situation is that as long as the coalition forces occupy Hucheng Pavilion, to the north, they can join forces with Yuan Shao of Hanoi and attack the Tiger Pass; To the south, it directly threatens Xingyang, making the Yangren Pass useless.

Just a strange soldier, starting from the sour date, in less than two days, you can arrive at Hucheng Pavilion.

It's just that I don't know if any of the coalition forces have seen this route, so we have to prepare in advance. ”

Ding Chen looked at the map carefully again, closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

"In that case, we're not camping in the right place."

Jia Xu showed appreciation, nodded lightly and praised: "Ziyang is really smart, this is what I want to remind you." ”

Ding Chen smiled.

"Since the gentleman is aware, why don't you just say it?"

"If I had said it bluntly, you might have followed my advice and moved the camp.

But now, you know that you can think about the cause and effect, and when you encounter this kind of thing in the future, you don't need to be reminded, you can see it yourself.

Ziyang, you are lazy and friendly, and you are excellent on weekdays.

However, in the army, it must not be the same as in ordinary times, and it must be majestic enough, otherwise how can it be ordered and forbidden, so that the three armies obey orders? But you haven't touched any of this before, so you don't really care. But in the future, you need to be more careful. ”

This inspection has indeed gained a lot for Ding Chen.

Jia Xu did not criticize him vigorously, but pointed out his shortcomings in a subtle way.

This also made him understand that now and when he was in Luoyang, it is really different!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ding Chen returned to the camp and immediately ordered the camp to be moved.

Although many people were puzzled, he also did not explain. This also made everyone realize that Ding Chen seemed to have changed a little at this time. Although it is still amiable, in that affinity, there seems to be a little more majesty, which is irresistible.

Once the new camp was settled, everything was calm.

Ding Chen would take people around every day, while Gao Shun would lead the soldiers and conduct drills.

The 200 people who were newly added were included in the rear army and were commanded by a young man named Yang Aruo.

This Yang Aruo's name Boyang is a Jiuquan person.

One-third of them are of Han Chinese descent, and the rest are of mixed ancestry of the Qiang and Tu people. He used to be a ranger, living in Chang'an, fighting fiercely every day, and he was the number one person. At the time, people called him 'Yang Aruo in the east city, and Yang Aruo in the west city'. Whenever there is a fight in Chang'an City, there will definitely be him, and he is a desperate Sanlang's character.

Later, he killed someone for some reason, and he saw that he was about to be beheaded.

coincided with the Liangzhou Rebellion, and Taiwei Zhang Wen recruited strong men, and Yang Aruo was recommended and mixed into the army.

Later, he was incorporated into Dong Zhuo's command, made many military exploits, gained a firm foothold in the Liangzhou Army, and later became a Nangong guard.

Those newcomers were in the hands of Yang Aruo, and they were miserable.

But it worked well, but in just a few days, there was a huge improvement......

At the same time, the coalition forces were also assembled.

From the initial response of the eleventh princes, it has now become a union of the eighteenth princes, with a total of 200,000 troops.

200,000 horses, sounds a bit scary.

Ding Chen couldn't help but be secretly surprised, and said to Jia Xu: "The 200,000 army never thought that it would become such a situation. ”

Who knows, Jia Xu sneered again and again.

"The more soldiers and horses, the more thoughts.

The 200,000-strong army seems to be huge, but in fact it is a rabble.

Now they seem to be working together, but in reality they are full of contradictions. Although Yuan Shao was elected as the leader of the alliance, he was unable to control the situation...... Do you say those princes, will they really listen to him? Not to mention anything else, Jizhou Mu Han Fu, Yanzhou Assassin Liu Dai, Zuo General Yuan Shu, which one really convinces him? Look, a little benefit will make them fall apart. ”

Regarding Jia Xu's point of view, Ding Chen naturally agreed.

The longer I spend with Jia Xu, the more I can feel that he is unfathomable!

This also made Ding Chen more and more puzzled why Jia Xu was clumsy and behaved so mediocre. With his talent, he can easily be reused by Dong Zhuo. If nothing else, it is definitely easy to ride a lieutenant, and it is not impossible to get a lieutenant general. But he pretended to be a mediocre talent and did some errands under Dong Zhuo, which was really weird.

Ding Chen wanted to ask him the reason, but every time the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

With Jia Xu's temperament, there must be a reason for this.

Since he didn't want to say it, he must have asked, but it would ruin the friendship. It's better to sit aside and observe slowly.

However, before Ding Chen could observe the results, he got the news that the first battle of the coalition army had begun!

Ding Chen originally thought that the first battle against Dong would start from Yuan Shao.

After all, Yuan Shao is the leader of the alliance!

What I never thought of was that the person who started the first battle was not Yuan Shao, let alone Zhang Miaoqiaomao and others who were stationed in sour jujubes, but Yuan Shu and Yuan Highway who were stationed in Luyang. In the middle of March of the first year of Chuping, Yuan Shu took Sun Jian, the Taishou of Changsha, as the vanguard, and entered the Yangren Pass.

And Hua Xiong, who was already waiting in Xingyang, immediately stepped forward to lead his troops to 5,000 to meet the battle.

The big war kicked off immediately......