At this moment, there are two clouds floating above Xiao Guan, one cloud is called War Cloud, and the other cloud is called Gloomy Cloud. Although the Wei State did not fully control the Hetao area, there were still some forces close to the Wei State in the Hetao area, and the Wei court also sent a lot of scouts here to constantly spy on the news here.

Tens of thousands of Han troops and 200,000 war horses entered the Hetao area, and the mighty and mighty were like a dark cloud, and it was impossible to hide these forces and scouts from such a large-scale troop crossing. When they learned that the Han army had entered the Hetao Plain, they were so frightened that they immediately flew to report to Xiao Guan.

The guards of Xiao Guan were also frightened, and immediately ordered the city gate to be closed, and the whole army was ready for battle, ready to meet the incoming enemy. Although Xiao Guan was on full alert, the whole army, including himself, did not have any confidence to hold the pass.

They were only 5,000 people at full strength, but according to the scout's report, the Han army actually dispatched 200,000 troops to attack Xiao Pass, didn't it say that the main force of the Han army was outside the Tiger Pass? Where did the Han army get so many troops? How did they get around Xiao Pass?

Although it is said that the terrain of Xiaoguan is dangerous, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a husband and a man, but the other party has more than 200,000 yuan! 5,000 to 200,000, 1 to 40, the disparity between the forces of the two sides is so great that even if it is a natural danger, it can't hold it.

Why did the scouts return more than 200,000 to the Han army? Could it be that those scouts who are so professional are mistaken? Yes, they were mistaken. When the Han army marched, it always sent a lot of scouts to roam around, and it was difficult for idle people to get close to the large army of the Han army.

Although the scouts of the Wei State are also professionals, they will also disguise themselves as civilians to spy on the news, but under the sweep of the Han army scouts, they do not dare to get too close to inquire about the news.

In this way, they can only estimate the size of the Han army through various indications by empirical means. Under normal circumstances, their estimates are quite reliable, but the northern front troops of the Han army are relatively special, they are mixed Han and Hu troops, and they use horses and camels to transport supplies, which directly leads to their estimation errors.

In these days, the ability to transport supplies in horse-drawn carriages was a luxury, and a large army had never been seen carrying supplies on horseback. Maybe one or two people can use horses and camels to run their luggage, but tens of thousands of troops also use horses to run camels, which is a bit crazy, how high should this cost? How many horses do you need? Even the army of local tyrants can't do it.

Through some phenomena such as the size of the dust, the degree of trampling on the ground, the time of the army passing, etc., the Wei scouts probably estimated that there were at least more than 200,000 war horses of the Han army, and according to experience, the Han army also had more than 200,000 people.

But when the news reached Xiao Guan, it immediately caused a shock to the whole army of Xiao Guan's defenders. More than 200,000 people, so many people, one person can drown them with a mouthful of spit, how can this battle be fought?

Before the Han army arrived, the Wei army was already in chaos, and the morale of the entire army had fallen to the bottom. The thought of facing such a terrible enemy, everyone was frightened, no one had the heart to fight anymore, if it weren't for the discipline constraints, I believe that there would have been deserters.

In the entire Xiao Pass, there was a gloomy cloud, especially the guard, who was even more helpless. Xiao Guan's guard is none other than Cao Hong, the only remaining veteran of the Cao Group, who belongs to the first generation of the Cao Group's leading group.

Cao Hong, the word is cheap, Cao Cao's younger brother, in terms of seniority, he is the uncle of the current emperor Cao Pi, in terms of official position, he is a hussar general, although he cannot be said to be a high authority, but as an imperial uncle, he at least has a noble identity, why is he a guard in this place where birds don't pull ~?

The reason has to do with his character, and once again the law that character determines fate comes into play. Cao Hong's family is very rich, and even Cao Cao once said, your family is richer than mine. Even Cao Cao, one of the three major heroes in the country, can't compare to him, so you can imagine how rich his family is.

Although he is rich, his personality is extremely stingy, and Grandet is only half a pound and eight taels compared to him. Cao Pi borrowed money from him when he was young, but he refused to borrow it, which shows the degree of his miserliness.

Cao Pi and he are uncles and nephews, the key is that Cao Pi was the most powerful contender for the heir to the throne at that time, how many people did everything possible to sharpen their heads and wanted to slap him without a chance, not to mention borrowing money, it is estimated that even if it is to send money, as long as Cao Pi is willing to open this mouth, there will be countless people lining up to go to his house to send money.

But Cao Hong didn't buy it, and directly refused to lend him money, which shows that he is a person with no long-term vision. Not only is he stingy, but he is also a small-scale farmer who does not know how to invest in the future. It is conceivable that he has not read the "Historical Records of Lü Buweilie", does not understand what is called "strange goods to live in", and does not understand that investing in a prince can bring tens of millions of times the return.

This is not an investment failure, but a mistake in the investment direction, and a few years later, he suffered a lot from this investment mistake. Cao Pi held a grudge because he didn't lend him money back then, and after usurping the throne and ascending the throne as emperor, Cao Pi gave him small shoes to wear, although he was given the title of hussar general, but he was not awarded a real position.

Since then, Cao Hong, the dignified imperial uncle and Cao Cao's younger brother, was a hussar general who was at home and concentrated on being his rich man. Cao Ren is also Cao Cao's younger brother, but he has always been able to lead troops to fight abroad, and the comparison between the two shows how much Cao Pi dislikes Cao Hong.

Later, Liu Hou led his troops to the Northern Expedition, and the momentum along the way was like a bamboo, and the troops approached Xuchang, and the trump card in Cao Pi's hands was gradually eliminated, and the Wei State was in danger. At this time, Wei not only lacked troops, but also became scarce in financial resources. Especially after Wei stole the secret of Shu Han's manufacture of firearms, Cao Pi once cast a batch of guns ~ cannons at any cost, which made the treasury even more empty.

You must know that Wei did not have the smelting technology of Shu Han, and they used copper to cast guns~ cannons. What is Copper? Copper is something that can be minted into copper coins, and copper is directly equivalent to money. That is to say, Wei's guns ~ cannons are directly composed of money, so Cao Pi's casting gun~ cannon plan almost emptied Wei's treasury.

The Shu Han army is approaching, and no matter how empty the treasury is, it is impossible not to recruit troops and buy horses and raise soldiers. However, whether it is to recruit soldiers or pay the existing soldiers, they all need money, so what can we do if we don't have money? So, Cao Pi thought of the old way again: borrowing money.

In the name of raising military expenses, he borrowed money from the ministers of the DPRK and the wealthy families in the city, and as for whether he had to pay it back after borrowing, you can make up for it yourself. There are no eggs under the nest, and the ministers also know that the imperial court is in danger, if they can't survive this pass, the fall of the Wei State is imminent, and their officials will come to an end, so even if they don't want to, they have to help one after another.

And the rich don't have much choice, the emperor opens his mouth to borrow money, can he not borrow? If you don't borrow it, you will offend the emperor, who would dare to offend the emperor? Besides, this emperor's Lao Tzu is a warlord, and the warlord does ~ sometimes he doesn't talk about the king's law at all, and it is not impossible to do it directly when he is forced to plunder.