The sky is blue, the wilderness is vast, the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep.

In 228 AD, on February 8 of the first year of Han Jianxing, the grass grew and the warbler flew, and the spring flowers bloomed.

The warm breeze blows, and the sun shines on the earth, bringing a quiet and peaceful scene of vitality to Guanzhong.

Guanzhong Zuo Feng Yi, the hinterland of the plains where the Han Dynasty once stretched as far as the eye could see, has now become a reckless grassland.

From Dong Zhuo's rebellion to Li Dao, Guo Yan and Han Sui Ma Teng's troubles in Chang'an, more than 30 years have passed, and there are not many people left in the entire Guanzhong area of more than 2 million people.

Tens of thousands of square kilometers of land have become barren. Only the weeds and basil swaying in the wind remain, still telling the past.

Haoyang County, located on the west bank of the Yellow River, the county seat has been abandoned more than 20 years ago, in a ruined wall, Deng Ai stood under a low slope and looked at the other side of the river.

The Yellow River is rolling in waves, and the soil erosion in the upper reaches of the great river in the Han Dynasty is not serious, so the color of the water is sometimes turbid, sometimes clear, and very clean.

Through the sunlight reflected off the turquoise waters, Deng Ai could see a continuous stream of hills on the other side of the river towering into the clouds.

The mountains stretch from north to south along the course of the Yellow River, with undulating hills and lush forests. On the edge of the Yellow River, there are also vigorous weeds and basil, and countless rattans hang down, like a primeval jungle.

No one has been here for hundreds of years, or the mountains have never been visited, and the thorns and weeds are overgrown, and the vegetation grows wildly, making it almost impossible to carve out a path.

Like most of the previous raids, Deng Ai was still at the front of the team.

He was now half-squatting and half-kneeling in the weeds, one hand holding the straight blade hidden in the barley, and the other hand resting on the knee of his raised right leg, his eyes drooping, his gaze calm, quietly and patiently waiting for the scout to return.

One of the guards next to him had a reed in his mouth, and the weeds were only knee-high, and he had to bend down his tall body to barely hide himself.

It's not just Deng Ai and the guards, it's everyone like this.

Maintaining this awkward posture made the soldiers feel uncomfortable, and after a little time, their necks became sour and stiff. They didn't dare to move their bodies, they could only turn their necks slightly, and the crowd heard the subtle clicking sound of the joints rubbing many times.

One of the guards to Deng Ai's left poked his waist with his hand, and when he tilted his head slightly, the guard pointed into the grass.

There is a skull in the grass.

This is a thing that can be seen everywhere in the Guanzhong Plain, Dong Zhuo's rebellion and the famine and plague caused by Li Dao and Guo Yan's rebellion caused hundreds of thousands of people to die in Guanzhong?

A large number of bones are left uncollected by the roadside, the city is deserted, the village is withered, the world is in chaos, and human life is sometimes not as valuable as weeds.

"I'm back."

One of the guards whispered.

Deng Ai raised his head to watch, and saw a small boat floating on the Yellow River in the middle of the waves in the distance.

It was about two or three quarters of an hour before the boat staggered close to the shore.

The upper reaches of the Yellow River are not as wide as imagined, the average width of the Guanzhong area is about 100 meters, and this section is slightly wider, less than 200 meters, which cannot be compared with the Yangtze River.

However, the speed of the river is indeed turbulent, and the boat must remain stable in the vast water, and the slightest carelessness may cause the boat to be destroyed and killed.

Deng Ai has already lost several of his men.

Fortunately, this time the boat came smoothly, and the three scouts on the boat hurriedly went ashore, ran to Deng Ai and gasped: "General." ”

"How?"

"Found a way."

"Where can I go?"

"Dong Ting!"

"Dong Ting?"

Deng Ai inserted the knife in his hand into the ground, and took out the map from his waist and spread it out.

Dong Ting's location is in the southeast of Fenyin County, just south of the distant hills, and north of Puban, where Xu Huang is located.

Converted to the location of later generations, it is almost in the area of Sunji Town, Linyi County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province.

The mountains on the other side of the river are the Baiyugou of Linyi County in the later generations, which is a lofty mountain range, and the north through the mountains is the Ronghe Town of Wanrong County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province in the later generations, which is called Fenyin in the Han Dynasty.

Strictly speaking, this mountainous area is not large, but it extends longer from north to south, and the width from east to west is relatively narrow, but the mountains and forests are steep, the forests are luxuriant, and there are no roads.

Deng Ai spread out the map and asked the scout, "Where is the road?" ”

The scout pointed to Yutu and replied: "The forests in this mountain are so lush, we have overcome all the thorns and thorns, hundreds of brothers have gone around and around, and finally cut a road from the ravine here, and out of this mountain crevice, it is Dong Ting." ”

"Hmm."

Deng Ai looked in the direction the scout pointed and said, "Very good, you guys go and rest first." ”

"Yes."

The scout went to the rear.

The guard said to Deng Ai: "General, this is a great opportunity. ”

"I know."

Deng Ai nodded, waved his hand and said, "Go back first." ”

He turned around and left.

To the east of Haoyang County, the rural pavilions outside the city withered, and in the midst of the ruins, several Han soldiers crouched at the intersection.

After a while, more than a dozen fast horses came back from the weedy desert road in the distance.

"Whew!"

Deng Ai whistled.

The soldiers, who were already nervous, retreated one after another.

The horse quickly crossed the entrance of the village to a simplely repaired wooden house in the middle of the village.

The house was already old, and it was barely repaired with wooden planks to make it work.

At this moment, Jiang Wei, Huo Yang, and Wu Dang were talking around the table.

Hearing the sound, the three of them turned around and saw Deng Ai.

The task of this raid was given to Shen Chen's six proud protégés, and they were asked to bring two thousand five hundred people each, for a total of fifteen thousand people.

In addition, Pound would take 20,000 men across the river from Pi's and still carry out his plan.

Shen Chen will still attack Pusaka.

It's like in history, Deng Ai's 30,000 people smuggled into Yinping, and the frontal battlefield was Zhong Hui to contain Jiang Wei, only in this way can he cover the attack of his teammates.

Now these 15,000 people are scattered in several villages around Haoyang, and they are operated by Deng Ai, Jiang Wei, Shan Yi, Huo Yang, Wu Dang, and Wu Tao, all of whom are now in the position of miscellaneous generals.

The command was handed over to Wu Dang by Shen Chen, because he was the oldest, but he also knew that Deng Ai and Jiang Wei were smarter, so he would listen to the opinions of the two more carefully.

At this moment, Shan Yi and Wu Tao went to reconnoiter in the direction of Xiayang further north, and now the three of them are studying the geographical situation.

In the past month, they have sent people back and forth to and from both sides of the Yellow River many times, reconnoitred a large amount of information, and investigated the terrain of this area very clearly by drawing maps.

Jiang Wei pointed to the map and said: "From the topography point of view, this mountain is not very high, but it is densely wooded, the jungle road is almost difficult to walk, and there are countless poisonous snakes, insects and ants in the mountains and forests, the best place to go is here, you can reach Fenyin." ”

"But there is an enemy garrison in Fenyin, it is too risky to attack Fenyin directly, it would be nice if we could find a way to Dong Ting."

"It's more difficult, and there is no news from there so far."

"The main reason is that the mountains are high and densely forested, and there are no roads at all, unlike the direction to Fenyin, at least a few decades ago, there seemed to be a ferry to Haoyang here, and there were some roads."

"Shijun is going to set off to attack Pusaka tomorrow, if he hasn't figured out the way yet, it seems that he can only take Fenyin first."

A few chatted.

There are countless valleys on the other side of Baiyugou, full of hills and mountains, it can be said that they are wrapped in jungle, and the scouts have been busy for a long time without finding a way.

Tomorrow, Shen Chen will prepare to attack Pusaka and hold back Xu Huang's main force.

If they still didn't find a suitable path at this time, they could only go north to fight Fenyin, and then cooperate with Pang De to break the Pi clan first.

In that case, Xu Huang would definitely choose to withdraw his troops, if he couldn't break through Pusaka and kill and injure a large number of Cao's army's vital forces, even if he got the entire Hedong County, their next attack and annexation would be blocked.

So it failed strategically.

At this time, Deng Ai walked in and said with a smile: "Good news." ”

"What's the good news?"

"Found a way to Dong Ting."

"Great!"

The three of them suddenly became excited.

Deng Ai said in a deep voice: "I just came back from the big river, the scouts did find a small road, but the road is not easy to walk, we must open up it, I don't think it will be too late, this evening will cross the river in batches, after the army passes, while opening up the road, while resting in place, tomorrow we can go around behind the wall of the Cao army, surprise attack the rear." ”

"Good!"

Wu immediately made a decision, looked around at the three of them and said: "You each go back to your own camp, gather the soldiers to open, and before entering the day today, you must rush to the big river ferry." ”

"Yui!"

The three of them responded with a bang, and each went back to his own troops to prepare.

Soon in the evening, the six men arrived at the Yellow River with their soldiers and began to cross the river in batches using rafts made on the spot.

The process is arduous because spring is the flood season of the Yellow River, and the melting of snow-capped mountains in the upper reaches of the river has caused the water volume of the river in the central section of the river to soar.

This is probably the reason why Xu Huang relaxed his vigilance and did not consider that they would choose to cross the river here.

After hundreds of dead and wounded, the Han soldiers crossed the river with difficulty and drove deep into the mountains.

At night, when the mountains were densely forested, and the howling of tigers and wolves filled the wilderness, the soldiers carved a path through the valley, and only when they entered the valley did they light their torches and march forward under the guidance of the scouts.

Compared to crossing the river, crossing the mountains is very hard, but at least you don't have to worry about losing your life. The soldiers walked deep and shallow, stumbling along the way.

It was not until late at night that Wu Dang ordered a night's rest in a valley, and each department, under the leadership of six people, each found a camp, which was connected from end to end for about seven or eight miles, and rested in a scattered manner.

In the early morning of the next day, the Han soldiers ate dry food and began to climb the mountains and valleys again, and after climbing more than a dozen mountains in a row, Deng Ai stood on the highest peak and looked southeast.

I saw that beyond the mountains and mountains that I don't know how far away, there was an endless green meadow, and unlike Zuo Fengyi, there was actually a village in the distance, the village was built on the grass, adjacent to a small river.

Fields were not cultivated, but herds of cattle, sheep and horses were everywhere.

The guard next to Deng Ai said to him: "General, those seem to be Hu people, we Han people should be able to farm, only Hu people don't farm but graze." ”

"It's strange, but I remember that the Hu people don't use wooden houses, they are all tented houses made of cow and sheepskin."

Another guard wondered.

Deng Ai said with a smile: "It's not that the Hu people don't know how to use wooden houses, but the place where they are located is a desert, with very few forests and trees, so they all use tents. ”

"I see."

The guard nodded and said, "It's just that where are so many Hu people here?" ”

Deng Ai said in a deep voice: "This should be the Southern Xiongnu or the Qiang people of Beidi County of Anding County, when Cao Cao had to merge with the state of Kouluoguan in the west of Liang, migrated a large number of Hu Han to Hedong to reclaim the fields, grazing cattle, sheep and horses, as a source of baggage for the rear of his war with the first emperor in Liangzhou, don't care about them." ”

"Yes."

The guards answered.

The team moved on, and Deng Ai was in the first place.

He volunteered to be a pioneer.

Jiang Wei wanted to rob him, but he didn't.

Because Deng Ai is his senior brother.

Although Shen Chen forbade the same family to bully each other, respecting the senior brother was also one of the rules.

Deng Ai took this point to pressure him, Jiang Wei didn't have a temper at all.

After about two hours, by the afternoon of February 9, when it was nearly three o'clock in the morning, the road ahead was finally clear.

They had already walked in the mountains and forests for a full day, and they had walked thirty or forty kilometers on the mountain road alone, which showed how difficult it was.

In fact, the east and west sides of Baiyugou are not as long as 20 kilometers combined, but they cannot stand the dense forests of the mountains, and it is much more difficult for the soldiers to climb the mountains and mountains while opening up roads than walking on flat land.

Deng Ai used the knife in his hand to split through the bushes, and in front of him was a forest at the foot of the mountain, overgrown with weeds and a stream trickling.

But his eyes were fixed on the two horses by the stream.

The horse was tethered to a nearby tree, and there was a hare that had been shot by arrows hanging on the horse, and from the saddle system, it did not look like the Wei army, but like the mount of the Hu people.

After a while, sure enough, two Hu men rushed to the side of the horse with a shot elk.

Guanzhong was deserted for decades, and after the loss of human destruction, the natural environment grew rapidly, and wild grasses brought a large number of herbivores to arrive, and at the same time, many wolf packs appeared in the Guanzhong Plain.

Without agricultural civilization, it seems to have become a desert grassland, with herds of animals everywhere.

"It's a good day."

"Yes, three hares, and a deer."

"I can find Han people to exchange a lot of salt."

"And a change of oil."

"I heard that you can fry vegetables with oil, and it was those Han people who said it."

"Stir-fry? Is it tasty? ”

"Of course it's delicious, more than ten years ago, I followed Shan Yu to fight Nanyang with Cao Gong and captured a Han soldier who knew how to stir-fry, and he later made me stir-fried vegetables to eat."

"Then try it then, move from Monan to Bingzhou, and then move from Bingzhou to Hedong, and life is getting better and better."

"The Central Plains is really a godsend, I really don't want to go back to the cold Monan."

The two Hu people communicated in Xiongnu dialect.

Because the elk was too big to fit with horses, they thought of dissecting the deer by the stream and bringing the venison back in pieces.

So the two of them squatted by the stream, cutting flesh and talking happily.

Then, in the middle of speaking, two blades silently rested on their necks from behind.

A quarter of an hour later.

Wu Dang's troops arrived in this forest.

Deng Ai reported to him: "Senior brother, I just arrested two nearby Huns, and after separate interrogation, I learned that Xu Huang released 300 people in Dongting, and then deployed some soldiers and horses along the way in Sangquan, Xie County, and Biancheng. ”

"Where?"

"I've already asked clearly."

"Good."

Wu Dang nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the south and said, "Today, Shijun should have arrived in Pusaka, let's attack Dong Ting without further ado!" ”

Deng Ai smiled: "Don't be so troublesome, I asked before, they Huns will often go to places like Dongting Sangquan to exchange salt with the Han people, and today is the bazaar, so if you disguise yourself as a Hun and go to Dongting, the other party will not suspect it at all." ”

After Cao Cao moved the Huns south, because Hedong was a place where salt was produced, the Huns would exchange oil and salt with the Han people in Hedong.

Today's battle was launched by Shen Chen's side, and Xu Huang didn't know this.

Therefore, for Xu Huang and them, it was not wartime at all, and trade between the Huns and the Han would not be banned.

After all, the Huns in Hedong were all Southern Huns who were subdued by Cao Cao and moved inward, and most of the cattle and sheep they grazed here were also given to the Wei army, and even many Huns would join the Wei army to help fight.

So in Xu Huang's view, these Huns were no different from the Han people under his rule.

Hearing Deng Ai's words, Wu Dang frowned and said, "Disguised as a Huns? But where did we get the horses and the clothes of the Huns? ”

Deng Ai's deep gaze looked at the Hun tribe outside the forest, and said softly: "There is something there!" ”

(End of chapter)