Jizhou Anping County Zhizhi Xindu, Xindu southeast forty miles for Zaoqiang County, Zaoqiang County is less than ten miles away from Zhuang Shaoyou Zhuang Shaoyou through the stone bridge, a small part of the defeated officers and troops on the west side of the stone bridge escaped, fled to Zaoqiang County.

There is a small mountain in the place of 50 miles south of Xindu, this mountain is not high, but it is undulating horizontally, and it is more than 20 miles long from east to west, which just holds the throat of the south of Xindu. Ping'anling Pass was originally the valley of the Qinghe River, the Qinghe River passed through the Ping'an Ridge, the terrain of the Ping'an Ridge was high in the west and low in the east, high in the south and low in the north, but later the Yellow River flooded and invaded the Qinghe River to bring a large amount of sediment, silting up the Ping'an Ridge River Valley, and the Qinghe River was forced to be diverted to the south of the Ping'an Ling, and went around the mountain.

Yesterday afternoon, after Zhang Liang's plan to cross the boundary bridge and cross the Qinghe River to return to the camp failed, he led his troops to break through to the northeast. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Yan of the palace decisively gave up 10,000 Zhang Liang and also broke through to the northeast, and the Zhang Liang department of the palace was quickly defeated by the main force of Huangfu Song, and then chased Zhang Yan 20,000 elites.

Huangfu Song's soldiers and horses from all walks of life gathered in Guangzong, in addition to the 40,000 people who held Zhang Bao in the north of Jingxian County, there were 50,000 elite infantry chasing Zhang Yan, after chasing and killing for 20 miles, Zhang Yan was a strong man who broke his wrist, and after giving up part of the troops, he led 15,000 people to the northeast to continue to break through.

When Zhang Liang broke through in the direction of Anping County, it was already in the afternoon, and it was already dark when he escaped fifty miles of road, and there were still ten miles away from Ping'an Ridge, but the road ahead was very difficult to walk because it was the old road of Qinghe.

Huangfu Song pursued Zhang Yan, eating a lot of Zhang Yan's army along the way, Zhang Yan with 12,000 remnants finally caught up with Zhang Liang's army, Huangfu Song's 50,000 officers and troops after a day of fierce fighting, but also people and horses, so the two armies were separated by ten miles to confront each other.

At night, in the big tent of Huangfu Song's camp

"Rubbish! Song Tie, this waste! It's all iron slag in my head! If you make a wrong move, you will lose the whole game! ”

Huangfu Song sat on the top and roared, the generals below did not dare to speak, the always elegant Huangfu general, since he came to Jizhou, he seems to have changed his character, basically have to roar a few times a day, no way, the idea is hard!

Huangfu Song calmed down and sighed secretly: It's that young demon again, Duan Chang was stabbed to death, Han Liang was killed because of him, and the two battles on the banks of the Qing River were because of that young man's efforts to turn the tide, and the official army lost 100,000 people. Today's plan was originally perfect, but it was bad because of this young man, and Song Tie really can't be blamed, after all, he is the number one fierce general under his account, Song Tie has been defeated, who else can win under his command?

Just when there was silence in the Huangfu Song tent, a scout came into the tent: "Report to the general, there seems to be an abnormal movement in the Yellow Turban Army on the opposite side, and there seem to be signs of troop transfer, but the action is very hidden, and the night is too dark, the specific number is unknown." ”

"Humph!" Huangfu Song sneered and said: "Zhang Liang Xiao'er, the donkey skills are poor, and he wants to attack Ping'an Ridge at night!" Pass on my order to send an early warning signal in the direction of Ping'an Ridge. General Liu and General Zhao, the two of you led 20,000 people in your department to travel lightly, brought two days' worth of dry food to bypass the Zhangliang camp and move closer to the direction of Ping'an Ridge; General Cai, you take 5,000 archers and 5,000 sword and shield men to raid Zhang Liang's camp tonight, and then launch it when Zhang Liang's troops sneak attack Ping'an Ridge, I will send you a signal not to fall in love after the raid, try to destroy the enemy's camp tent with rockets, and retreat quickly afterwards, I will send someone to meet you. ”

"The last general obeys!" The three generals, Liu, Zhao, and Cai, took the order and left. The others in the big tent also dispersed, and Huangfu Song sat on the top, frowning slightly, sighing, and did not say anything more.

After a whole day of fighting, there were more than 50,000 people left in Zhang Liang's 70,000 army, 12,000 of Zhang Yan's 20,000 Yellow Turban wrestlers, 3,000 personal soldiers in Zhang Ning's hand were not damaged, and there were 10,000 people in Zhang Jiao's remaining army. After some deliberation, Zhang Liang personally led 20,000 elite soldiers tonight, plus Zhang Ning's 3,000 personal soldiers, to raid the official army of Anping County in Ping'an Ridge, and Zhang Yan stayed in the camp.

It was night, the sky was dark, the moonlight was dim, there was not much light, and I could barely see the road under my feet. Zhang Liang and Zhang Ning led their men to quietly march in the direction of Ping'an Ridge, ten miles away.

More than half an hour later, Zhang Liang and Zhang Ning arrived at the Ping'an Ridge Pass, and found that the pass was dark without any fire, and they couldn't help but have some doubts in their hearts, but now they have to send arrows on the string, and they can't go back, right? So Zhang Liang immediately ordered to send a team of 100 people to the front to test it, and the selected team of 100 people went tremblingly.

Half an hour later, the hundred-man team was nowhere to be seen.

After a quarter of an hour, there was no movement

Two quarters of an hour later, there was still no movement

Zhang Liang felt bad, and once again sent the entire thousand-man team to explore the way, a quarter of an hour later, there were bursts of screams from the Ping'anling Pass, Zhang Liang hurriedly sent someone forward to answer, and as a result, less than three hundred people came back from the thousand-man team, and the thousand-man commander died, and a centurion trembled and reported:

"General Rengong, when we first arrived at the mountain pass, there was no movement, so we boldly went inside, and as soon as we entered the mountain pass, countless arrows flew head-on, and most of the brothers were knocked down, and only these three hundred people were left alive."

After Zhang Liang heard this, he wondered in his heart, there are about 10,000 officers and soldiers of Anping County in Ping'an Ridge, and they are all local troops that do not enter the stream, and their combat effectiveness is not very good, how can this be? A team of 1,000 people was knocked down in less than half an hour, could it be that these 10,000 people were all crossbowmen? It's impossible!

Just when Zhang Liang was puzzled, a scout came to report: "Report to the general, General Zhang Yan from the big camp has sent news, saying that a group of officers and troops have been found moving in the direction of Ping'an Ridge, the number is unknown, but it will not be less than 10,000 people." ”

Zhang Liang was shocked when he heard this, there were only 10,000 local officials and soldiers in Ping'an Ridge, and it was already so difficult, if those officers and soldiers came over again, would they die soon? If it drags on until dawn tomorrow, and the Huangfu Song's official army launches a general attack, won't he be trapped here and die? No way! No matter what, we have to break through Ping'an Ridge tonight!

Zhang Liang personally led the team to the expedition this time, and in the name of urging the soldiers to fight bravely and open up Ping'an Ridge as soon as possible, in fact, he himself wanted to slip away, anyway, the grain and grass of the battalion were gone, and it was just a burden to ask for so many troops, so he deliberately selected his 20,000 elites to come out, preparing to find a good place to recuperate after breaking through Ping'an Ridge.

With Zhang Ning because Zhang Jiao's three thousand personal soldiers are strong in combat, and it is very useful to hold Zhang Ning in his hands, you can coerce Zhuang Shaoyou or even Zhang Yan, it can be regarded as a chassis, and if you hit it at a critical moment, maybe there will be a miraculous effect, after mastering the current situation, Zhang Liang made up his mind to break through Ping'an Ridge at all costs!

Zhang Liang is like this, he is ruthless and decisive at a critical time. So, Zhang Liang decided to send Zhang Ning's 3,000 personal soldiers and his own 3,000 personal soldiers to raid Ping'an Ridge, in order to win the battle, which can be regarded as a bloody investment, of course, Zhang Ning stayed by his side. Zhang Liang's 3,000 soldiers attacked from the left side of the pass, Zhang Jiao's 3,000 soldiers attacked from the right, 6,000 soldiers and half of the sword and shield men opened the way in front, and the general pikemen responded in the rear.

Ping'an Ridge Pass, Anping County Taishou Cui Xiu personally led people to guard here, since receiving the military order of Huangfu Song a month ago, Cui Xiu did not dare to be sloppy, sent people to build some defensive offensives here, and sent 3,000 men and horses to wait here.

However, after receiving the urgent military order from Huangfu Song yesterday afternoon, most of the officers and soldiers near Anping County were immediately transferred, and about tens of thousands of people were concentrated here, these officers and soldiers had no combat effectiveness, nor did they have any morale, fortunately, the task above was only defense, so Cui Xiu simply took out all the bows and crossbows in the armories around the country, and temporarily trained the soldiers how to use them, anyway, they don't need to be accurate, as long as they can be launched in the general direction!

So half of the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers are archers, and there are 500 light crossbows, which Huangfu Song originally allocated to Anping County, and the remaining 5,000 are sword and shield men, in short, defense plus long-range attacks, not melee combat with the Yellow Turban Army, because Cui Xiu knows in his heart that once he fights hand-to-hand, these local officers and soldiers who have not seen blood will definitely have to pee their pants.

After Zhang Liang sent 6,000 soldiers, he transferred 5,000 crossbowmen and 5,000 sword and shield men to the outside of the mountain pass to set up a defensive formation, in case the official army reinforced by Huangfu Song launched a surprise attack.

Half an hour later, it has passed the ugly hour, that is, two o'clock in the morning, the guards of the officers and soldiers in the mountain pass are a little lax, and sleepiness continues to sweep in, many soldiers have been nervously defending from the afternoon to the present, although Cui Xiu arranged a shift change, but these officers and soldiers who have not been on the battlefield can't sleep, and their hearts are so nervous, fortunately, they have just eliminated Zhang Liang's tentative troops, and their morale has been boosted a lot, otherwise they may collapse at some point.

Cui Xiu was also helpless, two hours ago when he received the early warning signal from Huangfu Song, he didn't dare to be careless, he only had 10,000 officers and soldiers in his hands, if the Yellow Turban Army came with 20,000 or 30,000 people, it would be really difficult to guard, and he kept praying in his heart for the arrival of Huangfu Song's reinforcements.

Suddenly, the figure of the Yellow Turban Army appeared at the mountain pass again, and this time the number was much more than the two groups just now, and these Yellow Turban Army did not look like the two groups just now were cautiously frightened, but as soon as they appeared, they bravely rushed towards the position of the official army, and their skills were agile and vigorous, and they were elite at a glance.

Cui Xiu was shocked when he saw this, the Yellow Turban Army was serious this time, and it had to be defended no matter what! Cui Xiu was anxious on the one hand, and urged the soldiers to prepare for battle, and the official and military positions were in a panicked scene, and when the Yellow Turban Army approached, the arrows released were also chaotic.

The moonlight is hazy, the dark mountain pass can not be seen clearly, only the shadow is stunning, it is not real, the cover of the night, the elite of the Yellow Turban Army is like a tiger with wings, but for the officers and soldiers, it is like a boulder pressed in the heart, and the fear of the unknown enemy arises spontaneously, especially the number of enemies coming this time is much more than the previous two, and the speed is much faster.

Because the mountain pass is not open enough, six thousand pro-soldiers can not be fully deployed, and the official army is condescending, there are many crossbowmen, so the pro-soldiers are still quite a lot of casualties, after paying nearly two thousand casualties, the pro-soldiers finally arrived in front of the official army array, began to engage in short combat, covered in blood The pro-soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army looked at the officers and soldiers in front of them with hideous faces, these unpopular officers and soldiers began to riot, and even some people have begun to flee involuntarily, Cui Xiu shouted anxiously and angrily, ordered his generals to kill the deserters, and finally the general's heart stabilized, and began hand-to-hand combat with the Yellow Turbans.

When Zhang Liang learned that the forward soldiers had started hand-to-hand combat with the officers and soldiers, he was overjoyed and sent 5,000 elites to support, trying to break through Ping'an Ridge in one go.