In order to avoid the Qin army's patrol posts, Zhao Kuo walked very hard. The valley was darkened by the moonlight and the stars, but the sound of the murmuring water guided them so that they would not get lost. Climbing against the current to the high mountain, both physical and slow, the river road is slippery, the snow that fell a few days ago, the snow on the mountain has not yet melted, from time to time someone falls, and even slides down the mountain, bringing down a piece of people.

Zhao Kuo stopped from time to time to observe the dynamics of the team and looked back at Wu'an under the mountain. It had been reduced to a few fires, which shone tenaciously in the vast darkness of the night. The pile in the shape of "Ding" at the east end of the top is the camp of the Zhao army, and a little to the west, dotted with stars, is the camp gate of the Qin army. The Qin people occupied one of the richest treasures in Wu'an, and almost all the troops lived in the yi, while the Zhao army could only occupy a corner of the Wu'an valley, where there were not enough towns to carry all the Zhao army, and only a small part of the rear army and the senior officers of each army had their own houses. The Zhao army fought on their own soil, but the camping conditions were not as good as those of the Qin army, which was fighting away: most of them could only sleep in the open and light bonfires to keep warm. The grain produced in the location is not enough to eat, but fortunately, it is close to Handan, and the grain can be transported nearby. In the past 20 days, sometimes the wind is raging, sometimes it is raining and snowing, and a few days ago there was a heavy snowfall, covering the entire Wu'an in white. From time to time, people in the Zhao camp fell ill, and the plague was also circulating on a small scale. But none of this changed the movement of the Zhao army: the wall did not fight.

Zhao Hao has never explained the reason for his decision. Zhao Kuo seemed to understand after a long time that Zhao Hao was not doing this to "contain" the Qin army of Yanhe, and the basis of Zhao Hao's operational guiding ideology was not placed on Yanhe, but to block this Qin army in Wu'an and prevent them from harming Handan. After figuring out this section, Zhao Kuo took the initiative to do things a lot. He often appeared among the soldiers, actively asking the soldiers' families to send winter clothes; For those soldiers whose families were poor, he actively contacted the villagers and asked the elders to discuss a winter coat for the soldiers to wear. As for himself, he only added a silk robe to himself when the soldiers were all wearing winter clothes. - At this time, the children of wealthy families are wearing fur furs!

Since Zhao Kuo took the initiative to do things, Zhao Hao has not scolded him again. Since there was no march, he didn't have to pinch his feet every day. Only sometimes talk to him about the art of war. Zhao Kuo's position in this Zhao army was very special, everyone knew that he did not have any position, so he went down to the camp to talk to the soldiers, eat, and even roast the fire, and was "so poor" that he only wore a silk robe, and no one cared; presided over big things, he was almost Zhao Hao's spokesperson, and many senior officers also listened to his command, as if he was Zhao Hao's deputy, and everyone felt normal. This state of "eating from top to bottom" made Zhao Kuo, who had just entered the military camp and was weak in his age, reborn within 20 days.

After walking for half the night, it was getting brighter. Zhao Kuo rushed to the front army and assisted the general to find a suitable place to rest. The battalions began to count their men - marching at night, everyone had fallen, the ranks had long been disorganized, and the ranks could only be put in order by stopping to rest. Looking back at Wu'an, it was shrouded in a mist, but it was not as clear as at night. It is surrounded by thousands of mountains and ravines, covered with a thick layer of snow. The winding path that his group stepped on stood out in the snow, indicating where he came from.

After resting for only an hour, the general set out with the four battalions that had already gathered his troops, and the rest were still waiting for his lost troops.

After a while, Zhao Kuo asked a thousand-strong general to lead the second batch of two battalions to set off, and the remaining four battalions were all left behind, waiting to contain the stragglers.

Some people returned one after another, and some of them came back this time with injuries, Zhao Kuo tore off the corners of his clothes and wrapped them up. When others saw Zhao Kuo doing this, they also did the same and wrapped up their injuries for their companions. When the time came, Zhao Kuo got up and formed the team. About 200 people have not returned, and probably never will.

Zhao Kuo specially organized dozens of wounded people into a team, led by himself, and fell at the end of the whole army, supporting and encouraging each other to move forward desperately. Along the way, it is also responsible for accommodating soldiers who have fallen behind from the front. Although after a night of marching, there were still many people who could not keep up with the pace of the rapid march on the mountain road, and some were even so tired that they lay down and were dying; Some fell into the abyss, and their bones were gone...... Zhao Kuo's containment team is expanding dramatically.

At noon, the front army stopped again to sharpen. When Zhao Kuo arrived with the containment team, it was already nearly an hour late, and the front army was already ready to set off. Zhao Kuo left behind a 500-man general and 5 100-man generals, and put them in charge of sheltering the wounded and sick soldiers. In fact, these officers were also a little unable to keep up with the team, and when they got such an errand, they quickly agreed. Wounded and sick soldiers from the battalions were left behind and moved into the camps. The rest were asked to speed up.

With the support of the rear army's containment team, Zhao Kuo decided to boldly move forward at full speed. In the past, it was two hours of marching and one hour of rest, but now it is changed to two and a half hours of marching and one hour of rest; After resting, don't wait for the whole camp to gather, and set off when the time comes.

In this way, after two days and one night of rapid marching, Zhao Kuo's troops finally arrived at the mouth of the valley. At this time, he had less than four thousand men left. And that containment team is about to join forces with Zhao Hao's troops.

Of course, the Zhao people knew that there were several roads from Wu'an to Yanhe, and where the throat was, so they set up a camp fence behind the source of the water in the north and south, and waited for the Qin army. After releasing the sentries and patrols, Zhao Kuo ordered everyone to rest on the spot. A bonfire was lit in the camp, and Zhao Jun did not sleep for two days and two nights, and as soon as his body was warm, he fell into a deep sleep.

Zhao Hao brought out 10,000 people. The larger the number of troops, the more things they carry, and the slower the speed. Zhao Hao is very experienced, he arranged the containment force at the beginning, and he has been following the rear army: there is usually no major event in the front, if there is something, it must come from the back! Either the Qin army chased after him, or the Qin army ran away, it was all a matter of later. In this way, in the early morning, Zhao Hao saw with his own eyes that his military camp in Gukou was captured by the Qin army, and the Zhao army didn't even have a decent resistance! Due to the high mountain barrier, he did not see Sima Jin's southbound troops......

Now there is no need to rush to Yanhe, the Qin army will not take the road to Yanhe and retreat, they will enter Handan, fight with the main force of the Zhao army, and their task of defending the national capital is successfully completed, and the task will return to the rescue of Yanhe. Zhao Hao felt very bored, he knew that there would not be any decent battle in Yanhe, if he could choose, he would rather return to Wu'an and encircle and annihilate Huyang!

However, this is not possible.

Zhao Hao's military camp was on the outskirts of Handan, which meant that King Zhao knew everything about his every move and had complete control. When Lian Po had already gathered 50,000 troops, King Zhao had already begun to consider occupying Yanhe as soon as possible, not to recapture Yanhe, but to cut off the return route of the Qin army. Zhao Hao strived, Hu Yang led the army to the outskirts of Handan, and he would no longer think of retreating from Yanhe, so it was very safe to annihilate Hu Yang in Wu'an. But the three Shangqing all believed that if they didn't occupy Yanhe first, Hu Yang would be forced to embark on this road even if he couldn't think of it, so it was better to cut it off first. And it's been two or three months since I rescued him, and it's not good to ignore it all the time. General Zhao Hao personally led the rescue army, which naturally showed the importance that King Zhao attached to Yan He. Of course, tacitly, Zhao Hao should not participate in the siege of the Qin army, so the credit is not good! Zhao Hao was very disdainful of these careful thoughts, so he didn't want to say more, and decided to lead the troops to Yanhe according to King Zhao's will.

In order to satisfy Lian Po and others, he only took away 15,000 elite people, and the remaining nearly 10,000 old and weak people stayed in Wu'an, as proof that he did not fight for Wu'an's merits: If you want to talk about Wu'an's merits, he has lost 10,000 people, and it is not easy to be able to pass the merits, and it is impossible to have merit in any case!

Thinking of the fact that he endured humiliation and burdens from the beginning, and found out that the Qin army had entered Wu'an in the middle, and then he swallowed his anger now, Zhao Hao was depressed, and he had nowhere to vent his grievances. Thinking that he is nearly half a hundred years old, and he still has to endure hunger and cold, and cross mountains and mountains, I just feel that I am not interested!

10,000 people walked on the mountain trail, and the team dragged a long distance. He looked up and saw that the front army was nowhere to be seen. Suppressing the unhappiness in his heart, Zhao Hao encouraged the wounded in the containment team to climb the mountain.

One of the soldiers in the containment team was very active, holding this and supporting that, amusing and making a joke, often making the sad soldiers smile. Zhao Hao walked up to the sergeant and asked, "He?" ”

The sergeant said: "Humble Xu, name calendar." ”

Zhao Hao said: "He Yi? ”

Xu Li said: "Handan City Xinwuli! ”

Zhao Hao said: "How old are you? ”

Xu Li said: "Four out of thirty." ”

Zhao Hao said: "Are you in the army?" ”

Xu Li said: "Twenty generals have recruited from the generals, and several have joined the army. Take merit as a soldier! ”

Zhao Hao said: "What do you learn? ”

Xu Li said: "No learning! Only look up to the ear! ”

Zhao Hao said: "This is the same as me!" When will you come to Handan? ”

Xu Li said: "The ancestor of Weishu has moved to Handan for a long time, and I don't know his life!" ”

Zhao Hao said: "It's the old clan of Handan!" Where is the camp in the city now? ”

Xu Li said: "Hundreds of acres of ancestral land can still make a living. Or there is a person, thinking that clothes! ”

Zhao Hao said: "I look at you as a soldier, every time you do it, you will be taught!" ”

Xu Li said: "The name of the little lord is low, and the one who is relied on is durable." Every time you have to work, don't dare to quit! ”

Zhao Hao praised: "Good! He waved him away. Seeing Xu Li walking away, Zhao Hao was still silently chanting in his heart: "Xu Li, Xu Li ......"

There was a golden sound in front, and the team rested on the spot. Zhao Hao peeked at Xu Li and saw that Xu Li had arranged the wounded in a sheltered place with little wind and snow, and dozens of wounded people were surrounding him. Zhao Hao walked over and said, "You can serve the hearts of the wounded, but you will guard the wounded with a hundred people." or more than a hundred, but five hundred. ”