It is said that Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Yin Li took some soldiers who had failed miserably, ran wildly for a day and a night, and returned to Laowo Kaiyang.

Zhao Chen led the army into Tancheng, rested for a few days, and then set off again and headed towards Kaiyang.

As soon as the army passed Jiqiu, Zhao Chen told the generals who led the army: "From this moment on, you have stepped into the real sphere of influence of Zang Ba and others, you must be cautious." There are so many thieves like Mount Tai, and the combined power should not be underestimated. ”

Zhang Fei and Chen Zhi played twelve points and advanced steadily.

But contrary to Zhao Chen's expectations, along the way, the army passed smoothly without encountering any resistance, and even Zang Ba's old nest Kaiyang was not defended, and the city gate was open.

When Zhao Chen led the army to arrive, the people at the gate of the city saw Zhao Chen and the others as if they had nothing to do, and they did their own things.

This made Zhao Chen and others very puzzled.

"The gates are open, and the people outside the city are sweeping the floor?"

Zhao Chen looked at the city gate suspiciously, with the word "Kaiyang" written on it, at a glance, there were houses at the end of the street, there were few people on the street, and occasionally people walked back and forth.

This scene, Zhao Chen seems to be familiar.

"Could it be Zhuge Liang's empty city plan? Or is there an ambush in the city? ”

Zhao Chen couldn't see through it for a while, so he had to stop and observe for a while.

Looking at Zhao Chen, who was stagnant, Zhang Fei asked: "Strategist, those thieves must have been scared by us, and when they heard that we were killing Kaiyang, they had already run away first." ”

Zhao Chen shook his head: "No, Yide, there must be something strange about this matter." ”

"What's so weird!" Zhang Fei took the lead, taking the lead and rushing into Kaiyang City with a snake spear.

Zhao Chen was taken aback, and hurriedly asked Chen Zhi to take dozens of soldiers to keep up with Zhang Fei's pace in case of accidents.

Chen Zhi and the others entered the city with a high degree of vigilance, looked around, and found that there was no ambush behind the city gate.

Zhang Fei had already ridden his horse and galloped around the streets, and he didn't see a single shadow of Zang Ba's soldiers.

The surrounding sentinels came to report, but no trace of Zang Ba and others was found.

Zhao Chen was puzzled and strolled into Kaiyang.

Zhang Fei asked softly, "Strategist, are you too cautious?" ”

Zhao Chen didn't answer, the march and battle, the commander holds the army, and every move is related to the life and death of the entire army, how can he not be cautious.

Today's matter is too abnormal, Zhao Chen has to be suspicious.

The forces united by Zang Ba and others are known in history as the Taishan Group or the Taishan Corps, a group that even Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are afraid of, how could they not dare to show their heads just by virtue of Zhao Chen's two victories, and even Lao Wo Kaiyang was given to Zhao Chen.

The thieves are all very angry people, after two defeats, it is common sense that they should go back to their hometown to move the rescuers to take revenge, but now they are going back to their hometown to be a turtle with a shrunken head, which is very strange.

Zhao Chen found the former lieutenant of Kaiyang County to inquire about the situation.

I don't know if I don't ask, and I'm shocked when I ask.

Donghai County and Langya Kingdom are mostly mountainous forests, and the cultivated land area is relatively small, in order to survive, the locals tied a belt around their arms, picked up the guy, and followed Zang Ba and others to occupy the mountains as kings.

There were no other people coming here, mainly because the big and small forces of Zang Ba and the others were already very strong, and no one could fight them, so they could only huddle in Kaiyang City.

Since yesterday, Zang Ba and the others have already led the soldiers to scatter and blend into the mountains and forests outside the city, waiting for Zhao Chen and others to arrive.

Zhao Chen shook his head helplessly, if Zang Ba and the others relied on the terrain to play "guerrilla warfare", it would indeed be difficult to deal with.

He asked the county lieutenant Zang Ba where he was most likely to appear, and the county lieutenant said: "Kaiyang to Linyi, there is a forest in the west, backed by a mountain, and this is the place where Zang Ba often trains his troops. ”

Zhao Chen looked at the map and had a plan in his heart.

The next day, Zhao Chen left Chen Zhi and Cheng Yu behind, led 2,000 men and horses to defend Kaiyang, and together with Zhang Fei and Lu Xun, he led an army of 3,000 all the way to the place said by the county lieutenant.

Sure enough, just after walking less than twenty miles, I saw the figure of the thief.

This place is densely wooded, backed by a mountain, and the terrain below the mountain is narrow, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

If you fall from the mountain and attack it with fire, the thieves at the bottom of the mountain will have nowhere to escape.

The idea was set, so Zhao Chen asked Zhang Fei to lead two thousand men and horses to quietly touch the mountain, prepare rolling wood and torches, and wait for Zhao Chen's signal.

Zhao Chen led a thousand people and slowly advanced, wanting to attract thieves to attack with himself.

But Zhao Chen searched in the woods for a long time and didn't find a single person, not even the thief who showed his head just now.

Helpless, Zhao Chen had no choice but to join forces with Zhang Fei and return to Kaiyang first before making plans.

Before he came out of the woods, suddenly a team of people and horses were killed from the east, and Zhao Chen fixed his eyes to see who it was not Zang Ba.

Zang Ba shouted: "Suffer death, Zhao Chen!" ”

Zhao Chen frowned and looked at Zang Ba incredulously, unable to understand why he appeared here.

Zhang Feice immediately stepped forward and counterattacked with a gun.

The two fought for more than ten rounds, Zang Ba was not an opponent, and with an illusory shot, he led the soldiers to cover up and kill for a while.

Zhang Fei escorted Zhao Chen and Lu Xun all the way to the west.

Just walked less than two miles, and a team of people came out from the west, and Zhao Chen looked at it again, it was actually Sun Guan.

Sun Guan laughed and said, "Zhao Chen, I can't imagine it, I'm waiting for you here!" ”

Then he led 3,000 men and horses to fight Zhang Fei.

At this moment, there is Sun Guan in the west and Zang Ba in the east, and Zhao Chen is in trouble for the first time.

Zhang Fei didn't dare to fight, so he could only repel Sun Guan and escort Zhao Chen all the way to the south, detour to Wushui, and then return to Kaiyang.

Out of the woods, with the separation of Wushui, Zhao Chen's army was able to get rid of the pursuit of Zang Ba and others.

This is also the first time that Zhao Chen has been tricked, but unfortunately he only brought Zhang Fei alone, if Chen Zhi is with him, it will not be a problem to fight back on the spot.

Zhao Chen's army, which returned to Kaiyang, counted the casualties, more than 500 people.

The soldiers were also indignant in their hearts.

In the face of Yuan Shu Ji Ling, Sun Ce Zhou Yu, Cao Cao Guo Jia, they have never been afraid, they have never flinched, and today they are actually planted in the hands of a few bandits, which is incredible.

At night, Zhao Chen sat alone in the county office, constantly reviewing today's march.

But no matter how I reviewed it, I didn't find any problems.

Lu Xun looked at the confused gentleman, and didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only flip through the county chronicles on the table in the county hall with his hands.

Suddenly, Lu Xun said casually: "Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and Mr. doesn't have to worry about it." ”

Zhao Chen nodded and replied: "I naturally know that the so-called impermanence of soldiers and impermanence of water, how can it be smooth sailing to march and fight, but so far I have still not been able to find the reason for this defeat." ”

Lu Xun replied: "I am afraid that Mr. is not the only one who has this concern. ”

Zhao Chen asked suspiciously, "Why do you say that?" ”

Lu Xun took the county chronicle to Zhao Chen, pointed to the lines of text and said: "Here is a record of the battles between many county commanders and thieves in recent years, all of which ended in failure. ”

Zhao Chen read carefully along Lu Xun's fingers, and sure enough, the more he looked back, the more he lost the battle, and he was often either thrown into the air or attacked by surprise.

After thinking about it, he suddenly understood the reason for this defeat.