Chapter 954 Choices on the battlefield


    Growing up is a long road, just like every child’s remaining face is tender and tender, but it’s hard to say whether it will be laugh lines or horizontal flesh in the end.


    In the first two or three days before Feiqian left Chang''an, it was basically smooth sailing.


    Maybe because of Fei Qian’s sudden action, Chang’an’s Zhong Shao and others did not react, or did not want to react at all...


    Staying in Chang''an, fighting against the anti-Xiliang Alliance people, and biting the hairs of his mouth, Fei Qian really didn''t have much interest, but on the way to evacuate, Fei Qian discovered some interesting things.


    Zhang Liao''s alertness and Zhao Yun''s cautiousness are both a habit and a talent.


    Basically speaking, for the march along this route, Zhao Yun took on the task of being on duty, whether it was camping or guarding and other marching affairs, everything was arranged in an orderly manner. Before dawn every day, you can see that Zhao Yun is already arranging various things, where to clean up, where to tie up, where to feed the horses, where to light the fire for cooking, and take care of everything.


    As for Zhang Liao, it seems that what he does is more about sentrying and patrolling. While Zhao Yun was arranging the camp, Zhang Liao basically took a dozen or so riders out, and then came back covered in dew. The way ahead, where to pay attention, and where to stay, seemed to have the answer. Preserved early, you can go on your way with peace of mind.


    Moreover, Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun have different modes of managing soldiers.


    Zhao Yun is taciturn most of the time. Although he takes care of many complicated affairs, he often gives some brief orders, but the soldiers all obey them. If the soldiers can''t do it, Zhao Yun will help without saying a word, every day The first to start, the last to rest, patrolling the camp, seeing that the soldiers had finished eating, Zhao Yun just ate a few bites in a hurry. The soldiers naturally saw these things in their eyes, so they were very convinced.


    Compared with Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao is more open-minded. Basically, except for business, the rest of the time Zhang Liao is laughing, and sometimes sitting and chatting with soldiers, and then said that the happy part is laughing together. Seeing that soldier was disobedient and doing things in a bad way, he also went straight to it, but instead of helping, he just slapped him and then gave him a few pointers, which is strange to say, soldiers, do you like this...


    Two people, different approaches, different ways of leading the army, but what is interesting is that no matter which one they are, they seem to have established a good prestige in the hearts of the soldiers.


    What''s more interesting is that Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao are old acquaintances!


    Back in Luoyang, Zhang Liao and Fei Qian talked about a man he met who was good at marksmanship when he was traveling in the Northland, and they actually mentioned Zhao Yun...


    Thinking about it, Zhao Yun''s marksmanship seems to be to use the least effort to get the most benefit, while Zhang Liao is extremely powerful no matter what the situation is. Having said that, can we learn some tricks from Zhao Yun?


    Hundred birds facing the phoenix marksmanship?


    Hehehe...


    However, Fei Qian’s relaxed and freehand idea was quickly broken by a not-so-good reality.


    "Juqishui is ahead! Junhou, the pursuers behind are at most half a day''s journey away from us. I''m afraid it will take a lot of time to detour the other roads..." Zhang Liao squatted on the ground, picking up a piece of flake The small stone drew a simple figure on the mud floor, and said.


    Since yesterday, Fei Qian''s back road has been filled with smoke and dust. It is obvious that a large number of cavalry are chasing Fei Qian''s whereabouts. Under the banner of Li Jue, these chasing guys obviously came on two horses, and they came very fast. At first, they might not have found the traces left by Fei Qian and others, so they went around for a while, and then followed Imprinted all the way to chase.


    Fei Qian didn''t expect that Li Jue would give up attacking Chang''an, but turned around and chased after him!


    The entire Guanzhong area, although it is called the Guanzhong Plain, but the terrain is not horizontal, it is at a slightly inclined angle, high in the northwest and low in the southeast, so Qin State was in this place back then, taking advantage of the geographical characteristics, built the The Zhengguo Canal connects the Jingshui and the Jushui, and now, the Zhengguo Canal, which runs from east to west, has become a problem that Feiqian is now facing.


    The reason why it was able to irrigate Guanzhong and form an important canal for thousands of miles in the fertile fields is naturally not the kind of ditches dug out by the small fields. Urine, the bottom and both sides of the canal are not made of ordinary fired blue bricks, but stone strips quarried in the mountains, which have been washed by Jingshui for so many years and are still intact...


    Because the Zhengguo Canal needs to provide a large amount of water, the cross-section is not small. Although Jingshui is said to be clear, in fact the entire Jingshui line flows through the Loess Plateau. Although the vegetation is not bad now, the mud carried in the water is actually In fact, the sand is not too small. It has accumulated over the years, and there is a lot of silt at the bottom of the Zhengguo Canal. These silts have become the biggest problem restricting the diving route.


    "Now we have to go there, either we have to go around and take the Zhengguo Canal bridge located in the north of Wannian County, or we have to take the Juqishui ferry..." Zhang Liao marked two places on the sketch map on the ground.


    Fei Qian thought for a while, and said, "What''s the water level of Juqishui?"


    Zhang Liao said: "Although it is getting ready for summer, the water has risen a little, but it has been divided by Zheng Guoqu, so it hasn''t risen much. If you pull a cowhide rope, people and horses can pass through."


    Fei Qian looked at the crude pictures on the ground, frowned and thought about it. When starting from Chang''an, he didn''t choose to detour to Chiyang, and then took the original road, because that road was far away and took a long time. One road is relatively short, and now it seems that it is close, but it seems that the risk is even greater.


    "Zilong, what do you think?" Zhao Yun was mostly silent, and if he didn''t ask, he probably wouldn''t speak.


    Zhao Yun pondered for a moment, and said: "It is convenient to take Zhengguoqu Shiqiao Road in Wannian County, but I am afraid it is not easy to walk. It may be better to cross Juqishui..."


    When the people of Zheng State built the Zhengguo Canal, the main purpose at that time was to slow down the progress of the Qin people, so they used a lot of manpower and material resources, so the several stone bridges built along the Zhengguo Canal were also stable and reliable, and they are still in use today. In this way, it became the current problem of Fiji.


    Continue to go down the Zhengguo Canal, not to mention that the Zhengguo Canal is used as an irrigation canal, and the surrounding area is unobstructed. The cavalry brigade following behind will naturally be aware of their whereabouts from a distance. Let’s just talk about Wannian County, where is it now? In whose hands is the control in hand is a question worth pondering.


    Is it Chang''an and others, or Xiliang and others?


    If there were no pursuers behind, Fei Qian and others would not be afraid of Wannian County''s actions. Even if the stone bridge here in Wannian County cannot be crossed, there is still a road ahead to go north, but now that the pursuers are approaching, it is difficult to stay behind. There is not much space and time for Fei Qian and his party.


    Either go to Wannian County, or cross Juqishui, and then take a detour, after all, Fei Qian and his party are not two horses, and they will be caught up sooner or later.


    Turn around and fight?


    Not a smart move.


    Unless the chasing Li Jue is a pure reckless man, relying on the advantage of one man and two horses, as soon as Fei Qian turns around, he will immediately go around. With the advent of human nightmares, at that time there is no place to retreat, and if you are a little careless, you will be buried in the pass!


    Zhang Liao has personally led the scouts back and forth several times, and even fought against the scouts sent by Li Jue. Of course, with Zhang Liao''s means, these scouts from Li Jue did not get any benefits, and they did not dare to overdo it. Get close, otherwise, they might all rush to cruise nearby.


    So I can only take advantage of the current stall, whether it is crossing Zhengguoqu or Juqishui, you can use the terrain to throw off the pursuers for a certain distance. As long as you are close to Pinyang, you can go outside to Baishuigou or Go back to Sucheng across the mountain road, and you can get rid of Li Jue''s pursuit.


    Detours are inevitable, even if you don’t care about the extra distance, the horsepower consumed during the period of being chased is a problem.


    It is even more inadvisable to leave people behind, because according to the current situation, the number of people is not dominant, and there is no place to borrow on the terrain. Leaving behind, although it is possible to let the large troops get rid of the pursuit, but the troops behind It''s also very dangerous...


    It would be great if Mr. Zhang was here, as long as he yelled, he could run away safely.


    Throwing away unrealistic thoughts, Fei Qian looked at the pattern on the mud floor and thought.


    The dark mountain shadows in the north can already be seen to some extent. If you can cross the Juqishui, you can go directly north to Pinyang, and you can meander among the mountains and hills, hiding in places that are not visible. Although Guanzhong is flat, there are still many trees up and down the mountain in the north. With the cover of these trees, you can basically escape the sight of the scouts.


    "Let''s go!" Fei Qian made a decision, "But we need to clean our tail first..."


    Sweep the tail, not turn around and fight, but clean up the traces left by the horseshoes and so on.


    Juqishui, because it flows on the Guanzhong Plain, although the water flow cuts the land into a river ditch, it is not the type of natural moat. In some places where the river water is relatively slow, it is a place where you can cross the river.


    Juqishui is not very wide, and the river beach is also relatively narrow. Although there are some vegetation, it can''t hide the figure of Fei Qian''s group. The six hundred men and horses gathered on the river beach are extremely conspicuous, which dispels Fei Qian''s original idea of ??fighting back slightly.


    This terrain is indeed a paradise for cavalry.


    No matter what maneuver you do, in this kind of weather, smoke and dust will be produced, which is equivalent to giving the opponent an early warning, and thus becomes a competition of numbers. They are all very confident, but the disadvantage in numbers cannot be made up by confidence.


    Now that Li Jue is leading a large number of cavalry to chase after him, although Fei Qian is not clear about Li Jue''s specific arrangements, he also guesses that the offensive from Hongnong''s side may be enough, otherwise Li Jue''s cavalry troops will never be sufficient. to such an extent.


    Therefore, at this time, we must be more cautious and tense our nerves to deal with it, otherwise we will invest easily and form a situation of exchange, which will not be very good. After all, Fei Qian feels that these human resources in his hands are still more valuable.


    So maybe the current retreat makes people feel a little cowardly, but Fei Qian still thinks it is the right choice, and he can fight for a more advantageous battle. Why should he fight against the opponent at a disadvantage?


    Now on this desolate river beach, you can vaguely see traces left by some old wooden piles, and you can also see stone strips picked up by people on the river beach, which should be used as stepping stones or for tying boats. , but now the river beaches on both sides are empty and deserted, only the rushing water surrounds Fei Qian and others.


    As the sky gradually darkened, Zhang Liao waved his hand slightly, and more than a dozen soldiers who were more familiar with water had already wrapped the ropes made of cowhide around themselves, and then jumped into the water with all their strength, and swam towards the opposite bank.


    As long as the tough cowhide ropes are pulled up on both sides of the river, soldiers and horses can cross the river along the cowhide ropes. Of course, the leather armor and iron armor need to be unloaded first, and the empty water bags tied to them are floated over or directly Lift it to the opposite bank along the cowhide rope.


    Therefore, it is very cumbersome to cross the river, and the most important thing is that you must not be attacked at this juncture, otherwise it will be a disaster.


    So now all the people are looking around while preparing to cross the river.


    After a while, Zhao Yun came back with more than 20 horsemen, slanted down the branches tied behind the horses, and threw them into the water. After a while, those branches and leaves slowly drifted downstream along the water.


    The smoke behind was blown by the wind on the river, and soon dissipated. Even if there were some remnants, they were basically invisible in the gradually dimming night. Guided by the smoke and dust, they had to stop to observe the traces on the ground, and after the leaves and branches were swept aside, it would cause certain difficulties for these trackers, and they could buy some time.


    The soldiers who swam across the river secured the long cowhide ropes.


    Without hesitation, Zhang Liao took the lead and led the vanguard troops across the river with his horse. He touched the leather rope and pulled it hard. Go across.


    Basically speaking, except for humans, all mammals can swim naturally, so don’t worry too much about war horses. What you need to worry about is humans...


    Well, strictly speaking, human beings can do it even when they are born, but because of the different living environments in which they grow up, this instinct changes later, so some people can do it, and some people become landlubbers.


    Now there is a cowhide rope that can be grasped above the river, which is basically enough for these soldiers, but it is still not a small difficulty for Feiqian.


    As the vanguard reached the other side, it was Fei Qian''s turn...


    "It''s so meow..." Fei Qian muttered in a low voice, and just stepped into the water, he felt a burst of cold, "...Next time you march, you must bring more old ginger..."


    Pulling the leather rope and walking a few steps forward, the horses and people finally entered the river completely.


    The war horse''s four hooves naturally hopped up and swam forward with a splash, while Fei Qian tried to keep his head above the water with the help of the cowhide rope, and tried his best to plan forward.


    At first, Fei Qian thought that this was nothing, but it was only when he got into the water that he realized that even though the water flow was not strong, the pulling force downstream was not small. If there was no cowhide rope to restrict the fixed direction, it would be possible to It will deviate from the direction, making it impossible to board the opposite bank smoothly, and once it is washed away from this area with slow water flow, it may be difficult to go ashore again!


    Although it is almost summer, the river water is constantly washing on the body and face, which still makes people feel a little chilly. The war horse shook its head a little uneasily. Fei Qian grasped the cowhide rope while rubbing the strength of the war horse to some extent, struggling to move forward. Standing in the middle of the river, he felt that the sound of rushing water became the only sound between heaven and earth. .


    It was only half of the swim, and with the exhaustion of strength, Fei Qian felt that his arms and shoulders began to ache faintly, and his forward speed also slowed down...


    (end of this chapter)