Chapter 1072: That team of people
North of the Jingshui River in Guanzhong, in the mountains and forests near Chiyang County, a gray rabbit cautiously exposed half of its head from the earth hole under the tree, raised its ears, and looked around for a while. Not noticing any danger, it went inside He came out and walked towards the bushes on the side, seemingly preparing to look for food.
At this moment, there was a scream that broke through the air. The gray rabbit subconsciously felt the danger. He was about to kick his hind legs to escape, but before he had time, an arrow had already passed through his body and nailed him to the ground. on the ground.
A strong man stood up from the bushes downwind, strode over, then pulled out the arrow, shook the gray rabbit in his hand, smiled with satisfaction, and walked south with the rabbit in his hand. On his lower back, there was a dead wild animal with its neck hanging down and its head dangling.
Mountain forests are a dangerous existence for most people. Because there is no compass or locator, it is easy to lose your way after entering the forest. You will not know where you are while walking, and you will never know where you are. It cannot get out until it becomes nourishment for the animals and plants in the mountains and forests.
But the hardcover man looked at the moss on the surrounding trees from time to time, and then looked up at the sun peeking out from among the leaves. He seemed to have effortlessly figured out the direction, and after walking for more than half an hour, he came out of the woods.
The weather has been good these days, with light wind and clear skies.
Under such good weather, and the terrain here is relatively high, the city wall and arrow towers of Chiyang County in the distance can be clearly seen. Chiyang County is not too big, but it is not too small either. The blue bricks on the city wall have been aged for some time and look a little black. However, it seems that some tiles on the arrow tower above the city are broken and have not been repaired in time, revealing a dark hole.
?The city gate is half open and the drawbridge is lowered. There are not many people coming and going outside the city, just a few sparse ones. There was a circle of antlers arranged on the edge of the gully dug around the city. Overall, the defense was neither strict nor lax. At this level of city defense, if there is no shortage of food and water, the defenders are still qualified. They can resist three to five times the strength of the invading troops, and there will be no pressure to hold on for three to five months.
?The strong man stood on the rock and squinted his eyes, staring at Chiyang City from a distance for a while, then jumped off the big rock, turned back, and arrived at a crazy hill behind it.
In the middle of the mountain col, unexpectedly, a simple camp had been built. Some men in leather robes were busy in the camp. Some were looking after the horses, and some were polishing their weapons. Several soldiers saw it. The strong men all stood up and called out "Pang Duwei"...
?In the camp, Ma Chao was also polishing the tip of his own spear on a stone.
There is no way. There is no stainless steel at this time. Anything containing iron will rust to some extent. If these rusty areas are not removed immediately, the rust will expand and even damage the entire weapon.
Ma Chao raised his head and glanced up, then lowered his head and continued polishing carefully. He asked casually: "Ling Ming, are you going hunting?"
Pang De threw the rabbit and the wild animal to the guard beside Ma Chao, laughed twice, and said: "Walking around in the forest, I came across two blind ones, chewing dried meat every day, which is tasteless... Take it and pack it away quickly, how much? It can be considered a new blood food..."
Pang De originally worked in a county, and later followed Ma Teng to attack the rebellious Qiang people. Because of his bravery in fighting, he repeatedly made military exploits and accumulated military merits to the position of captain in the army.
Normally, after the military camp is set up, private movement is strictly prohibited, but both Ma Teng and Ma Chao have been transformed a lot by barbarians, and they also prefer the barbarian model when managing the army, so Pang De left the camp. Ma Chao didn''t take it seriously when it came to hunting. He just snorted slightly and said, "Seeing the enemy right in front of you, but not being able to kill him with your hands... everything you eat is tasteless..."
?After half a month of pursuit, Ma Chao and others finally found this place near Wugong County. According to numerous signs, Li Jue was probably hiding in Chiyang County...
Li Jue''s original title was Marquis of Chiyang, so this county was Li Jue''s fiefdom from the beginning. Although the army was defeated and routed, some of the soldiers and generals who had been sent to Chiyang were still more or less Li Jue''s confidants. So even though Li Jue has lost momentum now, he still regards Li Jue as a leader and leader...
The big Han officials in the court may or may not know, but regardless of whether they knew or not, in the previous stage, they did not have much free time to deal with surrounding matters, so Li Jue stayed away and did not cause trouble. Most of the officials in the hall just turned a blind eye and pretended not to have seen it.
?The officials in Chang''an pretended not to have seen it, but Ma Chao could not pretend not to have seen it.
Seeing that the personal guards were taking the rabbit and Ye Zhi to deal with it, Ma Chao didn''t say anything. He just sharpened the gun blade carefully, as if he was thinking about where to stab Li Jue''s body with the gun blade. Said: "Ling Ming, I have been here for two or three days. What do you think of the Chiyang soldiers and horses?"
Pang De also had a straightforward temper, so he had no intention of hiding anything. When Ma Chao asked, he opened his mouth and replied: "It looks okay. Although there are not many patrols around, and they are not far away, but we should do it." There is nothing missing, and the equipment seems to be good...most of them are veterans, and they should have fought in battle..."
"What do you think about the city''s defense?" Ma Chao asked again.
"The defense is pretty normal...but it may not be easy to fight..." Pound said, stroking the beard on his chin.
"Why?" Ma Chao raised his spear and squinted at the gun blade in the air.
Pang De said: "...In other county towns, there are more or less places to escape. During the attack, there must be some people who don''t want to die in the city... But Chiyang is just a city. If you want to escape, where can you escape? So once the fighting starts , it must be a desperate resistance, and we don’t have many manpower..."
?Ma Chao held the spear with one hand, waved it in the air a few times, then stuck it beside him with a swipe, and remained silent. Li Jue was actually quite famous in Xiliang, and he said he would definitely be able to defeat Li Jue. In fact, Ma Chao didn''t have much confidence in his heart.
?But now that we’re here, there’s no reason to just turn around and go back!
Ma Chao''s tribe, many of whom are Qiang people, were originally outside the territory of China. Since the Qin Dynasty, they have come one after another. The relationship with China has also been good and bad, and has never been the same. The destiny continued until later generations, and China was nothing more than appeasement and counterinsurgency, repeating the cycle again and again, and there seemed to be no end.
Like weeds in the wilderness, growing one after another.
Ma Chao''s current troops are actually Han Dynasty soldiers and horses, rather they are mainly tribes. The etiquette is also quite rough, and there is not so much red tape between the top and bottom. But it is precisely because of this that when Ma Chao organizes his troops now, it is quite simple to give orders, and he is also extremely flexible in responding to battle. In addition, the original barbaric and fierce nature of the Xiliang people and the unique flexibility of the cavalry come and go like the wind. tactics, so the overall combat effectiveness of Ma Chao''s troops is actually quite strong...
Therefore, although we knew that Chiyang was not easy to attack, no one had any complaints or intention to retreat in the past two days. They just waited for Ma Chao to come up with some ideas before taking action.
"Yesterday, Lieutenant Ma led his team out, visited the surrounding countryside, captured a few patrolmen guarding the countryside, and killed them after questioning... However, the small soldiers didn''t know much, and they didn''t ask anything..." Ma Chao He was also a little worried and couldn''t help but talk to Pang De.
?This is Ma Chao''s biggest headache. He has no idea about the city of Chiyang. How many soldiers there are, how they are arranged, and how the city is defended. How should he attack Chiyang?
?That **** Li Jue! Where is he hiding in Chiyang now? Is it in the Chiyang government office or in the school grounds in Chiyang? But no matter where he is, as long as he is captured, he must suffer for seven days and seven nights before dying!????……………
“Fire! Fire! Fire…”
?Zhang Yan screamed hoarsely, feeling like she was falling into a sea of ??fire. There were flames above, below, left and right, and even the sky and rocks spewed out blazing fire!
The soldiers standing on the ridge all seemed to be made of flames. They were shouting and cheering, holding up a variety of weapons also made of flames, and harvesting the weapons of the men around them. life…
??The battle robe on his body has been set on fire, the iron armor on his body has been licked hot by the tongues of fire, and his exposed beard and hair have been completely scorched! The black smoke was like a giant python, billowing in the valley, choking everyone so hard that every breath seemed like they were breathing fire.
“…The great commander! The great commander!”
?The sound sounded far and near, like a bright light in the sky, shattering the surrounding scene. Zhang Yan opened her eyes and became more or less awake, but her expression was still full of fear.
"Commander, it''s okay, it''s okay... Come, drink some water..."
In the dim thatched house, one person carefully lifted up Zhang Yan''s body, trying not to touch the **** areas burned by the flames. He held a bowl of water and placed it next to Zhang Yan''s pale lips.
Zhang Yan was groggy, managed to drink a bowl of water, and then lay down weakly.
The people in the thatched house were silent for a moment, and then quietly retreated.
This is a thatched house built in a small mountain col. Because it was built in a hurry, it is very crude. If it hadn''t rained recently, I''m afraid it might not even be able to completely block the rain.
?At the far entrance to the small mountain col, some felled tree trunks were used to barely build a fence. A few people were on duty there, and these people were the only remaining personnel of Zhang Yan...
"...The Commander-in-Chief is so injured..." After leaving the thatched house for a while, a man with a charred face and curly hair, who seemed to be of some barbaric descent, whispered, "...I have searched for all the herbs around, but they are not good... In the past two days, I have spent more and more time sleeping...I''m afraid..."
“You bastard!” Another burly man said angrily, “What nonsense are you talking about! Commander... Commander will definitely get better!”
"You''re the one who said the **** words!" The man from before said angrily, "Get well, who the **** doesn''t want the Commander-in-Chief to get better! But now we have to find a way, and it''s not just the **** who says it. Words that don’t hurt!”
"What do you mean it''s not painful or itchy! I said the commander-in-chief will be fine. How can this be said to be painless and not itchy!"
??A strong man came over, frowned and scolded: "Shut up! Stop making noise! ??If you have this energy, you might as well do more serious work! Curly Hair, how many herbs are left?"
The curly-haired man shook his head and said: "Commander Baique... There isn''t much left. I applied it today and it''s almost gone. I''m going to have a look at the top of the mountain over there later, hoping to find more." …”
"Okay, this mountain is steep, so be more careful..." The strong man patted Curly''s shoulder and said, "Everyone is impatient and speaks a little hastily. Don''t take it seriously... Right now, we are the only ones left. Now that we are brothers, we should all work together, Blackbeard, don’t you think so?”
The burly man lowered his head and was silent for a while, then he cupped his hands towards Curly Hair and said, "My little brother is talking nonsense, don''t worry about Curly Hair Brother... I will go search in the forest later and look at the condoms I put in the past two days. Maybe I can bring some blood food back to replenish the commander..."
While he was talking, suddenly a person was extremely anxious. However, because the mountain road was difficult to walk, he ran a little staggeringly. When he got closer, he said out of breath: "... No... It''s not good! Mountain... Mountain outside... Mountain outside." There’s…a team of people…”
“Where are you from?” Commander Baique asked quickly.
“…It’s…the general who conquered the West…I saw the three-color flag…”
Everyone''s expressions changed drastically, and they were at a loss for a moment.
“Bring us the weapons!” Bai Que shouted, as if speaking to other people, and also as if cheering himself up, “Since there is no way to survive, then let’s fight one by one!”
??Everyone also shouted, and then they rushed to the simple fence at the entrance of the valley with their swords and guns raised...
"...You! It''s you!" Baique rushed to the entrance of the valley, but saw a familiar face in the queue on the opposite side. He couldn''t help but raise his sword angrily and slashed it on the wooden stake in front of him, "Fuyun! You shameless You villain! You have the nerve to come here! I will kill you!"
Zhao Yun immediately raised his gun, and under the three-color flag, he looked at his former colleagues roaring at the mouth of the valley and was speechless for a moment...
(End of this chapter)