Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3223: You know it, I know it, he knows it

　　　Cao Jun is here! Cao Jun is here! We're fucked! We're fucked! 』

Haunted screams swept across the Yuncheng Basin in the east of the Hedong River.

 Huge piles of refugees, like panicked animals, instinctively began to flee.

These refugees are a mix of old and weak, and they fled in a hurry, not to mention command and restraint. They hear wind and rain, and some people are either frightened or confused, even if some people want to stay in it. Order, but still unable to stop these refugees and stabilize their minds.

 Among the chaotic crowds, some forts are like small stones in the water.

 It blocked some water, but was also shaken by the water.

 This is a small fortress.

The ditch of the Wubao is not wide and deep, and the fort wall is not very high. It looks increasingly small in front of the flow of people.

On the wall of Wubao Castle, heads were shaking, and the pale-faced owner of Wubao Castle was as flustered as his servants.

 The gate of Wubao is closed and strictly guarded.

At first, they tried to send some people to drive away the refugees near Wubao, but more and more refugees came later, and people inside Wubao did not dare to come out anymore.

 Hedong has not had such a large flow of refugees for a long time.

These people in Hedong seem to have forgotten what happened during the last large-scale refugee event, and what they see in front of them makes those painful memories tumble into their minds again.

On the wall of Wubao, everyone stared blankly at the flow of people in front of them.

 Wherever you can see, there seem to be groups of refugees gathering in one place regardless of team, crowding and pushing each other.

 There was a mixture of young, strong, old and weak, including some women and children, and everyone looked sad.

 Hunger is like a yin fire. At any time a gust of wind comes, or maybe there is just a spark, it can turn into a mob at any time.

If we look at the original population of Hedong, it was not as good as that of Heluo, or even that of Yuzhou and Jizhou. However, with the decline of Heluo, people from many other places gradually moved to calmer areas, especially in During the period of Fei Qian's rise, the local nobles in Hedong also absorbed a large number of refugees, which brought the total population of Hedong to a higher level.

When Cao Jun originally entered the territory of Hedong, because he was initially expecting the Hedong nobles to launch a backstab against Fei Qian, he did not make any aggressive moves towards the Hedong nobles, and his attitude was relatively mild. However, as Cao Jun's own pressure increased, As well as the sway of the Hedong nobles, Cao Cao finally lost his patience and showed his claws.

It can be said that Cao Cao has experienced a relatively complete Yellow Turban Rebellion, so he knows that once these people are stirred up, it will be overwhelming. Men, women, old and young will become pure eating and drinking beasts when the production and living order is destroyed by the war. In order to have a bite to eat, these seemingly weak people will drag more and more people into this huge vortex of hunger and thirst!

 This became the first move he used to defeat Fei Qian...

 Tactically, Cao Cao was right, but strategically, he had lost.

The master on the Wubao was still wearing a piece of armor that didn't fit very well. His legs were trembling. He looked at everything in front of him with a look of despair. After standing there for a long time, he finally couldn't help but scream. Shout, "Hurry!" Send someone for help again! Go to Anyi! Go to Pingyang! Go...go! If this continues, we...can't stop it! Damn it, Cao Jun, **** it...Why haven't the Qiusi come yet? Why haven't you come yet? This **** world, **** it! One is a hussar and the other is a prime minister. What about us? ! Who are we? Do they still regard us as the people of the Han Dynasty? ! 』

On Wubao, the owner of Wubao was shouting. His voice was full of despair, but it could not stir up much trouble among the refugee flow.

And far behind these refugees, Cao Jun's forwards, who kept driving these civilians north, were not necessarily happy.

 The people responsible for this work were Liu Zhu and Hu Zhi, the generals in Cao's army.

 Beside Liu Zhu and the guards were their own private soldiers.

Among the Cao army, low- and middle-level generals with different surnames like Liu Zhu and Hu Zhi will still have their own guards, but the number and quality are lower than those of other Cao clan and Xiahou clan. A big chunk. Of course, even so, they will be much better than ordinary Cao soldiers. At least they are relatively well equipped and have relatively good armor.

 In Cao's army, situations like this are very common, with one level suppressing the other.

The advantage is that all the soldiers in Cao's army know the benefits of promotion, and they can have strong goals to strive for. The disadvantage is that the area in the upper part of the pyramid is always small, and the transparent ceiling of ordinary foreigners always limits the channels for promotion.

The guards of Liu Zhu and the hostages generally functioned as supervisors. Just like at the moment, these guards also chopped down many ordinary soldiers who were unwilling to obey orders. The malicious mob stacked these heads on top of each other, and they were bloody. as a warning to other Cao soldiers.

Among the soldiers of Cao's army, many of them joined the army during the war and had nowhere to go and were struggling to survive.

When trying to survive among the chaotic people, they inevitably experienced various tragic situations. After experiencing these tragic situations, not everyone became numb and became ruthless from then on. Therefore, after the order to expel and plunder the people of Hedong was issued, There are more or less some soldiers in Cao's army who are unwilling to do this, or they may have agreed openly, but their hands have become slack.

 But what Cao Cao needs is "panic". If Liu Zhu and the hostage don't do it, then they themselves will be the ones to "panic".

 When I got to the back, I became numb.

 The evil in human nature has gradually emerged.

 Killing, looting.

It is not easy to establish order, but to destroy it, all it takes is a gentle push...

Liu Zhu stood on the hill, looking at the black smoke rising in the distance, looking at the various traces left by the fleeing people in the wilderness, the dead bodies, scattered items, and then looking at the gray The weather, let out a long sigh.

With the hostage aside, the initial excitement and pleasure of being a warlord was gone. He looked around uneasily, and then asked his guard in a low voice, "Are the people behind you following?" 』

 The guard shook his head silently.

It was difficult for the guard to understand why Cao Cao gave such an order, and he didn't know what Cao Cao's purpose was, but he was not qualified to question Cao Cao. He could only obey orders, and for himself, he also understood his current position. danger.

 They are bait.

But they didn’t know whether it would be small fish and shrimps or deep-sea sharks.

Hu Zhi also sighed.

As generals, Liu Zhu and the guards could not say anything, but the guards behind them knew something about the situation, and now they were just talking to each other in twos and threes, muttering.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 wealth flows in on the lead army and protect the army? What about those Cao family and Xiahou family? We are fighting life and death in front, why don't they come up? Now I have to keep my eyes open when sleeping, otherwise I don’t know if I will be stabbed to death by someone in the middle of the night! This thing is short-lived! 』

 ‘Shut your mouth! We just follow orders! Don’t come to us if you have any grudges! 』

　　『If you don’t look for us, who else can you look for? Those Hedong barbarians are just to the north..."

　　　『I told you to shut up, it’s really annoying! 』

Struggling in troubled times, killing people is helpless, but now that things are clearly settled, chaos is about to start again, and not everyone is willing to accept it.

　　　『We are just the same thing! How can you care so much! You and I just act according to orders, no need to think too much, no need to think too much! 』

 There are people who doubt and think, and of course there are also people who are unwilling to doubt or think.

“What will you and I do if we attract a large group of hussars?” ! Is it possible to fight to the death here, with nothing to rely on and no danger to defend? What's the use of the car formation? They have Five Elements Thunder! 』

　　　『What, are you afraid of death? 』

―Haha, are you afraid of death? See for yourself, how many people have died along the way? We are not afraid of death, but we are afraid of dying in vain! 』

　　　『Prime Minister…Prime Minister will not ignore our…』

　　　　Hey, who knows? 』

　　　…　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　log ON soldiers and soldiers' guards talking about it, also vaguely reached the ears of Liu Zhu and the guards.

In the past, Liu Zhu and the guards would have shouted to stop the noise, but now for some unknown reason, neither of them took any action to stop it, as if they didn't hear it.

"I remember... the Prime Minister once sang, "The armor is infested with lice, and all the people are dead. The bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no roosters for thousands of miles"..." Liu Zhu sighed quietly, "Now it seems that this is really the case... 』

Hearing this, the guard suddenly turned his head and stared at Liu Zhu, his eyes widened, his lips moved slightly, but he did not speak.

Liu Zhu seemed not to notice the hostage's expression at all, but still said slowly: "In the past, when Dong's thieves caused trouble, the world was in chaos, and heroes rose up together, but Yuan Shao looked at the four states and was powerful and invincible. The prime minister strategized, fought in the north and south, supported the Han Dynasty, and welcomed the emperor in Xu. Someone admired him very much, so he spent all his wealth and raised courage to invest in him. 』

Hu Zhi took a breath and moved his lips, "You..."

Liu Zhu smiled and looked up at the gray sky, "The world... I have the world in mind... Haha, haha..."

Hu Qi couldn't respond, so he just looked back.

The originally bright red flag with black characters on the Han Dynasty seemed to have dimmed.

 …

 …

To the north of the Yuncheng Basin, on top of the Emei Mountains, a group of tough men and horses were looking down at the changes in the Yuncheng Basin in the wind.

This group of fierce men and horses are all dressed as elite cavalry, with fiery red shirts and jet black armor, like the blending of iron and blood, the collision of fire and thunder.

 The flags are fluttering, and the three-color battle flag is fluttering high in the wind.

The war horses were lined up neatly on the plateau, as if they could gallop down at any time and trample everything in front of them under their hooves.

 There was a general in front of him, who was on horseback, looking to the south.

This man is tall, with long hands and feet, and holds a long spear. The tip of the spear shines with cold light, and the red tassel is swaying in the wind, like a blooming flower from the other side.

 This general is none other than Zhang Xiu.

 Behind Zhang Xiu, there was Xun Chen.

Zhang Xiu now has elite cavalry under his command. The main defensive location is on the Emei Mountains, which separates the Linfen Basin and Yuncheng Basin in Pingyang.

If any blind Cao Jun scouts want to cross the Emei Mountains, they will often be discovered by the condescending Zhang Xiu's scouts. Therefore, over time, no Cao Jun scouts dare to peep close to this area.

But things have changed a bit now.

Now those who are gradually approaching Emei Ridge are not Cao Jun's scouts, but more and more refugees from Yuncheng, Hedong.

As Cao's army acted recklessly in the Yuncheng Basin, a large number of refugees gradually moved toward the Emei Mountains...

Zhang Xiu did not expect his momentary "feminine kindness", and as a result, Cao Cao stepped up his actions.

 In fact, the key reason is that Cao Cao wanted to conquer the land under Zhang Xiu's feet, but it was really difficult to conquer.

 This is Emei Ridge, a long and narrow land plateau.

 Located in the east of the Great River Valley, west of Taiyue Mountain, south of Linfen Valley, and north of Yuncheng Basin. It is longer from east to west and narrower from north to south, just like a giant loess brick accidentally dropped by nature in the east of the river.

 The side of the Yuncheng Basin in the south is lower and is called the lower slope, while the side above the Emei Ridge is called the upper slope. The entire Emei Mountains are flat and endless, with three sides facing water and one facing south.

Around the platform of Emei Mountain, it is precisely because of the erosion of this flowing water that steep loess cliffs and winding loess gullies are formed. The edge of the platform often presents a broken loess landscape with crisscrossing ravines.

If you look at the Emei Ridge from the direction of the Yuncheng Basin in the south, the Emei Ridge is like a huge loess castle rising suddenly from the plains. Its loess cliffs span from east to west and stretch for nearly two hundred miles. It is comparable to the song of ice and fire. The cliff is isolated from the frozen soil.

On the west side of Emei Ridge, close to the river, is the famous Longmendu.

Of course, there are also some small ferries, such as Fenyin Ferry and so on.

 In the Emei Mountains, closer to the north, there are two high mountains, Gushan Mountain and Jiwang Mountain. The two mountains are not far from each other, just like the two eyes of the platform. The Fenshui River to the north of Emei Mountains is different from that of later generations. Because the water and soil are well maintained, its flow is still very large in the Han Dynasty. Only in autumn and winter does the Fenshui River weaken a little, so it becomes the natural north of Emei Mountains. The moat naturally has a certain defensive effect on the nomads in the north. Therefore, since ancient times, Emei Ridge has been an important line of defense for the Hedong region to defend against the nomads in the north, but now it has to face the swords and guns from the Han Dynasty...

 Zhang Xiu's logistics troops are now stationed at Zhangbi in Emei Mountains.

 Zhangbi is located at the northern end of Emei Mountains, near the Fen River. It was originally a military fortress used to defend the Huns. It was later destroyed by Xianbei and later renovated by Fei Qian.

It is precisely because of this that when Fei first dived to the northeastern part of Hebei Province, the entire area north of Emei Mountains was relatively desolate and sparsely populated. Even though everyone knows that Linfen is surrounded by the Fen River, and if canals and water conservancy are repaired, there will be tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, but no one will come here to reclaim and cultivate the land. Compared with the Linfen Valley, the Yuncheng Basin is It will be safer from the threat of barbarians in the north.

 It wasn’t until Fei Qian defeated Xianbei, civilized the Xiongnu, and expanded the entire frontier to the Yinshan area along the Yellow River Hetao that the Linfen Basin became popular again.

 This has also led to serious inconsistencies in land ownership between the north and south of Emei Mountains...

Zhang Xiu looked down the **** of Emei Ridge and couldn't help but sigh: "Why bother?" Why bother? I have been thinking about taking advantage all day long, but have I ever thought that this advantage is so easy to take advantage of? Now it has become a thief's method! 』

Behind Zhang Xiu, Xun Chen also wore a sleeved armor, but he did not wear a pocket coat, but still wore a Jinxian crown. After hearing Zhang Xiu's words, he smiled and said: "The people of Hedong are all responsible for this." , not enough to pity him. 』

 Zhang Xiu shook his spear and said, "That's right. I just feel sorry for these innocent people. As for the people from Hedong...hehe..."

Xun Chen said: "Cao Jun caused chaos in order to cover our eyes and ears." There must be thieves mixed in among these refugees. 』

Zhang Xiu clicked his tongue and said, "It would be easy to kill him." 』

 A few days ago, Zhang Xiu made a surprise attack and defeated Cao Jun who was trying to set up camp in Yi County, and led some Cao Jun civilians back to Linfen. This made Cao Jun unable to continue to promote the strategy of forming a strong camp and could only think of other ways.

　　　『At a certain moment, I didn’t think much and caused trouble to my lord. ” Zhang Xiu gritted his teeth and said, “The thief Cao is extremely shameless and uses such despicable methods! Damn it! 』

Xun Chen comforted him and said, "General Zhang does not need to blame himself. Cao Cao's thieves have many tricks. The Lord has a reputation of benevolence, virtue and virtue, so there must be this temptation." I came here this time. Firstly, I was ordered by my lord to bring some civil servants to assist me so that General Zhang could feel at ease. Secondly, I also wanted to deal with these refugees heading north..."

 That’s right, refugees cannot be allowed to flow directly into the Linfen Valley.

After Fei Qian received the news that Cao Cao had started taking action, he immediately judged Cao Jun's intentions. This time, the purpose of coercing the people and forcing young and old was to break down the Emei Ridge defense line and create an opportunity to invade Linfen.

Fei Qian believed that Cao Cao must be aware of the strategic importance of Emei Ridge.

Whether it is the Linfen Valley in the north or the Yuncheng Basin in the south, this place is very important. This is not only a barrier for the southern forces to defend themselves against the north, but also a strategic fortress to recharge their batteries and attack north.

In the Yuncheng Basin south of the Emei Mountains, although there are counties such as Yixian, Pishi, Wenxi, Anyi, and Puban, there are not many of these counties and towns that can actually provide a better defense system. Once occupied, there is nothing to hold on to.

Even if you are not a military master, you can probably understand this matter if you only need to know some history of the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Emei Ridge, Purple Mountain, and Fenhe River were the dangerous mountains and rivers that protected the capital of the Jin State, and they were also the last line of defense for the capital of the Jin State. Throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, except for the Qi army's successful sneak attack into the hinterland of Jin in 550 BC due to the lack of preparedness of the Jin State, few other vassal states were able to break through the Emei Mountains for hundreds of years.

 Cao Cao wanted to attack Emei Ridge in a conventional way, which was obviously time-consuming, laborious and extremely difficult.

The Emei Mountains are vast and flat, and cavalry can move freely and horizontally. However, the short legs of Cao Cao's infantry are obviously unable to keep up with the cavalry. Therefore, among these refugees, they became Cao Cao's "rejection horses" that hindered the hussars. Or "traps", etc., to invisibly divide the battlefield to form a local advantage.

 It’s just that in this game of chess, until the last minute, no one knows whether the method deployed first is a clever move or a fool...