Three Kingdoms King of the North

Yuan Tan on the side waited for Lu Kuang to finish speaking, and asked tentatively, "General Lu, what are you going to do next?"

"What else can we do? Of course, lead our troops to kill them." Lu Kuang said angrily, "We have 1000 cavalrymen, crossbowmen, and pikemen each. It shouldn't be a problem to break through the small boundary bridge."

Lu Xiang thought a little more: "Brother, even if we defeat the defender of Jieqiao and rush over, but the next few hundred miles will still be occupied by the Youzhou Army, if we fight while walking If not, by the time we arrive at Nanpi, our soldiers and horses will be depleted."

Seeing that Lu Xiang objected to his proposal to have a showdown with the Jieqiao guard, Lu Kuang asked angrily, "The Youzhou army is blocking the way ahead. If we don't fight them, how will we pass the Jieqiao?"

"Now that the weather is getting warmer and the river is thawing, we can go around to the place upstream where the current is gentle and cross the river quietly." Lu Xiang said to Lu Kuang: "In this way, we can not only pass the boundary bridge, but also avoid premature death. Clashed with Youzhou soldiers and horses."

"General Lu, there is still something wrong with your method." Yuan Xi, who came over after hearing the news, just heard Lu Xiang's proposal, so he couldn't help interjecting and objected: "The defenders of Jieqiao saw you leaving. , will definitely send people to strengthen the upstream and downstream patrols. If we are spotted by the scout horses he sent while crossing the river, our previous efforts will be wasted."

Just when the few people were frowning, a soldier suddenly came to report: "I want to report to the two generals, the dust is flying in the west, and it seems that there is a soldier and horse coming towards us."

"Is there a soldier and horse coming towards us?" After hearing the report from the soldiers, Lu Kuang couldn't help but turn pale with shock, and quickly ordered: "Form up and prepare to meet the enemy!"

Following Lu Kuang's order, three thousand troops began to quickly line up.Standing at the front are pikemen, in the middle are crossbowmen, and at the back are cavalry.Lu Kuang's formation in this way was to let the crossbowmen shoot at the charging enemies first, and then use the pikemen to meet the enemies who rushed in front of them.The cavalry is prepared to wait for the enemy to retreat and carry out pursuit.

After a stick of incense, the two brothers Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang saw a soldier and horse appear in their field of vision.The opponents were all infantry, and the sword and shield hand holding the shield at the front walked, and countless spears protruded from the gaps in the shield. They were walking over in great strides with neat steps.

However, when they were two arrows away from Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang's army, they stopped suddenly, and then the formation opened a passage, and a horse rushed out from it.The cavalryman stopped only fifty steps away from Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang, and shouted loudly, "Where are you soldiers and horses from?"

"We are soldiers and horses from Jizhou!" Lu Kuang shouted loudly at the other party: "Where are you soldiers and horses from?"

Hearing that Lu Kuang said that they were Jizhou soldiers and horses, the knight rode his horse and stopped at a place only five or six away from the Lu brothers. Is it the chief general of the army?"

Knowing that it was Zhang Yun's subordinates who came, Lu Kuang couldn't help being overjoyed. He hurriedly bowed his hands to the other party and said politely: "It turns out that it is the Sima of the Pu Army. I am really disrespectful. The two brothers are the generals under the command of Jizhou Mu. Kuang and Lu Xiang, under the orders of the lord, escort the two sons of the Yuan family to Nanpi."

Knowing that the two people in front of him were actually General Pi, Pu Tao quickly clasped his fists on his horseback and saluted: "I have seen the two generals Lu. Please forgive me for not being able to fully salute the last general because he is wearing armor. But I don't know why the two generals are staying here. ?”

Lu Kuang pointed in the direction of the boundary bridge with his hand, and said helplessly, "The guard of the boundary bridge will not let me pass. We are discussing how to bypass the boundary bridge."

"So that's the case." Hearing what Lu Kuang said, Pu Tao's expression became serious, "It turns out that the guard of Jieqiao is causing trouble again. No wonder the two generals stayed here."

Lu Xiang was more careful, and he heard something wrong from Pu Tao's words: "Pu Jun Sima, so it is common for Jieqiao guards to make things difficult for our army?"

"General Lu is right." Pu Tao nodded and said, "Over the past few months, the Jieqiao guards have often sent people across the border to take away our people. General Zhang He negotiated with them several times, but they still did not come down. That's why Send the last general to lead two thousand soldiers and horses to patrol this area. Just now I heard the report from Tan Ma that there are thousands of soldiers and horses gathered here. .”

"Pujun Sima," Lu Xiang urged him to take two steps forward, and asked him for advice: "We want to go northward through the Jieqiao, do you know if there is another way?"

"No." Pu Tao shook his head, and replied very simply: "Besides the stone bridge, there is no other road to pass through. Otherwise, when Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses fought here, they would not have The loss was heavy."

"Breaking in is absolutely impossible." After listening to Pu Tao, Lu Xiang frowned and said: "Once we do this, it means that Jizhou and Youzhou will completely turn their faces, and then the two sides will have to fight each other." .And my lord is busy building the palace for His Majesty and urging the people to plow the spring, so I can't mobilize enough troops to compete with Gongsun Zan."

"Second brother," Lu Kuang saw that his brother couldn't think of any good solution, so he asked tentatively, "Look, should we go back to Jizhou City with Pu Jun Sima, and discuss with General Zhang Yun to see if there is anything wrong? A surefire solution?"

"What this General Lu said is very true." Pu Tao waited for Lu Kuang to finish speaking, and immediately continued: "The two generals may as well return to Jizhou City at the end, and discuss with General Zhang Yun how to cross the boundary bridge."

Seeing that both Lu Kuang and Pu Tao wanted to go to Jizhou City to ask Zhang He for help, Lu Xiang was also moved.Just when he opened his mouth to agree, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the two Yuan brothers with disdainful expressions on their faces. He immediately realized that if he really went to Jizhou and asked Zhang Yun for help, he would definitely be rejected by these two brothers. look down upon.

Thinking of this, Lu Xiang shook his head and said, "Thank you Sima Pu Jun for your kindness. Lu thinks we can find other ways to cross the boundary bridge, so we don't have to bother General Zhang Yun."

"Second brother, are you really going to go to the upper reaches of the river to cross the river?" Lu Kuang saw that Lu Xiang was unwilling to go to Jizhou, so he quickly reminded him: "Sima Pu Jun also said just now, except for the stone bridge. There is no place to cross the river."

Unexpectedly, after hearing what Lu Kuang said, Pu Tao asked in surprise, "Could it be that the two generals are planning to ford across the river from another location?"

Lu Xiang thought that Pu Tao had been here for a long time, and he must be more familiar with the terrain than himself, so he humbly asked him for advice: "I don't know where Sima Pu Jun knows, where soldiers and horses can cross the river alone?"

Pu Tao frowned and thought for a while, then said: "Walking about twenty miles down the river, there is a shoal where you can wade across the river, and there is no Youzhou army guarding it nearby. But you have to walk through the woods for about a day before you can get there." Arrive at the official road."

When Lu Xiang just heard that there was a place downstream where he could wade across the river, he wanted to ask Pu Tao why the Youzhou Army didn't deploy manpower there, but after listening to what he said later, he understood what was going on.On the other side of the river is a forest that takes a day to walk, enough to be worth two thousand soldiers.

Now that he knew that there was a suitable place to cross the river, Lu Xiang decided to take a risk. As for the next step through the woods, we can wait until after crossing the river.He politely asked Pu Tao: "I wonder if Pu Jun Sima can send us some guides to lead our soldiers and horses to cross the river?"

"Guide, there is no problem." After Pu Tao readily agreed to the guide's question, he continued to ask: "I wonder if there is any general who can serve the two generals?"

"Pujun Sima," Lu Xiang had just considered that once his soldiers and horses disappeared from the front of the Jieqiao, it would definitely arouse the vigilance of the Jieqiao guards, and he would definitely send people to strengthen the upstream and downstream inspections, and he might find himself the river crossing operation.Now that there are 2000 people from Pu Tao, the problems I worried about are easily solved. "Lv is worried that once our soldiers and horses leave here, they will be discovered by the guards of Jieqiao. Therefore, I would like to take the liberty of asking Pu Jun Sima to lead his troops to pretend to be us and stay here to divert the attention of the guards and make us Can cross the river smoothly."

Pu Tao originally thought that Lu Xiang would entrust him with some difficult task, but he was still thinking about how to reject him.But at this moment, when it was heard that he was only asked to stay here with his troops, pretending to be soldiers and horses from Yecheng, in order to confuse the guards of Jieqiao, he said hastily and straightforwardly: "Please rest assured, General Lu, the final general will definitely fulfill his mission. "

Seeing Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang preparing to leave with his soldiers and horses, Pu Tao added later: "The last general has something to say to the two generals."

Lu Xiang quickly reined in his horse, turned his head and asked with a smile, "I don't know what else Sima Pu Jun wants to say?"

Pu Tao hesitated for a moment, then said to Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang: "At the end, I will ask the two generals to send people back to Yecheng and report the situation here to the Lord."

Pu Tao's words reminded Lu Xiang, and he frowned and asked, "Pu Jun Sima, Lu doesn't understand. Since the Youzhou Army has been provoking non-stop, why haven't you reported the matter here to the lord? "

Regarding Lu Xiang's question, Pu Tao just smiled wryly, but did not speak.Seeing his expression, Lu Xiang guessed that he might have something to hide, so he didn't continue to ask.Instead, according to what he said, he sent the dubo who had escaped from Jieqiao with fifty cavalry to return to Yecheng to report to Han Zhan.

Under the guidance of the guide, Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang's soldiers and horses came to the downstream crossing point.Looking at the gently flowing river about [-] feet wide, Lu Xiang asked a guide, "How deep is the water here?"

"Return to the general," the guide replied respectfully, "The shallow part of the water is just above the ankle; the deep part of the water is no more than waist deep."

To be on the safe side, Lu Xiang specially called a few capable men to follow the guide to explore the way.He ordered several people to say, "Take two ropes to cross the river. When you get to the other side of the river, find a boulder or a tree and tie them so that the soldiers and horses behind can hold the ropes and cross the river."

Since the ropes they carried were not long enough, each of the pathfinding soldiers carried a bundle of ropes on their backs, and planned to tie these ropes together later to form two ropes spanning both sides of the river.

After half an hour, the soldiers who went to explore the road successfully reached the other side of the river, and tied two ropes across the two sides of the river to two thick trees, and then sent a signal to this side, indicating that it was time to cross the river .

Lu Xiang took the lead in crossing the river on horseback. Unexpectedly, as soon as the horse entered the water, it was so cold that it jumped up and down, almost throwing Lu Xiang off the horse.Seeing this situation, Lu Kuang hurried over and asked with concern: "Second brother, what's the matter?"

Lu Xiang smiled wryly and said, "Brother, this river water is too piercing."

"Then what should we do?" Hearing what Lu Xiang said, Lu Kuang couldn't help panicking.

"Distribute the wine we're carrying to the soldiers and let each of them take a sip to keep them warm." Lu Xiang replied, "Also, when crossing the river, the infantry have to take off their armor and put on their clothes again when they are on the other side of the river." superior."

Regarding Lu Xiang's proposal, Lu Kuang immediately agreed.He ordered the strong wine carried by the general to be distributed to each soldier, and before crossing the river, everyone had to drink a sip to keep out the cold.At the same time, it is necessary to remove the armor and carry it on the shoulders, and pull the rope to cross the river.

It took a lot of time for three thousand soldiers to cross the river.After all the soldiers and horses had crossed the river, Lu Xiang ordered the soldiers to put on their armor again, while counting the number of soldiers to see if anyone was missing while crossing the river.

After counting, although several soldiers' legs were frostbitten, no soldiers disappeared, which is considered a blessing in misfortune.Lu Xiang asked the cavalry to free up horses for these frostbitten soldiers so that they could march on horseback.After arranging all this, Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang ordered people to cut off the ropes on the river, and led the soldiers and horses into the woods on the bank where the end could not be seen as far as the eye could see.

Chapter 326 Pathfinder

After entering the woods, Lu Kuang immediately understood why the Youzhou Army didn't send patrolling troops to the river beach here.Not to mention that there is no road in this forest, and because the light cannot penetrate into the forest, it looks extraordinarily gloomy.If it weren't for the countless soldiers accompanying him, Lu Kuang would even have the urge to turn around and escape from the woods.

Lu Kuang called a guide and asked cautiously, "How long will it take us to get out of this forest?"

"Return to the general," the guide who led the way quickly replied upon hearing Lu Kuang's question, "If everything goes well, we will be able to leave this forest in a day at most."

"If it goes well, it will only take one day." After the guide finished speaking, Lu Kuang repeated his words, and then asked, "If it doesn't go well, how long will it take us?"

The guide hesitated for a moment, and then said: "If we get lost in the forest, it may take three to five days to get out. But don't worry, general, there are many wild animals in the forest, so don't worry about lack of food."

In fact, Lu Kuang asked the guide how long it would take to get out of the woods. The main reason was that he was worried that the soldiers would not carry much food with them.At this moment, I heard that there are many wild animals in the forest, and I suddenly feel more at ease.He nodded and urged the horse to continue on.

However, Yuan Xi, who was ignored by everyone, leaned towards Yuan Tan's side at this moment, and said in a low voice: "Brother, you have seen it. Now that Jizhou and Youzhou seem to be in harmony, even if we return to Nanpi, we will go back to Nanpi from the younger brother's hand." Even if you have seized the military power, but you are sandwiched between the two of them, life will not be easy."