Three Kingdoms: I help Liu Bei grow thousands of miles

Chapter 721 Military Xiaobai Xia Houmao

In the third year of Wei Huangchu, and at the beginning of February in the third year of Yankang of the Han Dynasty, the son-in-law Xiahou Mao left Chang'an.

Thirty thousand horsemen marched west along the mighty Wei River, and all the supplies of the army were transported by water, so Xia Houmao's march was very fast, and he arrived at Shangyu in the east of Ji County in more than ten days.

The gate of Shangyu City was closed tightly, and the flags on the city wall were swayed lazily by the wind. Xia Houmao rode to the gate, and the ancient wooden gate slowly opened. The guard Liang Qian was dressed in full body, leading a team of pacers. Riding out to welcome.

Although Xia Houmao was not the general of Liangzhou, he was ordered by the emperor to support the Tianshui War. In addition, he was a close subject of Cao Pi, so he would be treated politely by Liangzhou officials, but he did not expect Liangqian Shangyu to be so "disrespectful".

Han Shao, the chief secretary of the army, found that Xia Houmao was unhappy, so he sneered at Liang Qian: "General Liang is really a great official, the son-in-law came to rescue him from Chang'an, but the soldiers and civilians of Shangyu didn't go out early to meet him, Liangzhou Do the officials only recognize General Zidan (Cao Zhen)?"

Liang Qian got off the horse first, then knelt on one knee, cupped his fists and raised his head above his head, explaining loudly: "Forgive me, son-in-law, Shangyu has been played by Zhang Fei many times, so before his identity is unknown, he dare not open the city to greet him."

"It is rumored that Zhang Fei is no match for a reckless man, will this black fellow also use tricks?" Xia Houmao sat astride a tall horse and looked at the underground people with contempt.

Liang Qian hurriedly shook his head: "Where did you hear that? Zhang Fei has many schemes and schemes. He once pretended to be Chen Cang Junyi (Zhang Yun) to help the army. At that time, because of his lowly position, he lost a lot of troops..."

Xia Houmao said in his heart that if Zhang Fei's tricks are right, you, the county magistrate, will be at the end of the day. He couldn't help but shook his head and said, "It's cold on the ground, and county magistrate Liang got up to answer..."

"Thank you son-in-law..." Liang Qian stood up after receiving the order.

"Zhang Fei only has a few thousand riders, and the Tianshui defenders number tens of thousands at least. The main cities are on both sides of the Wei River. It should be very convenient for the counties to support and cooperate. Even if Ma Zun can't defend the army and retreat the enemy, he won't be able to retreat to the county seat? Why? It feels like Tianshui is surrounded?" Xia Houmao frowned.

Liang Qian was full of bitterness and shook his head to complain: "Zhang Fei's cavalry come and go like the wind, the garrison in the county is easily divided, and the garrison from all over the country has never really assembled. Gather up the people and carry out fortified walls to clear the wilderness, hoping that Zhang Fei will retreat after running out of food..."

"I heard that Zhang Fei left Qishan in November last year, and it has been more than a hundred days since mid-February. Did they retreat because they ran out of food?" Xia Houmao asked.

"Uh... because..."

Liang Qian was about to explain, but was interrupted mercilessly by Xia Houmao: "What's the use of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields? None of you will break Zhang Fei's grain road. The grain will be transported continuously across Qishan Mountain. Naturally, Zhang Fei can be unscrupulous in Tianshui. This general It’s just to close the door and beat the dog.”

"Uh... I am willing to listen to my son-in-law..." Liang Qian swallowed back what he wanted to say.

Xia Houmao turned around and turned his head to Master Han Shao to order: "General Han, I will send you five thousand steps to ride south along the valley to cut off the grain transportation of Zhang Feiqi Mountain Road."

"Wei." Han Shao cupped his fists.

Liang Qian asked curiously: "General Han is going to Duanliang Road, and the son-in-law is going to Ji County to find a battle? Zhang Fei has been active there recently, and Ma Taishou may not be able to come to Shangyu to welcome you."

Xia Houmao sneered and said: "You have said that Zhang Fei is cunning, why should I go head-to-head? This general will sit in the town and wait for work. When Han Shao cuts off the grain road, Zhang Fei will go to Qishan and return to Qishan. Wouldn’t it be more effective to send troops to attack them?”

"Uh... a good strategy for the son-in-law... a humble job to lead you into the city to rest." Liang Qian saw that Xia Houmao was complacent, so it was not easy to say discouraged words to spoil the fun.

"Well... the soldiers are on a hard journey, and General Liang needs to prepare more wine for the army." Xia Houmao added in a low voice: "If there is a kabuki in the county, I should also prepare some..."

"Uh... obey..." Liang Qian responded awkwardly, his heart full of contempt.

The small county of Shangyu is not comparable to the big city of Chang'an, and it may not be able to meet Xia Houmao's request. Liang Qian thought he had to find a way to send this master to Ji County.

Xia Houmao lived in Shangying for seven or eight days. The food provided by Liang Qian was almost as simple as that during the march, and the Kabuki he found through "hard work" was also difficult for him to understand.

Xia Houmao, who was used to living a good life, couldn't bear eating bran and swallowing vegetables for a long time. He called Liang Qian and asked: "Shangying is also a big county in Tianshui. You are deceiving me by treating guests with these foods every day." Are you in a good temper?"

"Don't be angry, son-in-law. Although Shangyu is a big county in Tianshui, there was a severe drought in the north last year, and Zhang Fei suddenly harassed him when harvesting grain. escaped..." Liang Qian explained.

Population represents taxation and the source of soldiers, which are the main assessment indicators of the county magistrate. Liang Qian said that the people fled, which made Xia Houmao unable to think of a rebuttal point for a while.

Xia Houmao frowned and asked: "Last year, due to special reasons, it is understandable that the grain production decreased, but the weather in the past few years was good, and a large number of people moved from Wudu. It is impossible for Shanggui to have so little grain?"

"Uh... actually there are other reasons..." Liang Qian lowered his head while speaking.

"Still hiding?" Xia Houmao raised his voice.

Liang Qian clasped his fists and replied: "The humble official used the food from the treasury to exchange many prisoners from Zhang Fei..."

"What?" Xia Houmao couldn't believe his ears.

Liang Qian added embarrassingly: "In fact, this is the case in several nearby counties..."

"The officials in Tianshui are so generous. No wonder you frequently ask for help from the imperial court. All the food in the treasury is given to Zhang Fei. How can the soldiers in Tianshui get their fighting power? This is really ironic."

Xia Houmao suddenly realized that he seemed to understand why Zhang Fei was not short of food. It turned out that these Liangzhou "traitors" were supporting the enemy. He even thought that he could help Cao Pi clean up a group of moths.

"My son-in-law, you misunderstood me. In fact, we are very passive. Take the situation of Shangyu as an example. The defenders in the county were no match for Zhang Fei. Later, they were threatened with captives, and the humble officials were forced to exchange the soldiers with food. Otherwise, Shangbi has already been occupied by Zhang Fei..." Liang Qian complained repeatedly.

"If Zhang Fei dared to kill the prisoners in front of the city, wouldn't he be able to arouse the anger of the soldiers of Shangyu? The so-called mourners share the same sorrow and empathy..." Xia Houmao frowned.

Liang Qian shook his head and replied: "Zhang Fei clamored to only exchange food without killing people. If the humble official is unwilling to use food to redeem people, he will move the captives back to Wudu..."

"You let that black man move. When the people moved from Wudu, all the counties provided food and grass support. Zhang Fei dared to move the captives back to Wudu. The military rations he transported so hard will probably be exhausted soon. Liang County magistrate, you really don't think clearly..." Xia Houmao kept shaking his head, thinking that after all, he was a small border official, and his mind was not flexible at all.

Liang Qian was even more taken aback after hearing this, Xia Houmao showed the appearance of a military rookie in a few words, he was pessimistic about the next battle.

Chapter 722 Zhang Fei's Strange Request

"Reporting to my son-in-law, although Zhang Fei said this on purpose, he will definitely kill the prisoners in private. He can't divide his troops because of the prisoners of war, and he can't let the prisoners of war affect his mobility..." Liang Qian popularized common sense of war for Xia Houmao.

"Since you know the result, why do you still..." Xia Houmao had question marks all over his face.

Liang Qian shook his head speechlessly: "The family members of the soldiers are all in the city. If the humble officials do not meet Zhang Fei's conditions, the relatives of those captives will inevitably mutiny. The chaos that will be caused by that time, the humble officials are worried that they will not be able to control it. leave……"

Seeing that Liang Qian answered fluently, Xia Houmao guessed that the other party had prepared his speech in advance in order to avoid responsibility, so that he could not find any loopholes to ask the crime, so he could only nod slightly in agreement.

Liang Qian's expression was calm and calm. Xia Houmao couldn't understand the other party's "satisfaction", so he laughed at himself coldly: "According to General Liang's description, how could such a cunning general be Zhang Fei? It feels as good as Zhang Wenyuan and Zhou Gongjin." let……"

"Uh...Although it's unbelievable, Zhang Fei really did it..." Liang Qian lowered his head.

"Hmph, for a famous general like Zhang Fei to play gangster's tricks, it's really a bit low..." Xia Houmao spun around on the spot angrily.

Liang Qian didn't dare to speak, which made the scene awkward. At this time, the guards outside came in to report that Han Shao had returned to Shanggu from Qishan Road, and the soldiers and horses he brought with him seemed to be unharmed.

Xia Houmao said in his heart that if someone delivered food to Zhang Fei, there was no need for him to go over the mountains from Wudu to bring it. Han Shao must have missed out on Qishan Road.

Not long after, Han Shao came to the county government office to return his order.

"My son-in-law, the general has been guarding Qishan Road for several days, but he didn't find a grain truck. The villages within a hundred miles are deserted. Because he was worried about supply difficulties, he didn't dare to go further south..." Han Shao clasped his fists answer.

"Zhang Fei shouldn't be short of food now. It doesn't make any sense after the Qishan road is broken. It seems useless to Zhang Fei to sit on the sidelines and wait for a rabbit. He must take the initiative to go out." Xia Houmao said in his heart that if he didn't make an attack, how long would he have to eat in Liangzhou? bitter?Finish the game early and go back to Chang'an early to enjoy it is the real thing.

Han Shao's eyes were wide open. The son-in-law originally planned to advance steadily during the march. How could there be such a huge change now?

Upon seeing this, Liang Qian explained: "Zhang Fei has entered Kou Liangzhou several times, and he is already familiar with the terrain in this area. The people near Qishan Road have all run away. Restrain Zhang Fei."

"Oh...then when are we going to leave?" Han Shao asked.

"Immediately, immediately, I really want to meet that black man and ask him where he learned his evil idea..." Xia Houmao felt pain even after waiting for a moment.

Zhang Fei's exchange of captives for food was inspired by Lantiankeng Jiangdong. Sometimes killing the living force is not the best way, and his purpose of coming to Liangzhou is not to slaughter.

Both Cao and Liu are recuperating. According to Lantian's proposal, Liu Bei asked Zhang Fei to enter Liangzhou with a small amount of troops. By stirring up the situation in the northwest, the purpose of consuming Cao Wei's supplies was achieved. Jiang Wei cannot be taken back.

A black-faced man who loves to laugh usually has good luck.

The timing of Zhang Fei's entry into Liangzhou was just right. First of all, last year's severe drought in the north resulted in a warm winter. Zhang Fei did not bring heavy winter clothes to keep out the cold;

Secondly, the barbarians in Hexi rebelled almost at the same time, Cao Zhen, the governor of Liangzhou, led a heavy army to put down the rebellion, otherwise Zhang Fei's thousands of people would not be enough;

Finally, there are compressed grains provided by Zhuge Liang and kelp provided by Lantian. These two foods are easy to carry and light in weight, and they are simply artifacts for expeditions.

Among Liu Bei's many generals, Zhang Fei is the only general who regards guerrilla warfare as the core method of tactics research. The more than [-] elite cavalry he brought to Liangzhou have been well-knit.

The defenders in the counties of Tianshui County suffered a great loss in guerrilla warfare. Shangyu, Wangyuan, Xixian, and Jixian were all tricked into sending troops at first, and they were all surrounded by Wudu cavalry.

In Tianshui County's individual combat strength and military tactics, both are at a disadvantage. Being "blackmailed" and "exploited" by Zhang Fei has become the norm. In the past few months, Zhang Fei has become "robbery" and "kidnap and ransom". The 'bandits'.

The redeemed captives were not complete. The captured war horses became spare mounts for the cavalry. The armor and weapons of the prisoners were thrown into the Wei River, and the luggage that could not be taken away was destroyed and burned. He returned to his relatives naked, and those clothes became firewood for Zhang Fei to keep warm.

Through these coquettish operations, Zhang Fei not only supplemented the horses and food, but also seriously weakened the strength of the Tianshui defenders.

The armor, weapons, and winter clothes destroyed by Zhang Fei cannot be replaced in large quantities in a short period of time, that is, these captives who were released back have a high probability of becoming food-eating soldiers with zero combat power.

Zhang Fei became richer and richer as he fought, and the counties in Tianshui became poorer and poorer, and the defenders gradually lost the idea of ​​attacking.

Even if Zhang Fei dismounted dozens of cavalry and cooked seaweed soup in a pot in the open in front of the defenders on the city wall, the other party would not be fooled because of the opportunity, mainly because they were afraid of being tricked in the past few months.

Cao Pi's order to strengthen the wall and clear the country has not yet arrived, but the counties in Tianshui have already begun to do so.

Except for the four counties of Shanggu, Wangyuan, Xixian, and Jixian that were directly "disaster-affected", the rest of the counties such as Longxian, Lueyang, Xianqin, and Xiedao directly "closed their doors and households" to prevent Zhang Feilai like an anti-virus Harassment.

Zhang Fei spends most of his time around Ji County, because Ji County is the seat of Tianshui County, and there are more villages around the county than other counties.

These thousands of cavalry are like grassland tribes. In order to maintain mobility, they didn't carry too many supplies, and they didn't have many tents to shelter them from the wind and rain when they rested at night, so they had to go to the homes of the 'villagers' to borrow.

Many people in the surrounding villages were forced to move into the city by the government for corvee service, leaving empty houses that could not be taken away, and a small number of old and weak people stayed in the villages to die. As a result, Zhang Fei's cavalry was really just borrowing That's all, the common people were left with an incredible impression.

As the chances of fighting became less and less, Zhang Fei calculated the stock of compressed grain and planned to return to Wudu by the end of February at the latest, otherwise he would have to kill horses to satisfy his hunger when he ran out of grain on the return journey.

Zhang Fei sent people to Ji County every day to yell and threaten, demanding that the prefect Ma Zun hand over Jiang Xu, otherwise he would treat Tianshui County as his hometown, and threatened to go back to his hometown every year for a visit.

Jiang Xu and Yang Fu had a big grudge against Ma Chao. Ma Chao beheaded Yang Fu in Hechi.

Ma Zun told the truth about the situation, while Zhang Fei asked Zhonglang Jiang Wei's family to be taken away. The reason was that Jiang Wei's father, Jiang Jiong, was also an accomplice back then, and he had to bring back an enemy for Ma Chao.

The Jiang surname is a common surname in Tianshui. Jiang Yu and Jiang Xu belong to the same family, but they are not related. Jiang Yu was defeated and killed in the suppression of the Qiang Hu rebellion. The orphan Jiang Wei got the official position of Zhonglang because of his father's credit.

Ma Zun explained with great earnestness for a long time, but Zhang Fei outside the city couldn't listen at all, saying that he would not return to Wudu if he could not get his "enemy" Jiang Wei.

In late February, after Zhang Fei went to Ji County for an inspection tour as usual, General Zhang Da sent someone to report: "General, Xia Houmao led [-] troops to Shanggui, and there is not much food left. Don't plan to return?"

"Xiahoumao? Who is it?" Zhang Fei frowned.

"It is said that he is the second son of Xiahou Dun." Zhang Da replied.

Zhang Fei's expression was flat, and he murmured: "It turns out that he is the son of Blind Xiahou. With this yellow-mouthed boy to deliver food and grass, I can hold on for a long time."

Chapter 723 Anger to the Jiang Family

Zhang Da was embarrassed when he heard it, and reminded: "General, thirty thousand..."

"What's wrong with the [-]? The food for the [-] army will be so much that we can't finish it. Let me find out again. I want to know the details of Xia Houmao." Zhang Fei looked disdainful.

"Wei." Zhang Da left cautiously with his fists cupped.

Zhang Da was taken away by Zhang Fei for his meritorious service in Jiangxia, and he followed Zhang Fei to invade Liangzhou several times to fight. He found that the original reckless boss became more and more shrewd.

Zhang Da didn't know what happened to Zhang Fei in the past few years. He always liked the black-faced general who was reckless in his memory, but now he especially liked playing tricks.

As soon as Zhang Da left, Zhang Fei called to accompany Wu Er, and said with a serious face: "Ma Zun can't shrink back during this time, and the soldiers have no battle to fight, so they have become a little lazy. You hurry up and pull them away." Go practice."

"Is there a war?" Wu Er asked curiously.

Zhang Fei nodded, "Xia Houmao led [-] soldiers to rescue Tianshui. Seeing that the food and grass were almost exhausted, Cao Pi was so considerate of my difficulties and sent someone to deliver them in time."

"That's a good thing, the last general will go to training." Wu Er left happily.

Outside the peaceful city of Ji County, thunderous hooves sounded again. Ma Zun rushed to the city with the county officials when he heard the news. When he saw the thick smoke in the distance, he fell into deep thought.

The chief secretary Yin Shang looked at the young man beside Ma Zun and asked meaningfully: "Isn't Zhang Fei going to attack the city for Boyue (Jiang Wei)?"

Gongcao Liang Xu quickly retorted: "What is Master Yin talking about? Why should Zhang Fei be serious when he speaks nonsense? Everyone in Jicheng knows Boyue's father, and he is only of the same family as General Fuyi (Jiang Xu)."

There was no reason for Zhang Fei to invade Liangzhou, it was a normal attack between Cao and Liu, but after he introduced Jiang Wei, it caused an incredible reaction in Jicheng.

Zhang Fei's repeated harassment turned into revenge with a clear purpose. He did not retreat or advance under the circumstances of the strong walls and clear fields in the counties, so it seemed that there was a reason for the incident.

The counties of Tianshui have strengthened the walls and cleared the fields, and moved all the surrounding people into the city. This made the originally balanced resource relationship suddenly become unbalanced.

The limited land and resources in the city cannot support the overloaded personnel, and the life of the people gradually becomes difficult.

Life in the city is getting more and more difficult, and Zhang Fei's cavalry is intimidating outside the city. The dilemma seems to be waiting for death.

The contradictions caused by the lack of resources slowly spread from the bottom to the top, causing hatred among the people who originally understood Jiang Wei, and finally spread to the entire Tianshui Jiang clan.

Emotions are like an air conditioner, where there is an air inlet, there must be an air outlet.

The suffering people also had anger. They had nowhere to vent their anger, and gradually transferred to Tianshui Jiang and Jiang Wei's family.

Some people in the Jiang surname also questioned Jiang Jiong, thinking that Ma Chao would not hate Jiang Jiong for no reason, guessing that Jiang Jiong must have done something unknown.

Jiang Wei, who just turned 20 years old, was under great pressure from everything that happened secretly in Jicheng. If the prefect Ma Zun did not try his best to control it, Jiang Wei and Jiang's mother might be pushed out to take the blame.

Jiang Xiong died fighting for Tianshui County, Ma Zun dared not and could not push Jiang Wei out, otherwise he would not be able to face the Jiang family in Tianshui afterwards.

Ma Zun did not believe that this was Zhang Fei's conspiracy, because such a complicated divorce scheme could not have come from the head of a reckless man.

"The enemy is at present, you don't have to quarrel. Zhang Fei's black servant really dared to attack. The prefect will live and die with the people of Ji County, but they don't have siege equipment. It is not easy to enter the city." Ma Zun and the county official We calmly analyze the situation.

The chief secretary Yin Shang shook his head and sighed: "The lowly position is not because of fear of war. It is really that Zhang Fei is too rascal. He neither besieged nor attacked by force. With the excellent maneuverability of the cavalry alone, he suppressed several cities in Tianshui. If Zhang Fei really broke the city by force, we will I don’t regret it even if I die in battle, it’s just too embarrassing now…”

"Zhang Fei doesn't have a lot of troops, and all of them are single cavalry. How could he attack the city recklessly? Now he is going into battle lightly, using deterrence to consume Tianshui's resources, and there must be expert guidance behind him..." The young Jiang Weiqing He frowned slightly.

The chief secretary Yin Shang sneered: "It is said that Boyue is a unicorn from Tianshui. He is familiar with the scriptures and history and has outstanding marksmanship. Why don't you ask for orders to retreat Zhang Fei?"

"It's all right." Jiang Wei replied equally coldly.