Three Kingdoms Eschatology

Zhang Liao thought to himself that it would be no problem for his army to bypass Xiahouyuan.The problem is that if the connection with Tongguan will be cut off naturally, it will become a lone army that goes deep into the enemy's territory.At that time, not to mention the cut off of information, even food supplies will not be able to be replenished.

Moreover, although the Rushui River Valley that the army will pass through is not a high mountain, even Liang Jun's longbow chariots and troop carriers with rubber wheels and leaf springs are useless.Because the terrain in the valley is extremely uneven, there are many ditches and swamps.In this way, Liang Jun could not only be easily overtaken by Xia Houyuan, but also unable to reach Fangcheng City only by relying on the food and grass he carried with him.

Take ten thousand steps back and say that even if Wei Jun can't catch up with him, he can reach Fangcheng as scheduled.With a strong city in front and Xia Houyuan's pursuers in the back, wouldn't that mean that the soldiers would be in a desperate situation?Surprised and puzzled, Zhang Liao continued to read the letter, only to suddenly realize.So he started preparing to execute Feng Yu's military order.But Feng Yu confessed to him that before starting to act, he had to wait for the arrival of Wei Feng's army.The arrival of Wei Feng's army to Hongnong was not just a simple reinforcement of troops.

Soon, Zhang Liao saw Wei Feng and his army.Wei Feng's army consisted mainly of infantry, guns and shields. The strange thing was that they were all replaced by "cavalry" this time, and the mounts of the cavalry were also really strange.From a distance, Ma Dai could see the black pawns of Wei Feng's army riding on the running bird, and on both sides were a small number of war cavalry from Wei Feng's army.After the large group of people, there are endless such long-necked giant birds.

When Ma Dai saw it, he exclaimed to Wei Feng: "How do your soldiers ride giant chickens to fight?" Wei Feng clasped his fists and laughed and said, "This is not a chicken, but an ostrich. A single soldier can travel thousands of miles a day. Of course, the speed is not as fast as a horse, and he cannot ride for battle, but he has strong endurance and is very easy to learn to ride."

Zhang Liao also said to Ma Dai: "This is what we are waiting for. Our pawns rely on these strange birds to go deep into the hinterland of Wei State at lightning speed, and catch them by surprise." Turning around, he asked Wei Feng again: "Wei State Uncle, how many ostriches did you bring?"

"Report to the general, in addition to the ostriches that the soldiers of the headquarters rode, they brought an additional [-]. This is the entire possession of the Zhuyang Domestication Department."

Zhang Liao calculated silently in his mind that the number of elite infantry he was going to take part in the long-distance raid this time was about 3000, so he replied, "That's enough, three thousand is enough."

After observing the ostrich several times, Ma Dai continued to ask curiously, "Where did you get this thing?"

"The expedition fleet under Lin Tao set off from Ceylon Island, sailed thousands of miles southwest, and got it on the continent called Africa. It seems that more than this one species was brought in at the same time. But these ostriches brought by a certain, Not all of them were brought directly from there, most of them were bred locally. They all went through basic domestication. It only takes a few days for our soldiers to master it.”

Zhang Liao said from the side: "Since this is the case, without any hesitation, let Uncle Guo's subordinates train the pawns we have selected for us to ride ostriches."

Wei Feng cupped his hands and said: "The general obeys orders. In addition, the general has a request, and I hope the master will fulfill it. Just don't call the general by the uncle of the country anymore. If someone is in the army, he must follow the rules of the army. The uncle of the country It is neither an official position nor a military rank, which sounds quite embarrassing to someone."

Zhang Liao laughed and said: "Okay, it was Zhang who was negligent, and he will no longer call General Wei as uncle of the country."

In the next few days, Wei Feng and his subordinates practiced the [-] infantry selected by Zhang Liao day and night, including spear shield soldiers and longbowmen on foot.These ostriches are obviously much easier to handle than war horses. In just a few days, these soldiers can sit firmly on the backs of ostriches that are flapping their wings and running like flying with all their equipment.And it can also skillfully drive them to run in the designated direction.

……

In the Wei Army camp less than ten miles away from the Liang Army camp, Xia Houyuan and Zhang Yan listened carefully to the information brought by the scouts.A few days ago, they learned that Liang Jun had reinforcements coming again, and they suddenly felt that something was wrong.The first thing they thought of was that Liang Jun would launch another general offensive in the near future.Xia Houyuan also knew that Liang Jun's reinforcements brought a large number of strange birds, but he thought that these strange birds were mainly used to supplement Liang Jun's meat.

Xia Houyuan ordered the soldiers to strengthen their guard against Liang Jun's attack at any time, and at the same time increased the number of scouts to monitor Liang Jun's camp day and night.

"Commander, Liang Jun suddenly withdrew a large number of troops from the camp today and headed towards Tongguan. These soldiers and horses are mainly heavy soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, longbow chariots, baggage carts, and ballistas. Catapults and other implements.”

"Supporting heavy soldiers, the auxiliary soldiers are going to Tongguan? Could it be that there is not enough food and they are going to transport food?" Zhang Yan seemed to be talking to Xia Houyuan, but also seemed to be talking to himself.

Xia Houyuan frowned and replied: "You can transport food, why did you withdraw the chariots, ballistas and trebuchets? What's the meaning?"

The scout commander continued: "General Qi, when they withdrew from the camp, the carts were fully loaded with grain and grass, that is to say, they also withdrew the grain and grass from the camp at the same time."

Xia Houyuan and Zhang Yan looked at each other.The former said: "In this way, the Liang army is not going to transport food, but is going to withdraw to Tongguan!" Zhang Yan echoed: "It must be so. First withdraw the baggage, followed by the infantry and lightly loaded the formation, and then withdraw the infantry. Riding is a typical withdrawal method. Commander, what should we do now?"

Xia Houyuan said decisively: "Naturally, the enemy retreats and we fight! A certain military order is passed, and the whole army is ready to attack. Once all the Liang troops abandon their camps, we will attack with tails!"

Zhang Yan clasped her fists together and said, "No!...But the commander, wouldn't it be better for us to attack now and hit the baggage they are retreating."

Chapter 641 A word to wake up the dreamer

Xia Houyuan sneered, and answered Zhang Yan: "Because a certain person doesn't know if their cavalry combat troops are still in the camp, and deliberately set up bait to lure me to pursue them, and then ambushed our army. Such a trick must be guarded against!"

Zhang Yan replied, "Thank you, Commander, for your guidance!", and went out of the central army's tent, personally commanding all the troops in the army to make various preparations for the attack.Xia Houyuan came to the watchtower closest to Liang Jun's camp, climbed up and looked into the distance, watching Liang Jun's movements.

For about half an hour, there was not much movement in Liang Jun's camp.Xia Houyuan was about to go downstairs to rest in the tent, but at this moment, the south gate of Liang Jun's camp suddenly opened, and a large number of Liang Jun's war cavalry rushed out.

The flying feathers of light cavalry spread out on both wings, but the heavy cavalry in the middle formed a rather strict cavalry formation.What surprised Xia Houyuan even more was that after these war horses galloped, there were a large number of soldiers riding giant strange birds, and the strange bird cavalry was also guarded by light and heavy cavalry from Liang Jun on both sides.

Zhang Yan, who came to his side again, saw such a scene, and burst out laughing: "It is said that Liang Jun's soldiers are well armored, but now we have seen with our own eyes that Liang Jun's war horses are not evenly matched, and the cavalry actually rode big chickens to fight. Wouldn't our war cavalry be wiped out in ashes in an instant when it met our tiger and leopard cavalry?"

Xia Houyuan said with a solemn expression: "I'm not interested in thinking about how they use big birds and camels to fight. What I care about now is where they are going and what they want to do. If we guessed before, they will return Tongguan, you should leave from the west gate instead of rushing out from the south gate."

Seeing what Xia Houyuan said, Zhang Yan also set up a pergola and looked into the distance.At this time, there was already smoke and dust billowing outside the south gate of Liang Jun's camp, and it was hard to see clearly from a little further away.But Zhang Yan could see clearly that the soldiers riding the strange birds had all left the camp, followed by Liang Jun's light and heavy cavalry. Obviously, Liang Jun was about to withdraw from the camp by this time.

Zhang Yan muttered: "If they didn't withdraw to Tongguan, where would they go? If they didn't go west, wouldn't they go into the hinterland of our Wei country alone? Are they going to seek their own death?"

Xia Houyuan took a deep breath and said, "Liang Jun's troops are extremely cunning, we have to think carefully. Are our soldiers and horses ready to attack?"

Zhang Yan: "Commander, everything is ready. As long as you give an order, we can go after Liang Jun with all our strength." Xia Houyuan gritted his molars, but did not immediately order to go out to pursue the army.

Another half an hour later, the scouts ordered the soldiers to report again: "To the commander, our scouts followed these Liang army forwards for more than ten miles, and found that they did not turn back to the west, but headed east!"

"Go east!" Xia Houyuan said to himself, emphasizing these four words word by word, and then he and Zhang Yan exclaimed in unison: "Luoyang!"

But Zhang Yan immediately shook his head and said: "If they really want to attack Luoyang alone for a long distance, wouldn't they be looking for a dead end? They don't have luggage, siege equipment, and even crossbows. How can they take Luoyang? City. They only need half a day to stop their troops, and we can catch up to them and encircle and wipe them out under the city of Luoyang."

Xia Houyuan said solemnly: "Soldiers are dangerous and deceitful, which is the characteristic of Liang Jun. You thought it was impossible, but he just did it. They also had a case of sneak attacking and taking down a city with only flying claws and ropes. Besides, Luoyang Always in our rear, never attacked by the enemy, the defenders will inevitably take it lightly, and they will succeed more easily."

After a while, Xia Houyuan began to beat drums and gather generals in front of the big tent of Xia Houyuan's army.After the generals of all ministries and songs arrived, Xia Houyuan issued military orders one by one. He asked General Zhang Yan to lead [-] horsemen and return to Luoyang in a straight line.He personally led [-] iron cavalry to follow and pursue Liang Jun, while the rest stayed behind in the camp.

The rolling iron cavalry rushed out of the Wei army's camp like a torrent, and Xia Houyuan rushed forward with his cavalry spear.Qingqi scouts broke away from the main team from time to time, rushed forward to inquire about Liang Jun's traces, and kept reporting back to Xia Houyuan.

In this way, the two groups of Wei Liang cavalry galloped across the plains of the Yiluo Basin one after the other.After all, the speed of the ostrich is much slower than that of the war horse, and the distance between the two armies is gradually approaching.

However, the more Xia Houyuan chased him, the more suspicious he became, because Liang Jun's direction was less and less likely to be heading for Luoyang.At first Xia Houyuan thought that Liang Jun was going around to confuse Wei Jun.But when he pursued to Ruyang, he doubted his previous judgment.Ruyang is already the southernmost area of ​​the Yiluo Basin. If Liang Jun's goal is Luoyang, no matter how many circles he goes around, he will not continue to go south.

A scout galloped up to Xia Houyuan again and said, "Report! Tell the commander, Liang Jun suddenly changed direction in front, rushed into the Rushui River Valley, and headed towards Yingchuan!"

Hearing this, Xia Houyuan was first surprised and then dumbfounded.He immediately reined in his horse and yelled loudly, "Stop!" The [-] cavalry behind him, which stretched for several miles, received military orders one after another, and gradually stopped.

He said to himself again: "Their target is actually Yingchuan. What are they going to do? Like Peng Yue who was fighting for hegemony between Chu and Han? Go deep into the hinterland of our Wei country to plunder? Or do they have other plans?"

At this moment, Xia Houyuan's generals reminded him: "Yingchuan belongs to the war zone under Sima Fu's jurisdiction. Shall we report this situation to Lord Sima?"

One word awakened the dreamer, Xia Houyuan smiled wryly and said inwardly: "The imperial court ordered me to guard Hongnong and defend Luoyang. This is the top priority. If this is Liang Jun's trick, I will be sent out from the mountain and send another army from Tongguan What should we do if we go straight to Luoyang? As for Yingchuan, there is still this lone Liang army... As long as I report the news to Sima Fu in time, I will do my duty. In addition, this lone Liang army can turn over without backup. How big is the storm? As long as Sima Fu informs the counties and counties to strengthen the walls and clear the fields, after they run out of arrows and food, they can gather troops to encircle and suppress them in one fell swoop. Take ten thousand steps back and say that it is Sima Fu's responsibility if the Liang army really caused any heavy losses. But Hongnong, Luoyang is lost, and the one that lost was a certain head!"

After Xia Houyuan made up his mind, he ordered loudly to the left and right: "Pass on our military order, and quickly dispatch 23 groups of scouts. One group of scouts will continue to follow the Liang army. It is necessary to notify Sima Fu, the commander of Fangcheng, as soon as possible. The rest of the troops will return to Hongnong. We must continue to guard against the enemy in the direction of Tongguan, prevent their plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain, and send surprise troops from Tongguan Sneak attack on me, Hongnong and Luoyang."

After the generals around Xia Houyuan made their promises, the eight thousand cavalry turned around and returned to the Hongnong Wei army camp.At the same time, Liang Jun's five thousand cavalry and "ostrich infantry" passed by Ruyang County, and all entered the Rushui River Valley.

Chapter 642

Fucheng is a small city in the middle of Beiru River.Although this is regarded as a border town of Wei State, it is separated from the area controlled by Liang State with high mountains and far away from the Nanyang and Hongnong front lines.Therefore, the auxiliary soldiers patrolling and guarding the top of the city did not have the slightest sense of vigilance. They lazily bathed in the spring sunshine in groups, or stood, squatted, or sat on the top of the city chatting.

At this time, dozens of riders were galloping on the upper reaches of Rushui, which was more than ten li away from them.They were all soldiers sent by Xia Houyuan. They were originally in several groups, but because they were on the same road in this section, they walked together together.

After they turned a bend in Rushui, the peculiar Liang army horse on the other side of Rushui appeared in their field of vision again.Thousands of long-necked giant birds, stretching their wings several feet long, galloped over the grass, rocks, beaches and puddles on the river bank with big strides, splashing countless white waves.Although the sound was not as good as the sound of galloping horses and thunder in summer, it was still very powerful.Accompanied by these giant bird cavalry, there are hundreds of Liang Jun light and heavy war cavalry.

Wei Jun ordered the soldiers and messengers to see Liang Jun, and knew in their hearts that the other party could also see him.They hurriedly rode their horses and ran as far away from the river bank as possible, but they still had to keep going in the same direction as Liang Jun, because there was only one road leading to the counties of Yingchuan if they didn't go around in circles.

Unexpectedly, Liang Jun ignored them as if they were transparent and non-existent, and continued on his way, not even firing a few symbolic arrows.

At this time Zhang Liao was also galloping in the army, and one of his generals asked: "General, the messengers or scouts of the Wei army on the other side of the river are obviously, why don't we send some people to intercept them. Now that the spring flood is not here, the river water It's still very shallow, and there are places where our war horses can easily slip through."

Zhang Liao explained: "We can only focus on one thing now, which is to rush to Fangcheng as quickly as possible. We don't have the time and energy to entangle with them. The most they can do is to inform the counties and counties. This is very important to us. It doesn't matter. We just need to get to Fangcheng in time. Even if they report to Fangcheng, it means nothing to us."

Soon the messengers sent by Xia Houyuan rushed to the front of Liang Jun, and two of them rushed to the nearest father city.They rode their horses across Rushui to the city, and found that the city gate was wide open.They rushed directly into the city gate, and shouted after entering the city: "Quickly close the city gate, there is Liang Jun behind, Liang Jun is coming soon!"

But no one in the city heeded their words.At the top of the city, the attention of the soldiers of Wei Jun's auxiliary soldiers were all attracted by the rushing Liang Jun.They were still pointing and pointing at Liang Jun disapprovingly, discussing in a hurry.Several soldiers who had been standing guard at the city gate also ran to the city tower to watch the excitement.

"Look! The imperial court has sent an army south again."

"Last time when the first emperor died in Nanyang, tens of thousands of troops were wiped out. This time, the emperor must raise troops to avenge his father."

"Look! These soldiers are running around on giant birds!"

"What kind of rare thing is this! No, although they didn't fly the banner, their uniforms don't look like our Wei army!"

"Don't be suspicious, just be surprised. Apart from our Wei army, what other soldiers and horses can come here?"

"Whether it is or not, close the city gate first." A leader suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem and shouted loudly.At the same time, two screams came from the city.

It turned out that the two messengers of Xia Houyuan saw that no one was paying attention to them, so they jumped off their horses and went to close the city gate.At this moment, hundreds of arrows shot at the gate of the city densely, and immediately shot the two people into hedgehogs.

These auxiliary soldiers finally understood that these soldiers and horses with long-necked birds as mounts were really enemy troops.But they panicked, those who pulled the drawbridge pulled the drawbridge, ran down the city to close the city gate, and ran down the city.

But it was too late, Liang Jun's most forward heavy cavalry had galloped to the suspension bridge.These auxiliary soldiers are all peasants who temporarily pick up their swords and guns. Seeing these cavalry cavalry, they are already out of their wits.The soldiers who went down to the city were already flustered when they saw this, they turned around and ran away.Liang Jun's heavy armored cavalry had already rushed in, shot two puffs, and flew the two messengers who were still trying to close the city gate, and then let their horses gallop along the main street.Both soldiers and civilians in the parent city scattered from the main street like ducks, and those who ran slowly in livery were the same as those two messengers.Immediately afterwards, Liang Jun's ostrich cavalry and war cavalry swarmed into the father city.

In the government office of Fucheng, the county magistrate received the report, and was immediately frightened out of his wits. He discussed with the county captain, thinking that the only way to fight Liang Jun now is to hit a stone with an egg, and there is a dead end. In the end, there are only two options: run or run away. drop.When the county magistrate and his family packed up their belongings and were about to run away, a yamen servant came to report out of breath: "Report to the county magistrate, Liang Jun has withdrawn!"

Hearing this, the county magistrate was even more surprised and said: "They withdrew so quickly? Did they loot the treasury and granaries, or slaughtered the city?"

"Reporting to the county magistrate, none of this happened. In fact, it shouldn't be said that they were withdrawing, but they passed through our father's city. They entered through the north gate and exited through the south gate, and they just passed by the street. Our soldiers on their way did not commit any crimes. After leaving the south gate, they left without a trace.”

The county magistrate let out a long breath and said: "It turned out that we were just passing by, but I was very frightened. Go, pass this order to guard the army. From today on, the four doors will be closed and there will be a curfew at night. Personnel entering and exiting during the daytime should also be carefully checked!"

"promise!"

"Wait, I want to write a book to report to the court, explaining that Liang Jun's cavalry suddenly attacked and was repelled by me."

In fact, if it weren't for the gate of the father's city being wide open, Liang Jun could take a shortcut and pass through the city, Zhang Liao would not have entered the father's city, but would have bypassed it directly.Zhang Liao was racing against time to get to Fangcheng, and he didn't want to waste a moment on other things.

……

Sima Fu was sitting in Fangcheng's government office, stroking his beard non-stop, which was a sign of him being deep in thought.His hand stroking his beard stopped suddenly, and asked Xu Huang who was sitting opposite him: "This Liang army has not launched an attack for a long time. At first, I thought they were building siege equipment or waiting for an opportunity. But after so long, they Still stand still. This is strange, if they are afraid of casualties, they should retreat in spite of difficulties. Instead of stopping the soldiers under the city, neither advancing nor retreating, it is a waste of money and food. Ben Lingshou is worried about what kind of tricks they are playing again. "

Xu Huang clasped his fists and said: "Please rest assured that the guards have sent scouts to monitor Liang Jun day and night. Except for the supply of food and grass and the escort of soldiers and horses moving back and forth between Liang Jun's camp and Wancheng, they have not seen any special actions by Liang Jun's soldiers and horses. They play What kind of tricks must be mobilized to complete. But now sixty to seventy percent of their national soldiers are nailed here, what kind of tricks can they play."

At this time, a soldier came in and reported to Sima Fu, saying: Xia Houyuan's messenger has arrived.

Chapter 643

Sima Fu's heart skipped a beat when he heard the news, and while ordering someone to welcome the messenger in, he said to Xu Huang: "Could it be that their Hongnong battlefield is tight again? They need to ask for reinforcements from us again, otherwise what letter will they send to XX? This is more than ten thousand soldiers and horses, and he has to face one hundred thousand Liang troops, how can he send additional soldiers and horses to reinforce him."

Xu Huang also said puzzledly: "It shouldn't be, our Fangcheng Fortress has carried the vast majority of Liang Jun's troops, how many troops can there be in Tongguan? Xia Houyuan has tens of thousands of troops, can he still be severely beaten by Liang Jun? "

While they were talking, Xia Houyuan's commanding soldiers had been ushered into the hall.As soon as the visitor saw Sima Fu, he knelt down on one knee and said: "The villain was sent by General Xia Houyuan, and I am sending an urgent military report to Master Sima, the commander of Fangcheng Fortress." He handed over the letter while talking.

Sima Fu accepted the letter disapprovingly, and said proudly: "A military emergency. Look, you can guess that they are here to ask for reinforcements." When he opened the letter, he glanced at it and saw that his face was Has changed color.

Immediately afterwards, while waving the letter paper, he said in surprise and anger: "Liang Jun, who was confronting Xiahouyuan in Hongnong, rushed towards us regardless of the danger of the lone army going deep. What is even more annoying is Xiahouyuan They didn't stop them, and didn't even follow them, but just asked the soldiers to bring this letter to someone."

Xu Huang took the letter from him, skimmed it quickly, and said to Sima Fu, "Ling Shou, Xia Houyuan didn't stop this lone Liang army, and he didn't follow after him. Although this matter is annoying, but For him, Xia Houyuan, there is a good reason. Even if this matter is openly debated in the court, the Holy Majesty has no reason to punish him. On the contrary, it makes us difficult, let's leave Xia Houyuan alone, and now we still have to think about how to deal with it This Liang army."

Sima Fu calmed down and thought about it, Xu Huang's words did make sense.Wei Ting gave Zhang Yan before, and now Xia Houyuan's task is to guard the front line from Hongnong to Luoyang to prevent Liang Jun from capturing Hongnong Luoyang, so as to prevent Liang Jun from aggressively invading Wei territory from here.

But this does not include blocking any Liang army from penetrating into Wei, because that is also impossible.Hongnong is not like Fangcheng, and Tongguan is the key point where one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it.

If Liang Jun insisted on bypassing the opponent's camp or even Luoyang, and going deep into the hinterland of Wei, no one would be able to stop him.However, as long as Hongnong and Luoyang are still in the hands of Wei Jun, Liang Jun should not dare to do this.If this is done, Liang Jun, who went deep into the hinterland of Wei, became a lone army without backup.As long as the defenders in various parts of Wei State are handled properly, it will be a matter of time before they are overthrown.

Therefore, Xia Houyuan could not stop or even pursue these thousands of Liang troops, and he had sufficient reasons to exonerate him.As for Sima Fu, who is in charge of the defense of the entire Yingchuan Runan theater, the responsibility cannot be shirked.

At this time, Sima Fu thought about it, but couldn't figure it out.I had no choice but to ask Xu Huang for advice: "Gongming, what do you think these thousands of Liang troops mean? How should we deal with it?"

Xu Huang's face was ashen, and he responded to Sima Fu: "The purpose of this Liang army may be to harass and plunder the rear of our Wei territory, and it is more likely to attack our Fangcheng fortress. If it is the latter..."

When Xu Huang said this, he took a breath and said in surprise: "If it's the latter, the consequences will be unimaginable! The construction time of the Fangcheng Fortress is very short, and most of the facilities and city defenses are designed to resist the enemy's attack from Nanyang. But The northeast side, the side facing our country of Wei, has not built any defensive facilities. The city wall is only as high as the city wall of an ordinary county town, and the moat has not even been dug..."

Sima Fu was obviously not as wise as his brother Sima Yi, and when he encountered such an emergency, his mind became a mess.He waved his hand to interrupt Xu Huang's words and said, "Oh, Gong Ming, time is running out now, so just tell us what we should do!"

Xu Huang replied: "First of all, the Lingshou should issue an urgent order to Yingchuan and Runan counties, asking them to fortify the walls and clear the fields, and close the city gates. At the same time, they should also send auxiliary soldiers to reinforce Fangcheng. Of course, we need these auxiliary soldiers The main reason for the military service is not to let them defend the city and fight, but to urgently strengthen the fortifications of the Fangcheng Fortress to the northeast."

Sima Fu nodded and said: "Just do as General Gongming said, and I will issue a military order..."

Before he could finish his sentence, another soldier came to report in a hurry: "Reporting to the guard, a large number of Liang troops appeared in the south of Fangcheng, about 5000 people, all of them were cavalry. And many of the cavalry's mounts were... a kind of cavalry. A huge long-necked monster."

Sima Fu slapped his thigh and said, "Why did you come here so quickly, without even giving you time to catch your breath?"

Xu Huang also muttered in amazement: "This speed is too fast. According to the inscription time on the letter, they just passed by Ruyang yesterday evening, and it is not yet noon. In just seven or eight hours, they rushed nearly We arrived at Fangcheng in three hundred miles, just as fast as our urgent military situation..."

Before Xu Huang finished, Sima Fu yelled loudly: "Quickly close the city gates! Order the soldiers from the left, middle and right cities to close the city gates and strengthen the defense against the enemies in the northeast of the fortress!"

The soldiers immediately replied: "Reporting to the guard, the gates of the three cities have been closed, and the generals have also boarded the top of the city to guard."

Seeing that Sima Fu was so nervous, Xu Huang comforted him: "Ling Shou doesn't have to worry too much. After all, the Liang army in the northeast is a lone army. I believe they don't have much food. As long as we stick to it for four or five days, they will die without fighting." They were defeated and left on their own. Judging from the letters Xia Houyuan gave us, these cavalrymen of the Liang Army marched lightly, and they certainly did not have siege equipment such as catapults, ballistas, and building carts. Even the ladders were impossible for them to bring On the body. Therefore, even if our city defense in the northeast is weak, it is still impenetrable to them."

Sima Fu nodded and said, "I hope it's as General Gongming said."

……

Outside the left city of Fangcheng Fortress, a general asked Zhang Liao, "General, there are three cities on the left, middle and right here. Which one should we raid after nightfall?"

Zhang Liao smiled slightly and said, "I don't know about this one either. But our army on the southwest side of the long wall knows. We need to get in touch with them first, let's send the signal arrow first."

After a while, a loud arrow flew into the sky with a sharp whistling sound, and its tail still had a long trail of red smoke.Such loud arrows were fired several times in a row.Soon, on the southeast side of the long wall of Fangcheng Fortress, several Liang Jun's hot air balloon airships rose gradually.The Ling flag bearer in the hanging basket raised the flag to Zhang Liao's side.Some of Zhang Liao's troops rode out on horseback, took out command flags from their pouches, and responded to the opponent.

Chapter 644

"A certain military order, the infantry must be assembled in the right city, but don't abandon the birds. All the cavalry are on alert to prevent the rest of the Wei soldiers from rushing out of the other two cities to attack me."

Following Zhang Liao's order, about [-] heavy cavalry and light cavalry flying feathers were divided into several groups and patrolled the left side of the right city of Fangcheng.Once Wei Jun rushed out from Zhongcheng and Zuocheng, they would rush up and destroy them without hesitation.

The right city of Fangcheng is the middle one among the three cities in the fortress, where the troops of the Wei army are stationed.Liang Jun, commanded by Feng Yu himself in the southwest, had already used a hot air balloon to find out the general situation of the distribution of troops in the three cities, and now he has told Zhang Liao the situation through semaphore.

The soldiers of the Wei army at the head of the Youcheng city were very nervous when they saw the Liang army gathering outside the Youcheng city. Before the Liang army could attack, they shot arrows one after another.It's just that Liang Jun was far out of their range, and the arrows finally fell to the ground one after another.Xu Huang, who was in command of Zhongcheng, also thought that Liang Jun would concentrate his forces to attack Youcheng, and hurriedly mobilized troops from Zhongcheng and Zuocheng to reinforce Youcheng.

Zhao Yun, who was observing from the gondola of the hot air balloon, could clearly see that in the two cities in the middle left, a large number of soldiers of the Wei army were rushing to the right city along the long wall corridor.Because of the threat of Liang Jun cavalry outside the city, this long wall corridor is their only safe passage.

At this time, the infantry under Zhang Liao's command had already formed a square formation and were ready to attack the city.As soon as Zhang Liao gave an order, he would jump off the ostrich and attack.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Liao did not give the order for a long time.Instead, the southwest side of the Fangcheng Fortress suddenly started to make loud drums and horns.Thousands of Liang Jun began to advance towards the long wall of Fangcheng.And not just attacking one place, but attacking three positions on the long wall at the same time.