I am the system

"stop!"

The plain in front of the mountains was still more than [-] miles away from Taiguan, where Lu Bu's army stopped.

"Zhang Bei, take someone over there to check in person to see what's going on with the rising black smoke?"

"The army camped in place, buried pots to make food, and sent out scouts."

Seeing the black smoke that blackened the sky ahead, Lu Bu immediately issued two orders.

This is still within the scope of the plains, but a few miles ahead, you will enter the range of large mountains. At this time, thick smoke billows into the sky from the distant mountains, which makes it difficult for people to safely enter the range of the mountains.

~~~

After waiting for about three hours, Zhang Guang came back with his men on horseback.

Entering the commander's tent alone, seeing Lu Bu, Zhang Guang immediately knelt down on one knee, and reported: "My lord, the fire outside the Taiguan Pass was raging, and the flames were so high that it blocked the pass, and the trees on several mountains around the pass were all cut down. .”

"In order to stop part of our army, this Liu Bei has done a great job!"

Hearing this, Lu Bu couldn't help sneering.

In order to block his army, he did not hesitate to cut down several mountains around the pass, and lit a fire in front of the pass, using the fire to block his attack.

"My lord! Since they want to burn it, let's burn it for them! I'll tidy up the surrounding area, digest the land I won, stabilize the people's hearts, and recruit some new soldiers."

Fang Ru suggested with a smile beside him.

They were actually afraid that they would be overwhelmed if they took down the entire south in one go.

It's not that they can't take down the south, on the contrary, it's not difficult for them to take down the whole south, but it's very easy.But it is easy to strike down, but it is difficult to maintain local stability.

The speed of their attack before also meant that the time to rectify and digest the occupied areas was short and there were many hidden dangers.

They only have 20 people, plus the number of people responsible for logistics and transportation is only 26 to [-], and the soldiers who can be used to stabilize the place can spend at most [-] to [-] to maintain local stability.

You must know that they are helping the people all the way, and they also distribute grain seeds to the people. Although there are a large number of cattle and horses seized from the grasslands for logistics, it also consumes a lot of manpower and animal power, and many people are needed to maintain stability and distribute grain seeds. , Logistics and maintenance personnel are still under pressure.

Now it is time to stop and disperse a large number of troops to digest the occupied land, gather the hearts of the people, and at the same time repair more nearby roads.If possible, more soldiers and civilians can be called back, which can save a lot of things in the future.

"That's fine too!"

Hearing this, Lu Bu thought about it carefully, nodded, and agreed with Fang Ru's opinion.

As for this giving Liu Bei some time to breathe, first of all, the pass was on fire, and the army really couldn't make it through.

Secondly, even if Liu Bei is given time, everyone is not worried. The gap in strength lies here. Liu Bei's remaining army is less than [-], and he can't make waves.

As for whether Liu Bei will continue to burn the pass, when they digest the existing occupied area, stabilize the place, increase the number of troops and civilians, the road they can take is not only the road of Taiguan, but the road of Taiguan will continue to burn It can't stop the pace of their attack.

--------

Taiguanzhong.

Zhao Yun stood on the city wall, looking at the raging fire burning only 30 meters away from the city wall outside the pass, feeling uneasy in his heart.

After cutting down so many forests and setting up such a big fire, although he followed orders, he was still uneasy, but there was nothing he could do.

In the pass, hundreds of catapults, large and small, are ready, ready to project new chopped wood into the fire at any time.

That's right, the wood had to be thrown in by catapults, because the fire was so powerful that the height of the flames was more than 20 meters high, and people could be roasted or smothered to death just by getting close.Even on the city wall, it was extremely hot, even the city wall was already scalded to the point where even the soldiers could not stay on the city wall for long, otherwise even the armor would be hot to the touch.

"General Zhao, the spies have come to report that Lv Bu's army has set up camp on the plain outside the mountains, and has dispatched about [-] troops to return."

Behind Zhao Yun, a young general hurried up the city wall and reported to Zhao Yun enduring the heat of the flames.

"I see, continue to explore! Be sure to find out where those soldiers are going."

Zhao Yun nodded.

The fire burning in front of the pass could stop Lu Bu's army, but dozens of spies could still cross the mountains on both sides of the pass. Of course, crossing the mountains was very laborious and risky.Because the nearby mountains are very steep, and there are many cliffs.

After the trees were felled, it became more difficult to climb the nearby mountains.It is wishful thinking for the army to cross over.

--------

Compared with Lu Bu being blocked again, Cao Cao's attack on the other side went much more smoothly.

First of all, there are mostly plains in the north, and many cities are built on the plains. The geographical advantage does not hinder Cao Cao very much.

The second is that Cao Cao already has a large number of soldiers and generals, and the number of people under his rule can be more than three times that of Lu Bu. Naturally, he is more handy than Lu Bu in terms of logistics and maintaining places.

At the beginning, Cao Cao encountered some relatively stubborn resistance, and as the war progressed, Cao Cao was invincible all the way, and gained a lot of popular support because of the distribution of grain seeds.

Later, more and more Sun Quan's forces surrendered, and Sun Quan's soldiers became less and less motivated. Often, there were many people who surrendered after breaking the city, and even the surrender of the city happened several times. is getting smoother.

Now half of Sun Quan's territory in the north has been controlled by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao believed that if the development continued like this, it would take another month at most to completely destroy Sun Quan's forces and bring the north under his control.

--------

If Cao Cao is proud of his spring breeze, then Sun Quan is devastated at this time.

In the family mansion and at the clan meeting, Sun Quan had a sad face, and all the members of the family also looked bitter.

More than half of the territory was lost, and more than half of the troops were lost. Not only did the soldiers under him have no fighting spirit, but even the people were heartbroken to Cao Cao, looking forward to Cao Cao's call.

And those aristocrats who joined forces with them are now alienated from him. More and more traces indicate that these aristocrats are ready to surrender to Cao Cao to find a way out. If he wants to rebel, he will take him down and present it to Cao Cao as a certificate of merit, so as to gain new wealth and status.

The reason why they haven't done anything yet is because these guys haven't made enough preparations, and the secret connection with Cao Cao hasn't reached the level of consensus yet.

But even though Sun Quan knew about it, even though he was furious, he had no choice but to be on guard.

Now that he has shown his defeat, those powerful nobles will naturally be ready to abandon him to find another way out and seek wealth again. If he dares to do something to those people now, they will definitely make them jump the wall, causing a chain reaction and speeding up their own demise.

His only hope now is that Liu Bei and Liu Zhang can defeat Lu Bu and come to support him against Cao Cao, but Liu Bei and Liu Zhang are also overwhelmed with Lu Bu who is stronger than Cao Cao.

These days, the clan meeting has been held many times.

Today's clan meeting is not so much a discussion on how to deal with the current situation, but a discussion on how to preserve the family, transfer the family's wealth and blood, in order to make a comeback.

"kill!"

Just when Sun Quan was about to announce the end of the clan meeting, the outside world suddenly resounded with shouts of killing.

"Oops!"

Hearing the shouts of killing from the outside, Sun Quan and the rest of the Sun family suddenly changed their expressions.

This is because the united nobles have reached a consensus with Cao Cao, and they have taken action against them, and they have specially chosen when they hold the clan meeting to catch them all.