Chapter 3259 What Are You Looking For?

Chapter 3258 What are you looking for?

There is a map of the Emei Mountains on the desk, with the ravines and passes marked in detail.

Xun Chen placed chess pieces representing soldiers, manpower, camps and other symbols on the map, and there seemed to be some fire dancing in his eyes.

Xun Chen and others were on the slope, while Cao Jun was at the bottom.

Xun Chen's left wing was composed of Liu Fu and Cheng Yun, Li Er and other conscripts who mainly patrolled Hedong, his right wing was Sima Yi who extended to Puban County under the slope, and in the rear was General Fei Qian, the hussar general of the Linfen base camp.

Cao Jun chose the strategy of "camp step by step". Everywhere he went, he built a hard camp as a support. This was undoubtedly the most reliable tactic for infantry to deal with cavalry. Cao Cao's own military ability is very strong, so there is no problem with such tactics.

But its main problem is not tactical...

"Report!" 』

A soldier arrived at the tent and reported to Xun Chen the news of Wang Meng's death.

Xun Chen was a little surprised and asked about relevant matters. Then he was silent for a long time and sighed, "A righteous man." 』

"Someone is coming!" Xun Chen raised his voice and said, "Send a letter to help me." 』

Not long after, the secretary arrived. Xun Chen nodded and said, "Today, Cao's thieves sent guests to the slope to assassinate. They saw that the hussar officers were so kind to the people living on the east side of the river. They couldn't bear it. They surrendered and said that they were disobedient." Loyalty, it is unkind to assassinate the people, it is unjust to accuse someone, and to kill oneself on the spot after saying one's words is to sacrifice one's life for the sake of loyalty. The knight was very sorry and said, "There is a righteous man in Shandong, Wang Meng. He knows that the world is loyal and righteous. He should live for the people, but he died for a thief, so he regrets it." Special order to book his name in history. 』

The bookkeeper was busy with his writing skills. He had a meal that was easy to remember, and then he looked up at Xun Chen.

Xun Chen waved his hand and said, "Send to the Lord." 』

Shu Zuo bowed his hands and stepped back.

While he was talking, Zhang Xiu came in with a bag under his arm, pulled a piece of mat and sat down, "I heard that Shandong boy committed suicide?" 』

Xun Chen nodded, but did not continue to say anything on this topic. Instead, he clicked on the map and said: "The main force of the front of Cao's army should be here..."

Zhang Xiu stood up, stretched his head and took a look, frowned and said, "Here?" No way? 』

Xun Chen nodded slowly, "It must be this way!" 』

…

…

If we comprehensively analyze the war between Fei Qian and Cao Cao, all the situations were unfavorable to Fei Qian at the beginning.

The chaos in the Western Region has not yet been settled, the intrigues among the three auxiliaries in Chang'an, the Yuncheng Basin in Hedong and the Linfen area are separated, Shangdang and Taiyuan are also fighting on their own, the mountains and mountains of Sichuan, Shu and Han are far away, and the northern region of the desert hangs alone. It seems that every one of them is bleeding. The wounds are enough to cause Fei Qian's seemingly huge structure to bleed profusely and eventually collapse.

However, all these disadvantages were unknowingly transformed into favorable political factors by Fei Qian and Fei Qian's generals and advisers.

During the chaos in the Western Regions, the Shanshan Kingdom was split into two in the blink of an eye, and a time-honored Shanshan Kingdom Treaty was signed.

Chang'an Sanfu's intrigues took advantage of the chaos this time to salvage the floating foam, and a Webster fell down, along with many people crawling on the melon vines.

Linfen and Yuncheng in the land east of Hedong are at least the remaining problems from the time of the Second Emperor Huanling. Now that Cao Jun has messed with it, Yuncheng is ruined and the nobles are in decline. When Fei Qian comes back, the situation is invisible. Those old resistances are gone...

Of course, the most important thing is "victory".

In other words, it was the "victory" that Cao Jun wanted to hear and see.

As long as you can win, it seems you can move on.

Even though there were still wounds on his body, he was still dripping with blood.

Not everyone can analyze the entire battlefield situation so clearly. More people will be confused by certain emotions and situations, and then feel that what is in front of them is the most important...

Although Pei Jun failed to capture Anyi City, the surrender effect he brought made Cao Cao really relaxed these days.

After all, Pei Jun was also a subordinate of Qiusi Feiqian back then, and represented the communication and operation of Qiusi in the Hedong area. Now that Pei Jun has joined Cao Cao, some Hedong nobles who do not have a long-term vision regard it as some kind of signal.

In China, as long as someone takes the lead, some things seem to fall into place.

Now that Cao Cao is attacking, these Hedong gentry are not even gentry, they are just local tyrants. The local squires expressed their respect for Prime Minister Cao. Suddenly, Xia County, Yi County, Zuolin, Pi County, etc. They all bowed their heads in front of Cao Jun's soldiers.

If you don't bow your head, you risk ruining your family. So you don't have to shave your head, you just change the flag. What's the problem?

No problem at all.

Therefore, Lao Cao did not waste any effort or go out of his way to conquer certain counties. Within a few days, the Han Prime Minister sat firmly in his tent and received one piece of good news after another.

Zhang Fang, a powerful man from Hedong, surrendered.

The Guo family of Pi County surrendered.

…

Things seemed great.

"Report!" Report to the Prime Minister that the Liu family in Yi County persuaded the Gushan Cheng family to surrender, and Rong County has surrendered! 』

"Congratulations, Prime Minister!" The Cheng family is the head clan of Gushan. As soon as this person surrenders, this place will be in the hands of the prime minister! Dong Zhao came out to congratulate him and said, "In this way, we can defeat Wenxi and march to Linfen, just around the corner!" 』

After hearing the news, Cao Cao's eyes fell on the map.

To the north of the Yuncheng Basin, there is Gufeng Mountain.

It was like a wart that suddenly appeared on Yuncheng's forehead, big and black.

To the south of Gufeng Mountain is Anyi.

Gufeng Mountain was "acquired" by Cao Cao, which means Anyi is now surrounded. It is an isolated city, and it is only a matter of time before it falls.

Going east from Gufeng Mountain, bypassing the twisted loess ridge fold zone, you will reach Wenxi.

Once Wenxi is opened, the Cao army will have a second road to Linfen.

"Let Pei Fengxian go to Wenxi with the army!" Cao Cao said in a deep voice, preparing to make the last use of the waste, and then inspected the generals under his tent, "Who is willing to lead the army and break Wenxi? !"

Lu Zhao proudly came out, "I am willing to go!"

Before Cao Cao nodded, just at this moment, a soldier shouted from afar: "Prime Minister! Urgent report!"

Cao Cao turned his head and squinted his eyes, as if he was going to listen to what good news was coming.

The soldier bowed down in front of him, sweating anxiously.

"Another Sima has delivered an urgent report!" The soldier bowed down.

Cao Cao's heart sank slightly, but his expression did not change, "Speak! '

The soldier almost put his head to the ground, 'Jie Sima's urgent report... The enemy Sima forged a letter and tricked Captain Gao to go to Changpo... As a result, as a result... Captain Gao was ambushed by the enemy army... and returned in defeat...'

'Great defeat?' Cao Cao said two words between his teeth.

The soldier trembled and dared not answer.

'How is Captain Gao now?' Cao Cao asked again in a deep voice.

'Seriously injured.'

'Ha, ha ha...' Cao Cao suddenly laughed, 'What a Sima Zhongda!'

...

When two armies fight, military strength is important, but intelligence is also important.

The great river gave birth to the Chinese nation, but at the same time, the great river also brought considerable threats and disasters to the people on both sides for a long time.

Every year when the ice melts, the ice blocks coming down from the upstream will destroy all the ships and wooden bridges on the river. The huge floating ice hits the wood, and it will crack and break it like a piece of paper.

Therefore, when Sima Yi found that a large amount of floating ice began to flow down from Pubanjin, he knew that his duty at Pubanjin could come to an end temporarily.

During the current melting period of the Han Dynasty, no one and no boats could pass through the river.

So during this period of time, Pubanjin did not need to be guarded until all the ice melted.

The moon was crescent in the sky and the stars were bright.

Hao Zhao led the horse and walked carefully through the loess ditch.

Hao Zhao was from Taiyuan. He joined the army when he was young and now serves under Sima Yi.

When Huo Nu was injured, Sima Yi found that Hao Zhao, the defender of Pubanjin, was quite brave and intelligent, so he promoted him to serve as a general.

Although Hao Zhao was young, he cherished such an opportunity very much. After attacking the branch of Cao Jun Jie Yan, he tried to infiltrate the Cao Jun.

Jie Xin was deceived by Sima Yi's false report, and some soldiers were deceived and ambushed. He would inevitably be very nervous and the battle line would shrink. This would cause a relatively large gap among the Cao army scouts who were originally patrolling, and such a gap would be the best opportunity to spy on the Cao army's military deployment.

Sima Yi thought so, and the one who carried out the infiltration and catching the tongue was Hao Zhao.

The cool breeze blew from time to time, and when walking, the sound of the soles of the feet rubbing against the sand was fine and audible.

Walking in the shadow at the bottom of the gully, the foot was soft and unstable, sometimes stepping on sand and sometimes stepping on loose soil. If you are not careful, you may lose your center of gravity and fall to the ground...

But all this did not affect Hao Zhao.

He was cautious, and even walking in the shadow did not make him timid and afraid. From time to time, he would sweep over some suspicious places, observe the changes on both sides and above the gully, and at the same time prick up his ears to listen to the slight sounds around him.

Following behind Hao Zhao, there were also hundreds of people and their war horses.

All the people and horses were holding their mouths.

Everyone was silent, just following one another, and being careful not to make too big a move to avoid making a loud noise.

Like Hao Zhao, when they moved forward, these cavalrymen also looked around vigilantly to detect movement.

They were like tigers and leopards walking in the shadows.

Quiet, but full of powerful deterrence.

Hao Zhao sometimes stopped and raised his fist to signal.

Then the others would stop as well, and even the horses were docile and smart and motionless.

After making sure that there was no danger around, everyone moved slowly again.

They had passed through the defense line where Cao's scouts were supposed to be, and were now moving towards the belly of Cao's army.

The further they went into the interior of Cao's army, the more likely they were to encounter Cao's roaming scouts.

After walking and stopping, Hao Zhao breathed a sigh of relief after passing through the originally predicted Cao's cordon.

Although they had already entered the sphere of influence of Cao's army, as long as they did not encounter Cao's patrol soldiers, the danger index would be much lower.

However, Hao Zhao was still very careful. He knew that danger often came when one was most relaxed. He did not want to cause any accidents or make a tragedy out of his carelessness.

And the key point was that sooner or later, Hao Zhao would have to meet Cao Jun soldiers to obtain the core intelligence of Cao Jun, especially the deployment of troops and other information. Ordinary Cao Jun soldiers might not know this information. Only the elite of Cao Jun, that is, the Central Commander and the Central Guard, could know more about it.

Once they met, the alarm would be triggered, and it would be a problem to bring the information back.

It would be difficult to go with a live person, but if there is no live person, he is afraid that he may not ask detailed questions or remember something wrong...

Anyway, this is a high-risk action, but Hao Zhao thinks it is worth a try.

After all, without intelligence, it is often passive to just talk about it on paper on the map.

For example, where is Cao Cao's position now?

In the era without satellite positioning, it is not easy to determine the position of the enemy's core forces.

Even if he thinks he has a good sense of direction and there are stars and moon in the sky, Hao Zhao still has to walk and stop, and needs to determine the direction according to the stars in the sky. The hussars following behind him also walked carefully. No one knows whether there are hidden sentries of Cao's scouts in this area, so even if you pass the blockade, you should be as careful as possible and don't expose yourself if you can.

In addition, the land under your feet is not completely flat, and it is still ups and downs with the changes of the loess plateau. Everyone must maintain a stable center of gravity to avoid accidentally falling and sliding down the slope. It would be bad if you sprain your feet before the battle starts.

After walking for a while, Hao Zhao suddenly raised his fist again, and everyone stopped and looked around vigilantly.

'Some smells...'

Hao Zhao whispered.

An old soldier following Hao Zhao raised his head slightly, sniffed carefully in the night wind, and then whispered in the same way, 'Ha, someone is roasting something to eat...'

The Cao army scouts are also people, so they also need to eat.

That's no problem, but roasting things...

Of course, the Cao army scouts know how to choose to eat and drink secretly in a sheltered place, and they also know to avoid the wind, but the Cao army soldiers are not familiar with the terrain of this area after all. They don't know that although the gullies under the loess slope can indeed block the firelight, it is indeed not in the upwind place, but the gullies are crisscrossed, and more or less some smells are brought out along the gullies.

Hao Zhao and the old soldier loosened the reins of the warhorse, then quietly moved forward and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

After a while, Hao Zhao turned back and whispered: "There are a dozen Cao scouts over there, not on guard... Let's sneak up... "

Everyone nodded, showing some excitement.

You know, Cao scouts are all armored soldiers!

One head is a first-level merit!

Of course, a dozen Cao scouts are not enough for everyone, but if too many people go up, there may be uncontrollable accidents, which will cause the Cao army to be alert, so Hao Zhao only called two squad leaders, plus a few people with him, a total of more than 20 people to attack, and the rest stayed in place to repair and take care of the war horses.

The line of soldiers who received the order were all excited, took off their own weapons from the horses, and quickly prepared.

Most of the cavalry cavalry are all-rounders, not only can they use long and short weapons, but also bows and crossbows.

The same is true for Hao Zhao. He not only brought a sword, but also a short hammer on his waist. After all, they were facing Cao's armored soldiers. If the sword's stab was not in the vital part, it might not be able to kill them with one blow, but the short iron hammer was different. Even if it hit the head through the helmet, it was a clear blow.

The group quickly prepared. In the moonlight and starlight, their eyes flashed with a faint light, as if a group of cats were ready to hunt.

Under Hao Zhao's command, more than 20 people quickly divided into three groups, each moving forward along the shadow of the gully.

Soon, Hao Zhao and others tiptoed to the place where the Cao scouts were resting.

There were some sparse trees on the top of the slope. Because the loess was relatively dry, the trees did not grow particularly well. There were some weeds and shrubs around. Two Cao scouts hid behind the trees and shrubs to guard, while the rest of the Cao scouts were in the concave part of the slope, lit a bonfire and set up a smoke shield.

Although the Cao army scouts took corresponding concealment measures, the smell of barbecue would be stronger than that of ordinary fire...

Perhaps because they finally hunted a wild beast, or perhaps because they were in a relatively remote place and were not vigilant enough, these Cao army soldiers were indeed elite Cao army soldiers wearing armor, but in their current state, they did not seem to be very elite.

The aroma of barbecue seemed to distract the Cao army scouts on duty, and they frequently looked back at the direction of the campfire.

Hao Zhao slowly moved forward, like a clever big cat, and only after the front paws were firmly planted would he take the second step. Although the posture looked weird, it was very effective.

Suddenly, the Cao army scout on duty seemed to notice something, or perhaps he felt that the surroundings were suddenly too quiet. This instinct made him stand up and start looking around...

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Hao Zhao rushed out fiercely, and the short blade was like a claw that stretched out, scratching the throat of the Cao army scout.

The sound of blood spurting out was like a whistle in the wind.

The Cao army scout covered his neck tightly, as if he wanted to scream, but his trachea was also cut and he couldn't scream at all. He could only stare and fall down.

Hao Zhao grabbed the Cao army scout and gently laid him down.

In fact, the smell of human blood is very strong. If it weren't for the barbecue smell of the campfire covering up this smell, the experienced Cao army scout would have been alert.

The Cao army scout, who was relieved of his guard, was like a prey caught in a trap.

Although when Hao Zhao and others finally appeared in front of them, their reaction speed was not slow, some grabbed their weapons, and some rolled on the ground, but they were still a step late.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Arrows and crossbows whistled and shot from different directions, leaving Cao Jun scouts no room to hide.

Screams rang out one after another, and the dozen Cao Jun scouts were soon shot and killed.

This sneak attack ended in a very short time, and there was no big noise.

Hao Zhao and others first discovered the Cao Jun scouts, and then killed the Cao Jun soldiers on duty. The other side was completely unprepared, so the victory was a matter of course, but because they did not have time to communicate well beforehand, they failed to leave effective survivors.

The only two or three Cao Jun scouts who were still alive seemed to know that they would not live long, and cursed Hao Zhao and others fiercely, and then died...

However, some information cannot be obtained only by words.

After searching the bodies of the Cao Jun scouts and the items they carried, Hao Zhao discovered something.

The dry food left by the Cao Jun scouts was running out...

This may be one of the reasons why they risked barbecue, but it also provided Hao Zhao with a piece of information.

"It seems we may have found the right direction... Cao's army is not far away, there must be a supply point! Who knows, we can catch a big fish!"