From Puqi to the east is a gentle hilly area covered with endless forests and sparsely populated areas. However, this is the only way to Changsha County to Jiangxia County. Therefore, in the vast mountain forest, there is another official road, winding towards the distance, leading to Yangxin County in Jiangxia County.

At dusk, the drizzle shrouded the land of Jiangnan, and the coldness was bone-bone. After two days of rain, the road became muddy and scattered, and it was difficult to walk. On this official road with few pedestrians, 20,000 Cao troops were marching east with difficulty.

The main general Zhu Ling rode on the war horse, urging his horse to run to the heights from time to time to observe the terrain. At this time, Cao's army had arrived in Yangxin County, Jiangxia County, about 80 miles away from the county town. The terrain of this area is complex, with dangerous and strange mountains around it, with deep rifts and ravines. In the middle is a long and narrow basin with a radius of more than ten miles. From the map, after passing this area, there is a wide and flat plain area in front.

Although he had been marching for three days, Zhu Ling was still vigilant, fearing that he would be ambushed by the Jiangxia army. He knew that the defenders of Puqi had retreated, but he had been finding traces of the army's march on the muddy official road.

In other words, the Jiangxia army did not withdraw in front of them, which means that the Jiangxia army either evacuated south or there was a road leading to the east, and the Jiangxia army was heading with them.

But at this time, Zhu Ling was even more anxious to find a place to camp. His soldiers had been marching for a day and a night and were already exhausted, but they could never find a dry place suitable for camping. They did not bring a tent and had to find a dry place to rest on the spot.

"General!"

A cavalry rushed from the front and reported loudly: "Reported to General Ma, General Ma found a pine forest next to the official road ahead, with an area of ​​hundreds of acres. The forest is very dry and suitable for camping."

Zhu Ling was overjoyed and quickly ordered: "Start up the marching and rest in the pine forest ahead!"

The pine forest found by Mayan is located five miles ahead. It is a black pine forest covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres. The pine forest is covered with a thick layer of pine needles, dry and warm, filled with a strong rosin. This is the most precious place to camp in the cold autumn rain.

When the 20,000 Cao troops entered the pine forest, they immediately cheered. The soldiers ran around, just like a horse-drawn enclosure. Each of them found their own dry pine needles. They were exhausted. They took off their rice bags and weapons, gathered together to drink water and chat, and waited for dinner. Many soldiers were so tired that they had no intention of eating. They took off their wet armor, wrapped them in blankets and fell asleep.

But as the main general, Zhu Ling knew the responsibilities he shouldered, and he was extremely cautious. In fact, when he got cold, he was not very satisfied with this black pine forest. It was surrounded by forests, so it was difficult to find the enemy. It was neither high nor river protection, so it was easy to encounter fire attacks. Thinking of the whereabouts of the enemy were unknown, he became extremely worried.

Zhu Ling looked at the dark sky and the cold autumn rain, and had to sigh helplessly. Although this pine forest was not an ideal camp, he could not find a new camp anymore. He could only rely on scout patrols to ensure safety.

Zhu Ling walked around and saw the soldiers gathered in groups of three or five, not resting together according to their own camp teams. It was very chaotic. He was extremely dissatisfied. The camp was the responsibility of the deputy general. This was the dereliction of duty by the deputy general Ma Yan. He shouted: "Let Ma Yan come to see me!"

After a moment, Deputy General Ma Yan rushed over. In contrast to the main general Zhu Ling, Ma Yan was very worried about being attacked by the Jiangxia army at the beginning, so he was very careful in both marching and camping.

But after three days of marching, his vigilance began to decrease. They had marched for hundreds of miles. If the Jiangxia army had the intention to ambush them, it would have been a long time since they could do it and would never wait for hundreds of miles without moving.

He believed that the Jiangxia army must have rushed to Yangxin County from another small road. It was impossible to set up an ambush in the wilderness hundreds of miles away, hold on to the city, and wait for the labor. Zhu Ling was so cautious, it was better to say that he was afraid of the Jiangxia army in his heart than to be careful.

Ma Yan was having supper, but Zhu Ling sent someone to find him. He was carrying a kettle in his hand and chewing pancakes and lamb in his mouth. He ran to Zhu Ling before he drank a few sips of water, swallowed the last piece of cake, burped for a long time, and couldn't help but fart, and saluted vaguely, "See General Zhu!"

There is a saying in the Cao army, "First-class Xiahou Cao, Second-class Chu Huangliao, Third-class Le Li, Fourth-class Yuan Shao." In other words, the surrendered generals of Yuan Shao's army were only the fourth-class in the Cao army.

Ma Yan was a surrendered general of Yuan Shao. Although he was named Guannei Hou, his status in Cao's army was really not high. He was just a general of Xiahou Yuan. Although Zhu Ling was also a general of Yuan Shao, he surrendered early and his status was far higher than Ma Yan. He was as famous as generals such as Xu Huang and Zhang Liao under Cao Cao, and was a second-class general.

When Zhu Ling saw that Ma Yan was just eating and drinking, but ignored the chaos of the soldiers, he became angry. If it was because Ma Yan was Xiahou Yuan's general before, he would have to endure his dissatisfaction. But at this time, he saw that Ma Yan was actually burping and farting in front of him, and could no longer help, and shouted, "Take it down for me!"

More than a dozen personal soldiers rushed up and pressed Ma Yan to the ground. Ma Yan shouted, "Don't I give you a supper?"

"As a deputy general, but he doesn't care about the soldiers' camp, is this your fault?"

"I found the camping place. I have done my duty. But after it was dark, the Lord General brought his troops here. The road was slippery and it was in the forest again. The soldiers rushed in, but the Lord General was on the side but ignored it. Is this my responsibility?"

Zhu Ling was furious. Ma Yan meant his responsibility. He ordered: "If you commit the following crime, you will give me a thirty military stick again!"

The personal soldiers beat him with a stick, and Ma Yan gritted his teeth and said nothing. After a moment, after thirty sticks, the personal soldiers raised him up again.

Zhu Ling asked coldly again: "I'll ask you again, have all the scouts sent?"

Ma Yan lowered his head and said with a long hatred for a while: "The six scouts have been sent out to explore the radius of five miles."

“Too few!”

Zhu Ling's voice became even more severe, and he scolded: "At least ten scouts must be sent, and the range of five miles is too small, so expand it to ten miles."

"Hare... obey the order!"

Ma Yan turned around and wanted to leave after suffering, but Zhu Ling stopped him again, "Stop! There is something else."

Ma Yan stopped and said coldly without looking back: "Is there anything else for General Zhu?"

Zhu Ling pointed to the soldiers around him and angrily scolded Ma Yan: "Look at the chaos around you. If the soldiers are not seen, the generals are not seen. What if there is an enemy attack? Reorganize them immediately. If you dare not obey orders, I will kill you immediately!"

"Abide by the order!"

Ma Yan agreed resentfully and limped away with the help of a soldier. He was filled with resentment and reorganized the army. How could this be possible? It was dark and gathering the whole team would only make it even more chaotic.

What's more, it was raining outside and he couldn't call the soldiers at all. This was clearly Zhu Ling was looking for excuses to kill him, which made him feel extremely hated.

Looking at Ma Yan's back as he was leaving, Zhu Ling snorted coldly, and dared to do whatever he wanted to do to himself, and he had to kill him.

Ma Yan was extremely angry, but he did not dare to disobey the military order. He was afraid that Zhu Ling would find an excuse to kill him, so he had to endure the pain and come to the scout camp, which was the place where hundreds of scouts gathered and rested. He said to the scout Yajiang Order: "There is an order above, and then send five scouts to expand the range to ten miles. I have sent you the order. If you refuse to implement it, go and explain to the above yourself!"

Ya Jiang felt that he was very angry and dared not resist the order, so he hurriedly arranged the scout. It was easy to arrange the scout, but it was very difficult to reorganize the team. But when Zhu Ling thought that he would use the excuse to kill him, Ma Yan was angry and hated.

He had to bite the bullet and prepare to regroup. At this moment, a soldier rushed to report: "The chief general asked General Ma to come over."

Ma Yan returned to Zhu Ling's residence and saw several scouts bringing an old man carrying a basket of medicine. Zhu Ling was interrogating him. The scout next to him whispered to Ma Yan: "A few miles south, we found another path and found this herb collector again. He had information about the enemy."

Ma Yan snorted coldly, pricked up his ears and listened carefully, and only heard the old man collecting herbs say, "This morning, I saw an army of thousands running east along the path, and I saw them disappearing in the distance. The common people dare not lie at all."

"What carriages do they carry?" Zhu Ling asked.

"Take more than a hundred ox carts, loaded with all kinds of things, a little later than the army, but it passed in the morning. I guess I went to Yangxin County, which was sixty or seventy miles away in front of me. I often go there to sell medicine."

Zhu Ling nodded and asked the soldiers to take the old man to collect herbs. At this time, he felt relieved and said coldly to Ma Yan: "There is no need to reassemble, let everyone have a good rest! Cook at the fourth and set off at the fifth and must arrive in Yangxin County before dark tomorrow."

Ma Yan cursed in his heart, but he also breathed a sigh of relief, "I remember it!"

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The night became deeper and gradually reached two o'clock. At this time, dozens of black shadows suddenly appeared on the southernmost side of the Black Pine Forest. They moved quickly and quickly, like ghosts, constantly moving forward, gradually approaching the sentry points of the first few days, and there were two or three sentry huddled together to sleep together at each place.

A thin figure appeared above the sentry's head, like a monkey. He held an extremely sharp short sword in his hand and slowly climbed down from the tree like a gecko. With a swing of the short sword, he slashed out like lightning, and immediately cut off the throats of the two sentry's.

With a wave of his hand, dozens of black shadows were divided into five groups, pounced on each sleeping sentry like a tiger. These black shadows were the most elite "Eagle Strike" army in the Jiangxia army. They took decisive action, and more than a dozen sentry were solved instantly, without a single survivor. The thin leader on the tree grinned, showed a row of white teeth, and gave everyone a thumbs up.

He waved his hand and ran eastward with his subordinates. The task of the Eagle Strike Army was to solve the sentries on the east and west sides and create opportunities for the troops behind. Just as the Eagle Strike Army had left, hundreds of Jiangxia soldiers rushed over and rushed into the black pine forest and began to spray tinder oil on the ground and trees.

The black pine forest was very quiet, and 20,000 Cao troops were sleeping soundly. In a small tent, Zhu Ling sat alone in front of a wooden stake, staring at the map on the wooden stake. At this time, he had believed that Jiangxia troops had withdrawn Yangxin County and were preparing to block himself in Yangxin County.

The map is marked with some information about Yangxin County. The city is fifteen miles in circumference, two meters high, and a moat. There are only 500 troops stationed. However, Xiazhi County is the turbulent refining center of the Jiangxia army, with two thousand troops. In contrast, Yangxin County is a little relaxed.

However, Zhu Ling had two important tasks in Yangxin County and Xiazhi County, destroying the turbulent oil refining station of the Jiangxia Army and destroying the riverside pastures. It is said that the banks of Fushui are covered with high-quality pastures, which are more than a hundred miles long. It is the most important forage supply for Jiangxia army horses. Destroying this pasture will severely damage the Jiangxia cavalry.
Chapter completed!