At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the central government was corrupt; local tyrants were rampant. Countless people acted without any scruples and finally forced the once glorious empire to a dead end.
In the seventh year of Emperor Ling, the Yellow Turbans began to turmoil. The ants at the end of the road followed and gathered to fight against this cannibalistic world. The war further destroyed the social order and the moral bottom line between people, so the ambitious people who were ready to take this opportunity to expand their power.
In the end, the world became a ghost realm, with white bones covering the plain, thieves rising, traitors rising, dragons and snakes in the world entrenched on the broken territory of the Han Empire, biting and strangling each other. Such a chaotic world has lasted for twenty-five years, and until now, no one can see the dawn of stability.
At the end of the 13th year of Jian'an, Prime Minister Cao, who was powerless to shock the world, and his hundreds of thousands of soldiers were attacked by the Sun and Liu coalition forces in the narrow area between Yunmengze and Dajiang. The army suffered heavy losses. Cao Cao had to give up his ambition to wipe out the south and withdraw his troops to return to the north.
The Sun-Liu coalition forces took advantage of the great victory of the Red Cliff and launched a fierce attack on the area occupied by the Cao army.
On the western front, Zhou Lang, with the assistance of Liu Yuzhou, attacked Jiangling, where Cao Ren, the general of the Southern Expedition, and on the eastern front, Sun Haolu personally led his troops to attack Hefei, the most important military stronghold between the Cao army, between the Jianghuai.
The tragic war lasted for several months, and in a blink of an eye it was late autumn of the 14th year of Jian'an.
Jiangling and Hefei are both shaky.
Although Cao Cao used his troops like a god, it was not a day to reorganize his troops after his new defeat; at this moment, he was inevitably embarrassed by lack of troops.
Regarding Jiangling, which was besieged, he ordered General Zhe Chong Le Jin, and General Hengye Xu Huang to lead his troops to connect. However, Hefei was too late to reach, so he could only send the cavalry general Zhang Xi to lead a thousand light cavalry day and night to support.
Cao Cao knew very well that due to the lack of cavalry in the Eastern Wu, although the number of these thousand cavalry was not large, it was enough to play a huge role after being put into the Hefei battlefield.
The problem is that from Nanyang to Hefei, it is necessary to cross the entire Runan.
Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the war that lasted for decades almost destroyed everything in Runan County. In addition, the drought and famines were almost gone. The wealthy land that was once lush and well-connected and well-connected has long disappeared. Wherever Zhang Xi passed by, the only place where the famous city Taiban turned into a hilly ruin. The once continuous and neat roads were replaced by mixed woods and storms. The jackals and hungry wolves who were active in the dense forests and lakes were fat and fat because of eating dead bodies.
Even if experienced guides were recruited from the local area and finding a road that could accommodate thousands of cycling was difficult than expected.
After several days of difficult trekking, a thousand cavalry entered Gushi County in the central part of Runan County. This speed was much slower than previously expected. This made Zhang Xi increasingly anxious.
It was about noon, and the riding team ran quickly for several hours, and the horses were exhausted. Zhang Xi had to send a command to rest for a while.
He ordered the followers to scatter, rode their horses up a bare hillside, and looked to the east. Within the field of view, there was a blue-black, endless wild forest. After a moment, he couldn't help but sigh, his brows frowned tightly, making his eye sockets look deeper.
Zhang Xi was from Dongping County, Yanzhou and was born in Dong'a County. Because he was successful in defending Cangjindu during the war between Cao Gong and Lu Bu, he was promoted to the position of the chief of the Cao Gong's tent. After more than ten years of fighting in the south and north, he made many achievements and gradually accumulated merits as the goalkeeper. This time, he supported Hefei was the first time that Zhang Xi had the opportunity to lead a partial army to act independently, and he would never tolerate the failure of the mission.
But...but... Zhang Xi held the handle of the knife on his waist tightly, so that the blue veins burst out: "The thief who killed the sky! Damn Lei Xu! Damn Chen Lan! Damn Mei Gan! I will kill you sooner or later!"
The three people who were scolded by Zhang Xi were all active between the Jianghuai River and Huai River. They were all powerful local tyrants who did not accept the king's war, or bandits. When Sun Quan attacked Hefei, he sent an envoy to persuade them to raise an army and respond.
Lei Xu and other local tyrants responded to Sun Quan and immediately brought great trouble to Zhang Xi. With their troops, although they were not enough to compete with the army on the battlefield, they were enough to harass the post office and cut off the roads and bridges, making it difficult for Zhang Xi's cavalry to take steps. Yesterday, Zhang Xi walked along a road for dozens of miles, but a big lake appeared out of thin air at the end and had to return the same road... God knows when the bandits did it and where they drew water!
At this point today, it seems that I will encounter similar troubles again. The bridge, which is the only way to pass, collapsed and there is no ferry nearby. The guide said that there is a direction to swim across the river, and he sent someone to explore it, but he didn't know what the result would be.
In order to facilitate action, Zhang Xi did not wear iron armor. He tied the iron armor and helmet together with a leather rope and hung it behind the saddle. He only wore a piece of leather armor, covering the military robe with a gauze. From the morning to the afternoon, he had a thin layer of sweat. At this time, he was blown by the cool breeze on the hillside, and the coldness penetrated into his robe, making him shivering involuntarily. The green horse he was riding might also feel the owner's emotions, swaying his head, and sniffing.
Zhang Xi reached out and stroked the horse's neck, wanting it to calm down, but he grabbed a handful of wet sweat in his hand. Then he realized that he had just been running back and forth along the queue, and the horse was a little tired.
This is a good horse from the north given by Cao Gong! Zhang Xi felt sorry for the war horse, so he jumped down and slowly led the horse down the gentle slope.
The first person to meet up at the hillside was the old guy who was born in Runan County. Zhang Xi thought he would be a qualified guide, but now it seems that his role is really limited.
Zhang Xi glanced at him, without saying a word, and walked forward. But the old guy didn't pay attention to Zhang Xi's expression and followed him around: "General Zhang, there are rivers and waterways everywhere near Gushi. Look, there are Huai River in the north, Shi River in the east, Qu River in the west, Chun River in the south, Quan River, Wanshui, etc. Going east, after Yingshui passed Ruyin, there were even swamps, and there were no good roads to Shaobi. Some of these rivers traveled horizontally with Huai River, and some of them merged into Huai River. During this period, there were embankments, lakes, forests, hills... I can't be anxious, it's really hard to walk on the road."
Zhang Xi couldn't help but whip it with a whip in his hand, then whip it a few more whips, making him roll around the ground: "I don't want to listen to your nonsense! You said, when will you find a good way to go? Hum? I can't find it, I'll chop you up!"
The old soldier wailed and begged for mercy, but the surrounding cavalrymen were resting on their own, and some people were snoring, and no one paid attention to him. They were all iron men with blood on the head of the knife, and they would not even blink even if they killed someone. This little thing was not worth caring about.
Zhang Xi beat another time, and the old man's wailing sounded louder and then gradually became lighter. Zhang Xi continued to beat without hesitation until he felt his wrists were a little sore, so he stopped.
As soon as the whip of the whip in the air stopped, a faint sound of horse hooves came from the east. The cavalry, who were lying or sitting, stood up one after another and said excitedly: "Here, come."
Zhang Xi wanted to climb up the slope to watch and see the old man with blood on his head, then stopped and waited surrounded by the cavalry.
After a while, the sound of horse hooves became closer and closer, and a small group of people walked through the sparse forest land and came to Zhang Xi.
"How is it?" Zhang Xi asked impatiently.
A knight dismounted and saluted: "General, this old man is right. There is an open river beside ten miles northeast. We tried to wade through the river. The water surface just exceeded the horse's belly. There was a dam across the river and it was just right to march."
"Okay! Let's go immediately, you can lead the way!" Zhang Xi felt happy. He flew on his horse and ordered loudly: "Brothers, work harder, after crossing the river, you will bury the pot and cook rice and rest!"
The soldiers set off when the roosters crowed and many people were empty. Hearing Zhang Xi's orders, the knights were happy and shouted to get on their horses.
Zhang Xi pointed at the old man with the tip of the whip: "Bring him with you!"
The old man who was limping on the ground was still stunned. A tall knight happened to ride a horse by, so he lowered his waist and stretched his arms, grabbed the old man's belt and picked him up, and then threw him face down on an empty horse. This difficult movement requires both first-class arm strength and excellent riding skills, which immediately aroused the applause of many people.
"Let's go!" Zhang Xi shouted and urged the horse to move forward.
The cavalry team started to move forward with thousands of horse hooves hitting the ground, and the sound made was like muffled thunder.
The roads wind and roll along the jungle and the mountains and rivers. The rammed earth road surface has been disrepair and is also very bumpy. However, these cavalrymen, or the strong warriors from the north, or the Wuhuan people born on horseback, do not care at all. They can control the horses with only one hand and control the reins. A thousand riders are arranged in a tight column, like black flying snakes walking between the jungle and the mountains and rivers.
Ten miles passed by in a flash, and Zhang Xi suddenly felt his eyes lit up. As the scout said, it was a large river bay. The originally confined river channel suddenly opened up here, and the water surface expanded to nearly twenty feet. It reflected rippling waves in the autumn sun, spreading gently. Opposite the river, the native embankment spanned east and west, extending to the distance.
The scout raised his hand and signaled to Zhang Xi: "General, look at the height opposite, where are the two brothers we left behind before."
Zhang Xi narrowed his eyes and the black-clad knight standing at the top of the dam opposite also waved his hands repeatedly. A gust of wind blew, bringing the smell of large areas of dry reeds behind the dam.
He rode his horse forward again and looked at the water surface: "I'm sure I can walk over?"
"No problem, we walked back and forth twice. The water was shallow, the bottom of the river was flat, and the horse's hooves were not damaged!"
"Very good, then let's go!" Zhang Xi pointed to the two song chiefs casually, and asked them to wade through the water first, and put on alert on the river bank. Then, the team of people slowly followed. Finally, Zhang Xi and his direct troops were there.
Although it was not very cold in late autumn, the river water was already a little cool. The green horse carefully stepped into the water under Zhang Xi's urging. Because the cold water hit the stomach, it paved forward and backward and stuck out its legs and jumped in panic. Fortunately, it was a well-trained and docile horse. Zhang Xi tightened the reins and shouted for a few words. Then it calmed down and followed the horse in front of it slowly.
The horses entered the water in an orderly manner, and then climbed the opposite river beach in an orderly manner. The shouts of riders and the neighing sounds of horses mixed with the sound of gravels rolling under the horse's hooves by the river. For a moment, the soothing sound of water was overwhelmed and echoed in the quiet river beside the river.
Zhang Xi suddenly thought of something, and a vague but strong sense of danger seemed to fall from the sky, and suddenly grabbed his heart. He pulled the horse hard: "No...No!"
What was wrong? Where? Surrounded by the panicked eyes of the followers, he looked around almost frantically.
"General..." One of them walked forward a few steps from the cavalry and asked carefully.
And Zhang Xi suddenly thought: It’s too quiet here!
The people in Gushi County have been killed or fled in recent years. Whether it is villages, farmland, or farmland, they have been occupied by shrubs and wild forests. In the wild forests are beasts and wild birds. During the marching of the cavalry, they can see deer, wild boars, wolves, and even bears of various colors. The birds gather in groups, thousands of times. In the past few days, Zhang Xi heard them moving in the forest not far from the cavalry, making various whistling sounds.
However, the howling sounds of these birds and beasts are not at all now! There is no sound around it...
What happened to scare them away?
Zhang Xi looked up and found that the two scouts who should be at the top of the dam were missing.
"Be careful! Be careful!" Zhang Xi waved his hand suddenly and shouted loudly.
He is an excellent general, and he cannot be said to be vigilant or meticulous. However, it is too late.
Just as he waved his hand, hundreds of arrows shot out from behind the dam, drawing a high arc, and landed in the cavalry that was crossing the river. Wherever the arrows went, there were screams of terrible sounds, some fell into the water and some horses whined.
Soon, many archers climbed the embankment and stood at high places and fired fiercely at the cavalry who had just arrived. Not only were these cavalry not wearing armor, many of them were taking off their clothes to wipe their bodies. Wherever the dense arrows went, red blood flowers burst into bloom. In an instant, a group of people fell down, and the blood flowed out dyed the river beach red.
Zhang Xi pulled the reins hard, took the green horse around the river and avoided a few arrows. The tragic scenes fell into his eyes. Not only did they not scare him, but they inspired his fighting spirit. He drew his sword clangingly, swung his finger in front of the knife and roared: "Kill with me!"
The cavalry moved around the middle of the river, which was equivalent to a ready-made living target. The only opportunity at this time was to cross the river as soon as possible and kill the archers on the other side!
Chapter completed!