Jia Xu is forty years old this year, just over seven feet tall. His face is a bit square and his beard is sparse, barely a goatee. This image does not fit the aesthetics of the Han Dynasty.
In the eyes of the Han people, a handsome man is more than seven feet tall and has a long, straight, smooth and silky beard. If you can grow your beard more than one meter long, then you will be a top handsome man.
They also named their beards. The beard on the upper lip is called "mustache", the beard on the lower lip is called "粜", the beard on the cheek is called "beard", and the beard on the chin is called "fold".
This is an era obsessed with beards.
According to Jia Xu's talent and family background, he is not reused at this age. In addition to being born in Liangzhou, there may be some connection with his image.
This idea flashed through his mind. Fan Xian and Jia Xu had already finished their ceremony and stood up. Liu Xiang invited them to sit down and talk. The four of them could only sit in the field without even a bed.
Now that a powerful enemy is on the side, supplies are scarce, and the soldiers are exhausted and unable to fight again, the situation is worrying. He wants to seek advice from Jia Xu.
If you have a wise man by your side, of course you have to ask for advice. As for Dong Zhuo discovering Jia Xu's talent and promoting him, there is no need to worry. Jia Wenhe was famous for his talent when he was young, but ten or twenty years later, he is still not reused.
.So what if they are reused? There were many talented people in the late Han Dynasty. If you are afraid of this or afraid of that, then don’t do anything.
Now is not the time to be polite, Liu Xiang asked directly: "Our army is in trouble, do you two have any good ideas?"
Dong Zhuo was a little surprised. There were so many veteran generals who were leading troops. Why did they ask two new recruits for advice?
Fan Xian said shamefully: "I only know how to do things with swords, pens, and letters. I am powerless. Don't blame Liu Ping."
"When I first joined the army and I don't know much about military strategy, I will obey the orders of the two generals." Jia Xu twirled his beard and took over the topic.
Liu Xiang rolled his eyes. The guy who could write military books said that he was incompetent in military strategy. This was because he looked down on him and Dong Zhuo and did not want to help. He just wanted to hide his clumsiness. Seeing Jia Xu still twirling his beard, he thought maliciously,
If you continue to pull it off, there will be only a few strands left in your originally small beard. Once you finish pulling it off, you can play the role of a eunuch.
The two of them were unwilling to help each other, so he had to find a way on his own.
Looking at the sunset gradually disappearing into the horizon, he turned around and asked Dong Zhuo: "How about the Qiang people's night battle?"
"It is impossible to fight at night, but there are not many blindfolded birds. In the years I have been in Liangzhou, the Qiang people rarely fight at night, but they are not afraid of night attacks."
"Why?"
"Poor discipline, inability to attack at night, lack of fear of death when attacked, and failure to retreat from chaotic battles are difficult to achieve."
We can no longer entertain the idea of fighting at night. We have few troops and we must avoid falling into chaos.
While he was thinking, the sun announced that he was off duty, and darkness enveloped the earth. Niu Fu and his men moved some wood, lit a bonfire, and took some fish. He said cheerfully: "General, Liu Ping is in trouble. His men have beaten him."
A few fish, I’ll treat everyone to grilled fish.”
Looking at the shriveled river fish, Liu Xiang thought thoughtfully: "Brother Zhongying, let's fish."
Dong Zhuo thought for a while and found a solution, then said: "Relying on fishing to supplement food rations can indeed last for a while, but it is not a long-term solution."
Liu Xiang looked at the grilled fish next to the campfire, his eyes reflecting the light of the flames.
"Fishing at the upper cofferdam."
Jia Xu raised his head and glanced at Liu Xiang, then silently lowered his eyelids.
Dong Zhuo was a little confused: "Is it necessary to expend so much effort?"
Liu Xiang replied with a smile: "Build a dam upstream, and when the water here is shallow, we can catch the big fish Qianghu."
"Yicheng has already thought of a way to defeat the enemy?"
"Brother Zhongying, please listen to me in detail." Liu Xiang explained his thoughts to him. The strategy was not complicated, but it just took some effort.
Dong Zhuo laughed loudly after hearing this: "Huangfu Yizhen is right. Yicheng's military use is unconstrained, and it is really powerful."
"It's just adapting to local conditions. Brother Zhong Ying is overly praised." After saying that, he looked at Jia Xu and asked, "What do Wen He think?"
"Liu Pingnan has outstanding military skills, and he is a truly famous general." Jia Xu quickly patted the horse. He felt that he was being targeted by Liu Xiang. Something must be wrong with him. He was just confused in his heart. When he met Liu Pingnan for the first time, there was a strange feeling.
The feeling of being seen through is really strange.
"The matter of building the cofferdam and dam will be left to Wen He. Whether our army can escape from the predicament depends entirely on this cofferdam. Wen He must pay attention." If you don't want to make suggestions, then work hard for me.
, Liu Xiang would not let him go anyway.
Jia Xu looked at Dong Zhuo. He was his subordinate and could not accept Liu Xiang's general orders. He should not neglect such details, otherwise he would be guilty without knowing it.
Dong Zhuo thought it didn't matter, anyone could dig earth to build dams or cut trees for cofferdams.
"A certain number of people were mobilized to help, and the matter was left to Wenhe."
"Follow orders."
Liu Xiang reminded: "The dams must not be strong, and the cofferdams must block the water. The water level must be raised as soon as possible, and the removal must be facilitated. This is not easy. I'd like to thank Wen He for taking the trouble."
Cofferdams are structures built with civil engineering materials to temporarily block water during the construction of water conservancy projects.
The plan was decided, and after everyone finished eating the grilled fish, they took a rest.
There was nothing to say that night. The next day, Jia Xu led people to build cofferdams and dams, and the remaining infantry cut down trees and set up strongholds. Liu Xiang ordered Tai Shici to lead the Yue cavalry to clear out the enemy scouts, blocking the view and allowing the Qiang people to watch from a distance.
I don’t know the specific actions of our army.
He himself led the cavalry to roam near the Qiang people, pretending to be looking for loopholes and attacking at any time, with the intention of blocking the enemy's advance.
The Qiang and Hu coalition forces have gathered more than 70,000 people. It seems that the people from Wangyuan City have also come out and set up camp five miles away from the Han army. Fortunately, the enemy's cavalry suffered heavy losses, otherwise our army of 5,000 cavalry would not have been able to hold off the enemy.
Live them.
For five days, the two armies faced each other at a distance. There was no major battle, but small battles continued. The Qiang people continued to suffer losses. The elite soldiers had an advantage in small-scale battles.
The Qiang and Hu armies are ready to move.
The Wei River is blocked by a cofferdam more than ten feet long. Only a small amount of river water overflows the dam and continues to flow. The downstream gradually dries up and the water level in the upstream continues to rise. This is also the strategy of cofferdams to block water in the northwest. If it is in the south of the Yangtze River,
Nonsense.
Dong Zhuo's soldiers took the opportunity to catch fish. In the past few days, the whole army relied on river fish and cooked wild vegetables. Liu Xiang smelled fishy when he burped. The big carp from the Wei River was very delicious when he first ate it. Now he is very envious of it.
Food of the Qiang people.
"Yi Cheng, can we cross the river?" Dong Zhuo felt that the time had come.
"Wait a moment, the water level upstream is not enough."
The cofferdams were being raised upstream, and the soldiers downstream were not idle either. Liu Xiang ordered them to dig out soil and mud, and he wanted to turn the exposed river bed into a muddy pond.
After another two days, the Qiang people became stronger and stronger, and their intention to attack became more and more powerful.
"The whole army crosses the river."
The Han army, with 18,000 infantry and cavalry, quickly retreated to the north bank of the Wei River through several reserved passages. Jia Xu led more than a thousand troops to ambush behind the river embankment. Dong Zhuo led the infantry to retreat three miles and set up a formation to lure the enemy.
To attack, Liu Xiang led five thousand cavalry and hid behind the hills, preparing for a surprise attack.
When they discovered that the Han army had retreated, the Qiang-Hu coalition forces felt that they had been deceived by the cunning Han people. Everyone became angry, especially Ge Ke, the leader of the Baima Qiang. He was so angry that he set the Tianling Gai on fire and led his troops to charge forward with a strange cry: "Han dogs are lying, kill them."
, chopped into minced meat."
The other Qiang and Hu leaders were not willing to be left behind.
"Chasing the Han Dog."
"Kill them all."
The Qiang and Hu allied forces swarmed to the south bank, rushed down the river without hesitation, and trudged forward through the river bed like a muddy pond. The mud at the bottom of the river could suck people's feet. They crawled and crawled with hatred for the Han people.
After rolling around, everyone turned into a mud monkey.
Finally someone touched the north shore.
But they suddenly felt the riverbed shaking and a roaring sound coming from them.
The cofferdam not far away suddenly collapsed. The thin embankment could not stop the water flow two to three feet high. The flood peak broke through the obstruction, wrapped in wood, and the soil poured down. The force of the ten thousand was overwhelming. Tens of thousands of people were struggling to move forward in the river.
The Qiang people were wiped out.
The Qiang people who boarded the north bank and those who stayed on the south bank were shocked speechless by the force of nature. They trembled all over and cried out, but could not utter a complete sentence.
"Winter! Winter! Winter! Winter!"
The war drums beat and the sound shook the fields, and the soldiers of the Han army went out to fight and kill the enemy.
Liu Xiang led his cavalry to arrive first, and more than ten thousand Qiang people on the north bank were slaughtered like clay figures.