Liu Xin decisively chose the western front, and set off overnight with Dian Wei and Huang Zhong, chasing them all the way to Xiang County, but no trace of Cao Cao and others was found. At this time, it was already broad daylight, and Liu Xin couldn't help but hesitate. Could it be that
Did you make a mistake in your judgment?
Further north is Cao Cao's territory. However, this area was swept by the Fifth Army a few days ago. The government and the army were driven away. It is now in a state of anarchy. If Cao Cao had fled there, he might really be in trouble.
It was like a fish in water and could no longer be caught. Liu Xin couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.
Suddenly, a small group of cavalry came galloping over. The first one rolled his saddle and dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, an urgent report has been sent from Yangzhou. Traces of Cao Cao have been found in Lu'an area!"
Liu Xin was shocked. It turned out that Cao Cao did not flee north, but went in the opposite direction and entered the Lujiang River southward. He couldn't help but ask: "Is the news accurate?"
The man raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, a group of soldiers patrolling at night from the Lu'an Local Army were ambushed. Except for one soldier who was seriously injured and unconscious, all the others died. Even the soldiers' clothes and armor were stripped off. Early this morning
Another group of sentries discovered them and revived the seriously injured soldier. According to the description of the seriously injured soldier, the people who attacked them looked very much like Cao Cao and his group."
Liu Xin frowned and raised his hand. One of his guards had already spread out a map. Liu Xin stared at the map for a long time, then suddenly pointed with his hand and said: "Let's set off immediately. We'll be there within two hours."
Think good things!"
Sishan is in Runan, not far from Qiao County. Liu Xin still insisted on his judgment. If Cao Cao just wanted to find a place to hide in the south, there was no need for him to pretend to be a Han army. Cao Cao captured that team
The Han army's patrol armor was designed to deceive others, break through the Han army's many checkpoints, and escape back to the north.
Everyone got on their horses and galloped towards the southwest. Along the way, they could keep seeing large groups of people rushing north. These were the armies from all walks of life who came to relieve the siege of Shouchun yesterday. Now, they will go north to Puyang to attack Ye
The best preparation in front of the city. According to the latest news received this morning, Guan Yu's troops have captured Liyang, and Yuan Shao's last barrier south of Ye City is gone.
Liu Xin didn't know how many people were still around Cao Cao, nor how many Han soldiers they had robbed, so he had to divide the 5,000 guards into ten teams and head south. While rushing to Sishan, he also attacked the people he encountered on the road.
The military conducts screening.
Different units of the Han army have their own numbers. These numbers are also one of the top secrets of the army. If they are leaked, they will be punished by military law. Each soldier has these numbers recorded on a fixed part of his armor. They are not military numbers.
The people in the system did not understand the meaning of these numbers at all, and would only think that those special symbols were just decorations. If the soldiers could not answer the number, or the number they answered was different from the record, it would be suspicious.
At noon, everyone rushed to Sishan. There were more troops encountered in Runan, including cavalry, infantry, and heavy baggage troops. Because they had to arrive in Puyang within the specified time to assemble, the soldiers all adopted a rapid march.
, the original organization has been broken up, and soldiers from the first, second, and third legions are often mixed together at will. Occasionally, they will encounter troops sent by the fifth legion to set up checkpoints and occupy cities. In this way,
Come, it brings many difficulties to the screening.
Huang Zhong frowned, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, it is difficult to find a needle in a haystack, so we might as well order all the legions to stay where they are and gather their troops before setting off."
Liu Xin shook his head and said: "After years of fighting, the people have long been in dire straits. Only by unifying the Han Dynasty as soon as possible can the country be prosperous and the people be safe. I heard that Yuan Shao is recruiting troops in the north. One day late will cause more difficulties, so we can't wait!"
Cao Cao has lost all his elite men. Even if he manages to escape back to the north, it will not be easy to make a comeback. Our current goal is to catch him, which is better. If we can't catch him, we must try to drive him out of Yu, Yang, and Xuzhou.
!”
After resting for a while in Sishan County, everyone continued to move south under the scorching sun. Along the way, the people who were marching northward did not rest, and there were people shouting and neighing everywhere. Liu Xin suddenly had a hunch that Cao Cao might be here.
Among the team, they couldn't help but order to strengthen the screening, and the speed of the group's southward journey also slowed down. When they arrived at Xiyang County, they still found nothing, and it was almost dusk.
At this time, another team came from the south, with about a thousand people and many vehicles in the middle. Liu Xin immediately led the crowd to meet them and blocked the way.
A guard came forward and asked: "Who are you?"
The guards' armor is different from that of ordinary legions, and they can be recognized at a glance.
Upon seeing this, a captain in the team hurriedly stepped forward, raised his hands and said: "This brother, we are the trebuchet operator under General Zhang of the Third Army."
The guard took a look and saw that the ruts were very deep. He couldn't help but nodded and said, "There must be a lot of stone bullets installed in the car. I was also an operator three years ago."
The captain suddenly became excited and turned around and said: "Brothers, have you heard this? Who said that being an operator is useless? As long as you do well, you can still be selected as a personal guard. Cheer up and try to get there as soon as possible.
Puyang, kill the enemy and perform meritorious service!"
Being able to become a personal guard is the expectation of all Han army soldiers. This is not only because the personal guards are well paid, sound good and majestic, but also because the personal guards can follow their beloved emperor, so all the troops shouted in unison:
"Make meritorious service! Make meritorious service!"
He had become an idol worshiped by others, and the guard was a little carried away. He was about to wave his hand to let them pass, but in the blink of an eye he saw Liu Xin riding a horse behind him.
We are one of our own, please show your serial number."
While speaking, the guard stared closely into the eyes of the captain. Outsiders would not even know what the serial number was. If the captain was Cao Jun pretending to be Cao Jun, he would definitely have a confused look on his face. However, the captain turned to his right
He opened a piece of iron armor on his arm and said with a smile: "Brother, let's take a look."
The personal guard glanced at me, and the expression on his face couldn't help but relax. He stepped aside and said, "I have offended you, you can go over."
The captain nodded and led the team forward. He even saluted as he passed by Liu Xin, Dian Wei, Huang Zhong and others.
Liu Xin was about to ride her horse south when she suddenly saw a military horse pulling a cart. She felt suspicious and couldn't help but raise her hand and shouted in a deep voice: "Wait!"
Upon hearing Liu Xin's order, Dian Wei waved his hand, and five hundred personal guards swarmed up and surrounded the team.
The captain did not know Liu Xin, so he hurriedly opened the tarpaulin covering the roof of a large car, revealing the trebuchet parts and a pile of stone bullets inside, and said: "General, please see, the general is not lying.
"
Liu Xin pointed at the horse pulling the cart and asked, "Where did this horse come from?"
The vehicles used by the Han army to transport trebuchets were usually pulled by oxen, because horses were very precious to the Han army, and they were generally reluctant to use them to transport such heavy materials. But this team actually had two carts.
More than ten vehicles were pulled by horses, so how could Liu Xin not be suspicious?
The captain quickly bowed and said: "General, I have taken in a few stragglers on the road. They didn't know the road and wanted to team up with us, so they lent us their horses to pull the cart. We also occupied it."
They're just a little bit cheaper."
Among the major legions of the Han army, the cavalry is the most elite unit. How could there be such a thing as falling behind, and more than twenty people fell behind at the same time? Moreover, for the cavalry, war horses are not only their weapons, but also their weapons.
Not to mention their partners and friends, which cavalryman is willing to let his horse do the work of pulling a cart? These two points alone make the more than twenty straggler cavalrymen very suspicious.
The careful Liu Xin also discovered that although the stirrups were hung under the saddles of these horses, they kept swinging back and forth as the horses moved. They were not at all firmly fixed under the saddles like the stirrups used by the Han army.
Liu Xin was already convinced that these twenty dozen stragglers must be Cao Jun in disguise, and maybe Cao Cao and others were hiding inside. Thinking of this, Liu Xin suddenly laughed and said: "No matter which legion they belong to, as long as they are all big men
If you are a soldier, you should help each other. You have done a good job. Call those few people over and I will encourage them."
Although the captain didn't know Liu Xin's true identity yet, someone who could command hundreds of personal guards was definitely not an ordinary person. He was filled with joy to be praised by Liu Xin, and he quickly turned around and shouted: "Old man
Xia, you guys come here quickly!"
A few people from the back of the team slowly walked to the front, and the leader asked: "General Zheng, what are you calling me for?"
It turned out that the captain's surname was Zheng. Colonel Zheng cooed at Liu Xin and said, "It's a great thing. Did you see that? He is a big shot among the guards. He wants to see you. If you can get him
If you favor him, he will be transferred to the personal guard, and he will have a bright future."
The man who was called Lao Xia did not dare to be negligent. He bowed his hand to Liu Xin and said, "The cavalry team of the First Army Corps is meeting with General Xia Ba."
Liu Xin did not answer, but winked at the bodyguard beside him.
The guard quietly stepped forward, lifted up a piece of armor on Lao Xia's right arm and took a look. Then he slowly retreated to Liu Xin's side and suddenly spoke a series of numbers.
From the beginning to the end, Lao Xia did not raise his head, as if the numbers reported by the guards had nothing to do with him, and the few people who walked out with him did not have much reaction, but Captain Zheng was shocked when he heard the numbers.
, blurted out and exclaimed: "Lao Xia, you lied to me!"
Colonel Zheng exclaimed, and Lao Xia, who was motionless at first, suddenly jumped towards Liu Xin. A cold light flashed in his hand, and he already had a sharp dagger in his hand.