In this oppressive and suffocating atmosphere, a burst of rapid horse hoofbeats finally broke the silence in front of me. In the bleak autumn wind, a flying horse rushed to the front of the marching team, rolled its saddle and dismounted and rushed towards A general with cold eyes and tall arms said:
"Reporting back to the general, it is true that we are ten miles ahead. Lord Sun, the governor, is waiting outside the city."
"Well," the general on the horse grunted in agreement and urged the horse to move forward.
The general on the horse was Qu Yi, who was now one of the five lieutenant generals under Wen Yuan's command. This time, he was ordered by Wen Yuan to lead 30,000 troops to rescue Chang Shan.
"I have seen General Qu, Supervisor Xu, generals, and the help of several leaders. I can't help but be grateful." After walking less than ten miles, he saw Sun Jin, the prefect of Changshan, leading Changshan officials out of the southern suburbs to greet them. Sun Jin and Qu Yi After the ceremony, I met Xu Shu, Yu Du, Li Damu and other civil and military officials.
But when he heard that Yu Du and Li Damu were also former Black Mountain bandits, his face suddenly turned ugly.
It’s no wonder that Changshan County has been an area with frequent activities of the Black Mountain Army since Zhangjiao’s Yellow Turban Rebellion. After Zhang Yan’s rise, Changshan became more like his own backyard. For ten years, Changshan was plundered and bullied by Zhang Yan of Black Mountain. If He said he didn't hate the Black Mountain Army unless Sun Jin was bloodless.
Sun Jin invited Qu Yi and others to Zhending, and set up a banquet to entertain the reinforcements. After three drinks, the two sides began to discuss the current situation in Changshan.
Xu Shu asked, "Prefect Sun, you sent people to Yecheng for help before, but why didn't you see a single Black Mountain bandit along the way?" Qu Yi always had a proud heart and rarely talked, but Xu Shu talked more at the banquet.
"Mr. Yuan Zhi, the situation is like this..." Sun Jin said seriously after hearing this.
It turns out that the young commander of Montenegro, Wang Dang, is also a cautious general. This time he sent troops to plunder and plunder was really forced by the situation. Although he was afraid of Wenyuan's military power, he had to take risks for the sake of the family members of the more than 200,000 Montenegrin troops in the old camp in Taihang Mountain. Loot Changshan.
However, after Wang Dang sent out troops to plunder, he kept a careful eye on it. He sent spies along the road leading from Yecheng to Changshan. Once he found out that the Jizhou army was coming to rescue him, he immediately withdrew his troops and entered Huguan to hold tight. Wang Dang had probably already After receiving the news that Jizhou was sending troops to conquer, they did not go out to plunder in the past few days, but led more than 20,000 Black Mountain soldiers to guard Jingxing Pass. There was almost no Black Mountain bandit in Changshan.
"The specific situation is roughly like this... Jingxing Pass is a dangerous pass in the world. The terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The thieves are so cunning, and the general thinks there is nothing he can do." After introducing the current situation of Changshan, Sun Jin said with a worried look on his face, Jingxing Pass Occupied by the Heishan Army, Changshan is like a chokehold. The Blackshan Army can come out and plunder whenever they want. If that were the case, he, the prefect of Changshan, would be in trouble.
"The prefect wants me to go down to Jingxing Pass," Qu Yi said, twisting his beard.
Sun Jin nodded repeatedly and said: "Exactly, I wonder if the general has a good strategy to break through the pass." In fact, isn't it obvious? Who wants to have a group of bandits with malicious intentions watching around them, but there is a husband at Jingxing Pass. Tens of thousands of people are in danger. Wang Dang's Black Mountain Army is stationed behind the pass with tens of thousands of thieves. With only the 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 auxiliary troops brought by Qu Yi this time, it is probably impossible to attack them by force. matter.
Qu Yi also lowered his head and pondered the same thing. Tens of thousands of people were guarding Jingxing Pass. The situation was indeed a bit tricky. However, Qu Yi always looked down on Zhang Yan and this group of Black Mountain thieves. A row of desks snorted: "Isn't it just a dangerous pass? Well, I will lead my troops tomorrow to see how that king can withstand my soldiers."
When Sun Jin first saw Qu Yi snapping up the case, he thought Qu Yi had some clever plan. He was shocked when he heard it and hurriedly tried to persuade him: "General, you need to think twice. Jingxing Pass is a natural danger and it is difficult for birds to cross. If we attack by force, there will be casualties." It must be tragic..."
At this time, Xu Shu suddenly said: "General Qu, Grand Administrator Sun, I have a plan, maybe we can break Jingxing..."
Qu Yi looked at Xu Shu intently. He couldn't even think of a plan to break the barrier. Xu Shu could actually think of whether this fair-faced scholar in his twenties really had such talent.
Sun Jin was surprised and said: "Mr. Yuan Zhi, what is your clever plan?"
Xu Shu smiled confidently, pointed at Du and Li Damu and said: "My lord, if you want to take Jingxing Pass, it depends on the two generals Li..." Xu Shu spoke eloquently, and what he said made Sun Jin full of surprises. Qu Yi was also secretly surprised. How can people come up with such unpredictable tricks? It seems that I will not be able to underestimate the world's heroes in the future.
Finally, Xu Shu said: "This is the plan. This matter is confidential and cannot be known to outsiders. However, it may be a bit dangerous. It depends on whether the two generals are willing to agree."
Yu Du, Li Damu bowed to him with emotion: "The two of us have entered the lord's account and have not made any achievements, but we have been taken care of by the lord. This is the time for the two of us to repay the lord's great kindness. Even if we die, we will have no regrets."
Although Qu Yi was aloof and arrogant, he was not bloodless. Seeing how heroic the two generals were, he couldn't help but admire them. He immediately said with a smile, "Okay, these two generals have such courage. Qu Yi admires them. I respect them both." A bowl of wine, I wish the general success,"
After the banquet was over, Sun Jin sent everyone out of the mansion. Because he was in agreement with Xu Shu, he grabbed him and spoke a few more words. Qu Yi did not wait and left the prefect's mansion alone, mounted his horse and headed for the post.
Along the way, Qu Yi remained silent, but his heart was filled with turbulent waves.
A thirty-year-old soldier beside him noticed that Qu Yi was not in high spirits and said: "General, what on earth do you think, my lord, to let a yellow-haired boy in his twenties join the army? The general has been leading the army for more than ten years." , there are hundreds of battles, big and small, is it because you don’t believe in the general’s ability?”
Qu Yi angrily rebuked: "Cen Ji, don't be so presumptuous. How can you comment on the master's employment? Moreover, Xu Shu is indeed a man of true talent and learning. If he wins Jingxing Pass this time, he will be the first to win." Remember, don’t mess with this person.”
The soldier named Cen Ji shrank his head and nodded repeatedly. He was also from Liangzhou, because he and Qu Yi were from the same hometown. Although Qu Yi joined the army, they stayed in Jizhou together. He has always been Qu Yi's confidant. Qu Yi treated him very kindly. Sometimes even if he said something wrong, the general would not blame him. It was expected that this time would be the same. Sure enough, Qu Yi just scolded him a few words and lowered his head to think about the matter.
This Xu Shu has unpredictable opportunities. Even though Li Damu and Li Damu were once bandits, they were so bloody. When he first came to Zhang Liao's command, he said that his defeat of Yuan Shao was just a fluke. Now it seems that he is really I made a mistake. Not to mention that the current army of ten thousand soldiers is very easy to use. The generals in the army, such as Yan Liang, Zhao Yun, Tai Shi Ci, Zhang Jia, etc., are all generals who cannot be underestimated. Although I am not inferior to anyone in self-confidence. , but it still needs to be proven. Once Jingxing Pass is conquered, we must show off our skills and we must not let Xu Shu steal the limelight alone.
And this Northern Expedition is a great time to make meritorious deeds.