Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 1072 The team of people

To the north of Jingshui in Guanzhong, in the forest near Chiyang County, a gray rabbit vigilantly exposed half of its head from the soil hole under the tree, pricked up its ears, looked left and right for a while, and didn't notice any danger, so it burrowed into it. It came out and went to the bushes on the side, looking like it was going to forage.

At this moment, there was a piercing scream, the gray rabbit subconsciously sensed the danger, and was just about to kick off its hind legs to escape, but before it was too late, an arrow had already passed through its body, nailing it to the ground. on the ground.

A strong man stood up from the bushes in the leeward place, strode forward, then pulled out the arrow, knocked the gray rabbit in his hand, smiled with satisfaction, and walked south with the rabbit in his hand. On the back of his waist, there was a dead wild child with its neck hanging down and its head dangling.

Mountains and forests are a dangerous existence for most people, because there is no compass or locator, and it is easy to get lost after entering the forest. Can't get out, until it becomes the nourishment of the animals and plants in the mountains and forests.

  But the hardcover man looked at the moss of the surrounding trees from time to time, and looked up at the sun peeking out from the leaves. He seemed to be able to discern the direction without any effort. After walking for more than half an hour, he left the woods.

  The weather these days has been good, the wind is light and the clouds are light, and the sky is clear.

  Under such good weather, and the terrain here is relatively high, so the archery towers on the city wall of Chiyang County in the distance can be clearly seen. The city of Chiyang County is not too big, but it is not too small either. The green bricks on the city wall have been old for some time, and they all look a little black. However, it seems that some tiles on the arrow tower above the city head are broken, and they haven't been repaired in time, revealing a dark hole.

  The gate of the city was half open, the suspension bridge was lowered, and there were not many people coming and going outside the city, only a few scattered. On the edge of a circle of ravines dug around the city, there is a circle of antlers. Overall, the defense is neither strict nor lax. This level of city defense, if there is no shortage of food and water, the defenders are still qualified, and they can resist three to five times the invading force, and the pressure to persist for three to five months is not great.

  The strong man stood on the rock and squinted his eyes, staring at Chiyang City from a distance for a while, then jumped off the big rock, turned back, and came to a crazy small mountain behind it.

In the middle of the mountain, at some unknown time, a simple camp has been built. In the camp, some men in leather robes are busy, some are looking after the horse, some are sharpening their weapons. Several soldiers saw The strong men all stood up and greeted "Captain Pang"...

  In the camp, Ma Chao was also polishing the tip of his long spear on a rock.

  No way, there is no stainless steel at this time. Anything that contains iron will rust to some extent. If these rusty places are not removed immediately, the rust will expand and even damage the entire weapon.

   Ma Chao looked up, then lowered his head and continued to grind carefully, and asked casually: "Ling Ming, are you going hunting?"

Pound threw the rabbit and the wild child to the guards beside Ma Chao, laughed twice, and said: "Walking around in the forest, I met two blind-eyed ones, and it's tasteless to eat dried meat every day...Take it and clean it up quickly, how much?" It can also be regarded as fresh blood..."

   Pound was originally engaged in a county, and later followed Ma Teng to attack those rebellious Qiang people. Because of his bravery in battle, he made many military exploits, and accumulated military merits to the position of captain in the army.

Normally, after the establishment of the military camp, it is strictly forbidden to go around in private, but whether it is Ma Teng or Ma Chao, they have been a lot of Hu, and they are more inclined to the Hu people's model when managing the army, so Pound left the camp to go to the camp. Ma Chao didn't care about hunting. He just snorted slightly and said, "Seeing that the enemy is right in front of me, but I can't kill it with my hands... Everything tastes the same..."

  After half a month of searching, Ma Chao and others finally found this place from near Wugong County. According to many signs, Li Jue is probably hiding in Chiyang County...

Li Jue was originally granted the title of Marquis of Chiyang, so from the beginning this county was tantamount to Li Jue's fief. Although the army was defeated and scattered, some of the soldiers and generals sent to Chiyang were more or less Li Jue's confidantes. So even though Li Jue has lost momentum right now, he still regards Li Jue as the leader and leader...

The big Han officials in the court may or may not know, but no matter whether they know or not, they didn’t have much free time to deal with the surrounding affairs in the previous stage, so Li Jue avoided making trouble, and Guan Zhong Chang’an Dynasty Most of the officials above the hall just turned a blind eye and closed their eyes, pretending that they didn't see it.

  The officials in Chang'an pretended not to see it, but Ma Chao couldn't pretend he didn't see it.

Seeing that the guards took the rabbit and the wild child to deal with it, Ma Chao didn't say anything, he just sharpened the blade of the gun carefully, as if he was thinking about which part of Li Jue's body he should stab with the blade, and it took a long time Said: "Lingming, it's been two or three days here, what do you think of Chiyang's soldiers and horses?"

Pound also has a straightforward temperament, so he didn't have any intentions to hide it. Seeing Ma Chao's question, he opened his mouth and replied: "It seems to be okay. Although there are not many patrolling riders around, and they are not far away, it should be done. There is nothing missing, and the equipment seems to be good... Most of them are veterans, and they should have fought in battle..."

   "Then what do you think, how about the defense of this city?" Ma Chao asked again.

   "The defense is still normal...but it may not be easy to fight..." Pang De said, stroking the beard on his chin.

   "Why?" Ma Chao raised his spear and squinted at the blade in the air.

Pang De said: "...Other county towns, there are still places to escape. Some people will not want to die in the city when they attack... But Chiyang is just like this. If you want to escape, where can you escape? So once the attack starts , it must be a desperate resistance, and our manpower is not many..."

  Ma Chao held the spear in one hand, waved it in the air a few times, and then stuck it beside him with a swipe, silent. In fact, Li Jue was quite famous in Xiliang at first, saying that he would definitely be able to defeat Li Jue, but in fact Ma Chao didn't have much confidence in his heart.

  But now that we are here, there is no reason to just turn around and go back!

Ma Chao’s tribe, many of them are Qiang people, and these strongholds were originally outside the territory of China. Since the Qin Dynasty, there have been waves one after another. The relationship with China has also been ups and downs. The fixed number has continued until later generations, and Huaxia is nothing more than appeasement and rebellion, repeated one after another, and it seems that there is no end.

  Like weeds on the wasteland, crop after crop.

  Ma Chao’s current army is actually Han Dynasty soldiers, rather than tribal-based. The etiquette is also quite rough, and there are not so many red tapes between the top and bottom. But it is precisely because of this that when Ma Chao organizes his soldiers, it is quite easy to give orders, and he is also extremely flexible in response to the battle. In addition, the original brutality of the Xiliang people and the unique flexibility of the cavalry come and go like the wind. Therefore, the overall combat effectiveness of Ma Chao's troops is quite strong...

  So although he knew that Chi Yang was not easy to attack, no one complained or flinched in the past two days. He just waited for Ma Chao to come up with some ideas before starting to act.

"Yesterday, Lieutenant Ma led a team out, found the surrounding villages, arrested a few patrolmen guarding the village, and killed them after questioning... But the little soldiers didn't know too much, and they didn't ask anything..." Ma Chao I was also a little annoyed, so I couldn't help talking to Pound.

   This is where Ma Chao has the most headache. He doesn't know anything about the city of Chiyang, how many soldiers there are, how they are arranged, and how the city is defended.

  That damned Li Jue! The area where he is hiding in Chiyang now, is it in the Yamen of Chiyang's government office, or in the school yard in Chiyang's city? But no matter where he is, as long as he is caught, he must suffer for seven days and seven nights before he dies!

  ………………

   "Fire! Fire! Fire..."

   Zhang Yan screamed hoarsely, feeling that he was caught in a sea of ​​flames, flames were everywhere, even the sky and rocks burst into flames!

The soldiers standing on the ridge also seem to be made of flames. They are clamoring and cheering, holding various weapons that are also made of flames, and are harvesting the hearts of the boys around them. life…

  The battle robe on his body has been ignited, the iron armor on his body has also been licked hot by the flames, and the exposed hair of the man has been completely scorched! The black smoke was like a giant python, churning in the valley, choking everyone out of breath, as if every breath was like breathing flames.

   "... Grand Commander! Grand Commander!"

  The sound sounded from far and near, like a bright light in the sky, shattering the surrounding scene. Zhang Yan opened his eyes, somewhat awake, but his expression was still full of fear.

   "Commander, it's okay, it's okay... Come, drink some water..."

  In the dim hut, a person carefully lifted Zhang Yan's body, trying not to touch the **** places burned by the flames, took a bowl of water, and put it next to Zhang Yan's pale lips.

  Zhang Yan was drowsy, drank a bowl of water with all her strength, and then lay down again weakly.

  The people in the thatched hut were silent for a moment, then quietly retreated out.

   This is a thatched cottage built in a small mountain depression. Because it was built hastily, it is very crude. If it hadn't been raining for a while, I am afraid that even the rain might not be able to completely cover it.

  At the far entrance of the small mountain depression, some felled tree trunks were used to barely build a fence. Several people were on duty there, and these people were the only remaining personnel of Zhang Yan...

"...The injury of the great commander..." After leaving the thatched cottage for a while, one of them, with scorched face and curly hair, said in a low voice, who seemed to be of some barbarian blood, "...I searched for all the herbs around, but they didn't heal... In the past two days, I have been sleeping more and more... I am afraid it is..."

   "You bastard!" Another burly man yelled angrily, "What **** are you talking about! Commander... Commander will definitely get better!"

"You're the one who's **** talking!" The person before said indignantly, "Get well, who the **** doesn't want the commander to get better! But now we have to find a way, it's not his mother who just said there Some innocuous words!"

   "What do you mean by words that don't hurt or itch! I said that the commander-in-chief will be fine. Can this be a word that doesn't hurt or itch!"

  A strong man came over, frowned and scolded: "Shut up! Don't quarrel! With this strength, why not do more business! Curly hair, how many herbs are left?"

The curly-haired man shook his head and said, "Commander White Sparrow...there's not much left, and it's almost gone after applying it today. I'll go to the top of the mountain to have a look later, hoping to find some more. ..."

"Okay, this mountain is steep, so be more careful..." The brawny man patted Curly's shoulder and said, "Everyone is impatient, so talk a little rushed, don't take it to heart... Right now, we are the only ones left now. We are brothers now, and everyone should work together, Blackbeard, don’t you think?”

The man with the eyebrows lowered his head and was silent for a while, then cupped his hands towards the curly hair, and said: "Little brother is speechless, don't worry about the curly hair brother... I will go to the forest to search and search later, and look at the condoms that were placed two days ago. Maybe I can bring some blood food back to the commander to make up for it..."

While talking, suddenly a person was extremely anxious, but because the mountain road was difficult to walk, he ran a little staggeringly. When he got close, he said out of breath: "...No...it's not good! Mountain...beyond the mountain...beside the mountain It's... a team of people..."

   "Where are you from?" Commander Baique hurriedly asked.

   "... yes... the man who conquered the west... see, see the three-color flag..."

  Everyone's face changed drastically, and they were at a loss for a while.

   "Get the weapon!" Bai Que roared, as if talking to other people, but also as if to cheer himself up, "Since there is no way out, let's fight one by one!"

  Everyone was also shouting, and then they rushed to the extremely simple fence at the valley entrance...

"...You! It's you!" Baique rushed to Taniguchi, but saw a familiar face in the opposite queue, couldn't help raising his saber angrily, and chopped it on the stake in front of him, "Fuyun! You shameless Villain! Betrayed the commander! You still have the face to come here! I want to kill you!"

  Zhao Yun immediately shot his gun. Under the tricolor flag, he looked at his former colleagues who were roaring at Taniguchi, and was silent for a while...

  (end of this chapter)