Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3113 Sleepy Pillow

Cao Tai, who was in Changping, seemed to have noticed something was wrong these days, but he didn't know where the uneasiness came from.

In the past two days, a batch of important supplies have been delivered here and need to be transferred to Huguan Lejin.

 But the New Year is here...

No matter how you say it, it’s still a New Year?

Even in these barren mountains, deserted cities and ruined villages.

 No one would be that mean, why should we still fight in the New Year?

  New year, new hope.

Cao Tai hoped that the war would end soon. He really didn't want to stay another day.

 Before the war started, Cao Tai was more confident than anyone else.

 Isn’t it just a hussar?

Isn’t it Guanzhong?

What's so great, there are so many people in Cao's army, even if one person spits, they can drown the three assistants!

He really thought so, so he rushed to the front eagerly, fearing that if he was a step late, he would lose a share of his achievements.

As the eldest son of Cao Ren, Cao Tai regarded himself as the first person of the second generation. In the early years, Cao Tai followed Xiahou Dun. He always felt that the war was nothing more than this, the strategy was nothing more than this, and the heroes in the world were only mediocre. He felt that he was proficient in all aspects of astronomy and geography, had a good understanding of people's minds and the world, and knew everything about literature, Taoism, and military strategy...

 But now, there are too many problems before Cao Tai, giving him a headache.

 Then I discovered that leading the army alone and serving as a partial general under Xiahou Dun were two completely different concepts.

When leading an army alone, you have to take care of everything, ask questions about everything, arrange everything, and make decisions. But as a partial general under Xiahou Dun, you only need to do the part you are responsible for well. The rest of the time is easy. And because of his identity, there can be no complicated and difficult things to do.

Cao Tai, who had patrolled the camp, returned to the central military tent with a frown.

 The situation of Cao Jun at this time was not very good.

 This group of Cao troops led by him was the first group of troops to march.

 At the very beginning, the morale of Cao's soldiers was, needless to say, very high. It seemed that even if there were tens of thousands of mountains in front of them, they would be able to level them, and even if they were extremely dangerous passes, they would be able to conquer them. But then slowly, after Changping was captured, a logistics camp was established here. Everything seemed to be going smoothly at first, but I just didn't know where to start, something was wrong...

 The city wall here in Changping is in serious disrepair due to years of disrepair and erosion from wind and rain. In fact, many sections are seriously damaged. Some of the original blue brick face protections on the city wall have now collapsed into the shape of earthen ridges. These city bricks are not necessarily caused by natural damage. In fact, they are also caused by man-made damage. They were demolished by local residents to build their own houses. Under the absence of effective government order, this kind of behavior that harms public interests and private interests has always been a tradition.

As the attacker, facing such a situation, it was naturally very satisfying, but when Cao Tai captured Changping and was stationed here, he had a headache.

Even the county government office is crumbling, the beams are rotten, and there are cracks in the adobe walls that you can stretch your body through...

 Can I live in such a place?

Most of the residents of Changping and Gaoping fled, leaving behind these ruins. The soldiers could barely live there, but Cao Tai felt uncomfortable, so he simply camped outside the city. Living in a tent is more comfortable and safer than a house that may collapse at any time.

 The problem of housing was barely solved, and then there was the problem of food.

 If you are stationed for a long time, you will need more food and grass.

Cao Tai was originally intended to be a bait to lure Shangdang, or the hussars from Hedong could not help but attack, so in the early days Cao Tai did not bring many soldiers, nor did he bring much food and grass, but Shangdang's Jia Qu defended Huguan and could not get out. A force that finally came out from Hedong was defeated by Xia Houyuan, and then Xia Houyuan rushed into Hedong with a roar...

So what has Cao Tai become now?

 Original plans are all scrapped and need to be repositioned.

Le Jin could not attack Huguan for a long time, could not retreat, could not advance, and Cao Tai changed from a bait to a transit advance base.

 It is not easy to garrison here in Changping.

 The Changping area is surrounded by mountains, and the terrain is completely different from that in the Central Plains.

As more and more grain and grass were sent from Hanoi, the number of laborers increased, and the camp continued to expand, the difficulty of Cao Tai's management also increased rapidly.

Take the simplest hygiene as an example. Cao Jun's soldiers can still meet the requirements of soldiers, but for those hard laborers, it is common to urinate and defecate at will, and they can't even tell the left and right. Well, maybe they can tell the difference in normal times. , but when you get nervous, you can't tell the difference between these people at all. Even beating, scolding or even slashing may not make these people remember anything...

As time went by, Cao Tai stopped doing such futile and ineffective things.

The soldiers of Cao's army belong to the soldiers of Cao's army, and the laborers belong to laborers, which immediately relieves worries.

The longer Cao Tai stayed in Changping, the heavier things weighed on him.

 Originally, the most important thing about it as bait is that it is "light". It can be transferred at any time. Regardless of the soldiers or materials it brings, whether it is destroyed or discarded, it will not be a pity...

 But now Cao Tai is becoming more and more "heavy".

 Because it has now become a transit base, where grain, grass and labor are stationed, there is gradually more smoke and fire here, but it also brings more flaws...

This made Cao Tai feel more and more uneasy, but he didn't know what he was going to do.

 …

 …

 In a valley not far from Cao Tai's camp, Wei Yan sat quietly on a stone.

The felt blanket above the head retained some warmth and blocked the firelight from leaking out. The bonfire was jumping excitedly, just like the mood of the surrounding soldiers.

They are guests of the Taihang Mountains, but they are familiar with everything in the mountains and forests.

 Rocks, dead wood, holes in bushes.

 Spring water, yellow mud, white smoke rising from the marching pot.

 Taihang Mountain is very large, and there are no people in most areas, but it does not mean that these areas are really unsuitable for human habitation.

Human needs can be so great that the whole world cannot satisfy them, or they can be so small that they only need a little food and a simple shelter.

 Wei Yan planned to first deal with Cao Tai's troops stationed in Changping and Gaoping.

It is relatively difficult to annihilate them all, but it is still possible to directly maim them with a stab in the back...

 Cao Tai extended his tentacles into Taihang from Hanoi and stationed himself in Danshui in the Changping and Gaoping areas. Because this place is sparsely populated all year round, it is difficult for Cao Tai and others to get any supplies. The only option was to establish a temporary warehouse as a support base for Le Jin and Xia Houyuan. If this support base is disrupted, it will have a very important impact on the entire Cao army's strategy of marching into Taihang.

Wei Yan didn't know the specific arrangements of Cao Jun, but he instinctively felt that Cao Tai's current node was very important.

This seems to be like a real martial artist who may not know the name of the move performed by the opponent, but with one punch, he can directly hit the core vital point. Wei Yan has this kind of instinct, like a beast's intuition.

 The main problem now is that Wei Yan did not bring many soldiers into the mountains, only a little over a thousand, while Cao Tai's side had close to 10,000 soldiers. Although the good and bad here in Caotai are mixed, there are still about 3,000 regular soldiers in the core. If you accidentally fall in, even if you win, you will lose a lot. Wei Yan can't even think about continuing to infiltrate Jizhou and cause trouble.

 So there is no need to rush now.

It's like trying to catch a sheep. If you go straight for the sheep's head, you might be bumped into the sheep, but if you find the sheep's belly...

 In the past two days, the scouts have been constantly investigating the situation around Cao Tai.

 There is good news and there is bad news.

 The good news is that these Cao Tai soldiers seem to feel that they are safer in Changping and Gaoping, and are actually preparing to celebrate the New Year.

According to the scouts, the camp was cleaned and the cattle and sheep were cooked...

The bad news is that reinforcements from Cao Cao's army are constantly arriving here. Not only people from Hanoi, but also people from Yanzhou appear. People with different accents from all over the place gather together. It seems that Cao Cao is not making good progress in Tongguan, Guanzhong, so there are Maybe Cao Jun is preparing to increase his power in the Changping and Gaoping areas...

In Pang Tong's strategy, the Huguan area is the key defense core of the Shangdang, while the Changping and Gaoping area has a poor original foundation and a lack of personnel, so the return on investment in the defense system is very low, so it is just an empty shelf. It can be regarded as a dug animal trap. It was originally expected to trap some big prey, but now there is only one Cao Tai here. It is obvious that Cao Jun also feels that something is wrong here in Changping Gaoping and is not willing to get involved easily.

Taihang Mountain is like a stone wall in a trap. It is easy to walk in but difficult to get out.

However, even if a beast falls into a trap, there will be a fight between the trapped beasts. If you accidentally get hurt, it will be bad.

Wei Yan gently drew a line on the map.

 A line of attack.

Wei stretched his waist, like a tiger stretching its muscles.

 Starting from Shaanxi and Jin, we have traveled all the way over mountains and ridges, and now it’s time to replenish our supplies.

 The supplies, of course, come from Cao Jun...

 …

 …

Because more and more people from Cao's army gathered here, Cao Tai divided the place into three parts. One was the central military camp, which was located under the stone wall of a hill. It was surrounded by stone walls on both sides. The other was built with a village wall. The defense is tight. Outside the Central Military Camp, there are two camps. One is the baggage camp, which occupies a large area because it needs to store important grain, grass and supplies, and is also heavily guarded around it. The other one is the labor camp, which is scattered in a mess in the wild. If you just put a circle of fences and fences around it, it's okay.

 Suddenly, a loud roar broke the tranquility of the night.

　　　　Enemy attack! 』

The shrill copper whistle sounded suddenly. Wei Yan's men no longer sneaked quietly, but launched a brazen attack. They began to emerge directly from the forest and rushed towards Cao Jun's labor camp. Cao Jun's camp was still immersed in the New Year's dream. Many people hadn't realized it yet, and suddenly they thought they were still in a dream.

A black torrent crashed directly into the camp, and the shouts were like thunder.

 ‘Light the fire! 』

　　『Kill! 』

The fire started very quickly. I don’t know if it was because of the dry weather. In many places, it was almost instantaneous.

The flames soared into the sky, rolling, greedily devouring all kinds of sacks, straw ropes, tents, wooden boards...

These tools that were originally used for labor have now become the best fuel for combustion.

 The night was dispersed, and the orange firelight reflected the bright red blood.

 Wei Yan threw the torch with his left hand and swung the sword with his right hand, cutting down a panicked Cao Jun who ran out of the tent.

"kill! 』

 Wei Yan continued to charge forward.

The laborers in the labor camp basically had no fighting spirit and could only escape instinctively. However, the few Cao troops on duty in the labor camp could not withstand the impact of Wei Yan and others. Some Cao troops came in a hurry, either without armor or without armor. Grabbing his weapon, he was soon knocked to the ground by the surging waves.

 The fire gradually spread.

　　Stretched from the labor camp to the supply camp.

Suddenly, a blaze of fire was like an angry dragon, flying straight into the sky with a bang!

Wei Yan was stunned.

this…

There is gunpowder here?

 What is this?

　　嚄!

There is still kerosene? !

This is so...

Very good!

 Cao Jun’s supplies are really awesome!

Initially, Wei Yan thought that attacking Cao Jun’s barracks with laborers might not be completely effective, but now he discovered that there was actually gunpowder and kerosene stored in Cao Jun’s supply camp!

Didn’t you just bring me a pillow when I was sleepy?

 …

 …

When he first encountered the attack, Cao Tai was still a little excited.

Cao Tai didn't care at all about the collapse of the labor force. What he wanted was to catch Wei Yan who was attacking.

Hence, Cao Tai was gathering his troops from the very beginning, waiting in formation for Wei Yan to crash into him...

 But what I didn’t expect was that it wasn’t Wei Yan’s men who came, but the kerosene and gunpowder thrown at him!

Originally, the stone wall on one side of the camp was a natural obstacle to prevent Wei Yan from attacking, but now it cannot stop Wei Yan's men from throwing gunpowder and kerosene!

No one can stay in order under the fire. Cao Jun’s queue was quickly burned to pieces by the kerosene and gunpowder. The key was the kerosene and gunpowder that Cao Jun himself had just brought!

 Hearing the heart-rending screams of Cao's soldiers, Cao Tai was agitated.

 The situation was completely chaotic.

Faced with swords, guns, swords and halberds, the soldiers of Cao's army may not be afraid, but when faced with fire oil and gunpowder, no matter how skilled or powerful they are, they cannot withstand it!

 The splashing fire oil was scattered, and the gunpowder made explosive flames and loud noises from time to time.

 The wind blowing is mixed with choking smoke.

　　　　Major General! Escape! Escape! 』

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ifies

 It seemed as if heaven and earth were on fire.

 ‘Go south! There is a river to the south! 』

 At this time, only the river can save lives.

Cao Tai could only order the entire army to break out of the encirclement.

While running for his life, Cao Tai looked back. He hoped to see the flag of the incoming general and know who defeated him.

 It’s a pity that in the chaos, nothing can be seen…

The fire was getting bigger and bigger, and it seemed like there were blazing flames everywhere.

The river water is cold in winter, but when Cao Jun's soldiers saw the river water, they felt as if they were seeing their relatives. They rushed directly to the river and poured the river water on themselves. Some of them stretched their heads into the river, like cattle and horses. Drink water...

　　　　Great wind! 』

 Wei Yan looked at Cao Jun who had escaped with a stern expression.

Arrows roared out, and Cao Jun's soldiers fell to the river bank in a mess.

Wei Yan and others were hiding on the dark flanks, and the jumping and distorted light and shadow became their best cover.

The soldiers of Cao's army who escaped from the sea of ​​​​fire were so dizzy and blinded by the smoke and fire that they could not see clearly where Wei Yan and others were, let alone defend themselves against the arrows shot from the darkness. I can only rely on instinct to avoid it.

Flame is also harmful to Wei Yan and others. Some people were accidentally ignited while carrying gunpowder and kerosene, and immediately became ignited. Some people were running in the darkness and accidentally bumped into the weapons abandoned by Cao's soldiers...

 The battlefield is like this, and the fragility of life is fully demonstrated.

Wei Yan, whose eyes were sore from the stimulation of the flames and thick smoke, still persisted in looking for Cao Tai's figure in the chaotic queue of Cao Jun, just like a cheetah looking for the most suitable prey among the running herds of cattle.

 Charging and intercepting Cao's army, which was intent on escaping, would undoubtedly require heavy damage.

 A dog jumps over the wall when he is anxious, and a man goes crazy when he is anxious.

 Don't look at the shooting here, Cao Jun's soldiers are like fools who don't know how to fight back. They can only run and escape, but if they are blocked on the road...

And chasing all the way is not a very good choice. Although the pursuit will be easier and there will be no resistance from Cao Jun's soldiers in the early stage, after Cao Jun regains some sense, plus Wei Yan and others are using mountain infantry as their main force. Lord, it cannot be like the cavalry who can recuperate on their horses. When Cao Jun counterattacks, the positions of prey and hunter will be interchanged.

 The key is that Wei Yan does not have so many manpower!

 The current results were beyond Wei Yan’s expectation.

When Wei Yan launched the attack, he did not expect that there would be so much kerosene and gunpowder in Cao Jun's camp. His plan was to disrupt the labor camp and burn Cao Jun's baggage as the main combat goal. However, he did not expect to find an accident while burning Cao Jun's baggage. surprise…

Since then, Wei Yan generously gave Cao Tai a surprise.

 Arrows whistling.

 Cao Jun fled away, and the arrows fired from the flanks devoured their lives. Many Cao Jun soldiers died by the river, but many people fled along the direction of the river...

 Among the chaotic ranks of Cao's army, Wei Yan failed to see the flag belonging to the general of Cao's army.

Is this the death of General Cao Jun?

 Still not escaping in this direction?

Or maybe this guy doesn’t have any shame and just rolls up his flag and blends in with the crowd?

While Wei Yan was searching, he suddenly found that the arrows were gradually becoming sparse, and he couldn't help but turned around and shouted angrily, "Fire the arrows!" Keep cumming! 』

　　　『General…we have run out of arrows…』

 The military academy on the side replied with some embarrassment and helplessness.

"So fast? ” Wei Yan was stunned for a moment.

Although mountain soldiers are also versatile, the arrows each person carries are limited, and it is impossible to replenish them on the battlefield.

The soldiers of Cao's army seemed to have discovered that there were fewer arrows shot out of the darkness, so they shouted and fled south...

The military academy hesitated, "How about... we chase them out?" 』

 Wei Yan swallowed, then took a deep breath, suppressed his greed to kill more heads, snorted helplessly, waved his hand, "Forget it, withdraw the troops, stop chasing, I guess their fate is bad..."

 (End of this chapter)