,,,,,,,,,,,,

On the night after Zhao Yun's army advanced eastward, Liu Jing also led the Han army north overnight. He ordered Wei Yan to lead 10,000 troops to defend the Xicheng. He personally led 40,000 troops northward and arrived at Shangfang Valley at noon the next day. Liu Jing ordered the army to set up a camp at the southern end of Shangfang Valley. The mountains on both sides of the Shangfang Valley were wide, and the valley road was one mile wide, so it was possible to camp, but Liu Jing did not choose to camp in the valley road in the end.

The Han army scouts had investigated the situation of Cao's army in Shangfanggu many times. The Cao's army's camp, nearly 70,000 troops blocked the northern end of the valley entrance. Whether it is terrain or military force, the Cao's army has a great advantage. Perhaps because of the Cao's army's relatively small force, there is still a possibility of conquering it, but the Cao's army's defense in Shangfanggu is basically difficult to break through.

Liu Jing was not in a hurry to launch an attack. He built a large camp, set up a camp, and patiently confronted Cao's army, waiting for the opportunity to attack. More importantly, he had established a food and grass transportation system, no longer had the worries of military rations, and could confront Cao's army calmly.

On the day of the confrontation, Liu Jing received news that Jia Xu and veteran Yan Yan led tens of reinforcements to Xicheng, and were continuing northward, coming towards the upper valley. This news made Liu Jing overjoyed. He was waiting for Jia Xu's arrival, and now he finally hoped him. Liu Jing went out of the camp five miles to welcome the reinforcements.

Because Jia Xu was old, after the Jingzhou Battle, he no longer participated in specific operations, but instead made strategic plans for Liu Jing. However, when he heard that Cao Cao had also left Yedu and rushed to Tianshui, Jia Xu could not sit still. He insisted on following the reinforcements despite his age.

Jia Xu and Yan Yan's army were about to arrive at the Han army camp. The people who were traveling were Ma Jun, the head of the craftsman, who brought an excellent brother to serve in the army. At this time, a soldier pointed to the front and shouted: "Look at the military advisor, the governor of the state is here."

A large group of cavalry came in front of me, with flags waving. Under a golden red flag, dozens of generals surrounded a general wearing a golden helmet. They soon came closer. It was Liu Jing. Jia Xu smiled and turned over and dismounted, and walked up quickly. Yan Yan and Ma Jun also quickly dismounted and brought more than a dozen generals to meet him.

"See the governor of the state"

Everyone saluted in front of Liu Jing's horse. Liu Jing quickly turned over and dismounted and bowed to everyone, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

He walked to Jia Xu and smiled and said, "Why is the military advisor here? Can the body bear this bump?"

Jia Xu smiled slightly, "Although it is an old handful of bones, it is still quite strong. The state governor is at ease and cannot be separated."

Everyone laughed, and Liu Jing greeted Yan Yan and Ma Jun again. At this time, he unexpectedly found that Deng Ai was also in the army, wearing armor and carrying a silver spear, quite heroic. Liu Jing said a little unhappy: "If you are not studying hard in Xiangyang, why are you here to do?"

Deng Ai was a little afraid of Liu Jing and dared not respond. At this time, Jia Xu smiled and replied: "Brother Deng brought famous outstanding scholars and was determined to join the army. I knew there were a shortage of officials in the army, so I became the leader for the provincial governor and brought him together."

Liu Jing had already seen the young men in the team. They came out together to bow to Liu Jing, all of whom were full of energy and were full of expectations and yearning for the future.

Jia Xu said it well, his army is indeed short of officers, such as handling books, recording merits, calculating money and grain, fabricating military books, etc., which are all the affairs of officers. However, he has few secondary vocational officers, and many of them hold multiple positions and are extremely busy. It can be said that this group of young soldiers came at the right time.

Liu Jing nodded happily, "Since you are here, let's stay. Thank you for your hard work, please follow me to the camp to rest."

The soldiers cheered, and even Deng Ai smiled happily. He knew that he could stay. Liu Jing turned over and took everyone to the camp.

The arrival of reinforcements made the camp particularly lively. Liu Jing asked Huang Zhong and Ma Chao to resettle reinforcements, Ma Jun also took his brothers to install armies, and Liu Jing invited Jia Xu to the central army tent.

There was also Pang Tong in the big tent. Pang Tong hurriedly stepped forward to salute Jia Xu, "See Mr. Jia"

Jia Xu nodded and smiled, "Military Pang is worthy of being a person valued by the provincial governor. He is resourceful and very admirable. There are successors to the Han army."

"Mr. Jia has been awarded too much, I am ashamed."

After a few greetings, they followed Liu Jing to the sand table. Liu Jing was full of expectations for Jia Xu's arrival, hoping that Jia Xu could break the deadlock for him. Jia Xu also understood Liu Jing's thoughts. He walked to the sand table and stared at him for a moment and smiled: "It's worthy of being Xun You. The defense is done without any leakage. It really takes some effort to capture Longxi."

Liu Jing also sighed slightly and said, "Although I am not in a hurry to attack and wait patiently for the opportunity, it is actually a helplessness that I can do nothing. If Cao's army wants to confront me for several years, I have no choice."

Jia Xu smiled and said, "There is no way. If you confront each other for more than ten years, when Prime Minister Cao returns to the west, will the whole world be the governor of the state?"

The guards next to him laughed out loud, and Liu Jing had no choice but to smile bitterly, "The military advisor is becoming more and more joking."

"Of course it's a joke, but I heard that the Di cavalry retreated westward. Is that true?"

Liu Jing nodded, "That's true, this is good news. The Qiang people sent troops to attack Yang Qianwan's nest. Yang Qianwan was naturally forced to withdraw his troops, missing a headache-inducing cavalry."

Jia Xu looked at the sand table again and pondered for a moment: "In fact, there is no way to break through the valley above. The key is Ji City. Taking down Ji City is the most difficult thing."

Liu Jing was overjoyed. He didn't consider Jicheng for the time being. The key was Shangfang Valley. If you took Shangfang Valley, the Han army would face the Wei River Valley directly, which could echo Zhao Yun's army on the east and west sides. At least he would break the dilemma in front of him.

Liu Jing quickly bowed and said, "Please teach me the strategy of breaking the valley above."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and laughed, "It's not up to me to break the upper valley. The governor of the state has found the wrong person. He should go to the master of the horse."

Liu Jing was stunned. Pang Tong next to him reacted quickly and immediately said, "Is it because the Master Ma brought some new offensive weapons?"

Jia Xu nodded, "It's right"

Liu Jing was overjoyed, why didn't he expect it? "Then let's go and take a look now." He said impatiently

Ma Jun and his brother were placed in the logistics supplies camp. This time Jia Xu led reinforcements to bring a large amount of supplies. Thousands of soldiers were busy moving the supplies and food into the warehouse. At another corner of the supplies camp, Ma Jun and his brothers were assembling several parts one by one.

This is a small trench machine he invented using the wooden ox principle. It can be implemented in the mountains. It is very convenient and has a long range, even exceeding the giant trench machine. It was a work that Ma Jun spent two years creating.

At this time, the brothers stood up one after another. When Ma Jun turned around, he saw Liu Jing and Jia Xu and Pang Tong and the others hurried over. He also stood up and politely said, "See the governor of the state."

Liu Jing walked forward and smiled apologized: "There were too many people just now, and his mind was too much to turn around for a moment. I didn't expect that there must be a reason for the arrival of the steward. Thanks to the military advisor reminded me, I realized that I had neglected the steward."

"I understand where the state governor is very busy."

Ma Jun is no longer stuttering like before, but he is concise and tries to put his words as briefly as possible. He smiled and introduced the trencher to Liu Jing, "Stay the Palace Master first, what's the difference?"

Liu Jing walked forward and looked up and down at the catapult. He saw that it was less than one person tall, but the casting rod was very slender, about two or five feet tall. The winch was made of double-stranded cow tendons, which were very elastic. Liu Jing thought for a while and said, "It feels very light, but it seems that it cannot eject heavy objects. Moreover, it actually has wheels, so it should be able to promote it."

"It is actually a wooden cow, which can be carried out in the mountains, and a soldier can fire it, and can shoot five kilograms of objects five steps away."

Liu Jing was surprised and happy. He witnessed the skill of the Muniu with his own eyes. Walking on the mountain like flying. If this catapult can do this, it would be a weapon in the army, and it can shoot five steps away. You must know that the giant catapult has a range of more than four steps. What can it do?

Liu Jing looked at Ma Jun in confusion, and Ma Jun smiled and patted the throwing rod, "The key is that this throwing rod is extraordinary."

Liu Jing took the throwing rod, and he immediately felt the difference. The throwing rod was pitch black all over, shining with metallic luster, heavy, but he didn't know what material it was made of. At this time, a brother from Ma Jun next to him introduced: "Report to the Zhou Mu, this throwing rod is actually made of high-quality jujube wood, and it will take two years to make a throwing rod."

Liu Jing nodded. He knew that Zhemu was very tough and was the best material for making bows, but how to be tough and continuous is the technology. It is probably related to the two years of time.

"Please keep talking"

Brother Ma Jun bowed and continued: "First, I took the main trunk of the high-quality jujube wood, peeled it into a uniform thickness, and then soaked the fine jujube repeatedly with oil. The soaked it no longer deformed and no longer cracked, and the first step was completed."

"Then what?" Liu Jing was very interested and asked again.

"This step will take a year. After a year, take out the strips and dry them in the shade for several months. Then use high-quality glue paint to glue into a throwing rod with uniform thickness and two or five feet long. The outer layer will be wrapped around the beef tendon. When the beef tendon is dry, apply raw paint, wrap it with kudzu, and then wrap it with dry layer."

"Wait" Liu Jing suddenly understood a little, and he said in surprise: "Isn't this a horse spear?"

Ma Jun smiled and said, "It is the method of making a horse spear, but it is slightly different. The horse spear is wrapped with hemp ropes, we wrap it with cow tendons, the horse spear must be hard, and we must be hard and soft."

Ma Jun waved his hand and the two brothers started to do the experiment. They fixed one end and pulled the other end with a rope. The throwing rod was bent into a semicircular shape, and there was still no sign of breaking. The two of them loosened their hands and the throwing rod suddenly bounced straight and trembled continuously. The soldiers around were amazed that they had never seen such a tough long rod.

Liu Jing sighed softly, "No wonder he can shoot five steps, it's extraordinary."
Chapter completed!