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In the central army's tent, a report soldier submitted a letter from Wuwei guarding Du Ji to Ma Chao. Ma Chao took the letter and read it. In the letter, Du Ji said that the situation was urgent and begged Ma Chao to send troops immediately to protect Wuwei County for the Han Dynasty. After reading the letter, Ma Chao handed the letter to Pang Tong again, and then asked the report soldier, "Have the Qiang soldiers killed at Wuwei City?"

"Report to General Ma, when I set off, I heard that the other party had sent troops. It took me a day and a half to come. The Qiang soldiers should have entered Wuwei County."

"How many county soldiers are there in Wuwei County now?" Ma Chao asked again.

The informant soldier sighed, "There are only a few soldiers in the county, and Du Shou recruited servants from various powerful families, with about one thousand people, and at most several thousand people mobilized to participate in the defense of the city. The problem is that the Qiang people have weapons to attack the city, so we won't be able to defend it for long."

Ma Chao nodded, "I understand, I will send troops immediately."

Ma Chao ordered people to take the news soldiers down to rest, and then said to Pang Tong: "Our cavalry has all gone to the plateau, and the army is all infantry. Does the military advisor think it's time?"

Pang Tong smiled and said, "Du Ji is very smart. I guess he was prepared when he saw Jiuquan County being occupied by the Qiang people. It should be that there was a probe in Zhangye City. As soon as the other party moved his troops, the probe would release a pigeon letter. Moreover, although the Qiang people were cavalry, if they carried siege weapons, the marching speed would never be fast. From the distance, we should be closer to Wuwei City. I think the time for both sides to arrive in Wuwei County is about the same. As long as we send troops in time and marching quickly, we will definitely arrive in Wuwei County before the Qiang people breaks the city."

Liu Hu next to him immediately said: "Our heavy armored infantry have horses to carry, and the march is fast, so I'm willing to take a step first."

Ma Chao shook his head and smiled, "General Tiger can leave first, but he cannot be a vanguard. If the heavy armored infantry fails, I cannot explain to Your Highness that the vanguard will send someone else."

He immediately ordered: "Sorry General Wang Ping to come to the tent immediately."

Half an hour later, General Wang Ping led 5,000 barbarians as vanguards and marched day and night to Wuwei City. Ma Chao personally led 15,000 troops and 5,000 heavily armored infantry of Liu Hu as the main force. He set off one step late, Pang Tong and veteran Yan Yan were the rear army, led 5,000 troops to escort the baggage before heading.

Wuwei County is the largest county in Hexi, with a population of about 10,000 households. Most of them were Han people who moved to the Hexi Corridor to reclaim grain fields during the Han Dynasty. After two years of hard work, Wuwei County was already covered with grain fields, with ravines and ravines. More importantly, Wuwei County did not suffer the impact of the rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty, and the people's lives were stable. Many people from Guanzhong fled, which also accelerated the prosperity of Wuwei County.

Although it is a border county in the Western Regions, the people here are martial and have many scholars. They have produced talented people like Jia Xu and Wang Su, as well as warlords like Dong Zhuo. At present, the magistrate of Wuwei County is a famous minister Du Ji. He is an capable and loving official. Under his governance, the people of Wuwei County live and work in peace, and the Han people and Qiang, Di and Hu people get along harmoniously.

Du Ji was appointed by the court, and of course he was also a good minister chosen by Cao Cao. Although he was not as loyal to Cao Cao as Guoyuan and Cheng Yu, he was not as loyal to the Han Dynasty as Xun Yu. He was not pedantic and good at judging the current situation. Now the entire Guanlong capital was assigned to the Han State. For the former imperial officials in Guanlong, they could abandon their official positions and return to Yedu, or they could continue to hold their posts. Of course, staying in office must be recognized by Liu Jing.

At present, there are types of officials in Guanlong area. One is that the officials of the six counties in Longxi have basically expressed their loyalty to Liu Jing and were able to remain in office. The second is that the officials of Guanzhong County have all evacuated from Guanzhong and Liu Jing sent people to take over the position. The other is that officials who have not expressed their opinions, such as Du Ji, are the ones.

Even Du Ji himself didn't know where to go, but at this time he didn't have time to consider the future. He had to save the people of Wuwei County. The four gates of Wuwei City opened, and groups of people flocked to it. The gates were filled with women and children who fled from all over Wuwei, crying for their parents, and they were in chaos.

"Shou, will there be enemies of Zhangye Qiang in the crowd and enter the city?" Li Ji, the county magistrate next to him, said worriedly.

Du Ji sighed and said, "So what can we do? Do we have to verify our identities one by one like Chang'an before entering the city? Even if the people from Nangong sneak into the city, there is no way. The Qiang cavalry arrived in a flash, and we can only do our best."

County Magistrate Li Ji asked again: "Will the Han army really come to save us?"

"It will definitely"

Du Ji smiled confidently and said, "If you lose Wuwei County, you will lose the Hexi Corridor. How could Liu Jing tolerate it? The reason why he arranged his army in Jincheng County was to prevent the Qiang people. The Han army would definitely come to help. My only worry is whether they can arrive before the Qiang people."

Li Ji nodded silently. He could understand Du Ji's confidence. After a moment of silence, he asked carefully: "Shou, there is a saying I don't know whether to say it or not."

Du Ji glanced at him and said a little dissatisfied: "Ci Shi, we have been together for four years, what else can we say?"

Li Ji smiled bitterly and said, "Do I want to say whether to stay in this matter, return to Yedu or continue to stay in Wuwei County?"

Du Ji smiled slightly, "I don't care. The key is Liu Jing's attitude towards Hexi. If he is determined and must take back Hexi and restore the territory of Zhangye County and Jiuquan County, then I am willing to be loyal to him. But if he is afraid of Nangong and abides by Nangong to occupy Zhangye and Jiuquan, then such a person will not be able to do anything. It is better to go back to his hometown to farm."

Li Ji also smiled and said, "I also went with Shou Xiang. We officials in Hexi really have deep feelings for this land."

At this moment, a soldier shouted, "The army is coming."

Du Ji was shocked and hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Where is it?"

"In the south, please see"

Du Ji felt relieved. He put his hand on the curtain and looked into the distance. He saw a long and thick black line appearing in the wilderness in the distance, with flags waving. It was an army. Du Ji smiled when he stroked his beard and laughed. It was an infantry, not a cavalry, but only the Han army.

He was overjoyed and shouted to the soldiers: "It's our reinforcements here."

The city was filled with joy. The arrival of the Han army undoubtedly gave them great hope, which made all the soldiers extremely excited.

A quarter of an hour later, the army gradually arrived at Wuwei City. It was the 5,000 vanguard army led by Wang Ping. They were all barbarians, good at marching, good endurance, and lightweight soldiers, so they moved day and night, and arrived at Wuwei City in just one day and one night. The soldiers were exhausted. Although they were tired, they still maintained a neat formation and did not want the Wuwei defenders to underestimate them.

At this time, Du Ji and more than a dozen officials rode up to meet him and said, "Is it the army of Han Wang?"

Wang Ping also replied, "That's right, I am Wang Ping, the general under the command of the King of Han, and the envoy is Du Shou."

Du Ji was overjoyed: "I am Du Ji. I finally hope you, please come to the city."

Wang Ping nodded and turned around and said, "Enter the city."

The team lined up toward the city, and Wang Ping asked, "Would you like to ask, there is news about Qianghu."

"Not yet, but they should have entered Wuwei County. I'm afraid they arrived today. Your speed is really amazing."

Du Ji sincerely admired this Han army. He could not imagine that the Han army was an infantryman and actually arrived before the Qiang cavalry. He could see the fatigue of the soldiers and hurriedly said: "The military camp is ready. You go and rest first, and then we will talk about defending against the Qiang enemy."

Wang Ping smiled and said, "Thank you, Shou. In addition, I would like to ask if there are soldiers and armor in the city. In order to reduce the burden, the soldiers did not carry armor."

"There are soldiers and armors, and there are more than 10,000 deputy soldiers in the Hyogo. They are still the soldiers left by Dong Zhuo back then. I checked them a few days ago and they were preserved very well. There is no problem at all. Just use them."

Wang Ping was relieved and said, "Then take the soldiers first, then let the soldiers have a full meal, and start entering the defense in the afternoon. Please understand, I will take over the defense with all my power."

Du Ji nodded. This was inevitable. He was mentally prepared.

...........

In the afternoon, Qiang and Hu cavalry arrived as scheduled, dust was flying in the distance, and overwhelming cavalry came to Wuwei City. A white flag was flying in the dust. This was the size of ten thousand people. Behind the team, thousands of war horses were carrying siege ladders several feet high. It was these heavy and huge siege ladders that delayed the marching speed of Qiang and Hu cavalry, so that they could not run in the wilderness as if they were grazing.

The general was Nangong Xin, the younger brother of Qiang King Nangong. He held his war horses and looked at the tall Wuwei City from afar. He saw that the guards on the top of the city were sparse and the army was not in a mess. Most of them were servants wearing soapy service, and many ordinary people holding wooden sticks and iron forks, with a maximum of more than 1,000 people.

He couldn't help but sneer in his heart, took out a letter and handed it to his personal soldiers and said, "Punch this letter into the city and order the Han officials to abandon the city."

The personal soldiers took the letter and urged the horse to run forward, shouting to the city, "My general has an order, ask the Han officials to leave the city, otherwise the whole family will be executed after the city is broken."

He shouted all over and put the letter on the arrow and shot it on the top of the city. The soldiers had already picked up the letter and handed it over to the main general Wang Ping. Wang Ping and his army were not at the top of the city, but were hiding under the city, and the original variegated guards were still on the top of the city.

At this time, the guard Du Ji also rushed over after hearing the news. Wang Ping handed him the letter, "It was the letter from the Qiang King Nangong, let us give up Wuwei."

Du Ji opened the letter and read it. The letter was quite polite, asking the court officials to leave Wuwei and be temporarily managed by the Qiang people. They will return it to the court after the world is stable, and will ensure the safety of the Han people. Du Ji sneered: "This is how Zhangye County and Jiuquan County were forced by them. Now it is Wuwei County again, let's dream."

Wang Ping smiled and said, "These Qiang people are not smart enough and they must march together. If they send thousands of cavalry as vanguards first, they may not be able to save Wuwei City. We can use our plans and act according to the original plan."

Du Ji nodded and walked up to the city. He held the battlements and shouted to the informant soldiers under the city: "I am guarding Du Ji. You can leave the city. Please give me half an hour, and we will naturally leave."
Chapter completed!