Chapter 2223 the situation rises
The night was dark, and a team rushed along the south bank of Zhushui.
The team was very long, with no head in front and no tail in back, but it was very quiet, except for footsteps, horse hooves, and wheels. Every soldier had a branch in his mouth, and the war horses and the ox pulling the cart were covered with bridles to avoid neighing. There were only a few lamps in the entire team, and black cloth was covered with only one circle under his feet. Most of the soldiers could only follow their companions in front and touched the black.
Guan Yu strangled his mount and looked back, very satisfied.
There has been no time in the mountains in the past few months, at least the ability to march at night has been significantly improved. Thanks to Taishici. When he fought with Taishici, he often asked Taishici for the key points of mountain combat. Taishici accumulated rich mountain combat experience during the battle in Jiangdong, especially good at night marching. This time he lurked in Zanhuang Mountain. Guan Yu considered that the possibility of night marching was very high, so he took advantage of the time to conduct training and found a way to purchase some new horse lanterns from the Central Plains.
Guan Yu once saw this kind of horse lantern in Taishici's military camp. It was covered with glazed glass and was not afraid of wind and rain. It was especially suitable for use in the wild, and it was definitely not comparable to torches. He liked it very much at the time, but he was not embarrassed to ask for it. When he met Zhongshan merchants going north in Taihang Mountains and found that they had this kind of horse lantern, he immediately bought them all, even if the merchants asked for a price of one thousand yuan each.
It is really expensive, and it is also real. Guan Yu looked at the horse lantern that Zhou Cang held in his hand and felt proud.
This time, I must surprise scholar Feng Ji. Guan Yu held Feng Ji's handwritten letter in his arms and sweared secretly.
Feng Ji wrote him a handwritten letter explaining the strategy of the battle. Although he was kind to the words, Guan Yu read a little worried. Feng Ji felt that he went deep alone and had insufficient troops, so he might not be able to achieve all his goals. He hoped that he would consider it himself and not force him. What should I do? Isn’t it just a surprise attack on the Bai people and capture Yuan Tan alive? Since Yuan Tan is sick, the elite central army was taken away by Yuan Xi, and there are only more than 3,000 central infantry and cavalry around him, so what should I worry about?
Feng Ji's worries aroused Guan Yu's arrogance and made him more careful. It would be fine if the battle was not good, but it was not possible to be laughed at by Feng Ji. After receiving the order, he repeatedly studied the nearby terrain and rarely recruited Xiahou Lan to discuss military affairs. Although Xiahou Lan was sent by Feng Ji, he was Zhao Yun's old friend, and was responsible for the scout camp for several months. He was familiar with the terrain and was cautious. With his assistance to the staff, major omissions could be avoided.
The detour to the south of Zhushui is the suggestion made by Xiahou Lan. Zhushui is thirty miles south of Bairen, and most of the coastal areas belong to Zhongqiu County, and the county town of Zhongqiu County is on the north bank. Even if Yuan Tan is vigilant and sends scouts to inquire, he will relax in this direction because of the existence of Zhongqiu County, so that more people can be arranged along the coast of Baishui. Although he has walked thirty or fifty miles more, he can get as close to Bairen as possible without disturbing the scouts of the Wei army.
Now it seems that Xiahou Lan's analysis is correct. They have passed Zhongqiu County and will soon enter Bairen County. They have not yet met the scouts of the Wei army. Walk forty miles forward, and they will be able to see Bairen County at dawn tomorrow.
Guan Yu looked up at the stars in the night sky and grinned.
The sound of brisk footsteps came from the front, getting closer and closer. Guan Yu retracted his mind, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the footsteps. After a while, Xiahou Lan's figure appeared in front of Guan Yu's horse. Guan Yu was shocked and quickly turned over and dismounted. He was tall, and it would be too rude to sit on the back of the horse and talk to Xiahou Lan.
"Ziqing, what happened?" Guan Yu's heartbeat was a little fast. If there were no special circumstances, Xiahou Lan would not come to report it in person.
"June, the situation may change." Xiahou Lan gasped, her face full of sweat. "I just received the news that there were traces of a large army passing by Baishijin in the north of Bairen County. The main force of the Wei army may not have gone north, at least not all went north, and there were quite a lot of troops still near Bairen."
Guan Yu was shocked and felt suspicious. Feng Ji's letter clearly stated that he would design to lead Yuan Xi to the north, why was the main force of the Wei army still in the Bai people? This time Yuan Tan went north to join the alliance, and only brought Zhang He in total, Gao Lan two central troops, about 20,000 people. It was not easy to deal with the Zhongshan central army led by Liu Bei. It was worth taking as many troops as possible. Yuan Tan lived in Bairen County, and three thousand people were enough to defend the city. No matter how many people were left, it was useless.
Unless otherwise made.
"Are the news ready?" Guan Yu raised his vigilance and asked. He sneaked over. While scouting inquiring about the news, he also had to cover up his whereabouts as much as possible. His movements were limited. The information he found was fragmented and it was normal to make misjudgments. He was never tired of deceiving the deception. All kinds of situations could happen. It is not ruled out that Yuan Tan was deploying a mystery. As for whether to target him or Liu Bei, it is hard to say.
Perhaps Yuan Xi and Liu Bei had already contacted each other and had a bad battle, so they began to retreat. For this war, Liu Bei transferred Zhang Fei and Tian Yu, and coupled with the central cavalry led by Qian Zhao, all the elite troops were produced, and it was normal for Yuan Xi to lose.
"It is not yet conclusive, but my subordinates think that the king should stop moving forward. If the situation is true, there are more than 3,000 people in Bai people, and even if our army reaches Bai people, it will be meaningless. It is impossible to break the city at all, but it is possible to fall into the trap."
Guan Yu pondered and said nothing. He had five thousand people, well-trained and well-equipped. Xiahou Lan arranged for a meticulous work to enter the city. Without Yuan Tan's defense, he would cooperate inside and outside to have the opportunity to seize the cypress people. But if there were more than three thousand people in the cypress city and he had another defense, with his 5,000 people, he would not even have siege equipment, and the chance would be too slim to expect the ant to reach the city.
However, he would never accept that he would stop moving forward and even give up his actions without definite information.
Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Guan Yu kept comforting himself and calming himself down. He thought about it, and suddenly his heart moved. "Ziqing, send more people to find out the situation as soon as possible. Baicheng is just a county town and cannot accommodate too many people. If there are other people here, they may camp outside the city. Even if we can't attack the city, we can still take this camp and then act at the camera."
Xiahou Lan weighed the pros and thought it was reasonable. He also knew that Guan Yu was eager to fight, so it was impossible for him to give up now. There was still a long way to go before the Bairen, and he had to cross the river in the middle. If you had time, Guan Yu would consider it again.
Xiahou Lan hurried away. Guan Yu got on the horse again, looked at the horizon in the distance, and repeatedly calculated the possible situation in his mind. It is normal for an accident to occur in marching and fighting, but some things are certain, such as Yuan Tan's existing troops, 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and less than 3,000 cavalry, even if all of them were in the Bai people, he was not afraid. As long as he was not ambushed and there was no unexpected force, the worst result was the failure of the mission, and he was confident enough to escape unstoppable.
Before he could win, he would first lose. Guan Yu remembered the words Sun Ce had often spoken before, held the Qinglong Yanyue Knife in his hand tightly, glanced at the corner of his mouth, snorted gently, kicked the horse's belly, and continued to move forward.
Cypress people.
Yuan Tan, Ju Su, and Gao Lan sat in a group, with a map of Zhao State on the table in the middle, and a map of Julu and Changshan on the ground next to it.
The cypress people belong to the State of Zhao, but they are not far from Julu and Changshan. Guan Yu is unknown. It is possible to appear from the Mainland of Julu or the Zanhuang Mountain area in western Changshan. Therefore, Yuan Tan ordered people to prepare a map of the three counties and states. In fact, for them, the nearby terrain has long been imprinted in their minds, and there is no need to look at the map at all. It is just for the convenience of communication and avoid any errors in understanding.
Gao Lan said slowly: "I have sent people to guard the Mainland Ze, Zanhuang Mountain, Fengshan and other intersections, and several important Jinkou have also arranged people. As long as Guan Yu appears, he will warn him. So far, no trace of Guan Yu has been found."
Yuan Tan patted his knee lightly. "Strange. Where will Guan Yu hide? Even if he only has a few hundred people, he will not hide so well."
"It's not that you hide well, but that you act quickly." Ju Su bent his fingers and tapped. "Guan Yu fights like an assassination, he is the best at attacking him and is the best at fighting and decisive. Our army has not been very morale recently, and it is inevitable that someone will neglect, or go deeper, or be careless, and miss important information. Yuanguan, when you return to the Bairen, the relevant traces have not been handled well. If they fall into the eyes of those who are interested, they are probably exposed."
Gao Lan bowed to apologize. "The sacrificial criticism is that I have beheaded the relevant people and others, inspected the entire army, and dare not commit crimes again."
Yuan Tan did not say anything, but was feeling a little sad. He was the King of Wei and the commander of the three armies. The fundamental reason for his low morale was that he was lazy and his subordinates naturally couldn't get nervous. There were problems at the beginning of his action. Ju Su criticized Gao Lan, but reminded him.
Ju Su continued: "You are rushing back and forth within three days, and the soldiers will inevitably complain. You must comfort them and never be careless. According to time estimates, unless Guan Yu is not nearby, it will inevitably appear within two or three days. If the scout is lazy and does not send back the news in time, maybe when Guan Yu appears in front of us, their call has not arrived. Yuanguan, no news is bad news, you must be prepared to fight at any time."
"Here." Gao Lan did not dare to be careless and bowed to accept the order.
"Salute to the wine, let Yuanguan enter the city."
"No." Ju shook his head. "There must be a detailed work in the city. We will be martial law in the whole city. If we don't know the situation outside the city, it's fine. Once the army enters the city, it's hard to hide it from them. By then, they will spread the news and Guan Yu will not come. Only by letting Yuanguan lurk in the camp outside the city can you succeed. Yuanguan, the camp has prepared enough food and firewood, and no one can go out to the camp easily to avoid revealing flaws."
"Please rest assured. I have announced that anyone who has left the camp will be killed without mercy. However, this can only be hidden for a while, not for a long time."
Ju Su waved his hand. "Three days is enough. If Guan Yu hasn't come in three days, then he will not be nearby." He thought for a while and said, "I think it may not take three days."
Chapter completed!