After running for fifty miles, Xiahoudun stopped to rest, and then called the master to ask, "Where is this?" ”

The master book said: "General, the name of this place is called Sunset." ”

Xiahoudun recited silently several times and said: "The name of the sunset is unlucky, and it is not advisable to stay here for a long time, so you should leave it quickly." So hurriedly led the army to board, to the halfway road, saw that the terrain here is dangerous, then thought, Guan Yu will ride lightly to chase me, if you leave an army here, it will be ambushed, the name of the sunset, just right should be on Guan Yu.

So he left an army here to block Guan Yu, but he didn't dare to stay, and led his troops to rush away. Guan Yu chased into the sunset, stumbling in the dark, the horse suddenly rose, the vanguard in front of dozens of horses galloped and lost their front hooves, soared into the air and fell to the ground, and then the arrows in the forest on both sides rained down, and the Han army was immediately in chaos.

Guan Yu gathered his troops and fought with the Cao army, and after breaking the Cao army, he collected the prisoners and knew that Xiahou had left. When Guan Yu heard this, he couldn't help but laugh: "Xiahou Yuan is cowardly, if his army is here, I will be defeated." Knowing that he couldn't catch up, he quit the army.

Xiahoudun ran all the way to the place where he met with the full pet, and when he saw the full pet, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then reacted again, he was at a loss, and when he led the troops to lie in the sunset, and sent the envoy to the full favor, even if he couldn't win, he had the full favor as a backup, and he couldn't be defeated. It's a pity that this is a great opportunity.

The two generals joined forces and returned to Juping, so far, Taishan County except for Juping, all belonged to the Han army. When he arrived in the city, he was full of favor and Xiahou said: "Yuan Rang, Juping broke out as a lonely city in front of him, and then there was Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu and Tai Shici in front of him, I am afraid it will be difficult to defend, I want to abandon it and protect Snake Hill, what do you mean?" ”

Xiahou thought about it and couldn't make a decision. Defending Juping can ensure the safety of the rear of Snake Hill, but Juping's soldiers and horses will also be in danger of destruction; Abandoning Juping, the soldiers and horses were saved, but Snake Hill and other places will face the soldiers of the Han army. So he sent a letter to Cheng Yu and others.

It happened that Cao Cao had a letter to order Yanzhou to march step by step, delay Liu Bei's southward steps, and move the people south, so that the population of Jing and Yi could be replenished in the future. After receiving Xiahoudun's letter, Cheng Yu discussed with Chen Gong and others. Then he told Xiahoudun and Manzhong to hold on before Juping, and if Juping was in danger of being surrounded, they were allowed to evacuate.

By this time of the battle, Yanzhou found that they had already lost the opportunity. Cao Cao personally led the main force in Jing and Yi. And Yanzhou is too close to Liu Bei. Relying only on the soldiers and horses of Yan and Henan, it is difficult to compete with Liu Bei. In the case of losing the first hand, no matter how much you plan and plan, it is helpless. In addition to achieving some victories in specific wars, what could they do in the face of the Han army's overwhelming Taishan?

Guo Jia's strategy, although some people opposed it at the beginning, but later including Cheng Yu, Mao Jue, Chen Gong, Dong Zhao and others, all agreed unanimously. It's just that too much time was delayed in Jingzhou, and Yuan Shao was defeated too quickly, so it led to today's embarrassing situation. If you can't follow Cao Cao's instructions and delay the footsteps of the Han army, I'm afraid that after Yanzhou is lost, Yizhou over there has not yet been defeated. If so, it's really bad.

In any case, we must ensure that even if Yanzhou is not guaranteed, we must ensure that Yizhou can fall into our own hands. Otherwise, then there really is nothing to fight about.

According to this line of thinking, Cheng Yu and others quickly took action in Yanzhou, preparing various logistical materials to strengthen the city defense of the city that had not yet been lost. Then he cleared the fields in various parts of Yanzhou and collected grain. At the same time, important documents, classics, money, silk and other items in the inventory of various places were transferred. Yan and Henan, on the official road, the convoy is extremely frequent.

It was in this context that the Battle of Juping began.

Guan Yu and Tai Shici led the army to surround Juping, while Zhang Fei went south, but was stopped by Zang Ba, and the two armies fought in the wilderness outside the snake hill.

After Liu Bei sent off the delegation in the Western Regions, his eyes also returned to Yanzhou. Tian Feng did a good job in Yanzhou, and took care of the logistics in an orderly manner, at least, Tai Shici and Zhang Fei never wrote directly to their shogunate because of food. Liu Bei thought to himself, when Yanzhou is taken, it is time to fully use the people of Jizhou. It would be a waste for a person like Gao Gan not to let him contribute to himself.

After reading the battle report, Liu Bei smiled, what Yanzhou had to do is now clear. Yanzhou wanted to fight a protracted war in order to buy time for Cao Cao, but of course he couldn't do what he wanted. Now that Yanzhou has concentrated the three generals under his command, it is better to add another fire.

So Liu Bei summoned Ma Chao and said, "Meng Qi, I have a place where I can make great contributions, are you willing to go?" ”

After the Liangzhou army was absorbed, after reorganization, the unqualified Liu Bei let them go back to farming, and now he is the largest landlord in the north, and after a series of wars in the north, it is the time when the land is vast and sparsely populated. He has a lot of land. The rest was compiled together and given to Zhang Xiu, and then the rest was led by Ma Chao and Pang De. Ma Chao knew that his qualifications were shallow, so when Liu Bei divided the generals, he could only watch from the side. Although I asked myself that I didn't lose anyone, I was helpless.

Seeing that Liu Bei said that he had meritorious service, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. A martial artist like him, not fighting is simply an ordeal. So he hurriedly said: "The lord has been sent, but he has commanded." ”

Liu Bei said with a smile: "Today, our army and Meng De are fighting for Yanzhou, and the battles ahead are repeated, and it is difficult to fight for a while. I want to make you lead the fine horse and attack the rear of Yanzhou, do you dare to go? ”

Ma Chao heard this, and slapped his chest loudly: "The last general is willing to go!" "If you dare or not, you should come down first. It doesn't matter where he fights, as long as he has to fight.

Ma Chao returned to the house and summoned Pang De and Ma Dai to meet him. With the two of them, Liu Bei's order was asked, "If I send troops, where should I attack Yanzhou?" ”

Ma Dai listened and said, "Why do you want to ask me, don't you hear what the lord said, after the attack on Yanzhou." It doesn't matter where he is, as long as it's convenient after Yanzhou! ”

Pang De pondered for a while and said: "In my opinion, when you attack the grain road in the rear of Yanzhou and attack its grain storage place, if you can make a contribution, the Cao army in front will be defeated!" ”

Ma Chao listened, high-fived, and shouted: "That's it!" That night, the three of them were very drunk. After resting at home for another day, he received the talisman, ordered five thousand fine horsemen, took a detour in Jizhou, crossed the river in Fanyang, and went straight to Yanzhou.

At this time, Yanzhou Wenwu set all his eyes on Juping and Snake Hill. They may have paid attention to Dongjun before, but when Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Tai Shici gathered in Mount Tai, they couldn't help but pay attention to this place. Unexpectedly, a group of elite horsemen had crossed the river and began to raid their rear.