Yanmen County is bordered by Youzhou Dai County in the east and Xianbei in the north. There is a large river in its territory that crosses Pingcheng and flows to the outside of the Saiwai.

The river is called the Royal River, and in the north, where water is scarce, it is undoubtedly the mother river of the locals. The river is wide and the current is very rapid.

Chen Xu led the Yellow Turban Army and chased the Xianbei people non-stop, and the chase lasted for nearly two days. Looking at the Xianbei camp on the other side of the river, everyone was in despair.

The Yellow Turban Army was already exhausted during such a rapid march. The generals under his account also persuaded Chen Xu, saying that if the cavalry rushed at such a high intensity, they would not have to fight with the Xianbei people at all, and they would collapse.

However, Chen Xu is still bent on going his own way.

Because the Yellow Turban Army has little food and grass left, even if it is frugal, it is only enough for one day.

"My lord, the Xianbei people have swept away all the boats that crossed the river. And they also cut down all the drawbridges. ”

"Whatever our army is by, pass over the bridges in the rest of the place; It will take at least two days to cut down wood and build boats and force the crossing of the river. ”

"Besides, our army is really tired now, whether it is a detour, or logging and shipbuilding, we must rest first. But there is not much food in our army! ”

Listening to the report of his subordinates, Chen Xu did not speak. He looked back at the generals who were full of expectations, and his heart was extremely bitter.

The reason why he was in such a hurry to catch up with the Xianbei people was that he was afraid that the grain and grass of the Yellow Turban Army would not be replenished. But after so many days, the way forward was blocked by the river.

"Pass the order down, let all the soldiers who know how to fish, go down to the river to fish."

Hearing Chen Xu's order, although the generals felt that this was not a good way, it could somewhat relieve the pressure of the Yellow Turban Army's food and grass.

So, Li Guo went to the army to recruit soldiers who knew how to fish and went into the water to catch fish.

He Lian, with his cronies, looked at the Yellow Turban Army fishing from afar, and couldn't help laughing proudly.

When he first heard about the Yellow Turban cavalry and chased them all the way, He Lian wanted to gather troops and destroy the 7,000 cavalry first.

But his cronies recognized Tang Chen and Zhao Huang, and knew that the thousands of cavalry who had been enemies of the Xianbei people had defected to the Yellow Turban Army, so he naturally didn't dare to be careless.

If it was the rest of the officers and cavalry, he didn't mind forming a formation with them and fighting a big battle.

But in the face of this cavalry, whose combat effectiveness was not much worse than that of the Xianbei people, he didn't want the Xianbei warriors to make some senseless sacrifices.

At that time, he advised Helian and said: "Khan, this cavalry is lightly armed, and there must not be enough food and grass. And they are hypocritical, and they do not plunder everywhere. ”

"So I guess it won't be long before this cavalry runs out of food."

"The war horses of our Xianbei people are no worse than their war horses. If we keep moving forward non-stop, cross the royal river in advance, and then burn the bridges and boats. ”

"Then it won't be long before these Han people will surely collapse without a fight because of the lack of food."

When He Lian heard the words of that cronie, he was naturally overjoyed, and it took only a few days to run from Liucheng to the west bank of the Yuhe River.

"Haha, the Han people must have run out of food, otherwise they would never go down to the river to catch fish regardless of the fatigue of running for a few days."

The Xianbei leaders of the other tribes also nodded in agreement when they heard this.

After running for several days in a row, Mo said that it was those Yellow Turban Army, and even those Xianbei people who lived on horseback felt deeply tired.

"It's a pity that we can't take this opportunity to go and exterminate those hateful Han people."

He Lian looked at the Yellow Turban Army on the other side and couldn't help but sigh.

One of his cronies hurriedly said: "Khan, the combat effectiveness of this cavalry should definitely not be underestimated. Even if they have begun to run out of food, they are a formidable opponent. ”

"If we can force them to collapse without a fight, we don't need to fight them at all."

"And I heard that these Yellow Turban soldiers are all anti-thieves among the Han people."

"When they are short of food, they will definitely no longer be an enemy of my powerful Xianbei."

"Without this tail behind me, my humble warriors can plunder to their heart's content in this beautiful and rich land."

This cronie of the company had dealt with Tang Chen and them before, and he knew how terrible that pair of cavalry was. He would never want to fight this group unless he had to do it.

And during this time, he had already figured out the identity of the group of pursuers behind him. In his opinion, the reason why the Yellow Turban Army can't get along with Da Xianbei is nothing more than those ethereal reputations.

If they are difficult to protect themselves, they will definitely not continue to be the enemy of Xianbei. In his opinion, the Yellow Turban Army, which lacked food and grass, would definitely withdraw immediately.

"Yawn!"

He Lian yawned a lot, and suddenly felt a wave of tiredness come over his head.

He scolded in a low voice: "Those damn Han people, the truth is too tight during this time, so I can't even sleep well." ”

He looked at the sky and said, "It's not yet night, but I'm almost unable to open my eyes." You tell the warriors of the tribe to pay more attention to the situation on the other side, and I will go and rest first. ”

With that, he yawned as he walked into the tent. After walking for a while, he didn't forget to turn around and say, "Remember to call me to wake up when dinner is ready!" ”

Chen Xu took Dian Wei, Chen Hu, and some personal soldiers to patrol along the riverbank.

None of them spoke, and the atmosphere was a little heavy. The current situation of the Yellow Turban Army is indeed too bad, and without food, they are likely to be defeated.

In the process of patrolling, I occasionally met some people in the vicinity. After they saw Chen Xu and the others, they all hurriedly avoided it.

It seemed that he couldn't stand this oppressive atmosphere, Chen Hu couldn't help but speak: "Big brother, the soldiers are hungry and tired now, if we don't take advantage of the fact that there is still some food, we will quickly rush back to the cottage." ”

"After the food and grass in the army are completely consumed, this team will really collapse without a fight."

Chen Xu still walked forward without speaking.

Pingcheng was not far from Dazhai, the northernmost part of the Yellow Turban Army, and if they could hold out for five days, the grain and grass over there would be transported here.

But the grain and grass in the Yellow Turban Army can no longer survive tomorrow. If they didn't loot the people everywhere, the Yellow Turban Army could only hurry back to the cottage.

In this way, although the Yellow Turban Army will suffer from hunger for a day, they will still be able to stick to the cottage.

The east bank of the river is a very high and steep cliff, but the west bank is much lower. The river that runs through this section is also very narrow.

Seeing this terrain, Chen Xu first patted his horse forward, took a closer look, and then couldn't help laughing.

Dian Wei and Chen Hu didn't understand why Chen Xu could still laugh out loud at this point.

"Back to camp!"

Without too much explanation, Chen Xu took the lead in slapping the horse and rushing back to the camp.

After going back, Chen Xu ordered to gather five hundred elite soldiers who were not afraid of death. Then he found a few soldiers with the best water nature, and let everyone have a full meal, so they let them go to rest first.

Although the northerners are not good at swimming, the Yellow Turban Army has 7,000 people after all, and it is naturally not a problem to find a few people with good water skills.

Under such a shortage of food in the Yellow Turban Army, Chen Xu didn't know how to save food at all, which made Tian Feng very dissatisfied.

Hearing Tian Feng's question, Chen Xu was not angry, but just smiled mysteriously, and then said: "Tomorrow, someone will naturally send food." ”

After nightfall, most of the Xianbei people on the west bank of the Yuhe River fell asleep. At this time, Chen Xu woke up, the five hundred people who had slept after a full meal.

Chen Xu asked Tian Feng to garrison Dazhai, took all the rest of the generals, and rushed to the section of the river during the day.

Tian Feng looked at the back of Chen Xu and the others leaving, and secretly prayed in his heart: "I hope everything goes well with the lord!" ”

After coming to the bottom of the cliff, Chen Xu asked everyone to surround him and whispered: "Maybe you have guessed, I am going to take you to raid the camp of the Xianbei people tonight. ”

"During the day, I have already asked you, and you all said that you are not afraid of death, and you all say that you are the elite of the army. Then, you have to prove yourselves today with your bravery. ”

Although everyone had some guesses in their hearts, they were still surprised after receiving Chen Xu's affirmative answer.

They couldn't figure out what kind of way their lord would come up with to let them cross the royal river.

Chen Xu summoned those soldiers who were very good at water and asked them, "Can you take these ropes and swim directly from this position to the other side?" ”

The moonlight was very bright at night, and the soldiers looked at the rushing river and the large pile of ropes on the ground, and their faces were sad.

Although they have good water, it is not easy to swim across this section of the river, let alone carry such a thick rope?

Even if one end of the rope is tied around the waist, the rope will cause a great burden on them when facing the impact of the river.

Seeing everyone's faces, Chen Xu's heart sank. If no one could swim to the other side of the river with a rope, then there would be no way to implement his future plan.

At this moment, a man suddenly stepped forward and said, "My lord, I can take these ropes and swim to the other side of the river!" ”

Chen Xu was overjoyed when he heard this, he looked up and suddenly saw a slightly familiar face.

Looking at this scarred face, Chen Xu asked uncertainly, "Are you Li Dayin?" ”

Li Dayin was overjoyed when he saw that Chen Xu still remembered his name, and hurriedly nodded and said, "It's the villain!" ”

Seeing Li Dayin, Chen Xu suddenly thought of the dead Wu Di, and couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart.

But now is not the time to be sentimental, he hurriedly said: "There is no child's play in the army, whether you can swim to the other side with a rope is related to our army's plan tonight, and we can't afford to miss a minute!" ”

Li Dayin hurriedly patted his chest and said, "If you can't complete the order, please behead someone!" ”