In early March, Michi.

Niu Fu and Li Ru rushed to Michi with the rear army.

For the sake of safety, Li Ru suggested that Niu Fu should divide the army into three armies, the front, the middle and the rear, and each army would advance sixty miles apart, so that even if they were ambushed, the army could support each other.

Niu Fu followed Li Ru's advice and let Zhang Ji and Fan Chou lead the army first. The two of them were unhappy, and after following Huang Zhong to Michi, they immediately camped to rest and did not attack the city.

Niu Fu arrived at Michi and was about to wave his army to attack the city, but found that the Northern Frontier Army on the city wall had suddenly disappeared. The Northern Xinjiang Army abandoned the city.

Li Dao smiled and said: "Our General Niu is really famous now, as soon as you arrive, the Northern Xinjiang Army will immediately throw off its armor and run wildly, and one general can reach 100,000 troops." ”

Guo Yan, Fan Chou and others laughed wildly.

Niu Fu glared at them hatefully, and asked a little annoyed, "Why don't you attack the city?" The Northern Xinjiang Army has repeatedly abandoned the city, and there must be a trick behind it. I don't think you're far from death. ”

Li Ru took people to the city for a turn, hurried back, and said to Niu Fu: "Old Niu, this is more than 100 miles to Hangu Pass, and there are steep mountains along the way. Once ambushed, the army will inevitably suffer heavy losses. In my opinion, it is better to stop for a while, let the scouts search the mountains along the way, and after confirming that there is no ambush by the Northern Frontier Army, they will move forward quickly. ”

Niu Fu was also frightened by the retreat of the Northern Frontier Army without a fight. Although the strength of the Western Liang Army far exceeded that of the Northern Xinjiang Army, it was really about to fall into an ambush, and the army would not only be damaged, but also the attack on Luoyang would have to be delayed. The big crime of delaying the military plane, Niu Fu can't afford it.

As soon as the army stopped, the imperial decree and Dong Zhuo's letter arrived. The imperial court issued an order to reward the soldiers of the whole army. In his letter, Dong Zhuo ordered Niu Fu to immediately take advantage of the victory to pursue and conquer Hangu Pass, take Luoyang, and strive to launch an attack on Jing, Henan, and Yanzhou in early April, so as to disrupt the spring cultivation of the prefectures and counties near Gyeonggi, so that the rebels everywhere will have no harvest this year.

Dong Zhuo's order, how dare Niu Fu not listen? Niu Fu ordered the army not to pull away from it, but to hug it together and attack towards Hangu Pass.

………………

In early March, Shaancheng.

Shaancheng is located on the bank of the Yellow River, Maojindu is nearby, 120 miles away from Mianchi, and more than 200 miles away from Hanguguan.

After the Xiliang army captured Shaanxi, Niu Fu considered that the grain and grass in Guanzhong could be delivered to Guanxi at the same time through two waterways, so he used this city as a major camp for the grain and grass of the Xiliang army.

Dusk, twilight.

A convoy transporting baggage slowly approached the south gate of Shaanxi. The guards of the city checked the paperwork and put down the drawbridge with a curse.

As is customary, the gates of the city are closed after dusk, and no one is allowed to enter or leave, but this convoy is to escort important ordnance and must enter the city.

Wang Ergou, the commander of the Northern Xinjiang Army, sat on the wheel, holding a long horsewhip, looking at the long arrow aimed at him on the city tower, and his heart was "knocking" and jumping.

This afternoon, Tun Commander Zhao Daniu intercepted and killed a baggage convoy with a group of men and horses, and then ordered himself to take a team of men and horses to disguise themselves as people's men and drive a carriage to Shaanxi City to open the city gate.

There was a "knock ......", and the suspension bridge fell to the ground.

The gates slowly opened.

Wang Ergou's heart was beating violently, and the strong feeling of suffocation made him almost out of breath. Entered the city so smoothly? This is an important place for the Xiliang army to accumulate grain and grass, and the inventory should be very strict.

A large crack was opened in the city gate, and then the fire flashed, and a commander of the Xiliang Army walked out with four soldiers holding torches.

Wang Ergou hurriedly waved his horsewhip behind him, and the tun commander Zhao Daniu, wearing clothes and armor, hurriedly greeted him with two or three soldiers.

Zhao Daniu pretended to be the commander of the Xiliang Army's grain squad, and greeted him with a smile: "We delayed on the way, we were late, and we caused trouble to your brothers." ”

The commander of the Xiliang army looked at them vigilantly, stopped, and asked in a deep voice, "What about your team rate?" ”

Zhao Daniu was shocked, but his face smiled even more happily, and the pace under his feet suddenly accelerated, and he said: "Our team was careless, and the wheel of the car was pressed, and we were lying on the car......"

"Tell him to come in person, and I'll take him into the city to verify his identity." The commander of the Xiliang army raised his hand and said, "You guys retreat." ”

"The brothers are too tired after a day of walking, so let's go into the city to rest first." Zhao Daniu smiled and nodded and said.

"Presumptuous." The Xiliang military commander's face turned cold, "Retreat immediately." ”

Zhao Daniu ran faster, and his right hand also held the handle of the knife, "Brother, I still have something to say......

"Stop." A soldier beside the commander of the Xiliang Army suddenly shouted loudly, "Where are you from, why don't you have a Gyeonggi accent?" ”

"You don't care where Lao Tzu is from." Zhao Daniu was anxious, and scolded loudly in the dialect of Zhao Guo in Jizhou, "Do it, kill them." ”

The two soldiers behind Zhao Daniu were quick to shoot, raising their crossbows. The commander of the Xiliang army exclaimed in surprise, and flew out upside down. Zhao Daniu rushed forward in a few steps, aimed at the mouthy Xiliang sergeant is knife, and scolded: "Want to run? Lao Tzu hacked you. ”

The Xiliang sergeant standing inside the city gate was stunned for a moment when he saw the sudden change, and at this moment, Zhao Daniu had already chopped off the enemy's head with a knife, and blood spurted.

The Xiliang sergeant let out a terrible scream, and the rest of the Xiliang sergeant issued a warning warning: "Raid...... Enemy...... Close, close......"

Zhao Da Niu roared angrily, shook off the whip in his hand, pulled out the war knife from under the saddle, and shouted: "Up, up, cut the sling, cut the sling......"

"Wang Ergou, quickly lead someone to take down the city gate. Quick, quick......"

The soldiers of the northern frontier who were surrounding the moat did not wait for Wang Ergou to shout, and had already flown up and rushed onto the suspension bridge. Some picked up their swords and slashed at arm-thick slings, while others ran wildly in the direction of the city gate.

"Ignition, ignition, reinforcements, reinforcements......"

Wang Ergou turned around and shouted hoarsely at the soldiers on the baggage cart, and then his body was like a long arrow from the string, and he and a group of soldiers shot quickly towards the city gate.

The Xiliang soldiers on the city tower were awakened by the terrifying screams that tore through the night. Then the war drums of the alarm sounded rapidly, and countless long arrows poured down into the city, and occasionally there was the roar of a ballista or two, and the piercing roar sounded particularly thrilling in the darkness.

The drawbridge rises slowly.

The non-commissioned officers of the northern Xinjiang army were suppressed behind the baggage truck, unable to move, and from time to time the soldiers were hit by arrows, and the miserable cries were terrifying.

The northern sergeants on the drawbridge were already on guard, they all wore tall and thick shields, but they were still shot down. A few soldiers wielding knives and chopping ropes fell into the moat with arrows, making a loud sound of falling water.

"Cut, ......," the soldiers shouted frantically. If the drawbridge is raised, none of them will survive.

Zhao Daniu rose into the air, and the war knife in his hand shot into the city gate that was about to close like a sharp arrow. A Xiliang sergeant was immediately pierced by a war knife, and he fell on his back with the war knife stuck in his chest, and the howl of fear and pain made people feel terrified.

The city gate closed, and Zhao Daniu roared in despair, and slammed into it with all his strength. The city gate did not move at all, but Zhao Daniu was knocked upside down by the force of the shock and fell to the ground.

Wang Ergou and more than a dozen soldiers rushed through the arrow array and slaughtered into the city gate cave. Faced with the tightly closed city gates, they were at a loss and in a hurry.

Wang Ergou asked Zhao Daniu loudly: "Da Niu, did you show them the flaws?" ”

Hearing Wang Ergou's words, Zhao Daniu was also very depressed and said, "When I open my mouth, they can hear that something is wrong." ”

The more Zhao Daniu thought about it, the more he felt guilty, and he raised his leg and kicked the corpse of the commander of the Xiliang Army, scolding and shouting: "Go to death." ”

At this moment, only to hear a loud sound of "......boom", the drawbridge fell heavily to the ground, and the northern Xinjiang soldiers on the suspension bridge were unstable on their footing, and they rolled into the moat one by one shouting.

Wang Ergou looked at the dense rain of arrows shot from the city, rushed to the edge of the door in a few steps, and shouted to the soldiers in the distance: "Shoot, shoot me, shoot ......"

The soldiers behind the baggage convoy had already lifted the cowhide felt on the baggage carts, revealing brand-new ballistas. This batch of ordnance sent from Chang'an is a ballista, and everyone is busy loading crossbow arrows at this moment.

Even in the well-trained Northern Army, ordinary soldiers were still unfamiliar with ballistas, and they had to rely on the guidance of archers to barely operate them.

With an order, the ballistas under the city let out a roar, and for a while the arrows rained down, catching the Xiliang soldiers guarding the city by surprise.

The soldiers who fell into the moat took the opportunity to climb onto the shore and rushed to the city gate to meet Wang Ergou and others. The soldiers who were pressed behind the baggage cart also took the opportunity to set the baggage cart on fire and retreated out of the range of the long arrows.

More than a dozen wagons full of hay burned with the help of the night wind, and the fire immediately lit up and down the castle tower.

………………

Zhang Fei led the army to rush to the foot of Shaancheng City.

Du Wei Shi Lei and Sima Yujiang of the other department greeted him.

Shi Lei is in his twenties, a burly man nine feet tall. He is a native of Yuyang, Youzhou, and was a fierce general under Zhang Chun in the past. After Zhang Chun's rebellion was quelled by an army led by Li Yi, he was captured by the Northern Xinjiang Army and later conscripted into the army.

Zhang Jie is about the same age as Shi Lei, and he is also a tall and heroic strong man. He is Zhang Fei's younger brother, his parents died when he was young, and he was adopted by Zhang Fei's mother. After Zhang Fei followed Li Yi to raise troops, he took him with him to fight everywhere.

Although Zhang Jie is tall and big, his ability is very average, and despite Zhang Fei's care, he has been in the Northern Xinjiang Army for nearly eight years, and he has only mixed up with the level of a military horse.

Shi Lei said to Zhang Fei in shock: "General, the city gate has not been taken. We had no choice but to storm. ”

"How many defenders are there in the city?" The horsewhip in Zhang Fei's hand pointed to the city tower in the distance and asked with a murderous expression.

Zhang Jie replied: "It is estimated that there are two thousand people. If you add the defenders stationed at the other three gates, there are at least 5,000 men in the city. (To be continued.) )