Zhang Liao led Huang Zhong and two hundred cavalry to run forward at the fastest speed, in a vain attempt to catch up with Gan Ning and the others. But in fact, Zhang Liao and the others chased seven or eight miles in a row, and they never saw a single soldier of Gan Ning, as if Gan Ning had completely disappeared into the night.

"Stop!" Zhang Liao shouted, looked at the hazy mountains shrouded in moonlight in front of him, and finally stopped his steps and stopped moving forward.

The army stopped one after another, and Huang Zhong came to Zhang Liao's side and asked suspiciously, "Governor, why did you stop?" ”

Zhang Liao pointed to the mountain in front of him and said: "If you go further, you will enter the mountain, where the terrain is dangerous, the terrain is complicated, and it is not suitable for cavalry to advance, we have chased such a long distance, and we have never found any clues, which shows that Gan Ning did not take this road at all, otherwise, with the footsteps of those infantry he led, it is impossible not to leave any footprints!" ”

Huang Zhong said: "When General Gan came out of the camp, he only brought fifty cavalry, and the rest were all infantry, didn't General Gan go on another road?" ”

Zhang Liao shook his head and said: "Gan Ning sent troops without authorization, nothing more than to strive for meritorious service, his purpose is very clear, that is, to go to Ailao Mountain." If you want to get to Ailao Mountain, there is only this one way to go, this is the only way to go, if he doesn't go here, then he must take his subordinates over the mountains and mountains......"

Speaking of this, Zhang Liao paused, and suddenly said, "Yes, that's it." Gan Ning knew that once he sent troops without authorization, I would definitely come to chase him, so he didn't take this road, but took his other path and crossed the mountains and mountains. Don't want me to catch up with him. Most of the subordinates led by Gan Ning were Wuxi barbarians. They are very good at walking in the mountains. The current Gan Ning must be walking in this endless mountain. ”

When Huang Zhong heard this, he asked, "Metropolitan Governor, what should we do now?" Will you continue to pursue, or will you withdraw your troops and return to the camp? ”

Zhang Liao thought for a moment, and a clever plan suddenly flashed in his mind, and laughed: "Since you can't catch up with Gan Ning, let him go." It just so happens that I can also make good use of him, pass the order down, withdraw the army and return to the camp! ”

With Zhang Liao's order, everyone turned their horses around and returned to the barracks along the same road.

After Zhang Liao returned to the barracks, he immediately asked Xu Huang to come over.

After a short time, Xu Huang came from outside the tent, and as soon as he entered Zhang Liao's big tent, he hugged his fists and said, "See the Grand Dudu!" ”

Zhang Liao waved his hand and said, "There are no outsiders here, only you and me." Komeito doesn't have to be so polite, please sit down! ”

Xu Huang and Zhang Liao are both Zhang Yan's confidants. The two of them were listed as the Five Tiger Generals together, although they didn't have a deep friendship, they also knew a little about each other's affairs. But now, although the two people are ministers in the same palace, there is a big difference in their positions.

Xu Huang is now the general of the left of the current dynasty, and Zhang Liao is the general of the current dynasty, and he is a level higher than Xu Huang in his position, and now the holy decree has ordered Zhang Liao to serve as the governor of Nanzhong as the general of the chariot and cavalry, and the gap between the two is getting bigger and bigger.

Even Xu Huang himself couldn't tell when the changes between them began.

Anyway, now Xu Huang is sitting in Zhang Liao's tent and feels like he is sitting on pins and needles, which is completely different from the feeling when everyone was the same Five Tiger generals before, and it also makes the two of them more restrained.

As soon as Xu Huang sat down, he hurriedly asked, "I don't know what the Metropolitan Governor has to say when he comes to me late at night?" ”

Zhang Liao said: "I can't talk about the order, it's just that I haven't had a drink with Gongming for a long time, and tonight is just the right time to catch up with the old days!" ”

After that, Zhang Liao slapped his palm, and after a crisp sound of "pop", one of Zhang Liao's personal soldiers brought in a pot of wine from outside, as well as four side dishes, which were placed in front of Zhang Liao and Xu Huang respectively.

After the wine and food were arranged, Zhang Liao waved his hand to the pro-soldiers, signaling him to leave, and after the pro-soldiers left, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were left in the big tent again.

Xu Huang saw that Zhang Liao had prepared the wine and food, and it seemed that he had prepared it for a long time, he was not interested in the wine and food, but he was a little puzzled by what Zhang Liao did, so he asked: "Dadu Governor, I, Xu Huang, am a refreshing person, I don't like to beat around the bush, if there is anything to do with Dadu, please say it directly, don't be so expensive!" ”

After Zhang Liao heard this, he said seriously: "Gongming, since you have said so, I will not beat around the bush." To tell you the truth, I came to you this time, and I do have important matters to discuss, but I don't know if you will agree! ”

Xu Huang said: "If it is a business matter, the governor only needs to order, even if it is to go up to the knife mountain and go down to the sea of fire, Xu Huang will not hesitate." If it is a private matter, then ask the Metropolitan Governor to tell the matter first, let Xu think about it, and then it is not too late to answer. ”

Zhang Liao said: "This time I appointed you as the vanguard, Gan Ning was not convinced, tonight Gan Ning has led 10,000 troops from his headquarters to send troops without authorization, I went to chase, but did not catch up, Gan Ning did not take the avenue, but changed to other roads, I think I was deliberately avoiding me." Gan Ning's departure may destroy the battle plan I made before, and may affect the overall situation, so I have to make some adjustments to the deployment. ”

Xu Huang asked, "I don't know how the Metropolitan Governor wants to adjust?" ”

Zhang Liao said: "Gan Ning is guilty of sending troops without authorization, but now I can't find him, even if I want to punish him, I can't punish him." Gan Ning has an impatient personality, and he is more reckless, he can be a general, but he can't be alone, I am very worried that Gan Ning will do something stupid, thus ruining the 10,000 army. If all of them have been pacified today, only a corner of Nanzhong has not yet been peaceful, and this time the regent is also bound to pacify Nanzhong, so he only needs to succeed, not fail. Gan Ning's departure completely disrupted my plan, it stands to reason that he doesn't listen to my dispatch, I shouldn't care about him anymore, just let him fend for himself. But after all, Gan Ning is a member of my Han Dynasty, a general who is the right general, if Gan Ning makes any mistakes, it will inevitably boost the morale of the rebels, thus hitting the morale of our army. Moreover, my personal relationship with Gan Ning is also good, whether it is public or private, I don't want him to have any mistakes......"

Xu Huang heard Zhang Liao say such a bunch of words, and seemed to understand what Zhang Liao meant, but it was not very clear, so he asked, "What does the metropolitan governor mean?" ”

"Although our army has 100,000 troops now, in the eyes of the rebels, it may be a large number of soldiers, but in fact, our army is not very united, because these 100,000 troops come from different regions, so it will have some influence, plus the people who lead the army are all unruly, and there is no one else who can really think about the overall situation except you. Therefore, I want you to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to secretly go deep into the rear of the rebels to find Gan Ning. After finding him, convey my orders to him, and let him follow my orders, only in this way will our army not lose a single general and 10,000 soldiers! Zhang Liao said earnestly.

Xu Huang finally understood this time, it turned out that Zhang Liao said so much, just to let him go to Gan Ning.

Xu Huang frowned, thought about it for a while, and then said: "Governor Dadu, I can understand your feelings, but I am not familiar with here, and General Gan led all Wuxi barbarians, walking in the mountains is like walking on flat ground, I am leading Yongzhou athletes, most of them are cavalry, if it is in the plains, I will definitely not refuse, but this time I want to sneak into the depths of the mountains, over the mountains and mountains, I am afraid that my subordinates will not be able to bear it......"

Zhang Liao said: "I also know this situation, but I have already thought of a solution for you, Ma Chao led the Qiang soldiers, some of them are from Wudu Wolf Qiang, the Wolf Qiang has been living in the depths of the mountains, active in the mountains of northwest Yizhou, their ability to cross the mountains is no worse than the Wuxi barbarians, as long as you can borrow 10,000 Wolf Qiang soldiers from Ma Chao, I can find you a guide, in this way, you will never get lost in the mountains, you can find Gan Ning very smoothly." ”

As soon as Xu Huang heard the name Ma Chao, his face was embarrassed, and he said to Zhang Liao: "Governor, I can't hide it, it's not difficult to borrow soldiers from Ma Chao, but the difficulty is that these Qiang soldiers only listen to Ma Chao's words, even if I borrow the soldiers, they don't listen to my orders!" ”

"You don't have to worry about this, as long as you can lend the soldiers from Ma Chao, I have a way for you to command these Qiang soldiers. In the entire barracks, only you and Ma Chao have a good relationship at present, and the rest of the generals have conflicts with Ma Chao, so I can only ask you. Zhang Liao said.

Xu Huang said: "That...... I'll try, as for whether I can lend the soldiers, I can't guarantee it, and I hope the Metropolitan Governor can understand! ”

"You just need to borrow soldiers, whether you borrow them or not, I will thank you very much." Zhang Liaodao.

Xu Huang said: "In this case, without further ado, I will go to Ma Chao to borrow troops." ”

As soon as the words fell, Xu Huang stood up and hugged Zhang Liao, then turned around and left. Zhang Liao saw Xu Huang's back leaving, let out a sigh of relief, and said to himself: "I hope Xu Huang's trip can be successful!" ”

After Xu Huang left Zhang Liao's Chinese army tent, he went directly to Ma Chao's camp, and he and Ma Chao did not know each other, from the initial needlepoint to Mai Mang, to the current friendship, they have come step by step. But Xu Huang also has self-knowledge, although he and Ma Chao have a good relationship, but they have not yet reached the point of talking about everything, so on the way to Ma Chao's camp, he thought about it carefully, but he didn't know if Ma Chao would lend him soldiers, and he was very unconfident in his heart.

At this moment, Ma Chao was resting in the tent, he was lying on the bed, quietly closing his eyes, thinking about the situation after returning to Liangzhou. Suddenly, Pang De walked in from outside the tent, came to Ma Chao's side in a panic, clenched his fists and said, "General, Xu Huang is here, I want to see the general!" ”

Ma Chao didn't think about it, so he replied directly: "No!" Let's just say I slept! ”

Pang De said: "General, this is not good, General Xu visited late at night, there must be something important, and at present, only General Xu and the general have a good relationship, if General Xu is offended again, we really have no place here!" ”

Ma Chao thought about it, sat up from the bed, tidied up his clothes, and said, "Let him come in, I want to see if he has something important, he has to come at this time!" (To be continued.) )

...