Eight hundred miles of Taihang is from ancient times to the present, people use to describe the Taihang Mountain majestic and magnificent, majestic sentences. But in the Xuzhou boundary, people will also use the 800 miles of horse tombs to describe this hilly mountain range that is far from the Taihang Mountain.

Although the mountain of Maling Mountain runs through the north and south, there are always more than 400 li, which can barely deserve the title of 800 li Maling. But this mountain is far from being majestic, and the elevation of its highest peak is only more than 180 meters, not to mention that compared with the majestic Taihang Mountain, when you go to the mountainous place in the south, any small hill is more precipitous than here.

However, since ancient times, the strategic position of Malingshan has been very important, and it is a battleground for soldiers.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the Great Wall of Qi to defend the southern border was built on the Maling Mountains, and the most famous pass was the first Xiongguan in the world at that time - Muling Pass.

During the Warring States Period, the pinnacle duel between the famous generals Pang Juan and Sun Bin also took place here, which shows the importance of the strategic position here.

To put it bluntly, it is also very simple, only a mountain like Maling Mountain can be used by soldiers to carry out a large corps battle. In a place like Taihang Mountain, there is no place to stay, even if Xiongguan is built, who will trek through mountains and rivers to attack?

The terrain around Tancheng is flat and open, and only Maling Mountain is considered a dangerous place, which can be used, and it is very logical for Wang Yu to choose this place as the place for the decisive battle.

The camp of the Qingzhou Army is located on the edge of Maling Mountain, which is a gentle slope with a small slope, and from the topography, it can be regarded as the entrance to the hilly area. The hillside did not have a name, because Wang Yu stationed his horse here to break the enemy, and later the locals built an archway here to commemorate the battle, and named it the Arc de Triomphe.

Zhao Yun and Wei Yan each led a battalion of cavalry and were ordered to ambush in a mountain col about five miles north of the mountain.

After two days of rest, the fatigue from sniper warfare and forced marches has almost recovered. Zhao Yun was still the same, with a hint of perseverance in his calm expression, but Wei Yan was a little irritable.

The previous attack on Que Xuan was the first time he led his troops to carry out a mission alone, and he was dispatched with Zhao Yun, although he didn't say it, he secretly had the intention of competing in his heart.

The result of the contest made him very disappointed, and Zhao Yun's attack made Cao Bao anxious, with an army of 15,000. was held back by five hundred cavalry, and such a result was not brilliant.

On the other hand, on his side, it is very worrying. He has a lot of means, but Que Xuan turns a blind eye and listens to it. just hurried with his head down, leaving no flaws at all.

According to Wang Yu's prior explanation, Wei Yan's harassment should be limited to destroying Buddhism-related buildings and totems, but driven by anxiety, Wei Yan did much more than that, and later. He burned the temple with people!

"Benevolence and righteousness are made to show people, which general doesn't have thousands of white bones piled up there behind him!" Wei Yan comforted herself, the teacher often said that the lord was too rigid and straight. He is a sharp blade, and those things that are inconvenient and unwilling to be done by the lord are his own duties.

Thinking like this, a violent atmosphere arises spontaneously.

He's not alone. This violent atmosphere infected almost everyone. On one side is the temptation of victory and survival, mixed with the thrill of killing. On the other side is conformism, losing the territory that has been acquired, and everyone knows what they should choose.

Maybe in the future, when he is old, he will look at his hands in the dark and blame himself for one sleepless night. But now, he was able to take a shortcut.

Although this shortcut had to be paved by countless corpses, he did not regret it.

What really frustrated him was that this shortcut still didn't lead to victory. All kinds of signs show that Que Xuan has been so angry that the three corpses are furious, and there is smoke in the seven orifices, but he just refuses to follow Wei Yan's drama.

As a result, Wei Yanping killed Houqiu and Siwu in vain, and burned black smoke to cover the sky, but he just failed to achieve his real goal. If he hadn't received Wang Yu's strict orders in advance, he wouldn't dare to attack Que Xuan's main force without authorization, he would really have the heart to fight a night attack.

Resentment, anxiety, doubt, and a little bit of guilt, all kinds of emotions mixed together, and finally turned into full violence. Not only the people around him, but even Zhao Yun in the distance.

"General, would it be better for you to persuade you? In case ......" a guard reminded in a low voice.

Zhao Yun looked at Wei Yan, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he quickly stretched out again, shook his head, and said softly: "The lord often says that in order to change the way, everyone has something that everyone admires. The long troubles can only be solved by himself, and it is useless to persuade outsiders. Don't worry, the chief is not a reckless person, and it will not affect the lord's plans. ”

Suddenly, Zhao Yun's eyes condensed slightly, and he raised his fingers, Wei Yan, who was not far away, also narrowed his eyes, and the cavalrymen covered the horse's mouth with their hands at the same time.

The enemy appeared, slowly following the midday sun, over the wilderness in the distance.

When the silence fell, people noticed that there was a strong wind blowing from southeast to northwest. At the same time, strong sunlight also shines from the south.

While being discovered by the enemy, Cao Bao also found his prey. Judging from the size of the enemy army, he even guessed that there would be ambushes nearby, so he made adjustments, put up a wedge-shaped attack formation, and ordered 8,000 soldiers to press, 3,000 soldiers to flank and guard, and 4,000 soldiers to act as rearguards.

On the side of the river, he also put 2,000 men and horses. The lesson of being attacked by Zhao Yun before was too painful, and he had to pay attention.

He didn't plan to do what Chen Qi had planned in advance, although that could drag the enemy army back or drive him away, and then affect the situation in the world and lead to a major war in the Central Plains, but it would not be of much benefit to Cao Bao.

What he is most afraid of is that Wang Yu burns grain and retreats, the Qingzhou family has a big business, and it doesn't matter if he doesn't have these grains and grass, but Cao Bao cares very much. Now is spring, it is the season when food is the most tight, there are not enough reserves, what will he take to fight with Que Xuan for the East China Sea, and what will he take to resist the retaliation of the Qingzhou army?

Driven by such a line of thought, in the last fifty miles, he suddenly accelerated, left Que Xuan behind, and grabbed this first move. In order to seize the favorable terrain, he took the initiative to attack the Qingzhou army in Malingshan. In this way, after Que Xuan arrived, he could only choose between honestly attacking the city and joining Cao Bao's command.

Cao Bao's move. It was indeed beyond the expectations of many people, including Chen Ye.

After Wang Yu took over the Xuzhou Army, veterans like Chen Ye were promoted to varying degrees. This is Tao Qian's purpose of helping them in life, but allowing them to be suppressed in the officialdom, and the old man wants to leave the opportunity to be a good person and show grace to Wang Yu.

Among them, Chen Ye's promotion degree is the largest, from the original tun commander, to become the infantry captain of Xuzhou.

Although he was promoted quickly, no one was envious of Chen Duwei because of the first task he took on. It is to lead the county soldiers and organize the people to defend Tancheng.

There are many people who have similar thoughts to Cao Bao, thinking that Wang Yu's arrangement is to facilitate the evacuation, and he has abandoned Tancheng.

Wait until Tancheng is captured. Cao Bao and Que Xuan may not kill too many people in order to calm people's hearts, but the few leaders must not let go, the old and new forces alternate, and they always have to see some blood, otherwise how can they kill chickens and monkeys?

Before Wang Yu came, it was Xu Fang and Cao Hong who died. Now it's Chen Ye's turn as the new lieutenant, what is there to envy?

No one is optimistic about him, and no one is optimistic about the prospects of the Qingzhou Army.

No matter how strong a military general is, he is also a human being, and the enemy has a gap to take advantage of. Only by stratagem can the decay be turned into magic and play a role in reversing the situation. But the other party is advancing steadily, and he doesn't miss anything, so what's the use of being resourceful?

War. After all, we still have to compete for strength.

In front of the 20,000 troops who were waiting for the battle, Qingzhou's 4,000 men and horses were too thin.

And Tancheng, which was defended only by the county soldiers and the common people. It's as thin as a piece of paper. In recent days, the atmosphere among the generals and soldiers of the Xuzhou army has become very strange, with less public communication and more whispering in private. When acquaintances meet, they rarely greet each other directly, but they like to look at each other, everything is unspoken.

In such an atmosphere, the morale of the Xuzhou army, which was already very low, became even more depressed. There are fewer and fewer people who are willing to defend the city regardless of themselves, and even Wang Yu's recent large-scale wealth has not been able to play an immediate role.

Everyone wondered if the robes, who were not familiar with each other, would secretly open the gates of the city when the enemy was attacking the city, or lay down a rope at night and flee outside the city with their heads or intelligence.

After all, the enemy army outside the city was once his own people, who knows who has an unknown relationship with whom, and then gave birth to some unknown deeds?

On the contrary, the people in the city have a high fighting spirit, and those who are officials can surrender, and those who are soldiers can also surrender, and only the people have no choice. Everyone is worried that after the city changes hands, the windfall that they have just made will be robbed.

The logic of self-interest is simple, simple, and at the same time straightforward. It's just that in the war, the people can only play an auxiliary role, and in the case of the army's morale and the lack of fighting spirit, the city defense of Tancheng is indeed worrying.

Chen Ye had been worried about this for several days, and the moment he saw Cao Bao's army, his heart almost jumped out of his throat. As a result, he was very surprised to see that Cao Bao actually gave up Tancheng, which was like fat on his lips, and rushed straight to Maling Mountain.

In the current situation, Chen Ye didn't believe that Cao Bao would not know about Tancheng's arrangement.

Due to the combined effect of many factors such as the amount of information, ordinary people's vision is very short-sighted, they will not consider how to be in the future, how strong Qingzhou is, the vast majority of people only see what is in front of them - Cao Bao and Que Xuan's 20,000 coalition troops, it is difficult to resist, and it also thwarts many of Wang Yu's plans.

Therefore, there are so many people who tend to be inflammatory, and it is impossible for Wang Yu to completely block the news, Cao Bao should know Tancheng well.

But as a result, just as Wang Yu explained in advance, Cao Baojun really gave up Tancheng, which was at his fingertips, and ran to gnaw hard bones.

The conversation between Wang Yu and Chen Ye happened on the day he inspected the troops. It was also on that day that he adjusted his deployment and made a gesture of abandoning Tancheng.

His orders were simple and strange, requiring Chen Ye to work hard to organize his defenses and make an appearance to complete the mission. If Cao Bao started to attack the city, even if he surrendered directly, he would not be regarded as a rebel, let alone retaliate.

Chen Ye joined the army as a young man, and now he is over forty years old, in his long military career, such a strange order, let alone he received it, he has never even heard of it, and he was stunned at the time.

Later, Wang Yu seemed to explain a few more words, but he didn't listen to it at all, he only remembered that the young general waved his hand very imposingly, and said confidently: "Cao Bao will definitely not attack the city on a large scale, and Que Xuan's troop configuration is not suitable for attacking the city, so General Chen, you just need to make an appearance and wait for the final result." ”

Thinking back on this passage afterwards, Chen Ye was also skeptical, but now that he looks at it, Wang Yu's judgment has really become a reality!

Just when the soldiers in the city looked down on Wang Yu, what Chen Ye, an insider, felt was a shock from the depths of his soul!

Foremost like God? No, Wang Yu simply treats Cao Bao as a puppet with a thread, if he wants the other party to move, he only needs to mention the thread in his hand, this is not a war, but a trick!

Looking at Maling Mountain in the distance, Chen Ye vaguely saw the figure of the mighty god, the other party seemed to be saying something, and suddenly, he had a kind of understanding, the result of this battle may surprise many people as always.