"How many of them are there?" Hearing that Niu Fu's army was twenty miles away from the west of the village, Liu Wei frowned and asked the man, "Why didn't the scouts we sent out find them?" ”

"Back to the general!" The man was twisted by two soldiers, trembling all over, and replied tremblingly: "The army is stationed in the mountains and forests, and no tents have been set up, so it has not been discovered!" General Niu wanted to come to the village early tomorrow morning to check, but he found a few fast horses passing down the mountain, so he ordered the two of us to come and investigate! ”

"The Tanma I'm waiting for has become someone else's news!" Liu Wei's brows furrowed slightly, and he turned his head to Zhou Cang on the side and said, "Please invite the military advisor and General Zhao to come to my room." ”

"No!" Zhou Cang replied and waved his hand at a soldier, who turned around and ran towards the room where Xu Shu lived, and he asked Liu Wei, who had already entered Tao Hu's house with one foot, "What should I do with this person?" ”

Liu Wei didn't reply, he walked straight into the house, and only left a sentence to Zhou Cang: "After killing, bury them well!" ”

The man who confessed the truth thought that he could not die, but when Liu Wei said that he wanted to kill, he was stunned for a moment, and was about to open his mouth to beg for mercy, when a soldier had already walked up to him, reached out and grabbed his hair bun, and slashed his long sword at his neck.

The poor man was full of expectations to be able to live, but he didn't think that after confessing, he would still be unable to escape death!

Blood gushed from his neck, and the man's eyes widened, and after the two soldiers who twisted him let go, he fell down unwillingly.

Liu Wei killed Dong Zhuojun's Tanma, and in the mountains and forests more than ten miles away from Taojiazhuang, Tao Hu and several villagers were squatting in a dense forest, planning something together.

"The nearby villages were all looted by the thieves, and all the villagers were plundered, and although we tried our best to rescue them, we only managed to get more than 300 Ding Zhuang!" A man squatting next to Tao Hu frowned tightly, looked at Tao Hu and said to him: "The brother who went to investigate brought back the news, Niu Fu brought a total of 2,000 soldiers and horses, and they have enough soldiers and food, and we are all old and weak, and we are really powerless to fight!" ”

Listening to the man's words, Tao Hu also frowned, and muttered for a moment before saying to a few men beside him: "Mr. taught me that when I lived, I had to straighten my waist and live!" If you are driven like a dog, you might as well die clean! ”

"Brother Tao Hu is right!" The other men around him nodded their heads one after another, echoing Tao Hu's words.

Several men echoed Tao Hu, and the man who proposed that there were many Niu auxiliary soldiers raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Taojiazhuang and said: "There is still a road of people stationed in Taojiazhuang, although it is not clear whose command it is, but it may also be the team sent by Dong Zhuo's old thief to arrest people!" If we have killed so many officers and soldiers, I am afraid that there is no reason to live! ”

"Are you afraid?" Tao Hu turned his head, glanced at the man, and said to him angrily: "If you are afraid, you can leave and surrender to Niu Fu, maybe he will not kill you, but just escort you to Chang'an!" ”

"From the day I killed the officers and soldiers, I was no longer afraid!" The man smiled bitterly, turned his head to look at the dense forest behind him, and said, "I will die when I die, but there are still old people, women and children in several villages, what should they do?" ”

Tao Hu and the men were discussing, and there was a rustling of footsteps from the depths of the forest, and more than a dozen figures slowly approached them.

"Who?" Hearing the footsteps, Tao Hu and a few men hurriedly grabbed the firewood knife, turned their heads and stared at the figure walking towards them, Tao Hu lowered his voice and asked.

"Young people kill thieves, although we are old, we are willing to do something for the village!" As soon as Tao Hu's shouting and questioning fell, a black shadow walking towards them said in an old voice: "Tomorrow we are all willing to fight!" ”

"Third uncle, why are you here?" Hearing that voice, Tao Hu and a few men hurriedly stood up, walked up to the old man who was talking, and in front of the old people, Tao Hu said to the third uncle who walked in front: "The old man is old, how can he participate in the war, if I die in battle tomorrow, I hope you elders take care!" ”

The third uncle sighed lightly, shook his head, and glanced at the forest behind him, where many old people, women and children walked out, and these people who came out were all holding hoes, shovels and other farm tools in their hands.

"It's not just me who is going to kill the thief army!" Glancing at the people who were walking this way, the third uncle said to Tao Hu: "Sir's words are not only for you young men, but also for all the villagers. Sir is right, even if it is death, we will die standing up! Die like a man! The villagers have discussed it properly, and tomorrow they will intercept and kill the thief army, and the elderly, women and children will all participate in the battle! ”

"Third uncle, I can't help it!" As soon as the third uncle's words were finished, Tao Hu hurriedly wanted to stop him, but the third uncle waved his hand and stopped what he was about to say.

"The villagers just asked me to tell you to wait, not to ask you to wait for a promise, this matter will be handled like this, don't say more!" Blocking Tao Hu's persuasion, the third uncle dropped a sentence, took a few old people and the villagers who came over, and turned around and went to the forest.

Looking at the trembling back of the third uncle, Tao Hu slowly closed his eyes, and two lines of tears slipped down his cheeks.

In order to resist the forced migration, many nearby villagers gathered on the mountain, but they never imagined that the cost of doing so would drive them to a dead end.

Tomorrow's battle is just the last struggle they have done in order to live with dignity!

In Taojiazhuang, Tao Hu's home.

Liu Wei and Xu Shu sat face to face in the hall, and on a wooden shelf not far behind Liu Wei, a white candle that had been burned for most of it was shaking and flickering, spreading a dim light into the room.

Zhou Cang and Zhao Yun knelt on the side of Liu Wei and Xu Shu, and the four of them formed a circle, and Liu Wei, Zhao Yun, and Zhou Cang's eyes all stayed on Xu Shu's face.

The candle flame shook slightly, and the light of the fire dimmed instantly, and Dian Wei, who was the only one standing in the room, walked to the white candle and gently stirred the wick with his halberd.

Although the white candles of this era look very similar to the candles of later generations, its wick is not tied by several thin threads twisted together like the candles of later generations, but a whole thick twine.

The whole candle wick cannot be naturally scattered and fallen off when burning, and someone needs to cut the candle wick every time it burns, otherwise not only the brightness will be reduced a lot, but also the candle may be extinguished due to the bending of the candle wick.

Dian Wei picked off the wick that was too long, and the candle flame flickered twice, but the room was a little brighter than before.

"There are only more than 2,000 people in Niu Fu......" Sitting opposite Liu Bian, Xu Shu looked up at the burning candle not far behind Liu Bian, and asked Liu Bian: "Does Your Highness have a plan?" ”

"Set up an ambush in Taojiazhuang and defend Taojiazhuang!" Liu Wei frowned slightly, and said to Xu Shu: "In terms of numbers, the Niu Auxiliary Army is not as good as our army, and our army still has two thousand people who dare to die, just wait until they come here, our army will suddenly attack, and they will definitely be able to annihilate them in one fell swoop!" ”

"No!" Xu Shu shook his head and said to Liu Wei: "The thief army has been planted in the hands of His Highness several times in the past, and when I came here, I am afraid that when I learned that there was a large army nearby, I already thought that it would be His Highness. Niu Fu will not enter Taojiazhuang easily, if they set a fire outside the village......"

As soon as Xu Shu said this, Liu Wei was stunned for a moment.

He had set fire to Dong Zhuojun several times, but this time he ignored it, he was not the only one who could set fires, Dong Zhuojun also knew how to set fires.

"Our army should set up an ambush five miles west of the village this night, and the thief army will stay until dawn, and will definitely advance to the village, when the main formation of our army and the enemy army will face the enemy head-on, and when the enemy army rushes to kill our army, the ambush will burst out, and the enemy army will be able to gather and annihilate the enemy outside the village!" Seeing that Liu Wei was stunned for a moment but didn't speak, Xu Shu then said to him: "If you can capture Niu Fu alive, it will definitely make Dong Zhuo very angry!" ”

"Zhao Yun!" As soon as Xu Shu said his strategy, Liu Wei said to Zhao Yun, who was sitting on the side: "Except for the soldiers on duty at night, you lead all the officers and soldiers who can see normally, and immediately set off and rush to ambush five miles outside the village. Zhou Cang, when all the scouts sent out come back, let them rest, and ask them to enter the mountains and forests early tomorrow morning to find people! ”

"The Chinese army is jointly controlled by me and the military division! Dian Wei stayed in the Chinese army and fought as a vanguard! Frowning slightly, Liu Wei said to everyone in the room with a serious face: "In tomorrow's battle, the number of our army is several times that of the thief army, and this battle is related to whether our army can gain a firm foothold in the Luoyang area, and we can only win but not lose!" ”

"No!" Liu Wei gave the order, and everyone in the room stood up and responded with fists in unison.

"Strategist, go slowly!" Everyone received the order and left one after another, and when Xu Shu was about to walk to the door, Liu Wei shouted to him.

Hearing Liu Biao shouting at him, Xu Shu turned around and asked Liu Bian, "I don't know if His Highness still has anything to order?" ”

"It doesn't matter!" Walking to Xu Shu's side, Liu Wei looked at the night outside the house and said to him: "This king is just thinking, after finding the villagers, how to settle the old and weak women and children?" ”

"The old, the weak, women and children can all fight!" As soon as Liu Wei's words fell, Xu Shu said to him with a smile: "A soldier seeks victory, not in the strength or weakness, not in the number, but in the heart!" ”

"What's the explanation?" Xu Shu said that the old and weak women and children could fight, Liu Wei frowned slightly, and asked him: "What does the military advisor mean, is it possible that we will drive the old and weak women and children to the battlefield in the future?" ”

"The old and weak should not be used to charge into battle, and women and children are not enough to drive them to fight on the battlefield." Xu Shu smiled slightly and said to Liu Wei: "But the old and weak can transport military rations and supply supplies; Women and children can farm and weave, recuperate! This is a heart-attacking technique, His Royal Highness has no land to hold, and this matter can be considered in the future. ”

"Yes!" Liu Wei nodded, sighed lightly and said: "But after finding the villagers, they want to find a place to settle down, and I'm afraid they won't be able to do anything more in the future." ”