An army of 50,000 men marched out of Yucheng with neat steps, and the fiery red armor of the officers and soldiers poured out of the city like a rolling wave of blood.

Walking at the forefront of this army on horseback was none other than Liu Wei in golden armor.

The rising morning sun shone on Liu Wei's armor, and the golden armor reflected the dazzling light, making him feel a sense of nobility and honor.

Five days have passed since the decision to send troops, and Liu Wei has received definite news. Dongjun Taishou Qiao Mao has really been killed by Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou, and the Yanzhou area is already in chaos.

Dong Zhuo evacuated Luoyang, and when he left, he ordered the Xiliang army to set a fire in the city, and the bustling capital was engulfed by fire in a few nights and turned into a scorched ruin. The goods in the city were also looted when the Xiliang army withdrew.

The alliance of princes entered Luoyang, and what they seized was nothing more than worthless wasteland. The princes from all walks of life, who were already suspicious of each other, became more and more intense after Liu Dai led the army to rush into Qiao Mao's camp, and finally led to their parting ways and dispersing.

Liu Wei, who was already hopeless about the alliance of princes, just pouted and smiled after getting these news, and didn't pay much attention to it.

Leaving Yucheng, Liu Wei led an army of 50,000 to the north, but his destination was not Anyi, but the salt prison, which was only ten miles away from Anyi.

Liu Wei led the army out of Yucheng, and the two generals defending the city stood side by side at the head of the city, looking at the army that was gradually moving away, one of the generals said to the other: "Your Highness's northern expedition this time, I think you will be able to take the entire Hedong in the near future!" ”

"Your Highness is the king of heaven, just Hedong, why bother?" The other general pouted and smiled, and said to the general beside him: "Brother, you should reorganize the troops and horses of your headquarters now, step up training, and it won't be long before you get the order to defend the city!" ”

"It's inevitable!" Looking at the army that was already hazy in the reflection of the morning sun, another general said with a touch of loss on his face: "The main force is attacking the city, and we are waiting to defend the city, I really don't know when I will have the opportunity to go into battle to kill the enemy!" ”

The general standing beside him heard this, sighed lightly and said: "Your Highness said that it is easy to attack a city and difficult to defend a city, so you and I should do our duties with peace of mind!" ”

At the same time, Anyi, dozens of miles north of Yucheng. The king of Hedong County sat in the council hall of the official government, and under him, there were more than a dozen civil and military officials of Hedong sitting on both sides.

"Everyone has heard that King Hongnong broke through the Baibo army and occupied the three places of Dayang, Xiayang and Yucheng, and now he is leading the army to attack Yanjian!" Kneeling on the throne, Wang Yi looked around at the officials in the room and said to them: "The salt prison is an important place for salt production, and the area east of the river has always been dominated by salt transportation. What do you think is the way to keep the salt prison safe? ”

"There are 50,000 officers and troops in Anyi!" As soon as Wang Yi's words were finished, an elderly official stood up, clasped his fists and bowed to him and said: "There are only more than 1,000 defenders in each city, and the subordinates heard that the soldiers and horses led by King Hongnong are also 50,000, and there are still tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Yucheng to prepare for battle. ”

Wang Yi looked up at the old official standing in the middle of the hall, furrowed his brows slightly, and asked him: "Then according to Huang Gongcao's meaning, this time the county guard should give up the salt prison?" ”

"Not really!" The old official who spoke was Huang Boxi, the official of Dongjun Gong, and when he heard Wang Yi's words, he hurriedly bowed down and said: "The subordinates don't think that the county guard should give up the salt prison, but they just think that they can't force themselves to fight!" ”

"Isn't Huang Gongcao already having a plan?" Listening to Huang Boxi's words, Wang Yi bowed slightly, and asked him with a bit of laziness in his tone: "What is the plan of Gongcao?" Hurry up! ”

"Qiyu County Guard!" Huang Boxi hurriedly bowed down and responded: "To the south of the salt prison, the water is crossing, and then to the south is Zhongtiao Mountain. The art of war is cloudy, and the back of the mountain is born and the water is dead, this time our army and the king of Hongnong will go the opposite way! ”

"How does Gong Cao plan to oppose the law?" As a county guard, Wang Yi also knows a little about the art of war, and when he heard Huang Boxi say that he wanted to act against the common sense of the soldiers, he knelt down and stood up, his expression was more solemn, and he made a gesture of invitation to Huang Boxi and said: "I want to hear it in detail!" ”

"The reason why Nakajo Mountain got its name is because it is steep and straight like a knife!" Huang Boxi straightened up, stretched out his hand to stroke the snow-white goatee on his chin, and a treacherous and cunning smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said to Wang Yi: "The army of King Hongnong is approaching the salt prison and must pass through Zhongtiao Mountain. With the mountain situation of Zhongtiao Mountain, even if the road is familiar, it can only allow a small number of soldiers and horses to pass through, and the army leans on this mountain, which is no different from death! Our army will give up the raw land that this soldier said to King Hongnong, why not? ”

"And what about the dead ground?" Wang Yi nodded slowly, then looked at Huang Boxi, and asked him, "The land of birth was given to King Hongnong, and where is the place of death?" How should it be arranged? ”

"After the middle of the mountain, it is the water! The narrow riverbed and gentle flow of the water are the key to our army's decisive victory in this battle! Huang Boxi put down his hand twisting his beard, kept a smile on his wrinkled face, and said to Wang Yi: "There are 50,000 troops in Anyi City, and the county guard can take 40,000 to intercept King Hongnong, and the remaining 10,000 will advance westward along the Lianshui River, and cut off the river ten miles upstream, so that the downstream riverbed will be lowered." Engage with the king of Hongnong, the county guard can only be defeated and invincible, and when our officers and soldiers retreat to the north of the water, the king of Hongnong will see that the riverbed is low and shallow, and he will definitely wave his troops to pursue! At that time, the upstream officers and soldiers will break the dam and release water, and how can the 50,000-strong army fight the flood beast? ”

After listening to Huang Boxi's words, Wang Yi knelt there, was stunned for a while before nodding, and asked the rest of the officials present, "Do you have any good plans?" ”

The officials sitting on both sides of the main hall knelt upright, and no one answered. Wang Yi waited for a while before one of the generals stood up, clasped his fists and said to him: "The county guard is going to conquer the king of Hongnong this time, and the last general is willing to be the pioneer!" ”

Walking to the middle of the hall, the military attache was burly and wearing a suit of ink-colored scale armor, and when he stood in the main hall, he was as stocky as an iron tower.

"General Xiahou is willing to be the vanguard, and the county guard can rest assured that he will fight!" Glancing at the military attache standing in the middle of the main hall, Wang Yi stood up, waved his hand at everyone, and said to them: "This time, the county guard personally supervises the army, General Xiahou is the vanguard, and Huang Gongcao supervises the transportation of grain and grass. ”

Wang Yi decided to fight, and all the officials in the house stood up together, clasped their fists and said to him: "Congratulations on the victory of the county guard!" ”

In Anyi City, the officers and soldiers of Hedong were ready to go, and Liu Wei led an army of 50,000 at this time to advance in the direction of Yanjian without hurry.

The salt prison they want to attack is the Yuncheng of the later generations. The well salt reserves here are abundant, and the well salt trafficking is very profitable, which is the main economic lifeline of the Hedong area.

To seize Hedong, Xu Shu chose the salt prison as the place of the first battle, and it was expected that once something happened to the salt prison, the Hedong army in Anyi City would definitely go out to rescue it.

Whether or not they can defeat the Hedong Army in the Yanjian area is the key to capturing the entire Hedong County.

The 50,000-strong army advanced in the direction of Yanjian without hurry, until it reached the sunset west mountain, and Liu Wei saw a narrow mountain range in front of him from a distance.

The mountain range was very different from the mountains he had seen before, with long and steep mountains. There are very few tall trees on the mountain, and from a distance, the whole mountain gives the impression of being bare and lacking much life.

If an army were marching on the mountain, the people outside the mountain would surely see through the march at a glance.

Looking at the mountains in a straight line in the distance, Liu Wei raised his arm and shouted to the army behind him: "Stop advancing and camp in place!" ”

The 50,000-strong army gradually stopped marching, and the soldiers, under the command of the officers, began to set up their marching tents.

On the top of the mountains in the distance, an orange sunset poked out half of its head lazily, as if it was about to fall down the mountain at any moment.

Liu Wei turned his head to look at the officers and soldiers who were setting up the camp tent behind him, and the few officers and soldiers nearby, their red clothes and armor were as gorgeous as blood-stained under the reflection of the setting sun.

Looking at the busy officers and soldiers for a while, Liu Wei turned around and looked at the straight mountains in the distance, and after a while, Zhao Yun walked behind him and whispered to him: "Your Highness, the handsome tent has been tied!" ”

"Zilong!" Turning his head to look at Zhao Yun standing behind him, Liu Wei pointed to the mountains in the distance and asked him, "Do you know where to go?" ”

"Nakajo Mountain!" Looking at the mountains in the distance, Zhao Yun, whose silver armor glowed with orange shimmer in the setting sun, stepped forward, stood behind Liu Wei's side, and said to him: "Before going on the expedition, the military advisor had told the last general about this mountain. ”

"Tomorrow, our army will be stationed at the entrance to the mountain, waiting for the Hedong Army to fight our army in a decisive battle there!" Looking at Zhongtiao Mountain in the distance, a confident smile appeared on the corner of Liu Wei's mouth, and he said to Zhao Yun: "Even if we can't completely annihilate the Hedong Army in this battle, we must let them suffer huge losses, otherwise it will be extremely difficult for our army to take Hedong!" ”

"The last general is willing to be a pioneer!" As soon as Liu Wei's words fell, Zhao Yun clasped his hands into fists, bowed slightly and said to him: "At the end of this battle, we will definitely obtain the head of Wang Yi and seize the Hedong sacrifice flag for His Highness!" ”

"Killing Wang Yi is a trivial matter!" Liu Wei waved his hand at Zhao Yun with a smile, and said to him: "Han Xian is the vanguard in this battle, Zilong is a strange soldier, and there are other important arrangements, if Zilong is the vanguard, wouldn't it be a knife to kill chickens?" ”

The vanguard has always been the most important thing in marching and fighting, but in Liu Wei's mouth, the vanguard of this battle has become insignificant, which really makes Zhao Yun feel a little puzzled.

Turning his head to look at Zhao Yun, seeing a little confusion in his expression, Liu Wei turned around and patted him lightly on the arm, and said to him with a smile: "Whether you can win this battle or not depends on Zilong!" ”

Before the expedition, Zhao Yun did not get an order about the details of the battle, and from Liu Wei's expression, Zhao Yun did not think that he would immediately plan and explain the plan, so he didn't ask much, but just hugged his fists and responded.

After all, the sun set on the top of the mountain, and the earth was immersed in a misty gloom. In the wilderness less than ten miles away from Zhongtiao Mountain, tens of thousands of camp tents are densely arranged.

In the tightly packed tents, every few tents, there is an open space. Each open space is topped by a three-legged wooden stand, and at the top of each stand is a blazing brazier.