On the third watch of the moonlit night, the inner courtyard of Anyi County was silent.

Prior to this, there had been a constant commotion in the dormitories at the back of the inner hall for nearly two hours.

The details are not for outsiders.

Only the two maids next to the dormitory could hear it clearly, so that the two of them were red-faced and red-eared, and their whole bodies were unbearably hot.

Until the whole backyard was completely quiet, their hearts were still swaying and they couldn't sleep.

Even though they couldn't participate and suffered from the noise, they were happy. Because this is the voice they want to see and hear the most, it is a good sign, a good beginning, and maybe it will not be long before they will be able to get their wish, share the blessings, and be irrigated like a long drought.

"Knock knock!"

The silence in the backyard was broken by a hurried knock on the door, followed by a messy, stumbling sound of footsteps.

"My lord! At the end, there will be an urgent military intelligence report, which is a matter of great importance, and the Lord needs to make a quick decision! ”

At this time, the people who dared to come to disturb Li Li's rest, except for Li Zhi, the commander of Jin Yiwei, there was no second person.

After eagerly speaking, Li Zhi paced back and forth outside the door of the inner hall. At this moment, he was far from the only one standing outside the door waiting for Li Li to receive him, and there were more than ten main generals of the Anyi battalion under the steps, among which Guo Jia, Teng Xiao, Ma Chao, Xu Huang and others were impressively listed.

In addition, there were also generals who were not in the Anyi camp before, which were the generals of the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Zhang Liao: Xu Chu, Chen Zhi, Qubei and He Man.

"Squeak!" As the red-dressed maid opened the door, Li Li appeared in the middle of the inner hall wearing a brocade robe, sleepy-eyed and fluffy with his mouth yawning, as if he had just fallen asleep and was woken up by Li Zhi's knock on the door.

"The matter is urgent, disturbing the rest of the lord, and the general will confess."

I saw Li Li come out. Li Zhi stepped into the inner hall, bowed, and said urgently: "Lord, there may be enemy troops in Anyi City who are plotting against each other!" ”

"What?" When Li Li heard this, a look of annoyance instantly appeared on his face, and he asked angrily, "The enemy army can actually sneak into Anyi City?" What the hell is going on, how did they get into the city, how many people are there, and what are their identities? What's the intention? ”

Saying all the questions in one breath, Li Li got dressed while talking, then walked to the main seat and sat down, his anger eased slightly, and he waved his hand to signal Li Zhi to sit down and reply.

After taking a seat. Li Zhi said respectfully: "My lord, according to what the last general's personal soldiers said. The enemy army that infiltrated Anyi Castle was about 600 people. It was full of cavalry, and they had infiltrated the city about an hour earlier. The last general just now led his own soldiers to search for them within three miles of the county guard's mansion, but they did not find their whereabouts, presumably these people are lurking in a mansion somewhere in the city at this moment, and their whereabouts are unknown. As for the specific identities of these people, the last general is unknown. I don't know what these people are trying to do. ”

"Huh? So, you haven't seen any of these people, and you're not even sure if there's a spy in the city, right? Li Li asked in a deep voice.

Li Zhi was stunned when he heard this. He nodded in response, "Exactly." Neither the last general nor the generals outside the gate had seen the enemy troops infiltrating the city, and the defenders of the gate did not find anything unusual, so that we wondered if the information was wrong. However, some people saw this enemy army coming straight to Anyi City, and saw the enemy generals leading the team, and the soldiers guarding the east gate also confirmed that there was indeed a cavalry of about 600 people entering the city an hour ago! ”

"How do you know that this cavalry is an enemy and not ours?" Li Lijian's eyebrows frowned slightly, and he said in a deep voice.

Li Zhi replied: "My lord, the reason why the last general is sure that the cavalry that entered the city at an hour is the enemy army is because our army has all returned to the camp before evening, and the defenders of Dongyuan City have all withdrawn to Anyi City when it is dark. That is to say, most of the people who entered the city after dark were the people who had withdrawn from Dongyuan Castle to Anyi, but there were no soldiers. From this it can be concluded that this cavalry is not our army, but the enemy army, dressed in our army armor, mixed with the people and entered the city. ”

Li Li bowed slightly, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Oh, by the way, you said that someone saw the enemy army coming to Anyi City with his own eyes, where is this person now?" ”

"My lord, the person who witnessed this incident is Xu Huang's personal soldiers, and the last general gave them three days of vacation before that, and asked them to send their families to Chang'an City for settlement, and then return to the camp to report." Li Zhigong said.

After a pause in his tone, he continued: "This person's name is Li Yuncong, he is seventeen years old, and he is from Li Zhuang in Dongyuan County, and he is waiting outside the door at this moment. ”

"Oh, good, let him in." Li Li nodded lightly and said.

After a while, I saw Li Yuncong, who was wearing a patched coarse cloth coat, walked into the inner hall quickly, knelt down and said: "The personal army under General Sima Xu Huang of the left army of Jin Yiwei led Li Yuncong to meet the general, oh no, meet the lord!" ”

Li Yuncong, who met Li Li at close range for the first time, seemed nervous and excited at the moment, and was a little incoherent.

Seeing Li Yuncong's slightly immature face, Li Li quickly wiped away his anger, with a faint smile on his face, and raised his hand in a calm tone and said: "You are Gongming's personal soldier, and in the future, you will be my Li Li's personal soldier, and you have the same surname as me, so you are your own brother." Yun Cong doesn't have to be restrained, get up and reply, and report what you see in detail, and don't hide it! ”

"No!" Li Yuncong got up as promised, and reported in 1510: "About two hours ago, I took my mother, sister, and grandfather to Anyi with the people of Zhuangzhong, and when I walked to the Chaoyangpo mountain pass 30 miles away from the east gate, five or six hundred cavalrymen suddenly rushed behind me, wearing the half-body armor of the defenders of Dongyuan City, and when they encountered the people, they did not stop at all, and they went on a rampage and whipped the people, and also cut down more than ten innocent women and children. At that time, I felt that these people were not like the cavalry of our army, because our army was strictly disciplined, and I would definitely not act so recklessly.

Then a general dressed in a general's armor shouted and reprimanded the colonel Kailu, and then although these people no longer killed people at will, they still went on a rampage, as if they were in a hurry. After they walked away, I found that the war horses they were riding were not Xiliang war horses, but Wuhuan war horses from Youzhou; Moreover, each of them is armed with a long weapon, and a sword is tied around his waist, which is not the same as the Dongyuan defenders who only have long weapons.

In addition, I also knew that the defenders of Dongyuan Castle were evacuated in the afternoon, and if they marched in a hurry, they should be able to reach Anyi around evening. And my fellow villagers and I did not meet any of our soldiers along the way, which means that they are in front of us, not behind. From this, I judged that the more than 600 cavalry must have been the enemy's disguise. The purpose was to sneak into the city before the people entered the city, and there must have been a plan. So I pursued the cavalry, following the dust left behind by their galloping horses to the city of Anyi, but unfortunately I was nearly half an hour behind them, so I did not find out where they had landed when they entered the city. ”

Li Li bowed slightly, looked at Li Yuncong with appreciation, and said, "If Yiqiē is really as you said, then this cavalry must be sent by the princes and allies. But who sent these people? At this moment, there are as many as seven princes occupying Dongyuan City, and a cavalry team of only 600 people, and each of them can do it. Furthermore. Our army has more than 100,000 troops in Anyi City, so what is the use of these hundreds of people sneaking into the city? ”

"Uh, by the way, my lord, the leader of this cavalry is surnamed Cao, and the reprimanded Kailu colonel calls him General Cao!" Li Yuncong suddenly added.

"Cao Mengde?" Li Li exclaimed.

Li Zhi interjected when he heard this: "This is impossible. Cao Cao was the deputy leader of the Allied Forces. How could he personally take the risk and lead more than 100 horsemen to sneak into Anyi City? If that were the case, would he not have killed himself? Sent to the door to find death yourself? ”

Li Li narrowed his eyes slightly. He said in a deep voice: "Cao Cao naturally won't come in person, but he still has a few brothers of the same clan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Cao Xiu and others can lead the troops on his behalf." ”

Speaking of this, Li Li suddenly remembered Cao Cao's proudest victory in history, and suddenly his face changed greatly and he stood up impressively. Hurriedly said: "Not good! Grain and grass, grain and grass! The purpose of this cavalry sneaking into Anyi City was not to join forces with the allies to capture the city gates, but to burn our army's grain and grass! ”

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Just before Li Li's words fell, a sudden loud bang suddenly arose, so that Li Li, Li Zhi, Li Yuncong, and Teng Xiao, Ma Chao, Zhang Liao and other generals waiting outside the door could hear it clearly.

Moment. Li Li hurried to the door, looking up in the direction where the loud noise came from. However, seeing the fire in the sky above the northwest corner of Anyi City, the red fire was enough to illuminate most of Anyi City, and the thick black smoke spread rapidly with the north wind, spreading to the entire Anyi City at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

"Ahh It's not good, that's where our army's food is located! Seeing the fire in the northwest corner, Teng Xiao, Tie Xiao and the generals of the Anyi battalion exclaimed. Immediately, all the generals showed horror on their faces, and they were furious, and they all pulled their legs and left, trying to rush to the Xicheng granary as soon as possible.

"Stop! Whatever you panic, give me back! Just as the generals were about to leave the backyard at a gallop, Li Li suddenly shouted.

Teng Xiao stopped when he heard the sound, ran to Li Li quickly, cried with a sad face, and said urgently: "Lord, Xicheng is hoarding all the grain and grass of my 130,000 army in Anyi!" Once the grain and grass are burned out, and we don't even have food for the next day, won't we sit back and wait to die? ”

"Humph!" Li Li snorted coldly with a gloomy face: "Have you seen the fire in the sky above Xicheng, what's the use of rushing over now?" By the time you arrived, it would have burned to the ground! Even if it doesn't burn out, how can such a fire be extinguished? ”

In addition to the rage, Li Li squinted his eyes gloomily and looked at the sky above the red Xicheng, took a deep breath, and forcibly calmed his mind. After thinking about it for a while, his angry expression quickly calmed down, and he ordered sharply: "Teng Xiao listens to the order, immediately block the whole city, no one is allowed to enter or leave, without my order, the closure order cannot be lifted!" ”

"No, the last general will obey!" Teng Xiao left in response.

"Tie Xiao listened to the order, and immediately led 50,000 county soldiers to the Xicheng granary, snatched out the grain that had not yet been burned, and demolished all the houses within a radius of 300 steps around the granary!"

"No, the last general will take the order!" Tie Xiao bowed in agreement, then turned and walked away quickly.

Zhang Liao, Li Zheng, Guo Meng, Qubei, Xu Chu, and Ma Dai listened to the order, appointed Zhang Liao as the main general, dispatched in the center, and immediately led the Shuofeng Battalion, Longxiang Battalion, and Wuwei Battalion Iron Cavalry to set off, took all the civil officials of Hedong County, went to the Yellow River crossing, collected all the boats, and prepared the ships for the army to cross the river. In addition, there is not a single plank left within 200 miles of the river, and anyone who dares to resist and refuse to hand over the boats, rafts, and planks will be killed! ”

"No, I'll obey!" Zhang Liao, Li Zheng, Xu Chu and others responded to the order and immediately strode out of the backyard.

"Ma Chao and Chen Zhi listened to the order and ordered the two of you to lead the defenders of Dongyuan City to be responsible for transferring the people in the city and start preparing for the evacuation of the army, which must be completed within two days! If there is a crowd to make trouble, and those who do not obey the order, kill! ”

"No!" Ma Chao and Chen Zhi bowed down to receive the order, and then turned around and left.

"Xu Huang listened to the order, immediately took over the five thousand gold guards of Zhang Liao's department, and escorted the trainer, Teng Xiao, Tie Xiao and other family members to cross the river first after dawn and went to Hangu Pass to stand by!"

"No, the last general will take the order!" Xu Huang bowed, then turned around and strode away.

Seeing the generals leave one after another, Li Li gradually calmed down, and there was no trace of anger in his eyes, and his expression was unusually calm.

At this time, there were only three people left by his side, Guo Jia, Li Zhi, and Li Yuncong, who was so frightened by Li Li's anger that he stood in the corner and held his breath.

Walking to Li Li's side gently, Guo Jia said in a low voice: "Cao Cao's guy is really not simple, if you don't make a move, you will hit the key point of our army at the first shot!" The army went out to fight, and food and grass were the top priority, but unexpectedly, as soon as the allies arrived in Dongyuan City tonight, they immediately sent a small group of cavalry wearing our army's armor and Starry Night Fortified City to blend into the city, and found our army's food storage place so quickly, and succeeded in a sneak attack in one fell swoop. If there is no internal response from them in the city, I Guo Jia will never believe it, and even the defenders of the granary have secretly joined forces with them to attack the soldiers of our army.

From this point of view, the counties under the division are indeed as the lord said, on the surface they are attached to the lord, but in fact they are in the hands of the clan lords. The reason why this small group of cavalry sent by Cao Cao was so light this time must have been because the Hedong Shi clan and the princes of all walks of life cooperated with this cavalry, and it was only with the joint efforts of many parties that it could succeed in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it would be difficult for these 600 cavalrymen alone to get close to the granary, let alone burn dozens of hoards of grain and grass in one fell swoop! ”

Li Li bowed slightly, and said in a deep voice: "Cao Cao has been trapped by grain and grass many times in recent years, and has had to withdraw from the army for a truce several times due to the shortage of grain and grass, so this Cao Apu likes to cut off people's grain and grass and sneak attack and rob the camp!"

This time, I also blamed my negligence, I thought that the allies would seize Dongyuan City after dark, and they would have to rest for at least one night, and rest for a day or two before continuing to march to Anyi. Unexpectedly, I played a trick on the princes of the Central Plains during the day, and in a blink of an eye, the enemy attacked and burned the grain and grass, and our losses were too great in comparison. Originally, I planned to hold on to Anyi City for half a month, so I prepared 20 days of grain, but I didn't think that now I would be burned by Cao Apu. In this way, our army had to withdraw to Hangu Pass in advance, and when they arrived at Hangu Pass, it would be the time when our Xiliang army would have a decisive battle with the allied forces of the princes! ”

――――――――――― (To be continued......)