Chapter 349 Two or Three People Shed Tears, a Lonely Grave Ten Miles Away

Jian Yong almost dragged Liu Bei into Shanggui.

To Pang De, the Mr. Jian he was familiar with was handsome and extraordinary.

He was graceful in his gestures and humorous in his conversation.

He rarely lost his composure. Even when Ma Mengqi pointed a sword at his neck when he first arrived, he could still say calmly:

"The general's death is approaching, but he still doesn't know it."

Oh, by the way, the only time he lost his composure was when he met Cao Cao's envoy last year.

Pang De even remembered that in order to show respect for Mr. Xianhe's surprise that he lost his composure, Ma Mengqi even led the raid personally.

But the raid that night was surprisingly smooth. Pang De and Ma Mengqi still don't know what's special about Sima's envoy.

It seemed that time passed particularly quickly when Pang De was distracted. Before Pang De finished recalling, Jian Yong on the other side had already looked over with a big laugh:

"I haven't seen you for a long time, and I am so surprised that I can't control myself."

"I was just about to introduce you to a good boy from Nan'an!"

Liu Bei stretched out his hand to suppress it, and walked over to look at Pang De carefully.

This was so serious, and Pang De couldn't figure out what the attitude of this uncle Liu was. For a moment, he was a little nervous, and couldn't help but straighten his back slightly.

Liu Bei's face was complicated for a while, but he quickly suppressed it, replaced by bright joy and a smile that made people feel like spring breeze:

"Why do you need Xianhe to say it? If I guess correctly, this must be the Nan'an God General, Pang De Pang Lingming!"

When looking at the history of the Tang Dynasty, the word "God General" does appear frequently, so Liu Bei used it without hesitation.

Jian Yong just raised his eyebrows, and Pang De's mood was a mixture of ecstasy and panic.

Zhou Yi said that the unpredictable yin and yang are called gods.

Liu Bei saw it, but waved his hand to stop Pang De from talking, and continued:

"The country is corrupt, but there is still no trouble from foreign races, and the credit is all due to the meritorious generals like Ling Ming who pacified the Hu."

This sentence is the best affirmation of Pang De's achievements. The man's cheeks became a little rosy in an instant, and he raised his head high, but still explained:

"The Qiang rebellion can be quelled, and it is even more dependent on Meng Qi's power."

Liu Bei nodded and said generously:

"Who doesn't know that Ma Meng Qi cares about Yongliang?"

"Besides, he was not afraid of the defeat in Tongguan before, and now he is fighting with Cao's army at Jieting, and wants to cut off Cao's Long Road."

"I came here to help Ma Mengqi."

Just now, Jian Yong had briefly told Liu Bei about the situation in Yongliang, which was really a relief.

Now that Cao's army is still blocked at Long Road, Liu Bei sensitively smelled the opportunity to break the deadlock.

More than 10,000 people, in this battlefield, are a force that can influence the direction of the war.

Pang De seemed to be not good at speaking, so Liu Bei simply took a step forward and took Pang De's hands and said:

"I heard that Ling Ming is very good at judging horses?"

Pang De felt the warm hands and felt his heart warmed up a lot.

At this time, he also understood the meaning of the music and nodded and agreed:

"If Lord Xuande wants to ride a horse from Liangzhou to fight on the battlefield, De is willing to choose a good horse for you."

Liu Bei laughed:

"Ling Ming understands me! If there is nothing to do, why not set off now?"

"After the mounts are selected and the athletes have rested, we will rush to Linwei to help Mengqi out of the crisis!"

This vigorous and resolute style won Pang De's favor and took the initiative to lead the way.

Jian Yong stood under the eaves, looking at the two people who had not met before, and now they looked suitable, and couldn't help shaking his head and chuckling.

This kind of thing is not the first time it has happened.

After meeting again after a year, Jian Yong could clearly see the change in his master's temperament.

At that time, he returned from Jiaozhou after the Battle of Chibi, and the master he saw had a sense of unfulfilled ambitions.

Last year, Yizhou was just settled, and the master sitting in the Chengdu government office had already been in high spirits.

At this time, the master who was talking to Pang De had a sense of high spirits.

From living under someone else's roof to controlling the two states of Jing and Yi, now he is dominating Hanzhong and looking north to Guanzhong.

Jian Yong, who is in Yongliang, can clearly see the expansion of his master's power.

But the only thing that remains unchanged is the style of treating people with sincerity.

After being stunned for a while, Jian Yong shook his head and turned around to continue handling the official business of Shanggui.

This is also one of the reasons why Ma Chao relies on Jian Yong abnormally.

If it comes to fighting and determining military strategies, Ma Chao and the Yongliang men under his command are not afraid at all.

But if it comes to governance and knowing political strategies, Ma Chao and the men under his command can only stare blankly.

For Ma Chao, this was one of the reasons why he volunteered to defend Jieting.

After all, Shanggui was the rear base of Linwei City, and government affairs were extremely busy.

Every day, he saw Mr. Jian busy in and out, but he, Ma Chao, was leisurely and had nothing to do, and he felt really bad.

Now that the lord is here, the equipment of more than 10,000 people and the expenses of food and grass naturally need to be taken care of by Shanggui City.

These involve the allocation and turnover of materials, and now naturally Jian Yong is responsible.

However... Picking up the list of food and grass, Jian Yong had an idea in his mind:

Otherwise, it is recommended that Pang De follow the lord to attack?

When Ma Mengqi rushed to defend Jieting, he also considered that Shanggui was the last line of defense of Longdao and could not be lost.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to let Pang De assist Jian Yong in defending Shanggui.

But now with the lord's more than 10,000 troops joining the battle, the strength of both sides in the battle for Longdao has also changed.

Shanggui is important, but assisting the lord in making a full-scale attack to secure victory seems more important.

And... Pang De himself should also want to fight, right?

In comparison, Jian Yong was quite concerned about Yi De's safety.

After all, Linwei was not a strong city like Jiangling that could withstand ten times the number of soldiers.

Linwei was just a small county town. Now facing three times the number of soldiers, Yi De's courage should not fail.

But casualties were inevitable, and Jian Yong sincerely hoped that there would be fewer.

As February passed day by day, the weather gradually warmed up, and the battle under Linwei City became more and more intense.

The so-called city wall of Linwei was actually only more than one person high, just a low earth wall surrounding the county town.

Summer and autumn have always been the best seasons for sending troops.

During the flood season, the rushing Wei River was the best defense for Linwei.

It was already difficult for Qiang and Hu to survive in winter, and attacking Sanqin was really a bit too much.

Therefore, Jieting and Shanggui have always been better defensive locations than Linwei.

But no one could have imagined that Cao's army would be forced to launch a war before the end of the dry season in February.

In this case, Linwei became a defensive point.

Zhang Fei strode into the Linwei County Office.

This place had already changed a lot. The unused wood and bricks were dismantled to reinforce and raise the city walls.

Then Pang Tong used the remaining materials to build a smaller house with thicker walls as the temporary county office of Linwei.

On the small table were Pang Tong's writings and drawings, Zhang Fei's helmet, and a map of Longdao with so many markings that the original appearance could no longer be seen.

But Pang Tong was not here at this time. He was squatting in front of the door.

In front of Pang Tong was Zhang Fei holding a bowl of soup noodles. He took off his helmet, removed a few pieces of armor from his joints, and sat on the threshold, holding the bowl and eating.

He raised his head and sipped the soup again. When he put the bowl flat, Zhang Fei saw Pang Tong's tangled face.

"Military Advisor, is there something?"

In fact, Zhang Fei usually doesn't bother to come here. It's normal to have a simple meal on the city wall to guard against Cao's army.

But today Zhang Fei suddenly felt a little worried about his second brother, so he came to ask Military Advisor Pang while eating.

Although he was in Longdao, Pang Tong still explained the Jingxiang battlefield in a simple and easy-to-understand way, which made Zhang Fei so excited that he even ate an extra bowl of soup and noodles.

Military Advisor Pang had a very accurate grasp of people's hearts. In his opinion, Jiangdong would definitely not go to attack Wancheng at the cost of effort, and would definitely covet Jingnan first.

Pushing the front line to the Han River in Xiangfan was already the limit of Jiangdong.

But now that the giant crossbow boat is still parked near Xiangfan, Jiangdong has no reason to go there to seek death, so it must lock Jiangling and seal the Yangtze River, and attack Jingnan with all its strength.

In this case, Guan Yu and Xu Shu in Wancheng only need to face Cao's army, not Sun and Cao's combined forces.

In such a battlefield, if Cao's army cannot win quickly, then there will be rifts between them and the 100,000 brothers, and they will be powerless.

Zhang Fei was relieved by these words, but when he put down the bowl and stood up to leave, he saw the eyes of the military advisor, so he asked.

Pang Tong hesitated for a moment, but still said:

"I heard... Yide almost killed Xiahou Miaocai?"

Zhang Fei's face was full of regret when he talked about this:

"Yesterday, Xiahou Yuan was so confused that he led his troops to attack the city himself."

"I saw the right opportunity and was determined to kill him with a spear."

"I didn't expect the guards to be fearless and used their bodies as shields. My spear only injured Xiahou Yuan's waist and abdomen, allowing him to escape."

"If Xiahou Yuan had died yesterday, we should have entered Guanzhong today."

Seeing Zhang Fei's face full of regret, Pang Tong didn't know what to say. He considered for a while and said:

"This Xiahou Yuan... There is no way to capture him alive? "

Zhang Fei shook his head quickly and said briefly:

"It's quite far away, and Xiahou Yuan has several personal guards. If we capture him alive, it will be me, Zhang, who will die."

But Zhang Fei was not stupid. He figured out what Pang Tong meant by looking at his expression, so he laughed and said:

"Do you think that if General Huang personally kills Xiahou Yuan, I will have a grudge against General Huang?"

Pang Tong waved his hand and whispered:

"I just think..."

"There is no way to have it both ways."

Zhang Fei shook his head and put on a few pieces of armor on the ground. It seemed that he would go back to guard the low city wall soon.

Pang Tong picked up the helmet on the table and handed it to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei sighed and said:

"Military Advisor, life and death on the battlefield is only a matter of seconds, there is no time to seek the best of both worlds."

"I only know that if we kill Xiahou Yuan, we can defeat Cao's army."

"I think Uncle Xiahou on the opposite side also wants to kill Zhang Fei and defeat this city."

After that, Zhang Fei put on his helmet, then raised his head to tighten the straps below, and his voice became a little dull:

"If Xiahou Yuan dies, my wife may cry."

Then Zhang Fei remembered the people who asked about his son's whereabouts when he was dredging the river in Chengdu.

There are also the younger generations who commented on him with humorous words in later generations, and the young people who bowed to the ugly statue.

Zhang Fei's voice was still dull, but became extremely firm:

"If you hesitate and miss the opportunity to fight, then the people of Chengdu will cry together."

Zhang Fei turned and left, Pang Tong was stunned for a moment and sighed.

I wanted to persuade him, but I didn't expect that Yide would become my master.

At this time, Pang Tong felt a little sticky on his hands. He looked down and saw some blood on his palms. It should be stained when he held the helmet just now.

Slowly wiping off the blood on his hands, this battlefield also became more real in Pang Tong's eyes.

These bloodstains may be from Cao's soldiers or his own side.

Even the most ordinary people have their own uncles, wives, and mothers.

What Yide said is right. If you want to win the hearts of the people, you should not be arrogant and noble.

Two or three people shed tears, what about ten miles of lonely graves?

The defense of Linwei City became more and more anxious, but Zhang Fei had long been accustomed to it.

Since Xiahou Yuan besieged Linwei, the siege has never stopped day after day.

Although it was hard, thinking about the fact that Xu Junshi held on in Fancheng, it was not a problem for him!

Moreover, the Cao army was very cooperative, attacking the city at dawn and stopping at dusk.

Both sides had enough rest time.

Zhang Fei himself could figure out some reasons.

For Cao's army, this route was a feint attack, so they had to make a big noise and drag a large number of troops here.

Being eager to fight was disadvantageous to Xiahou Yuan.

If they won, what if Liu Bei simply retreated to Hanzhong and then sent a large army to Fangling to support Jingzhou?

If they lost, what if they were chased all the way back to Guanzhong and the enemy army grew stronger?

Therefore, maintaining the current just-right attack rhythm was the most beneficial for Xiahou Yuan.

From the time of the siege, Zhang Fei also observed another problem:

The firewood of Cao's army should be very scarce.

Although it is February and spring has begun, it is still very cold at night.

It is not a big problem for Zhang Fei and his subordinates.

Thanks to military advisor Pang, there are enough coal cakes prepared in Linwei City, which burn slowly and provide long-lasting heat.

Putting three or five pieces in the charcoal basin is enough to keep a barracks warm for a night.

And Cao's army... should still burn charcoal.

Charcoal is expensive on ordinary days, and now it will be even more expensive here.

Then... a plan gradually came to mind.

Zhang Fei felt that he had already found a way to defeat the enemy.

While Zhang Fei was happy, Ma Chao rode his horse to charge, ducked to avoid the long spear, and then swept the long spear across and hit the enemy general, causing the opponent's body to sway and almost fall down.

"Come again!"

After succeeding, Ma Chao became more and more excited, turned his horse's head and charged again, but the opponent was not as good as Ma Chao intended, and rushed back to the camp without looking back.

So Ma Chao, who was bored, rode his horse forward two steps and cursed loudly:

"How can Cao's army be so useless?"

Ma Chao, who was of both Han and Qiang descent, always expressed his feelings when cursing.

In response to him, there was a flurry of arrows, so Ma Chao could only curse angrily and turn his horse back quickly.

Since he almost died at the hands of Yan Xing when he was young, Ma Chao has been particularly cherishing his life.

After cursing a few more times in the distance, Ma Chao could only enter his own camp.

Soon a young man rushed over to help Ma Chao get off his horse.

At this time, Ma Chao seemed to be thinking about something and ordered:

"Bo Zhan will lead a team of elite cavalry to search south later."

"The Cao general named Zhang He on the opposite side seems to be trying to cheat."