"General Liu, wait a minute. It seems to Yi Bao that the general might as well detach a hundred soldiers and still go south along this route, display more flags and drums to increase the momentum, thereby confusing the thieves' ears and eyes, and also covering our whereabouts."

Hearing this, Liu Hun nodded repeatedly:

 “This is a great plan.”

 According to the plan at the moment.

Sure enough, when the Wei army garrison at the mountain pass saw the suspicious soldiers sent by Liu Hun, he strengthened his defense and sent fast horses to inform the Pingyang County prefect.

When the governor of Pingyang County learned that the Shu captives had taken a detour, he couldn't help but rejoiced in his heart:

 Fortunately, I had expected this a long time ago, otherwise Yong'an City would have been in danger!

Just as General Guan thought, Pingyang and Hedong counties belong to Sizhou, and there is Bingzhou as a barrier to the north, so they can be regarded as belonging to Wei's rear area.

 In addition, the war in Guanzhong was tense, so most of the troops and food from these two counties were transferred to Guanzhong.

At this time, the troops gathered by the two counties, plus the local county soldiers, totaled about 3,000 people.

The prefect of Pingyang County ordered two thousand people to guard the south entrance of Guanjuejin Valley, and another thousand people to guard the mountain pass to the east.

After these days of fierce fighting, the Huns and barbarians in the south suffered heavy losses and were no longer able to resist the desperate attacks of the Shu captives, so they had to withdraw from the valley.

　　It won't work if you don't give in.

If you continue to refuse to retreat and force the Huns who are still reluctantly obedient into panic, they will directly surrender to the Shu prisoners on the opposite side and turn around to attack the mountain pass, it will be more gain than loss.

Hu'er, armed with a wooden and bone weapon, was able to hold Shu captives in Jin Valley for so long, which is already considered rare.

But when the Shu soldiers approached the valley entrance, they did not rush over immediately.

 It is probably because I have been playing hard these past few days and I need some rest.

Standing on the top of the mountain and looking at the Shu captives in the valley, the governor of Pingyang County had full confidence in holding on until reinforcements arrived.

 Hongnu Hu'er was able to block the opponent for so long in the river valley. There is no reason why he should be worse than Xiongnu Hu'er.

  In contrast, Liu Meng was a little worried:

"General, logically speaking, if you take the mountain road to the east, no matter how slow you are, you should be out by now."

“There is no news about my brother so far. Will he encounter any trouble?”

General Guan, who was holding a telescope to look at the Wei army camp on the mountain ahead, put down the telescope after hearing this and said calmly:

 “It doesn’t matter.”

 After driving the Huns from the southern part of the valley, the layout of the Wei army at the mountain pass can be clearly seen under the prying eyes of telescopes.

"Even if Liu Hun fails to get around to the rear, the Wei thieves can't stop us with the few men and horses."

"You two troops have suffered a lot of casualties in the past few days. You will go to the rear to rest. This time, let the Yi Congjun go up first."

Jinyang is governed by Bingzhou, and there are still some weapons in the arsenal.

Although the Liangzhou Army looked down upon him, Yi Congjun actually made a big fortune.

 Even part of it fell into the hands of Liu Meng and Liu Bao.

 This is one of the reasons why they were able to force the southern Xiongnu out of the valley.

　　At first, everyone was equally poor, and most of them had wooden and bone gadgets in their hands. Who would have expected that this time when the same tribe was fighting against each other, the two groups on the left and right would have a batch of standard weapons?

 This is not about martial ethics!

 It was precisely because the Liangzhou Army, which had the two Huns on the left and right leading the way, and was attacking all the way, also got several days of rest.

Soon, the Yi Congjun who had finished their rest began to gather at the front one after another, getting ready to attack the Wei army camp on the mountain.

The place where the Wei army was stationed was in a very tricky position, right at the bend of the Fen River.

There is a hill protruding from the east bank. There is only a few feet wide between the Fen River and the hill. The Wei army set up camp on the hill.

 At the same time, a barrier was built between the mountains and the Fen River.

 The west bank of the Fen River, after the river turns, is full of cliffs.

 If you want to continue going forward, you will have to cross back to the east bank again, that is, behind the mountain.

Judging from this terrain, the Han army would not be able to pass through here safely if they did not forcibly capture the top of the mountain.

 “Drink, drink, drink!”

 The front row of the Yi Congjun held up large cannons, shouted loudly, and began to move forward.

The Wei army guarding the mountain, some of which were local county soldiers, saw the banners of the Han army in the valley to the north covering the sun, stretching as far as the eye could see.

 Many people can’t help but feel a little nervous.

The Wei army uncle and other generals on the mountain kept encouraging them:

"Don't be afraid! Listen to the military orders and throw stones down there!"

 Others are threats:

“Anyone who dares to retreat in front of the formation will be killed!”

　　The Yi Congjun holding large cannons had arrived at the foot of the mountain and began to attack.

There was only a bang, and the wooden and rolling stones from the mountain were thrown down one after another.

 For a time, Yi Congjun was unable to escape, and some of them were hit and screamed in agony.

 Liu Bao and Liu Meng, who had been claiming that they had worked hard these days, built a pavilion with their hands. When they saw this scene, they immediately smacked their lips.

It seems that General Guan knows how much his tribe has.

If you really want to attack such mountains, I'm afraid that the morale of the tribe will collapse within a few attacks.

 If you really let yourself encounter this kind of thing alone, you must either take a detour or retreat directly.

　　But this Yi Congjun is a bit too strong.

There is no need for the Han army to follow behind and urge them. After one wave retreats, another wave will take the initiative to push forward.

Not only is he very different from the undisciplined Hu people, he is also different from the Yi Congjun in their impressions.

 When did the Hu people's Yi Congjun become so organized and willing to fight for the Han people?

This idea swirled in the minds of the two of them for a long time, and finally they came to only one conclusion:

 This General Guan... leads the army well!

“Senior Brother Jiang, this won’t work, it’s too difficult to fight!”

A young man in the Yi Cong Army, wearing leggings and a cowhide belt around his waist, which was issued when he graduated from the martial arts hall. Now it has a lot of wear marks.

Even though he has just grown soft black hair on his lips, he is already a military commander in the rebel army.

The fellow disciples, who were also dressed neatly, looked at the volunteers who were forced to retreat again, and nodded with a gloomy expression:

“What did General Guan say?”

“He didn’t say anything, he just said let’s take this hilltop.”

 “Then let us figure it out ourselves.”

The student from the Jiangwu Hall, who was called Senior Brother Jiang, turned his head and glanced behind him.

Although he couldn't see where General Guan was, he knew that every move of Yi Congjun must be under General Guan's observation.

“This is the first time that our martial arts school has gone on an expedition with the army. We were attacked by someone in Yinshan Mountain, and we have already lost one person.”

“This time, if we can let the Yi Congjun take over the mountain independently, we can at least save some face.”

 The young man scratched his head a little irritably:

 “The key is what to do now?”

“Call everyone over and discuss it together to see if there is a better way.”

"OK!"

About twenty young people dressed in the same clothes quickly gathered together and had a discussion.

 Soon someone came up with a plan:

"How about crossing the water? First cross to the cliff on the west bank, and then cross back to the east bank from there. You can go around to the back of the mountain."

“The thief is not a fool, how could he let you go ashore?”

 “You know what? This sound is coming from east to west...”

"Stupid! Don't Wei thieves know that guarding the top of the mountain is the key? You have taken such a long detour and can't get to the shore. What's the use of this noise?"

 “How will you know if you don’t try?”

"The thief already knows where you are going to hit, so what's the use of making any noise?"

"Not necessarily." The senior brother who had been squatting on the ground and using stones as a deduction suddenly said, "According to what General Guan said, there are only two thousand Wei thieves on the mountain."

“If we send people to pretend to be powerful and go around to the back of the mountain, the Wei thieves will still send people to defend themselves. In this way, we can mobilize the thieves and reduce the number of defenders on the mountain.”

This senior fellow is in the same class as Zhang Yuan, and is also the youngest in that class, but now he is already a veteran among these students.
To be continued...