"Over the Xiegu Road, is General Guo Huai's march going smoothly?" Xia Houxuan asked hurriedly.
He thought that if Guo Huai progressed smoothly, then he could fight his way forward and meet Guo Huai in Hanzhong, but if the Xiegu Road did not go smoothly, then there was no need for them to fight desperately.
"General Qi, according to the reports from sentry horses, General Guo Huai began to retreat more than ten days ago. It is estimated that he has withdrawn from Xiegu Road by now!" said a scout.
"What! Bastard! What should I do..." Cao Shuang finally panicked at this moment, and big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. At this moment, he and tens of thousands of troops are trapped in Luo Valley, and are about to be in danger of being annihilated. All the achievements and admiration of thousands of people have been forgotten at this moment. He just wants to find a way to escape.
"Don't worry, General!" Xia Houxuan bowed and said, "I'll lend you the General's command flag, and I will keep the General safe!"
"Okay, Taichu, it's all up to you..." Cao Shuang didn't hesitate and immediately handed the flag to Xia Houxuan.
Xia Houxuan waved his command flag and said: "Don't panic, everyone, listen to my instructions!
Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Xia Houfeng, Xia Houxian, Deng Ai, and Le Fang obey orders! You and others will lead most of the troops to protect the general and quickly evacuate towards the entrance of the valley to join Yang Wei and Yang Zong's five thousand light cavalry!
Sima Zhao and He Kui led the troops of their headquarters. Come with me to Xingshi Mountain to rescue General Xiahou Ba! "
"Yes!" Deng Yang, Ding Mi and others protected Cao Shuang and immediately fled towards the mouth of the valley in the north. Sima Zhao and He Kui rode their horses to stand alongside Xia Houxuan, preparing to lead their troops south together.
Although Sima Yi and Cao Shuang are now on the same page, Sima Zhao always remembers the scene in the early Huangchu period of Emperor Wen, when Xia Houxuan carried himself, who was bitten by a dog, in the snow to look for his doctor.
He always felt a little grateful to Xia Houxuan.
"Taichu, be careful..." Cao Shuang, under the cover of Deng, Ding, Shuang Xiahou and others, shouted to his cousin while running away in a hurry and looking south.
"Don't worry, General!" Xia Houxuan looked calm and nodded, but in fact, his plain clothes and armor were already soaked with sweat. At this moment, if they are not careful, all of them may be trapped and die in Luo Valley, which lacks water.
"Let's go!" Xia Houxuan said to Sima Zhao and He Kui.
"Okay!" Sima Zhao and He Kui reined in their horses and ran south together, following Xia Houxuan.
At the foot of Xingshi Mountain, the shouts shook the sky, and in front of the two armies, blood splattered everywhere.
"Soldiers, kill!" Xiahou Bawu, who had been hit by two arrows in the leg, refused to retreat. He commanded his soldiers tenaciously and slashed with his sword. He had already reached the foot of Xingshi Mountain, and he was not willing to retreat like this.
Xia Houxuan, Sima Zhao, and He Kui were galloping with their respective soldiers and horses. Finally, he saw the soldiers of the Wei Dynasty not far away who were fighting a bloody battle with the Shu captives, as well as the broken Wei military flags with gold characters on a black background. .
Xia Houxuan raised his eyes and looked towards the mountain, and instantly felt a sense of despair. He saw the Yuanrong crossbow of the Shu army!
The three of them were horrified as they looked at the dense rain of arrows constantly dropped from the top of Xingshi Mountain.
The profit and loss repeating crossbow, called Yuan Rong, uses iron as an arrow, the arrow is eight inches long, and ten arrows can be fired in one crossbow.
This type of repeating crossbow, also known as the "Zhuge Repeating Crossbow", was a new type of repeating crossbow improved by Zhuge Liang, the prince of Wuxiang in the Shu Han Dynasty, based on the original repeating crossbow. After the transformation was completed, Zhuge Liang awarded him the title of "Yuan Rong" His name means Commander of Hundred Crossbows.
Once, Dr. Ma Jun of the State of Wei wanted to improve it and make it a more powerful crossbow with fifty arrows. However, because the production process of this crossbow was very complicated, it required very high craftsman skills. Arrows also had to be specially made, so they were not mass-produced in the Wei army.
At this moment, the Shu army on the top of the mountain is using this crossbow to fire ten arrows in succession to harvest the lives of the Wei soldiers!
"The general has an order, all forward troops should evacuate Xingshi Mountain as soon as possible!" Xia Houxuan ordered the soldiers behind him to chant the golden bell, waved his long spear, and led his troops into the Shu army's arrow net.
"Uncle, retreat quickly!"
After slashing the enemy troops all the way, Xia Houxuan finally came to Xia Houba's side and shouted these words with all his strength. He instantly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and immediately lost consciousness.
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Outside the north entrance of Luo Valley, the Wei army finally set up camp in a safe area after a bloody battle.
The groans of the wounded soldiers, the wails of the war horses, and the fierce sound of the south wind blowing through the broken military flags all combined to create a heart-wrenching sound.
Cao Shuang inspected his camp. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He couldn't believe the facts in front of him. Just a month ago, he stood proudly on the top of Chang'an City and looked down at the southern country. But now, instead of becoming famous, he He became famous in one battle, but became the enemy's defeated general. He was afraid that he would be ridiculed and humiliated by the old officials in the capital!
In the Chinese army camp, on the hospital bed, Xia Houxuan, who was semi-conscious and whose fever had not completely subsided, still muttered to himself: "Uncle... retreat quickly..."
After a while, he finally slowly opened his eyes.
"This...where is this..."
"Xuan'er, you're awake." Xiahou Ba held his nephew's hand and said with a sad look on his face: "Xuan'er, don't worry, we are safe. This is the Luogukou Camp, and all the Shu captives have been evacuated."
"Hmm..." Xia Houxuan was thinking about something at the moment. He always felt that something went wrong in this battle.
"Alas..." Xia Houba shook his head, sighed, grabbed Xia Houxuan's hand and said gratefully: "This general's defeat, I don't know how many veterans will criticize him after he returns to the capital. Fortunately, Xuan'er, you Timely decision-making prevented our entire army from being destroyed. Even my old life was saved by you, Xuan'er!"
"What did your uncle say? On the battlefield, you must do your best." Xia Houxuan's expression was a little solemn. He seemed to have thought of something: "By the way, uncle, where is the general? What is his condition at the moment?"
"Don't worry, the general was not injured. You saved the general's life this time. Therefore, he would come to visit you every day during the two days you were in coma. No, he just went out, and it is estimated that he will be here again. On patrol."
"Uncle, are you saying that I have been unconscious for two days?" Xia Houxuan frowned and tried to sit up with great difficulty.
"Xuan'er, don't move around yet, be careful of the arrow wound on your body bursting!" Xiahou Ba hurriedly and carefully helped his nephew up.
Xia Houxuan shook his head, insisted on climbing out of bed, grabbed the tea cup on the table, drank it all in one gulp, and strode out of the tent door: "I have something urgent to see the general. Uncle, take me there quickly." General."
"Okay!" Seeing that Xia Houxuan seemed to have something important to do, Xia Houba hurriedly took off the fox fur cloak that Xia Houxuan often wore hanging in the tent: "Come on, put this on before going out."
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The main camp of the Wei army.
Cao Shuang retreated and was quietly discussing something with Xia Houba and Xia Houxuan.
"Xuan'er means that there are spies in the army!" Xiahou Ba looked shocked, and Cao Shuang also looked in disbelief.
"My uncle also said just now that the army could reach Xingshi Mountain in less than a hundred miles the day before yesterday, but the Shu army was still more than 300 miles away from Xingshi Mountain at that time." Xia Houxuan analyzed: "The enemy army didn't know it at first. The specific movements of our army, but on the night when my uncle's garrison was resting, they sent the "Wu Dang Flying Army" capable of traveling five hundred times a day to rush through the night, straight to Xingshi Mountain, and laid an ambush early to ambush our army. , From this, there must be a person among them who can give information to the enemy!"
"So, there is no doubt that there are spies in the army!" Cao Shuang looked angry, and the muscles on his face and his mustache began to tremble with anger. He hit the case hard with his clenched fists, and said through gritted teeth: "This is what I'm doing here." If someone finds him, he will be killed with his own hands and cut into pieces!"
"Then, who is this spy?" Xiahou Ba said with a confused look on his face and frowned.
"That day, after the general set up camp in Luogu, he called us all together. In the middle camp, in addition to me, the general, and my uncle, there were also Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Yang Shiying, and I, Zheng Xiandi, Fengdi, Li Sheng, He Kui and others from Xifu, plus four army commanders such as Su Mu, Niu Sheng, Wang Cheng and Han Qianwei. In other words, there were a total of fourteen people who knew about our army's attack at that time. There were no other outsiders present at the time of Shishan's plan." Xiahou Xuan frowned and thought for a while, then asked Xiahou Badao: "Uncle, think about it carefully. After you returned to the forward camp, who did you tell about the attack on Xingshishan? plan?"
"After I returned to the forward camp, except for the four people sent by the general, Su Mu, Wang Cheng, Niu Sheng, and Han Qianwei, no deputy generals seemed to know the news..." Xiahou Ba scratched his head. Helmet, he suddenly realized: "By the way, General Guo Huai's messengers were also in the camp at that time. This time Guo Huai clearly disobeyed the general's orders. Do you think it was him who asked someone to do it?"
Xiahou Xuan thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be General Guo Huai himself."
"Why is Taichu so sure?" Cao Shuang temporarily suppressed his anger and asked in confusion.
"First of all, there was not enough time. General Guo Huai's messengers only learned about the Xingshi Mountain plan after they came from the Xiegu Road Camp to the Tangluo Road Camp. If the scouts want to return to Xiegu to ask General Guo Huai for instructions, then go As for the Shu army's camp, it would be too late to arrive even if it took a whole night.
Second, although General Guo Huai is friendly with the Sima family, he is a veteran general of our court. He has led troops for many years and has always been dedicated to state affairs. He should not betray the Wei Dynasty for the sake of partisan disputes. Therefore, I concluded that this matter is not directly related to General Guo Huai. "
Immediately afterwards, Xia Houxuan suddenly seemed to think of something again, and he continued:
"However, although it is certain that General Guo Huai has no problem, the messenger scout is still suspicious, because if he did not return to Xiegudao camp that night, but went directly to Shu general Wang Ping's camp to report the news, time You can still get it right.”
"In that case, I'll just capture him and interrogate him thoroughly!" Cao Shuang said with a murderous look on his face.
"No, General." Xia Houxuan hurriedly stopped him: "This person is just a suspect. If we alert the snake now, we may allow the real spy to escape. Therefore, the fact that there is a spy in the army must be resolved now." You can’t make it public.”
"By the way, Taichu, I remember that boy Su Mu. Although he was promoted by you, he has been assigned to serve in Sima Jun's Forbidden Army Cavalry Camp. Maybe he has been biased towards the Sima family for a long time." He was already angry. Cao Shuang, who was above, was full of suspicion at this moment: "I think he is also very suspicious!"
