It is fifty miles outside Mei County.
After five days of non-stop running, Xia Houmao's face was covered with dust and he was extremely tired. He was as miserable as he could be, and as embarrassed as he was.
The war horse has long since disappeared. The beautiful armor that he originally wore has now been replaced by the leather armor of an ordinary soldier. If you don't look at the silk clothes Xia Houmao is wearing and the long sword on his waist, you really can't tell that this is The commander of an army.
The five-day escape really taught Xia Houmao a lot. For example, the conspicuous tall horse and the beautiful armor made Xia Houmao a target of public criticism. Not only was it difficult to escape, but he often even became the target of the enemy's fire attack.
Therefore, Xia Houmao abandoned his horses and armor, pretended to be a soldier, and mingled with the army. The three thousand soldiers who originally followed him now only have about five hundred left.
Following Xia Houmao were more than a thousand forwards of the Shu army led by Zhuge Qian. Behind Zhuge Qian, there was also an army of 6,000 led by Wei Yan. The distance between them was only twenty or thirty miles, half a day. Just the distance.
Xia Houmao has finally thought about it after escaping. This is not an escape at all, but a rat chase.
Along the way, the Shu army had enough time and troops to capture them completely, but they just didn't take action and kept chasing them. Sometimes they would stop on their own initiative to let themselves gather the defeated soldiers, and then defeat them in one fell swoop. How could this be? To capture yourself is to play with yourself like a cornered mouse! ! !
Xia Houmao felt aggrieved, but there was nothing he could do.
Don't look at the fact that there are still 500 soldiers following him, and Zhuge Qian's pursuers behind him only have 1,000 people. After being defeated several times, the soldiers who are still following him are just asking for a way out, and they don't have the courage to turn around and fight back against the enemy. .
Therefore, even if Xia Houmao feels aggrieved, he must endure it. Fortunately, Mei County is not far away.
As long as he retreats to Mei County, he can temporarily stop and rest, and then return to Chang'an. After returning to Chang'an, he must explain the situation to Cao Zhen, then write a letter to His Majesty, and return to Yecheng.
This kind of war-torn place will never come again.
Obviously, Xiahou Mao's mind has not yet discovered that Wei Yan and Zhuge Qian behind him are deliberately driving him to Mei County. Even if Xiahou Mao really sees through Wei Yan and Zhuge Qian's intentions, he will not care.
In Xia Houmao's mind, nothing was more important than his personal life.
Mei County has city defenses and garrison troops. Even if he cannot defeat the Shu army, it will definitely be enough time for him to fight for Xiahou Mao to leave safely. As long as he can save his own life and escape back to Yecheng, the gains and losses of Mei County will be It is not within the scope of Xia Houmao's concern at all.
Seeing that he was about to escape to Mei County, Xia Houmao immediately summoned up his last bit of morale and led his troops straight to Mei County.
Zhuge Qian, who was following him, also led his troops to speed up at this time - Zhuge Qian wanted to complete the siege of Xiahou Mao before he arrived at Mei County.
Zhuge Qian did not intend to destroy Wei Yan's overall plan, or in other words, Zhuge Qian's action itself was ordered by Wei Yan.
Now it is only fifty miles away from Mei County. If the defender of Mei County does his duty, this range is already within the patrol range of the Wei army scouts in Mei County.
If you choose to surround Xiahou Mao at this time, it will be easy for Wei Jun's scouts to detect that Wei Yan wants to use Xiahou Mao to lure out the defenders of Mei County, thereby defeating the defenders in one fell swoop, and then march directly to Mei County.
Zhuge Qian was just acting according to Wei Yan's plan.
As for whether the 500 people led by Xia Houmao still have the ability to fight back, Zhuge Qian, who has been chasing them all the way, has the best say on this.
Therefore, Zhuge Qian easily caught up with Xiahou Mao's troops, and easily completed the siege of Xiahou Mao's troops in a short period of time.
On the one hand, Xia Houmao's troops no longer had the morale to resist. On the other hand, Xia Houmao really didn't know how to fight. The military orders he issued were basically based on mistakes. There was no military order that he issued. Right.
Now Zhuge Qian is really curious as to how Xiahou Mao was attracted by Cao Zhen and appointed as the guard general of Chencang Road.
Cao Zhen was kind to Zhuge Qian, so Zhuge Qian always respected Cao Zhen, but at this point, Zhuge Qian really couldn't understand. Governor Cao chose such a waste to guard Chencang Road ? !
When he thought of this, Zhuge Qian was quite resentful. He actually served as a deputy to such a loser. Commander Cao Zhen, are you serious? !
If he had known that this guy was at this level, why would he have followed him to Chencang Road? Wasn't this his life in vain? !
Fortunately, I am smart. Although it is not glorious to rebel against the enemy, but now as the Han army advances all the way, I still serve as the vanguard and have made numerous meritorious deeds along the way. If I take advantage of the situation and capture Mei County, wouldn't it be a great achievement? !
Looking at it from this perspective, Zhuge Qian suddenly felt that Commander Cao Zhen was really treating him well. This made it clear that he was only allowed to make contributions for the Han Dynasty, not for the Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, this Xia Houmao must be optimistic that this is a treasure, and maybe it is a treasure that can earn unlimited military achievements.
Zhuge Qian was "very caring" to Xiahou Mao. After besieging Xiahou Mao's army, he even specifically ordered not to fire arrows if possible. Don't turn around and shoot this "walking military hero" to death with a stray arrow. That's why there is no place to cry.
At this time, Xia Houmao was completely desperate.
Xiahou Mao thought that this was because the Shu army was tired of playing tricks and was planning to get rid of him completely. What a pity, he was now less than thirty miles away from Mei County! ! !
Xia Houmao didn't want to die, so he was still struggling hard, trying to command a group of soldiers who had no morale at all to continue to resist. But after all, when things got to this point, Xia Houmao also knew that such resistance was just delaying his own death. .
After fleeing all the way here, there are not many Wei soldiers who can keep their armor, let alone those who can still hold weapons. It would be strange for soldiers in such a state to organize them to break out.
If Wei's laws were not strict and no one took the lead, Xiahou Mao might have been kidnapped and surrendered to the Shu army.
Just when Xia Houmao himself had given up a little and was thinking about what words he should use to beg for mercy after being captured later. In the direction of Mei County, a troop of more than 500 people, under the banner of the Wei Army, came under the banner of the Wei Army. Under the leadership of General Biao, they are coming quickly.
The arrival of this army made both Xiahou Mao and Zhuge Qian very happy.
Xia Houmao felt that he was saved from a desperate situation.
Zhuge Qian was happy that he finally led the Mei County defenders out.
Although the number of this unit is small, only more than 500 people, the flag of the leading general has the word "王" written on it. If nothing else, it should be Wang Sheng, the defender of Mei County, who personally led the troops to rescue him. Xiahou is dead.
That's right, Xia Houmao's identity is indeed there. No matter how proud Wang Sheng is, he has to come to save him.
In fact, Zhuge Qian had never seen this Wang Sheng, but he had also been in the Wei army, so Zhuge Qian had heard rumors about this Wang Sheng.
Rumor has it that this person is self-reliant on martial arts and is quite arrogant. He has never been very friendly to his colleagues, but he is more respectful to senior officials. To put it simply, he looks down on his colleagues, but he is very good at flattering his boss.
Such a person is not popular anywhere. Although Governor Cao Zhen valued his bravery, he really didn't think highly of his character, so he was placed as a guard in Mei County.
According to the layout of Mei County at that time, it is located in the center of the Weihe River defense circle and is unlikely to encounter danger. And even if there is danger, Wang Sheng is placed here. With Wang Sheng's bravery and the strength of the city, , it shouldn’t be a big problem to stick to Mei County and wait for help.
In this way, Wang Sheng was arranged by Cao Zhen to serve as a garrison general in Mei County.
Zhuge Qian had heard about Wang Sheng and knew that he was brave, but he also didn't seem to have heard about this man's strategy. Therefore, when he saw that Wang Sheng only brought 500 people out to rescue Xiahou Mao, he was overjoyed.
These days, when the two armies are fighting, the role of personal bravery has been greatly weakened. Even if you can fight ten of them one by one, if I surround you with a hundred people, you will not be able to finish the killing until you lose all your strength.
Therefore, when Zhuge Qian saw Wang Sheng leading his troops to attack, he immediately ordered the entire army to assemble, leaving only 200 men to watch over Xia Houmao's remnant army, and the remaining 800 men launched an attack on Wang Sheng's troops.
One thing to say is that Zhuge Qian was a little careless here.
The truly safe approach is for Zhuge Qian to coerce Xiahou Mao and fight while retreating, waiting for Wei Yan, who is less than ten miles behind him, to lead his troops to surround Wang Sheng and Xiahou Mao, and completely surround Wang Sheng and Xiahou Mao, and then decide in one battle.
But Zhuge Qian was still eager to perform meritorious service, and at the same time thought that Wang Sheng's martial arts was only slightly stronger than his own. But in fact, Wang Sheng's martial arts exceeded Zhuge Qian's imagination.
In addition, since Wang Sheng dared to lead five hundred men out to rescue others, he must be very confident in the combat effectiveness of the five hundred men he brought out. During the battle between the two armies, Zhuge Qian was surprised to find that his eight hundred men Soldiers tend to be unable to hold on any longer.
Eight hundred people versus five hundred people, the strength advantage is not big, and Zhuge Qian's eight hundred people were chasing Xia Houmao all the way, and they were somewhat tired. They were suppressed by Wang Sheng's five hundred people for a while. It's not a strange thing.
But Zhuge Qian knew that he could not be defeated here. If Wang Sheng and 500 people were allowed to rescue Xiahou Mao, although it would have little impact on the overall situation, it would have a great impact on Zhuge Qian.
The military exploits gained are gone.
Based on this, Zhuge Qian also risked his life, holding a spear, and shouted at Wang Sheng, saying, "The thief general Wang Sheng, do you dare to fight with a certain person?!"
Zhuge Qian's original intention was to boost his own morale. Zhuge Qian believed that Wang Sheng's main purpose now was to leave Xiahou Mao, and he should not get entangled with him.
But who knew that when Wang Sheng heard Zhuge Qian say this, he turned his horse's head without saying a word, and charged towards Zhuge Qian with an angry look on his face.
While galloping, he roared.
"How many times have I told you, my name is Wang Shuang!!!"
(End of chapter)
