The beacon fire at Qishan Fort was indeed lit in time, and the soldiers responsible for guarding the beacon were conscientious, and the beacon smoke was passed out in time.
It's just that after the enemy's information was spread, the effects were beyond the control of these dedicated soldiers.
The first reaction of officials from various places who discovered the enemy's situation was to quickly send people to inquire about the information.
They must assess the situation in advance based on the size of the enemy force.
Of course, this kind of assessment is not used to calculate whether to prepare for war and keep the enemy at bay, or to hold firm and clear the country and wait for reinforcements.
Even Cao Pi took the main force to attack Soochow, and the western region had been empty of troops since Xiahou Yuan's time.
After Yuanzi was defeated and beheaded, Boss Cao gave up going to Shu and concentrated his troops to defend Guanzhong. The land of Yongliang was no different from being undefended.
What kind of army is being organized and what kind of war is being prepared?
They inquired about the enemy's situation in order to see the size of the enemy's army.
If it is just an attack by partial troops, you can still hold on to the city and wait and see for a while. If you can't withstand it, it will not be too late to surrender.
If the scale is huge...then the more loyal ones might as well run away as soon as possible.
For those who are not so loyal, like the head of West County, he can still protect his family's wealth by surrendering directly to the city.
Anyway, no matter whether the person's surname is Liu or Cao, there is always a need for manpower to govern the place, right?
After Liu Chan talked about the psychology of these people, Ding Feng suddenly realized that while he deeply admired the prince's terrifying ability to manipulate people's hearts, he also felt that he had benefited a lot from the overall situation of people's hearts.
[Ding Feng’s favorability +2] (87)
Liu Chan gradually got used to Ding Feng's brainstorming and self-defeating behavior.
The Red Star Army is a magical place, and those who join will gradually start to conquer it on their own... The more they practice, the more Liu Chan admires the great man who personally injects the soul of the army into the strongest infantry on the surface. He only scratches the surface and can use it. Very shallow.
After Xi County, all the villages and villages near where Liu Chan went were waiting for the wind to return.
Even small counties that were not on the marching route of the army sent people to express themselves as "loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty."
There are definitely some sincere and loyal people here, but there are also definitely not a few speculators.
In any case, for Liu Chan, it was a great thing that Jieting could not lose his troops before.
But Meng Yan is still looking forward to military promotion despite suffering...
"Bah! Damn it, you've lost such a big territory for nothing. How come there's no one in Wei who can fight." Meng Yan was riding on his horse and couldn't help complaining.
The deputy general smiled and said: "General, most of the fierce generals of the Wei Kingdom have followed Cao Pi to attack Sun Quan. In this barren land, how can there be anyone left who can fight? Hahaha."
The two led the front army to walk in the valley road leading to the north from Qishan Mountain.
After leaving the valley, we will reach Ji County, where Tianshui County is located.
This is the place where Ma Chao made a comeback and once captured the base area for the campaign against Yongliang, but finally left in despair again.
"Report——! General, retreat quickly! There is an ambush in the valley!"
Meng Yan was chatting and laughing with his lieutenant, lamenting that there was no fight, when he suddenly saw a scout sent out, his armor stained with blood, returning in embarrassment, with an arrow stuck in his shoulder...
Meng Yan was happy and surprised at the same time. He was happy because it seemed that there was finally a battle to fight, but he was so surprised that it was really difficult to perform in the valley.
What followed was a loud shouting of death coming from the valley. Carefully, there were many flags displayed on the high ground on both sides. There seemed to be smoke and dust rising in the distance, and there was endless noise.
"All the armies have entered the valley. We must not retreat without permission! Stay on guard!" Meng Yan picked up his halberd and ordered decisively, "Go and report to the prince for his decision!"
"Yes!" After receiving the order, the messenger immediately left the team and galloped backwards.
Before Liu Chan received the news, he had also noticed that the front and rear troops had stopped marching.
Squinting his eyes slightly, he smelled something unusual.
It is very common to encounter ambushes in valleys, especially in mountainous and higher altitude areas like Longyou.
However, in today's Longyou, it would be interesting to encounter an ambush here...
"Report——! Prince, the front army encountered an ambush! There are many flags on the high ground on both sides, smoke and dust are noisy in the distance, and there are shouts of killing! There may be a large enemy ambush!"
Just as I was thinking about it, the messenger arrived.
However, after listening to his words, Liu Chan's frown relaxed.
Ding Feng, Li Er and others were shocked when they heard this, and were very worried about the prince's safety.
"Prince! The front army is ambushed. Please leave the valley temporarily. When the general leads his troops to repel the ambush, it won't be too late to invite the prince into the valley!" Ding Feng said anxiously, cupping his fists.
Li Er also nodded, but immediately shook his head, looking helpless and silent.
He had been following Liu Chan much longer than Ding Feng, and he knew full well that Liu Chan would never be able to retreat at this time.
If His Majesty were here, it might still be possible, but now...
If the prince could not rush to the first place, Li Er would be very lucky.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Liu Chan had no intention of retreating and showed no signs of panic.
If that was all, it would be fine, but he actually asked the ordering soldier unhurriedly.
"Haha, I wonder what General Meng's orders are like?"
Ding Feng is worried. Why don't you exit first and then ask about these details? !
"Prince, General Meng said that 'all the troops have entered the valley and cannot retreat without authorization', and ordered the front army to stay on guard."
Liu Chan nodded with satisfaction.
From this point of view, Meng Huo's clan brother is also a useful talent.
The old man is pretty good at judging people. It seems that the purpose of handing over the Tiger Infantry to him is not entirely to win over the Meng family.
"Okay, send the order to General Meng to continue marching."
How dare the messenger dare to say anything? He immediately clasped his fists and said yes, then rode away.
Liu Chan looked at Li Er and Ding Feng: "Let's go and follow Gu Gu to see who is playing tricks here."
First exclude Jiang Wei.
In his previous life, Liu Chan was very interested in this Tianshui Qilin'er, Ji Han Gu Yong, and specifically checked up on his deeds.
It turns out that Jiang Wei is not only top-notch in terms of ability, but also top-notch in terms of his unluckiness...
Historically, when Uncle Zhuge led the Northern Expedition, the prefect Ma Zun, who was leading Jiang Wei and others to inspect Tianshui, actually took the lead and ran away.
What's more abstract is that Jiang Wei, who grew up in Tianshui and whose father died to protect the old lady, was actually abandoned by Ma Zun on suspicion of having ulterior motives...
Jiang Wei returned to his hometown of Jixian County and found that Jixian County had also voted. He went out to follow the leader for a routine inspection, but in a blink of an eye, he no longer had a place to stay.
So Jiang Wei, who was suspected of having defected to Zhuge Liang without doing anything, had no choice but to actually defect to Zhuge Liang.
During this period, he actually did not fight with the Northern Expeditionary Army.
Naturally, he has never fought against Zhao Yun who is not here.
So Liu Chan was the first to exclude this unlucky guy.
Who could it be?
Those who can judge his marching route and decisively set up this plan are at least mediocre in intelligence collection, tactical analysis, and decisive action.
He is both courageous and resourceful.
Besides Jiang Wei, is there such a person in Longyou?
It couldn't have been Guo Huai.
Liu Chan rode his horse and marched calmly as before, completely ignoring the worries of his subordinates and thinking about who was "ambushing" him.
After receiving the order, Meng Yan ordered to continue the march without hesitation.
He hadn't thought about whether the prince would kill someone with a borrowed knife. He wanted him to die in this valley, so he issued such a "send to death" order.
But he was immediately rejected by himself. With the power of the prince, it took only one sentence to get his head off Meng Yan.
There is absolutely no reason to use this kind of conspiracy.
When the army approached the mouth of the valley, Meng Yan finally knew why the prince gave this order.
There is no large force ahead, just dozens of riders dragging tree branches to show off!
Seeing that Meng Yan's army had not retreated, he fired some arrows and fled on horseback.
There had been no movement in the mountains on both sides for a long time. When I sent someone to take a look, they found that there were just some flags tied to the trees fluttering in the wind.
The people who made the noise have long since disappeared...
It turns out that this is just a tactic.
"...Hey!" Meng Yan looked at the flag presented by the soldiers, his nostrils were burning with anger, and he split the flagpole into two pieces with a halberd in his hand.
"No wonder the prince ordered me to march. What a good thief, how dare you tease me, the general! I swear to kill you——!"
Meng Yan's angry voice echoed in the valley. Liu Chan's army never engaged the enemy again and walked out of the valley without any danger.
(End of chapter)
