It was not until dawn the next day that Kirby could barely get rid of Ma Dai's pursuit like a maggot attached to his bones by relying on the cover of the night.

However, it was also because of the night that a considerable number of Xianbei cavalry lost their direction while running away and broke away from Kirby's control.

Taking advantage of the temporary rest, Kirby was able to order people to count the losses. The result can only be described as shocking——

The Xianbei cavalry, which originally had more than 40,000, now only less than 20,000 cavalry are left. The battle is damaged and more than half of the lost soldiers are actually lost.

Although Kirby is strong, such a loss is definitely considered a serious injury to his vitality.

Although some of the losses were shared by several other tribes, this is not a good thing. The losses were so great, but the gains were very small. How could other tribes be satisfied? If one is not good, it may have an adverse impact on their relationship.

Although the tribe like Ke Zui is affiliated with Kirby, it is mainly based on Kirby's powerful strength. Once a stalemate is in trouble, there is no possibility of turning against each other.

After some kind words of comfort, especially when Kirby could agree to share the territory, population, cattle and sheep of a tribe that had been killed in battle with other tribes that had lost, Ke Zui and several other major leaders temporarily suppressed the resentment in his heart.

"If we cannot cleanse up the shame brought by Ma Dai, Ming Shen of Chishan will definitely look down on his descendants." Kirby could angrily crush a piece of frozen soil in his hand to pieces.

Ke Zuo and the others looked at each other, surprisingly not echoing Kirby's words.

If you suffer shame, it is naturally necessary to cleanse it.

But it also depends on who the opponent is? If you are a brave and ruthless opponent like Ma Dai, it is better to think about it first, so as not to lose your life in vain if the shame is not washed away.

The Xianbei leaders liked to deal with Han officials very much. Han officials liked to talk about "suppressing people with virtue". In the past, even if the Xianbei people were captured in the accident when they plundered the Han people, they had great hopes to be released.

If you get it, you can make money, and if you can't get it safe, you can get out of it. Why not do it? In the long run, the Xianbei people, including the Huns, and the Wuhuan people not only did not feel any "benevolence and moral education", but instead robbed it more and more happily.

The Han people are increasingly regarded as pigs, dogs, cows and sheep.

However, Ma Dai was completely different from those Han officials. He was cruel and harsh. In the past year, as long as the Xianbei and Xiongnu cavalry who plundered and harassed Liangzhou, they would probably not escape death if they were captured. They were lucky.

That is to say, become a slave and live in a dark and bleak sun.

It’s better to be less furious to such an opponent!

Seeing that no one responded, Kirby was angry, but she was not inconvenient to get angry. In the end, she had to make a decision to go back to the tribe first and then make discussions.

After two hours of rest, the scouts returned, and the Qiang people's rattle had already caught up with him.

The appearance of the raft means that Ma Dai and the Qiang people's brigade are not far away.

No more dare to hesitate. Kirby could immediately lead the Xianbei cavalry who had recovered some strength to continue to retreat eastward.

After running for more than two days, Kirby finally got rid of Ma Dai's pursuit.

Before he could breathe, another bad news came - Liu Bao, the Zuoxian King of the Huns, had been suppressed by the Xianbei in recent years, suddenly launched an attack on Kirby's troops, plundering cattle and sheep, and fighting for the grassland.

.

"Hahaha..." Ma Tie laughed happily, "Youchang is really good, the Huns can really attack Kirby. How can he be arrogant when he sees Kirby this bastard?

When the Northern Expedition is successful, we will ask the lord to send troops to the desert. Destroy Kirbyn and conquer the Danhan Mountain!"

The other generals and Qiang tribe leaders were also very excited and shouted wildly.

The excitement on Ma Dai's face flashed. He slowly walked away from the cheering crowd and walked to a raised mound.

The Western Liang cavalry and Qiang cavalry fed the horses in groups of three or five. When they saw Ma Dai standing on the mound, people shouted to salute from time to time.

He raised his eyes and looked at the endless wasteland eastward. After a long time, he suddenly took a deep breath and whistled to the sky.

The sound of dragons and tigers spreads to the southeast with the sharp north wind.

…………………………………………………………………

Nanyang County, Wancheng

In Jingzhou, Wancheng is located in the north, and is much colder than Xiangyang, not to mention it is compared with Jingnan.

When I first arrived in Wancheng, it happened to be the coldest days. Although I was wearing warm winter clothes, the soldiers from Jingnan were still a little uncomfortable.

By the end of the first lunar month, except for Ma Dai, who was fighting fiercely with Kirby, all our armies had arrived at the forefront of the Northern Expedition.

This time, the 340,000 troops were divided into the East and West routes——————West Route Army. The eldest brother personally served as the head commander, and I was the deputy, Pang Tong and Sima Yi followed the army to provide military service.

Under his jurisdiction, there are more than 40,000 Xiliang Army (including cavalry and infantry), Zhang Ren's 30,000 Sichuan Army, Lu Meng's troops, Zhao Yun stationed in Runan, Huang Zhong's troops, and 90,000 troops in Wancheng, a total of 220,000 people.

The Eastern Route Army, with the second brother as the head commander, was still accompanied by Zhuge Liang's military staff.

The subordinates included more than 60,000 troops led by the second brother himself, Wei Yan's 40,000 Xuzhou garrisons, Gan Ning and Jiang Qin's garrisons, and Hao Zhao and Li Yan's garrisons, a total of 120,000 troops.

In Lujiang, Situ Lu Yu, Sikong Kuai Yue, Guanglu Xu Shu (after Kuai Yue became Sikong, Weiwei Xu Shu was transferred to Guanglu Xu), Weiwei Lu Su, Tingwei Zhang Zhao, Dahonglu Sun Qian, and Jinwu Liu Pan jointly took charge of military and political affairs.

.

Council Chamber

In addition to the elder brother who sat upright, I, Lu Xun, Wen Pin, Pang De, Liao Hua, Chen Dao, Zhu Huan, Shamoke, Ling Tong, He Qi and other major generals in the army, as well as Sima Yi, Nanyang Prefect Deng Zhi and others, sat on both sides of the hall.

Everyone's eyes were concentrated on Pang Tong, the middle part of the hall.

"The first goal of this Northern Expedition is not to annihilate the enemy, nor to break the city, but to divide. Divide the enemy-occupied prefectures and counties south of the Yellow River, Central Plains, and Guanzhong into three pieces..." Standing in front of the sand table.

Pang Tong explained the strategic deployment of our army, "West Road, from Nanyang to the north to capture Xingyang, Yang people, and divided the two states of Yong and Si and Yuzhou;

The east road, from Liang County to the north, conquered Jiyin, divided the three counties of Yingchuan, Qiao County and Chenliu from the six counties of Yanzhou and Qingzhou in the east.

After completing the splitting step, the next step is to erode and swallow it one by one.”

"Splitting the whole into scatters, dividing and annihilation is a clever plan..." Pang De frowned and asked the first question, "But would Cao Cao really let our army complete the division so easily? As long as we detect our army's intentions, Cao's army can even form a pincer attack from both sides..."

"So, other arrangements need to be made to blind Cao Cao's sight..." Pang Tong replied confidently, "Our army is currently posing as an attack on the ground from east to west.

But there is also a mystery hidden in it, which is specifically used to confuse Cao Cao.

"Please look..." Pang Tong said with the wooden stick in his hand pointing to several small flags on the sand table.

"At first glance, Qing, Xu, Yan, Yu, Jing, Yi (here refers to Hanzhong), Liang, and the seven states on the front line all had our army to attack, it seemed that it was not too serious.

But if you carefully distinguish it, you can find the secrets of the actual equipment of troops——Nanyang's 90,000 troops, Runan's 30,000 troops, and Liangjun's more than 60,000 troops. These three places happen to be in a semi-fan shape, forming a joint attack on Xuchang.

In other words, our army actually surrounded Xuchang with an army of 180,000.

Although Xuchang is no longer the capital of the pseudo-in-law court, its strategic location is extremely important. The so-called "those who get Xuchang will get the Central Plains."

Our army gathered heavy troops to attack Xuchang. It was reasonable. If this confuses Cao Cao, it will definitely be effective."

"Why don't you just beat Xuchang down first?" Ling Tong asked in confusion.

"The problem is that Cao Cao will definitely station heavy troops in Xuchang. In addition, Xuchang City is strong and forced to attack, and the price is too high." I stood up, walked to the sand table, pointed at Xuchang's point. "And.

Xuchang is located in the center and is easy to get reinforcements. Attacking Xuchang is likely to become a time-consuming and long-term battle.

If something goes wrong, it will even shake the morale of the army and affect the entire Northern Expedition plan."

"So, the safe way is to first sweep away the two wings and leave only a lonely Xuchang. By then, even if Cao Cao wants to stick to it, he may not be able to hold on!" Pang Tong said with a smile.

Then, he nodded at me and returned to the seat on the right.

"Two days ago, Zilongye had led the Fengqi army to start feinting attacks Xuchang, and Hansheng will also lead his army north to attack Qiao County, forming a deterrence against Xuchang. At the same time, the second brother's army will attack westward from the direction of Liang County.

All of this is to attract Cao Cao to gather heavy troops in Xuchang. "The next task order is issued, which is to be completed by me. "In two days, my army will come out together..."

Although my elder brother went on the battle in person, he handed over the actual command to me immediately, and he just acted as the nominal coach.

"The prosperity of the country and the safety of the people's livelihood are all this Northern Expedition; the victory or defeat of the Northern Expedition lies in the common people!" When I finished the order, my elder brother stood up and said with a sigh, "I am willing to serve the Han Dynasty, the emperor, and the people of the world. I will entrust this important task to the public.

”

"No~!" More than ten major generals stood up at the same time, knelt on one knee in an orderly manner, with his right hand crossed in front of his chest, and responded loudly.

.

Xuchang was in a panic, and the officials and people in the city truly felt the arrival of danger.

Many people no longer remember when the last time they were attacked by soldiers!

However, just the day before, a group of wind cavalry bypassed the Cao army's defense line and suddenly appeared in a place more than 20 miles south of Xuchang City. After attacking a small baggage team of Cao's army, they retreated with one blow.
Chapter completed!