Chapter 90 On the Longzhong Road
Longzhong is the hill where Zhuge Liang lived.

In the early morning, the air was surrounded by a light mist. Zhuge Liang and his wife were having dinner with their younger brother Zhuge Jun.

Then he heard someone shouting outside the fence, and Zhuge Liang was surprised: "Why is it so noisy?"

Zhuge Jun put down his chopsticks and said, "Brother, I'll go take a look."

Zhuge Liang also put down his chopsticks and said to his wife, "Let's go and see it together."

Huang Yueying immediately turned around and took the outer robe from the wooden screen and put it on Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Jun, who was squatting beside her and putting on clogs, just looked up and glanced.

The two brothers left the hut together and saw a young man with a bamboo basket in front of him at the foot of the hill: "Kong Ming! The Qingzhou soldiers have rebelled! They are fighting with the county soldiers, and I heard that the Jinfan bandits are with them!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang quickly walked to the fence and asked anxiously, "Are they the Qingzhou soldiers from the south?"

"Yes, where else can we find Qingzhou soldiers except in Nanxiang?"

The young man said hurriedly: "The people who escaped from Shandu County above said so, saying that the Qingzhou soldiers kidnapped the Nanxiang County Lady and the son Liu Qi. I also heard from the villagers that the captain Zhang Tong was killed by the Jinfan thief Gan Ning, and many county soldiers were defeated and are fleeing to the Zhonglu Valley!"

"Kong Ming, you and your wife should not be so arrogant. These are soldiers from Qingzhou!"

After saying this, the young man steadied the backpack and put it on his back, then immediately walked around the fence and along the path.

At the other end of the path, the young and strong old mother, wife and children were also waiting anxiously with their bags on their backs.

Zhuge Jun was anxious, and there was a sense of hostility lingering on his brows: "Brother?"

"Walk."

Zhuge Liang turned and strode back to the thatched cottage, and said to Huang Yueying who came to meet him: "The villagers said that the White Goose Bandits kidnapped Prince Liu Qi and rebelled, and Nanxiang County was in cahoots with them."

Huang Yueying was surprised: "That boy has only been in Jingzhou for a few days? How could he persuade Yi Jibo to join in the rebellion?"

"Yi Ji has his own calculations."

Zhuge Liang walked into the hall wearing sandals, reached out to take down his sword from the wall and hung it on his waist, and said to Huang Yueying who followed him: "I met him once, I want to go and see him. You and Ajun retreat to Zhonglu and follow Yang Lu."

"Take care, my husband."

Huang Yueying turned around and went back to the house to pack up the things she had brought with her. At this time, Zhuge Jun and three young servants in blue had already finished arming themselves.

The most important thing in this family is people, not property.

Zhuge Liang took a young servant with him and immediately walked down the hill.

After walking two or three miles, they saw a dozen fleeing Jingzhou soldiers surrounding a group of refugees and robbing them at the mouth of a mountain path.

In addition to stealing the man’s luggage, they also forced him to take off his clothes, even his shoes.

Someone recognized Zhuge Liang and called out from afar, "Mr. Kong Ming!"

Zhuge Liang also strode over. He was over eight feet tall and looked very imposing. He walked with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, and shouted, "What are you doing?"

A defeated soldier had a fierce look on his face and was about to yell and curse, but his companions pulled him back and said, "This is Huang Chengyan's son-in-law! Lord Cai's nephew-in-law! Go!"

After saying this, the friend picked up a knife in one hand and a bundle of clothes in the other and turned around and ran. The other defeated soldiers followed him in unison.

Seeing this, a few tough defeated soldiers did not stay and ran away with the others, fearing that their way would be blocked by Zhuge Liang.

After trying to appease the robbed people and failing to obtain any useful information, Zhuge Liang could only continue walking out of the mountain.

After crossing another ravine and turning a mountain road, we saw boats connected to each other on the south bank of the Han River. There were countless small boats and bamboo rafts of various kinds.

"Who are you?"

On the right side of the mountain road, a team of Jingzhou soldiers stationed on guard shouted from afar.

Perhaps it was because of Zhuge Liang's extraordinary temperament that the leading military officers had a kind attitude, but were more vigilant and scrutinizing.

Zhuge Liang folded his hands, held the feather fan, and bowed his head to salute. He said to the military officer who came to greet him, "I am Zhuge Kongming of Langya, living in this mountain. I heard that there was a change outside the mountain, so I came to take a look."

"It turned out to be Mr. Kong Ming."

The military officer immediately waved his hand to signal the guards behind him to put away their spears and halberds: "Sir, you don't know, we followed the prince to defeat the bandit general Xiahou Dun at Bowangpo and obtained his letter, but we didn't expect Cai Mao to be colluding with the enemy and plotting rebellion!"

"There is such a thing?"

Zhuge Liang looked surprised and asked, "Where is the young master?"

"It's in the camp. Mr. Kong Ming, do you want to go?"

Seeing Zhuge Liang nod, the military officer turned around and selected five soldiers: "You escort Mr. Kong Ming to the camp."

"Thank you."

Zhuge Liang held his fan and saluted, and the military officer hurriedly responded: "We dare not."

After a journey of seven or eight miles, Zhuge Liang approached a rough camp surrounded by boats and saw a row of equally rough green bamboo flags planted in the camp.

Every twenty or thirty steps there was a piece of rough silk, two feet and two inches wide, written with words such as "Cai Mao plotted rebellion" and "obeyed the order to fight against the enemy" on a green bamboo pole.

Not to mention ordinary officials and people, even Zhuge Liang was a little confused at a glance.

Before Xiangyang made a more clear statement, who would dare to attack Liu Qi?
At the gate of the camp, Zhuge Liang waited quietly for the message.

Then a knight came galloping along the Longzhong-Xiangyang Road, entered the camp and shouted loudly: "Report! The Wanshan rebels are retreating!"

Wanshan is neither big nor small, more than 40 feet higher than the Han River, with a diameter of two or three miles. It is located between the Longzhong Road and the south bank of the Han River.

The location is important, but the terrain is flat and there is no strategic location to defend.

At this time, many soldiers in the camp looked towards the east and saw tall green bamboos standing on the mountains.

On top of the green bamboo flagpole is a coarse silk flag of original color that is whitish in color.

There were more and more green bamboo and white flags, and hundreds of flags almost dyed the lush mountains white.

You can see thousands of mountains from here, and you can have a clear view of Xiangyang!
The Jingzhou navy was in a dilemma at this moment, and the warships blocked the waterway.

But the black bear had already set up camp three or four miles ahead of time, and now he had even crossed the navy and captured Wanshan.

Zhang Shuo, the governor of Xuanchi, stood on the command platform of Queshi and looked at the Wanshan Mountain in the southeast, looking at the white flags on the top of the mountain. He, the governor of Xuanchi, was more like the sitting Sima of the Xiangyang Navy, only responsible for the daily training-related camp affairs, not the real governor of the navy.

In order to successfully mobilize the navy, Han Ran, a military official of the Zhennan Shogunate, went to Xuanchi with the transfer order and mobilized the navy.

Han Ran, looking at his surname, you can tell that he was most likely born in Nanyang.

He also looked at the white flags like a forest on the mountains and remained speechless for a long time.

At this time, a military officer came up to the mausoleum and said, "General Zhang, the flag signal from Lu Gong's garrison on the island is to ask if there are any rebels harassing Wanshan?"

Zhang Shuo immediately asked Han Ran: "Han Caoyuan, should our army cooperate with the troops on the continent to harass the Wanshan bandits?"

Now the rebel army is divided into two parts. The rear is Prince Liu Qi and the old man from the shogunate Yi Ji. Yi Ji is good at law, although he killed many people.

But this blood debt really cannot be blamed on Yi Ji. Yi Ji was just an execution machine that stamped and signed.

But within his limited authority, Yi Ji let many people go.

Han Ran turned around to look at the sandbar and saw the messengers sent by the garrison on the sandbar waving flags and making repeated flag signals on the shore.

Without hesitation, Han Ran said, "I was ordered to block the Han River waterway with Governor Zhang in order to prevent any passage. The rest has nothing to do with our army."

Zhang Shuo asked again: "If there is no boat cover from our army, will General Lu's troops on the sandbar just swim...?"

Zhang Shuo, who was about to ask something, gradually fell silent under Han Ran's cold gaze.

Seeing Zhang Shuo was speechless, Han Ran asked, "Is there any written order in the military order for you to attack the young master's troops?"

"Nothing."

Zhang Shuo muttered two words in a gloomy voice. Han Ran raised his hand and pointed at the troops stationed on the sandbar: "I have also seen their deployment order. They are cooperating with the navy to block the Han River. If the navy does not move, why should they move!"

"Send someone over and tell them clearly that unless there is an order from the Zhennan Shogunate, the navy will not send a single ship or soldier!"

"Here!"

On top of the mountains, a black bear grabbed an unripe plum, and the juice immediately splashed everywhere. The sour and astringent taste rushed straight to the top of his head, making him frown and squint.

Several people around me were also picking plums on the trees that they thought might be ripe, but were not fully ripe. They took a bite of the plum one by one, and their saliva could not stop flowing.

Not only them, but the soldiers who attacked Wanshan were also searching for various edible fruits to replenish water.

There is a regular battalion of Jingzhou troops in Wanshan. This regular battalion is stationed at the foot of the mountain on the east side of Wanshan and is set up to guard the dock.

Such a small mountain naturally has no springs or streams.

While eating fruit to quench my thirst, I saw an army on the east side advancing westwards along Longzhong Road.

Gan Ning strode over. Perhaps because the sun was rising higher, Gan Ning found some ink and put on a thick black eye shadow. "General Qu, those are the troops stationed in Yicheng under the command of Cai Mao!"

Black Bear nodded, then raised his hand and pointed at a group of soldiers resting at the entrance of Tanxi Bridge: "Whose troops are these?"

"I don't know. Waiting for the scouts' report."

Gan Ning squinted his eyes and looked into the distance. The size of the army stationed at the Tanxi Bridge was about two to three thousand, and it was right at the intersection of Tanxi and Jingyu Road.

They were seven or eight miles away from their own side, but the troops led by Cai Mao gradually advanced and were already three or four miles outside the foot of the mountain.

The size of Cai Mao's troops was far greater than the 3,000 garrison troops in Yicheng that he remembered, probably as many as 4,000 to 5,000 people.

When their own scouts and scouts tried to get closer, Cai Mao and the roaming scouts sent by the garrison at the bridge would push back and drive them away, preventing them from getting closer.

Black Bear was furious when he saw this. He raised his right hand and pointed at a scout group of more than 30 riders: "Defeat them!"

This scout group was cooperating in chasing a scout team of their own. Their scouts could only retreat westward on horseback. The enemy was galloping along the Longzhong Road, shooting arrows from time to time, and was very arrogant.

As Black Bear raised his hand and pointed, Lu Bu beside him jumped on his horse, holding the halberd in both hands and rushed down the hillside.

Gan Ning's eyes narrowed as he looked at the inhuman figure from behind. Who normally would dare to rush forward like this?

If a horse rushes down from a high position and its front hoof breaks, both the horse and the man will surely die.

The enemy's scouts saw them from afar, so how could they dare to chase them or fight them?
They turned their horses around and galloped backwards regardless of everything. Even Cai Mao's troops, which were advancing slowly, stopped and adjusted their formation on the Longzhong Road, taking up their position close to the Tanxi River.

"General Qu, the soldiers from Yicheng are coming up the Han River, so they must be tired."

Gan Ning suggested: "Should our army attack their formation from a high position, or should we fight them after lunch break?"

Seeing that Black Bear was concentrating on controlling Lü Bu to drive away and suppress Cai Mao's scouts, Gan Ning continued, "I am worried that when we fight with Cai Mao, the troops stationed at the bridge mouth will move forward to engage in battle."

The thirty-one centuries of Qingzhou soldiers actually only had one chance for a tactical charge.

If he wins the battle and has an advantageous fight, these Qingzhou soldiers can still be his partners.

However, if the battle becomes difficult or goes against one's will, it would not be surprising for the Qingzhou soldiers to turn against one's side on the battlefield.

It’s a pity that Cai Mao was a cautious person. He always stayed in the army while driving the chariot and did not appear in the front team.

"Wait a little longer. We have already exhausted our physical strength by conquering Wanshan, so we need some time to rest. Now, let Taishi Wengong harass Cai Mao, and when the soldiers of Yicheng become lazy and exhausted, we will attack with our entire army and strive to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!"

Black Bear comforted Gan Ning, motioned for Gan Ning to sit on the ground and rest, and then called thirty-one centurions to his front.

Gao Shun and four other Taoist soldiers were standing by at this moment. Each of them was equipped with a flag guard team of fifty people, each guarding a brightly colored battle flag without any words on it.

Black Bear is ready to command remotely from a high position and teach Cai Mao a lesson on what is micro-control of the entire battle!

The experience of this battle can be fully replicated in the future Guanzhong battlefield!
He pointed at four crude four-color battle flags and said, "Teams 1 to 7 belong to the Green Flag Battalion, Teams 8 to 14 belong to the Red Flag Battalion, Teams 15 to 21 belong to the Yellow Flag Battalion, and the rest belong to the White Flag Battalion!"

"The battle will begin later. All you need to do is follow your flag!"

He raised his hand and pointed at Cai Mao's position at the foot of the mountain: "Liu Biao will wait and see. If we win, you can return home with food and cloth! If we lose, Liu Biao and Cai Mao will not let you go!"

"My general, Taishi Wengong, is as brave as Lü Wenhou, so don't worry."

When the order was issued, Lu Bu had already surrounded Cai Mao's temporary position.

He rode alone around the formation, his heavy Fang Tian Ji dragging on the ground, making a crackling sound and leaving a shallow groove.

(End of this chapter)