After taking five thousand Bingzhou soldiers out from the west of Fushi County, Shangjun, Geng Yan could clearly find that the surrounding scenery changed a lot.

Although Fushi County (Yulin) is not far from the desert, it still coexists with agriculture and animal husbandry. From time to time, you can see some farmland in Lilu from time to time. Gurgling water flows in the loess gullies, and peaches on the mountains are beginning to bear fruit. The vegetation on the roadside is also growing extremely vigorously. The green leaves and long branches of willows extend to the road from time to time...

But after one day of march, I completely entered a deserted land. There were no graceful willows on the roadside, and large areas of nakedness appeared on the loess layer on the mountain, and the grassland was sparse.

They seemed to cross a dividing line, with ten rains falling within the line a year, and two or three out of the line a year.

The wild grass in the loess is endless, and there is no obstacle to the huge mountain trench. After walking on this wild land for two or three days, the army entangled by heat and thirst can only meet a small stream and lake with abundant water and grass, which can allow the soldiers to rest and replenish supplies.

Such places often build fortresses, such as this one, called "Xionghun". During the Han Dynasty, the Hundred Guild was stationed. However, with the destruction of the new dynasty, the edges were in chaos. The soldiers either fled back to their hometowns or became bandits. Almost all the barriers were abandoned, leaving only the lonely beacon fortress independent of this.

Since there is no inn, no one will cook for you. Fortunately, before the army set off, the first batch of "fried noodles" was delivered from Guanzhong, which was placed in a long bag and could be hung on the horse's back. When eating, you don't have to cook it, just eat it directly with water. Then tear some jerky and chew it together, and it will be a meal.

Ordinary soldiers could still eat, but Geng Yan's younger brother Geng Guo could not bear it anymore. He touched the corner of his mouth and suggested to his brother again: "The brother gave up several counties in Xihe County and asked the county magistrate Ma to rush to help, and only guard the county government. The brother chose to save the new Qinzhong. Even though it was the place where the King of Wei started his family, there were many old subordinates, and Zhang Chun, the Marquis of Fuping, was he treated very well, but was he a little bit miserable?"

"Do you think I'm trying to please the king and his old subordinates?"

Geng Yan laughed silently and pointed to the long wall in the south of the road and said, "Can you know what this is?"

"Great Wall."

The Great Wall is built with large stones, filled with loess in the gaps between the stones. Over the years, the loess was blown away by the wind, and many walls collapsed, especially the most severe collapse of beacon towers.

"Which Great Wall was built when?"

Geng Guo couldn't answer, there were too many Great Walls in the north of the Great Wall. From the Warring States Period, Qin and Zhao to the Han Dynasty, one after another was built. Who can figure it out?

"It's the Great Wall of King Zhao of Qin."

Geng Yan said: "This is the Great Wall in the south. Can you tell which one is the northernmost?"

Geng Guodao: "It should be the Great Wall built during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. I heard that almost all Yinshan Mountains were included..."

The Great Wall during the Han Dynasty could be called the "outer Great Wall", the Great Wall of King Zhao of Qin was the "inner Great Wall", and the Great Wall of Qin Shihuang's Great Wall was in the middle.

Between the Great Walls inside and outside, is a region where agriculture and animal husbandry are repeatedly competing for.

"During the Warring States Period, there were Aries, Loufan, Yiqu, and Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, and the First Emperor ordered Meng Tian to attack Hu Rong in the north, and all the land in Henan were captured. Because the river was blocked, forty-four counties were built near the river, and they moved to garrison to fill it."

"At the end of the Later Qin Dynasty, China disrupted, Chu and Han competed for the equilibrium, and the Huns Maodun Shanyu went south, and the Great Wall within China was bounded."

"It was not until the time of Hanwu that the land of Henan was taken again and pushed the border north to the Great Wall."

Geng Yan said: "If the situation today is quite similar to that between the Chu and Han dynasties, and the Huns took advantage of the help of Hu Han and Lu Fang, and went south. Even if the outer Great Wall could not be defended, the inner Great Wall line could not be lost!"

At the eastern end of the inner Great Wall is the capital of Xihe County, Pingding City, so Geng Yan can give up several counties in Xihe County, but he has to defend it.

At the western end of the inner Great Wall, after a series of obstacles were built during the Han Dynasty, it was extended to the New Qinzhong!

"I know that Xinqinzhong is far away from Shangjun, and the army will take ten days to reach it. However, although the road along the Great Wall on this road is a bit harder, compared to the vast desert in the north and the mountains and steep mountains in the south, it is a smooth road. I can go, and the enemy can go too!"

This is the reason why Geng Yan decided to protect Xin Qinzhong without receiving the order from the court, at least to protect Fuping County: Once the Huns were allowed to seize Xin Qinzhong calmly, it would be equivalent to sharing the danger of the Great Wall with Wei State!

"The Huns can take the New Qinzhong as their foothold, and shed horses in spring and summer to rest. When the horses are fat in autumn, they go straight east and take this road to attack Shangjun!"

At that time, Shangjun would face pressure on both the north and west sides.

Even more so, the Huns could pass through the wasteland directly along the loess gullies regardless of the several obstacles in the north of Shangjun.

"At that time, Gao Nu (Yan'an), Diaoyin will become a battlefield, and the beacon will be connected to Ganquan, Chang'an!"

Geng Yan knew very well about cavalry. The Huns could endure hardships, be tired from wind and rain, hunger and thirst, and the Hu cavalry's harassment range was far beyond the imagination of the court's ministers. If the Huns were in the inner Great Wall, then Guanzhong would not talk about restoring people's livelihood.

"I have to be trusted by the king and hand over all the military affairs of Bingzhou to me. If that happens, Geng Yan can commit suicide and apologize!"

Although Geng State had nothing to say, the army set out again.

Geng Yan came to Bingzhou almost the first quarter and recruited a large number of Bingzhou people to join the army. They approached the frontier and could ride some horses more or less. Even if they could not be used as cavalry, it was enough to play "Horse-riding Infantry". Shangjun, Xihe also produced horses. According to the requirements of the King of Wei, whether they wanted or not, they were basically equipped with stirrups, which made it much easier during the march. The horse's hooves were nailed with iron palms, and the number and evil of the horses fell to death was greatly reduced. Even if they died, they not only had to cut the flesh, but also pulled the iron hooves away.

On the seventh day of the journey, a huge silver mirror appeared in front of me, which was dozens of miles wide. Under the sunlight, the water was crystal white and covered with green grass around the pond...

This is the Huamachi Lake in Yan County (Yanchi County). Not only does it have a salt lake, but it also has abundant water and grass. The taste of the beach sheep is the best in Bingzhou. The army was able to replenish the last time and finally had some hot rice.

It was also here that Geng Yan learned about the bad news that Xuan Biao, the commander of Shanghe, did not surrender and was killed after being captured, as well as the recent movements of the Huns and Hu Han troops.

"The Huns had thousands of cavalry, and they were besieging Fuping County with Lu Fang!"

...

Although Lu Fang and the Huns had been besieged for several days, the defense of Fuping County was not actually tragic.

This city built in the Hanwu period was itself a fortress. The city was tall and the walls were thick. The city was wide and the view tower was wide. There were many protruding horse faces on the walls. There were also low sheep and horse walls on the moat that led to the Yellow River water.

There is no shortage of manpower. The total population of Xinqinzhong area is 100,000. With the fall of the three counties in the west, a large number of refugees escaped the river and gathered in Fuping, resulting in a large number of local people, with a total of 50,000 or 60,000 people, and the males can also pull out 20,000 to 30,000, which is equivalent to the total number of enemy infantry and cavalry.

The Hu Bing did not have large equipment, so he could only rely on human life to pile up. As the siege came to an end, hundreds of Lu Fang's army fell in the wide moat, and many people could not even touch the walls of sheep and horses, let alone the city itself.

The attack was fruitless by building a bridge, and Lu Fang also changed his strategy and asked the Huns to mount a horse by the moat and shoot, trying to suppress the defenders behind the sheep and horse wall with a volley.

This tactic has achieved certain results. The defenders could not withstand the casualties and retreated into the city one after another. However, after Lu Fang proudly asked his subordinates to approach the city, he realized that they were deceived.

Most of the arrows shot by the Huns were picked up, and the bow on the top of the city exerted force again, forcing the Hu soldiers to retreat back to the periphery from a high position.

Meng Ze commanded the enemy in the city, and saw the Hu soldiers retreating in a panic, and laughed.

When the people in the New Qinzhong were scattered in several counties, they would be defeated by the captives one by one, but when they gathered together, they could burst out with huge energy when they had no choice but to retreat!

"It's up to Xuan Bohu to break the back personally to let most people get through." Meng Ze thought of Xuan Biao, who was beheaded by the Hu people to Fuping City after his sacrifice, couldn't help but feel ache. He used all his strength to shoot a Hu man to death with one arrow.

People in the frontier are different from those in the mainland that have been peaceful for too long. They know some martial arts and archery skills. They may not be able to fight in the field, but they are more than enough to defend the city. The only problem is that after a large number of people, the food is a little tight. They can only watch the Hu horses chew on the wheat that they cannot harvest, and the arrows are not enough.

"Fortunately, Mr. Zhang's fortress shared the burden for us."

Seeing that Lu Fangjun gave up attacking Fuping County, Meng Ze did not feel relaxed, but was worried about the safety of Zhang Chun's family.

The battle in Fuping City was to defend the enemy from the periphery, while the Zhangjiawu Fort was to fight against each other in close combat.

Because there were too many people influx, Zhang Chun proposed to let the elderly, weak, women and children go to Fuping City, and 3,000 males gathered in his fort, and Laojun Hou and his disciples stayed behind to guard the garrison.

The fort of Zhang Chun's family is stronger than built by the local tyrants in Guanzhong. The walls here are higher than those of the county town and are many times larger than ordinary barriers. As Zhang Tang, Zhang Anshishi has passed down to this day. The wealth of Zhang's family can only be described as "big ten thousand".

In Qinqu, half of the land and acres were the Zhang family's property, with only a thousand, many of which were specially trained clan soldiers.

Seeing that Fuping City was in trouble, Lu Fang had already moved the army to the fort. The gullies were filled, and Hu soldiers held a ladder and moth to attack the fort, but Zhangjiawu was stronger than they imagined. The only soldiers and Ding Zhuang stood on the wall, and there were unreasonable weapons such as the Great Yellow Crossbow on the tower.

After a day of strong attack, the fort was covered with bruises and arrows were pierced on all sides of the walls, but Lu Fang lost hundreds of people. Even if he was lucky enough to reach the top, Tu Fu would push the enemy down three feet high in various ways: crossbow machines, spears, and even teeth and fists after fighting together.

The moth was useless, so he changed to a force to attack the city gate. The Hu Qi provided long-range weapons to suppress the fortress from afar. Hu Han soldiers rushed towards the dock gate with large wooden stakes and logged iron axes. Rolling wood, stones, rubble fell from time to time, smashing them to the heads.

The boiling water poured from a whole pot burned Wuyuan who was charging forward and fell to the ground with blood blisters screaming, his face falling from a thick beard, like a pig waiting to shaved.

But after paying countless casualties, I finally split the door, but found that it was completely blocked by bricks and stones, and I couldn't get in at all.

It is useless to have a long-term siege. The fort is full of everything: wells, granaries, chandeliers, and even vegetable gardens. The grain stored in the cellar is enough for three or four thousand people to eat until autumn.

"These were originally prepared for self-protection in troubled times. Now they are used to protect the land and the rich people of the ancestral homes, but they are also used on the right path."

Zhang Chun changed his image as an old scholar. Today he wore his ancestral armor - his ancestor, the second most meritorious official of the Qilin Pavilion, the relics of Zhang Anshi, the general of the Han Dynasty, who was ranked second in the Qilin Pavilion. He wiped it brightly. As long as he didn't use it as a target for the wall, he would only patrol the fort to inspire morale.

"What if the Hu barbarians stayed forever?" The family supervisor was quite worried. Many wheat outside had not had time to harvest, which was enough for the Hu soldiers to eat for a long time. The people in the New Qin Dynasty had more rules, but they were slightly insufficient to fight back. It is not known whether the Chang'an court would really cross thousands of miles to send troops to aid.

"I'll come, I'll definitely."

Zhang Chun recalled the two times he got along with King Wei, and was very confident.

"I can't be wrong with the people. Although the King of Wei is cruel and ruthless, he is also a nostalgic person. He also knows that the new Qin Dynasty is the key to defending the enemy from the outside and will never abandon it lightly."

"If a hundred thousand people in the new Qin Dynasty were abandoned, they would become prisoners of the Hu people and even be used by Lu Fang. If they were protected, they would be the Great Wall of Wei's beacon tower!"

This is a crisis, but it is also an opportunity for the Zhang family. Zhang Chun knew that if he could defend Fuping for the King of Wei, he would definitely be rewarded in the future.

"Stay down, the three dukes and nine ministers may not have my share, but among the three orphans, my position is absolutely indispensable!"

Since Emperor Cheng of Han, the political struggle with the Wang Mang family failed, and Zhang Chun's family was excluded from the border country and almost lost everything. How could he have no nostalgia for the former "Jin and Zhang" family? How could he have no expectations for the Chang'an court? Whether Wei can achieve generational wealth depends on this battle!

At this moment, the Tu Fu on the fort gave out a burst of cheers.

"The head of the family, the Hu people have withdrawn their troops!"

When Zhang Chun climbed up to the tower and followed the direction pointed by the disciples, he saw a strong fire ignited from the Hu Bing camp between Fuping County and Zhangjiawu twenty miles away!

"It was done by reinforcements."

Zhang Chun ignored the reason and insisted on it. In front of many old Zhu Tufeng Yong's subordinates in the fort, he bowed three times to the southeast, and cried: "It was the King of Wei who sent a large army to save his people!"

...
Chapter completed!