In the Heishan Canyon in Taihang Mountain, in a huge cave, the defeated generals of the Heishan Army gathered here. Zhang Yan sat on a stone chair covered with tiger skin, leaned on the back of the chair, and looked up at the top of the cave with his eyes, looking desperate.

"Report to the general, Qingfeng Village was swept away by Lu Bu's bandits, and all the grain fields were burned to pieces. Qu Commander He Aniu led the soldiers and civilians in the village to fight and retreat to the enemy. He was waiting outside the cave and asked to see the general summon him." A loud report from a personal soldier interrupted Zhang Yan's thoughts.

Zhang Yan then sat upright, snorted coldly and said, "I will fight hard to retreat the enemy. If the enemy is really his retreat, can I still ask people to burn the food? He Aniu should have his name changed He Chuaniu." After that, he turned his head and asked the staff on the side and said, "How many camps are we captured?"

The staff responded: "Report to the general, plus this one, twenty-five of our twenty-eight camps were swept away by Lu Thief. Our food and grass were burned, and a large number of young and strong people were killed, but many old, weak, women and children were not captured by him."

Zhang Yan snorted again: "Is this still necessary to think about it? Lu Zhe wants to use these people to consume the only little food left. I will order me to drive tomorrow and move to the north of Taihang Mountain. Those old and weak will not need to bring them with me, so that they can make a living on their own."

The staff replied: "A few days ago, the general sent a vanguard to explore the way north. It would not be too late to move the main force when they came back. In addition, although these old, weak, women and children were unable to make a battle, they were all relatives of the soldiers. If they left them alone, they would be afraid that the morale of the army would be unstable."

"What should we do? Now we must not have enough food. Even the hunting teams that hunt in the forest are often attacked by Lu Zi's mandrill soldiers, with heavy casualties." Zhang Yan asked worriedly.

The mandrillers he mentioned were heroic hunters sent by Lu Bu. These heroic hunters climbed rocks and walls, crossed mountains and forests as if they were pacified, and their archery skills were extremely accurate, and they were elusive in the Taihang Mountains. Some old mountain people who lived in the mountains all their lives found it incredible. Therefore, the Black Mountain Army rumored that these heroic hunters had mandrill blood, so they were called mandrill soldiers.

The staff responded: "General, I forgot that you are a member of the court now, and you are also a member of Prime Minister Cao Cao. Of course you can ask for help if you have any difficulties." After hearing this, Zhang Yan thought for a few seconds, nodded and said: "That's all."

...

Xu Du Prime Minister's Mansion. After reading the report sent by Zhang Yan from the mountainous area of ​​Xixi, Cao Cao couldn't help but frown. He muttered to himself: "How come the Heishan Army, who had been in the mountains for more than ten years, could not beat Lu Bu in the wild mountains? It was incredible."

Cao Cao knew in his heart that he was going to fight north in Wuhuan and completely destroy the remaining forces of the Yuan family who defected to Wuhuan. Therefore, Zhang Yan Heishan Army in Taihang Mountain is very important. If they were guarding Taihang Mountain, he could ensure that Lu Bu's army would not run out of Taihang Mountain to attack Jizhou and plunder his rear. Otherwise, a large number of troops would be stationed at various Xingdaokous in Taihang Mountain]

Thinking of this, Cao Cao ordered the eunuchs to summon the generals and retainers to discuss the assistance of the Black Mountain Army. Soon, in the hall of Cao Cao's mansion, everyone formulated a detailed strategy. They also sent a scout to contact Zhang Yan.

...

During these days, Zhang Yan was also extremely anxious. In order to prevent Lu Bu's mandrill soldiers from discovering their whereabouts, and to reduce supply pressure, Zhang Yan dispersed the gathering of Black Mountain Army again and divided them into more than a dozen parts, hiding each part and solving the food supply on his own.

However, Zhang Yan's measure led to a large number of Black Mountain soldiers and civilians defecting to Lu Bu. Lu Bu's policy of gentleness towards Black Mountain soldiers and civilians spread throughout the various departments of the Black Mountain Army in a word of mouth. Even a certain department of Qu Zheng led all subordinates to surrender to Lu Bu.

Soon, Zhang Yan's headquarters also had a shortage of food. All the soldiers holding crossbows in the army were sent to hunt in the mountains and forests, and many of them failed to come back. Some were attacked by wild animals, but more were killed by the hands of the mandrill soldiers (hero hunters). The weather was getting colder and colder, and the entire Taihang Mountains was about to enter winter. The Black Mountain Army obviously could not stand this severe winter without foreign aid.

Just when Zhang Yan couldn't bear it and planned to lead his troops out of Taihang Mountain and go east to Jizhou to surrender directly to Cao Cao, Cao Cao wrote to him. In the letter, Cao Cao told him that thousands of trucks of food and grass supply that could supply the Heishan Army for winter had been prepared, and as long as the Baixing Road south of Taihang Mountain was unobstructed, these supplies could be delivered immediately. Therefore, Zhang Yan's Heishan Army needed to cooperate with the Cao army in Jizhou to break through a Lu Bu camp in Baixing. After reading the letter, Zhang Yan was overjoyed. He immediately summoned the generals to arrange them one by one and replied to Cao Cao.

The north wind blows, and the dead leaves fall. A long team of Cao soldiers and horses, led by several Heishan troops, advanced rapidly along Baixing. Now Cao Cao and Zhang Yan must seize the time, otherwise after a while, the winter snow falls and the mountain road will be blocked.

At the same time, on more than ten rugged and steep mountain paths, Zhang Yan personally led a team, and seven or eight thousand elite Heishan Mountains were divided into more than a dozen routes and gathered towards the central part of Baixing Xingdao. There was a camp of the Lu Bu army, a brigade of Hu Ben, and another 300 Xuan Armored Iron Guards.

With 7,600 elite Heishan soldiers and nearly 10,000 Cao's army, the Lu Bu army can be defeated. Although the territory occupied by the camp is dangerous, the Heishan army will siege the camp from the hillsides on all sides, and the Cao army will launch a frontal attack on Xingdao, and the Lu Bu army will not be able to defend it no matter what. Zhang Yan thought of this.

Not only Zhang Yan, but Yu Jin, who was commanding Cao's army this time, was also confident. Because of his confidence and concern that it would snow soon, he directly let the baggage troops follow the combat troops. In this way, once the road is opened, thousands of trucks of food and grass can be handed over to Zhang Yan immediately.

Of course, Zhang Yan knew the great ability of Lu Bu's mountain mandrillers to investigate in the mountains, and notified the Cao army of this situation. Therefore, Cao's army gathered quietly in Huixian, Henoi outside Baixing, and then suddenly entered Xingdao and quickly advanced towards the Lu Bu's camp. In this way, even if the mountain mandrillers quickly notified the main force of Lu Bu's army on the Bingzhou plain, it would be too late to strengthen defense and come to rescue. Zhang Yan also acted like this, first splitting troops without silence and gathering in several places, and then suddenly advanced towards the Baixing camp of Lu Bu's army at the same time.
Chapter completed!