Yuan Xi and Professor Guo Jiaju had studied Cao Cao's tactics before, and everyone commented on him with one word: fast.
What Cao Cao's army was good at was encircling a point for reinforcements. They first surrounded the enemy's city or troops, and then made a surprise attack to intercept the troops coming to rescue them.
After using this method of warfare several times, it has become well known to all parties, but it happened to be like this. Lu Bujun still fell into the trap many times and was severely defeated.
Later, when Yuan Xi and his advisers reviewed these battles, it took them a lot of time to understand the secret.
This method of warfare, to put it bluntly, is to attack the enemy without rescuing it, so that the other party can only adopt a rescue response strategy, and then ambush the enemy.
To achieve these two points, one is to predict local marching routes, and the other is to appear in unexpected places where the enemy is present.
Regarding the first point, the military route of Lu Bu's cavalry-based army is easy to predict, because horses cannot run on rugged mountain roads, so they often choose flat roads. The areas outside the roads are often either swamps or woods, making it impossible to March quickly.
Moreover, war horses need to have sufficient water sources, so their marching route is not only close to the main road, but also has rivers. Based on this, it is easy to estimate the marching route.
Then there is the second most critical point, how to surprise the opponent.
Cao Cao's army's strategy was to march in a hurry.
They arrived in advance to ambush the enemy on the only way they must pass. Although the soldiers would be very tired, the enemy was almost unprepared when marching, and their performance was even worse when they were surprised. That's why Cao Jun succeeded repeatedly.
After studying and understanding Cao's army's tactics, Yuan Xi could not help but marvel at how well Cao Cao's army, from counselors to generals, cooperated well and each showed their strengths. It was also thanks to Cao Cao's choice of strategies that Cao Cao's generals could continue to fight in battle after battle. growing up.
To deal with such an enemy, Yuan Xi can only play all the cards in his hand without reservation and fight the opponent with all his strength, otherwise he will only seek death.
He said: "If I don't go out, how can I tempt Cao's army to attack with the main force?"
"And now that I am leading my troops there, Cao's army has not yet fully assembled. At this time, our army is not at a disadvantage. If all the people waiting for him are here, wouldn't it be more difficult for me to win?"
Lu Xun had to admit that Yuan Xi was right and said, "Please be careful."
Not long after, the spies from Cao's camp learned the news. The Youzhou army was divided into three groups and attacked the place besieged by Cao's army. The total number of troops was nearly 10,000!
At this time, Cao's front army was besieging Liu Bei's family, and its leader, Xia Houyuan, had already begun to gather troops. However, Cao Ren from the center and Cao Cao from the rear had not arrived yet, and it looked like it would take several hours.
Xia Houyuan did not expect the Youzhou Army to be so decisive. He knew that this was a critical moment. He was at a slight military disadvantage at this time, but if he retreated without a fight, all his plans would be in vain!
Thinking of this, he called Cao Chunlejin and others who had already arrived, and said: "You two each lead an army and cut off their retreat!"
"I'll block it here!"
Cao Chunlejin knew how powerful it was, and immediately shouted: "Take the order!"
Xia Houyuan led the two men away, knowing that the few thousand men he had left could not stop the Youzhou army. He rolled his eyes and shouted: "Go and arrest the people of Xuzhou and let them stand in front!"
Half an hour later, Yuan Xi held a telescope and watched Cao Jun drive the people to block the front, while there were stragglers behind who continued to kill and loot.
Yuan Xi's face was gloomy. The other party was really disgusting. He understood that Yuan Xi, as the Xuzhou Pastoral Association, was taking the people of Xuzhou as hostages!
This is the disadvantage of fighting on one's own territory, but on the battlefield, if you are soft-hearted at this time and wait for the opponent to encircle you, your entire army will be in danger of being annihilated!
Thinking of this, he said: "The cavalry attacks the opponent's flank, and the infantry advances!"
Xia Houyuan saw that the Youzhou Army beat the drum of attack without hesitation, and sneered in his heart. All the benevolence and righteousness in treating others are fake in the face of life and death in war.
The cruel facts will severely expose these hypocritical people and let the world understand that everyone is the same!
Not long after, the Youzhou Army cavalry began to fire arrows at them. The infantry at the front advanced with shields, and someone in the middle shouted loudly, "Those who hold the people hostage will be killed without mercy!"
"Let go of the people and surrender immediately. There is still a way to survive!"
There was a Qingzhou soldier from Cao's camp who was very good at killing. He cut down the people in front of him with a backhand knife and laughed loudly: "If I kill him, what can I do?"
The next moment, there was a pop, and an arrow penetrated his chest, killing him on the spot.
At this moment, everyone else was silent and hurriedly hid behind the people.
Lu Lingqi retracted her bow and arrow and glanced at Yuan Xi proudly, but Yuan Xi shouted to the front: "Old man of Xuzhou, I am Yuan Xi, the shepherd of Xuzhou!"
"The thieves are using you to block their arrows. In order to save you, there will inevitably be casualties!"
"I swear here that I will never let go of the person who holds you hostage. I will properly arrange for those who survive!"
"If there is any guilt, it is all my fault!"
When the people of Xuzhou heard this, they all became commotion. Some people shouted: "Zhou Mu is here to save us. If we block the arrows of these thieves and harm Zhou Mu in vain, we might as well fight with them!"
When everyone heard this, they shouted one after another. Cao Jun's soldiers slashed the shouters on the necks and chopped them to the ground. They wanted to prevent the situation from getting out of control, but it was too late. Many people turned around and started fighting with Cao Jun soldiers.
Seeing the opportunity, Yuan Xi shouted: "The whole army is coming, annihilate the bandit army!"
The Youzhou army roared and charged forward. As soon as they engaged, Cao's army, unable to see each other, fell into a disadvantage.
Xia Houyuan, who was supervising the formation at the back, was extremely pleasantly surprised. He finally caught a big fish!
Compared to this, a few dead people are nothing!
He quickly sent spies to inform the other two armies of Yuan Xi's whereabouts. At the same time, he raised his sword and shouted: "Kill this man and make him a Marquis of Qianhu!"
"Follow me!"
After hearing this, the soldiers in Cao's camp lit up their eyes, roared and rushed after Xia Houyuan.
In the Han River, warships were speeding northward. Taishi Ci stood on the bow with a big bow on his back, anxious.
After Yuan Shu's army broke through Xiapi, they took advantage of the opportunity to spy on Guangling. Taishi Ci and Chen Deng organized their troops to defend. However, they received Yuan Xi's order to mobilize troops. Taishi Ci immediately led his troops northward, but it would take at least two days to reach the vicinity of Haixi.
It’s best if nothing happens during these two days!
Youzhou Army and Cao Cao Army had been fighting from noon to night, with many casualties on both sides. Although Youzhou Army had an advantage, Qingzhou Army, under the command of Xia Houyuan, was not afraid of death and never collapsed.
Yuan Xi saw the Qingzhou soldiers several times waving their crude weapons and rushing forward desperately for Huang Tian, screaming. After Lu Lingqi and Sun Li chopped them down to the ground, those soldiers still had to work hard to get up. .
Seeing the crazy look of these people, Yuan Xi thought to himself that these people were really wasted. If he had them under his command, they could have used bamboo tubes to attack the enemy's formation.
Huang Tian and so on, it seems that these people really think that Cao Cao has inherited Taiping Dao.
Thinking of this, he became even more disgusted and shouted: "Kill them all!"
To him, these Qingzhou soldiers in front of him were already used as fanatic tools and had no meaning in their existence.
In this case, it would be better to kill them all.
However, the other party obviously wanted to drag him here. Calculating the time, Yuan Xi had to withdraw his troops at night, otherwise he would not be able to escape when Cao Cao's main force arrived!
He was a little regretful. Liu Bei's officials had found a few, but there was still no news about the others, and many people had fled. How about leaving now?
At this moment, a spy came to report that a noble woman was suspected to have been found a few miles south.
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said to everyone: "Kill him!"
Everyone covered them all the way, and finally came to several collapsed earthen houses when it was getting dark.
Yuan Xi saw a vague figure next to a dry well. He jumped off his horse and walked over with a knife.
Several figures over there shrank immediately and tried to pick up bricks on the ground to defend themselves. Among them was a female figure who wanted to throw herself into a well.
Yuan Xi took a few steps forward, grabbed the woman who was about to throw herself into the well, and said, "I am not Cao Jun."
The woman's hair was disheveled and she was extremely frightened when she was pulled by Yuan Xi. When she heard Yuan Xi's voice, she was surprised and said: "Young Master?"
Yuan Xi took the torch, looked at the woman's face, and said in surprise: "Why is it you?"
It turned out to be Mi Zhen!
He thought he might meet Liu Bei's family, but he didn't expect it to be Mi Zhen. Shouldn't the other party be north of Tancheng?
When Mi Zhen saw that it was Yuan Xi, she was almost exhausted. She regained her composure and said hurriedly: "Young master, don't worry about me, my wife is seriously injured!"
When Yuan Xi heard this, he looked on the ground and saw a woman holding a girl in her arms. The face was quite familiar. He realized that this was not the wife and daughter of Liu Bei whom he had seen before.
But Mrs. Liu Bei looked very bad at this time. She had several stab wounds on her body, her face was pale, and she was already dying.
He asked Mi Zhen, "What's going on? Where are the others?"
Mi Zhen gradually explained a few words, and Yuan Xi finally understood that it turned out that Mi Zhen escaped with Mi Fang, but instead met up with Liu Bei's wife and daughter and Mrs. Gan. They all fled eastward and were finally caught up by Cao Jun.
Although there were many servants around Mi Fang, they were no match for her. They were about to suffer all casualties. Mi Fang was the only horse on the field, but Mrs. Liu Bei was seriously injured and did not want to leave.
But the final result was that Mi Fang escaped with Mrs. Gan!
Mi Zhen stayed voluntarily and insisted on staying with Mrs. Liu Bei. Mi Fang saw Mi Zhen's resolute attitude and had to leave first.
Yuan Xi knew that there must be some hidden secrets, but at this time, the woman was indeed a burden, and Mi Fang couldn't be too harsh to protect herself.
But Mrs. Liu Bei was seriously injured and dying, so it was really difficult to take her away. Regardless, why did Mi Fang take away Mrs. Gan?
Logically speaking, if only one person was taken away, how could Liu Bei's daughter be ranked in front of Mrs. Gan?
According to Mi Zhen, Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Liu Bei whispered something, and Mrs. Liu Bei asked Mi Fang to take Mrs. Gan away!
Yuan Xi shook his head, thinking that he couldn't care about this kind of thing at this time. The top priority was to rush back and join the large army.
He said to the soldiers on both sides: "Take them away."
At this time, horns were sounded from all directions at the same time, and someone shouted: "They have fallen into a trap!"
"Come together and kill them all!"
Immediately there were figures of Yingying Tongtong in all directions, and countless Qingzhou soldiers rushed towards him!
Yuan Xi's face darkened, the Qingzhou soldiers were coming much faster than expected!
It shouldn't have been so fast!
He yelled: "Get in formation and stop them!"
Not long after, thousands of Qingzhou soldiers surrounded the area. Lu Lingqi waved her halberds and Sun Li waved his sword, killing the incoming soldiers one by one. However, he saw several generals rushing out of the dark shadows on the opposite side and facing the two soldiers. People were forced over.
As soon as the two sides fought, Yuan Xi saw that something was wrong. The attacking enemy was by no means a mediocre opponent, but General Cao Ying!
He guessed correctly, it was Xia Houyuan, Li Dian and others who came!
(End of chapter)
