After a while. The soldier who said he wanted to "warm up" stumbled over and said in horror: "The valley is full of soldiers!"
"What the hell are they all soldiers?" Huang Dan said angrily.
The soldier swallowed his saliva and said in shock: "They are all Yanzhou people, hiding in the ravine! They are coming out!"
Before he finished speaking, a dozen Yanzhou Army scouts ran out. The Yanzhou army scouts were obviously elite. Without saying a word, they raised their swords and guns and killed them. They cut down five or six Jizhou soldiers in one encounter.
When Huang Dan saw something was wrong, he ran away. Seeing Huang Dan running away, the remaining soldiers wished they had two more legs and ran towards the river bank one after another.
Yuan Shao stood on the bow of the boat in high spirits. He held the hilt of the sword in his hand, wishing he could fly across the river, and then the magic soldiers descended from the sky to attack Cao Cao's army camp.
He seemed to see Cao Cao kneeling down and crying and begging for mercy, so he smiled unconsciously.
"What is your lord laughing at?" Yan Liang asked
Yuan Shao held the whip and said, "Who says Cao Cao is so wise? If it were me, I would ambush a surprise soldier here. Do we still have a way to survive?!" He murmured for a while and covered it up.
At this moment, the soldiers and horses on the south bank were in turmoil, and the sound of drums and fighting could be heard in the distance.
Yuan Shao was shocked. He really didn't expect that the other party would have any ambush.
"Stop!" Yan Liang shouted, asking the rowing soldiers to stop the boat first.
The Yanzhou Army hiding in the valley on the south bank was forced to rush out in advance. According to the pre-planned plan, they cooperated with the ambush to attack and kill the Jizhou Army soldiers. Li Tong, Yu Jin, Le Jin, Xia Houyuan and others were all very capable. They commanded their men calmly and attacked the soldiers of Jizhou where they landed.
When the two sides were in a stalemate. Cao Chun's more than two thousand tiger and leopard cavalry rushed out at the right time and cooperated with the infantry to hunt and kill the Jizhou soldiers in panic.
Wolf smoke ignited.
cooperatively. A ship washed down from the upper stream. The Yanzhou soldiers on the ship either bent their bows and set arrows, or held spears and halberds. They went down the river to attack the ferry of the Jizhou army.
Yuan Shao was dumbfounded. Faced with the sudden attack, he couldn't react for a moment.
Yan Liang shouted and asked the soldiers to row back. Then he and his soldiers raised their shields to protect Yuan Shao and several civil servants. For a time, the two sides started a hasty water battle on the river.
Although neither the Yanzhou Army nor the Jizhou Army were good at water battles, the well-prepared Yanzhou Army clearly had the advantage. Most of them are equipped with bows, crossbows, spears and halberds, so they can choose to fight at a distance or at close range.
The purpose of the Jizhou Army was to cross the river. The weapons and soldiers they equipped were not so particular. Some ferries were even equipped with horses as baggage.
Yuan Shao's face turned blue. He was frightened by the enemy's ambush and was afraid of being defeated. On the one hand, he was ashamed and angry, and he was ashamed of not listening to Jushu's advice. Angry at Cao Cao's conspiracy.
The fighting on the river soon became clear. The soldiers on the Jizhou military ferry were killed one after another, and less than one-third of the boats returned to the north bank. The rest of the land was either captured or drifted down.
The remaining Jizhou soldiers on the south bank saw that the ferry was destroyed or fled north, and they suddenly had no intention of fighting. They could only retreat steadily, resisting the Yanzhou Army's fierce attack step by step.
Yuan Shao's legs felt weak as soon as he got off the ferry. A deep sense of frustration appeared in his heart, and he was unwilling to give in.
Yan Liang supported Yuan Shao and asked: "Lord, how should our army deal with it?"
Yuan Shao looked at the soldiers on the other side and the few ferries left, and said dejectedly: "Can we still go over and ferry them back?"
Cui Yan and Chen Lin were not easy to talk to, so no one answered Yuan Shao's questions. In fact, they all knew that the 10,000 troops on the other side were almost destroyed.
Yuan Tan stumbled and came to Yuan Shao. He said with a worried look on his face: "Father, you are not injured, but you are worried about your son!"
Yuan Shao did not look at Yuan Tan, but stared blankly at the other side, where soldiers from both sides were still fighting sporadically.
Suddenly, the Jizhou Army's rear formation on the north bank also panicked. The sound of horse hooves and the sound of horns came from far away, and the Bingzhou cavalry suddenly appeared from nowhere.
There are more than 2,000 Bingzhou cavalry. Although there are only more than 2,000 cavalry, their momentum is far greater than that of the Jizhou army that suffered a setback. The big flag in the middle was embroidered with the Chinese character "LV", which made the Jizhou soldiers panic even more.
The Bingzhou cavalry did not stay long. They attacked the rear army's baggage. He turned around and headed straight for the flat part of the river bank. The cavalry is not omnipotent.
Mountains, swamps and lakes are all terrains that are not conducive to cavalry operations. However, Lu Bu was well versed in cavalry warfare. He was optimistic about the terrain and asked his soldiers to attack on flat areas. Do not touch the Jizhou soldiers on the high ground.
Yuan Shao drew his saber and shouted: "Heshuo men! They are only a thousand people, how can we lose with tens of thousands of troops!"
Generals Yan Liang, Han Meng, Zhao Rui, and Jiang Qi saw that the coach Yuan Shao had calmed down, so they calmly commanded their troops to form defensive formations. After the initial panic, the Jizhou soldiers gradually stabilized their position. Yuan Shao was indeed much stronger than the emperor of the Song Dynasty.
"Lord, please go to a higher place first, where the cavalry can't reach!" Yan Liang advised.
Yuan Shao got angry and said angrily: "How can a man be so timid? I will stand here and let him, Lu Bu, come over!"
"That would be too dangerous!" Yuan Tan exclaimed.
Yuan Shao really stood still and shouted: "I believe in you guys from Heshuo! As long as you are here, even Lu Bu can't defeat him!"
"Woohoo!" "We must win!" The guards around Yuan Shao shouted in unison.
Yuan Tan, Feng Ji and others had no choice but to mobilize heavy troops to form a formation and firmly protect Yuan Shao.
The fiery red shadow in the distance rushed left and right, killing ten lieutenants and colonels in half a quarter of an hour, and the morale of the Bingzhou cavalry also increased unprecedentedly. On the other hand, the Jizhou Army was passively defended and could not move its position, so it could only be beaten passively.
Faced with Lu Bu's arrogance, Yuan Shao couldn't stand it anymore. However, he was afraid that his generals would be damaged, so he did not dare to send them to challenge.
Yan Liang's eyes were filled with anger. The reputations of Jizhou Army and Wen Chou were ruined by Lu Bu. As sworn brothers, he was of course obliged to wash away this shame.
"My lord, go ahead and kill Lu Bu!" Yan Liang asked.
Yuan Shao hesitated for a while.
"My lord, Lu Bu is really powerful. When it comes to cavalry and martial arts, there is no one better than him in the world. I am willing to join forces with General Yan to fight against the enemy." Han Meng also asked for his orders.
Han Meng, who was seriously injured by Lu Bu's halberd last time and saved his life, was not discouraged.
That battle aroused his fighting spirit and made Han Meng's martial arts improve to a certain level. Now in the Jizhou army, he is probably only half as good as Yan Liangwen Chou.
"Be careful!" Yuan Shao ordered.
Yan Liang and Han Meng agreed and immediately went to kill Lu Bu at the front.
After approaching, Han Meng shouted: "Lu Bu, do you still recognize me?"
Lu Bu sneered: "Isn't it the same general who was defeated last time?"
Han Meng laughed: "Lu Bu is indeed unparalleled in martial arts, but you won't get a good deal today!"
After saying that, Han Meng took the lead in swinging the long sword, and he wanted to strike first.
Lu Bu swung his halberd and easily caught the long sword. However, Yan Liang, who was watching from the side, joined the battle at the right time. Instead, he provided cover for Han Meng and waited for an opportunity to kill Lu Bu in one fell swoop.
Han Meng made all his moves, remembering Shen Meng, and Lu Bu couldn't get away from him. In this way, Yan Liang can force Lu Bu to switch to defense with one or two secret moves.
After dozens of rounds, Lu Bu was furious. He shouted loudly and, regardless of his injuries, stabbed Han Meng in the ribs with a halberd.
Han Meng was thrown off his horse, while Yan Liang roared angrily and slashed at Lu Bu's back, scratching the armor and leaving a bloody mark.
As a counterattack against the Yuan family, Cao Cao sent Cao Ren, Cao Xiu and others from Xuzhou to harass Qingzhou and contain the flanks of Yuan Shao's army. Cao Ren and Cao Xiu took the order and led 15,000 people from Xuzhou northward into Langya and besieged Kaiyang County, where Langya was governed.
Liu Bei, who was temporarily acting as the herdsman of Xuzhou, saw that Cao's army was strong, so he closed the door and defended it tightly. At the same time, he sent an envoy to Yuan Xi, the governor of the state, to ask for help. Tian Feng then sent Xu Huang and Hao Zhao to lead 10,000 troops in Yuan Xi's name to go south to rescue Kaiyang. .
After the reinforcements arrived, Liu Bei opened the city gate to meet Hao Zhao, and fought with Zang Cao Ren and Cao Xiu in the open air of Kaiyang. Before Zang Ba surrendered to Yuan, he was a Taishan bandit and was quite famous among the grass bandits in Langya.
At his invitation, Taishan bandits from all over Langya came to help, and gathered nearly ten thousand people, secretly launching a surprise attack with Xu Huang from behind Cao Jun.
Cao Ren and Cao Xiu were caught off guard, lost their troops and generals, leaving more than 4,000 corpses behind, and fled back in embarrassment.
Zang Ba's ancestral home is Huayin County, Taishan County, which is only a hundred miles away from Kaiyang. He was quite famous in Langya when he was young. Later, he submitted to the command of Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian and was sent to Langya to serve as a local official for a period of time, so he became more prestigious in Kaiyang City.
After Yuan's army occupied Langya's headquarters, the Tibetan tyrant Chen Deng sent Taishan bandits from all walks of life to attack and plunder various counties. Chen Deng was asked to sit in Kaiyang to assist Liu Bei, while he and Xu Huang continued to pursue Yuan's army.
Within a few days, ten counties including Qiuyang, Zengxian, Gouqu, Dongwu and Zhuxian were all invincible and fell into the hands of the Yuan and Liu coalition forces.
Among the thirteen counties of Langya, only the southernmost Yangdu is still in the hands of the Cao family, and the rest belong to the Yuan family.
After the news spread, the morale of Yuan's troops in various places was greatly shaken. Yuan Xi was overjoyed and violated the regulations and named Zang Ba the title of General Weidong to assist Xu Huang as governor of the Eastern Front.
The armor on Lu Bu's back was cut with blood. Lu Bu roared like a wild beast and slashed at Yan Liang crazily with his halberd.
Yan Liang felt like a small boat in a strong wind and waves, swaying unsteadily. The next moment he might be capsized by this violent storm.
"Death!" Lu Bu's eyes turned red and he kept roaring. Since Yuan Xi Chang'an assassinated Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu had not been injured again. The blood and pain at this time stimulated Lu Bu and made him violent.
Jiang Qi, who was in front of the battle, saw that Yan Liang was very defensive, but Lu Bu became fierce, as if he was swearing to take Yan Liang's life. Jiang Qi was anxious, so he took the best crossbow from the soldier next to him, raised his hand and fired at Lu Bu.
The power of this crossbow was comparable to that of a general using a strong bow, and the crossbow arrows flew straight into Lu Bu's chest.
"Bang!" Lu Bu flicked the crossbow arrow with his halberd. This unique skill intimidated the Jizhou soldiers, and at the same time attracted shouts from the Bingzhou cavalry.
However, Lu Bu was slightly injured on his back, and after a violent attack, the wound gradually expanded and opened. Although he deflected the crossbow arrow heroically, his arm was numb from the shock, and blood oozed from the wound on his back.
Lu Bu laughed loudly and cursed, "Using the crowd to bully the weak, shooting arrows from behind, Jizhou cowards are nothing more than mediocrity!"
Yan Liang blushed, he had no choice but to join forces with Han Meng, and Jiang Qi's arrow also wanted to restore his defeat. Always arrogant, he finally understood that there was someone outside the world, which further inspired his determination to break through.
Lu Bu was afraid that his injury would worsen, so he turned his horse's head, shouted and led the Bingzhou cavalry away.
Yuan Shao asked Jiang Qi, Zhao Rui and other generals to rectify the troops, while he hurriedly stepped forward to check Han Meng's injury.
"Don't worry, General. It's just a stab in the ribs, not a vital part!" said the doctor who followed the army.
Yuan Shao felt relieved and said: "Han Meng, please rest in peace and recover from your injuries. I will definitely avenge you!"
Han Meng grinned and said, "The general is incompetent and was wounded twice by Lu Bu's halberd."
"The three of you have done a great job in repelling Lu Bu. How can you say you are incompetent?" Yuan Shao comforted.
Han Meng felt grateful and said some words of loyalty. Yuan Shao asked his soldiers to carry him down for treatment.
Yuan Shao looked at the other side again, feeling heartbroken. Tens of thousands of soldiers were all trapped on the south bank of Yanjin. There was no fighting there at this time. They must have either died in battle or surrendered.
Yuan Tan also stood aside with a depressed expression. Because he wanted to take credit, he also worked hard to urge the soldiers to cross the river.
Among the more than ten thousand people on the other side of the river, there were nearly five thousand of his men.
Several of his subordinates remained silent, fearing that they might offend Yuan Shao. ****
Yuan Shao was in an extremely bad mood. Cao Cao, however, was full of pride. He was patrolling the battlefield on his yellow flying lightning. He led a group of subordinates to point to the other side of the river, and composed a four-character poem to praise the soldiers for their heroic killing of the enemy.
Cheng Yu said: "My lord knows Yuan Benchu well and knows that he can play some tricks. This is a good time, but the cleverness is misled by the cleverness!"
"I'm just guessing. Yuan Benchu is very scheming. Guo Tu and Xu You are people who like to play tricks, so I guess they won't take the right path and cross the river at Liyang-Baimajin." Cao Cao said lightly: " Fortunately, both Gongda and Zhicai agree with my speculation, so I can make up my mind to give it a try."
"It's a pity that the Jizhou army only had more than 10,000 troops crossing the river, otherwise the result would not have been more brilliant!" Xia Houyuan sighed.
"That's about it. If there's more, I'm afraid we won't be able to eat it." Cheng Yu said.
"We can eat twice as much!" Le Jin said proudly.
"Things are planned by people, and accomplished by God." Xi Zhong raised his head and looked at the darkening sky, "Maybe Yuan Benchu's life should not have been cut off, otherwise how could we have been discovered early."
Cao Cao shook his head: "Zhicai, you've been talking about destiny and the like lately."
Xi Zhong was about to say something, but felt dizzy.
"Zhicai!" Cao Cao exclaimed.
The actor waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, I just didn't have a good rest for a while."
"You are weak after recovering from a serious illness. I told you to stay at Chenliu a long time ago." Cao Cao said reproachfully.
Xi Zhong smiled and said, "The decisive battle is related to the direction of the Central Plains. How could Zhicai not participate personally? Besides, no one is more suitable to stay behind than Xun Wenruo. He is our Xiao He!"
Cao Cao couldn't resist him, so he had to give up.
"A lot has been gained from this battle. There are more than a thousand war horses, five thousand troops, and a lot of weapons and armor." Yu Jin reported.
"It's a pity that their food and baggage are still on the other side." Xun You said with regret. Although 10,000 enemy troops were wiped out, there were still more than 90,000 people on the Jizhou Army's side, which was still almost twice as many as our own. If you want to achieve a decisive reversal, destroying the enemy's food and grass baggage is a good way.
Cao Cao waved his hand. He ordered, "Call the whole army to return to the White Horse quickly." Although it was not ideal. But being able to eliminate 10,000 Jizhou soldiers is already a good result.
"My lord, what should I do with the surrendered prisoners?" Yu Jin asked.
This question stumped Cao Cao. Captives and surrendered soldiers cannot be immediately incorporated into your own team. Moreover, Cao Cao's army was even more in need of food and supplies. With five thousand more people to eat, their food supply would be even more difficult.
The biggest shortcoming of this battle was the failure to capture food and grass. It is absolutely impossible to send the surrendered troops back, and they will not be able to support them if they stay. Cao Cao was in a dilemma.
Cao Cao looked at Xun You, Xi Zhong, and Cheng Yu and asked about how to deal with it.
Xun You frowned and said nothing. Cheng Yu gritted his teeth and made a "kill" motion.
Cao Cao kept a close eye on Xi Zhong, hoping that he would come up with an idea.
After Xi Zhong hesitated for a while, he nodded weakly.
"Single out a hundred old and weak men, and leave the rest alone!" Cao Cao's words were full of killing intent.
Generals Li Tong, Xia Houyuan, Le Jin, and Yu Jin looked solemn. They had complicated thoughts, but on the battlefield, killing and surrendering soldiers was not a big deal.
"Cut off the ears of those five thousand people and send those one hundred old and weak people to the other side!" Cao Caoyī said solemnly.
Everyone couldn't help but feel horrified after hearing this order.
"Kill, just kill. Is it against the laws of nature to do so?" Xun You said.
Cao Cao shook his head: "After two defeats, the morale of the Jizhou Army has been shattered. Although this move is a bit cruel, it can deepen the Jizhou Army's fear of us. Our army is small, so we can only continue to damage the enemy's morale. Only in this way can we It is possible to gain an advantage in a confrontation."
Xun You lowered his head and said nothing. All the civil and military officials also had different thoughts.
