Lu Qian was panicking, so he fought several times and retreated with his soldiers. Chen Dao followed closely, with his steel spear dancing, he overturned dozens of horsemen, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, and he was invincible.
Most of Cao's army was killed and they fled in panic. The Han army came out in three directions to pursue Cao's army. The ground was in a mess, with corpses scattered everywhere and rivers of blood.
Lu Qian galloped on his horse, and when he saw Chen Dao chasing after him, he turned around and shot several arrows, but he dodged them. When he was panicking, the deputy general rushed over with his troops, formed a formation to rescue the defeated army, and shot back the random arrows of the pursuers.
Chen Dao stopped the men and horses far away and shouted: "Lu Qian, you have no way to return, why don't you descend quickly?"
When Lu Qian saw that the ambush troops had not moved and that Gan Ning was not here, his heart sank. If this man went to attack the camp, he didn't know whether Xin Pi and Mao Hui could stop him.
At this time, he had no time to quarrel with Chen Dao, so he divided his troops into three teams and retreated alternately. Before they reached the shore of Mishui River, Xinpi sent someone to report that the camp had been lost and told him to retreat to Songshan Village as soon as possible.
Lu Qian was so frightened that he no longer cared about forming a formation and led his troops to retreat into the mountains. Chen Dao followed up and killed him. Cao's army fled all over the mountains and fields, crying for father and mother.
Lu Qian hurriedly returned to the stronghold on the mountain. He saw that more than half of the troops and horses were lost, and most of them were remnants of defeated generals. Only Mao Hui's troops were still intact, so he hurriedly inquired about the military situation.
Xin Pi sighed: "Zhuge Liang's plan was to divert the tiger away from the mountain. When the general was chasing the enemy, he had already dispatched Huo Jun's troops downstream to attack Xu Xi's camp. When I sent troops to rescue him, Gan Ning turned back to kill him, and both camps were lost."
"What a Zhuge Liang, how can he be so cunning!" Lu Qian was so angry that he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, but he had no choice but to say: "For the current plan, we have to retreat to Xingyang."
Mao Hui said: "If the Jingzhou soldiers marched forward, surrounded the city like Guan Yu did, but divided their troops to plunder other places, the Central Plains would be in danger, and now the only option is to fight to the death."
Lu Qian encountered repeated setbacks and was already a little flustered. He looked at Xin Pi and said, "What's the Mingfu's advice?"
Xin Pi said: "When we return to the city, we can only sit back and wait for death. It is better to defend against the mountains. Xingyang still has five thousand troops. It only needs someone to appease people's hearts and it will be enough to defend itself. If Zhuge Liang divides his troops to attack the city, he can cut off his return route. This is a good idea." It’s the place of death that leads to life!”
Lu Qian thought for a while and said resolutely: "Sir, what you said makes sense. Xingyang is related to the safety of the Central Plains. The Ming Dynasty is not qualified to do it. I will return to the city that morning to preside over important events."
Xin Pi was still a little worried and said: "There is no room for loss of troops and horses here. Unless you are very sure, the general must not leave lightly."
Lu Qian stroked his beard and smiled and said: "Now our army is condescending and has all the advantageous terrain. What can Zhuge Liang do to me? When his soldiers slack off and divide their troops elsewhere, a large army will come out together, and the situation will be overwhelming. Even if Gan Ning and Chen Dao join forces, there is nothing they can do. "
While they were discussing, they suddenly heard the sound of drums outside the camp. Gan Ning had indeed led his troops to fight. The dust on the mountain road was flying, and the Jinfan troops were all brightly armored and shouting outside the camp gate.
"Don't worry about him. Each camp needs to rest and defend carefully."
At this time, Lu Qian could no longer muster the slightest fighting spirit. He took a look from a distance and ordered Mao Hui to patrol, while Xinpi returned to Xingyang to guard and wait for the opportunity to fight.
Gan Ning cursed for a while, but seeing that Lu Qian still refused to fight, he had to retreat to the foot of the mountain. Zhuge Liang had already arrived with his army.
In this battle, most of the main force of Cao's army was eliminated, his camp was captured, and countless supplies of food and grass were obtained. The generals also knew that Wu Ju's previous robbery of food was Kongming's plan. They were all happy and the morale of the whole army was high.
Yang Ling asked for orders: "Lü Qian was afraid of General Gan's reputation and could not hold on. At the end of the day, the general was willing to fight and offer his head to his subordinates."
Yang Ling had been training troops in Changsha before, originally to prepare for sending troops to Jiangdong. Because Guan Yu broke through the Central Plains defense line, a large number of troops were mobilized from Jingzhou to the north to support.
I thought I could flex my muscles in the Central Plains, but I just captured Mobei and kept defending. Before I could actually fight the enemy, I was already itching to see Gan Ning and others killing everyone.
Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "Lü Qian is frightened and may not want to fight easily. Cao's army built a city based on Songshan Mountain. The terrain is extremely high, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. A strong attack will only result in loss of troops."
Gan Ning said: "Lu Qian did not retreat to Xingyang, but defended Songshan. He must have expected that we would not dare to divide our troops and go deep into the enemy's territory, so he went to attack Xingyang to see how he would respond."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "The time has not come yet. General Gan must not act rashly. I have a plan of my own. Taking Xingyang is like picking out an ear from a bag!"
Gan Ning asked: "Cao's army occupied the advantageous position and could not move out. If they did not take advantage of the opportunity to capture Xingyang, if reinforcements arrived, wouldn't they have missed a good opportunity?"
Zhuge Liang said: "I have seen Cao Jun's camp before. Although the mountain occupies a favorable position, I expected that there must be a shortage of water at high places. As long as the water source is cut off, Cao Jun will be defeated without a fight."
"High, really high!" Gan Ning laughed and said, "They say that Lu Qian is good at both civil and military affairs, and Xin Pi is a wise man. I think they are both good and bad."
Seeing that the fight was unsuccessful, Yang Ling asked for orders again: "General, I would like to go upstream to dig soil and cut off the flow."
Now that the war in the Central Plains has begun, Zhuge Liang knew that Yang Ling and others were eager to make meritorious deeds, and ordered him to observe the movements of Cao's army first. If they went down the mountain to fetch water, he would go upstream to cut off the water source.
In the next few days, Gan Ning, Chen Dao, and Huo Jun took turns to call for battle in front of the stronghold. Lu Qian suffered a heavy loss and could not hold on. Looking at the Jingzhou soldiers' lineup, he muttered: "Isn't this bullying?"
Not to mention that he is not the opponent of Gan Ning and others, he is also very afraid of Zhuge Liang. He has no chance of winning either civil or military, how can he dare to send troops easily again?
Zheng sent people to inquire about Xuchang. In the evening, the back camp was cooking, but there was no movement. Soon, the noise in the camp was heard, and there were voices of discussion everywhere.
Mao Hui hurriedly came to report: "General, something bad has happened. Zhuge Liang sent troops to cut off the flow upstream and cut off the water source."
"What?" Lu Qian was shocked and realized that the Jingzhou soldiers had not come to attack the camp for several days, but they had other plans.
Mao Hui said worriedly: "There are many soldiers on the mountain, and the spring water has been drained long ago. We can only transport water from the river every day. The army cannot live without water for a day!"
Lu Qian frowned. The water source for more than 20,000 people could not be solved by just finding a spring in the mountains. They could barely survive without food. A lack of water would cause the soldiers to lose their combat effectiveness in half a day, not just one day.
"First try to get some mountain spring water. Eat well tonight. Then go down the mountain with a certain killer in the morning. We will return to Xingyang first and then make some plans."
Mao Hui could no longer defend the stronghold, so he took the order and sent troops to various valleys to collect water. He allocated all the grain and grass in the stronghold and prepared two meals to recharge his batteries and fight tomorrow.
At the fourth watch, Lu Qian dressed up neatly in the tent, divided his troops into three groups, and killed them from the mountain. Mao Hui led his troops to attack the camp, attracting the attention of the Jingzhou army, and crossed the river to respond.
Mao Hui said worriedly: "Gan Ning, Chen Dao and others in the enemy camp are not brave enough, and the generals may not be able to handle it."
Lu Qian sneered and said: "We are facing a powerful enemy now. We have been so kind to the Prime Minister, so we can only fight to the death to retaliate. Could it be that the general is too timid to fight?"
Mao Hui saw the cold light flashing in Lu Qian's eyes and hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "I am just reminding the general not to be careless. Gan Ning can come and go freely in our camp. It is really a great shame and humiliation. I am not talented, but I am willing to break into the enemy camp and win back the city." .”
