Xia Houyuan's forehead was dripping with cold sweat, and his heart was horrified. Just as he was stunned, a huge boulder fell from the top of the mountain, a few steps in front of him.
"Ahhh!"
Several Cao Jun soldiers were immediately hit by huge rocks, screaming and being beaten into mud.
Only then did Xia Houyuan react. He hurriedly turned his horse's head and wanted to return, but at this moment, Cao Jun's camp was in chaos, with Cao Jun soldiers running around everywhere.
In order to avoid the huge rocks and wood falling from the mountain, Cao Jun's soldiers kept running. Most of them had the same idea as Xia Houyuan, and wanted to return the same way.
But there were too many people who wanted to return, and they suddenly crowded into a group, refusing to give in to each other.
Xia Houyuan roared angrily, "Don't panic, everyone, slowly move back."
Hoo ho ho!
Although Xia Houyuan screamed with all his strength, the screams seemed a little weak.
Xu Chu rushed to Xiahou Yuan's side and said loudly, "General Xiahou, let's leave quickly."
Xia Houyuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked at the soldiers blocking the road in front, and roared, "Get out of the way."
Xu Chu was more direct than him. He waved the sword in his hand repeatedly, and several Cao soldiers were cut down to the ground, clearing a passage.
Shi Huan, who was guarding the rear army, looked at Xiahou Yuan and Xu Chu from a distance and shouted hurriedly, "General Xiahou, General Xu, hurry up and leave."
Seeing more and more stones falling down, Xia Houyuan became angry, roared angrily, and slapped the horse's back hard. The horse was frightened and immediately rushed forward.
The soldier blocking the road in front was immediately trampled down by the horse and moved out of the way.
Xia Houyuan and Xu Chu galloped on horseback, waving their weapons repeatedly, regardless of friend or foe, and showed no mercy to anyone who dared to block their way.
"Ahhh!"
The two finally rushed to the rear army, joined Shi Huan, and immediately returned to the original route with the remaining defeated soldiers.
Before she had gone far, she heard the sound of horns in the distance, and a group of soldiers and horses rushed towards the opposite direction. The leader was Wei Xu, and beside her were Song Xian and Hou Cheng.
"Xia Houyuan, if you are wise, dismount your horse and surrender as soon as possible, otherwise you will never leave here today."
Xia Houyuan looked at the soldiers beside him who had lost all morale, then looked at them again, sighed secretly in his heart, and then roared angrily.
"Brothers, rush with me. If you can't rush out, we can only stay here. Come on, let's rush over."
Xia Houyuan took the lead and rushed towards Wei Xu.
Not to be outdone, Xu Chu and Shi Huan immediately waved their weapons and charged towards Song Xian and Hou Cheng.
"Kill!"
"Ahhh!"
Wei Xu snorted coldly, waved his hand vigorously, and roared, "Everyone, come on, no one is allowed to leave."
The soldiers of Lu Bu's army who had been waiting for a long time, after hearing the order, immediately rushed towards the enemy like tigers descending from the mountain.
The soldiers of Cao's army had been hit by huge rocks and had no intention of fighting. Some soldiers had even thrown away their weapons. At this time, they could only use their bare hands. How could they be the opponents of Lu Bu's army.
With just one charge, Cao Jun's soldiers were defeated and fled in all directions.
Xia Houyuan tried his best and slashed Wei Xu's head with his sword.
Wei Xu snorted coldly and raised his gun to block his head, "If you want to leave, there's no way!"
After a crisp sound, Xia Houyuan's broadsword hit the barrel of the gun. The shock made Wei Xu's hands numb. He was startled, hurriedly slapped his horse, turned around and ran to the side.
Song Xian was even more helpless. Xu Chu slashed his arm with just one knife. He screamed in pain and ran away.
Hou Cheng was lucky enough to say that his opponent was Shi Huan, and their martial arts were almost the same. No matter who wanted to win, it would not be something that could be achieved in a short time.
Xu Chu slashed Song Xian away with his sword. He turned around to see Shi Huan, who was still struggling. He immediately shouted, "General Shi, don't panic, I'm here to help you."
Hou Cheng saw that Xu Chu was powerful and did not dare to resist. He turned his horse's head and fled.
However, although the three men were brave, Cao's soldiers were beaten and fled in all directions, and they knelt down and surrendered.
Xia Houyuan and the others rushed out of the crowd, ignoring the soldiers behind them, and immediately hit their horses and ran towards the distance.
After running for 20 miles, I dared to stop and rest.
When he looked back, Xia Houyuan felt a sense of sadness in his heart.
Behind the three men, only a few mounted Cao soldiers caught up, and the rest were all gone.
completely annihilated!
Shi Huan sighed, "General Xiahou, what should we do next?"
Xu Chu said loudly, "Lü Bu's son is too cunning. Let's go back to Fan County now and lead our troops out immediately to settle the score with him."
Xia Houyuan shook his head with a wry smile, "What can we do if we go back? Fan County has no troops left!"
Having said this, Xia Houyuan sighed and said, "We are not going to Fan County and will go back to Juancheng."
Hearing this, Shi Huan remained silent and just nodded.
Now that all the soldiers and horses have been wiped out, only the three of them have escaped. There is no other choice but to return to Juancheng.
…
Fan County.
Jin Yun has been on tenterhooks since Xia Houyuan and others left.
Xia Houyuan took away most of the soldiers and horses, and there were not many defenders in Fan County. If something happened, it would be bad.
Jin Yun and Lieutenant Wang climbed up the city wall, keeping an eye on the movements in the distance, hoping that Xia Houyuan would come back soon so that they would not be worried.
Just as I was looking forward to it, I suddenly saw countless figures running towards me in the distance.
Jin Yun's heart suddenly rose, "Come here, the enemy is coming, prepare to defend the city quickly."
Everyone was startled, and came to the edge of the city in a panic, looking into the distance.
After a moment, the figure got closer and closer. Colonel Wang suddenly laughed and pointed into the distance, "Magistrate Jin, look, it's our flag, it's one of our own."
Jin Yun also saw clearly the banner flying in the distance, with a big word Cao written in the middle, and was immediately overjoyed, "Great, General Xiahou must be back."
As the figure in the distance got closer and closer, Lieutenant Wang frowned and said doubtfully, "Although they are General Xiahou's troops, why do they look like they have lost the battle?"
Jin Yun's expression changed, "Did they meet Lu Bu?"
Colonel Wang nodded, "It seems so. Otherwise, how could General Xiahou be defeated?"
While the two were talking, Cao Jun soldiers running from a distance had already arrived at the city gate and shouted at the city wall.
"Open the city gate quickly, Lu Bu is coming after you."
Hearing this, Jin Yun was startled and hurriedly shouted, "Come here, hurry up and open the city gate and let them in."
Lieutenant Wang hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him, "Magistrate Jin, wait a moment. I'll ask him."
Having said this, Lieutenant Wang turned his head and looked at the soldiers running in the distance, and asked loudly.
"Why are you alone, General Xiahou?"
"General Xiahou cuts off the rear and opens the city gate quickly. If you are late and Lu Bu comes after you, it will be bad."
Colonel Wang carefully identified the armor and clothing of these people. After confirming that they were correct, he immediately waved to the soldiers behind him.
"Someone, open the city gate and let them in."
Not long after, the closed city gate made a creaking sound and was slowly pushed open.
"Come in quickly, don't let Lu Bujun take the opportunity to come in."
When the soldiers of Cao's army outside saw the city gate open, they were overjoyed and rushed over.
Captain Wang looked at the Cao Jun soldiers running over and suddenly exclaimed, "No, I've been fooled. Close the city gate quickly."
Many soldiers of Cao's army came running from a distance, but Captain Wang looked for a long time and did not see a single wounded soldier.
How could a defeated army not have injured soldiers?
Lieutenant Wang knew he had been fooled, but it was too late. Hou Cheng rushed to the front, the sword in his hand whirring, and he immediately cut down the two soldiers guarding the city.
"Grandpa is Hou Cheng, the general under Marquis Wen. If you have the sense, surrender immediately. Grandpa will spare your life."
In just a moment, Song Xian and Wei Xu also rushed up with their troops, guarding the city gate firmly and letting Lu Bu's soldiers rush in.
Jin Yun's face turned pale with fright. He originally ordered his soldiers to resist, but when he saw that Lu Bu's army had already charged, he knew it was not good and ignored his command. He jumped off the city wall, mounted a fast horse, and fled.
Captain Wang saw Magistrate Jin running away and refused to lag behind. He also jumped on his horse and chased Jin Yun's back.
The two escaped, and the soldier had no idea of resistance and immediately knelt down and surrendered.
Not long after, Wei Xu led his army into the city and began to search for the remaining soldiers of Cao's army.
Two hours later, Wei Xu pulled down Fan County's Cao flag and replaced it with Lu Bujun's flag.
…
"Kill the horse!"
Cao Hong roared in pain, "Let everyone eat enough and hurry up, otherwise it will be too late when Lu Bu's army catches up."
Cao Hong's soldiers and horses had run out of food in the morning, and they had been on the road for another day, and everyone was already starving.
Looking at the hesitant and uneasy eyes of everyone, Cao Hong knew that if he did not find a way to solve the problem of eating, the consequences would be really disastrous.
In order to solve the problem of food, Cao Hong ordered the plundering of surrounding villages, but to no avail. The people were living in extreme hardship, eating wild vegetables every day. Even if Cao Hong turned the people's homes upside down, he could not find much food.
In desperation, he could only make this decision and convert all the excess horses into food.
Of course, the generals' horses cannot be moved, only the horses ridden by low-level officers or spies.
The spies had no horses, so although the information was not well-informed, Cao Hong had already figured it out. They didn't need information now. What they needed was to get on their way as soon as possible. As long as they got to Dong'a, the situation would get better.
Donga.
Zao Zhi, the magistrate of Dong'e County, frowned. He looked at the letter sent from Juancheng and kept thinking in his mind, what should he do?
After hearing the news, Cheng Yu hurried over and said, "Magistrate Zao County, what do you want to do?"
Zao Zhi hesitated for a moment and said, "Zhongde, General Cao is in critical condition. I am going to bring some troops to respond."
Cheng Yu shook his head and said slowly, "No, you are the magistrate of Dong'a County, how can you leave so easily?"
At this point, Cheng Yu paused for a moment, then continued, "You stay here, I will bring someone to pick you up."
Zao Zhi didn't argue and nodded.
He is the county magistrate of Dong'a. If he wants to defend the city, he will certainly know better than Cheng Yu about commanding Dong'a's troops, so it is most appropriate for him to stay.
Cheng Yu frowned, "Dong'a currently has 2,500 soldiers and horses. I will take 1,000 of them away, and the rest will stay to defend the city!"
Zao Zhi waved his hand, "Zhongde, you bring 1,500 people. If you encounter danger along the way, you have a plan to deal with it."
Cheng Yu smiled bitterly and said, "If I take away most of the soldiers and horses, what will Dong'a do?"
Zao Zhi snorted coldly, "Zhongde, just don't worry. Although there are only 1,000 people left here, if Lu Bu really dares to come, I can still hold on for a few days. Then you can come to rescue as soon as possible."
Cheng Yu knew that Zao Zhi was very famous in Dong'a. If Lu Bu came to attack, he could recruit hundreds of people with just a shout, so it wouldn't be a problem.
Thinking of this, Cheng Yu stopped talking nonsense and nodded, "In that case, I'll leave early tomorrow morning."
Zao Zhi frowned and said slowly, "Zhongde, General Cao is short of food and has reached a critical moment. I think you should leave early. If it is late, there may be changes."
Cheng Yu thought for a while and nodded, "Okay, I'll gather the troops and leave overnight."
Zao Zhi nodded, "That's very good. Zhongde, you should be more careful."
Cheng Yu bowed his hands, said goodbye and left. Then he went to the military camp to organize his troops and prepare food. It was almost evening.
Following the order, 1,500 soldiers who were ready to go walked out of Dong'a County overnight and headed towards Cangting.
Just after Cheng Yu led the army to leave, two war horses ran out of the woods not far from the city gate and headed towards the mountain.
The two war horses galloped all the way and soon came to a forest 30 miles away from Dong'a.
The knight jumped off his horse and just ran into the woods when a voice came out, "Who is it? Stop quickly."
"Hurry and report to General Gao that there is an urgent military situation."
The soldiers hiding in the woods knew it was one of their own, so they didn't dare to take him with them, so they hurried to the woods to report it.
Deep in the woods, Lu Bu's number one general Gao Shun was resting against a big tree with his eyes closed.
"General Gao, there is an urgent military situation."
Hearing this voice, Gao Shun hurriedly opened his eyes, "Let him come over quickly."
Not long after, the spy hurried over, raised his hands and said, "General Gao, Dong'a's soldiers and horses have left and are heading in the direction of Cangting."
Gao Shun nodded and asked slowly, "How many people are there?"
"About 1,500 people."
Hearing the news, Gao Shun breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "I know, go down!"
Looking at the darkening sky, Gao Shun calculated the time in his mind, and then whispered to the deputy general beside him, "Give me the order, the army will be on its way to Dong'a overnight."
The number of Lu Bu's troops was not large to begin with, and they were divided into different places, so each unit had only a small number of troops.
After the sneak attack on Xia Houyuan's camp, Gao Bian took this 2,000-man army and hid near Dong'a, looking for opportunities.
Moreover, he also found out clearly that Dong'a had a total of 2,500 soldiers and horses, and now 1,500 people were out of the city. This meant that there were only 1,000 people left in the city.
Gao Shun didn't have many soldiers and horses. Even if there were only 1,000 soldiers and horses left in the city, it would be impossible to break through the city.
However, since Gao Shun dared to come, how could he not be prepared?
Gao Shunyou turned his head and looked at the bags carried by several soldiers, and a sneer suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth.
