In May of the first year of Zhongping, as the most dazzling existence in the world today, the famous Han Dynasty scholar Cao Mengde, who issued a proclamation and started a drama against Dong, finally began to reorganize his troops.
In the fastest time, Cao Mengde took away some of his own food and baggage, and then immediately continued westward with his army.
Although it sounds heroic, in fact, at this time, Cao Mengde just took his few thousands of troops and went straight to the capital of the Han Dynasty... the former capital Luoyang.
However, Cao Mengde's road was destined not to be so smooth. Just when Cao Mengde led his army to the Bianshui area in Xingyang, he saw the banner with the character Xu camped against the water.
Xu Rong...this name has no reputation in the world.
It can even be said that, except for those who were on the northwest battlefield back then, Xu Rong himself does not have much knowledge in the world.
But at this moment, Cao Cao, a famous Han scholar in the world.
Looking at Xu Rong's sky-wide alliance, and then looking at the thousands of soldiers and horses behind him who had not been trained for a long time, Cao Mengde felt for the first time that his strength was still very weak.
He worked so hard to do things, he worked so hard to achieve such results, but in the end the family's support for him only allowed him to gather thousands of troops.
And he was still young and strong, having just joined the army.
Look at people like Xu Rong, such a "little-known" person, who actually has such a majestic army.
Cao Mengde's heart was inevitably a little painful.
But fortunately, Cao Mengde is not the only one beside Cao Mengde.
Just when Cao Mengde was a little surprised and helpless, a voice came from beside him.
"Meng Desiu should be panicked. Not to mention that the troops are better but not more numerous. How can the mere number of troops explain anything?
Besides, even if you don’t say this, as long as I, Xia Houyuan, am here, no one in this world can touch you! "
At this time, a rather majestic general next to Cao Cao rode his horse to Cao Cao's side and said very confidently, and even shouted to another person who looked a bit like him.
"Miaocai, do you think this is true?"
That rough voice, that honest look, this is Cao Mengde's best friend Xiahou Dun, and the other person is Xiahou Dun's younger brother Xia Houyuan.
Like Xia Houdun, Xia Houyuan also has a majestic appearance, and his tiger-backed appearance makes him look quite brave.
And unlike Xiahou Dun, who looked simple and honest, this "wonderful talent" looked more serious and his eyes were sharper.
It was completely different from the unique clarity in Xiahou Dun's eyes.
These two people are now Cao Cao's right-hand men. They have been by his side as brothers in the clan since many years ago, when Cao Mengde had nothing.
Among them, Xiahou Dun was even willing to kill someone for Cao Mengde and then take the blame for him.
Even though he almost died in the end, Xiahou Dun did not have any regrets. This was the real confidant around Cao Mengde.
Xiahou Dun has a rough appearance and a big heart. He is usually carefree and doesn't care about anything, but he only cares deeply about Cao Cao's every move, which can penetrate his mind.
Xia Houyuan, on the other hand, is just the opposite. He is usually taciturn and his eyes are always slightly narrowed. He never speculates too much about Cao Cao's thoughts, but he will do it.
When Cao Cao committed the crime, Xia Houyuan silently knocked Cao Cao unconscious with a stick and threw him into the woodshed for Ding to take care of. Then he went to take the blame himself and almost died in prison.
When he saw the majestic Xiliang army, Cao Mengde already felt a little panic in his heart.
But now he heard Xiahou Dun's words, and then he looked up and saw the two brothers from the clan beside him.
Cao Mengde once again had confidence in himself, a confidence given to him by others.
This inexplicable self-confidence comes from the fact that he has thousands of soldiers behind him, generals and officials who believe in him, and of course his brothers in the clan.
And the gentleman who pointed the way for himself.
After thinking of this, Cao Mengde couldn't help but look in the other direction again. When he saw the smile on Xi Zhicai's face, he felt completely at ease.
"With all of you by my side, I am fearless..."
Cao Mengde just wanted to say a few inspiring words, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw the camp on the opposite side moving.
Groups of soldiers came out, and there were actually 30% of the cavalry inside. Moreover, these were not just cavalry servants composed of Xiongnu and Qianghu, but actual Han cavalry.
At the same time, the banner with the character "Xu" slowly moved forward and came not far from Cao Mengde. A middle-aged general rode out and slowly came to the center of the army.
Cao Mengde stopped his thoughts. Although they came from afar, their marching speed was not very fast. In addition, it was very early and there was not much fatigue, so they were not tired soldiers.
Cao Mengde felt that even if he lacked troops and horses, he could never lose his momentum, so he also rode out and slowly walked to the front of the army under the protection of Xiahou Dun.
"Cao Mengde, a military commander of a certain family, what is your Excellency..."
Just like what he saw in the military manual, Cao Mengde rode his horse forward and announced his name loudly to the enemy in front.
But Cao Mengde never dreamed that before he could finish his words again, he saw the army that had just appeared charging directly towards them, as if they had no intention of forming an array.
This scene gave Cao Mengde a chill in his heart.
"Arrogant!"
Cao Mengde, who also experienced the Yellow Turban Rebellion, is not a newbie on the battlefield. He knows what this kind of attack without formation means, it represents absolute confidence, and it means that the other party feels that he can defeat him without paying much attention. Complete defeat.
Even though you have a lot of soldiers and horses, my subordinates, Cao Mengde, are not easy to bully. When did the victory of this war become determined by the number of people!
"Line up to meet the enemy!"
Cao Mengde roared loudly, and then many of his soldiers and generals immediately lined up to meet the enemy according to their training schedule.
But just when they were about to succeed, the fastest cavalry had already arrived in front of them.
"Tell Zhang Ji that a stick of incense cannot completely defeat them. Come and see a certain family yourself." Xu Rong, who was under the banner with the word "Xu", said coldly to the soldiers who sent the order, "Tell the soldiers in the rear to dismantle the camp. Just take advantage of the chaos and attack Wang Kuang, don't waste any more time."
Xu Rong really didn't save any face for Cao Cao at this time. It wasn't that he was arrogant, but that he only glanced at Cao Mengde and knew that it didn't take much effort to deal with this group of soldiers who had just formed an army.
So he didn't bother to test, he just laid out his troops and relied on speed to win.
When the cavalry rushed to the front of the army, the crossbowmen under Cao Mengde had just arrived at their place. When they saw the cavalry arriving at that moment, they made the same move as Liu Xuande did back then.
"Shoot, shoot quickly!" There were shrill roars, and arrows were shot into the sky one after another, but they looked so messy.
The leader of the cavalry, Zhang Ji, looked at the ridiculous arrows and just sneered. He held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other. He very skillfully let go of the reins with both hands and swung away the arrows one after another.
Even if there are not many cavalrymen who can escape the reins like Zhang Ji, there are still thousands of them, and even those who cannot do it can still huddle their entire body behind the shield skillfully.
The damage caused by the arrow rain to them this time was simply minimal.
When they wanted to shoot arrows again, Zhang Ji had already rushed within 70 steps of them, and at the same time, he drew out the short spear on his horse and threw it towards Cao Cao's formation with all his strength.
The sudden appearance of short spears completely overwhelmed them, and they got up, and another shower of short spears followed at forty steps, causing the army to finally collapse.
At this time, all the generals under Cao Mengde were in chaos.
"Spearmen, come forward, what are you doing? Why are you so dazed!"
"Crossbowmen, stop fighting stupidly, withdraw quickly, withdraw!"
"Push the grain and baggage up, hurry up!"
"Shield, shield, put on the shield quickly!"
Countless noises were shattered at the moment when the cavalry rushed over.
At this time, the military formation and defense seemed to have become a joke. Not to mention the confrontation, the cavalry in the front alone had completely defeated them.
At this time, Cao Cao finally saw why the general wanted to camp against the water and why he wanted the army to rush over.
The reason why the army rushed to kill them was to encircle them, and they camped with their backs to the water, because after they had dealt with themselves, they wanted to go up the river and go straight to Jizhou.
It's ridiculous that Yuan Benchu thought that Dong Zhuo's eunuchs were shrinking, but who knew that they didn't take them seriously at all.
"Mengde, hurry up, Miaocai and I are here to stop you!"
At this time, Xiahou Dun, who was full of confidence just now, was constantly blocking one cavalry after another to buy Cao Cao time, but his efforts seemed to be useless in front of the charging army.
"Lord, hurry up, Wen Qian is here!" Just when Dong Zhuo was about to be overtaken, Cao Cao's subordinate Le Jin rushed out and fought hard with a ring-headed sword to buy Cao Cao some time again.
At the same time, Xi Zhicai finally had a chance to talk to Cao Cao.
"Ming Gong, don't panic. Walk along the Bian River. We can't outrun the cavalry. Take the Bian River and cross the river. Hurry!"
After hearing Xi Zhicai's voice, Cao Cao finally recovered and changed direction.
But just as he was about to cross the river on his horse, a shower of arrows fell. Although Cao Cao dodged most of the arrows, he was still slightly injured by two arrows.
The most terrible thing is that the war horse is gone.
Looking at the surging Bianshui River, Cao Mengde felt as if his heart was filled with despair at this moment.
"General, don't panic. Cao Hong is here. You and other thieves, don't hurt my lord!"
