After Yuan Shao gave the order, the coalition forces changed their formations to prepare for battle.
The horses roared, and many knights of the Chinese army rode out from the formation. They all assembled from the left wing and formed a formation. The infantry reorganized and spread out the formation. The battle line could be seen from the river to Jishui. The battle was about to begin, and everyone checked their luggage and weapons. The luggage contained dry food and water bags. The soldiers ate while walking, hoping to stay in the best condition to face the enemy.
After half an hour, the 20,000 knights were assembled, led by Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin, Cavalry Commander Zang Hong, and Feilian Colonel Wei Zi. Then Cao Cao led the tiger and leopard cavalry, and Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun and other relatives rode their horses to the formation. Cao Ang held high the banner of Fenwu in the back position. Cao Cao said to the generals: "Fight quickly and decide quickly."
So he set out to pursue the enemy. When Xu Rong saw the coalition forces changing formation, he still stayed where he was. When the coalition forces were about to open the front line, he asked General Pi: "How far is this place from Bianshui?" "Thirty miles." "That's enough." "Xu Rong ordered all the troops to return to Aocang when the rebels pursued them, but they should not go too fast and keep a mile away from the enemy.
The two armies began to chase on the plains. It was already midday, but the sun was not visible. The sky was covered with clouds and the air was gloomy and heavy. After crossing a river crossing, rain and mist filled the air, and thin raindrops fell from the sky, making the sleeves of the riders' uniforms wet.
The roar of the river made Cao Cao anxious. He kept wiping the water drops from his face and stared at Dong Zhuo's cavalry not far away. He was already trying his best to ride his horse, but Ryoto still maintained his distance, as if he had some remaining strength. The vanguard, with hundreds of cavalry, managed to catch up with them. Liang Ren turned around and fired with light bows, and was easily repelled by three arrows. We were a little tired from chasing, so our horses slowed down a little. These Liang people also slowed down their horses and looked back at the pursuers with interest.
After an hour like this, the two armies chased for twenty miles by the river in one breath, but they still didn't start fighting. Liang Ren circled half a circle on the field with great interest, but the allied knights were quite interested. Tired.
Army Commander Xia Houyuan looked around and saw that many knights were panting and looking pale, and the infantry behind them were also getting further and further away from the cavalry, with a gap of five miles. He couldn't help but feel worried, and he took a deep breath of moisture. , suggested to Cao Cao: "General, this is not a solution. It is better to slow down and wait for the rear army!"
Cao Cao was unable to get off the tiger, so he refused: "The military order has been issued, but we can't repeat it before the battle. The rear army is already suspicious of fighting. If I also retreat, the morale of the three armies will be low, and they will fight on their own. The Liang people only need to look back for a moment." If you hit me, you won't be able to do anything important!" When he said this, he couldn't help but spat again and cursed in a low voice: "These wolf cubs treat me like a lamb!"
When wolves are hunting prey, they stalk their prey like this, following but not killing, making the prey alert and unable to escape. Until the prey is exhausted and unable to resist, the wolves then run with their claws exposed and kill Cao Cao with one blow. Because of this feeling, I used the wolf analogy.
He thought about it for a while and gained something. He immediately rode his horse to the front and asked Bao Xin, "Brother Bao, do you still have strength?"
Bao Xin kept whipping the horse's buttocks with his whip. Looking at Liangqi ahead, his pupils almost burst into flames. He replied to Cao Cao: "We haven't fought, so why don't we have the strength?" "How many miles can the horse run?" "My horse is a divine horse. You can run into Dongdu today!"
Cao Cao knew that he was depressed, so he told his plan: "Our army's horses are not as good as those of the Liang people, and it is useless to entangle here. It is better to attack Aocang directly. As the saying goes, if you attack the enemy, you must save the enemy, and the Liang people will definitely fight. If they don't wait, they will fight." If we engage in battle, we can surround Ao Cang with a large army. Look at Ao Cang, these Liang people are all clowns!"
Bao Xin nodded, and the 20,000 cavalry troops headed west. When Liang Qi saw this, he stopped teasing and rode towards Bianshui together.
The original name of Bianshui is Danshui, which is famous for the red color of Danshui fish in the water. Later, the king of Wei widened the river here and built Bian canal for water transportation, and Danshui was renamed Bianshui. In spring, the Bian River has not yet reached high tide and is only flowing low. However, the banks on both sides are green and green, and the thorn vines are blooming with golden flowers, which highlight the blue water of the water.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
The sergeants had no intention of admiring the beautiful scenery at such a good time. The Liang cavalry were divided into three columns, and regardless of the pursuers behind them, they took the lead to cross the Bian River. The coalition cavalry arrived later. They hesitated to cross the water. Although the Bian River was shallow, the canal wall was three feet high, which was enough for the Liang people to take advantage of it and kill them. enemy.
Cao Cao decisively ordered: "Now that the water is shallow, the Liang people are rushing across. What can't we do? Let's go there too! If they fight at the river, they will face each other on the other side. When Yuan Jun comes, let's see where they can escape!" So they all chased forward.
When the cavalry approached the canal dam of Bianshui River, Liangqi was able to cross the river. As expected, they did not guard the embankment and continued to march westward. When the pioneer knights of the allied forces stepped into the Bian River, the water was as strong as the belly of a horse, so that when they successfully stepped onto the west bank, many of them had no water on their feet.
After Cao Cao crossed the river, he pointed to the hills in the north and said, "That's Aoshan." The soldiers' spirits were lifted. Aoshan was in front of them, and Aocang was not far away. And those Liang people who had teased them all the way, now under Aoshan, no longer retreated, but formed a battle formation. The enemy general obviously planned to defeat Cao Cao first, and then Yuan Shao.
When the battle finally came to a death, Cao Cao personally patted his horse on his horse and went to all the ministries to encourage him, saying: "You have come all the way from afar and chased the enemy for thirty miles. You are not exhausted. However, our army has been racing for thirty miles, and the enemy has also been racing for thirty miles. Even though they have excellent equestrian skills, they have lost the hearts of the people and are just rebellious. However, I, King Qin’s army, fight rebellion with obedience and have reinforcements behind them. If they persist for an hour, they will be victorious! Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"
Bao Xin's younger brother Bao Tao was in the vanguard. He was wearing armor on his horse, holding a long spear in his left hand and a horse rein in his right hand. He responded to Cao Cao's remarks to his subordinates: "This is the ancient battlefield where Han and Chu fought for hegemony. Emperor Gaozu fought fiercely with the overlord here. How many famous generals have been born, and even if we die here today, we will share the grave with the heroes, no regrets!"
The knights in the front row let out a thunderous roar, riding forward and rushing out of the formation. Their horse hooves kicked up the flying soil and dust, and soon a layer of yellow-black dust mist rose from the ground, but due to the effect of moisture in the air, they gradually dimmed. At this time, the charging cavalry Gradually it converges toward the middle, forming a tapered shape that is narrow in front and wide in back, stretching forward.
At the same time, Liang Ren's knights finally came out. The sound of hooves as the two armies chased was like the beat of drums. But at this time, the cavalry from both sides rushed together, and the sound on the ground rumbled like thunder. The only difference is that Liang Ren's vanguard is covered with iron armor, and the charge sound is duller and more powerful.
The two armies approached quickly for a short time. The soldiers on both sides did not shoot arrows, but maintained their strength and thrust the tips of their spears forward as much as possible, hoping to use the huge momentum of the crossed horses to kill their opponents. In this final gap, no one from the two armies shouted anymore. At this moment, everyone had a tacit understanding that only the strongest iron blade could be used to give the most powerful answer.
Finally, the vanguards of the two armies collided with each other from the east and west directions.
The galloping horses darted through the gaps in the place very nimbly, and many people rushed out of the enemy's horse formation with almost no damage. But behind them, there was a series of crisp sounds, which were the collision and breaking of poles. the sound of.
Some people were impaled by the rushing spear, and flipped backwards from the saddle with the spear pole that had escaped their hands. However, because his horse lost the burden on its back in an instant, it blew like a gust of wind, and fell from his hip. Drilled down. But more experienced warriors lowered their bodies and raised the tips of their spears to avoid the enemy's thrusts as much as possible.
Obviously Liang Qi was much more experienced. In the first battle, more than 400 people fell, but Liang Qi's damage was almost one-sixth that of the coalition forces. But the coalition forces did not stop. Bao Tao raised his head and shouted to the knights beside him, asking them to gather together again and make a large arc to the west. Then he turned around and joined the subsequent coalition cavalry, and the Liang cavalry also Turn around and return to the main part to continue fighting with them.
The distance between the two sides has been shortened, and it is no longer possible to continue hedging. At this time, the only way to decide is through actual physical combat. It's just that in hand-to-hand combat, the coalition knights are not as experienced as Liang Ren. They always think about fearing less punches and bullying others, but they never think that Liang Ren's target is not the knights at all, but the horses under them, especially their Most of the war horses were still unarmoured. The warriors held long spears in their hands and used the sharp blades on both sides to cut across the horse's belly. They retreated at the slightest contact, without giving the enemy a chance to react. The horses were in pain and first went crazy, then collapsed. Many people fell to the ground.
After Weitz came face-to-face with a cool man, his horse obviously began to slow down. He lowered his head and discovered that a bloody mouth stretched backwards from the left front belly of the mount until it stopped at the saddle. Blood gurgled out, soaking the horse's belly and legs. He jumped down before the horse fell, and was about to ask his subordinates to replace it with a war horse, but his armor was gorgeous and had feathers to show his identity. The knights gathered around him when they saw it, while the allied knights left in fear. , Wei Zi had no one to save him, so he was stabbed to death by Liang people.
These situations were all seen by Cao Cao. Under the banner of Fenwu, he saw that Liangqi could only defeat ten thousand people, but he gradually took control of the situation. The coalition knights were twice as many as the enemy and were retreating steadily. Many of them were frightened by the horror of the battlefield and tried to break away from the team and flee far away.
Cao Cao was greatly disappointed. He ordered Cao Ren to capture several deserters and behead them in public. He also drew a line around him and said: "Anyone who crosses this line will be killed without mercy!" Then he killed more than ten people who tried to test the law. Stabilize the situation. The allied knights had given up the idea of defeating the Liangqi immediately. They gathered in a group of seven or eight knights. The former stabbed the Liangqi with the tips of their spears, while the latter drew their bows and arrows and tried to shoot the Liangqi back. They looked very embarrassed, but the Liangqi There was no good solution at this time, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.
Finally, another cloud of sand and dust rose from the east bank of Bian River. Cao Cao saw the banners of Yuan and Qin raised behind him and breathed out a hot breath. He thought to himself that although the scene was not satisfactory, he finally won.
On the vast plains, in the drizzle, the coalition troops were lined up, showing their powerful appearance and boundless strength. When Yuan Shao saw that Cao Cao's battle was unfavorable, he immediately ordered his army to cross the Bian River to support him. All the troops felt that they were sure of victory and responded loudly. The infantry descended the embankment to wade into the water and climbed over the Bian Canal from the waist-high Bian River.
Guan Yu's troops were lined up on the left wing of the rear army. He was sizing up the battlefield situation. He suddenly whispered: "Something's wrong!"
Xu Huang also noticed something was wrong. He asked, "The Liang people didn't retreat?" Guan Yu looked to the south. He frowned and said, "Where are the defenders of Aocang? Where will they come from?"
While he was talking, a trumpet sound penetrated the rain curtain from the south. Everyone in the coalition army looked towards the source of the sound. When they saw the scene, they were all shocked and thought almost at the same time: Our army has been defeated!
To the north, a cavalry force of ten thousand people crossed Aoshan Mountain and came towards the east bank along the Bian Canal, but it was not terrifying. What is shocking is that in the north of Bian Canal, water waves two feet high are rushing down the canal wall. The sound of the water and flood is louder and faster than thousands of troops and horses.
