Before the real battle began, Dongren's main force revealed a fatal flaw.
Yan Liang's command was originally responsible for protecting the left wing of the army, but at this time it was close to annihilation. Only more than a hundred of the more than two thousand armored cavalry that were originally considered elite have returned. This not only shook the morale of the Easterners, but also made The protection of the Eastern left wing was greatly reduced, and it almost lost its ability to contain the Western cavalry.
Fazheng saw the dust flying on the right wing of the opposite side, but there was no movement on the left wing. He immediately said to Liu Bei: "If we attack the left side in a big way, we will cause chaos. As long as we force them to run north, they will be overwhelmed by people and horses, and there will be no way to escape. Are you still afraid that you won't be able to win?" Liu Bei also said so with a smile, so he ordered the cavalry on the right wing to be concentrated, telling them to outflank and break down the Eastern infantry formation.
However, before the order could be fully conveyed, about three thousand cavalry broke out from the military formation. They left the army and entered the formation like a thunderbolt, instantly inserting themselves into the oncoming Eastern Army. The Eastern Army did not hear the drum trumpet of the march from the west. , without any expectation, a huge crack dozens of feet long was instantly torn out, causing chaos.
Leading these thousands of knights forward was none other than Qu Yi, the current Grand Sima, the Third Division of Yi Bi, who joined the imperial court to join the military, and the Marquis of Xiping in Runan. Under his attack, the remaining Yan Liang Rangers were the first to bear the brunt. They were caught off guard and were invincible against anything blocked by the front group. They simply turned their horses and scattered, leaving them with almost no power to fight back.
At this time, the clouds in the sky suddenly became lighter, and a few faint rays of sunlight cast down, shining on the stomachs and red tassels of these armored knights, looking like gods blessing them. Only through this did the Eastern troops in the distance truly realize that the incoming enemy was different. These people had black wolf-head flags tied to their branches and cowhide tied to their chests, which are often decorated with armor. They also had strange bloody patterns painted all over their bodies. The horses they sat on were armored, and also wore beasts like tigers and bears. Skin. And when they were fighting, they were making strange noises like ape roars, which looked ferocious and terrifying, making people even more frightened.
Some people from Hebei recognized it and shouted: "It's the Qiang cavalry of Qu Lao Qiang!" Hearing that the person coming was Qu Yi, the formation at the rear became even more chaotic. They did not encounter any effective places, but almost completely allowed these ferocious beasts to run wildly, causing collapse wherever they passed. But after a while, they were close to the location of the Chinese army.
Because the infantry formation in front collapsed too suddenly, the Wei and Han Chinese armies, which were immediately exposed to the attack of powerful enemies, could neither fight in a complete formation nor even have time to organize resistance into groups. With each fighting on its own, it was impossible to stop the Westerners' assault.
Captain Zhu Han, who was riding under the Shen Pei tent, saw a Westerner coming from his left side. He had no time to parry in a hurry, so he used the pole to attack his horse and move forward to avoid it. But the Westerners came too fast. Although the people escaped, the horses had no time to get out of the way. The Westerner's long silk penetrated his mount's right hip and came out from the left lower abdomen. Because the impact was so fast, the Westerner had no time to withdraw his hand, and the sudden pause immediately broke his wrist. But he showed no fear. Taking advantage of the opportunity when the two horses were pressed against each other, he immediately drew out the Huanshou knife with his left hand and slashed horizontally. Zhu Han was still in shock. Before he could turn around and lift his head, the back of his head, along with his head and chest, had already been blown away.
There were some Eastern knights who were able to take on the Westerners head-on, stabbing each other, and each of them was stabbed and fell off his horse. But more Easterners had no time to turn their horses' heads and were hit from the side or behind, so they had no choice but to run away. The war horses crowded together and overturned those who were still resisting. The knight who landed on the ground, whether he was a Westerner or an Easterner, whether he was stabbed, or was knocked down, or his horse's hoof was injured and fell down, in this chaotic situation, there was almost no chance to stand up again, and soon He was trampled to death by the hooves of horses running around.
As the guarding knights around him fell off their horses or ran away, and saw Qu Yi's Qiang cavalry getting closer and closer, Shenpei knew that he was in an extremely dangerous situation. His first reaction was to lead his own formation to counterattack, but before he could say anything, he was caught by Jushu, who said urgently: "To the south, the left wing has collapsed and there is no way to save it. Now we can only retreat!"
However, Shen Pei was extremely unwilling. He said: "Now that we have just engaged in battle, if we immediately retreat, the whole army will be defeated, and the big thing will be defeated!"
Jushou still said firmly: "It is precisely because the battle has not been fought for a long time that we should retreat immediately. Although the situation is collapsed, it will only damage morale and cause up to ten thousand casualties. Don't forget, the marshal will arrive today! By then, the army will be organized What’s the harm in fighting again?”
After that, without waiting for any objection from the judge, he loudly shouted to the surrounding troops: "Retreat! Retreat!" and ordered the soldiers to blow the retreat bugle.
At this time, Liu Bei was very happy when he saw the changes in the front army. He smiled at the generals and said: "Da Sima (Qu Yi) is worthy of being relied upon by Yuan Shao. He deserves this incredible contribution again!" He changed his color and said: "The thieves have been defeated and the formation is in chaos. If we don't take advantage of the momentum to rush against them, what's the use of this tiger and wolf army!" Immediately ordered all the ministries to order the cavalry in front and the infantry to follow the army to expand the defeat of the Eastern Army. , strangled these tens of thousands of troops here.
Liu Bei also ordered his cavalry to notify Qu Yi, ordering him to seize the pontoon bridge, and passed on his oral instructions: "As discussed yesterday, the pontoon bridge is a way for thieves from the east. If you cut it off, the situation will be in my hands. If Cao thieves Come here, if you kill him again, won't you have accomplished another great feat?!"
Just like that, the trumpets of the Eastern Army's retreat and the drums of the Western Army's advance sounded almost at the same time. The Westerners rode their horses and charged like a wave. In an instant, the crimson flags all over the mountain were fluttering in the wind. , like red clouds stirring. At this time, the sun also peeked out of the clouds. Under the sunlight, the red clouds roared away with the thunderous sound of horse hooves. The iron armor, Mingguang armor, and horse armor rising and falling with tens of thousands of war horses galloping, are like the lake surface reflected by the sun, emitting sparkling and continuous dazzling light. The clash of iron hooves on the ground and the collision of armored iron soldiers was deafening. The sound of people shouting and horses neighing was completely drowned in it. Is there any power in the sky, on the earth, or in the world that dares to face this huge wave-like impact head-on?
As Jushou expected, the Wei and Han armies collapsed almost without contact. The knights all lost the faith to move forward and resist, and instead turned their horses and fled westward. They were extremely thirsty and exhausted. They ran wildly in a row, whipping all the way, and the dust they raised made it difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, let alone turn around and shoot the pursuers with their bows. The infantry of the Chinese army threw down a series of overweight utensils such as wooden poles and halberds, and ran even more chaotically. Soon someone fell behind the team, like a lone wild goose, and was attacked several times or even Dozens of times more Westerners were chasing him, but he had no choice but to endure the overwhelming rain of arrows, and people kept falling to the ground while running. The Western Army was chasing closely behind them, constantly setting up their bows and shooting. Many knights even emptied their three quivers that could hold two hundred arrows.
In this way, they have been chasing for nearly twenty miles. Regardless of whether they are Dongren or Xiren, the horses and infantry under the heavy load of armor and cavalry are really unable to run. Except for a small number of light cavalry, they are still chasing. The soldiers of the Western Army, who had no arrows, finally stopped to rest. Most of the Easterners who were also exhausted gave up their mounts and regrouped to shoot arrows to fend off some of the Western cavalry who still refused to give up. Although there was still contact and fighting, the two sides were basically out of the fight. Countless Eastern knights and infantry lay dead in the wilderness. Their quivers were still full, but they died in the chaotic flight.
On the more than 20-mile long road, human and horse corpses were piled up like stars, scattered across the blue field. The water flow formed by the blood meanders continuously on the ground, as if there is a blood lake underground that is about to break out. The wounded man's wailing was like a ghost's cry, and would not stop until he was completely exhausted. Although the sun shines brighter in the sky, the bloody moisture on the ground fills the air, making people even feel a shiver of chill. During these three hours or so, the Shenpai headquarters stationed in Wuyuan did indeed pay tens of thousands of casualties in Huoshi Port.
But the war on this side ended here. Although the Easterners fled and were routed, the Westerners were also routed. When Chen Chong arrived at the vanguard, he found that all the organizations had been disrupted, and the commander could not find the captain. The school captain couldn't find the military commander, let alone the camp commander Du Bo, so he relied entirely on the bottom-level commander to make his own judgment. This was not a good sign. While he sent people to reorganize the army, he also sent the existing 5,000 organic men in his hands to the Yishui Floating Bridge in the southeast, hoping that Cao Cao's main force would come more slowly.
But Cao Cao obviously didn't give this chance. Less than two moments before the frontal battlefield stopped, a messenger suddenly came to report to Chen Chong, saying that the Eastern army had appeared on the other side of Yishui River!
Chen Chong was shocked and immediately galloped towards the Yishui River. After running for only two moments, he saw the Eastern Army's red dragon-like military strength from a distance. Thousands of horses were neighing quietly and walking along the river. The knights And the generals were on top, wearing polished armor and stomachs, shining with dazzling brilliance in the sun. Behind this group of people, countless halberd tips pointed toward the sky, and the iron forest had no end in sight.
When he got closer, Chen Chong looked at the flags of the Eastern Army. Although they were all Han troops, in order to distinguish them, the main flag of the Eastern Army was not as red as the blood of the Western Army, but as bright red as Du Juan. More towards a dull purple. Chen Chong went to distinguish the flags symbolizing the identity of each army, and soon saw the small tiger head flag, the black panther horn flag, the long rhino horn flag, and a very eye-catching yellow snake flag.
They are Cao Cao’s tiger warriors and tiger and leopard cavalry! Chen Chong almost groaned and cursed in his heart: They came at a bad time!
If it had been half an hour earlier, Cao Cao's troops would have been affected by the defeat of Shen Pei's troops. If it were half an hour later, he could organize his army and fight again. But in the current situation where the system is in total chaos, fighting with it is almost certain to result in defeat!
He stopped looking at it and continued to rectify the armies, but he knew in his heart that the victory or defeat at this time was no longer in his hands, but in whether Qu Yi could hold the floating bridge for how long.
