Just as Deng Zhi thought, after Qu Yi's tribe was defeated, the defeat successively affected Liu Xuan, Zhang Xiu and other troops who came to rescue. Before the Westerners could form a formation to meet the enemy, the elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Tiger Soldiers, Euphorbia Soldiers and other Easterners suddenly formed into several formations and quickly penetrated into the scattered Western army formation like poisonous snakes.
Because they were caught off guard and their formations were disorganized, those in the West who were blocking the direction of the East's rush were all frightened and fled to both sides to avoid the enemy. This allowed the Wei and Han cavalry in the formation to pass through the front line of the Western Army from south to north without encountering any resistance, thus reaching their back.
Even the Eastern knights were very surprised that one of their own was unscathed. Li Zheng, the governor of Qingzhou in the Wei and Han Dynasties, said to the cavalrymen beside him: "If you rush through the sheep, you will still be covered with mutton. If you can't defeat the Western bandits today, if you mention being defeated by a group of rats tomorrow, how can you live between heaven and earth? ?" Then he took out three armor-piercing arrows and held them in his mouth. Holding the bow in his left hand and the spear in his right hand, he galloped into the battle again.
The Eastern cavalry brigade also separated to the left and right, reined in their horses, turned around, and then reentered the formation, charging towards the east or the north and south sides. They ran wildly like tigers and wolves, running left and right, shooting horses and riders with their bows, and using their long swords and Kill the infantry with a knife. The arrows flew like rain, and like autumn leaves, they seemed to be aimless and flew in the wind, flying in all directions. So much so that some Easterners' own horses and cavalry were killed by arrows in such a world where arrows flew everywhere.
The Westerners came to confront the enemy generals. Except for Liu Xuan, king of the Xiongnu Zuo Ri, who led the Xiongnu light cavalry to pursue the enemy at a distance, Zhang Xiu, Yang Qiu, Huangfuli, and Gongsun Zan all stayed behind to attack the Easterners when they were encircled for the second time. In the past, before they came back, they saw that Qu Yi had already left first and there was no hope of seizing the bridge. They immediately galloped away on their horses towards the west, surrounded by their personal retinue.
Liu Xuan's troops had been pursuing the front, but now they were attacked from left and right by the Easterners, and gradually fell into a situation where they were surrounded by enemies.
But even though he was riding like clouds in front of him, his expression remained unchanged, and he still held the whip in his hand and ordered everyone to charge forward. But some battle-hardened generals realized that the situation was not good. Shi Sang, the leader of Jiehu in Shibu, was beside Liu Xuan. He quickly admonished Liu Xuan and said: "I am old and have seen too many wars. Now we are far and near, and there are no more than ten people on horseback. We are nearby." Although there are still many, no rescue was seen on the left, right and behind, which shows that they were either scattered or escaped. If we fight hard to resist, we will attract more enemy cavalry to siege. The faster we resist, the more we will die. Hurry! Your Highness, it is better to rush out to the back while the position is still clear and our army is not defeated!"
Liu Xuan knew that Shi Sang was right, but he still refused to leave. Instead, he said: "Now all the tribes are in chaos, but our tribe is still in order. In the previous battles, our tribe has not made any achievements, but has been defeated in succession. It has been many times." Others are laughing at him. If he leaves without fighting at this time, he will never get ahead. Now the general and the dragon chief are arranging the army behind them. If we delay it for a while, it is only a moment. Don't let others look down upon you!"
So his troops still went upstream and fought with the Easterners at the front. After a few moments, Dongren discovered that there was resistance, and immediately dispatched a team of tiger and leopard cavalry to charge and kill them. This group of tiger and leopard cavalry, led by Cao Hong, bypassed their obstruction from the front, galloped sideways along the confrontation, suddenly turned their horses' heads, passed through a group of Western infantry holding bows, and quickly dispersed them. Suddenly appeared in front of Liu Xuan and his left and right followers.
Everyone wanted to turn their horses and leave, but now it was too late. The heads and tails of the horses on both sides of the war were entangled, and the people on the horses raised their weapons and struck out at the enemies within reach. Liu Xuan saw Dongren, who was behind Chi Chi, swinging his knife and slashing at him, so he could only instinctively raise his right hand to block. Because the incident happened so suddenly that the severed right arm fell off, he still felt no pain. He wanted to turn his head and look behind him, muttering the name of his youngest brother Liu Bao. But in this chaotic army, it is difficult to know where relatives are and whether they are still alive. Only when the enemy's ruthless knife hit his face, split open his right cheek, and penetrated upwards through his right eye, did Liu Xuan fall from his horse.
With Liu Xuan's death, the last resistance of the Han army on the front line disappeared. The Westerners' retreat finally broke out and they rushed towards the Ancestor River. But this ultimately bought Chen Chong critical time. When the tiger and leopard cavalry tried to drive the defeated soldiers into the water, they were surprised to find that a part of the well-organized Western Army appeared on Yuwang Mountain in the south. They used longbows and crossbows to shoot down at the Easterners, and at the same time sent cavalry to outflank and harass them. During the pursuit, the Easterners also dispersed their front line and were unable to make an effective counterattack against the Western troops on the mountain. They tried briefly. After that, Cao Hong, who led the army, decided to retreat and consolidate the existing victory first.
On the way back to the pontoon, corpses lying on the ground could be seen everywhere. Although the appearance of the deceased was difficult to distinguish, he could easily tell them apart: those who had begun to feel cold were from the East, and those who still had residual warmth were from the West; Those to the east are Easterners, and those to the west are Westerners. Such a scene couldn't help but make him feel absurd. He had seen a huge victory in the morning, but was driven back by the enemy in the afternoon. Perhaps this is why some people say that only five points is enough to win!
At this time, the Chinese army of the East was resting on the north bank of Yishui River. The Shenpai headquarters, which had previously led its troops to retreat and broke away from the battle with the Westerners, gradually led their troops to meet them. Because they had almost lost all their baggage and armor before, these tired soldiers were now sharing food and water with the help of reinforcements. . And in the vast area where the Chinese army was walking, there were exhausted sergeants, layers of corpses, scattered and abandoned armored cavalry, and nearly 10,000 Western prisoners of war. It was impossible to concentrate for a while.
General Fenwu Jusue, General Anwu Shenpei and other generals came over to take a rest and were discussing the next advance or retreat with Cao Cao.
One of them, Shen Pei, said: "The Western bandits have retreated, and I'm afraid they won't be able to fight anymore today. However, our troops have retreated for dozens of miles, and it is difficult to pursue them. If we want to send troops to seize victory, we can only rely on the Marshal's central army."
Cao Ren said: "Anwu said this because he thinks highly of us. After receiving Anwu's letter asking for help, our army slept in the open last night and traveled sixty miles today. The energy of the soldiers may have been exhausted. "Zuo Zhuan" says: 'At one go, we can ', If we continue to pursue, I'm afraid we will be defeated like a Western thief."
At this time, Cao Hong arrived. When he heard this, he agreed with it and said to everyone: "There are still Western bandits on the south mountain who are not in chaos and have considerable fighting power. They should not be underestimated."
Cao Cao nodded, but did not answer. He thought: "The generals in the trial are discouraged and the organization is in chaos. It is impossible to use them now, but our army can still be used. Now Liu Bei has to cross the river to retreat to the west. If I send people to take the opportunity to drive him away, can he continue to use it? Win for a while?" But then he thought of what Cao Hong said, and then thought, "Ting Jian is here in this battle. He has always been cautious in fighting. If I pursue him, will I fall into his plan?"
According to common sense, at this time he should ask Guo Jia, the military advisor accompanying the army, to offer wine. However, Guo Jia contracted an epidemic while in Linzi and was unable to accompany him. At this time, Cao Cao had to make his own opinion. While he was hesitating, a young man suddenly stepped forward and said, "Marshal, why should you hesitate? This is the moment when you must pursue. If you take advantage of victory and do not pursue the defeated army, how will the world regard it?"
Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this, and turned around to see that the young man was Sima Yi, the son of Sima Fang, who was just a counselor accompanying the army at this time. But his eyes were bright, and he did not show any stage fright even when everyone was watching him. Instead, he said more calmly: "The mountains occupied by the bandits are only a corner of the battlefield, and it does not affect the overall situation. However, when the bandits in the west are defeated, they must cross the river to slow down. Let's go, the marshal sent his light cavalry to attack from behind, and Yan also drowned them. What's so scary? Even if the rebel army is in order, don't let them go easily, otherwise wouldn't the marshal's reputation be underestimated? "
These words spoke to Cao Cao's heart. He was very satisfied, and he turned to the generals and said, "What Zhongda said is interesting. What do you think?"
The generals didn't understand that he had made up his mind, so they all stepped forward to ask for battle. Cao Cao ordered his eldest son, Cao Ang, to advance westward first with generals Cao Anmin, Cao Hong, Lu Zhao, Chewei, and Cai Yang to contain the enemy, while he, Cao Ren, Bao Xin, Zhang He and other troops followed suit.
On the other side, the defeated Western troops did as Sima Yi said and began to cross the river on foot as they did when they came. Liu Bei's formation was reorganizing a little by the river and cleaning up the losses among the various ministries. Chen Chong, on the other hand, led more than 10,000 still intact tribesmen to cruise back and forth in the southeast of the battlefield, trying to rely on Yuwang Mountain to threaten the coming Dongren.
When the Dongren's offensive temporarily stopped, Chen Chong breathed a sigh of relief, but he did not dare to relax. He contacted Liu Bei and suggested that he choose elite soldiers for the rear. At the same time, he sent out scouts to inquire about the Dongren's movements not far away. .
Chen Chong's face was as dense as a cloud, but he knew that this was a critical moment related to the overall situation, and he was extremely anxious. He said to several students beside him: "If the people from the east don't attack, it will be just a draw today; if the people from the east attack me, it may not be a small victory; but if they see through the arrangement and insist on attacking the north, they will ruin a big thing!"
Not long after, Liu Bei sent someone to write back, saying that the current organization was still in chaos. Except for the fact that he still had more than 6,000 men under his command who could fight, the other ministries still could not be distinguished in a short period of time. I was afraid that they could only withdraw their troops today and look at it again. As for the many baggage accompanying the army, they are now gathered in the central army, but there is no time to take them away at the moment. Thinking about it carefully, the only option is to throw it by the river and burn it, and not leave it to the East people.
When everyone under Chen Chong heard this, they couldn't help but feel depressed. After all, in a battle, not only the troops were lost, but even the baggage was difficult to save. Considering that since the war, there has never been a head-on battle with the Eastern Army, how can people not be afraid of future wars?
However, when Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang heard the news, they both came up with ideas. At the same time, they stepped forward and asked for orders: "Teacher, can you give me 500 men to go north, and I will order the Eastern troops to retreat!"
