When the sun turned to the west, the war was still going on. The Eastern Army pursued the right wing of the Western Army relentlessly, trying to capture or kill half of the Western Army's soldiers by the Cetian Lake. The Western Army on the north side also fully launched a counterattack. They completely ignored the Xianbei army not far away, directly penetrated the Eastern front in front of them, and attacked from Wenying Lake to Xiaopu Township in one go. At this point, the Western forward The Eastern Army's camp can be clearly seen.
Ma Dai's troops were at the forefront. At this time, he was like a pebble in the tide among the vast crowd of Dongren, but he could not be shaken. The Dongren who were in chaos like a flock of sheep dispersed automatically when they saw him, which made him You can lead more than a hundred people to rush to the camp gate.
Seeing the rustling black flags in Dongying, Ma Dai showed a smile of success, and then ordered his subordinates to burn flags and fodder in Dongying. Due to the strong sunshine and the dryness of the north, the flames quickly spread from the flag grass pile to the wooden fences and cloth tents, rising up thick smoke with a pungent lake smell, and the smoke clouds flew up and spread out like connecting the sky and the earth. , painted a thick and colorful stroke on the sky, but this shocking black sky pillar can be seen on any battlefield within twenty miles from the north to the south.
The Dong people who were still chasing the Western Army by Cetian Lake were confused and panicked when they saw this. They all said: "Weren't the Western bandits defeated in front of us? How come there are still people flying behind us?" Then a rumor spread quickly: "The Western bandits in the north set up an ambush and defeated our army, and even the Xianbei people turned against them. Got it!"
This thought made the East people slow down their pursuit and start looking for their leader. It was only at this moment that they were shocked to discover that due to the excessive depth and chaos of the pursuit, the organization of the Dongren had been completely disrupted. Most of the county soldiers from various counties in Hebei remained in the Shiwu organization, looking around, not many. Knowing each other, there are only a few soldiers who can find their own troops. The dilemma faced by the Chinese and Westerners in the Battle of Huoshibu was now completely repeated by the Easterners.
At this moment, only Cao Cao's main formation and several surrounding areas can still maintain their organizational structure, with about 4,000 people. Cao Cao and his subordinates saw the thick smoke billowing behind them, and knew that something was not going well on the flank. Cao Zhen, who was following Cao Cao, asked in a low voice: "Marshal, should we continue the pursuit, or should we return to defend the camp?"
Seeing Cao Cao's hesitant expression, Sima Yi immediately stepped forward to admonish him: "Marshal, our army has killed tens of thousands of enemies and captured many. If we continue to pursue the enemy now, we may not be able to achieve greater gains. After all, the Western Thieves There is still a peaceful city behind us, but behind our army there is only a camp. If the camp is burned down and we cannot stand, then victory will turn into defeat."
After hearing this, Cao Cao remained silent. He looked back at Xun Yu and found that he also had a conflicted look on his face. This was extremely rare for Yingchuan Yujun, who was always known for his pleasant appearance. Cao Cao knew that the reason why Xun was willing to assist him was probably because he had the idea that only he could unify him. But now that the good opportunity to mix things up was right in front of him, but he had to miss it, this kind of pain was far better than nothing at all. The odds are against him, and he feels the same way.
But Xun He finally relaxed his brows and said to Cao Cao: "Ming Gong, please withdraw your troops at the expense of the gold. It is always difficult for a military strategist to achieve a great victory. Eight points will lead to arrogance, and ten points will lead to arrogance. Today's victory of six points is enough to make the enemy proud." The officers and men are satisfied." Cao Cao looked at Xun You's clear eyes and knew that he had passed the test in his heart, so he also passed it.
So he ordered the gold medal, but he was not in a hurry to return to the camp for rescue. He was aware of the chaos in his own army. He rushed to fight Chen Chong with such a large army. He had no luck in defeating him. Contrary to his vigilance against Chen Chong's troops, Cao Cao actually picked a thousand-man cavalry force from his own formation and gave it to Cao Xiu to lead, letting him continue to chase the defeated Westerners.
Although Cao Cao was not specific, he only said that Cao Xiu was specifically looking for high-ranking officials and celebrities to kill the Westerners. But Cao Xiu heard what Cao Cao didn't say: he wanted to see if Liu Bei could be found among the corpses and prisoners of the defeated army.
The sun continued to move slowly, and the Eastern Army also gathered part of the army. There were about 40,000 to 50,000 people. Cao Cao ordered Ju Shou, Yu Jin and others to continue to gather various troops where they were, and he led these people and began to slowly move toward the east. move. At this time, the thick smoke on the horizon still hasn't dissipated. The closer they get, the more they can smell the smoke of the burnt lake, and the floating human voices gradually become clearer like mosquitoes.
At this time, the east wind blew again, the dust was flying, the smoke was filled, and the light on the battlefield began to fluctuate. A group of people vaguely appeared in Dongren's sight. When these people saw Dongren's black flag, they couldn't help shouting and running over. But within a few dozen steps, another group of cavalrymen flying red flags suddenly appeared behind them. They held long bamboo poles in their hands and chased the group in front of them, stabbing the people running barefoot in front of them like slaughtering sheep, and then left very quickly, coming and going like the wind, and even more like ghosts in the eyes of Easterners.
When the Dong people came closer, they checked the bones of the people on the ground and found that they were all Dong people. One of them was wearing the precious Mingguang armor. After cleaning the blood on his face, people recognized him as the captain Han Juzi. Han Juzi was in the army. Zhong is not known for being good at fighting, but he has a reputation for being calm. But now when they saw his expressionless head with open eyes, the people in the East couldn't help but feel horrified.
At this time, the Westerners also noticed the return of reinforcements from the Easterners, so several battalions gathered together and were displayed on the north side of the Easterners like wolves watching for tigers. Although they did not block the way back to the camp, there was a side to attract the Easterners. Pay attention to the effect of delaying the speed of returning to camp.
Cao Cao squinted his eyes for a moment and found the character Zhao written on the flag opposite him, so he asked the army commander Xia Houshang beside him: "Who among the Western Bandit Generals are named Zhao?"
Xia Houshang said: "The only two famous Western thieves are Zhao Yun and Zhao Ang. However, Zhao Ang is stationed in Longyou and has never fought with our army. It must be Zhao Yun and Zhao Zilong who are in front of us."
Speaking of Zhao Yun, Cao Cao was confused for a moment. He remembered that Cao Hong died at the hands of this person, so he looked back and said to the generals: "What a Zhao Zilong. Two years ago, Zi Lian died at the hands of this person. Now Captain Han And he killed him, who among you can avenge him!" However, no one dared to respond for a while. After all, Zhao Yun's deeds of riding alone and taking Cao Hong's head had already spread among the Eastern Army. The soldiers asked themselves, He is probably no match for anyone who challenges him.
At this time, Le Jin stepped forward and said to Cao Cao: "Ming Gong, I am willing to go." Cao Cao saw him coming out and was filled with emotions. Back then, when he was weak in power and was still the prefect of Dongjun, he was often Le Jin's second choice. He charged into battle, but after so many years, he was still the first one willing to take risks. Cao Cao sighed for a moment. He patted Le Jin on the shoulder and said, "What a good Wen Qian! What a man! Let the Western thieves meet the brave men in our army today!"
Le Jin nodded slightly, then mounted a big green-maned horse, led four of his subordinates to mount the horse, and announced to the Westerners loudly: "I am the great Han general Le Jin, who of you dare to fight with me?" ?" The sound fell for a moment, and soon a knight in silver armor and white robes walked out, stared at Le Jin and said slowly: "I am Zhao Yun, the guard of the Han Dynasty and General Longxiang. Please enlighten me."
After saying that, the two men immediately rode out, Zhao Yun holding a long spear and Le Jin holding a long sword. The two figures collided with each other like flying. The two armies watching the battle could not help but hold their breath and concentrate, but they only heard a crisp golden iron sound. After the clash, the two passed by each other, both still sitting on their horses.
After running a short distance away, the two men turned their horses around again and continued to charge. When they saw that they were about to collide, the two men suddenly turned their horses and turned to keep pace. Then they fought with their troops at the same time. The clash of gold and iron was like the sound of waves. Both armies were dazzled, but they could not tell who would win. Who loses.
Suddenly there was a snapping sound of the pole breaking, and the two horses immediately separated. The green horse ran south and the white horse returned north. When Zhao Yun returned to the formation, the knights hurried forward to ask about the outcome. Only then did they realize that the leader only had a broken spear in his hand, and his face was full of regret.
When Le Jin returned to the formation, Cao Cao went to greet him in person, only to find that Le Jin had lost his coat, and a gash on his face could be seen between his disheveled hair, and blood was still oozing out. It turned out that just now, Zhao Yun wanted to use his spear to kill Le Jin directly. Unexpectedly, Le Jin was short and nimble, so he could barely avoid it, and then cut off his spear pole. Before that, Zhao Yun had hit Le Jin three times, causing Le Jin's uniform to be stained with blood and staggering when he walked.
Cao Cao quickly helped him up and asked him how he was injured. Le Jin replied: "A small injury from mustard moss is nothing to worry about!" Cao Cao was relieved when he saw that his life was not in danger. He also used this to boost his morale and said: "Although your weapon, the bravest of the Duanxi people, has been damaged, it is still slightly better." While laughing and chatting, he thought solemnly in his heart: "The Western thieves are like a cloud, how can we do it?" How about returning to camp smoothly?"
While he was thinking about it, he began to mobilize and deploy, intending to use his superior strength to defeat Zhao Yun's troops in front of him. However, before the formation was fully deployed, the sound of ringing gold suddenly came from the northern sky. The Westerners not far away looked back to the north when they heard it, and then quickly left westward like rabbits.
The Easterners didn't know the reason and were afraid it was a trick, so they moved north cautiously, planning to observe the changes on the battlefield in the north first. When they reached a hill, they happened to see the Western army all over the mountains and plains holding red flags, like The back recedes like the tide. And on the dirt they ran over, fallen black flags and soldiers' bones could be seen everywhere, and the ground was in a mess.
The Easterners looked back at the billowing black smoke at the camp. At this time, there were finally signs of dissipation, but this also meant that most of the Easterners' camps had turned into ruins filled with ashes and residual fire. Under this situation, Cao Cao did not pursue the Westerners, but braved the heat wave and returned to the camp. While sending people to rebuild the camp, he took stock of today's results and losses.
In the evening, Cao Cao got the result: today's entire army was beheaded and captured, and it was estimated that more than 20,000 Western troops had been killed or wounded. However, the northern battlefield also suffered heavy losses, with tens of thousands of casualties, and two-thirds of the fortresses burned by the Westerners. .
