Wang Guang kept Zhang Fei's instructions in mind and wanted to frustrate the Eastern Army. He raised his eyes and glanced at the black tiger-headed flag on the other side that the general mentioned. He saw a knight standing in front of the battle holding the flagpole. He thought: Shoot down the flagpole and fall. It's not really a skill, so how can you shoot someone?
So he nocked an arrow on his bow, took into account the force of the wind, moved it slightly to the right, and raised his hand to shoot the arrow. The arrow quickly crossed the river and headed straight for the flag bearer. The flag-bearer was alert, heard the sound of the whistle, lowered his head suddenly, and the arrow hit his leather hat and fell to the ground.
A sergeant ran out quickly, picked up the arrow that fell on the ground, ran into the military formation, and handed it to Cao Cao who was riding a horse.
Cao Cao looked at the arrow. It was a flat hunting arrow with a side edge, equipped with a bone whistle, and the arrow feathers were made of withered feathers, which was very elegant. He knew that the owner of the arrow was not an ordinary person, so he ordered people to ride out of the battle and shouted to the other side: "Who is the general who shot the flag with the arrow? Leave your name!"
Wang Guang heard this and replied loudly: "I am the Colonel Huang Hu of the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty, and so is Wang Guang of Qi County!"
Wang Guang's voice was loud and the wind carried it to Cao Cao's ears. He thought for a while, called his son Cao Zhang, took the arrow and said to him: "The owner of this arrow is Empress Zhongliang. I think it is a pity that I was not able to participate in Wang Yun's execution of Dong Zhuo. Liu Bei sent He came to call for formation because he clearly underestimated me and wanted to provoke me to cross the river! But since he is a junior, I can't send a veteran to go, Huang Xu'er, you go and destroy his majesty."
Cao Zhang did not wear any armor and rode a horse. He put the bow bag and quiver on the back of the saddle and slowly rode the horse to the river. He saw an enemy general in brocade robes sitting on a tall horse on the other side. Wang Guang. He stood up slightly and said to Wang Guang: "Listen, Lieutenant Wang, after I heard that you were a loyal minister, how satisfying was it when Wang Yun killed Dong Zhuo? But you obeyed the order of the regicide and came to meet with us loyal ministers?" Come on, aren't you going to make the world cold? Besides, you don't cross the Zhang River and you have made it clear that you don't dare to fight, so why are you bluffing here? There is no dragon leader planning this battle, so you should go back!" It turns out that the news of Chen Chong's serious illness was Even the Eastern Dynasty knew about it, so it's no wonder that Cao Cao rarely fought again and again.
After Wang Guang heard what he said, he was speechless for a moment. At this time, Cao Zhang smiled slightly, took out the bow from behind his back, raised his hand and shot. At this time, the wind was blowing across the river, and the arrow was flying against the wind, but it hit Wang Guang's horse. The arrow shot through the leather armor and penetrated the chest until it reached the arrow feathers. Poor Daibei's handsome horse, it was too late to make a struggle before death. It fell on its front legs on the sand by the river, turned over its hooves and died.
Wang Guang landed from his horse and quickly turned over and ran back to avoid the second arrow. But because he was wearing armor and walking on the ground, he looked a bit nondescript. When the soldiers of the Eastern Army saw him, they burst into laughter, which was extremely embarrassing. His servant saw him and ran over quickly, giving him his own horse to ride. Wang Guangda was angry and his face turned red. He looked back at Zhang Fei with a dissatisfied look on his face. He immediately took off his armor and stomach pockets, revealing his light clothes, raised his bow and mounted his horse, intending to go out for revenge.
He rode within the range of the arrow and saw that the man on the other side was still standing still. He was worried that he would suddenly launch an arrow. Suddenly he galloped across the river, and there happened to be a willow tree on the bank of the river. The branches were hanging down to the surface, but the trunk was thick and there were many branches, so he was invisible. So he reined up his horse and stopped behind the tree. Taking advantage of this moment, he drew out his bow and arrow, lifted his horse, walked around to the other side of the tree, drew his bow and prepared to shoot at his opponent.
Unexpectedly, I heard a harsh whistling sound, rushing over from the other side of the river. Wang Guang had rich experience in shooting, and he immediately heard that it was a shot from a hammer that had penetrated the bone whistle. He thought to himself that it was not good, so he instinctively crouched down and lowered his head. At this moment, there was only a popping sound, which was the unique terrifying sound of a sharp arrow piercing the skin and flesh and penetrating into the internal organs.
The war horse behind him immediately tilted and its heavy body fell towards him. Wang Guang was so frightened that he turned to one side and turned around to see his mount flipping over and falling to the ground. There was an arrow stuck in the left side of its belly. The arrow shaft was completely submerged in the horse's belly, and the exposed white arrow feathers, although slightly splattered with blood, were still there. The familiar withered feathers are still clearly visible. When he saw Withered Feather, Wang Guang felt a shameful feeling that he had never experienced before. This was the arrow he had just shot towards the other side!
Only then did Wang Guang realize that he had met a powerful opponent, and when it came to comparing his shooting skills, he, who was the best among the younger generation in Jinyang, was invincible. However, he did not panic and covered himself for the time being. And his servant had already come flying from the other side. As soon as he reached the tree, Wang Guang grabbed the saddle and flew onto the horse. The horse turned its head and ran quickly into the formation.
In this battle, the Jinyang knights lost all face, and the knights couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. However, Cao Cao's army cheered and their morale was boosted.
At this moment, suddenly thick smoke billowed downstream from the north, blowing down the wind toward the Eastern Army's formation. Following the wind, it drifted across the Zhang River, and the pungent smell blew past the cavalry of the Jinyang Beifu Army. Zhang Fei was comforting Wang Guang, but he was also depressed about the failure just now. When he saw the thick smoke coming, he couldn't help being overjoyed and said loudly: "Guo Boji set the fire as promised. Look at the intensity of the fire, a lot of dry wood was used!"
Besides, when Cao Cao saw smoke rising in the distance to the north, he couldn't help being startled and blurted out: "These guys can still set fires? Could it be that they were taught by Chen Chong? Isn't he seriously ill and still in Chang'an?" If he retreated at this time, the Jinyang cavalry on the other side would definitely cross the river. Chase and kill; if you don’t retreat, the fire will soon spread. What should you do?
But after all, Cao Cao came from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The situation was critical, but he did not panic. He said to the anxious knights around him: "The Western Thief wanted me to retreat to avoid the fire, and then cross the river to cover him up. I was not fooled, but I crossed the river first to catch him off guard!"
He called Zhu Ling and said to him: "I will never forget you when you saved my life in the Bohai Sea. Now it's a life-or-death moment. I have no one to rely on, I can only rely on you! You lead the cavalry to cross the river first. Make a way for me to fight. If we can't win this battle, tens of thousands of soldiers will be mermaid meat. Cao Cao asks the general for everyone!" After that, he dismounted and bowed.
After hearing this, Zhu Ling's blood rushed upwards, and he hurriedly bowed and replied: "The marshal has such trust, how dare Zhu Ling not swear to serve him to the death!"
Cao Cao grabbed his hand and said: "I will hand over the trusted warriors around me to you, and I will go with you to kill the enemy first and die at the front!" After saying this, he ordered Cao Zhen, Cao Zhang, Niu Jin, Chen Jiao and more than a hundred others. He rode with Zhu Ling into battle and ordered Xia Houyuan to hold the battle behind.
Zhu Ling had more than a thousand knights under his command, all of whom were Youzhou knights. Amidst the thick smoke, Zhu Ling led the troops out of the battle. He said to his subordinates: "We have been fighting for decades, first with Yuan Shaogong, and then with Cao Cao. We have gone through many experiences successively. We have fought dozens of wars, big and small, and have enjoyed wealth and honor. There is nothing to fear in life or death. But when a man lives in this world, he always wants to win. Today, we are in a desperate situation, and cowardice will lead to death. You may be able to win by fighting to the death. I will lead you You cross the river, if you don’t win, you will die on the other side and never look back!”
After saying this, he rode his horse into Zhangshui together with the soldiers. In late autumn, the river was narrow and shallow, not as deep as a horse's back. Everyone just wanted to fight to the death, regardless of the freezing cold water. They ran wildly through the water and swarmed to the other side.
Just as Zhu Ling's team was going out to fight, Cao Cao called Zhang He and others who were in charge of the right wing, and ordered them to take turns riding horses into the river, then run ashore, and circle and stampede on the grass. Shrouded in thick smoke, the Eastern Army repeatedly launched into the water and came ashore in an endless stream. After the war horses entered the water, they brought up a large amount of river water and wetted a large area of grassland, finally isolating the fire in the north. Although the smoke did not disperse, the fire could not spread.
At the same time, Zhu Ling's troops had crossed the river and came ashore, and rushed into Jinyang's military formation together. The Jinyang Army was waiting to burn the Eastern Army so that they could take advantage of the situation and attack. They never expected that the enemy would cross the river to attack instead of retreating. Facing the enemy soldiers who were killing them like madmen, they were at a loss for a moment. Everyone in their way died, and the formation gradually deformed into chaos.
Zhu Ling took the lead and rode into the battle, but he didn't want to lose his horse and flew in and broke his mount's neck. As soon as he stood up after falling off the horse, several knights from the Western Army came around on horseback. They all got off their horses and rushed forward to chop off his head with their swords. The horsemen who followed him were furious. Facing many enemies, they held a scorpion in one hand and wildly waved a sword in the other. They moved their bodies left and right to drive the enemies to one place. Zhu Ling then picked up the knife and slashed hard, cutting down two people one after another. The others were so frightened that they didn't dare to come any closer, so they all turned around to find their horses and run away.
Wen Ji, a tiger soldier under Cao Cao, once killed the famous Western Dynasty general Qian Zhao at the foot of Xindu City. At this time, he led his subordinates deep into Song Luan's formation of Jinyang Army, looking for the knights in gorgeous clothes, hoping to achieve the great feat of beheading the general. After running for a while, he ran into Jinyang Army Commander Sima Linghu Hua. Linghuhua was dressed gorgeously and his swordsmanship was very fast. He had killed several people in succession.
When two brave generals met, neither wanted to let go of their opponent, so they immediately approached each other to fight. However, as soon as the two horses approached, their weapons collided. Linghu Hua was surprised to find that the tiger's mouth was numb. After two more blows, Wen Ji actually broke a piece of the sword blade. While he was in shock and daze, Wen Ji took out another short knife from his waist and thrust it into Linghu Hua's chest with lightning speed. Linghu Hua covered his chest and wanted to leave, but his whole body suddenly lost all strength. He could only let Wen Ji wrap his arms around his neck and cut off his head neatly. When the Jinyang soldiers nearby saw this situation, they all retreated.
At this time, the cavalry brigade of the Eastern Army also crossed the river to attack. Thousands of horses galloped across the water, splashing countless water splashes, and the sound of rushing water was like a huge wave coming. The Jinyang army was still fighting with Zhu Ling's troops. At this time, when they saw the enemy's large group rushing towards them, their fighting spirit suddenly disappeared, and they all abandoned their opponents and fled on horseback. The cavalry fled like a torrent that broke a bank. Zhang Fei and the young generals could not stop it at all, so they had no choice but to drift with the current and be carried away by the defeated people.
Jinyang's army was all cavalry. When they retreated, thousands of horses galloped, wolves galloped and pigs rushed, jostling each other. Many people injured their horses' legs due to this impact, and then fell to the ground and were captured by the Eastern Army. Fortunately, the Jinyang Army came and went like flying. After running for a while, the Eastern Army saw red flags flying in the distance, as if there were military formations. They immediately realized that the Western Army behind them was coming to support them, so they retreated again soon. go back. The two sides seemed to be fighting very lively, but when I went back and counted, there were no more than 2,000 casualties in total. However, this battle greatly damaged the morale of the Western Army.
When Liu Bei saw Zhang Fei and others coming back in disgrace, he didn't blame him. Instead, he appreciated Guo Huai's plan of arson and rewarded him with a lot of gold, silver and jewels, so he let the matter go.
At this point, the entire Western Army's grand strategy finally returned to the plan of confrontation in Xindu and dividing troops in Youyan.
