Chapter 525 The decisive battle on the top of the mountain
It is said that although Wenpin was brave, he was defeated by Cao Mengde who came in person. Not only did he lose his troops, but the father and son were also captured alive. Cao Cao ordered him to be pushed down and under strict supervision. Seeing that Dongfang had turned white, he couldn't help but murmured to the general on a horse in the darkness behind him and asked: "Zhongde, it's just as you expected. Yuan Rang and Zhong Kang should also be there." Is there any news?"
The war horse in the shadow neighed softly, and the general named Zhongde slowly controlled the horse and came to Cao Cao, saluting: "My lord, if Huang Zhong and Xi Zhi enter the Erlong Mountain Canyon before dawn, Yuan Rang will be cut off." The way out is to burn them all to death in the valley with a fire." His voice was low and slow, as if it was a normal chat, but the content was extremely vicious.
The person who spoke was none other than Cao Cao's mastermind Cheng Yu and Cheng Zhongde. Cao Cao hesitated for a moment and said, "Although Wenpin was captured, it also exposed our army's arrangement. I'm afraid Xi Zhi won't be able to get into his pocket so easily."
Cheng Yu responded in a deep voice: "Even if Xi Zhicai and Huang Zhong cannot be killed, our strategic goal has been achieved. Huang Zu of Queyue City surrendered to our lord, and we will have a good port on the Yangtze River. The natural dangers of the Yangtze River are no longer Natural chasm. Given time, we will be able to build an invincible naval force. By then, whether it is crossing the river to destroy Sun Yat-sen or going upstream to attack Jingzhou, it will be just a matter of effort. At the moment, as long as we block the exit of Queyue City, Huang Zhong will never send troops to Hefei. If Hefei is safe, the only way out for Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in Lujiang is to retreat to Jiangdong. By then, the Yangtze River from Lujiang to Jiangxia will be controlled by our army. Who can resist our army's unification of Jiangdong?"
Cao Cao nodded and said: "Fortunately, he followed Zhongde's strategic plan and indeed blocked Xi Zhicai's troops here. If Xi Zhicai is allowed to take Queyue City, the west of Hefei will still need to be heavily defended, and the Lujiang River will be attacked. I have no worries about my future. Zhongde, if I can unify Jiangdong, I will remember Zhongde for his first contribution."
Although Cheng Yu was affirmed, there was no trace of sadness or joy on his face. He was indeed a good minister who was unfazed by favors and humiliations. As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, he suddenly saw the distant Zhangjiachong mountaintop. The light of the torches scattered for a while, and a large area of the bright torches was extinguished in the blink of an eye. Then the cry of killing resounded throughout the world. Cheng Yu and Cao Cao frowned at the same time. It was Cao Cao's confidant general Xu Chu and Xu Zhongkang who was ambushing the top of Zhangjiachong. According to the plan, after Xu Chu's army condescendingly destroyed Wenpin's Qinglong Pioneer Division, they should They rushed down the hillside from a high position, blocked the entrance of Erlong Valley, and cooperated with Xiahou Dun's troops ambushing on Erlong Mountain to completely eliminate the 10,000 Qinglong Army vanguard. Then he left the Erlong Mountain Gorge and went to the village, blocking the Erlong Mountain Passage. Taking advantage of the victory, he fought a field battle with Xi Zhicai and Huang Zhong. Finally, he used the Qingzhou soldiers who were invincible on land to conquer Hanyang City in one fell swoop and completely captured the north bank of the Yangtze River in Jiangxia. If successful, the most important Sanjiangkou of Jiangxia will be controlled, and all the important towns in Jingzhou will be exposed to the iron hoofs and warships of Cao's army.
According to Cao Jun's intelligence, the Qinglong Army came from west to east. Now it is attacking Zhang Jiachong and Xu Chu's army, but it is Zhang Jiachong who climbed up from the east, but I don't know whose army it is? As soon as Cao Cao raised his hand, Cheng Yu had already ordered: "The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry will send out twenty cavalry to investigate immediately! The rest of the troops will go down to the entrance of Erlong Valley to assemble!"
The dark armored soldiers behind Cao Cao immediately flew out twenty cavalry, led by a very young general, Cao Xiu and Cao Wenlie, the new deputy commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Cao Xiu was a son of Cao Cao and Cao Hong's nephew. Not only was he highly skilled in martial arts, he was also superb in archery. Cao Hong personally recommended him to Cao Cao as a bodyguard, and Cao Cao promoted him to the deputy commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. His status was only lower than that of the orthodox leader Cao Chun.
Cao Xiu led twenty tigers and leopards, and galloped down the hill. He beat his horse again and galloped straight to the top of Zhangjiachong. On the road, he kept encountering retreating Qinglong Army soldiers. Cao Xiu ordered his men not to delay and just go up the mountain. When they were not far from the top of the mountain, the shouts of killing could no longer be heard. Cao Xiu gave a whistle, and all the twenty tiger and leopard horsemen disappeared into the forest. Using the cover of the trees, they quickly approached the battlefield at the top of Zhangjiachong.
Finally arriving at the edge of the main battlefield, Cao Xiuzong climbed onto a tall tree, brushing aside the branches and leaves to quietly observe the battlefield. What came into view was a melee between the two armies. On one side was Xu Chu's black-armored Cao Jun, and on the other side it looked like red leather armor under the firelight. Cao Xiu was shocked, isn't this the standard military uniform of the Jiangdong Army?
Cao Xiu's surprise was not trivial. In his impression, since Cao's army went south, it had been overwhelming and victorious. It had completely compressed Jiangdong's army in the Lujiang area and was unable to move. Where did this Jiangdong's army come from?
Cao Xiu asked his four men to quickly report back to his lord Cao Cao. He tightened the arrow pot on his back, threw away his spear, drew his short sword and ordered the remaining men: "Follow me, go deep into the military formation along the woods, and find out who He is the enemy general."
Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are equivalent to the special forces of the Qinglong Army, and also have considerable covert reconnaissance capabilities. Cao Xiu took the lead, using the cover of the mountains and forests to climb to the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain was quite flat, so the sounds of soldiers shouting to kill were much quieter, but the sound of weapons clashing was still heard. When Cao Xiu got out of the grass to look, he saw two generals holding swords and guns at the same time, and they were indistinguishable from each other.
One of them is covered in iron armor, more than ten feet tall, with a waist as big as ten girth. He has a majestic appearance and is extremely brave. He wields a black iron machete. The sword is powerful and heavy, never leaving the opponent's general's head. It is Cao Jun who is brave enough to win the three armies. The fierce general Xu Chu.
Xu Chu, courtesy name Zhongkang, was a native of Qiao State and a fellow countryman of Cao Cao. Known for his bravery when he was young, he gathered thousands of strong men and clan members to jointly build defense facilities to resist the invasion of thieves. At that time, more than 10,000 thieves from Gebei, Runan, attacked Xu Chu. Xu Chu was outnumbered, exhausted from the battle, and ran out of arrows. He ordered both men and women to find big rocks to defend themselves against the enemy. When the enemy soldiers rushed up, Xu Chu Feishi retreated, so the thieves did not dare to approach. When the food was almost exhausted, Xu Chu pretended to make peace with the thieves and discussed using cattle in exchange for food. Xu Chu was in front of the formation and walked for more than a hundred paces holding the tail of the cow. The thieves were shocked and did not dare to come back to take the cow again. From then on, Xu Chu's reputation was powerful in Huai, Ru, Chen and Liang.
Later, Cao Cao occupied Huai and Ru, and after his success, he naturally returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors. Xu Chu sent his people to submit to Cao Cao, paid homage to the captain on the same day, and introduced them to the guards. From then on, Xu Chu followed Cao Cao in the north and south, and made many military exploits. In the official history, Cao Cao conquered Zhang Xiu, and Xu Chu was the vanguard. He beheaded more than 10,000 thieves and was moved to the school. Following Cao Cao, he confronted Yuan Shao in Guandu. At that time, Xu Ta and others wanted to murder Cao Cao, but they did not dare to do it because Xu Chu was always with them. Waiting until Xu Chu left to rest, Xu Ta and others came to see Cao Cao carrying sharp swords. At that time, Xu Chu was restless at home, so he immediately returned to Cao Cao. When Xu Ta and others entered the account and saw Xu Chu, they were shocked. Xu Chu saw that something was wrong and immediately killed Xu Ta and others. Afterwards, Cao Cao trusted Xu Chu even more and went out with him without letting him leave his side. Following Cao Cao in the siege of Yecheng, he was awarded the title of Marquis of Guannei for his military exploits.
In the 16th year of Jian'an in the official history, Xu Chu followed Cao Cao to conquer Han Sui and Ma Chao in Tongguan. Cao Cao was about to cross the river. When he reached the river, he let the army go ahead and cut off the rear from Xu Chu and more than a hundred Hu soldiers. At this time, Ma Chao led more than ten thousand people on foot and on horseback to rob and kill Cao Cao, with arrows raining down from them. Xu Chu said to Cao Cao: "There are many bandits. Now that our troops have crossed the river, it's time for you to leave." So he helped Cao Cao board the boat. Xu Chu killed the climbers, held up the saddle with his left hand to block Cao Cao's arrows, and pushed the boat across the river with his right hand. On that day, without Xu Chu, Cao Cao would have been in danger.
Later, Cao Cao had a conversation with Han Sui, Ma Chao and others alone. Neither the left nor the left accompanied him, except Xu Chu. Ma Chao was arrogant about his bravery and wanted to attack Cao Cao secretly. However, he often heard the name of Xu Chu and suspected that he was the one who followed him. So he asked Cao Cao: "Where is Duke Cao's Tiger Marquis?" Cao Cao pointed at Xu Chu. Xu Chu looked at him angrily, but Ma Chao did not dare to move. A few days later, Cao's army defeated Ma Chao's army, and Xu Chu personally beheaded the enemy's head during the battle. Because of Xu Chu's meritorious service in this escort battle, he was awarded the title of General of the Military Guard Zhonglang. And because Ma Chao asked about Hu Hou, the name of Tiger Madman became famous all over the world. Cao Cao trusted him throughout his life and said to everyone he met: "This is my Fan Kuai."
Xu Chu was known as the Tiger Fool, and his martial arts skills were among the best among the Three Kingdoms. But at this moment, at the top of the Zhangjia Chong, he was inextricably tied up with the people on the opposite side. Cao Xiu used his eyesight enough to see that the general opposite Xu Chu was wearing a golden helmet and white battle robes. He seemed to be very handsome. He had an extremely long steel spear. It was like golden lightning when it was running, and there was a faint sound of wind and thunder.
When Cao Xiu saw it from a distance, he couldn't help being shocked. An impossible name suddenly came to his mind, and he blurted out: "Sun Ce!"
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
