Although Cao Zhang was not the general of the army, his status surpassed that of Cao Xiu, and he had always been known as the unworthy man. Suddenly he was killed by Lan Ji in front of the formation, causing an uproar in the Wei army.
The general who was fighting in front of the battle failed and died, which affected Xiahou Yuan as much as Dingjun Mountain. The Wei army officers looked at each other, and Guan Yu took advantage of the situation to command the Jingzhou soldiers to advance.
Pang De and Guan Ping led their light cavalry directly into the two flanks of the Wei army, while Guan Yu led the main force of Jingzhou to attack from the front.
General Lan Ji broke the balance of morale between the two armies. Jingzhou's soldiers charged while spraying white mist and roaring.
The sound of hoofbeats, footsteps, and shouts combined together made the earth tremble, as if spring thunder was about to wake up hibernating animals.
The vanguard general of the Wei army was beheaded. Although the generals, assistant generals, captains, etc. in the army who were responsible for specifically commanding the battle tried their best to restrain their subordinates from panicking, these people did not have Cao Zhang's deterrence. Facing the menacing Jingzhou army, they had poor psychological quality. The soldiers were the first to collapse.
With uneasy agitation, the soldiers retreated unconsciously, and the originally neat formation of the Wei army was deformed.
Lacking a strong commander-in-chief, the disorderly Wei army could not stop the Jingzhou soldiers. The Wei army was defeated immediately after the battle, and then spread disorderly like a virus. The generals under Cao Zhang were scattered by the rebel army, and even the restraint of their respective troops became difficult. Difficulty.
Tens of thousands of troops were chasing and fighting on the plains from north to south. The scene was like an equal number of lions hunting migrating wildebeest on the African grasslands.
The soldiers of the Han and Wei dynasties all wore winter clothes. The heavy clothing affected their movement speed. Those who fled the Wei army and died under the sword were far less than those who were collided and trampled by their own soldiers. This moment fully reflected the law of the jungle in nature. The weak cannot fight between life and death. Survive the moment.
Cao Zhang's 20,000 vanguard retreated like a tide. Guan Yu led the Jingzhou soldiers in hot pursuit. They covered them up for more than ten miles and saw that the flags in the south were covering the sky. Cao Xiu's 50,000 main force was approaching.
"Yuan Jian, immediately send an order to pursue all the armies, drive Wei's defeated troops, and try to see if they can disrupt Cao Xiu's army. After a while, he will act according to the military order flag, while the red flag will continue to advance, and the yellow flag will immediately withdraw its troops and return to Bowang." Guan Yu called Liao Hua to give instructions.
"General, I will go and deliver the order right now." Liao Hua clasped his fists and left.
Seeing Cao Xiu's main force entering the field, it was expected that the defeated Wei soldiers could counterattack, but the Jingzhou soldiers were chasing behind them with weapons. The generals of each battalion lost contact with their respective teams, and coupled with the inertia formed by running for more than ten miles, the defeated soldiers preferred to attack their own troops. He didn't dare to turn around and fight back against Guan Yu.
Cao Xiu was already at the scouting station and received the military information that Cao Zhang was killed, so he urged the main force to march quickly.
It has become a fact that Cao Zhang was killed. Cao Xiu had no time to think about how Cao Pi would be punished. At this time, he was most concerned about the battle situation at hand. He was very worried that the front army would be in chaos, but his idea really became a reality.
"Send orders to all armies to stabilize the chaos. Any defeated troops who dare to attack our own army will be killed without mercy." Cao Xiu drew his sword and shouted sternly.
The battalions at the front of the main force of the Wei army responded quickly. At this time, it was necessary to make a prompt decision and use killing to awaken the panic of the defeated soldiers. When the swords of the Wei soldiers were stained with the blood of his comrades, Cao Xiu turned the tide and stabilized the decline. He then sent people to gather the defeated soldiers and reorganize them. , and prepared to counterattack the pursuing Jingzhou soldiers.
When Cao Xiu stabilized his position, the bright yellow flags swayed in the wind at the center position of Guan Yu in the north, and then the Jingzhou soldiers began to retreat one after another.
What does Guan Yu want to do? Cao Xiu frowned.
When fighting Guan Yu this year, I obviously felt that the opponent was more casual in his use of troops, but the results were often unexpected.
Cao Xiu himself has just passed his forties, which is obviously the period of "career rise", but he feels that his mind is not as flexible as Guan Yu's. The red-faced thief has already passed his sixties. It cannot be said that he has become old and stupid, at least he cannot get stronger endlessly, right? Who can understand this kind of pain?
Cao Xiu's strong command and proper command prevented the main force of the Wei army from being defeated, but the casualties were still the Wei army in Nanyang, and nearly half of Cao Zhang's 20,000 vanguard was lost.
Because he had to deal with the chaos caused by the defeated army, Cao Xiu watched the Jingzhou soldiers retreat calmly. The 10,000 casualties recorded by the Wei army today became the highest casualty in a single day during the entire Nanyang War.
Cao Xiu purified the entire army and continued to advance. At night, he camped fifteen miles south of Bowang City. The whole camp was shrouded in the haze of Cao Zhang's death.
Zhang He's rear army escorted the entire army's supplies and also met up with Cao Xiu around dusk. When he heard that Cao Zhang died at the hands of Lan Ji, he felt like he was right.
"Jun Yi, the king of Ren City was beheaded in front of the formation. The morale of the whole army is low. What countermeasures do you have?" Cao Xiu looked at his generals and thought that only Zhang He had the best vision.
Zhang He sighed: "When fighting between the two armies, we must use our strengths and avoid weaknesses. Since Guan Yu's side has a strong general but few troops, Da Sima wants to urge the generals not to be too strong. We still choose to win with numbers. Now our army does not have much food and grass left. The most important thing is to find a way." Send battle reports to the Central Plains"
"I have sent out twenty teams of scouts in batches and ordered them to disperse around Bowang City at night. After all, it is early spring. The stars in the sky are chattering at night and the surrounding areas are almost invisible. Guan Yu cannot stop them all." Cao Xiu was confident. After he finished speaking, his face was filled with sadness again, "King Rencheng was extraordinary in bravery, but he died in the hands of a junior like this. When I think about it, I really feel that it is a pity. Lan Ji is really not a simple man."
Zhang He shook his head and smiled bitterly: "As the saying goes, among the strong there is also a strong opponent. Lan Ji can fight with Wenyuan against San Lily, which shows that his strength, skills and endurance are all outstanding. Although King Ren Cheng is very brave, he has no experience in fighting against fierce generals. Listen, It is said that Lan Ji is the son-in-law of Guan Yu, and I am afraid that he is often given guidance and advice. I am afraid that his bravery is unparalleled among the younger generation."
"Jun Yi's analysis is reasonable. King Ren Cheng was killed in an impulsive fight. Although his skills were not as good as others, he was still the same as himself." Cao Xiu stopped abruptly, and then changed the subject: "Hey, why do I always bring up unpleasant things? , let’s talk about tomorrow’s battle, how does Jun Yi think this battle will be fought?”
Although Cao Xiu didn't finish his words, Zhang He was also an exquisite person. He knew the reason after thinking about it for a moment. If Cao Zhang was not Cao Cao's biological son, he might not have impulsively gone to war today, because the stronger he was, the easier it was for Cao Pi to fear him. He was depressed. Mood will affect combat. Perhaps Cao Zhang was distracted at the time.
We've already fought thirty rounds, why can't we just get injured and escape? Zhang Hexin said that I have rich experience in this. Unless the force is absolutely suppressed, there will be no problem in escaping during the battle.
"There are few people in Bowang City. The general thinks that Guan Yu's tens of thousands of Jingzhou soldiers cannot all hide in the city for defense. We can draw out the garrison outside the city, slowly cut off the threats outside Bowang, and then directly surround the city and trap it." ." Zhang He cupped his fists and offered his advice.
"I'm afraid Guan Yu won't be so cooperative, and our military strength is only very weak compared to Guan Yu. Once we encounter another disastrous defeat like today, the consequences will be disastrous." Cao Xiu couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly. Last year, there were no more than hundreds of thousands of troops. Taking advantage, now I only have an advantage of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.
"Well, let's use our troops more safely." Zhang He didn't have a good idea.
Last year, Guan Yu had a strength difference of hundreds of thousands, and he was still able to fight widely. Now there is only a slight gap between the two sides. It is said that they can fight more proactively, but Guan Yu has more than Cao Xiu in mind. Fighting too fiercely will easily increase the losses of Jingzhou soldiers. The direct attack on Xudu Luoyang caused a lag, so Guan Yu was more cautious this year, but soon Wei State took practical actions to urge Guan Yu to become active.
(End of chapter)
