Three days later, after Cao Cao left Cao Ren to lead 50,000 troops to guard Nanjun, he personally led a total of 160,000 land and sea troops to march eastward, preparing to go down the river and eliminate Lu Xun, the commander of the Western Route Army appointed by Sun Quan, in one fell swoop.
Among them, Cao Cao personally led 150,000 infantry troops, which was also the main force heading south this time along the land route.
Nanjun's land route was covered with mountains and rivers, making it extremely difficult to travel, which made the 150,000-strong army miserable.
This move was not what Cao Cao wanted, but was recommended by Guo Jia in order to familiarize himself with the roads of Nanjun.
Huang Zu led the original Jiangxia naval army of 10,000 people and took the lead in sailing down the river in a warship.
Not only can they occupy the favorable terrain first, but they can also inquire about the movements of Lu Xun stationed in Xiakou at any time.
Cao Cao led his infantry to walk in the mud, covering only a few dozen miles a day.
On the other hand, Huang Zu relied on his warships and the convenience of water flow, so it was not an exaggeration to travel hundreds of miles a day!
However, Lu Xun did not give Huang Zu the chance to travel hundreds of miles a day.
After learning that Cao Cao personally led the army to the east, the 50,000 Jiangdong navy immediately set off from Xiakou and sailed upstream!
The Jiangxia navy led by Huang Zu and the Jiangdong navy led by Lu Xun unexpectedly met in the waters of Wulin and Chibi!
It was originally thought that there was a huge gap in the strength of the two sides, and Huang Zu's side, which was in a weak position, would inevitably take advantage of dangers to avoid the battle.
Unexpectedly, Huang Zu did the opposite. Instead of retreating, he took the initiative to attack!
Huang Zu relied on the elite Jiangxia navy and bullied Lu Xun because he was young and the navy under his command was not elite. He then took advantage of the huge speed advantage of going down the river and upstream in an attempt to defeat Lu Xun in one battle.
Even if 10,000 people faced 50,000 people, the Jiangxia Navy still showed no signs of cowardice and instead faced them without hesitation.
This collision caused at least hundreds of Jiangdong people to fall into the Yangtze River, and even directly stunned the Jiangdong navy.
Who would have thought that our own side, which has a five-fold strength advantage, would be attacked by the enemy so unscrupulously?
For a time, the front army of the Jiangdong Navy was in chaos and was massacred by the Jiangxia Navy led by Huang Zu.
Lu Xun's handsome ship was not at the forefront. After learning about Huang Zu's suicide attack, he was shocked for a long time.
Fortunately, he reacted extremely quickly and didn't panic because of the momentary failure.
On the one hand, Lu Xun arranged for the Chinese army to come forward to respond, and on the other hand, he arranged for the warships on both wings to continue upstream, preparing to completely surround the Jiangxia navy.
The Jiangdong Navy not only has five times the number of soldiers of the Jiangxia Navy, but also has more than three times the number of warships!
Under Lu Xun's calm response, the disadvantage was quickly contained.
With the continuous support from Lu Xun, the two sides immediately formed a deadlock, and the unilateral massacre turned into fighting each other.
In this case, Huang Zujun's disadvantage was infinitely magnified.
Lu Xun's army swarmed in endlessly, and they couldn't kill them all.
But Huang Zujun only had 10,000 people in total, and one of them died one less!
Soon, the Jiangdong navy warships on both wings continued to move upstream.
These Jiangdong warships did not care at all, did not attack from both sides, and went straight to the rear of the Jiangxia navy.
Not long after, a huge pocket formed on the Yangtze River.
The pressure Huang Zu felt skyrocketed, and once he was surrounded, there was a danger of the entire army being annihilated.
In desperation, Huang Zu could only withdraw his troops quickly.
How pleasurable it is to go down the river when attacking, and how painful it is to go upstream when retreating!
Lu Xun used facts to teach Huang Zu a lesson, telling him what it means to come easily but to leave hard!
The Jiangxia Navy did not retreat, and the Jiangdong Navy warships on both wings ignored them.
However, with this retreat, the Jiangdong Navy warships instantly gave up the encirclement and switched to a flanking attack from both sides.
Encircled on three sides, the formation of Jiangxia navy was in chaos.
It didn't take long for the retreat to turn into a rout, and finally into a rout!
Huang Zu himself also narrowly escaped death, and finally escaped through luck.
At the last count, more than 4,000 soldiers were lost, and nearly half of the warships were lost!
The Jiangdong navy only lost less than 2,000 men, and more than half of them were the result of Huang Zu's surprise attack at the beginning.
As the commander-in-chief, Lu Xun did not panic when the army was in chaos. He prioritized stabilizing the situation, then slowly recovered the disadvantage, and finally won a great victory!
Huang Zu paid a heavy price for his arrogance.
Not to mention the loss of nearly half of the army, for fear of being caught up by Lu Xun, he led the remaining troops to flee endlessly.
Until they met the infantry led by Cao Cao!
"General Huang, what are you doing?"
On the bank of the Yangtze River, Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at the Jiangxia navy who had left and returned, as if they had lost their souls. They were full of doubts.
Before the army set off, Cao Cao was worried about an accident and repeated the order countless times.
There is no need to attack, the key is to occupy favorable terrain.
Now looking at Huang Zu's messy clothes and armor, disheveled hair and blood stains all over his body, he knew that it must be the result of defeat.
"King Wei, I will lead my army eastward and prepare to enter Chibi to occupy the favorable terrain first."
"Unexpectedly, Lu Xun had already ambushed us. As soon as our army entered Chibi, we were surrounded by Jiangdong naval forces!"
"The last general fought desperately and then led his army to break out of the encirclement..."
Naturally, Huang Zu couldn't say that he took the initiative. Otherwise, who would be able to bear the blame if Cao Cao was blamed?
As for the soldiers under his command, they have followed Huang Zu for many years and will never leak any information.
Cao Cao frowned, naturally angry at Huang Zu who had returned from the defeat.
However, it is true that Huang Zu's troops were insufficient, and it was Cao Cao's order to go down the river to occupy favorable terrain.
Now that Lu Xun ambushed him, how could he blame everything on Huang Zu?
"General Huang, lead your army to advance slowly on the shore and march eastward with Gu's army!"
"I can't believe it. Seeing an army of 150,000 people, Lu Xun's son still dares to be so arrogant!"
Huang Zu repeatedly handed over his hand and stepped back with many thanks.
Being able to avoid punishment is the greatest gift to Huang Zu.
"Fengxiao, what do you think?"
Cao Cao looked at Huang Zu's back with deep eyes and asked.
Guo Jia took advantage of the opportunity to understand what Cao Cao meant and immediately sneered.
"Haha, it's probably because Huang Zu controlled the elite navy under his command and bullied Lu Xun when he was young. That's why he suffered this disaster!"
"He didn't even think about it. Lu Xun was able to force Zhuge Liang to advance or retreat. How could he be a reckless man?"
"When the enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered, being cautious cannot save our lives. How can he be invincible if he is a reckless man..."
After saying this, Guo Jia sighed and shook his head, his heart full of regret.
If he had known that Lu Xun would react so quickly, Guo Jia would not have let Zu Huang do it.
"Forget it, we only lost a few thousand people, there's nothing wrong with letting Lu Xun be proud for a while!"
"Lu Xun is just a young boy after all. His repeated defeats of big-eared thieves and orphans must have made him arrogant!"
"The Art of War says that arrogant soldiers will be defeated! I must seize the opportunity and eliminate this arrogant kid in one fell swoop!"
Cao Cao had an excellent mentality. He persuaded himself from the other side and turned bad things into good things!
But Guo Jia's eyes twitched when he heard it, and he couldn't help but sigh in embarrassment.
King Wei doesn't look very good, but he thinks he is quite beautiful!
