The moon crescents over Jiuzhou, making some families happy and others sad.
Just when Liu Bei won a great victory and Juan County was rejoicing, the banks of the Bianshui River not far away were littered with corpses, making it miserable.
Cao Cao sat helplessly on the ground, looking at the waning moon in the sky, feeling extremely heavy.
The night wind in early spring was biting and cold, blowing against him like a sharp knife, but Cao Cao seemed to have lost consciousness, his expression was numb and stiff, and he allowed the cold wind to hit without being moved.
Behind him were the few remaining defeated soldiers, all of whom were injured, and some were even dying, with despair in their eyes.
I recall how high-spirited I was when the jujube rose the day before yesterday. I vowed to ask King Qin to save me, and even scolded the princes of Guandong for not being the son of a human being.
But just two days later, he ended up in such a miserable end.
Today's battle was a disastrous defeat!
The 2,000 troops and horses he had only recruited after spending all his wealth, and the 3,000 troops and horses donated by Bao Xin, were all destroyed in one battle. Only a few hundred people escaped.
If it was just a few soldiers and horses, that would be it. Even Wei Zi, who had ruined his family and financed his own army, died under the enemy's gun for saving himself. There was also Bao Xin's younger brother Bao Tao, who was eventually pierced by thousands of arrows because he failed to break out of the encirclement in time.
It's a pity that before they died, the two of them tried their best to escort me out of the encirclement, but I...
Thinking of this, Cao Cao's face finally showed an expression, and the wound on his shoulder began to hurt.
If his brother Cao Hong hadn't sacrificed his life to let the horse rescue him, he might not have survived.
Although he has escaped now, how will he explain to Yuncheng when he returns?
And Wei Zi’s wife, children, and children, how could he talk about this matter to them?
Cao Cao closed his eyes in pain, trying not to let the tears fall from his eyes.
At this time, Cao Ren, who had gathered the defeated soldiers, came over from behind. Seeing that Cao Cao was still sitting on the ground, he hurriedly took off his war robe and put it on Cao Cao.
"Brother, you have not recovered from your serious injury. You must not catch the cold again."
Facing his brother's concern, Cao Cao showed a smile that was uglier than crying.
"To this day, why do I still need this skin?"
Cao Ren quickly comforted him and said: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. If you lose today, just win back tomorrow. Brother, please don't give up on yourself."
"Win it back?"
Cao Cao looked at the few soldiers left around him, and there was a hint of desolation in his voice.
"If you lose completely, what can you do to win back?"
Cao Ren said sternly: "We are gone, just recruit again. As long as my brother doesn't give up, there is still hope for everything!"
"Yeah……"
Cao Cao said without comment, but his mind suddenly recalled the scene in Jujube City where Bao Xin advised him not to go deep alone.
After a while, he came back to his senses and whispered to himself: "Am I really wrong?"
Seeing that Cao Cao was in a daze, Cao Ren was worried that he would sink, and he quickly persuaded loudly: "Brother, of course you are right! The Dong thief went against the grain, and my brother led the army to attack him. It can be said that he obeyed the will of heaven and the will of the people. The reason for today's defeat is just that he is outnumbered. As long as he is outnumbered. If we don’t give up, we will eventually be able to kill Thief Dong and help the country!”
"Kill the thief Dong and help the country..."
Cao Cao kept repeating these two sentences, his voice changed from low to clear, and his originally dull eyes gradually became bright.
That's right, I want to kill the traitor Dong and help the people of the country. If I can't get up because of this small setback, wouldn't I make the world laugh?
"Zixiao, you are right!"
After all, Cao Cao was worthy of being Cao Cao. The time of Net Yiyun only lasted less than a moment before he woke up again, a firm look flashed in his eyes.
"The fault is not mine, but Thief Dong, those Guandong princes!
I led my troops to attack the rebels, what was wrong with me? If those Guandong princes were willing to work together, they would have entered Luoyang long ago. How could they be defeated today?
A bunch of mediocre people, lacking in resources and plans! "
Cao Cao suddenly stood up and ordered loudly: "Send the order to the whole army, raise torches to keep warm, and set up camp on the spot. Zixiao, go check on the injured soldiers and do your best to treat them. If there are any who are seriously injured and incurable, they must be buried alive. All of them must be buried alive." The army rests overnight and will set off back to Jujube early tomorrow morning!"
Cao Cao, who regained his fighting spirit, immediately issued a series of orders.
He understood that the most important thing when facing a huge defeat was to stabilize people's hearts. If even he could not recover, then the remaining few hundred soldiers would probably be dispersed.
"As you command!"
Seeing Cao Cao's renewed fighting spirit, Cao Ren responded with joy and clasped his fists.
But after Cao Ren left, Cao Cao sat on the ground again. But this time it was not because of sadness, but because he began to review the course of today's battle.
It is a coincidence that after Cao Cao led his army to leave Suanzao, he couldn't wait to march to Xingyang. Although they encountered some small groups of Dong Zhuo's army who robbed the people along the way, they were all taken care of by Cao Cao.
Until this afternoon, Cao Cao had just led his army across the Bianshui River, with Xingyang City in sight, when he suddenly encountered Xu Rong's army.
That’s right, it’s Xu Rong!
After Yang Ding led his army to attack Juan County, Xu Rong began to order the soldiers to get ready. But he was steady by nature and had no revenge for killing his brother, so he would not be as hasty as Yang Ding. It took a full two hours for the soldiers to finish cleaning up.
This was actually pretty fast, but Yang Ding had already set off for two hours, so Xu Rong had no choice but to speed up and catch up.
But who would have expected that Yang Ding did not catch up, but encountered Cao Cao's army. It must be said that it was a coincidence.
Xu Rong, who was heavily armed, naturally launched an attack immediately when faced with Cao Cao, who had just crossed the river and was in a scattered formation.
In addition, the soldiers and horses in Xu Rong's hands were the most elite Luoyang Northern Army, while Cao Cao's soldiers and horses were all newly recruited soldiers, so the outcome was self-evident.
After a fierce battle, Cao Cao's army suffered heavy casualties. Bao Tao and Wei Zi both died in the battle formation. Even Cao Cao himself was shot in the shoulder by a stray arrow and fell off his horse.
At the critical moment, it was Cao Hong who gave up his horse, giving Cao Cao a chance to escape.
However, the losses in this battle were heavy, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the entire army was wiped out.
Cao Cao carefully recalled the course of today's defeat in his mind, and finally came to the conclusion that he was too hasty!
It doesn't mean that he shouldn't go deep into the battle alone, but he should fight steadily instead of thinking about entering Luoyang quickly. If you can calm down and plan for it slowly, even if you can't win a big victory, you won't be defeated miserably.
The lesson learned this time is truly profound.
From this, Cao Cao also understood two realities: First, with the Xiliang Army and the Luoyang Forbidden Army in hand, Dong Zhuo indeed had the ability to dominate the world. I'm afraid it won't be that easy to challenge the director this time, and there is a high probability that he will lose.
Second, the princes of Guandong are indeed a bunch of losers. If they want to realize their ambitions, they can only rely on themselves and only themselves.
The only way to achieve your long-cherished wish is to become strong enough little by little.
I, Cao Mengde, will never be inferior to others again!
Looking at the brilliant starry sky above his head, Cao Cao secretly swore in his heart.
The defeat in Bianshui completely woke up Cao Cao and allowed him to complete some aspects of transformation.
When he stood up again, the pure and loyal aura in Cao Cao's body had completely dissipated, and was replaced by a deep and restrained heroic spirit!
Just as Zhang Heng predicted before, the fire of idealism will be shattered sooner or later, and the erosion of reality will eventually destroy people bit by bit into what they once hated most.
Not long after, Cao Ren had led people to light up a bonfire and set up a tent, and he hurried over.
"Brother, you are injured, please put it into the account first to keep warm."
Cao Cao nodded and was about to enter the tent when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves not far away.
"No!" Cao Ren's expression suddenly changed. "The enemy is chasing us. Brother, please get on your horse and leave first. I will lead the army to break up the rear!"
But Cao Cao shook his head firmly, "We only have a few hundred men left, and they are all wounded, so how can we escape? If we run away rashly, we will inevitably die. Send my order to the whole army to stand on guard. Let's take a look first. It depends on the number of enemy troops."
The sound of horse hooves just now was not loud. Even Xu Rong's army may have found this place by accident as a small scattered unit. He may not be incapable of fighting.
But if Xu Rong's large army comes after him, he will not be able to escape no matter what he does.
Therefore, no matter what the situation, Cao Cao does not have to escape.
Cao Cao didn't run away, but that didn't mean others wouldn't run away.
The first reaction of some soldiers when they heard the sound of horse hooves was to turn around and run away. They didn't even bother to bring their weapons. They just regretted that their parents had lost two legs.
The generals of the Cao family and Xiahou family who were busy setting up camp and making fires rushed over immediately and advised Cao Cao to leave first.
Looking at these brothers who followed him, Cao Cao showed a smile on his face.
When disaster strikes, only his brothers will not abandon him.
No matter whether you live or die today, it all depends on God’s will!
"The whole army obeys the order and prepares for battle!"
Cao Cao shouted loudly, and all the big men from the Cao and Xiahou clans clasped their fists and responded: "Yes!"
At this moment, everyone was already determined to die.
But at this moment, the sound of horse hooves in the distance gradually weakened.
Not long after, the sound of horse hooves sounded again, but judging from the sound, it was getting farther and farther away from him.
"this……"
Cao Hong on the side was puzzled.
The enemy had clearly seen the bonfire, so why didn't they attack but instead quickly evacuated?
"Zixiao, hurry up and lead the army to catch up with this enemy army. Don't let them go back to report the news, otherwise our whereabouts will be exposed, which will inevitably lead to the pursuit of large enemy troops!"
Cao Cao immediately shouted that he thought there was Xu Rong's small group of troops ahead and found him and was going back to report the news.
"good!"
Cao Ren immediately got on his horse and led the soldiers who were still able to move in pursuit.
But this time, Cao Cao guessed wrong.
Because these people are not Xu Rong's small reconnaissance team, but Yang Ding who was defeated miserably by Liu Bei and fled in panic!
