On the official road from Chenggao to Xingyang, horse hooves brought up dust all over the sky, and flags flew everywhere.
Niu Fu rode a good horse from Liangzhou and stood under the banner of the Chinese army. Facing the dazzling spring sunshine, he could not help but squint his eyes slightly.
His 30,000-strong army is not so much a vanguard as it is a front-line army for this expedition. However, the vanguard who actually went forward to detect the enemy's situation and clear the obstacles was actually his subordinate Guo Si.
Before setting off, Niu Fu summoned the generals to select vanguard candidates. Guo Si, who was the bravest of all the troops, immediately stood up. Li Meng and Zhang Ji, who were at the same level as him, had no intention of competing. Niu Fu ordered Guo Si to lead 5,000 troops and horses as the vanguard.
When they arrived outside Chenggao Pass, Guo Si sent someone to report back, saying that Xingyang was thirty miles ahead, but no enemy movements were found.
After Niu Fu received the news, he believed that Liu Bei did not dare to go out of the city to fight with him in the field, and only planned to defend the city. He immediately ordered the army to camp on the spot, rest and prepare to enter Guoting tomorrow, and use this as a basis to attack Xingyang.
At the same time, Niu Fu did not forget to order Guo Bang to send a small group of cavalry to inquire about the situation in Guoting.
He is worthy of being a veteran general in the army. Although Niu Fu does not have extraordinary generals, he is better at being steady and steady. In addition, he has elite troops at his disposal, so he is not difficult to deal with.
Guo Si obeyed the order and immediately stopped marching. After all, the army came all the way from Luoyang and was very tired. They had to recuperate before the war, so they only sent 500 cavalry to Guoting.
To use an inappropriate metaphor, war is like fighting against landlords. In the beginning, it was all a period of testing each other, and it was not easy to get into trouble right away.
Niu Fu is taking action here, and Liu Bei in Xingyang City is not idle either.
Although Zhang Liao, a clever little boy, took the lead in asking for battle, Liu Bei still chose Zhang Fei to lead three thousand troops as the vanguard.
First, Zhang Fei always complained in front of him morning and night, saying that he had no chance to take action. Liu Bei was a little upset, so he gave him this important task. Anyway, he personally leads the army behind, so he is not afraid of any trouble.
Well, since the last time Zhang Fei confided his feelings in front of Zhang Heng, Zhang Heng found an opportunity to persuade Liu Bei and asked him to give Zhang Fei more opportunities to lead troops in the future.
Even if you are a natural talent, you must have opportunities to grow.
If you are always afraid that he will make mistakes and never let him practice, then he will never develop.
Especially for a general like Zhang Fei who is not good at strategy, you have to cultivate his spirit step by step, accumulate his experience, and sharpen his morale. If this continues, one day he will have a great enlightenment and soar to the sky!
Obviously, Liu Bei listened to these words.
After Zhang Fei led his army out of the city that afternoon, Liu Bei followed closely behind and led all the soldiers and horses in Xingyang City towards Guoting.
As for the one who stayed behind in Xingyang, it was Xiahou Dun under Cao Cao. Although this person is not good at fighting, he is better at being a stable person. Liu Bei allocated a thousand men and horses to him and asked him to stay in Xingyang and be responsible for the food and grass supplies of the army.
Since the previous strategy had been to shrink the defense and stick to Xingyang, Liu Bei did not send troops to garrison Guoting. Therefore, Zhang Fei's first goal this time is to be the first to occupy Guoting, which is now a strategic location.
In the evening, Zhang Fei and his army had just arrived outside Guoting City, but they happened to encounter 500 cavalry sent by Guo Si.
When they met on the battlefield, there was naturally nothing to say. Zhang Fei simply refused to declare a fight and directly led a thousand cavalry to attack this small group of enemy troops.
When they saw Zhang Fei's troops, the first reaction of Guo Si's five hundred scouts was not to run away, but to set up their positions and prepare for a charge to test Zhang Fei's quality. After all, this was also their mission. content.
This scene almost made Zhang Fei laugh in anger, and at the same time he was sighing in his heart at the elite Xiliang army, which could remain calm in the face of an enemy army several times larger than his own, and could even quickly organize a counterattack.
"Follow me and kill all this bandit army!"
With a loud shout, Zhang Fei rushed out of the crowd with a spear and rushed to the front of the team.
It is still the same old style of leading by example, but in small-scale battles, it has been tried and true.
The general is a soldier's courage. Seeing the general charging forward was a huge shock and encouragement to the soldiers. The morale of Zhang Fei's troops was greatly boosted, and they all rushed forward with roars.
There is no suspense in the ensuing battle. Although the Xiliang army is brave, it cannot be defeated by a small number, and it is still in a head-on situation.
After fighting for nearly half an hour, Zhang Fei found an opportunity, broke into the enemy's formation, and stabbed the enemy's military commander to death with a spear, completely setting the tone for victory.
The general was beheaded by the formation, and the five hundred cavalry began to retreat. As Zhang Fei chased him northward, only about a hundred people escaped in the end.
By the time Liu Bei's army arrived, Zhang Fei had already cleared the battlefield. Holding the military commander's head in his hand, he proudly told Liu Bei the story of the entire battle.
"Well done Yide!"
Liu Bei smiled and praised Zhang Fei, then turned to Cao Cao beside him and said: "Brother Mengde, the enemy army sent so few people here must be to spy on the surrounding situation. This shows that our bet is right, the enemy army really intends to enter the garrison Guoting."
"Yes, what Brother Xuande said is true." Cao Cao nodded, "But with this defeat, the enemy will probably launch a large-scale attack tomorrow, and we must be prepared."
"It's natural."
Under the banner of the Chinese army, Liu Bei waved his sleeves and ordered: "The entire army obeys the order and is stationed in Guoting. Tomorrow we will have a showdown with the bandit army!"
"As you command!"
Everyone bowed their hands in response.
An army of 17,000 people entered the small town of Guoting in a mighty manner.
…
Ten miles outside Guo Pavilion, there is Guo Si's camp.
Looking at Tan Qi who returned from defeat, Guo Bang's eyes were filled with anger and a hint of physical pain.
My own troops and horses have all been saved through hard work over the years. Now I have lost nearly 400 people before I even fight. Who can bear this?
"How many troops are there in Guoting's enemy?"
"Return to the general, the enemy army is no less than 3,000!" the leading soldier said, cupping his fists.
Hearing this, Guo Si sneered disdainfully.
"Five hundred versus three thousand, you won't be unjustly defeated."
The soldier shook his head, "No, the enemy general only brought more than a thousand people to fight with our army."
"A thousand people will beat you like this!" Guo Bang frowned, with a hint of coldness in his voice.
Those who can be selected as exploration cavalry must be the best among the best, not to mention that Guo Si's troops are the best among the entire Xiliang army.
Seeing that Guo Bang was angry, the leading soldier's face was full of fear. He knelt down and clasped his fists quickly and said: "General Rongzhen, I still have the strength to fight, but the enemy general is too powerful. He rushed directly into the formation and killed the general." , the villain lost his command and was defeated."
Hearing this, the anger on Guo Bang's face disappeared, replaced by excitement and bloodlust.
"Oh, are there such tiger generals among the Guandong bandits?"
As the most brave general of the Xiliang Army, Guo Si felt a little bit happy when he heard that Zhang Fei was so brave.
This man is so brave, I don’t know how many rounds he can survive under my sword.
I must meet this person before the formation tomorrow!
