Huang Zhong, Xu Chu and Zhang Liao continued the attack with their cavalry.
The offensive is still fierce.
There was no retreat or retreat at all just because Liu Bei came with troops to help.
Although Liu Bei's army is not bad, with a large number of people, and there are peerless tiger generals like Zhang Fei, Cao Cao's troops have suffered too many losses, and men like Dian Wei and Ma Chao have been fighting for too long.
Everyone's offensive is limited. Even if Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong and others are small in number, they cannot annihilate them all at once.
The fighting didn't last long, and more and more infantry followed.
The strength of Lu Xuan's side continues to increase.
Cao Cao saw this scene and decisively informed Liu Bei to retreat. Although Liu Bei's strength is not weak, once Lu Xuan's army comes, they will still suffer.
Cao Cao and Liu Bei retreated. Zhang Liao, Xu Chu and Huang Zhong pursued them for a while. Unable to cover up the massacre any more, they ordered a retreat.
The army withdrew, and within half a quarter of an hour, they encountered Lu Xuan.
Huang Zhong reported: "Lord, we pursued Cao Cao. Under the shouts of General Xu Chu, we forced Cao Cao to cut off his beard and abandon his armor, and were about to capture Cao Cao alive. Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, Liu Bei's army suddenly came and rescued Cao Cao. Finally, Cao Cao was rescued. The success is a failure.”
"Liu Bei is here?"
Lu Xuan looked surprised.
After Liu Paopao left Xuzhou, he disappeared without a trace. Unexpectedly, he suddenly intervened in the situation in Nanyang County.
It’s really surprising.
Lu Xuan was slightly disappointed that he did not catch Cao Cao, but he quickly adjusted his mentality and said with a smile: "In this battle, we captured Cai Mao, destroyed the Jingzhou soldiers, and Zhang Xiu surrendered. The overall situation is settled."
"It doesn't matter if Liu Bei gets mixed up with the crippled Cao Cao. It won't affect the overall situation. We don't know Liu Bei's situation, so we sent people to find out the news first. The army will withdraw directly and return to the camp first."
"Here!"
Huang Zhong quickly made arrangements.
Lu Xuan led the army to retreat and returned to the camp. The fighting between Zhou Yu and the Jingzhou soldiers under Cai Mao in the camp also came to an end. Zhou Yu and Zhang Xiu's troops killed the only remaining Jingzhou soldiers who stubbornly resisted, and surrendered the vast majority of the Jingzhou soldiers.
Lu Xuan arranged the defense of the camp and Wancheng to avoid being attacked, and left everything to the people below to arrange it.
An hour and a half later, night fell.
Zhou Yu returned to the main tent of the Chinese army and reported: "My lord, I have arranged for people to prepare the evening meal. All the generals are further counting their respective specific losses, and are also registering their battle achievements and losses. The general situation, It’s been tallied up.”
Lu Xuan said in a deep voice: "What are our casualties?"
Zhou Yu said: "After this battle, our casualties were as many as 6,439. The main casualties were the losses of the humble minister and the lord."
Lu Xuan's face also looked a little solemn.
Six thousand four hundred and thirty-nine casualties, this is a considerable loss, not a small number.
Lu Xuan said in a deep voice: "What was the result of the battle?"
Zhou Yu replied: "The current number of captured people is more than 16,500. The most important casualties are the Jingzhou soldiers. Judging from the opponent's clothes and armor, a rough estimate of the number of Jingzhou soldiers killed in the battle is There were more than 1,300 people, and Cao Cao's men died in battle more than 5,200 people."
Lu Xuan said: "Cao Cao suffered huge casualties, mainly due to the subsequent cover-up and the loss of many soldiers."
Zhou Yu nodded and said: "There are currently more than 18,600 Jingzhou soldiers captured, and there are still nearly 10,000 Jingzhou soldiers who have fled."
At this point, Zhou Yu looked serious and apologized: "Beizhi did not expect Liu Bei to suddenly appear. It was because Beizhi did not think carefully. As a result, Cao Cao, who was supposed to be captured, escaped directly. Please forgive me, my lord."
Lu Xuan laughed and said: "No one knows anything about Liu Bei, and there are no signs. I can't blame you. If I want to blame you, don't I have a problem too, so there is no need to blame myself. You have worked hard all day, so go down first Rest and recuperate. Tomorrow morning, we will discuss the next strategy. During this period, we can also inquire about Liu Bei's situation."
"Here!"
Zhou Yu answered with cupped fists.
Having said that, Zhou Yu could not rest immediately. He also had to arrange the deployment of the camp to further appease the soldiers.
The same was true for Lu Xuan. He didn't take any rest. He met with Zhang Xiu first and gave Zhang Xiu high praise and praise for his contribution to capturing Cai Mao and Wenpin alive. After some encouragement, Zhang Xiu was asked to count the battle losses and military exploits at this station for subsequent rewards and compensation.
Lu Xuan's heartfelt words made Zhang Xiu completely relieved.
Lu Xuan arranged Zhang Xiu's affairs, and also got up and left the Chinese army tent to comfort the injured soldiers.
At Lu Xuan's camp, while they were further adjusting their status and inquiring about news, Liu Bei and Cao Cao's armies also stopped to rest.
It was already night, and the army was resting in the open area.
The bonfire burned, dispelling the darkness.
Cao Cao was sitting by the bonfire, his face looking a little gloomy. But there was always a smile on his dark face. He looked at Liu Bei and said with a smile: "Thanks to Xuande this time. If you hadn't arrived in time, I would have become Lu Xuan's prisoner."
Thinking about the past, Liu Bei was expelled from Xuzhou by Lu Xuan and fled in embarrassment. There has been no news, but he did not expect to suddenly appear here.
At this moment, Cao Cao was very happy.
He almost became Lu Xuan's prisoner and was completely captured by Lu Xuan.
Liu Bei looked humble and replied: "Cao Sikong is too polite. Even without Liu Bei, Cao Sikong would have been able to escape the disaster."
Cao Cao shook his head and asked directly: "Where did Xuande come from?"
Liu Bei said: "Come from Jizhou."
Cao Cao raised his eyebrows, showing a hint of surprise, and asked, "Did Yuan Benchu ask Xuande to come?"
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "No, Yuan Shao had no intention of setting up a plan in Nanyang, nor did he intend to interfere with the situation in Yuzhou. I took the initiative to ask Yuan Shao to fight. In the end, Yuan Shao gave me a batch of grain and grass and asked me to bring the army to Nanyang County to participate in the war."
"When I left Xuzhou and had nowhere to go, I planned to go to Youzhou to join my senior brother Gongsun Zan. However, when I passed through Jizhou, my whereabouts were leaked. When Yuan Shao learned about me, he actually greeted me in person. He invited me over warmly and gave me food and grass. , let me continue training."
"Gradually, I recruited another 10,000 elite soldiers."
"In the war in Runan County, I advised Yuan Shao not to let Lu Xuan capture Yuzhou. But Yuan Shao said that he would not interfere in the war in the south and that Cao Sikong would take care of it. Unexpectedly, no one would care about it, so Lu Xuan captured Runan County. .”
"Lu Xuan sent troops to Nanyang County, and Yuan Shao reacted somewhat and asked for discussion. So, I took the initiative to request to come to Nanyang County to participate in the war, and Yuan Shao gave me food and grass and asked me to lead the troops out of Yecheng."
"I rushed all the way, but I didn't expect that when I arrived, the situation would have developed like this."
At this time, Liu Bei had a look of regret on his face and said, "It would have been different if I had arrived earlier."
Cao Cao's thoughts changed rapidly and he was thinking in his mind.
Liu Bei has more than 10,000 troops.
His main force has suffered a lot of losses, but the escaped soldiers will gradually come back. In addition, Cao Cao can also recruit further troops and continue fighting. After all, Huang Zhong is here, which means that Yanzhou's threat is weakened, and he doesn't need to worry.
The key is that Lu Xuan cannot be allowed to capture Nanyang County, otherwise the situation will be quite bad.
Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei in front of him, but he thought of more.
Liu Bei and Lu Xuan had a bloody feud.
Liu Bei's Xuzhou was captured by Lu Xuan.
Liu Bei's second brother Guan Yu was kidnapped by Lu Xuan.
This is naturally the perfect candidate to deal with Lu Xuan. As long as Liu Bei is here, he will fight to the death with Lu Xuan.
After Cao Cao thought about it clearly, he said, "Xuande has come to Nanyang County now, will he return to Yecheng?"
Liu Bei said: "I won't go back for the time being."
Cao Cao had a smile on his face and said: "Xuande has traveled thousands of miles, and his righteousness is as thick as the sky. Cao Cao is grateful. I have an immature idea here."
Liu Bei asked: "What do you think?"
Cao Cao said directly: "I go to the court to worship Xuande as General Zuo and Muzhou Mu, and let Xuande guard Yuzhou. What do you think?"
Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.
Although General Zuo is not as good as Lu Xuan's hussar general, let alone Cao Cao's general who won over Yuan Shao, for Liu Bei, he is already quite good.
The key is that Cao Cao made him the shepherd of Yuzhou.
Although this is a wish made from afar, at least it has a name. Didn't Liu Bei come all the way to Nanyang County just to stop Lu Xuan and gain a foothold for himself?
Liu Bei had a serious look on his face and said directly: "Cao Sikong relies heavily on me, so Liu Bei should go all out."
Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Xuande, our top priority is to further defeat Lu Xuan. But now that Cai Mao has been captured and the Jingzhou soldiers have been defeated, what strategy do you have to defeat Lu Xuan?"
Liu Bei said: "I am not good at planning. I can only leave this aspect to Cao Sikong. I will go all out to attack Lu Xuan."
Cao Cao had more smiles in his eyes.
Liu Bei said that leaving the planning to him is equivalent to giving him the initiative, so there won't be too much conflict.
Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia aside and said in a deep voice: "Feng Xiao, we lost the first battle, what do you think we should do?"
Guo Jia replied: "My lord, the Jingzhou army has been defeated. From now on, we can only rely on ourselves. What we can do now is to contain and ensure that Lu Xuan will not go further south to attack Liu Biao, delaying Lu Xuan and allowing Liu Biao to react further." time."
"As for breaking through Lu Xuan, we don't have such strength for the time being. Let's take a moment to regain some strength before considering the next step. We will wait and see what happens and respond according to Lu Xuan's actions."
Cao Cao said; "Then it's settled."
He looked at Liu Bei and said: "Xuande, get some rest early. We will continue to retreat tomorrow morning, push to Pheasant County in the rear, and use the city to defend. In short, when we garrison down, Lu Xuan will be the passive one. Let's see how he arranges it?" "
Liu Bei thought for a while and nodded in agreement.
At present, with Cai Mao captured and Zhang Xiu following Lu Xuan, it is indeed not suitable to take the initiative to fight. It is most appropriate to adopt a defensive strategy first.
