As a warrior who has experienced hundreds of battles, Zhang Liao has a lot of experience in cutting off the rear, especially in the first half of his military life when he was mostly defeated.
The number of soldiers and horses who cut off the rear is usually one-twentieth of the entire army. After Cao's army was defeated, the number of troops theoretically did not exceed 30,000, so it is unlikely that the number of men and horses he cut off would exceed 1,500.
Moreover, this is a set of troops and horses to cut off the rear when the cavalry is sufficient.
After all, their mission is to cover the retreat of the army, not to fight. Even if they win the ambush, it is just to scare off the pursuers, who dare not pursue them, because the food and grass for the army usually only lasts for about three days.
But the scout told Zhang Liao that there were 800 fire stoves, which meant 8,000 soldiers and horses. This was obviously impossible.
When he led his people to Maple Leaf Trail, he was shocked when he found the fire stoves left by Cao Jun. After careful counting, there were exactly eight hundred fire stoves, no more, no less.
"Damn it, Cao Cao's soldiers and horses are not very good at fighting, but they can only eat two thousand people. Do the Duanhou Army, which cannot support two or three thousand people, have to eat the food of eight thousand people?" Yan Liang kicked over a stove and cursed. .
"What are you talking about? This must be Cao Jun's trick. An army of 20,000 to 30,000 people can never be cut off by more than 2,000 men. Moreover, in a night attack, we captured so many horses from Cao Jun, how can we get thousands of cavalry?" After all, this is obviously to scare us!" My stupid brother, can you learn your ugly brother's art of war?
Zhang Liao squatted in front of the stove and stared at the charred stove head. He picked up a handful of soil and rubbed it slowly, lost in thought.
"Such a simple plan to deceive soldiers can be seen through by even a single general. But why are there eight hundred fire stoves? Just to deceive soldiers. Three hundred is more reasonable. Eight hundred. Isn't this intentionally self-defeating?"
Yan Liang, who was on the side, came up to Wen Chou and whispered, "Brother, Wen Yuan said you are a partial general."
"Shut up, let Young Master Qi interact with Guo Tu, and just imitate his nonsense." Wen Chou rolled his eyes at him.
Zhang Liao ignored the two brothers' bickering. He didn't understand why Cao Jun deliberately exaggerated to cut off the rear troops. The traces were too obvious, and it seemed more like they deliberately exposed their shortcomings to lure him to pursue.
But soon, Zhang Liao felt relieved again. He learned from Jia Xu's way of knowing oneself and the enemy, and put himself into Cao Jun's position. He soon understood the reason.
Because Jia Xu made something out of nothing, in the eyes of Cao Jun, his troops were no longer 20,000, but more than 40,000. The exposed cavalry alone was six to seven thousand, so at this time, the three hundred firemen The stove couldn't deter him at all, so he built 800 fire stoves.
Yes, that's true.
Although he could not be sure how many of Cao's troops were ambushing him, the more the opponent showed that they were prepared, the more convinced he became that the opponent actually did not have many troops at all.
Therefore, he decisively ordered everyone to rest where they were, and continued the pursuit in depth after an hour.
You can tell at a glance that these stoves were left a day ago. According to the speed, they will be caught up with them tomorrow at the latest.
Next, although Zhang Liao continued to send scouts to explore the road ahead, the speed was obviously faster than before.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Liao held a sheepskin map and said to Yan Liang Wen Chou: "There are two valleys and one hill in front of us, both of which can be used for ambushes. But if we send scouts to survey one by one, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep up." Everyone, please pay attention to Cao Jun’s footsteps.”
"Here." The two nodded seriously.
Is it possible to fall into an ambush if he continues to be so reckless?
The answer is yes, but Zhang Liao believed that Cao's army did not have many ambushes. Even if they lost the initiative, the three thousand cavalry could easily counterattack them as long as their morale remained intact.
The rested army moved forward and passed through a mountain valley without any problems. As they were walking around the mountain along the Maple Leaf Trail, a sudden shower of arrows rained down from the hills, shocking the vanguard's horses to shake left and right.
"No! There is an ambush, prepare for war, prepare for war!" Yan Liang yelled sternly.
Immediately afterwards, hundreds of Cao Jun's flags were suddenly erected on the hills, and the sound of fighting was shocking.
According to the army's organizational system of having 500 men at a time and one military flag, it looked like there were at least 7,000 or 8,000 men under this flag. For a moment, even Lu Jun, who was preparing for an ambush, panicked.
Zhang Liao, who was sitting behind, glanced at the flag on the hill, and then at the rain of arrows in front of him that had completely failed. He said solemnly: "Wen Chou, lead the troops up with me. Yan Liang will lead thousands of cavalry. When Cao's army escapes from the mountain, , you lead the army to attack again!"
"Wen Yuan, why is this?" Wen Chou clenched his hand tightly and cut off the soul gun, not daring to look away from the hill.
"Don't be nervous. If Cao's army really wants to ambush us, they should wait until half of our army has passed before attacking. But now they are rushing to attack before the front army has passed. Isn't this a lie?"
After listening to Zhang Liao's analysis, he saw Cao's army's flags flashing on the hill, but no one rushed down. Wen Chou reacted and laughed and said, "I understand, they don't have many ambushes, they are just suspicious soldiers, kill them!"
Zhang Liao and Wen Chou led their troops to charge up the hill. Just as they expected, the flags on the mountain fell one after another, and a group of Cao's cavalry fled in panic from the other side.
At first glance, there were only seven or eight hundred cavalry at most. Zhang Liao felt relieved. This is in line with common sense. Cao's army probably only had these cavalry left.
It seems that the other party knows the truth and the truth, and he has used so many tricks to deceive himself along the way.
Now, the fog has cleared, and Zhang Liao can pursue unscrupulously.
Along the way, Cao Jun, who was slower, was overtaken by Lu Jun's cavalry and felled to the ground one by one.
After rushing out of the second mountain depression, their direction changed and went around to the east, deviating from Cao Jun's northward withdrawal route.
But because the opponent was so close, as long as the cavalry was completely dispersed, the infantry chasing the opponent would be able to move forward unimpeded. Zhang Liao decided to follow their escape direction and pursue them to the end.
I don’t know how long they have been chasing. Cao Jun has already lost more than a hundred of his horses. He was obviously running for his life, but he was only a few dozen steps ahead of Lu Jun, giving the impression that he could catch up quickly.
Normally, Zhang Liao might not be able to see through the problem, but Zhang Liao, who had suffered three or four attempts to cover his eyes along the way, finally got hot-blooded and pursued him desperately.
Of course, the biggest reliance was that he kept the terrain of this area in mind. There was no place to ambush around, so there would be no big problems.
It wasn't until they chased across a riverbed that Zhang Liao suddenly remembered something and quickly ordered to stop.
The huge inertia forced them to rush forward for a hundred steps before stopping.
"Wenyuan, what happened?" Yan Liang turned around and asked hurriedly.
"There should be a river here!" He quickly took out the parchment drawings from his arms to confirm.
"Isn't it the same one just now?" Wen Chou turned his head and glanced at the river bed he had just waded through.
"There has just been a heavy rain in Anfeng. Even if the water level has dropped, it will never be able to cover just the horses' hooves."
When Zhang Liao clearly saw the river named Li Shui on the parchment map, his heart sank, his pupils suddenly gathered, and he exclaimed: "Quickly retreat!"
Before the soldiers could turn their horses, a loud rumble came from above the river bed.
Immediately afterwards, the turbulent water rushed in like a beast. The Lu Jun cavalry standing on the river bed was as fragile as a fallen leaf and was swept away without even a chance to struggle.
The sudden flood swept away more than 20 Lu Jun cavalry, causing few casualties, but the problem was that it split the 3,000-man team into two.
On the north bank of the water there were only seven or eight hundred horses belonging to Zhang Liao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, while the rest were blocked on the south bank.
It looked like the surging water was four to five feet wide, and the current was so fast that it was impossible to pass.
Even though he had been a soldier for half his life and had fought eight hundred and thirty thousand battles, Liao Shen was also worried at this moment. He finally understood that the previous concealment methods were actually deliberately used to wear down his patience. The real purpose of Cao Jun was To lead yourself here, to defeat more with less.
"Zhang Liao, today is the day you die, take your life!" Before Zhang Liao could make up his mind, Xu Chu had already led his cavalry to fight back.
He rushed into the crowd, stabbed directly through a Lu Jun cavalry with his iron sword, and knocked down two cavalrymen with his body twitching in pain.
At the same time, Xiahou Dun, Zhang He, and Xu Huang also rushed forward with their men. Their numbers were not large, but their morale was high.
On the other hand, Lu Jun, who was originally pursuing a passionate pursuit, was frightened by Li Shui's sudden attack. In addition, the team was divided into two and the retreat was cut off, so he immediately fell into panic.
"Brothers, fight to the death or defeat them!" Yan Liang was so reckless that he was not afraid at all. When he saw Zhang He, he didn't care whether the situation was desperate or not. He raised his knife and killed him.
Wen Chou also gritted his teeth and stabbed the attacking Cao army with his spear, feeling happy and unafraid.
In history, Han Xin used to fight against the odds and win with less, which added a lot of luster to his reputation as a soldier.
But the situation in front of him was obviously different. Han Xin was well prepared for his last stand, and everyone knew what they were going to face.
Lu Jun was in the midst of a passionate pursuit when he was suddenly rushed away by Li Shui. Looking at Cao Jun who was rushing towards him, he felt that he could not escape death.
Although Zhang Liao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were fighting desperately, Lu Jun was still falling at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The more than two thousand Lu troops on the other side of the river looked anxious in their eyes and wanted to help, but didn't know how to help. They were like ants on a hot pot.
As more and more Cao Jun ants gathered, Lu Jun on the north bank was forced to stand on the edge of the river. Lu Jun was forced to fall into the water, causing waves of spray.
Some people want to help by swimming across the river with the help of a war horse. If the current is not fast, this is possible, because the war horse itself can swim, even if the speed is slower, it may not be unable to cross the river.
But Li Shui had just released the flood, and the rapid water swallowed up Lu Jun who tried to swim one by one.
At this time, they no longer dared to go into the water. They could only watch their robes falling one after another, with shock and fear.
It's over. Today, here, no one from Lu Jun on the north bank of the river can escape, including Zhang Liao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
"Shoot arrows for me. If you die, you will die. Shoot arrows!" It is almost impossible to break through from the front, and the rushing water behind blocks the retreat. In this case, Zhang Liao chose what Yan Liang said. , the fish is dead and the net is broken!
With Zhang Liao's military order, the soldiers on the south bank dismounted one after another, took their bows and arrows from their saddles, strung their bows and aimed at the other side. The arrows rained very sparsely, because they had to worry about not hurting their own people.
Seeing this, Zhang Liao roared fiercely, "Fire arrows at me, regardless of enemy or friend. Anyone who disobeys military orders will be killed!"
When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins. Since we have reached the end of the road today, let us live towards death!
"put!"
The cavalry captain roared hysterically.
In the next breath, a dense rain of arrows directly greeted the chaotic battle circle.
Many people in Cao's army fell, and some in Lu's army were hit by arrows. Zhang Liao even took an arrow in his arm.
In a desperate situation, the will to survive made Lu Jun burst out with a fighting spirit that was not afraid of death. They did not look at the arrows on their backs, and only followed Zhang Liao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou to rush forward. In addition, the arrow rain came in waves. , for a time Cao Jun was fooled by this kind of death-to-die gameplay, and some people began to instinctively want to avoid and block the oncoming arrows.
Even when Xu Chu wanted to kill Zhang Liao, his path was interrupted by the rain of arrows.
Seeing that the effect was better than expected, the cavalry captain shouted: "Shoot the arrows. If you don't want to be punished by military law, shoot them all for me!"
On the other side of the river from Lu Jun, some were crying and some were vomiting, because they clearly saw that their arrows had hit Pao Ze's body.
But they can't stop, they must enforce it according to military law!
They were about to eat up the remaining two hundred cavalry of the Lu Army, thus forming a close siege on Zhang Liao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, but each rain of arrows forced them to stop.
There was no way, Cao Jun was attacking from the front, and they could see the oncoming arrow rain with their own eyes. Their survival instinct would make them give up fighting and avoid and block.
On the other hand, Lu Jun became more and more courageous as he fought. Zhang Liao was hit by three arrows in his arm, back and thigh, and Yan Liang and Wen Chou were also hit by two arrows. However, they were already determined to die and charged regardless.
Finally, when more than 80 of Lu's troops were left dead, several holes appeared in Cao's iron-barrel-like encirclement.
"Brothers, rush out with me!" Zhang Liao's tasseled helmet was shot over, his hair was disheveled, and blood dripped from his body along his armor.
But all this, he seemed to forget the pain and rushed towards the opening that represented the hope of living.
"Don't let them go!" Xiahou Dun had just finished shouting when his horse was hit by an arrow and he rolled down.
If the coach is like this, how can you expect others to do something shocking? No one can remain indifferent to the rain of arrows fired by more than 2,000 people.
Xu Chu was also very angry and wanted to pursue him, but because too many Lu troops were killed, this allowed the cavalry on the other side of the river to shoot more accurately. Even Xu Chu himself had to block constantly to shoot down the rain of arrows.
Rushed out.
Zhang Liao and Yan Liang Wen Chou unexpectedly rushed out of the desperate situation surrounded by more than 3,000 Cao troops.
Xu Huang quickly shouted: "Don't run away Zhang Liao, let me catch up!"
He led hundreds of cavalry in pursuit, followed closely by Xu Chu and Zhang He.
In anger, Xiahou Dun got on a horse from an unknown party and followed him.
Are there many Lu Jun who escaped?
Not many, just twenty or thirty cavalry. They originally had seven or eight hundred cavalry, so it was considered a crushing victory.
But Xiahou Dun knew that Guo Jia had set up this flawless plan to ambush Zhang Liao. If he let him go, it would not be a victory.
What's more, many of my own people died.
In a real comparison, Xiahou Dun had no doubt that Cao's army might have suffered more deaths. In the indiscriminate shooting, it was obvious that Cao's army, which was denser, suffered more.
"Whoever kills Zhang Liao will be rewarded with ten thousand gold and made a school captain!" Xiahou Dun shouted angrily, he must be killed!
One more chapter, before night.
(End of chapter)
