This battle was beyond Cao Cao's expectations.
It was also beyond the expectations of General Cao Ying.
In their imagination, Lu Bu has entered his twilight years and is definitely not as good at fighting as he was before, so rushing forward with all his strength should be able to complete a quick kill.
As a result, Lu Bu proved to everyone with his actions that as long as I was around, the warriors in the world would never be able to cross this threshold.
What they didn't expect was that not only Lu Bu could fight, but also two strangers among the three people who suddenly showed up, except Wei Yue, whom they knew.
Especially the man with a spear in silver armor chased him into the village alone, giving people a sense of arrogance.
A hail of arrows poured down from both sides of Cao Ying's village, but he was unable to keep up with his speed. A captain suddenly rushed out from the front and two military princes joined forces to block him. However, they were shot away by Ma Chao, who missed the horse and stabbed the captain with a carbine. Turning around, before the two military princes could react, he was already galloping away like a gust of wind.
There were many obstacles along the way, including being shot and killed by Ma Chao's gun, and he was alone. Facing the soldiers pouring out from both sides of Cao's camp, they were like arrows piercing the clouds. Not even Pang De could catch up with him. .
Is this guy crazy? Cao Cao, who looked back from time to time, only felt that the person coming was like a tiger descending from the mountain, unstoppable.
Dian Wei and Xu Chu also watched, but no one dared to look back, but they were not afraid of Ma Chao. After all, there was no one guarding Cao Cao now. Once Lu Bu and his men rushed in, it would immediately become a battlefield of hell.
Compared with controlling Ma Chao, protecting Cao Cao is obviously more important.
Along the way, the tiger-headed golden spear shot out left and right. There was no enemy in front of him, and anyone who took three steps closer would be splashed with blood.
But as he slowly deepened, more and more Cao troops surrounded him, like a tide, and finally stopped his momentum.
After all, this is a camp of 80,000 to 90,000 people. In addition, Fazheng had made suggestions before choosing the plan of fighting generals. The sergeants in the camp should mainly defend and should not leave lightly. At this moment, the effect was finally seen.
The speed of the war horse slowed down, but Ma Chao was not afraid. He tightened the reins and jumped up from the flying sand. He rushed into the crowd and pierced the chest of the nearest sergeant with his spear. He swung it with amazing strength and swept it. In front of him, he turned seven Eight people.
Immediately afterwards, the tiger-headed Zhan golden spear swept backwards, and the sharp spear point pierced the throats of five or six Cao Jun soldiers, and blood mist filled the air.
"Let you all come together, why should I be afraid of Ma Chao!" Xiliang Jin Ma Chao, alone at this moment, was like a cheetah escaping among thousands of Cao's troops, and no one could stop him.
Blood splashed like ink, and Ma Chao's face, body, and even the flying sand were dyed red, but his spear never stopped, and every time he moved, several people would die.
On the other hand, Cao's army, even though there were many people, some wanted to attack Ma Chao's back, some wanted to restrain his spear, and some even stabbed Li Feisha's butt, but no one succeeded.
As Ma Chao, who has long been accustomed to charging into battle, and who bravely fought into the Qiang tribe in that barren land to show his power and show his power and gain the reputation of riding a horse to Xiliang, he knows very well how to deal with this kind of situation when he is alone. Condition.
He will never stay in the same place for more than five breaths. Every time he kills a piece, he immediately activates the flying sand, or rushes forward, or jumps. It is irregular and unstoppable. It is like a seductive messenger harvesting the lives of mortals. .
It's back, this feeling is finally back!
Ma Chao was not only unafraid, but even enjoyed this feeling very much. When he was at a disadvantage in front of Zhao Yun and was ravaged by Lu Bu, Ma Chao's Taoist heart collapsed for a time.
But on the bloody battlefield, he felt that the once dazzling Jin Ma Chao was back.
Just when everyone in Cao's army was helpless, a commotion suddenly broke out from the back of the encirclement.
With Shuofeng Hanmang's sword sweeping across thousands of troops, five Cao soldiers seemed to have been hit by a ram on their backs and flew out. They stuck behind the crowd in front and overwhelmed more than ten people.
"Nan'an Pang Lingming is here, who dares to make a mistake!" Pang De rushed into the crowd, sweeping the long knife left and right in his hand, and Cao's army fell one by one.
There were only two of them, but thousands of Cao's troops were helpless.
Cao Cao, who finally hid outside the Chinese army's tent and was guarded by the Tiger Army, looked at this scene and opened his mouth, which turned into a long sigh, "I originally thought that Zhao Zilong's figure under Xiaoguan City was invincible in the world, but I didn't expect that he would be able to do so here." To meet such a fierce general."
"Old Xu, you protect Sikong, the others, follow me and kill them!" Dian Wei finally could let go, so he ordered Zhang He and Xu Huang to accompany him.
Using the height of the wooden steps of the central military tent, Cao Cao glanced at the outside of the stronghold. Dust was flying. It was obvious that Lu Bu had also rushed in with his men.
This is not surprising at all. In the battle at the gate of his village, a Wu Lan was beaten to death, and he fled with Jin. With this kind of momentum, how could Lu Bu not try to be reckless?
What's more, the fences and antlers outside the stockade were heavily damaged by Thunderbolt vehicles, and they no longer functioned as guards.
He said in a deep voice: "Ask Lingbao, Deng Xian and Liu Quan to lead their troops to surround us, we must stop them!"
At this moment, Cao Cao was very glad that he listened to Fazheng and did not rashly let them guard both sides of the stronghold to prepare for the pursuit, but instead used it as a depth of defense.
Otherwise, the morale of the army was turbulent due to today's commotion, and if Lu Bu attacked like this, he would really dare to kill the entire village.
When Dian Wei and the others approached, Lu Bu rushed to the battlefield first. Seeing the scene in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a little happy. Not only was this stupid young man impulsive, but his strength was also on the table. He immediately picked up Fang Tian Hua. The halberd aids in the battle.
However, the speed of reinforcements from the rear is much slower, especially the cavalry. The antlers and horses in the village are crisscrossed, and the cavalry cannot sprint across the plains. After all, not everyone has a red rabbit horse, and ordinary obstacles can be jumped over. They can only continue to bypass these obstacles, and naturally they cannot go faster.
Lingbao, Deng Xian and Liu Sui, who were originally ambushing on the left and right sides of the Chinese military tent, each led their troops and rushed out of the formation.
The crossbowmen, spearmen, shield soldiers and axemen were arranged in an orderly manner, and at this time, more than 20,000 Lu troops also arrived.
The sergeants who were originally surrounding Lu Bu, Ma Chao and Pang De began to disperse under the shouts of Dian Wei and Zhang He, so that the prepared troops in the rear would not be disrupted.
The rain of arrows poured out by Cao Jun could not pose a threat to Lu Bu, Ma Chao and others at the front, but many of the cavalrymen who followed were still shot over.
Lu Bu waved his halberd to block the arrows, and directed the cavalry to break through.
At this time, it is actually very inconvenient for the cavalry to move. There is no way around it. The tents and horses in the village are all obstacles. This is also a problem that Chongzhai has to face.
If you want to get close as quickly as possible, you must give way to the shield soldiers behind and let them close this distance.
Ma Chao didn't seem to care about this at all, and he carried out the word "mang" to the end. He rushed forward and back in the face of the rain of arrows, stabbed down with the tiger-headed golden spear, lifted up the shield weighing dozens of kilograms, and stabbed the shield soldier with one spear. On the ground, he used the force to jump up and kicked him hard in front of a row of shields.
The trained shield-hands were considered top-notch in terms of strength and endurance, but they couldn't withstand the kicks and fell to the ground one after another.
This kid looked so much like me when I was young. Lu Bu only felt angry and funny, and he didn't care about the many others who followed him and rushed to help.
With the three-dimensional warriors clearing the way, the shield array, which had already been killed and had a hole missing, could not withstand their dazzling killing moves even if there were two rows of them. The shields were either overturned or smashed into pieces.
Lu Jun's swordsman and axe-hand was able to take this opportunity to rush forward, and the two armies began the bloodiest hand-to-hand fight.
Except for Xu Chu, who was guarding Cao Cao, all the generals of Cao Cao's army rushed to the front to fight.
This was not an evenly matched battle. It could be seen with the naked eye that Lu Jun pushed the front line forward. It could not be said to be overwhelming, but it still had an advantage.
After all, this team is the most elite in the entire Lulin Group. Not to mention elite in hundreds of battles, they have fought many fierce battles.
In addition, the 50% armor rate is not a pleasant thing to say. There are not many swordsmen and axemen in the lead, but they are all wearing triple armor. The swords of ordinary soldiers cannot cut through them at all, and even bows and arrows cannot hit them. Pierce.
Cao Cao, who was standing at the door of the Chinese military tent, watched this scene. A biting chill came from deep in his back, and his breathing became more and more rapid.
I have prepared so much, maybe I will be exposed by their recklessness.
He rolled up his sleeves and ran to the war drum next to him. He picked up the drumstick and beat it desperately.
After all, this is Cao Jun's home field, with 80,000 or 90,000 people. Even the fueling tactics can make Lu Jun's scalp numb.
Seeing the sergeants fall one after another, and finally barely able to stabilize the momentum of Lu Jun's advance, Cao Cao finally shouted to Xu Chu: "Quick, lead the Tiger Army to kill from the flank!"
"Sikong, it's you."
"Go quickly!" Cao Cao shouted sternly without giving Xu Chu a chance to finish.
"You two, take the people to stay here, everyone else, follow me!" Xu Chu could only lift the Fire Cloud Sword, and after giving instructions to the two centurions, he took the people around.
Lu's army was brave and well-equipped, Cao's army had many soldiers, geographical advantages, and the most elite Tiger and Ben troops to assist in the battle. The situation seemed to have finally improved.
This battle lasted until the sun was fading, and Lu Jun was finally willing to withdraw.
Originally, once retreating from such a battle, they would definitely face endless pursuit, but Cao Cao did not dare to let the soldiers leave the stronghold too far. He only drove them a symbolic distance away and then they were rewarded.
After all, this battle lasted for most of the day. Who knows if Lu Jun directly chose to be reckless and transferred all the troops and horses from Tongguan.
At this time, once Lu Bu chose Stud, Cao Cao asked himself that he was unable to resist.
A dark curtain began to shroud the land, and also shrouded the hearts of everyone in Cao Jun.
Lu Jun retreated, not because they were defeated, but because they suffered a lot of losses in such a fight, and without backup, they would probably suffer losses if they continued to fight.
But when they were cleaning the battlefield, they all knew that the corpses on the ground were those of Cao Jun and Lu Jun.
Moreover, they also knew that there were tens of thousands of Lu Bu's fresh troops in Tongguan, and a stronghold with one wall destroyed could not withstand the attack of the Lu army.
Tomorrow, we don’t know how many people will survive.
The Cao soldiers who were carrying the corpses all had ashen faces, the cold wind was biting, and their hearts were frightened. Such a team had no fighting capacity.
"Xiaozhi, am I really going to die here?" Cao Cao felt the depression permeating the army, and he couldn't help but feel sad in his heart.
Among the three directions of the Central Plains: west, north and east, Xuzhou was the weakest, but he resolutely chose Sizhou in the west because he felt that Lu Bu could take charge of it.
In addition, Fazheng's conspiracy is too subtle and contains many mysteries. Once it is launched, it will be as difficult to stop as a conspiracy.
But who would have thought that Lu Bu would adopt such a blunt method and succeed in one fell swoop.
There were no statistics on casualties in this battle, but it was estimated that the number of casualties was close to 20,000, not counting the wounded.
The stronghold in front of him is just a show-off, and cannot provide shelter for his troops at all. Even the several Thunderbolt Chariots at the door have been destroyed, but if Lu Bu only needs to bring tens of thousands of new troops over tomorrow, he will really be like a rolling army. Thunder sweeps away like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.
Fazheng frowned and did not answer Cao Cao.
He didn't know what he could say. After all, not only Cao Cao, but he also didn't expect that the battle would turn out like this from the beginning.
In this wilderness, if they retreat, they may be eaten up by Lu Jun's cavalry one by one.
Once defeated again this time, the Central Plains would be handed over to Lu Bu.
I'm afraid Liu Bei of Jingzhou will be unable to hold back and want to take advantage of the situation, and even Yizhou, which he just acquired, will be in civil strife.
He knew that Cao Cao was not exaggerating, and now it was really a matter of life and death.
The cold wind pouring in outside the tent made his face hurt. Fazheng picked up the hot tea he had just brewed and wanted to warm himself up, but found that the tea turned cold in just a moment.
Looking at the sad face reflected in the tea cup, he seemed to have thought of something in a daze. His eyes flashed with a look of surprise, he put down the tea cup and laughed: "Sikong, God bless me, I have a solution!"
In Tongguan, there was no grand celebration banquet, but today's military exploits were recorded in detail in the military merit book.
In fact, strictly speaking, a celebration banquet was held. At least the soldiers did not need to eat dry food. Everyone had meat to eat in today's meal.
Only there was no wine.
Because the general attack on Cao Cao will be launched tomorrow, and wine can do bad things.
The west side of Cao Jun's camp was first hit by thunderbolt chariots, and the gap was widened a lot by the army. They couldn't repair it in one day.
Without the protection of the camp, Lu Bu of course planned to attack directly.
Besides, he also saw in today's battle that the combat effectiveness of Cao Jun was far from what it was in Xuzhou.
After all, his army is a mixture of Yizhou Army, Jingzhou Army and Central Plains Army. The equipment is not as sophisticated as his own, and the combat quality is incomparable. Isn't it normal to lose?
Of course, my casualties in today's battle were actually not small, and they have not yet been fully calculated. However, based on the situation when I came back, I estimate that there were at least six to seven thousand casualties, not counting the wounded.
But this does not hinder tomorrow's general attack. Here in Tongguan, there are still 40,000 to 50,000 troops available. Are you afraid that we will not be able to defeat Cao Cao?
"Marquis Wen, you forgot about the killing of dogs in front of the formation today. You rushed into the enemy's stronghold without Marquis Wen's military order. Please forgive me, Marquis Wen." In the council hall, everyone had roast chicken, leg of lamb, and horses in front of them. But Teng felt that he had no appetite and had to stand up and plead guilty for his stupid son.
Lu Bu chuckled and looked at Ma Chao, who laughed and scratched his head.
In fact, he realized this problem on the way back, but he glanced anxiously and forgot his identity.
When Ma Teng said this, he wisely stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Please forgive me, Marquis Wen."
Lu Bu shook his head, "It doesn't matter, young people, it's normal to be a little aggressive, but you have to restrain your temper when it's time, otherwise how can I trust you with a team in the future?
Furthermore, you also performed meritorious service in front of the battle today. You and Ling Ming caused thousands of Cao's troops to collapse in Cao Jun's camp, so your merits and demerits are equal to each other. "
"Thank you Marquis Wen." Ma Teng broke out in a cold sweat. The words "the merits outweigh the faults" sound easy, but if Lu Bu wants to unite the military morale of hundreds of thousands of troops, he cannot do without iron military discipline after all, so this is Ma Teng seems to be extremely valuable.
But what Ma Chao heard was that Lu Bu wanted to give him an army, which was a great thing.
There are so many talented people under Lu Jun, but there are actually only a few who can truly lead the army independently. Zhao Yun is one, Wen Chou is one, and Zhang Liao certainly has nothing to say, they are all under Lu Jun's team.
Others, even if they have the opportunity to lead troops, they will do some garrison tasks and rarely have the opportunity to go into battle.
Therefore, in Ma Chao's view, Lu Bu regarded himself as his confidant.
Does that mean that he can also be asked to teach him killing moves that violate the principles of mechanics?
When I learn how to do it, I can fight Zhao Zilong again, and I will be able to beat him. By then, I will be the most powerful general under Marquis Wen!
Ma Chao felt excited when he thought about this, and secretly swore that even if Cao Cao's head could not be captured in tomorrow's general attack, Dian Wei would always kill him.
At this time, Ma Chao just wanted to do a few more things to make Lu Bu happy.
Of course it was a blessing to be able to lead troops, but learning Lu Bu's unique skills was what really excited Ma Chao.
"Everyone's contribution will be recorded in the merit book. After I defeat Cao Cao, I will reward you based on your merit." This sentence is a summary.
Today on the battlefield, apart from myself, the most dazzling ones are of course Ma Chao and Pang De.
But during the battle, some of the heroes in Guanzhong were quite good. The performance of Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others was remarkable and cannot be ignored.
Sometimes, a word or two from the master can be like a warm sun that dispels the gloom in the hearts of the soldiers.
Lu Bu has become increasingly clear about this.
A night of silence.
Early the next morning, Lu Bu ordered his troops and horses to prepare to leave the pass. However, just as the forward cavalry left the pass, scouts came back to report that a city suddenly appeared in front of Cao Jun's camp.
Anyone who heard this thought it was a fantasy. Cao's army only had enough wood to garrison the stronghold. The sand in this desert place cannot solidify. How could there be a city?
He asked Wei Yue and Man Chong to lead the central army, and he, Ma Chao, and Pang De galloped towards Cao's army with eight thousand forward cavalry.
The journey of thirty miles was reached in just half an hour because of the vast plains.
In front of me, a city really appeared. It seemed to be three feet high and covered with a layer of ice.
Lu Bu, Ma Chao and Pang De were all dumbfounded. They looked at each other and then looked at the city.
Is this an ice city?
(End of chapter)
