Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3482: The Same Old Trick
Cao Cao faced the enemy head-on, while the one who led his troops to attack from the side was naturally Cao Hong.

As the most important and trusted general under Cao Cao, Cao Hong has been known for his bravery, fighting skills, loyalty and courage since he established his status as a general. So even though Cao Hong had this or that flaw, and was even so greedy for money that even Cao Pi was somewhat disgusted with him, one still cannot deny Cao Hong's contribution to the Cao family's foundation.

It's not that Cao Hong is not afraid of death, and his military strategy may not necessarily surpass other generals of his time, but as the top fighter under Cao Cao, even if he is covered in wounds and killed like a blood gourd, his loyalty to Cao Cao will not be shaken.

Such a general would naturally reassure Cao Cao and also convince other military academies.

After Cao Zhang and Liu Fu were defeated, Cao Hong cooperated with Cao Cao and became the backbone of Cao's army in resisting the attack of the Cavalry Army.

From the moment of the attack by the Hussars, Cao Hong had been fighting with Zhu Ling and Ma Yue with his soldiers, resisting until now. When a position was captured by the Hussars, he would retreat to the next position with his soldiers to resist.

Throughout the whole day, although Zhu Ling and Ma Yue attacked very hard, with the support of Cao Hong, who even went to the front line to fight in person, Cao's soldiers tried their best to resist in every position.

It was precisely because of the presence of Cao Hong that the offensive momentum of the Cavalry Army was so difficult, even with Zhu Ling and Ma Yue's repeated advances. Every step forward came at the cost of blood.

The fierce battle had reached such an extent that Cao Hong was still injured. Even if he was not injured, such a high-intensity battle was still not something that everyone could withstand. Cao Hong was now killing so many people that his sword was broken and his armor was incomplete. His throat was already hoarse from shouting. Now, every time he shouted a military order, he felt as if his throat was cut by a knife.

However, Cao's army had an "advantage", or it could be said that it was an "advantage" out of helplessness, that is, Cao's army was tired of its people, while the cavalry army was tired of its horses.

Humans are more resistant to fatigue than cattle and horses!

This is why ancient feudal dynasties preferred to raise more slaves and use fewer cattle and horses.

Cattle and horses are more delicate than humans.

There is everything on the battlefield.

Apart from corpses, perhaps a broken blade could force a warhorse to withdraw from the battle sequence, but a person could still fight if he was cut by a knife.

Cao Hong was also stabbed several times, with wounds on his body still oozing blood, but he still used up his last bit of strength to resist the attacks of the Cavalry Army again and again.

The stamina of the Hussars' warhorses was obviously inferior to that of humans. After all, the Hussars were famous for their swiftness and bravery, not for their endurance. On the contrary, Cao's soldiers were more experienced than the Hussars in how to preserve and recover as much as possible in the bloody battle between the two armies.

Whether it was conquering the Western Qiang or attacking the Western Regions, the Cavalry Army was as fast as the wind and as fierce as fire, like a strong wind sweeping away fallen leaves. They rarely experienced long battles, and the soldiers led by Cao Cao and Cao Hong were all veterans who survived the battles with the two Yuans. There were so many battles between the princes in the Central Plains, and the Cao army was once in a disadvantageous situation, but they still persisted. The resilience of these elite Cao army soldiers has been tempered many times in these battles, and they are much stronger in tenacity than the Cavalry Units fighting in the northwest.

Of course, the core force of Cao’s army only included Cao Cao and Cao Hong with these veterans.

Old soldiers will eventually grow old, and the difference in combat power between the two sides will become more and more foreseeable in the future, but at present, Cao Hong did block the flank attack of the Hussars. In such a desperate situation, the Qingzhou soldiers of the Cao army were trained in the field troops of the Central Plains of the Han Dynasty, and they finally showed their blood and anger. Zhu Ling and Ma Yue fought fiercely all day, but they only pushed Cao Hong back step by step, but they could not completely defeat him.

Each line of battle resisted to the very end before giving up. They would not retreat until every defensive fortification was captured by the Cavalry. During the day, they were still somewhat afraid of the Cavalry's long-range weapons and did not dare to fight beyond the defense system. At night, because the efficiency of long-range shooting from both sides decreased, Cao's army even sent a small team to launch a surprise attack on Ma Yue and Zhu Ling's troops!
The two sides engaged in a melee in the night, and the shouts and cries of killing shook the heavens and the earth, and it seemed that the stars in the sky were startled and shaken by the sound of the fighting.

Cao Cao and other generals and military officers all knew that this battle was an opportunity for the morale of both sides to rise and fall. If they could take advantage of the opportunity of the desperate situation and hold out against the attack of the Cavalry Army, then there would still be a glimmer of hope for the future. If they could not hold out, their freedom would collapse and be destroyed.

Similarly, Pang Tong, Zhang Liao, Ma Yue, Zhu Ling and others knew that Cao's army could not hold out for too long in this state of desperation. If they could defeat Cao's army this time, they would no longer have the ability to engage in large-scale battles. When they marched into the Central Plains in the future, as long as Fei Qian arrived with the soldiers from Hedong, it would be like a rushing river, unstoppable!

Both sides have reasons and determination to win, so the fight is even more brutal.

The smell of blood filled the entire battlefield, and everything around was shrouded in the deafening sounds of drums and shouts of killing.

Another charge by the Hussars was repelled.

Cao Hong's armor was covered in blood and flesh. He ignored the arrows whizzing past him and jumped onto a slightly crooked chevaux de frise to look around, seeing that the battlefield seemed to have turned into a Shura hell.

The hussars horses moved along the flank of the loess plateau like a long snake, curling and stretching their bodies, winding towards Cao's army as if they were endless!
Cao Hong took a deep breath, sat down on the chariot, threw aside the sword in his hand that had been chopped into large and small holes, and said to the guards: "Bring the sword!"

The guard handed over his sword, and Cao Hong, with shaking hands, wrapped the sword around his hand again, saying, "Now that the hussars see my flag, they know I'm here... What do you think they'll do next?"

The guard also found a sword that someone had dropped on the ground. He was looking at the gap on the sword under the firelight. It was still usable. "Of course, they will send a large group of troops to charge here!"

"That's right!" Cao Hong laughed, but he didn't know that it affected the wound on the other side and turned into inhaling, "If they want to kill here, they will definitely ignore that place! This is our chance!"

Cao Hong jumped down from his repelling horse, raised his sword, and shouted to the soldiers around him: "My men! The cavalry brigade is coming! As long as you can hold on, everyone will be rewarded with 10,000 gold! The head of a cavalry soldier will be rewarded with another 10,000 gold! I won't take a penny of what the lord has given me, I will give it all to you! If the reward is not enough, I will sell all my belongings to make up for it!"

Upon hearing this, the Cao army soldiers who were guarding the ditch made some noise to give Cao Hong some face.

Cao Hong was a little embarrassed.

An old soldier from Qingzhou leaned against the trench and said to Cao Hong: "General Cao! If you don't retreat, the brothers won't retreat! We can talk about rewards after we survive! We came from Shandong and felt that the fighting was a bit humiliating along the way! Today is the best killing day!"

Cao Hong was not annoyed by the old soldier's retort, but waved his sword at the old soldier, "Good man! Let's see who can kill more in today's battle!"

Perhaps since these Qingzhou soldiers left their homes and followed Cao Cao in his campaigns, there was only one thing left in their lives: fighting.

There are no generals among the Qingzhou soldiers.

In other words, there were no generals who came from among the Qingzhou soldiers themselves.

They have no spokesperson.

not a single one!

This was naturally what Cao Cao intended.

What? The surname Zang? Those are the soldiers from Mount Tai. Moreover, Zang Ba and others’ distrust of Cao Cao was caused by Cao Cao’s attitude and management methods towards the soldiers from Qingzhou.

Cao Cao only needed the Qingzhou soldiers as war machines and fierce soldiers on the battlefield, but he did not want the Qingzhou soldiers to have their own ideas, so no middle-level military academies were produced among the Qingzhou soldiers. All Qingzhou soldiers were directly led by Cao Cao and several of Cao Cao's most trusted generals.

Under such circumstances, the military discipline of the Qingzhou soldiers would naturally not be good.

The Qingzhou soldiers have no tomorrow, they only have today.

Kill while alive and lie down when dead, it's that simple.

As for the original leaders of the Qingzhou soldiers, they were all captured and killed by Cao Cao. The word "captured" shows Cao Cao's attitude towards the original military school leaders of the Qingzhou soldiers.

In addition, Cao Cao not only controlled the Qingzhou soldiers, but also their families. The vast majority of those who settled in the military farms were family members of the Qingzhou soldiers, so in a sense, these Qingzhou soldiers were equivalent to Cao Cao's own private soldiers.

After Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi's ability was just so-so, so the Qingzhou soldiers would definitely not survive. Neither the gentry of Jizhou nor the powerful people of Yuzhou would allow Cao Pi to have these soldiers like Cao Cao again. Therefore, chaos and disintegration became inevitable, and they disappeared under the waves of history.

Now that Cao Cao is still here, the core of the Qingzhou soldiers is still solid. The morale of these Qingzhou veterans who have already regarded themselves as dead will not be very high, but it will not collapse to the point where it cannot be salvaged either.

Cao Hong knew that the Qingzhou soldiers were like this, so when he saw that the morale of these soldiers was not much broken, he came down from the trench, sat inside the battle line, and asked the guards to bandage his wounds again.

Some Cao's soldiers took advantage of the time to repair the fortifications before the Hussars arrived, repairing as many as they could.

Cao Hong watched the soldiers busying around, and then he felt pain all over his body. He had so many injuries, both visible and internal. The outer layer of his two layers of armor was already a little tattered, and even the inner layer of armor had some damage.

Cao Hong really wanted to lie down and have a good rest, but he was now almost the core supporting the entire flank of the Qingzhou army line. He could sit down to rest, but he absolutely could not lie down, so he could only grab the shoulder of a guard, and then gasp and endure the pain, letting the guard bandage his wound tighter.

Anyway, in this battle, Cao's army fought quite well.

Cao Cao's command was naturally impeccable. He mobilized soldiers layer by layer, resisted step by step, and consumed the offensive of the Hussar Army. Even under Zhang Liao's attack, he kept his front line intact. During the day, he was limited by the Hussar Army's cavalry's ability to quickly counterattack and did not dare to use soldiers to infiltrate and harass. Now at night, he began to send soldiers to throw caltrops and tie lassoes everywhere to prevent the Hussar Army from being hit accidentally, which also relieved some of the pressure on the front battlefield.

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Deploying troops on the battlefield is a test of a general's ability. Cao Cao is very strong in this aspect. He not only maintains frontal resistance, but also pays attention to the changes on Cao Hong's side, and occasionally sends fresh troops to supplement Cao Hong's flanks.

This has allowed Cao's army to maintain its front line until now, and Cao Hong also had the opportunity to adjust and rest between battles.

Cao Hong looked back at the position of Cao Cao's central army, and saw Cao Cao's banner still standing quietly in the firelight, which made him feel relieved. Cao Hong vaguely guessed that Cao Cao moved the central army closer to the river to lure the navy of the cavalry to attack him, but he still had some concerns.

Although the Hussar Navy only had a few tower ships and more than ten fighting warships, it posed a huge threat to Cao Cao and his men. From Tongguan to Shanjin, the Hussar Navy could not only destroy their pontoon bridges and cut off the connection between the north and south of the river, but also cross their defense lines on land and transport soldiers directly to their rear, forming a multi-faceted encirclement!

Therefore, in order to break the deadlock and regain some initiative on the battlefield, the naval forces of the Hussars must be defeated first!
This was similar to Liu Fu's previous plan, but the trap designed by Liu Fu was not as attractive as Cao Cao's, and the soldiers he deployed were not sharp enough, so they did not cause much damage to the Hussar Navy. Instead, they were defeated by the Hussar Navy's artillery and crossbow shooting...

Now Cao Cao's front is holding off Zhang Liao, and Cao Hong is holding off Zhu Ling and Ma Yue, so if the Cavalry wants to break the deadlock, they will have to send out the navy!

……

……

Pang Tong looked at the battlefield in the distance with a deeply frowned brow.

Pang Tong was somewhat surprised by the tenacity shown by Cao's army at that moment.

This kind of war of attrition is obviously not the mode of war that Fei Qian is willing to accept, but why has it turned out like this?
Pang Tong had a vague answer in his mind...

They hit it too fast!
Being fast has its advantages, but its disadvantages are now becoming apparent.

Whether it is a grenade, a rocket, or a flamethrower, they are all consumables.

Consumables mean that once you finish this cup, there may not be another one.

To transport goods from Guanzhong to Tongguan, a transfer order was issued and the goods could be shipped on the same day. It would take at least three days to reach the forbidden ditch in Tongguan. It would take only one more day to transport the goods directly to Tongguan by manpower and horsepower.

But after leaving Tongguan, the route was lengthened...

The replenishment from the rear could not keep up with the consumption caused by the fierce fighting in the front.

Was this all what Cao Cao had anticipated?

The battle lasted from day till night, and no matter how high the morale of the cavalry soldiers was, they could not avoid fatigue.

After all, people are not made of iron. Even if they are made of iron, they still need some oiling from time to time, don’t they?
Moreover, the life-and-death struggle on the battlefield consumes several times, or even ten times, more energy and strength than during training. Although the cavalry army is well equipped with dry food, drinking water, and medical treatment, and the soldiers who return can receive relatively basic care and protection, the energy and physical strength consumed cannot be restored by drinking a few sips of water or eating a piece of cake...

Some of the retreating hussars sat on the ground, ate a few bites of bread, drank a little water, and then fell asleep. No matter how they were called, they could not be awakened.

Although Pang Tong didn't understand what the aftereffects of adrenaline were, he knew that the fatigue accumulated by the Cavalry Army from a series of battles was gradually beginning to show up.

Starting from the attack on the Tongguan camp, they broke through several layers of defense of the Tongguan camp within a few days, and then broke through Yanxiang, and then chased Cao Zhang and Liu Fu, until they ran into Cao Cao's troops. The Cavalry Army had not had a good adjustment and rest for a long time.

This is not good...

Pang Tong also knew this, but before encountering Cao Cao, everyone felt that they "should" and "could" just kill their way all the way to the Central Plains!
Pang Tong is not Fei Qian.

He was able to control and command these generals, not because of the charm of Pang Tong's fat chin, but because Pang Tong had been authorized by Fei Qian. These generals actually obeyed the general of the cavalry, Fei Qian!

So if the generals would execute Fei Qian's words and orders 100% regardless of whether they could understand them or not, and whether they were convinced or not, then those who could understand the orders issued by Pang Tong on behalf of Fei Qian would naturally have no problem, but those who could not understand would probably be 100% dissatisfied...

Pang Tong originally thought that this problem of fatigue would only become more obvious after reaching the Heluo area and the attack and defense surfaces were expanded. At that time, adjustments would be made, as well as the arrangements for these generals. However, he did not expect that it would be detonated in advance by Cao Cao here.

The Cavalry Army is good at attacking, but Cao’s Army is also good at defending!
As the attacking party, the Hussars did have the advantage of being able to concentrate their forces for assaults, but for Cao's army, their defensive capabilities were also honed in the bloody grindstone of the Central Plains!

Especially these old soldiers from Qingzhou!

These Qingzhou soldiers have poor military discipline and their training is worse than that of the Hussars. However, there is one thing that makes them the same as the Hussars, that is, these Qingzhou soldiers are equally fearless of death!

Dare to fight! Dare to die!
Zhang Liao retreated. Even a brave general like Zhang Liao was now panting heavily, taking the food brought by the guards, and wolfing it down while mumbling: "Sir... my brothers are tired... it's difficult to break through from the front..."

Pang Tong nodded, then pointed at the center of Cao Cao's army, "The old thief's formation is close to the river... This is a flaw, but... I suspect it's also a trap..."

Zhang Liao looked in the direction of Pang Tong's finger, "The old thieves are cunning... Last time they wanted to sneak attack our navy, but failed, and now they are trying the same trick again?"

While the two were discussing, a messenger suddenly came hurriedly.