Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 76 Reinforcement
"Huh, huh."

Looking at Dian Wei's fallen body, Zhang Xiu wiped the sweat off his face and let out a long breath.

At this time, he also had to be thankful that Jia Xu's judgment was not wrong.

Dian Wei is really brave and has the ability to change the entire battle situation by himself.

If you let him wake up, stick to the gate of the village, and wait for Cao Jun to react, I am afraid his situation will not be very good.

Fortunately, Jia Xu thought that Dian Wei was the courage of Cao's army, so he sent Hu Che'er into Cao's camp, drunk Dian Wei with Xinye spirits, and stole his double halberds.

Otherwise, this battle will be difficult.

After Dian Wei's body collapsed, the surrounding Xiliang Army soldiers dared to approach. Someone cut off Dian Wei's head and passed it to each other to cheer up the soldiers.

After abolishing hundreds of lives and finally killing Dian Wei, Zhang Xiu asked the left and right: "Have you seen Cao Cao?"

Someone said: "He fled to the northwest."

"Chase!"

Zhang Xiu immediately issued an order: "Send me the general order, go to the northwest and continue to hunt and kill Cao thief, life and death are matters!"

"only!"

The soldiers around agreed loudly and chased after him wildly.

Over there, Cao Cao galloped all the way to Cao Hong's camp. At this moment, Cao Hong was also attacked.

But his reaction was fairly quick, and he immediately repelled the enemy and led his army to attack.

When he met Cao Cao on the way, because he was worried about Cao Cao's injury, he had no way to save the village, so he could only protect Cao Cao and escape back to his camp.

On the other side, Zhang Xiu met Yu Jin, who led troops to the north of Cao Cao's stronghold to rescue him.

As a result, he ran into Zhang Xiu on the way, and he retreated while fighting, and evacuated all the way to his camp.

In fact, he didn't bring many soldiers and horses, because he was worried that his camp would be empty if he dispatched all the troops, so he only brought a few hundred soldiers and horses, mainly to investigate the situation.

Therefore, he lost to Zhang Xiu and was forced to flee back to his camp.Back in his village, Yu Jin immediately issued an order to build fortifications and defend well.

However, Zhang Xiu did not continue to chase after repelling Yu Jin, but turned around and continued to look for Cao Cao's traces. According to Jia Xu's intention, Cao Cao must be eliminated in this battle, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

So the battle continued, and Cao Cao's fleeing soldiers and horses were everywhere in the wilderness. Cao Hong responded quickly, sending people to gather the soldiers, and at the same time evacuated the camp to protect Cao Cao and evacuate to Xi'e County in the north.

While Zhang Xiu was looking for Cao Cao's traces among the rebel army, several cavalry scouts came back from the southeast, found Zhang Xiu, and said, "General, there are a large number of troops in the southeast."

"what?"

Zhang Xiu was surprised: "The people in the southeast? Can you be sure who it is?"

He remembered that Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to attack Xinye Huyang, and sent Lejin to Anzhong Rang County. If Cao Ren came back, he would be in trouble.

The scout replied: "The sky is too dark, I can't see very clearly, the other party is coming menacingly, I dare not approach it."

Zhang Xiu's complexion changed slightly, he pondered for a moment, and said, "Go and explore again."

"only."

The scouts set off again.

But here Zhang Xiu learned that there was an army of unknown origin coming towards this side, so he didn't dare to neglect, and immediately gathered his soldiers and prepared to fight.

Unexpectedly, about ten minutes later, the scouts came back to report: "Report, general, it is General Huyang Gan who came, and Deng Gongcao, who is under Liu Shijun's tent in Jingzhou, is also here, and he said he wants to meet the general."

"Gan Ning and Deng Hong?"

Zhang Xiu was shocked and said, "Huyang is two hundred miles away from Wancheng, how could they come here?"

The scout shook his head and said, "I'm not very sure, but looking at the direction they came from, they seem to be coming from Xinye."

"Newfield?"

Zhang Xiu pondered for a while, then suddenly asked: "What time is it now?"

"It's about five o'clock."

replied the scout.

The fifth watch is Pingdan, between [-]:[-] am and [-]:[-] am.

In ancient times, people went to bed earlier. Cao Ying went to bed at seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and was almost asleep by nine o'clock.

The time when Zhang Xiu launched the attack was around eleven o'clock to twelve o'clock, which is often called midnight.

In other words, Gan Ning rushed from Xinye to Wancheng within two hours?

For a while, Zhang Xiu was a little surprised, so he said to the scouts: "Take me to see."

The scout took Zhang Xiu to the south.

To the south is Wancheng. They galloped for more than ten miles, and from a distance, they saw a long dragon of torches running fast in the village of Nanjiuju in the south of Wancheng.

Soon they came to the south gate of Wancheng, at this time the sky was already slightly bright, and Zhang Xiu saw the figures of Deng Hong and Gan Ning through the light.

Deng Hong, as Liu Biao's envoy, persuaded him to surrender. Later, he met Gan Ning when he helped Liu Biao deal with the Nanyang Yellow Turban, so he naturally knew the two.

Seeing them coming now, Zhang Xiu's nervous mood relaxed a little, and he immediately stepped forward and said, "General Gan, Deng Gongcao."

"General Zhang."

The two rode over and did not get off the horse. They saluted on the horseback and said, "How is the situation?"

"Forehead"

Zhang Xiu didn't know how to answer for a while.

Because seeing the two of them, he was actually very embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

Some people in later generations wondered that Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu were allies. Since Zhang Xiu wanted to rebel against Cao Cao, why didn't he ask Liu Biao to send troops to help him?
And why did Liu Biao miss the opportunity and not take advantage of this opportunity to send troops to wipe out Cao Cao?
the reason is simple.

In fact, Zhang Xiu really wanted to join Cao Cao, so he and Liu Biao had fallen out, and the two sides had no contact.

It's just that what Cao Cao did later was too unreasonable. He not only occupied his aunt, but also conspired to kill Zhang Xiu, which forced Zhang Xiu to rebel.

And in this case, he naturally couldn't go to Liu Biao.

Secondly, although the battlefield took place in Wancheng, Wancheng is actually very far from Xiangyang.

The entire Nanyang Basin is only a little smaller than the Guanzhong Basin, with a length of 130 kilometers from north to south. Wancheng is closer to the north in Nanyang. It is 80 kilometers from Xiangyang to Wancheng, and more than [-] kilometers from Huyang to Wancheng.

Although Nanyang is flat and the roads and traffic are well developed, it must be known that they have just started fighting here, and Liu Biao may have to go the day after tomorrow when he hears the news and sends troops over.

Therefore, in Zhang Xiu's mind, it was impossible for Liu Biao to send someone to help him. From the beginning to the end, he could only rely on his own strength to complete this matter.

So when he saw Gan Ning and Deng Hong suddenly appearing, Zhang Xiu was actually very surprised. He never expected that Liu Biao's army would appear here. Could it be that Liu Biao had calculated that he would sneak attack Cao Cao today and sent someone over in advance?
Seeing his embarrassment, Deng Hong immediately understood what he meant, and said, "General Zhang has surrendered to Cao Cao, and Liu Shijun also knew about it, so when he heard about Mrs. Zou, he immediately sent me to help."

"Ah yes yes yes yes yes."

Zhang Xiu didn't think too much, and immediately patted his forehead and borrowed the donkey to say: "Cao thief came too fast. Before I can notify Liu Shijun, he has already surrounded Wancheng. I had no choice but to feign surrender. I just planned to take the opportunity to sneak attack." Fortunately for him, he succeeded tonight."

Deng Hong asked, "How is the battle going now?"

"Cao Jun was defeated."

Zhang Xiu said with some emotion: "The broken soldiers ran everywhere. I don't have enough manpower to pursue them. It's a pity that I didn't find Cao Cao."

Deng Hong glanced at Gan Ning, who nodded slightly, and said: "It's okay, the most important thing now is to wipe out the remnants of Cao's army immediately and weaken Cao Cao's strength. We will join forces with the general and attack together."

Zhang Xiu said happily: "That's great, thank you both."

At that moment, Gan Ning and Zhang Xiu's soldiers and horses merged into one, and continued to pursue Cao Jun. They fought until dawn, annihilating and killing a large number of Cao Jun's main forces.

But when it was close to noon, the Xiliang army and the Jingzhou soldiers were both tired and exhausted, and finally withdrew to Wancheng.

However, because Yu Jin built a large number of fortifications temporarily in the camp, Zhang Xiu and Gan Ning did not dare to attack by force, so he escaped. Together with Cao Hong, they protected Cao Cao, gathered a lot of defeated soldiers, and retreated to Wuyin County.

Afterwards, the soldiers and horses were counted. Except for Cao Hong and Yu Jin's troops who were safe and sound, Cao Cao had more than 1 people in his main battalion, and only less than 2000 escaped. The rest were either killed or scattered. The First World War can be said to have suffered heavy losses to the extreme.

So far, Cao Cao has not heard from Dianwei Cao Ang and Cao Anmin, so he is also very anxious. Even though he is very sleepy, he can't sleep all the time. He keeps urging Cao Hongyujin to send scouts to investigate the situation, hoping to know whether they are alive or dead.

It's just that Zhang Xiu and Gan Ning's troops were cleaning the battlefield, many people went to watch Dian Wei's body, and there were also a large number of Xiliang Army and Jingzhou soldiers wandering around, searching for the property on the dead body on the battlefield, so Cao Jun's scouts did not dare to go close to it .

When the next day passed, Zhang Xiu and Gan Ning arranged for the soldiers to clean the battlefield and sleep in shifts. They braced their bodies and returned to the Wancheng prefect's mansion, ready to eat something to fill their hungry stomachs.

Returning to the familiar Taishou Mansion again, Zhang Xiu was still very moved.

In the hall, he sits at the main seat, with Jia Xu and Hu Che'er on the right, and Deng Hong and Gan Ning on the left.

Everyone was very tired after a busy night, but at this moment they still cheered up, poured a glass or two of low-alcohol millet wine, and toasted each other.

After everyone finished drinking, Zhang Xiu said: "Thank you Deng Gongcao and General Gan for coming to help, but Xiu has one thing I don't know."

Deng Hong smiled and said: "General Zhang wanted to ask, how did we know about this matter, did you come here overnight to help?"

"That's right, I plotted to attack Cao Ying this time, but I have not disclosed the secret. How did the meritorious Cao know about it?"

Zhang Xiu was very curious.

Deng Hong smiled and said nothing, but said after a while: "Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to attack me in Huyang, and we beheaded and wiped him out. Later, I heard that Cao Cao entered the city that day and gave gold to General Hu, and then Madam Zou happened. Knowing that the general will definitely turn against Cao Cao, he came here to help."

"Forehead"

Zhang Xiu looked at Jia Xu with a guilty conscience, forced a smile on his face and said, "So that's the case, that's the way it is, I really want to thank you both for this time."

"It's just a little effort."

Deng Hong waved his hands and said: "It's just that the general killed Cao Cao's eldest son, nephew and confidant Dian Wei in this battle, and formed a deep hatred with Cao Cao. If he doesn't die, he will inevitably raise troops to invade the country in the future. What is the general's plan?"

Zhang Xiu said bitterly: "I'm also very worried, I wonder if the master can teach me?"

Deng Hong murmured: "General now that Cao Cao has been defeated, he should immediately write a letter to Liu Shijun, explaining the cause of the matter, saying that Cao's army was too fast to ask him for reinforcements, so he had no choice but to feign surrender. At that time, I wrote a letter to invite General Gan to defeat the enemy together, what do you think?"

Zhang Xiu didn't think much, nodded repeatedly and said: "It should be so."

Deng Hong said again: "After Liu Shijun is trusted, he will no longer have doubts about the general. At that time, the general can ask Liu Shijun to send heavy troops to station in Huyang, Biyang and other places, and advance and retreat with the general. Only in this way can we resist Cao Cao's attack."

"I see."

Zhang Xiu said: "Tomorrow I will write a letter and send it to Xiangyang."

Deng Hong smiled and said, "That's the best."

The two chatted for a while, and the back kitchen finally brought up the dishes. The few people hadn't eaten since yesterday, they were hungry, and after filling their stomachs, they dispersed.

Gan Ning and Deng Hong went back to rectify the troops, and then settled down on the spot. The location of the camp was the camp that Cao Cao hadn't burned down yesterday.

Zhang Xiu stepped up sending people to the surrounding counties to inform the surrounding county magistrates that he had recovered Nanyang.

In the evening, Zhang Xiu hadn't slept since yesterday, and was very tired. She was about to go back to the barracks to have a good rest, but Jia Xu suddenly came to her.

The two met in Zhang Xiujun's tent, Jia Xu came in and said, "General."

Zhang Xiu was very tired, but when he saw Jia Xu coming over, he cheered up and said, "So it's Uncle, what's the matter?"

Jia Xu murmured: "Now that Cao Cao is not dead, there will be endless troubles in the future. He coerced the emperor to order the princes, and soon he will reorganize his troops and attack Nanyang. Is the general really planning to die with Cao Cao?"

Zhang Xiu was still angry, and said in a cold voice: "Hmph, this thief Cao is just a villain who doesn't trust his words. He said it nicely when he recruited me, but what happened? Not only did he insult my aunt, but he also conspired to get rid of me. Could it be that Uncle is still taking chances on him?"

Jia Xu knew that at least it was unrealistic to tell Zhang Xiu that surrendering to Cao Cao was unrealistic, so she immediately said, "Of course not. Can."

"Find another way?"

Zhang Xiu was surprised: "Isn't this Nanyang not good?"

"Cao Cao will come again." Jia Xu said: "This time the victory over Cao Jun was intentional and unintentional. When Cao Jun comes again, it is impossible to win such a victory again."

Zhang Xiu pondered: "We can unite with Liu Biao to resist Cao's army."

"Liu Biao?"

Jia Xu sneered, "Don't you think, General, that Liu Biao is even more defensive against us?"

"What do you mean, uncle?"

Zhang Xiu didn't understand.

Jia Xu's gaze was serious, and he said softly: "What I mean is, Liu Biao has already sent someone to secretly monitor our every move. Once we are no longer needed by him, I'm afraid it will be the time when he sends troops to destroy us."

Zhang Xiu looked at Jia Xu in astonishment, a little at a loss.

(End of this chapter)