Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1017 Fierce battle in the woods
Chen Wu prepared his formation, but saw that Zhang Liao's army was still not coming out. He couldn't help but be puzzled. Is the enemy hiding in the woods?

However, he was experienced in battles and did not hesitate at this time. He immediately divided his troops into two groups and bypassed the woods, preparing to attack from both sides and surround Zhang Liao in the woods.

However, when his two armies encircled again, no trace of Zhang Liao's army was found. Chen Wu became suspicious and sent people to investigate in the woods, only to find that there was no one inside!
After hearing the spy's report, Chen Wu suddenly became numb. What's going on?

He rode out and checked the surrounding terrain, and suddenly found that the woods were on a high level, but the passage behind the woods was about ten feet lower than the woods. He immediately realized that the woods were actually on a small hill!

He looked at the passage behind the woods and saw that it was winding and winding, forming a long arc that went along the lowland to...

Behind yourself!

He immediately broke out in a cold sweat and loudly ordered the soldiers to turn and retreat. However, it was too late. Nearly a thousand cavalry from Zhang Liao's army suddenly appeared from the end of the road and attacked Chen Wu's rear formation at extremely fast speeds!
This was the place where Chen Wujun's defense was weakest. Zhang Liaojun spread out his formation and rained down several rounds of arrows on the dense crowd. Immediately, more than a thousand people were hit by arrows and fell.

Seeing that his own army was showing signs of collapse, Chen Wu quickly rushed forward on his horse and ordered the soldiers to hold their positions. When he saw Zhang Liao's army's horse hooves, he found that they were covered with linen, and then he suddenly understood why Zhang Liao's army was attacking. It is really difficult to deal with the silent cavalry, which uses the terrain for concealment and is highly mobile to come and go freely.

But in fact, so far, this kind of casualties is not enough to cause a fatal blow to Chen Wu's military formation, and Chen Wu responded quickly, immediately turning the soldiers to the opposite side, and firing arrows back at the same time.

Thousands of people fired their bows and arrows, so Zhang Liao naturally did not dare to attack him lightly. He immediately ordered his men to stay away and look for a way to break through again. After Chen Wu saw this, he also took the opportunity to shrink his formation. In this way, his army could respond Zhang Liao's army made a surprise attack and became much more at ease.

Zhang Liao tried to attack from the other side, but found that the effect was far less effective than before. After the cavalry fired two rounds of arrows, Chen Wu had already transferred the shield soldiers from the front.

After the shield was raised, the effect of the bow and arrow was not great. Zhang Liao made a prompt decision and asked the cavalry to hide in the woods again, waiting for an opportunity to attack from another direction.

However, something to Zhang Liao's surprise was that he found that Chen Wu did not try to send troops to outflank him, but instead sent a signal to withdraw his troops. This was to retreat directly to Sun Quan's main formation!

When Zhang Liao saw it, he immediately realized that Chen Wu was indeed an experienced general in the Jiangdong Army. He knew that he could not break the large formation that used the terrain in front of him, and would only be cannibalized step by step by Zhang Liao's army, so he simply did not fight. Even if you risk being punished, you have to retreat in order to minimize losses!
Moreover, Chen Wu thought very clearly that ten thousand people might not be able to break the large formation around Hefei, but one hundred thousand people would be enough. As long as he sent troops to bet on every entrance and exit, camp step by step, and gradually approach Hefei, Zhang Liao's cavalry would no longer be able to move around. With no room left, he could only be forced out of the formation and returned to Hefei City. Then Zhang Liao's raid was tantamount to failure!
Zhang Liao sighed in his heart, everyone said Jiangdong was a rat, but these old men who followed Sun Jian and Sun Ce had come through bloody battles after all. They did not gain fame in vain. One of the few weaknesses was that the head coach of Jiangdong Army this time was from Sun Quan who had never fought in a war.

At this time, Zhang Liao remembered Yuan Xi's words. In today's world, if the lord cannot fight, it will be difficult to convince the public. But even if the lord is really unable to fight, there is no need to force it. He can still prove himself in other ways, but it is very dangerous to act too hastily. If you do something you are not good at, you will inevitably suffer backlash.

Seeing that Chen Wujun was about to withdraw, Zhang Liao couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly. Jiangdong generals are not weak. If they attack again, it will be even more difficult for him to deal with it. If Sun Quan is allowed to fight and grow up again, , that would be even more troublesome, so the current battle led by Sun Quan is the best time to completely defeat them!
So no matter what this time, I can't let Chen Wu go back. Only by completely disintegrating and defeating Jiangdong Army's attack and making it completely lose its fighting spirit can the siege of Hefei be resolved!

Thinking of this, Zhang Liao looked at the terrain and shouted: "Follow me!"

The soldiers immediately followed Zhang Liao on horseback, and the eight hundred cavalry disappeared into the dense forest again. When they reappeared, they suddenly appeared in the center of Chen Wu's marching army!

Chen Wu was ordering his soldiers to go as quickly as possible. Suddenly, hundreds of cavalry rushed out of the woods nearby. Zhang Liao took the lead and rushed into Chen Wuzhong's army!
At that time, it was rare for the cavalry to directly charge the enemy formation, especially when they were extremely outnumbered. Chen Wu was also caught off guard. A huge gap was opened in the military formation, and the direction of the incision was exactly where Chen Wu's flag was. Location!

Chen Wu knew in his heart that the other party was going to rush into the formation and kill him!

He immediately shouted, "Surround them, they are few in number, no one can escape today!"

Zhang Liao took the lead, firing out the steel spear in his hand one after another, stabbing the Jiangdong soldiers in front of him to death. But after more than a dozen people passed by, Zhang Liao felt a little tired in his hands, and the black heads in front of him were surrounded by the flag in the distance. Although there was only one It's far away, but Zhang Liao knows that if this continues, he won't be able to rush to the opponent!
Moreover, he calculated the time and found that Sun Quan's central army would only have half an moment at most to rush over and join Chen Wu's army. At this time, he would die here.

Therefore, the only way to survive now is to kill Chen Wu in the shortest possible time and completely defeat this army of ten thousand people!
Thinking of this, Zhang Liao waved his hand and shouted: "Set fire thunder!"

Among the cavalry, they immediately took out the bamboo tube hanging on their horse, lit it, and threw it into the crowd of Jiangdong soldiers.

With bursts of explosions, Jiangdong's troops who had piled up together screamed and fell down. They looked at this uncomprehending scene in horror and fell into great chaos.

Moreover, the fire thunder was filled with ingredients. It not only contained iron nails and steel balls, but also mixed with extremely unpleasant smoking materials. The thick smoke suddenly dispersed and made the Jiangdong soldiers dizzy. For the military, it was a sight that was simply incomprehensible.

Only Cao Cao's army had tasted this before, and it exploded again. After Yuan Xi could hide for two years, he used it on Jiangdong's army for the first time, and it achieved excellent results. The morale of Jiangdong's army collapsed and began to flee.

Zhang Liao and his cavalry had already put on cotton masks, and amidst the billowing smoke, they launched another surprise attack in the direction of the flag of Chen Wuzhong's army!
Seeing this, Chen Wu hurriedly shouted: "Don't run, they are outnumbered, we can turn around and completely annihilate them!" But the battlefield was already in chaos, with all kinds of noises coming one after another.

"Your general has been killed, surrender immediately!"

"You are all Shanyue slaves captured by Jiangdong. The general is dead, do you still have to work hard for Jiangdong?"

"Why don't you come with us and kill all the enemies in Jiangdong, fight back to Jiangdong, and rescue your parents and family!"

The voices were rising and falling, and Chen Wu saw the wavering looks on the faces of the soldiers around him, and couldn't help but feel cold in his heart. The other party actually knew the composition of his soldiers so well that he came up with such an inflammatory slogan!

Because the other party was right. This time, Sun Quan's 70,000 to 80,000 troops included at least 50,000 Shanyue people. If all these people rebelled, there would be no need to fight.

No, we can't go on like this. No matter what, we must return to Sun Quan to warn him!

Thinking of this, Chen Wu ordered the flag to be raised while waving the Chinese flag, wanting to declare that he was not dead yet. However, the thick smoke had blurred the vision of the battlefield, and he could not take the flag lightly. Chen Wu gritted his teeth, and it seemed that he was going to Give up on these people and escape back first!
He no longer hesitated, and immediately ran away. As soon as he ran out of the chaotic military formation, a general with a spear leaped on his horse and stabbed Chen Wu straight at him. It was Zhang Liao who had arrived!

Chen Wu had no other choice, so he gritted his teeth and faced Zhang Liao, his guns crossed, and he started fighting with Zhang Liao.

Seven or eight miles away from where the two sides were fighting, Sun Quan was leading the Chinese army forward slowly. He watched Chen Wu enter the woods. He always felt that the shape of the continuous woods in front of him was a bit weird, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

He turned to Xu Sheng beside him and said, "Should we wait for Chen Wu to win, or should we go in directly?"

Xu Sheng thought for a moment and said, "The enemy situation ahead is unclear. Maybe someone is lying in ambush in the woods. Let him scout out first."

Sun Quan asked doubtfully: "How much can be hidden in such a forest?"

"Three thousand, five thousand?"

"With this kind of number, we might as well defend the city. What's the use of putting them here?"

Before Xu Sheng could reply, he heard loud shouts of killing in the woods, and then thick smoke continued to rise. Everyone in Jiangdong was shocked when they saw it. Chen Wu was afraid that he had fallen into a trap!
When Sun Quan saw this, he became anxious and wanted to lead his army into the woods. Xu Sheng quickly advised: "My lord, you must not do it."

"The situation is unclear now, and the enemy has used fire attack again. If the fire starts, no matter how many soldiers enter, they will only be burned to death!"

"Please, my lord, wait and see what happens!"

Sun Quan's face turned cold, "Are you just going to sit back and watch Chen Wu die in battle?"

Xu Sheng hesitated and said: "The dozens of large and small battles he has experienced should be able to suppress the situation. In this situation, if we send people inside, it will be difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, but it will easily cause chaos."

Sun Quan looked grim because Chen Wu was an extremely important direct line figure to him, even more important than Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, and Cheng Puhan.

Chen Wu was born in Lujiang, and later served as the commander of Sun Ce's branch. He was brave in battle and was highly appreciated by Sun Ce. However, few people knew that Chen Wu had a very good relationship with Sun Quan in private. Therefore, after Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan came to power and asked Chen Wu to supervise the five schools. , obviously wanting to focus on training him.

The same is true for him as a forward this time. The matter of meritorious service was definitely given to Chen Wu. All Jiangdong generals saw it, but something happened at this time!

Sun Quan's face was uncertain, and he immediately called another confidant general He Qi over and said: "You take five thousand soldiers and go to meet Chen Wu quickly!"

He Qi quickly took the order and left, but he didn't know that Chen Wu's situation in the woods was already precarious.

(End of this chapter)