Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1126 Accident
Cao Xiu set out a few days earlier than Cao Cao, and he took nearly several thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry with him. At that time, Cao Cao's order to him was to first support Cao Ren in the west, and then open the passages on both sides, and then turn around to help Xiahou Dun in the middle.

In this way, Cao Chun will be able to appear behind Zhang He's army and cut off Zhang He's retreat in one fell swoop. If the timing is good, he can even completely wipe out Zhang He's army!
But no one knew what went wrong. Cao Cao personally led his troops here and fought against Zhang He for several days, but Cao Cao did not even see the shadow of Cao Xiu's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Zhang He on the opposite side seemed to have noticed something and kept fighting and retreating, making Cao Cao's previous plan almost completely futile!

In Cao Cao's mind, Cao Ren's defense on the flank was strong enough, coupled with Cao Zhen's excellent offense and the roaming Ma Chao. The reinforcement Cao Xiu had not arrived yet, which showed that the strength of the Jin army on the opposite side was far beyond Cao Cao's previous expectations!
Previously, Cao Cao thought that there were not many generals in Yuan Xi's army who could suppress the combination of Cao Ren and Ma Chao, so the two sides should be in a roughly balanced situation, and to break this balance, all they needed was the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to make the final decision.

So what Cao Cao did was to stay in the center of the army to stabilize the situation and morale, while at the same time sending the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, the sharp knife, to the left to make the final decision and then revitalize the entire situation.

But Cao Cao didn't know that his strategy of attacking the flank first was indeed the best option, but in practice, there was a slight deviation.

Because Yuan Xi on the opposite side thought the same.

After the troops of both sides simultaneously detected the troop ratio of the other side, they began to fight with the other side with all their strength. At the same time, the spies reported to the commander-in-chief of the central army of both sides at full speed to wait for the next order.

The reason for this is that the battlefield is too large and there is a delay in the transmission of commands. If you wait until the situation becomes unfavorable before sending a letter, it will be too late.

Therefore, the common practice of this era was to report the enemy situation immediately after it was learned. The lord and counselors of the central army would judge the next change of the situation based on the strength comparison of both sides, and then decide whether to send reinforcements.

If the time taken for this back and forth battle plus the time for decision-making is longer than the stalemate between the two sides, it will be too late for the reinforcements to arrive on the battlefield. On the contrary, the reinforcements that enter the battlefield first can play the role of timely assistance, thus changing the situation on the battlefield.

The so-called famous generals throughout history are able to anticipate the enemy's moves. Even if they are hundreds or thousands of miles away, they can predict the enemy's changes in a few days or even months. Sun Wu and Han Xin are no exception.

Therefore, as a commander-in-chief and strategist, one needs to have a big picture of the entire battlefield, or at least be able to predict the general changes. In this regard, Cao Cao, as a military strategist, is undoubtedly the strongest in the world.

As for Yuan Xi, he was somewhat inferior in strength. The confidence he used to fight against Cao Cao was that he could transmit information faster than Cao's camp.

What Cao Cao's spies could do in three days, Yuan Xi could shorten the time by at least one and a half days. With this back and forth, the gap in decision-making ability between the two sides was greatly made up.

But even so, Yuan Xi still relied on manpower to transmit information. He was able to control the battlefield situation in real time like the use of unlimited radio waves in later generations, so he also made decisions based on the information he received.

As for Gao Lan who was in a stalemate with Cao Ren all the way, Yuan Xi's idea of ​​breaking the deadlock was actually the same as Cao Cao's. When Zhuge Liang received the news, he immediately sent Zhao Yun, who was on standby, to lead thousands of Youzhou cavalry to rush to Changshan Pass.

Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang defined Zhao Yun as a general who was more talented than a commander, and a sharp knife on the battlefield. Thousands of elite soldiers were just the right amount for Zhao Yun to be able to play to his strengths, so Zhuge Liang's decision was undoubtedly extremely correct at the time.

When Zhao Yun arrived at the battlefield, Gao Lan was in a stalemate with Cao Ren, Ma Chao was launching a fierce attack on Zhang Liao from the flank, and Zhang Liao was struggling to hold on and was on the defensive.

Although Zhang Liao was inferior to Ma Chao in terms of military strength, his ability to command battle formations was unmatched by Ma Chao. So Zhang Liao seemed to be at a disadvantage, but Ma Chao just couldn't break Zhang Liao's formation.

Cao Ren was also helpless. Ma Chao was his vanguard and as the commander-in-chief he could not go into the battle to help in person. After all, there was Gao Lan on the opposite side who was eyeing him covetously. So Cao Ren could only patiently advance steadily to see which side would reveal a flaw first.

But then something unexpected happened. Zhao Yun arrived at the scene with his cavalry and attacked directly from the side and rear of Cao Ren. Cao's army was caught off guard and their formation was in chaos. Cao Ren quickly changed his formation to block the attack, but Zhao Yun would not give him this opportunity. He immediately went around to another direction and attacked again. Cao's army was in a panic and overwhelmed.

When Ma Chao saw this, he quickly turned around to defend. How could Zhang Liao let him do that? He immediately clung to him like a thorn in the flesh and tripped Ma Chao up.

Ma Chao was so angry that he started cursing, but his strength was not enough to kill Zhang Liao. The two of them were entangled again, and he could not rush to the central army of both sides to help.

Gao Lan finally got the chance. After gathering his strength, he immediately led his entire army forward, hoping to cooperate with Zhao Yun to completely break through Cao Ren's army.

This time it was Cao Ren's turn to be under great pressure. He was surrounded by enemies and there was a risk of his army collapsing at any time.

But at this time Cao Ren finally showed his expertise. He ordered his soldiers to retreat to the camp and rely on bunkers to defend and counterattack. At the same time, he pulled out all the equipment and vehicles to block the front and inside the formation, preventing the cavalry from breaking in, and turning the offensive and defensive battle into a complete mess.

This was undoubtedly learned from the tactics that Yuan Xi's army had used against Ma Chao, but it was indeed useful against cavalry. The route of Zhao Yun's Youzhou cavalry was blocked, and they were unable to attack the ground formation with all their strength, and their speed also slowed down.

Seeing that he could not quickly break into Cao Ren's camp, and seeing that his vanguard cavalry was being hit by arrows, Zhao Yun made a prompt decision to abandon the camp and head straight for Ma Chao's rear army.

This decision made Cao Ren very sick. He watched Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao surround Ma Chao and fight him with all their might.

Ma Chao was gradually gaining the upper hand and suppressing Zhang Liao with his superior military strength, but he never expected Zhao Yun to arrive. After only a few encounters, he was killed by Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao. Now Pang De, whom Ma Chao relied on the most, was dead. The remaining Xiliang generals were far inferior to Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao. They were entangled by the Youzhou cavalry and could not come up to help for a while. Ma Chao had to face the spear and axe alone. In less than a dozen rounds, he was stabbed in the thigh by Zhao Yun's spear.

Ma Chao thought to himself that his life was over. Was he really going to die here today?

At this time, Cao Ren saw that the situation was not good. He knew that if Ma Chao died in the battle, he would not be able to escape. He had to push away the cart in front of the camp and rush over with Cao Zhen to help.

The two sides fought again and lasted for a whole day and night. Neither side dared to call off the battle early, but instead sent troops to fight in rotation.

At this time, the ability of the general can be seen. The reason why Cao Ren is good at defense is that he can reasonably allocate the physical strength of the soldiers. While letting some soldiers fight, he can also let some soldiers rest and then go up for rotation.

Gao Lan's side was not bad either, as he had dealt with this kind of situation before, so both sides fought and rested at the same time. After a whole day of fighting, half of the soldiers were still able to maintain combat effectiveness, although most of them could only barely stand.

The worst off were the Xiliang soldiers. The thousands of men led by Ma Chao were given special attention. Some were wounded or dead, and more than half were exhausted. Now, there are less than a thousand cavalrymen left on the battlefield, and they are basically useless.

Zhao Yun was also exhausted, but when he saw that Ma Chao could no longer hold on, he decisively launched a charge, completely dispersing Ma Chao's last cavalry, and then launched an attack on Cao Ren's rear army.

Cao Ren was almost at his limit at this time. Looking at the cavalry coming at him, he was ready to be defeated and killed.

However, at this moment, Cao Xiu was about to lead his troops into the battlefield.

Zhao Yun, who was charging in the front, didn't know this and was still about to rush into Cao Ren's formation, but he received an urgent order to retreat from Gao Lan in the rear.

Although Zhao Yun was puzzled, he immediately turned around and went back. When he returned to the central army, he heard Gao Lan say that Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry wanted to cut off his rear, and he couldn't help but feel scared.

The Youzhou cavalry under his command are now exhausted. If they encounter a full-scale attack by the elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in full condition, the consequences will be disastrous.

After discussing it, the three decided to retreat into their own camp and form a defensive formation. Although they did not succeed completely this time, they predicted the enemy's movements half a moment in advance and avoided greater losses.

Zhang Liao sighed, "My Lord, this intelligence line can deliver intelligence a quarter to half an hour in advance, making it almost impossible for the enemy to enter the battlefield and launch a surprise attack."

“This would have been unimaginable a few years ago.”

Gao Lan and Zhao Yun felt the same way. Even though this was a short period of time, it was sometimes the key to victory or defeat on the battlefield. Zhao Yun said, "But even so, Cao's army responded too quickly. I'm afraid they guessed something in advance, so they sent reinforcements so quickly."

"The Cao army, especially Cao Cao, should not be underestimated."

Gao Lan sighed, "That's right. I have fought more than a dozen battles with Cao's army, and each time I felt constrained and almost died because Cao Cao reacted too quickly."

"I was defeated almost every time I fought against Cao's army, but this time was the most satisfying fight I've ever had."

When Cao Ren saw Zhao Yun and Gao Lan retreating, he didn't know what was going on. He and Ma Chao stared at each other, feeling quite grateful for having survived a calamity.

But half a quarter of an hour later, their relief turned into regret. After receiving Cao Xiu, who came to support, into the camp, Cao Ren realized why Zhao Yun suddenly retreated. Half a quarter of an hour was not enough for Zhao to break into the camp, but it allowed Cao Ren to entangle the enemy. If he could lead Zhao Yun into the camp and cooperate with Cao Xiu, who came, it is possible that Zhao Yun would be surrounded and killed.

But it was too late to say anything now. After Cao Ren and Cao Xiu discussed the current situation, they said, "Wen Lie arrived just in time. I didn't seize the opportunity. I am ashamed."

Cao Xiu's face was solemn. "This matter is not my fault. I rushed here at full speed without any delay on the way. But it seems that the other party got the news before I arrived. Such an enemy is really too difficult to deal with!"

The two men looked up at the sky, and saw a round balloon looming in the distant sky. Both of them felt a chill on their backs, as everything they did was seen clearly. How should they fight this battle?
After both sides had rested, they started fighting again. This time, neither side could not retreat first, so they had to bite the bullet and fight on. A stalemate formed again, but Cao Xiu's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry could no longer move to another battlefield, so they could only slowly fight with the Youzhou cavalry to consume their strength.

Cao Cao didn't know the news from Cao Xiu yet, so he called Xu Chu and said, "You lead the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and charge directly into the center of the enemy army. Defeat or kill Zhang He, and I'll remember your achievement when you return!"

(End of this chapter)