Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1178 Pursuit
The Jin army soldiers under Zhang Fang poured kerosene on the branches of the trees, then took out dead branches and leaves and lit them. Flames leaped up and burned fiercely in an instant.

Ancient forests were extremely prone to fire because the humus formed by leaves over millions of years accumulated on the ground and, after fermentation and other processes, became a continuous source of methane. Once such ground was ignited, it would generate a fire that was extremely difficult to extinguish.

Of course, it is not something that ordinary people can do to lurk in such a place. Zhang Fang and his men dug in the woods and lurked, deceiving the patrolling spies. They waited patiently for seven or eight days and were almost reaching the limit of their physical strength. Only then did they wait for the opportunity to achieve success in one fell swoop.

Yuan Xi gave the order, and Zhang Fang chose the right time to start the fire, just when Hao Zhao's rear infantry had just emerged from the woods. The fire started and soon spread to the entire woods, completely blocking Hao Zhao's army's retreat.

Hao Zhao had just rescued Wen Pin in the front line. When he turned around, he saw the woods behind him on fire. He knew he had fallen into a trap and said to Wen Pin, "General, follow me. It will only take half an hour to go around the woods. Let's go back to the city first and then we can take our time!"

Wen Pin knew the situation was urgent, so he immediately jumped on his horse and followed Hao Zhao to break out towards the Jiangling city gate. Hao Zhao took the lead and, while the Jin army had not yet surrounded them, he united the team and rushed out of the circle with all his strength.

The Jin army naturally pursued them relentlessly. At this time, Hao Zhao had no time to take everyone away, so he could only order some infantry to cover their retreat.

However, the sight of his own soldiers being constantly surrounded by the surging Jin army made Hao Zhao close his eyes in pain. These people entrusted their lives to him, but he easily killed them here!
He gritted his teeth and suppressed the urge to turn back and rescue several times. The most important thing at this moment was to return to Jiangling City and protect the city. Otherwise, everything would be useless. After weighing the two options, he had no other choice.

Hao Zhao broke through without hesitation, which did not surprise Yuan Xi. He stood on the shore, waiting for the boat to follow.

Guan Yu's warship also hit the shore at this time. He got off the boat and saw Hao Zhaowenpin and others riding horses to break through the encirclement and escape in the distance. Although the woods behind them had been set on fire, they could still go around the sides of the woods. If this continued, the Jin army would not be able to catch up!
He walked towards Yuan Xi with a big knife in hand and said, "Prince Jin, are you just going to let them go like this?"

Yuan Xi cupped his hands and said, "General Guan, if you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. Let's wait and see."

Huang Zhong also rushed over at this time. He had just got off the boat and saw that Hao Zhao was leading the cavalry to break through. He knew that he could not catch up with them on foot, so he walked up to Guan Yu and said, "Please wait a moment, General. The lord has his own arrangements."

Guan Yu had no choice but to be patient, but soon he saw a large ship speeding towards him in the distance. It did not slow down when facing the river bank, but instead accelerated, hoisted its sails, and rushed directly to the shore.

The huge hull left a wide groove on the shore. Fortunately, it was a flat-bottomed boat. Although this move was extremely rough and risky, it finally rushed to the shore steadily and stopped on the ground.

Then the side of the ship opened, and Guan Yu looked over and saw a huge empty cabin inside. Hundreds of horses had been saddled and bridled, and were driven out of the cabin and onto the shore by the soldiers.

Yuan Xi smiled at Guan Yu and said, "General, the horses have arrived. Can we chase the enemy?"

Guan Yu laughed and said, "Okay, then it's up to me!"

He jumped on his horse with the Qinglong sword in hand, shook the reins, and rushed in the direction where Hao Zhao had escaped.

Yuan Xi said to Huang Zhong, "General Huang, go and help General Guan. Today is the day to make a contribution."

Huang Zhong heard this and immediately shouted, "Listen!"

He then jumped on his horse and led the Jin cavalry at gallop.

The war horses sent here had been recuperating for a long time, while the war horses of Hao Zhao and Wen Pin had consumed most of their strength after a previous charge. As a result, Guan Yu and Huang Zhong approached Hao Zhao's rear army at an extremely fast speed.

When Hao Zhao's remaining soldiers saw this, they wanted to rush over to stop the pursuers, but the Jin army's infantry would not let them do so and immediately surrounded them.

When Hao Zhao looked back and saw this, he felt even more upset. He was afraid that these thousands of infantrymen would all die here. The only ones who could go back would be the hundred or so cavalrymen who followed him. It all depended on whether the enemy could catch up with them.

However, when Hao Zhao saw the speed of Guan Yu and others' pursuit from behind, he felt discouraged. Although he could ride a horse, he was an infantry general after all, so the speed of his entire team was far slower than that of Guan Yu and other cavalry generals. Seeing that the enemy was getting closer and closer to him, Hao Zhao had to ride his horse desperately, because there was a passage outside the woods in front of him. After going around it, he would be able to reach the city in a few miles!
However, at this moment, several cavalrymen in front of them fell heavily to the ground with their horses for no apparent reason. When Hao Zhao looked, he saw several ropes tied in the grass on the ground, so he shouted, "Be careful of the trip ropes!"

But it was too late. Dozens of cavalrymen behind were unable to stop and were tripped by the ropes and fell to the ground with their horses. The rest were forced to slow down.

The best way now is to lead the horse on foot and walk across the grassland while looking for the rope, but the pursuers behind them will not give them so much time.
Wen Pin, who had been silent until now, saw this and said, "General Hao, you go first, I'll cover you."

Hao Zhao said anxiously: "The other side will not let you go!"

Wen Pin said in a deep voice: "Instead of being unable to leave, why don't you go back to defend the city and wait for reinforcements to arrive, and then avenge me!"

He immediately turned his horse's head and headed for Guan Yu who was chasing him. Hao Zhao watched Wen Pin turn around and couldn't help but slow down his movements. If he just left like this, how would he fight back?
When Guan Yu saw that Wen Pin dared to confront him head-on, a glimmer of approval flashed in his eyes. He squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and rushed towards Wen Pin.

Wen Pin held the sword in his hand ready to strike. He thought that although he and Guan Yu had some awareness, they could at least withstand a few dozen attacks. This time was enough for Hao Zhao to escape!
But at this moment, an arrow flew from a distance and shot at Wen Pin's horse's head. It turned out that Huang Zhong, who was behind Guan Yu, took the opportunity to shoot the arrow. Wen Pin had no choice but to chop down with his sword to knock the arrow away.

At this time, he was several feet away from Guan Yu. He wanted to hold his sword horizontally and return to the previous position, but Guan Yu had a sharp eye and would not give him this opportunity. So when Wen Pin swung his sword, he accelerated his horse and rushed forward, approaching Wen Pin. At this time, Wen Pin's sword was about to fall and had not yet been raised, Guan Yu instantly closed to two feet and entered the attack range!

Guan Yu shook his arm, and the Qinglong Sword flipped up from behind, drawing a circular arc, and with the sound of wind and thunder, it chopped down on Wen Pin's head!

Wen Pin lost the initiative and tried to raise his arm to knock Guan Yu's blade with the back of his sword. With a loud bang, the back of Wen Pin's sword was cut and the long sword fell to the ground.

Wen Pin gritted his teeth and tried to raise the knife again, but just as he raised it to his eyebrows, Guan Yu's next knife arrived.

There was a constant clanging sound. Every time Wen Pin raised his arms halfway, he was knocked down by Guan Yu. He felt aggrieved. He could have exchanged a few moves with Guan Yu, but if this continued, he would be exhausted to death!

Let’s not talk about Guan Yu, there is also Huang Zhong who is eyeing him covetously!
Seeing Huang Zhong drawing his bow and pointing his arrow at him, Wen Pin secretly groaned in his heart, fearing that his life would be lost today!
But at this moment, an arrow flew towards Huang Zhong. Huang Zhong dodged it. Wen Pin glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and found that it was Hao Zhao who returned!
Seeing Hao Zhao rushing to his side, Wen Pin felt mixed emotions. While resisting, he said to Hao Zhao: "General, why are you doing this?"

Hao Zhao said in a deep voice: "If the general is defeated, I will be caught up as well, and the two of us will not be able to escape."

"Why not give it a try and see if we can find a way out!"

Guan Yu on the other side heard this and shouted, "I thought that Cao's army was full of servile people, but I didn't expect there were still some brave men!"

"I see that you two are not cunning people. It's a pity that you followed the wrong person. If you dismount and surrender, you can still save your lives!"

Hao Zhaowenpin shouted at the same time: "Everyone serves his master. Stop talking nonsense and show us your true colors!"

Guan Yu heard this and laughed, "Good!"

"This is the spirit of a great general. Today, I will make you two convinced!"

Wen Pin and Hao Zhao looked at each other and swung their weapons at the same time, attacking Guan Yu together, one with a spear and the other with a broadsword, each move aimed at Guan Yu's vital points. Guan Yu perked up when he saw this, and swung the Qinglong sword in his hand, blocking the weapons of Wen and Hao at the same time.

The two sides fought for a few rounds. With a whoosh, a sharp arrow grazed Guan Yu's armpit and flew into Hao Zhao's forehead from a blind spot. Hao Zhao dodged in a hurry, and the arrow head grazed his cheek and made him break out in a cold sweat.

Wen Pin also encountered the same trouble over there. The second arrow flew over Guan Yu's head almost at the same time, then fell slightly and shot towards Wen Pin's face. Wen Pin had no choice but to dodge, but he was so focused on dodging the arrow that Guan Yu almost hit him on the shoulder.

The two men looked at Huang Zhong behind Guan Yu at the same time, gritting their teeth in hatred. Normally, when generals were fighting, it was not easy for others to shoot arrows for fear of accidental injuries. However, Huang Zhong was a skilled and courageous man. Not only was his shooting accurate, but the angle was also tricky, making it extremely difficult for the two men to deal with him.

Now, the power of two close combatants is obviously not as strong as that of one far and one close. If Guan Yu cannot be defeated in a short period of time, I am afraid that both of them will die here today!

The two men became furious and simply rushed forward, engaging in close combat with Guan Yu while circling around him to prevent Huang Zhong from aiming. Huang Zhong saw the three men moving around and was afraid of accidentally hurting Guan Yu, so he rushed into the battle group with a ring-handled sword in hand, and the four of them engaged in a melee.

When Hao Zhao saw Huang Zhong approaching, he thought to himself, I finally caught you. He rode forward and stabbed Huang Zhong in the throat with his spear. Huang Zhong blocked his sword with his head wrapped around his waist, and the tip of the spear hit the blade, sparks flying everywhere.

Huang Zhong's arm felt numb and before he could recover his strength, Wen Pin swung his broadsword and knocked Huang Zhong's sword away.

Wen Pin's sword strike left him vulnerable, and he was hit on the back by Guan Yu. He vomited blood with a "wow", but his eyes were full of satisfaction. Next, Hao Zhao only needed to stab Huang Zhong to death, and he would exchange his injury for his life. It would be a big profit!
Hao Zhao on the other side also understood what he meant and stretched out his spear. However, he saw Huang Zhong move sideways, grab the longbow behind him, and twist his body to shoot three arrows!
Hao Zhao didn't expect that Huang Zhong could shoot three arrows in a short breath, and at such a close distance, so he immediately dodged in a panic.

Huang Zhong also shot arrows hastily, with the bow only half-drawn for each of the three arrows. His speed was far slower than when the bow was fully drawn, but his advantage was the close distance, which put Hao Zhao in a very awkward position. In the end, he failed to dodge the third arrow and was hit in the instep by the falling third arrow.

He cried out in pain and just as he was about to steady himself, he heard Wen Ping shout, "Be careful!"

When Hao Zhao looked up, he saw Guan Yu taking advantage of Wen Pin's injury and slashing with his sword, aiming at his throat!
(End of this chapter)