Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 600 Incredible Skills
Cao Xiu had 4,000 troops under his command. They had been with him on expeditions east and west for many years. They had rich experience in fighting and were equipped with iron armor, long bows, iron spears and other equipment. They could be said to be rare elites in Cao Wei.

The loss of ordinary soldiers and horses was lost, and the wealthy population of the Central Plains could make up for it. However, if there is a gap in elite soldiers, it does not mean that you can fill it up if you want. It requires a lot of money, food and time investment to cultivate elite soldiers.

At this moment, Cao Xiu broke his whip and vowed to personally lead his troops to attack the Han army's formation, which already expressed his determination.

After all, this battle means too much. Once the third attack on the Han army's formation fails, the morale of the Wei army will further decline, and it will be impossible for Cao Xiu to retreat unscathed.

Now if he could defeat the Han army in Nanqiu and encircle the Han army in Beiqiu, Cao Xiu would not only be able to turn the tide of the battle, but he would also be able to make a name for himself in one battle and completely wash away his shame.

As for why both Cao Xiu and Huo Jun valued the third charge, its essence is just like Cao GUI's words: one rush, then decline, and three times it is exhausted.

If an ordinary army fails to charge three times, its morale will inevitably decline, let alone the Wei army that escaped from Zhongli City.

Cao Xiu wanted to take advantage of the Wei army's remaining strength and lead his troops to take a gamble. Huo Jun intended to use cavalry to interrupt the Wei army's third charge, and then defeat it in one battle.

Huo Jun, who was on the high hill, looked down at the battlefield situation below the hill. When he saw the banner representing Cao Xiu moving forward, he knew Cao Xiu's intention.

Watching Cao Xiu lead his troops to attack, Huo Jun smiled and commented: "Cao Xiu is indeed brave, but his plan is poor now!"

"Da Sima, the general is here!"

"Please rest assured, Da Sima!"

"promise!"

Huang Chong pondered for a while and said: "Now that the strength of the Wei army is about to be exhausted, the commander of the army ordered the cavalry to circle the three armies, with the intention of confusing the Wei cavalry; and it also made the Wei army's infantry feel that they were surrounded by enemies, and feared the enemy, so they continued to ride on foot. Defeat the enemy together."

Huo Jun sat back on his chair and said: "I will let Zhu Huan lead his troops down the mountain to cover, and you will lead your cavalry straight out. There is no need to worry about the Wei army below the mountain."

"Ok!"

Cao Xiu's personal charge was not part of Huo Jun's previous plan. Today, Cao Xiu leads the charge in person, and Huo Jun needs to fine-tune Pound's troops.

"Remember to shoot at the southern formation of the Wei army first, then the western formation of the Wei army, and then shoot at Cao Xiu's troops. When the arrows are exhausted, use the back of the horse to charge Cao Xiu's infantry. At that time, I will ask General Huang to charge down the mountain to flank Cao Xiu. "Ride on foot."

"Correct!"

After Pang De left, Huo Jun looked at Huang Chong and asked, "Do you know my intention of using troops now?"

"promise!"

"remember!"

During this period of observation, Huang Chong was not as talented as Huo Fan, but his understanding ability was good, much better than his biological son Huo Yi.

"Come here, tell Pang De to come forward and obey the order!"

Huo Jun nodded with satisfaction. It was good that Huang Chong understood his intention of using troops.

Pang De's strong body bowed slightly and said in a deep voice: "Virtue must cut off Cao Xiu's head as a sacrifice to the great Sima!"

Not only was Huo Yi not good at swordsmanship, riding and archery, but he was also mediocre in military affairs. Fortunately, he was slightly talented in politics. With his political resources and Liu Chan's trust, it was not a problem to become a high-ranking official.

Pound nodded and said: "Shoot the southern formation first, then the west formation, and then break through the north formation in one go."

Huo Jun glanced at the sun in the sky and saw that it was approaching dusk. He smiled and said, "It depends on your order whether you can eat on time today."

After a while, Pang De, wearing armor, quickly ran to Huo Jun, two steps at a time.

Huo Jun pulled Pang De over, used his whip to guide the Han and Wei formations in Qiu, and said: "Now Cao Xiu is leading his troops to climb the hills from the north in order to break our infantry formation. He ordered Ming to lead his cavalry to set off, detour to the Wei formation in the south, and first use his bow to The crossbow cavalry fired at the Wei soldiers, causing them to retreat in chaos."

Under Huo Jun's gaze, Pound led five thousand cavalrymen galloping down the hill. He ignored Xia Houru at the foot of the hill, but circled around and charged directly towards the Wei army's southern formation in the south hill.

The Han cavalry was so powerful that Wei cavalry quickly discovered it. However, because the Wei cavalry were scattered among various tribes and their numbers were not as large as the Han cavalry, the Wei cavalry did not dare to block the Han cavalry head-on while the Han cavalry was galloping. Instead, they tried to assemble first and then compete with the Han cavalry.

The few brave men who try to use their arms as chariots are like small stones washed away by the torrent and cannot be seen in the blink of an eye.

In a short time, the cavalry charged quickly. Pound led the cavalry to the southern formation. According to Huo Jun's instructions, the cavalry was divided into three teams and rode in a semi-arc formation.

'嘘嘚~'

The sound of horse hooves was heard, and more than a thousand knights galloped in an arc, drawing their bows and nocking arrows, and sending out the arrows on the bowstrings. The arrows were shot out at a rapid speed by the speed of the horse, and the cavalry of the Wei army shot at the cavalry of the Wei army from behind.

Three teams of cavalry fired with a total of 5,000 arrows, which pounced on the Wei soldiers like locusts. The Wei soldiers who concentrated on charging towards the Han formation were caught off guard and suffered many casualties from arrows.

Before Wei's cavalry arrived, Pang De led his cavalry to launch a cavalry shooting. Five thousand arrows were fired in four consecutive rounds, and a total of 20,000 arrows were shot, which almost completely destroyed the Wei army's southern formation. The noise in the Wei army's formation became louder and louder, and the crowd became more and more chaotic, so much so that even the infantry charging up the mountain were affected.

Fortunately, when Pang De saw Wei's cavalry approaching, he led three groups of cavalry to turn around and make a half circle along the hill with Wei's cavalry. Then the Later Han Dynasty repeated the previous practice of shooting in the southern formation, using three teams of arc-shaped cavalry to take care of the Wei soldiers in the northern formation along the way.

In the northern formation, Cao Xiu was furious when he heard the news about the Han cavalry behind him.

"How can Xia Houru protect the Northern Army and allow the rebel cavalry to harass our army!"

Because he was extremely anxious about the current situation, Cao Xiu cursed and kept blaming Xia Houru and the Wei general Yan Lu who led the cavalry.

"General, what should we do now?" the attendant asked nervously.

Seeing the huge momentum of the Han cavalry behind him, Cao Xiu's attendants were all panicked. Within their sight, they saw smoke and dust billowing from the rear of the military formation, and many Wei soldiers pushed back timidly. Fortunately, the general scolded them and barely stopped the commotion.

Cao Xiu gritted his teeth and said: "Our cavalry is still there, and the bandit cavalry dare not march directly into the square formation. Now we must seize the time and lead the troops to attack the bandit army. After breaking the formation and defeating the enemy, the bandit cavalry will retreat without fighting!"

"promise!"

Pang De led his cavalry to harass Cao Xiu for a while, then headed west. Before Wei's cavalry arrived, the three teams galloped in an arc, pouring out 10,000 to 20,000 arrows.

After this operation, Zang Ba's troops who climbed the hill to attack were demoralized by the Han cavalry. They doubted whether the army had been defeated, so they allowed the Han cavalry to rush to the back of the phalanx. After three rounds of cavalry shooting by the Han army, Wei Qi led his troops to drive them away based on the report from the cavalry. Pang De repeated his old trick. When he was riding at a gallop, he passed by the Wei army's southern formation and took advantage of the situation to ride and shoot. This round of cavalry shot down, and many Wei soldiers in the formation fled.

The generals of the Wei army relied on suppression to barely stop the Wei army's retreat. Of course, this is related to the fact that the Han army on Nanqiu did not launch a counterattack. If the Han soldiers launched a counterattack at this time, it would be difficult for the Wei soldiers to stop them.

After that, Pang De continued to follow Huo Jun's instructions, just like the King of Qin walking around the pillars, and led his horse to the northern formation.

As the three teams rode in an arc, Pound asked his men to blow the horn. The Han army on Nanqiu responded by blowing trumpets, indicating that the army was ready.

After getting the signal, Pang De no longer hesitated and divided his troops into a group to stop Wei Qi. He led two teams of cavalry to stand close to the formation, and more than 3,000 Han cavalry poured arrows at Cao Xiu's troops at maximum speed.

At the same time, Huang Quan clearly judged that the Wei army was exhausted based on the situation, and immediately waved the big red flag to attack, ordering Guan Ping, Shi Ran and other Han generals to lead their troops to launch a counterattack.

As Huang Quan issued the order, the Han army, whose front line had not moved at all, suddenly launched an attack like a giant awakening at the critical moment when the offensive and defensive situation changed.

Suddenly, flags were flying, drums were beating like thunder, and the Han soldiers rushed straight towards the Wei army's formation like tigers descending from the mountain.

The Wei army, which was fighting endlessly, no longer had the high morale they had before. They charged at the enemy line three times without moving. In addition, Pang De led his cavalry to shoot from behind. Not only did they suffer mental exhaustion, but their morale also fell into a slump.

After only a few moments of resistance, the condescending Han army rushed them to pieces. No matter how loud the Wei army generals shouted, they couldn't stop shouting. Many Wei soldiers realized that they had a way out, so there was no need to fight the Han army, and then they fled westward in defeat, hoping to cross the Luojian River to return home.

Within a few breaths, a large number of Wei soldiers lost their fighting spirit, gave up fighting the Han army, and tried their best to escape. The Wei army's military formation was like a dam washed away by floods, irreversibly collapsing.

The Wei armies in the southern and western formations collapsed one after another, but the Wei soldiers in the north were still resisting stubbornly because of Cao Xiu. The attack of Han soldiers alone could not destroy Cao Xiu's troops.

Seeing this, Pang De abandoned his bow and held his spear, and led his cavalry to launch a final charge towards Cao Xiu's troops.

More than a thousand cavalrymen used Pound as an arrow and charged with a roar, no one dared to stop them wherever they were!
"Snapped!"

Pound, who was rushing at the front, waved his long sword and deformed the helmet of the Wei army general. A large amount of blood spurted out from the head under the helmet, spraying into the sky like raindrops.

"kill!"

The cavalrymen who followed them shouted loudly, and they charged forward on horseback. No one of the Wei army's infantry was left to resist. Anyone who stayed in place would be chopped down by the cavalry with sharp blades, causing blood and screams to rise.

Being attacked from both sides by infantry and cavalry, no matter how brave the army is, they cannot withstand it.

"what!"

Cao Xiu was surrounded by his troops, looking around at the chaos, angrily banging the helmet on his head and roaring.

He never understood why his army was directly defeated by the Han army not long after he launched the charge, and was still defeated in a rout.

As for cavalry, he also has cavalry. Why can Huo Jun defeat him with cavalry, but he can't.

A feeling of powerlessness arose in Cao Xiu's heart. Huo Jun's use of troops was too terrible!

The attendant grabbed Cao Xiu, who was in pain and self-reproach, and asked: "General, our army is defeated now. Why don't we lead the army to fight out, cross the Luojian River, and return home!"

Cao Xiu laughed miserably and said: "Lu Xun took a boat and went straight to Shouchun. Huo Jun led his troops to block the Luo River. Not only did he want to defeat our army, but he also wanted to take Shouchun directly. Now Anhui will easily let me return home!"

Having fought against Huo Jun many times, Cao Xiu had some idea of ​​Huo Jun's tactics. In the current situation, regardless of Huo Jun's initiative to open a way for them, in fact it was just to prevent the Wei army under his command from falling into a trapped beast. If he was not mistaken, Huo Jun must have a backup plan in Luojianshui.

"General!"

The attendant took Cao Xiu's arm and said: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. When the general returns home to prepare for war, he may not be unable to defeat Huo Jun!"

"Return to the country?"

Hearing this, Cao Xiu's mouth became bitter and he said: "I led the army to attack Zhongli for a long time but failed, and now I have defeated the army again. Now that I have returned to the country, I will not say whether your majesty will punish him, and I have no words to meet your majesty!"

"General~"

Cao Xiu interrupted the attendant and said calmly: "In the past, I obeyed your majesty's words and did not go to Zhongli. I will die to apologize. The reason why I did not follow the old words was because the army was isolated and I needed to lead my troops back to the country. Today, Zhongli has not yet come. The army is destroyed, I should die to thank the country!"

More than a dozen attendants burst into tears and begged Cao Xiu not to commit suicide.

Cao Xiu sighed and said, "After I die, you all can do what you want!"

Looking at the blue sky, Cao Xiu recalled many things from the past in his mind. The late emperor's appreciation for him, His Majesty's earnestness for him... will all disappear now.

It's a pity that the heroic words are not complete, sweeping the Jianghuai River, crossing Wuyue with troops, and putting an end to this troubled world for the Cao family!
"Keng!"

Cao Xiu drew his knife and killed himself. Hot blood continuously spilled from his neck, dyeing his body bright red.

After pausing for a few moments, Cao Xiu fell directly to the ground and closed his eyes unwillingly.

The attendants burst into tears, and then cried for Cao Xiu. Due to the disintegration of the military formation, most of the troops dispersed in a hurry except for a few people who bravely stayed behind to collect Cao Xiu's body.

At that time, Cao Xiu committed suicide due to his defeat. The banner representing Cao Xiu was cut down by the Han army. The Wei army's infantry and cavalry were completely defeated and could no longer compete with the Han army.

On the mound, Huang Chong looked at the completely defeated Wei army, let out a breath, and then stole a glance at his father-in-law who looked neither happy nor sad, and his admiration grew stronger in his heart.

He heard about Huo Du's military exploits, mostly through other people's words. It wasn't until he followed Huo Du that he realized that military use was as valuable as Han and Bai. The meticulous arrangement of each unit's troops and horses, the precise use of the terrain, and the control of the enemy's and our own momentum are truly miraculous.

"Does Da Sima light up the wolf smoke?" Wu Ban asked.

"Order it!"

Huo Jun stood up from his chair and said, "It's time to finish now!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)