Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 600: White Horse? You will never return.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Gongsun Zan also intended to deplete Han Fu's military strength, but this was in a sense an open conspiracy, and Gongsun Zan's words and deeds were in line with the art of war.

However, under the tenacious defense of Yuan's army, the Jie Bridge was like a bridge leading to the underworld.

No matter how hard the generals sent by Han Fu tried, they were unable to shake Yuan's army's defense line.

The two sides fought back and forth, and two and a half hours had passed unknowingly.

Faced with the heavy casualties suffered by the infantry sent by Han Fu, Gongsun Zan remained unmoved.

After two and a half hours of fighting, Han Fu's infantry casualties were probably close to 20,000, and Yuan's army also suffered heavy casualties.

The boundary bridge across the Qing River, the half near the southeast side looked as if it had been soaked in blood, and it was so red that it was creepy. The Qing River was no longer clear, but a glaring red.

More importantly, as Han Fu's generals took turns leading their troops to attack and were repeatedly repelled, the morale of the infantrymen almost dropped to freezing point.

"Incompetent person!"

Gongsun Zan sneered, which made Han Fu's generals feel ashamed and angry.

He led 50,000 infantrymen to attack for a long time, but there was no result to speak of.

As overall morale dropped, it became more and more obvious that things were being perfunctory as time went on.

Immediately, Gongsun Zan continued to speak.

"What I said is not what you are talking about..."

This made Han Fu's generals' expressions relax slightly, but Gongsun Zan's next sentence made these generals' expressions extremely embarrassed.

"I am talking about all the Jizhou officers and soldiers from Han Fu on down. They are all incompetent good-for-nothings."

Li Fu, who was ordered by Han Fu to lead the infantry as the chief general, could no longer bear it and retorted.

"Since General Gongsun thinks we are not worthy of being with you, why don't you just break through the boundary bridge yourself?"

"Humph, that's exactly what I meant."

Gongsun Zan responded proudly, but Li Fu was a little dazed.

The infantry, with archers as the support and shields as the protection, still found it difficult to gain a foothold on the other side of the river, let alone the cavalry.

However, Li Fu saw that Gongsun Zan did not seem to be joking and could not help but snorted coldly. He did not say anything to stop him. Instead, he looked like he was enjoying the show.

Gongsun Zan sneered, then commanded his cavalry to slowly advance forward.

Not only did the White Horse Volunteers led by Gongsun Zan arrive in front of Jie Bridge, but the rest of the cavalry also advanced a hundred steps forward and reached the edge of Qinghe River.

The same is true for Zhao Yun, who is responsible for guarding the left wing.

Guo Jia was a little puzzled when he saw this, but when he arrived at the edge of Qing River, he suddenly discovered that in the fierce battle that lasted for half a day, the water level of Qing River, which was originally quite high, had unknowingly slowed down a lot.

"Gongsun Bogui secretly sent people to the upstream of Jieqiao to block the river?"

Guo Jia's eyes narrowed slightly and he reacted instantly.

Only this can explain why the water level of Qinghe River decreased rapidly in just half a day.

Gongsun Zan was not in a hurry to cross the river. The water level continued to slow down significantly, and there was obvious silt accumulation at the bottom of Qinghe River. Gongsun Zan decided to wait a little longer.

Han Fu's infantry fought with Yuan's army for half a day, which caused heavy casualties to Yuan's army and consumed a lot of their physical strength.

Therefore, Gongsun Zan, who was stationed at the edge of the boundary bridge, shouted from afar to Yuan's army on the opposite bank.

"Yuan Benchu, you have fallen into my trap. Do you really think that my White Horse Volunteers cannot cross the Qing River? Or do you think that you can prevent it by sending people to patrol within 30 miles upstream?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an obvious commotion among Yuan’s troops on the other side.

At Gongsun Zan's reminder, Yuan's army on the other side of the river also noticed that the water level of Qinghe River had obviously decreased.

Before that, Gongsun Zan sent his infantry to attack the enemy in turn. The two sides fought for nearly four hours, with countless casualties, and all their attention was drawn to the Jie Bridge. No one had noticed when the water level of the Qing River began to slow down.

At this moment, Gongsun Zan could vaguely sense Yuan Shao's extremely ugly expression.

Yuan's army held the Jie Bridge, relying only on the terrain.

The narrow boundary bridge made it impossible for the cavalry to fully demonstrate their speed.

But once Gongsun Zan was able to lead the cavalry directly across the riverbed, the terrain that Yuan Shao relied on would disappear in an instant.

The decrease in the water level of the Qinghe River could not be concealed for long even if Gongsun Zan did not speak out. Now that Gongsun Zan took the initiative to reveal it, the morale of the Yuan army would plummet.

As the water level of Qinghe River continued to drop slowly, a quarter of an hour after Yuan’s army became commotion.

A chariot appeared at the other end of the boundary bridge, and Yuan Shao's voice, which seemed to contain reluctance, came from afar.

"Gongsun Bogui, it doesn't matter if you win this battle. I will give you the Jie Bridge for now, and we will fight again another day."

Soon after, Yuan's army left a part to continue guarding the boundary bridge and began to destroy it, while the rest of the army began to retreat slowly.

This scene significantly boosted the morale of Gongsun's army, and many soldiers had ferocious smiles on their faces.

What the cavalry is best at is not attacking strongholds, but chasing and killing the enemy.

After the Jie Bridge, the nearest Ganling City is nearly a hundred miles away. Can we escape?
Guo Jia's brows furrowed subconsciously.

Under such circumstances, if Yuan's army retreated and was chased for hundreds of miles by a large cavalry led by Gongsun Zan, even if there were military geniuses commanding the army for generations, it would still end in a great defeat.

Considering the bravery Yuan Shao had displayed over the past year, as well as the wisdom of his advisers, how could he be so unwise?

In this situation, if you retreat you will die, but if you hold on you may still have a chance of survival.

"Could it be that... there is an ambush behind the boundary bridge?"

This thought flashed through Guo Jia's mind instinctively, but he dismissed it in an instant.

Unless it is an ambush from all sides, setting an ambush is highly dependent on the terrain if the troops do not have an absolute advantage in strength.

What is the terrain like behind the boundary bridge?
Not to mention Gongsun Zan, even Guo Jia knew it clearly.

The vast plains made it impossible to set up an ambush to restrict cavalry.

No ambush?

But Guo Jia still felt that something was wrong. Out of ten things that were wrong, there were a hundred thousand things that were wrong.

Yuan Shao was by no means such a mediocre and incompetent person. He would definitely know that retreating and fleeing at this moment would only lead to a disastrous defeat.

"Yuan Benchu... definitely has a backup plan, but what is it?"

Guo Jia frowned and thought hard, constantly scanning the battlefield, but he still couldn't figure it out for a while.

However, Gongsun Zan saw that Yuan's army began to retreat and Yuan Shao's chariots were immersed in the army formation and were about to disappear from sight. How could Gongsun Zan accept this?

"Yuan Benchu, do you think you can imitate your brother, the Jingxiang driving god Yuan Gonglu, and drive alone for a hundred miles?"

Gongsun Zan laughed loudly, then pointed with the lance in his hand and shouted.

"Is the White Horse here?"

"exist!"

The White Horse Volunteers responded in unison, and their voices were heard for several miles.

This also made Qu Yi, who was guarding the other side of the boundary bridge, subconsciously stroke the sword at his waist and said in a low voice with a cold face.

"Humph, White Horse? You will never come back."

(End of this chapter)