The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 95 095 Yuan Shu Retires

It was twilight, Zhang Yan and others had a good night's rest, and finally relieved their fatigue. After a simple breakfast, they re-mounted their horses and headed towards Xiaxiang County.

At the same time, Tai Shici and Xu Sheng defeated Yuan Bing who were going to Qulu and Quyang respectively, and they also rushed towards Xiaxiang county without stopping.

In Xiaxiang County, Yuan Shu heard that all the troops sent out were defeated, some were completely annihilated, and some were left with only a few remnants of defeated generals.

At this time, a scout came from Huainan, and brought news that shocked Yuan Shu: Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, took advantage of the situation and led an army of [-] troops across the river to invade Huainan. Unable to resist, Sun Ben retreated to Fuling and prayed for reinforcements.

Yuan Shu hurriedly asked Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Yan Xiang, Yuan Huan, Yang Hong, Yuan Yin, and Liang Gang to discuss countermeasures.

When everyone arrived in the hall of the county government, Yuan Shu hurriedly said: "Just now Wu Jing sent someone to pass the news that Liu Yao led an army of [-] troops to the north and captured Liyang, and Wu Jing and Sun Ben retreated to Fuling. .Huainan is my foundation, and it must not be occupied by Liu Yao. But I don't want to give up Xuzhou either, so do you have any good strategies to relieve our army's current crisis?"

Yuan Huan said: "Our army has lost one after another in Xuzhou, lost troops and lost generals. Up to now, we have only occupied a small county. Moreover, under the leadership of Zhang Yan, all the soldiers in Xuzhou are brave. If our army stays in Xuzhou, I'm afraid we will die The whole army is wiped out. Huainan is the foundation of the lord, there must be no mistakes, it is better to retreat for the time being, keep Huainan first, and after reorganizing the troops, it will not be too late to fight for Xuzhou."

After Yang Hong heard this, he also hurriedly said: "Yes, my lord, our army is going deep alone, surrounded by Xuzhou soldiers and horses. If we stay for a long time, I am afraid that we will be attacked by the enemy. It is better to retreat back to Huainan and drive Liu Yao back first. That’s the top priority.”

Yuan Jun was defeated one after another, lost troops and lost generals, his morale was low, and he had already lost his will to fight. Everyone wanted to persuade Yuan Shu to retreat, but they were afraid of offending Yuan Shu, so they never dared to speak out.Now that I have seized this opportunity, I naturally have to persuade him a lot.

Seeing that Yuan Huan and Yang Hong were urging him to retreat, Yuan Shu asked, "Do you all have this opinion?"

Yuan Yin said: "My lord, all the soldiers of our army were recruited from the Huainan area, and their families are all in Huainan. If there is something wrong with Huainan, how can these soldiers be willing to stay in Xuzhou for a long time? It is better to withdraw as soon as possible, lest Liu Yao succeed. Wait for our army to return. After arriving in Huainan, we must show Liu Yao some color, let him know the power of the lord, and never dare to invade Huainan again."

Yuan Shu glanced at Yan Xiang again, and asked, "Master Yan, what do you mean?"

"Retreat quickly, or change will happen if you delay!" Yan Xiang said.

After Yuan Shu heard the eight words Yan Xiang said, he made a decisive decision and immediately decided to retreat back to Huainan.After the order was issued, the army began to pack up, took away everything that could be taken away, and headed all the way to Huainan.

Zhang Yan, Tai Shici, and Xu Sheng each led their cavalry to Xiaxiang County. After the three routes joined forces, Zhang Yan did not dare to attack easily because of Yuan Shu's large number of soldiers, so he sent people to Xiaxiang County to inquire about news.

After the scouts came back, they told Zhang Yan that Xiaxiang County was empty and the city was in a mess, but Yuan Shu's army had disappeared.

Zhang Yan was taken aback, and hastily sent out scouts to scout around. An hour later, the scouts came back and informed Zhang Yan that Yuan Shu led the army all the way to Huainan.

Yuan Shu retreated in such a hurry, Zhang Yan guessed that it must be the reason why Liu Yao sent troops to attack Huainan. He was about to lead his army to chase Yuan Shu, but suddenly he saw a group of soldiers coming from the south. The leader was Chen Deng, the prefect of Guangling.

When Zhang Yan saw Chen Deng's army coming, he went to greet him. After seeing each other twice, Chen Deng immediately saluted Zhang Yan, and the two exchanged a few words of greetings. Only then did they learn that Chen Deng had wiped out all of them. Go to attack Yuan Bing in Ling County.When Chen Jiao went to Qu'e, he happened to pass by Guangling. Chen Deng learned from Chen Jiao that Zhang Yan had few troops and needed reinforcements.

When Chen Deng heard the news of Yuan Shu's retreat and returned to Huainan, he immediately suggested: "My lord, you must not let Yuan Shu go, you must catch up and cover up all the way, and let Yuan Shu remember that Xuzhou is not so easy to bully. "

Zhang Yan nodded and said, "That's what I mean too. Your soldiers are all newly recruited, so don't go. Now that Yuan Shu has retreated, you still have nothing to do. You should lead your troops back first." Guangling, after all, you are stationed in Guangling, so I am much more relieved."

Chen Deng said: "That's fine. The lord, take care all the way, Yuan Long will lead the troops back to Guangling."

"Well, let's go."

After Zhang Yan and Chen Deng got together for a short time, they separated again. Zhang Yan led Tai Shici, Xu Sheng and other cavalry to pursue Yuan Shu, while Chen Deng led his troops back to Guangling.

Zhang Yan led cavalry, even if Yuan Shu left him for an hour or two, it didn't matter, after all cavalry ran faster.

A group of people chased along the footprints left by Yuan Shu's army, while Zhang Yan dispatched scouts in advance to inquire about Yuan Jun's news, and chased until Shen Shi, when they were about to catch up with Yuan Jun.

Shen time, that is, the period from [-]:[-] pm to [-]:[-] pm.The sun has moved to the west, but the temperature has not dropped, and it is still so hot.

Zhang Yan and the others were already exhausted, and the weather was hot, so both humans and animals were extremely thirsty.Unable to do so, Zhang Yan had no choice but to ask the soldiers to stop and rest temporarily, and get water from the river to quench their thirst.

The clothes on Zhang Yan's body were already wet with sweat, and his whole body smelled like sweat. Even the iron armor on his body was scorched by the sun.

Everyone came to a forest to rest and leaned under the shade of a tree, which made them feel much more comfortable.

Xuzhou soldiers are like this, let alone Yuan Shu's army, not to mention Yuan Shu's army is mostly infantry, and they all need to walk on their feet, so they will definitely be more tired than Xuzhou soldiers.

After Zhang Yan rested for a while, he asked the soldiers to mount their horses again and bring enough water to drink on the road.

Following Zhang Yan's order, the army set off again, heading towards Yuan Shu's army.

Thirty miles away, Yuan Jun, who had been walking for a day, had to stop on the side of the road to rest again. The soldiers were tired and the horses were tired. No matter how anxious Yuan Shu was, he could not reach Huainan in an instant.

After a short rest, Yuan Shu made a decision. He was going to lead the cavalry first, leaving Liang Gang to lead the infantry to follow.

As a result, the army was divided into two. Yuan Shu led [-] cavalry and left the army quickly, while Liang Gang led [-] infantry and marched slowly towards Huainan.

After the separation of the two armies, the distance between the cavalry and the infantry became farther and farther. Even if a hundred people in Liang Gang were unwilling, there was nothing they could do.

Half an hour later, when Liang Gang arrived at the junction of Peiguo and Xiapi, there was a sudden chaos in the rear army. He hurriedly looked back, but saw Xuzhou Mu leading the cavalry to kill, and Tai Shici, the fierce general under his tent, led the way. People rampage in Yuan Bing's camp.

The soldiers couldn't resist at all, even Liang Gang was frightened for a while. These days, he fought with Xuzhou soldiers and lost one after another. Whenever he saw Xuzhou soldiers, he was terrified.

Liang Gang took the lead to escape with his troops, leaving the infantry behind him alone.

Zhang Yan was wounded and unable to charge forward, so he had to entrust this task to Tai Shici and Xu Sheng. Under the protection of a hundred cavalrymen, he followed the main force from a distance, watching Tai Shici and Xu Sheng lead the battle. The army attacked Yuan Bing on both sides, and successfully cut off more than 2000 Yuan Bing, encircling and suppressing them.

Yuan Bing was blocked, lost contact with the main force, and was very afraid of Xuzhou soldiers. They completely lost their courage and surrendered one after another. There were more than 1000 people.

This time, Zhang Yan did not kill them again, but captured them all, tied them together with ropes, and sent a hundred cavalry to guard them on the spot. The county magistrate brought the county's yamen servants to take these prisoners back and temporarily detain them in cells.

After that, Zhang Yan led Tai Shici and Xu Sheng to continue chasing Yuan Bing.

Zhang Yan and the others were like ferocious beasts, biting off Yuan Bing's tail every time, and then besieged them. Those Yuan Bing were all terrified and surrendered one after another.And Zhang Yan adopted the same method, keeping all the captives in custody, but asked the local county magistrate to come and receive the captives.

Several times in a row, in less than an hour, Yuan Bing was swallowed up by Xuzhou soldiers with [-] soldiers and horses. Liang Gang led the army to Gaixiaju in a panic.

It was getting late at this time, Liang Gang gathered all the people in Gaixia, thinking about why he was afraid of Xuzhou soldiers with only more than 2000 cavalry when he had [-] soldiers and horses in his hands, so he boosted his morale and prepared to fight Xuzhou soldiers at Gaixia to the death.

Yuan Bing was encouraged, and they showed the spirit of preparing to fight to the death. However, after waiting for a long time, no Xuzhou soldiers came to attack.

Yuan's army was exhausted, and Liang Gang mistook Xuzhou's soldiers for fear and did not dare to come, so he ordered the army to rest on the spot.

At that time, Yuan Jun's officers and men who were exhausted were basically asleep, and even Liang Gang himself was immersed in sleep. Suddenly, there was a rush of horseshoes rolling, and the ground trembled, followed by one after another. screams.

Liang Gang and the others woke up from their dreams. They didn't know where so many soldiers and horses came from. A strong and strong man was riding a war horse, waving a big knife in his hand, and harvesting Yuan Bing's heads heartily. Blood splattered and limbs flew around.

In the dim moonlight, Liang Gang noticed that the people who launched the attack were not Xuzhou soldiers, but ordinary civilians in messy clothes. Under the leadership of a strong man, this group of people was brave and unstoppable.

The army was in a mess, Liang Gang saw that the opponent was not a Xuzhou soldier, mounted his gun and mounted his horse, and said angrily: "Damn it, where did the thieves come from, dare to sneak attack our army, don't want to live!"

Liang Gang yelled loudly, stabilized his position, and spread word everywhere, saying that these were just thieves, Yuan Jun calmed down, and saw that the people who came to attack them were indeed not Xuzhou soldiers, but ordinary civilians, some of whom were holding The shovel, the sickle, and the steel fork were only attacking with courage, and they immediately cheered up.

As soon as Yuan Jun changed his cowardice in the battle with Xuzhou soldiers, he instantly became taller. Under the leadership of Liang Gang, he began to fight back against those who attacked them.

Zhang Yan led Tai Shici, Xu Sheng and others to chase Yuan Jun all the way to Gaixia, but because they were exhausted and Yuan Jun still had more than [-] men, he decided to rest for one night and launch an attack tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, everyone slept until midnight, when they suddenly heard the loud shouts of killing coming from Gaixia, everyone woke up from their dreams.Zhang Yan gathered his soldiers and horses, quickly moved towards Gaixia, and climbed a high hill. He suddenly saw an unknown team led by a knight, fighting a bloody battle with Yuan Jun.

"Where did these soldiers and horses come from?" Zhang Yan asked, pointing at the team of unknown origin.

The scouts glanced at it, but couldn't tell why, they were all very unfamiliar with this team.

Zhang Yan took a hasty look, but saw that there were more than 3000 people in this team, many of them had no weapons. Although it was a sneak attack, the number of Yuan Jun was too large, and this team had not undergone formal training, but was surrounded by Yuan Jun up.

"No matter where the soldiers and horses come from, since they are attacking Yuan Jun, they are friends of our army. Tai Shici, Xu Sheng!"

"The end is here!"

"Each of you will lead a thousand cavalry to attack from the left and right flanks, and the rest will attack from behind!"

"Here!"

After the order was issued, the army was divided into three, while Zhang Yan stood quietly on Gaogang Mountain, leaving only ten cavalry to protect him, and closely watched the whole battle situation.

(End of this chapter)