Great Han Empire

Chapter 762: A Storm of Troubled Heroes

The red sun is rising.

The sound of war drums and horns spread throughout the sky accompanied by the faint morning wind.

Yan Liang drove his horse up the high slope and looked ahead.On the battlefield with a radius of several miles, the flow of people was surging, the banners were densely covered, and the murderous aura was fierce.

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To the south of the battlefield, Lu Bu commanded Zhang He, Zhang Liao, Mustafa and Jifeng's [-] cavalry troops to complete their formation.

After the bloody battle yesterday, the dead soldiers of both sides have been buried. Scarlet blood and broken weapons can be seen everywhere in front of the battlefield, and the air is filled with an unpleasant smell of blood.

Lv Bu rode lightly on his horse and made his last inspection along the front of the battle formation.

Mustafa bowed slightly on the horse, "My lord, the Changshui Camp is ready."

Lu Bu nodded, "The two-winged cavalry should use their long arrows to cover the infantry in the middle to tear through the rebel formation. Don't rush to attack."

Mustafa agreed and waved his hand behind him.Several messengers rushed into the battle formation on horseback, urgently reporting Lu Bu's latest order to the soldiers of the Changshui Camp.

Zhang Liao saw Lu Bu approaching on horseback and hurried to meet him.The two looked at each other, filled with emotion, and turned their gazes to the battlefield in unison.

"Brother Fengxian, after we were driven out of Chang'an by Li Jue, we should go directly to northern Xinjiang."

Lu Bu sighed slightly, "It's too late, we still have time, we didn't waste too much time." Then he pointed forward, "Wen Yuan, the speed to tear through the rebel formation is faster. Once the formation is broken, Zhao Yun and Li Su My lord's iron cavalry roared from the east and west wings of the battlefield, and this battle will end soon."

Zhang Liao roared excitedly, "After this battle is over, we will go south to fight Cao Cao and avenge our revenge."

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On the east side of the battlefield, the [-] cavalry led by Lou Lu, Lu Huanyang, and Gongsun Xu commanded by Li Su were slowly rolling up. The huge smoke and dust from the movement of the army almost obscured the rising sun.

Li Su looked cold and solemn, and kept giving orders.

"We haven't participated in a battle of this scale for many years since the Sunset War." Lou Lu drove his horse to Li Su's side and shouted loudly.

"I haven't fought for so many years, is your sword rusted?"

With a roar, Lou Lu pulled out the saber on his back and slashed at the air, "My saber is still sharp, waiting to drink the blood of the enemy.

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To the north of the battlefield, Wu Xiong and Guo Hua led five thousand cavalry ready to attack.

Guo Hua pointed to the smoke and dust rising from the east, and shook his head in frustration, "Today we have no chance to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds."

"What? Do you want to be trampled to death by your cavalry?" Wu Xiong smiled and pointed to the ground under his feet. "In this battle, the difference in strength between the two sides is too great. Let's stand here and watch the fun."

Guo Hua hesitated for a moment, and asked in a low voice: "We have the fewest people here, will Tian Kai and Ma Teng choose our direction to break through?"

"It's possible." Wu Xiong nodded and said, "But in the face of the siege of 7 people, they will die wherever they go."

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To the west of the battlefield, Zhao Yun, Jiang Wu, Wei Jun, and Liu Ming led [-] cavalry to stand in formation.

Jiang Wu looked up at the southern sky, and said worriedly to Zhao Yun, "I wonder if Gao Lan can hold back the Jingzhou army? If we can drag the Jingzhou army to the south of Xinhe, we can reach the north of Xinhe tonight." Eat Xiahou Dun."

"Yesterday afternoon, a part of the Xuzhou Army had already crossed the river to support the Jingzhou Army. Whether we can eat Xiahoudun depends on whether Gao Lan can succeed in today's attack." Zhao Yun said lightly, "If we can wipe out Xiahoudun within half a day Tian Kai and Ma Teng, even if Gao Lan didn't hold back the Jingzhou army south of Xinhe, we could still besiege and kill Xiahou Dun."

"It shouldn't be a problem to wipe out 5000 people within half a day." Jiang Wu smiled, "Zilong, after we kill Tian Kai, do you think the general will order us to go directly to Qingzhou?"

Zhao Yun smiled slightly, "Why? Don't you want to besiege Cao Cao?"

"Of course Cao Cao wants to kill him, but I think after killing Tian Kai, Qingzhou has no strength, so we can take the opportunity to occupy Qingzhou."

Zhao Yun nodded and said with a smile: "If we can occupy Qingzhou this year, it will indeed be of great benefit to quell the Liaodong rebellion. Maybe the general will consider it, but the premise is..." Zhao Yun pointed to the battlefield, "We want to win the battle against Dongguang. war."

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In the middle of the battlefield, the surrounded rebels looked lonely and weak, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, terrified.

Tian Kai and Ma Teng were completely desperate. They never thought that there would be so many people from the Northern Border Army surrounding them. They even suspected that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had already retreated. The Northern Border Army from the other two battlefields had all arrived here. .

"We can't break through." Tian Kai smiled wryly, "If Xiahou Dun retreats now, they may still have a glimmer of hope."

Ma Teng looked up to the sky and sighed, without saying a word.

"The northern army has the least number on the north side of the battlefield. To break through, we can only choose the north side." Guan Jing said very calmly, "After the two sides fought, because the number of people on the north side of the battlefield was small, and the cavalry from the east rushed into the center of the battlefield, At this time, there will be a short-term unguarded state in the northeast direction of the battlefield. We gathered hundreds of elite cavalry and rushed out from here. At the beginning of the war, the Northern Border Army had no time to chase us."

Tian Kai and Ma Teng seemed to see a life-saving straw, and the desire to survive was suddenly ignited in their hearts.

"Let's go back to Qingzhou directly." Tian Kai waved his fists and gnashed his teeth and shouted, "We still have a chance to defeat the leopard."

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Zhou Shan hurried to Yan Liang's side, "My lord, Xiahou Dun has not launched an attack yet."

"Is there any sign of retreat?" Yan Liang asked hastily.

"nothing now."

Yan Liang looked at the sky, "Lord Gao Lan has already started to attack, let's start too, and make a quick decision, so as not to let Xiahoudun retreat to the south of Xinhe and delay the time for complete annihilation."

Yan Liang raised the horsewhip in his hand and swung it down fiercely, "Beat the drum... attack..."

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The sound of the drum was earth-shattering, the rocks pierced through the clouds, and the Xiaoliang Pavilion shook at this moment.

The army of iron cavalry on the east side of the battlefield suddenly accelerated, a huge roar suddenly exploded, and flying smoke and dust rushed straight up.

The army of cavalry on the west side of the battlefield rushed towards the battlefield like a tide breaking a dike, carrying a violent wind and thunder.

The infantry army on the south side of the battlefield, under the cover of the two-winged cavalry, shouted all the way, and swept towards the center of the battlefield like a raging hurricane.

The rebel army is like a flat boat in a flood, like a pillar of rock in a stormy sea, helplessly watching the catastrophe coming.

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Ma Teng gathered all the iron cavalry and charged towards the east of the battlefield, completely ignoring the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry who came from behind him.With no chance of winning, the only option is to fight to the death, life for life, killing one counts as one.

Tian Kai commanded the Qingzhou army to block the Northern Xinjiang army from the front by relying on a thin car formation. He also completely gave up his right wing and back.

Behind him is Wu Xiong's army.Because of the small number of troops, Wu Xiong did not enter the battlefield. He was only responsible for preventing the rebels from breaking through, and Zhao Yun's iron cavalry was on his right wing. He was unstoppable and could only let them kill.

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"Boom..." With a loud noise, Youzhou iron cavalry and Guanzhong iron cavalry collided head-on on the battlefield, and the sound of fierce fighting resounded through the sky instantly.

Li Su roared loudly, and the spear in his hand stabbed three people like lightning.A bloody spear point suddenly fell from the sky and pierced the face.Li Su instinctively lowered his head and dodged, the spear pierced his helmet, screamed past his head, and a few flying drops of blood hit his face.Before Li Su raised his head, the terrifying howl was already in his ears. His bodyguard cavalry pierced through the enemy cavalry at the fastest speed, and flew his body high.

"Kill, kill..." Li Su's hair was disheveled, furious, the spear in his hand was like a crazy beast devouring the life of the enemy, "Kill me..."

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Zhao Yun's [-] iron cavalry entered the battlefield without hindrance.

Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu led their troops to run wildly, chasing after the Guanzhong iron cavalry and shooting wantonly.Wei Jun and Liu Ming rushed to the Qingzhou army, hacking and killing them at will.

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Mustafa and Jifeng controlled the speed of the cavalry, and suppressed the Qingzhou army's arrow array with long arrows flying all over the sky.

The infantry army of Zhang He and Zhang Liao held their shields high, rushed into the chariot formation at high speed, and started a bloody fight with the Qingzhou army.There were too many infantry troops in Northern Xinjiang, and they had a clear advantage. In a short period of time, they tore apart the enemy's chariot formation and opened up two passages.

The horn blew, and the soldiers of Changshuiying and Huqiying suddenly accelerated, piercing into the hinterland of Qingzhou army like two long arrows leaving the string.

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Xiahou Dun decided to retreat.

It has been a day since the fierce battle with the Northern Xinjiang Army yesterday afternoon, and there is no news of Tian Kai and Ma Teng.All the scouts sent out were intercepted and killed, and the range of activities of the scouts could hardly exceed ten miles.Xiahou Dun felt that the situation was not good. He suspected that Tian Kai and Ma Teng had been surrounded by the Northern Xinjiang Army, otherwise there would be no news at all.

Since Tian Kai and Ma Teng were surrounded, and he was unable to break through the blocking of the northern border army to rescue them, one can imagine their fate.Once the northern border army solved Tian Kai and Ma Teng, he would be in danger.In such a place with dense rivers, if it is trapped by the northern army, it will be too difficult for the army to break through.In order to preserve strength, the only option is to retreat.

At this time, the Northern Border Army was attacked in Xindu City, and the number of troops that could rush to the Dongguang battlefield must be limited. With the strength of Tian Kai and Ma Teng, it is not a problem to hold on for two to three days. Time quickly withdrew to Ganling.Although the eldest brother wanted to persist on the East Road battlefield until the end of August, he did not say that he would persist until the end of August before retreating.As long as I return to Ganling Kingdom in early September, it will not be considered as a violation of my elder brother's military order.

Xiahou Dun's opinion was supported by Li Dian. At this time, he also believed that continuing to go north was purely courting death.Now that the Northern Xinjiang Army has discovered our intentions, of course they will not give us any chance.Xiahoudun ordered Zang Ba and Wen Pin not to fight with the northern Xinjiang army that restrained them, but to withdraw immediately and take the food, grass and supplies to occupy the Dagu River twenty miles away from Xinhe.At the same time, Sun Guan of the Xuzhou Army was ordered to lead his troops to guard several crossings on the Xinhe River, and to respond to his retreat at any time.

Zang Ba and Wen Pin were fighting fiercely with Gao Lan while transporting grain and grass to the north bank of the Xinhe River.After receiving Xiahou Dun's order to retreat, the two were secretly happy.They have long believed that this battle cannot be fought.The whereabouts of the army are completely exposed, and the strength is not dominant. Even if they hit Nanpi, it will be difficult to cross the Zhangshui River to complete the planned combat objectives.

Wenpin ordered Huang Zhong and Wei Yan to lead 3000 troops to retreat to the Dagu River first.

At noon, Li Dian led the main force to retreat.Xiahou Dun took 2000 troops to put on a show on the south bank of Dahe Gudu, preparing to withdraw at night.

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At the same time, the fierce battle on the Xiaoliang Pavilion battlefield continued.

Seeing that the battle was coming to an end, Yan Liang immediately ordered Zhang Zhen, Qin Yi and Gao Shun to attack Xiahou Dun proactively, pinning the Yanzhou army to the south bank of Dahe Gudu.He was worried that Xiahou Dun would run away in fright after finding out that the main force of the northern Xinjiang army was besieging Tian Kai and Ma Teng.

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The three of Zhang Zhen were very unhappy because they did not participate in the Xiaoliang Pavilion battle. At this time, they received the order to attack the Yanzhou Army, and they were immediately elated.With his own 5000 troops, he can completely defeat the [-] Yanzhou Army.Now that Yan Liang ordered himself to take the initiative to attack, of course the credit for annihilating the Yanzhou army cannot be given to others.

The 5000 men of the three armies rushed to the opposite bank with thunderous drums.

Xiahou Dun thought that his intention of withdrawing troops had been exposed, so without saying a word, he turned around and ran with 2000 people.

Only then did Zhang Zhen, Qin Yi, and Gao Shun realize that the Yanzhou Army had begun to retreat.The three rushed to report to Yan Liang, and then chased after them.

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What Yan Liang was worried about happened.

If Xiahou Dun withdrew to the south bank of the Xinhe River and joined the Xuzhou Army and the Jingzhou Army, then the 3 horses would be squeezed between the narrow river channels, and there would be enough food and grass to hold out for a period of time.On the contrary, at this time, the many advantages of the Northern Xinjiang Army were limited due to terrain reasons, and it was difficult to eat these 3 people in a short period of time.

Once the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army is held back here, the strategy of going south to encircle and annihilate Cao Cao is bound to be affected, or even fail directly.

"Order Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu to withdraw from the battlefield immediately, lead the army across the river Gudu, and outflank the rebels from the right."

"Order Li Su and Gongsun Xu to immediately rush to the north bank of the Xin River and outflank the rebels from the left."

"Urgently tell Lord Gao Lan to delay the rebels from crossing the river at all costs."

Yan Liang looked at the battlefield where the sound of killing was loud, waved his hand vigorously, and shouted loudly: "Order, don't take any prisoners, kill them all, leave no one behind."

Zhou Shan was taken aback, and hurriedly stopped, "My lord, the general has an order to surrender as much as possible."

"I don't have time." Yan Liang shouted murderously, "Kill them all."

With the order of lore, the situation on the battlefield changed immediately. Teams of iron cavalry stepped on the corpses of the rebels and pursued at full speed in the direction of Dahe Gudu.

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In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and the scorching air and thick blood enveloped the entire Dongguang battlefield.

In the range of about fifty miles from Xiaoliangting to Dagu River, 10,000+ troops are moving at high speed.

On the Xiaoliangting battlefield, the troops of Zhang He and Wu Xiong were sweeping away the last few rebels who were stubbornly resisting.

Within a dozen miles from Xiaoliangting to Dahe Gudu, several armies were rushing towards the southwest.On the right are the cavalry of Wei Jun and Liu Ming, and on the left are the cavalry of Lou Lu and Lu Huanyang.In the middle are Lu Bu, Mustafa and Jifeng's cavalry.Behind Lu Bu's army, Yan Liang and Zhang Liao followed up with an army of infantry.

Within the fifteen-mile range from Dahe Gudu to Xinhe, several armies were also running to the southwest.On the right are the iron cavalry of Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu, and on the left are the iron cavalry of Li Su and Gongsun Xu.There are three armies in the middle.Running in the front, Li Dian's army was the closest to Xinhe, and Xiahou Dun followed Li Dian.Following Xiahou Dun were the Northern Frontier Army of Zhang Zhen, Qin Yi and Gao Shun.

Within the [-]-mile range from Xinhe to Dagu River, except for Gao Lan's army, which was still attacking in the direction of Xinhe according to the original plan, the other armies were retreating southwest.Huang Zhong's and Wei Yan's troops were almost at the Dagu River, and Wenpin's troops were guarding food, grass and luggage, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were following behind.Zang Ba's army was fighting fiercely with Gao Lan, but now he is gradually leaving the battlefield, waiting for Sun Guan to join him, while Sun Guan's army is still guarding the south bank of the Xinhe River.

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The scouts came to report one after another.Li Dian's army was still three miles away from the ferry, and Gao Lan's army was only three miles away from the ferry.

A smug sneer appeared on Sun Guan's face, "Send the order, the army withdraws from the ferry, and quickly joins Master Zang Ba and retreats south."

Yin Li, who was standing behind him, was taken aback, "My lord, Xiahou Dun and Li Dian's troops haven't arrived at the ferry, so we can't withdraw."

Sun Guan turned around abruptly, and roared loudly: "How did Marshal Sima Ju die? Hundreds of thousands of brothers were killed? I want revenge. Whoever dares to stop me, I will kill him."

Yin Li was horrified, and quickly took two steps back, "My lord, you..."

"If you don't want to die, just shut up." Sun Guan rushed up and grabbed his neck, "Did you hear that, get out of the ferry for me."

"Zang Ba will kill us." Yin Li yelled in fear, "Even if Zang Ba doesn't kill us, Lord Liu Bei won't spare us in the future."

"Liu Bei? I still want to kill him. Back then, he, Cao Cao and Tian Kai joined forces to defeat us. Have you forgotten?"

Yin Li's face darkened and he didn't speak.Sun Guan ruthlessly pushed him to the ground, waved his hands and yelled, "Get out, get out of the ferry immediately."

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Huang Tong looked at the Xuzhou army that had disappeared into the distance, and said in disbelief, "Dahei, have we occupied Xinhe?"

"The army was defeated like a mountain. It was the same when we were in the Yellow Turban Army." Dahei laughed. "At this time, whoever runs fast can survive, and he can't care about others."

The war drums sounded quickly, and the soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army, under the leadership of their respective superiors, quickly set up a blocking position along the south bank of the Xinhe River.

"Pass down the order, stick to the embankment, and don't let a single enemy go."

Gao Lan let out a long breath as if he was relieved.

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(End of this chapter)