Great Han Empire

Chapter 843 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
Small Tao Pavilion.

Cao Ren's wish came true.The northern border army did not stop attacking after nightfall as he imagined. On the contrary, as the night got darker, the northern border army's attack became more and more fierce.

Simpi and Cai Yang asked Cao Ren for help again, and the western defense line was about to be broken by the enemy.

During the daytime, Qu Yi was worried that Cao Cao and Liu Bei's army would break through the Xiping Pavilion and kill him behind, so he kept a battalion behind just in case.After night fell, Qu Yi learned that Cao Cao and Liu Bei had stopped attacking, and immediately threw Chang Gong's Shesheng Battalion onto the battlefield.With the help of Li Hui, Xin Pi and Cai Yang had just stabilized the battle line, but before they could catch their breath, the Northern Border Army roared in and dealt them a heavy blow.

Cao Ren has no soldiers to move at the moment.Wang Zhong's chariot formation in the north was engulfed in flames, and his defeat was imminent.In the east, Lu Bu commanded the army to forcefully cross the small river and push forward tenaciously to the hinterland of Xiaotaoting.Although Xia Houyuan tried his best to stop him, the morale of the Yanzhou army had lost, and the soldiers were panicked, so they could only fight and retreat.

Just when Cao Ren was in extreme despair, Cao Cao's letter was sent to Cao Ren by water.Cao Cao told Cao Ren in the letter that the main force of the army suffered heavy losses at Xiping Pavilion today and lost the will to continue attacking.Yuanju, Jiyang and other places are all under the control of northern Xinjiang cavalry, the back road has been blocked, the food and grass have been cut off, and the survival of the army is in jeopardy.After careful discussion with Mr. Liu, we decided to retreat to Fengqiu and Chenliu to join Yuan Shao before being completely surrounded by the northern border army.After the army retreats, your life is exhausted and you can only fend for yourself.Cao Cao told Cao Ren at the end of the letter, I will send a boat to pick you up, and you will count as much as you escape.

After Cao Ren read the letter, he was silent for a long time in the dark.

Mao Jie walked up to him quietly, and asked in a low voice, "When will the prime minister hit Xiaotaoting?"

Cao Ren shook his head, and threw the letter in his hand into the bonfire, "Your Excellency, the Prime Minister will send a boat right away, and we are going to evacuate. You go and gather the officials of the government, and prepare to board the boat and evacuate."

Mao Jie was shocked and stared at Cao Ren dumbfounded for a long time without speaking.

=

Come quickly to report.

The Northern Xinjiang Army lit a fire on the western battlefield, illuminating the battlefield as bright as day.The cavalry of the Huns also appeared on the west side of the battlefield. With the cooperation of the northern Xinjiang infantry army, they launched a fierce attack on the Yanzhou army.Unable to resist, Simpi retreated with the remaining troops.

"Tell Lord Xin that there are no reinforcements. If you can keep it, you will defend it. If you can't, you will retreat to the central army." Cao Ren then ordered Xia Houyuan and Wang Zhong to withdraw if they could not block the attack of the northern army, and stick to the Chinese chariot formation.

Withdrew from Dingtao to Chenliu for more than 500 miles, and the army traveled long distances. The only way to successfully escape the pursuit of the northern Xinjiang cavalry was to bring more heavy vehicles so that they could form a car formation at any time to block the attack of the cavalry. Whether it is Cao Cao, Liu Bei, or Cao Ren, the first thing that comes to mind when retreating is not speed, but safety.Relying on the same strength as the Northern Xinjiang Army, relying on the solid chariot formation, and relying on the long arrows in the hands of the soldiers, they were confident enough to retreat to Chenliu safely.The carts Cao Ren brought out from Dingtao City played an important role in the fierce battle.

While the Yanzhou Army was slowly retreating, forty ships of all sizes approached the embankment slowly in the dark.

Cao Ren ordered his personal guards to guard the embankment, extinguish all the torches on the embankment, and strictly forbid anyone to approach the embankment for a hundred steps.

Simpi, Xia Houyuan, Cai Yang, Wang Zhong, Li Hui and others each led their troops and withdrew to the central army one after another.The soldiers who fought fiercely all day and midnight were drenched in blood and exhausted.The northern army seemed to be tired too. Tens of thousands of troops approached the chariot formation, completely encircling the Yanzhou army.

Cao Ren summoned the generals and gave an overview of the current situation, "Master Prime Minister will retreat tomorrow, and we failed to break through."

The generals looked sad, and the atmosphere in the big tent was extremely depressed.

"There are forty boats on the Jishui River, and they were sent by the prime minister to pick us up." Cao Ren met the surprised eyes of the generals, and said calmly, "Forty boats can save at least 2000 people alive, but who will let them live?" Leave? Once the soldiers see the hope of living, no one will give up. This place will kill each other immediately, and there will be chaos, and the last one will not be able to leave."

"We collapsed in an instant, and the Northern Frontier Army will be able to concentrate its forces immediately to chase and intercept the Prime Minister." Cao Ren sighed, "The sentence of injustice has been lost, and the army cannot safely cross the Jishui River down the river without protection. "

The joy on the faces of the generals gradually faded.Cao Ren's meaning has already been stated, he does not intend to retreat, he will continue to hold on to Xiaotao Pavilion and hold back the main force of the northern border army so as to cover Cao Cao's and Liu Bei's troops to safely withdraw across the Jishui River.

"Don't worry, my lord, we will listen to you." Cai Yang combed the red tassels on the helmet slowly, and said with a calm smile, "It is worthwhile to exchange thousands of lives for tens of thousands of troops."

"My lord, the Prime Minister, came all the way back and killed us all the way here to save us. He has done his best." Wang Zhong raised his head and took a sip of cold water, and said calmly, "We will stay. I will tell the Prime Minister, we thank him, and we are willing to continue to follow the Prime Minister in the next life." The adults conquer the world."

"Master Xin, you can leave by boat." Xia Houyuan pointed to Xin Pi and said gratefully, "This time we were able to hold on to Dingtao for more than ten days because of your rescue. You have done enough for us, you time to go."

Simpi smiled slightly and shook his head, "At this time, how should I go? I left you and escaped alone, can I live a peaceful life? I still have the face to live in this world?" He patted Yijia peacefully. Dust on the ground, he said unhurriedly, "What do people want in this life? Just want to be famous. Miaocai, do you want me to spend my whole life under the eyes of contempt?"

"It's up to you." Xia Houyuan laughed, "If you insist on dying here, I won't stop you."

The generals swept away the frustration and despair just now, and suddenly talked and laughed happily, without any fear at all.

Cao Ren picked up a roll of bamboo slips from the case table, "I drew up a list, including the head of the village, military marquis, army commander, and school lieutenant. There are about 20 people. I have sent someone to invite them." He took the bamboo slips Passed it to Xia Houyuan, and then said to Xin Pi, "Master Xin also selects a group of people from his own hands. Yingchuan's soldiers can't all die here, there will always be some left behind, who can help Sir rebuild Yingchuan's army in the future." .”

"I'm dead. Yingchuan County will naturally have a new prefect. When the new prefect rebuilds Yingchuan's army, we will be able to recruit more heroes in Yingchuan." Simpi waved his hand, "Don't forget, Yingchuan is an outstanding man Good place."

"You go with them." Cao Ren said very resolutely, "Miaocai, and the rest of you, leave immediately."

The generals were stunned.Xia Houyuan stood up abruptly, and was about to speak, but Cao Ren stopped him with his hand, "The Prime Minister orders me to stay, and orders you all to leave."

"Where's the order? Where's the elder brother's letter?" Xia Houyuan shouted, "Don't lie to us."

Cao Ren took out a piece of white silk from his pocket.Xia Houyuan hurriedly opened it, but there was no word on it, "Zixiao..."

"Take them away." Cao Ren snatched the white silk and stuffed it into his arms, reached out and patted Xia Houyuan's back, and said in a low voice, "If you don't leave, no one will leave here. Tell elder brother, I will We will do our best to hold back the Northern Xinjiang Army."

Xia Houyuan was extremely sad and angry, roared angrily, and rushed out of the big tent.

=

The northern army found a ship on the Jishui River, and the news reached Li Hong as quickly as possible.Li Hong immediately ordered Qu Yi and Lu Bu to command the northern and southern armies to attack and kill the rebels by the Jishui River.

The rebels shrank their defenses, and thousands of people crowded into the narrow car formation to resist tenaciously. It was really not easy to attack.The army has been attacking for a whole day and midnight, and the soldiers are already very tired. If they attack by force, the loss will be too great.The Huns' iron cavalry was also helpless in the face of the rebel formation.

"How about Fire Attack?" Qu Yi looked at Fan Li and asked, "Didn't you just set fire to the rebels' northern line car formation? You plan to do it again and burn this car formation too?"

Fan Li smiled wryly, "My lord, the kerosene is gone. Sir Yu Du lit a fire at Xiping Pavilion today, and I just lit another one, and the kerosene is used up."

Qu Yi opened his eyes wide, and stared fiercely at Fan Li, "Can't you save some? It's not your family's kerosene, use it for happiness, right?" Then he looked at Dong Zhao again, and complained loudly, "You Responsible for supervising food, grass and military equipment, how could there be such a mistake? If the rebels escape, I will impeach you."

Everyone knew his temper, so he scolded him.Captain Chang Gong suggested that strong archers should be recruited to shoot by the river, and block the rebels' retreat with a dense array of arrows.In order to prevent Cao Cao from rescuing Dingtao this time, the Northern Xinjiang Army consumed a lot of arrows, so the long arrows shipped from Jizhou recently are very large, which is enough to waste.Qu Yiyi didn't fight anywhere, and pointed at Chang Gong and cursed, "You don't have a brain? You are talking nonsense. Do you know how wide the Jishui River is? You send your archers to the river to shoot wildly, what should I do?" Attack Cao Ren? Just stay for me and don't talk nonsense."

Chang Gong's face was red and his ears were red, and he ran behind Yushi with his head shrunk, and he opened his mouth wide and panted heavily.

Fire attack is not enough, force attack is not enough, we can only bomb indiscriminately, to see if we can force the rebels to jump over the wall and kill each other.After all, there are not many boats on the river, and the rebels must compete for boats in order to escape. As long as the rebels are in chaos, the opportunity to attack will come.

"Cao Ren is such a coward, he keeps his head in his head like a turtle." Qu Yi punched the table and shouted at the generals, "Smash his tortoise shell for me, and smash his head out."

=

Lu Bu personally rushed to the front to supervise the battle.

Zhang Zhen of the Northern Army's Huben Battalion, Chang Gong of the Shesheng Battalion, and Guo Xun of the Southern Army's Wuwei Battalion were in charge of the frontal attack.

"The general is worried that the rebels will turn around and flee, so he wants us to fight quickly at any cost." Lu Bu pointed to the chariot formation ahead, "Master Qu cares about the casualties of the soldiers, and hopes to use force to deter the rebels and force them to rebel. In order to achieve victory at the lowest cost. In my opinion, let’s make a compromise and let the soldiers attack under the cover of the arrow array to try a few times. As long as we open a gap, we can fight in.”

The three discussed it carefully, and decided to let the strong archers and stone cannons shoot long distances to suppress the enemy archers in the chariot formation, let the ballistas fire cross-fire, cover the attacking soldiers close to the chariot formation, and strive to open the attack gap.

The fierce battle began immediately.

Cao Ren took the command of the central army and fought back vigorously.

=

Dawn came quietly with the sound of rumbling drums.

Li Hong stayed in Ma Gaopo, looking at the thin mist on the river in the distance, feeling anxious.

Qu Yi and Lu Bu had been attacking for two hours, but they still could not capture Cao Ren.The scouts came to report that the boats that arrived at Xiaotaoting last night had returned to the river near Xipingting, but they did not see a large number of soldiers disembarking from the boats. It was probably not to support Cao Ren's retreat, but to deliver food, grass and military equipment to Cao Ren.In addition, the scouts also reported a strange thing. Last night on the river in the Xipingting area, the rebels removed all the food and military equipment loaded on the boats, and then these empty boats frequently traveled between the two banks, as if they were transporting The soldiers crossed the river.

"The rebels are about to withdraw." Li Hong exclaimed, turned his head and shouted at any arbitrary, "Hurry up, tell Liu Bao to cross the river, and immediately lead [-] cavalry to cross the river and go down to the Taoqiu area to outflank and attack the rebels. ,quick……"

Arbitrarily agreed, Li Hong shouted again when he was about to tell the messengers behind him, "Urgently tell Yan Rou, please hurry to Taoqiu area to meet Liu Bao. The Huns can't act alone, once they burn, kill and loot in counties and counties , our sin is serious. Tell Yan Rou that this matter is urgent and cannot be delayed."

Several messengers galloped away like long arrows leaving the string.

Li Hong looked at their backs gradually disappearing into the forest, feeling excited in his heart.The battle of Dingtao was won, and if they took advantage of the victory to pursue and encircle and wipe out the armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei on both sides of the Jishui River, the chances of winning the battle in the Central Plains would be very high.

After Cao Cao returned from Jianghuai to the Yanzhou battlefield, he lost one game at Caoting and another at Xipingting. In addition to the losses from the recent continuous attacks, his 3 army still had at most 5 people.After Liu Bei received the news that Guan Yu had defeated Jucheng, he would definitely divide his troops back to assist Xuzhou. If he sent 5 troops back to aid, he would still have [-] troops.In this way, the two add up to no more than [-] people.Maybe I was wrong in my guess, and the losses of the rebels may be even greater, but considering the formation of troops, it is better to be conservative, so as not to miss the opportunity of encirclement and annihilation due to underestimation.If you can wipe out all these [-] people, you can imagine the blow to the rebels, and Hebei can also use this battle to establish the advantage of seizing the Central Plains and pacifying the world.

The more Li Hong thought about it, the more excited he became.After Cao Cao and Liu Bei failed to rescue Dingtao, there were only two ways to escape. One was to go north to join the Henan army on the front line of Yancheng and Fengqiu, or to go south to Chenliu or Liangguo in Yuzhou.

In comparison, going north is too dangerous.To the north is the Great Plains, which is conducive to the pursuit of northern Xinjiang cavalry.In addition, if Cao Cao and Liu Bei want to completely get rid of the pursuit of the Northern Xinjiang Army, they must cross the Pushui River.The Pushui River is about three hundred miles away from here, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei can't run a four-legged war horse no matter what.Even if Cao Cao discarded all his luggage and rushed to the Pushui River ahead of the iron cavalry, he still had a dead end because he had no means of crossing the river because he had discarded his luggage.

It is much safer to go south.One is that the armies of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao will definitely meet him.Now it is the end of April, Yuan Shao's army should have rested, and Liu Biao's army should have arrived. In order to prevent themselves from capturing the Central Plains, they must rescue Cao Cao and Liu Bei no matter what.Second, there is the Jishui River as an obstacle.The northern Xinjiang cavalry is now divided into three parts, one part is on the north bank of the Jishui River, and it will take time to cross the river to pursue.An army that restrains Yuan Shao and Liu Biao in Jiyang and Chenliu areas, and is also responsible for cutting off Cao Cao's food roads, these cavalry will not participate in the siege.An iron cavalry is on the south bank of the Jishui River, but it is responsible for protecting Changyi, and will not devote all its troops to the attack.In this way, Cao Cao's safety in fleeing south will be greatly increased.

Cao Cao would definitely choose to go south to escape, there is nothing wrong with it, but just in case, it is better to send an iron cavalry to roam around Zhuzao City.Cao Cao has tiger and leopard cavalry in his hands, and the number of this cavalry should not be too small to avoid accidents.

"Liu Ming, who passed on the order of injustice, guard the city carefully, and send more scouts to investigate the movement around Zhuzao City."

"Order Shan Yuting's Zuo General, Hu Yan Yuanjia, and Zuo Dahu, Lan Rong, immediately rush to Xiping Pavilion to assemble and follow me to attack the rebels."

"General, Huyan Yuanjia is attacking Cao Ren with Master Qu Yi at the small Taoting Pavilion..." Ren Ren was about to ask clearly, but Li Hong had already interrupted him, "Let the matter of attacking Cao Ren be left to Qu Yi and Lu Bu." , we lead an army of iron cavalry to chase and kill Cao Cao."

=

On the morning of this day, an extremely spectacular scene occurred in the rebel camp.

10,000+ soldiers and civilians carried their shoulders on their shoulders, carrying large and small parcels, rushed out of the camp like a flood, and then scattered along the roads of all sizes.

At the same time, hundreds of large and small boats shuttled back and forth on the river, transporting the peasants to the south bank non-stop.After these people went ashore, they also scattered.

After hearing the news, Li Hong rushed to the vicinity of the rebel camp to check what happened.

The gate of the rebel camp was opened, and the banners in the camp were fluttering. Rows of baggage carts could be vaguely seen, and occasionally a few ballistas attached to the carts could be seen.In the depths of the camp, there were crowds of people, and there was a lot of voices. It was not known if they were soldiers of the rebel army or civilians waiting to cross the river.

Li Hongnong's brows were furrowed tightly, he couldn't think of what Cao Cao wanted to do.

Want to fight with yourself?Since there is going to be a decisive battle, the army needs civilian husbands.At a critical moment in the war, the role of civilian husbands is especially important.Let the civilians go, how can tens of thousands of troops fight?Do you want someone to deliver the ordnance?Especially long arrows consume a lot of energy. If you want to shoot continuously, you have to rely on civilian husbands to carry them continuously.

Want to retreat?The peasants have all run away, who will deliver the food, grass and luggage?Cao Cao would not let his soldiers run away with dry food, a pot of long arrows, and a spear?Isn't that suicidal?
Suddenly, the war drums rang out in the rebel camp, and the neighing of war horses came along with the wind, and the strong murderous aura spread across the field in an instant.

Li Hong thought that the rebels were about to come out of the camp to attack, so he hurriedly retreated to the back of the blocking battle with his cavalry.However, until the sun was high in the sky, there was no shadow of a rebel.

=

The scouts of the Northern Border Army moved around and arrested many civilians for interrogation. Li Hong was even more confused by the answers he got.

The husband said that the prime minister ordered them to go home, and distributed food and belongings to them.The prime minister told them that the army was about to fight the Hebei rebels, because Li Hong killed people without blinking an eye, and even brought the Huns to kill the Central Plains. He was worried that after the defeat, the 10,000+ civilians would be killed by Li Hong, or they would be taken away by the Huns. I became slaves outside the Great Wall, so I decided to send them away first, and let them escape back to their hometown as soon as possible.Therefore, the peasants respected Cao Cao as a god, and regarded Li Hong as a bloodthirsty beast, and were terrified of Li Hong.

When asked about the movements of the rebels, the peasants said that the security in the barracks was so high that ordinary people couldn't get close to them, and they didn't know anything about it.

Li Hong became more and more uneasy, always feeling that there was something wrong here.

Cao Cao distributed food and property to 10,000+ civilian husbands and dismissed them. Even if he wiped out Cao Cao himself, he would not be able to capture any spoils of war, but Cao Cao's purpose was obviously more than that.Cao Cao divided all the food and property, what about him and tens of thousands of soldiers?If I surround him in groups, after a long time, he and tens of thousands of soldiers will drink the northwest wind.

"Order Qu Yi and Lu Bu to immediately take down Xiaotao Pavilion and move to Xiping Pavilion to encircle and wipe out Cao Cao."

=

The northern border army successfully tore through the formation of vehicles, roaring in.

Under the indiscriminate bombing by the Northern Xinjiang Army, the Yanzhou Army has suffered heavy casualties and their morale is low.Seeing that the chariot formation was broken, the northern Xinjiang army rushed in like a mountain, and the soldiers of the Yanzhou army surrendered one after another.

Captain Li Huili fought and died.Cao Ren resisted tenaciously, and was finally captured because of being seriously injured.

Lu Bu had a deep hatred for the Yanzhou Army and ordered all of them to be killed.Seeing that he was surrounded by crossbows, the soldiers of the Yanzhou Army knelt down and begged for mercy, shouting that they were originally Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, not Cao Cao's direct descendants.The cries of the surrendered soldiers alarmed Kuji and many former generals of the Yellow Turban Army, and everyone came forward to intercede.

Lu Bu couldn't listen to it at all, and insisted on killing him.Qu Yi knew the pain in Lu Bu's heart and kept silent about it.The bitter chief hurriedly sent someone to report to General Li Hong.

Li Hongda was furious.In such an emergency, the general in charge of the army was not in a hurry to encircle and wipe out Cao Cao, but had the leisure to kill the prisoners.Li Hong asked Ren Ran to go there in person and told Qu Yi and Lu Bu that the captives could not be killed, and that they should directly supplement the army's losses.

Qu Yi and Lv Bu were secretly startled when they saw Cao Renran, the underlord of the General's Mansion, come to Xiaotaoting to deliver orders in person.The general was furious.The two immediately ordered to rectify the army and quickly moved to Xiping Pavilion.

=

At dusk, Li Hong assembled an army of about [-] to attack the rebel camp.

The attack went very smoothly and came in one go.

There are only [-] soldiers in the camp, and there is a letter from Cao Cao.

Li Hong was trembling with anger, and smashed Cao Cao's letter to the ground.For the first time in more than ten years, he suffered such humiliation.

"Yuntian, gather an army of infantry, cross the river immediately, and go south to attack Chenliu."

"The iron cavalry tribes, follow me northward to hunt down the rebels."

=

(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
(End of this chapter)