Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 3336 The price awaits

 Xu Chu did not grow up in one day.

After all, General Cao's army would have much more combat experience than Xu Chu.

Among the generals of the Cao family, although Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen and others are better at commanding cavalry, it does not mean that Cao Hong cannot temporarily serve as a cavalry full-time.

Oh, there was also Xia Houyuan before. He can be regarded as an S-level cavalry commander under Cao Jun, but it is a pity that Xiahou Yuan is relatively low in other aspects.

Generals such as Cao Chun who have cavalry combat skills can probably reach A or A+ level, but it is more difficult to get to S level. As a temporary full-time cavalry general, Cao Hong is probably B or B+ level.

Passing is above average, not excellent.

Even so, Cao Hong's B cell can still crush the passing line C of the general cavalry military academy.

Note that the command value here is not the same as riding skill.

If it were just a simple comparison of riding skills, then many people on the current battlefield could easily surpass Cao Hong.

But on the battlefield, we should not only look at the strengths, but also pay attention to the shortcomings.

Until now, Cao's army has maintained a certain combat strength and is willing to continue fighting. The only remaining troops are the central leading army and the central protecting army. The rest of the troops are generally tired and unhappy.

It's like the spring outing and autumn outing of primary and secondary school students in later generations. At the beginning, everyone was very excited. They thought that the scenery in Guanzhong must be extremely beautiful. But halfway through, the car broke down. After a lot of trouble, they got off and found a place. , it can be regarded as swimming, but the excitement before is basically gone.

The children are tired, the teachers are working hard, and even the parents at the back are muttering...

This is generally the state.

But it doesn’t mean that they will disband immediately in the next moment.

Cao's army's central leading army and central protecting army are still very strong, and there are no major problems in terms of equipment configuration or logistical supplies.

After all, the bald warrior of later generations has been fighting for many years, and the gap between the central army and the local army is still obvious. It would be a headache for everyone if the German Weapon Artisan really started to attack, and he had fought several hard battles during this period, so his combat power could not be wiped out blindly. It was not until the later period when faith was lost and the order was extremely broken that it collapsed at the first touch.

And it’s only been less than a year…

Want to know how long it took Cao Cao to conquer Guanzhong, Liangzhou and other places in history?

Four years.

Therefore, time is not the root cause of the army's decadence. Logistics and supplies and the inability to win will cause morale to collapse. Once it reaches the freezing point, it will be irreversible.

Cao Hong sent other troops to attack, not to defeat the Hussars, but to intercept the congested left wing of the Hussars and give him a chance to take a bite of the flesh of the right wing.

The key is to boost the morale of Cao Jun!

Even if it can only increase a little, it is still better than the continuous decline in the past few days!

It can't be like the stock market of a certain country in later generations, and it can only survive by painting a big pie, right?

Some scattered soldiers of Cao's army on the right side of the hussars saw Cao Hong and the leading cavalry roaring past. After hurriedly avoiding them, they reacted, "Ouch, follow General Cao and kill him!" 』

It has to be said that most of the time, the bravery of soldiers is closely related to the generals, whether it is in the era of cold weapons or hot weapons.

"Follow the general and kill him!" 』

"Kill!" 』

…

…

Xu Chu was also on the high platform.

Cao's army has a high platform, so of course the hussars must also have one.

After all, if you don't have a good view when you climb high and look far, your side will definitely suffer if there is a large-scale battle.

But the problem is that Cao Jun's high platform is inside the camp and is heavily protected, while Xu Chu's high platform must be exposed. It was built after Xu Chu gained the early advantage.

In the past two days, Xu Chu had not been eager to directly break through Cao Jun's camp, but continued to suppress and detect. He felt that there must be a problem in Cao Jun's camp. It's not just the walls of the camps or the suspension bridges on the plateau, there must be some invisible traps and other arrangements.

Therefore, after Xu Chu gained the early advantage, he asked the cavalry to attack in turns. On the one hand, he weakened the ability of Cao's cavalry in field combat, and on the other hand, he also tried his best to detect the situation in Cao's camp.

Cao Hong has stayed in Anyi for a long time and has a good understanding of the topography and landforms here. The same is true for Xu Chu. In order to sing the opening scene well on the largest stage of the Han Dynasty that was finally built with great difficulty, Xu Chu also quickly connected the topographic briefing of Hedong in the lecture hall, as well as the map in his hand, with the terrain in front of him one by one. , forming a deep instinct in the mind.

Although the situation inside Cao Jun's camp is obscured by the camp walls, it is not completely without clues.

The route of Cao's army's attack generally meant that there were no thorns or big horse traps.

As for the place where Cao's soldiers walked around, even if it looks ordinary, you still need to be vigilant.

Where did Cao's army gather before the attack, and through which passage did they return after the attack...

Details like that.

Xu Chu wanted to record it in detail on the newly drawn map of Cao Jun's camp.

But it's not enough.

Because this information is relatively superficial, just some superficial arrangements in the camp, but what about inside the camp?

In the Cao Jun camp down the slope, if the morale of Cao Jun soldiers had not collapsed due to the destruction of the camp in a short period of time, the Hussars really wanted to gnaw down the camp, which may not have been such an easy and satisfying thing.

The Cao Jun camp in front of them was not only several times larger than the camp at Poxia, but Cao Cao even insisted on garrisoning in it. The difficulty of this attack is naturally impossible to compare.

When Xu Chu was staring at the map and thinking, he suddenly heard a loud noise. He looked up and saw Cao's army rushing out like a swarm of locusts in the distance. He was startled.

What is Cao Jun going to do?

Xu Chu took a few steps forward and stood on the edge of the high platform, holding on to the rough railing and looking over.

"Kill!" 』

"kill! kill! kill! 』

Cao Jun, led by Cao Hong, has already rushed forward...

"What on earth is this guy doing?" ” Xu Chu understood it at a glance.

His men were caught making mistakes by Cao Hong.

Perhaps he was stimulated by Li Li's meritorious service. Qubei, who was also a cavalry commander, or Liu Kun, naturally wanted to be like Li Li as much as possible and obtain a lot of military exploits. As a result, he was greedy on the battlefield. , something went wrong.

Xu Chu's face suddenly changed color, "Here comes someone!" Prepare your horse! Get ready to attack with me! 』

"General!" You are a former military general, so don't do anything without permission! ” Someone tried to dissuade me.

Xu Chu snorted coldly, "Cao's army has a general going to war, how can I just sit back and watch?" Blow the trumpet and gather the troops! Wait a while for this General Cao! 』

…

…

Go humble this guy and hesitate.

On the interstellar battlefield, hesitation will lead to defeat, but it can also be applied to the current battlefield.

Because the key is also speed.

He had stared at Li Li before, thinking that Li Li had such a great record, and then he could do it too!

People are so strange. If there is too much difference in status, the meaning of catching up will be lost. Even if they see the achievements of the leader, those who have fallen behind will only lament and will not want to catch up. But if they were all almost the same at first, and suddenly someone came up, even if they didn't say anything, there would be some different feeling coming out.

Qubei was from the Southern Huns. In order to blend in with the big Han family, he changed his name to Liu Cui.

It's just that after changing his name, not many people call him by his Chinese name. They still call him "Quebei" and "Quebei"...

So this further stimulated Qubei to really gain enough merit and have people call him a real Han name and recognize his Han status, but unfortunately, he used too much force.

Because of excessive force, the men he led did not control the distribution of physical strength when surrounding Cao Jun. It was like playing a game on a football field. At the beginning, Sahuanzi ran too hard, but he failed to catch the ball. I didn't get much credit, but I ate a lot of turf and loess, which also consumed a lot of physical strength.

If an ordinary soldier of Cao's army rushed towards him, most of them would grit their teeth and fight, but when he saw that Cao Hong was leading the army in person, he hesitated a little.

No matter how many merits you have, you still have to have a life!

The Southern Xiongnu's instinct took over at this moment, and as soon as he hesitated, he saw Cao Hong getting closer and closer like a rolling dragon.

"Let's go, let's go!" Qubei yelled, "Don't fight hard, spread out, spread out!" 』

Not everyone can become a world-famous general.

Qubei is not a famous general.

Even famous generals have never failed.

The most important thing for a famous general to become a famous general is not to win a battle, but to fight for a lifetime. So if you survive, you have a chance to become a famous general.

Moreover, the habits of the Southern Huns were to pull, outflank, encircle, and intercept, which were typical tactics of the light cavalry. Therefore, when Cao Hong rushed up with the leading cavalry similar to the lancers, his natural reaction was to avoid them. Edge, and then disrupt the battle.

But Qubei forgot one thing. His men charged too hard before, which caused the physical strength of the war horses to decline. They also had insufficient rest time and were not able to fully recover, so they were in trouble...

The war horse also relies on muscles to run. If there was no rest before, the lactic acid in the muscles may not accumulate in a short time. Now that there is not enough rest, the lactic acid accumulated in the muscles has not been digested, and the war horse cannot immediately enter the high-speed running. The state of the light cavalry means that the word "light" in the light cavalry has not become "light" for a while.

…

…

Any small negligence on the battlefield may turn into a big disaster.

There are no invincible generals, only cautious and subtle commanders.

Obviously, Qubei was not a cautious enough person, so he sent his subordinates into Cao Hong's hands.

Cao Hong is a veteran on the battlefield, and his battlefield intuition is undoubtedly very high.

When people treat the same thing, they can read different information.

Just like the war between Fei Qian and Cao Cao has been going on until now. Some people have long known that Fei Qian will win, while some people still feel that Cao Cao's army has sufficient fighting strength and sufficient food and grass.

And what’s interesting is that people tend to habitually absorb information that suits their needs, while ignoring other parts of the information.

People who think Fei has the potential to win tend to ignore Cao Jun and Qingzhou soldiers, as well as the Zhongling Zhonghu army, the camp that has been deployed in Anyi for a long time, and the plans planned by Cao Cao and others...

On the other side, those who feel that Cao Cao still has sufficient combat power will only see that Cao Cao is fully prepared to command Ruoding, completely forgetting that Cao Cao has been oppressed and turned from offense to defense...

Since ancient times, China has said that blessings and misfortunes depend on each other. Those who do not change their stance and consider problems from multiple angles will always suffer.

That's how it goes.

Now he has to pay the price for his previous greed.

"puff! 』

Cao Hong's horse stabbed down one of his cavalrymen who was going to be humble.

Qubei and others failed to increase the maximum speed as soon as possible, and the consequence was that they were kicked out by Cao Hong.

The long spear pierced one cavalryman, and then another.

Cao Hong shouted loudly and urged his men to move forward to kill the enemy.

In the midst of the blood and flesh flying around, Cao Hong found his soul released and his depression reduced.

Cao Hong is the frontline commander, but as the commander-in-chief, it is also a constraint for him. He never stood on the battlefield and commanded for safety, but he had to fulfill the responsibility of commanding.

Now that he had seized the opportunity of the Hussars, the negative emotions deep in Cao Hong's heart that had been suppressed for the past few days or even for a period of time burst out at this moment, flowing along his horse. The sharp edge on the spear is swaying!

On the ancient battlefield, a general's martial prowess was not acquired by chance, nor was he born capable of wielding a sledgehammer, as some storytelling said...

In fact, for the growth of a military general, talent is important, but hard work and money are equally important.

Cao Hong is not a very talented player, so he can only get A with his efforts, but he is also lucky because his family is rich.

Money cannot solve all problems, but it can solve most of them.

A general with natural strength and quick reactions will naturally have advantages in close combat and tactical adaptability. But if this talented general was hungry for several years in his childhood, or if he was busy making a living and could not even make ends meet with the scattered money he earned from running around every day, then all the talent would be in vain!

Training hard requires money, studying military skills requires money, and working hard also requires money.

Don’t practice martial arts if you don’t have money.

The consumption of military skills is huge, not only for the country, but also for individuals. A set of sophisticated armor, a sharp weapon, and a well-trained war horse can all improve the survival probability of a general. and an important factor in combat efficiency. Those from wealthy families have better equipment and resources, and often have more opportunities to survive. However, for those without equipment, if they want to grow from a soldier to a famous general, the difficulty level is at least three S's.

Therefore, when Cao Hong went berserk, ordinary hussars couldn't stop him.

Even though Cao Hong's riding skills were not as good as theirs, these cavalrymen who could not raise the speed of their horses could not pose much of a threat to Cao Hong even if they counterattacked.

"clang! 』

The slashed sword was blocked by Cao Hong.

Cao Hong had great strength and knew how to exert and unload his force. Only then did the sparks fly, and Chang Shan easily penetrated another hussar soldier.

Seeing Cao Hong's behavior, the leading cavalry also howled like wild beasts seeing blood.

"Kill!" 』

The soldiers of Cao's army were also shouting like crazy, venting their anger from being suppressed and beaten by the hussars in the past few days.

A tricolor flag fell down and was immediately trampled on by Cao Jun's feet.

Although the Yuncheng Basin area is relatively flat, the space for maneuvering in the loess ravines is really limited.

Cao Hong clung to Qubei's **** and chased him. No matter whether Qubei wanted to get rid of him or other hussars wanted to come to his aid, it would be difficult.

The blood was sucked by the loess and made a sizzling sound.

The flag stands in the wind, flying fiercely.

Cao Jun launched a precise counterattack.

But the battlefield is not a single thread, and soon Cao Hong felt some subtle changes.

He slowed down and listened.

Among the sounds of people and the sound of horse hooves, there seemed to be some unusual sounds.

"Turn!" The whole army turns around! 』

Cao Hong roared, and instead of continuing to give orders to pursue Qubei, he ordered the troops to turn from another fork in the loess ravine.

He didn't give chase.

Cao Hong had already smelled the danger coming.

This feeling of danger was even stronger than when Cao Cao's entire army was defeated.

Cao Hong reined in his horse and stood at the fork in the road. While directing his men in the direction of the soldiers and horses, he looked towards the direction where Gobei was escaping.

At least half of Quebei's troops escaped, but some of Cao's cavalry who were eager to take credit or were able to kill them may not have heard Cao Hong's order, or they could not hold back their horses, but they were still chasing Quebei's troops. .

Suddenly, on the land plateau above the ravine in the distance, a sharp copper whistle sounded, and immediately a large number of hussars appeared at the top of the ravine, each holding a crossbow in their hands, and the arrows of the crossbow were shining in the sun. Cold light flashes!

In the blink of an eye, the offense and defense were reversed!

Under the volley of thousands of arrows, there was almost no suspense. The leading cavalry in Cao's army, who were extremely excited to kill the hussars one moment, turned into hedgehogs the next moment...

Cao Hong's "Strong Luck" talent once again came into play.

Of course, this second-rate statement may be more in line with Eastern tastes, but in fact it should be Cao Hong's own battlefield intuition that played the most critical role at this moment.

In fact, many people also have this kind of intuition, and it should be better if they have it.

It's like walking between high-rise buildings. Sometimes you will suddenly feel palpitated, then turn in a direction or stop to take a breath, and then the bricks and stones falling off the outer wall will fall in front of you...

Cao Hong trusted his instincts, so he missed Xu Chu's ambush.

Xu Chu stood on the plateau, while Cao Hong sat on his horse under the ravine.

The two people had obviously never met or interacted with each other before, but for some reason they felt a strange sense of familiarity with each other.

When Xu Chu raised his finger and pointed at Cao Hong, Cao Hong also raised his finger and pointed at Xu Chu.

"kill! 』

Xu Chu shouted.

"Come! 』

Cao Hong snorted coldly.