Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 3473 He is retreating

Dong Zhao was on the lookout, looking at the hussars raising smoke and dust all over the sky, and his heart sank.

He hoped that only Xu Chu and the front hussars would come, but he also hoped that Fei Qian would come as soon as possible. This contradictory mentality was mixed in him.

If you just look at the appearance, there doesn't seem to be much decadence in Cao Jun's camp.

The flags are like clouds, and the cold light of armor, swords and spears is stronger than the snow.

It seems that there is still no difference from before...

But if you look closely at the soldiers of Cao's army in each formation, you will find that although these soldiers of Cao's army are in formation, their expressions are nervous and panicked.

"Is General Lu finished?" ! 』

"Didn't you say that General Lu went to attack the Hussar's former army camp?" 』

"But now the Hussars are coming, but General Lu is gone!" 』

"We are doomed..."

"No, didn't Commander Dong falsely report that General Lu was in danger?" What to say now? 』

"What do you say now? Is it still important?" 』

"This...that's true..."

Cao Jun's soldiers were talking a lot. The more they talked, the more frustrated they became.

These thoughts of the soldiers also circulated in the military academy, and some military academy non-commissioned officers could not help but run to ask Dong Zhao.

But this time, Dong Zhao finally stopped looking for excuses.

"Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers." 』

Although Dong Zhao still didn't say it clearly, at least he said it.

This time, Cao Cao and others were not only defeated by Fei Qian, but also by the "nobodies" under Fei Qian's command.

In the land of Shandong, starting from Yuedan Comments, no, maybe earlier, from the time when students from the Academy began to comment on this or that, the criterion for judging a person's ability is whether he has a good reputation. A good reputation…

And these people under Qiusi's command have neither reputation nor fame.

The hussars were getting closer.

Fortunately, the strategy did work, and the hussars came in a hurry, without any siege equipment.

He still has more than 7,000 people, plus the traps in the mountain roads. As long as Cao Cao can defeat the Tongguan troops, then he can get support, and there is no chance of turning defeat into victory!

"Drumming!" Fight! 』

But whether it was the battle here at Zhongtiao Mountain or the battle at Tongguan, could it really be what Dong Zhao expected?

…

…

Yanxiang.

"The front door is broken!" 』

When this shrill cry of despair came, Cao Zhang was holding his rice bowl and preparing to eat.

He had just retreated from the front line, and before he had time to take a breath, he heard such shouts. His hands suddenly shook, his rice bowl fell down, and the grains of rice were scattered on the floor.

Even in this tense and desperate situation, the sergeants and soldiers of Cao's army still ate in different places.

Ordinary soldiers only eat mixed soup, but the military academy generals still receive a bowl of rice.

The distinction between Jing and Wei is clear.

But at this moment, when they suddenly heard the news, people on both sides looked at each other blankly.

The next moment, Cao Zhang kicked the bowl away, grabbed the sword on the side, and rushed out.

At this moment, Cao Zhang seemed to be trapped in a nightmare, always feeling unreal but full of fear.

He just retreated. How long could it be possible for him to break the news?

When he retired, didn't the hussars also retire to rest?

Even if the hussars attack again, it's impossible for the soldiers guarding the front gate to be unable to hold on in such a short period of time, right?

He took a deep breath and tried to steady his mind, but he was soon staggered by the shouts and shouts coming from the front door!

Is it true?

Weapons collided, screams and screams came and went, and the sound of war drums was scattered and indistinguishable.

Where is Liu Fu?

Where's the **** Liu Fu?

But in the blink of an eye, the other side of Yan Xiang is also filled with fierce killings...

Cao Zhang's heart suddenly tightened into a ball!

No matter what happened at the front gate, or how the hussars broke through the city gate, Yan Xiang is in danger!

Cao Zhang's guards also hurried over, looking panicked, "General!" what to do? What can we do? ! 』

"What are you panicking about?" ! ” Cao Zhang shouted, “ Form the team immediately! Check the gear! Waiting for orders! 』

"only! ” Seeing that Cao Zhang still had his own ideas, the guards felt more at ease, and each took orders to assemble the soldiers in the city.

At this moment, there was chaos in Yanxiang City.

In particular, most of the petty officials responsible for the logistics of the rear camp had never been on the battlefield. The news that the front door was broken reached here, and the camp was blown up in an instant. Some people crawl into the house when they see it, some people kneel on the ground crying and howling, some people are running around like headless flies, some people are just following others in despair, and of course there are people who are just spinning around in circles as if they are looking for someone to take advantage of. Use everything to defend yourself, and then find that no matter what kind of sword or gun it is, it seems that you can't take advantage of it...

The soldiers around Cao Zhang were in chaos for a while. After being shouted at by the guards for a while, they were barely restrained.

However, when they were rushed by the small officials in the rear camp, there seemed to be some confusion again. Many soldiers followed them involuntarily. Several military schools and scoldings did not help at all. They could only draw their swords and kill a few people. The smell of blood filled the air. And it was only after opening that these soldiers sobered up a little.

Cao Zhang had no time to pay attention to this. He was looking for Liu Fu eagerly.

He stood at the street corner and saw that the city gate seemed to be full of fleeing soldiers. Cao's military flag was falling and crumbling...

The army was defeated like a mountain, and the army was in chaos. It was useless to say anything at this time. The first thing was to find a favorable terrain to stabilize the team, and then talk about other things...

Cao Zhang looked up at the sky, "What time is it now?" ! 』

The guard on the side said: "It was probably Xu Shi..."

Cao Zhang was silent.

It's only the evening of the second day!

They couldn't even last three days!

Damn it!

Before Cao Zhang and others could reach the front door, they saw a small group of hussars rushing over from the street!

There were fire heads everywhere at the city gate.

I don’t know if it was Cao Jun who lit it or the Hussars. Anyway, there was a mess of fire and blood everywhere.

It is precisely because of this that the Hussars still do not have complete control over the front gate, but Cao's soldiers are already panicking and running around.

There were originally stones and wood that Cao Zhang had hoarded in the city gate. On the one hand, it was to defend the city wall for easy access, and on the other hand, it was to prevent the Hussars from blowing up the city gate with gunpowder. However, we don’t know when they were moved out of the narrow gate. The passage, some hussars are rushing towards the city along this passage!

Because of the flames and debris, the entry of these hussars was not smooth, and their number was not as large as the number climbing up the city wall. However, the intimidation power of these hussars to Cao's soldiers was far greater than their number. More than a dozen cavalry , or even a few cavalry, can trample at the entrances of streets and alleys, chop down people when they see them, and burn them when they see fire!

The soldiers of Cao's army were in panic and could not rely on each other for support. They could only fight in groups here and there. When the hussars rushed them, they fell into pieces like wheat. They either collapsed here or fled there. The flesh and blood of broken arms and legs flew everywhere, and the stump of the head was kicked by human legs and horse hooves and rolled all over the ground.

There are also a few soldiers of Cao's army who are not afraid of death. They rush towards the hussars and fight for their lives to throw the hussars off their horses. They struggle into a ball. Even if they are dead, they have to drag one of the hussars on their backs...

But such brave soldiers of Cao's army are only a few after all.

When the hussars who rushed in saw Cao Zhang coming with a large force, they did not fight to the death. Instead, they whistled and ran along the street...

"Leave them alone!" Find the military advisor first! 』

Cao Zhang yelled that he must first find Liu Fu to understand the situation.

Cao Zhang saw Liu Fu.

Liu Fu and others were surrounded by the Hussars near the watchtower at the top of the city.

The soldiers led by Liu Fu formed a double-layered array with the watchtower as the core. The outer layers were shields, spears and halberds. When the hussars were shot with arrows, they would raise their shields. If they dared to get close, they would chop with their swords and spears and pierce the halberds. Gou pull, the injured person retreats into the inner circle, and someone inside will naturally step forward to take his place. Twenty or thirty archers climbed to the top of the watchtower, stretched their bows and fired wildly outside. "The rescuer comes out!" 』

Cao Zhang shouted and led the people towards the watchtower.

The hussars who gathered around the watchtower did not have a general in charge. They were unable to stop Cao Zhang's charge. Seeing that the bones here were not easy to chew, they withdrew with a whistle.

Before Cao Zhang and Liu Fu could say anything, and before they had time to breathe for a moment, they heard another loud shout outside!

Cao Zhang and Liu Fu turned around and saw a "Zhang" battle flag slowly approaching!

Zhang Liao is coming up!

Cao Zhang's face suddenly turned pale.

Yan Xiang can’t be saved!

Although the fighting around Yanxiang has never stopped since early yesterday morning, sometimes a group of hussars came up to harass and test, sometimes soldiers pushing some siege equipment came over to play ping-pong-pong, and some Sometimes Waiting for two or three hussars to attack at the same time, the situation was extremely critical several times. The city was destroyed and people were killed in just an instant. Cao Zhang, Liu Fu, and the soldiers from the Huben camp were running around, like firefighters, time and time again. Put out the fire of destruction…

But now...

"There's... there's a spy!" 』

Liu Fu was holding one arm and his face was pale. He was obviously injured in the battle just now.

"spy? ! 』

When Cao Zhang heard what Liu Fu said, he refused to believe it at first, but the reality was right in front of him, and he couldn't help but believe it!

The hussars outside the city roared, and the shouts of "the hussars are victorious" were as if they could knock down mountains and make the river flow backwards!

Looking at the approaching "Zhang" family's battle flag, Cao Zhang gritted his teeth angrily.

Why couldn't he hold on?

Why couldn't those Cao Jun soldiers hold on?

But no matter how many reasons why, it can't change the current situation.

Although the flames and stone blocks at the city gate will somewhat affect the speed of the Hussars rushing into the city, Cao's soldiers already know that the city gate has been lost, and the collapse of the entire city is imminent...

Although Cao Zhang has the intention to continue to hold on, how can he hold on?

Liu Fu also looked tired, as if he had aged ten years in the past two days.

Who would have thought that Yan Xiang's final downfall was due to this kind of thing?

He still hasn't realized it yet, why did someone suddenly defect to the Hussars?

He remembered that when he replaced Cao Zhang, he went to inspect the city gate and didn't see anything special.

The collapse of the defense at the front gate has now triggered riots throughout the city. Now Cao Zhang and Liu Fu have only two choices left, either to immediately take their people to the blazing Qianmen of Yanxiang to fight Zhang Liao and survive in the fire, or Eternal life in the fire...

The other road is the old road they are familiar with.

"Retreat..."

Liu Fu said.

Something went wrong when he was guarding the front door. Whether it was Liu Fu's problem or not, it now became his problem, so Liu Fu was very depressed. But no matter how depressed he is, he must do his duty and come up with the strategy that is most suitable for the current situation. Even if Liu Fu knows that he has proposed such a strategy and said this, he will be known as "fear of war" in the future. , most likely there is no way to escape.

After the war, Cao Zhang must have been brave and daring to fight, but he was cowardly and kept holding Cao Zhang back. The main culprit for Cao Zhang's defeat was Liu Fu himself...

Coupled with the loss of the front door this time, it is simply indisputable!

But even if Liu Fu knew this, what could he do?

"We are retreating now. We can hold off for a while until we reach Wangmat Village," Liu Fu said helplessly, "This can be considered as holding off for three days..."

Cao Zhang had no choice but to order, "Burn the kindling!" Let's withdraw! 』

When the soldiers of Cao's army heard the order to retreat, they ran away in a hurry. As they ran, they threw torches and other objects on the fire starters to block the pursuit of the hussars.

Even so, there were still hussars who bypassed the line of fire and chased Cao Zhang and others.

It's just that Cao Zhang, Liu Fu and others retreated from the Tongguan camp all the way to Yanxiang. Both the soldiers and the military academy were relatively experienced and would not raise flags when escaping. The hussars charged for a while and found them. Cao Zhang, Liu Fu and other important military academy generals were not there, and they were worried that the flames would be too big and Yanxiang would be burned down, losing a place to rest and rest. Therefore, after chasing for a while, they slowly retreated to extinguish the flames and clean up the mess. .

The sun sets.

Looking to the west, there was no longer a large group of cavalry. Even if a few hussars appeared, they looked around for a while, and then turned around and left.

Cao Zhang took a long breath, knowing that the current catastrophe was finally over. His heart relaxed, and as soon as the breath he had held in his chest was released, he felt that his whole body ached terribly, his arms and legs felt as heavy as lead, and he could no longer lift the heavy sword in his hand. He slowly sat down on the ground with his sword in his hand, his mouth wide open as he gasped.

There was a clanging sound of weapons falling to the ground, and heavy breathing everywhere.

No one spoke, just panting.

It's like a drowning person coming back to life, feeling the beauty of breathing and the existence of life.

Cao Zhang took a few breaths and felt that his body had relaxed a little, and his arms and legs were no longer trembling so much. He looked to the left and right, but did not see Liu Fu.

"Where's the military advisor?" ” asked Cao Zhang.

"I don't know, I was still behind you just now..." Guard Cao Zhang replied.

Cao Zhang's expression suddenly changed, and his eyes rolled twice.

Did this bad old man surrender to the enemy when he saw that the situation was not going well?

No wonder Cao Zhang became suspicious. After all, when the Yanxiang city gate was breached, it happened to be the time when he and Liu Fu changed defenses.

Liu Fu replaced him and asked Cao Zhang to go back to rest, but something happened...

Liu Fu said it was a spy, but where did the spy come from? Did he sneak in, or was he already in the queue?

Cao Zhang couldn't help but turn his head, raised his eyebrows, and looked around.

"General?" ” The guard beside Cao Zhang saw that Cao Zhang’s eyes were somewhat ferocious, and couldn’t help but tremble with fear, “General, you... what are you...”

Cao Zhang came to his senses and rubbed his face with his hands, "It's okay." 』

In fact, he was also a little frightened by this turn of events.

The people around him are basically the core soldiers of Cao's army, that is, the veterans who followed Cao Cao all the way from Chenliu, and some are Cao's clan members, or people from the same hometown. If there were traitors among these people, then the Cao family would be done with it. Why did Cao Zhang wait until this time to identify and verify?

After a while, Liu Fu came from the other direction.

Cao Zhang also suddenly remembered that Liu Fu was injured, so he must not be able to "walk" as fast as Cao Zhang and the others. It is normal for him to fall behind...

As if to cover up his thoughts just now, Cao Zhang stood up and walked towards him, "Military advisor... can you still hold on?" 』

Liu Fu's face was pale, his arm was wrapped with a tie, and some blood was still seeping out, "It's okay... I won't die for the time being..."

Cao Zhang seemed to want Sanqian to help Liu Fu sit down, but he didn't know whether intentionally or not, he touched the wound on Liu Fu's arm. The pain made Liu Fu tremble, "Ah, I'm sorry!" I was so careless! Quick, get out of the way and let the military advisor sit inside! 』

Liu Fu glanced at Cao Zhang and sighed slightly in his heart, but said nothing.

The two sat down and then talked about what happened at the front door of Yanxiang.

When this matter was mentioned, Liu Fu couldn't help but feel a little confused.

He didn't notice any signs.

It seemed to happen all of a sudden.

But Liu Fu's words sounded a little different to Cao Zhang's ears.

What is meant by "happening suddenly" and what is meant by "without warning"?

At that time, the soldiers of the military academy were on duty at the front gate, but they were all under Liu Fu's command. Why did they say they didn't know anything?

But looking at Liu Fu's expression, Cao Zhang swallowed down the questions that arose again.

"Let's send someone to contact the lord first..."

Fortunately, Cao Cao had made arrangements in advance. Although he could not meet Cao Cao's requirements in terms of time, he could still manage to meet the standard, right?

perhaps…

Cao Zhang stood up and stopped asking Yan Xiang what happened in Qianmen City.

Now that the matter has come to this, even if we ask what is going on, how much meaning does it have?

It's just that this is like a thorn, hidden in Cao Zhang's heart. Maybe it will **** him at some unknown time...