Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3438 Light and Dark Trap
Even in the Ming and Qing dynasties, firearms were still not the main force on the battlefield.

Due to technological limitations, firearms still have a long way to go before they can become mainstream on the battlefield.

But as long as firearms are on the battlefield, their brilliance cannot be ignored.

At this time, the sky was gradually brightening. Cold dew should have condensed in the mountains, but at Suoyang Pass, the cold dew was directly shattered by the blood and became mist in the mountains, mixing with the blood and the roars.

Strictly speaking, neither side has a completely regular front, nor does it have any safe rear, but this is the most primitive state of war.

Change home.

In fact, it is mutual consumption.

Whoever fails to fight and outlast the opponent will lose.

At the intersection of the two armies, hundreds of corpses were lying all over the road, and some were dying and wailing.

Spears, lances, swords, and shields were intertwined.

The further Xu Chu attacked inward, the denser the Cao army became. With spears and swords, no one had much room to maneuver or dodge. Either they would kill the enemy or they would be killed by them.

As a brave general, Xu Chu showed his prowess at this moment.

Wearing heavy armor, holding a heavy shield, and fighting hard, it seems that his physical endurance is infinite. The guards beside Xu Chu have been rotated one or two times, but Xu Chu is still at the front, leading his soldiers, step by step forward!
In fact, most of Cao's army had collapsed, and the only ones left were the core soldiers of the Central Guard Army.

The military discipline of these Qingzhou veterans is indeed not satisfactory, but they have basically crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even with low morale, they still maintain some fighting instincts. They are unlike some new recruits who just close their eyes and cry when they lose their temper.

Even though Cao's army was resisted by elite troops such as the Qingzhou Central Guard, they were still pushed back step by step by Xu Chu.

The city of Suoyang Pass was not big to begin with, and there was not much space for encirclement on both sides.

Seeing Cao Hong's figure just around the corner, Xu Chu couldn't help but shout, "You old bastard! Do you dare to fight me?"

Soldiers from both armies couldn't help but look towards Cao Hong.

Cao Hong remained silent, still standing still, neither responding nor retreating.

"General! Did Cao's army ambush archers?" Xu Chu's military school rushed to Xu Chu and reminded him, "There are crossbowmen around our general..."

After hearing the reminder from his military school subordinate, Xu Chu calmed down a little.

A duel in front of a battle is indeed a manifestation of honor for a military commander, but it is also full of huge risks.

Just like the cavalry, there are not only heavy armor guards, but also strong crossbow archers. Any enemy general who thinks Fei Qian is not strong enough and prepares to launch a surprise attack will have to face the baptism of strong bows and crossbows.

"That makes sense..."

Xu Chu is better in this respect.

He listened to the advice.

Xu Chu glanced around and indeed saw some shield-bearing guards on both sides of Cao Hong, but no one could tell what was behind the shields.

When Xu Chu was having a headache, the military school chuckled twice, and then whispered to Xu Chu: "General, I have two grenades left..."

"Good boy!"

Xu Chu was overjoyed and started to make arrangements immediately.

……

……

Cao Hong was indeed planning to use a powerful crossbow to deal with Xu Chu.

He is not the real Cao Hong. Even if he wears Cao Hong's armor, it does not mean that he has Cao Hong's martial arts. And even if he has Cao Hong's martial arts, he may not be able to defeat Xu Chu.

So when Xu Chu rushed to him, he shot him to death with a powerful crossbow, which was his last resort to turn the tables.

On the battlefield, victory or defeat is determined by life and death. Even if the last blood is a comeback, it is still a win.

But can a powerful crossbow really kill Xu Chu?
No one knows.

Because someone's hands might be shaking, the shooting might be slow, or even the firing might get stuck...

After all, Cao Hong is not a cavalryman, and it is impossible for him to be equipped with a whole team of full-time crossbowmen around him for a long time. It is already very good to have more than a dozen part-time crossbowmen at the moment.

Moreover, even if we gathered more people, we wouldn't be able to gather more crossbow arrows.

The crossbow arrows are almost used up.

It's near, it's near!
At this moment, his hands and legs were shaking.

It was just hidden under the armor and robes and not revealed to the outside world.

When gamblers are risking their lives at the gambling table, most of them don’t feel fear, but excitement.

Hold on, hold on!
There is not just one gambler.

He made eye contact and gestured to the people around him.

They all stayed just to bet on this one.

If they succeed, they will be heroes that everyone is looking forward to. If they fail, they will not have any regrets of falling from grace, because they were originally rolling in the mud. They are like the fish in the river that swim upstream desperately, trying to cross the dragon gate.

A little closer, a little closer...

He saw Xu Chu and others gradually approaching, and his eyes gradually became hotter.

It was like seeing a hand pressing down the treasure box, preparing to open the lid to reveal the dice inside.

Buy it, let go, open the treasure, and win the prize!

Everyone knows that the probability of winning the lottery is very small, and in many cases whether you win the lottery or not is not entirely determined by probability, even Newton cannot decide it, but there are still people who think that they have this luck.

Even though he has been working like a slave for decades, he still feels that he has the destiny to ascend to heaven.

What if?
very good!
Xu Chu and others didn't seem to notice anything unusual and were walking into the trap step by step!
This is a death trap and also the gambling table of the god of death.

The Grim Reaper sat at the other end of the long table, looking at Cao Hong and smiling.

Perhaps what the god of death likes to see most is humans killing each other. The deception trap set by Cao Hong makes the god of death feel interesting.

Only when humans kill each other will there be so many tricks and methods, while the wild animals in nature, with sharp claws and fangs, can only pounce, scratch, and bite. They are too uncreative...

Cao Hong, who thought he was favored by the god of death, was about to signal the part-time crossbowman beside him, but when he tilted his head slightly, he saw a black dot flying towards him from the corner of his eye!

what is that?
Stone?

Cao Hong was stunned and failed to react immediately.

Otherwise, why is it that although firearms have appeared in the present day, they are still not the mainstream on the battlefield?
If it were in the later era of gunfire and bullets flying, when seeing the small black dot coming in a parabola, no one would think it was just a stone!

The Grim Reaper likes to see death, he doesn't care who dies...

……

……

The landing point of the grenade is not very accurate.

It just fell on the left and right sides of Cao Hong.

Cao Hong did not suffer any direct damage from the explosion, but this was enough.

With the roar, some people's hands shook and the small gifts they had prepared for Xu Chu were shot out. Others who barely reacted and pointed at Xu Chu were also affected by the others and missed their target.

A strong crossbow is very powerful, but it also means that it is slow to load. Once the shot goes astray or misses, there will be no second chance at a short distance.

Xu Chu had already rushed forward, his body covered in blood and flesh, and his sword drew a streak of blood as he slashed towards Cao Hong.

"You old bastard! Give me your life!"

Cao Hong quickly raised his sword, but was knocked back by Xu Chu's sword.

"Um? ! 』

Xu Chu frowned slightly, but his men did not stop. He took another quick step forward, and the sword instantly crossed the distance between the two of them, as if it had suddenly broken through the limitations of space.

"Cao Hong" was obviously half a beat slower.

Xu Chu's sword was almost in front of him, and Cao Hong seemed to have just reacted and blocked again.

"snort!"

Xu Chu struck again with the knife.

The third knife.

Cao Hong had lost his balance and was kicked in the leg by Xu Chu, causing him to stagger and fall.

"Who are you?!" Xu Chu was sure that this guy was not Cao Hong.

Because Xu Chu's kick was roughly the same spot where he had hit Cao Hong before. The man just fell to the ground without showing any signs of pain.

Cao Hong naturally said nothing.

Although Cao Hong appeared to be quite tough, his neck was not as tough as a sword.

"The enemy general has been beheaded!"

Xu Chu chopped down "Cao Hong", and then chopped down the general flag representing Cao Hong.

The Cao army soldiers who were still fighting in various places in Suoyang Pass suddenly lost their backbone. Some of them dropped their swords and guns and ran away, regardless of whether they were in the mountains or outside the mountains. Some of them were in a state of disarray. Even if they were hit by swords and guns, they seemed to have lost any reaction. Some even knelt down and surrendered...

In addition, there were also a small number of Cao's soldiers who were cursing, scolding, and even hacking at their former comrades who had knelt down and surrendered, thinking that these surrendered Cao's soldiers had brought shame to the Shandong people...

……

……

"This is definitely not Cao Hong Cao Zilian."

He was always covered in wounds, but he recognized him after just one look.

If it were someone else, they might never be sure, but for Cao Hong, he was all too familiar with him.

"Where did the old thief escape to?"

Xu Chu is now somewhat confused and a little worried.

He didn't know whether Cao Hong didn't come at the beginning or ran away halfway through the battle.

These are two completely different things.

If Cao Hong didn't come at the beginning, then this means...

"Not good! The camp may be in danger! Pass the order down, immediately assemble the troops and prepare to return!"

After thinking about it, Xu Chu felt that it was a trap designed by Cao Hong to lure him to attack!
He might have fallen into a trap!
This instantly reduced Xu Chu's original excitement by half, and also made Xu Chu decide not to move forward any further.

However, Xu Chu's decision made Yuan Lai feel unwilling.

"General!" Cong Yuan stopped Xu Chu and said anxiously, "If we move forward, we can cut off Cao Jun's retreat! If we retreat now, all our efforts will be wasted! If we let the tiger go back to the mountain, it will only bring disaster and prolong our lives!"

Have you ever had any selfish thoughts?
there must be.

Everyone has selfish desires, but it depends on whether selfish desires conflict with public affairs.

If a person's selfishness is to produce a result first, and give a good slap to those who laughed at him before, and the result is really achieved, so that the country and the nation benefit, then this selfishness is naturally not a bad thing. It can even be said that if there is no such selfishness, it may not be possible to produce this result.

His selfishness was not a problem. He wanted to return to Heluo and bring glory to his family. He had to take revenge and repay kindness. So he was eager to block Cao's army between Heluo and Qiaohan.

Xu Chu pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

There are too many unstable factors when heading to Heluo.

If Xu Chu had a smooth journey and really beheaded Cao Hong at Suoyang Pass, then Xu Chu would have inevitably developed greater ambitions and would have wanted to further advance into Heluo to cut off Cao's army's retreat route...

But now, Xu Chu feels that the risk is too great, and there is indeed Cao's army attacking from the rear, so who can guarantee that Cao's army is only on this route here at Suoyang Pass?
Moreover, who says that they failed to kill Cao Hong? However, capturing, wounding and killing these Cao soldiers is already a great achievement. To go further would be a bit greedy.

Seeing that Xu Chu disagreed, he was quite helpless and unwilling to give up, so he went to find the Cao army prisoners and asked them whether Cao Hong really came with them and where he had gone. The more he asked, the more anxious he became, and the more timid and afraid the Cao army prisoners were, so they dared not to say anything, or simply talked nonsense.

Xu Chu was also somewhat displeased upon seeing this, but he did not say much and prepared to turn around and go down the mountain.

"General!" Yuan Shikai came again in a hurry and blocked Xu Chu's way. "I found out from asking that the old thief escaped by hanging down the mountain from the rock wall!"

"The rock wall?" Xu Chu looked back.

Zhenyuan nodded quickly, "I've checked, there are indeed traces of ropes! The old thief must have escaped from that side, there are not many people! This is a great opportunity! General!"

Xu Chu frowned and looked at the mountains of Zhongtiao Mountain. After a moment, he said, "You want to lead the troops to hunt them down? Are you familiar with the mountain road under the rock wall?"

I always grit my teeth, "Familiar!"

Xu Chu said, "In the mountainous path, cavalry cannot go, only infantry can go. Too many people will make it difficult to go, too few... forget it, there is no need to rush. The lord said that urgent matters should be dealt with slowly, and slow matters should be dealt with quickly. Now the urgent matter is not just Cao Zilian. If we kill his soldiers, even if one person escapes, what's the harm? Why take the risk again?"

This is Xu Chu’s true thought.

If it was really Cao Hong who led the team, and he escaped in the end, there would be regrets, but not many.

We have already won a great victory. Now we just need to ensure that our camp is not lost. Why take any more risks?

Unfortunately, he always felt that opportunities are hard to come by and would never come back. If he let Cao Hong go this time, he might not be able to capture and kill Cao's generals next time even if he had a chance!

Xu Chu had no choice but to accept the fact that Cao Hong had made a great contribution, so he divided his troops into 300 and asked him to lead them to descend from the rock wall to hunt down Cao Hong.

……

……

On the other hand, the battle at Suoyang Pass is inevitable, so Qian Zhao here would be useless...

But he doesn't know it yet and is still fighting hard.

"Kill..."

Qian Zhao raised his sword, turned around to give orders to his subordinates, and then rushed forward.

Qian Zhao's arrival caused chaos in the rear of the cavalry led by Xu Chu, but it did not reach the point of collapse. After Li Li and his men returned, the cavalry gradually regained order, making Qian Zhao and others feel like they were gradually sinking into a quagmire.

And the troop in front of Qian Zhao was Li Li.

From a distance, Li Li's roar could be heard, "Get ready... load your arrows..."

Lancers and horse archers were not originally clearly distinguished.

Whatever weapon you hold determines what kind of cavalry you are, but as war develops, just like the evolution of society, specialization begins to emerge. Some people are better at something, and naturally do it better, while those who originally knew a little bit of everything gradually need to face the choice of specialization.

This is the direction of human evolution as a whole and is also the inevitable result of social division of labor.

Some people choose not to compromise and not to evolve, but overall, this will deviate from the direction of human development.

The cavalry led by Qian Zhao were still the traditional cavalry of the Han Dynasty, mostly spearmen. If they had bows and arrows, they could also shoot.

The archers led by Li Li undoubtedly took one step further than Qian Zhao's troops.

And it’s a crucial step.

Arrows whizzed in.

The whistling sound of the high-speed arrow tearing through the air was like the sneer of death.

The "puff" sound of the arrow entering the body was drowned out by the roar of horse hooves.

Just like Qian Zhao’s original dream, it was also drowned by the subsequent torrent of reality.

If you fall off your horse at this speed, you will be seriously injured if not dead.

The torrent of history will drown many people, no matter whether they are kind or evil.

The arrows shot by Li Li and others were neat and orderly. Although the cavalry under Qian Zhao also returned a round, the arrows they shot seemed a bit messy, and their power was naturally greatly reduced.

It's not that Qian Zhao doesn't want to achieve the same attack effect as Li Li, but the troops he leads are cobbled together. Now that they can fight with him to the death, it is already very good, and he doesn't ask for anything else.

The distance between the two sides is sixty steps.

The bows and arrows have been put down, and the swords and guns are raised again.

The two sides fought with swords and guns.

Blood splattered and bodies fell.

"Kill! Kill!"

Qian Zhao waved his sword and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Qian Zhao's personal martial arts were indeed very impressive. None of his cavalrymen could gain any advantage. Instead, many were hacked or killed by Qian Zhao. However, Qian Zhao's subordinates were very mediocre, and suffered heavy losses when facing the attack of Li Li and others.

Qian Zhao dodged two swords and kicked away a spear with his foot. Then he slashed the arm of a hussar soldier with the sword in his hand, making his armor fly. There was an obvious abnormal bend in his arm, and then he rushed out of Li Li's impact formation.

Qian Zhao rushed out, but many of his men remained in this land forever.

"Go! Go!"

Qian shouted and did not go back to fight with Li Li and others, but began to flee from the battlefield.

As the situation became more severe, Li Li and others subconsciously turned their horses around and began to chase Qian Zhao's troops.

"They're following us!"

Qian Zhao looked back and immediately shouted, "Quick! Speed ​​up! Lead them into the trap!"