Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3864: Keep a respectful distance

In winter, the north wind howls across the Heluo Plain, whipping up dry yellow dust and turning the world into a hazy yellow.

After the winter rain, the area became even drier.

Not only the exposed skin, but even the nostrils seemed dry and cracked from breathing in the loess for a long time.

Therefore, the movement of a large army cannot be separated from water.

Cao Cao was leading his troops in a difficult retreat towards Gong County. The army stretched for miles, with banners fluttering weakly in the wind. Carts, horses, and supplies were mixed with infantry, and the pace of their journey was not fast.

It wasn't that Cao Cao didn't want to be fast, but that he couldn't be fast enough.

The intense deployment and hasty retreat over the past few days have left even this elite part of Cao Cao's army showing signs of fatigue. However, in any case, the overall formation of Cao Cao's direct troops is still quite orderly, especially the core of the central army, which remains quite vigilant.

As the journey progressed into the afternoon, Cao Cao's rear guard, responsible for covering the rear, suddenly sent an urgent alarm.

A small cavalry squad of about a hundred riders, like a pack of wolves that have smelled blood, is rapidly approaching from the west!

This small cavalry unit had clearly discovered the whereabouts of Cao Cao's force and was attempting to harass and delay them, perhaps even trying to catch them off guard and create an opportunity for the main force to follow.

When the news reached Cao Cao's central army, the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Although Cao Cao's rear guard was also trying to intercept and drive them away, the Flying Cavalry was extremely cunning. Using the mobility of cavalry, they constantly circled around and probed, shooting and killing Cao Cao's soldiers who were out of position, and destroying the vehicles of the rear guard. Although they did not cause large-scale casualties, they were like annoying wasps, disturbing the rear guard and slowing down their advance.

"My lord! This humble general requests permission to slay these annoying flies!"

Dian Wei stood beside Cao Cao like an iron tower, and asked for battle in a deep voice.

Cao Cao hesitated for a moment, but did not immediately agree to Dian Wei's request. Instead, he slowly shook his head.

"Erlai, calm down." Cao Cao's voice was calm, seemingly unaffected by the appearance of the pursuing cavalry. "A counterattack now, even if it defeats this small unit, will expose the location of our elite troops and slow down the main force's advance. Moreover, the cavalry are cunning; if they sense danger, they will flee, so we may not achieve a complete victory and might even attract more pursuers."

Dian Wei was a reckless man, so when something happened, he only thought of using violence to solve the problem.

Cao Cao, however, deduced that the pursuing cavalry squad of the Flying Cavalry did not actually know he was fleeing eastward; it was merely a routine pursuit, not a mission specifically to kill him…

The reason is simple: if they were really after him, would they have so easily exposed their whereabouts and harassed the rear guard without any concealment? Shouldn't they have directly charged into the central army and intercepted them?

Since it's just a routine pursuit, we shouldn't alert them.

Cao Cao's

His gaze swept over the slightly tense military academy soldiers around him, and he laughed heartily: "If they want to harass me, I'll feign weakness; if they want to delay me, I'll... be arrogant!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Dian Wei was puzzled. "My lord, what does this mean? Are we to let them harass us?"

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Of course not..."

……

……

Following Cao Cao's orders,
Cao Jun's army marched in a more hurried manner, with some damaged flags and empty grain sacks discarded by the roadside, and the dust raised by the troops seemed even more chaotic.

Amidst the rising dust, a troop of Cao Cao's soldiers remained behind. After a brief skirmish with the pursuing cavalry, they fired a few volleys of arrows, leaving behind several corpses, and then, in a state of "panic," fled towards a slightly higher mound not far away. Using the mound and the sparse trees on it for cover, they formed a makeshift formation, nocked their crossbows, pointed their spears outwards, and adopted a posture of stubborn resistance.

The pursuing cavalry squad was indeed drawn to the scene.

Without hesitation, the cavalry captain immediately commanded his men to charge the earthen mound.

However, cavalry charges uphill against prepared infantry positions are inherently disadvantageous, especially when the enemy occupies a small mound, which, although not high, is enough to offset some of the cavalry's momentum.

The officer left behind by Cao Cao's army had clearly received a death order and resisted with exceptional tenacity. Although his arrows were not as well-made as those of the Flying Cavalry, their lethality at close range was not to be underestimated. The Flying Cavalry's several attempts to charge were repelled, leaving behind several corpses of men and horses, but they failed to shake Cao Cao's makeshift position.

Seeing that the assault was not going well, the captain of the cavalry calmed down and decided to leave a small group to guard the area while the rest of the men went to pursue the main force of Cao Cao's army. However, the Cao Cao soldiers on the hill took the opportunity to counterattack, which immediately tied down the small cavalry squad.

After several rounds of back and forth, the cavalry squad also became annoyed. Seeing that the Cao army in front of them was small in number but held a strategic position and was difficult to take down, they simply changed their strategy. They ordered the cavalry to spread out and surround the earthen mound from a distance, constantly harassing it with arrows, trying to wear down the Cao army's arrows and stamina, and wait for it to collapse on its own or reveal a weakness.

The two sides remained deadlocked from the afternoon until the sun began to set and dusk fell.

The Cao army on the hill seemed determined to hold their ground to the death; although the arrows were gradually becoming sparse, their formation remained intact.

The cavalry dared not dismount and launch a direct attack, and the situation became deadlocked for a time.

Night finally enveloped the earth completely.

The cold wind grew stronger, and the starlight dimmed.

The Cao army on the mound seemed to be unable to hold on any longer. Under the cover of night, a commotion suddenly broke out as they rushed out of the mound, seemingly preparing to break through and retreat.

The cavalry captain, who had been closely monitoring the hill, immediately perked up and shouted, "These bastards are trying to escape! Everyone mount up! Prepare for pursuit! Don't let them get away!"

However, Cao Cao's army on the hill seemed to have been prepared. Their troops were spread out and scattered like headless flies, fleeing in all directions in an instant.

The darkness and complex terrain severely limited the cavalry's effectiveness. During the pursuit, although the cavalry, relying on their individual bravery and superior equipment, did not encounter any major accidents, the encirclement and capture was not very successful.

Some of Cao Cao's soldiers fled into the rugged, folded loess plateau, while others hid in the forests and bushes. Only a small number of Cao Cao's soldiers were caught up with, killed, and captured by the Flying Cavalry.

By the time the cavalry squad regrouped, dawn was approaching. Cao Cao's main force had long since disappeared on the eastern horizon, and after a day and a night of pursuit, the men and horses were exhausted, and they had used up a lot of arrows. It was no longer possible to catch up with Cao Cao's main force.

"Damn it!" The captain of the cavalry took stock of the battle results and losses. Although he had "defeated" one of Cao Cao's rearguard units, he still felt somewhat frustrated. He had failed to achieve the main objective of delaying Cao Cao's main force and had instead been entangled for an entire afternoon and midnight.

What he didn't know was that this was exactly the result Cao Cao wanted.

……

……

As dawn broke, the chill of the night was somewhat dispelled, and the ravaged ground beneath the earthen mound, scarred by a brief but fierce battle, was illuminated.

The cavalry squad of the Flying Cavalry Army was cleaning up the battlefield and simultaneously taking custody of the dozen or so Cao army prisoners they had captured.

Most of these Cao army prisoners were wounded, their clothes and armor were in disarray, their faces were covered in blood and mud, and they were exhausted and terrified.

The cavalry squad that pursued Cao Cao's army was naturally under Zhu Ling's command.

The squad leader in charge of this unit was surnamed Zhao, a middle-aged man with a dark complexion and sharp eyes. He walked up to the prisoners, scanning them one by one, and finally stopped in front of a Cao army platoon leader who seemed to be the leader among the prisoners. He had an injured arm but was still trying to straighten his back.

"Tell me, which unit are you from? Who is your commander?" Zhao Quchang's voice was not loud, but it carried the cold, hard quality unique to veteran soldiers, as if it could penetrate people's defenses.

The sergeant of Cao's army raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhao Quzhang, then quickly lowered them again. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Zhao Qu drew his battle sword, its gleaming blade flashing coldly in the morning light, reeking of blood. "Tell the truth, and perhaps I'll spare your life. But if you dare to deceive me…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but the threat was palpable. The surrounding cavalrymen also took a step forward in response, their killing intent intensifying.

The prisoners stirred; some instinctively shrank back, while others looked away.

Cold sweat beaded on the sergeant's forehead. He licked his chapped lips, glanced around, and seemed to exchange glances with his comrades. Finally, he raised his head and spoke in a hoarse voice, thick with a Qiaopei accent: "Reporting...reporting to the superior...we...we were the rearguard...covering the rear...in the chaos last night, we got separated from the main force..."

"Sent astray?" Zhao Quchang narrowed his eyes, clearly disbelieving. "You hundred or so men, holding your position on this earthen mound for most of the day, do you think you've gotten separated? Speak! Who is your commander? Where are you headed? To Gongxian, or somewhere else?"

"We...we were originally following General Han, but then General Han disappeared..." The Cao army sergeant lowered his head, not daring to look at Zhao Quzhang. "Last night it was dark, and there were shouts of battle everywhere. We just wanted to escape, so we charged around aimlessly...we couldn't tell which way was which...I only remember...I only remember the main force seemed to be heading east, and then it seemed to be heading north...it was very chaotic..."

The other prisoners chimed in, chattering amongst themselves. Some said they went east, others said there seemed to be a fire going north. Their words were incoherent and their stories differed, but they all insisted that they had "gone separated" and "did not know the details."

Most of them spoke with a similar Qiaopei accent, and deep in their eyes, besides fear, there seemed to be something indescribable, almost stubborn.

Zhao Quchang frowned deeply. He had interrogated many prisoners and could tell that these people were hiding something, and were not entirely unaware of the truth.

Although their statements are inconsistent, their core message remains the same—

The whereabouts of Cao Cao and his main force are unknown.

Moreover, these people's accents...

The people of Qiao and Pei were Cao Cao's fellow townsmen and formed one of the core bases of Cao Cao's regime.

Such people are often extremely loyal to Cao Cao, and threatening them with death may not be able to get them to talk, at least not in the short term.

He tried several different methods of interrogation, even pulling two seemingly timid prisoners aside and offering them their lives or money, but the information he obtained remained vague and contradictory, making it impossible to piece together clear and reliable clues.

These soldiers from Qiao and Pei may not have been the best fighters, but at this critical moment, their loyalty and sense of protection based on regional and clan ties were exceptionally strong.

The laws of the Han Dynasty, which emphasized protecting one's relatives, were deeply ingrained.

Those in later generations who readily treat their relatives as targets for extortion often find it difficult to understand the constraints of this kind of emotional and moral obligation.

Time ticked by. Zhao Quchang knew he couldn't delay any longer. He had to report the situation here as soon as possible. The main force was still in the rear and needed to adjust its deployment based on intelligence from the front.

"Hmph, a bunch of bastards!" Zhao Quchang finally gave up on investigating further. He coldly glanced at the prisoners. "Tie them up tightly and, along with these confessions, send them back to the rear camp to be dealt with by the central army! We'll rest here for a while, let the horses roam freely, and give them a break! Send scouts out five li (approximately 2.5 kilometers) to watch out for enemy ambushes!"

He made the safest decision.

Since we can't get any concrete information out of these Cao army prisoners right away, let's hand them over along with the questions.

……

……

Outside Luoyang City.

The camp of the cavalry.

Although Luoyang was not captured by Cao Cao's army, it had been siege for days and was in a state of disrepair. The city was in disarray, with the people eating, drinking, and relieving themselves in a state of chaos, and the streets and alleys were filthy. When the cavalry arrived, there was naturally no space to stay in the city, so they simply set up camp outside the city and dismantled Cao Cao's camps to provide the people in the city with temporary shelter from the wind and rain for the winter.

Of course, the cavalry could also completely disregard the lives of these civilians.

After all, it's a chaotic world, people are insignificant, and there's war—there are too many reasons to say that...

However, Fei Qian still ordered the cavalry to do it.

Even if this delays the movement of some of the cavalry.

Luoyang City has suddenly become a huge construction site. Vehicles and people are busy from sunrise to sunset. Everywhere seems to be under repair, and the winter cold seems unable to stop these people.

The shouts of laborers, the clanging of soldiers' armor, the hurried footsteps of civil and military officials, and the faint shouts of drills coming from the open space in the distance, all intertwined to create a symphony of revival imbued with the spirit of iron and blood.

Inside the central command tent, Fei Qian did not sit in the high and mighty main seat, but stood in front of a huge, detailed map of the Heluo region and the surrounding mountains and rivers.

He was dressed in casual clothes with a simple suit of armor over them, his posture upright and exuding the majesty of a commander.

The battle is now in its final stages, but the string of victories has not made him complacent in the slightest. On the contrary, it has made him more soberly aware that the challenges are still there, and it is not yet time to pop the champagne...

How to completely crush Cao Cao's resistance in the Central Plains, and how to integrate the newly recovered vast territories—these are all problems.

Zao Zhidu and others gave a brief report on the restoration of order in Luoyang City, the pacification of displaced people, and the inventory of the government treasury.

With Fei Qian's arrival, Zao Zhidu and others naturally handed over all military power to Fei Qian, who is now in charge of the restoration and governance of civil administration in Heluo.

With winter approaching, shelters for the people must be prepared before the severe cold arrives; otherwise, those who have already lost their homes may have to physically endure the biting cold from the north.

Not only do they need shelter from the wind and rain, but they also need a lot of heating supplies. Fei Qian has already ordered coal to be transported from Guanzhong, but it will take some time.

Besides heating their homes, the food supply for ordinary people is also a problem.

Some ice has already formed on the river, making it very dangerous to navigate by boat. Even the pontoon bridge won't last more than a few days. It will take another month or two for the river to freeze completely. Therefore, any transfers from the east bank or the interior of the river must be organized in a short period of time, otherwise they will be interrupted.

Therefore, this matter was quite complicated. After meeting with Fei Qian, Zao Zhi and Du Ji immediately left again to handle related matters...

Fei Qian then calmed down and focused on military matters, his gaze lingering on key points on the map such as Taigu, Yique, Gongxian, and Sishui.

"Greetings, My Lord!" Sima Yi approached, presenting several military reports bound with ribbons of different colors. "Reporting to My Lord, here is a summary of the latest battle reports from the scouts, rangers, and pursuit teams at the front!"

Fei Qian nodded, gesturing for the guard to take Sima Yi's military report. He didn't immediately open it, but instead asked, "What is the general outline of the main force's movements?"

"Reporting to my lord," Sima Yi replied fluently, clearly familiar with the key points of the intelligence, "According to reports from various units, after Cao Cao's army withdrew from Luoyang, they roughly split into two groups. One group was larger, with well-organized banners, especially the large banner bearing the character 'Cao,' heading south towards Taigu and Yique Pass, seemingly retreating towards the Songshan Mountains. They offered resolute resistance along the way, making it difficult for our cavalry to get close and ascertain their specific troop deployment. The other group was slightly smaller, with a somewhat scattered formation, retreating northeast along the Luo River towards Gongxian and Sishui Pass. Their rearguard was weaker and less determined than Cao Cao's southward-bound troops, with many deserters and prisoners."

Is Cao Mengde's great banner in the south?

Fei Qian pondered for a moment, then opened the military report marked "Songshan Direction." It detailed how the cavalry squad discovered the southward retreat of Cao Cao's main force, how they attempted to get closer for reconnaissance but were resolutely driven away by crossbowmen and elite cavalry, and even a small-scale conflict occurred. The cavalry did not gain any advantage and could only confirm from afar that the conspicuous "Cao" banner was indeed moving south.

The resistance was very strong?
Cao Jun's alternating cover was also very well-organized.

When an army is retreating, if there is no wise leader to direct it, it can easily turn into a major rout, with everyone trying to run away, but in the end, no one can escape.

Historically, the vast majority of war casualties occur in the middle and later stages of a war, with those who die directly in combat usually accounting for only about 20% of the total number of soldier deaths.

Therefore, it can be concluded that there must have been an important figure directing the retreating Cao army to the south.

Fei Qian then opened the reconnaissance reports from the direction of Sishui Pass, and the contents were quite different.

Reports from the direction of Sishui Pass in Gong County mostly indicated encounters with small groups of Cao Cao's defeated troops cutting off their retreat. Cao Cao's troops also appeared scattered and showed no intention of putting up a firm resistance.

The two intelligence reports pointed in two different directions, presenting two completely different situations.

Fei Qian frowned slightly.

Senior Brother Cao, where are you going?