Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1393: Second Car
Guo Huai didn't know what the two were thinking, but even if he knew, he didn't think there was anything wrong. After all, according to the intelligence he had gathered this time, the Jin army on the opposite side were almost all mobile forces and did not bring any large siege equipment.

As the most important gateway to Nanyang, Wancheng naturally has strong defenses. Over the past few decades, it has only been lost once, when Yuan Xi launched a surprise attack on Wancheng from Luoyang and ambushed Cao's army, causing Cao Cao to suffer an extremely tragic defeat. Therefore, the defenses of Wancheng are intact at the moment, and Guo Huai does not think that the Jin army will have enough strength to siege the city under his attack.

So of course Guo Huai took advantage of the night to rush twenty miles, found the Jin army camp, and began to attack. After fighting fiercely with the Jin army for more than half an hour, when he learned that Xu Miao and others had left the city and were coming, he was relieved.

Although the Jin army was in panic, their resistance was extremely fierce, making the situation extremely tense. This made Guo Huai wonder in his heart, was the Jin army really completely unprepared?

Seeing that the two sides were evenly matched, Guo Huai couldn't help but feel anxious. If this continued, it was possible that the Wei soldiers on his side who could not stand the long battle would collapse first!
If he had to fight on now, the Jin army might come to its senses and he would be unable to retreat. It would also be too late to ask for help from Xu Miao and Liang Ji in Wancheng. This made Guo Huai extremely conflicted. Should he risk the losses and retreat before reorganizing his troops?

At this moment, news came that Xu Miao, Liang Ji and others had arrived. Guo Huai immediately knew what the two were planning. Although he was a little disdainful, the presence of Xu Miao and Liang Ji with their troops really solved Guo Huai's dilemma. Now it was not a question of grabbing credit, but the most important thing was to defeat the Jin army first!
However, Guo Huai and his two companions did not know that Huang Zhong, who was lying in ambush nearby, had been watching them covetously since most of the night. He left a few generals in the camp, and took hundreds of elite soldiers with him. He took advantage of the cover of night to make a big circle and sneaked to the rear of Guo Huai's army.

His original intention was to delay Guo Huai here, wait until he was exhausted, and then launch a sudden attack to kill Guo Huai in one fell swoop. However, he did not expect that while Guo Huai was still fighting, people from Wancheng came.

Huang Zhong's first reaction was that his plan of feigning defeat had been discovered by the enemy. He wanted to retreat immediately, but finally decided to stay and observe.

Under the moonlight, Huang Zhong saw through the telescope that two generals from the opposite side were leading their troops rapidly coming down the mountain road. One of them was actually wearing a long robe of a noble family.

Although Huang Zhong suspected that he was wearing armor underneath, this kind of attire was still too conspicuous on the battlefield. He might have not fought many battles before and did not know that keeping a low profile was the best way to save his life, so he acted so ostentatiously.

Huang Zhong sneered in his heart, no matter who you are, I will make you suffer a great loss today!
He looked at the treetops above his head, then immediately reached out his hands, and using his ten fingers to grip the bark, he climbed up in a few steps. Then he spread his feet, stepped on the branches to stabilize his body, and pulled out his longbow.

He pulled out three arrows from the quiver behind him, put one of them on the bowstring, pinched the remaining two with his fingers, then suddenly exerted force with his arm and pulled the bowstring hard.

The bow was in a full moon shape, and the string was as sharp as iron. The muscles in Huang Zhong's arms bulged, and he pointed the tip of the arrow at the front and side of the target's head in the distance. He looked at the fluttering direction of the leaves on the opposite side, calculated the wind direction, and shifted the arrow forward half an inch. Then he condensed his breath, and his whole body seemed to be frozen.

The next moment, he let go of his hand, and with a bang, the bowstring rebounded and pushed the arrow out fiercely.

Seeing the arrow flying away, Huang Zhong did not wait, but immediately put the second arrow on the string, while staring at the point where the arrow would land.

With a whoosh, the arrow shot out, brushing against the back of the man in the scholar's robe and piercing the shoulder of a soldier next to him.

That person was military advisor Xu Miao. He heard the screams of the soldiers around him and turned his head subconsciously, but he didn't realize what was happening. Liang Ji reacted quickly and shouted, "Get off the horse!"

At this moment, when Huang Zhong saw the arrow miss the target, there was no trace of unwillingness on his face. Instead, he immediately nocked the second arrow, took aim, and shot it.

Not only that, the next moment he pulled the bowstring back again and shot out the remaining third arrow. These two arrows, one on the left and one on the right, had blocked all possible routes of action for Xu Miao.

On the other side, Xu Miao was panicked for a brief moment before finally realizing that someone was going to shoot him. When he heard Liang Ji's words, he subconsciously turned over and raised his legs, ready to jump off his horse.

But it was too late. Huang Zhong's second arrow hit his vest, splitting the flimsy leather armor and embedding deeply into his flesh.

Xu Miao screamed in pain and subconsciously straightened up. At this time, the third arrow had arrived and shot into his ear exactly and came out from the other ear.

Xu Miao's eyes were wide open, and blood mixed with brain lobes flowed out of his ears, nostrils, and eye sockets. After his body stiffened briefly, Xu Miao's body tilted and he fell off his horse, dying.

Liang Ji, who had already jumped off his horse and hid, saw this and couldn't help trembling. Although he responded much faster than Xu Miao, if the opponent's target was not Xu Miao from the beginning, he might not even live to jump off his horse!
He hid behind his horse and roared, "Enemy attack!"

"Array up!"

After hearing this, the Wei soldiers hurriedly formed their battle array. Huang Zhong saw Liang Ji hiding in the crowd and realized that he could no longer make an accurate sniper attack. So he gave an order and the soldiers behind him drew their bows and arrows in unison, pointing them diagonally towards the sky, launching the first wave of rain of arrows.

Hundreds of sharp arrows flew over, knocking dozens of Cao's soldiers to the ground. Liang Ji was terrified and screamed at the Wei army to maintain their formation. Huang Zhong had already jumped down from the tree, mounted his horse, and rushed towards Liang Ji with his sword in hand. At this time, Huang Zhong's men were divided into two groups. One group kept firing arrows to harass Cao's army, and the other group followed Huang Zhong and rushed into the Wei army from the side, cutting it off in the middle.

Liang Ji could not help but feel extremely distressed when he saw the Jin cavalry fighting back and forth in the Wei army's formation. The Jin army had discovered the weakness of the Wei army's long snake formation when they were marching, and now that the snake's body had been broken, they were unable to organize an effective counterattack!

He immediately shouted, "All troops, charge northward. General Guo's army is just a few miles away. As long as we join them, we can survive!"

After hearing this, the Wei army soldiers roared in unison, and the army formation that was about to collapse actually began to stabilize under the threat of death.

Just when Liang Ji was breathing a sigh of relief, Huang Zhong had already spotted Liang Ji's position. He shook the reins and rushed over on his horse.

The sound of hooves was like thunder, and the war horses protected by armor knocked away the Wei soldiers blocking their way one by one. Huang Zhong held the broadsword diagonally across his side, and the blade, which was close to the ground, cut the calves of the Cao soldiers on both sides. Wherever he went, the Wei soldiers screamed and fell to the ground.

Liang Ji had already found a warhorse and climbed back up, ready to rush to Guo Huai for help, but suddenly he heard shouts and screams getting closer and closer behind him. He subconsciously turned around, only to see the enemy general rushing towards him quickly, already very close to him.

At this time, Huang Zhong's long sword bounced up from the ground at an angle. The blade, which was about a foot long, flashed coldly under the moonlight, and it slashed towards Liang Ji's neck with a shrill sound.

The next moment, the sharp blade swept past, cutting off Liang Ji's neck directly, and his head flew out.

It was unlucky for Xu Miao and Liang Ji. Both of them were civil servants. They thought that Guo Huai would support them in the front, but Huang Zhong, the killer, was not charging in the front but ambushing in the back. His original intention was to launch a sneak attack on Guo Huai's rear. However, the two civil servants ran out of the city and ran into Huang Zhong head-on.

It is extremely difficult to take the heads of military generals from among thousands of soldiers, especially those with high martial arts skills. It requires not only extraordinary courage and bravery, but also some experience and luck.

When Huang Zhong killed Xiahou Yuan, he was lucky to hit the opponent, but he never encountered such an opportunity again in the battle afterwards. Unexpectedly, he encountered the big gift package sent by Cao Wei today, and inadvertently took the heads of two people.

After the death of Xu Miao and Liang Ji, the remaining Wei army immediately collapsed. Huang Zhong led his men to kill the Wei soldiers and without delay, he led his troops to attack Guo Huai's rear. However, he knew that Guo Huai must have been prepared for this incident and it would be difficult for him to launch a surprise attack again.

As expected, within a moment Guo Huai learned the news that the rear army was ambushed and Xu Miao and Liang Ji were killed in the battle. He secretly groaned, thinking that the Jin army was definitely well prepared and was just waiting for him to jump in, but he didn't expect that Xu Miao and Liang Ji would take the blame for him!

But even so, the current situation is very dangerous. If I don't act quickly, I'm afraid I'll be surrounded and killed here by the Jin army!

Several options flashed through Guo Huai's mind in an instant, and he made a decision in a very short time. The entire army headed west and entered the Funiu Mountains in the west.

The Funiushan Passage is the only passage leading to Wuguan between Wancheng and Chang'an. Guo Huai's choice was equivalent to giving up on returning to Wancheng for support and putting self-preservation at the top priority.

He did not give up Wancheng and Sima Yi who came back to support him, but made this decision after a short period of careful consideration.

If he went east to meet Sima Yi, or broke through the Jin army to the south and escaped back to Wancheng, he would be blocked by the Jin army. At that time, as long as he could not break through the opposite side's ambush, he would be trapped deeper and deeper until he was surrounded and destroyed.

What Guo Huai had to do was to make a move that the Jin army could not predict. Once he entered the Funiushan Passage, he could use the narrow terrain to reorganize his army. This would not only block the Jin army, but also ensure the safety of this retreat passage.

By then, even if Sima Yi comes back, he will be able to send troops to support and cooperate to ensure that the army can retreat safely. As for Wancheng, given the current situation, it cannot be defended no matter what. It is better to give it up decisively and save the main force of the Wei army.

So under his command, the Wei army fought and retreated, and finally after losing nearly half of its troops, the entire army retreated into the Funiu Mountains.

The passage in Funiu Mountain is narrow and difficult to navigate, and the terrain is extremely different, which makes it very difficult for the armored cavalry and infantry of the Jin army to navigate. In addition, it was dark and it was impossible to distinguish between friend and foe. Huang Zhong, who arrived, thought for a moment and ordered the soldiers to temporarily give up the pursuit and reorganize the army on the spot.

He looked at the dark Funiu Mountain Road and thought that the Prime Minister had really got it right this time.

(End of this chapter)