Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 884 The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole follows behind
Wei Yan said nothing, but raised his hand to signal, and drums sounded from the Han army's formation.

Immediately, the Han soldiers who looked exhausted in the eyes of Cao Xiu, Li Qian, Li Zheng and other Cao generals slowly retreated to the rear along the gaps in the army formation.

When a whole layer of Han soldiers retreated in this way, another group of Han soldiers appeared in front of many Cao generals with completely different looks and states.

Although they could not hide their fatigue from the rapid march, their morale remained quite high, and there was not even the slightest sign of hunger.

Cao Xiu subconsciously tightened his grip on the reins, his heart tightened as he realized he had fallen into a trap. After he understood what had happened, he couldn't help but be surprised that the less famous Wei Yan actually had such ability.

The Han army soldiers' hunger, which was difficult to conceal, was real. Cao Xiu even captured a small number of stragglers along the way, and those soldiers also confirmed the information that the Han army was running out of food and grass.

According to the confessions of the captured Han soldiers, the Han army killed horses and cooked the meat last night to boost morale. After each man filled his stomach with a small piece of horse meat and a bowl of porridge with only a few grains of rice left, he began to withdraw quickly.

It was precisely because of all the evidence before him that Cao Xiu firmly believed that the Han army was out of food.

But the current state of the Han army undoubtedly proves that Wei Yan persuaded a considerable number of reliable Han soldiers to reduce their food intake in order to create the illusion that the Han army was out of food.

Even while chasing along the way, he continued to command those pale-faced Han soldiers and provided cover for the main force of the Han army which maintained its combat effectiveness.

"However, the number of soldiers who have reduced their food intake is probably close to 5,000. In other words, the actual available strength of the Han army is only around 15,000..."

"Compared to them, our army has more than 20,000 soldiers, including nearly 6,000 elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. With such an advantage, what is there to fear?"

Although Cao Xiu thought so, he was also very alert considering that the Han army seemed to have the conditions to fight to the death. He did not dare to underestimate them at all. He quickly commanded the Cao army to form a battle line and prepared for a fierce battle.

However, despite this, after some self-examination, Cao Xiu was still confident of defeating the Han army, and both sides were also making final arrangements for their battle formations.

In order to maximize the advantage in military strength and the power of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, under the command of Cao Xiu, Cao's army quickly changed into a goose-shaped formation with the left and right wings arranged in echelons backwards.

Guo Jia and Pang Tong, who were protected in the central army's formation that focused on frontal defense, were constantly observing the changes in Cao's army, their expressions showing a hint of increased importance.

"Shi Yuan, the commander of Cao's army is Cao Xiu?" Guo Jia confirmed.

"It must be Cao Xiu without a doubt." Pang Tong replied.

"If so, this person is indeed worthy of the title of 'Thousand Mile Horse'..."

Guo Jia commented and spoke.

After all, the fact that he could quickly command his troops to change their formations in an orderly manner on the battlefield was enough to show that Cao Xiu's command ability was relatively strong and he could be considered a famous general.

"And the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry do look like a strong force. If possible, both Cao Xiu and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry should be buried here to avoid hindering the teacher's Northern Expedition."

At the end, Guo Jia, who was usually laughing, had a stern look on his face.

Pang Tong nodded slightly, agreeing with it.

In order to lure Cao's army out of the city, more than two thousand Han soldiers were killed in just one fierce attack, plus countless baggage was deliberately abandoned. Wei Yan even sent all his troops to the front and pretended to go on a hunger strike. The price was not small.

Because of this, we must try our best to capture them all in one fell swoop... During the moment when Guo Jia and Pang Tong were talking, the two armies collided with each other under the command of their main generals.

Cao Xiu knew that Cao's army had been marching for a long time and had little physical strength left. In order to avoid heavy losses, a quick victory was necessary, so he did not hold back or hesitate.

During the head-on collision, when both sides were in a brief stalemate, Cao Xiu did not hesitate to command the Tiger Cavalry and Leopard Cavalry on the left and right sides to attack the Han army from the left and right flanks respectively.

If one looks down from a high altitude, one can see that the Han army's retreat is blocked by the Zibo River, and the other three sides are surrounded by Cao's army, which seems to be trying to swallow the Han army up in one fell swoop.

However, what Cao Xiu didn't know was that while the mantis stalks the cicada, there is also an oriole behind it. There was a white line slowly approaching from behind Cao's army.

This was surprisingly the White Horse Volunteers who relied on their high mobility in Youyan and arrived here at a rapid speed after receiving the plan made by Guo Jia and Pang Tong.

Not everyone can emulate and replicate Xiang Yu's miracle of burning his boats and crossing the river, but it is not difficult to keep the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole is behind.

After being besieged by Cao's army, the unguarded rear would also reveal a fatal flaw, like the weakest point of a snake.

Zhao Yun led the White Horse Volunteers and slowly approached the edge of the battlefield until the sound of drums from the Han army could be heard in the distance.

This is also a signal that was made in advance in the plan.

Advance when you hear the exciting drumbeats!
This shows that Cao's army has completely engaged in a battle with the Han army.

The next moment, Zhao Yun raised his Yajiao spear high and shouted the slogan of the White Horse Volunteers, which received a loud and heroic response.

"Where righteousness comes, life and death follow it! The sky can tell you, and the white horse is the proof!"

In an instant, tens of thousands of White Horse Volunteers suddenly turned into a rolling wave and rushed quickly towards the direction of the drum sound.

fast!
Too fast!!!

The Han army cavalry also had a large number of branches, but in terms of cavalry speed, the Baima Yicong was undoubtedly the fastest.

Turn quickly, charge quickly, and shoot arrows even faster.

By the time Cao Xiu discovered the tens of thousands of White Horse Volunteers who suddenly appeared behind him, he was terrified. However, the White Horse Volunteers were only about a thousand steps away from Cao's army.

By the time the extremely panicked Cao Xiu wanted to hastily command his rear troops to turn around and form a battle formation on the spot to block the White Horse Volunteers, and tried to recall the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry that were pressing forward to contain the White Horse Volunteers, an overwhelming rain of arrows had already poured down on the densely packed rear of Cao's army.

On a chaotic battlefield, one of the most terrifying situations for a military commander is undoubtedly that the rear troops are attacked unexpectedly without any preparation.

Perhaps, the general who had an overall view of the situation could clearly compare the combat effectiveness of the two armies, but for the lower-level soldiers, this sudden attack was almost devastating to the morale.

Especially since the attacked army was often the weakest in terms of combat power, the formation maintained by the rear army was seriously distorted almost as soon as the White Horse Volunteers launched a rain of arrows.

Many Cao's soldiers in the rear army, even a small number of them were young and strong men who had never experienced field battles, faced the sudden attack and almost instinctively showed signs of fleeing away from the White Horse Volunteers.

(End of this chapter)