With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 178, The Unique Characteristics of the Yellow River Shallows

Just as Cao Cao was about to send men to stop Wen Chou, Guo Jia walked over, his dark eyes flashing brightly.

Guo Jia stretched, probably because he was too tired from riding the horse.

Guo Jia said, "My lord, Wen Chou is leading his troops in pursuit. He will surely be a light force, and the number of troops will not be too large. This is a good opportunity for us."

Cao Cao hurriedly asked Xu Chu, "Zhongkang, did you see clearly how many men Wen Chou brought?"

Xu Chu shook his head. "It's too dark to see clearly, but they're all on horseback. I estimate there are several thousand people."

Guo Jia nodded and said, "My lord, Wen Chou thought we had lost Baima City and our morale had collapsed, so we retreated in a panic. That's why he dared to advance lightly and recklessly to pursue us. In that case, we are not a threat. We should simply ambush him halfway and catch him off guard."

Cao Cao nodded: "Very well. Since Wen Chou is so eager to die, I will grant his wish."

Guo Jia added, "I will lead some men ahead to find a suitable ambush location and make preparations in advance. You can send someone to deal with Wen Chou for a while, and you can also give him some armor and supplies to confuse him."

Cao Cao quickly replied, "Good!"

With Guo Jia by his side, helping Cao Cao devise strategies, Cao Cao truly felt very relaxed.

Next, Guo Jia led his men to find a suitable ambush location, while Cao Cao found Liu Xie and asked him to lead his men ahead to Yan Jin to meet up with Yu Jin.

It's clear that Cao Cao was still very worried about Liu Xie's safety.

Liu Xie shook his head. "Lord Cao, since Wen Chou only brought a few thousand men, there is no need for me to leave. I want Gan Ning and the others to stay with you. If we are going to ambush Wen Chou, let's use our strongest forces and completely annihilate Wen Chou and his men!"

"To annihilate them all in one fell swoop?"

Cao Cao repeated it aloud, his eyes lighting up as he exclaimed, "Since the start of our battle with Yuan Shao's army, we have never annihilated an entire enemy force. Your Majesty has reminded me of that, and it is indeed time for our soldiers to have a chance to hold their heads high."

Cao Cao had always positioned himself as the weaker party, given his limited forces, and had to carefully plan every battle.

However, this time, Wen Chou blindly pursued the enemy with only a few thousand men, and Cao Cao was fully capable of wiping them all out in one fell swoop.

Moreover, this was the first time Liu Xie and Cao Cao had joined forces, making it a very memorable occasion.

Cao Cao immediately made arrangements, deliberately leaving some baggage and troops at the rear of the army to mislead Wen Chou.

Wen Chou pursued relentlessly, paying little attention to Cao Cao's supply train even when he caught up with it. His target was Cao Cao and the emperor. Wen Chou kept urging his troops to speed up, wishing he could sprout wings and fly over in an instant.

As dawn approached, another large group of Cao Cao's soldiers appeared ahead, numbering over ten thousand. A scout rode up to Wen Chou and excitedly said, "General, we've spotted Cao Cao and the Emperor ahead. We're about to catch up; they're crossing a shallow area."

"Good, excellent! Quickly follow me and pursue them!" Eager to make a contribution, Wen Chou didn't think twice and spurred his horse to charge ahead of the group.

Several thousand Yuan army cavalry followed closely behind, stirring up clouds of dust.

The Yellow River was nearby, and the banks were all dirt roads formed by silt deposits. The dirt roads were the dustiest, and when they encountered groups of cavalry, the dust would immediately fill the air, almost obscuring the entire sky.

Wen Chou moved with incredible speed and quickly caught up. Sure enough, judging from the banners and attire, they were Cao Cao's army.

Cao Cao's army was disorganized, with infantry, cavalry, supply troops, and logistics soldiers mixed in, as well as many vehicles, so their speed was not fast.

"Oh no, Yuan's troops are coming!" Cao's army spotted the pursuers, and someone immediately shouted. More and more people followed suit, yelling and running forward in a panic. Some even abandoned their carriages, like sheep encountering wild wolves.

As Wen Chou rode on his horse, looking at the panicked Cao soldiers, he felt a surge of joy. It was so exhilarating!

"Haha!" Wen Chou spurred his horse and laughed wildly, chasing after them while quickly searching for Cao Cao and Liu Xie. Soon, he found them.

Wen Chou accelerated, excitedly urging his soldiers behind him, "Chase them! Except for Cao Cao and the Emperor, you may kill as many others as you like!"

This is a vast and open area of ​​shallow sandbars in the Yellow River. When the water level is high, this area is usually submerged. When the water level is low, large areas of sandbars are exposed, making it accessible for pedestrians.

The water level had just receded from the shallows nearby, while the Yellow River was still flowing continuously in the low-lying area not far away.

The shallows were covered with weeds, some as tall as half a person, a lush green. Because of the abundant water and the nutrients in the mud, these aquatic plants grew very vigorously.

Wen Chou rode his horse at breakneck speed, and in the blink of an eye, he caught up with Cao Cao's army and arrived behind them.

Cao Jun's wagons were abandoned everywhere, blocking the road haphazardly, and much of the grain and fodder on the wagons was scattered on the ground.

Xu Chu and Xu Huang, with the help of the carriages, suddenly charged out and blocked Wen Chou's cavalry.

Wen Chou brandished his spear and charged forward with all his might, thinking only of rushing over as quickly as possible and catching up with Cao Cao and the emperor immediately.

There were no fewer than a hundred carriages, almost completely blocking the road. In addition, Xu Chu and his men filled in the gaps and blocked the gaps in the carriages, so only a small portion of Wen Chou's cavalry were able to get past these obstacles.

Most of the cavalry were slowed down and blocked.

"Stop them! Don't let a single one get through!"

Xu Chu roared like a tiger, brandishing his broadsword. He leaped high into the air and cleaved a Yuan army cavalryman off his horse. Before the Yuan soldier could even stand up, Xu Chu swiftly moved closer and, with a soft thud, plunged the tip of his blade straight into his heart.

The next moment, Xu Chu strode forward and charged towards Wen Chou, while Xu Huang wielded his axe and fought fiercely with Wen Chou.

Cao Cao's army consisted entirely of infantry, and even generals like Xu Chu and Xu Huang had long since abandoned their warhorses.

Although Wen Chou's cavalry numbered well, their advance was blocked, and their movements slowed down considerably. Some tried to bypass the obstacles by going around through the low-lying areas on either side, but suddenly, from the bushes, countless crossbow bolts shot out.

Yuan's cavalrymen screamed and fell from their horses. Arrows whistled through the air incessantly, raining down like a storm. In just one exchange, Wen Chou had killed or wounded dozens of his cavalrymen.

The stray warhorses neighed in terror and ran around wildly, quickly spreading an atmosphere of horror to everyone.

"Not good, an ambush!" Wen Chou thrust out several times, forcing Xu Huang back. He turned his head to look to both sides and suddenly heard shouts of battle coming from the bushes. Gan Ning was on the left and Lü Bu was on the right.

Wen Chou looked ahead again, unwilling to give up. Cao Cao and Liu Xie had stopped and were standing side by side, chatting and laughing as they looked at them.

"Brothers, this is the first battle since the Jinfan Battalion was established. Give it your all and fight!"

Gan Ning raised his broadsword high, roared like a tiger, and launched a flanking attack from the left. Lü Bu was equally swift, launching a fierce attack from the right.

Wen Chou shouted, "Oh no! We've fallen into a trap! Turn around and retreat immediately!"

When Wen Chou tried to turn around, his warhorse struggled greatly, its hooves nearly sinking into the ground several times. Fortunately, his warhorse was a fine Ferghana horse, and it managed to turn around. However, retreating was difficult because the area behind it was densely packed with his own men.

Many of Yuan's soldiers' warhorses got stuck in the shallows. The more frightened the warhorses were and the more they struggled, the deeper they sank.

This situation was very common, with more and more warhorses getting stuck in the mud and sand, making the scene extremely chaotic.

Before anyone knew it, Guo Jia arrived beside Cao Cao and Liu Xie, fanning himself.

Seeing the chaos among Yuan troops ahead, Cao Cao, unable to see clearly, asked in confusion, "Fengxiao, what's going on?"

Guo Jia pointed to the ground beneath his feet. “My lord, I find these shallows near the Yellow River very interesting. People can walk on them, or warhorses can run on them without any problem. However, the mud and sand beneath many of these shallows are not very firm. If you keep putting pressure on them, you will sink deeper and deeper.”

Guo Jia even gave a demonstration on the spot, calling over a burly Cao soldier and having him stand still and stomp his feet down repeatedly.

Cao Cao watched curiously. At first, there was nothing unusual, but the soldier kept exerting force. After a while, Cao Cao found that his foot was indeed sinking in, and the more force he exerted, the deeper he sank.

Guo Jia pointed around again, “This shallow beach, the river water has just receded, and it is barely walkable on it. So many of us have walked on it once, and the ground has actually become a bit loose. Just then, Wen Chou’s cavalry caught up with us.”

Cao Cao laughed and scolded, "Isn't it you who deliberately lured them here? Stop keeping me in suspense. No wonder you insisted on leaving the carriages behind. It was to block Wen Chou's cavalry and prevent them from charging, making it easier for them to get stuck in the mud and sand."

Guo Jia abruptly stopped holding his fan, nodded and smiled, "That's right. If we don't use the carriages to stop them, Wen Chou's cavalry will have a hard time getting stuck on this shallow beach. Warhorses are very intelligent. When they sense that the ground under their feet is becoming soft, they will quickly move away. So we must stop Wen Chou's cavalry. All the thousands of cavalrymen suddenly lost their speed advantage and gradually came to a stop. When they tried to run again, they found that they could no longer run."

Liu Xie was no stranger to this kind of thing. Before he transmigrated, his hometown was in the lower reaches of the Yellow River when he was a child. He often played in the shallows, stomping in the mud. The more he stomped, the deeper he would sink. This was a common phenomenon in the muddy Yellow River.

Of course, this is on the premise that the mud and sand near the water source are dry and lack moisture, no matter how you step on it, it will not sink.

Guo Jia sighed and complained to Cao Cao, "My lord, last night I led my men to find a suitable ambush site, and my warhorse almost got stuck."

Cao Cao laughed heartily and comforted him, "Good, Fengxiao, you have made the greatest contribution in this battle. I will personally select a fine steed for you later."

Seeing Cao Cao and Guo Jia joking and laughing together without any distinction of rank, Liu Xie smiled with satisfaction.

Liu Xie couldn't help but think that in history, Cao Cao was so talented and ambitious, and was about to unify the world, but Guo Jia died.

Then, Zhuge Liang emerged from seclusion and helped Liu Bei join forces with Sun Quan, defeating Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs, thus establishing the tripartite balance of power in the Three Kingdoms period.

This powerful situation lasted for decades.

People often say that if Guo Jia hadn't died, Zhuge Liang wouldn't have emerged. Perhaps, many things were destined in the dark!

If Guo Jia were still alive, could Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu have easily defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs? Even if Cao Cao could have been defeated, with Guo Jia around, he would still have had a chance to turn the tide.

Fate is often so mysterious.

If Xi Zhicai hadn't died, Guo Jia wouldn't have emerged; if Guo Jia hadn't died, Zhuge Liang wouldn't have emerged!

Wen Chou's troops were forced to lose their advantage in the charge because they were blocked by the carriages. With so many people crammed together, even if they did nothing, the warhorses kept trampling back and forth, making the ground muddy. If they tried to turn around, they would sink deeper and deeper, and the more they struggled, the deeper they would sink and be unable to pull themselves out.

Some warhorses managed to escape, but their path was blocked by their companions, making it difficult for them to break free.

Right behind Wen Chou, Xiahou Yuan also appeared with his men.

In front are Xu Chu and Xu Huang, to the left is Gan Ning, to the right is Lü Bu, and behind is Xiahou Yuan.

The shallow waters that Guo Jia chose for Wen Chou were destined to be an excellent burial ground!

All of Cao Cao's soldiers responsible for the ambush abandoned their warhorses to reduce their weight and avoid getting stuck. Besides, with so many comrades around, even if they did get stuck, they could be rescued in time.

Gan Ning rushed forward and, without saying a word, raised his sword and slashed, killing several people in succession. Seeing that there were indeed people whose warhorses were stuck and could not move or dodge, Gan Ning laughed loudly and showed no mercy. His sharp sword brought with it a gust of bloody wind, and heads rolled wherever the blade passed.

With their feet stuck and their own men blocked by each other, the Yuan soldiers were all crammed together, turning them into fish on a chopping board. This was an extremely unpleasant experience.

Wen Chou roared to the sky and struggled forward, even attacking his own men who were blocking his way. It took a lot of effort for him to finally break through the crowd.

Looking behind them, a large number of soldiers had died or been wounded. Cao's soldiers were quite coordinated and tried not to attack Yuan's warhorses. Most of the warhorses were unharmed, but the number of cavalrymen on horseback had suddenly decreased significantly, and many horses were now empty.

Anyone who didn't know better would think there was never anyone up here.

Wen Chou was both angry and resentful. He glanced in Cao Cao's direction with resentment, and all he wanted now was to escape this place as soon as possible.

But they hadn't run far when Zhao Yun caught up from behind.

Zhao Yun moved with lightning speed, his silver armor gleaming, his spear flashing with a blinding cold light. In a few leaps, he held his spear horizontally in front of Wen Chou's horse.

"Wen Chou, do you recognize me?"

Wen Chou only wanted to escape, and after a quick glance, he noticed that the face looked vaguely familiar.

Zhao Yun sneered, his calm gaze fixed on Wen Chou as he said, "You can't escape today. Several years ago, you chased after Gongsun Zan and fought me."

(End of this chapter)