Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 788 Cao Cao's Decision
In the darkness of night, nearly 70,000 Cao troops suddenly let out an earth-shaking roar, and it seemed that even the stars in the night sky were trembling.

Cao Hong's eyes were already red with anxiety. He was the fastest in the attack. Even without a warhorse, he was still far ahead of many soldiers.

As he got closer and closer to the city wall, Cao Hong vaguely saw teams of Han soldiers on the wall running around everywhere, looking very anxious.

"It seems that the Han army was completely unprepared. When they saw our army launching a surprise attack, the soldiers guarding the city panicked and some even fled in haste. Tonight's victory is ultimately in our hands."

Cao Hong was very confident and ran even harder.

However, when he was only two hundred steps away from the city, he began to feel that something was wrong after he saw the situation more clearly.

On the city wall, about ten feet away, there was a huge black shadow. Next to each black shadow, there were two or three soldiers standing. One of them was holding a torch, and the other two were busy with something unknown.

Cao Hong suddenly felt puzzled and instinctively wanted to get closer to see more clearly.

However, when he really ran forward a few dozen steps and saw the thing clearly, his face suddenly turned pale.

"This...this is..."

He knew this thing very well. It was known as the best city defense weapon under Liu He's command. With this thing alone, thousands of soldiers and horses were able to guard a city and make it difficult for the enemy army that was ten times their size to approach. Its power was unparalleled in the world.

"Shocking God Crossbow!"

Cao Hong was shocked and stopped in a hurry, while shouting to the Cao army that was charging around him.

"Stop, stop quickly... The enemy is ambushing..."

However, amid the shouts of tens of thousands of people, how could Cao Hong, even if he shouted at the top of his lungs, make much noise and have people hear him?

Except for the dozens of Cao's soldiers around him who stopped, the vast majority of the other soldiers were still marching forward bravely, each of them seemed to be fearless of death.

Suddenly, a loud shout came from the city wall: "Fire!"

Just this one word, in Cao Hong's ears, sounded like a death curse, making him feel like he was falling into an icy cave.

"Sususususu..."

Countless crossbow arrows were shot out in an instant, and many of the thousands of Cao soldiers rushing in the front were shot to death before they could understand what was happening.

"Ah... there's a trap..."

“Ouch… it hurts…”

The vanguard soldiers of Cao's army were either in excruciating pain or fleeing frantically for their lives. However, the soldiers farther behind them, unaware of the battle situation ahead, continued to rush forward one by one. The two sides suddenly collided, and the 20,000 to 30,000 troops in the front half of Cao's army fell into chaos for a while.

After the Jingshen Crossbow fired a wave of arrows, just a few breaths later, the second wave of crossbow arrows came again. At this moment, Cao's army was in such chaos, which was really adding insult to injury.

"Retreat quickly... Don't panic, or I'll kill you without mercy! Retreat in an orderly manner, retreat quickly..."

Cao Hong raised his sword and killed several soldiers who had disobeyed orders and fled in panic, knocking over other soldiers. This method was indeed effective.

These Cao troops were Cao Cao's elite troops. They trained diligently and had strict military discipline. After Cao Hong ran around and cut off a few heads to intimidate them, the army gradually calmed down. But even so, under these continuous waves of arrows, thousands of soldiers were killed in less than a quarter of an hour, and thousands more were injured and wailing, which really affected the morale of the army.

At this time, Cao Cao and his four great advisers arrived at the front line. When they saw this scene, they were shocked and angry.

Xi Zhong said hurriedly: "My lord, it seems that the Han army's plan is very far-reaching. When our army attacked the city yesterday, we did not see Gao Shun using the Jingshen Crossbow, and we did not see this thing after entering the city. Now they suddenly put out so many crossbows, I am afraid..."

At this point, Xizhong seemed to realize that the result of his guess was so horrifying that he didn't even dare to say it out loud.

Cao Cao said for him: "I'm afraid Liu He had already laid out this chain of schemes when he sent Gao Shun to Chenliu, and even..."

He looked at the crossbows that were constantly being shot out from the fire on the city wall in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "Even... our capture of the city yesterday and the changes tonight were probably all part of his long-term plan..."

"hiss……"

Cheng Yu couldn't help but gasp.

"If this is the case, this Liu He is... too scary..."

Cao Cao was no longer thinking about whether Liu He was a threat or not. He immediately made a decision and shouted, "Sound the horn to call back the troops. Retreat southwards to Yuzhou and regroup."

"My lord, the soldiers at the west and north gates, as well as the two Generals Xiahou, they..."

Xi Zhong shouted out in desperation, but Guo Jia stopped him and shook his head at him.

Only then did Xi Zhong realize that Cao Cao's eyebrows were almost standing upright, and his expression seemed extremely painful.

"I have spoken out of turn... I am afraid that my lord will be the one who is most heartbroken and reluctant to let go of such a decision..."

Cao Cao did not say a word: "Pass the order down, the whole army will march overnight. When we reach Yu County, we will split into two groups. Cao Hong will lead 40,000 troops to Xuchang, and I will lead the remaining troops to Qiao County. We must march at full speed and not rest on the way. Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed."

Cao Hong, who received the military order, ran over hurriedly and came in front of Cao Cao, sweating profusely.

"Meng De, we can't retreat! Yuan Rang and Miao Cai are still..."

Guo Jia grabbed him and said, "General Zi Lian, please stop talking. The lord is already in pain, why do you have to pick at his wounds?"

Cao Hong looked at Cao Cao's face, then he sighed deeply, but then he spoke again: "But why retreat south? If we retreat eastward, we can join forces with Zixiao and his troops in Xuzhou, wouldn't that be better?"

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "No. Our army will retreat to the east. After the victory of the Han army in the north city, they will come to intercept us. And Liu He is so far-sighted. How could his plan be limited to just Chenliu City?"

Cao Hong was stunned: "Meng De means..."

Cheng Yu continued, "It seems that the situation in Youzhou and Liangzhou is not what we expected. At least, it is still unknown whether Gongsun Fan of Youzhou is dead or alive. Once Gongsun Fan is dead, Xu Huang, Qian Zhao, and Guan Yu will march south together. Even if our army joins forces with General Cao Ren, we can only hold Xuzhou at most. Yanzhou and Yuzhou will be lost in a few days."

Cao Hong finally understood: "I see. Therefore, we must guard the key points from Chenliu to Yuzhou. With our careful preparations over the past few years, even if Liu He comes in person, he may not be able to capture them."

Cao Cao looked far into the west, muttering to himself, "Liu He... I admit defeat this time, but I will never give in. We will meet again in the future. Yuan Rang, Miao Cai, wait for me to come back and save you..."

(End of this chapter)