Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 230 Xuchang Melee ([-])

"What's the matter?" Cao Cao asked quickly, knowing that Jia Xu would not be aimless.

"Yesterday, the prefect Manchu who stayed in Xuchang sent someone to report that a batch of grain and grass that had just been transported to Xuchang via Hebei was intercepted by Liu Bei's navy while crossing the Yellow River. Most of the thousands of shi of grain were robbed, and the rest were also taken away. It's sinking to the bottom of the Yellow River. Now more than [-] troops are hoarding Yanzhou, once the supply road is cut off, I'm afraid the army's morale will be unstable!" Jia Xu said with rare concern.

"Wenhe, don't worry too much. How can Liu Bei cut off my food road for hundreds of miles along the Yellow River?" Cao Cao said disapprovingly.This can't be blamed on him. Cao Cao, who has only been troubled in the north and the Central Plains all his life, still has too superficial understanding of the Navy.Although hundreds of miles along the Yellow River are under his jurisdiction, as long as there is accurate information, the Jingxiang navy led by Gan Ning can surprise any of their ports at any time.Once the port is strangled, then Cao Cao's army's food transportation cannot be regarded as being cut off, but at least it will be discounted by [-]% or [-]%.In this way, Cao Jun stayed in Yanzhou for a long time, and once the food and grass were not available, he would die in the end.

"If Liu Bei really sends a navy to block the Yellow River, then it's not just a problem with food and grass!" Jia Xu murmured.This time Cao Cao really didn't hear it, because his eyes were already fixed on the tiger and leopard cavalry led by Cao Hong in the distance, and they were about to take over Zhang Liao's reinforcements.

"Wen Yuan, that should be the tiger and leopard rider!" Zang Ba leaned forward and asked Zhang Liao among the reinforcements rushing forward.

"That's right!" Zhang Liao said in a deep voice.As the cavalry expert who commanded the cavalry in Liu Bei's army second only to Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao didn't have a solid foundation for the upcoming battle.Although he also brought fifteen thousand cavalry this time, Zhang Liao was not very sure whether these Jingzhou cavalry could fight the tiger and leopard cavalry.

"Fengyun cavalry, disperse!" Seeing the five thousand tiger and leopard cavalry getting closer and closer, even Cao Hong's ferocious face had been seen, Zhang Liao gave an order, and the Fengyun cavalry dispersed according to the training formation , preparing to use the trapped wolf tactic, instead of directly colliding with Cao Hong, but wrapping Cao Hong's tiger and leopard cavalry in the core and slowly nibbling away.However, the tiger and leopard cavalry are the elite of the world after all, Zhang Liao's order was not too late, but the tiger and leopard cavalry came too fast, before the Fengyun cavalry's pocket formation was fully deployed, the front army of the tiger and leopard cavalry had already bumped into the Fengyun cavalry There were more than [-] people at the end of the army, and the Fengyun Cavalry was forced to fight hand-to-hand with them for a while.

"So strong!" Zhang Liao glanced back and saw the other party, led by Cao Hong, fighting with his subordinates.These tiger and leopard riders in iron armor, equipped with Bingzhou good horses, are like mobile fortresses.Once the cavalry of the Wind and Cloud Cavalry met them, it was obvious that they would suffer a disadvantage.In fact, in terms of close combat skills, these Fengyun Cavalry soldiers taught by Zhao Yun himself are no worse than their opponents, and may even be slightly better.However, the disadvantages of equipment and lack of experience make it difficult for them to reflect the effect of training.

"Kill!" Cao Hong swung his knife to kill an enemy soldier, and Cao Hong took the opportunity to look around.From the first glance just now, he felt that this Fengyun Cavalry was a little weird, and there always seemed to be something wrong.Even in the midst of a fierce battle, Cao Hong carefully checked the opponent.

Finally, after killing a cavalry soldier in front of him, Cao Hong found something wrong: five or six short spears hung on the sides of the ownerless horse.It is no more than four feet long, and both ends are sharpened.Cao Hong didn't know what this kind of short spear was used for. If it was used as a weapon, there would be no need to equip it with five or six.

But he soon realized that Zhang Liao, who had just turned his head, gave an order: "Fengyun Cavalry, shoot the javelins straight!" Immediately, more than 1 soldiers of the Fengyun Cavalry who were distributed to both sides untied their javelins, While pounced on the enemy army surrounded by him, he threw it at the tiger and leopard cavalry warriors who were dozens of steps away from him.

"What?" Cao Hong was also taken aback when he saw the javelin rain. In his surprised eyes, ten thousand javelins plunged into the tiger and leopard cavalry formation.Although the iron armor of the tiger and leopard cavalry was extremely defensive, not only ordinary arrows, but even the sabers of the Fengyun cavalry in close hand-to-hand combat often failed to cut through them.But this sharp javelin, combined with the impact force of the Fengyun Cavalry's full-speed impact, immediately pierced the iron armor.After the first round of javelin, there was the second round. After the two rounds of javelin shooting were completed, the two sides started a thorough hand-to-hand fight.

"Kill!" Zhang Liao stabbed a tiger and leopard rider to death with a single shot, but the iron armor also made his stabbing a little difficult, so Zhang Liao threw down his spear and drew out his saber to fight with him.In the two rounds of javelin rain just now, more than 1000 tiger and leopard cavalry have been knocked down. Now the Fengyun cavalry almost surrounds and kills the opponent with a strength advantage of more than 3:1.But even if it is so, it still can't take advantage of any obvious advantage, which can be seen from the power of tiger and leopard cavalry.

"Wei Wang, General Zi Lian may not be able to hold on anymore!" Jia Xu, a bystander in the distance, could see that Cao Hong and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were completely immobilized by Zhang Liao's superior force and surrounded by the infantry. But he was blocked by Zang Ba, and the scene did not gain the upper hand.

"Send Wen Lie and Zihe, leave Guan Yu alone, go help Zilian!" Cao Cao looked at the two battlefields that were close at hand. Cao Hong's side and Zhang Liao had the upper hand, while Guan Yu's side was obviously suppressed. Let's see who can't bear it first.However, with the arrival of reinforcements, the resistance of the Jingzhou army on Guan Yu's side was obviously much more tenacious.

"Reinforcements are here, brothers, work harder!" Swinging a knife to kill an enemy soldier, Liao Hua also seized all the time to boost morale.Since Chen Wu withdrew, he had assumed more responsibilities.At this moment, a burst of horns was heard in the Cao army's formation, and then Cao Xiu and Cao Chun began to call the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in the melee to withdraw from the battlefield and rush to support Cao Hong.

"Stop them!" Sensing Cao Cao's intentions, Guan Yu ordered immediately.Having been fighting fiercely for more than an hour, the Jingzhou army, which had already suffered tens of thousands of casualties, suddenly broke out its final fighting spirit, and entangled the enemy troops around it.The two sides had already strangled into a group, and it was not easy for the tiger and leopard cavalry to get out of the battlefield, but now it is even more difficult when they encounter the stalking Jingzhou army.

"Wen Xiang, you lead your team, go help the lord!" Zang Ba shouted to Xu Sheng who was on the side with a knife to force Yu Jin who was on the opposite side to retreat.Now that I have firmly suppressed Yu Jin and Cao Hong, Xu Shengda can free up his hands to help Guan Yu.

"Xuan Gao, be careful!" Xu Sheng also knew that Guan Yu was under a lot of pressure, so after feinting his shot, he called his [-] infantry to help Guan Yu.Yu Jin really wanted to stop him, but now that he was entangled by Zang Ba, he was useless. In addition, this battlefield was not like Guan Yu's. Then go hard against Zang Ba.

"The reinforcements have arrived, brothers, the reinforcements have arrived!" Dong Xi, who was on the outermost side, almost cried out excitedly when he saw Xu Sheng coming.With the addition of Xu Sheng's [-] elite soldiers, Guan Yu's precarious situation suddenly changed a lot.

"Get out of here!" Cao Chun flew up and down with an iron spear, trying not to leave Zhou Tai's vitals, but Zhou Tai blocked all the ghost-head knives in his hand.From the very beginning, Cao Chun had been tightly entangled with Zhou Tai. Although Cao Cao asked him to withdraw in time to support Cao Hong, he was still entangled by Zhou Tai, and now he was still at a loss.Cao Chun knew that if this continued, he would be passive.

Cao Cao in the distance is clear to the bystanders. Ever since Guan Yu took the initiative to entangle Cao Chun, he has completely figured out the combat intention of Guan Yu and others: it was to use Guan Yu's 4 people as bait at the beginning to hold back his main force. Then Zhang Liao Li Ying Wai He was dispatched to deal with him.Although he kept Cao Hong just in case, but now it seems that this backup has not played much role.Of course, the reason why Guan Yu made such a fuss was to avoid a direct conflict with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry as much as possible, or at least to avoid a full-scale conflict with all the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

If Cao Chun could have dealt with Guan Yu earlier; if he hadn't put most of the tiger and leopard riders into the battle against Guan Yu; even if he hadn't adopted Sima Yi's trick to lure the enemy, maybe the result would not have been like this.Now Cao Cao has a vague premonition of something unknown.At present, there are more than 20 troops fighting in the melee between the two armies, and their strength is almost completely equal. They are fighting in the wilderness outside Xuchang City.In terms of infantry combat effectiveness, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao's Jingzhou Army, Yuzhou Army, and even Xuzhou Army are stronger than Cao Cao's ordinary soldiers because of their foundation in Danyang elite soldiers, Shanyue Army, and Wudang Flying Army.But when it was the turn of the cavalry, the Fengyun cavalry was not as good as the tiger and leopard cavalry.Now the field seems to be inextricably fought, but in fact this balance is very delicate.After Guan Yu received Xu Sheng's support, although the situation was slightly better than before, he was still at a disadvantage; on the contrary, Zang Ba and Zhang Liao had dispatched Xu Sheng's troops, and when facing Cao Hong and Yu Jin, they had an advantage in force. It was not so obvious, and the tiger and leopard cavalry were too powerful. After Zhang Liao surrounded them, he couldn't kill the opponent for a while.

This kind of delicate balance and fierce battle, once any party breaks this deadlock, the possibility of winning is almost [-]%.Cao Cao keenly seized this opportunity, and ordered in a deep voice: "Order the soldiers to light the beacon, and let Zixiao lead the people to help the battle!"

"No!" The soldiers who had been waiting for a long time were ordered to go to light the beacon smoke. At this time, the two armies had been fighting fiercely for nearly two hours, from early morning to afternoon.The sun has shifted for a long time, but on the ground, hundreds of thousands of souls are sacrificing their lives for a decisive battle.This battle will largely determine the direction of Cao Liu's duel, and even the future of the duel.Not only Cao Cao, Liu Bei has also led Pang Tong, Lu Su and other civil officials have just crossed Yingshui and rushed to the battlefield here.

"Cao Cao lit up the beacon, and it seems that he wants Cao Ren from Liang County to dispatch, and inform his third brother to prepare to meet the enemy!" Liu Bei was in a particularly good spirit today, and he was always in good spirits when he gave orders.Kou Feng, who was the captain of his guard, hurriedly went to give the order. At the same time, all the advisers were whispering and discussing the military situation.In the end, Lu Su said, "My lord, don't worry, our odds of winning this battle are far greater than Cao Cao's."

"Why did Zijing say that?" Liu Bei asked in amazement.Lu Su looked at the crowd, and finally said: "Cao Cao's march this time has three strategies. Now sitting in Xuchang to lure us to attack, it is really the worst strategy."

(End of this chapter)