Three Kingdoms: Let Yuan Shen be great again

As is well known, in the face of Sun Ce's massive invasion, the only hope for the Zhong clan's army to turn the tide was whether the northern army, which Yuan Yao regarded as a top-notch force, could defeat Sun Ce's detachment first.

Judging from the data on paper alone, this matter does not seem difficult.

The Northern Route Army consisted of over 5,000 men, including almost all of Zhong's elite forces and Guan Yu's 800 swordsmen, plus the 5,000 troops of Chen Ji, the governor of Jiujiang, bringing the total to over 10,000.

The Jiangdong army detachment led by Xu Kun was of this size.

With a similar number of players, superior quality, and a top-tier general like Guan Yu, the odds of winning seem very high, right?

Yuan Yao thought so too, which is why he agreed to the two-pronged attack plan.

However, when Cao Xing and others led the northern army to Jiujiang, they discovered an unexpected situation.

Cao Xing: "Chen Ji is an ungrateful wretch, truly hateful!"

It turned out that Chen Ji, the governor of Jiujiang, was unwilling to merge with Cao Xing. He claimed that as the highest official of Jiujiang Commandery, he had the authority to make temporary decisions and decided to organize the army and people to resist the invasion of the Jiangdong army on his own.

Liu Ye immediately saw through Chen Ji's little scheme: "This guy wants to play both sides and sit back and watch the outcome unfold."

Chen Ji was very skeptical about whether the Zhong family could survive the Jiangdong army's attack, so he adopted a strategy of holding back in Shouchun, waiting for the situation to become clearer before making a move.

If Yuan Yao had defeated Sun Ce, Chen Ji would have been the most loyal dog of the Zhong clan. But if the situation were reversed, he would have immediately knelt down and cried to Sun Ce that he had never met a wise ruler in his life.

As for the possibility that the two sides might get into a fierce battle and the situation might become deadlocked, then Lord Chen's value might rise accordingly, depending on what price both sides offer.

Upon realizing this, Cao Xing flew into a rage and immediately decided to turn back to Shouchun and kill Chen Ji with a single blow.

Liu Ye stopped him.

This is a chaotic world, and everyone has witnessed the average quality of Zhongshi's ministers. Chen Ji's actions are really nothing special, and besides, he didn't openly rebel, did he?

Let's focus on the key point: how to use the five thousand men they brought to deal with Xu Kun's ten thousand Jiangdong troops.

Liu Ye offered his solution: "Let's go and defend Hefei!"

Hefei is an important strategic center of Jiujiang Prefecture and even the entire Huainan region. It is the core area of ​​the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and a place where waterways and land routes converge from east to west. Controlling this place is equivalent to guarding the vital transportation hub between north and south.

Therefore, Hefei must be a place that Xu Kun's army must pass through. We only need to set up defenses here in advance and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. We may be able to defeat this Jiangdong army with fewer troops.

The group immediately went to Hefei and forcibly took over the defense there, awaiting the arrival of Xu Kunjun.

Because of Chen Ji's two-faced behavior, he concentrated most of Jiujiang's troops near Shouchun, and basically abandoned the area south of Hefei.

Although Liu Ye could not directly block Xu Kun, he could not let Xu Kun come so easily. He used both tactics of exhausting the enemy and arrogance at the same time. He repeatedly harassed the enemy with light troops while using small groups of scattered soldiers and supply trains to show weakness to the enemy, which made the Jiangdong army angry and anxious, and their mentality became very agitated.

When the enemy was about to reach the walls of Hefei, Liu Ye pulled Cao Xing and Guan Yu aside and proposed his strategy for defeating the enemy: "This battle is of utmost importance. We bear a heavy responsibility and can only win, not lose. I request that General Cao lead two thousand imperial guards to ambush outside the city, while General Guan and I will defend the city. When the enemy's attack reaches a critical point, we will surely break out and defeat them."

Cao Xing did not oppose the plan in principle.

Everyone knew that this battle was called "Tian Ji's Horse Racing," and simply defending the city was meaningless. The key to victory or defeat lay entirely in whether they could defeat Xu Kun's army. Therefore, they not only had to win, but they had to win quickly, win big, and ideally win completely.

But Cao Xing was worried: "If I ambush them outside the city, won't the city only have two thousand weak troops left? What if they can't withstand the Jiangdong army?"

Liu Ye thought to himself, "That's why I didn't let you stay in the city."

Because Cao Xing and Guan Yu were at odds, they had been competing openly and secretly since the start of the campaign.

In Cao Xing's eyes, firstly, Guan Yu was an outsider who was valued by Yuan Yao; secondly, as fellow military generals, they were bound to have some competitive spirit; in addition, they had fought several battles before and had some old grudges, so neither of them gave each other a friendly look.

At this moment, Cao Xing was subtly belittling Guan Yu, suggesting that the enemy's forces were weak and their generals few, and that they might not be able to defend Hefei.

Liu Ye reassured him, "The ambush is our only chance to win, so naturally we need General Cao to personally oversee it. As for the safety of Hefei, I, Liu Ye, will do my utmost; there's no need to worry."

Cao Xing stopped talking, glanced casually at Guan Yu, and then went to ambush at Xiaoyao Ford outside the city.

Liu Ye discreetly observed Guan Yu and saw that the other party remained arrogant as always, ignoring Cao Xing's mockery, which put him at ease for the time being.

By the morning of the next day, the Jiangdong army had arrived at the city of Hefei. Due to the hardships of their march, their formation was somewhat scattered, but they were still generally capable of fighting. Therefore, they did not intend to rest and immediately began to form ranks, preparing for a probing attack on the city.

Just as Liu Ye was about to organize the defense of the city, he suddenly saw Guan Yu leading his eight hundred swordsmen, gathering at the city gate.

Liu Ye was greatly alarmed and rushed over to ask, "General Guan, what do you intend to do?"

Guan Yu said, "Master Ziyang once said that only an ambush could defeat the Jiangdong army in this battle. I dare not agree with that, so I went to break through the enemy's formation and kill them to repay the kindness of Young Master Yuan."

Liu Ye hurriedly advised, "General Guan, do not act rashly! The enemy's vanguard is Ling Cao, a great general from Jiangdong. He is quite brave and strong. Why not defend the city first to wear down their morale before launching an attack?"

"Ling Cao?" Guan Yu said arrogantly, "In my opinion, he's nothing but a clay chicken and a tile dog."

Having said that, he opened the city gate and led his eight hundred swordsmen away, intending to launch a frontal assault.

Liu Ye was helpless and could only watch in vain as the other person rode the Red Hare.

Excellent, Red Hare!

In order to maximize the combat power of the Northern Route Army and ensure the success of this battle, Yuan Yao even lent Red Hare to Guan Yu!

Incidentally, this was also one of the reasons why Cao Xing harbored resentment towards Guan Yu.

On the other hand, although Guan Yu had been getting used to riding Red Hare for several days, he still felt a strange sense of lightness when he actually went to the battlefield.

It should be noted that Guan Yu was nine feet tall and much stronger than the average person. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade was extremely heavy, so much so that ordinary warhorses could not bear it. Only a divine steed like Red Hare could move freely.

At that moment, Guan Yu suddenly felt a lightness all over his body, as if a seal had been broken. He ran freely and soon crashed into the vanguard of the Jiangdong army.

The enemy general on the other side never expected Guan Yu to arrive so quickly. In fact, he didn't even expect Guan Yu to dare to charge into the enemy lines. By the time Guan Yu, riding Red Hare, charged forward like a mountain crashing down on them, it was already too late. In a hurry, they could only barely manage to step forward and meet the enemy.

Then--

"puff!"

One cut, two ends.

The entire audience was horrified.

"What's this guy's name again, Ling Cao?" Guan Yu banished the thought from his mind and reassessed the battle situation.

After the unexpected killing of Ling Cao, the vanguard of the Jiangdong army was thrown into chaos, and the swordsmen swarmed forward and began a fierce pursuit.

There was no need to wait for Cao Xing's ambush; Guan Yu and his eight hundred men alone were enough to defeat the enemy.

Logically, the battle should have ended here. All that was needed now was for Cao Xing's ambush troops to break out from Xiaoyao Ford, and for both sides to join forces in the attack. The Jiangdong army would surely be severely weakened and unable to fight any longer.

But perhaps because Guan Yu's combat power had greatly increased with the help of Red Hare, as the saying goes, "the desire to kill arises when one possesses a sharp weapon." He looked around and saw everyone as a target for sale, and couldn't help but feel a little itchy to fight.

More importantly, he grew increasingly fond of the BMW he was riding.

"This Red Hare is so magnificent. If I had it, wouldn't I be able to find out my elder brother's whereabouts in no time?"

"Unfortunately, this horse belongs to Yuan Yao. He is somewhat mercenary. He may not refuse to lend the horse, but he will most likely create complications and make some demands."

"It would be better to take advantage of this battle to perform a great and outstanding service for him, and then ask him for the horse. He will have nothing to say then."

With this thought in mind, Guan Yu made up his mind. His gaze passed over the chaotic front of the Jiangdong army and landed under the banner deep in the enemy's central army, where a figure in embroidered robes and silver armor stood on horseback with a sword on his back.

It must be Xu Kun, the commander-in-chief of the Jiangdong Army!

Okay, you're the one.

Guan Yu turned his horse around, held his Green Dragon Crescent Blade upside down, his phoenix eyes wide open, his silkworm eyebrows raised straight up, and charged straight into the enemy formation.

The Jiangdong army surged forward like waves, and Guan Yu charged ahead without hesitation, heading straight for Xu Kun.

Caught off guard, Xu Kun had not yet recovered from the shock of Ling Cao's death when he saw a red-faced, long-bearded warrior wielding a large sword charge in. The warrior rode into the fray alone, rampaging through the enemy lines as if they were nothing, and arrived in front of him in a short time.

At noon, Xu Kun could barely lift his head and could only see the enemy's raised hooves and the broadsword gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"The sunlight...it's so blinding," Xu Kun said.