After hearing the shouting and killing behind him gradually subsided, Liu Bei gasped for a while, and ran out of more than ten miles by relying on these time differences.

Because there are horses on both sides, the distance of more than ten miles is not easy to be shortened.

Liu Beijun was nothing more than the horses were more tired, and the physical strength was not good, and he ran slowly—because a large part of the horses were taken from the defeated soldiers when Hu Che'er was defeated in the afternoon, and they were already galloping all morning, and they had experienced a battle in the middle.

Moreover, Liu Beijun's generals' armor was thicker, and Liu Bei and others had already put on the chest armor produced by the Pixian hydraulic wrought iron shop, and while the defense became stronger, the horse was heavy and ran slowly. And Zhang Xiu's cavalry is not so rich, most of them are leather armor, although the individual combat effectiveness is weaker, but the number of people is enough to kill Liu Bei's hundreds of cavalry.

The distance between the two sides is slowly approaching, but after all, the speed difference is only two or three percent, Liu Bei has been running to the west bank of Wugong Water, and he has not been caught up, and the follow-up pursuers are still three or four miles away from him.

But the danger appeared on the west side of Wugong Water waiting to cross the river.

Because Liu Bei rushed too quickly, and arrived after nightfall, Cheng Ji, who stayed in the Wuzhangyuan camp, did not have much time to react, and he still needed to distinguish between the enemy and me before he dared to put the raft prepared in advance to cross the river to meet Liu Bei's ferry.

The raft is slow and fast, less than a hundred paces wide martial arts water, and the time for a raft to cross the river back and forth is enough for the light cavalry to gallop fast for several miles.

When Liu Bei was waiting for the ship, Zhang Xiu had already led troops to cover the killing, and Xu Huang hurriedly brought more than 100 cavalry to turn around and engage in battle. Zhang Xiu's troops did not assemble for a while, and the number of pioneers was not several times more than Xu Huang, and he could be dragged down by a small half of the incense.

The main reason is that the terrain of Weinan is already narrow, and it is an alluvial stepped landform, and the troops cannot be deployed. The reason why "Wuzhang Plain" is named Wuzhang Plain is because the south bank of the Wei River is beyond the width of the river, which is a towering platform.

Of course, Liu Bei has not crossed the martial arts water yet, so the position where he stands is not Wuzhang Plain, and the width of the Weinan River Valley is more than ten zhang. But Xu Huang wants to desperately resist the front of this more than ten zhang wide, Zhang Xiu can't invest too many troops, and it really takes a lot of time.

Zhang Xiu was in a hurry, and he didn't care about rushing to kill Xu Huang, so he immediately ordered: "The rear cavalry dismounts and releases arrows!" Don't aim, shoot at the river! ”

If you can't put into close combat, let the soldiers blindly shoot arrows to cover it, I have to say that Zhang Xiu's tactical command is still very correct, and he really has the potential to be a famous general. As a result, a large number of Xiliang light cavalry congested in Weinan began to fire arrows, shooting indiscriminately at intervals of one or two hundred paces, and arrows rained down for a while.

Dian Wei held the saddle unloaded from the back of a dead horse, and helped Liu Bei block the arrows left and right, and after a while, several arrows were inserted in the saddle. Soon Liu Bei's armor was also hit by an arrow on his back, but because he was separated by more than a hundred steps, he was blocked by the iron armor, and then Liu Bei was hit by another arrow on the back of his thigh.

Dian Wei saw that the situation was wrong, and immediately persuaded: "The lord quickly rode his horse down the river to meet the raft!" Go deep into the water and abandon the horse-drawn raft! ”

Liu Bei gritted his teeth and decided to abandon his war horse and rush into the river twenty steps to meet the raft. But at this moment, the rain of arrows seemed to have found the right head, and since they had all shot Liu Bei's thigh, they quickly shot several arrows at his war horse without iron armor. Liu Bei's war horse suddenly neighed and fell to the ground.

Liu Bei just wanted to ride his horse and rush down the river, but he fell directly and fell into the water, but fortunately he was fished up by Dian Wei.

"Lord, ride my horse to the raft!" Dian Wei picked up Liu Bei and said, while throwing Liu Bei on the horse's back, poked the horse's buttocks, and let the horse rush down the river.

Liu Bei was dizzy and subconsciously shouted: "What should you do?" ”

Dian Wei: "There can be no Wei in the world, and there can be no justice." I know how to swim on a water raft. ”

Seeing Liu Bei rushing down the river on his horse, Fa Zheng, who was hiding on the side, also gritted his teeth, his horse had not been hit by an arrow, and he also hurriedly rushed with Liu Bei.

The war horse waded not far away, and the water had already submerged to the horse's neck, but the soldiers who rowed the raft sent by Cheng Yi had already pulled Liu Bei and Fa Zheng onto the raft and returned immediately.

Dian Wei shouted loudly for Xu Huang to retreat, and Xu Huang gave up the battle and retreated. Several people rushed to the river and rode their horses to wade into the river, and the abandoned horses were picked up by rafts to cross the river, and each of them was wounded by several arrows. The remaining 200 cavalry were charged from behind when they seized the boat, and they could only surrender with their heads or jump into the river to flee for their lives, and only a few dozen horsemen returned to the east bank.

……

After Liu Bei arrived on the east bank, he was immediately carried to Cheng Ji's camp and quickly treated his wounds first. The military doctor followed the direction of the arrow's blade, slightly cut the flesh, and then pulled out the arrow on the thigh, so as not to directly pull out the barb and strain the flesh in a larger area. Finally, it is dressed with gold sore medicine.

The whole process has been as fast as possible, Liu Bei just took a breath and wanted to ask Cheng Ji if he was out of danger, but before he could speak, Cheng Ji had already taken the initiative to complain: "Lord, the bandage is done, maybe ride a horse again?" Or do you want the soldiers to carry it? Evacuate! Immediately take the plank road to retreat! ”

Liu Bei was taken aback, only then did he realize that the shouting of killing had gradually sounded, and asked in surprise: "Could it be that the enemy pursuers are still coming from Weibei?" Why shout and kill on three sides? ”

Cheng Ji ordered someone to carry Liu Bei and retreat to the entrance of the plank road, and said as he walked: "I don't have time to explain!" Less than half a day after our army set up camp, it should have been discovered by Dong Yue's thief army on the Chencang side, and it was one hundred and twenty miles away from Luogushui, only ninety miles away from Chencang City!

It must have been this morning that Dong Yue sent troops from Chencang to flank our army, and not long before the lord arrived, there were already enemy troops shouting to kill and attack the camp in the west of the camp. Fortunately, the camp was firm and not broken through for a while! The army quickly fled into the plank road and burned the plank road to prevent the pursuers! ”

Soon, Liu Bei was escorted and fled onto the plank road, followed by Dian Wei Xu Huang's escort retreating.

There were still more than 1,000 soldiers in the camp, and if there was no order to retreat, they could have relied on the fortifications to defend for half an hour. But the problem is that as soon as Liu Bei and the two generals left, there were no other famous generals who knew the soldiers and restrained military discipline to supervise the formation, and as soon as Cheng Ji gave the order of "orderly retreat", the troops were in chaos in an instant, and they all wanted to flee by the way.

"Don't squeeze! If the plank road is not firm, it can't be crowded, and it will collapse! Retreat in order! Retreat in order! Cheng Ji suddenly regretted a little, ashamed of his inability to restrain the collapsed defeated army.

After about a few hundred people fled along the plank road, there were only a few hundred defenders left in the camp, and they were quickly rushed in by the Xiliang army everywhere. Zhang Xiujun, who was on the east bank of Wugong Water, saw that Dong Yue's troops who were attacking in the west had broken the camp, and they were not afraid of being attacked by Bandu, so they slowly crossed the river to pursue.

With a few loud noises, because the soldiers who fled for their lives were too chaotic, far exceeding the weight of the plank road, a short section of the plank road finally collapsed, and the horizontal tenon brace wood wedged into the mountain wall under the plank road was broken, and the planks on it all fell into the deep valley, and a dozen soldiers either fell directly into the cliff or were squeezed off the cliff.

"It's over! Can't go back! Cheng Ji only felt that his hands and feet were cold, but the matter had come to this point, he thought of a trick, and decisively gritted his teeth and snatched the torches of the soldiers around him to light the way, and threw them directly on the plank road.

If the plank road is only broken a few zhang away, it is still easy to repair it in a few days, but if it is set on fire and burned dozens of zhang, it will not be repaired in a month or two, and there is no need to worry about the rebels quickly attacking the empty Hanzhong along the Bao Slope Road.

And arson can take advantage of the instinctive fear of human beings to force back the soldiers who are panicking and grabbing the way. It's also better to surrender than to be pushed down a mountain road and smashed into a pulp.

Sure enough, as the flames rose, the follow-up soldiers were no longer crowded in despair, and the last seven or eight hundred people all shouted that they were willing to surrender, and Cheng Yi also shouted solemnly: "I burned the plank road!" They will surrender! Don't kill innocents in vain! ”

It's a pity that today Dong Yue sent to hunt down Liu Bei is Fan Chou, who is known for his bravery and ferocity, and he can't hold his breath more than Zhang Xiu. Moreover, several of Fan Chou's buddies who had a good relationship died in the hands of Zhao Yun and Guan Yu, and they fought many times when they were fighting Dong Zhan in Luoyang.

Seeing that Cheng Ji burned the plank road to extinguish his hope of capturing Liu Bei, Fan Chou was furious: "You dog rotten! I just wanted to surrender after setting fire to my good deed?! There is nothing so cheap in the world! If you can be a soldier, you can't surrender! ”

The furious Fan Chou slashed Cheng Ji to death with a knife in his hand, and only then did he lose some anger and collect the remaining minions.

Later generations have poems to praise and say: Generous Shu mid-range sacrificial wine, leaving a sword to answer the king of Han. In the face of danger, he did not change his life ambition and won fame through the ages.

After Fan Chou was forced to surrender, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu rushed to the scene.

Jia Xu asked Cheng Ji about his actions before he died, his eyes rolled, and he quickly reacted: "What I expected is really not bad!" Liu Bei's broken generals burned the plank road to stop the pursuit, it must be because Liu Bei brought out all the troops in Hanzhong this time!

Therefore, after being annihilated by us, Hanzhong was so empty that they had to stop us from marching on this narrow plank road! General Fan, General Zhang, the opportunity must not be missed, immediately Pegasus to inform General Dong who stayed in Chencang, and immediately attack from Chencang Road with all his strength at any cost!

Don't worry about military rations! It's already July, and it's the autumn harvest season in half a month, so you can be the enemy because of the grain, and you are not afraid of the difficulties of Shu Road! This is a God-given opportunity to destroy Liu Bei! Even if you can't take Shudi, at least you have a chance to take Hanzhong! ”

Zhang Jifan Chou thought that it really made sense, and if the slope was burned, he could only take Chencang Road, and he couldn't take Meridian Valley.

For the time being, the rebels collected their troops and returned to the camp, preparing to go to Chencang for a day or two to rectify, and then attack southward.

……

Liu Bei has been in a confused state of mind, carried by Dian Wei to the middle of the night, and finally walked out of more than 20 miles along the plank road, the group was really sleepy, and saw a section of the plank road, to the top of Taibai Mountain, a small flat land where you can rest.

These people who had been walking for almost a day and a night finally couldn't bear it anymore, and Liu Bei ordered to rest on the top of Taibai Mountain.

After drinking the last few sips of water in the bamboo tube, Liu Bei rubbed his throat that seemed to be about to dry up, and remembered something: "We are less than a thousand people?" Cheng Ji's Wuzhangyuan camp, only so many people are left to run out? What about Cheng Ji, who organized the retreat of the rear army? How can it be so far behind us? ”

Xu Huang came over with an arrow wound to report: "Lord, I was afraid that you would be worried just now, so I didn't dare to tell you." When I first entered the mountain for five or six miles, I saw a fire on the plank road behind me, and then I slowed down and waited for a while, but no one followed. It should be Cheng Jiran who set fire to the plank road. ”

Liu Bei jumped up in shock when he heard this, and then trembled a few times, and the wound on his thigh was in sharp pain: "How can he burn the plank road?" Isn't this a self-defeating retreat? ”

Xu Huang: "It should be that the soldiers are crowded, the plank road has collapsed, and I heard the screams in unison from afar, echoing in the valley for several miles, it seems that many people will fall off the cliff together." ”

Liu Bei convulsed silently and was silent for a long time, then he cried and sighed: "The soldiers lost four thousand, and the two generals died unyieldingly, all of which are my fault." Alas, I didn't expect that those civil and military forces under Liu Yan who were originally under Liu Yan could be so loyal to the Han family after only three years from me. regret not listening to Boya's words, this time back to Nanzheng, what face do you see. ”

Xu Huang didn't know how to persuade at this time, but Fa Zheng, who was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he fell, was woken up by Liu Bei crying, and hurriedly said:

"Ordinary soldiers lost four thousand, and the casualties may be half, and the rest must have surrendered. Although the Xiliang army is a beast, it will not kill ordinary prisoners. This is not the time to grieve.

What's more, saving the driver is where the righteousness lies, the lord knows that he can't do it, although he is defeated, he can only blame Wang Yun for his incompetence, and he can't control the traitors with Chang'an Jiancheng in hand. Hurry up and rest for an hour or two, it's dawn again, and there are still two hundred miles to go back to Nanzheng. ”

Liu Bei felt a little better, after all, his motive for sending troops was just. He sat there for a while, and then fell asleep in his position. The next day, I hurried again at dawn, and finally returned to Baozhong County two days later.

Liu Bei went directly into the city, found the county government and collapsed to heal and recuperate, and even Nan Zheng didn't have the energy to go back. Just let people go to Nanzheng to pass the order, so that Lu Su and Li Su could discuss military and political affairs.

After waiting for a long time, some staff members rushed to Baozhong and went straight to the place where Liu Bei, the county government, was staying.

Liu Bei was covered with linen wipes on his forehead, and when he was in a coma and recuperating from his injuries, he heard a noise outside, so he quickly opened his eyes and got up, and asked the maid to put a pillow. But when he looked closely, he found that only Li Su came in, and Lu Su didn't come.

This was Liu Bei's most embarrassing situation, and he couldn't help but look left and right and say to him: "Where is Zijing!" Did he really neglect his duty and let you out early? ”

Li Su: "Zijing is in Sanguan County, the lord took Xiaozhi away, and he wants to replace Xiaozhi to guard Sanguan - I have heard Xiaozhi say that when the lord was defeated, he burned the plank road to block the pursuers."

If there are strategists in the rebels, when they see us burning the plank road, they will definitely know that Hanzhong is empty and empty, and maybe they will take the opportunity to attack Hanzhong. If the pass is not guarded, all the places outside the Yangping Pass will be closed. Our army has been operating in Sanguan and Hechi for several years, and the preparations for the Northern Expedition are afraid that they will also be burned. ”

Liu Bei was poured a basin of cold water again, and only then did he realize that there were so many disadvantages of his defeat this time.

"Alas...... This time, even if you and I are at fault, even if it passes, Zi Jingshi is in a hurry to release you from the power, and I don't care, how about it? After Liu Bei was in pain for a while, he put forward this compromise suggestion, after all, if he didn't say this clearly, he didn't know how to face Li Su.

Li Su didn't answer, waiting for Liu Bei to explain himself.

Liu Bei really hadn't finished speaking, sighed, and continued to laugh at himself: "My fault, in underestimating the enemy's rashness, your fault, in not caring about Your Majesty and the court - although there are no outsiders here, some words are boring, so be it." ”

The sentence that Liu Bei didn't say obviously meant "I'm afraid that Emperor Han Xian really suffered an accident, and Li Su probably also thought about how to continue to support the Han family, so the life and death of Emperor Han Xian alone is not important to the survival of the Han Dynasty."

Strictly speaking, this is not a big reversal, after all, when the emperor is in the hands of thieves, it is also right to keep a spare tire at any time. Yu Qian of the Ming Dynasty also thought so when Ming Yingzong was captured by the Tatars, and he was still a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Yu Qian's fate was not good, it was because Ming Yingzong was later reinstated, if the Ming Dynasty Sect was able to do it, then Yu Qian would definitely be able to continue to be prosperous and rich. And if Emperor Xian of Han died, it would be impossible to restore the throne.

The emperor can't be a hostage of thieves and threaten the country, there's nothing to be embarrassed to say.

Before Liu Bei sent troops to rescue the driver, he hadn't figured it out because of his enthusiasm for a while. But this time he was beaten so badly, suffered two arrow wounds, and was so embarrassed by the flooding and fire, that he finally realized it.

After Li Su confirmed this, he finally answered: "That's the best, just take it as 'the theory of the leader, the monarch and the minister are lost'." ”