On the sixth day of December in the seventeenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao finally returned to Xuchang.

He ordered Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Zhang He and others to continue to attack Liu Pan and Huang Zu in Runan, and at the same time, he dispatched troops and horses in Xuchang to prepare to eat Guan Yu's infantry first and then fight to Xiangyang to settle accounts with Liu Cong.

Cao Pi, Sima Yi, Cao Zhen and others were all ordered to arrive in Xuchang, together with the soldiers and horses brought back by Cao Cao and the defenders of Xuchang, there were 100,000 people. And Guan Yu, who had previously attacked Xuchang, had been ordered to retreat to Luyang a few days ago.

The decisive battle between the two sides can be described as imminent!

For this war provoked by himself, Liu Cong was also carefully prepared. He knows that he will be defeated by the king! There is a way that:

When it succeeds, it is called a shipwreck; When it fails, it's called a dog jumping off the wall.

When you're successful, it's called being ambitious; When you fail, that's called wishful thinking.

He doesn't want to be ridiculed as a dog jumping over a wall and wishful thinking, so he must win this war, or at least draw it! Fortunately, Emperor Liu Xie had already entered Xinye with the displaced people, so Liu Cong let go of his hands and feet. First, Guan Yu was asked to gradually retreat from the front line, and now that Guan Yu had arrived in Luyang, Liu Cong ordered Gan Ning and Liu Pan on both flanks to quickly retreat to Xinye.

At the same time, Wen Ping led 20,000 elite infantry in the direction of Luyang, while behind him were 5,000 cavalry led by Huang Zhong.

After Guan Yu retreated, Cao Cao did not delay for long, so he led the army to set off, and Cao Pi asked for war to be the vanguard. Cao Cao agreed, and asked Sima Yi to assist, which was also Cao Cao's desire to let Cao Pi make contributions and prepare for inheriting his great cause.

Cao Pi led 20,000 elite tigers and leopards to ride from Yecheng and arrived in Xuchang early, and now he has rested for four or five days. Cao Pi was also eager to make meritorious contributions, constantly urging the soldiers to move forward, but Sima Yi on the side kept reminding Cao Pi that the decisive battle with Liu Cong was a big battle, and the cavalry led by Cao Pi had the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, so there was no need to rush for a while.

"Sir, my father often taught Pi how smart and wise Liu Cong of Jingzhou was. I'm going to see how long I can hold out under the crush of my iron horse. I think my father was at my age, begging for yellow scarves, and fighting Dong Zhuo's fame shocked the world. And I have been so far very idle, how can I not be in a hurry? ”

"But Childe, that Guan Yu is also a famous general, we are afraid of losing if we chase too quickly."

What kind of character Sima Yi is, he naturally knows why Guan Yu fought and retreated. As soon as Cao Pi arrived in Xuchang, Guan Yu began to withdraw his troops, but instead of rushing all the way back to Xinye, he did not rush back to Xinye, but fifty or sixty miles a day, and then set up camp. Of course, there is a flavor that echoes with the other wings. But Sima Yi was even more worried that Liu Cong, who had many think tanks to help, was deliberately luring Cao Jun. Therefore, he repeatedly dissuaded Cao Pi from being too far away from Cao Cao's army.

Cao Cao counterattacked this time with more than 150,000 soldiers, in addition to Wancheng and Runan were dragged by 50,000 or 60,000 people, Cao Cao's army on the middle road had 100,000, and there were other soldiers from remote places who continued to assemble in Xuchang. In this way, Cao Cao has an advantage in terms of military strength and financial resources, as long as he arrives at the front line step by step, and then starts a decisive battle with Liu Cong. All generals have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

And the 20,000 tiger and leopard cavalry led by Cao Pi will definitely be the vanguard of the field battle and the main force to pursue the enemy. There was no need to break away from the entire large army in order to pursue Guan Yu. But this army is not another team, it was established by Cao Cao, and the successive commanders were all Cao or Xia Hou. Cao Ren, Xiahoudun and others are Cao Cao's brothers and confidants.

Now that it is Cao Pi's turn to be in charge, others naturally can't intervene. Sima Yi was only responsible for assisting Cao Pi, so he only had the right to suggest. Cao Pi arrived on the outskirts of Luyang and learned that Guan Yu had asked the deputy general to take 20,000 infantry first, leaving only 10,000 infantry in Luyang to attack the city immediately.

It was Sima Yi who persuaded him hard, and Cao Pi endured it, after all, the cavalry siege was too wasteful.

On the second day, Guan Yu abandoned the city and left.

Cao Pi entered Luyang and continued to follow Guan Yu after a little rectification. And Guan Yu seems to want Cao Pi to keep his distance intentionally or unintentionally, if Cao Pi keeps the troops going, he can catch up in a day at most.

On the third day, the scouts came to report that Guan Yu's troops seemed to be even less.

On the fourth day, Cao Pi led the cavalry to catch up with Guan Yu in less than two hours. Seeing that Guan Yu's military flag was crooked, the soldiers were even more depressed and exhausted.

"Haha, they all say that Guan Yu is a famous general, and it doesn't look good to see him today? It has been pursued by our army for days and days, and it has long been crushed. Ha ha...... Haha......"

"Childe, it shouldn't be like this, be careful that Guan Yu is cheating!"

"Fraud? I have 20,000 tigers and leopards behind me here, and he is only 30,000 infantry, even if he ambushes me in front of me, what can he do to me? ”

Cao Pi was young after all, although before leaving, Cao Cao repeatedly instructed him to listen carefully to Sima Yi's opinion. But along the way, I think Sima Yi is too cautious, as he just said. Even if Guan Yu uses ambush soldiers, what can he do?

"Sir, I'm going to rush into battle, take advantage of Guan Yu's defenselessness to kill him from behind, maybe I can capture Guan Yu alive! Catching him again can't let him run. ”

"Childe, if you want to fight, you must first send more scouts around to prevent fraud!"

"According to what Mr. said, come here, send scouts around, if there is no abnormality, start fighting in half an hour!" Guan Yu's troops were ahead, and of course Cao Pi couldn't let it go.

There are still sixty or seventy miles away from Xinye, and if it is tomorrow, Guan Yu will definitely flee back to Xinye City. Therefore, Cao Pi proposed to pursue the whole army, and Sima Yi did not object, but just asked Cao Pi to send more scouts and be careful.

At the sound of an order, dozens of scouts scattered in all directions, and after a stick of incense, scouts came back one after another. Judging from the information brought back by all the scouts, there was no ambush around them, but there seemed to be more teams in front of Guan Yu's march. It seems to be more than twenty-five thousand.

"Sir, in your opinion, who are these?"

"Eighty percent came out from Xinye to pick up Guan Yu, and it may also be the Jingzhou soldiers who retreated from Runan and Wancheng, no matter what kind of it is, Gongzi needs to be careful."

"Sir, the enemy army is marching in front, I, Cao Pi, have 20,000 elite tiger and leopard cavalry, if I don't pursue and let Guan Yu escape back to Xinye safely, when my father arrives, won't those uncles and uncles want to laugh at me?"

"Childe, don't worry, we just need to camp here, and then find out the surrounding situation and show that Wei Gong is a great achievement."

"Camp on the spot? No way! If you want to set up camp, you have to wait for me to capture Guan Yu! Cao Pi has naturally heard of Guan Yu's name, but that was when he was a child, speaking of Guan Yu, Cao Pi thinks he is an ungrateful person, his father treats him well, but he refuses to submit. Now he led troops to attack Xuchang!

The so-called newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, this Cao Pi is a calf, he is not afraid of Guan Yu, even if it is a tiger! Of course, he also has a reason to be confident, there are 20,000 tigers and leopards behind him, even if Guan Yu plus the infantry who came to meet him have 30,000 or 40,000, he can still achieve some results no matter how he attacks all the way, even if he can't capture Guan Yu, he will kill some soldiers as a greeting gift for the arrival of Cao Cao's army.

The scouts sent came back one after another, and after confirming that there was no ambush, Cao Pi gave an order, and the army chased in the direction of Guan Yu's advance.

Half an hour later, Cao Pi saw Guan Yu's military flag again. At this time, Guan Yu also seemed to be aware of the pursuers behind him, and hurriedly stopped and began to form a formation.

"Haha...... Guan Yu Pifu, look where you are fleeing today! "Seeing that Guan Yu has not yet set up a formation, it is the best time for the cavalry to attack! Cao Pi ignored Sima Yi's obstruction and rushed out first.

20,000 cavalry rushed towards the 5,000 infantry under Guan Yu!

Obviously, Guan Yu's infantry is not an opponent, not to mention that there are no camps, fences, or horses at all! Although Guan Yu and several lieutenant generals fought hard, their troops of 5,000 people were soon scattered, and more than half of them were killed and wounded on the spot, and the rest fled in all directions.

Seeing this, Guan Yu also ran away, fortunately he had a war horse and good martial arts, although there were cavalry chasing after him, but he finally ran out of several miles without danger.

Seeing Guan Yu's embarrassed escape, Cao Pi was even more excited!

"The whole army pursues, don't let anyone go!"

Ten thousand horses galloping! If anyone were to look down from the air, they would be impressed by the formation. It is worthy of being Cao Cao's trump card! Although it is a pursuit of deserters, in the high-speed gallop, the formation is still not chaotic, and when encountering scattered enemy soldiers, they are also chasing in small teams, maintaining a numerical advantage, and returning quickly once they succeed!

Watching his subordinates continue to harvest the enemy's heads, Cao Pi didn't mention how happy he was. If Sima Yi hadn't stopped him, he would have followed Guan Yu a long time ago. However, he was still unwilling, and sent two lieutenant generals to keep an eye on Guan Yu and chase after him, while he and Sima Yi continued to pursue with the large army behind!

"Childe, the enemy army has been dispersed. Poor Kou Mo Chase! ”

"Sir, don't be too careful, no matter which team is in front of you, I'm going to give them some greeting gifts! Pass my orders, assemble the team and keep the pursuit! ”

Sima Yi shook his head helplessly, and secretly prayed in his heart, don't have any ambushes.

Soon Cao Pi laughed, Sima Yi's worries were superfluous, they chased them out for half an hour, and no enemy army appeared. In front of them are most of the enemy troops explored by the scouts, with more than 25,000 people, and I don't know if it was Guan Yubu or Xinye who came out to respond.

Of course, these are not important, Cao Pi is now bent on giving full play to the advantages of cavalry to fight against the Jingzhou infantry in this wilderness! No one can stop him! When Cao Pi's 20,000 tiger and leopard cavalry saw the enemy again, Cao Pi laughed even more! Because everything he saw seemed ridiculous to him. Don't the enemy have any scouts? I, Cao Pi, brought cavalry, tigers and leopards. In the midst of this wilderness, the enemy army did not set up camps, nor did they set up fences or reject horses? Instead of posing for a decisive battle with yourself? This is ridiculous!