The surrounding central officers and soldiers were all infected by its crying, and the old men and the sturdy grassland men were all crying silently.

They cried not only for Ma Dai alone, but also for their comrades who died and brothers who grew up together!

Ma Chao used Ma Dai's blood to draw a Qiang symbol on his forehead, representing the meaning of the lost relatives and being with him!

"Brother Dai, don't worry, I will definitely slaughter Liu Bei'er with my own hands and avenge you!"

After all, Ma Chao is the commander of the first army, and he can't vent his emotions indefinitely.

He saw that the mountain road had been completely collapsed by explosives, and the rocks had blocked the road, and there were many huge stones in it, which could not be cleared for a while.

He left Ma Dai's cavalry brigade, and Ma Chao ordered them to clean up the scene here, find the bodies of their dead comrades, move the stones, open the mountain road as soon as possible, and continue to pursue Liu Bei.

Ma Chao led the remaining two brigades back by the same route, and he concluded that Liu Bei, no matter how much he detoured the path, he would eventually return to the riverside and return to Jingzhou along the ancient road along the river.

I returned to Fuling first, and then pursued along the river, hoping that it was still too late.

At the same time, he sent someone to deliver a letter to Lu Bu, reporting his losses and Ma Dai's death, after all, he was a senior general at the level of brigade commander, and he had to inform the lord, and he also reported his whereabouts and speculation about Liu Bei's whereabouts.

He promised that he would try to catch up with Liu Bei in order to atone for his crimes.

didn't run far back, and met the special operations division led by Wang Quan and Wen Ping.

Ma Chao informed them of the situation ahead, and Wang Quan immediately decided to lead his special brigade and continue to advance along the mountain road in the direction of Wulong, assist the cavalry to open the blown up passage, and then pursue Liu Bei's army together.

He himself took two brigades, joined forces with Ma Chao, and rushed to Fuling together.

Both armies were cavalry, and they hurried as fast as they could, despite the rugged mountain roads.

Along the way, from time to time, people and horses stumbled and fell under the cliff, and Ma Chao had to reduce his speed.

At night, I didn't rest, I lit torches, and hurried overnight, but I just slowed down the speed of the ride, and the front and rear rows were connected with halberds, which was safer.

The closer you get to Fuling, the easier the road becomes, and the speed of travel is accelerating.

The cavalry of the Central Army, who had been on the road overnight, finally returned to Fuling at dawn, but found no trace of Liu Bei's Jingzhou army.

Ma Chao asked the guide sent by Zhang Ren if there were any other roads in the vicinity that could lead to the riverside.

The guide thought for a while and said, "They may have taken the trail from Wulong to Pingdu, and they can also go straight to the riverside." ”

Ma Chao immediately ordered to pursue Pingdu, the ancient road along the river is a wide and flat avenue, 20,000 cavalry rolled to the east, and the smoke and dust rose high!

Along the way, facing the rising sun, on one side is the Yangtze River, which is also rushing to the east, and on the other side is the verdant mountains and dense forests, which makes people's hearts surge!

Not far from Huangshi, it is Pingdu, Ma Chao can see from a distance that an army is walking out of the valley and walking towards the ancient road along the river, no need to ask, it must be Liu Bei's army.

Ma Chao guessed right, it was Liu Bei's Jingzhou army that came out of the valley.

They also did not dare to rest all the way, and they hurried overnight, and there were also some casualties, which were also caused by the rugged and dangerous night roads.

Wei Yan and Yan Yan had already caught up with Liu Bei's army, and by dawn today, the hundreds of Jingzhou troops who had installed explosives to blow up the mountain roads had also caught up with Liu Bei's army.

Their leading colonel came to meet Liu Bei and Pang Tong, and heard that the mountain road had been blown down, and even a general of the Han army was buried in a pile of rubble.

Pang Tong also felt that he was satisfied, but after all, he was a military advisor, and he still had to consider the problem comprehensively, and he reminded everyone not to be too happy.

Ma Chao and the others are all cavalry, and if they make a detour to catch up, it is still very likely that they will catch up with the army by the river, and it is not yet time to relax their vigilance.

Liu Bei was happy, but also nodded in agreement, didn't they rush overnight just to get rid of Ma Chao?

After unremitting efforts, I finally walked out of the trail at dawn.

As a result, they reached the river with their front feet, and Ma Chao's cavalry also arrived with their hind feet.

Ma Chao did not hesitate at all, and immediately launched an attack, and he couldn't even wait for the cover of mortars.

On the riverside, except for the ancient road, there is a barren beach, and the terrain is gentle, which is very suitable for cavalry charges.

"Enemy attack, column defense formation!" The Jingzhou army had also seen the cavalry of the Central Army rushing wildly, and the officers at all levels shouted hoarsely, directing the soldiers under them to line up.

There were still more than 30,000 Jingzhou troops left, and they quickly arranged their defensive formations in the order of hoplites, spearmen, and crossbowmen.

However, Ma Chao was not carried away by hatred, and the cavalry charge he launched was just a sneak attack when the enemy had not yet launched a formation and the defense was weak.

The cavalry of the Central Army swept in front of the Jingzhou Army formation like a gust of wind, and did not directly collide with the Jingzhou Army's array, but greeted fiercely with crossbows and grenades.

The Central Army circled in a big circle, and finally reassembled in front of the Jingzhou Army, ready to charge again.

At this time, the special operations division also rushed up, and Wang Quan said to Ma Chao: "General Meng Qi, to deal with the defensive formation of the infantry, let's let the musketeers go first." When we have opened their hard shells, your cavalry will charge again in hand-to-hand combat. ”

"Don't worry, General Ma Dai is also my comrade-in-arms, and I will also help him avenge his hatred, and I will never be soft on Liu Bei's army!"

Ma Chao nodded, of course he knew the huge advantage of musketeers over these traditional infantry, not to mention that there were mortars on his side!

He will not take advantage of his own advantages, and make senseless sacrifices, which is what Lu Bu cannot tolerate the most.

If he is really impulsive, this is called a stupid battle, and if he fights a stupid battle, he will be scolded to death by Lu Bu.

The Special Second Brigade of the Special Operations Division all dismounted, lined up the offensive formation, and slowly stepped forward.

When the march reached 120 zhang, the company platoon commanders raised their hands to signal to stop advancing, and the first platoon began to raise their guns to aim.

Then, it was the brigade commander who gave the order "Fire!" The battalion and company commanders quickly repeated the command, "Fire!" ”

Fifteen hundred flintlock muskets fired a volley, and the scene was also spectacular, with patches of white smoke rising up.

However, because the Jingzhou army was protected by the big shield, the loss caused by the first salvo was not large, and only the snipers could find a suitable target from the gap in the big shield.

However, this situation did not last long, and soon the artillery battalion was ready.

The artillery battalions of the two divisions, which together had a total of eighty mortars, began test firing.

The fierce artillery bombardment immediately blew up the Jingzhou army, which was finally lined up, and especially the spearmen and crossbowmen who were hiding behind the big shields were killed.

Fuling

(End of chapter)