Chapter 12 Banner is not volume 31

As night fell, the sound of the horn echoed on the banks of the Surabaya River, galloping horses galloped back and forth in the blood-colored afterglow, and teams of iron cavalry soldiers pursued along the riverbank.

Wei Jun rushed out of the corpse-strewn battlefield with the Ula Iron Cavalry, and galloped towards the north, where they besieged Xiahou Dun with Gao Shun's army of foot soldiers.

Xiahou Dun failed to hold out until dark, and Gao Shun's trapped camp was very fierce, and they moved forward in the sound of war drums, tearing apart the battle formation of the Xuzhou army with thunder. The Xuzhou soldiers retreated step by step, they counted on the vanguard army to come to meet them, but out of the darkness rushed out of the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry, a roaring and raging bloodthirsty beast. The soldiers of Xuzhou were shocked and collapsed instantly.

In the middle of the night, Zhao Yun's iron cavalry and Gao Shun's infantry army converged, Xiahou Dun, Li Dian, Guo Jia and nearly 10,000 Xuzhou soldiers were captured, and the Xuzhou army that went north to attack Yanzhou was annihilated.

"We went south overnight to kill Pengcheng." Zhao Yun took the horsewhip and pointed to the map, "Brother Ziping, you hurry up." After the Yanzhou army surrounds Pengcheng, I will take the iron cavalry to kill the Huai River line. ”

Gao Shun nodded and said worriedly: "If Cao Cao transfers all the troops south of the Huai River to the north, they are very likely to be stationed in Xiapi before us, which is very unfavorable for us to attack Pengcheng, so you had better kill Xiapi first and block Cao Cao's reinforcements." ”

"Feng Xian's and I's primary goal is Pengcheng." Zhao Yun said, "If he goes to Pengcheng first, then I will continue to go south to kill Xiapi." No matter how fast Cao Cao's reinforcements were, they were not as fast as our horses. ”

"Don't be careless, it's better to be careful." Gao Shun said, "We don't have much advantage in terms of troops. Especially in the siege of the city, the troops are even more insufficient, so you must block Cao Cao's reinforcements outside the city of Xiapi no matter what. ”

Zhao Yun was full of confidence, said goodbye to Gao Shun, and went south with the iron horse overnight.

On the second day of the ninth month, at dusk, Lü Bu led his iron cavalry to besiege Pengcheng (now Xuzhou City).

Cao Cao and the civil and military officials rushed up to the city tower, looking at the northern army outside the city, all of them were shocked and changed. According to the speed of the Northern Frontier Army's attack, the armies of Xiahou Dun and Cao Hong have obviously been cut off from retreating, and there are many evils and few auspicious ones.

"Lu Bu is sending troops across the Surabaya River." Cheng Yu smiled bitterly, "Zixiao (Cao Ren) has also been cut off from retreating. ”

"The Qingzhou army is estimated to be attacking Tancheng, and even if Zixiao's forces can hold them back, they can't save the situation." Xun Yu pointed to the east and said eagerly, "Lu Bu's iron cavalry will be able to rush to the front line of the Zushui River tomorrow morning and capture the two small cities of Fuyang and Wuyuan, so that Zixiao will be surrounded." My lord, immediately sent people to Tancheng, told Zixiao to abandon the city and go south, defend the line of Huaiyin (now Qingjiang City) and Huaipu (now Lianshui), and block the northern Xinjiang army from crossing the Huai River to capture Guangling.

Cao Cao held on to the city wall, his body trembled slightly, despair enveloped his body and mind, and the severe headache made him can't help but moan lowly. Li Hong came, with the brave and invincible Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry, Xuzhou is finished, even if he has the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, he can't turn the tide.

"Pengcheng is surrounded by water, and the Huns' cavalry is galloping back and forth along the city wall, not to mention people at this time, even a bird can't fly out." Mao Jue looked up to the sky and sighed, "Now if you want to save Xuzhou, you can only rely on Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Sun Quan of Jiangdong." ”

If Liu Biao of Jingzhou can do his best to fight Nanyang with the Northern Xinjiang Army, and if Sun Quan of Jiangdong can lead 50,000 troops to the north, together with Cao Pi and Xiahou Yuan, to defend the Huai River and block the Northern Xinjiang Army on the south bank of the Huai River, then the Northern Xinjiang Army will fall into a bitter battle on the two battlefields of Nanyang and Xuzhou at the same time, and it is obviously difficult to support it for a long time with Chang'an's current financial endowment, so Xuzhou still has a glimmer of life, otherwise......

Xun Yu smiled bitterly, laughing more ugly than crying. "Liu Biao still dares to fight Nanyang at this time? Do you think he's Li Hong? In addition to Li Hong, what other madman in the world today would be so reckless and fight on two battlefields at the same time? ”

"Defend Pengcheng." Cao Cao glared at Qingqing, gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe that leopard can eat Xuzhou in one bite?" The northern Xinjiang iron cavalry went south, requiring an astonishing amount of food and forage, coupled with the consumption of more than 200,000 foot soldiers, Chang'an was simply unable to support it. I want to see how long Li Hong can last? The battle dragged on into winter, and it may not be me who will be defeated, but him. ”

On the third day of the ninth month, Peiguo, Yuzhou, Gongcheng (west of present-day Suzhou).

Man Chong and Liu Xun led their army north to support, and they left Qicheng less than a hundred miles before they engaged the army of Lei Chong and Guan Yu.

Suddenly seeing Guan Yu's battle flag, Man Chong and Liu Xun were surprised, but then they were furious. Because the two sides had just fought, Guan Yu took the lead in the camp to defeat Liu Kai's forward battalion and cut off Liu Kai's head. Liu Kai is Liu Xun's younger brother, and the painful Liu Xun immediately led the army to counterattack, but was hit hard again and was killed by Guan Yu.

Manzhong's troops were limited and could not break through Guan Yu's resistance, and he was worried that the iron cavalry of the northern frontier was roaring down, so he immediately withdrew to Qicheng, and urgently told Zhou Yu and Lu Su, asking them to speed up and join him as soon as possible.

At the same time, the armies of the Northern Xinjiang Army also formed a joint encirclement of Cao Hong's Xuzhou Army near Dancheng, a hundred miles away.

Lei Chong's army was guarding Dancheng; Jiang Wu's Xiliang Iron Cavalry outflanked from the northwest; The little emperor took the wind and clouds to ride from the southeast direction; Jia Xu took the Tiger Ben Feather Forest Battalion to decisively intersperse, dividing Yu Ban's forward army and Cao Hong's main army into two; Wei Xu and Meng Si led an army of 20,000 from the direction of Qiaoxian. The 55,000-foot cavalry army of the Fifth Route Army surrounded the Xuzhou Legion.

Yu Ban was the first to surrender. With only 5,000 men on his hands, he was vulnerable, and only surrender could save the lives of his soldiers. Cao Hong then surrendered, and his men marched continuously, exhausted and demoralized, unable to fight even if they wanted to.

That night, Xiao Tianzi continued to go south with 25,000 iron cavalry, while Wei Xu and Lei Chong led the army to march eastward quickly, killing Xiapi City, which was 400 miles away.

On the third day of September, Xuzhou Donghai Kingdom, Tancheng.

Guan Hai's Qingzhou army garrisoned outside the city and attacked continuously. Cao Ren led the army to resist, but after only two days of fighting, the situation was not right, and the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry actually killed the first line of the Zushui River, captured Fuyang and Wuyuan, and formed a siege of Tancheng.

Cao Ren's son Cao Yan persuaded his father to abandon the city immediately, and when the northern iron cavalry had not yet reached Tancheng, he quickly retreated to Xiapi City to hold on. Tancheng is about two hundred miles away from Xiapi City, and if the northern iron cavalry wants to intercept Cao Ren's army, they have to cross the Yishui River. However, at present, there is no sign of crossing the river to block the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry, which just gives Cao Ren the opportunity to retreat.

Cao Ren smiled bitterly, pointed to the map and said to his son, "The iron cavalry of Northern Xinjiang appeared on the line of the Zushui River, indicating that Pengcheng has been surrounded. Pengcheng is only more than 160 miles away from Xiapi City, and Wuyuan is only more than 120 miles away from Xiapi City, if we retreat south along the Yishui River, we will be discovered by them immediately, and the army will be surrounded and intercepted by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and it will be dead. ”

"But sticking to Tancheng is also a dead end." Cao Yan said, "Although we can stop Guan Hai's army from moving south, how many days can we stop it? The iron cavalry of the northern frontier roared down and killed the Huai River, which could block the army we supported in the north. We are trapped in a few lonely cities, can we reverse the crisis in Xuzhou? I think we should retreat to Xiapi City first, and if Xiapi City is also besieged, we will go south along the Surabaya River to Huaiyin, retreat to Guangling County, and wait for the opportunity to counterattack. ”

Cao Ren thought about it for a long time, but still didn't agree. It is not clear what the purpose of the Northern Xinjiang Army is to suddenly go south to attack Xuzhou this time, what is the scale, and how determined it is, and it is too rash to rashly withdraw from Tancheng and abandon the defense line on the eastern flank of Xuzhou. If Peng Cheng and Xiapi fall into a desperate situation because of this, their own guilt will be too great.

"Send someone to Pengcheng to investigate immediately." Cao Ren said, "If Pengcheng is besieged, we can't retreat. If we do not withdraw, we can drag tens of thousands of northern Xinjiang troops in Tancheng, which will help Pengcheng and Xiapi City hold on. As long as we drag the war situation into winter, the situation will definitely change, and Xuzhou still has a chance to turn things around. ”

On the third day of the ninth month, the imperial lieutenant Zhang Yan and the hussar general Zhao Yun arrived in Pengcheng successively.

"You don't have to think about anything, go south immediately, go south at full speed......" The horse whip in Zhang Yan's hand kept tapping on the map, "Huzi, you take the iron horse to fly south along the Surabaya River, go straight to Sikou, seize Huaiyin and Huaipu, and cut off the road of Guangling County to the north to support." ”

"Zilong, you immediately lead the army south to cross the Suishui River, kill the Huai River from the direction of Guyang (now Guzhen, Anhui), and Chen Bing will cut off the road for Jiujiang County to go north to reinforce the army at Zhongli, Wukou, and Dangtu."

"Your Majesty and Jiang Wu's iron cavalry will directly kill Anfengjin (now southern Yingshang), Yangquan and Xia Cai (now Fengtai) in the near future, and block the rebels in the direction of Shouchun, Lu'an and Hefei."

"Fengxian, you leave the Duliao Iron Cavalry in Pengcheng, and take the Huns south to surround Xiapi, and after the infantry army of the two generals Lei Chong and Wei Xu arrives in Xiapi, you will go south to the Huai River line, and join Your Majesty's army to stop the rebels going north."

Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the map and asked: "There are still many small cities in Pengcheng, Xiapi and other places, and there are also many dock forts between the city and the countryside, and there are more or less some armies in these places, if they gather together, it will be a great threat to us......"

"Hmph......" Zhang Yan sneered, "They can't figure out the situation for the time being, and they won't be able to get together for a while." When we stabilized the battle line on the Huai River, all the iron cavalry launched an attack and slaughter, and all the cities and forts were captured for me, and those who dared to oppose us were all killed, leaving no one behind. ”

That night, Zhao Yun, Lu Bu, and Wei Jun each set off overnight with 10,000 iron horsemen and galloped towards their respective targets.

On the third day of the ninth month, Zhou Yu and Lu Su arrived at Mengcheng with a large army, and there was still a hundred miles of road from Qicheng.

In the early morning of the fourth day of the new year, Zhou Yu was woken up by Lu Su in his sleep, "Gong Jin, Boning (Manzhong) came to write a book, saying that his army was blocked in Gongcheng, and asked us to go north as soon as possible and attack Gongcheng with him." ”

Zhou Yu brought the letter close to the candle and looked at it hastily, and his brows suddenly furrowed, "Guan Yu? How did Guan Yu get to Yuzhou? ”

"yes, that's very weird." Lu Su's thick eyebrows furrowed, "I woke you up for this." Li Hong will only use Guan Yu in one case. ”

Zhou Yu was suddenly startled and jumped up from the seat, "Li Hong wants to fight Xuzhou." ”

"I think so too." Lu Su twisted his beard and said, "Li Hong wants to do his best to fight Xuzhou, but many generals in Northern Xinjiang are in Chang'an, and he does not have enough generals in his hands, and he urgently needs a warrior like Guan Yu to charge into battle for him." And for someone like Guan Yu to be willing to be used by him, he must have strength, enough to deter Guan Yu's strength. ”

"Li Hong must have taken the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry south." Zhou Yu's face changed slightly, and he slammed the letter in his hand to the ground, "Cao Apu didn't tell me about such a big thing, and Bo Ning even covered it up." He is unkind, I am unjust, withdraw ......"

"Withdraw ......," Lu Su also said resolutely, "Withdraw to Anfengjin overnight, and withdraw to the south bank of the Huai River." ”

"Xuzhou is finished." Zhou Yu shook his head in frustration, "Who would have thought that Li Hong would still be so crazy and dare to fight on two battlefields at the same time." ”

"As long as Cao Cao can withdraw the army in time, defend Pengcheng and Xiapi, and we hold the Huai River line, Xuzhou still has hope of survival." Lu Su said disapprerovingly, "At this time, Li Hong requisitioned iron cavalry from northern Xinjiang to fight Xuzhou, and what he fought was surprise, that is, speed. Once he was trapped in the battlefield of Xuzhou and could not take Pengcheng and Xiapi for a long time, he had to withdraw his troops before winter, otherwise what would he do with his northern frontier? Li Hong's last time he recruited the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry to attack the Central Plains, that is, it was used for a decisive battle, and after the decisive battle was over, he returned immediately. With so many iron horsemen staying in the Central Plains, grain and grass are a big problem, and the safety of northern Xinjiang is also a big problem. No matter how bold Li Hong is, no matter how crazy he is, he doesn't dare to joke about his northern Xinjiang. ”

"Can Cao Cao's army be withdrawn?" Zhou Yu put on his armor and sighed, "Although he is cautious, the front-line army is only more than three hundred miles away from Pengcheng, but more than three hundred miles is nothing for a galloping war horse?" The people of Northern Xinjiang each had two horses, never sleepless, running wild day and night, and Cao Cao's people could not escape the fate of annihilation even if they had wings. ”

Lu Su stood stunned for a while, looking depressed, "Xuzhou is really finished." In the blink of an eye, Xuzhou is gone. A leopard is a leopard, the older you get, the more cunning you get, and the older you get, the more ruthless you get. ”

"Let's go." Zhou Yu picked up the long sword and sighed softly, "If we can't hold the Huai River this time, the world will be Li Hong's." ”

"There are 100,000 troops in Jiangdong, and you are afraid that you will not be able to hold the Huai River?" Lu Su sneered, "I don't believe that Li Hong's iron cavalry can cross the Huai River." ”

On the morning of the fourth day of the ninth lunar month, Man Chong received a letter from Zhou Yu, in which he solemnly warned Man Chong to immediately withdraw to the south bank of the Huai River, otherwise he would definitely die under the iron cavalry of Northern Xinjiang. Xuzhou is finished, if you can hold the Huai River, you can still survive, otherwise you will die.

"How did Xiao Zhoulang know that the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry had gone south?" Liu Xun smiled bitterly, "Without his 20,000 people, our going north is equivalent to death." ”

Man Zhong decided to wait a little longer to see if Cao Hong could break through the encirclement, and wrote to Cao Cao that Xiao Zhoulang had run away, and his troops were thin, and asked to retreat. Just when he was anxious, the scout flew to report that the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry had crossed the city and was rushing towards Qicheng.

Full of flattery, he ordered the army to abandon the grain and grass and retreat at full speed.

On the fifth day of the ninth month, Xiao Tianzi led the Fengyun Iron Cavalry to catch up with the Xuzhou army near Xiangcheng (now northern Huaiyuan). The favored army was wiped out, and not a single one escaped the Huai River. Jump to