It was getting dark. When Xu Chu led the men and horses to Wancheng www.biquge.info the sun had already set, and only a golden cloud remained in the western sky. Wancheng is calm. This was true even when these countless uninvited people suddenly appeared in front of her. The drawbridge had been lowered, and all nine wide gates were open, allowing a glimpse of the empty streets of the city. Xu Chule soldiers immediately under the city, ordered people to light torches, looked at the situation in the city, and then looked at the city wall that was supposed to be used for defense, and finally found that the situation was wrong: there was no figure to be seen on the huge city, and the red flag that originally stood on the city of Wancheng had disappeared without a trace. The head of the city was as quiet as the street I had just seen.

Facing this quiet city like a dead city, Xu Chu first waited cautiously for a while, and seeing that she still had no movement, he ordered a team of soldiers and horses to enter the city to investigate the situation. Although judging from the appearance in front of him, Wancheng seems to be an empty city, and Liu Bei has already given up here, but Xu Chu also feels that there is an abnormality here: if he wants to give up, whether Liu Bei gives up Anzhong or Xinye, he will not be surprised, but giving up Wancheng really makes him unable to figure it out.

"This Wancheng is a majestic city with a deep city, a city that can resist the siege of hundreds of thousands of people with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, how could Liu Bei give up like this? Unless he's a fool. Xu Chu shook his head, but he was still unsure of this. Although all the appearances reveal that Liu Bei has left.

Just waiting outside the city for half an hour, a piece of news came that made Xu Chu puzzled and made him happy: "Wancheng is indeed an empty city, not to mention Liu Beijun of Wancheng, even the ordinary people who originally lived in the city have disappeared without a trace at this moment. They all seemed to have gone south—a large number of footprints were found at the junction outside the south of the city. ”

"Ah...... How so? Xu Chu was very surprised, but after repeatedly confirming that there were no enemies in the city, he still ordered to enter the city. It's already dark now, whether it's the cavalry under his command or Cao Ren's team following behind, they need a place to rest. If Wancheng was still in Liu Bei's hands, then they would naturally want to set up a village outside the city, but at this moment, Wancheng is empty, so they can't wait to enter the city. After all, compared with the outside of the city, the one is the sky and the other is the earth.

Xu Chu and Cao Chun led the troops into Wancheng, while calming down their soldiers, directly using the vacant houses in the city to sell pots and make rice, and at the same time ordered someone to report the Cao Ren department behind the morning report, and told him about the situation in Wancheng.

After a while, Cao Ren led his troops to arrive. After settling down in the city and assigning their respective defense areas, several people who were in the vanguard met here. Xu Chu talked about what happened here, and both Cao Chun and Cao Ren were puzzled by it. They couldn't think of any reason why Liu Bei would abandon Wancheng like this and leave, and he was still very "stupid" and took the people of the whole city with him.

"Why is that?" They were still confused. How far can you go with the people? If it weren't for the fact that his team was really tired tonight, he would definitely need to rest and couldn't pursue, but he was afraid that a night's advance would make Liu Beijun die. "It's a self-defeating act." They all think so.

As vanguard officers, they still have a certain ability to make decisions on some things on the battlefield. At that moment, they discussed with each other: early tomorrow morning, the three thousand tiger and leopard cavalry under Xu Chu and Cao Chun will rush to pursue Liu Beijun. Don't go deep, just harass them in the back and slow them down. “

"Can't let the timid Liu Bei escape back to Xinye......" This is what they decided in the end.

Regarding Liu Bei's situation of abandoning the city and leaving, the reason they came up with was that Liu Bei got the news that the lord led an army of 800,000 to the south, and he did not dare to refuse to defend the city in fear, so he had to coerce the people of the city to flee south, trying to return to his "hometown" Xinye.

This is a good explanation for Cao Cao, and it also boosts the morale of Cao Jun. As soon as Cao Ren's side came to such a conclusion, he quickly sent someone to report the situation here directly to Cao Cao in the north, which was passed on as a good news.

After sending the envoy to the north, Cao Ren sighed and lay down directly on the wooden couch. The house he lived in was the largest in Wancheng's Taishou Mansion, and it was said to be the house where Liu Bei lived in the past. Although Liu Bei fled in panic before Cao Jun arrived, and the whole house became messy due to the hasty relocation, the general furnishings were not much destroyed, and after Cao Ren's soldiers tidied up a little, the place also returned to its original appearance of almost gorgeous luxury.

"Sure enough, the rumored statement about Liu Bei is true." Cao Ren muttered softly as he admired the decoration that was almost as luxurious as his mansion in Xuchang. The legend he said was about Liu Bei's early days: he had heard people say that Liu Bei was not an "ambitious" young man in his early years, although his family was poor and had to sell straw sandals, but he still liked those fancy clothes and delicacies like a gentleman. "What a failure......" There must have been many people who said this about him at the time, but no one thought that now, decades later, he has become a world-famous figure.

"I don't know what this Liu Bei is capable of. actually made Meng De take such a fancy to him. Why don't I think he's very good? Cao Ren muttered and closed his eyes slightly, and his consciousness slowly drifted away.

It was already late at night, and Cao Ren, who had already slept, originally thought that he would sleep until dawn to recuperate his spirits and carry out the next battle. But the sudden change in events forced him to wake up in a hazy sleep. As a general, in an unfamiliar place, he can quickly fall asleep and wake up quickly. When there was a small movement in Wancheng, he had already opened his eyes.

"What happened?" Cao Ren immediately summoned his own guards and asked.

"It seems that there is a fire in the west of the city, and General Xu Chu has rushed over to check the situation just now." The guard replied calmly.

"It's normal for a soldier to catch fire while making food, does Zhongkang need to be so careful?" Cao Ren had just woken up, and his mind was still confused, and he didn't see the sky in the west of the city that had been reflected red.

"This ......" For the small question between the main generals, the guards didn't know how to answer it at once. Although he had already seen the red in the west, and guessed that the fire must be very strong, he did not know whether the fire there would affect his side. He didn't dare to say much, so he could only cowardly step aside, and watch his general back on the couch again, not knowing whether he was asleep or how he stayed there.

"Maybe the general is still a little stuck." The guards didn't dare to think about it, but just stood in the doorway, holding a spear and waiting wordlessly for the passage of time. Speaking of sleepiness, he was also very sleepy, although he vigorously warned himself to lift his spirits and not sleep, but with the arrival of boredom, the fatigue of the day suddenly surged into his heart, and his two thin eyelids couldn't help fighting, and it seemed to take away a lot of his strength without a click. Gradually, his consciousness became blurred.

I don't know how long it has been since I woke up from my dream, maybe only a quarter of an hour, maybe a few hours, and the guards obviously felt that the restlessness around them had become obvious, and the city seemed to have become a mess, and countless voices sounded everywhere.

"What happened?" This is the same question that the general just asked, but it is now in his mind. As soon as he wanted to ask this question, he saw a majestic warrior walk in from outside.

"I've seen General Cao Chun." The soldiers naturally knew what the identity of this person was, and they didn't dare to slack off at the moment.

"Has the general fallen asleep?" Cao Chun, who is rarely calm and always calm, is thinking of a little panic on his face right now.

"The general woke up once before, and he probably fell asleep again." Naturally, the pro-soldiers did not dare to hide this.

"Then get him up quickly." Cao Chun was very impatient at the moment.

"This ......" The soldiers were about to answer, when they suddenly heard Cao Ren's voice inside: "Is it a pure brother?" What are you doing out there so loud? ”

"General, hurry up and get ready. We're going to have to withdraw. Seeing that Cao Ren had woken up, the expression on Cao Chun's face tightened and said very loudly, and the anxiety in his tone was very obvious at this moment.

"Ah......? What's going on? When Cao Ren heard Cao Chun say this, he couldn't help but be shocked in his heart, and the sleepiness that was still a little resting disappeared without a trace. He straightened his clothes a little, and then rushed out of the room, and soon noticed that there was something unusual at the moment: there seemed to be a slight burning smell in the air, and he looked up at the sky, which seemed to have long been shrouded in a patch of red. Having been on the battlefield for a long time, he naturally knew that this was the scene when the fire was burning all over the place, but where did this fire come from? He didn't know very well. After a little consternation and puzzlement, he couldn't help but ask again: "What the hell is going on?" ”

"As you can see, the whole city of Wan is burning. First the west gate, then the south gate, then the north gate, and then all the big and small points in the city were burned in an instant. Not only were people setting fire to the city, but soldiers and horses suddenly appeared outside the city. It seems that Liu Beijun did not leave as we thought, but set such a trap for us to drill early. I think we're in the middle of the game right now. Cao Chun took Cao Ren's hand, and his feet kept walking out, explaining the situation in front of him to Cao Ren as he walked. As a general who is accustomed to calmness, although his expression is very frightened at the moment, his coherence in speaking is not the slightest disorder, and he still clearly explains the facts at hand.

"So all three doors are on fire? Is only the East Gate all right? From what Cao Chun explained, Cao Ren quickly discovered this, and he quickly passed Cao Chun's order to everyone, including the tiger and leopard cavalry: "The whole army will break through to the east gate." ”

"To the East Gate? Why? With Liu Bei's means, he would not ignore the existence of an east gate and not set up an ambush. Cao Chun's eyes were always a little puzzled.

"Of course, I know there must be ambushes outside the East Gate, but at the moment there is no other way out. If we don't go to the east gate, we'll just sit here and wait for the fire of Wancheng to burn us to ashes. Cao Ren looked very helpless.

"Then it can't be helped." Cao Chun's face was full of bitterness. He was in a bad mood. It's no wonder, after all, all of a sudden, from the winner who chased the enemy to the loser who fell into the enemy's trap, the change in mood during this period simply made people fall from the heavenly palace to hell, and the difference between the clouds and mud is inexplicable. No one can avoid this.

Looking at Cao Chun, who looked pained, Cao Ren didn't say anything more and just asked Xu Chu's situation: "Where is Zhongkang now?" ”

"Lord Xu Chu has gone to rectify the tiger and leopard riding." Cao Chun replied quickly.

"You arranged it." Cao Ren looked at Cao Chun, and couldn't help but show a smile on his face: "With Xu Chu's martial arts and bravery, combined with the elite of the tiger and leopard riding, it can indeed open up a wide path for us to break through." This is very good......" Cao Ren nodded vigorously, and then gave an order: "Inform all the troops who can be contacted to go to the east gate." Try to keep your emotions in check, I don't want to be bombed soon after leaving the city. ”

"The last will understand. I'm going to do it right away! Cao Chun respectfully accepted the order and went down. Although he and Cao Ren belong to the same faction of the Cao Cao clan and are Cao Ren's younger brothers, Cao Ren's official position is undoubtedly much higher than him. At present, Cao Cao is already coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and his army is also regarded as the king's army. In fact, once a force becomes strong, there must be a set of rules to restrain them between their superiors and subordinates, and this is the same for every force.

Generally speaking, the soldiers of the Cao army are quite elite, although Liu Beijun used fire to attack and fought suddenly, but under Cao Chun's quick reaction, there were still many soldiers who escaped with their lives. After receiving Cao Ren's order, Cao Chun counted the people in his hand, estimated that there were about 30,000 people, and then relaxed in one breath. "It's okay, it's okay! Although the losses are a bit large, they are not to the point where they completely collapse. He suddenly reacted with a sharp sense of his own.

Cao Ren's side has just prepared all the way to the soldiers. Xu Chu over there flew to report that his cavalry there was ready, and asked General Cao Ren to follow.

"Zhong Kang's movements are also very fast." Hearing the news, Cao Ren's face was still a little nervous, and he suddenly disappeared without a trace. Just as the soldiers in Liu Bei's army believed that it would be fine to charge with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the soldiers in Cao Cao's army also believed that the tiger and leopard with Xu Chu as the vanguard general would be able to stop them as soon as they rushed out. This is the confidence that the so-called warrior will bring.

The soldiers and horses swarmed out of the east gate and walked directly along Yushui. Soon, Xu Chu, as a pioneer, was intercepted by soldiers and horses all the way.

"Yanren Zhang Fei is here! Who would dare to fight me to the death!? A thunderous roar sounded out of thin air under the red and black night, although Zhang Fei, who shouted this, was clearly challenging Cao Caojun, but in fact Zhang Fei did not carry out the task of challenge. He struck out from the dim slope like the wind, and no matter how loudly Xu Chu shouted as a sharp-headed general, the soldiers under his command plunged straight into the team behind Xu Chu like a sharp knife.

After all, Cao Cao's army came from an expedition, and his familiarity with the terrain was not as good as Liu Beijun's, who had already lived here. Coupled with the fact that the fire came too suddenly tonight, and the order to leave the city was issued very quickly, even the tiger and leopard riders, who had always prided themselves on being elite, inevitably had a little confusion before leaving the city.

And Zhang Fei's attack was obviously aimed at this chaotic time. 10,000 pikemen, with spears ranging from two to seven zhang to form a dense phalanx, suddenly appeared in front of the tiger and leopard cavalry commanded by Xu Chu, which was indeed surprising, and it was indeed an extremely sharp and deadly attack.

With a simple shout, the same action carried out by a soldier and horse made the tiger and leopard, who claimed to be the most elite cavalry in the world, lose nearly a thousand people in a single look, and even more confused themselves. This confusion arises because the transition from forward to backward cannot be completed instantaneously. Faced with a spear array of jagged spears, any general with a bit of a brain will want to avoid them. After all, spearmen and archers possess the ability to restrain cavalry.

"Damn, when the hell were they hiding there?" Xu Chu was made to roar angrily by this sudden blow. Although the tiger and leopard cavalry he commanded at the moment was not his own personal soldier, he still felt angry. Because this is one of the most important forces of his lord Cao Cao.

The ground was a mess of dead and wounded, and if you added the hundreds of soldiers who had fallen in the fire, Cao Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry had lost nearly 2,000 men in just one night. This is naturally not a big loss for the average army, but for the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, which has a total strength of only 10,000, such a loss is simply unacceptable. Even in the previous expedition to Wuhuan and face-to-face battles with those steppe peoples who boasted of their bravery, Cao Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry had never suffered such damage.

"Damn, I'm going to kill you." Xu Chu, who was later named the title of "Tiger Idiot", was really like a wounded tiger at the moment, roaring and crazy on the horse.

If conditions allow, of course, he will rush forward to fight Zhang Fei desperately, but for now, this is always impossible. In the face of Rulin's spear array, not to mention Xu Chu himself, even if he pulled all the remaining tiger and leopard horses in his hand, he could not do any harm to Zhang Fei who was in the phalanx. At this moment, the duel between Xu Chu and Zhang Fei is undoubtedly like a hungry tiger facing a hedgehog curled up, although he is very anxious, but there is really no way to do it, he can only roar meaninglessly.

"Zhongkang, we need to be patient. With our own strength, we will never be able to break through the gun array in front of us, so let's wait for Brother Zixiao to come. Right now, we need the support of their rear army. Cao Chun stopped Xu Chu's "impulse" and put forward his opinions very distressed. At this moment, he only felt very depressed: Originally, the cavalry on their side should exist as an assault force and as a pioneer, and they have always been the ones who open the way for others, but they don't want to now, after encountering such a tricky enemy, they actually need the help of others to break through the gun array in front of them. This kind of role change made Cao Chun very uncomfortable, and the resentment in his heart naturally became full.

Of course, this resentment can only be placed in his heart, and no matter how unhappy he is on the surface, he has to consider most people and ask for help from the rear army. Although he felt that his self-esteem had been damaged because of this, he could save the lives of more soldiers, which was undoubtedly an important thing for him as a general.

The soldiers who called for help quickly set off. Before he could bring reinforcements from behind, Cao Chun and Xu Chu could only order their cavalry to retreat a lot, and confront the enemy on the opposite side from a distance. Due to the lack of long-range attack means for each other, when confronting each other, both sides never started fighting, although they were facing each other with resentment. For a while, the battlefield here calmed down.

Of course, the calm here is only a temporary tranquility for the entire battlefield. In fact, when the confrontation appeared on this side and was stable, Cao Renjun behind was in dire straits because he was attacked by another group of people.

With 3,000 cavalry and 6,000 foot soldiers, Liu Beijun, commanded by Chen Zhi, killed directly from the south of Cao Ren's army, and rushed to the rear of Cao Ren's army with mixed infantry and cavalry. Although Cao Renjun can also be said to be elite, after all, it is not as good as the level of tiger and leopard riding. They had just come out of the fire, and they naturally felt a little panicked, a little anxious, and a little fortunate in their hearts, this was the time when their morale was the most unstable, and it was also the time when their morale was the lowest. Chen Zhi grasped one point very well, and the team that had covered from behind suddenly smashed into Cao Ren's formation, disrupting Cao Ren's rear formation, and causing the chaotic crisis that was already hidden in it to explode all at once.

Cao Renjun's barely neatly lined ranks collapsed and became chaotic. The soldiers, who had long been frightened by the sudden attack, ran in a disorderly manner, shouting as they ran, bringing the fear in their hearts to more people who were already thinking about it. Their luck was generally good, and they didn't meet Zhang Fei, who had long been famous in Cao Cao's army, but even then they felt frightened. Chen Zhi's martial arts skills, which led the team to attack them, were not bad, although they were not as majestic as Zhang Fei, but they were a little calmer than Zhang Fei. As the sharp knife of the entire attack force, the spear in his hand kept stabbing out, and no one could catch him.

The battle continued, the killing continued, and the Cao soldiers who had no ability to fight back in the face of Chen Zhi's attack gradually lost even the confidence to fight. They were afraid to get close to Chen. In their opinion, if facing Liu Beijun other than Chen Zhi is nine deaths, then directly facing Chen Zhi's own attack is absolutely lifeless. To put it simply, facing Chen Zhi is equivalent to sending them to death, and most of them don't want to die like this.

Under strong pressure, they completely collapsed. Countless soldiers who had lost their confidence in battle frantically rushed forward, and soon converged into a turbulent current. In the face of such a trend, Cao Ren, who is the commander of this army, has pain and unwillingness, although he still has the heart to solve the current damn situation, but the lack of strength in his hands makes him can only watch, and finally retreats helplessly under the coercion of countless people, following the defeated army that has collapsed.

The rout of Cao Ren's rear army not only crushed Cao Ren's own front army, but even Xu Chu's tiger and leopard cavalry was chaotic because of this. The casualties caused by trampling on each other are not much better than, if not greater, the sacrifices of fighting the enemy. It's heart-wrenching and frustrating. But fortunately, after enduring such heartache and helplessness, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, and Xu Chu finally led the defeated soldiers to escape. Because of the misery of last night, they did not dare to stay more near Wancheng, but directly led the troops back to Ye County, repaired the team and counted the losses on their side.

"The Haw Par Rider lost two thousand three hundred and twenty-eight men? The first team lost 17,952 killed and 3,674 missing? Hum! Is this the result of your first battle with Liu Beijun? Cao Cao looked at the battle damage statistics submitted by Cao Ren and them, and couldn't help but be secretly annoyed, and snorted coldly. Although there was not much red anger on his white face, and his voice was not very loud, it was just such a cold "hum" word, which made Cao Ren and the other four people who were bowing down to the ground and pleading guilty involuntarily toss a few times in their hearts.

At this moment, it was four days after the Battle of Wancheng. Because of the defeat in the battle of Wancheng, Cao Cao, who was originally advancing in the rear with the fifth team, was uneasy, and had to lead his subordinates to quickly move forward to catch up with Zhang Liao's headquarters of the second team, and marched with him to Yexian. Although a few days of running around had made Cao Cao, who had just arrived, look very tired, but under the emergency military situation, he still recruited Cao Ren and others, who were still entrenched in Yexian County, to hold such a post-war meeting.

To be honest, Cao Cao was really disappointed in Cao Ren and Cao Hong for giving him such a fiasco answer. Originally, he believed in the strength of the army on his side, and also believed in Cao Ren's ability. For the first battle with Liu Bei in Wancheng, when he discussed with his military advisors later, he had considered various means, and also expected the difficulties that Cao Ren and them were likely to encounter, but no matter how they estimated, they never thought that there would be such an answer in the end. Originally, they thought that no matter how much Cao Ren's side lost, at most it would only form a stalemate, and there would be no big defeat.

"Alas...... It seems that I still underestimate Liu Bei too much. Cao Cao sighed. He found himself confronted with this old enemy again years later, and he actually despised him a little. "It's absolutely undesirable." Cao Cao quickly woke up and quickly corrected his attitude.

Since things have come to this point, it doesn't matter whether you get angry or not. Regarding Cao Ren's so-called defeat problem, out of consideration for blood relatives and the inappropriateness of beheading generals before the war, Cao Cao did not give too many punishments, but just ordered them to gather the remaining soldiers of the first team and directly integrate them into Zhang Liao's team. At this moment, Cao Cao had already changed the battle sequence of his army, and directly took Zhang Liao's team as his home formation.

After reorganizing the team, Cao Cao did not order an immediate attack, but first ordered his staff Jia Xu to send a large number of scouts to check the situation on Liu Bei's side and find a way to get in touch with Jingzhou. After all, from now on, they have entered the territory of Jingzhou, although Jingzhou has fully agreed to surrender, but before the army officially takes over Xiangyang, no one knows if there will be any changes on their side.

Cao Cao was a suspicious person, and suspiciousness at some point also represented caution. For his southern expedition this time, Cao Cao really didn't want anything too bad to happen. He came here with confidence, and he didn't want to return in vain.

The wind seems to be a little stronger......