Chapter 18: Cracked Gall

Bright red liquid gushed out like a fountain to the sky, and a strong smell of blood filled the entire bridge in an instant. Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 The black-clothed general stood there like a ghost, but the Zhangba snake spear in his hand was extremely weird, not stained with even a little blood. The long, serpentine blade shone like gold in the sunlight, adding a touch of undesecrated power to his master. Less than a foot in front of him, two corpses lay there quietly, one was the sharp stab of the snake halberd, and the other was dismantled by the sharpness of the snake halberd.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The person who dared to do something to Zhang Fei was easily dealt with by Zhang Fei, which was indeed surprising. Although several generals with strong martial arts on Cao Cao's side could see that Zhang Fei's force was far above the two who attacked, no matter how they guessed, they would never guess that Zhang Feisheng and the two would win so easily and quickly.

“…… I still stood on the ground and fought, and I didn't retreat a single step ...... my feet. This Zhang Fei is really an awesome general. "So brave, so strong that Cao Cao, who was watching everything, couldn't help but tremble. He couldn't help but think of the incident he asked Guan Yu in the past.

At that time, it was Guan Yu who was in high spirits and begged for Yan Lian's first rank......

"The general is really a man of God. I am the brave man in the world, and the general can be called the first call! "Yan Liang, the general in Yuan Shao's army, made Cao Cao, who was like a cloud of fierce generals around him, also have a headache and did not exist, and now he was actually stabbed by Guan Yu alone in the army, which can't help but Cao Cao has a lot more regard for Guan Yu's force. At that time, Lu Bu was dead, and Cao Cao thought that Guan Yu's force deserved the title of "the first in the world". Of course, this is also what he said when he knew Guan Yu's character. In this regard, Cao Cao is not much worse than Liu Bei.

Cao Cao originally thought that with Guan Yu's arrogant personality, he would accept such a "touting" from himself very calmly. After all, what he said is not a complete lie, even if Guan Yu's force is not really the first in the world, but the difference between it and the first in the world will not be very big, and he deserves to be called so. However, he saw Guan Yu's indifferent face.

"What do I have to do with that? My brother Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide took the head of the general in the million-strong army, and that is the real skill. I'm still not as good as him. Guan Yu was unexpectedly humble.

This took Cao Cao by surprise. He thinks that with Guan Yu's arrogance, if the other party is really too strong against him, he would never make such a low profile. "So, Zhang Fei's force is stronger than Guan Yu?" Thinking of this, Cao Cao felt a chill in his heart. Guan Yu's ability Cao Cao saw with his own eyes, but Guan Yu said that Zhang Fei was stronger than him, so how strong would it be? Cao Cao didn't know, he just felt that it would definitely be a terrible thing to meet Zhang Fei in the future. He was afraid that he would forget today's words, so he said to the left and right: "When we meet Zhang Fei in the future, we must fight him with all our strength, and we must not underestimate the enemy in the slightest." At the same time, he was still relieved to carefully write this on the bottom of his robe. In his Cao Cao's view, this matter is undoubtedly closely related to his own life.

"Zhang Fei, who took the rank of general in the million-strong army. Today, when I saw it, it was really as ...... as Guan Yu said. Liu Bei, the brother next to you is really powerful. Hey, the heroes of this world are not fake. Cao Cao glared at the tragic scene in front of the man, and muttered to himself in a low voice.

Cao Cao's self-talk, the people around him didn't hear it very clearly. But they vaguely guessed Cao Cao's mood from Cao Cao's ever-changing face: envious eyes, that is, jealousy that Liu Bei's brother was undoubtedly so strong; The expression of surprise was that he was frightened by the ruthlessness of Zhang Fei's hand; Tie Qing's face showed the anger in his heart at the moment - such a strong general was actually not his subordinate, and now he was fighting with him as an enemy, so how could he not be angry if he had tasted enough. Cao Cao glared at the other side, a pair of slender Danfeng eyes squinted and almost spewed fire, if that could really be spewed, it would definitely be able to turn Zhang Fei over there into ashes.

"As Zhang Yide, who dares to fight to the death with me?" Killed two people who dared to hand over to him who didn't know whether to live or die, Zhang Fei's face was still so arrogant, his momentum became more vigorous with the help of blood, and his eyes, which were originally the size of Tongling, narrowed even more, and a touch of contempt in them became more obvious at this moment. Standing at the head of the bridge, he roared loudly, the loud noise, but there was a buzzing in everyone's ears, and for a moment their master had an illusion, as if the earth under his feet could not tremble slightly.

"It's so powerful...... Compared with the improvement of Zhang Fei's prestige, Cao Cao's morale is even lower. Everyone was a little reluctant in their hearts, but it was only because their lord Cao Cao did not speak that they did not make any moves. In fact, as a general, they can all see that this is the time when this flying edge is at its peak. Although he was the only one standing at the head of the bridge, none of them were blind, and they could naturally see that behind the Dangyang Bridge where Zhang Fei was standing, there was a faint dust flying up in the dense woods.

"Among them, there must be ambushes. And it's a lot of ambushes. Everyone thought so. They knew that Liu Bei's troops had not suffered much damage in the pursuit ahead, but had instead defeated their own tiger and leopard cavalry due to the addition of unknown cavalry along the other road. Judging from this situation, Liu Beijun's available troops should be more than 30,000. Although it is not wise to use such a force to confront the large army on your own side, it is enough to use it to ambush the other side. If you rush over so boldly, I'm afraid that you will be defeated by Liu Bei's ambush soldiers halfway.

"Liu Bei is much more powerful now than before...... "Although Cao Caojun, who experienced the two fires of Bowang and Xinye, still seems to look down on Liu Bei on the surface, he is extremely jealous of Liu Bei in private. Everyone regarded Liu Beijun as their number one enemy, from the supreme lord Cao Cao to everyone below.

"What to do? Is it a battle or a retreat now? "There is a hesitation in everyone's minds.

If it is a battle, it is not sufficient in terms of the current preparations of the Cao army. The 250,000 troops that were originally prepared, but now only 100,000 people have arrived, and they are tired troops from an expedition, so they can't exert their full combat strength at all. Although Liu Beijun on the opposite side was also an expeditionary team, they walked slowly all the way, and when it came to exhaustion, they were always not as strong as their own side. Coupled with the fact that their lord Cao Cao is still here, these generals are very worried about Cao Cao's own safety. They were afraid that Liu Beijun would be forced to launch a lifeless counterattack and fight to the death with his side. This is a terrible thing: judging from Liu Beijun's previous combat strength, if he exerts all of them, it will be very terrifying. Although they also believed that with the ability of their own side, they would definitely be able to win the battle, but the victory at that time was only a miserable victory. This was definitely not a good thing for Cao Cao's army, which had the entire south as its strategic goal.

"Then just retreat. Anyway, our purpose in pursuing Liu Bei was just to prevent Liu Bei from going to Jiangling. As it stands, this has been achieved. It is impossible for Liu Bei to continue to walk to Jiangling at the moment. Because it was a plain place, it was impossible to escape the pursuit from his side. This point will not be impossible to see in Liu Bei's eyes at all, because he can only go east to Jiangxia, which is also the only place he can obtain. Although it is really not a happy thing for us to let him escape like this, it is helpless for this army. The fact that the army is in need of trimming too much is a fact that anyone can see. The generals glanced at each other, and they all read their meaning from each other's eyes - it's better not to fight hard with Liu Bei at the moment.

"Still retreated!" Everyone had this idea, and their eyes looking at Cao Cao naturally had a little more anticipation. They are all waiting for Cao Cao's orders.

For the cowardice in everyone's hearts, it is impossible for Cao Cao not to know. In fact, he, like his men, had an idea of retreating first. However, as the sovereign, he could only keep such thoughts in his heart, not say them. For he is the sovereign, and the commander of the whole army. He must have his own reserve and face. Such a thing as retreat could only be suggested to him by his men, not revealed by himself. So, he's waiting, he's waiting for his men to understand.

It's just that waiting is so uncomfortable, especially when you're in a hurry. At this moment, Cao Cao couldn't help but regret that he had left those clever strategists in the rear and didn't bring them over. Without those clever fungivers, it seems too difficult for these warriors to understand what is in their hearts. After waiting for a while, there was still no one to understand him, and Cao Cao couldn't help frowning.

Cao Cao was anxious, and Zhang Feiye on the opposite side was the same. Seeing that the other party had not moved for such a long time, Zhang Fei couldn't help but have some doubts about whether he really scared the other party.

"Fight or not fight, retreat and not retreat? Why? Zhang Fei shouted loudly. He was going to try again, and if the other party really didn't respond, he was going to run away. Because that means that the other party has seen through his plan, then he will try to die if he stays. Because this was probably his last shout, Zhang Fei was full of luck with his own qi this time, and his loud shout was like a thunderbolt out of thin air, not only the earth was trembling gently, but even the river behind him was under this thunderous sound, eliminating clearly visible ripples.

"Terrifying voice......" Cao Cao's body trembled slightly under this snort. Xiao is that he has experienced a lot of big battles, but he is still frightened by Zhang Fei's roar. He felt that he seemed to be a little faceless, and looked at the colors of the generals around him, but he was horrified to find that no matter who it was, even the generals under him, their faces were as frightened as earth.

Of course, even this earthy color is still good. In fact, there are people who are even more unbearable than them: it is Cao Cao's close attendant named Xiahou Jie. He was only seventeen years old, but this was his first time on the battlefield. Because it was Xiahou Xin's nephew, Cao Cao took great care of him with him, just wanted him to experience the so-called battlefield atmosphere, but he didn't want to be involved in such a thing. This can be regarded as his bad luck, Zhang Fei's roar is not like ordinary weapons that are only aimed at a few people, when he breaks off in front of the ten thousand armies, whether it is the main army like Cao Cao, or the most ordinary soldiers can not be disturbed by this magic sound, naturally he Xiahou Jie is no exception. In the previous roars, Xia Houjie had already felt an uncomfortable surge in his fragile body, but this shout turned this surge into a pain like a knife. A bitterness rushed up from his chest and abdomen with a little fishy sweetness, and Xia Houjie couldn't open his mouth wide, but it was blood mixed with the green bile, and his brain was splashed in the air. He was already blue and speechless, and his death from palpitations was the most correct cause of his death, and it was also what made him lose his face afterwards. But he couldn't argue anymore, he could only widen his eyes, and he couldn't fall off his horse openly, so he was relieved.

"Poof...... This is the sound of the body falling into the earth. A large patch of green liquid under him undoubtedly explained the cause of the owner's death.

Zhang Fei's drink was so powerful that the last trace of reserve in Cao Cao's heart was shattered. He didn't say anything more, just quickly turned around and rode away. Although the formation of the army has not yet dispersed, as a monarch, no one dares to stop him. The people turned sideways to make a way, and as he passed, they all turned around. Cao Cao didn't really give orders, but these didn't matter to the soldiers and generals who were already frightened. They all knew what Cao Cao meant, because his actions had already clearly shown the order he was going to give - retreat, don't touch Zhang Fei to the death again.

The army urged Zhang to retreat in panic. Because he didn't make arrangements in advance, he let his team trample on each other. Although it is not as exaggerated as the defeat of the army, such a retreat is also a very faceless thing for the self-proclaimed Wang Shi who is the conquer on behalf of the sky.

After retreating for nearly ten miles, Cao Cao ordered the army to stop, and ordered the team to be reorganized.

Soon the losses were reported, and 3,000 soldiers were lost in one escape. Although there are reasons for this, it is not so glorious for Cao Cao. However, at the moment, Cao Cao didn't have much heart to care about such a trivial matter, and after escaping his life, he deeply regretted his initial gaffe.

"Perhaps, Zhang Fei is alone over there." He guessed that something was wrong in his heart. So, he sent Zhang Liao and Xu Yu to Dangyangqiao again, and he asked them to see the situation there clearly. "Wen Yuan and Zhong Kang are the two most powerful people in our army. Maybe with the strength of the two of them, they should be able to withstand Zhang Fei. Cao Cao thought so, but his heart was at ease. He rested peacefully in the rear.

The men who had sent them out soon returned. Looking at the full depression on Zhang Liao and Xu Yu's faces, Cao Cao understood that things were not as he originally thought.

"Something isn't right over there?" Cao Cao asked with a cold face and narrowed his eyes.

"Zhang Fei has led people to retreat west of the bridge." Zhang Liao said helplessly with a calm face.

"Damn!" Cao Cao punched the ground with a heavy punch: "We were all deceived by Zhang Fei!" In fact, at that time, there were just Zhang Fei all the way. Liu Beijun suffered more losses than we thought, so he sent his brother there to resist us. ”

"So what do we do now? Do you continue to pursue Liu Beijun? Still is......? Zhang Liao asked cautiously.

"Of course the pursuit is going to be pursued. Liu Bei was finally beaten by us into the current misery, if we don't pursue quickly, if he makes a comeback, it will be a scourge. Cao Cao values Liu Bei very much, as long as he has the power to defeat Liu Bei in his hand, he always hates to use it immediately. He always wanted to beat Liu Bei to death with a stick.

"I see." Zhang Liao listened and nodded slightly, they all understood Cao Cao's Liu Bei complex to some extent.

The army was moved again. After reorganizing, their morale and military appearance have recovered greatly, although it is not as fierce as the beginning, but it is much better than the situation when Zhang Fei was frightened just now.

Half an hour later, they were back in the same place. The babbling river still flows quietly, and there seems to be no change in this place except for the bridge and the absence of people.

"And so it was." After listening to Zhang Liao's report and feeling all this with his own eyes, Cao Cao finally confirmed this. Facing Liu Beijun, who had disappeared without a trace, and the river without any bridge, Cao Cao, who knew that he had been tricked, stood by the river, gritted his teeth and issued an order: "Chase ......" He had already made up his mind that he had to give Liu Bei and them a good look.

Pursue? How can you chase without a bridge? If there is no bridge, build a bridge, is there anything more important than the order of Lord Cao Cao? When encountering mountains and rivers, as long as it is an order issued by Lord Cao Cao, those of us who are soldiers must do it. Because these people are soldiers, and they belong to the army under Lord Cao Cao. And the military naturally takes obedience to orders as their duty.

An army of 100,000 came to do this little thing, and the speed was naturally extremely fast, but in less than an hour, five large pontoon bridges appeared on the Yangshui River. Cao Cao left Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan to defend the rear army, while he himself was very anxious to fight the vanguard, and quickly crossed the bridge with several important generals such as Xu Yu and Zhang Liao, and hurriedly embarked on the road to pursue Liu Bei.

The other side of the Dangyang River was just as lush as Cao Cao had first seen. The dense woods along the river, apart from a path carved out of the middle, retain the most primitive flavor. They cover the eyes of everyone looking inside, so that people can't see anything more than a glimpse of the dark green depth.

However, such a deep forest is not too large, that is, about a mile deep along the river. Cao Cao's army soon passed through this densest place, and the horizon in front of him suddenly opened up with the scarcity of trees. What appeared in front of Cao Cao was a slightly messy trampling mark. Although it seems that there are not many horses running here from the hoof prints in it, the traces outside the horse's hooves can be seen how grand the scene was when they ran.

"I guess that's why we're cautious." Cao Cao thought so, but his opinion of Zhang Fei changed slightly: "If such a suspicious plan was also thought up by that person, then this Zhang Fei does have some ability." It is not terrible for a general to have force, but it is terrible for a person who has both force and resourcefulness. And Zhang Fei, I didn't know how he was before, but judging from the clues he has shown now, he is likely to be the most terrifying person. Cao Cao's face froze, he looked at the footprints on the ground, and thought about what happened before and after, and after being silent for a long time, he seemed to have figured out something, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Born at the right time, but not in the master, Zhang Fei's talent lies under Liu Bei, it's really a pity." How good if he were one of our army? The cranky thoughts swirled in Cao Cao's mind for a long time and could not be dissipated, and finally he issued another order: "The whole army must be disguised and doubled, and must pursue Liu Bei's men." Now is the time to strike the final blow to Liu Bei, everyone has to work hard. ”

"No!" The generals responded with a bang, urging their soldiers to involuntarily speed up a lot. Although it was not as good as the regular rapid march, it also allowed them to use a little more strength in themselves. They all want to catch up quickly and then "beat the dog in the water".

This is naturally a very good wish, but such a good wish is a little disdainful to those who hide in the seemingly sparse woods.

"Running so fast, aren't you going to be reincarnated? But at this speed, with this strength, I'm afraid that if I catch up with Lord Liu Bei, I won't be able to fight with them. What a bunch of idiots! A leader-like man in the forest pouted and rolled his eyes.

"But Boss, that's what those of us who understand can think about these things. For those people out there who have long been dizzy, I'm afraid they won't think about these things if you say these things. Listening to his captain's reaction to the enemy, the little soldier on the side couldn't help but say helplessly.

"Hee-hee! It is precisely because they can't think of it that we need to remind them. The leader raised his eyes to look at the situation outside, and then laughed again: "Now that the vanguard of their army has passed, it is time to present the great gift that Ma joined the army and let us dedicate to him." Boy, do you want to guess how they're going to react to our gift? If you guessed it, there is a reward of 100 dollars. ”

"Forget it, boss! Guess something, when did we guess correctly? You don't want to play with us. With your mouth, dead things, you can easily bring him back to life. The soldier was not interested in the leader's proposal, still watching intently at the voices passing by outside the woods. He watched intently, and listened attentively, the fire sickle in his hand was ready, and as soon as the boss's order came, he used the fire sickle to light the oil twine in his hand, so that the things buried in the ground in the distance exploded violently.

"It's called a mine, but it's a good thing. If we hadn't listened to the general, we would never have imagined that such a powerful thing was actually made by people. The first test explosion suddenly made a big crater in the ground, and its power seemed to be above the thunder. It's a big meal. The little soldier was thinking about it like this, when he suddenly heard a low break ringing in his ears: "Start!" "- The long-awaited order has finally been given.

The orange flame lit up in the man's hand, and several people dressed like the little soldier lifted the twine in their hands, and just like that, the flame was brought up. Oil-soaked things are always very flammable. Just listening to the sneering sound of the oil thread, I saw that the ignited red quickly spread down, and I disappeared into the dark bamboo pipe. The bamboo pipe was shallow and buried in the ground, and it was stuffed with the same flammable flammable hemp.

The oil hemp quickly passed the burning in the ground, because there was a breathable opening every other foot, and he was not afraid that the velvet core inside would be extinguished due to lack of oxygen. From the place where everyone was to the forest road where Cao Jun passed, it was only ten zhang of words, and the burning of oil and hemp quickly spread there. They lightly transmitted their own scorching heat to the wine jars buried in the ground, and for a moment there was a loud noise, but it was like dozens of thunderbolts that slammed down, causing the whole earth to shake. This is a real loud noise, much more than Zhang Fei's roar.

The loud noise was a mixture of rushing dust, raging shards of sand and gravel, and fierce hurricanes. It burst open in the crowd, but like a kettle that had been boiling for too long, it swarmed everything on the ground, and formed a cloud like a mushroom over the heads of the people. This may be surprising. But everyone in Cao Cao's army was no longer in the mood to explore this surprise. Whether it is walking in front or behind, they can't help but be surprised by this sudden change. They didn't know what was going on, but when they saw the smoke and clouds clear, they were all frozen. The accident occurred in the crowd, but the situation after the accident was so shocking: a black pit suddenly appeared on the ground, and there was no one in the pit, but within ten zhang of the center of the big pit, there was a blood-red stump and broken arm, and there was no intact person in sight.

"More than 200 soldiers are reimbursed here. Isn't this a trick of ghosts and gods? A sense of panic and fear passed through the soldiers. The deaths of more than 200 people are not even a drop in the bucket compared to the entire army. But the means of killing people and the inexplicable changes that happened created an inexplicable fear in the hearts of these unsuspecting people. Although people in the world do not believe in ghosts and gods sincerely, they are always associated with ghosts and gods for such completely confusing things. In their minds, there seemed to be no other thing but ghosts and gods that could cause such great damage.

When Cao Cao was frightened by such a thing happened to the Chinese army, and his soldiers were afraid of the sudden change, on the road in front of Cao Cao, a trumpet sounded, and a dark red flag embroidered with a snow-white Guan character appeared in the eyes of everyone: green robe and golden armor, red horse long hair, Danfeng eyes, lying silkworm eyebrows, a jujube red face, holding a green dragon in his hand to point the moon, who is not Guan Yu.

Looking at Guan Yu's appearance, everything became clear in Cao Cao's heart: Fiction is real, reality is fiction, I still fell for that Zhang Fei's trick after all.

Cao Cao was annoyed, but the current situation was unbearable for him. Although he has an army of 100,000 in his hands, these 100,000 troops are in chaos at the moment, and if he encounters Guan Yu, an elite group who are waiting for work, he is only afraid of ......

Helplessly, Cao Cao could only shout the word "retreat" loudly. Now, everyone walked much faster and more chaotic than when they came, and the trampling on each other was staged here again.