The ancients said that an arrogant soldier will be defeated.

A great man said that pride makes people lag behind.

When teaching people to fight, he also said that we should despise the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy tactically.

However, Liu Xuan and other leaders of the coalition forces did not have a deep understanding of this aspect. They proudly believe that they should take Wancheng down easily as they did with Changju, Huyang, and Jianyang, and go to Wancheng to set up banquets, divide things, and talk about buddies!

In November 22 A.D., morning, foggy.

It's not marching weather at all, but it's perfect for ambushes.

When the coalition army marched to the village of Xiaochang'an (present-day Nanyangnan, Henan), they were blocked by Wang Mang's official army.

The commander of the official army was Nanyang Taishou Zhen Fu and the county lieutenant (Xin Mang called Zheng) Liang Qiuci, they saw that the coalition army was coming to their lair, and led all the soldiers out of Wancheng for dozens of miles, and fortified in the area of Xiaochang'an.

It was foggy, visibility was low, and a terrible slaughter was unfolding in the wilderness.

Most of the officers and troops were cavalry, taking advantage of the familiar terrain and favorable weather to ambush and besiege the coalition forces in an organized manner.

Most of the coalition troops were on foot, with their families, they were not mentally prepared, they did not know the truth and reality, they could not see the direction clearly, and they could not distinguish between friend and foe.

In the foggy, cold and damp wilderness, in the frenzied pursuit of officers and soldiers, the coalition soldiers and their families fell in pieces, and there were corpses everywhere and terrible screams everywhere.

This is indeed a fiasco that Liu Xiu will never forget.

He escaped from the encirclement single-handedly, and he couldn't see clearly what was in front of him, so he ran desperately.

Just ran for a while, and suddenly met the little sister Boji, Liu Xiu hurriedly called her to get on the horse, and the brother and sister "rode together".

ran for a while, and suddenly saw the second sister Liu Yuan (Deng Chen's wife) running for her life on foot with her three daughters.

Liu Xiufei dismounted and urged the second sister to take the child to get on the horse quickly.

Liu Yuan was naturally overjoyed when she met her relatives in a desperate situation, but everything in front of her made her quickly calm down: how can a war horse carry 6 people to escape? !

She resolutely waved her hand and shouted to Liu Xiu:

"Run! We can't save each other, or everyone will die! ”

("Okay, you can't save each other, you can't do anything.") ”）

Liu Xiu wanted to persuade again, but the shouts of the officials and soldiers were getting closer and closer, so he had to urge the horse to escape.

Poor Liu Yuan, mother and daughter, all 4 were hacked to death by the officers and soldiers who caught up.

In this battle, the coalition forces were four or five out of ten.

Dozens of people in Liu Xiu's family died in Huangquan, including Liu Xiu's second brother Liu Zhong, uncle Liu Liang's wife and two sons, in addition to the second sister Liu Yuan's mother and daughter.

The most sympathetic is the old man Liu Liang.

As a veteran comrade who left his post, he has always been cautious and kind-hearted as an official, and although he has not achieved much, he has not done many bad things.

In the late Han Dynasty and Wang Mang's period, a cadre who did not do bad things was a good cadre. If he is still kind and pays attention to kindness and filial piety, then he can be advanced.

Now, Liu Liang thinks about losing his wife and children when he is old, and he will have nothing to do with his old age, and he is extremely sad in his heart.

He rode a cow, wept bitterly, and fled for his life, running wherever there were many soldiers of the coalition army, and Cangcang was in a panic before meeting Liu Xuan and others, and the situation was very miserable.

At this moment, someone sent a letter written to him by Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci, which made him feel sad and depressed at the same time.

This is a letter that satirically insults him.

In the letter, Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci borrowed the allusion of "Lao Tzu riding a bull" and said to him:

"Lao Tzu doesn't lead the clan, he rides a cow in a single coat, and walks while crying, who else can he rely on in the future?!"

As we all know, Lao Tzu was an outstanding thinker in the late Spring and Autumn Period of China, the founder of Taoist doctrine, and a librarian of the Zhou Dynasty.

Later, he was very discouraged, resigned from his official position, left his hometown, and rode a green ox to Qin to give a lecture alone.

When Liu Liang saw this letter, he knew that he was obviously not praising him for his great knowledge, but sarcastically mocking him for being lonely, helpless, and having to be displaced.

Alas!

In the battle of Xiaochang'an, the coalition army suffered heavy losses and suffered great losses.

However, Liu Xuan was not discouraged, he hurriedly regrouped his troops and retreated to Jianyang.

Wang Mang ordered the officers and troops in Nanyang and other places to step up the encirclement, suppression, and pursuit of the officers and men of the coalition army.

At this time, Liu Xiu fled single-handedly.