At this time, Cao's army was only ** thousand, and the generals were only Cao Hong and Xiahou brothers, and Chen Gong, a strategist who came to take refuge at the beginning of the army. The real purpose of Cao*'s army was not as righteous as he said on the surface, Cao* didn't tell anyone, the so-called courting Dong was just to gain a reputation. To this day, there are still many people who call Cao * a eunuch, since the year he came out, Cao * has been trying his best to change this view with his own strength, but whether it is in Luoyang or after assassinating Dong Zhuo and escaping back to Chenliu, there are still many people who are born not to see Cao *. So after Sun Jian and Chen Lin decided to fight, Cao * knew that his opportunity had come, and this was really the time for the whole world to look at him Cao *, so Cao * did not hesitate to agree to Sun Jian's suggestion, and led his troops alone to resist the reinforcements that might appear in the direction of Xingyang = to ensure that Sun Jian could attack Zhongmu City wholeheartedly.

Nearly 10,000 troops rumbled to the front line, while keeping in touch with Sun Jian, until Sun Jian came to say that it was almost time to Zhongmu, Cao * ordered the army to stop advancing, like Chen Lin, Cao * also found a relatively suitable place to camp under the advice of Chen Gong, and sent scouts on a large scale, focusing on the movement in the direction of Xingyang.

What Cao * didn't know was that at this time, not far from Cao *'s camp, 12,000 troops were quietly looking in this direction of Cao *, the leader was speechless, and the tall war horse was panting. This person is one of the generals under Dong Zhuo, Xu Rong Xu Maozhi, the big man in Liaodong, is only in his thirties at this time, but he has been following Dong Zhuo for many years. Because Xu Rong is low-key and never joins gangs, Dong Zhuo's favorite is Xu Rong's point, but Xu Rong is also a ruthless general, his army is not only the Flying Bear Army under Dong Zhuo's command and the backward Bingzhou Iron Cavalry, Xu Rong's army can be regarded as the first foot soldier of Dong Zhuo's army.

I don't know why, Cao*'s scouts just couldn't find Xu Rong's location. Xu Rong looked at Cao *'s camp and saw that Cao * had picked a good position, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Xu Rong smiled, waved his hand and said, "Let Sima Chen come up to see the general." "Dong Zhuo is good for holding the jade seal in his hand, most of the generals under his command have the title of real generals, unlike Chen Lin and others, the highest is only one or two captains, of course, the self-appointed titles of Yuan Shao and others do not count, and even the current Nanyang Taishou of Yuan Shu is not orthodox.

A military Sima rushed to Xu Rong and knelt down in front of him: "General, the last general is here." Xu Rong: "Sima Chen, order you to lead three thousand pioneers from the woods outside the Black Mud Valley to Zhongmu County. This Chen Sima looked up, puzzled for a moment, and said: "General, this place is only three or four miles away from the Cao thief's military camp, wouldn't it be for the Cao thief to find out." Xu Rong smiled: "Sima Chen doesn't need to hide it, the army pretended to be in an urgent situation, and hurried to the direction of Zhongmu until he heard the shouts behind him, and he could return to the army to attack Cao's army." Chen Sima was overjoyed when he heard this: "The general is a strategy to lure the enemy, but it is said that Cao Mengde is quite knowledgeable about military affairs, so I am afraid that he will not be easily fooled." Xu Rong didn't answer, his eyes widened angrily, and Chen Sima hurriedly went down to lead the troops. Xu Rong ordered someone to find a general: "Li Sima, ordered you to lead an army of 3,000 to ambush in the Black Mud Valley, but when I saw Cao's army passing by the woods on the outskirts of the canyon, when he was halfway through the line, he suddenly killed, and the general would have sent someone to help in the battle." This Li Sima led the army again. Xu Rong himself looked back at the remaining 6,000 troops, clamped the horse's belly with his feet, turned the horse's head and disappeared into the barren land.

In Cao*'s military camp, Cao * was discussing with Chen Gong and others about the Donghui Alliance, only to see Xiahoudun say: "According to a certain view, Meng De and Sun Taishou in the coalition army and the Hanzhong Taishou are a man, and the others are cowards, so Yuan Benchu was still a little chivalrous when he was in Luoyang, and now, hum, this alliance leader might as well let Meng De do it." "Brother Xiahou is in front of Cao *, just like Chen Ze and Chen are in front of Chen Lin. Cao * was helpless, and looked at Chen Gong with a wry smile, Chen Gong: "The lord, Yuan Benchu is ambitious and talented, and he is stubborn and conceited, but his person is the fourth and third princes, and you can subdue the whole county of Bohai in a few months, and countless talented people in Hebei are vying for the first place, and the lord should not be underestimated." ”

Cao * laughed, knowing that he was far inferior to Yuan Shao, at least in terms of life experience, no one in the Han Dynasty could compare to the two Yuan brothers, Cao * thought of the relationship between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and felt a burst of disdain in his heart, imagine that if the two of them can join forces and work together, I am afraid that now in Luoyang it is the Yuan family, not Dong Zhuo. Cao * was about to say something, when suddenly a loud shout interrupted Cao *, Cao * hurriedly ordered the scouts to come in, and learned that there were three thousand Dong troops who were in a hurry to pass through the woods two or three miles away, and rushed to Zhongmu County.

Cao * knew that there was no room for hesitation at this time, because the purpose of his trip was to resist the enemy army from Xingyang, if these 3,000 people could not stop it, so that Sun Jian under Zhongmu City was flanked, then Cao * basically lost all his prestige, and everyone in the world would think that Cao * was an incompetent person. So Cao* immediately ordered the whole army to fight, leaving 2,000 men to guard the camp, and the rest of the soldiers and horses immediately rushed to the woods of the Black Mud Valley, which Cao* knew was called the periphery of the Black Mud Valley. Chen Gong caught up with Cao * behind him and shouted: "Lord, I have heard for a long time that Hu Wencai is both civil and military, and he has won the trust of Dong Thief, so the lord should be cautious when he goes." When Cao * heard this, he thought about it for a while, and said: "Gongtai, leave another 1,000 soldiers and horses, a total of 3,000 soldiers and horses in the camp and Gongtai, if the enemy army only has 3,000 men and horses, I think my 6,000 army can also deal with it, if it is our army, Gongtai can be first aided." Chen Gong promised.

Cao* hurried to the front with an army of 6,000 men and horses, led by Sima Rong, the general of Xu Rong. Beginning to enter the range of the Black Mud Valley, Chen Sima scout reported that he had found Cao's army, Chen Sima hurriedly asked, "How many?" Chen Sima was so nervous not because he was afraid, but because he knew that the task of this trip was to lead out Cao's army, so at this time, Chen Sima hoped that Cao's army would be as large as possible, and it was best to dispatch them all. So the special army accelerated its pace, after all, if it was found that Cao *'s army was still slow, he was only afraid that Cao * would be suspicious.

Cao *, who was chasing behind him, saw that Dong Jun had actually quickened his pace, and he was even more happy, and he forgot Chen Gong's entrustment in his heart. Just when Cao*'s army came to the dense forest, a large army suddenly rushed out from the inside of the black mud valley, Cao's army panicked, and Dong Jun, who had fled quickly in front, turned around at this time, and came towards Cao's army, and Dong Jun's shouting was all over the mountain: "Cao thief has been tricked." For a while, Cao's army was in a panic, and the Xiahou brothers and other generals restrained them again and again. Cao * was also taken aback, and really let Chen Gong say it, so he hurriedly ordered: "Quickly report back to the military advisor and let the military advisor come to the rescue." "At the same time, he commanded the army to counterattack. Although the 6,000 men and horses on both sides were equal in number, Xu Rong himself led elite soldiers, while Cao*'s troops were only young and strong recruited a few months ago, and at this time they were ambushed and demoralized, and Cao*'s army was defeated and retreated again and again.

Chen Gong of the camp didn't need to scout to report at all, because the shouting over there had already made Chen Gong clear that the number was wrong, and Chen Gong hurriedly summoned the army to gather. Sure enough, after a while, Cao*'s scouts of the rescuers returned, and as soon as Chen Gong heard about the situation, six thousand? The enemy army was 6,000, and Chen Gong calculated the strength of the Dong army on the front line of Xingyang, and felt that there were only so many rescuers that Hu Zhen could move from Xingyang to Zhongmu, so Chen Gong did not hesitate to lead the remaining 3,000 soldiers and horses to hurry up. The road was uneventful, except for the miserable shouts of killing in the distance.

The woods outside the Black Mud Valley have become a hell on earth, and more than 10,000 troops have launched a life-and-death battle here, but it is obvious that Cao*'s side has been defeated and the situation is precarious. Cao * desperately grabbed the reins, pulled the panicked war horse, and dozens of guards around him desperately protected Cao *, Cao *'s brother Cao Hong killed the enemy not far from Cao * at this time, Cao Hong's good martial arts made Cao * can't help but applaud, but Cao Hong's bravery did not play much role. Seeing that the 6,000-strong army was about to be pierced, Chen Gong came, Cao * saw Chen Gong at a glance, and shouted in surprise: "Reinforcements are coming, and the generals will kill the enemy." With a bang, the morale of Cao*'s army skyrocketed, and with the addition of three thousand soldiers and horses, it was Dong's turn to retreat one after another, and Cao*'s face actually had a hint of joy.

Just as Chen Gong had just arrived, a group of 6,000 soldiers and horses slowly drove in, following the route of Chen Gong's attack. Xu Rong smiled again, Chen Gong, who was dedicated to savior, didn't even know that he was followed by a large army, like a vicious wolf, and at this time, this wolf was looking at the Cao * army on the battlefield with fierce eyes. The horsewhip was raised, and Xu Rong shouted: "Attack." He took six thousand pairs of steps, trotting forward calmly, and suddenly the head of the school burst into shouting: "Kill." All over the field, Cao's smile was forced back, and his face was full of fear.

Cao * was defeated, there was no existence of benevolence and righteousness, there was a pursuit of Cao Jun everywhere, and there were only a dozen people left next to Cao *, only to flee in a panic, and there were shouts of capturing Cao * everywhere. Suddenly, an arrow was fired, and Cao* rolled off his horse, and his mount was already full of arrows, where could he stand up. Just as Cao * was shouting bitterly, a general rushed out from the side and shouted: "Hugh has injured a certain lord." More than a dozen archers were killed in an instant, and it was Cao Hong who led more than a dozen people to appear.

Cao Hong quickly jumped off the war horse, and when he saw that Cao * was not in serious trouble, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and shouted loudly: "Please get on the horse." Cao * was overjoyed and was about to get on the horse, but he saw that there was only this one left among the crowd, it was clearly Cao Hong's war horse, Cao *: "This ......" Cao Hong shouted loudly: "There can be no flood in the world, there can be no king, please get on the horse." The handsome face turned out to be so chic, Cao * never cared about anyone, but he couldn't help but be moved at this time.

Cao Hong, he will live up to you one day. This is what Cao * shouted in his heart when he flew away.