Green Bull Pass.

In the desolate and distant horn sound, Ma Chao rushed towards the pass to hit the horse, and the two hundred iron horsemen who were out of the battle were still able to follow Ma Chao at this time, and there were only more than 20 horsemen left, but the casualties of the Wu army were even more heavy, nearly 1,000 elites were broken by the counterattack of the Xiliang iron cavalry, and the leading general Zhou Tai was also injured by Ma Chao.

"Filial piety!" Ma Chao turned over and dismounted, shouting, "Why do you blow the trumpet?" ”

"Major General!" Fa Zheng greeted Ma Chao excitedly, waved his hand and shouted, "General Xu Chu's three thousand iron cavalry is here, killed, the young general doesn't have to fight with Sun Jian anymore, hahaha!" ”

Fa Zheng laughed, and when he came up, he punched Ma Chao hard in the chest.

Surprisingly, Ma Chao was knocked to the ground by a light and clever punch from Fa Zheng, a weak scholar, lying on his back on the ground and moaning for a long time, Ma Chao, who was originally in high spirits, became exhausted in an instant, and Fa Zheng found that Ma Chao's right face actually had a blood mark.

"Major General." Fa Zheng hurriedly stepped forward to help Ma Chao up, and asked in a loud voice, "Are you okay?" ”

Ma Chao shook his head, felt his eyelids feel like a thousand pounds, and said, "I'm so sleepy, I really want to sleep, whew~~"

"Huh!?" Fa Zheng was taken aback, grabbed Ma Chao's shoulders and shook them vigorously twice, and then yelled in Ma Chao's ear, "I can't sleep!" Young General, you must not sleep, you are afraid that you will never wake up again if you sleep now! Major General, you must hold on, come on, go find the army Langzhong, hurry! ”

Fa Zheng also thought that Ma Chao was fatally injured, and this surprise was not trivial.

Some of the soldiers left in a hurry, and it didn't take more than a moment to find Lang Zhong, who was with the army, and at this time Ma Chao had already begun to fall asleep, Lang Zhong checked Ma Chao for a long time before he said to Fa Zheng: "Sir, the young general has just been injured by a series of vicious battles, and it will be fine if he lies down for a few days, and it will not be in the way." ”

"Really out of the way?"

Fa Zheng asked suspiciously, and as he said that, he stretched out his finger and tried it under Ma Chao's nose, and found that Ma Chao was still angry.

……

In front of the pass, Wu Jun Dazhai.

Sun Jian turned his back to the generals and stared at the screen behind the case.

It's been half an hour, and Sun Jian has been standing like this, without saying a word. The atmosphere in the big tent was so depressing that it was suffocating, and all the generals of the Wu army lowered their heads, especially the four generals Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Quan Cong, and Xu Sheng, who were even more ashamed of themselves, and they couldn't wait to find a crack in the ground to get into.

Zhou Taisi generals each led 2,000 elite soldiers to attack the Qingniu Pass for nearly half a day, but they were stunned and failed to attack, but suffered heavy casualties under the counterattack of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry again and again, 8,000 elite soldiers actually killed more than 2,000 people, and the wounded soldiers were nearly half, Zhou Taisi generals are also considered to have been on the battlefield for a long time, but they have never fought such a battle!

"My lord." Zhou Tai suddenly took a step forward and fell to the ground on one knee, and sang with a pause, "The last general is willing to lead the eight hundred elite soldiers of the headquarters to raid at night, and swear to attack the Qingniu Pass to atone for his sins, and if it doesn't work out, he will be willing to come to see him!" ”

Zhou Tai was swept off his horse by Ma Chao with a shot in the chaos, and although he was a little dazed at the time, he was not seriously injured.

"Lord, the last general is willing to attack with General Zhou Tai!"

Jiang Qin, Quan Cong, and Xu Sheng also stepped forward one after another and knelt behind Zhou Tai.

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

In the roar of one after another, the generals He Qi, Lu Dai, Zhu Zhi, Zu Lang, and Lu Meng also stepped forward one after another, asking for help to fight, and the crowd in the big tent was indignant, Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Bu Qi and other staff officers of the army were also sideways, and in an instant, everyone's eyes were gathered on Sun Jian's back.

"General Zhou Tai, please get up!" Under the gaze of the burning eyes of the generals, Sun Jian suddenly turned around, stepped forward to help Zhou Tai up, and said to the generals, "Generals, please get up, the horse is super brave, Xiliang Iron Cavalry is good at fighting, Lone has long known it, and the defeat is said to be Lonely, not in the generals." ”

"Lord!"

Seeing Sun Jian like this, Zhou Tai became more and more embarrassed.

"Alright." Sun Jian let out a long sigh of relief and muttered, "The general doesn't need to say it, it's a mistake, the casualties of these thousands of soldiers could have been avoided." ”

After saying this, Sun Jian looked back at Xu Shu and said with some guilt: "I regret not listening to Yuan Zhi's words, which will lead to the disaster of today." ”

Xu Shu said: "Lord, it's still too late to change your strategy. ”

"Oh?" Sun Jian said, "Is it too late?" ”

Zhang Zhao disagreed: "Yuan Zhi, General Tai Shici's army has just been defeated, the three thousand Xiliang iron cavalry north of the pass have already killed the pass and Ma Chao convergence, with these three thousand iron horses, and with the help of the favorable terrain of the pass, our army has 100,000 troops, without ten days and half a month, I am afraid that I can't take it down, but I can make a detailed return, the army of the horse butcher is only one day away from the Qingniu Pass, and the eight thousand iron cavalry of the pioneer Xiao will Ma Dai have also arrived at the pass. ”

Gu Yong and Bu Qi also echoed: "Yes, how can you still be in time?" ”

Xu Shu smiled slightly and said, "Have you forgotten that there are still five thousand Cao troops on the north side of the pass?" ”

"Huh, Cao Jun?" Zhang Zhao retorted, "General Tai Shici reported that the Cao army had reached a tacit understanding with the Liang army, how could he help our army in turn?" ”

Xu Shu said: "At this time and that time, the temporary cooperation between Cao Jun and Liang Jun is not really to help Liang Jun, but because at that time my Wu army was strong, Liang Jun was weak, Cao Jun was afraid that the Son of Heaven would be taken away by the lord so he temporarily cooperated with Liang Jun, now the situation is changing, and the Liang Army is constantly opening up to the Qingniu Pass, and the momentum of welcoming the Son of Heaven has been achieved, Cao Jun is worried that the Son of Heaven will fall into the hands of the horse butcher, and he will inevitably turn the spearhead to stop it!" After all, Cao Jun neither wanted the Son of Heaven to be welcomed by the Lord, nor did he want the Son of Heaven to be obtained by the horse butcher, and they were still fantasizing that Prime Minister Cao Cheng could lead a large army to help. ”

"I see." Sun Jian struck the knot and said, "Who dares to go to the Cao army camp." ”

"Somewhere in my life."

Sun Jian's voice fell, and Lu Meng, the captain of the school, suddenly stepped forward.

"Good!" Sun Jian said happily, "Ziming can go quickly!" ”

"Order."

Lu Meng took the order and left.

After Lu Meng left, Xu Shu said again, "But the Cao army is only 5,000 people, even if there is General Tai Shici to gather the rout to help, the total strength is only 10,000 people, under the two sides of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, I am afraid that it will be difficult to last, so the lord also needs to send another general to lead the Shanyue elite soldiers over the mountains and mountains to help the battle, the Shanyue elite soldiers are not afraid of death and are very good at mountain warfare, the terrain around the Qingniu Pass is mostly mountainous, which is conducive to defense, if there are 8,000 Shanyue elite soldiers to defend according to the danger, even if the horse butcher raises 100,000 iron armor to attack, there is nothing to do. ”

"Hmm." Sun Jian nodded heavily, raised his head and asked, "Who dares to lead the army?" ”

"The last general dares to go!"

Sun Jian's voice fell, and Zhou Tai had already volunteered to stand up.

"Good!" Sun Jian said, "The general can pick up 8,000 mountain Yue elite soldiers and set off overnight, cross the high mountains and join the headquarters of General Tai Shici, and then camp on the spot, stuck on the official road like a nail, neither let the army of the horse butcher go south, nor let Ma Chao's army escape to the north, the army of Xiliang will attack far away, once the grain and grass can not be helped, it will naturally collapse without a fight!" ”

"When the time comes, Gu will capture Ma Chao alive and sacrifice the undead alive!"

In the end, Sun Jian's face had become hideous again.

Zhou Tai said: "The last general is ordered." ”

Xu Shu reminded again: "The Xiliang Iron Cavalry is well-equipped, well-trained, and experienced in a hundred battles, very brave, the general and remember not to fight hard, and set up the camp, should be in front of the camp and behind the camp, outside the camp to dig more horse pits, more tripping ropes, and set up heavy antlers, coupled with the narrow mountain road, the power of the iron cavalry will naturally be greatly reduced, in this way, it is not difficult to resist the attack of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry." ”

"yes." Sun Jian muttered, "If General Tai Shici could dig more trenches in front of the camp and lay some traps and antlers as the military advisor said, he would not be so easily trampled through the camp by Xiliang Tieqi, and General Zhou Tai should take it as a warning." ”

Zhou Tai said solemnly: "Please rest assured, the last general will never repeat the mistakes of General Taishi." ”

"Okay." Sun Jian waved his hand and said loudly, "Go ahead." ”

Zhou Taihu turned around and walked away with his sword.

That night, Zhou Tai ordered 8,000 elite soldiers from the mountains and crossed the steep mountains to the north side of the Qingniu Pass to join Tai Shici's rout.

……

On the north side of Qingniu Pass, Cao Jun Dazhai.

After sparing Ma Dai's 5,000 Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Cao's army immediately came out of the valleys on both sides and reoccupied the three camps.

Ma Dai is young after all, although he has practiced martial arts, and he has also studied military books under Jia Xu for a few years, but he has not yet led the army alone, and he was in a hurry to go to Qingniu Pass to meet his brother Ma Chao, so he didn't think that after the army, he would leave another standard of men and horses to occupy the Cao army camp.

Late at night, Cao Hong's military tent.

Cao Zhen and Yu Ban came together, and Cao Zhenren had already said to Cao Hong outside the tent: "Uncle Hong, the Xiliang army that has just visited the horse to report to the horse butcher has arrived outside the mountain, and it is only one trip away from the Qingniu Pass!" ”

Cao Zhen's voice fell, and Yu Ban continued: "Xu Chu's three thousand iron cavalry has also broken through the Wu camp, killed the pass and Ma Chao converged, Sun Jian's Eastern Wu army has rushed to the Qingniu Pass at noon, but unfortunately the storm has been a whole afternoon, the loss of troops is innumerable, but after all, it has not been able to break through the pass guarded by hundreds of cavalry in Ma Chao's area, and now, the Xiliang reinforcements continue to arrive, and the Wu army has no way to stop the horse butcher from robbing the Son of Heaven back to Guanzhong!" ”

"Oops!" Cao Hong frowned and said, "Now that the army of horse butchers has arrived, why has there been no news from the lord's army for a long time?" ”

Yu Ban's eyes couldn't help but pass a trace of gloom, and Yu Ban speculated that there was no news from Cao Ying's army so far, so there was only one possibility, that is, Cao Ying had already encountered big trouble. Yu Ban wanted to say to Cao Hong that the lord's army was afraid that it would be impossible to rush to the Qingniu Pass, but after thinking about it, he swallowed his words back and said to Cao Hong: "Major general, the lord's army has not arrived for a long time, if our army does not stop it and let the horse butcher rob the Son of Heaven to Guanzhong, then the general trend of the world is already in Xiliang, and the great cause of the lord ~~ is difficult." ”

"Don't think!" Cao Hong angrily struck the knot, "With General Ben here, the horse butcher doesn't want to rob the Son of Heaven to Guanzhong." ”

"Report~~" Cao Hong's voice fell, and suddenly a small colonel entered the account and said, "General, the envoy of the Wu army asks to see you outside the camp!" ”

"Wu Jun Envoy?" Cao Hong said impatiently, "Bomb away for General Ben, don't see me!" ”

"General, no." Yu Ban hurriedly persuaded, "Right now, the Liang army has the advantage, and the Wu army is at a disadvantage, so it must be for the joint army to fight against the Liang army!" ”

Cao Zhen also persuaded: "Yes, Uncle Hong, if you can join forces with Wu Jun, you can avoid the Liang Army from both sides, and if you want to trap Ma Chao in this mountain, your hope will also be greatly increased." ”

"Hmm." Cao Hong thought so, nodded and said, "In this case, quickly summon the envoy of the Wu army to meet you." ”

……

On the south side of Cao's military camp, the original Tai Shi Ci's military camp had been trampled to pieces by Xu Chu's three thousand iron cavalry at this time, but even so, Chen Zhi still left five hundred iron cavalry to garrison, because although the Wu army's military camp was dilapidated, but the terrain here was dangerous. In fact, after Tai Shici gathered the remnants of the army in the mountains, he really wanted to recapture the camp and block the way of Xu Chu and Ma Chao again, but Chen Zhi's caution made him have no chance to take advantage of it.

In the middle of the night, Captain Zhichong Lu Meng climbed the cliff on the order of Sun Jian's army and found Tai Shici's army in the dense forest.

After conveying Sun Jian's military order, Lü Meng set off to Cao Ying as a lobbyist, and as a result, Wu Jun and Cao Jun hit it off, and the two armies immediately agreed to camp in situ by Cao Jun, blocking the escape road of Xu Chu, Ma Chao, and Ma Dai's iron cavalry to the north, and the Wu army camped behind Cao Jun, responsible for blocking Ma Yue's Xiliang army! After the two armies agreed, Tai Shici quickly led the remnants of each department to the dangerous place on the north side of Cao Ying to re-encamp, and followed Xu Shu's suggestion to dig a trap in front of the camp, arrange a tripping horse rope, and put on a posture of long-term stubborn defense.

……

Green Bull Pass.

Ma Chao just woke up, and Xu Chu, Chen to greet when there was a fast horse to report Ma Dai led five thousand iron horsemen to help, Ma Chao was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly led the generals out of the tent to welcome Ma Dai into the camp, although it was already late at night, but Ma Chao's Chinese army tent was brightly lit and crowded.

Ma Chao sat on the ground in the center, and Xu Chu, Ma Dai, Chen Dao, and Fa Zheng were lined up on the left and right.

Ma Chao and Xu Chu's faces still look a little pale, especially Xu Chu is even more bloodless, fortunately, the injuries suffered by the two of them are only some skin injuries, just because of the excessive fighting, so the vitality is injured, if it is usual, there is a ten days and a half of the general will be able to recover as before, but it is a pity that now the enemy is current, the situation does not allow the two to rest at all.

Fa Zheng asked Ma Dai: "Second general, how many reinforcements did the lord send this time?" ”

Ma Dai said: "In addition to the five thousand iron cavalry led by the last general as the vanguard, there are also 10,000 elite sailors of General Gan Ning behind. ”

"Oh." Fa Zheng nodded, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and asked, "Wait, how did the vanguard iron cavalry led by the second general get through the Cao army camp?" ”

Ma Dai laughed proudly and said: "The last general limited the Cao army to withdraw from the camp within the time of a pillar of incense, and let go of the official road, the Cao army was afraid of our army's soldiers, and really gave way obediently, hahaha, it was really happy." ”

Fa Zhengdao: "Have you ever left the army to garrison?" ”

Ma Dai was stunned and said, "That's not true." ”

"It's broken!" Fa Zheng was startled, and said, "It's broken, it's broken now!" ”

Xu Chu said: "Mr. Fazheng, what's broken?" ”

Fa Zhengdao: "Alas, the second general should leave half of the army to hold the Cao army camp, and now the Cao army is bound to turn around and reoccupy the camp, if the Cao army colludes with the remnants of the Wu army, our army is afraid that it will be the enemy's back, or it will not be able to break through, even if the lord's army arrives, it still can't catch up, so what?" ”

"Oops." Ma Dai's face changed, and he hurriedly got up and said, "In this way, the last general is willing to lead a cavalry to kill back and capture the camp." ”

Fa Zheng said: "I'm afraid it's too late. ”

Ma Chao said: "Zhong Yue (Ma Dai table) must not be reckless, it is useless to make the whole army rest for the night, and wait for the elder brother to drive outside the mountain to reason." ”

Chen Zhi said: "What the young general said is extremely true, at present, nearly 8,000 elites of our army have been assembled on the pass, even if Sun Jian mentions 100,000 troops to attack, I am afraid that I will not be able to fight without ten days and half a month, and the soldiers have just experienced a fierce battle after a long journey, and they urgently need to rest, so let's wait for tomorrow." ”

Fa Zhengdao: "That's the only way." ”

……

Xuchang, Cao Ying's official residence.

When Cao Ying was lying on the desk and pretending to sleep, he was suddenly awakened by a sound of footsteps, and when he looked up, it was the clan son Cao Xiu who entered the side hall, gave Cao Ying a long look, and said, "See uncle." ”

"Wen Lie is exempt." Cao Ying waved his hand and asked Cao Xiu, "Has General Zhang He invited you?" ”

Cao Xiu said: "It's outside the hall." ”

Cao Ying said: "Please invite him." ”

"Yes."

Cao Xiu bowed and withdrew, and after a while, Zhang He had already walked in quickly, and said loudly to Cao Ying: "The last general, Zhang He, see the lord." ”

"General Zhang He is exempt." Cao Ying solemnly said, "Let's take a seat." ”

"Thank you, Lord."

Zhang He clenched his fists again, took two steps forward and sat down on the ground, and faced Cao Ying.

Cao Ying let out a long sigh, suddenly pulled out his saber and reversed the hilt of the sword and handed it to Zhang He, saying, "General Zhang He, please cut off the head of Lone." ”

Zhang He was shocked: "Why is the lord like this? ”

Cao Ying said: "The horse butcher hates loneliness, although the general and Ma Chao have a grudge against killing their father, but if they can sacrifice themselves with the head of the lonely, the general may be able to save his life." ”

Zhang He got up in a hurry, knelt down on the table in a panic, and said: "If the lord wants to harm the last general, why do you find this excuse? Just kill it. ”

"Loneliness is the ear of the heart." Cao Ying said angrily: "Now lonely and trapped to guard Xudu, has exhausted the mountains and rivers, I am afraid that it is difficult to escape this catastrophe, after the death of the lonely, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Liu Zhang and other generations are not the opponent of the horse butcher, although the Jiangdong Tiger Sun Jian is quite majestic, but unfortunately a corner of Jiangdong, it is difficult to keep for a long time, less than ten years, the world will be the horse butcher's bag!" The general came to vote when he was lonely, and helped Lone defeat Yuan Shao, and his merit was not as good as Han Xin's vote when Gaozu was poor. ”

"It's a pity that the luck is not good, if you give birth to Cao, how can you give birth to a horse? Now that he is lonely and poor, defeat is imminent, and there is no way to repay the general's lofty feelings, there is only one head, and the general can take it with confidence. ”

"Lord!" Zhang He paused his head and said gloomily, "A certain person was framed by a villain, and it was a last resort to turn against him before the battle, and when he surrendered to the lord, he knew that the lord's talent was probably far from being comparable to Yuan Shaolu's mediocrity. And after a certain surrendered to the lord, the Yecheng family was all victimized by Yuan Wei, a certain and Yuan Shao have become an enmity that does not share the sky, and a certain and Ma Chao also have a murderous hatred, Ma Chao is Ma Yue's cronies, how can it be compatible? ”

"The lord's move is called saving so-and-so, but it is actually harming so-and-so!" Zhang He said that he snatched the sword from the case and put it across his neck, and said miserably, "If the lord suspects that a certain person has two hearts, he will only die today!" ”

After that, Zhang He pulled the sword in his hand and wanted to kill himself.

"General, no!" Cao Ying hurriedly grabbed the sword, the sharp blade cut through Cao Ying's palm in an instant, and the blood poured down, but Cao Ying seemed to be unconscious, and persuaded Zhang He to say, "Lonely and unsuccessful, Lonely should not doubt the general, the general quickly put down the sword in his hand." ”

Zhang He abandoned his sword in despair, and a bloody wound had been cut on his neck, and the blood flowed like an infusion.

Cao Ying bandaged Zhang He's wound with his own hands, and then swore to the sky: "From now on, if you doubt the general again, you will be hit by five thunders and die!" ”

Zhang He was grateful, and cried on the ground: "If you turn your back on the lord, you will be killed by ten thousand arrows through your heart!" ”

"Hahaha." Cao Ying laughed three times, stepped forward to help Zhang He and said, "General, please get up." ”

"Lord!" Zhang He got up, clenched his fists and said loudly, "You can't stay for a long time when the food in the city is exhausted, why not break through as soon as possible?" ”

"Lone also intends to break through, and I am afraid that he will be calculated by the horse butcher!" Cao Ying was embarrassed, "Although the 20,000 Xiliang Iron Cavalry don't know where to go, do you know that it's not a trick set up by the horse butcher and Jia Poison Shi?" In order to induce our army to take the initiative to break through the encirclement. ”

Zhang He said: "Breaking through is death, not breaking through is death, left and right are death, why don't you fight to break through?" ”

Cao Ying pondered for a moment, his slightly narrowed eyes suddenly opened, and he said: "Good, according to what the general said, when it gets dark today, I will break through at night!" ”

Zhang He said: "A certain person is willing to lead the elite soldiers of the headquarters to fight a bloody road in front!" ”

Cao Ying said: "There is General Lao." ”

……

It's night, Xuchang Prime Minister's Mansion.

Zangba, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Jiang Qi, Han Meng, Yin Li, Sun Guan, Song Xian, Lu Qian's generals all arrived, Xun Yu, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye, Jia Kui and other strategists also gathered together, the hall suddenly seemed a little crowded, suddenly, Cao Xiu came out of the side door with his sword, and shouted loudly: "The lord has arrived!" ”

Cao Ying, who was dressed in military uniform, had already walked out of the side door, and between the opening and closing of his narrow eyes, there was a flash of stinging eyes.

Everyone bowed down and sang in unison, "See the lord." ”

Cao Ying calmly ascended to the throne and said solemnly: "No courtesy." ”

"Thank you, Lord."

Everyone thanked them and lined up on the left and right.

Cao Ying looked around at everyone majestically, suddenly drew his sword and cut off the corner of the table in his hand, and said sharply: "Lone is determined to break through tonight and fight to the death with the rebels of the horse, and I hope that all the generals will command their own soldiers to serve the country, and there must be no mistake!" ”

The generals of Zangba and Zhang Liao responded sharply: "The last general is the only one who obeys the order of the lord!" ”

"Hmm." Cao Ying nodded and said, "Yin Li, Sun Guan, and Song Xian listen to the order. ”

Taishan thieves Yin Li, Sun Guan and Lu Bu's old general Song Xian hurriedly stepped out of the ranks, stood side by side in front of Cao Ying's case, and responded: "The end will be." ”

Cao Ying said: "Each led 5,000 soldiers to make a big show at the north, east, and west gates, creating the illusion that our army was assembling overnight and preparing to break through from three directions at the same time!" ”

"Order!"

General Yin Lisan responded violently and took the order.

Cao Ying said again: "Zhang Liao listens to the order!" ”

Zhang Liao stepped forward and responded with a fist: "The last will be." ”

Cao Ying said: "Lead 8,000 elite soldiers to lurk in the south gate, take the fire at the head of the city as a signal, and when the fire starts, the soldiers will take turns to go out of the city, fill the trench outside the south gate at all costs, and clear the obstacles for the follow-up army to break through." ”

"Command!"

Zhang Liao took the order and left.

"Jiang Qi and Han Meng listen to the order."

"The end will be."

"Each led 5,000 heavy armored infantry to assemble in the south gate and stand by, wait for Zhang Liao to fill in the trench, and immediately drive troops to attack the Liang army camp and destroy the arrow tower on the outer edge of the trench."

"Yes."

Cao Ying's gaze finally fell on Zhang He, and he said in a deep voice: "Zhang He listens to orders!" ”

Zhang He hurriedly took two steps forward, stood proudly under the hall, and said loudly with his fists: "The end will be." ”

Cao Ying said: "Lead the headquarters of 5,000 cavalry to assemble in the city and stand by, and wait for Jiang Qi and Han Meng to break through the camp of the Liang army, and then take advantage of the situation to enter." The general also remembered that our army aims to break through, not kill the enemy, therefore, after the general kills into the enemy camp, he must not fall in love with the battle, and must cut through the enemy camp as quickly as possible, and then repel the counterattack of the Liang army at all costs, and open a bloody road for the army to break through the siege. ”

"The last general commands!"

Zhang He responded violently, and also turned around and walked away.

The generals took orders one after another, and Cao Ying breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Xun Yu and the others: "The lone general will go to the south gate to personally cheer for the soldiers of the three armies, you can go with you!" ”

……

Late at night.

The city of Xuchang is boiling in the sky, but there is silence outside the city, and the ditch that passes around the city is like a winding black snake, quietly lurking under the night sky, waiting for the prey to pass by it, and then suddenly attack! On the outer edge of the trench stood a two-zhang high wooden fence, all of which were made of thigh-thick wooden stakes connected in parallel, the bottom of which was driven deep into the ground, and the top was sharpened, and the sharp blades of Bai Sensen were like rows of devouring fangs in the mouth of a giant beast in the light of fire, and they were hideous and terrifying.

Behind the sturdy wooden fence, an arrow tower was built every ten paces, and fifty archers were stationed on each tower.

Trenches covered with sharp antlers, towering wooden fences, and more than 200 arrow towers are densely packed behind the wooden fences, building an insurmountable natural danger! What's more, there are 10,000 elite infantry of Gao Shun stationed outside the temporary trench (10,000 archers have been scattered on the arrow tower) and 10,000 Hanzhong troops led by Zhang Wei, Yang Ren, and Yang Ang.

In the dark of night, a hurried trumpet burst into the sky, shattering the tranquility of the night.

Hu Chi'er, Zhang Wei, Yang Ren, Yang Ang, and Li Su were all awakened by the sound of the horn, and hurriedly came to the Chinese army's tent to assemble, and the soldiers in the camp also got up one after another. When the generals arrived at the big tent of the Chinese army, Gao Shun had already been neatly draped, like a thousand-year-old pine standing straight in front of the screen, Gao Shun's gaze swept majestically over the faces of the generals, and said: "Just now the scout reported, the Cao army in Xuchang City is gathering, and it is possible to break through at night." ”

"Well, breakout?"

"Cao Jun finally can't stand it anymore?"

"Haha, it's good now!"

The generals were not surprised when they heard this, and they all geared up to fight with Cao Jun, but Li Su asked: "General, dare to ask which direction Cao Jun is breaking through?" ”

Gao Shun said: "There are fires in the north gate, east gate, and west gate of Xuchang, and there are troops gathering, but the south gate is dark and there is no movement. ”

Hu Chi'er said: "So Cao Jun is preparing to break through from the north, east, and west at the same time?" ”

"It's possible." Gao Shun nodded and said, "Cao Jun has a lot of troops and has the ability to break through in three directions at the same time, however, judging from General Ben's many years of experience, Cao Jun is likely to be just bluffing in these three directions, and its real purpose is to concentrate forces to break through to the south gate!" ”

"Oh?" Li Su groaned, "Break through to the south gate? ”

"Let's go." Gao Shun waved his hand and said loudly, "You will go with General Ben to the south gate to see what is going on!" ”

"Yes."

The generals responded with a bang.

……

Xuchang South Gate.

Compared with the boiling sky of the north, west, and east gates, the south gate was unusually quiet, with only a few night watch soldiers standing like javelins on the city tower, and a few faint burning torches stuck obliquely on the enemy tower, everything seemed lifeless, like nine hells. In the dark enemy building, Cao Ying ignored the severe cold, rolled up his sleeves, and each of his hands wrapped in thick linen cloth held an arm-thick drumstick and stood solemnly in front of a marching drum that was taller than him, and the frost of the winter night condensed a flake of ice on his beard, as if he didn't realize it.

Xun Yu looked at the sky and said to Cao Ying: "Lord, the time has come." ”

"Hmm." Cao Ying nodded and said to Cao Xiu, who was standing behind him, "Wen Lie, light the fire!" ”

Cao Xiu Huo Ran turned around and shouted to the soldiers who were waiting for him: "Ignite the fire!" ”

The two soldiers immediately threw the torch in their hands into the firewood pile prepared in front of them, and the firewood pile that had been poured with fire oil in advance burned vigorously, and the flames of the swallowing were straight out of several zhang high, and the next moment, the two drumsticks in Cao Ying's hands fell heavily on the drum surface, and suddenly, a dull war drum sounded between the dark and dark heaven and earth, and Xun Yu and others who stood behind Cao Ying felt their hearts beat violently, and they wanted to beat with the rhythm of the war drums.

Under the city tower, Zhang Liao raised his gun and shouted: "Open the city gate!" ”

Without waiting for the city gate to be fully opened, Zhang Liao grabbed two sacks full of dirt and weighed more than 200 catties on his shoulders, turned around and shouted: "Negative soil~~ out of the city!" ”

A full 2,000 soldiers carried sacks full of dirt and followed Zhang Liao to rush out of the city, taking advantage of the cover of night to reach the trenches outside the city. The thick night made it difficult for the Cao soldiers to see the ground under their feet, and when they reached the edge of the trench, the soldiers continued to stumble and fall, and they were instantly pierced by the sharp antlers.

Compared to the great lethality of the archers of the Liang Army, the danger of falling into the trench is insignificant.

……

Outside the south gate, the Liang army camp.

Gao Shunzheng and the generals stood solemnly on the lookout to observe the movements of Cao's army.

Without warning, a raging fire suddenly ignited at the head of Xuchang City, and then there were fierce war drums resounding in the sky, and the closed city gate was slowly opened, and the black and oppressive Cao soldiers had surged out of the city gate, but it was a pity that the night outside the city was thick and the distance was far away, so it was impossible to see the actions of Cao Jun exactly. But Gao Shun still made an accurate judgment with his rich experience in battle formations, and turned back to the generals and said: "Cao Ying is ordering the soldiers to fill the ditch with soil, hehe, Cao Jun really chose to break through from the south gate." ”

"Cao Yingduan's good calculation, he wants to fill the pit with soil when it is dark when our archers can't shoot accurately." Li Su sneered, "Fortunately, our army has been prepared for a long time. ”

Gao Shun turned around and shouted: "Jutu! ”

Ju suddenly stepped forward and responded: "The end will be." ”

Gao Shun said: "Put a rocket and ignite the pyre." ”

"Yes."

Ju suddenly agreed, and pulled his bow and arrows.

A soldier had already stepped forward to ignite the hemp rope intertwined with the wolf's tooth arrows with a torch, and the hemp rope soaked in fire oil was picked up by the torch, and then it burst into flames, and the sentence suddenly pressed down the iron tire bow, and shot an arrow forward in a down-prone posture, and the burning rocket swept an almost straight trajectory in the air, accurately hitting the dry pyre set in advance in the trench.

It turned out that when digging the trench, Ma Yue and Jia Xu had already expected that Cao Jun would take advantage of the night to fill the ditch with negative soil, so they made corresponding arrangements to set up a dry firewood pile every 30 steps in the trench, and the dry firewood pile was covered with extremely flammable white grass. In order to prevent Cao Junjun from igniting the rocket first, there is also a protective fence on the side facing the Xuchang city, and the location of these dry firewood piles has long been known to Jutu, and the target is large, Jutu can easily shoot even if he closes his eyes.

The white grass on the pyre was quickly ignited by the rocket, and the ground burst into flames.

Jutu shot ten arrows in a row, igniting ten firewood piles, and the blazing fire almost illuminated the south gate of Xuchang as bright as day, and Cao Jun's every move was in full view.

Gao Shun raised his arm high and waved it forward, and shouted loudly: "Release the arrow!" ”

Gao Shun gave an order, the archers of the Liang Army on the arrow tower were like a cold killing machine, and began to mechanically and indifferently pull the bow, release the arrows, pull the bow again, and then release the arrows, after each archer shot the twelve arrows in the quiver, he immediately went down to the arrow tower to rest, and the alternate archers went to the arrow tower to continue to release arrows to the Cao army, so that the cycle and the chain continued, and the arrow rain of ** kept pouring on the heads of the Cao soldiers who filled the ditch, and the Cao army archers guarding the city head were because of the distance and the dark. Unable to use bows and arrows to suppress the Liang Army archers on the arrow tower, they could only watch their comrades fall one by one.

[The trench dug by the Liang army was exactly a stone's throw away from the head of Xuchang City, so the archers at the head of Xuchang City could not shoot the archers on the Liang army's arrow tower.] ]

In less than half an hour, Zhang Liao's 8,000 elite soldiers have been shot dead nearly 1,000 people, and the wounded soldiers are countless, while the trench dug by the Liang army is only filled in less than two zhang.

……

At the head of Xuchang City, when Cao Ying was holding the battlements with his hands to watch the battle, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps behind him, and he turned back quickly, and the disgraced Zhang Liao had already walked quickly, and said with a fist: "Lord, the archers stationed on the arrow tower are all sharpshooters in the Liangzhou army, and their archery skills are excellent, and the casualties of our army are too great, I'm afraid it won't work like this!" ”

"My lord, why don't you send archers out of the city to suppress?" Strategist Liu Ye suggested, "Otherwise, if the casualties of the soldiers are too heavy, it may frustrate the morale and not be conducive to breaking through." ”

"Suppress! How to suppress? Cao Ying stretched out his hand and pointed to the dark night sky outside the city and said, "Ziyang, can you see where the Liangjun Arrow Tower is?" The Liang army has dry firewood piles in the trenches for lighting, but what should the archers of our army use for lighting? I can't see where the Liang army is, how can the archers overwhelm it? ”

"This~~"

Liu Ye was speechless, turned his head to look at the darkness outside the city, and there was no light in the Liangzhou military camp opposite, those Liangjun marksmen with excellent archery skills were like killers hiding in the shadows, indifferently and efficiently slaughtering Cao Jun's foot soldiers who had nowhere to hide, seeing this, Liu Ye couldn't help but sigh, turned his head and couldn't bear to see this tragic scene under the city. Liu Ye's side, Xun Yu, Xun You, Cheng Yu and others were also silent, they naturally knew Cao Ying's intentions, and naturally they would not come out to stop Cao Ying at this time!

Zhang Liao said miserably: "Lord, is there really no way?" ”

A subtle twitch passed the corner of Cao Ying's mouth, turned his back to Zhang Liao, and said categorically: "General Zhang Liao, now is not the time to consider casualties, the task given to you by Gu is to fill the trench at all costs and clear the way for the follow-up army to attack the Liang military camp!" Remember, at all costs, even if you know that you are dead, you must move forward bravely, and you must let your corpse fall in the trench and become a stepping stone for the subsequent army to charge! ”

Zhang Liao was silent, and said abruptly for a while: "The last general will take the order!" ”

Until Zhang Liao's figure was far away, Cao Ying let out a sigh of relief, turned back to Cao Xiu and said: "Wen Lie, quickly send an order to Yin Li, Sun Guan and Song Xian, let them also lead the army out of the city and fill the ditch with soil!" ”

"Ah, let them fill the ditch with dirt too?" Cao Xiu was puzzled, "Isn't the direction of our army's breakthrough to the south gate, so why bother?" ”

"Let's just take Wen Yuan off some of the pressure." Cao Ying said gloomily, "At least we can't let the horse butcher unscrupulously gather all the archers outside the south gate!" ”

"Understood."

Cao Xiu suddenly realized and took the order to leave.

Zhang Liao's department suffered heavy casualties, why didn't Cao Ying feel heartbroken?

After all, among the 8,000 elite soldiers led by Zhang Liao, 5,000 are Cao Ying's old department, and it is also Cao Ying's only 5,000 old troops, except for these 5,000 people, the remaining 50,000 people are all Jizhou surrender army, if it weren't for Cao Ying's realistic bitter meat trick to move Zhang He, so that Zhang He died for him, it is difficult to say whether the 50,000 Jizhou surrender army will be killed by the three armies, and it is completely possible to defect before the battle again! Cao Ying did not hesitate to kill or die to make Zhang Liaobu fill the ditch, in fact, it was also a last resort, if the Cao army had an advantage in troops, Cao Ying would definitely send the Jizhou army to fill the ditch and send it to death, but now it can't!

Whether or not you can successfully break out of the encirclement this time depends on the 50,000 Jizhou troops!

In order to motivate the fighting spirit of Jizhou's surrendered army, Cao Ying even did not hesitate to let all his only 5,000 elite old troops die in battle!

……

Outside Xuchang City, the Liang army camp.

Li Suse changed his face: "Cao Jun is really dead, according to this method of filling, even if he can't fill half of it until dawn, it is simply an arrow target for our army archers to practice arrows." ”

Gao Shun said solemnly: "Yes, this Cao army is indeed sending to death!" ”

"What?" Li Su was stunned and said, "Cao Jun is indeed sending him to death?" Why is that? ”

Gao Shun's eyes showed a clear expression, and he said in a condensed voice: "It's worthy of Cao Ying, he actually cracked the calculation of the military advisor with such a poisonous trick!" ”

Li Su was confused when he heard this, and he was puzzled: "What does the general mean by this?" ”

Gao Shun said: "In the past, when the two armies fought outside Xuchang City, the military division ordered our cavalry to pick Cao Jun's descendants to kill and deliberately let go of Jizhou to surrender the army, the purpose was to create a weak and strong master in Xuchang City, so that the Cao army would be chaotic without a fight, and first disintegrate from the inside, but Cao Ying used an unexpected poisonous plan to resolve the military division's calculations!" ”

"Cao Ying's poisonous plan?" Li Su said awe-inspiringly, "Is the general saying that this Cao army was deliberately sent to death?" ”

"Not bad." Gao Shun nodded and said, "If General Ben is not mistaken, this Cao army must be Cao Ying's old department." Cao Ying did not hesitate to let his elite old troops die to fill the ditch, its real purpose is not really to fill the trench, in fact, to cross the trench there is no need to fill the soil at all, as long as the heavy armor and shield soldiers in front of the road, Cao Jun can go down the ladder to the bottom of the ditch, first clear the antlers, and then attack our army's fence, but Cao Jun did not do this, which can only show that Cao Ying intends to let this elite all die. ”

"This~~" Li Su was puzzled, "What is Cao Ying doing this for?" ”

"It's simple." Gao Shun said, "Cao Ying's purpose in doing this is to motivate and control the Jizhou surrender army with all the deaths of the elite old troops. ”

"I see." Li Su suddenly realized, Huo Ran looked back at the Xuchang City Tower, and said awe-inspiringly, "It's worthy of Cao Ying!" ”

"But~~" Gao Shun's face suddenly flashed a faint calmness, and said loudly, "If Cao Ying thinks that he can break out of the encirclement with the return of 50,000 Jizhou troops, it is a big mistake, although our army is at a disadvantage in terms of strength, but the siege of the city has been completed, and now the offensive and defensive situation is changing, and the Cao army is forced to break through the siege is equivalent to driving troops to attack a strong city, and it is impossible to succeed without more than three times the strength advantage!" Considering the superiority of our army's equipment, training, and morale, even if Cao's army has a five-fold superiority in troops, it will be difficult to break through successfully. ”

Li Su nodded and said, "No matter what, we can't let Cao Ying break through successfully, otherwise what kind of face do you have to go to see the lord?" ”

"Now Cao Ying's intentions have been revealed, that is, to forcibly break through from the south gate!" Gao Shun said this, turned around and shouted, "Where are Zhang Wei, Yang Ren, and Yang Ang?" ”

Zhang Weisan stepped forward and stood side by side in front of Gao Shun, clasped his fists and responded: "The end will be." ”

Gao Shun said: "Each led two thousand soldiers to guard the north, east, and west gates!" ”

"Yes."

Zhang Weisan will make a promise.

Gao Shun said again: "The rest of the generals, each led the soldiers of the headquarters to assemble outside the south gate, ready to meet the Cao army!" ”

……

The long night was finally over.

When the red said erupted from the east, the bloody scene of Shura outside the south gate of Xuchang was finally exposed naked under the noses of the soldiers of the two armies, and the eight thousand elite soldiers of Zhang Liao's department were almost wiped out, and the corpses of the fallen soldiers were lying all over the ditch, and many of the fallen soldiers were buried directly in the trench by sacks. However, what is desperate is that the ditch that is nearly ten zhang wide (the ditch facing the four gates of Xuchang is particularly wide, almost ten zhang wide, and the rest of the ditch facing the city wall is slightly narrower, only five zhang wide) has only filled less than half!

The remaining less than five hundred remnants of the soldiers are lying in the open space inside the city gate to rest, many soldiers even have one or two feather arrows on their bodies, leading the army commander Zhang Liao's hand pillar iron spear, like a cold statue standing at the city gate, looking at the sparse soldiers in front of him, Zhang Liao's eyes suddenly flashed a thick sense of sorrow, eight thousand elites, say no, it's gone! Suddenly, Zhang Liao slammed the iron gun in his hand to the ground, and then shouted hoarsely: "The whole army obeys the order and forms a formation~~"

The soldiers who were resting got up in a hurry and began to line up in front of Zhang Liao, and the remnants of less than 500 defeated soldiers put up a fairly rigorous military formation in front of Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao took two steps forward, grabbed two hemp bags and carried them on his shoulders, turned back and roared to the soldiers: "Negative soil~~ out of the city!" ”

Five hundred remnants of the soldiers silently stepped forward to each carry a sack, followed Zhang Liao to rush out of the city gate, a soldier was already seriously injured, a sack on the shoulder was crushed to the ground, two companions came up to try to pull him up, but found that he had already died of anger.

……

(To be continued)