(Thanks to the Great Alliance!) Thank you Zhao Wuxian 2014, UFGW, Shui Yingyun, Malyvu)

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Hou Cheng and Cao Xing also led a battalion each, one for eight hundred and one for five hundred. It may not sound like there is a significant quantitative change, but in reality, there is a qualitative change.

Cao Xing led the cavalry.

Among the generals under Lu Bu, Cao Xing had the least qualifications, but because of his outstanding performance in Hao Meng's change, he made great contributions, and avoided Lu Bu's army from killing each other and preserved the vitality of the army. Lu Bu appreciated it a lot, and when Wei Xu was not by his side, he replaced him. This time, 500 cavalry was allocated to charge the battle led by him, which is proof - you must know that the cavalry of Lu Bu's army is only 1,000 cavalry.

The horses are short and thin, and they are not ridden in the state. ”

Cao Cao suddenly looked at Yuan Yu and Xun Yu, and both of them said: "The battle of Huainan was won." ”

Correct solution.

Before the Battle of Huainan, Lu Bu had only 400 horses, and after breaking Yuan Shu's army, he harvested nearly 800 horses. After choosing, you have to ride six hundred. However, the quality of Yuan Shu's horses is not good, and the feeding method is not good, and these war horses are inferior to Lu Bu's Bingzhou horses in terms of sprint, endurance, and weight. If it was two years earlier, Lu Bu wouldn't have looked down on these defective products at all, but now there is no way, dead horses have to be used as live horses, not to mention just bad horses.

It was this second- or third-class cavalry that Cao Xing led.

Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief: Very good, let's look at Miaocai and Wenbo.

Hou Cheng supervised the infantry battalion and charged Zhu Ling, who was also an infantry army; Cao Xing led the cavalry battalion. Collided with Xiahou Yuan, who was also a cavalryman.

Xiahou Yuan and Zhu Ling's right hook formation is a relatively independent and complete formation. Zhu Ling's 2,000 foot soldiers were arranged in the order of archers, long soldiers, and short soldiers, and the left and right sides of the array were baggage carts, and the front was arranged with deer bars to block the cavalry impact. Xiahou Yuan's 400 cavalry (and 600 auxiliaries, combined into a cavalry battalion), were scattered on both flanks of the infantry formation.

When Cao Xing's 500 cavalry rolled up the sky full of yellow dust to cover and kill, Xiahou Yuan, who placed the headquarters on the top of a small hill, also immediately waved flags and drums and gathered troops to meet the enemy. The two sides are evenly matched. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, Lu Bu is inferior to his sharp horses, and Cao Cao's horses are strong, and they fight each other together, regardless of victory or defeat.

Cao Cao's military horses were basically obtained by Yuan Shao from Bingzhou and the territories of the Xiongnu and Karasuma, and the horses were good horses, but the cavalry was a little worse. There were only two sources of excellent cavalry in this era: either they were recruited from the west and north, or they were recruited from the children of wealthy families in the Central Plains. The former source goes without saying. The latter source is because of the scarce resource of horses, which in non-pastoral areas can only be bought and raised by wealthy families. Only the children of the disciples have the opportunity to contact and practice. At the beginning, Cao Renyin gathered young people, and the cavalry in Huai and Si belonged to this nature.

At present, Cao Cao clearly lacks the first source. The second source requires the support of a large number of powerful families. And Cao Cao is in Yanzhou, but he is quite unfamily-minded. From killing Bian Rang and occupying his wife, to the rebellion of the whole territory of Yanzhou, and then to Chen Gong's vow to die, it can be seen that the relationship between Cao Cao and the powerful Yanzhou family is very bad.

Therefore, Cao Cao's cavalry, in addition to Cao Ren's elite, only has the third source that he has come up with: training and actual combat, and boiling ordinary soldiers who have almost never ridden horses into cavalry.

Of course, such cavalry, to put it bluntly, is just infantry on horseback, not much like Yuan Shu's cavalry. Don't think about cavalry shooting, cavalry combat is reluctant, you can fight infantry, and the real cavalry is right, and you still owe fire.

The reason why the two sides fought so evenly was that more than half of Cao Xing's cavalry were recruited from Yan and Xu - the elite cavalry that was originally brought from Bingzhou and crisscrossed the eastern part of the country had already been adjusted to almost zero. Even so, the old foundation is still there, which is incomparable to the newly formed Cao army cavalry. Therefore, under the fierce battle, the cavalry of the Cao army gradually ran out.

Cao Cao wanted to get the support of the left-wing Cao Ren several times, but he was rejected by Xiahou Yuan under the banner, and finally he personally put on the battle and resolutely stood up.

Compared with Xiahou Yuan, Zhu Ling's side was better. Zhu Ling's infantry army seems to be twice as many as Hou Cheng's, but in fact, there are only seven or eight hundred soldiers who can really fight, and miscellaneous servants and auxiliaries account for the majority. Zhu Ling can be regarded as a general, and he deeply understands Cao Cao's intention to defend and counterattack. Therefore, although he has the power to fight back, he has always been defensive and ready to attack.

"Shoot! Shoot! Team A takes the arrow, Team B goes the arrow, the two teams alternate, and before the thief kills the deer, at least one pot of arrows must be shot! ”

When Hou Cheng's department entered the firing range, the commanders, team leaders, and even chiefs under Zhu Ling urged the archers to shoot step by step. At this time, the troops at the forefront of the two sides were only seventy or eighty paces apart, and it was the final sprint stage. If you run in small steps normally, it will only take half a minute. It's just that, under the rain of arrows, this distance will be extremely far; This time will also be extended indefinitely.

Buzz - Buzz -

More than 100 arrows were fired at the same time, forming a dark cloud, which was under the hood. The Xiapi army stopped one after another, raised a simple wooden shield to resist, and those without a wooden shield arched forward vigorously, burrowing to the side of their comrades with shields, so as to cover them.

Tuk tuk tuk, arrows fell, rows of wooden shields were full of arrows, and suddenly the eyes were white. Occasionally, arrows would penetrate through the gaps in the wooden shields and hit some unlucky ones, and the screams of ouch were endless.

When Hou Cheng and Hu Cong drove the soldiers from the battle team to seize the gap in the enemy's shooting and stood up to charge, more than ten positions had been vacated in the team, and the grass that had been trampled to pieces had also been stained red with blood.

Buzz –

As soon as the Xiapi army ran seven or eight steps, the sound of arrows breaking through the air sounded again. As a result, the previous situation was repeated.

Hou Cheng's battalion of soldiers were all long and short soldiers in close combat, and there was no archer. It's not that the Xiapi army didn't have it, but a large number of archers were placed in Xiapi City for defense, where they were needed even more. And an army that does not have long-range suppression, and does not have strong armor like a trapped camp, can only be beaten when charging.

Seventy or eighty paces away, the Xiapi army ran for half a quarter before advancing to Cao's army's Lu Qi, and nearly 100 people had fallen in the team at this time.

Zhu Ling looked at the high platform temporarily erected with a baggage cart, and waved the command flag in his hand, and the heralds who were waiting for the order under the stage immediately jumped on horseback. Running along the gallop of the army formation, he shouted: "Archers retreat!" Soldiers! ”

Once the deer is pulled out, the next step is to engage in short combat, and the archers must retreat and give up the battlefield to the long and short soldiers.

The archers of the Cao army retreated from the passage between the military formations, and after all the withdrawals were completed, the long and short soldiers gathered in the center. The formation is tight, the big shield pillar is on the ground, the spear halberd is stretched out, and the forest is like a hedgehog.

It took Hou Cheng another half a moment before finally pulling out the barricade. The seven hundred soldiers roared in unison and rushed towards the Cao army, which had already been waiting for him. The two collided like a huge wave hitting the reef, which suddenly stirred up a bloody rain. People turned on their backs, roared and screamed, and the sonorous collision resounded through the battlefield.

Both the attacking and defending sides fought hard, and the commanders of the two armies also did not send reinforcements. Obviously left behind.

After a moment of fierce fighting, Zhu Lingbu's battalion had stabilized its position and squeezed the Xiapi army outward. At this time, the Xia Pi army suffered heavy casualties, and the defeat was revealed. Even if Hou Cheng and his team of warlords slashed people until they were soft, it would be difficult to stabilize the morale of the army, and perhaps the next moment would be the time of collapse.

The opposite is true. The cavalry of the Xiapi army gradually gained the upper hand, and if it were not for Xiahou Yuan to go to the battlefield in person, the cavalry of the Cao army would fight the front line. I'm afraid I won't be able to support it for a long time.

Under Lu Zidaxu, Lu Bu, the commander of the Xiapi army, issued a strange order at this time: "Yijie leads two hundred cavalry to reinforce Cao Xing!" ”

Cao sex? Not Hou Cheng? But Cheng Lian didn't have this kind of doubt at all, and responded loudly, pointed out 200 cavalry, rushed out of the army formation, and killed Cao's army.

At this time, the three brothers Liu Guan and Zhang were disarming themselves behind the battle, and they saw from a distance that they had rushed out to kill a cavalry, and they were still rushing towards Xiahou Yuan, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh: "Lu Fengxian is really ruthless enough, and at the expense of Hou Chengbu's battalion, he intends to destroy Xiahou Miaocai's cavalry battalion in one fell swoop." ”

Although it is the same battalion, the cavalry battalion is much more expensive than the infantry battalion, and it is too cost-effective to exchange an infantry battalion for a cavalry battalion.

Guan Yu sneered: "I'm afraid that Cao Yuanjun may not be able to let him get his wish." ”

Zhang Fei put his hand on the pergola and looked west for a while, and shouted: "Whoa, Cao Ren's flag has moved." ”

Cao Cao finally used the elite cavalry, because he had successfully forced Lu Bu to dispatch the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry first - the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry was only about 300, and Cheng Lian led 200 cavalry to attack, and he had shown his hole cards, so Cao Cao could naturally use a killer move.

You want to annihilate my cavalry, and I want to destroy your cavalry!

Just as the two sides were about to open their hole cards, the battlefield situation suddenly reversed and changed dramatically.

The changes happened to the two riders, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Xing.

Xiahou Yuan rushed to kill, and successively assassinated the eleven horsemen of the Pi army with superb riding skills, Xuanjia red spear, as fast as a leopard, and everywhere he passed, the enemy cavalry was all looking at the wind. While he was rushing to kill, the left wing of the guard Xiahou Yuan suddenly snorted and rolled off his horse.

Xiahou Yuan was startled, turned his head, and a strong wind came towards him-Du! But he pounced on his horseman and shielded a cold arrow with his shield.

But in the next moment, Xiahou Yuan shouted: "Be careful! ”

The riding shield that had been laid down in his hand was hurriedly raised, but it was too late—an arrow grazed the edge of the riding shield with precision, and the middle was from the forehead of the horseman.

Arrows! Xiahou Yuan looked at it in surprise, but saw that more than 20 steps away, a general was sneering at him with a bow, and he obeyed left and right, and the word "Cao" was written on the banner of the bar.

"Cao Xing!"

"Xiahou Yuan"

"Death!"

The two of them shouted this sentence almost at the same time.

Cao Xing took the third arrow.

Xiahou Yuan quickly threw his spear and took off his bow.

Whoa- Whoa-

The two duel like cowboys in the west, not dodging or dodging, with the will to die as a fighting general, and at the same time raise their bows and shoot a fatal arrow at their opponents.

Will Cao Xing be afraid of fighting generals?

He once fought against Hao Meng on a single horse, exchanged a knife for a gun, broke one of his arms, and lay on a stretcher.

Will Xiahou Yuan be afraid of fighting generals?

Many years later, at the foot of Dingjun Mountain, his temples were slightly frosty, and he still rushed to Huang Zhong's blazing blade like a moth to a fire......

Two arrows shot one after another, staggered in mid-air, poof! Burst! Each hits their target, bringing out a puddle of blood.

Cao Xing was already holding a bow in his hand, so he was a line faster, and the arrow shot through Xiahou Yuan's cheek, penetrating from the left side of his face, and out of the right face, dripping with blood.

And Xiahou Yuan's arrow shot in from Cao Xing's right eye and penetrated deep into the brain marrow.

One arrow for another.

Xiahou Yuan, injured.

Cao Xing, die! (To be continued......)