Wang Xu raised troops in the Northern Expedition, and the world shook!

Cao Cao, who was still chasing Karasuma in Youzhou, got the news in a very short time, stared at the south on the spot, and was silent for a long time.

"It's here after all!"

After making such a punctual self-talk, Cao Cao finally summoned his henchmen and ordered him to bring two words to Yingchuan's Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu and others.

It's just that he hasn't brought those two words yet, but Xi Zhicai, Cheng Yu and others have already deployed to face the battle.

When Xiahou Yuan and Zhang Xiu blocked Zhang He's Eastern Army to the north, the vanguard army led by Li Yan, Wu Lan, and Lei Tong also encountered stubborn resistance in Wuyin County.

The guard of Wuyin County is not an ordinary person, but the Taishan general Zang Ba, not only extraordinary martial arts, but also very capable of commanding troops, and his deputy general is also one of the eight strong generals under Lu Bu in the early years, and later Wei Xu, who surrendered to Cao Cao after Lu Bu's defeat.

Therefore, although there are not many guards in Wuyin, only 5,000 people, their combat power is not weak.

After Li Yan, Wu Lan, and Lei Tong arrived as the vanguard, they thought that they would break the city in one fell swoop with the help of their prestige, but they did not expect to be met with stubborn resistance.

Zang Ba not only did not retreat in the city, but led a thousand cavalry to meet the battle under the city.

Wu Lan was eager to make meritorious contributions and went out to call for battle, but after dozens of battles with Wei Xu, he had a slight advantage.

This Wei Xu is Lu Bu's brother-in-law, although his reputation in history is not very good, and his ability to command troops is not good, but his martial arts are really not weak.

Lei Tong and Wu Lan are friends of life and death, worried that their friends' lives are in danger, so they hurriedly come out to help. didn't think about it, but it made Zang Ba quite angry. Stand up for the gun.

"Incompetent child. How much to bully less? ”

"Humph!" Lei Tong didn't answer, seeing Zang Ba coming, he just cared about raising his breath to face the battle.

With a "bell", the two crossed paths!

Lei Tong only felt that his arms were slightly numb in an instant, and his heart was terrified, and he looked at Zang Ba, who turned around and attacked again, very solemnly.

In the blink of an eye, the two fought for more than 20 times, and Lei Tong was already in danger. gradually became invincible, and he had the intention to withdraw to his own formation, but he didn't think about it, but he was entangled by Zang Ba and it was difficult to get out.

Zang Ba is a slow-burning general, but the more he fights, the more courageous he becomes, and after a few combinations, he only listens to his "Eli" shout, and he has already taken advantage of a gap to stab a killer shot.

Fortunately, Lei Tong reacted quickly and lowered his head in time, avoiding the tragedy of being pierced in anger. But his helmet was picked off alive, and his tied hair was instantly scattered. The end is wolf bèi unbearable.

"Hahaha......"

In Zang Ba's laughter, he was full of energy, followed by a few dazzling gun shadows, only to kill Lei Tong to the brink of despair.

"Bang"

Despite his best efforts, Lei Tong could not avoid it, and the sharp blade of the iron spear cut through his armor, leaving a long wound, and his man was dismounted.

"Death!" Zang Ba yelled, and wanted to ride his horse to chase after him and stab him to death.

"Thieves dare!" Li Yan's loud voice came, and his people were already galloping wildly, galloping to rescue, and they were about to run to the front.

Zang Ba had been in battle for a long time, and his head made the best choice in the light of light, giving up the seriously injured Lei Tong, who had stabbed him to death, and turned to face Li Yan.

"It's shameless, you actually didn't declare war!"

This is a scolding Li Yan, because when Li Yan was drinking just now, he had clearly rushed out of the formation a long distance, if it weren't for the danger of Lei Tong, I am afraid that he would kill directly behind Zang Ba without saying a word, which is equivalent to a sneak attack when the two generals are fighting.

"Hmph, do you still need to preach morality to kill thieves?" Li Yan's eloquence is extraordinary, if it is discussed, Zang Ba can't say anything.

Zang Ba, who was full of anger in his chest, no longer scolded, and shot out with hatred, hoping to behead the person in front of him under the horse.

Li Yan's martial arts are absolutely extraordinary, and he didn't make a move before, because he is not a person who likes to be brave, and he didn't stop Wu Lan and Lei Tong rushing out of the battle, but hoped that the two of them would fight with the enemy general, so as to observe and find a way to break the enemy.

"Bell! Clang! Clang! "Zang Ba's stormy round of offensive was blocked by Li Yan, and he was not weak.

As soon as the master makes a move, he will know if there is one, this is not false!

With the other party's ingenious moves, and the strength and strength he felt in his hands, Zang Ba already knew that this person was a master, and he was in a twelve-point spirit at the moment.

"You've got two hits!"

"More than enough to kill you!"

With a roar, Li Yan was about to attack, but just when Zang Ba thought there would be a big battle, Li Yan just shook a few shots, and when he rode his horse to avoid it, and before he could react, he suddenly took a loophole, galloped wildly, lay on the horse, grabbed the seriously injured Lei Tong and rushed back to the formation.

"Wu Lan, withdraw the troops!"

Wu Lan, who was fighting fiercely with Wei Xu in the distance, of course noticed the situation here, he was already anxious, and he already felt a little exhausted, so he struggled to force Wei Xu back a few steps on the spot, and then rushed back to the formation, shouting in his mouth: "Retreat!" Fall back! ”

The troops they brought were Wang Xu's guards and iron cavalry, which were well-trained and faithfully carried out the order, and immediately changed the rear team to the front team, turned the horse's head and withdrew.

This qiē happened in an extremely short time, and Zang Ba was stunned for a moment before he reacted, and then his face changed, and a flush of anger surged on his dark face.

"Kill!"

With a loud shout, he was already the first to chase after him.

"Brothers, follow me to kill and capture the enemy alive!"

Wei Xu over there was also not slow, roaring excitedly, calling the cavalry in the rear to charge!

"Kill! Kill! Kill ......"

Although Cao's army only had 1,000 cavalry, its morale was greatly boosted at this time, and with the roaring sound of horses' hooves, they rushed to kill.

Li Yan retreated to his own formation, hurriedly handed the unconscious Lei Tong to the guards, and then called for his guards to break off.

At this time, he fully demonstrated his leading talent, did not panic at all during the retreat, calmly responded, and when he saw that his own troops were galloping up and retreating to the direction of the camp, he quickly led the guards away from the battlefield and left in the dust.

Zang Ba was unwilling, and after chasing and killing for several miles, he was worried that he would suffer a loss if he had fewer soldiers. Yao Yao insulted. Collect the troops and return to the city.

This battle was defeated for a while. Although the casualties were not large, it really broke the morale of the army, and Li Yan also regretted it a little in his heart, if he didn't let Lei Tong go out of the battle at that time, but he attacked himself, it wouldn't have been like this. After returning to the camp, while commanding the foot soldiers guarding the camp to be on strict alert, he also sent someone to deliver a letter to Wang Xu's main army.

Wang Xu's main army is huge because of its large military size. There are also a large number of logistics personnel and grain and grass baggage, so the marching speed is very slow, and there is still a long way to go from Wuyin at this time.

The long army formed a long line with no end in sight, with flags covering the sky and the sun, sand and dust, and countless sentinels galloping in all directions, or passing orders, or inquiring about the surrounding situation, and the momentum was huge.

Wang Xu, Guo Jia and others followed the team, their faces were quite calm. On this expedition, there was only Taiwei Guo Jia. The three servants Xu Shu and Zhijin Wu Chen Deng accompanied them as advisers, and Wen Ping, the general of Diannong, did not escape, and he had to personally take charge of the logistics of the entire army this time and went out with the army.

"Report!"

A high-pitched shout broke the silence on the march and also attracted Wang Xu's attention.

I saw a horse galloping in front of me.

"Your Majesty, the pioneer General Li is here to report!"

"Li Yan?" Wang Xu frowned, and a slight bad feeling rose. "What?"

"General Li sent troops to Wuyin City this morning, Zang Ba led a thousand cavalry to meet the battle, General Wu Lan was slightly injured, General Lei Tong was seriously injured, and General Li led his troops to withdraw to the camp!"

As soon as the sergeant finished speaking, Wang Xu was already furious, which was definitely unexpected, and he had never even thought of it.

It's not that such a small defeat will hurt the bones, but this is the first battle, in the cold weapon war of this era, no matter how big or small the first battle is, the victory or defeat is extremely important, because it means that the morale and sharpness of the entire army, the impact of the loss of the first battle is very large.

The reason why he appointed Li Yan as the vanguard was because Li Yan was good at martial arts and was well versed in the way of commanding troops, and it should not be difficult to defeat Zang Ba, the general of Wuyin, but he didn't expect this to be the result at all.

"General Li's martial arts, can't you beat that Zang Ba?" Wang Xu suppressed his anger and asked.

"General Li didn't go to battle, but he finally went out to save General Lei Tong, and led the troops to break off in an orderly manner!" The soldier replied.

"Humph!"

Xu Shu was very dissatisfied, he had never liked Li Yan very much, and he couldn't get along with Li Yan on weekdays, so he scolded angrily on the spot: "This Li Yan will definitely take care of himself, wait and see from behind, and test the two generals Wu Lan and Lei Tong in front, as the vanguard and chief general of the army, do you have a reason to not compromise morale?" ”

Guo Jia shook his head with a sigh and didn't make a sound, but he could see from his face that he was not very happy.

Chen Deng hesitated, but still whispered beside Wang Xu: "Lord, we don't have much time, if we can't take the dance yin for a long time, then ......"

He didn't continue, but Wang Xu didn't understand that this expedition could be said to be a move to break the cauldron and sink the boat, if he lost, the crisis of grain and grass would be infinitely aggravated, and whether Li Yanneng would take Wuyin before the army arrived had a great impact on the entire tactical plan.

Wang Xu himself is also very dissatisfied, he has fought for so many years, and it is rare that his morale is broken in the first battle like this.

"You go and report back to Li Yan, and you can defeat Zang Ba within three days, and you will be punished!"

"No!"

After the soldier took the order and left, Wang Xu was silent for a long time before he sighed leisurely: "Although Li Yan is both civil and military, he only lacks extraordinary courage and cherishes his body too much. ”

Xu Shu has always been upright, and when he heard this, he immediately continued: "My lord, the minister thinks that the two generals Zhou Zhi and Zhang Jing should be the vanguard!" ”

This is quite a complaint, if it is replaced by someone else, I am afraid that there will be a suspicion of being upright, but Wang Xu knows Xu Shu's character very well, and he doesn't mind, but he is a little silent.

In fact, he didn't know that Zhou Zhi and Zhang Jing were far more suitable than Li Yan, but this was completely out of his selfishness, the danger of the pioneer was very high, Zhou Zhi and Zhang Jing's martial arts did not have an absolute advantage after all, he was very worried that the two of them would have an accident, especially Zhou Zhi, whose body could no longer withstand Yan Zòng's injury.

But of course, this could not be said in public, and after a long time, he only said with a little shame: "Alas! This time it was indeed me who used people incorrectly! ”

Although Xu Shu has a straight temperament, he is very smart, and he quickly reacted to the inappropriateness in his words just now, and immediately gave it up. "My lord, the minister didn't mean to complain just now!"

"I understand!" Wang Xu raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "Wrong is wrong, nothing. You're overseeing you. I can make fewer mistakes! ”

Xu Shu wanted to say more. Guo Jia spoke at the right time and hurriedly changed the topic: "Lord, now there is no point in caring about right and wrong, this time I lost the first battle, my morale has been frustrated, and General Li may not be able to win Wuyin smoothly, so I must make some preparations for remediation." ”

"Wuyin is the first city to be won on this expedition, and the time is urgent. How can it be remedied? Moreover, if it can't be attacked for a long time, maybe Cao's army will send reinforcements over, which will inevitably be even more difficult. Chen Deng said worriedly.

Xu Shu shook his head and said: "In a short period of time, Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu should not send reinforcements, after all, supporting Wuyin is not the best strategy for Cao Jun, it is too far away from the rear of Cao Jun, whether it is to rescue each other or to transport supplies." It's hard. ”

"But if our army can't attack for a long time, it will inevitably make Cao Jun change his attention. The intention is to block our army for a longer time in Wuyin and strike a blow to the sharpness of our army. Chen Deng said.

What he said is true, if the army goes out on the expedition, if there is no progress for a long time, the blow to morale will be great, and even make the soldiers war-weary, if Wuyin blocks the first few rounds of attacks, let Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu and others see what can be done, and they will work hard to grind it here.

Wang Xu, Xu Shu and Guo Jia did not speak, thinking hard about countermeasures.

After a long while, Xu Shu resolutely spoke: "Lord, let your subordinates rush to Wuyin first!" ”

"This ......" Wang Xu hesitated slightly, but thinking of the important matter, he finally nodded: "It's okay, but Yuan Zhi is going, be sure to pay attention to your own safety!" ”

"My subordinates understand."

Xu Shu's face was resolute, and he successively hugged his fists at Wang Xu, Guo Jia, and Chen Dengyao, and decisively rode away......

On the contrary to Wang Xu's side, when Yingchuan's Xi Zhicai, Cheng Yu and others received the report of the Wuyin battle, they were really overjoyed.

"Hahaha......"

Xi Zhicai's hearty laughter echoed in the room. "What a Taishan Zangba, it's not easy to lose Jingzhou's morale in the first battle, you should make a great contribution!"

"yes!" Cheng Yu's old face also showed a smile: "I have heard this Li Yan both civil and military for a long time, but I didn't think that he was a selfish person who cherished his life!" ”

They are so shrewd that many times we can understand certain aspects of a person's mind from what they do.

Xi Zhicai thought so, nodded and said: "This person can save Lei Tong from General Zang's hands, it can be seen that his martial arts are good, but as the vanguard general, when the two armies won the battle with bravery, he did not go out first, and after saving Lei Tong, he obviously had the strength to fight, but he chose to withdraw immediately, so it seems that he cherishes his life very much, and he is not a brave general." ”

"Then will we change some of our deployments and try to maneuver more with the Chu army in Wuyin? Consume its ambition and sharpen its fighting spirit! Cheng Yu hesitated.

"No hurry! After all, it is inconvenient to stick to Wuyin, and it is not the best policy, and depending on how the two armies will fight next, the conclusion will be made, and it will be carried out in accordance with the prior deployment. Xi Zhicai said indifferently.

"Then General Zang should be informed and given a deadline."

"Hmm!" Xi Zhicai nodded, his eyes flashed with the brilliance of wisdom, and he pondered for a moment before he said decisively: "Then I sent an order to General Zang, and ordered him to try his best to hold Ruyin for five days, if he ensures that Ruyin is not lost within five days, there will be reinforcements to arrive, if not, he will try to retreat, when there are two generals, Le Jin and Cao Hong, lead the army to respond." ”

"Very good!" Cheng Yu stroked his beard and smiled, agreeing very much.

Li Yan, who was on the front line, was not feeling good at this time.

Everyone's inference was correct, the reason why he didn't go to war was indeed because he was not sure, of course he knew that as a vanguard, when fighting for bravery, no matter what situation he encountered, he should desperately step forward and cheer up the morale of the army. But in his own opinion, rushing forward with his head covered and his head covered is really not sure of victory, especially since the other party is Zang Ba, who was already quite famous when he followed Lu Bu in his early years.

At that time, he felt that he could let Wu Lan and Lei Tong go up and try it first, and then say that if he was sure to take it, he would go out immediately, if not, of course, he would keep his name, and find another way for him to give his life, he would never do it.

Later, seeing that Lei Tong was in danger, he had to go out to save him, after all, he was also responsible for the death of the general, and although he was selfish, he did not see Cheng Dù who would not be saved, he was still loyal to Wang Xu, and he also had some friendship with his colleagues.

Originally, he could have fought with Zang Ba after saving Lei Tong, but he really had no certainty of victory, so he chose to retreat.

"Alas! It's not easy to be a pioneer. ”

After Li Yan waved off the soldiers who gave the order, his head echoed with the meaning of Wang Xu conveyed by him, and he was quite irritable.

"Next, to take Wuyin County in three days, how easy is it to say, the city here has thick walls, and there are 5,000 elite soldiers in the city, difficult, too difficult!"

Just as he was talking to himself, Wu Lan suddenly walked in from outside the camp, bowed to him, and asked loudly: "General Li, I heard that the lord asked us to break the city within three days?" ”

"It's not a broken city, the original words are for us to defeat Zang Ba!" Li Yan corrected.

"Defeat Zang Ba?" Wu Lan was a little puzzled.

"Alas!" Li Yan sighed, shook his head and said: "You don't know, looking at the momentum of Cao's army, it is not the best policy to stick to Wuyin, if we completely besiege Wuyin, then the other party will not even have to retreat, plus Zang Ba's own character, so it must only fight, as long as we defeat its two or three formations, the enemy army will inevitably abandon the city, so the lord let us defeat Zang Ba." ”

Li Yan thought that Wu Lan would be anxious because of this, but he didn't think that he would be overjoyed, and said hurriedly: "So that's the case, wouldn't it be better to watch General Li's martial arts today, it's really superb, it's better to go to the battle tomorrow morning and kill him under the horse!" ”

"How can it be so easy, I'm not sure, besides, you are against Wei Xu, and you are also slightly inferior!" Li Yantie said with a blushing face.

"What's so difficult about this, if the general and Zang Ba are fighting, Wei continues to go out of battle, the last general will be dead to the enemy, and there will be no problem in fighting one hundred and eighty he!" Wu Lan didn't care about that, she just opened her mouth.

But this really made it difficult for Li Yan to ride the tiger, he really didn't want to take risks, so he simply said hard: "But General Ben really has no certainty of victory!" ”

Wu Lan was stunned for an instant: "General Li, in the matter of the battle formation, An has the reason to win, looking at the general's martial arts, it is no worse than Zang Ba, how can you not dare to fight?" ”

"Needless to say, let me think about this matter, you can straighten out the soldiers!" Li Yan waved his hand.

"General Li, this ......" Wu Lan wanted to say more, but it can be seen that Li Yan had already turned sideways, stopped his mouth at the moment, arched his hand, and retreated without saying a word, but after leaving the camp tent, he secretly disdained: "I have a good ability, I am a coward, phew!" (To be continued......)