Cao Cao ordered the retreat because he saw that the other party's losses were too great, and because it was dark and his vision was blocked. He was worried that in the dark, once Zhang Chao escaped, he would not be able to look for himself. Thinking that it would be better to retreat first, take a good rest, and then decide on a battle during the day tomorrow, he insisted that Zhang Chao would not last long.

But he never thought that the order to retreat would be exchanged for the current exponential losses, how could he not be angry, after hearing Cao Xiu's request for battle, he was about to nod lightly and agree, after all, he couldn't watch the elite tiger and leopard cavalry fall into the downwind, this is the most loyal to his army, and it is also his last family.

It's just that without waiting for Zhang Chao to nod and agree, suddenly the situation on the mountain has changed again, and the soldiers of the Celestial Empire, who were originally chasing the retreating tiger and leopard cavalry, suddenly stopped and stopped pursuing. The tiger and leopard rode in such an environment and finally retreated safely.

"Whew." Cao Cao let out a sigh of depression, "Okay, now that you retreat, don't take the initiative, let everyone rest for a night, and strive to win Zhang Zhiyuan tomorrow." ”

Cao Xiu, who was clenching his fists and preparing for a battle, heard the order, so he had to put down his killing intent first and arrange for the soldiers to cook.

Both sides ceased fighting, Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others also retreated to the mountain bag with their Zhang heavy cavalry, and then the generals entered the big tent with their somewhat tired bodies and saw the emperor Zhang Chao.

Soon after the generals were recorded, the statistics of the battle were reported.

Of the 8,000 Zhangjia heavy cavalry who went out on the expedition, 3,576 were killed and 1,233 wounded, and the rest returned safely and were only less than half of the people who went out to fight.

Of the 5,000 warriors in the camp, 2,252 were killed and 1,127 wounded, more than half of the casualties.

Of the two hundred guards, one hundred and thirty-four were killed and the remaining sixty-six.

Just one day, 15,000 people, nearly half of them were killed and wounded in battle, and this price is not small.

After hearing the battle report statistics, almost all the generals in the tent lowered their heads, and the whole tent was filled with a sense of sadness.

The people who died in the battle were not ordinary soldiers, whether it was the heavy cavalry of the Zhang family, the warriors of the trapped camp, or the iron guards, they were all those who had followed Zhang Chao for a long time and were still the most loyal. It is no exaggeration to say that the money invested in these people is more than an ordinary army of 100,000 people.

Among these soldiers who died in battle, many of them were old acquaintances of Zhang Chao, and some of them were old teammates who had followed him since the period of Chen Liu, old fellows, seeing that the Celestial Empire was getting stronger and stronger, and even had the hope of unifying the whole country, they slept here for a long time, and even Zhang Chao himself was very painful in his heart at this moment.

There was a long silence for a pillar of incense, and no one in the entire tent said anything, and finally, it was Zhang Chao who took the lead in breaking the silence, "The blood of the brothers will not be shed in vain, and they will not die in vain, because we will avenge him." ”

As soon as Zhang Chao said this, all the generals raised their heads.

"I know you're having a hard time, so why shouldn't I? But all the brothers who died in battle today, which one of them is not the hero of my Celestial Empire, may be able to live, and it won't be long before they can get the glory of the unparalleled, and it is not a problem to be crowned a wife and a child. But in order to complete their mission and leave us early, I just want to say that they will not die in vain, we will avenge them, and the Celestial Empire will always remember them. ”

"Whether it is a general or a soldier, even if he chooses to join the army, he must be prepared to die in battle, even if I Zhang Chao has already prepared this kind of thinking. From the moment Chen left behind, he was ready to die on the battlefield from the moment he fought for the world, so I believe that even if he died in battle today, these brothers will not be sad, because this path is their own choice. ”

"People are born to die, it's just a matter of time before they die, or whether it's worth it. At least I think they deserve to die on the battlefield today, they are heroes, heroes of our Celestial Empire, heroes of our army, and they must be admired by future generations..."

At this moment, Zhang Chao used all the languages he had learned to praise the soldiers who died in battle today, the battle was fought to this point, and it was absolutely impossible to be discouraged, at this moment, perhaps whose morale is stronger, the final victory will be biased towards whom.

Zhang Chao is using his high-minded rhetoric to improve morale, improve morale, and increase the possibility of victory.

After a big talk, Zhang Chao finally said: "Write down the names of all the brothers who died in the war, we will feed their families, and we will do their unfinished business. ”

"Fight to the death." The generals in the tent said in unison, and at this moment they were all high-spirited and active like little tigers.

......

In Cao Cao's camp.

This moment was also extremely quiet, and when the battle report came up, all the generals chose to be silent.

In just a battle during the day, the proud tiger and leopard riders killed more than 8,700 people and wounded more than 7,500 people. More than half of the combat power was consumed in this way.

Cao Cao was greatly surprised by this result, and he finally knew why Zhang Chao dared to take only 15,000 men to meet his 30,000 men.

Although he also guessed that the Celestial Empire would lose a lot, he would never have so much of himself. This naturally has something to do with his attacking and defending the other side, but why not because of the imbalance in the combat power of the two sides?

Thinking that even the elite tiger and leopard rider that he liked the most was not Zhang Chao's opponent, Cao Cao actually felt a sense of sadness in his heart at this moment, such an enemy was too terrifying, and his fighting spirit was a little shaken at this moment.

Even Cao Cao's heart was shaken, not to mention the generals below.

Leading the most elite tiger and leopard cavalry, let Cao Zhang and others fight one by one is above the top, in their opinion, it seems that no one in the world is their opponent, not to mention that they are with 5,000 people against the enemy 2,000 people, the numerical superiority makes them even more unscrupulous.

However, after one day of fighting, this advantage was not perfectly reflected, and the number of their losses was much higher than that of the other party, among which General Lu Chang was also killed in the battlefield because of carelessness, and the five thousand men under his command were almost defeated because of his death.

With such a large numerical advantage, they have not been able to gain an advantage, they really don't know what advantage they will have in this battle, and even whether the final victory will fall on their heads? This seems to be a question.

After just one day of fighting, Zhang Chao warned them with facts, it seemed impossible to rely on the temporary advantage of troops to achieve victory, this slap on their faces, but it hurt a lot.

Unlike the Celestial Empire, their Wei State has this little strength at the moment, if they all die in battle, even if they can really kill Zhang Chao, will they be able to rise from the east? If you can't, wouldn't fighting to the death like this be tantamount to making a wedding dress for someone else?

At this moment, all the generals had suspicious expressions on their faces, and they began to think about whether what they were doing was right.

Not only the generals, but also Yang Xiu and Cheng Yu among the strategists also had the same idea.

I thought that with the advantage of numbers, coupled with the strong combat power of the tiger and leopard cavalry, killing a Zhang Chao was just like probing for things, but now, with the facts in front of them, the two of them were also a little shaken.

Yang Xiu, who has always been brave, stood up in one step after carefully measuring the situation, broke the tranquility in the tent, and said to Cao Cao: "Your Majesty, in the opinion of the ministers, this battle cannot be fought, if it goes on like this, even if it kills Zhang Zhiyuan, it is meaningless, and we also have no foundation for survival." ”

I have to say that Yang Xiu's words are right. Because Zhang Chao was really killed here, it would be a question how many of the 30,000 of them would be alive. And at that time, the army of the Celestial Empire outside Fenyin will definitely avenge their emperor, can they escape at that time?

If it is said that killing Zhang Chao really requires all his life, it seems to be a thing that is not worth it. Everyone is dead, and Wei is gone, is there any meaning in Zhang Chao's life or death?

It is better to withdraw the troops now while there is still strength left, even if it is to withdraw to the mountains and go to the land of Qianghu, at least there is a glimmer of hope, far better than now, knowing that they will die, but also fighting.

After Yang Xiu finished speaking, he knelt on the ground, and when the other generals were about to follow after hearing this, Cao Cao's gaze on the high seat was cold.

Why didn't he know that the war had been fought so far, and there was no victory to speak of? But what choice does he have?

If he could enter the mountain range in this way, Cao Cao would have already entered, so why should he fight with Zhang Chao and retreat? He is from the Han Dynasty, born and raised here, and naturally hopes to die here. So the kind of thing that when you get old, you have to bury your body in another country, you will never do it.

can't leave this land, he can only choose to kill Zhang Chao, maybe only in this way can his wish come true.

But now, when he saw that the goal was about to be achieved, some people persuaded him to avoid the battle and retreat, which was clearly to shake the morale of the army, and such people must be killed in order to prove the morale of the army and boost morale. Thinking like this, Cao Cao's eyes showed murderous aura, and then he looked at Yang Xiudao: "You dare to disturb the morale of the army, disturb my morale, come here, entrust this death-afraid man down, behead!" ”