"Whew, whew."

Looking at Dian Wei's fallen body, Zhang Xiu wiped the sweat on his face and exhaled a long breath.

At this time, he had to be glad that Jia Xu's judgment was not wrong.

Dian Wei is really brave, and he has the ability to change the entire battle situation by himself.

If he is sober, sticks to the walled gate, and waits for Cao Jun to react, I'm afraid his situation will not be too good.

Fortunately, Jia Xu thought that Dian Wei was the courage of Cao Jun, so he sent Hu Che'er into Cao's camp, drunk Dian Wei with Xinye spirits, and stole his halberd.

Otherwise, the battle will be difficult.

After Dian Wei's body collapsed, the surrounding Xiliang army soldiers dared to approach the past, and some people cut off Dian Wei's head and passed it to each other, inspiring the army.

After wasting hundreds of lives and finally killing Dian Wei, Zhang Xiu asked left and right: "Have you seen Cao Cao?" ”

Someone said: "He fled to the northwest." ”

"Chase!"

Zhang Xiu immediately issued an order: "Pass my general order, go to the northwest and continue to chase and kill Cao Thief, life and death!" ”

"Yui!"

The surrounding soldiers agreed and chased wildly.

Over there, Cao Cao galloped all the way to Cao Hong's camp, and at this moment Cao Hong was also attacked.

But his reaction was quite quick, and he immediately repulsed the enemy and led his army into attack.

met Cao Cao halfway, because he was worried about Cao Cao's injury, he had no way to save the village, so he could only protect Cao Cao and escape back to his camp first.

And Zhang Xiu met Yu Ban, who led soldiers and horses to the rescue in the north of Cao Cao's village.

As a result, he ran into Zhang Xiu halfway, and he fought and retreated, all the way to his camp to evacuate.

In fact, he didn't bring out many soldiers and horses, because he was worried that his camp would be empty, so he only brought hundreds of men and horses, mainly to investigate the situation.

Therefore, he was defeated by Zhang Xiu and was forced to flee back to his camp. Returning to his own village, Yu Ban immediately issued an order to build fortifications and do a good job of defense.

However, Zhang Xiu did not continue to chase after repelling Yu Ban, but turned back and continued to look for Cao Cao's traces, according to Jia Xu's meaning, this battle must get rid of Cao Cao, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

So the battle continued, and the wilderness was full of Cao Cao's fleeing soldiers and horses, and Cao Hong's side reacted quickly, sending people to collect the soldiers while evacuating the camp and protecting Cao Cao's evacuation to Xi'e County in the north.

And just when Zhang Xiu was looking for Cao Cao's traces in the midst of the chaotic army, from the southeast, several scout cavalry came back, found Zhang Xiu, and said: "General, a large number of men and horses have appeared in the southeast. ”

"What?"

Zhang Xiu was surprised: "The people and horses in the southeast? Can you determine who it is? ”

He remembered that Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to attack Xinye Huyang and sent Lejin to Anzhongqi County, if Cao Ren came back, it would be troublesome.

The scout replied, "It's too dark to see very clearly, and the other party is menacing, and I don't dare to get close to it." ”

Zhang Xiu's face changed slightly, he pondered for a moment, and said, "Go and explore again." ”

"Yui."

The scouts set off again.

And here Zhang Xiu learned that there was an army of unknown origin coming towards this side, and he did not dare to slack off, and immediately gathered his soldiers and prepared to fight.

Unexpectedly, after about ten minutes, the scout came back and reported: "Report, general, the person who came is General Huyang Gan, and Deng Gongcao, who is under the account of Liu Yuanjun in Jingzhou, is also there, saying that he wants to meet the general." ”

"Gan Ning and Deng Hong?"

Zhang Xiu was shocked: "Huyang is two hundred miles away from Wancheng, how could they come over?" ”

The scout shook his head and said, "I don't know very well, but looking at the direction they came from, it seems that they are coming from the direction of Xinye." ”

"Shinno?"

Zhang Xiu pondered for a while, and suddenly asked, "What time is it now?" ”

"It's about the fifth watch."

The scout replied.

The fifth watch day is Pingdan, between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

In ancient times, he went to bed relatively early, and Cao Ying rested at seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and he was almost asleep at about nine o'clock.

The time when Zhang Xiu launched the attack was around eleven to twelve o'clock, which is often referred to as the middle of the night.

In other words, Gan Ning rushed from Xinye to Wancheng within two hours?

Zhang Xiu was a little surprised for a while, so he said to the scout: "Take me to see it." ”

The scout took Zhang Xiu to the south.

To the south is Wancheng, they galloped for more than ten miles, and from a distance, they saw that in the south of Wancheng, there was a long dragon of torches running fast.

Soon they came to the south gate of Wancheng, at this time the sky was already slightly bright, Zhang Xiu saw Deng Hong and Gan Ning by the light.

Deng Hong persuaded him as Liu Biao's envoy at the beginning, and later he met Gan Ning when he helped Liu Biao deal with the Nanyang Yellow Turban, so he naturally knew the two.

Seeing them coming over at this moment, Zhang Xiu's nervous mood relaxed a little, and he immediately stepped forward and said, "General Gan, Deng Gongcao." ”

"General Zhang."

The two rode over, but they did not dismount, but saluted on horseback and said, "How is the situation?" ”

"Forehead ......"

Zhang Xiu didn't know how to answer for a while.

Because he was actually embarrassed to see the two, he didn't know what to say.

Some people in later generations wondered that Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu were allies, and since Zhang Xiu wanted to rebel against Cao Cao, why didn't he ask Liu Biao to send troops to help?

And why did Liu Biao miss the opportunity and not take this opportunity to send troops to eliminate Cao Cao?

The reason is simple.

Zhang Xiu actually really wanted to take refuge in Cao Cao, so he and Liu Biao had fallen out, and the two sides had no contact.

It's just that what Cao Cao did later was too inauthentic, not only occupying other people's aunts, but also plotting to murder Zhang Xiu, so that Zhang Xiu had to rebel.

And in this case, he naturally couldn't go to Liu Biao.

The second is that although the battlefield took place in Wancheng, Wancheng is actually very far away from Xiangyang.

The whole Nanyang Basin is only a little smaller than the Guanzhong Basin, with a length of 200 kilometers from north to south, Wancheng is closer to the north in Nanyang, Xiangyang to Wancheng is 130 kilometers, and Huyang to Wancheng is more than 80 kilometers.

Although Nanyang is flat and the road traffic is very developed, you must know that not long after they started here, Liu Biao learned the news and sent troops over, and he may have to go the day after tomorrow.

Therefore, in Zhang Xiu's mind, it is impossible for Liu Biao to send someone to help him, and this matter can only be completed by his own strength from beginning to end.

So when he saw Gan Ning and Deng Hong who suddenly appeared, Zhang Xiu was actually very surprised, he never expected Liu Biao's army to appear here, could it be that Liu Biao calculated that he would sneak attack Cao Cao today and sent someone over in advance?

Seeing his embarrassed face, Deng Hong immediately understood what he meant, and said: "General Zhang deceived Cao Cao, and Liu Zhijun also knew about it, so when he heard about Mrs. Zou, he immediately sent me and others to help." ”

"Ah, yes, yes, yes."

Zhang Xiu didn't think deeply, and immediately patted his head and borrowed the donkey to get off the slope and said: "The Cao thief came too fast, and before I could inform Liu Yuanjun, he had already surrounded Wancheng, and I had no choice but to surrender, just to take the opportunity to sneak attack him, but fortunately, I succeeded tonight." ”

Deng Hong asked, "Then how is the battle situation now?" ”

"Cao's army was defeated."

Zhang Xiu said with some emotion: "The scattered soldiers ran everywhere, I didn't have enough manpower to pursue, but unfortunately I didn't find Cao Cao." ”

Deng Hong glanced at Gan Ning, the other party nodded slightly, and said: "It's okay, the most important thing now is to immediately annihilate the remnants of Cao Cao's army, weaken Cao Cao's strength, and we will join forces with the generals and soldiers to attack together." ”

Zhang Xiu was overjoyed and said: "That's great, thank you two." ”

At this moment, Gan Ning and Zhang Xiu's soldiers and horses merged into one, continued to pursue the Cao army, fought until dawn, and annihilated and dispersed a large number of Cao army's main forces.

It was only when it was close to noon that the Xiliang army and the Jingzhou soldiers were tired and exhausted, and finally withdrew to Wancheng.

And Yu Ban temporarily built a large number of fortifications because of the camp, Zhang Xiu and Gan Ning did not dare to attack, so he escaped, protected Cao Cao with Cao Hong, collected many defeated soldiers, and retreated to Wuyin County.

After the inventory of soldiers and horses, except for Cao Hong and Yu Banbu who were safe and sound, Cao Cao's own main camp of more than 10,000 people, there was not one in ten, only less than 2,000 people escaped, and the rest were either killed or scattered, this battle can be said to be a heavy loss to the extreme.

Up to now, Cao Cao had not received any news from Dian Wei Cao Ang Cao Anmin, so he was also very anxious, even if he was very sleepy, he couldn't sleep, and kept urging Cao Hong to send scouts to investigate the situation and find out their lives and deaths.

It's just that Zhang Xiu and Gan Ning's army is cleaning up the battlefield, and many people go to watch Dian Wei's corpse, and there are also a large number of Xiliang troops and Jingzhou soldiers wandering around, searching for the belongings on the dead corpses on the battlefield, so the Cao army scouts don't dare to get close to the past.

When daylight passed the next day, Zhang Xiu and Gan Ning arranged for the soldiers to clean up the battlefield and sleep in shifts, while they bracked up their bodies and returned to the Wancheng Taishou Mansion, ready to eat something to fill their hungry stomachs.

Returning to the familiar Taishou Mansion again, Zhang Xiu was still very emotional.

In the hall, he sat in the main seat, Jia Xu and Hu Che'er sat on the right hand, and Deng Hong and Gan Ning sat on the left.

Everyone was very tired after a busy night, but at this moment they still forcibly cheered up, poured one or two glasses of low-alcohol millet wine, and toasted each other.

After everyone finished drinking, Zhang Xiu said: "Thank you Deng Gongcao and General Gan for coming to help, but there is something wrong with embroidery." ”

Deng Hong smiled and said: "General Zhang wanted to ask, how did we learn about this, and rushed to help overnight." ”

"Yes, I plotted to attack Cao Ying this time, and I have never leaked the secrets, how did Gong Cao know about it?"

Zhang Xiu was curious.

Deng Hong smiled silently, but said after a while: "Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to attack my Huyang, and we killed and annihilated him. Later, I heard that Cao Cao entered the city that day and gave General Hu a gift of gold, and then something happened to Mrs. Zou, knowing that the general would inevitably turn against Cao Cao, so he came to help. ”

"Forehead ......"

Zhang Xiu suddenly glanced at Jia Xu with a weak heart, and said with a forced smile on his face: "I see, I see, I really thank you two this time." ”

"It's just a gesture."

Deng Hong waved his hand and said: "It's just that the general killed Cao Cao's eldest son, nephew and confidant Dian Wei in this battle, and formed a deep enmity with Cao Cao. ”

Zhang Xiu said bitterly: "I'm also very worried, I don't know if Mr. can teach me?" ”

Deng Hong muttered: "The general is now defeated by Cao Cao, he should immediately write a letter to Liu Yuanjun, explaining the reason for the matter, saying that Cao's army is too fast and has no time to ask him for reinforcements, so he has to surrender by fraud. ”

Zhang Xiu didn't think much about it, nodded again and again: "That's how it should be." ”

Deng Hong said again: "After Liu Yuanjun gets the letter, he will no longer doubt the general, and then the general can ask Liu Yuanjun to send heavy troops to be stationed in Huyang, Biyang and other places, and advance and retreat together with the general, so as to resist Cao Cao's attack." ”

"I see."

Zhang Xiu said: "Tomorrow I will write a letter and send someone to Xiangyang." ”

Deng Hong smiled: "That's the best." ”

The two chatted for a while, and the kitchen finally brought the dishes, and several people had not eaten since yesterday, and they were hungry and filled their stomachs, and then they dispersed.

Gan Ning and Deng Hong went back to reorganize the soldiers and horses, and stationed them on the spot first, and the location of the camp was the camp that Cao Cao did not burn down yesterday.

Zhang Xiu stepped up his efforts to send a message to the surrounding counties, informing him that the surrounding counties had ordered him to recover the news that Nanyang had been recovered.

In the evening, at this time, Zhang Xiu hadn't slept since yesterday, he was very tired, and he was about to go back to the barracks to have a good rest, but he didn't expect Jia Xu to suddenly find him.

The two met in the tent of Zhang Xiujunzhong, and Jia Xu came in and said, "General." ”

Zhang Xiu was very tired, but when she saw Jia Xu coming, she still cheered up and said, "It turned out to be my uncle, what's the matter?" ”

Jia Xu muttered: "Now that Cao Cao is not dead, there are endless troubles, he coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and soon he will reorganize his troops and horses to attack Nanyang again, does the general really plan to burn Cao Cao's jade?" ”

Zhang Xiu was still angry, and said coldly: "Hmph, this Cao thief is just a villain who doesn't believe in his words, and he said it well when he recruited me, but what happened?" Not only did he insult my aunt, but he also plotted to get rid of me, could my uncle be lucky with him? ”

Jia Xu knew that it would definitely be unrealistic to tell Zhang Xiu about surrendering Cao Cao at least for now, so he immediately said: "Naturally not, I mean, the road of surrendering to Cao Cao will definitely not work, we may have to find another way." ”

"Elsewhere?"

Zhang Xiu was surprised: "Isn't this Nanyang bad?" ”

"Cao Cao will come again." Jia Xu said: "This time to be able to defeat Cao Jun is calculated or not, it will be impossible to win such a victory again when Cao Jun comes again." ”

Zhang Xiu pondered: "We can unite with Liu Biao to fight against Cao's army." ”

"Liu Biao?"

Jia Xu sneered and said, "Doesn't the general think that Liu Biao is even more protective of us?" ”

"What do you mean by that, uncle?"

Zhang Xiu didn't understand.

Jia Xu's eyes were calm, and he said softly: "I mean, Liu Biao has already sent someone to secretly monitor our every move, and once we no longer need him, I am afraid that it will be the time when he sends troops to destroy us." ”

Zhang Xiu looked at Jia Xu with a stunned face, a little at a loss.