On April 20 of the first year of Jianxing, Shen Chen, the general of the Han hussars, defeated Cao's army of 60,000 with a force of about 40,000 in the battle of Leishou Mountain, and killed Cao Zhen, the general of the enemy's Zhenxi.

Between the 21st and the 23rd, Shen Chen escorted the prisoners, cleaned up the battlefield, and led the soldiers and horses back to Pusaka.

But on the same day as the Battle of Leishou Mountain, a battle also took place in Puban County, in order to respond to Cao Zhen and prevent the Han army outside Puban City from rescuing Shen Chen, he took the initiative to attack and attacked the Han army camp.

Xu Huang thought that if Shen Chen was not there, even if the Han army was numerous and there was no general to command, even if he could not defeat them, at least he would be able to retreat.

Unexpectedly, when he led the soldiers to raid the Han army camp, Zhao Yun suddenly led the team to kill and defeated him.

After Xu Huang fought to the death, he reluctantly retreated to Puban City with some of the remnants.

As a result, on the 21st, he heard the news that Cao's army was defeated at Leishou Mountain, and even Cao Zhen was killed.

"What?"

In Puban County, Xu Huang was naked, with a bandage wrapped around his right shoulder, and was originally resting on the bed, but when he heard the news, he sat up almost like a bullet.

Because of the excessive force, the wound was touched, so that the original white gauze was soaked with bright red blood.

But Xu Huang didn't care about this, and came to Zhou Sheng in three steps and two steps, and almost gritted his teeth and asked, "You said that General Zhenxi died in battle?" What the hell is going on? What are you eating? ”

Sun Li and Zhou Sheng were responsible for the sneak attack on Shen Chen's rear together as cavalry, but Shen Chen was desperate and burned the middle camp to disconnect Sun Li and Zhou Sheng's cavalry, only Sun Li led thousands of people to dismount and rush over, and now he has also died in battle.

Zhou Sheng led more than 10,000 cavalry to be blocked by the fire, and he couldn't pass, so he could only anxiously circle around the periphery, trying to find a way to join the battlefield, but he couldn't break through the sea of fire, so it was almost useless.

When it was evening, some of the routs who had escaped from the mountains joined him, and Zhou Sheng knew that he had been defeated in front, and even Cao Zhen had been killed by Shen Chen himself.

In desperation, he could only flee back to Kasaka overnight.

Although the Han army surrounded Pusaka, because the strength was not exaggerated to the point that it could encircle the entire city, Zhou Sheng still entered the city through the east gate and informed Xu Huang of the news.

At this moment, in the face of Xu Huang's anger, Zhou Sheng said with a crying voice: "The Han army is also in ambush, Ma Dai crossed the Yellow River, and Pang De's fleet went south to the battlefield. Shen Chen set fire to his own camp, we can't get by, and there is no way to rush to the aid of the Metropolitan Governor. ”

"It's over, it's over."

Xu Huang sat back on the bed, only to feel that his brain was buzzing, and the whole person was in a trance, even if the wound on his shoulder that was stabbed by Zhao Yun burst out, and the blood kept gushing out, he didn't seem to notice it.

He really only felt like the sky was ruined now, because Cao Zhen was defeated, and with Zhu Ling's death, the entire western front of Cao's army had completely collapsed.

Now there are only 10,000 defenders of Tongguan and more than 10,000 people here, even if Zhou Sheng brings back more than 10,000 cavalry, he will only have more than 20,000 people, and he will not be able to hold Hedong at all.

Once Hedong County is taken, the annexation of the state will be completely undefended, so the Han army's troops will be directed at Luoyang and Hebei, and the entire hinterland of the Central Plains will be in danger.

So Xu Huang knows one thing very well, that is, Hedong will definitely not be able to keep it, where will he go next?

Lu Jianyang, the general next to him, came over, and when he saw Xu Huang's dejected appearance, he hurriedly persuaded: "General, now that the Metropolitan Governor has been defeated, and our food in the city can't last long, what should we do?" ”

That's a big problem.

Before, more than 10,000 of them could eat for half a year, but now more than two months have passed, and there are less than four months of grain and grass left.

The problem is that Zhou Sheng brought more than 10,000 people over, and if he persists, the grain and grass may not last for two months.

At most, it will take a month and a half to eat, not counting the consumption of horses, that is, Zhou Sheng is quite smart, he didn't bring all the people over, but only brought hundreds of guards into the city to report.

Otherwise, more than 10,000 horses will enter the city, and it is estimated that the grain and grass will be gone in more than 20 days.

Xu Huang gradually recovered from the shock, his face was already ugly, and after a long while, he said: "Withdraw the troops, you must withdraw and merge before Shen Chen returns!" ”

"General, I'm afraid the enemy will also guess that we are going to withdraw our troops, what can we do?"

Lu Jian said worriedly.

Xu Huang gritted his teeth: "We can't fight at night, we have more cavalry, so we should give full play to our advantages, let all the cavalry enter the city today, use the grain and grass in the city to let everyone eat and drink, and then everyone will bring dry food and go out of the city during the day tomorrow." ”

"Out of town during the day?"

Yang Ping was surprised: "If this Zhao Yun chases after us, wouldn't we?"

Only then did Xu Huang realize the severe pain in his shoulder, so he had to hold the bandage on his shoulder and frown and said, "If you leave tonight, you will be ambushed." What's more, at night, we can't give full play to the ability of cavalry, and we are chased and beaten by tens of thousands of foot soldiers, which is called bad. ”

Horses' night vision is actually excellent, much stronger than that of people. The key is that the cavalry itself will not be able to see the road clearly at night, and once it is attacked by the Han army, if the cavalry is chaotic, it is easy to cause collapse.

Therefore, the best way is to evacuate during the day, and if Zhao Yun chases him out, he will use the mobility of the cavalry to fight and retreat at the same time, covering the escape of the foot soldiers.

At this point, Xu Huang is still clear, and the Han army also knows that they don't have much food and grass, once Shen Chen's main force returns to the division, and the seventy or eighty thousand Han troops surround Pusaka, then Pusaka will inevitably be broken, so the Han army also knows that they will definitely leave in these two days.

Even the Han army may have sent people to set up an ambush outside Dongcheng tonight, so Xu Huang must think carefully about how to leave.

It is much better to go out during the day than to run out at night and then be ambushed.

Several of the people here are experienced generals, and naturally they understand that what Xu Huang said is right, although there are thirty or forty thousand people outside the Han army, and the number is far more than them, but at least the cavalry of the Han army is now in the south, and in the face of thirty or forty thousand foot soldiers, if you run with one mind, it should still not be a big problem.

So everyone felt that Xu Huang was reasonable, and they all agreed.

At that moment, Xu Huang did not hesitate, and immediately let Zhou Sheng and Yang Ping go out of the city, and first bring the cavalry back to the city, now most of the places in Hedong have been occupied by the Han army, these cavalry have no place to go, and there is no food and grass supply, and the people and horses who do not enter the city will be hungry, so they will replenish some supplies before making plans.

The worst result is nothing more than to abandon the baggage of the entire city, all the soldiers travel lightly, only carry weapons and a little dry food on their bodies, and flee with their heads and horses, as long as they can run dozens of miles away in a short time, they do not believe that the Han army can still catch up.

And just when Xu Huang got the news and was ready to withdraw his troops and leave and retreat to the state, Zhao Yun's side also knew that Shen Chen had won a complete victory, and even Cao Zhen, the general of Cao Wei Zhenxi, was killed.

"Okay!"

In the Zhao Yun camp, the generals sat separately.

He sat on the first place, listened to the messenger's words, and said happily: "The governor of the capital will raise the prestige of our Han army in this battle, and it will not be long before Hedong County and Bingzhou will be taken." ”

"General."

Wu Dang, the general of the department, as Shen Chen's disciple, is still very level, and immediately said: "Xu Huang is afraid that he will also get the news soon, he does not have much food and grass in the city, once he waits for the governor of Dadu to come back, he should understand that Pu Ban will definitely not be able to hold it, so he will inevitably flee in the next few days." ”

"Hmm."

Zhao Yun nodded slightly, looked around and said: "Reasonable, as long as Xu Huang is not stupid, he will definitely be like this, I will personally take people to Dongcheng to set up an ambush, and from tomorrow, you will send troops every morning to surround the western, southern, and northern cities, and force Xu Huang to escape from Dongcheng." ”

"Yui!"

All the soldiers should be surprised.

However, in the evening of the same day, the Han army scouts came to report that a large group of cavalry had entered the city from the east gate.

There is a lot of news on the battlefield, and all kinds of information are constantly coming and going.

Zhao Yun also knew that some of Cao's cavalry had successfully escaped, so he also guessed that it was Zhou Sheng's cavalry that ran back, so he didn't care.

Soon the next day, in the early morning, the Han army sounded horns and beat gongs and drums to assemble.

A column of Han soldiers was ready to march out and lined up outside the city.

Xu Huang at the head of the city probably understood what the Han army wanted to do, and Lu Jian, the general next to him, said: "General, is the Han army planning to attack the city today?" ”

"Not necessarily, the siege is not so easy, they want to hold us back, if my expectations are correct, there are obviously ambushes outside the east city, and if you go out at this time, I am afraid that you will encounter an ambush."

Xu Huang said.

"How's that for good?"

Yang Ping, the general on the other side, said sadly: "Isn't it impossible to leave?" ”

Xu Huang pondered for a moment.

He guessed that Zhao Yun would definitely be prepared, but he didn't expect Zhao Yun to directly besiege the city on three sides, and then set up an ambush outside the eastern city.

If you go out of the city directly from the east gate according to the original plan, you will definitely be stopped by Zhao Yun's ambush.

At that time, the Han army of the other three gates will also surround them and surround them.

Although they have cavalry, they can choose one horse and two people, the problem is that one horse and two people can not withstand short distances, but they cannot withstand long distances. What's more, if you go out directly from the east gate, you won't be able to run far in a short distance.

The main reason is that there is a river and a forest outside the east gate, and the river is the Shushui River, which goes around the southern castle of Kasaka to the eastern castle, and if they run out, they have to cross the river.

If the Han army did not encircle on all sides, but took a slow step to guard the barracks, they could leave calmly, first run to the river to cross the river, and then swagger away, so that the Han army would be too late to go out of the camp and encircle.

But for now.

Xu Huang thought about the terrain around Pusaka, the Han army reacted too quickly, originally he planned to leave today, but the current situation may not be suitable, maybe he should make adequate plans.

Thinking of this, Xu Huang first ordered the officers and soldiers of the three armies to rest well in the city, eat and sleep, and not rush out of the city, but wait.

He himself went to the gates and towers to see what was going on.

Outside the east city gate, about four or five miles away from the city, the wide official road is flanked by dense forests, and between the forests was originally a village, full of fields, now the village is deserted, the fields are overgrown with weeds, and about seven or eight miles to the east is the Lianshui River.

Outside the south city gate, it is closer to the Shushui River, about three or four miles to the river, the camp of the Han army is stationed there, and the Han army is now arrayed outside the city, it is not easy to get close to the past.

Not to mention the West City Gate, which was the main camp of the Han army.

Only the north gate looks pretty good, although there are also Han army camps stationed, but the terrain is flat, as long as you can bypass the Han army camp, the horses can be unimpeded on the plain.

After the investigation, Xu Huang probably knew what to do, so he summoned the generals and secretly made a plan.

At the same time, in the dense forest of the East City Gate, the 8,000 Han troops were waiting solemnly, the forest was dense, and only the middle official road was relatively spacious, but it was absolutely impossible to pass so many cavalry at one time, so it was normal to set up an ambush in the forest.

The most important thing is that Zhao Yun is not afraid that Cao Jun will know that they are setting up an ambush, their task is to drag Cao Jun, and when Cao Jun is entangled by them, the rest of the Han army will naturally flock to it.

The Han army had been waiting solemnly in the forest, and by the evening, the scouts in front had not reported the situation, and Cao Jun did not act as if he had cowered down.

"Strange."

On a small hillside in the forest, Zhao Yun rode on horseback, overlooking the city in the west, slightly puzzled.

It stands to reason that Xu Huang shouldn't be so stupid, wait until Shen Chen's main force comes back.

You must know that Lei Shoushan is only a day or two away from Pusaka, and after the battle on the 20th, even if he wants to clean up the battlefield, he can't delay it for a few days, and there is only so much time left for him to escape, isn't he in a hurry?

Wu Tao, the general next to him, said: "General, will Xu Huang want to wait until after dark to act?" After all, after dark, we also have to go back to the camp to rest, and we can't keep watch outside the city all the time. ”

"Well, it's possible."

Zhao Yun nodded, and began to think in his heart, if he was Xu Huang, what should he do now?

Shen Chen often told his generals and students that they had to learn to empathize on the battlefield.

Although Zhao Yun was not Shen Chen's student, experience like this was something that a high-ranking general should learn, and he couldn't always just think about fighting without a brain.

Just as I was thinking about it, a scout suddenly came to report: "Report! The enemy's eastern gate was wide open, and thousands of cavalry came out. ”

"It must be the vanguard of the Cao army."

Another general, Huo Yang, said: "General, do you want to intercept them?" ”

"Wait a little longer"

Zhao Yun pondered: "I always feel that something is wrong, in addition to thousands of cavalry, is there anything else?" ”

"Nope."

The scout replied.

"Let's go."

Zhao Yunle turned his horse head and said, "Come with me and take a look." ”

As he spoke, he galloped down the hill and approached the exit of the forest in front of him.

I saw thousands of war horses on the official road in the distance slowly moving forward, and behind the person at the head of the person was carrying a big flag, on which the word "Xu" was written.

Xu Huang?

Zhao Yun only felt very puzzled, the other party only sent thousands of cavalry out, where did the rest of the people go?

The speed of the infantry is slower than that of the cavalry, since they are leaving, they will send the cavalry out to be the vanguard first, aren't they afraid of disturbing the Han army, and after the Han army is encircled, the infantry in the city will not be able to escape?

After a while, Xu Huang's army was already approaching the edge of the forest, and a general said, "General, they are here, give an order." ”

"Hmm"

Zhao Yun hesitated slightly, at this time, a melodious horn sounded suddenly from the north in the distance, because the distance was very far, he couldn't hear it too clearly, but he could still barely distinguish that it was the horn of the Han army.

"Not good!"

Zhao Yun understood in an instant, and immediately said: "The enemy intends to break through from the north gate, this is a bait to deceive us. ”

As soon as he said this, the cavalry who had approached the forest immediately changed their formation and ran north.

"Chase!"

Zhao Yun waved his hand and galloped out of the forest.

Nearly 10,000 Han troops in the forest suddenly shouted and shouted killing, and chased after Xu Huang.

(End of chapter)