Lei Tong rushed to Zhang Fei and said, "General, I found out some news!" ”

Zhang Fei hummed and waited for Lei Tong to continue, but he didn't expect Lei Tong to lean over and look back.

Zhang Feiqi said: "What are you doing looking left and right? Tell me about the news, you know I'm in a hurry, and I'm still talking! ”

Lei Tong whispered: "General, let's stay away!" ”

After saying that, he hit Zhang Fei's horse twice, the horse strode forward, and Lei Tong and Zhang Fei said side by side: "Bad news, I don't want to be heard by everyone."

Most of the 30,000 soldiers were miscellaneous soldiers, of which 20,000 were transferred from various counties and were temporarily forcibly recruited.

Having just learned to ride a horse, they have never been trained harshly, and as for facing the enemy in battle, there is no way to talk about the battle on the battlefield, and I am afraid that when they learn the news of some defeat, they will spread the word from one to another, and rumors will be generated, and chaos will be caused before the battle! ”

Zhang Fei unconsciously glanced behind him and said in a low voice: "What's the situation!" ”

Lei Tong said: "According to the captured more than ten Cao army scouts, our army suffered a heavy defeat and lost 20,000 or 30,000 people.

I suspect that the Cao army scouts will deliberately exaggerate the small defeat or the Cao army rumors to boost morale, or even nonsense, our army has not been defeated at all!

I have sent scouts and rangers to search for signs of large-scale engagement, and definite news will be forthcoming. ”

Zhang Fei stared at the ground and said: "Order, the whole army will sound the drum and spread the flag, and the whole army will attack!" ”

Lei Tong exclaimed: "The scouts have not brought back the exact news, it is too risky to send troops now, regardless of whether our army wins or loses, it is certain that the Cao army has concentrated a considerable part of its troops." ”

Zhang Fei said: "If our army is defeated, it will not be good for our army to drag it down."

When I came, I and Pang Junshi calculated that the Cao army's interception force would not exceed 100,000 at most, only a few, and now the Cao army besieged Feng Xi and did not attack it, which is equivalent to proving this conjecture!

Cao's army was unwilling to bear the excessive casualties caused by the strong attack, and the siege could liberate the troops to the greatest extent.

Then there is the Cao army under Nanyang City, which obviously suppressed the 20,000 soldiers and horses of Lingbao, but did not seek to further kill and injure our army, and was eager to turn north, which proved that the Cao army that intercepted our army's southward retreat was not strong, and it was in urgent need of reinforcements.

Our army went all the way north, and so far has not encountered a Cao army stationed on the main road to guard against our reinforcements.

Thinking about it the other way, Zhang He led his troops to leave under Nanyang City, and Xiahou Shang only led 10,000 people to bluff, they should have thought that Ling Bao would see through Xiahou Shang sooner or later, what if Ling Bao rushed to reinforcements or Jingzhou sent troops north again?

I dare to conclude that the Cao army has a maximum of 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers and horses, and now the Cao army's attention is concentrated on the south and withdrawing troops immediately.

30,000 cavalry, do they dare to fight, how to fight, take advantage of Cao's army's reaction to quickly respond to the retreat of troops and horses in the south?

In addition, Cao Jun really has the strength to defeat us, and there is no difference between us appearing early or late, in that case, retreating as soon as possible or thinking of another way is a hundred times stronger than dragging it out.

The words of the Cao army scouts have proved that the southern withdrawal of troops and horses is just around the corner, and naturally the Cao army will be chasing after them, and dragging it down is definitely not the best policy! Lei Tong agreed.

Zhang Fei summoned the generals and ordered: "According to the news of the detective, the soldiers and horses we received to retreat south are nearby, and of course the Cao army also has soldiers and horses to stop them.

Today, the troops are divided into three routes, and the general will lead the 7,000 cavalry capable of fighting as the vanguard to block the Cao army head-on.

The two generals, Wu Ban and Ma Dai, each led 10,000 men and then listened to my dispatch.

General Lei Tong led 3,000 cavalry to attack the Cao army that confronted Feng Xi, and cooperated with Feng Xi's soldiers and horses to break through the Cao army, eliminate the threat of our army's flank, remember not to chase deeply, just force back, and keep a close distance from me! Wu Ban, Lei Tong, and Ma Dai all responded to the promise.

Zhang Fei said sternly: "Listen, everyone, our army knows what is going on in their hearts, remember to be careful, soldiers are never allowed to look around and talk to each other."

The array must be neat, and the placement of flags and blades must be in accordance with instructions, and no mistakes are allowed. Whoever disobeys is immediately beheaded! The generals said yes loudly.

The Han army showed its traces, and the Cao army scouts immediately noticed it and quickly reported to Xu Huang.

Knowing that it was the cavalry of the Han army that killed, Xu Huang, Cao Xiu, and Zhang He couldn't help but feel incredible.

Xu Huang frowned and said: "Where did the thief army come from cavalry, it is impossible for Jingzhou to have a large number of cavalry, presumably it was from Chuanzhong and Longyou?" ”

Zhang He said fiercely: "The two counties of Fangling and Nanxiang were attacked by the thief army, and the road between Hanzhong and Xiangyang was opened. ”

Xu Huang asked from the scout: "How many thieves have come out?" ”

The scout replied: "The thief soldiers of the villain detective rushed to report, and the specific news has not yet been discovered, so the villain will go and investigate!" ”

Cao Xiu waved his hand and said, "Go and find out quickly!" The scout departed.

Cao Xiu thought of something and said, "Could it be that Liu Bei personally led the crowd to come?" ”

Zhang Jaw said: "If it is really Liu Bei who came in person, why did the thief army choose to retreat south?" Guan Yu stayed in Tun and Lu Hun, Liu Bei went north from Xiangfan, one north and one south wanted to echo, wouldn't it be better to cooperate with two pincer attacks to attack Yuzhou and Nanyang!

The thief army retreated south because of cowardice, so it is unlikely that Liu Bei would personally bring troops over? ”

Xu Huang stopped: "We haven't seen the thief army here Hu Guess, the soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, now the morale is high, the general's army will arrive in a moment, no one has to be afraid, the whole army will fight with the thief army!" ”

Cao Xiu and Zhang He glanced at each other, and Zhang He said: "What Gongming said is very true! ”

Cao Xiu continued: "I led the cavalry, and I led the foot soldiers out of the village, and stood up between the thief army who retreated south and the thief army who came to help, and Gongming responded to the camp according to the garrison, waiting for the thief army to come!"

As for the remnants of Ganning's army, I think they have just suffered a miserable defeat, and they are too busy to take care of themselves, so they will not take the initiative to attack, and it is enough to send a partial division to monitor! The three of them have decided to prepare.

The sky was large, Zhang Fei led the cavalry to appear slowly, the Zhangba snake spear was raised, and the Han cavalry stopped and confronted the Cao army, which had been waiting in array for a long time.

Zhang Fei said to the generals around him: "The Cao army dared to line up to resist head-on, which shows that the troops are not weak, and gave orders to Wu Ban and Ma Dai, so that he must maintain a good array, without the slightest panic, and slowly press over from the flank, forming an encirclement of the Cao army." His men hurried to the herald.

Zhang Fei's cavalry lined up in formation and watched the formation carefully.

Cao Xiu and Zhang He looked at the Han army and saw the banner book 'Han Right General Zhang'.

Zhang He said to Cao Xiu: "It's Zhang Fei, his bravery is extraordinary, he has experienced a hundred battles, and he can't be underestimated!" ”

Cao Xiu heard Zhang He praise Zhang Fei and said disdainfully: "Zhang Fei, what is there to fear, the thief army is in battle, if you don't fight, you will show weakness, wait for me to fight with it!" ”

Zhang He stopped: "Wen Lie, don't move lightly, according to the scout's report, I am afraid that there are soldiers and horses behind the thief army, and I don't know how to prepare for it, and it is too risky to fight with the thief."

The general's army will arrive by noon tomorrow at the latest, and we will fight steadily and steadily to block the combined forces of Zhang Fei and Gan Ning, which is enough to be invincible, and we cannot be brave! ”

Cao Xiu listened and agreed, and did not take action according to the heart of resisting the invitation to fight.

Zhang Fei saw that Cao Jun was not moving, and said to the generals beside him: "It is useless to confront the battle situation, I want to lead the cavalry to charge into battle, fight the grass and startle the snake, and explore the reality of Cao Jun!"

The order was to leave half of the soldiers and horses to monitor the cavalry of the Cao army, so that they would be afraid, and I personally led the rest of the cavalry to attack the infantry of the Cao army as a test. "The generals commanded.

The Han army lined up neatly, beat drums and attacked, and Zhang Fei took the lead in prancing horses and holding spears to approach Cao's foot soldiers. Seeing that the Han army took the initiative to attack, Xu Huang on the camp saw it clearly, and ordered the bow and crossbow to open the strings and wait for the order.

Zhang He and Cao Xiu entered the battle separately to lead the infantry and cavalry, and Zhang He was calm and comfortable, commanding Cao's army to erect guns and halberds and line up the shield array.

Cao Xiu ordered the cavalry to move to the front of the infantry flank, and once the Han army rushed into the infantry formation, they immediately attacked from the flank.

Although half of the Han cavalry was staring at the front, Cao Xiu didn't take it to heart, after all, the Cao army had more than 10,000 cavalry, and the Han army was only 4,000, which had an absolute advantage in numbers, and it was not difficult to block it separately.

Cao Xiu commanded the cavalry to increase the distance so that the horses could charge up in case of an attack.

The cavalry of the Han army waved their flags and screamed to kill the Cao army, with a majestic momentum.

Zhang Fei, the leader, hung a spear and took a bow, Zhang Gong shot a series of arrows, and when the arrows were shot in front of Cao Jun, he wanted to enter the range of shots, Zhang Fei calculated the distance and waved his hand and shouted: "Go around the formation, release the arrows!" ”

The cavalry of the Han army quickly circled around on the left and right, Zhang Fei ordered the arrows to be released, and the Han army fired arrows in unison, but the distance was not enough, and the arrows fell in front of the Cao army.

Zhang Fei didn't care, his purpose was to provoke and then retreat back to rendezvous, charge again, and repeat several times.

Zhang He understood that the Han army was a false move, not to attack, and ordered the Cao army to calm down, advance steadily, and counterpressure the Han army.

Zhang Fei saw that Cao Jun was not afraid of the might of the cavalry, and could not attack strongly, so he could only retreat.

Cao Xiu watched the Han army's division and retreat on the flank, and couldn't help but admire the well-trained cavalry of the Han army.

Xu Huang stared at the Han army in the camp, and they understood that the Han army had come from afar to support the southern withdrawal of troops and horses.

At present, the combat power displayed by the Han cavalry is limited enough to cut off the Han army's attempt to meet. Xu Huang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly faintly heard the sound of horns floating in his ears.

With the direction from which the sound came, several riders from afar came at a rapid pace.

Xu Huang recognized that it was his own scout, and hurriedly beckoned Cao Xiu to send a ranger to respond, but Zhang Fei did not stop him after noticing it.

The scout hurriedly walked in front of Xu Huang and reported: "General, something is wrong, about 20,000 cavalry of the thief army are coming!" ”

Xu Huang was surprised in his heart, but said indifferently: "You can see clearly!" ”

The scout affirmed: "The villain can see clearly, all the cavalry is coming in this direction in an array!" Xu Huang waved his hand, and the scout stepped back.

Xu Huang looked at the village and saw that Zhang He and Cao Xiu were unconsciously looking at him, and the two also learned the news.

Xu Huang instructed the guards beside him: "Hurry up and inform the soldiers who are monitoring the Gan Ning Army to retreat, and retreat to the soldiers who surround Feng Xi's army, and come to rendezvous!" The guards answered the promise and went their separate ways.

Xu Huang faintly rushed to the bad in his heart: "The 30,000 cavalry of the thief army came too suddenly, and with the current strength, the chance of winning a head-to-head confrontation is extremely low, I am afraid that it will be difficult to prevent the two thief armies from meeting!"

The only way to concentrate all the soldiers and horses is to take the cruising and entanglement, drag the thief army and wait for Cao Ren's army to arrive! ”

Xu Huang unconsciously held the wall with his hand and looked down, Zhang He and Cao Xiu tacitly commanded the Cao army to shrink the defensive line, and the cavalry who was about to attack also retreated to the side of the foot soldiers, it seems that both of them realized that they could not fight head-on with 30,000 cavalry.

Zhang Fei was overjoyed when he saw this, it seemed that Cao Jun was frightened, and he didn't dare to move lightly for the time being, the most important thing now was to contact the Han army that retreated south, and Zhang Fei sent rangers to expand the search.

The scattered Han army found out the retreat of the Cao army, and groped in the direction of the vine and successfully found the Han army.

Zhao Lei was overjoyed to learn that reinforcements had arrived, and quickly informed the whole army of the news, which restored the originally low morale.

Zhao Lei immediately packed up and went to rendezvous, and now the main force of Cao's army can't get out, and the 20,000 Han army is equivalent to saying that there is no threat. Without delay, Zhao Lei threw away the only remaining canes, equipment, baggage, etc., and the whole army only brought grain and grass, and rushed over.

In Cao Yingzhong, Xu Huang, who learned the news of Gan Ningjun's actions, touched his forehead and felt sad in his heart, the 20,000 thief army was about to run away, and he couldn't do anything, and the meat on his mouth flew away, and it was uncomfortable for anyone to rest.

The Han cavalry's desire to attack was not strong, and they were focused on watching the village, and Cao Xiu ignored the provocations several times.

Cao Xiu and Zhang He, who had returned from scolding the battle again, said anxiously: "Junyi, it's not a way to drag it out like this, it's better for the whole army to attack for a while, and the victory or defeat will be happy!" ”

Zhang He flatly refused: "Where is the chance of victory?" Wen Lie, there are too many cavalry of the thief army, there is no need to use calculations, 10,000 and our cavalry block, 10,000 and our foot soldiers, 10,000 cavalry waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of the battle to cut into the depths, our army is difficult to parry.

Besides, there are still 20,000 thieves in Ganning who have not moved, and it is possible that our army will be wiped out! Rubbing his hands, Cao Xiu sighed heavily.

As he spoke, the southeast direction of the Cao army galloped towards several horses, but the Han army still did not stop it.

Cao Junxin rode to Zhang He and Cao Xiu and hurriedly said: "General, the big thing is not good, our army's soldiers and horses besieging Feng Xi were attacked by the thief cavalry, and the thief army met and attacked, and our army was defeated. ”

Zhang He hurriedly asked: "Is the whole army broken up or can still fight!" ”

Xinqi said: "Our army could not hold its position, and retreated in defeat, and did not disperse. But it's not easy to fight back, and the general sent a villain to ask for support! ”

Cao Xiu said angrily: "Look at the thieves on the other side, do you think they will let us go for reinforcements?" ”

Xinqi was stunned for a moment, speechless, Zhang He hurriedly said: "You did a good job, go and report to General Xu!" "The letter rider agreed to enter the village.

Cao Xiu consciously lost his words, and the letter rode desperately to report the news, where could he control the battle situation, but he mocked. Cao Xiu looked at Zhang He embarrassedly and said, "I'll go back to the main formation first, and then discuss it if I have something!" ”

Xu Huang heard the report of the letter cavalry: "You go back immediately and let General Wu tell him not to worry, stabilize his position, entangle the thief army, and the reinforcements will come in a day, and then it will be the time for him to make great achievements." ”

Xinqi received the order, Xu Huang was afraid that the Han army would block him, so he asked Xinqi to go north and go around in a big circle to report the news.

In the Han army, Zhang Fei also received a report from Lei Tong, the news of the victory made him very satisfied, Zhang Fei ordered Lei Tong to lead the cavalry to continue to hold the Cao army, Feng Xi's troops withdrew to the Quepo eleven miles away to dig a trench, line up the horses, withdraw from there tonight, and make preparations early.

Xu Huang and Zhang He never thought that the Han army was just a false appearance, the two of them were famous generals, thoughtful, good at checking the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and me, and even better at taking the opportunity to act.

However, they are not as energetic as young generals like Cao Xiu, and in the face of the uniform Han army, their minds are stumped, how can they be willing to risk the defeat of the whole army!

Who would have thought that the Han army would be defeated in it, but then again, such a thing is difficult to encounter once in ten battles, and the general will choose each attempt for an opportunity, even if the loss of victory is difficult to offset the loss of the next temptation, Pang Tong has already figured out Cao Jun's mind, and it is expected that Cao will not dare to take risks.

The two armies held each other for three hours, and before the time, Gan Ning and Zhao Lei arrived, and Zhang Fei ordered the two to retreat first, because they were afraid of affecting Zhang Fei, so they did not tell Zhang Fei the news that Gan Ning was seriously injured.

There is still a long way to retreat south, in order to prevent Gan Ning's wound from being bumped, Zhao Lei used four horses to hold a net, and spread a thick Shu brocade to cover Gan Ning.