Cao Ren, Cao Xiu, and Xu Huang joined forces with Zhang He and others, feasted and nourished their spirits. Quepo's clothes and armor burned out, Cao Jun cleared a road, and the whole army looked at Nanyang.

Ling Bao was guarding the camp, and had already sent scouts to listen to the movements of the Cao army, and learned that tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Cao army were killed, and Ling Bao hurriedly blocked the gate of the village, and prepared wood and artillery to block the Cao army.

When Cao's army was still more than ten miles away from the camp, Guan Yu's retreat order came, and Ling Bao felt in a dilemma, although there were horses when he retreated, but the foot soldiers were a mess, and the cavalry was too risky, and he was caught up and powerless to fight.

If the formation retreats south, it will be slow to move, and it will be dragged to death by the Cao army, and the main force of the Han army will retreat without help, and the whole army will still be annihilated. According to the village, the Cao army may not attack the village, and it is still defeated if it traps itself.

Ling Bao scolded in his heart: The retreat was so sudden that it was unexpected, and there was nowhere to hide in the daytime, all the actions were in the open, and I didn't want to use the dim environment at night.

Ling Bao weighed it, or retreated quickly on horseback, and it was not easy for Cao's army to catch up! hurriedly pulled out the horses left by Zhang Fei, considering that most of the troops were foot soldiers, and they rarely knew how to ride horses.

Ling Bao ordered each person to prepare a rope, and after riding on the horse, tie his waist to the saddle, clamp his legs hard, carry all the weapons and shields behind his back, and hold the reins with free hands.

Ling Bud with 6,000 foot soldiers to ride south first, retreat without thinking about how to fight, maintain the fastest speed to retreat south, in order to deal with the accident, the 2,000 cavalry divided into 500 cavalry to solve the situation of improper horse control during the march.

Ling Bao led a thousand cavalry to battle in front of the village, wanting to delay a little, and the other five hundred cavalry hunted down the Cao army scouts with all their strength to block the news.

Cao Jun came to kill in a mighty way, and when he saw the Han army in front of the village, Cao Ren said to Cao Xiu and Xu Huang: "The thieves must be here to prevent us from chasing, and now the time is pressing, don't pay attention to the small group of thieves."

The two of you led the main force from the west of the camp to the city of Nanyang, and you must bite the thief army.

Zhang He stayed here to confront the thief army, I led the soldiers and horses to the back of the village, and when the time came, I saw the wolf smoke as the number, the front and back flank, testing the strength of the thief army to defend the village, the best drum down, if not, it was trapped, and the main force of the thief army was defeated in the back to solve! The generals agreed and transferred their troops separately.

Ling Bao saw that Cao Jun was not in a hurry to attack him, but divided his troops to act, knowing that it was not good, if Cao Jun went around to the back of the village, he would be surrounded when he landed.

As a last resort, Ling Bao led a group of Han troops to turn over and enter the village, which had been emptied, and the cavalry could gallop at will.

As soon as Ling Bud retreated, he was timid, Zhang Hedeng understood it, and hurriedly reported to Cao Ren, who immediately led his troops and horses to speed up to the back of the village.

The main force of soldiers and horses divided into cavalry, led by Cao Xiu, to help intercept the retreating Han army, hoping to block Lingbao.

Ling Bao retreated to the village and set fire, the horse retreated sharply, the Han army retreated to the village, Zhang He led the troops to rush to the Han camp, but the Han camp fire gradually ignited, Zhang He's department was full of foot soldiers, the speed was too slow, it was too dangerous to catch up and fall into the sea of fire, so he had to give up going deeper.

Cao Ren hurriedly sent an envoy to Nanyang to inform Xiahou Shang and Yu Ban: The thief army blocked the soldiers and horses from retreating without a fight, and it is very likely that they are preparing to retreat south, so that the two of you can quickly go out to intercept the Han army, so as to wait for the army to arrive and cooperate with the flanking attack.

The Han army retreated in a hurry, the Cao army hurried, the two armies could see each other one after the other, Ling Bao beat the horses tightly, sprinted with all his strength, and caught up with the 6,000 foot soldiers and 500 cavalry who retreated in advance.

Han infantry is a foot soldier after all, and his riding skills are unsatisfactory, Ling Bao looked at the Cao army who followed him like a shadow, and knew that he would definitely be caught up by the well-trained Cao army cavalry if he ran like this.

Ling Bao immediately ordered: 6,000 soldiers and horses divided into six teams to disperse and retreat south, the farther away the better, and concentrate 2,000 cavalry to attract the main force of Cao's army, whether you can withdraw or not is left to luck!

Cao Ren saw that the Han army chose to scatter its troops, and knew that there must be something greasy among them, Xu Huang had previously said that the Han army pretended to be a cavalry deterrent, which made the remnants of the defeated Gan Ning retreat, and because of the miscalculation, Cao Ren indirectly caused Cao Ren to pursue Guan Yu's main force and provide emergency support, so that Guan Yu could easily escape.

In front of him, the number of cavalry of the Han army was nearly 10,000, but they did not dare to fight, and it was obviously deceitful, Cao Ren divided the cavalry into three teams, led by Cao Xiu and other generals, and scattered the Han army that was chasing and running.

Sure enough, the Han army was caught up and defeated in a battle, and most of the Han army chose to dismount and hastily meet the enemy.

Cao Ren was overjoyed and said: "The thief army has repeated its old skills, how can the foot soldiers be used as cavalry, our army has already been used once, how can it be the second time!" ”

Cao Ren ordered Cao Xiu and others to defeat the Han army, there was no need to rush to kill, the speed of the foot soldiers was slow, and they were isolated, and it was not enough to be defeated after being defeated, leaving it for the main force of the Chinese army to come and divide the troops to exterminate.

Only half an hour later, the three thousand soldiers and horses of the Han army were chased by the cavalry and scattered, Ling Bao was greatly distressed, the three thousand soldiers and horses were all elite foot soldiers, and the real positional war could effectively kill the Cao army.

Distressed to distressed, Ling Bud couldn't take care of the defeated soldiers and horses, but just ordered the rest of the soldiers and horses to seize a little time to retreat quickly.

Cao Renzheng was happy, and the military envoys sent to Xiahou Shang and Yu Ban earlier rushed to Nanyang to ask for reinforcements.

Cao Ren controlled the war horse, and the speed of the chase did not decrease at all, and asked, "What is the matter?" ”

The envoy for reinforcements said: "General, the thief army outside Nanyang City behaves abnormally, General Xiahou asked me to report the news, the thief army is afraid to withdraw, the five thousand soldiers and horses in Nanyang City have all gone out of the city to chase, but the troops are weak, and they are waiting for the help of the army!" ”

Cao Ren said: "Tell Xiahou Shang that no matter how you keep the thief army, even if you fight all the soldiers and horses!" The cavalry arrived immediately! The military envoy promised.

Cao Ren asked loudly again, "Did you send someone to the forbidden place?" Yu Ban has nearly 10,000 cavalry, and he quickly raids the thief army, and the thief army has limited cavalry, which is a good opportunity to make great achievements! ”

The herald envoy promised: "Someone has been sent!" ”

The envoy for reinforcements continued: "General rest assured, General Xiahou has already sent a message to General Yu Ban!" ”

Cao Ren said sharply: "Go to the order to Yu Ban again, chase Guan Yu and don't know his best, but if he fails, he will be guilty, when he is ashamed, he will make up for his mistakes, this battle to stop the thief army is the first merit, if you can't stop the general, you will not be able to spare him, and the two crimes will be punished!" Go to herald! "The envoy flew away.

Cao Ren shouted: "Don't slack off, don't slack off, bite the thief army for me, rush!" ”

Seeing that Cao Jun was desperately chasing, Ling Bao cried out in his heart, and thousands of people were caught up by Cao Jun's cavalry in the distance.

Cao Ren ordered Cao Jun to shout: "The thief army surrenders quickly, spare your life!" In order to hit the morale of the Han army, Ling Bao ignored it and ran in a hurry.

After marching for more than ten miles, the other two cavalry went farther and farther, and Cao chased Cao Xiu all the way down, leaving only the regular cavalry troops led by Ling Bao, Cao Ren now knew that the nearly 2,000 soldiers and horses in front of him were real cavalry, and the two armies could not hold each other, and the horsepower control was equal.

Cao Jun was harassed by archery in the rear, most of the arrows were dodged by the Han army, the effect was limited, and it was getting closer and closer to Nanyang, and suddenly the dust was flying in the distance, and a group of soldiers and horses came, looking at the speed and smoke and dust should be cavalry.

Cao Ren spoke first: "The soldiers and horses in front must be in the forbidden department, and the thief army is finished!" All Cao Jun shouted together.

The Han army was obviously shaken, and many people were at a loss, and some people actually ran to the side, beads of sweat on Ling Bao's forehead, and they looked nervous.

People from afar came before they arrived: "Yanren Zhang Yide is here, and Cao Jun is rampant!" When the two armies heard this, their moods were very different, Ling Bao had a feeling of being in a desperate situation, and Cao Ren was in a sinking mood, and the Han army had the strength to come to meet the two soldiers and horses of Xiahou Shang and Yu Ban.

Cao Ren stopped his troops and horses, and relined to chase after Cao's army, which was too hasty and caused the formation to be scattered, to prevent Zhang Fei from taking advantage of the situation to attack.

Zhang Fei and Ling Bao met up and did not advance, and arranged the formation, the two thousand cavalry were originally the cavalry under Zhang Fei, and the phalanx was arranged extremely quickly without any flaws.

Zhang Fei saw that there were only 2,000 soldiers and horses, and said, "General Ling, what about the rest of the soldiers and horses?" Aren't there still 6,000 foot soldiers? ”

Ling Bao sighed and said: "When the order for the prince to retreat came down, the main force of the Cao army had already been killed, and I hurriedly ordered the foot soldiers to retreat on horseback first, but the foot soldiers were strong and the cavalry had no combat power at all.

Cao's army attacked in a big way, ignoring my provocation, some soldiers and horses formed in front of the village, and sent troops and horses to surround the back of the village, while the main force of Cao's army continued to the south.

The situation is not good, I abandoned the camp and retreated south, failed to buy enough time for the foot soldiers, Cao Jun saw that I retreated and led the cavalry to chase after me, the foot soldiers were not good at riding and were scattered 4,000 soldiers and horses, and the other 2,000 soldiers and horses were scattered on both sides, and the Cao army also divided the troops to chase, I am afraid that it will be difficult to get out. ”

Zhang Fei sighed: "I didn't expect this to be the case, I thought it would be easy for the cavalry to get out with the help of the force, but I didn't think much about it." Before, we should send troops and horses to meet you early, and this is my fault! ”

Ling Bao smiled bitterly and said: "Third general, our army still has the strength to fight, why should I retreat in a hurry, so that I can't prepare!" ”

Zhang Fei said: "Mr. Yuanzhi took into account the new defeat of Gan Ning, and the soldiers knew each other a lot, and the township brothers and sons were killed, and the morale was low due to the lack of sorrow, and they no longer fought for war.

The confrontation between the soldiers and horses under Nanyang City has been exhausted, and the surrounding areas of Nanyang are plains, and our cavalry is less than Cao's army, and the victory is not big. Nanyang City is in the hands of the Cao army, even if the victory is won, the Cao army retreats to the city, it is difficult for our army to expand the results of the battle, it is not worth it! ”

Ling Bao said: "What should I do now?" ”

Zhang Fei said: "Xiahou Shang went out of the city to chase and was also defeated by me, most of them were annihilated, and the flanks were safe. Now it is enough to retreat slowly, so that the Cao army does not dare to bypass us and buy time for the soldiers and horses who are retreating south! After saying that, Zhang Fei and Ling Bao commanded the cavalry to march slowly.

Because the situation was unknown, Cao Ren did not rush to attack, and slowly followed up, sent an envoy to summon Cao Xiu to rush back to the rendezvous, urged the soldiers and horses behind to hurry up, and sent scouts to Nanyang City to listen to Xiahou Shang's movements.

Guan Yu and Pang De forced them to retreat, leaving only a small number of troops to monitor the movements of Cao's army. Xu Shu sent someone to report that the main force of the Han army had arrived in Jianyang and marched to Yuyang, so that Guan Yu could rest assured.

Guan Yu led the cavalry north along the avenue and rushed to meet Zhang Fei, and an hour later, the scout Pegasus came to report: "The three generals and General Ling Bao are coming, and the Cao army is chasing behind!" ”

Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "Got it!" ”

Turning his head to Pang De, he said: "Ling Ming, swing the goose-shaped formation, you and I will arrange in two wings and back echelons, and let the third brother and Ling Bud pass through." Pound agreed, and half of the soldiers and horses were arranged in formation.

Cao Ren and Zhang Fei marched slowly for more than ten miles, and when the scout of Xiahou Shang was defeated, Cao Xiu successfully caught up with the two Han armies, all of them were defeated, and they were found and recalled by the military envoy when they were further killed.

Because it was far away from the main force of the Cao army, the cavalry of the Cao army retreated, and the remnants of the defeated Han army slowly gathered and hurried to Jingzhou.

Cao Ren was deeply disappointed when he learned that Xiahou Shang was defeated so quickly, and he couldn't count on Xiahou Shang's help, Cao Ren didn't wait any longer, and took the initiative to attack Zhang Fei in a cone formation.

The two armies marched to Guan Yu, and the Han army led Zhang Fei and Ling Bao forward through the goose-shaped formation and lined up not far away.

Cao Ren saw that Guan Yu was deeply jealous, the number of cavalry of the Han army in front of him was comparable to his own, Cao Xiu was still coming, and he reported that he was ambushed by the Han army before he sent someone to control the army, and he had no choice but to retreat, Cao Ren was furious and ordered Yu Ban to come and fight again.

As a last resort, Cao Ren stopped and waited for Cao Xiu and Yu Ban.

Guan Yu rode forward and shouted: "Cao Ren, you don't need to chase anymore, the forbidden cavalry has been defeated by me an hour ago and has retreated."

Your infantry has not arrived, and the cavalry is equal to our army, so it is difficult to have any results, so retreat separately! ”

Cao Ren said sharply: "Guan Yu, you are at the end of your rope, if you don't get off your horse and surrender, you dare to boast, you don't know whether you ......live or die!" ”

Before Cao Ren finished scolding, Guan Yu laughed and said: "If you don't listen to good words, you can just chase after you!" ”

With a wave of the knife, Zhang Fei, Pang De, and Ling Bao began to retreat gradually, maintaining their formation and slowly speeding up.

Cao Ren then pursued, and his heart was seven up and eight down, this was already a lone army, and the scouts sent a lot, but they did not bring back the news of the main force of the Han army, and the more they pursued, the more likely they were to be ambushed.

After chasing for more than ten miles, Cao Ren did not see Cao Xiu and Yu Ban coming, and stopped the soldiers and horses from retreating.

Guan Yu learned that Cao's army had stopped pursuing, sent rangers to guard, and sent people to pretend to be spies to find scattered soldiers and horses as much as possible, and most of the Han army safely turned to Yuyang and retreated to Xinye.