Han Xiang

Chapter 372

The two sides fought fiercely for two hours, and more than a thousand people were killed on each side.

The battle loss ratio is almost the same, but the total strength of Cao's army is smaller than that of Jiangdong, and Zhang Liao will suffer if it continues.

The battlefield was located in the south of Chaohu Lake, and there were no dangers on the great plain. If the tiger and leopard cavalry broke through with all their strength and fled back to Shu County, Lu Fan's infantry would not be able to keep them, but that would push Zhang Liao into the abyss.

Cao Chun did not choose to leave, he and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry left behind to cover the infantry retreat, which also gave Cao Cao time to prepare.

Now there are only a thousand defenders in Shu County, and drawing the flames of war will make Cao Jun passive.

In the case of inferior forces, it is not easy to exit the battlefield smoothly. The enemy troops and shouts from all directions will put psychological pressure on the inferior side, and retreating in a hurry will easily cause morale collapse.

As a famous veteran of the Cao army, Zhang Liao has never panicked in this critical situation. Even though many soldiers under his command died in battle, he can keep the formation intact.

After the fierce battle until noon, Zhang Liao suddenly discovered that a support army was rapidly approaching behind Zhou Yu's army.

Don't guess, it's Chaohu that has increased troops.

Taking a rough look at the size of the reinforcements, Zhang Liao estimated that they were close in strength to Lu Fan who was blocking the way. If the reinforcements were allowed to join the battlefield, they might encircle his own side.

At that time, the tiger and leopard cavalry had no room to break through.

Zhang Liao approached Cao Chun and said solemnly, "Zihe, Zhou Yu's reinforcements have arrived, and my infantry seem hopeless to break through. It's better to let your cavalry retreat completely."

"you sure?"

Cao Chun frowned and reminded Zhang Liao: "Wen Yuan has fought bravely and made many achievements in the past two years, and has won the trust and love of the lord. If these old ministries are really wiped out, the chances of enlistment will inevitably be reduced in the future. Fighting hard at Guandu, lost too much of the old Taishan troops, so the next few battles didn't catch up, and they stayed in Xudu to train recruits."

"Being caught in Zhou Yu's trick, there is no other way. Now the only option is to cut off the tail to survive."

Zhang Liao shook his head and sighed, and said without doubt: "I will immediately adjust the deployment of troops. I will divide some of those who resist Zhou Yu from the north to the south to contain Lu Fan, and Zihe will lead the tiger and leopard cavalry to raid the weak position in the southwest. I believe we should be able to easily break through."

"Then Wenyuan you." Cao Chun stopped abruptly and looked at Zhang Liao worriedly.

Zhang Liao smiled openly: "I have two hundred bodyguards and cavalry guards. Zhou Yu is not capable of keeping me, so he will definitely come out and join us."

"Forget it, take care!"

Cao Chun bowed solemnly with his fists clasped, and turned around to order the tiger and leopard cavalry to break through. He knew that Zhang Liao would give up all his infantry and the elite troops he had accumulated over the years, including the hundreds of trapped soldiers who had taken over Gao Shun.

It's a pity, but we have to face reality.

Not long after, Cao Jun's formation began to change. He changed his previous steady style of play and became impatient and wild.

Cao Jun suddenly changed his tactics, and the attack that was not as good as the casualties made the opponent extremely uncomfortable.

All the units of the former army complained to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu then rode his horse and rushed to the front line. He encouraged the generals: "The crazier the enemy is, the more it shows the necessity of blocking. Zhang Liao must have realized that our reinforcements are coming. It's just a battle of trapped beasts, pass on my orders, and restrain the enemy at all costs."

"only."

Zhou Yu stretched out his hands to signal Huang Gai and Han Dang to come closer, and said softly, "The two generals immediately led their troops and horses, and went around from left to right to reinforce Ziheng. Thieves Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry are well equipped, especially those horses are good horses from outside the Great Wall. It’s worth the price we paid.”

"Follow the orders of the Commander-in-Chief."

The two men clasped their fists in response, and Han Dang was the most excited among them.

Han Dang was originally a native of Lingzhi in western Liaoning, and he was born in the northern frontier like Cheng Pu. He met Sun Jian when the Yellow Turban was flattened by the imperial court.

Han Dang himself is proficient in bowing and horses, but in Jiangdong where there is no horse, he often stays with the boats, and he feels like Li Yunlong is the director of the quilt factory.

Now that he had the opportunity to capture Cao Jun's good horse, Han Dang's enthusiasm was aroused.

The orderly war became chaotic as both sides changed sides.

The formations of Sun and Cao's two armies were broken up, and from the original fighting between masters, it became a large-scale fighting scene.

The shouts of fighting were endless, and the swords, guns, swords and halberds collided frequently.

Zhang Liao was covered in blood, and watched more and more of his comrades fall. Just when the soldiers reminded him to evacuate, Cao Chun, the commander of the tiger and leopard cavalry, left and returned.

"Zihe, what are you doing? You said you don't need to worry about us, can you go now when you come back?"

Seeing Zhang Liao's heartbroken question, Cao Chun looked excited: "Why are you leaving? Wen Yuan, our reinforcements have also arrived. Lu Fan's fellow is retreating from the two wings, and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry has begun to cover up and kill."

"There are no soldiers in Shu County." Zhang Liao was stunned: "Could it be that the Lord transferred soldiers from Wan County? This came too fast, didn't it? Is the reinforcements Gongming or Junyi?"

"Hey, here we come."

"What?"

"Wan County was conquered the day before yesterday. Except for Shi Huan and Zhang Xiu who left behind to clean up the mess, the lord brought Miao Cai to wait for all the generals to come. This time, Zhou Yu can't afford to go around."

Zhang Liao's mood was like a roller coaster. This battle was full of twists and turns, and he couldn't help expressing emotion:

"It's fun! It's fun! This battle is getting bigger and bigger!"

Cao Chun echoed: "It is only natural that there is a lot of movement. This should be the final battle in Huainan."

Zhang Liao looked up at the sky, and then frowned again: "It's a pity that the sun is already slanting to the west, and it will be dark soon, so we can't deal a fatal blow to Zhou Yu, unless we keep it at any cost."

"Forget it." Cao Chun interrupted Zhang Liao and said, "Our main force will arrive in half an hour, and now there are only 4000 vanguards from Xu Gongming. Seriously, don't blow it all up before victory"

Zhang Liao nodded bitterly: "It has to be like this."

The original plan was to take advantage of the large number of soldiers to eat up the elite soldiers of Zhang Liao and Cao Chun, but now an accident occurred.

Lu Fan originally resisted the tiger and leopard cavalry head-on, but was suddenly attacked by Xu Huang's reinforcements. Even with the help of Huang Gai and Han Dang, he couldn't stop him, so he decisively withdrew north to join Zhou Yu's main force.

Cao Chun and Xu Huang pursued Lu Fan until they rescued all Zhang Liao's remnants.

At this time, Zhou Yu had re-formed the formation, and it was meaningless to attack again, so the two sides stopped fighting for the time being.

Then Zhou Yu led his army back to the camp and demolished Zhang Liao's original camp along the way. On the way, he discovered that Cao Cao had come with the main force, so he did not retreat to Chaohu overnight, but set up an ambush in the camp to wait for the camp to be robbed.

Depending on the situation, Huainan should not be able to stay.

Zhou Yu worked so hard to lay such a big net, but he couldn't catch Zhang Liao and Cao Chun all at once. Although he had gained something today, it was only a small victory, so he planned to give Cao Cao another chance before withdrawing.

It was dark when Cao Cao arrived with the main force, and also learned that Zhang Liao's original camp was destroyed, while Zhou Yu's camp was ablaze.

"My lord, do you want to rob the camp? Zhou Yu hastily withdrew, the deployment must not be strict."

Cao Cao interrupted Xia Houyuan, and said in a deep voice: "Zhou Lang is very resourceful, and we should not be underestimated. We can fight head-on, so we don't need to take the risk of robbing the camp. It doesn't matter if there is a camp or not. The whole army is ordered to strengthen the defense. camp."

"Oh"

(End of this chapter)