Great Han Empire

Chapter 769: A Storm of Troubled Heroes

In September, Wei County, Chenghui.

Yuan Shao led his troops to retreat, and after a hasty march of a hundred miles, they arrived at Dachenghui.A hundred li further ahead is Weicheng.

At this time he received a report from the scouts.The iron cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army was found in the direction of Weicheng.Zhang Yan's army left Yecheng and came after them.Cao Cao's army has already crossed Qingyuan City and is rushing towards Guantao.

Yuan Shao immediately ordered Han Qiong, Feng Ji, Zhu Ling, and Tao Sheng to lead the [-] Henan troops, and Han Hao to lead the [-] Han troops to retreat westward, rushing to the two cities of Dangyin and Neihuang first, to ensure that the army could be dispatched in a critical situation. You can calmly withdraw to Hanoi from the direction of Montenegro.

Order Yuan Hui, Guo Tu, Gao Gan, and Gao Rou to lead [-] Yuzhou troops to retreat southward quickly, and quickly control the front lines of Fanyang, Liyang, and Puyang to ensure the safety of the army's southward retreat.

Yuan Shao, Tian Feng and others led Pan Feng's [-] Henan Army and Yang Chou's [-] Hanoi Army to continue to march towards Weicheng in order to contain the Northern Xinjiang Army's strength and coordinate the safe withdrawal of Cao Cao's army.

Tian Feng suggested to Yuan Shao that in order to ensure safety, he should order Yuan Zhong and Xu You, who were stationed in Xingyang, to lead their troops northward, and to meet the army from Liyang.Yuan Shao accepted Tian Feng's suggestion,
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In September, Wei County, ten miles southwest of Guantao City.

Cao Cao's vanguard army encountered the northern Xinjiang cavalry.

Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei reported urgently to Cao Cao, and lined up to meet each other.

"The scouts have been searching ahead, why didn't they find it?" Cao Ren seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to be asking Guan Yu beside him.Guan Yu was looking down at the map carefully, and said with a sneer, "It may have been killed quietly from the direction of Dahe Gudu. This place is only ten miles away from Dahe Gudu. If the northern Xinjiang cavalry deliberately concealed its whereabouts, our scouts would have found it." , and it’s too late to report.”

"Since the northern Xinjiang cavalry has appeared, the road ahead will be very difficult." Zhang Fei sighed, "There are still 120 miles from here to Weicheng, if we can't make it to Weicheng tomorrow..."

"The northern army is not so fast." Cao Ren comforted, "This may be an iron cavalry coming from the direction of Yecheng. The Dongguang battlefield is more than 700 miles away from here, and they can't fly so fast even with long wings."

A few people were discussing the strategy to face the battle, when they heard the war horses parked nearby neighing restlessly, and could vaguely feel the tremor of the ground.

The Northern Xinjiang iron cavalry appeared in the sky, roaring towards them like a surging tide.

"Beating the drum...ready to fight..."

"Strong archers entered the car formation, ready to shoot..."

"The ballista is ready..."

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Jiang Wu raised her right hand high.

The horn blares.The cavalry army slowly stopped.

When he led his army to rush 250 miles to the vicinity of Yuancheng, he met Wang Dang and Xu Huang's messengers.Jiang Wu learned in the letter that the general had ordered Zhao Yun to lead all the cavalry to Guantao and Weicheng to block and outflank the rebels.At this time, Jiang Wu had no more worries, and immediately ordered Wei Jun to take [-] cavalry to Weicheng to stop Yuan Shao, and Liu Ming and himself took [-] troops to Daliuxu to join Wang Dang and Xu Huang to stop Cao Cao.

Although Wang Dang and Xu Huang arrived at Daliuxu at the fastest speed, they were delayed for a while because the army wanted to cross the Qinghe River in the south.Cao Cao's army quickly advanced to Guantao during this time.

Guantao was only [-] miles away from Daliu Ruins, and the rebels could arrive within two hours. Wang Dang and Xu Huang had no time to set up a blocking position, so they asked Jiang Wu to lead the army to the place near Guantao City to delay the advance of the rebels. Step up, buy yourself time.

"Command, keep the left and right flanks away from the central army." Jiang Wu turned around and shouted to the messenger, "If the rebels advance forward, the two-winged cavalry will immediately charge from the rebels' flanks."

A dozen or so messengers agreed and galloped towards the two wings of the army.

"Keep a distance of [-] steps from the rebels..." Jiang Wu narrowed his eyes and looked ahead, and vigorously waved the horsewhip, "Send the order, push forward slowly..."

The majestic horn sounded straight into the sky in an instant.

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Cao Cao's vest felt cold, and a suffocating fear suddenly hit his heart.The Northern Xinjiang Army finally caught up.

"Whose cavalry?"

"Jiang Wu, and the Right Wise King of the Huns."

"Jiang Wu?" Cao Cao was stunned for a moment.Standing beside him, Mao Jie hurriedly said: "My lord, the troops of Jiang Wu and Liu Ming are the main cavalry of the Northern Army. If we add the Changshui Battalion and Hu Qi Battalion of the Northern Army, we have at least [-] cavalry in front of us." The left and right cavalry will greatly increase the difficulty of breaking through."

"No need to worry." Cheng Yu shook his hand. "The terrain from Guantao to Weicheng is not conducive to cavalry combat. We can take advantage of the infantry army and continue to move forward. In addition, the cavalry from Northern Xinjiang will not hesitate to fight us. The danger of a head-to-head confrontation appeared near Guantao, which fully shows that they have no infantry army to stop us from moving forward. From my point of view, their infantry must still be on the way and have not rushed ahead of us."

"My lord, shall we immediately cross the Gudu River and head towards Guanting?" Guo Jia pointed at the map, and moved his long finger back and forth between Fagan and Yuancheng twice, "The northern border army has already fallen into the trap. , their iron cavalry has moved all the main forces between Guantao and Weicheng in order to prevent us from reuniting with Yuan Shao. He hurried 120 miles overnight, quickly retreated southward from between the two cities to the line between Yangping and Dongwuyang, and completely got rid of the siege of the Northern Xinjiang Army."

Cao Cao fell silent.

"Feng Xiao, we can't cross the Dahe Gudu now. This will expose our intentions." Cheng Yu immediately vetoed it, "At present, Yuan Shao has not rushed to Weicheng, and the main infantry of the Northern Army is still behind us. The army has not formed an encirclement of Yuan Shao. If we withdraw prematurely, the strategy of severely injuring Yuan Shao will fall short. More importantly, the main force of the Northern Army's infantry and cavalry is currently the closest to us. Once they perceive our true intentions, Knowing the direction of our breakthrough, they will resolutely give up encircling and annihilating Yuan Shao, and turn to encircle and annihilate us with all their strength."

"We have already seen the speed of the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry." Guo Jia said, "Now their main force has arrived in Weijun. With their speed, they can completely encircle Yuan Shao in Weicheng and Fanyang. It can also severely damage Yuan Shao. In this case, once we successfully break through, they will definitely attack Yuan Shao instead of continuing to pursue us. For Li Hong, annihilating us will be very detrimental to his future capture of the Central Plains, and he will never Hand over the Central Plains to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers."

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Cao Cao hesitated, took Yuan Shao's letter and read it again and again, "I ask you, if you were Li Hong, after you surrounded Yuan Shao and me, which one would you hit first?"

"Fight Yuan Shao." Cheng Yu said immediately, "Li Hong has already won the battle of Dongguang, and the strength of our three alliances has been severely damaged. Therefore, if Yuan Shao has not been wiped out, if he still concentrates his main force on us He is not Li Hong anymore. Now Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers are far more threatening to him than our three alliances. There is also Liu Biao. If Li Hong eliminates Liu Biao in Hebei, it is equivalent to giving Jingzhou to Yuan Shao in vain, and Yuan Shao’s strength will be greatly reduced. It expanded rapidly in a short period of time. Unless Li Hong is a real idiot, he would never do such a stupid thing."

Cheng Yu pointed his finger at Gu Longju between Fagan City and Yuan City, "When breaking through, let Liu Biao's army rush to the front. After the Northern Border Army sees it, there is absolutely nothing they can do but let them go. As long as the siege of the Northern Xinjiang Army is loosened, we will be able to fight out smoothly."

"If I were Li Hong, I would fight both, take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely annihilate the opponent, and then sweep the world within a year or two." Guo Jia smiled slightly, and his words were astonishing.

"Fight both?" Cao Cao's face was startled, "Does the Northern Frontier Army have such an army?"

"He can surround us first, and then concentrate on attacking Yuan Shao. After beating Yuan Shao, he will turn around and attack us." Guo Jia put one hand between Wei Cheng and Fan Yang, and the other on the wall between Wei Cheng and Fan Yang. Between Guantao and Weicheng, "The distance between these two battlefields is only over 200 miles. The infantry and cavalry troops of the Northern Xinjiang Army can move within a day or two. This is too dangerous for us. We must go first, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

Mao Jie originally supported Cheng Yu's opinion, but after hearing Guo Jia's explanation, he was also terrified.

"My lord, the Northern Frontier Army fought so smoothly in the Battle of Dongguang. Forty-five thousand people disappeared in a blink of an eye. This may make Li Hong re-examine his own strength, and it is very possible to make such an astonishing move."

"But now the main force of the northern border army has not entered Wei County, that's for sure." Cao Cao thought for a while and said, "If we want to hit Yuan Shao severely, we have to drag Yuan Shao to Wei City, so I think Zhong De (Cheng Yu) You are right, we should wait a little longer, and we will withdraw after the northern border army surrounds Yuan Shao."

"My lord, how can we be sure that Yuan Shao will come to Weicheng to meet us? Just relying on Yuan Shao's letter? If Yuan Shao sees that he is surrounded by the northern border army, the army will soon be surrounded, can he not run away?" Guo Jia said excitedly, "Also, if Yuan Shu has not succeeded in Yanzhou, Yuan Shao's arrival in Wei City is not to meet us, but to hold us back and let the Northern Xinjiang Army encircle and annihilate us. If our entire army is wiped out, Yuan Shao will be able to It is obvious to take advantage of the opportunity to defeat Yuan Shu and win Yanzhou, so no matter what Yuan Shao thinks or does, let's go first. Now the northern army cavalry has reached the line of Guantao and Weicheng, and Yuan Shao is also retreating to the Weicheng area , They are about to fight, our goal has been achieved, what are we still doing here?"

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Cao Cao considered for a long time, and finally rejected Guo Jia's suggestion.

The strength of the three alliances had already been severely damaged. If Yuan Shao could not suffer the same severe injury, he would be restrained by Yuan Shao after returning to the Central Plains. Even if he successfully occupied Qingzhou and defeated Yuan Shu, it would be difficult for him to fight against Yuan Shao.Currently on the battlefield of Wei County, the Northern Army only has Zhang Yan's army and the Northern Cavalry who have already appeared in Guantao. They have no advantage in terms of strength. If Yuan Shao wants to run, the Northern Army will have nothing to do.In addition, if you retreat too early, once you are blocked by the Northern Xinjiang Army, it is very likely that the entire army will be wiped out.After all, fighting is not about sitting at home and talking about war on paper, and it is impossible for Li Hong's orders to be passed on to the generals of the army in an instant.With only a slight change in the battlefield situation, the Northern Xinjiang Army may eat itself.

If the Northern Border Army surrounded Yuan Shao, and Li Hong's intentions were accurately communicated to the various generals of the Northern Border Army, then his confidence in breaking through the encirclement would be far greater than now.In any case, it is impossible for Li Hong to annihilate himself before completely annihilating Yuan Shao. This is determined by the situation in the world, and it is impossible for Li Hong to turn a blind eye.

When the main force of the Northern Border Army was encircling and annihilating Yuan Shao, the strength of the Northern Border Army surrounding him must be limited, and he could fight his way out of the heavy encirclement.At that time, the Northern Xinjiang Army had no choice but to concentrate all its forces to encircle and wipe out Yuan Shao.Compared with Yuan Shao's own strength, there is a certain gap.After he broke through, he wanted to compete with Yuan Shu for the Central Plains. In addition, with Yuan Shao's defeat, Kanto, Yuzhou and even Jingzhou would become his possessions one after another, but it would take time. He also has the opportunity to use this time to win Guanzhong, Kanto and even the Central Plains, so he will definitely let himself go and try his best to encircle Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao decided to continue attacking in the direction of Weicheng.

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On September, Dongjun, Fan County.

Xun Yu led more than 5000 people to retreat to Fan County.After getting the news, Xia Houyuan led his army to join him.

Xia Houyuan's face was ugly.Losing Dingtao is not a big deal, but losing the emperor is a big deal, but before Xia Houyuan could blame Xun Yu, he found the young emperor in military uniform standing beside Xun Yu.

Shocked and delighted, Xia Houyuan rushed to see the emperor.

"Brother Wen Ruo, seeing that he has captured a fake emperor, Yuan Gonglu is about to vomit blood with anger."

"Don't mention that rebellion in front of me." Xun Yu sneered, "He's dead. Let's go across the north to Dongwuyang immediately."

Xia Houyuan was stunned, "Brother Wen Ruo, we still have half of Yanzhou, why go north?"

"The Prime Minister sent me a letter before retreating from Xindu." Xun Yu took out a piece of silk from his bosom and handed it to Xia Houyuan, "Even if no one betrays me, I will abandon Dingtao City."

After reading the letter, Xia Houyuan cupped his hands and said, "Everything is under Mr. Wen Ruo's arrangement."

"That's good..." Xun Yu put the letter into his arms, and the subordinates standing behind him immediately spread out the map, "Now we are in Fan County, two hundred miles away from Dongwuyang, can you lead the army in Arrive at Dongwuyang within two days?"

Xia Houyuan frowned, "I will try my best..."

"It's not about doing your best, but about having to." Xun Yu said solemnly, "Two days later, you must arrive at Dongwuyang, and then rush sixty miles to occupy Fagan City, station heavy troops in Gulongju, and retreat back to the Central Plains in response to the Prime Minister."

"Brother Wen Ruo, it will take some time for an army of more than 1 people to cross the river." Xia Houyuan looked distressed.

"It hasn't rained in the Central Plains for nine months, how wide is the Yellow River?" Xun Yu waved his hand vigorously, "Let's go immediately. I'll supervise the transportation of food, grass and luggage for you."

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In September, Daliu Market.

Cao Cao gathered 3 horses and rushed to Daliuxu.

Although Jiang Wu and Liu Ming wanted to attack the enemy's line several times to slow down the advancing speed of the rebels, they could only retreat step by step in the face of the rebels' iron barrel-like defense and dense arrow array.

Xu Huang's army deployed two miles in front of Daliuxu.There are two rivers and three hillsides here, and the [-] army started a bloody battle with the rebels within a radius of two miles.

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Lao Wai didn't know what this river was called, but he knew that the river was already piled up with corpses. Hundreds of corpses lay on the riverbed more than ten steps wide, and the waist-deep river was dyed scarlet blood. .The enemies on the opposite bank were stepping on the corpses and rushing towards them frantically.

Old Wai stared at his blood-red eyes, raised the bloody saber in his hand, and shouted wildly: "Shoot, shoot for me..."

Due to the increase in casualties, the power of the arrow array was greatly reduced, and the enemy quickly reached the river embankment.

Lao Wai jumped up, holding a knife in one hand and a shield in the other, and roared repeatedly: "Brothers, kill, kill..."

"Kill..." Dozens of soldiers held weapons, followed closely behind Laowai, and rushed up to meet the enemy. For a while, swords flew, spears whistled, arrows flew up and down, and broken limbs and arms were accompanied by mournful screams. The howl resounded through the bloody battlefield.

A human head rose into the air under Lao Wai's knife, and the headless corpse was knocked upside down by the bloody shield in Lao Wai's hand, and then Lao Wai saw a long knife roaring towards him.

The long knife is like a rainbow, bringing up blood beads all over the sky, and slashing head-on.

"Kill..." Lao Wai showed no fear, he raised his knife to block, and at the same time cut the round shield with his left hand fiercely at the waist and abdomen of the enemy.

"When..." There was a sound, sparks overflowed, the old crooked tiger's mouth shook, and the saber flew out of his hand. The long saber continued unabated, and slashed fiercely on the round shield.The shield is split.

Lao Wai didn't even think about it, he used his feet hard, and his body flew upside down, avoiding the fatal blow.The moment his body was flying in the air, he saw a tall man with a long flowing beard and a pair of murderous eyes.

"Lao Song, save me, save me..." Lao Wai fell heavily to the ground, and let out a shrill cry.

The big bearded man took a quick step, and raised his sword again.

Lao Song was ten steps away, he almost didn't even think about it, he raised his spear and threw it, "Kill..."

At the same time, several soldiers around Lao Wai rushed up together.

The long-bearded man roared angrily, turned his long knife around, smashed the incoming spear, pulled out two long arrows, and was about to swing his knife to strike again, but he saw that Lao Wai had already grabbed a long spear that had been discarded on the ground , fiercely stabbing himself in the abdomen, "Go to hell..."

The long-bearded man retreated two steps at an unimaginable speed, avoiding Lao Wai's sneak attack.

More soldiers rushed up.Someone raised the hand crossbow and shot a crossbow bolt.

At the same time, a dozen fierce soldiers rushed up from behind the big bearded man, "Protect your lord, protect your lord..."

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Xu Huang looked up at the sunset in the sky, and slowly closed his eyes.Today is the first day of the blockade, and the rebels don't have a lot of troops, but tomorrow...

"My lord, would you like some water?"

Xu Huang turned his head to look at Lao Wai, and reached out to take the water bag, "Is there a big loss?"

"My team lost half of my brothers." Lao Wai smiled wryly and shook his head. "The Danyang soldiers from Xuzhou are in front of them. They are very powerful. Guan Yu from the Xuzhou Army committed suicide just now, and I was almost hacked by him."

Xu Huang looked at him with concern, "Are you hurt?"

"No. That man is too powerful. He killed fourteen of our brothers by himself." Lao Wai gritted his teeth, "Next time we meet, we must sneak attack him with a crossbow and kill him."

"Guan Yu rushed up himself, which means that the rebels have jumped the wall in a hurry." Xu Huang took a sip of water and said calmly, "We only need to hold on for another two to three days, and the rebels will be completely finished, and none of them will be able to escape."

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In September, Wei County, Daming Pavilion, ten miles northeast of Weicheng.

After carefully listening to the scout's report, Wei Jun stood on the embankment without speaking for a long time.

"My lord, Yuan Shao's army has already entered Weicheng, and it will attack Guantao tomorrow."

"How many people are you sure?"

"About 2 to 3 people." The scout replied, "We dare not go too far, so we don't know if Yuan Shao's other troops are following behind."

"Have you got in touch with Master Zhang Yan?"

"not yet."

Wei Jun thought for a while, pointed to the other side of the river and said, "Master Zhang Yan's army must be on the south bank of the Qing River. If you want to find him tonight, please send an army of infantry to Daming Pavilion to stop Yuan Shao."

"In addition..." Wei Jun turned his head to look at the messenger behind him, "Urgently tell the two adults, Wang Dang and Jiang Wu, that Yuan Shao has arrived in Weicheng, and ask them to send troops to support quickly."

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On September, Wei Jun, Ping En City.

Qu Yi had just ordered camp when he received an urgent report from Zhang Yan.

Yuan Shao divided his troops.

"Yuan Shao's 2 army was divided into three parts. One part went to Dangyin City in the east of Heishan Mountain, the other part went to Neihuang and Fanyang, and the other part went to Weicheng." Looking at the map, Tian Chou said helplessly, "Yuan Shao is like this. The arrangement is indeed foolproof. If he is besieged in Weicheng, he will lose at most [-] horses, but in this way, we will not be able to encircle and wipe out Yuan Shao. It seems that he has a good nose and has already smelled danger."

Qu Yi thought for a long time, and then he tapped Guantao City on the map, "We have to surround Cao Cao no matter what. Now Yuan Shao should know that Yuan Shu has captured Dingtao and will soon take the whole of Yanzhou. For his own Ba Ye, try every means to rescue Cao Cao. As long as we surround Cao Cao, Yuan Shao will concentrate his forces to Wei City sooner or later."

"But the problem is, after a long time, our intentions will be exposed, and Yuan Shao will definitely run away." Tian Chou said with a wry smile, "If the 10,000+ army surrounds Cao Cao and doesn't fight, idiots will know what we want to do."

"If Yuan Shao personally leads the army to Weicheng, this matter will be easier to handle." Qu Yi said, "We will first surround Cao Cao in the Guantao area, and then surround Yuan Shao in Weicheng. The rebels in the Fanyang area of ​​the Yellow River will not go to rescue Yuan Shao."

"At this time, Yuan Shao will personally rush to Weicheng to rescue Cao Cao?" Tian Chou thought it was impossible.

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(End of this chapter)