The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms Chapter 172

Since the start of the war, in less than two hours, Cao Bao has already lost a general in his formation.

Seeing that the right formation was becoming more and more unstable, and the left formation lost another colonel, a crack was opened by Liu Deng, while Xu Zhongshang's soldiers on the opposite side remained unmoved. Cao Bao knew that the battle was lost again.

As a general, although he knew that he was going to lose, he couldn't show it.

Cao Bao pretended to be calm, and said: "Xiaowei Wang has made a promise to the country, and I will report it to Uncle Fang and reward his wife. Send the order to Xiaowei Sheng, and let him fight to the death!" .

The man took the order.

Cao Bao summoned several officers nearby and said, "Xun's army is Sheng Rui, our army is loose in both formations and will be defeated. The only way to retreat now is to retreat."

Several officers were shocked.

One person said: "General, we are in a fierce battle now, how to retreat? Once we retreat, Xun's army will chase after him, and our army will be defeated. It's out of control!"

"That's why I asked you to come here. ... You can lead your headquarters to retreat to our army formation first, then set up a formation, cover the retreat of the first two formations, and stop the Xun army from pursuing."

Several officers looked at each other.

What is "successfully withdrawing to the rear of the formation", and what is "stopping Xun's pursuit"?

Cao Bao is also an old battlefield. How can he not know that he is in a state of war. Once he retreats, he will be defeated like a mountain. Let alone a few troops in this area, they will stop the pursuit of Xu Zhong's troops. I am afraid that the "formation" has just been opened. ”, will be scattered by the defeated troops in the front of the army, and will also fall into a defeat.

But it was one of them who was smarter. He quickly understood what Cao Bao meant and responded loudly, "Yes! Don't worry, General, I will lead the troops to retreat and make deployments first."

The rest of the officers didn't understand, they all wanted to give advice and persuasion, but they were held back by the person who answered, followed them in confusion, gave a military salute, and then retreated. After retreating, some of the officers who didn't understand the answer asked the person who answered: "The general ordered me to retreat first and set up an array to block the enemy. This is obviously impossible. ?"

"You are confused!"

"how do I say this?"

"It's hard for us to stop Xun's army and protect our own army to retreat. How can the general not know about this?"

"Then why did you tell me to wait to withdraw first?"

"Our army is now defeated, and the most important thing right now is nothing more than one thing."

"Which thing?"

"Reduce casualties and losses, preserve vitality, so that we can fight Xun's army again. Therefore, the general ordered us to withdraw first in the name of 'forming an array to block the enemy', in order to protect us."

Only then did the rest of the officers wake up, and all said, "So that's how it is!"

"It's not too late, I'll wait and lead the troops to retreat."

At the moment, these officers left the main formation with their respective parts and retreated.

In the Xu Zhong formation in the distance.

In order to better observe the battle situation, Xu Zhong took Xun You, Le Jin and others up to the temporary watchtower. Looking from a distance, he noticed that there were troops retreating in the Cao Bao formation.

Le Jin pointed at him from a distance, and said, "Cao Bao has no intention of fighting! He is starting to withdraw."

Xun You smiled and said, "Where can he retreat to? ... General, but the drum beats the order and orders the main formation and Jiang Hu formation to cover up and kill!"

Xu Zhong accepted Xun You's suggestion and struck the encouragement flag. The soldiers of this formation and Jiang Hu's formation followed the order and charged towards the enemy formation shouting.

For a time, on the vast battlefield, Cao Bao's formation, Liu Deng made a surprise attack on the left, Guan Yu and Liu Bei slammed on the right, and the left and right were stunned, and Xu Zhong's main force was ushered in the front. On the side, Cao Bao's cavalry also appeared defeated.

Before Xu Zhong's main force could reach the front, Cao Bao's two formations became chaotic due to panic.

At this time, someone discovered that Cao Bao's reserve team had quietly retreated, which added to their panic.

Jiang Hu and others led his troops to attack, only to contact Cao Bao's troops in the center of the left and right flanks. Before the battle, Cao Bao's troops in the center were defeated. ——It was not the left wing, nor the right wing, that was defeated first, but the center line.

The defeat of the center formation led to the left and right flanks, and Liu Deng, Guan Yu and others took the opportunity to attack and defeated Cao Bao's left and right formations.

Seeing the defeat of the infantry, the hundreds of Cao Bao's cavalry were already at a disadvantage, they lost their fighting spirit, and they all fled.

From the start of the war to the present, only more than two hours have passed.

In Xu Zhong's formation, he looked upstairs.

Xu Zhong instructed the guards on the left and right, and said, "Although Cao Bao has no military strategy, he is a little brave. After capturing him, he must not be insulted and brought to see me."

However, it was because he saw that although Cao Bao's entire army had collapsed, his generals and flags were still standing in the center and had not been moved, so Xu Zhong said this.

The left and right should be promised, and the order will be sent.

It was Liu Deng who was the first to reach the middle formation and reached General Cao Bao's banner.

Cao Bao's generals and flags were surrounded by hurriedly defeated soldiers. Some dropped their weapons and surrendered on their knees. Some were overwhelmed and ran around with others like headless flies. Some gathered in one place and fought to the death. A mess.

However, Liu Deng didn't care about it, he just asked the captured Cao Bing officer, "Where is Cao Bao?"

"General Cao has already withdrawn before the general arrives."

But it turned out: Cao Bao just left the flag here, but he himself had retreated and fled long before Liu Deng arrived.

Liu Deng laughed and scolded: "Shuzi is also cunning! Fortunately, the general thought he had a little courage and told me not to be insulted, but he ran away a long time ago!"

Cao Bao had already fled, and Liu Deng had no intention of pursuing him. Jiang Hu, Guan Yu, and Liu Bei arrived one after another at the right time, so they joined forces to clear out the remaining soldiers of Cao Bao's army. Xun Zhen issued a military order before the war: Heaven has the virtue of good life, and no one will kill any enemy who falls. ——After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, in the places that were severely affected by the army, there were no households in ten, and labor force was extremely scarce. Therefore, although the prisoners needed both military rations and soldiers to guard them, Xunzhen still strictly ordered all the ministries to prohibit the killing of prisoners. Therefore, because of Xun Zhen's military order, all the soldiers of Cao Bao's army who were willing to surrender, Liu Deng and others all accepted their armour without hurting their orders.

When he reported the news that Cao Bao had escaped to Xu Zhong, Rao was in Xu Zhong's city palace, where his anger and anger were usually unremarkable. Hearing this report, he was stunned for a little while, and he said with a smile, "I am a high-ranking man. Look at him!"

Xun You smiled and said, "Where can he escape?"

Cao Bao took his own bodyguards, and the few soldiers who had retreated one after another under his order, fled the battlefield, and went south in embarrassment.

After fleeing for half an hour and not seeing Xun's troops chasing after him, Cao Bao felt a little at ease, remembering his rhetoric when he came out of Xiapi, saying that he would "decision" with Xun's army again, but in just two short hours. He had been defeated and fled for a long time. He was very embarrassed. Looking back to the north, he saw a few wisps of black smoke. Before fleeing, he set the military equipment on fire, and the black smoke rose because the military equipment was burned. , he gritted his teeth and said, "When I return to Xiapi, I will rectify my troops and fight against Xu Junqing!"

The officers on the left and right said: "Xun's army treats me with ease, the formation is formed first, and our army arrives later, and the formation is a little later, so Xu Junqing seizes the loophole and defeats our army. . . . This is not the general's fault. "

Cao Bao also knew that this was the words of consolation from the officers, but he didn't have the face to answer.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered Zhang Fei's hundreds of cavalry. On the battlefield today, Xun's army only sent out 300 cavalry, and at least 500 or 600 cavalry hadn't been seen. In addition, he hadn't seen Zhang Fei's military flag. He only felt that his heart was empty and a little worried.

The officers received the order and urged the department to rush.

Before we could go far, the smoke was rolling in front of him, and Cao Bao was shocked and called out, "Not good!"

When the officers looked at it, they saw that a cavalry appeared, and a flag was in front, which was Zhang Fei's flag.

It was Xu Zhong who had arranged for Zhang Fei to lead his troops to this place.

Xu Zhong arranged for Zhang Fei to ambush here, but it was not designed to intercept Cao Bao's rout. After all, on the battlefield, things are changing rapidly, and it is hard to tell whether you will win or lose. Even if you are very sure of winning, you must also have a point to prepare for the possibility of defeat, and you need to arrange your next move in advance. Zhang Fei was behind this move. If the battle with Cao Bao fell into a stalemate, he would lead his troops to attack Cao Bao from behind to help Xu Zhong win.

Of course, if Cao Bao's troops are defeated, then Zhang Fei's task will be changed to intercepting Cao Bao's defeated troops.

Seeing Zhang Fei and the rest of the Xun Jun cavalry appear, Cao Bao didn't cry out, but his heart was strangely calm, like a big stone falling to the ground. Cao Bao drew out his sword and shouted, "That's it! Today, this place is where I will be loyal to Uncle Fang."

First defeated by Xiaxiang, and then by Xu Zhong. There was an interception before, and there was no way to escape. At this moment, there was only a deadly battle.

However, although Cao Bao wanted to give his life in the battle to the death, his followers did not have this plan. Zhang Fei led a charge to defeat the remaining soldiers. Zhang Fei's cavalry captured. Zhang Fei commanded the remnant, chased and wiped out the remnants of Cao Bao's troops who had fled, and after nightfall, took Cao Bao and the prisoners to find Xu Zhong.

When he arrived at Xu Zhongying, Zhang Fei offered Cao Bao to him.

Le Jin asked the soldiers to bring Cao Bao's general flag, smiled and said to Cao Bao, "This monarch's flag is now returned to the monarch."

Cao Bao widened his eyes and scolded: "You guys use the county to invade the prefecture, you are a rebel! Although I am defeated now, Uncle Fang will definitely avenge me!" He said again, "I hate that I can't pay Xiapi, if I pay Xiapi , Set up the army and fight against you again!"

Le Jin laughed and said, "Don't you know? Xiapi has already entered our army!"

Where can Cao Bao believe? Upright scolding himself.

Le Jin then ordered a head to be presented to Cao Bao.

Cao Bao looked, this head is Zhe Rong?

He fell into an ice cave and said, "This..., this..., how is this possible?"

"I want you to understand: today at dusk, when you are defeated and fleeing, Zilong sent troops from the lower minister, swindled your flag, and deceived the gate of Xiapi city, but with a little attacking and killing, you won the county seat of Xiapi. ."

Zhao Yun had fought with Zhang Kai and Cao Bao successively, and captured their banners and armors, and there were many prisoners of Danyang soldiers, who used these banners as disguise, and used the prisoners to go to the city to call the door, saying that it was Cao Bao. Defeated, the soldiers fled back to the city.

Although Zhe Rong saw through Xun Jun's plan, he refused to open the door. It's not so easy to cheat to open the city gate. Since it is said that Cao Bao was defeated, what about the Cao Bao people? The prisoners who lied to the city gate said that Cao Bao died in battle. But seeing Cao Bao's people, Zhe Rong refused to open the city gate.

Although Zhe Rong refused to open the city gate, Zhang Kai was persuaded by Yang Qian, the chief soldier of Xiapi County who had decided to surrender Xunzhen, and opened the city gate. With the cooperation of the people, the people in the city settled down quickly.

——After capturing the county seat of Xiapi, Zhao Yun asked Yang Qian: How did you know that it was not Cao Bao's faction that was really defeated, but that I was here to capture the city? Yang Qian replied: "I don't know if Cao Bao's army was really defeated. If Cao Bao's army was really defeated, then opening the city gate would just let them go back to the city, and there would be no loss. , then when the city gate is opened, the "Rebels" will be ushered in.

Therefore, Yang Qian chose to use "The Duwei and General Cao are both generals in Danyang, and they know each other so much, how can they just sit back and ignore them? Young Master, General Cao was defeated, the rest of the troops returned to the city, and the Du Wei accepted him, and he could join his troops and persuade Zhang Kai on the grounds of "competing with Chu", and opened the city gate of Xiapi County.

Zhe Rong worshipped Buddha and abused the people in Xiapi County. As a scholar in this county, Yang Qian was dissatisfied with this for a long time. He had previously accused him in person at the Xiapi military meeting held because of "General Zhao Yun's coming to the lower minister". Tao Qian and Zhe Rong were just because his family was a big surname in Pi, and in order to prevent his family from being as rebellious as Que Xuan, Zhe Rong did not punish him. But in the end, at this time, he offered to Xiapi City.

Le Jin had no interest in telling Cao Bao about the details of the capture of Xiapi, so he just asked: "Zerong has given the head, and Zhang Kai has already surrendered. Since Xiapi County is the income of our army, the rest is like Liangcheng and Siwu. It's not enough. Think about it. The situation is like this, Cao Bao, are you willing to surrender?"

Cao Bao not only knew the specific defense situation of the counties in the East China Sea, but most importantly, he himself was the main general of the Danyang Army~www.mtlnovel.com~ If he was willing to surrender, it would be of great help to the next East China Sea battle.

Cao Bao was loyal to Tao Qian, and he kept scolding him. How could he be willing to surrender!

Xu Zhong said, "Neither will you surrender, nor will I kill you. Bring your military flag and go back to Tan County."

Cao Bao said angrily: "Kill it and kill it, why should you humiliate me!"

The general of the defeated army returned to Tanxian with the army flag. It seemed that this was indeed an insult, but Cao Bao really misunderstood Xu Zhong.

Xu Zhong Shenwu is self-respecting, how could he have the intention to insult him? It was just because Xu Zhong thought that Cao Bao was somewhat brave, but he didn't expect that he was both ruthless and courageous, so mediocre, it was useless to kill, and it was useless to keep it. Since it was not worth killing or keeping, he simply asked him to take him with him. Returning to Tan County with the military flag to attack the morale of the defenders in the East China Sea is also considered "waste utilization".

As a prisoner, Cao Bao couldn't help himself. Although he refused to bring the flag back to Tan, Xu Zhong's guards forced the flag into his hands, gave him a horse, and drove him out of the camp. It was a cold winter night, and the north wind was howling. Cao Bao stood on the field with the military flag in his hand. He was determined to draw his sword and cut himself. At this time, he lost the rush of blood, and had no face to see Tao Qian. However, he had nowhere to go. Full of shame and indignation, he returned to Tan County.

Chapter end