A black war horse galloped uphill. The spy dismounted and hurried to Cao Cao: "Report to my lord, a large number of enemy troops have crossed the Yellow River. They are less than ten miles away from here. Look at the flags they have flown. The generals leading the army It should be Wen Chou, a famous general from Hebei."
"Yuan Shao's pursuers!?" Xiahou Dun was shocked and asked quickly: "How many people are here?"
"Oh, I understand." Cao Cao looked indifferent and nodded, "Go down and rest, there is no need to explore anymore."
Seeing that Cao Cao's expression was as usual, Xiahou Dun said anxiously: "My lord, this place is extremely dangerous. Please leave first, and I will lead the tiger and leopard to kill the rear!"
Cao Cao's expression was still very calm: "Yuan Rang, in your eyes, am I such a cowardly lord?"
"Lord!" Seeing that Cao Cao refused to leave, Xiahou Dun ignored etiquette. He rode his horse forward and stretched out his hand to hold Cao Cao's arm. "My lord, don't be impulsive. There are more than 10,000 enemy troops coming. If my lord refuses to leave, Go, I can only be rude."
"Why are you so rude? Did you knock me out and carry me away?" Cao Cao raised his riding whip, lightly slapped Xiahou Dun's hand, and said with a smile: "Yuan Rang, in your eyes, it turns out that I am not only a cowardly lord. Still a stupid lord."
Xiahou Dun was stunned for a moment, reined in his horse and took a few steps back, looking at Cao Cao blankly.
Cao Cao ordered in a low voice: "Yuan Rang, Miaocai, and Zihe, select the best half of your troops to ambush behind the hillside. The rest unsaddle and scatter the horses nearby, pretending to be lazy. He looked relaxed and unprepared. At the same time, he scattered the grain, grass and equipment seized from the white horse on the road." Seeing that the three of them had puzzled looks on their faces, Cao Cao increased his tone: "Hurry up, don't ask me why, wait a minute I will explain it to you using Wen Chou¡¯s head.¡±
Seeing Cao Cao's confident look, the three of them stopped talking and went down one after another to deliver the order.
Cao Cao looked at the three people leaving and straightened his body slightly. A sergeant who had been standing far away brought his mount. Cao Cao got on his horse and ordered: "Raise my flag! "
Wen Chou panted slightly on his galloping mount, staring at the big flag flying not far ahead. The flames on the flag burned in the wind, making it dazzling red. Wen Chou was shocked at first, and then he was filled with endless ecstasy. He was fully aware of the meaning of the flag. Cao Cao threw himself into the battlefield rashly. This was a unique opportunity in his life, as long as he could cut down this flag. If the banner is raised, the morale of Cao's army will collapse in an instant.
"Brothers, come with me!" Wen Chou turned around and shouted, "That is Cao Cao's flag. Come forward with me, kill the national traitor and avenge the dead soldiers!"
The cavalry rushing in front quickly threw away the infantry behind them and ran towards Cao Cao's flag. However, Wen Chou did not notice that the long and non-stop pursuit had exhausted his cavalry. The horses were not galloping fast enough, and the charge brought them The power of the attack will also become smaller, and the hillside in front of Cao Cao's flag once again played a role in reducing the speed of the cavalry.
But at this time, Wen Chou no longer cared about this. All he could see was the burning flag. It wasn't until figures with horses appeared around the flag one after another that Wen Chou realized what kind of desperate situation he had fallen into. among.
When the enemy cavalry was at the end of its crossbow, Cao Cao shot his arrows into the battlefield. The tiger and leopard cavalry opened up the formation in an orderly manner, and the front row of cavalry was as smooth as a line. Cao Cao looked down with a sneer at the enemy troops who were still rushing towards him, and slowly drew out his sword from his waist. The sword paused slightly in the air for a moment, and then swung it forward fiercely. One thousand five hundred tiger and leopard riders unsheathed their swords at the same time and relaxed the tight reins in their hands. The power of the one thousand five hundred war horses that were tightly restrained was released in an instant, surging towards Wen Chou like a frenzy. Come.
Wen Chou's heart felt like it was falling into an ice cave. He reined in the galloping horse and watched in fear as the tide of tigers and leopards came towards him. But his horsemen were not aware of the danger, and one by one they passed him and ran towards their death.
The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were like a straight blade, sharply drawing a straight line in front of the battle formation. Although there were only 1,500 people, they were all the best among the best. Not only were they superb in sword skills, but they were also extremely tough. Fear of death. Wherever the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry passed, Wen Chou's cavalry fell off their horses one after another, and were immediately trampled by the iron hooves that followed them. With just one simple contact, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry completely destroyed all the enemy's morale.
Wen Chou turned his horse's head and led the remaining defeated generals to retreat behind them, but their path had been blocked by his own infantry. The infantrymen who were left behind were not aware of the situation ahead. They were only focused on seizing the baggage horses abandoned by Cao's army. The chaotic formation was like an endless line.A natural barrier that cannot be crossed. Wen Chou gritted his teeth and gave the cavalry a stern order: "Step over, step over, don't care if it's one of your own!"
The shrill cries on the battlefield covered up the sound of bowstrings and sharp whistles. Wen Chou felt that a sharp and cold hard object penetrated from the back of his heart, and then rushed out from his chest. The moment it penetrated his body, everything in his body was It seemed as if all the heat and strength were taken away in an instant. Wen Chou slowly lowered his head. The arrow had completely penetrated his armor, and half of the arrow tip was exposed at his heart. Wen Chou spit out a mouthful of blood and his last breath, and fell off his horse.
"General Wen is dead!" As soon as a cavalryman shouted these words, his head was chopped off by the tiger and leopard cavalry who came from behind, and blood rushed out from the cut.
Wen Chou's death undoubtedly dealt the last fatal blow to this desperate army. Cao Cao looked down from the hillside at the chaotic battlefield in front of him and sighed softly: "Yuan Shao, what you brought is such an army of tigers and wolves. What?"
Liyang, Yuan Shao¡¯s military camp.
When Yuan Shao returned to Liyang from Yecheng in despair, he was greeted by even more crazy news - more than 20,000 troops had no horses to return, and Yan Liang and Wen Chou died in battle. Two of the four courtyard pillars in Hebei were cut off in just a few days, and Yuan Shao felt that the sky above his head was about to fall. Losing two battles in a row and losing troops and generals suddenly went to Yuan Shao's mind. He was so anxious that he couldn't wait to fight Cao Cao. On the third day after Yuan Shao returned to Liyang, he pushed all his main forces to Yangwu, north of Guandu.
Liu Bei sat in his military tent, unfolded a piece of cloth, thought for a moment, and then started writing on it.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both sat at the bottom, silent. In the silence, Zhang Fei finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked: "Brother, what are you writing?"
Liu Bei put down his pen, dried the ink on the cloth, carefully rolled it up, and said casually: "A letter of surrender to Cao Cao."
"What!?" Zhang Fei jumped up, "We haven't fought with Cao Cao yet, why do we have to surrender!"
"Third brother, please keep your voice down!" Liu Bei shouted in a low voice. "Although the previous two battles were just small-scale outpost battles, even a blind man could see the superiority and inferiority of each other. Cao Cao was witty and courageous, and won by surprise. In numbers, Being at an absolute disadvantage, taking the lead not only boosted their own morale, but also greatly affected Yuan Shao's morale. Yan Liang and Wen Chou, known as the Four Court Pillars of Hebei, were the most famous generals under Yuan Shao, but they were killed in two small battles. , do you know how much panic this will cause in the military?"
Guan Yu stroked his three strands of beautiful beard and echoed: "Cao Cao is not as good as Yuan Shao in terms of military strength, and there are many doubts in his own camp. The victory of these two battles will undoubtedly be a slap in the face of the surrender faction. a slap."
"That's right." Liu Bei sighed, "Cao Cao won really well this time. The most important thing is that the significance of these two battles far exceeds the actual results themselves. Although the impact on the development of the battle is subtle, it is profound. "
¡°So, it¡¯s time for us to prepare a way out for ourselves.¡±