Cao Cao immediately stood under his commanding flag on the south bank of the Yellow River. The soldiers surrounding him were shooting at the enemy troops on the north bank across the Yellow River. Although the range of the bows and arrows on both sides could not hurt the other side, it was enough to block the enemy who could land. The river bank line.
Cao Cao sat quietly on his horse, counting the time in his heart. Brothers Xiahou Dun and Xia Houyuan had left with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry for a while. According to the speed, they should have started to cross the river by now, and even engage Liu Bei's army ambushing on the other side. . Cao Cao had no doubt that Liu Bei would ambush his cavalry vanguard on the north bank, and he did not care that his cavalry vanguard would step into this trap, because he had too many options for this battle.
A horse galloped towards Cao Cao. The spy dismounted not far away, knelt on the ground, and gasped: "My lord, the cavalry vanguard has crossed the Yellow River and was ambushed by Liu Bei's army on the north bank. The front army fought hard. The loss is huge!¡±
"Have we engaged in battle now? It's much faster than I calculated." Cao Cao casually folded the riding whip in his hand, "Who is leading the opponent's army? Is it Guan Yu or Zhang Fei?" Cao Cao was already stunned on the shore. All morning, except for Liu Bei, his two sworn brothers were not seen. Cao Cao had already seen the bravery of Guan Zhang in front of Hulao Pass. The impact on morale of ten thousand enemies on the battlefield was Cao Cao's only fear and at the same time he could not. Manipulation factors.
"It's probably not Guan and Zhang. The ones who ambush our cavalry are a large number of infantry armed with hooks and sickles. They ambush in the ravines dug in advance and use their hooks and sickles to cut off the legs of our cavalry's horses." The spy kowtowed again. , said anxiously: "My lord, the front army was caught off guard and lost nearly a hundred horses before the frontal battle."
"Infantry!?" Cao Cao snapped the riding whip in his hand, "Liu Bei really has such a brave sergeant who is not afraid of death?" Cao Cao began to doubt the news he heard. In recent years, he has continued to purchase and train war horses from Xiliang. The cavalry, he clearly knew the terrifying speed and power of the cavalry when they charged. Any flesh and blood body would be trampled into a puddle of meat in front of it.
"Approximately how many infantry are there? Since you know it is infantry, why don't you let your horse ride over it?" Cao Cao calmed down and asked.
"The enemy troops are all ambushing in the fortifications. There are about three to four thousand people." The spy replied, "The enemy troops are very cunning. They have dug pits in front of the fortifications, because when the war horses fall into the pits when they are traveling rapidly, their legs will be broken. , so the forward charge is blocked, and the subsequent charge will be blocked by the fallen companions in front, making it impossible to break through the enemy's line."
"It is indeed a well-thought-out tactic, I have to admire it." Cao Cao couldn't help but admired, and then asked: "Didn't the former general command everyone to dismount and fight on foot?"
"The enemy troops scattered iron caltrops on the ground and were blocked by horse corpses. Before the dismounted soldiers could gather together, they were stabbed to death with spears or shot with bows and arrows. There was no chance to fight back." The spies were anxious. He said, "My lord, the front army has suffered huge losses, and it is bound to be impossible to break through the enemy's position. Please make a decision quickly, lord, and lead troops to reinforce, otherwise the entire Tiger and Leopard Cavalry army will be destroyed in this battle!"
Cao Cao seemed to have not heard the spies' words. He quickly sketched the battle situation on the front line in his mind. He, Guo Jia and others had studied the terrain where the cavalry crossed the river no less than a thousand times, and they were already familiar with it. Even where Liu Bei would ambush and how to set up the ambush were all part of his calculations, and now everything was in accordance with His prediction came true step by step. Cao Cao quickly went through the entire process in his mind, because he knew that even a slight mistake would lead to the collapse of the entire battle.
"My lord." Seeing Cao Cao in a daze on his horse, the spy couldn't help but remind him, "My lord, please send troops quickly to rescue the tiger and leopard cavalry!"
"Tiger and Leopard Cavalry?" Cao Cao raised his whip and laughed, "Who told you that my cavalry front army must be Tiger and Leopard Cavalry?"
The spy was stunned when he heard this, and knelt down in front of Cao Cao's horse at a loss.
At this time, on the north side of the river bank, Liu Bei had received the battle report of the ambush victory. He tried his best to suppress the ecstasy in his heart and said in a deep voice to the spies: "Probe again, explore again, be sure to make sure that the one crossing the river is Cao Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry!"
The detectives kept reporting back the news, and the last spy who came back brought a bunch of iron plates tied with chains. Liu Bei took the iron plate, weighed it in his hands, and then flicked the surface of the iron plate with his fingers.
"The hand is heavy and the sound is honest. It is indeed made of fine steel." Liu Bei turned the iron plate over and saw that the word "Tiger and Leopard" was engraved on the iron plate, which was clearly written by Cao Cao. Liu Bei finally couldn't hold himself back anymore and went up to grab the spy's collar: "Are you sure that all the cavalry crossing the river carry such iron tags?"
"These iron tags were pulled off the corpse by the villain." The spy gasped, "The villain is sure that all the enemy soldiers crossing the river were wearing such iron tags. They must be Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. ???¡±
Liu Bei pushed the spy away and shouted to his own soldiers: "Commanding arrow, commanding arrow, let Yun Chang and Yide start cleaning the battlefield!"
As the arrows shot up into the sky with sharp roars, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led more than a thousand elite cavalry out of the ambush and charged towards Cao Cao's cavalry front army that had crossed the river. After Guan Yu and Zhang Fei rushed into the battlefield with large groups of cavalry, the battle situation became one-sided. Thousands of Cao's troops were suppressed on the north bank of the Yellow River. They were unable to form a favorable formation for defense. People and people The corpses of war horses piled up on the river bank, blocking their retreat, and the flowing blood dyed the Yellow River water red.
Cao Cao's army on the north bank of the Yellow River was wiped out in a matter of seconds. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led their cavalry to quickly cross the Yellow River, preparing to cut straight to the rear of Cao Cao's main camp. As long as they broke into Cao Cao's camp, they could form a formation with the friendly troops on the north bank. The potential of a pincer attack.
"Kill him, kill him!" Zhang Fei shouted loudly, holding up his spear, "Whoever wins Cao Cao's head will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be granted the title of Marquis of ten thousand households!"
Among the galloping cavalry, Guan Yu held the Qinglong Sword upside down and suddenly reined in his horse because he heard the melodious horn sound coming from behind the defeated Cao army.
"There is an ambush!" Guan Yu felt awe-inspiring in his heart. He raised his eyes and saw at the end of his line of sight, a large black flag was raised, fluttering in the wind, and a cavalry brigade of thousands of people was approaching with their horns and horses. Five thousand horses gathered around the banner and stood in the distance. The warriors on horseback wore the same dark-colored armor and held sharp long knives in their hands, as silent as if they were made of iron.
"Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!" Guan Yu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Although he was not afraid of confrontation with this terrifying hero, he clearly understood that the team behind him had become a lamb to be slaughtered.
Five thousand tiger and leopard cavalry ignored the friendly soldiers fleeing in front of them and adjusted their formation in an orderly manner. The general leading the army swung his sword forward fiercely, and five thousand war horses launched a charge at the same time. Large clouds of smoke and dust rose up in the formation, followed by the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led The cavalry was like a small piece of gravel, instantly submerged by the rolling iron flow. Xiahou Dun raised his sword to the sky and shouted: "Charge! Charge! Let the cowards of Hebei see that this is the real Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!"
On the fifth day of August in the third year of Jian'an, Cao Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry attacked Liu Bei's defenses along the Yellow River. Even though Liu Bei ambushed 4,000 dead soldiers here, reinforced nearly 1,000 cavalry, and personally led an army to respond, It also failed to block the charge of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. The Xiahou brothers, who are famous for their cavalry tactics, easily overcame the double blockade of Liu Bei's cavalry and infantry, and landed on the north bank of the Yellow River. After that, the two led their troops at an astonishing speed to attack Liu Bei's main camp where he was confronting Cao Cao on the Yellow River, and fought with the troops on the south bank. The infantry formed a pincer attack from the front and rear. Liu Bei's army was defeated with enemies from both sides and could not hold back until it retreated to Yecheng before it was able to stabilize its position.