Chapter 14 Xuchang melee 2

"What's the matter?" Cao Jian knew that Jia Xu would not be aimless, so he hurriedly asked.

"Yesterday, the governor of Man who stayed in Xuchang sent people to report that a batch of grain and fodder had just been shipped to Xuchang through Hebei was intercepted by Liu Bei's sailors when crossing the Yellow River. Thousands of stones of grain were robbed, and the rest were sunk to the bottom of the Yellow River. Now more than 200,000 troops have hoarded with Yanzhou. Once the grain channel is cut off, I'm afraid that the army will be unstable!" Jia Xu was rarely worried.

"Wen He, don't worry too much. How can Liu Bei cut off my grain road hundreds of miles along the Yellow River?" Cao Wei was a little disapproving. He can't be blamed. Cao Qian, who has only been noisy in the north and the Central Plains all his life, is still too superficial to know the sailor. Although hundreds of miles along the Yellow River are under his control, as long as there is accurate information, the Jingxiang navy led by Gan Ning can attack any of their ports at any time. Once the port is strangled, Cao Yan's army can't transport grain all be cut off, but it will be at least 20% off. In this way, Cao Jun has been stranded in Yanzhou for a long time. Once the food and fodder could not be received, he would eventually die.

"In case Liu Bei really sends sailors to block the Yellow River, then it's not just a problem with food and fodder!" Jia Xu muttered. This time, Cao Jian really didn't hear it, because his eyes had been on the tiger and leopard horse led by Cao Hong in the distance, and they were about to take over with Zhang Liao's reinforcements.

"Wen Yuan, that should be a tiger and a leopard ride!" Among the rushing reinforcements, Zang Ba leaned up and asked Zhang Liao.

"That's right!" Zhang Liao said in a low voice. As a cavalry expert who commands cavalry in Liu Bei's army, second only to Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao is not very confident about the upcoming battle. Although he also brought 15,000 cavalry this time, Zhang Liao was not sure whether these Jingzhou cavalry could fight with tigers and leopards.

"Wind and clouds, scatter!" Looking at the approaching five thousand tiger and leopard riders, even Cao Hong's ferocious face had been seen. Under Zhang Liao's order, the Fengyun cavalry still dispersed according to the trained formation, ready to exercise the trapped wolf tactics. Instead of directly hitting Cao Hong, they slowly eroded Cao Hong's tiger and leopard rider around the core. However, after all, the tiger and leopard horse is the elite of the world. Zhang Liao's order is not too late, but the tiger and leopard horse came too fast. The pocket array of the Fengyun horse has not been fully opened. The front army of the tiger and leopard horse has hit more than 3,000 people at the tail end of the Fengyun horse army. For a moment, the Fengyun horse army was forced to join it.

"How tough!" Zhang Liao glanced back and saw that the other party was fighting with his subordinates under the leadership of Cao Hong. These tigers and leopards in iron armor are equipped with good horses in Bingzhou, just like mobile fortresses. Once the cavalry of the Fengyun Cavalry Army and they were obviously at a loss. In fact, in terms of close combat skills, these Fengyun cavalry soldiers, who have to be taught by Meng Zhao Yun in person, are not worse than their opponents, and may even be slightly better. However, the disadvantages of equipment and lack of experience make it difficult for them to reflect the effect of training.

"Kill!" After waving a knife and killing an enemy, Cao Hong took the opportunity to look around. From the first glance just now, he felt that this wind and cloud cavalry was a little strange, and it seemed that there was always something wrong. Now, even in a fierce battle, Cao Hong also carefully checked the other party.

Finally, after killing a horse in front of him, Cao Hong found something wrong: there were five or six short guns hanging on both sides of the ownerless horse. It's no more than four feet long, and both cold lights flashed open the blade. Cao Hong didn't know what this kind of short gun was used for. If it was used as a blade, there was no need to equip it with five or six.

But he soon knew. Zhang Liao, who had just turned his head, gave an order: "Fengyun riding army, javelin level shooting!" More than 10,000 soldiers of the Fengyun cavalry immediately distributed on both sides took off the javelins beside them one after another, pounced on the enemy surrounded by them, and threw them at the tiger and leopard cavalry soldiers dozens of steps away from them.

"What?" Cao Hong was also shocked to see the javelin rain. In his surprised eyes, 10,000 javelins plunged into the army of tigers and leopards. Although the armor defense ability of the tiger and leopard is extremely strong, not only ordinary arrows, but also the hand-to-hand saber of the Fengyun riding army has failed to cut it many times. But this sharp javelin, combined with the impact of the full-speed impact of the Fengyun cavalry, immediately pierced the iron armor. After the first round of javelin, there was the second round. After the test firing of the two rounds of javelin, the two sides started a thorough hand-to-hand fight.

"Kill!" Zhang Liao stabbed a tiger and leopard horse to death with one shot, but the iron armor also made it a little difficult for him to stab him. At present, Zhang Liao threw down the long gun and pulled out the saber to fight with him. Only two rounds of javelin rain have knocked down more than a thousand tigers and leopards. Now the Fengyun cavalry almost surrounds the other party with a force of more than 3:1. But even so, there is still no obvious advantage. The power of the tiger and leopard riding can be seen.

"King of Wei, I'm afraid General Zilian can't hold on any longer!" Jia Xu, a bystander in the distance, saw that Cao Hong and Hu Baoqi were surrounded by Zhang Liao's pure superior forces at the core and could not move, but the infantry led by Zang Ba was blocked, and the scene did not prevail.

"Guan Ling Wen Lie and Zihe, leave Guan Yu alone and help Zilian!" Cao Yan looked at the two battlefields close at hand. Zhang Liao on Cao Hong's side had the upper hand, while Guan Yu's side had obviously been suppressed. It depends on who couldn't bear it first. However, with the arrival of reinforcements, the resistance of the Jingzhou army on Guan Yu's side was obviously much more tenacious.

"The reinforcements have arrived, brothers, work harder!" He killed an enemy with a knife, and Liao Hua also seized all the time to boost morale. Since Chen Wu retreated, he has taken on more responsibilities. At this moment, he heard a horn in Cao's army, and then Cao Xiu and Cao Chun began to gather the tigers and leopards in the melee to withdraw from the battlefield and rush to support Cao Hong.

"Hand them!" After detecting Cao's intention, Guan Yu immediately ordered. After fighting fiercely for more than an hour, the Jingzhou Army, which had more than 10,000 casualties, suddenly broke out its last fighting spirit and pestered the enemy around them. The two sides have been strangled into a group. It was not easy for the tiger and leopard horse to leave the battlefield, but now it is even more difficult to meet the entangled Jingzhou army.

"Wen Xiang, you lead your man, go and help Junhou!" Waving a knife to force Yu Ban on the opposite side, Zang Ba said to Xu Shengda beside him. He has steadily suppressed Yu Ban and Cao Hong here, and Xu Sheng can free up his hand to help Guan Yu.

"Xuan Gao, be careful!" Xu Sheng also knew that Guan Yu was under great pressure now. After a false shot, he greeted his 10,000 steps to help Guan Yu. Yu Ban wanted to stop him, but now he was entangled in Zang Ba. In addition, this battlefield is not as staggered as Guan Yu's. He could only watch Xu Sheng lead people out of the battlefield and fight against Zang Ba.

"The reinforcements have arrived, brothers, the reinforcements have arrived!" Dong Xi, the outermost, almost cried excitedly on the spot when he saw Xu Sheng coming. With the participation of Xu Sheng, a thousand elite soldier, Guan Yu's originally precarious situation suddenly changed a lot.

"Get out of here!" Cao Chun turned up and down with an iron gun, which was inseparable from Zhou Tai's key points, but Zhou Tai's ghost-headed knives in his hand blocked it. From the beginning, Cao Chun has been entangled with Zhou Tai. Now, although Cao Wei wants him to withdraw in time to respond to Cao Hong, he has been entangled by Zhou Tai, and now he is still weak. Cao Chun knew that if it went on like this, he would be passive.

Cao Jian's bystander in the distance, Qing, from the beginning of Guan Yu's initiative to pester Cao Chun, he had fully figured out the combat intentions of Guan Yu and others: that is, at the beginning, he used Guan Yu's 40,000 people as bait to drag his main force, and then dispatched Zhang Lioli to deal with himself. Although he left Cao Hong just in case, it seems that this has not played much role. Of course, the reason why Guan Yu is so mysterious is to avoid a head-on conflict with the tiger and leopard riding as much as possible, or at least to avoid a comprehensive conflict with all the tiger and leopard riding.

If Cao Chun could deal with Guan Yu earlier; if he did not put most of the tigers and leopards into the battle against Guan Yu; even if he did not adopt Sima Yi's plan to lure the enemy, maybe the result would not be like this. Now Cao Shen has a faint ominous foreboding. At present, the two armies fighting in the field have exceeded 200,000, and their forces are almost completely equal, killing in the wilderness outside Xuchang City. In terms of the combat effectiveness of infantry, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao's Jingzhou Army, Yuzhou Army and even Xuzhou Army are more powerful than Cao Qian's ordinary soldiers because of the foundation of Danyang elite soldiers, Shanyue Army and Wudang Flying Army. But when it's the turn of the cavalry, the Fengyun cavalry is not as good as the tiger and the leopard. Now it seems to be inexplicable in the field, but in fact, this balance is very delicate. After receiving Xu Sheng's support, although Guan Yu was slightly better than the situation just now, he still fell behind. On the contrary, Zang Ba and Zhang Liao were not so obvious in the face of Cao Hong and Yu Ban because they transferred Xu Sheng's people. In addition, the tiger and leopard horse were too strong, and Zhang Liao was surrounding them. After that, he failed to kill the other party for a while.

This delicate balance and fierce battle, once either side breaks the deadlock, the winner is likely to be almost 100%. Cao Qian grasped the fighter keenly and ordered in a low voice, "Order the soldiers to light up the beacon smoke and let Zixiao lead people to help!"

"No!" The soldiers who had been waiting for a long time were ordered to light the beacon smoke. At this time, the two armies had been fighting fiercely for nearly two hours, from the early morning to the afternoon. It was said that the head was off for a long time, but there were hundreds of thousands of creatures on the ground who sacrificed their lives and died. This battle will largely determine the direction of Cao Liu's confrontation and even the future. Not only Cao Wei, at this time, Liu Bei has also led Pang Tong, Lu Su and other civil servants have just crossed Yingshui and rushed to this battlefield.

"Cao Yan ignited the beacon smoke. It seems that Cao Ren, who wants Liang County, to go out and inform the third brother to prepare to meet the enemy!" Liu Bei is in good spirits today, and he is in high spirits when giving orders. Kou Feng, who was the captain of his guard, hurried to give orders. At the same time, a group of counselors also whispered and discussed the military situation. Finally, Lu Su said, "Don't worry, Lord. We have a far greater chance of winning this battle than Cao Gong."

"Why did Zijing say that?" Liu Bei said strangely when he heard the words. Lu Su looked at the crowd and finally said, "Cao Wei's march this time has three strategies. Now it is really the worst strategy for Xuchang to lure us to attack.

(to be continued)