Cao Zhang and his entourage cavalry walked along the shallows on the east bank of the Han River.
Thousands of iron hooves trampled in the flowing water, splashing tumbling water; hundreds of riders gathered together, a murderous aura soared into the sky.
The King of Wei hoped that the Jingzhou army would go north as soon as possible, so he asked Zhu Ling to take charge of the defense of the three counties and to give up the city one after another at the appropriate time. Now the Jingzhou army has indeed dispatched a large army to fight, and the other end of the county is almost out of control. In this way, Zhu Ling's mission has been completed and he can withdraw his troops calmly.
But what about Cao Zhang’s mission?
The King of Wei hopes that Cao Zhang will win a victory before the war between Cao and Liu, with his famous Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, to anger Guan Yu... Where is this victory?
The moment he saw Guan Ping's troops, Cao Zhang realized that he had been fooled. At the normal marching speed, at most half an hour, Guan Ping's troops either went to Yicheng or to the ferry. If Guan Ping had confidence in the combat effectiveness of his army, he would probably divide his troops to siege the city on the one hand, and send other elite troops to attack the ferry, taking advantage of the half-crossing of Cao Zhang's troops to attack.
Cao Zhang was confident that the cavalry team under his command was free to advance and retreat. No matter how bad the situation was, it would be not a problem to withdraw and leave. However, if the response was not careful during the process and was bitten by the Jingzhou army... How to explain in front of the King of Wei? How can the reputation of the General of the Cavalry be maintained?
The safest way is to take the initiative to give up crossing the river and turn directly along the east bank of the Han River back to Fancheng.
But how could Cao Zhang give up? How could he allow himself to retreat in such humiliation?
He immediately decided to personally lead the entourages of his headquarters to rush back to the ferry, and at all costs ensure that his side crosses the river safely, and then fight a decisive battle with Guanping south of Yicheng.
With the idea set, the five hundred tigers and leopard cavalry set off immediately and walked quickly.
Strictly speaking, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, which was so powerful in the world, no longer exists.
On the one hand, as the Prime Minister was Duke of Wei and Duke of Wei was King of Wei, the responsibilities of the follower guards were gradually replaced by the increasingly large-scale guards; if used to conquer the four sides, due to the rapid expansion of the scale of the war, the individual tiger and leopard cavalry were less than ten thousand cavalry, which was not enough to play a decisive role.
On the other hand, the iron-like man tempered in the chaotic times will inevitably be destroyed by time and gradually grow old. The supplement of the tiger and leopard cavalry is not as easy as facing each other. Moreover, in the Battle of Guanzhong three years ago, the guards, the tiger and leopard cavalry and the central army suffered heavy losses, and experienced intermediate officers were extremely short of the vacancies. In this case, the 100 generals drawn from the foreign troops and prefectures and counties stationed in various places must first meet the needs of building a backbone of the army. It is actually not cost-effective to fill the tiger and leopard cavalry as a cavalry.
Therefore, starting three years ago, the original Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was split into the Central Army, Zhonglei, Xiaoqi battalions directly under the King of Wei. The total force expanded to more than 20,000, and the largest cavalry organization in the world was to truly meet the needs of the army's attack.
Now, the tens of cavalry led by Cao Zhang are not inferior to those of the same skill in cooperation, equipment and war horses, but in terms of the courage and fighting skills of a single player, it is undeniable that it has indeed decreased slightly.
Fortunately, Cao Zhang's direct entourage cavalry team is still as strong as before.
The five hundred cavalry he directly under was part of the cavalry camp at that time. The King of Wei specially assigned Cao Zhang to directly under Cao Zhang to show his trust and reliance on Cao Zhang. These five hundred cavalry followed Cao Zhang for several years and fought dozens of battles with the Jingzhou army, but there were losses. Cao Zhang was still selected and filled in the garrisons in Yuzhou and Jingbei, but they were still a hundred generals.
With these five hundred cavalry, Cao Zhang had the confidence to maintain the situation west of the Han River, which made Guan Ping's troops dare not approach, and allowed his iron cavalry to cross the river safely!
He calculated it wrong again.
Guan Ping's troops did not get close to them. They stopped along the road south of the Yishui River. Each troops simply set their ground and took turns to have dinner.
It is impossible to raise the stove during the march, and it is too late to cook temporarily. Therefore, everyone eats cold food. The food is very coarse and simple, with large pieces of scones, dried rice cooked and dried, and put in cloth bags, as well as salty soybean and miscellaneous sauce used to replenish salt.
As the main general, Guan Ping treated him better than ordinary soldiers, with a more roasted bird that was half-cooked. It was probably shot by his entourage on the march. His hair was not pulled clean, and after roasting, it was a piece of black.
Guan Ping ate the meat first in a few bites, and then slowly ate the cake with clear water.
At this time, Sima Zhao Bin, his tent asked: "Take it, now the two armies are separated by the river, Cao Zhang must be eager to cross the river to fight. Why don't we thrust out the elite cavalry and rush to the ferry crossing and kill Cao's army first?"
Zhao Bin was also Yuan Cong who had followed the King of Hanzhong for many years, and was from Zhuo County, Youzhou, the oldest group of Yuan Congzhong. According to him, his ancestors were Zhao Guanghan, the strongest minister who fought against treacherous party tyrants during the former Han Dynasty. By the time Zhao Bin's generation, he joined the army because of his skillful bow and horse skills, and had participated in the Han army's expedition to various Xianbei tribes.
With such old qualifications, there are not many soldiers in Jingzhou now. Guan Ping respected him very much. He drank a sip of water and swallowed the baking cake in his mouth, and then replied: "From the Cao army rushed to Yamen City, they wanted to fight against our army. This time our army directly attacked Yicheng, and Cao army lost the initiative and must be impatient. In order to ensure the safety of the ferry, they would definitely call on elite soldiers and generals, and they would make up their minds to die if they didn't advance. Since this, we fulfilled their wishes, so what?"
He straightened his back and pointed to the surrounding lush landforms to show Zhao Bin: "This place is where the Yishui River and Han River merge together. There are swamps around, three lakes, more than ten gravel and river beaches, and reeds stretch for no less than 30 miles... These are not suitable for the large cavalry of Cao's army, but are the coordinated development of our army's infantry and cavalry. Therefore, I am afraid that their spirit will not be strong, and that they will not come to fight as soon as possible!"
Before he finished speaking, the soldiers raised a green flag and moved up and down the tower in the middle of Guan Ping.
Guan Ping laughed: "Look, Cao's iron cavalry crossed the Han River!"
Zhao Bin was convinced: "General is brilliant!"
Zhao Bin retreated and went to rectify the headquarters. Guan Ping took another scone from his entourage and chewed it.
After biting a few bites, the soldiers on the building took the red flag and raised the green and red flags together.
Guan Ping was a little surprised and called a entourage: "Go and ask about the situation."
A entourage just left the team and asked.
Looking at the soldiers on the building, they flew the blue and red flags left and right, dancing like a whirlwind.
Looking downstairs, a cavalry galloped over and shouted hastily: "General, our army's two battalions were raided by Cao's cavalry!"
It is one thing to be afraid that it will not come. But it is another thing to be Cao's army came so quickly and was so fierce and evil.
Guan Ping felt that his face as the chief general was uncontrollable, and he suddenly felt a little angry. He stood up suddenly, thought for a while, and felt that although the battalions in front and behind were eating, they were all ready to face the enemy. Moreover, the camp layout was also staggered to cover each other, so that they would not be taken advantage of by hundreds of cavalry.
So he calmed down and continued to chew the scones and asked, "How many enemies are coming?"
"The general, there are only hundreds of cavalry coming, but they are all elites wearing iron armor and leather armor. At first they slowly advanced along the waterside road, making a look of peeping the camp. After getting closer, they suddenly got on the horse and galloped, and instantly they broke through the camp!"
"Blade the camp?" Guan Ping was a little surprised: "Have you ever seen the casualties of the two battalions ahead?"
"It is estimated that there are many casualties, but the enemy cavalry has not been entangled, so..."
Guan Ping frowned: "What does it mean to not be entangled? Are they leaving or..."
Before the two of them finished speaking, the entourage who had been sent to inquire came back and shouted: "General, Cao's cavalry team broke through two more battalions and quickly approached the direction of our central army!"
Guan Ping sneered: "So brave, good courage."
He reached out to grab the horse, and his entourage led the war horse.
He turned over and said to the surrounding soldiers: "Cao Zhang must have come! Huang Xuer has always attacked and killed fiercely, and always thought that his own courage could defeat the enemy... Unfortunately, it is no longer as good as before! People come!"
A team of commanders rushed to him.
Chapter completed!