The first heavy snow in Hebei fell on the land of Heshuo at the end of October.
And just before the heavy snowfall, the Taishan Army's Western Expeditionary Army had already fought three major and small battles with the main force of the Han Army in Hanoi. There were countless small encounters, and the two sides fought a bloody feud on the Qishui River.
On October 26th, the Taishan Army's Western Expeditionary Army marched day and night, and finally arrived at Qishui Village on this day. On the same day, the Henan Han Army's former Colonel Cao Cao also rushed to the south bank of Qishui, two hundred meters away from the water. Set up a stronghold within walking distance.
On October 27, Zhendong General Zhang Wen ordered Cao Cao to lead two thousand soldiers in the front to wade into the water to attack. Cao Cao refused to respond and planned to continue to defend instead of attack. However, Zhendong General Yu Xi flew to pass, and every moment he ordered, There was an endless stream of feathered cavalry sent to Cao Cao's army.
Finally, all the generals under Cao Cao also asked for war, saying that they would fight at least one battle no matter what. In this case, Cao Cao had no choice but to fight.
At noon, taking advantage of the warm weather, 2,000 men from Cao Cao's troops went out to cross the Qishui River. The military watchtower on the other side of Mount Tai discovered the movements of Cao Cao's troops and immediately sounded the alarm. As a result, the alarm sounded loudly on the north bank of the Qishui River.
Ding Sheng, the commander-in-chief of the Taishan Army's Western Expedition Army on the other side, faced the attack from Cao Cao's troops. He responded calmly, took advantage of the enemy's half-crossing, and supervised the Jinquan troops in the front to fight back.
The two sides were fighting fiercely for half a day when a sudden cavalry force suddenly came from the upper reaches of Qishui River. The leader was the flying dragon cavalry general Li Hu. Under the soaring flying dragon cavalry, Li Hu's five hundred cavalrymen penetrated directly into Cao Cao's waist.
Cao Cao's troops, who were still on the south bank of Qishui River, were caught off guard and were knocked down by the bandit's cavalry, causing chaos.
Cao Cao's front army, who was trudging hard, saw the chaos behind them and panicked. They either stepped up to cross the river or retreated directly to the south bank.
When the rear route was taken, Cao Cao, who had already led his troops to cross the river and set up a formation, looked ugly.
At this time, under the banner with the character "Cao", Cao Cao, who was dressed in a military uniform and a basin-collared armor, threw his bag to the ground heavily.
He said to the officials around him:
"There is no retreat in this battle, and there is death and no life. Today, if we defeat the moth thieves together alive, we will die together on the bank of Qishui River."
Cao Cao came forward with blood and courage. He was surrounded by Xu Chu, Shi Huan, Xu Ding, etc. who were all blood warriors. Seeing Cao Cao's heroic spirit, all bloodlines became excited and loudly agreed.
In order to show his leadership, Cao Cao led his troops to the north bank first. His two troops followed behind.
Among them, Sima Xiahouyuan on the left was crossing the river, and Sima Xiahoudun on the right was on duty on the south bank. The cavalry led by Li Hu rushed towards Xiahoudun's tribe.
The Xiahou brothers and Cao Cao are the real brothers of the family, and they are different from the brothers Cao Ren and Cao Hong. The Cao brothers are already heroic, have their own tribe, and are very independent, so they will be under Zhu Jun's command.
The Xiahou brothers had long been attached to Cao Cao's group, so they joined Cao Cao's army when he first launched his army. At this moment, they are also Cao Cao's most trusted confidants.
After Xiahou Dun's troops were attacked by Li Hu, Xiahou Dun shouted loudly on the other side of the formation. He asked the drummers on the shore to beat the big cowhide drums on all sides to encourage the whole army.
Then he led his troops to attack directly from the front of the formation and charged straight towards Li Hu.
Under the banner of Feilong, Li Hu sat astride a war horse and charged at the front line with a horizontal spear. Every time he killed a person, one spear was broken, and then the soldiers handed over a new one. In this way, Li Hu changed six spears in a row, killing both sides with blood. Clothes.
As the earliest seventy-five-year-old brother who followed Zhang Chong, Li Hu served as a cavalry pawn in Xue's wall. After that, he fought countless bloody battles and was the veteran cavalry commander in the army after Tian Jun.
At this moment, as soon as Li Hu penetrated the broken stick into the eye socket of a Han soldier, the guard on the side shouted:
"General, an enemy general is coming from the left and is coming towards us."
Li Hu got angry, wrapped his beard in his arms, took the horse silk from the guard, and shouted:
"Come with Mr. Nai and kill these dead remnants."
The soldiers howled and screamed, and then they charged directly with their horses' heads in an awl formation.
Xiahou Dun, wearing three layers of armor, had just killed a defeated soldier, then held up the defeated soldier's head and shouted:
"I am Xiahou Dun. If all the troops are in a stable position, if the soldiers are in chaos, the commander will kill them. If the commanders are in chaos, the generals will be killed. If there is a chaos, the troops will be killed. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed!"
The guards behind him also shouted:
"Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed!"
At this time, Xiahou Dun laughed when he saw the flying dragon rider coming towards him.
"What a dog slave, he is about to kill you."
After saying that, he ran wildly. Even though he was wearing three layers of armor, Xiahou Dun was still as fast as the wind.
The wind was blowing violently and people were shouting.
Li Hu was holding the spear on his horse, and Xiahou Dun was slashing with his sword. Under the bright sun, dragons and tigers were fighting.
But at this moment, an arrow came from the west and went straight into Xiahou Dun's pocket.
This blow hit Xiahou Dun directly on the face, knocking out several bloody teeth, and then he fell to the ground.
Seeing that their leader had fallen, Xiahou Dun's troops were frightened and were about to grab the troops when they were scattered by Li Hu's troops on the opposite side. At this point, Cao Cao's troops remaining on the south bank of the Qishui River could no longer hold their ground and retreated one after another.
The guard next to Li Hu was about to dismount and chop off Xiahou Dun's head when he was stopped by Li Hu, who said:
"Leave this Han general's head to Xu Huang and let's go."
After saying that, he led the guards and continued to pass through, chasing the enemy northward.
It turned out that Li Hu saw that the person who had just shot the arrow was his favorite general Xu Huang. He was worried that he had made a mistake, so he directly interfered with the Han general with an arrow.
Li Hu was also proud of himself and did not want to steal the military exploits from his subordinates, so he generously gave way.
But as soon as he left, Xu Huang didn't know that there was a Han general waiting for him to behead him, so he continued to chase the others.
As Xiahou Dun was knocked unconscious, Cao Cao's army on the south bank collapsed. This reflected the fact that Xiahou Yuan's troops who crossed the Qishui River had no way out.
At this time, Xia Houyuan saw that he did not know whether his brother was alive or dead. With tears in his eyes, he waved his iron spear and said to the troops:
"At this time, the way to survive in the rear has been cut off. We can only move forward, join forces with the captain, and fight for survival in the face of death."
After saying that, Xia Houyuan took the military flag and trekked towards the north bank. Finally, with less than a thousand men under his command, he landed on the land on the north bank of Qishui River.
Once ashore, the originally narrow tidal flat became even narrower.
Cao Cao's pro-army troops were suppressed on the beach by Jinquan's 2,000 men, with arrows flying like locusts above them, and a thousand men marching in formations in front of them.
Cao Cao closed his eyes in despair:
"Am I, Cao Mengde, going to die here today?"
At this time, Xu Chu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly put on his iron pocket, knocked down his heavy ring sword, and bowed to Cao Cao:
"Don't worry, Colonel. I promise Chu to take care of the general's troubles."
After saying that, without waiting for Cao Cao to speak, Xu Chu took more than fifty of his hometown disciples and ran counterattack to the front of Jinquan's formation, holding spears and braving the rain of arrows.
That is to say, before the large formation was lined up, everyone witnessed the pinnacle of human physical fitness and martial arts.
Xu Chu lowered his iron pocket, pursed his lips, and strode forward. When he was five steps away from the Taishan Army's front line, he rolled up into a ball and crashed into the Taishan Army's front line.
Xu Chu, who was wearing three layers of armor, hit the outermost circle of the couch with the impact of a rushing elephant. The captain of the Taishan Army was directly hit in the chest by Xu Chu's collision, and his body became a
Xu Chu's cushion cushioned the force of hitting the ground.
The Taishan army in front stepped forward with its hands on the ground, and the soldiers in the back immediately reached up and prepared to stab Xu Chu, who was still on the ground. But Xu Chu jumped up and slashed east and west with the sword in his hand.
Every step is broken.
Then, Xu Chu was like a whirlwind, causing a rain of blood directly in front of the Taishan Army. At this time, Xu Chu's hometown disciples also rushed into the army wrapped in iron armor.
In just a moment, the Taishan Army only had a hundred men in the garrison. The garrison general was killed and the garrison deputy was seriously injured. Six generals were killed and two team generals were killed. The military formation without the military officer Jia Yong collapsed.
But the chaos didn't stop yet. Xu Chu chased the defeated troops and rolled them back to the Taishan Army's formation behind them.
Half a moment later, the second hundred-man garrison of Taishan Army collapsed.
After that, in an even shorter period of time, the third hundred-man settlement collapsed.
…
Ding Sheng, who had been observing the formation behind Jinquan's troops, discovered the commotion and collapse in front of Jinquan's formation early.
He pointed at Xu Chu's position and was shocked:
"I thought Qu Shuai was already unparalleled in the world. Who is this? He has such courage that no one else can deserve."
Ding Sheng's words left the Taishan generals around him speechless.
Many of them are arrogant and brave, but no one thinks that just a few dozen people can defeat three hundred-man formations in a row. This hundred-man formation is a serious formation of the Taishan Army. They can fight like this just by relying on their own bravery. What is this?
People?
Is this not a heavenly being?
The mood of the generals was swaying, but of course Ding Sheng couldn't let this man go on like this. He never thought about going up on his own. Just kidding, with the bravery of the thief general, was he going to die if he went up?
Ding Sheng didn't intend to let his subordinates fill in the blanks. He was not such a person. Who was he, Ding Sheng? The most intelligent general in the Taishan Army, he used his brain to fight!
Ding Sheng waved his troops and ordered the two hundred yellow crossbowmen under the Chinese army's tent to come forward. At the same time, he ordered the drummers to beat the formation drums.
So, six shirtless men in yellow scarves shouted chants and beat the big cowhide drum hastily. The sound of the drums reached the Jinquan in the front line.
At this time, Jin Quan's eyes were blood red, and he gritted his teeth as he watched Xu Chu wreaking havoc in the formation in front of him, but he could do nothing. The formation of a large formation was a military formation killing method, and generally speaking, personal bravery was useless in front of a large formation.
But this is only for most people, but for a warrior of ten thousand people like Xu Chu, especially when he is wearing three layers of armor, the formation is so powerless.
Because no matter how many Taishan soldiers there were, due to space limitations, Xu Chu only had three or four people in front of him. How could this be enough for Xu Chu to kill?
At this time, the sound of drums from behind the formation reached Jin Quan's ears. He was overjoyed and immediately raised flags for the flag soldiers, ordering the formations that met Xu Chu to separate from both sides.
The flag was waving, and each team answered the flag, then changed formations on the left and right, and separated from the middle amidst the roar of the robes in the middle.
Xu Chu, who was killing people in the formation, suddenly found that the place before him was empty, as if the sea had been split open, leaving only him and his hometown disciples.
Then he saw a group of people opposite him, and Xu Chu subconsciously yelled:
"Raise the banner!"
The fifty disciples from the hometown immediately swung out their big pillars from behind, and then formed a pillar formation in front of Xu Chu.
Xu Chu, who was behind the shield formation, waited for a while but did not encounter the expected arrow rain. He was puzzled and watched through the slit.
They saw that the thieves who were running towards them did not stop, but continued to run towards them, running directly to a distance of less than twenty steps from them.
Then he saw these people take out something from their backs. Xu Chuzheng recognized it as the Han Army's large yellow crossbow.
At this moment, the sun could not warm Xu Chu, and he seemed to be in an ice cellar. Looking at the hundreds of yellow crossbowmen opposite, Xu Chu cursed subconsciously:
"Hot girl."
Then Pei Ran smashed the Zhen formation in front of Xu Chu with great force.
Too strong, too close.
The soldiers in Xu Chu's first row holding the pillars could not withstand the impact, and the pillars tilted, and then more and more arrows rained down on them.
Even though they were wearing armor, Xu Chu's hometown disciples suffered heavy casualties. But even if they died, they still held on to the big banners in their hands, because Xu Chu was behind them.
They can die, but Xu Chu cannot.
Ding Sheng's two hundred big yellow crossbowmen were divided into four formations and fired four rounds in a row, directly filling the open space where Xu Chu was with arrows.
After a while, there was no one left in the fifty-man formation. Just when everyone thought that the wave of warriors had been wiped out, the pile of corpses shook for a while, and then they saw Xu Chu with disheveled hair and three arrows stuck in his body, looking like a ghost.
As soon as he stood up, he saw the scene where all his children were dead, and he roared loudly, as sad as a night owl. The Taishan officials who had just put down their big yellow crossbows were horrified by the howl and backed away.
The screams also reached Cao Cao on the beach. When he heard Xu Chu's screams, his eyes were blood red.
Cao Cao drew his sword, pushed away the guards and shouted:
"Those who are willing to die with me, Lao Cao, step forward."
Cao Cao is a great man, and the charm of a great man is never because of his family background, but because no matter where he is, no matter the difficulties, there are always people who are willing to follow him forever, even to the underworld.
So, Cao Cao's loyal soldiers all stepped forward. No one said anything, but they made everything clear.
Cao Cao cried loudly, cut off his bun, bit it in his mouth, and cried loudly:
"If I, Cao Cao, don't die today, I will bring your descendants to glory and wealth!"
Then Cao Cao bit his bun and launched a desperate attack with a knife. Shi Huan and Xu Ding beside him protected him in the middle, followed by hundreds of people, all of them evil ghosts who did not live for a living but only wanted to die. .
The attack of Cao Cao's troops was unexpected by Taishan's army, and the front troops gave way one after another, allowing Cao Cao's troops to reach the place where Xu Chu was fighting.
When Cao Cao came to kill him, he saw the bloody Xu Chu wailing like a wild beast. He immediately hugged Xu Chu, took off his cloak and bound Xu Chu's wounds.
Xu Chu lay in Cao Cao's arms and cried loudly:
"They're all dead."
Cao Cao said softly:
"Zhongkang, you go to bed first and go back to the camp. Let's drink together. Let's take the share of these dead brothers and drink together."
After speaking, Cao Cao sent Xu Chu to the back of the formation.
At this time on the north bank, Ding Sheng of the Chinese army was about to dispatch Zhao Rong's troops in the rear formation, preparing to annihilate this powerful force on the north bank.
But at that moment, he saw Li Hu's traveling flag on the south bank, carrying a red flag and running back and forth on the opposite bank.
Ding Sheng knew what this meant. This was the arrival of Han reinforcements from the south bank, and Li Hu told him that they could not intercept them.
Seeing Cao Cao's troops who were about to be surrounded, Ding Sheng was so angry that he dropped his bag and cursed:
"Hot bitch, this is just one step away. No, Nai Gong has to eat him today."
Ding Sheng's Hun was famous in the Taishan Army, and precisely because he was the most chivalrous general in the Taishan Army, Ding Sheng arranged a visitor for himself to remind him when he was on top.
So Ding Long, a member of his family, sang loudly:
"Ding Daqi, have you forgotten Qu Shuai's trustworthiness?"
This singing directly called Ding Sheng back to his senses. He looked at the red tide of the Han army appearing in the distance with confusion, and sighed:
"Ming Jin, withdraw the troops."
In this way, the first battle between the Western Expeditionary Army and the Han Army ended.
After the war, only more than 300 of Cao Cao's troops returned to the south bank of Qishui alive, leaving behind 600 corpses.
Later, after hearing the battle, Sun Jian and Zhao Rong's troops cleared the chaos on the south bank of Qishui River and crossed the river again to attack the Taishan Army. They were blocked by Ding Sheng three times, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Then, the heavy snow came in November, covering up the blood on the battlefield and forcing both sides to cease fighting and confront each other.