When Chen Deng saw Zhang He's battle flag appearing in the distance, he initially disbelief.
Liu Bei and Zhang Fei were all upstream, and beating either of them was meaningful than defeating himself. What's more, they were closer to Zhang He's camp, so Zhang He couldn't run dozens of miles to attack him regardless of the safety of the camp.
This should be a suspicion.
They can use suspicious soldiers to disperse Zhang He's forces, and Zhang He can also use suspicious soldiers to intimidate them so that they dare not cross the river easily.
When he found that the men had not launched an attack, but just watched his subordinates cross the river and sent more than a dozen cavalrymen to harass him, he was more confident in his judgment.
When his subordinates told him that the river was shallow and could even pass by, he was surprised and ordered his personal guards to cross the river, drive out the harassing cavalry and cover the infantry.
He had not many personal guards and his combat effectiveness was not as good as that of the Jizhou cavalry. The two sides had been entangled for several rounds and did not gain the upper hand, so he had to send all personal guards into the formation.
When his personal guards crossed the river and Zhangshui, the cavalry on the opposite side launched an attack while sounding the horn and entangled his personal guards.
Then, countless cavalrymen emerged from the woods and grass. A rough count showed that there were at least a thousand cavalry. Many of them did not wear helmets, and they showed their sloppy scalp. They could tell at a glance that they were Hu people.
Thousands of cavalry roared by, and a small number of people joined the battlefield to surround the guards and cavalry. Most of them bypassed the infantry that had crossed the river, rushed into the river, and killed Chen Deng himself.
The horse's hooves kicked the waves, muddled the river, and also shocked Chen Deng.
Especially when Zhang He himself appeared in the cavalry team surrounded by a group of knights holding halberds.
Chen Deng understood that he had been fooled, and Zhang He was not only here, but also for him.
At this moment, more than a thousand infantrymen crossed the river, and only a hundred cavalry were left on the north shore. He had only a few cavalry beside him, and he was no match for Zhang He at all.
Of course he could escape. But if he escaped and his subordinates lost their command, they would be severely injured by Zhang He.
After a brief thought, Chen Deng's blood was rising and he ordered a fight. At the same time, he sent someone to ask Zhang Fei and Liu Bei for help.
He had been completely wiped out by Zhang He once, and this time he could not escape in front of the battle and wait for Zhang He to slaughter his subordinates. As long as he could withstand Zhang He's cavalry attack, he still had a chance to wait for reinforcements.
The crossbowman stepped forward and shot intensively.
Zhang He also ordered the cavalry that had already landed to launch a charge, not giving Chen Deng the opportunity to adjust his formation.
Zhang Xiong led more than a hundred knights to charge forward, and as soon as he landed, he began to accelerate, and he forced his charge regardless of casualties.
The cavalry roared. Although half of the people were shot by arrows, they still successfully rushed into Chen Deng's formation.
Zhang Xiong was also shot several arrows, blood flowing, but he still shouted and rushed forward, galloping wildly, rushing directly towards Chen Deng's battle flag.
Then more knights rushed in and started a massacre of the crossbowmen.
Without the warriors like Xu Sheng to fight, the infantry's combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. Seeing the cavalry breaking into the formation, Chen Deng's subordinates immediately panicked. When Zhang He himself entered the formation, his morale collapsed. The infantry threw down their weapons and began to escape.
There are very few people who can maintain the formation, let alone organize counterattacks.
Zhang He rushed straight in and bit Chen Deng.
Chen Deng's face turned pale.
He knew he could not escape. Without enough cavalry, he could not escape Zhang He's pursuit.
"Zhang Pirate, I will fight with you." Chen Deng did not retreat but advanced, and rushed towards Zhang He with his sword.
Zhang He sighed, held a halberd in one hand, and arrived first, stabbed Chen Deng's chest.
Chen Deng was so angry that he was distraught, his eyes wide open, with a strong sense of reluctance.
Without command, five or six thousand infantrymen were completely in chaos and were ruthlessly chased by more than a thousand cavalrymen, with heavy casualties.
It was not until Zhang He received the news from Gao Lan that he learned that Liu Bei and Zhang Fei seized the opportunity to cross the river forcibly, and might attack his camp, so he ordered the troops to withdraw, quickly retreat, and rush to the nearest Zhang Fei position.
Upon receiving the news of Chen Deng asking for help, Zhang Fei was still hesitating whether to send cavalry to reinforce. When he saw Zhang He's battle flag, he immediately gave up the idea of reinforcement.
Since Zhang He has arrived here, Chen Deng is either safe or finished.
He is now the danger.
Zhang Fei immediately ordered to hold the formation tightly and prepare to fight.
When he brought his spear and got on the horse, he was about to go out to fight Zhang He to fight one by one, but Zhang He chose to retreat and led more than a thousand cavalry to the rear of the palace himself.
Zhang Fei's cavalry was insufficient, and he was afraid that Zhang He would make a move and lure him into the deep, so he had to give up this opportunity to fight Zhang He at close range and watch Zhang He go away.
Zhang He and Gao Lan met, checked Liu Bei's position, and chose to return to the camp.
Liu Bei was short of troops. When he saw Zhang He and Gao Lan joined forces, he was scared and sweated. When he saw Zhang He, Gao Lan retreated without fighting. He let out a long sigh, but his face remained silent.
"Xiaozhi, send someone to inquire quickly to see how Yide and Yuanlong are doing."
Fa Zheng responded and arranged for someone to inquire about the news. He stared at the smoke and dust gradually disappeared in the distance and smacked his lips.
"Lord, Gao Lan is probably useless."
Liu Bei looked back at Fa Zheng with a confused look on his face.
Fa Zheng raised his hand and pointed. "Gao Lan has a lot of troops, but he has not launched a real attack. It should be to restrain our army and provide Zhang He with an opportunity. As one of the four pillars of Hebei, he would not want to see such an opportunity.
Grab. The reason why I didn't take action should be because I was powerless."
Liu Bei felt it was reasonable.
He knew that Gao Lan had been seriously injured, and later he had never heard much about Gao Lan. It should be that the injury affected his physical strength. Even if he did not need to fight in person, he would have high requirements for the general's physical strength.
If you are exhausted, the army may lose command, which is very dangerous.
"If Gao Lan is useless, then the only one who can really fight is Zhang He, which is a good thing for us."
"That's right, advance immediately, surround Zhang He's camp and force Gao Lan to rescue him." Fa Zheng clenched his fists, with a little excitement.
If Gao Lan's injury affected his physical strength as he expected, Liu Bei would have the possibility of dealing with Zhang He in one fell swoop before the real siege battle, Gao Lan and two famous Hebei generals made extraordinary achievements.
Liu Bei also realized this and was inexplicably happy.
But the cruel reality quickly hit them hard.
Chen Deng was killed in battle, and his soldiers collapsed, with more than half of them casualties.
Zhang Fei, who was the first to receive this news, had already given up his offensive plan at Huang Yi's suggestion and withdrew the main force to the south of the Zhangshui River to avoid accidents.
Liu Bei was shocked and regretted it.
He wanted Chen Deng to learn some lesson, but he didn't expect that this lesson was so heavy that Chen Deng was not only defeated by Zhang He, but also died in battle.
As a result, his troops were too much loss, and it was difficult to surround Zhang He, let alone defeat Gao Lan's reinforcements at the same time.
Insufficient troops, forcing an attack would only lead to greater losses. Liu Bei had no choice but to choose the same choice as Zhang Fei and withdraw his troops back to the camp.
Fazheng was also very nervous.
Chen Deng died, and this was not a simple defeat, and he, as a military advisor, could not refuse to blame. He could deceive others, but he could not deceive the emperor.