The Xuzhou Army retreated again. This was already the third time. This time they were the closest to success, but just when they were about to break through Gao Shun's army of thousands of infantry, Zhang Liao led the cavalry who had just left the battlefield.
Appearing at the right time, a hail of arrows and a single charge defeated them.
Cao Bao saw that he was about to leave the boundary of Xuzhou when he went forward, and then he saw the expression on Guan Yu's face that contained mockery.
Take your family and belongings and flee to Jingzhou. As long as you rush over, whoever grabs the gold and silk girl will be his!"
Who doesn't know that the Mi family is the leading rich man in Xuzhou. If he ran away with his family, the amount of property he would take with him would definitely be unimaginable. A brave man must be rewarded with a heavy reward. Cao Bao made this order and the soldiers of the Xuzhou army became red-eyed.
, it seemed that what was waiting for them in front of them was not the gleaming sharp arrows, swords and guns, but piles of gold and silver jewelry. One after another, beautiful girls rushed forward with strange screams. Although the arrows from the opposite side fell like raindrops,
The Xuzhou Army soldiers who launched the attack fell one after another, but this time no one retreated. They just stepped on the corpses of their comrades and moved forward, forward, and forward again.
Seeing that his soldiers would soon rush to the front of the Jingzhou Army, Cao Bao was secretly proud. In a daze, he felt that the earth was shaking. He couldn't help but feel excited. He didn't expect that tens of thousands of infantry charging together could have such an effect. Compared with tens of thousands of infantry,
The scene with the galloping horse is no less impressive.
Cao Bao couldn't help but glance at Liu Bei and Guan Yu beside him. Just as he was about to say a few words to show off, he felt the sky darken. When he looked up, he was shocked. He saw countless arrows in the sky attacking his face like locusts.
Come on, the charging Xuzhou Army soldiers fell like harvested crops in a blink of an eye.
Guan Yu shouted: "No! The enemy's reinforcements are coming, brother, leave quickly!"
Before he could finish his words, Cao Bao had already turned his horse and retreated first. He could see clearly that countless cavalrymen appeared out of nowhere from the two wings of the Jingzhou Army on the opposite side. They were a large black mass, tens of thousands of them.
There were so many people that one of them would die if he didn't run away. Liu Bei secretly said "What a pity" and turned back on his horse. Guan Yu was guarding him closely with a sword in his hand.
Liu Bei and others ran all the way, escaping for five or six miles. From time to time, shrill screams came from behind. Just as they were panicking, they heard the sound of wind in their ears, and a short gun flew from his side.
It passed through and penetrated the heart of a soldier in front of him, nailing the soldier and his horse to the ground. This shows how powerful the shot was.
When Guan Yu saw this, he became even more cautious. He held the sword tightly and was on guard. He suddenly shouted loudly, the sword flashed, and there was only a "dang" sound. He knocked the short spear away and turned over in the air.
The somersault hit Cao Bao's horse in front of him on the buttocks. The horse felt pain and let out a mournful cry. He stood up and threw Cao Bao to the ground. Before Cao Bao could get up, the horse's hooves as big as a bowl fell down.
Just as he was stepping on his thigh, Cao Bao screamed "Ah" and fainted on the spot. They hurriedly rescued him.
This short spear was thrown at Liu Bei, but if Guan Yu's quick eyes and hands hadn't blocked it, it would have stabbed Liu Bei to death. Guan Yu was furious, and when he turned around to look, he saw dozens of cavalry rushing towards him.
The one at the front was a childish young man. He had three short spears stuck on his back and an iron spear in his hand. His expression was very cold and determined. The two short spears just now were obviously thrown by him.
When the young man came closer, without saying a word, he pointed his spear at Guan Yu and stabbed him. He had obviously seen the short spear he had just thrown knocked away by the red-faced man. He knew that this man was a powerful enemy, so he used enough force to shoot Guan Yu.
As fast as lightning, we arrived at Guan Yu in an instant
In front of him, Guan Yu saw that the young man was dressed as an ordinary soldier. He didn't take him seriously. He raised the Qinglong Sword and just used it casually. Then he felt a strong force coming from him. He hurriedly put away his contempt and raised his hands.
Use your arms to push the gun away.
The two horses met, and Guan Yu fought with the young man for three to five rounds. Seeing that his marksmanship was excellent and without any flaws, he couldn't help but secretly praise him, pressed his iron gun with his knife, and shouted in a deep voice: "Wait a minute, do it! Guan's subordinates will not do it!"
Kill the unknown general, who are you?"
The young man said coldly: "Ma Chao is a pawn of the Sixth Army of the Han Dynasty!"
Guan Yu said with a smile: "It is said that Liu Xin is thirsty for talents. It turns out that they are all lies. He is as skilled as a little brother, but he can only be a pawn. What a pity, what a pity!"
Ma Chao thought that in terms of martial arts alone, not to mention being a captain, even being a general was more than enough, but Liu Xin only arranged for him to start as a pawn in the Sixth Army. Therefore, Guan Yu's words hit Ma Chao's pain point.
Unconsciously, he became a little angry and shouted: "If you want to fight, then fight. Why are you talking so much nonsense!"
Guan Yu stopped Ma Chao just to buy time for Liu Bei to escape. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Liu Bei had gone far away. He couldn't help laughing and said: "My eldest brother is a member of the Han clan and is an outstanding figure in the world.
Little brother, if one day you feel that your stay with Liu Xin is not satisfactory, you can go to Xuzhou to find Guan. My eldest brother will definitely treat you like an honored guest. Today I will excuse Guan from accompanying me and I will say goodbye!"
When he said this, his hand suddenly exerted force, and the Qinglong Sword held up a blade. Ma Chao was pondering the meaning of his words, and his hand sank, and the iron spear danced rapidly to protect his whole body. When he looked again, Guan Yu
He was already a few feet away. Ma Chao was about to catch up when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. Someone shouted loudly: "Don't chase the poor enemy!"
When Ma Chao looked back, he saw that it was Zhao Yun who had arrived quickly. He had no choice but to draw his iron spear, rein in his horse, and return angrily.
"Instruct the three armies to seize the time to clean up the battlefield. Don't miss anything!" Zhao Yun gave the order and rode to Ma Chao's side. He praised, "What a great Ma Chao. No wonder my lord said that your martial arts skills are not inferior to Zhao's. Today!
See, it really lives up to its reputation!"
Ma Chao said in surprise: "General Zhao, are you saying that the lord knows my martial arts? How is this possible? He only made me a pawn."
Zhao Yun said with a smile: "Our lord often behaves unexpectedly, which cannot be guessed by us as subordinates. Regarding your matter, my lord has specially told you that you will start from a pawn step by step and become a great weapon in the future.
.Did you know that even the lord’s son-in-law, Sun Ce, started out as a new soldier?”
Ma Chao suddenly understood, and his face was full of shame. He raised his hands and said, "If the general hadn't woken him up, Ma Chao would have almost gone astray."
Zhao Yun had excellent eyesight, and he could see what Guan Yu and Ma Chao were muttering from a distance. He knew that Ma Chao was unwilling to be just a pawn, and he was afraid that he was bewitched by Guan Yu, so he told him the whole story. Look.
When Ma Chao understood, Zhao Yun said with a smile: "Okay, don't think too much, hurry up and help clean the battlefield. Remember, all dead or seriously injured horses will have four hooves cut off!"
At this time, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun had already rushed over and saluted together: "Thanks to the general for the timely rescue, otherwise today's affairs would be really difficult."
In the past, the commander of the Fourth Army was Zhao Yun. Although he was also the commander of the army, Zhao Yun's status in the army was obviously higher than Zhang Liao. Seeing Zhang Liao coming, Zhao Yun suddenly sank his face and said: "General Zhang, why did you let him go?"
Because those ten thousand infantry were not used, the cavalry suffered such huge losses? How do you explain it to my lord?"
Although this battle was won, and it was a great victory, it was thanks to Zhao Yun's timely arrival. Otherwise, it is difficult to say how many of the 5,000 cavalry of the Fourth Army could have been saved. Even so, more than half of them had been lost. And these cavalry were all Zhao Yun's.
Having brought them out with his own hands, his feelings for these cavalrymen are naturally extraordinary.
Zhang Liao was born in the Bingzhou Army and has always been proud of his cavalry and shooting skills. However, after watching Zhao Yun commanding the cavalry just now, it was like flowing clouds and flowing water, and he realized what it means that there is heaven and earth, and there are people outside the world. Moreover, this time the Fourth Army's
The reason why the cavalry suffered such heavy losses was that, in addition to Guan Yu's bravery and invincibility, he did not give full play to the cavalry's mobility and cavalry shooting tactics, which was also an important reason.
Thinking of this, Zhang Liao jumped off his horse, abandoned his sword, fell to the ground, and said loudly: "Zhang knows that he is wrong. Please ask Zhao Yun to tie Zhang up, escort him back to Xiangyang, and hand him over to the master!"
Gao Shun hurriedly said: "General Zhao, this is not entirely General Zhang's fault. Those 10,000 infantry were all newly recruited soldiers. General Zhang was worried that they were not familiar with battle formations, so he put them in charge of guarding Mr. Mi's convoy.
Didn't put them into battle..."
Zhao Yun waved his hand and said coldly: "So what about the new recruits? If you don't really go through the baptism of the battlefield, you will never become an elite soldier! General Zhang still invites you to mount the horse. How to deal with it? Zhao does not have this power, so he still waits to see you.
My lord, I’ll talk later.”
At this time, Ma Chao rode over, raised his hands and said: "General, the battlefield has been cleaned, and the bodies of all the fallen soldiers have been collected. General, please tell me when to set off!"
Although this battle almost wiped out all the 5,000 men Liu Bei brought from Xiaopei and the 30,000 Xuzhou Army that Tao Qian temporarily entrusted to his command, the loss of the Fourth Army was also very heavy. More than half of the cavalry alone was lost. And those infantry
He even accompanied Zhang Liao and was stationed in Xuzhou for more than two years. He had already seen
After this battle, many people could no longer see the sun in Jingzhou. Fortunately, Liu Xin set a rule that whenever possible, the bodies of fallen soldiers should be transported back and buried in a grand ceremony.
For these soldiers who miss their hometown, it is a small comfort.
Zhao Yun watched these fresh lives turn into cold corpses in the blink of an eye. He couldn't help but sigh up to the sky, and asked with a solemn face: "How is the condition of the war horses?"
Ma Chao pointed behind him and said: "Following the general's instructions, all four hooves of the injured and injured horses have been cut off and their saddles removed. It's just..."
Zhao Yun's face sank and he asked: "Just what?"
Ma Chao frowned and said: "Just after counting, there are still four ownerless military horses whose whereabouts are unknown. General, would you like to send someone to search around again?"