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That's 40,000 Xiliang cavalry, a majestic Jinmachao, a mighty general, Xiliang's number one brave general who is most capable of conquering and fighting.
How could such a powerful army, which could make all the princes in the world change their minds upon hearing this, be defeated by Yan Liang's thousands of soldiers and horses?
With Cai Mao's thinking ability, he really couldn't figure it out. The moment he heard the news, he thought he had an illusion.
"Ma Chao was killed by Yan Liang and fled. Yan Liang's victorious army is coming south. Degui, please come up with an idea."
Zhang Yun repeated the bad news and was so frightened that beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
After being stunned for a moment, Cai Hao finally recovered from the disbelief. After the surprise, his face was also full of fear.
"I didn't expect this thief to be so powerful. Even the Xiliang army is no match for him. What should I do? What should I do..."
Cai Mao had completely lost his sense of control and was mumbling in a panic.
Cai Zhong, who was also frightened next to him, said tremblingly: "Brother, why are you hesitating? Retreat quickly. Ma Chao has been defeated. What's more, if it's too late, we won't be able to leave once Yan Liang's army arrives."
After hearing Cai Zhong's words, Cai Mao was about to nod immediately, hesitated for a moment, but then straightened his face.
"How can we, with an army of 50,000, be afraid of Yan Liang? Besides, how can we withdraw our troops without the Lord's order?"
Cai Mao's tone was still strong to Xiang Fen, but the two people next to him could see that he was trying to save his face.
Cai Zhong suddenly didn't know what to say and was so anxious that his face was sweating.
Zhang Yun rolled his eyes and said hurriedly: "Degui's words are wrong. As the saying goes, the general will be outside, and the emperor will not give you orders. Degui, as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, you have the right to make decisions on the fly. Furthermore, Jiangxia is now
Facing the threat from the Sun family, our army withdrew its troops out of consideration for the overall situation. How could it be because we were afraid of Yan Liang?"
Zhang Yun's words were obviously trying to build a ladder for Cai Mao.
Cai Mao pretended to think about it for a while, and then sighed: "The official promise is justified. Jiangxia is important. How can I, in a moment of whim, send an order to the entire army to move the camp to the south immediately?"
Cai Zhong and Zhang Yun were overjoyed. Fang Shi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately went to convey Cai Mao's order.
The order was passed down, and the 50,000 Jingzhou troops besieging the city hurriedly packed up and prepared to break camp.
However, not long after, the Xiliang army was defeated and the news that Yan Liang's army went south quickly spread throughout the camp.
One stone stirred up a thousand waves. This shocking news immediately plunged the entire Jingzhou Army into panic.
These Jingzhou soldiers were originally quite afraid of Yan Liang's power. Now, the Xiliang Army, which they heard was arrogant, was actually defeated by Yan Liang. You can imagine the shock they received.
"Xiliang Jin Ma Chao was defeated by Yan Liang. If we fight against Yan Liang, there is no way we can survive."
"I heard that Yan Liang's army has a powerful repeating crossbow. It can shoot a hundred arrows at a time, and it can turn a cow into a hedgehog in the blink of an eye."
"Yan Liang's army will arrive soon. General Cai has abandoned us and fled to Xiangyang. We must escape quickly, otherwise we will be the victims of Yan Liang's sword."
…
Rumors suddenly spread among the Jingzhou army.
According to Cai Mao's plan, he originally wanted to withdraw the entire army to Xiangyang intact, but the rumors that spread around him disrupted his overall plan.
Before the departure, deserters began to appear in each battalion. Immediately afterwards, each battalion began to rush south regardless of the order of retreat issued in advance.
A retreat turned into a disorderly escape within half a day. On the southward road, more than 50,000 Jingzhou troops fought for each other, desperately fleeing south for fear of being overtaken by Yan Liang's army.
Less than half a day after the chaotic retreat of the Jingzhou Army, Yan Liang led the main force to Chaoyang City.
Three thousand divine cavalry, plus a thousand unarmored iron pagodas, and four thousand light cavalry traveled three hundred miles a day and rushed to the southern front with lightning speed.
The Chaoyang City Gate, which had been besieged for more than a month, finally opened again, and Man Chong led his troops out of the city to welcome Yan Liang's arrival.
"Congratulations, general, for defeating the Xiliang army." Man Chong, who came towards him, raised his hands and praised with a smile.
Yan Liang rode forward, patted Man Chong on the shoulder, and sighed: "Bo Ning, you used five thousand infantry to protect the rising sun and held back ten times the enemy. Without you, how could I have done this?
Feel free to fight against the Xiliang army."
After receiving Yan Liang's approval, Man Chong's face showed some relief.
The two masters and ministers expressed their feelings to each other, and Man Chong said: "Now that the Jingzhou army has retreated, and the siege of Chaoyang has been solved, it is better for the general to enter the city and let the soldiers rest for a few days. When the Jingzhou army has completely retreated, it will not be too late to return to Xinye."
.”
Man Chong obviously didn't know the purpose of Yan Liang's visit.
"There's no need to rest. The guests are leaving. As the host, how can I not go and see them off in person?"
Yan Liang turned his gaze to the south, murderous intent looming in his knife-like face.
"Could the general want to..." Man Chong seemed to understand, his expression slightly stern.
A sneer flashed across Yan Liang's lips, and he suddenly shouted loudly: "Pass this general's order, and the entire army will move south immediately. The target is Fancheng!"
With four thousand cavalry, plus Chaoyang's thousands of soldiers and horses, Yan Liang had nearly 8,000 troops at hand. Facing the 50,000 Jingzhou army, he did not have a numerical advantage.
However, according to the intelligence sent back by the scouts, the 50,000 Jingzhou troops were not so much elite soldiers as they were a group of fleeing troops with no military discipline at all.
Yan Liang then divided his troops into three groups. Hu Che'er and Man Chong led 3,000 cavalry to pursue from the left wing. Wen Chou led 2,000 cavalry to pursue from the right wing. Yan Liang then led 3,000 cavalry to pursue from the center along the south road.
The soldiers and horses attacked Fancheng together.
Yan Liang's army, whose fighting spirit was at its peak, marched southward from Chaoyang City and headed south with great momentum.
The road from Chaoyang to Fancheng is less than a hundred miles. If Cai Mao's army can retreat in an orderly manner, they can successfully reach it in about a day's march.
However, Jingzhou was in a state of chaos. Each battalion was rushing to fight for the road, and the sergeants were fighting for each other. There was no order at all, but it slowed down the retreat.
At dawn the next day, fifty miles north of Fancheng, Yan Liang finally saw the embarrassed figure of the Jingzhou army.
Looking around, on the road going south, there are abandoned armors, flags, drums and other ordnance everywhere, and even entire vehicles of food, grass and luggage have been abandoned.
As far as the eye could see, dust was rising, and countless soldiers discarded their helmets and armor, crowding the road as if they were going to a market.
"Liu Biao. You haven't learned the lesson several times, so let me teach you, an old guy who doesn't know how to fight, a good lesson."
Amidst the sneer, Yan Liang raised his sword eyebrows and was filled with hunting anger.
"Athletes from the Yan family army, follow me and have a good fight. Let the Jingzhou army know our reputation——"
At the command, Yan Liang clamped his horse's belly tightly and came out with a long knife in his hand like the wind.
Behind him, the Yan Jun knights, whose blood was boiling, roared with a loud "kill" sound, and rushed out like a mountain collapsing and the earth cracking.
The iron hooves galloped, kicking up dust all over the sky, covering the sky and the sun.
The tide of shouts of killing soared into the sky, causing the heaven and earth to change color.
In the front of the Jingzhou army, Cai Mao was frowning and yelling at his soldiers to stop crowding. He didn't even notice that there were enemy soldiers chasing behind him.
The noisy sound filled his eardrums, making Cai Hao very upset. Suddenly, he vaguely heard something strange.
When he subconsciously turned around, his whole body felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
"Ride...cavalry...Yan Liang's cavalry!"
In panic, Cai Mao actually forgot his identity as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and blurted out a scream.
The soldiers on the left and right looked back when they heard the sound. When they saw the rolling sandstorm, the figures surging in the dust and fog, and the high-flying flag with the word "Yan", they instantly fell into unprecedented panic.
.
"Yan Liang is chasing me——"
"Cavalry! It's the enemy's cavalry——"
Shouts of fear suddenly arose from the chaotic crowd. The Jingzhou army, which was already in a state of uneasiness, suddenly lost their will and ran away with their heads in their hands.
"Gong Nuo, please speed up the formation of 5,000 Jiangxia troops to meet the enemy. You must block the enemy's army. Otherwise, my 50,000-strong army will fall apart."
Cai Hao made the decision without hesitation. When giving the order, he moved his horse to go first.
Zhang Yun's heart trembled, and he said anxiously: "The enemy's cavalry is coming fiercely, and our army's morale is low. How can we stop it?"
Cai Mao glared at him and said sternly: "Jiangxia soldiers are our elite in Jingzhou. How can they stop a mere few thousand enemy cavalry? This is my general's military order. How dare you disobey."
General Cai Mao ordered them to move out, but Zhang Yun had no choice but to reluctantly scold his Jiangxia soldiers to form formations to meet the enemy.
Cai Mao then galloped on his horse, following the tens of thousands of frightened Jingzhou troops, like ants bursting from their nest, looking towards the direction of Fancheng.
The Jiangxia soldiers were indeed the most elite army in Jingzhou. When most of the Jingzhou soldiers had lost their fighting spirit, the five thousand Jiangxia soldiers still maintained their position.
Zhang Yun was not an incompetent person in military affairs. He tried his best to keep his mind calm and rushed back and forth to command. In the shortest possible time, he hastily formed a large infantry formation, blocking the way to the main road.
From the north, Yan Liang, who was charging forward, was already more than 300 steps away from the enemy's formation.
Looking up, I saw the enemy formation blocking the way, with shield bearers, gunners and crossbowmen stacked in layers and arranged in an orderly manner. Facing the fierce momentum of our own cavalry, they were actually calm and composed, with no sign of panic.
.
Yan Liang was a little surprised that the enemy army did not panic in the face of chaos. He quickly guessed that the troops with some quality in the Jingzhou army must be the Jiangxia soldiers trained by Huang Zu.
Jiang Xia soldiers are indeed the most elite soldiers in Jingzhou. It's a pity that they have such strong soldiers but no good generals. In the end, they are just a bunch of cannon fodder.
A sneer appeared at the corner of Yan Liang's lips, and he suddenly shouted: "The whole army, make a circuitous route to the east and attack its right wing."
At the command, the following flag bearer waved the flag. When the three thousand cavalry were two hundred steps away from the enemy's formation, they suddenly changed their direction, made an arc, and attacked the right wing of the enemy's formation.
The essence of cavalry is not to rush into the formation blindly, but to seize the enemy's weaknesses and use strong maneuverability to attack the soft threats of the enemy's infantry formation at any time.
Although Jiang Xia's infantry formation was solidly formed, Yan Liang could see through it at a glance that his army lacked cavalry support and its two wings were a weak threat.
Zhang Yun, who was in the infantry formation, was shocked when he saw the enemy's cavalry turning to attack the flanks, and hurriedly ordered the army formation to turn around.
The soldiers hurriedly turned around, but with five thousand people crowded together, it was extremely difficult to turn around for such a huge thing.
When the military formation had just turned around and the shield bearers and gunners had not yet taken their positions, the cavalry led by Yan Liang had already rushed within a hundred paces.
The rolling iron current, like a black raging wave, came with a roar that swept over everything.