Amidst the shouts of intimidation, Yan Liang rode out on horseback and swept away towards the crippled Yangping Pass.
Thousands of Tiger Guard troops also came out, followed by Zhou Cang and Hu Che'er, and a tidal stream of soldiers rushed towards the gate.
Gan Ning, who was the first to attack Guancheng, commanded his soldiers to cut through the suspension bridge and open the city gate. The road leading to Yangping Pass was smooth all the way.
Yan Liang rode his horse like the wind and rushed into Yangping City like black lightning.
Looking around, the entire Guancheng was in chaos. The remaining 10,000 Cao troops were fighting in chaos with the Yan troops who had invaded Guanzhong. Bloody battles were taking place everywhere in the streets and alleys.
As Yan Liang rushed into the city gate, the Green Dragon Sword swung out from left to right, like a wheel, cutting into pieces several Cao soldiers who were blocking him.
In the blood mist that filled the sky, Yan Liang stood majestically in front of the city gate like a god general. His supreme power frightened Cao's troops nearby so that they did not dare to approach.
At this time, the army behind them surged up like a tide, shouting to kill Zhentian. The bright swords, like the fangs of death, ruthlessly tore the frightened Cao soldiers into pieces.
"Kill, kill hard and quickly, kill all the stubborn enemies." Yan Liang stood with his sword horizontally, laughing wildly and shouting.
…
Protector's Mansion.
Xia Houjuan was pacing at the door, already very anxious.
The loud killing sounds outside disturbed Xia Houjuan's thoughts. She knew that Yan Jun from outside Guancheng had entered Yangping Pass and was fighting fiercely with his own soldiers.
Xia Houjuan could never figure out how on earth he could break into Guancheng with his unstoppable uncle and that thief Yan Liang.
In the midst of anxiety, noisy footsteps sounded. But Guo Huai and other soldiers were in a hurry, carrying Xia Houyuan, who was covered in blood, and hurried into the mansion.
Xia Houjuan was shocked. He rushed forward and asked, "What's going on? How could the second uncle do this?"
Guo Huai, who had a gloomy look on his face, asked people to treat Xia Houyuan's injuries, and at the same time he defeated Dingjun Mountain and told with a sigh that Xia Houyuan was seriously injured.
The more Xiahou Juan listened, the more shocked he became. The more he listened, the more incredible it became. Uncle Xiahou, whom he admired, was unparalleled in bravery and used soldiers like a god. How could he fall into Yan Liang's plan and be injured by Yan Liang's generals?
At this time, the shouts of killing outside the mansion became louder. A fierce fight seemed to be approaching the military mansion.
The sound of rapid footsteps sounded again. But it was Cao Xiu, who was soaked in blood, holding on to his sword and shouting breathlessly: "Where's Uncle Miaocai? The brothers can't hold it anymore. Uncle, please come up with an idea."
After some emergency treatment, Xia Houyuan, who was seriously injured, faintly woke up.
Everyone was overjoyed and gathered around him.
Xia Houyuan struggled to get up, and said through gritted teeth: "Help me get up. I will lead my army to fight again, and we must take back Dingjun Mountain."
Everyone was startled and looked at each other with helpless expressions.
Obviously, Xia Houyuan, who was mentally damaged, was still in the moment of the defeat at Dingjun Mountain. He never expected that the situation would become ten times more serious.
"Uncle, the bandit army has entered Guancheng. Our army is fighting hard. However, we are outnumbered and the enemy is outnumbered. I am afraid we will not be able to stop it. Please make a decision quickly, uncle." Cao Xiu silently told the truth.
Xia Houyuan was stunned for a moment. His originally pale face suddenly changed drastically. In shock and anger, he spat out several mouthfuls of blood.
"We can't make any mistakes at Yangping Pass. We must not. I am going to fight to the death with that Yan thief." Xia Houyuan coughed up blood and struggled to get up.
However, Xia Houyuan was so seriously injured that he didn't even have the strength to sit up, so why should he fight again.
Guo Huai frowned and advised: "The general is seriously wounded, how can he fight again? Now the enemy has invaded Yangguan, and it is difficult to defend Guancheng. For the current plan, we can only abandon Guancheng and retreat to Xiegu.
, waiting for the Prime Minister’s army to come to our aid is the only way out.”
"I will never give up Yangping Pass, never." Xia Houyuan was extremely angry, and he didn't know where he could squeeze out the strength, and roared at the top of his lungs.
However, after this roar, his breath was greatly damaged, and Xia Houyuan groaned and passed out again.
As soon as Xia Houyuan fainted, the generals present fell into a leaderless situation again.
Several times the number of Yan's troops outside were massacred in the pass, the morale of the army was in turmoil, and their commander Xia Houyuan was unconscious again. Cao's army at Yangping Pass was at a critical stage.
The generals were in chaos, and no one knew what to do.
At this time, Guo Huai said calmly: "Xiahou's army is unconscious and it is difficult to take charge of military affairs. However, the army cannot be without a leader, so I would like to ask General Wen Lie to act as commander temporarily and lead us to resist Yan's army."
Guo Huai made this suggestion, and the other generals also agreed and asked Cao Xiu to temporarily be the leader of the three armies.
At this time, Cao Xiu couldn't help but look embarrassed.
Without Cao Cao's order, he acted as the leader of the three armies without authorization, which was obviously against the military law.
However, Xiahou Yuan is now unconscious and the army leader is leaderless. As the only general of the Cao clan here, if Cao Xiu does not stand up and take charge of the overall situation, the entire Yangping Pass and even the armies in Hanzhong will be in danger of collapse and annihilation.
After weighing it again and again, Cao Xiu had no choice but to accept the invitation of the generals.
The generals were overjoyed and their spirits were lifted. Guo Huai took the opportunity to make further remarks, abandoning Yangping Pass and retreating to the Xiegu line.
The calm Cao Xiu knew that there was nothing he could do to save the situation, so he didn't think much about it and immediately ordered the entire army to rush out from the east gate and retreat to Nanzheng.
So the generals carried Xia Houyuan onto the carriage, and Cao Xiu and Guo Huai led thousands of elite troops to kill all the way to the east gate.
At the same time, Li Dian's generals who were fighting in the streets received orders and looked at the east gate one after another to kill.
On the front line of the east gate, Huang Zhong's 10,000 soldiers were fighting with Cao's army.
Because the troops were relatively dispersed, Cao Xiu's troops and horses were desperate to survive, but Yan Jun was unable to concentrate his forces to stop them, and was killed by Cao Xiu all the way to the east gate of Guancheng.
At this time, Huang Zhong learned the news and immediately led 3,000 Changsha soldiers to pursue him. He stabbed them out and cut Cao's army in two.
Cao Xiu and others did not care about the army behind them, and only defended Xia Houyuan as they rushed out of Guancheng and fled in a hurry towards Nanzheng.
Xia Houyuan, who was seriously injured and passed out, escaped with his life in a daze, but his niece Xia Houjuan, who was awake, was not so lucky.
Xiahou Juan, who originally followed the team on horseback, gradually fell behind the team because he was not good at riding. When Huang Zhong led his army to kill, Xiahou Juan was intercepted in the pass along with two thousand Cao troops.
In the chaos, Xia Houjuan fled in all directions with the hastily defeated army. The soldiers around her became fewer and fewer as the battle continued, and in the end she was alone.
At this time, Xia Houjuan realized that he had no way to escape and was actually abandoned in Yangping Pass.
In desperation, Xia Houjuan had no choice but to ride back on his horse and go back to the Guards Mansion, which was already deserted.
"What should I do, what should I do..." Fleeing into the hall, Xia Houjuan closed the door, anxious and confused, not knowing what he was doing.
Outside, the sound of horse hooves and shouts could be heard, and it was obvious that Yan Jun had invaded the military mansion.
Xia Houjuan knew that the humiliation of becoming a prisoner of Yan's army would soon become a reality.
"I am the daughter of the Xiahou family. Even if I am captured by Yan Jun, how can it damage the reputation of the Xiahou family? Xiahou Juan, you can no longer be afraid. You have to calm down."
Xia Houjuan warned herself again and again, and she tried her best to calm down her panic and gradually regained her composure.
Thinking that there was nowhere to escape anyway, he might as well be captured calmly, so Xia Houjuan sat there with a calm expression on his face, calmly waiting for the enemy to break in.
Not long after, there was only a "click" sound, and Nuo Da's hall door was kicked open from the outside.
A group of menacing Yan troops roared in.
Then, a heroic general with a body as tall as an iron tower and majestic strength strode into the lobby. His sharp eyes suddenly glanced at Xia Houjuan who was sitting opposite.
The general who entered was none other than Yan Liang.
Yan Liang originally thought that the guards' mansion was already empty at this time, but he didn't expect that there was actually a young girl sitting there in the lobby, so calmly, as if she was not afraid of danger.
"Interesting..." A sneer appeared on the corner of Yan Liang's mouth.
Xia Houjuan saw that sneer in his eyes, and his delicate body couldn't help but tremble slightly, feeling a hint of chill invisibly.
"Where did you come from, bitch? My lord is here, why don't you get out of here." Zhou Cang shouted sharply.
Hearing the words "my lord", Xia Houjuan's heart was shocked again. Only then did she realize that the majestic man in front of her was Yan Liang.
In the legend, the murderous demon, the opponent who could not even defeat the great Prime Minister Cao, and the enemy who seriously injured his uncle, are now right in front of him.
In Xia Houjuan's heart, emotions of resentment and fear were mixed together, and his beautiful eyebrows could not help but secretly condense.
"Are you Yan Liang?" Xia Houjuan pretended to be calm and asked with his head raised.
"If you dare to call me by name, do you know what the consequences will be?" Yan Liang looked solemn and walked towards Xia Houjuan step by step.
After only a few steps, Xia Houjuan felt an invisible pressure coming towards her face, almost giving her the illusion of suffocation.
"I am the daughter of the Xiahou family. I must not show fear in front of this humble man. I must not..."
With repeated warnings in his heart, Xia Houjuan suppressed his fear, raised his head and said, "My name is Xia Hou Juan, Xia Hou Miaocai is my uncle, Yan Liang, you should know my identity by now."
Xia Houjuan, Xia Houyuan’s niece?
Yan Liang's thoughts were racing, searching for the memories of those prophets in his mind.
He suddenly remembered that it seemed to be mentioned in the novel that Xia Houyuan had a niece who was kidnapped by Zhang Fei when she went out to cut firewood and forcibly married her. She later gave birth to a daughter and became Liu Chan's queen.
This incident should have occurred in the fifth year of Jian'an, when Yan Liang raised his army to rebel against Yuan.
Yan Liang's revolt disrupted Liu Bei's original trajectory and would also affect Zhang Fei. Therefore, it was possible that Xiahou Juan avoided the fate of being kidnapped by Zhang Fei because of this.
"It turns out she is Brother Zhang's wife. Hey, interesting, interesting." Yan Liang sneered, strode forward, and walked up to Xia Houjuan in a few seconds.
Listening to the incomprehensible words and looking at the malicious sneer, Xia Houjuan, who looked confident on the surface, already had a bad premonition in his heart.