Chapter 198 Chapter Twenty-Eight

Seeing Sun Quan and Ling Tong breaking through the encirclement, Zhang Liao left Gan Ning and Lü Meng instead of fighting with them, and divided his forces to pursue Sun Quan. When Ling Tong was in critical condition, he ordered his general Gu Li to protect Sun Quan, and led a hundred cavalry to fight back against Zhang Liao's pursuers.What a scuffle! Ling Tong fought desperately, and all the hundreds of people he led were killed or injured.The blood soaked the shirt, the entire face was black except for a pair of cracking eyes, and the rest was bloody red. Seeing his bravery, Zhang Liao felt a little embarrassed in his heart, but each defended his master, and it was a life-and-death struggle , so let the soldiers work hard to attack him.

Ling Tong was faced with a catastrophe, but in the blink of an eye he was turned from danger to prosperity.It turned out that Gan Ning's rescue army had arrived and disrupted Cao Jun's corner, and the two took the opportunity to rush out of the encirclement.The two estimated that Sun Quan was out of danger, so they fled to the south. Under the desperate rescue of all the generals, Sun Quan rushed out of the siege and arrived at Xiaoyaojin Bridge. However, the bridge had been destroyed by Cao Jun, and the bridge deck was broken from the middle, making it impossible to cross.The pursuers gradually approached.Gu Li was very quick-witted. He first asked Sun Quan to pull his horse back a little, and then stabbed Sun Quan's horse's ass with a knife.The horse was so painful that it rushed forward, and with a "whoosh", it jumped into the air and crossed the broken bridge, carrying Sun Quan safely to the opposite bank.

Gu Li, who wisely rescued his master, had no chance to cross the Xiaoyao Bridge. Cao Jun's Chang Ge stabbed him in the back, and the loyal Gu Li died instantly.After crossing the bridge, Sun Quan didn't dare to wait for a while, and watched Gu Li's death with tears in his eyes. He swung his whip and urged his mount away, and ran away without a trace.Cao Jun looked at the bridge and sighed, disappointed and returned. This is the battle of "Zhang Liao Megatron Xiaoyaojin" in history.Zhang Liao won the battle.Cao Cao appointed him to fight against Soochow. He really knows a hero with insight. Zhang Liao's military operations strongly supported Cao Cao who was fighting on the western front.

After Sun Quan was defeated and returned to the south of the Yangtze River, he summed up the reasons for his failure and comforted the soldiers who fought desperately to rescue him from danger. General He Qi wept bitterly, and Sun Quan couldn't help crying too. Many soldiers were still afraid of this battle.He Qi wept and said: "Supreme Master, you lead troops to the front line. Although you can inspire soldiers, you must be cautious and take strict precautions. Today's negligence almost caused irreparable regrets. All civil and military officials heard that When you are in a dangerous situation, you are always trembling with fear, as if the sky is falling and the earth is falling, I hope the master will take this as a lifelong warning."

Sun Quan hurriedly got down from his seat, touched He Qi who was weeping bitterly with his hands, and said: "I am deeply ashamed and ashamed of returning from this defeat. Go back on your word." Sun Quan's army retreated and stationed at Ruxukou. Since then, there has been no fighting on the southern front.On the western front, the decisive battle of Cao Cao's army in Hanzhong is in full swing. In 201, after Cao Cao slaughtered the city of Hechi, he marched in the forested ravines in the mountains west of Hanzhong. Although he was overwhelmed by thorns and thorns, he suffered hardships in building bridges and pulling ropes, but no Di tribe came to harass him.The morale of the troops gradually stabilized.Around mid-September, Cao Cao came to the bank of the West Han River to garrison troops, wanting to rest and reorganize his troops, and then marched into Hanzhong along the West Han River.Cao Cao also held a military meeting specially for this purpose.

The meeting place was in a camp near a shoal of the Xihan River.The terrain here is relatively open, with the turbulent West Han River in front, the high mountain with deep forest and many beasts in the back, and the narrow and long flat land on the left and right.By the Han River, Cao Jun was cutting down trees to make a raft, planning to use it as a boat to go down the river. In Cao Cao's barracks, all the generals and advisers gathered together to listen to Cao Cao's general staff Liu Ye's analysis of the current military situation. After months of long march, Liu Ye has obviously lost weight, but he is still full of energy.Liu Ye said calmly: "My lord's first strategic goal of 'bypassing the Wudu, avoiding the real and avoiding the false' planned by the lord has now been achieved. But we are blocked in the Wudu area, and everyone knows the reason. The situation may have been understood, so he set up defenses in the dangerous places along the Xihan River, trying to prevent our army from going east."

Liu Ye told everyone the information collected by Xu Huangjun about Zhang Lubu's various lines of defense against the West Han River. The generals talked a lot. Some said that although Zhang Lu deployed defenses, he only arranged a small group of troops to fight guerrillas, which could not withstand the impact of Cao Jun's large troops; Clear the way, and then go down the river in a big way. Cao Cao listened to their discussion quietly. Finally, he signaled everyone to calm down, and the generals knew that Cao Cao had begun to make decisions. Cao Cao said in a loud voice: "Zhong Da (Note: Sima Yi) once gave me a suggestion, saying that Zhang Lu knew the movements of the main force of our army, and now he is on strict guard. Although my previous suggestion of avoiding the real and attacking the false has achieved the goal, but, Now this opportunity has been lost immediately. Based on this, Zhongda proposed to leave 10,000 troops to be led by General Xu Huang, and go east along the West Han River to contain Zhang Lu, so that he would have the illusion that the main force of our army is still in the west. And I Then lead 70,000 horses and march hard, from the dangerous road to Yangping Pass. Zhang Lu is caught off guard, and he will definitely lose."

Sima Yi and Liu Ye are the second generation of elite counselors employed by Cao Cao. They are as talented and strategic as Xun Yu, Xun You, and Guo Jia in Cao Cao's early entrepreneurial stage. These two played an important role in Cao Cao's military and political activities in his later years. Great effect. Cao Cao had already determined the marching route. He said to the generals: "We will turn to the southeast from here, and we can reach Yangping Pass very quickly. At that time, the food and grass will be left behind, and each person will only bring three days of rations. Xiahou Dun will be the forward. When cutting down trees in the forest, you must move quickly."

After Cao Cao assigned the tasks to the generals, only Xu Huang was left to talk alone. Cao Cao stepped out of the tent and climbed onto a large exposed rock by the river with Xu Huang. Cao Cao looked at the rushing water and said: "Gongming, I know that your troops are best at field battles, and you are not familiar with water battles. But the task assigned to you this time is water battles. Can you complete it?" Xu Huang replied: "Master, Gongming is stupid and not familiar with water warfare, but Gongming will go all out." Cao Cao looked back at his favorite general, encouraged him and said, "Actually, there is a reason why I let you take on this task. You and I have fought hundreds of times, and I know your army's combat characteristics very well. Among all my troops, , your army is the most adaptable and highly mobile. This time you attack Zhang Lu, you must especially use this advantage to ensure that our army can successfully hide from Zhang Lu..."

Cao Cao and Xu Huang exchanged specific combat methods with each other, and the two commanders seemed to be in high spirits. On the second day, Xu Huang's army stayed where they were, while Cao Cao's main force blew the horn, extinguished the stove, and pulled out the stronghold to meander southeast. Cao Cao personally went to the front of the army to command the clearing of the way. Ascending the high mountain, the lower the valley, and crossed several passes in front of Yangping Pass. After Cao Cao left, Xu Huang began to confuse Zhang Lu's military operations.He divided the 10,000 horses into three detachments, one was logging and rafting, and went down the river; Sneak attack Zhang Lu's strongholds set up on dangerous shoals and passes.