Chapter 35 Battle of Puyang

Cao Cao's heart seemed to be burning with oil, but the pace of withdrawing troops must not be hasty.Once the soldiers were made aware that they were almost homeless, there was a danger of mutiny.If one person takes the lead, a thousand people will follow, especially those soldiers from Qingzhou, who have no foundation in Yanzhou, and their morale will be scattered in a hurry. Maybe someone will want to take his head off. Looking for Lu Bu and Chen Gong to surrender! Along the way, Cao Cao convened several meetings, slowly infiltrating the situation in Yanzhou to the generals.Of course, he deliberately made the situation more optimistic than the actual situation, and those generals were more optimistic when they told the team captain, relaying the story one by one, and when it was conveyed to the soldiers, what they knew was A group of bandits in Yanzhou caused a little trouble.Everyone sang triumphant songs to show off their might, and with the luggage looted from Xuzhou, they even easily broke Cao Bao, the general of Xuzhou who was chasing and intercepting him, on the way.

Others can keep it in the dark, but the confidant brothers can't hide it. The brothers of the Cao family are all ashamed. After all, they have to face the rebellion of the whole state.Cao Cao's heart was not only anxious, but also sad and fearful.The sad thing is that Zhang Miao, a good friend who has been close to him for many years, and Chen Gong, a trusted subordinate who helped him take over Yanzhou, turned out to be the ones who took the lead in the rebellion.What's frightening is that they moved in the person they fear the most - Lu Bu! Whenever Cao Cao recalled the days when he lived in Luoyang, the scene of Lu Bu toasting him murderously would be imprinted in his mind.Those blue eyes and that eerie Fangtian painted halberd haunted him in nightmares five times and three times, and every time he broke out in a cold sweat.Cao Cao really didn't dare to think about it anymore. Seeing the victorious troops with high morale marching in line, he calmed down a little: "Abing, besides Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, who else is rebelling?"

Bian Bing rode close to him on horseback, and said in a low voice, "Zhang Miao, Xu Xi, Mao Hui, and Wu Ziju all rebelled. On the way, you were kidnapped by soldiers who were called to surrender. Thanks to the help of your subordinate Zaoyi, you escaped from danger. Now you have saved your family and arrived in Juancheng. Xu Si and Wang Kai led their troops to rebel against Lu Bu, and Li Feng and Xue Lan became their governors and don't drive." "How about Cheng Li and Mao Jie?" Cao Cao asked again. "Cheng Li was quick-witted and joined forces with Xue Ti to help you keep Dong'e County. He also lobbied Jin Yun, the county magistrate of Fan County. Mao Jie led Zhang Jing and Liu Yan to Juancheng to defend, and Xu Tuo also He escaped. Guo Gong, governor of Yuzhou under Yuan Shaofeng, almost took advantage of the fire to rob him. Thanks to Xun Wenruo riding alone to lobby, he escaped, but Mr. Xi..."

"What happened to him?" Cao Cao was extremely nervous. "Xi Zhicai was kidnapped by Zhang Chao, but he was not killed because of his serious illness." "I must rescue Brother Zhicai..." Cao Cao seemed to realize the helplessness at the moment when he said this, "If Xun Yu hadn't been sent to Juancheng at the beginning, he would have been homeless this time. traitorous, I have won a lot of hearts... How about Wei Zhong? He is my Xiaolian, he will never abandon me and rebel." "General, Wei Zhong also followed Chen Gong and the others..." Bian Bing was embarrassed to continue.

"Okay! That's great! Another ungrateful villain." Cao Cao blushed, and couldn't help becoming angry, "Bold Wei Zhong! Unless you flee south to the mountains and north to the Hulu, I will never let you go!" He shouted so loudly that the soldiers around him were terrified, and they were all baffled by the furious look of the coach. Cao Cao was afraid that people would find out, so he quickly suppressed his anger, and asked Bian Bing in a low voice, "Where are Lu Bu's soldiers and horses now?" "The attack on Juancheng will not stop, and now it has been stationed in Puyang."

"Will there be soldiers and horses blocking the guards along the way on Mount Tai?" "Not at all. Lu Bu's troops are limited, and Zhang Miao is not very cooperative with him. Most of the counties are still watching from the city. I think as long as Lu Bu is removed, the rest will not be difficult." Cao Cao nodded and said with a smile: "Once Lu Bu wins Yanzhou, he can't stick to Dongping. Father Duankang and the way of Mount Tai took advantage of the danger to force me to station in Puyang. I know he can't do anything!"He said this on his lips, but he knew very well in his heart that Lu Bu's trick to lure the enemy deep was very vicious, and he wanted to swallow him whole while waiting for work!But now, besides giving myself peace of mind, what else can I do?

Fortunately, a large amount of food and grass was looted from Xuzhou. Cao Cao's army came back from a long way without any resistance, and did not attack a city or county by force, and the troops went as far as Puyang.Lu Bu had already sharpened his sword and waited for him, and set up camp forty miles west of the city.Cao Cao wanted to regain Yanzhou in the first battle, so he hurriedly adjusted his troops and fought against him west of Puyang. Lu Bu didn't have many troops, only half were from Bingzhou, and half were Yanzhou rebels who Chen Gong, Xu Si, and Wang Kai joined. In addition, when he attached to Zhang Yang, he also got some Hanoi soldiers.Although the total force is far inferior to Cao Cao's, the Bingzhou cavalry is a world-renowned force, and there are even some Xiongnu and Tuge among them. Their power should not be underestimated.The formation they listed was Bingzhou soldiers, Hanoi soldiers at the front, and Yanzhou troops at the back. The entire formation was narrow at the front and wide at the back, like a sharp knife.

Cao Cao knew that this was a strong enemy, and he could only bully the few with the more. To put it bluntly, there was no other way to win except to use people as cushions.He took advantage of the numbers and divided the army into four teams in the wilderness. He led the troops of the direct descendants, Cao Chun's tiger and leopard cavalry, and Zhu Ling's three Hebei battalions in the middle; the left wing sent Cao Ren, Yu Jin, and Li Gan to lead the Yanzhou army. The right wing is the Qingzhou Army led by Cao Hong, Bian Bing, and Ding Fei; and in the front is the forward cavalry chosen by the two giants Le Jin and Xia Houyuan. In Cao Cao's view, although this team of cavalry is not comparable to the Bingzhou cavalry, But it is also enough to resist the enemy front.As long as the front team resists the enemy, the left and right wings outflank, and the central army follows up, the enemy can be surrounded and eaten in one go.

When the two formations confronted each other, Le Jin and Xia Houyuan led the cavalry to charge forward.Upon seeing this, Cao Cao immediately ordered the three armies to advance together, and the black army pressed against the enemy.Although Lu Bu's army had only one camp, they showed no sign of weakness, and attacked head-on without avoiding or dodging. But just when the two armies were about to meet.Lu Bu's army suddenly changed its formation, and the Bingzhou cavalry in the front suddenly steered their horses northward to the Qingzhou army on the right.But as soon as they flashed, the Yanzhou rebels behind them were exposed, and the enemies in the first few rows were all strong with their bows and crossbows.Cao Cao broke into a cold sweat when he saw it—lost!

At that moment, Cao Cao immediately realized his mistake.Lu Bu alone would not be scary, but now he has Chen Gong who knows himself and the enemy, and he has few secrets in front of Chen Gong, and he knows the weaknesses of Qingzhou soldiers like the back of his hand.Lu Bu's change of formation was fatal to him, because the Qingzhou soldiers were all yellow turbans, and their morale was unstable and lacked training. Relying on them to fight against the Bingzhou cavalry would undoubtedly fail.As for the cavalry team that I have organized with great painstaking efforts, what awaits them is thousands of arrows.When the front and right armies are in disorder, the central army and the left army are concerned, and they are about to trample and mess up.

There was no other way, the matter happened too hastily, Cao Cao held up the command flag without delay: "Command! The whole army moves south for me!" "Move to the south... move to the south... move to the south..." It is not easy to make a hasty change of formation, whether it is the herald or not, they all shouted at this moment. But it is too difficult to make the four teams obey the general order in an instant, the enemy has already rushed in front of them.The Bingzhou cavalry rushed into the Qingzhou army like a tiger rushing on a flock of sheep. As expected, those peasants collapsed at the touch of the iron cavalry.Cao Cao didn't know that the Bingzhou cavalry rushing to the front were the sharpest among the sharpest under the leadership of Gao Shun.Those cavalrymen raised their spears in their palms and stabbed the chaotic defeated army to death like toads. They also passed through the right-wing formation, turned around and rushed back and forth. The Qingzhou army was killed immediately. It was dark and out of control. At the same time, Cao Jun's forward also had a problem, and Chen Gong had already ordered all arrows to be fired.In an instant, the arrows covered the sky and the sun like rain, and the forward cavalry couldn't restrain their horses when they charged. Many soldiers and horses were shot alive into hedgehogs.Those in the front row fell down, and the horses behind them stumbled immediately, and as soon as they fell to the ground, they were immediately hit by thousands of arrows. Due to the strong momentum, several rows were damaged one after another, and the dead bodies piled up like a wall.Both Le Jin and Xia Houyuan were hit by arrows, and led the remnant soldiers to quickly turn around under the cover of the dead man's wall, finally saving half of them. Fortunately, Cao Cao sent an order to move south, and the army took action. Otherwise, the whole army would be in danger of being wiped out if they trampled on each other.But even so, the dizziness of the fleeing Qingzhou army still slightly affected the Chinese army.The Yanzhou rebels let go of their bows and arrows and rushed to the front. Bingzhou cavalry defeated the right wing and also attacked from the north. Both sides attacked together, and Cao Jun's momentum was greatly frustrated.The generals commanded the soldiers and horses to turn around and fight to the death. The spearmen of the Chinese army were packed tightly and aimed their spears at the horses' necks.Cao Cao mobilized the archers and began to fight back at the enemy through the spear array. The two armies remained in a stalemate for more than half an hour, and in the end it was Lu Bu who retreated first.However, Cao Jun suffered heavy casualties, his morale was low, and many generals were injured.With no more power to pursue, Cao Cao had no choice but to order his troops to withdraw. The Qingzhou army suffered the greatest loss. When they returned to the camp, they found that the number of people was reduced by half. He was too frightened to return to Cao Ying, and would rather continue to be a refugee than fight. Cao Jun's corpses were everywhere in the vast open fields.Some fell in disorder in a pool of blood, some were so bloody and bloody that it was hard to distinguish them, some were so badly injured that they died standing on the ground with a gun, some were shot into hedgehogs and could not fall down, and those A wall of dead people piled high.The not yet dead horse twitched its hooves and let out a painful cry... Cao Cao watched this miserable scene, and began to gradually realize the horror of the situation. It is this piece of land that once belonged to him, and now all sides have become strangers.Now if we retreat from Juancheng, it is tantamount to admitting defeat, and all the counties and counties that are still building walls will immediately fall completely to Lu Bu and Chen Gong.Fortunately, the food and grass plundered from Xuzhou is very sufficient, so they can continue to feed on it, even if it lasts for a few months. But he must think of a way, only a sudden surprise can reverse this unfavorable situation.