Three Kingdoms

The earlier humiliation in Yangqu made Xiahou Cheng almost crazy at the moment. His eyes were red, he was roaring and spitting out foam, as if he was going to eat people at the next moment. The guards around him didn't even dare to say a word. Please advise again.

　　『Today we can only fight to the death! Either the enemy dies or we die! But anyone who dares to retreat will be killed! 』

Xia Houcheng was almost crazy. He grabbed a battle ax from the guard and rushed forward first.

 The glory he had lost before was to be regained here.

If you miss such an opportunity, can you still hope for a bright future?

Xia Houcheng knew that the threat posed by Chen Rui was actually not that big. A bigger threat was yet to come, so if he couldn't even deal with Chen Rui, why would he continue to fight against Hedong?

Only by defeating Chen Rui's unit can the surrounding areas of Jinyang be loosened up again. Otherwise, with Chen Rui here, the rest of Taiyuan counties and villages will not be loosened up again! It's like a rope around Jinyang's neck, getting tighter and tighter!

Although Xia Houcheng is not as good as those top generals, he at least has enough fish and meat every day and keeps up with his nutrition. In addition, he exercises in the army intentionally or unintentionally, so his combat power is naturally stronger than that of ordinary soldiers.

Xia Houcheng rushed forward, and Cao's soldiers quickly followed behind.

If the cavalry is the most important under the Hussar, then under Cao Jun, the most important thing is the infantry.

 Because the Central Plains of China entered the technology line of Chengchi Wubao very early.

The cavalry who are good at field battles are indeed sharp, but if we consider it comprehensively, whether in terms of cost or actual combat effectiveness, during the Chinese feudal dynasty, cavalry was not as good as infantry on the battlefields where cities and forts were often attacked. Easy to use.

In the Central Plains, the infantry is very strong, especially the elites of Cao's army. Many of them survived the Central Plains War. After being tempered by Yuan Da and Yuan Er, they can be regarded as refined steel.

Xia Houcheng was wearing heavy armor and carrying a battle ax. His goal was to break through Chen Rui's shield wall.

Judging from the current situation, the shield wall is indeed the key point of Chen Rui's defense. As long as the shield is broken and Cao Jun rushes inside, even if Chen Rui and others cannot be crushed into Jiuze and drowned, It will cause Chen Rui's array to completely collapse!

Xia Houcheng roared and swept his battle ax across, slashing away the piercing spear heads. The battle ax smashed on the shield, or the shield was broken, or even the man and the shield were swept down.

In the blink of an eye, several large and small gaps were dug in Chen Rui's defense array. The brave and elite Cao army following Xia Houcheng took this opportunity to wave their swords and shields to hold up the gaps, allowing more people behind them to attack. The soldiers of Cao's army roared and rushed in, slashing in all directions.

Xia Houcheng relied on the fact that he was wearing heavy armor, which only covered his face and other vital parts. He didn't even care about the rest of his swords and spears, and just slashed wildly. The heavy battle ax roared down, and ordinary soldiers may not be able to withstand the impact even if they blocked the edge of the axe.

Beside Xiahou Cheng, there were two guards holding shields and swords to cover his wings, so that Xiahou Cheng could fight forward with confidence.

In the blink of an eye, many gaps were torn out in Chen Rui's shield wall, and blood rained down.

Looking at the Cao soldiers approaching him, Chen Rui was a little flustered, but his feet did not loosen.

Haven’t the reinforcements arrived yet?

It seems that my life cannot be saved...

At this moment, Chen Rui was actually thinking about whether his mother-in-law would take the pension and remarry...

Just when Xia Houcheng was about to rush to the center of Chen Rui, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded like muffled thunder!

Chen Rui was overjoyed and shouted loudly: "Our reinforcements are coming!" Reinforcements are coming! To hold on is to win! 』

Following Chen Rui's shouting, everyone in the formation, both inside and outside, seemed to be shouting, "Reinforcements are here!" arrive! 』

 Looking at Xiahou Cheng's side, it was like ice water approaching.

 …

 …

 Huang Cheng took the lead.

Under the chaotic firelight, Chen Rui's flag could still be seen vaguely standing beside Jiuze, and Huang Cheng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But the problem now is that in the dark night, neither horses nor people can clearly identify the edge of Jiuze, so Huang Cheng cannot rush directly to where Chen Rui is, he can only rush to Xia Houcheng's rear. Formation, to avoid the embarrassing situation of accidentally rushing over and rushing directly into Jiuze.

This also allowed Xia Houcheng's troops to get a little breathing space without being overwhelmed by the cavalry on the spot.

 But there is only such a small chance.

At this moment, everyone can see that even if Xia Houcheng attacks Chen Rui's center, he will not be able to escape the fate of being surrounded and suppressed by Huang Cheng's cavalry!

Xia Houcheng stared blankly at the sudden appearance of Huang Chengma, and a strong feeling of powerlessness surged into his heart.

Watching the close guards under his command, fighting with the soldiers in Chen Rui's array, either hacking or being hacked by the other side, watching the hussars galloping towards here in the dark night, It looked like the guard beside him was shouting something to him...

Xia Houcheng could not hear a sound.

 Is it just a waste of effort?

 Can we only suffer another humiliation, suffer another humiliation with disgrace, or even more humiliation?

No!

 At this moment, he would rather die on the spot than go back and bear the humiliation!

Now he still has a chance. With one final impact, he may be able to cut off Chen Rui's head, and Chen Rui's array will collapse by then!

He can then turn around and deal with Huang Cheng's cavalry wholeheartedly, and maybe even break out a **** path!

After settling his thoughts, it seemed that the sounds that had disappeared from his surroundings filled Xia Houcheng's ears again. He heard the guards around him shouting anxiously, telling him to retreat. Xia Houcheng stretched out his hand and grabbed the shoulder of the guard beside him, "We can't retreat!" If we withdraw again, we will be finished! dash forward! The only way to survive is to fight to the death! 』

This second generation of Xiahou, who had never suffered any setbacks in Shandong, finally grew up on the battlefield.

But…

 Not all growth must be rewarded.

Although Xia Houcheng's attack was crazy, Chen Rui and others who waited for reinforcements also gritted their teeth and supported it!

As long as he waits until dawn and his sight is clear, Huang Cheng can easily defeat and defeat these Cao soldiers, and drive these Cao soldiers into Jiuze like cattle and sheep!

The reason why Cao Jun can still attack now is because it was dark and the visibility was unclear, so the cavalry did not dare to charge too hard and accidentally rushed into Jiuze.

 So Cao Jun wants to deal with Chen Rui as soon as possible, but Chen Rui and others understand that as long as they persist until dawn, they will win, and both sides are working hard!

Under such a situation, the first to collapse was not Chen Rui or the elite Cao army led by Xia Houcheng, but the troops who surrendered from Taiyuan and Jinyang...

These surrendered troops, when they were arrogant, seemed to be the best in the world and who else could they be? However, when they encountered such a difficult situation, they were the first to collapse.

Some of the surrendered troops howled loudly, howling something I would have understood if I had known it, and then walked around in despair like zombies, being hacked to death or falling into the Nine Zees. Some people were heading towards Huang Cheng and others left, throwing down their weapons in an attempt to surrender again and survive...

 Failure seems to be a foregone conclusion.

 …

 …

Xiahou Dun held a sword and stood on the mountain.

 Behind him, there were many people standing indistinctly.

After Jinyang was captured, Xiahou Dun used Fukouxing to continuously gather Cao's troops and horses in Jinyang. However, it was unrealistic to transport troops and horses on a large scale through the Taihang Mountains during this season.

 So in order to buy more time, Xiahou Dun must show a strong attitude.

 This point is crucial.

If Xiahou Cheng can defeat Chen Rui, then Xiahou Dun will be free to do more things.

 But now Xiahou Dun was very disappointed with Xiahou Chang.

Xia Houcheng failed to meet Xiahou Dun's requirements, nor was he able to achieve his tactical goals. It was so difficult to deal with Chen Rui, how could he take on more responsibilities?

 The cold wind blew, bringing the sound of fighting in the distance.

The scouts rushed back and forth, gathering the battle situation bit by bit to Xiahou Dun's place.

 For Xiahou Dun, now is the time to choose again.

Dead or Alive.

this is a problem.

 Now, Xiahou Dun also faces this problem.

 His life and death, as well as the life and death of Xia Houcheng.

 Even the lives and deaths of more people. Originally, Xiahou Dun hoped that Xiahou Cheng could successfully cut off Chen Rui's head, lure out the ambush troops hiding behind him, and then attack together to completely open the road to Pingyang.

Even if Xiahou Dun cannot successfully defeat and kill Chen Rui, returning to the army in time when the opponent's ambush appears and pulling the opponent's ambush here will give Xiahou Dun a more comfortable attack position.

The reason why Xiahou Dun did not tell Xiahou Cheng all his plans and give detailed instructions was because Xiahou Dun hoped that Xia Houcheng could truly understand that anything can happen on the battlefield, and it is impossible to rely on orders from superiors or others for everything. It's advance planning.

Just like when Xiahou Dun followed Cao Cao to recruit soldiers and horses, who would have thought that the camp would roar in the middle of the night? Who would have thought that Cao Cao would lead his army into Xuzhou, only to find a trap in the rear? I didn't expect it, which can be the reason, but what I did next is the key. Xia Houcheng didn't expect it last time in Yangqu, so what about this time?

Xiahou Dun regretfully found that Xiahou Cheng still didn’t expect it.

Perhaps Xia Houcheng woke up too late, or maybe Xiahou Cheng didn't fight hard enough at the beginning. Xiahou Dun waited until Huang Cheng appeared, but Xia Houcheng still failed to capture Chen Rui, and instead was likely to be surrounded.

　　When Huang Cheng led his troops and appeared, Xiahou Dun couldn't sit still, and his heart was beating fast.

But Xiahou Dun was a veteran general after all and still had some unique experience on the battlefield. He did not take any immediate action. Instead, he sent scouts to investigate carefully and found that Huang Cheng did not have many men.

Xiahou Dun judged that these were cavalry from the east of Hedong or the north.

 He once again confirmed that the possibility of Fei Qian leading an army was not impossible, but not very high.

Because Xiahou Dun himself had been in command of the army for many years, and had been responsible for the logistical support of Cao Cao's army for a long time, he knew very well how huge and cumbersome the materials needed for a large army were, so it was said that Fei Qian was leading the army. When he arrived in Guanzhong, Xiahou Dun believed it, but when it came to Hedong, Xiahou Dun didn't believe it very much.

No matter from any angle, Hedong cannot accommodate large-scale soldiers and horses. Even if they do nothing, a gathering of more than 50,000 people will easily destroy Hedong.

Even transporting supplies from Chang'an Sanfu to Hedong was unrealistic. Xiahou Dun tried every means to mobilize troops from Fukouxing, but the road was difficult. Even with all his efforts, he only added one or two thousand people, and Fei Qian If you want to move the army from Guanzhong to Hedong, how many people can come even if it is frozen on Longmen Crossing?

More importantly, the presence of people alone is of no use. If there is no military supplies, food and grass to follow up, there will be no combat effectiveness.

Just like Xiahou Dun himself, if he had not obtained supplies from Jinyang, he would not dare to stay in Taiyuan for a long time!

Therefore, Xiahou Dun analyzed that it is only possible to assemble a large army in an area as large as Sanfu in Chang'an. Therefore, it is unlikely that Fei Qian will lead the army to march to Hedong and reach the current battlefield.

 In this case, those who appeared here must be the partial army from Hedong or Northland.

Therefore, if Xiahou Cheng can defeat Chen Rui according to the original plan, and then lure the opponent's ambush, Xiahou Dun can suddenly explode while the opponent's formation chasing Xia Houcheng is scattered, then the probability of defeating the opponent is very high. .

It's a pity that Xia Houcheng lost his head and refused to retreat this time.

Xiahou Dun originally thought that Xiahou Cheng would retreat again.

 Failure is not a terrible thing. What is terrible is not knowing how to face failure.

Just because Xia Houcheng was defeated once, does not mean that he will not be able to retreat again.

 Knowing when to advance and when to retreat is the most critical growth.

But now, if Xiahou Dun sits idly by and ignores the situation, then Xiahou Cheng, who is surrounded by hussars, will really be hopeless.

 Time is passing, the night is about to pass, and there are not many choices available to Xiahou Dun...

　　　　Come here! ” Xiahou Dun’s voice sounded dull, “Raise the fire! 』

 The torch was lit.

Then more torches were lit, forming a wide and huge band of light.

The little bits of light are like an endless net, and like a big mouth that opens to swallow Jiu Ze in one gulp.

 …

 …

 Huang Cheng, who was organizing troops to encircle and suppress Xiahou Cheng, suddenly heard the noise of soldiers, followed the sound and looked into the distance, and was startled.

 Is this Cao’s army coming out in full force?

There are so many Cao soldiers and horses in Taiyuan and Jinyang?

 Normally speaking, there is one fire for each group, so with so many torches, a rough calculation shows that there are nearly 10,000 people at least!

Does Cao Jun have so many people in Jinyang?

Most of the generals, including Huang Cheng, knew that Xiahou Dun captured Jinyang and Cui Jun surrendered without a fight, but they did not have a very accurate value for the number of Cao's soldiers and horses.

In order to maintain his dominance in Taiyuan, Xiahou Dun did what Dong Zhuo did back then, which was to sneak out of the city at night and wait until dawn to come back openly...

You must know that in the Han Dynasty, those who can calculate addition and subtraction within ten are talents. Many people cannot calculate hundreds or thousands of numerical values ​​and have no idea. Otherwise, they would not be able to create a Persian army of 5.28 million. Come on joke.

 Now Huang Cheng said how many Cao's troops were in Jinyang, but he really couldn't tell.

Although Huang Cheng had some doubts about Cao Jun's tactics, he couldn't find any reason why he had to fight the opponent immediately to the death.

In the dark night, if the enemy is not a suspicious soldier and is waiting for work, who knows what preparations have been made in advance. And when the men and horses on one's own side have no idea whether the opponent has dug a horse pit or pulled the horse rope, rushing forward rashly is tantamount to death.

Secondly, if the cavalry on one's side is lost in the opponent's trap, not only will Chen Rui not be saved, but Fei Qian in the rear may also be implicated.

The only countermeasure is to temporarily gather the troops and send scouts to investigate Cao's army. However, this may cause Xiahou Cheng to find a chance to escape...

Huang Cheng thought for a moment and quickly decided to focus on safety.

 There is no need to choose an uncertain project when it is beneficial to oneself.

Although it is said that withdrawing the troops will allow some of Cao's troops to escape, where can they escape to?

 Escape to Jinyang?

That doesn’t matter at all.

If he could fly into the sky, Huang Cheng would be worried for a while, but if he just asked Xiahou Cheng to retreat and return to Jinyang, it would not be a big deal at all.

 So on the one hand, Huang Cheng gathered his troops to prepare for Cao's attack, and on the other hand, he led Chen Rui and others to retreat.

 After dawn, Fei dived to the scene.

 After looking at the traces left by Cao Jun, Huang Cheng's face turned foul.

Fei Qian chuckled and patted Huang Cheng's shoulder, "If it were me, I would make the same choice." Don't worry, now you and I no longer need to take risks and fight with upright soldiers, so why should we complain? 』

 That is indeed the case.

 When you are relatively weak, you will find ways to use small things to gain greater benefits. However, after you truly gain a certain level of strength, the importance of strategy begins to decline. The so-called strategy is more about the general trend. And under this general trend, even if there are some waves, it cannot change the fundamentals.

It's like Cao Jun and Xiahou Dun deceived Huang Cheng, but how can there be any complete changes?

Judging from the traces left at the scene, Cao Jun pretended to have nearly 10,000 troops from 3,000 men. The effect was indeed good, but after all, the pretense was just a pretense. Once dawn came, everything became clear.

Huang Cheng still felt a little unhappy, and gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, I am willing to issue a military order and I will not give up until Jinyang is conquered!" 』

Fei Qian smiled, then looked up at the sky, "Haha, look at the sky first..."

Huang Cheng looked up.

The sky was overcast, and even though it was already midday, there was still not much sunlight that could penetrate the clouds.

　　　　What does the Lord mean...is there a change in the weather? Huang Cheng asked.

Fei Qian nodded and said: "The spring has not yet come, if we march into Jinyang...not to mention the uncertain weather, but in yesterday's battle, the troops still obeyed Cao Jun's orders. If they are forced too much, it will make them dependent on each other..."

In this battle, we can’t just focus on the number of heads captured on the surface, we also need to look at the implications behind the battle...

Xiahou Dun has Xiahou Dun's judgment, and Fei Qian can also judge based on the current situation that Xiahou Dun's troops are actually also small.

“What’s more…” Fei Qian smiled and turned his gaze to the south, seeming to be looking at Tongguan, “Prime Minister Cao… I’m afraid he can’t wait any longer…”

And judging from various signs, Xiahou Dun was still working hard for Cao Cao's frontal attack, but he didn't know that the backyard of Lao Cao's classmate was about to catch fire...