Jian'an 10th year - summer, July 22 - the weather is clear, the breeze gusts, after careful planning, the Cao army began a major retreat - half a roll of the flag, north to the Central Plains!

During the day, the situation in Cao Ying was normal, taking advantage of the beautiful weather, the soldiers washed their clothes, dried their bedding, and carefully cleaned the inside and outside of the camp, after more than half a month of treatment, malaria was basically eliminated, and the soldiers also recovered their health, and also developed good habits of hygiene!

If there is anything special, it is that the firehead army is busy, and the cooking smoke in the camp is also denser, cooking day and night, as if they are rushing to make dry food for the march!

At dusk, after the soldiers had eaten and drunk enough, they were about to return to their tents to rest, when they suddenly received an order: "Dress neatly, line up in the camp, and no one is allowed to carry anything except for personal use!" ”

Cao's soldiers were well-trained, and although they didn't know what the situation was, they quickly completed the assembly, and then received the second military order: "The whole army should withdraw westward and return to Jiangling, and no one should make noise during the retreat!" ”

Since the Eastern Crusade, the soldiers have been fighting hard and being poisoned by malaria, and they are already exhausted, and they all hope to return to the Central Plains and have a good reunion with their relatives.

The order to retreat was suddenly conveyed, and many people were stunned for a while, and then they reacted, and they didn't dare to cheer loudly, so they could only gag their mouths with their sleeves, or roll on the ground, or beat their chests!

Under the leadership of the yellow rat, more than 10,000 soldiers of the digging army were the first to leave the Wulin camp, everyone carried straw, planks, ropes and other things, they had to open roads in the mountains, build bridges in the water, and ensure that the army was unimpeded!

The members of the Diggers are all born as tomb robbers and have exquisite civil engineering skills, such as the valley of Xiliang, the swamp of Wuchao, and the sandy land of western Liaoning...... They were all trampled under their feet, and it was not difficult to pass through the three-hundred-mile swamp!

In summer, the weather was hot and humid, and it was difficult to preserve ordinary food, so the distribution was fried noodles: 'Use animal fat, fry wheat and millet flour, add a small amount of refined salt, dried vegetables, and beans, and then put them into a long cloth bag, which can be eaten directly or flushed! ’

The fried noodles made in this way not only taste good, but also carry and store extremely conveniently, even in the middle of summer, it can also ensure that it will not deteriorate for 20 days, which is Xiao Yi's 'invention' to supply the marching rations of the troops, and the Xuanjia iron cavalry can run long distances and win many battles, and the fried noodles are absolutely indispensable!

In order to supplement the nutrition of the soldiers, each person also received three catties of jerky, a large piece of pickle gnocchi, and twenty catties of fried noodles, which is enough to eat for ten days, so that through the 300-mile swamp area, there is no need to make a fire to cook, and there will be no delay in the march!

The army also prepared a lot of ropes, and the soldiers were connected in groups of thirty people, so that one was convenient for walking at night, so that no one would be left behind; Second, someone fell into the swamp and could be rescued in time!

There are also incense to prevent mosquitoes, realgar to prevent poisonous snakes, and herbs to prevent eczema...... Everything is available, for this retreat of the whole army, Xiao Yike racked his brains and made the most adequate preparations.

Because on the battlefield, retreat is much more difficult than attacking, if you are not careful, retreat becomes a rout, retreat becomes a rout, and then thousands of people collapse, the army is defeated, how many famous generals throughout the ages are defeated on the road of retreat!

"The last general will see Da Sima - the grace of saving lives, no teeth and unforgettable!"

"The tiger marquis is safe and sound, it is not only a profound blessing, but also the blessing of the sky, this great Sima An dares to take credit!"

"Da Sima take care of his body, the last general will be waiting for him in Jiangling City!"

"Huhou also take care all the way, don't worry about the aftermath, we will meet soon!"

…………………………

The tiger and leopard ride in the middle position, because it is the safest here, the tiger idiot-Xu Chu has just recovered, and his body is still a little thin, but his spirit is good, holding a sawtooth broadsword, he is still a tiger and a tiger!

In the queue of tigers and leopards, there is a chariot carried by sixteen people, surrounded by closed and airtight, Cao Cao is resting in it, perhaps because of his repeated illness, unconscious, he has never shown up!

Xiao Yi knew in his heart that Cao Cao had already woken up, and the reason why he didn't show up was that he couldn't face his own failures, and he couldn't face the resentful soldiers.

In addition, Xu Chu is Cao Cao's shadow, what he said just now was said in place of Cao Cao, which can be regarded as an apology and thanks in disguise, Xiao Yi understood and answered so politely, otherwise how could a general of the Prime Minister's Mansion answer so much to Da Sima?

Walking at the end of the team were Xu Huang and Yu Ban's men and horses, who were ordered to harass behind enemy lines and swept the northern part of Jiangxia County, just avoiding the plague, so their subordinates were safe and sound, and they preserved their strong combat effectiveness!

Although Xiao Yi is in charge of the break, Sun and Liu Lian have a large number of soldiers and horses, and it is likely that the troops will be divided into multiple ways to attack the retreating Cao army, if they really catch up, they will have to fight to the death against the enemy by Xu Huang and Yu Ban!

Therefore, when leaving, Xiao Yi left Xu and Yu and secretly issued an order: "In order to prevent the enemy from pursuing, the two of them can lead the men and horses of the headquarters to tear down all the roads and bridges behind, and do not leave a single plank!" ”

In this way, it is not easy for the Sun and Liu coalition forces to pursue again, and the main force of the Cao army is much safer, but the people and horses responsible for the broken rear will have no way to retreat, Xiao Yi's order is tantamount to cutting off his own life!

"Da Sima's order, the last generals must obey it!"

"Two generals, please get up and set off quickly!"

"No!"

Xu Huang and Yu Ban were stunned for a long time, and then they both knelt on the ground, bowed to Xiao Yi, and secretly resolved that in the future, as long as it was the order of the Great Sima, they would go to the soup and go forward!

In this way, under the cover of night, hundreds of thousands of Cao's troops quietly left the camp in the lightest way of marching and embarked on the journey back to the north......

And Xiao Yi's descendants, as well as the Jingzhou naval army, stayed in the Wulin camp, continued to practice during the day and slept at night, as if nothing had happened, so as to confuse the eyes of Sun and Liu Lianjun!

In fact, the retreat of the main force of the Cao army will inevitably leave traces, and Xiao Yi does not ask to hide it for a long time, even if it is good to hide it for a day, half a day, or a few hours, because the victory or defeat of life and death in a war is often decided in an instant!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"The first cup of wine, to the spirit of General Huang in the sky - loyal to the liver and courage, full of loyalty, Jiangdong descendants, since the eternal sacrifice!"

"Drink it!"

"The second glass of wine, to all the generals sitting here - Phi Jian and stubborn, bloody fighting, the six counties of Jiangdong are safe and sound, all of them are your credits!"

"Drink well! - Win the drink! ”

"The third cup of wine, I wish our army a complete victory, annihilating hundreds of thousands of Cao troops, and then the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, unifying the world, the day when the lord achieves a great cause, you all have the reward of the marquis!"

"The Metropolitan Governor wins! - Drink - Drink! ”

………………

Late at night - in the Hongcheng General's Mansion, the lights were bright, laughter and laughter, Zhou Yu and the Jiangdong generals set up a sumptuous banquet to celebrate their capture of Hongcheng in one fell swoop, cutting off the retreat of Cao's army, and reversing the situation on the battlefield!

Not long ago, Jiangdong was still in danger, the soldiers in front fought bloodily, several hard battles did not gain the upper hand, and the people behind were also panicked, and the eight major families were privately connected in tandem, ready to rebel and respond to Cao's army!

At that time, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu had trouble sleeping and eating, and they were suffering every day, but in the face of their subordinates, they had to pretend to be indifferent, so as not to shake the morale of the army, and the taste can be imagined!

I didn't think that in just over half a month, the situation was reversed, Huang Gai successfully surrendered, Cao Jun was infected with the plague, tens of thousands of people died, and the rest also lost their combat effectiveness, from a vicious tiger to a poor sick cat!

Hearing the good news from the front line, Jiangdong was also at peace, and the eight major families saw the wind and steered, not only did they rebel, but raised a lot of money, grain and grass, and sent them to the Sanjiangkou camp together with a letter of allegiance, and they were extremely flattering!

Now that Cao's army is exhausted, unable to move forward, there is no way back, and it is already in a predicament, as long as it uses another force, it can fight a war of annihilation!

Zhou Yu had already planned that if Cao's army retreated from the waterway, he would line up on the Yangtze River, take advantage of the advantage of going downstream, annihilate Jingzhou's naval army, and throw hundreds of thousands of Cao's troops into the river to feed the fish and turtles!

If Cao Jun takes the land route, the 300-mile swamp will devour countless men and horses, and even if they are lucky enough to get out, they should be exhausted and run out of food and grass!

He set up an ambush circle near Jiangling City, and then waited for work with ease, and attacked the retreating Cao army, even if he couldn't annihilate them all, he could eliminate more than half of them, and if he was lucky, he might be able to capture Cao Cao and Xiao Yi alive!

Cao Cao and Xiao Yi are the souls of Cao Jun, as long as they kill and capture the two alive, they will inevitably shock the world, although the Central Plains is wide, it can be passed on, and the next step is to pay more attention to Liu Bei, Kong Ming, and Pang Tong!

Facts have proved that Zhou Yu's calculations were very predictable, and there was only a little bit of error, but on the battlefield, the difference was a millimeter, and it was a thousand miles away!

"Qiyu Metropolitan Governor, late at night two days ago, the main force of the Cao army retreated westward and entered the Huarong Ancient Road, Xiao Yi took the people of the headquarters to stay, and the team was broken!"

"Haha! --As expected, Cao Jun's retreat by land was a wise choice, and Xiao Yi dared to break off, which can be regarded as bold! ”

"Governor Qiyu, after Xiao Yi was stationed for two days, he also secretly gathered men and horses, rushed to make dry food, and sent a large number of rangers, it seems that there are signs of escaping!"

"Haha! -As I expected, how could Xiao Yat sit still and wait to die, but this person is very cunning, maybe give up the land route and break through by water, I can't help but guard against it! ”

"Qiyu Metropolitan Governor, Xiao Yi took the people of the headquarters and left the Wulin camp - went straight to the mouth of the three rivers!"

"What, turn defense into offense - go straight to Sanjiangkou?"

(End of chapter)