The soldiers of the Cao Liu Alliance, who were surrounded by the fire, collapsed instantly, and the huge raft burning on one side was discarded at will, and no one cared about the arrows roaring all over the sky, and everyone let out a terrible cry, running and trampling in the dense deer and horse rejection formation, and more people completely disregarded life and death, threw away their weapons, raised their hands, and ran hard towards the position of the Northern Xinjiang Army. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Behind is a flaming wall of fire, and the only place to survive is in front. In front of them were ballista carts with their mouths wide open.

Bian Xi's face was murderous, and he yelled again and again: "Release, release...... Kill them...... Kill them ......"

"Boom...... Boom ......" 1,500 ballista carts roared in unison, and the battlefield shook violently at this moment.

Bows, crossbows, catapults...... All the weapons that could kill the enemy cheered at this moment, and the arrows and stones rained down like a raging storm.

………………

On the other side of the battlefield, the Northern Frontier Army surrounded Cao Ren's army in a small pottery pavilion twenty miles outside Dingtao City.

Guan Yu commanded 8,000 men and horses, and also used a strong blocking formation to block Cao Ren's army on the galloping road, making it difficult to advance an inch.

Zhang Yan followed with 8,000 men and horses in his headquarters, and successfully cut off Cao Ren's retreat by using a small river.

Zhai Ya, Xian Yufu, Wei Xu and others led the rest of the army to pounce fiercely from the north.

Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, Wei Yuanjin and others commanded the army, backed by the Jishui River, rushed left and right, and fought to the death. They could not imagine that the 100,000 troops of Cao Cao and Liu Bei were in Xipingting, ten miles away, and when the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army surrounded them, they could not break through the resistance of the Northern Xinjiang Army and save themselves from the encirclement.

Cao Ren looked up at the sky, shook his head helplessly, and sighed: "Big brother, it's getting dark, if you don't come again, we will be wiped out." ”

"Zixiao, we can't kill it back." Xiahou Yuan was covered in blood and staggered over, "Zhang Yan's rebellion set up hundreds of crossbow carts on the river, and in the past it was sent to death. What to do? You have to think of a way. ”

Cao Ren bowed his head and was silent.

"If we had known this, we would have died without going out of the city." Xiahou Yuan scolded angrily. He led the men and horses from Cangting to Dingtao, although more than half of the men and horses were lost, but they were not as embarrassed as today, "Why hasn't the big brother come yet?" He is only ten miles away from us, only ten miles ......"

"Miaocai, don't say a word." Mao Jue coughed twice, reached out and opened the water bladder and took a sip of water, "It's only been a day, what are you anxious about?" Do you think the Northern Frontier Army is the Yellow Turban Army, just let us kill it casually? ”

"I'm not in a hurry?" Xiahou Yuan pointed to his nose and shouted, "Open your eyes and see, the Northern Xinjiang Army has surrounded us by the Jishui River, and the cavalry of the Hu people are rushing back and forth, we can't rush out, we can't fight and can't fight, how long can we hold out?" ”

"It'll be fine when it's dark." Cao Ren shook his hand and said with a wry smile, "When it gets dark, the Northern Frontier Army will stop attacking." We used the evening time to set up a car formation. As long as we block the cavalry of the Hu people, we can still hold on for a few days. ”

"Li Yi dared to take the Hu people to the Central Plains...... "Xiahou Yuan gritted his teeth and cut it out, "Li Yi must be a Hu person, he is not our Han people, definitely not." ”

The fast horse galloped in, and the scout reported loudly: "General Cao, General Wei Yuanjin asked for help, he couldn't tear through the defense line of the Northern Frontier Army, he was pressed and beaten by Guan Yu, and he was about to lose his support." ”

Cao Ren was taken aback and stood up suddenly.

Wei Yuanjin and Cai Yang attacked the Western Front with 12,000 men, trying to open the gap, but on the opposite side was Guan Yu, the most elite army of the Northern Xinjiang Army, with far more troops than Wei Yuanjin and Cai Yang. It is commendable that the two of them can hold out for a day, but once the Western Front is broken through by Guan Yu, the Northern Frontier Army is bound to attack overnight, and they will not want to support it.

"Please hold on until dark." Cao Ren turned to look at Xiahou Yuan and asked, "Miaocai, how many people do you still have?" ”

"There are more than 4,000 more." Xiahou Yuan shook his head and said, "Zhang Yan has been attacking fiercely, and if he withdraws some of his men and horses at this time, the defense line will definitely be torn apart by Zhang Yan." Or call your person. ”

Cao Ren asked again, "What about Zhongquan?" ”

"Ba'er was repeatedly attacked by the Northern Xinjiang Army and the Hu people, with heavy casualties, and the northern defense line was precarious." Xiahou Yuan said dejectedly, "Even if we can survive tonight, it will be difficult to survive tomorrow." The defensive line to the north may be left undefended by tomorrow. ”

Cao Ren sighed and ordered Li Hui to go to support with 2,000 Chinese troops, saying, "If these 2,000 people are finished, we will completely lose hope." ”

Xiahou Yuan and Mao Jue were silent, and they all looked up at the sunset in the west.

………………

Xiping Pavilion.

After suffering heavy losses, the morale of the Cao-Liu coalition army was weakened, and it was not until the afternoon that the army was barely regrouped and launched another attack on the Northern Xinjiang Army, but the scale of the attack was small. The soldiers were terrified, and as soon as they saw flaming arrows in the air, they immediately hugged their heads and ran away. Cao Cao ordered the soldiers who fled to be killed, and only then did he barely control the situation.

Until dusk, the army failed to break through the trench. Every time the soldiers ran to the edge of the trench and smelled the disgusting smell of burnt meat, they could no longer take a step. They did not dare to turn around and run away, so they had to lie on the ground with their heads in their hands, waiting for the sound of the retreating gong.

Cao Cao was so anxious that he sent a large number of scouts to find out what was going on with the breakout army, but the news he received made him miserable.

Cao Ren's army was surrounded in Xiaotaoting, and the Northern Xinjiang Army gathered heavy troops to launch a frantic attack, and more than 20,000 people were estimated to be wiped out.

That's when worse news came. The cavalry of the Hu people, under the command of Zhai Yu, the king of Ding Ling, took advantage of Cao Cao's army to stay away from the grievances, and made a successful sneak attack and captured the city.

Cao Cao was hit so hard that he almost cried bitterly.

The injustice is lost, the grain and grass are cut off, the back road is gambled, and the defeat is decided. Although he still has a numerical advantage at present, in the absence of grain and grass and no backup, it is impossible for him to safely withdraw to the south bank of the Jishui River and return to Yuzhou. This army will be eaten by the Northern Frontier cavalry on the way to retreat.

Now the hope for the survival of the army does not lie in whether it can withdraw from the battlefield in time, but whether Zhou Cang and Cao Chun can capture Changyi. If they successfully conquered Changyi, Li Yi might retreat to the next best thing and divide his troops to attack Changyi first, giving himself a chance to breathe.

Cao Cao's hope was shattered by Xi Zhicai's words.

Only listening to Xi Zhicai said lightly: "Since Li Yi can first divide his troops to surround Jiyang, sneak attack the injustice, and take into account all the possibilities that are about to happen, then he will naturally not miss the protection of Changyi." So far, have our scouts discovered Li E and Zhao Yun's Iron Horse? Li E was originally near Changyi, so what about Zhao Yun? Why didn't Zhao Yun see it? ”

"Are you saying that Zhao Yun may have been ambushed by the Jishui River, waiting for us to cross the river and retreat to launch a fatal blow?" Cao Cao asked in a panic.

"I don't know where he is, but the prime minister's guess may be right. However, ......" Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and said worriedly, "Whether we can escape this catastrophe or not depends entirely on Liu Yuanjun's strategy." If Zhou Cang and Cao Chun can succeed in Changyi, we will definitely be able to evacuate safely. ”

Liu Bei's strategy was originally to defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army, but now the battle situation has undergone unexpected changes, and it has become a life-saving strategy in the blink of an eye.

"Today's battle was too unexpected." Liu Bei looked up to the sky and sighed, "Who would have thought that more than 20,000 people would be wiped out in the blink of an eye, which is too big a blow to the morale of the army." Not to mention the soldiers, even I want to withdraw from the battlefield early. ”

Liu Bei looked at Cao Cao and Guo Jia, and said solemnly: "Zhicai was right just now, Changyi is very important to the Northern Frontier Army, Li Yi can't be defenseless, and our strategy to attack Changyi may be a mistake at all." Don't count on Zhou Cang and Cao Chun, let's fend for ourselves. ”

Xi Zhicai smiled bitterly and said, "Li Yi is too cruel, this battle is too big a blow to us. Judging from Li Yi's bloody methods, we really have to find another way to escape. ”

"Hmph......" Cao Cao looked up at the blood-colored sunset and snorted coldly.

He wanted to say a few cruel words, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that saying cruel words at this time was a slap in his face, so he quickly changed the topic and asked, "What should I do now?" We can't just watch Zixiao's entire army annihilated. ”

Liu Bei bowed his head and was silent, but the expression on his face could tell that he had lost confidence and had no intention of fighting again.

"We still have a lot of empty ships." Xi Zhicai pointed to the grain fleet on the river in the distance and said, "After dark, let some boats go down, and you can pick up as many people as you want." ”

Xi Zhicai raised his head and pointed to the sky, and instructed again: "There is a moon tonight, and you can see a distance of dozens of paces so so." Tell the boatmen not to use torches, or they will be targeted by the archers of the Northern Army. ”

Cao Cao thought that he could save Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and others, and the grief in his heart eased slightly. Although more than 20,000 people were lost, it was better than leaving his brother to escape alone.

After the loss of Changyi, all the family members were captured by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and if they watched Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan die on the battlefield this time, they would really be like ashes.

Cao Cao looked at Xi Zhicai and asked, "Zhicai, are we going to withdraw overnight or tomorrow?" ”

"After we brought back Zixiao and Miaocai and a group of generals tonight, the army trapped in Xiaotaoting also collapsed." Xi Zhicai sighed in a low voice, "After the Northern Frontier Army won a great victory in Xiaotaoting, it will immediately turn around and surround us. We had the enemy in front of us, and there were pursuing troops in the rear, and the Jishui River blocked our way to retreat south, so it was too difficult to successfully retreat in this situation. Now Liu Yuanjun thinks that we can't count on Zhou Cang and Cao Chun, then we only have one way to escape, which is to go north. (To be continued.) )