A fast horse galloped from the northwest.

The scout came to Zhu Yuanzhang and rolled off his horse, knelt down on one knee and reported: "Qi Zhu Gong, the big thing is not good, a team of about 30,000 people was found in the northwest Linfang direction, under the banner of the word 'Lu', and the visual strength was about 30,000, and it was killed from the flank of our army. ”

"A team of 30,000 people? Under the banner of Lu? Zhu Yuanzhang took the case and suddenly felt that the situation was worse than expected.

Zhu Sheng was also a little surprised: "Nine times out of ten, the Lu Ziqi is Lu Junyi under Xue Li, but it is from the direction of Linfu, which shows that the cavalry led by Xue Li is not the team of Wuguan, and it is likely to come from Jiangling." ”

Li Guang, who was drawing arrows, grinned and said, "Ahhh......h Could it be that Lu Bu is finished? Wouldn't we be surrounded? Pain and pain...... Kill me to death, don't kill Xue thief, swear not to be a man! ”

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was unwilling to accept this reality, he also knew that the possibility of Lu Bu's annihilation was increasing. Xue Li and Ran Min led the cavalry to guard the Dangyang Bridge, obviously waiting for reinforcements to arrive, if Lu Bu's army was still there, the Eastern Han Army would never be so relaxed and calm.

"Twenty miles back, contact Xu Da and Zhu Wen immediately!" Zhu Yuanzhang turned over and got on the horse in a hurry, and gave an order.

With Zhu Yuanzhang's order, the 80,000 Western Han troops who had lost their sharpness and lost their sharpness were killed by Yang Zaixing's iron-blooded army, like frightened birds, followed Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Sheng, and Li Guang to turn around and retreat quickly to the north.

"Keep up!"

Xue Rengui drew a halberd and led more than 4,000 cavalry with Ran Min to march at the tail of the horse, not hurrying or slow, and kept a distance of three or five miles from the Western Han army from beginning to end. Neither catch up nor let the Western Han army go far.

The Changban slope is nearly 100 miles in radius, and Zhu Yuanzhang led his troops to the north after seven or eight miles. The terrain gradually flattened out, and it became farther and farther away from Dangyang Bridge. And the cavalry led by Xue Rengui was haunted. Falling far behind.

This made Li Guang furious, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Gong Zhu, Xue Li's grandson is really as annoying as a fly, let the last general lead a counter-charge and annihilate them in the center, right?" ”

"You can give it a try!" Zhu Yuanzhang promised that he could not let Xue Rengui be so rampant without getting any news from other aspects.

"The cavalry comes with me!"

Li Guang turned over and got on his horse and made a move with a spear. The bow and arrow could not be shot, but the horse galloped. It is still possible to lead the army to charge.

After receiving Li Guang's call, 15,000 cavalry crossed the crowd, rolled up the yellow sand in the sky, and launched a counter-charge against the Eastern Han cavalry who were reluctant to follow. With less than 5,000 cavalry, it is so arrogant, it is really too bullying, do you think that our Luoyang Army has no war horses?

"Retreat!"

Seeing that the cavalry of the Western Han Dynasty was menacing, three times as much as himself, Xue Rengui did not dare to fight. Wielding the halberd, he ordered a retreat. As long as this army can be dragged down, so that Lu Junyi, Yue Yun, and Huo Quji can form a joint encirclement, the strategic goal will be achieved.

The sound of horses' hooves rumbled, and more than 4,000 Eastern Han cavalry teams changed from front to rear teams. The rear team changed to the front team and retreated in the direction of Dangyang Bridge again. Li Guang relied on the strength of the crowd and led the army to shout loudly. Pursued.

Xue Rengui and Ran Min personally returned to the palace, turning around and bending their bows on their horses while retreating. Arrows rang out, and every time the bowstring sounded. One of the enemy will fall from his horse.

Li Guang led the army to chase for four or five miles, and suddenly found that the smoke and dust were billowing in the direction of Dangyang Bridge, and the neighing of people shouting horses was soaring into the sky, and he was taken aback: "It's not good, the Eastern Han army is coming to help, it seems that Lu Bu is a scheming man who is more than lucky, and the brothers retreat quickly!" ”

Seeing that the Eastern Han army was covering up, these Western Han cavalry, who had just been chasing with great vigor, were suddenly deflated. Zhang Dingbian, Yang Dayan, Wei Wentong, Han Sui and other main generals all died in battle one after another, making these soldiers sad and sad, and a feeling of sadness suddenly arose in their hearts.

Just as Li Guang led the cavalry to drive Xue Rengui away, Zhu Yuanzhang's scouts finally returned from Jiangling, turned over and dismounted, and reported: "Zhu Gong, the big thing is not good, Jiangling City has been breached, Lu Wenhou has been killed in battle, and the whole army has been annihilated!" ”

The bad news was finally confirmed, Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes when he heard this, clenched his fists and gasped: "I was killed by Lu Bu's husband!" How can you not hold it for two days? Why can't he hold on for two days? If Lu Bu can hold Jiangling, we have already broken through the Dangyang Bridge at this moment, and it will be a different situation to attack inside and outside Jiangling City. And now, we're in a desperate situation! ”

Zhu Sheng said: "Now that it's useless to complain, let's break through to the north quickly!" lest they be cut off by Lu Junyi and Yue Yun and fall into the encirclement. ”

The sound of horses' hooves clattered, and another scout galloped over, dismounted and reported: "Qiqi Zhu Gong, Yue Yun led 30,000 people from the direction of Yicheng, and there are still about forty miles away from our army!" ”

"What about Xu Da? Where is Xu Da's team now? ”

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, the more he couldn't panic at this time. There are still 80,000 horses under his command, and there are 30,000 people on Xu Da and Zhu Wen's side, with a total strength of about 110,000, and there is still the strength to fight. As long as the decision is made properly, it is not to the point of desperation.

"General Xu Da's team has already passed Jingcheng and is quietly approaching Jiangling, about sixty or seventy miles away." The scout replied with a cross-legged arm.

"Immediately order Xu Da to return to the division, attack Yue Yun from behind, and break through with the main army." Zhu Yuanzhang spread out the map and ordered while watching patiently.

"No!" The scout took the order and left.

Zhu Sheng came up and looked at the map with Zhu Yuanzhang, and analyzed: "Lu Junyi came from the northwest Linfu direction, Yue Yun came from Yicheng in the northeast, and Xue Li came from Jiangling in the south, this is to encircle our army in the center!" ”

"There is a way out of the stone pass in the east of Linfang, and you can also run to Shangyong and withdraw to Hanzhong if you go to Maicheng in the west." Kuaitong, a strategist from Jingzhou, gave two retreat routes, "In addition to Linfu and Yicheng, if you want to return to Shangyong, there are only these two routes." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and ordered the scouts: "Immediately spy on Jiashiguan and Maicheng to see if there are any Eastern Han ambushes?" ”

At this moment, the people in the south shouted that the horses were neighing, and Li Guang led the cavalry to retreat and went straight to Zhu Yuanzhang's horse to report: "The big thing is not good, the main force of the Eastern Han Army has been killed from Dangyang Bridge, and it is estimated that it is at least about sixty or seventy thousand, what should I do?" ”

"Retreat in the direction of Benyi City, attack Yue Yun, and wait for Xu Da to lead his troops to come to help, and force a breakthrough. Then go north to Xiangyang, kill Wancheng, and join Yang Su's army. Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the map and planned a route to retreat.

Zhu Sheng arched his hand and said: "Zhu Gong, please forgive me for being humble and arrogant!" Liu Deyu's army was attacking Liu Bei in Xichuan, and the troops led by Wei Wentong, Zhang Dingbian, and Han Sui were almost all the forces defending Shangyong and Hanzhong. If Zhu Gong led his team north to Wancheng, then the Han army could go straight to Hanzhong without bloodshed, control Yongliang to the west, covet Chang'an to the north, and shock Bashu to the south, and the situation would worsen. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard, thought for a moment and nodded: "What Yunsheng said is also reasonable, if Hanzhong is not guaranteed, he will lose everything!" Then retreat west from Xiangyang to Shangyong, but no matter which route you take, it is imperative that you break through the encirclement of the enemy army and avoid repeating the mistakes of Lu Bu! ”

The plan stopped, Zhu Yuanzhang personally led the front army, ordered Li Guang to serve as the deputy general, and led a team of 80,000 people with low morale with Zhu Sheng and Kuaitong to cover the past in the direction of Yicheng in the northwest, preparing to attack Yue Yun with Xu Da before and after, and rush to open a bloody road.

"Ding-dong...... Li Guang was appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang as a deputy general, and the 'road idiot' attribute took effect, reducing Zhu Yuanzhang's command rate by 3 points to 95. Reduced Zhu Yuanzhang's intelligence by 3 to 92. ”

Xue Rengui joined the main army led by Yuwen Chengdu and Zhang Liao, with nearly 70,000 horses, followed Zhu Yuanzhang's footsteps to chase in the direction of Yicheng with great fanfare, and at the same time sent light cavalry to inform Lu Junyi, Huo Quji, Yue Yun and other people and horses to prepare to close the net.

Just when the scout reported the news of Lu Bu's death to Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da also obtained information. Just as he was hesitating whether to retreat with his troops or continue to march towards Jiangling, Zhu Yuanzhang's scouts arrived quickly. Ordered Xu Da and Zhu Wen to lead their troops to turn around and retreat to Yicheng, attack Yue Yun with the main army in front and back, and rescue the army to break through.

After listening to the scout's detailed information, Zhu Wen was shocked: "In the first battle of Changbanpo, Yang Dayan, Zhang Dingbian, Wei Wentong and others were all killed. Only Li Guang and Zhu Sheng are now left by my brother's side, and they are in a heavy siege, life and death are tied to the front line, you and I will retreat to Yicheng and answer my brother to break through! ”

Xu Da stroked his beard and frowned and thought: "Our army has already crossed the Yicheng road for one hundred and thirty miles, and even if it is a rapid march, it will take a day and a half to return." And to the south is only about 60 miles away from Jiangling, in my opinion, it is better to go straight to Jiangling, kill the Eastern Han Dynasty by surprise, and use the dead horse as a live horse doctor, maybe it can achieve unexpected results. ”

Listening to Xu Da's plan, Zhu Wen gave a thumbs up: "High...... It's really high! Xu Tiande's trick is simply a stroke of genius! I heard that Liu Wei was in Jiangling, so we quietly killed him under Jiangling City, gave him a comeback, and broke the city in one fell swoop. If you can catch Liu Wei, naturally everything will be stopped, even if you can't catch him, you can use Jiangling to rest for a while, and then try to plan later! ”

"But Zhu Gong said that the two generals must arrive in Yicheng tomorrow evening, attack Yue Yun's back, and meet the army to break through." Unexpectedly, Xu Da and Zhu Wen did not obey the general's order, and the scouts were a little anxious.

Xu Da's face was as pale as frost, and he picked up his gun and got on the horse: "I will not accept the order of the foreign monarch, and now my eyebrows have been burned, and I will know how to act!" You hurry back to the lord, let him defend according to the danger, and wait for me to take Jiangling, and then take the main army from behind, don't mess with yourself. ”

The scout had no choice but to urge the horse to raise the whip and report back to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Xu Da made a spear move, and led 30,000 elite soldiers with Zhu Wen to quietly touch Jiangling along the lush path.

The scout said that after the Eastern Han army exterminated Lu Bu, it poured out, and there were only five or six thousand men and horses left in the city to garrison, and it seemed that they were not aware of the whereabouts of their team at all, and attacked Jiangling with lightning speed, maybe they could turn the situation around and turn the tide. (To be continued.) )