151 Cao Cao broke through

In the city of Puyang, it has already been turned upside down by the Xuzhou soldiers, although the Cao army is brave, but after all, it is outnumbered, defeated and retreated, all the way to the north gate.

Cao Cao personally commanded the battle, while Dian Wei guarded his side to prevent stray arrows from flying.

Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, and Li Dian each led an army to desperately resist the attacks of Gao Shun, Wei Xu, Yu Ban, Niu Jin, Xu Sheng, and Chen Ying.

Gao Shun, Niu Jin, and Xu Sheng each led the infantry to rush forward to kill, while Wei Xu and Chen Ying each led a team of archers to cover on both flanks, commanding the overall situation in the forbidden center, and Xu Chu led the cavalry to clash back and forth in the Cao army's camp.

For a time, the soldiers of the Cao army died one after another, and even the three generals Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Li Dian were quite struggling, everyone was covered with blood, there were enemies, and there were also their own people, and even the blades that were cut in their hands did not have time to change, and they swung directly at the heads of the enemy soldiers and continued to fight.

At this time, Cao Cao should be the most depressed person, he led more than 7,000 soldiers to defend the city, and even prepared the things used to defend the city, but who knew that Zhang Yan would use such a damaging trick, using white powder to charm the eyes of the soldiers, they had not yet begun to defend, in the face of the fierce attack of Zhang Yan's army, the city gate had been breached.

Losing the protection of the city walls, Cao Cao could only engage in street battles with Zhang Yan's army, wanting to defend the land to the death and hope that there would be a chance to turn it around.

But in its current form. Cao Cao's defeat was decided. There is simply no chance of a counterattack.

"Lord Qi. The Xuzhou soldiers blocked the other three city gates, and our army was surrounded in the city! A scout ran over in a panic and told Cao Cao about the current situation.

After Cao Cao heard this, his brows furrowed and he looked around, but he saw that there were still two or three thousand people left around him, and in the face of the attack of tens of thousands of Xuzhou soldiers, the defense was powerless.

Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, Li Dian. They are all excellent generals in his army, and he still has ambitions that he has never had the opportunity to display, if he dies in this city like this, it will be too worthless!

In fact, Cao Cao had already chosen a way out, and he asked Cao Xiu to escort his family to Dunqiu, just to attach himself to Yuan Shao.

Although Cao Cao didn't want to attach himself to Yuan Shao, he was also forced to do so. Except for Yuan Shao, he couldn't think of a second person who could take him in.

Cao Cao saw that the Xuzhou soldiers were about to surround him. If the Xuzhou soldiers outside the city attacked the other three city gates at the same time, then he would have been completely surrounded. When the time comes, you won't be able to leave if you want to.

So, Cao Cao immediately gathered Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Li Dian and said to them: "Now that our army's defeat has been decided, the Xuzhou soldiers want to start a siege, if they don't leave the city early, I'm afraid our army will be wiped out here." I am ready to break out of the siege, cross the Yellow River in the north, and attach Yuan Shao, are you willing to go with me? ”

"The last general will wait to follow the lord to the death!" Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Li Dian replied in unison.

As soon as the words fell, Cao Cao said: "If our army wants to break through, someone must stay behind the palace, Miaocai, Zilian, which of the two of you is willing to lead the army to stay to resist these Xuzhou soldiers?" ”

Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong are Cao Cao's closest people, and they are also more trusted people, and he also knows that Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong are the kind of people who would rather die in battle than surrender, and both of them are strong in martial arts, and they are also the best candidates to stay in the palace.

Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan glanced at each other, and said in unison: "The last general is willing to stay!" ”

As soon as the words fell, Cao Hong saw that Xiahou Yuan also spoke at the same time, so he immediately shouted: "Miaocai, you have outstanding archery skills and skilled archery and horses, you will escort the lord away, I am more assured, and the matter of resisting the pursuing soldiers will be left to me!" ”

Xiahou Yuan hurriedly shook his head and said: "No, no, no, it's appropriate for me to stay, my subordinates are all soldiers who are good at running, even if they are not defeated by the Xuzhou soldiers, it is very easy to escape, it is more appropriate for me to stay." ”

Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan both wanted to stay, and quarreled endlessly in front of Cao Cao, but both of them knew very well that once they chose to stay to resist the pursuers, in this case, it was almost impossible to leave alive, that is, staying behind meant death.

"Lord Xiahou and Lord Cao, don't fight, let me stay." Li Dian suddenly spoke.

Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong both looked at the young Li Dian with a confused expression, and said in unison: "What is your business here, what are you messing with here?" ”

Li Dian said sharply: "You all listen to me, you are all skilled in bows and horses, brave and good at fighting, and you are also the right-hand man of the lord." Today, the main army was defeated in Puyang and was forced to go to Hebei to rely on Yuan Shao, and still need your help. I am not as brave as Lord Cao, the bow horse is not as skilled as Lord Xiahou, let me stay to resist the pursuers, even if I die in battle, there will be no pity, besides, if you escort the lord away, you can also break through as soon as possible. ”

As soon as the words fell, Li Dian hugged his fists to Cao Cao and said, "I beg my lord, just let me stay!" ”

Cao Cao didn't agree at first, but Li Dian begged again and again, and he had to agree.

Therefore, Cao Cao left Li Dian with 2,000 men to defend against the pursuing soldiers, and he took Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, Dian Wei and more than 1,000 soldiers and began to retreat to the north of the city.

This subtle change instantly caught Yu Ban, who was in charge of commanding the overall battle, and Yu Ban estimated that Cao Cao was going to retreat, and immediately ordered Wei Xu and Chen Ying to outflank left and right, and even let Xu Chu lead the cavalry to break through from the flank and intercept Cao Cao's retreat.

However, Li Dian led the army to block the main road and vowed not to retreat, giving Cao Cao enough time to retreat.

Cao Cao pushed to the north of the city, and when he passed by the stable, he rode the horses in the stable, but there were only a few hundred horses, so these people rode each other and withdrew to the north gate together.

When Cao Cao and the others arrived at the north gate, through the gap in the city gate, they saw Zhang Yan waiting for battle. There were also about 3,000 soldiers and horses behind him. He said to Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Dian Wei: "This is the moment of life and death. Gentlemen, you should work hard to move forward, and you must break out of the encirclement! ”

"Whoa!" Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Dian Wei replied in unison.

So, Cao Cao ordered: "Open the city gates!" ”

With Cao Cao's order, the city gate was slowly opened, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong each led a hundred cavalry to rush in front, Dian Wei protected Cao Cao, led three hundred cavalry to follow, and the remaining seven or eight hundred infantry followed closely behind the cavalry. Together, they rushed out of the city.

Zhang Yan with 3,000 soldiers, lined up outside the north gate, waiting for the battle, just blocked the exit of the north gate, and suddenly saw Cao Cao under the protection of Dian Wei, commanding Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong and others to kill out of the city, and immediately ordered the spearmen to hold their positions and let the archers release arrows.

At the sound of an order, hundreds of arrows shot towards Cao Cao and the others.

Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hongchong were at the forefront, facing the Xuzhou soldiers with spears like a forest. Instead of a trace of timidity, he became more and more courageous. The two people, one on the left and one on the right, rode fast horses, and quickly rushed towards the Xuzhou soldiers.

The Xuzhou soldiers holding spears saw the Cao cavalry rushing over quickly, without the slightest intention of slowing down, and each Cao soldier had a hideous face, covered in blood, as if they had just been soaked in the pool of blood, and at the same time let out an exciting cry, and rushed towards them.

These Xuzhou soldiers are on the battlefield for the first time, facing the Cao army, which has been in battle for a long time, and it is like a trapped beast fight, and its shortcomings are suddenly revealed, the legs of the spearmen are trembling, and they have not yet fought, and they are already terrified in their hearts, and they are thinking about whether they can have a chance to survive if they are collided by the cavalry.

Zhang Yan rode a dark cloud on a snow horse, stood in the middle of the military formation, and held a bow and arrows, and kept firing arrows at the rushing Cao soldiers. However, he suddenly saw that the spearmen in the front row were trembling with their spears in their hands, and when he looked closely, the legs of the spearmen trembled even more, as if out of fear.

"Suffered! These are all new recruits, and today is the first time to go to the battlefield, and facing the most elite cavalry of the Cao army, there will definitely be fear. Zhang Yan thought to himself.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yan immediately shouted to the soldiers: "Soldiers, don't be afraid, hold your position, hold your weapons tightly, and stab your spears before the enemy cavalry arrives, and you will definitely be able to kill Cao Bing......"

Before he could finish speaking, one of the spearmen in the first row, out of great fear, gave up his spear, turned and fled backwards, shouting, "I will not fight this battle......

A single rat poop can ruin a pot of delicious soup. As the spearman fled, the other spearmen who shared his fear dropped their weapons and fled.

As a result, the front army was suddenly in disarray, and there were countless spearmen who wanted to flee, shuttling through the neat formation, and instead confusing the other soldiers.

At this time, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong led the crowd to kill, and when they saw the Xuzhou soldiers fleeing, a smile immediately appeared on their faces, thinking that this was God secretly helping them.

"Boom!"

A loud noise kept coming, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong led the crowd to gallop, and with the help of the strong impact of the horses, they directly knocked the soldiers who escaped from the battle to pieces, and some were even trampled to death by the horses' hooves.

Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong waved the weapons in their hands one after another and began to kill the Xuzhou soldiers. The phalanx of the Xuzhou soldiers instantly lost the meaning of defense, and was torn into two big mouths by Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong and others, and the two people were more like two sharp knives, which were directly inserted into the middle of the phalanx, like a bamboo.

Cao Cao and Dian Wei led the cavalry to follow, and the infantry of the Cao army was even more energetic, following the cavalry and marching forward bravely.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan immediately commanded the army to retreat, and let the archers scatter on both wings, and let the school swordsmen rush up to kill Cao's army.

However, Cao Jun's attack was fierce, and the psychological quality of this Xuzhou soldier was very low, and when they saw their companions being killed, instead of being angry, they became more and more frightened, and they scattered one after another.

For a while, Zhang Yan's order was invalid, except for the archers scattered on both flanks for long-distance shooting, the rest of the spearmen and school swordsmen all avoided the cavalry of the Cao army.

In a moment, Cao Jun rushed away from the military formation of the Xuzhou soldiers, divided the entire military formation into two, swaggered away from the Xuzhou soldiers, and went north along the official road.

Zhang Yan saw that Cao Cao had fled, where was he willing, and it happened that Xu Chu led the cavalry out of the north gate, so he immediately followed Xu Chu with the cavalry to chase Cao Cao, and asked people to notify the army in the city to quickly send a large army to pursue Cao Cao. (To be continued......)