Chapter 656: Everyone has their own plans
The Wei army's camp and the way to escape were piled with various materials and large livestock, so naturally they were not thrown away randomly.
The army fled north, and the baggage must not be retained.
Since it cannot be retained, it must be destroyed directly to avoid endangering the enemy.
Either use them to block the pursuing enemy and attract their attention.
Grain and the like are easy to burn, but how do you destroy livestock?
Moreover, if you burn food, it will definitely alert the Wu army. It is better to use it directly to block the road and buy time for the army to retreat.
Large livestock are valuable items and will run away when frightened. Wu Jun must have spent a lot of effort to collect them.
The Wei army succeeded.
Zhu Huan finally cleared the road and could continue to lead his people to the north.
Encountered many defeated Wei troops along the way. Zhu Huan just ordered people to disperse them and not block his own way.
These defeated troops no longer posed any threat. All he had to do was to catch up with the main force of the Wei army that had escaped.
As for gathering the defeated troops, someone will do it later.
“General, there is thick smoke ahead!”
Zhu Huan looked up and saw thick smoke floating in the air, and there were more than one place.
“No, this must be Cao Cao’s thieves trying to stop our pursuit! Send the order, speed up!”
Zhu Huan immediately understood what Cao Cao was thinking.
"General, if there is an ambush ahead of the thieves..."
"Impossible! It's too late for Cao's thieves to escape now, how dare they stay?" Zhu Huan said decisively, "It's just to use fire to stop the pursuers!"
At the same time, he quickly sent people to investigate, and it turned out that Cao thieves were burning food in front and trying to block the road with fire.
As soon as Zhu Huan heard this, he hurriedly drove his troops to where Cao Cao was burning food and asked people to get water to put out the fire.
It seems that Cao Cao didn't want to burn food in the camp, but he didn't have time to do it, which gave him a big advantage.
This fire will probably buy Cao the thief some time.
Thinking of this, Zhu Huan became even more anxious.
“Follow up quickly and don’t fall behind! As long as we can catch up with the thief chieftain Cao Xiu, that will be our first success!”
Although the autumn wind blew and the weather began to turn cooler, everyone in the Wu army who was rushing to pursue them was full of steam and ran forward desperately. No one wanted to take a look at the Wei soldiers who were sitting or lying on the roadside.
"If according to what Xiu Mu (Zhu Huan) said, an ambush was set up at the stone bridge and the trailer early, would Cao Xiu'an have a way out?"
After a small victory in Wancheng in the first battle and a big victory in Shiting in the second battle, Sun Quan couldn't wait to come to Lu Xun's central army. He was extremely happy when he saw the huge supplies captured by the army.
At the same time, he remembered that Cao Xiu's army had fled north, so he said something with regret.
Lu Xun shook his head, "Your Majesty, if Xiu Mu leads ten thousand people to set up an ambush with rocks and trailers, I'm afraid Cao Xiu may not come in."
From Wancheng to Shiting, then to Jiashi and trailers, it is a pocket-shaped terrain.
The stone clamp and the trailer are the mouth of the bag.
If Cao Xiu found that the rope had been tied at the mouth of the bag early, how could he rush in?
The experience of Wuqiangkou's ambush has shown everything. Cao's thieves are not without capable people.
Even after entering, Cao Xiu set up an ambush in Shiting just in case.
It also shows that he is not a useless person.
If you want to show weakness to the enemy, you must not expose your strength prematurely.
Lu Xun was very thoughtful and liked to plan before taking action in military matters. Even when Cao Xiu had already arrived at Shiting, he still used a tactic of showing weakness to lure the enemy, just for the sake of caution.
Zhu Huan's plan was too risky, and it would risk alerting Cao Xiu in advance, making Cao Xiu afraid to lead his army deeper, so he was naturally unwilling to use it.
Sun Quan naturally knew this, but seeing such a good situation, if he could block the Cao Wei army, not only Hefei, but even Shouchun could fall into his hands. If he said he was not tempted, it would be a lie.
That's why he couldn't help but say such a sentence.
“It’s just that I am greedy.” Sun Quan smiled a little embarrassedly, “I just hope that Xiumu will not let the thief escape.”
"We can't run anymore. They can't run anymore. They're in front. Hurry, catch up!"
Zhu Huan was overjoyed when there were many figures in front of him, and he shouted loudly.
The Cao thieves who fled in front actually organized a counterattack with the school captain. Zhu Huan rushed over and defeated this small group of troops who had been cut off from the rear with great ease.
"kill!"
Zhu Huan had just led his men through a mountain forest when suddenly shouts of killing began from both sides. He saw a Wei general guarding the intersection on horseback in front of him. He pointed a knife at Zhu Huan and shouted in a stern voice, "Wu Lu! You've forced me too much, and I'm going to fall!" "
Zhu Huan was shocked. He could only hear the shouts of killing in the mountains and forests on both sides. When he saw the many flags in the forest, he felt a thump in his heart, "Oh no, I was only focused on chasing, but I forgot about this!"
At that moment, he quickly turned his horse's head around, and before the Wei army encircled him, he led all the soldiers to retreat three miles to observe the enemy's situation.
At this moment, Quan Cong led the rear army and caught up.
“Why did General Zhu look back?”
Quan Cong saw Zhu Huan's banner was in a state of confusion, and his heart tightened. He thought something had happened, so he hurriedly approached him and asked.
Zhu Huan told the situation. Quan Cong looked at the direction where Zhu Huan was ambushed and said, "The Cao thief is not being pursued. Could it be that he is deceiving?"
But after chasing all the way, the soldiers were also exhausted, so the whole army had to rest first and at the same time send scouts to investigate.
After a while, the scout came back and said that the Cao thieves had withdrawn and many flags had been abandoned in the forest.
“The thief Cao must be drinking in doubt!”
Zhu Huan was reminded by Quan Cong and already had suspicions in his heart. Now when he heard what the scout said, he knew that he had been tricked. He stood up and gritted his teeth and said, "The thief Cao is cunning!"
After saying that, he was about to lead the army to pursue again, but Quan Cong stopped him, "General Zhu has routed the troops along the way to clear the road, and has to chase the thieves again. The soldiers are probably tired. This time, let me lead the people first, General Zhu Just follow behind and provide support."
Zhu Huan was not willing at first, but when he saw that his soldiers had not finished resting and knew in his heart that Quan Cong was telling the truth, he had no choice but to agree.
This time it was Quan Cong who led the way.
When he caught up to a dangerous place, he saw another Wei general blocking the way ahead, "Wu Lu still doesn't give up? After falling into the trap once, he still dares to be so careless again."
Quan Cong was furious, "Cao Cao, how can you repeat this plan again and again?"
After speaking, he led the Wu army to charge forward.
Sure enough, I heard shouts from the mountains on both sides again.
"Don't be afraid! Cao's thieves have already fled. Can they set up an ambush?"
Quan Cong shouted loudly.
Unexpectedly, this time, many Wei troops emerged from the mountains on both sides. A burst of arrows rained down, and the Wu troops were caught off guard. A large number fell on the spot, with constant wailing.
“Put up your shields! Arrange!”
Quan Cong was shocked and quickly ordered.
It’s just that the Wu army pursued a lot and captured a lot and took many prisoners. Everyone thought that Cao’s thieves were unable to fight anymore. In order to catch up with Cao’s thieves, they all moved forward with light troops. How could there be any big shields that could block the rain of arrows?
The second wave of arrows soon arrived, and the Wu army's wails began again.
“Withdraw!”
Quan Cong gritted his teeth and immediately turned his horse's head, intending to retreat.
As soon as General Wei saw Wu Jun trying to run away, he laughed loudly and said, "In front of General Zhu Ling, the Empress of Wei, do Wu thieves still want to escape?"
At this time, people were beating drums, and the Wei army began to surround them on three sides.
Wu Jun was marching in a hurry, while Wei Jun was waiting for work. In addition, due to the favorable geographical location, Wu Jun was unable to stop them from being attacked from three sides, and things suddenly became chaotic.
Quan Cong rushed left and right, but was unable to break through the encirclement. Seeing this going on, he was afraid that the entire army would be annihilated.
At this moment, he shouted repeatedly, "Stand in formation and wait for reinforcements!"
Then he turned his horse's head again, turned around and charged forward, killing several Wei soldiers in a row.
"You leader, don't be arrogant!" A Wei general rushed forward and held Quan Cong in his arms, "Come and die quickly!"
“Who are you?”
Wang Ling entangled Quan Cong, making it impossible for him to escape, while Zhu Ling commanded three Wei armies to strangle him in turn.
Wu Jun had no commander in chief and was unable to organize a powerful counterattack. Seeing the encirclement shrinking, Wu soldiers fell one after another.
Quan Cong's eyes were red, but his opponent's martial arts skills were not weak, so he couldn't escape. With both sides distracted, his moves became more and more scattered.
Wang Ling gradually gained the upper hand and began to persuade him to surrender, "General, why didn't you surrender earlier?"
When Quan Cong heard this, he shouted angrily, "How dare Cao thief bully me?"
He knew that if he continued like this, he would either lose his strength and die, or lose his strength and miss and be captured.
With the intention to die, he no longer cared about the soldiers who were about to be killed or injured. He didn't care about his own life and just wanted to die with Wang Ling. He actually forced Wang Ling back a few steps to restore some decline.
Quan Cong became more and more courageous as he fought. Just when he was about to push forward again, he heard the sound of gold ringing suddenly from Cao Wei's rear.
Although he didn't know what happened, Wang Ling quickly got rid of Quan Cong and led his men back.
Quan Cong thought he was doomed this time, but he didn't expect that the Wei army actually retreated at the last moment, and he quickly took the opportunity to retreat to his own army.
He raised his eyes and saw that the Wei army not only did not attack them again, but they continued to fold their wings, as if they wanted to retreat.
If it were normal times, Quan Cong would not miss this great opportunity. He would definitely lead a counterattack.
At this moment, he looked around and saw that most of the soldiers he had brought over had fallen to the ground. There were only less than a hundred of them relying on each other to defend each other, and everyone was still injured.
Self-protection is not enough, so how can we have the energy to counterattack?
So he could only watch the Wei army retreat in an orderly manner.
After a while, Zhu Huan arrived with his rear army. Seeing the situation in front of him, he was shocked. After seeing Quan Cong, he felt a little relieved and asked, "Is Zi Huang okay?"
"I have nothing to do. I just didn't expect Cao Cao to be so cunning. He showed weakness several times in the past, but it was out of pride for us, and then he actually set up an ambush here. I was careless and was trapped in a heavy siege, and almost the entire army was destroyed."
Quan Cong was surrounded by his cronies. After seeing Zhu Huan, he breathed a sigh of relief and knew that he was finally saved. At the same time, a look of shame appeared on his face.
The ambush by Zhu Lu and Wang Ling finally allowed Wu Jun to slow down the pace of pursuit and gave Cao Xiu a chance to breathe.
Although the pursuers in the rear were frightened, the scouts soon received news that there was Wu Jun in the front left who was planning to circle in front of him.
“He must be going to Wuqiang to cut off our retreat!”
Cao Xiu immediately thought of the connection.
After all, Wu Jun had planned to ambush at Wuqiangkou when he led the army, but he was discovered by himself and could not succeed.
Looking at it now, they still don’t give up.
“Wu Lu actually wants to prevent our horses from returning north?”
Cao Xiu's face turned pale. This feeling of knowing what the enemy was going to do, but having no way to do it, made him know what despair meant.
He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He was panicked and confused. "The stone is our escape route. If Wu Lu takes the lead, we will die without a burial place!"
"Why did the general say such depressing words?" The confidants on the left and right persuaded him, "Wu Lu took a detour to the front. The route he took was a small road, and there must not be too many people there."
"And the small road is long and difficult, so they may not be faster than us. We are traveling on the main road, and although the army has been damaged, most of it is still there, so why should we be afraid of them?"
"Yes, yes! As long as we can reach Jia Shi before them, we can return to Yangzhou from there."
Cao Xiu couldn't care less about resting, so he quickly climbed onto his horse and continued to escape.
It's just that the running ahead has consumed too much of Wei Jun's physical strength, and their pace has long become heavy and slow.
The Wu army on the left front has gradually gotten rid of them and completely ran to the front.
The general of the Wu army who was sent to cut off Cao Xiu's retreat by cutting off the rocks was Pan Zhang.
Pan Zhang was a fierce general in Soochow, with only a few thousand troops and horses, but the ban was strict, and a few thousand men could be used as ten thousand men, so he was specially selected by Lu Xun and sent to cut off Cao Xiu's retreat.
After Pan Zhang confirmed that he had bypassed Cao Xiu's scattered army, he relied on his familiarity with the terrain and headed north.
When he vaguely saw the dangerous terrain of Jiashi, he was overjoyed. As long as he could hold on to this mountain pass, he would be able to make extraordinary achievements!
“The whole army moves quickly!”
He took the lead and prepared to go and capture the pass.
Unexpectedly, when we reached the foot of the mountain, we suddenly realized that something was wrong.
There were actually quite a few flags on the mountain, and there were faint shadows of people.
Only heard the sound of "dong dong dong" drums coming from the mountain, and the Wei army began to form formation at the mountain pass.
“Not good! Cao Xiu originally had a garrison here!”
Pan Zhang quickly stopped the entire army.
The Wei army quickly completed their formation and began to slowly move forward. At the same time, more and more flags were placed on the mountain.
The general of the Wu army was shocked. If Cao Xiu really had a garrison here, then his light army was rushing in and his physical strength was not enough. In addition, the other party was waiting for work, and he was afraid that he would suffer a big loss.
I didn't dare to be lazy at the moment. Before the other party could get close, I led the army to retreat for several miles. At the same time, I sent scouts to investigate the news.
When the Wei army saw Pan Zhang retreating on his own initiative, they did not pursue him. They just slowly retreated to the mountain pass and stood ready.
When Pan Zhang learned about Wei Jun's move, he thought that the defenders who were holding the stone had already known about Cao Xiu's defeat, so it was important to defend this place.
He was unwilling to give up, and when night fell, he quietly went there with his elite soldiers, hoping to attack and seize the pass.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he led his people to the foot of the mountain, he heard a loud drum sound on the mountain.
Pan Zhang knew that he had been discovered, so he had to retreat again.
Jia Kui on the mountain saw that Wu Jun had no intention of attacking Jia Shi by force, so he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He only arrived an hour earlier than Wu Jun, and these days, he has been traveling from Dongguan to Dongguan without any rest, and the soldiers are already exhausted.
There were more than 6,000 soldiers, but those who reached Jiashi were only over 1,000, not even 2,000.
The thousand soldiers placed at the mountain pass during the day were actually the majority of the troops he had on hand, and they were only tired troops who had just rested for most of an hour.
On the mountains on both sides, two to three hundred people were making noise.
If there is a real fight with the Wu army, he may not be sure to hold Jia Shi.
Of course, Pan Zhang didn't know that Jia Kui had planned an empty city. News soon came from behind that Cao Xiu's army had been traveling all night and was almost at Jiashi.
He had no choice but to evacuate quickly and overnight.
When Cao Xiu learned that the stone was being guarded, his heart felt as if he had fallen into an abyss, and his body felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
It was not until the Wei army who was trapped in the stone took the initiative to send people to come over to respond that Cao Wei's defeated army cheered like thunder.
Even the elite cronies who had been protecting Cao Xiu collapsed to the ground after knowing that they were saved, and even the ceremonial guards and other items were scattered on the ground.
Jia Kui quickly brought the people to offer food, "Da Sima has worked hard all the way. Please eat something to regain your strength. The former general will send food and military supplies tomorrow."
When Cao Xiu heard the words "hard work all the way", he thought Jia Kui was ridiculing him. He was immediately ashamed and angry, and his face turned purple. If it hadn't been dark at night, he might have found a crack in the ground to crawl in.
Cao Xiu became angry and shouted, "I fought with Wu Lu at Shiting. If you could have arrived earlier, or attacked behind Wu Lu, or attacked on the side of Wu Lu, how could the army have ended up in such a situation? "
"This defeat is all because you came too late!" The more Cao Xiu said, the more he felt justified. He wanted to insult Jia Kui, so he pointed to the ceremonial guard on the ground, "Why don't you help me pick up the ceremonial guard?"
Jia Kui stood in front of Cao Xiu, standing firm and motionless, and retorted, "Da Sima did not listen to others' advice, did not know the strength of the army, and led 100,000 troops to death. Why should Kui be blamed? Kuang Kui was originally the governor of Yuzhou, so it is not right. Pick up those who abandoned the battle for Da Sima!"
At that time, Liu Bang had a white horse alliance with all the heroes: if he was not Liu, he would not be a king; if he was not a meritorious official, he would not be a marquis.
In addition to consolidating the Liu family's empire, it is also protecting the long-term wealth of all the heroes.
In the words of later generations, although this large company named Liu Han belongs to the Liu family in name, in fact, all the heroes also have shares and receive dividends, so they can be regarded as small shareholders.
The patriarch of the Liu family is the chairman of the board and occupies the majority position.
However, the subordinates below often have to be the CEO, and their power is not small.
In the last four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, especially in the early Han Dynasty, the ministers of the Han Dynasty all had a sense of ownership.
Although Cao Wei has replaced Han Dynasty, this trend has not completely disappeared.
Jia Kui is a veteran of the Cao family who has followed Cao Cao since the time of Cao Cao. At the same time, when Cao Cao died, he supported Cao Pi as the king of Wei and quickly stabilized the situation. He can be regarded as the founder of Cao Wei.
So Cao Xiu wanted to use his power to suppress others, how could Jia Kui fall in line with his tactics?
Seeing that Cao Xiu actually wanted to blame himself for the defeat, Jia Kui glared at Cao Xiu and said, "When we return to Yuzhou, let's see how I report to the emperor!"
After saying this, he turned around and left.
Cao Xiu looked at Jia Kui's back with resentment and overturned the food that Jia Kui had sent him on the spot.
(End of this chapter)