NOVPUB"Zijian, this time, no matter what, don’t stop. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry is considered the sharpest spear against ordinary infantry. What you need to do is to break through the central army without any regard for safety. Only by doing this can we render the enemy’s calculations completely ineffective. You are the only one who can accomplish this task; even Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun leading their own troops couldn’t achieve this."
Hua Xiong trampled over the infantry in front of him. The originally fiery Cloud Qi also took on an added tinge of blood-red during the mad crush.
The Xiliang Iron Cavalry, lacking the speed and agility of the White Horse Righteous Followers, and not as versatile as the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, possessed an unmatched impact force. The tall horses of Xiliang, carrying their powerful impact force, had directly rolled over Cheng Yu’s troops that came to rescue, turning all of Xun Youi’s careful arrangements into a joke.
"Lord, hurry and escape!" After carving a bloody path, Hua Xiong abandoned any concern for how many old soldiers might die there and roared at Liu Bei who was behind him. Xuu Chu intuitively led the Tiger Guard to cover Liu Bei’s retreat.
As he watched Hua Xiong lead the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to bravely break through the troops he had sent to intercept, Xun Youi couldn’t help but have a bad feeling, but before he could reflect deeply, Cao Cao had already led Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and others to emerge from the entire encampment.
"This Xiliang Iron Cavalry…" When chasing after Cao Cao, both Cheng Yu and Xun Youi had slightly grave expressions.
"My uncle’s insight is beyond my comparison. Indeed, to govern the north, one must have cavalry. Compared to the White Horse Righteous Followers’ hit-and-run agility, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, with its pure brute force rolling over, has such a huge impact on the enemy’s morale, and the boost to our own morale is tremendous," Xun Youi sighed and said.
Having witnessed the three thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry break through the ten thousand infantry soldiers, Xun Youi completely shifted to his uncle’s side. Although among the infantry soldiers there were several thousand Danyang troops with low morale trying to shirk battle, the absolute impact force of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was undeniable.
"Alright, after we defeat Liu Xuande and turn back to Yanu Province, we’ll unify opinions and persuasively advise our lord with full effort," said Cheng Yu as he nodded.
Liu Bei fled all the way, with Cao Cao leading the large army in pursuit. Liu Bei’s camp erupted into a blood battle, breaking out directly. At that moment, the Cao Army enjoyed high morale, but still, they failed to capture Liu Bei. Afterward, they chased all the way to the vicinity of Jig River, where they could still hear the thunderous noise, but Cao Cao had still not killed Liu Bei.
Seeing no escape route ahead, Liu Bei, no longer caring to blame Jia Xu for his lack of discretion, turned around and roared, "There is no way out ahead, why don’t we fight to the death!"
The generals and soldiers, upon hearing this, all turned to advance. Xuu Chu was the first to charge, swinging his great sword under the cover of Cloud Qi and cutting down dozens of men. Liu Bei’s Army valiantly pushed forward, causing an immediate chaos in Cao Army’s vanguard.
Cao Cao sighed and according to the steps discussed with Xun Youi before, ordered the retreat back to camp in haste. Liu Bei’s Army took advantage of the night to launch a chase, but was quickly blocked by the rear army that Xun Youi had already arranged.
Retreating only ten li, Zhang Fei appeared from the left, Wei Yan from the right, and both armies charged out, slaughtering the Cao Army retreating under the cover of night, throwing them into disarray. Cao Cao gathered the Xiahou Brothers and the Cao Brothers, protecting Xun Youi and Cheng Yu as they fought fiercely to break out. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
After another ten li, a series of drumbeats sounded; Zhao Yun appeared from the left, Chen Dao from the right, both armies emerged and brought carnage to the Cao Army, leading to countless corpses and rivers of blood.
Only a few more li passed, and Taishi Ci along with Gan Xingba on either side led an army of three thousand to attack the remnants of the Cao Army. This terrified Cao Cao, who then pushed headlong towards Pengcheng.
"Did we catch Cao Cao?" Guo Jia casually inquired of Zhang Fei and Wei Yan.
"That rabbit Cao Cao is too fast. I, Old Zhang, didn’t even see a glimpse of him," Zhang Fei said dissatisfied.
"Any gains?" Li Youu asked Zhao Yun and Chen Dao.
"We did see the bandit Cao, who would have thought to be stopped by his army!" Chen Dao sighed, slapping his left hand.
"Bandit Cao isn’t dead yet?" Liu Ye glared at Gan Ning and Taishi Ci.
"Indeed, we cornered Bandit Cao, but in a fierce battle, neither of us two could take him down!" Gan Ning said somewhat sheepishly. Xiahou Dun, having lost his left eye, managed to escape, which was somewhat unacceptable for Gan Ning. To him, the main issue was that Xiahou Dun actually took out his blinded eye and ate it on the spot, which shocked him. This embarrassing affair...
"None of you three took down Cao Cao?" Jia Xu, having broken through the rear-guard forces and led troops to catch up, saw the three of them looking sheepish and was immediately surprised, "That shouldn’t be. Although the central army was blocked, he’s undergone six waves of ambush. How could his troops possibly still have combat power?"
"Now that you mention it, I also feel something is off," said Li Youu, frowning. The pitch-black night that had fallen under six consecutive ambushes should have collapsed already; how could it possibly still have a hint of combat power?
"One shouldn’t underestimate Cao Mengde’s command of troops. But with Yunchang leading the largest contingent of infantry and cavalry and stationed on the outskirts of Pengcheng, Cao Mengde should be dead," thought Liu Ye. "Next, we can peacefully take control of Xuzhou and Qingzhou, and we won’t need to worry about provisions at all this time."
"It’s time to pay attention to the Yuan Family. Without Cao Cao, I have no faith in Lyu Bu. With the Yuan Family united from north to south, the only one who might put up a struggle is probably Gongsun Bogui. The others would’ve ’surrendered’ in a moment," said Guo Jia indifferently.
The room fell silent; after a long time, Jia Xu spoke, "Jizhou is the essence of the north; we will sweep across the land even faster." (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
