The fall of Guangzhou and the unknown fate of Hao Shao were all placed on Xu Shu's desk in Shouchun.
These days, Xu Shu's life had not been easy. He was the one who decided to lead the troops into battle. The fifty thousand troops returned in defeat.
Less than thirty thousand came back. Along the way, there were many casualties. In Guangzhou City, only twenty thousand of the fifty thousand Yangzhou elites were left.
Thirty thousand casualties and even Ju Shou committed suicide. Such a situation was placed in front of Xu Shu.
Someone had to bear the blame. Xu Shu was the Internal Minister and naturally could not escape. If it was not for the urgent situation, Xu Shu was prepared to lock himself up in Shouchun prison and wait for Liu Mang to return.
But now was not the time. Cao Cao's army was attacking. Xu Shu had to hold on until Liu Mang returned.
Cao Cao actually divided his troops! The news from the scouts in Yangzhou was that Cao Cao had always been crushing the Yangzhou army. After all, Cao Cao's army was too large. Cao Cao had commanded close to three hundred thousand troops and eight hundred thousand troops to invade Yangzhou. Yangzhou's main force was only fifty thousand troops. Including the armed police, it was only around one hundred and fifty thousand troops.
"Internal Minister, this is our chance!" Someone on the side said.
With three hundred thousand troops gathered together, the Yangzhou army did not dare to send out troops to fight.
Once the battle started, would you be able to fight against ten people?
"Chance?" Xu Shu shook his head. Cao Cao had been fighting for his whole life. Would he be so stupid to divide his troops and let them defeat him one by one?
"Is it a bait?" Lu Su said. Using the division of troops as bait to lure the Yangzhou army to attack and destroy them in the wilderness.
"Where is the Red Coat Camp?" Xu Shu suddenly asked. .
"Since the fall of Guangzhou, the Red Coat Camp disappeared!"
"Disappeared?" Xu Shu was stunned.
He immediately walked towards the map. On the map was the route that Cao Cao's division of troops took. "Here, here, here!" Xu Shu's heart tightened as he looked at the map.
"Not good!" Xu Shu slammed the table. Lu Su and the others also stood up, their hearts filled with panic.
"Cao Cao is going to launch a surprise attack on the industrial zone!"
The Yangzhou Industrial Zone was originally near Shouchun, but the industrial zone used a lot of water. Secondly, it polluted the water too seriously.
Currently, there is no filtration device. Shouchun has the most fertile land and the most common people. It is also located upstream. If the water here is polluted, then Liu Mang can only prepare to drink the northwest wind. Therefore, the industrial area moved toward Chengde. Liu Mang is currently in Chengde.
Cheng De was also at the edge of Yingshui. However, there were very few fertile fields nearby. After all, it was only a county town and not a place like Shouchun.
Cao Cao had divided his forces and did not attack Shouchun. That meant that he was going to attack Chengde.
"Red Coat Camp!" Xu Shu suddenly remembered that the Red Coat Camp was not like the others. It was a consumable. Without artillery and gunpowder, it was just a pile of metal.
"Cao Cao wants to take over the industrial zone!" Once the industrial zone fell into Cao Cao's hands, it would be a big problem.
"Internal Minister, we should immediately send troops to Chengde!" Someone suggested.
"It's too late!" Xu Shu shook his head. Chengde was not at the edge of Shouchun. If Xu Shu had cavalry, he could still fight. However, the most elite cavalry of the Yangzhou Army, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, had been transferred to Yizhou by Liu Mang. They were on their way back.
The other White Horse Cavalry had gone to Liaodong. The remaining Xiliang Cavalry had suffered heavy injuries in Yuzhou.
"Even if it's too late, we still have to try!" Lu Su was different from Xu Shu. It was too late to surrender now.
"Milord is already on the way. As long as we delay for a while, we can definitely wait for Milord's reinforcements to arrive!" Lu Su said to everyone.
"Good!" Xu Shu's fighting spirit was stimulated by Lu Su. Anyway, he could just leave Chengde to Lu Su. As long as Shouchun was there, it was not impossible to salvage the situation.
Xu Shu immediately asked Zhang Liao to gather the remaining Xiliang Cavalry. Their task was to harass Cao Cao's army and prevent Cao Cao's army from reaching Chengde so smoothly.
"The other troops can resist, how can the Red Coat Camp stop them?" A general voiced his doubts.
The Red Coat Camp had really created a precedent. The Xiliang Cavalry had suffered heavy losses. Half of them were brought by the Red Coat Camp.
"There should be a batch of cannons in Chengde!"
"But there are no cannoneers in the city!"
"Let's transfer them from Shouchun!"
"No!" Xu Shu refused without thinking. With the Red Second Camp stationed in Shouchun, Xu Shu was confident that he could defend Shouchun.
Was there really no way to deal with the Red Coat Camp?
"Internal Minister, we don't have the Red Coat Camp, but we have cannons!" Lu Su suddenly said.
"En?" Xu Shu didn't understand what Lu Su meant. Lu Su smiled and said two words, Gan Ning!
…
Xiahou Yuan was very annoyed. Cao Cao had asked him to lead the Tiger Leopard Cavalry to the south to cooperate with Wei Yan to attack Chengde.
Although Xiahou Yuan despised Wei Yan's character, he still obeyed the order. The Divine March was originally a long-distance raiding force. Although the newly formed Tiger Leopard Cavalry was not as elite as the Tiger Leopard Cavalry in the north, it was still a force to be reckoned with.
But now Xiahou Yuan was annoyed because the Xiliang Cavalry of the Yangzhou Army would harass him from time to time and annoy him to no end.
If he chased, they would run. If he didn't chase, they would fall behind him.
"Ignore them. Go to Chengde at full speed!" Xiahou Yuan was ready to get rid of the Xiliang Cavalry.
"General, but the Red Coat Camp can't run fast!" Cannons were difficult to transport. For this surprise attack on Chengde, Wei Yan didn't bring the three thousand big cannons. He only brought a thousand small cannons. Even so, it still required more than a thousand war horses to pull them.
They couldn't run fast. Xiahou Yuan was counting on the Red Coat Camp to attack the city. How could he give it up?
After thinking about it, Xiahou Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Pass down my order. Let the Tiger Leopard Cavalry cover the Red Coat Camp. The rest of the troops, follow me!"
Xiahou Yuan was ready to lead the Divine March to Chengde.
Zhang Liao also knew that Xiahou Yuan divided his troops.
If it was a one on one battle, Zhang Liao had a hundred ways to teach Xiahou Yuan a lesson. But now, Zhang Liao was being led by the nose by Xiahou Yuan.
There was no other way. Chengde was the biggest backbone.
Xiahou Yuan led the Divine March away. Zhang Liao could only give up on the Tiger Leopard Cavalry and the Red Coat Camp and chase after the Divine March.
Along the way, the two of them kept fighting. This made Xiahou Yuan very angry. But when Xiahou Yuan caught some foot soldiers, Xiahou Yuan smiled.
Because these foot soldiers came from Chengde. From them, Xiahou Yuan knew that Chengde had a batch of cannons. The amount was enough to equip two battalions.
As long as he got these cannons, there would be no enemies in Yangzhou.
Another thing was that Chengde didn't have many defenders. There were less than three thousand soldiers. This made Xiahou Yuan even more happy.
"Haha, the heavens are helping me!" Xiahou Yuan suddenly laughed. Xiahou Yuan didn't care about the casualties and rushed to Chengde. On the second day, he finally reached Chengde.
He immediately prepared to attack the city. If it wasn't for the help of the Xiliang Cavalry, Chengde might have been breached in a day. Even so, Zhang Liao's troops suffered heavy losses.
"General, we can't continue fighting like this!" Zhang Liao's deputy general persuaded Zhang Liao.
The Xiliang Cavalry had two battalions of troops. That was close to ten thousand cavalry.
But up until now, there were only two thousand men in total. If it was the previous small scale harassment, it would be fine.
But now, Xiahou Yuan was determined to take down Chengde. Zhang Liao had no choice but to fight force with force.
"If we don't fight like this, how else can we fight? Teach me!" Zhang Liao was also very angry.
When had Zhang Liao ever felt so aggrieved? It wasn't like he wasn't familiar with Xiahou Yuan. The two of them were old rivals.
But today, Zhang Liao was led by the nose by Xiahou Yuan.
"General, if this continues, our Xiliang Cavalry will be finished!"
"Even if the Xiliang Cavalry is finished, we still have to fight. Chengde cannot be lost!" Before Zhang Liao left, Xu Shu told Zhang Liao about Chengde. Yangzhou could lose any city but there were two places that could not be lost. One was Shouchun and the other was Chengde.
"Two thousand men. We only have two thousand men. General, we don't even have reinforcements. How can we fight?" The Deputy General begged Zhang Liao. The two thousand Xiliang Cavalry were the only ones that could be deployed.
Zhang Liao replied, "You have to remember, if we survive today, more Yangzhou Army will die. If Chengde is lost, you and I will be sinners of Yangzhou. There are still more than a hundred cannons in this city. Half of Yangzhou's craftsmen are in this city. Without them, we won't have our armor and swords. We can only fight with our bare hands. If the cannons fall into the hands of Bastard Cao, your family in Shouchun will no longer have any protection! We can die, but we must die standing. As long as the Xiliang Cavalry is here, we can't let Bastard Cao get Chengde! "
Everyone was silent. Losing Chengde was not scary. What was scary was the cannons. If those things fell into the hands of Cao Cao, then their families in Shouchun would be bombarded with cannons.
"General, we will fight with them!"
"Fight!" The soldiers of the Xiliang Cavalry were filled with righteous indignation. As a general, they were defending the country. Even if they died, they would still be martyrs.
"General, I am not afraid of death. General, leave some seedlings for the Xiliang Cavalry!" The Deputy General said with a bitter sigh.
Zhang Liao also understood the Deputy General's meaning. He did not want the Xiliang Cavalry to be wiped out.
"Everyone, in this battle, we will live on our knees. If we die standing, we will die alone. You can make your own choice!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Zhang Liao looked at the Xiliang Cavalry and nodded. The morale of the soldiers could be used.
"Good, then we will die for a righteous cause!"
To Xiahou Yuan's disbelief, Zhang Liao actually charged towards Xiahou Yuan's 10,000-man Divine March with only 2,000 people.
Xiahou Yuan was also angry. Zhang Liao really did not put him in his eyes. "Zhang Liao, since you want to die so much, I will fulfill your wish! Pass down the order, Wild Goose Formation! "
Xiahou Yuan also gave up all his defenses.
The two heavy armored soldiers once again clashed.
The Xiliang Cavalry had 2000 soldiers, but their morale was high. The Divine March's soldiers were also angry out of humiliation.
The old and new grudges of both sides intertwined. They did not hold back at all.
The two armies crossed each other.
The Divine March's three thousand soldiers were gone. The Xiliang Cavalry was not much better. The army of 2000 soldiers was now left with less than 800 soldiers.
Zhang Liao himself was also injured.
"Zhang De, how long have you been working for me?" Zhang Liao suddenly asked the Deputy General beside him.
"It's been about three years!" Zhang De thought for a while and said. His Xiliang Cavalry followed Jia Xu from Zhang Xiu's command to Yangzhou.
"Three years!" Zhang Liao's eyes flickered. "You can go!"
"What?" Zhang De was stunned.
"You are right, I have to leave some seeds for the Xiliang Cavalry!" Zhang Liao said to Zhang De with a smile. "All the only sons in your family, those who have not married, come out!" Two hundred cavalrymen were scattered one after another.
"Pass down the order, follow General Zhang De back to Shouchun!"
This caused all the outstanding generals to come to a realization.
"General, what about you?"
"Me? I have already married and have children. I have a successor, so I will stay on this land! "Zhang Liao said very indifferently.
"No, General, we will not go!"
"This is a military order!" Zhang Liao's cold temperament was once again displayed. Zhang Liao had always been strict with his troops. Then he said to Zhang De, "Zhang De, although you have lost this battle, you have lost with honor! Zhang Liao can die, but the Xiliang Cavalry cannot be destroyed! I will leave the Xiliang Cavalry to you. Don't let me down! "
"General!"
"That's enough. Stop acting like a child. It's inappropriate to cry all the time. If you have the heart, just give me two more incense sticks every year on this day. Let's go!" Zhang Liao waved his hand.
"General, you must come back alive. The Xiliang Cavalry can do without me, but it can't do without you!" Zhang De didn't argue and immediately left with more than a hundred men. Although the rest might be the only ones, their horses were damaged or they were seriously injured. They couldn't go far, so they stayed.
"Zhang Liao, surrender. His Highness King Wei will not treat you badly. What you can get from Liu Mang, you can also get from His Highness King Wei!" Xiahou Yuan quite admired Zhang Liao and couldn't help but persuade him to surrender.
Zhang Liao turned a deaf ear to him. Looking at the hundreds of defeated soldiers under his command, Zhang Liao smiled and said, "Everyone, we will meet again at the Hero Palace!" Suddenly, his momentum changed. "Kill!"
More than five hundred people rushed toward Xiahou Yuan's army again.
"Stubborn! Except for Zhang Liao, leave no one alive! "
The battle continued. The number of Xiliang Cavalrymen around Zhang Liao decreased one by one. They collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.
"General, I will go first!"
Gradually, there were only a dozen people around Zhang Liao.
"Zhang Liao, I will give you one more chance. Surrender. My lord has already taken Yuzhou, and half of Yangzhou is in his hands. Cheng De is right in front of you. Do you think you can defend it with your small army? There are still a hundred cannons in the city, and there are also those craftsmen. You have no chance of winning!" Xiahou Yuan also knew the value of those craftsmen.
"If Cao Cao loses, will you surrender?" Zhang Liao asked Xiahou Yuan.
"No!" Xiahou Yuan shook his head. He and Cao Cao were not only lord and servant, but also brothers.
Zhang Liao smiled and said, "Me too!"
"Then I will send you on your way. Find a good lord in your next life." Xiahou Yuan also admired Zhang Liao and was ready to personally send Zhang Liao on his way.
"Thank you!" Zhang Liao also smiled and said. He was going to die anyway. Perhaps dying in the hands of Xiahou Yuan was better than dying in the hands of a nobody.
Just when Xiahou Yuan was about to step forward and kill Zhang Liao, a roar came from the other side. "Who dares to injure my general!"
"General, we are here!" Zhang Liao looked into the distance and saw a group of people rushing into Xiahou Yuan's army. Because Xiahou Yuan had stayed behind to defend, this group of a hundred people broke through.
Zhang Liao looked carefully. Isn't that Zhang De who just left? He could not help but become angry. "Who told you to come back? Didn't I tell you to get lost?"
"General, you are the commander. Only your Xiliang Cavalry is worthy of being called the Xiliang Cavalry!" Zhang De's words were very awkward, but his words were spoken with a smile. The Xiliang Cavalry had been glorious, but they had also been defeated. In Zhang Xiu's hands, the Han cavalry were suppressed by Hu Che Er's Qiang cavalry. The Xiliang Cavalry were simply doing odd jobs.
Even Zhang De himself felt that his life would pass by in a muddle.
However, he did not expect that after Jia Xu came to Yangzhou and was commanded by Zhang Liao, the Xiliang Cavalry's true courage came back. They were the Xiliang Cavalry and not nannies who cleaned up the battlefield.
So what if the Qiang people were good at riding and shooting? We Han people have brains and courage.
"What should I say about you!" Zhang Liao smiled bitterly. He could not blame Zhang De too much. After all, Zhang De and the others had desperately rushed back.
"Since you are here, then let's die together!"
"Who said that we are here to die?" Zhang De sneered.
"Dong Dong Dong!" The ground began to shake.
"Awoo!" A murderous aura came from the north. The atmosphere was solemn and cold.
"Enemy!" The sharp-eyed people exclaimed. From the horizon, a group of heavy cavalry slowly appeared. They were vigorous and unruly. They exuded the aura of a king.
"Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry!" Xiahou Yuan spat out these words with difficulty.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
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