After Chen Dao found out that Li Dianren went to the camp, he was not giving up. He carefully walked through the two floors of the camp and searched for about ten miles. He confirmed that there was no abnormality. Even Cao's army's thick supplies were left in the camp and not taken away, nor set fire to it. He knew that he must have run away.

The reason why they did not set fire was of course not because the Cao army was kind and kept these bulky materials to support the enemy. They were simply afraid that fire would arouse the alertness of the Han army, which would lead to the escape being unable to proceed without realizing it.

Of course, the Cao army has done as much damage as possible, such as some tent fabrics that cannot be taken away, and they can find a place to dig holes and bury them. The Han army can find less spoils and less. It is too difficult to deal with, so it is left behind.

After receiving Chen Dao's reward, Gao Shun and Zhuge Liang went to check it out repeatedly. Gao Shun was also a little regretful and asked for advice: "Li Dian should have run away, should he still chase after him?"

Zhuge Liang thought for a while: "Chasing! Although our army is not very elite and is slow to move, how can we know if we don't try it? After all, Li Dian is alone in the rear. I don't believe that when Cao Cao withdraws his troops, Li Dian will first withdraw, and then let the main force besieging Ye County in Kunyang retreat together.

Since Cao's army ran away, they must be frightened and worried that our army would pursue and kill. If more than 100,000 troops were entangled by our army, it would be more than 100,000. It was cold and the weather was cold. Although our army could not guarantee victory, Cao Cao would never dare to gamble.

So since Cao Cao was really so cautious and decisive and willing to retreat, he would definitely have the courage to cut off his arm and sacrifice Li Dian at any time. If we chase him, it is possible that the general's troops set out from Kunyang can intercept Li Dian's way, so we will not be in vain. At least in the end, we can still annihilate the 20,000 to 30,000 troops that Cao's army blocked the rear and blocked the rear."

Zhuge Liang quickly figured it out: if he couldn't catch the main force, he didn't calculate Cao Cao accurately, and what was gone was gone, but if you try it, you could take down Cao Cao's blocking troops without risk, and that would be a small solution.

No matter how small the mosquitoes are, they are still meat, not to mention that there are 20,000 to 30,000 people opposite.

Gao Shun thought it made sense. Whether you can catch up or not, forcing a military force to try is worthy of his duties, and he also thinks it is a training soldier.

The more than 100,000 new recruits trained in Nanyang County in the past two years have indeed fewer opportunities to see blood. One hundred thousand people have been building rivers, and 20,000 of them have only won the first chance to see blood in the Battle of Bowangpo.

This army has not experienced the pain of rushing to marches and forcibly marching. It just happened to be a little hard. Even if it was snowing, it was impossible to kill hundreds of people. At least those who survived were trained.

After deciding to chase after, the remaining question is where to chase and how to chase.

After discussing this, Gao Shun and Zhuge Liang quickly came up with a unified opinion: first send a fast horse scout and cast a net to search, and before obtaining new information, the main force followed the route of advancing to the source of the Lishui River and then going downstream.

If there are other information changes in the middle, then adapt to the situation.

In the afternoon of that day, Gao Shun and Zhuge Liang's troops had chased after thirty miles, passed the most difficult section of the mountainous area, and reached the source of the Lishui River.

After arriving at the Lishui River, Zhuge Liang soon discovered another difficulty, that is, no ships were left behind when Cao's army retreated.

If the Han army wanted to continue pursuing, they could only walk on two legs, or temporarily cut down trees and build simple rafts to transport the military's baggage. However, no matter which method is chosen, it will waste time.

At this time, the benefits of the Nanyang Canal were revealed. If the canal was dug through the Qingshui River, Lishui River, and the military waters, then the Han army's ships in the Han River Basin could drive here directly, which would not cost so much trouble.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang always brought some amphibious caravans he invented himself, but the number was not enough to use 100,000 troops together. He could only ferry in batches, save a little time, and save the troops by the way.

"If the canal has been built and there are thousands of ships at this moment, I am afraid that Cao Cao will withdraw his troops and chase them as much as he wants. Alas, across the Tongbai Mountain Dividing Mountain, the attacking side suffered a great loss." Zhuge Liang sighed with regret while deploying.

The logistical disasters that Xiahou Dun and Li Dian suffered before quickly fell on Zhuge Liang after the offense and defense reversed.

The troops chased the Lishui River for another thirty miles, and the sky was completely dark that day. Gao Shun's troops didn't know where the enemy had gone, so they could only camp and rest for a night.

As for the troops with amphibious caravans, they continued to go downstream to Ye County and went to the city to rest. Then they replaced a group of Ye County guards to organize livestock and dragged the boat back upstream overnight, preparing to ferry again tomorrow.

Zhuge Liang and Gao Shun were busy working, and suddenly they met Guan Yu's scout and messenger who came from Kunyang to Ye County first and then went against the current.

The mission of this messenger is to search along the way for the battlefield between Kunyang and Ye County, to find any enemy troops, and then communicate the situation and deployment reports to Gao Shun and Zhuge Liang who may appear.

This was the first time Zhuge Liang had resumed contact with Guan Yu more than a month ago. He quickly asked Guan Yu about the situation and status, and then asked about the enemy situation.

The messenger sent by Guan Yu said: No upstream of Kunyang and Ye County were found, and there were any suspected cases of Cao's troops blocking the mouth and cutting off the rear.

The general felt that because the lack of warships and cavalry in Kunyang City was impossible to catch up with Cao's army along the waterway, he decided to gamble, betting that Cao's army cut off its rear and switched to land, and retreated to Xiangcheng north of Kunyang. The general had already brought half of the Kunyang defenders' forces to block the hilly valley road that retreated from the Tongbai Mountain Pass to Xiangcheng.

Previously, the Han army and the Cao army confronted each other for two years. Kunyang was the front line of the Han army, and Xiangcheng north of Kunyang was the front line of the Cao army. The hills between Kunyang and Xiangcheng were the Pingding Mountains of later generations (Kunyang is now Ye County, Pingdingshan City, and Xiangcheng is now Xiangcheng County, Pingdingshan City).

Because of the barrier of Pingding Mountain, Xiangcheng is located on the banks of Rushui River, while Kunyang is located on the banks of the Hanshui River, a tributary of Rushui. The two are located on Pingding Mountain, one south and one north, and must flow to Dingling further east before converging.

Therefore, Xiangcheng was also one of the military supplies hoarding strongholds for the Cao army to launch an offensive campaign, but the stockpiling volume was not large. It was mainly stockpiling in Dingling where the Rushui Army converged, and Yancheng where the two waters converged and then intersected with the Lishui River.

The remaining supplies in Xiangcheng are enough for tens of thousands of people to stay for a long time. It is also possible for Li Dian to retreat to Xiangcheng.

Guan Yu bet like this, not because he has a good vision, but because Guan Yu knows that he has no choice, because you will definitely not be able to catch up with him, the enemy will leave earlier than you, and the means of transportation are better than you, so it is better to change the direction and try it.

Now, meeting Zhuge Liang is like casting a net and finally closing the cards. When you find that there is nothing in the net, it means that Guan Yu has bet the right way.

"The general's scout was convinced that he had not found Li Dian's withdrawal in the direction upstream of Ye County in Kunyang? He must have gone to Xiangcheng." Gao Shun also thought about it and soon realized that it was of no value to continue chasing.

Zhuge Liang also agreed with this, but he pointed out: "Although we can't catch up even if we continue to chase, our troops are much worse than the general. Now we can't catch up when we go to Xiangcheng.

For the current plan, either retreat immediately or station in Kunyang and Ye County, and wait for the weather to improve. Return to Nanyang at the beginning of the first lunar month. Or, if it is weak, it is solid, blooming everywhere, and pretending to attack Yancheng along the Lishui River.

If everything goes well with the general and he really annihilates or damages Li Dian, then with the power of the general, it is possible that he may even take Xiangcheng with the situation. If our army takes Wuyang along the current, it will threaten Yancheng.

At that time, Cao Cao's main force will retreat to Dingling, and Xiangcheng upstream of Rushui will be threatened by the general's counterattack, and Yancheng downstream will also be threatened by our army. Cao Cao will definitely be worried that the upstream and downstream rivers will be cut off and that he will be embarrassed in Dingling.

In this way, Cao Cao would inevitably divide his troops from Dingling to rescue Yancheng, and even bring all the main forces of Dingling to Yancheng, shrink his defense to ensure stability and not be defeated by each one.

Because Xiangcheng, Dingling and Yancheng are located at the fork estuary between Rushui and important tributaries, the lower the downstream, the less likely it is to be cut off from the way back. With our army blooming everywhere on each tributary, Cao Cao continued to withdraw his troops, but he did not distinguish between the virtual and the real.

There will definitely be a frightened bird, trying to make stability, join forces to the lowest level and the most critical point, and put all the fork nodes of Rushui to defend the city to the death. If this is true, we will certainly not be able to attack Yancheng, but cut from the Lishui River to the military water, and work together with the Kunyang army to attack Dingling."

Gao Shun was subconsciously shocked when he heard this. He couldn't blame him for not seeing it. The main reason was that he had never fought a battle where he used an amphibious caravan to partially solve logistics problems.

Gao Shun instinctively asked: "Yencheng is on the bank of the Lishui River, and Dingling is on the bank of the Junshui River. How did our army switch from the bank of the Lishui River to the bank of the Junshui River? Do we march with two legs? Do we don't carry baggage?"

Zhuge Liang pointed to his caravan convoy: "These cars can drive ashore from the Lishui River, pick up as flat as possible northwards, pull them to the military waters and then go down the river, and then attack Dingling along the river.

Although this tactic is not new, it has never been used to maneuver on the battlefield where the plains are mainly used in Kanto. General Gao, you are our own person, and you have not thought clearly about the reality and reality of it for a while. Cao Cao is an enemy army, and his territory is full of plains, and he does not need such things. He has always known its existence without imitation. How can he know the mystery of its application?"

Something has appeared in the world. You know its existence and can use it well and see through all its wonderful uses. That is completely different. The gap between it cannot be calculated.

The knowledge you get from paper is always shallow, and you must practice it yourself to know it.

How could a person without military practice think about the enemy's elixir through pure theoretical association? Even Cao Cao can't do it, nor can Guo Jia.

Gao Shun felt slightly ashamed and found that this was the case. As a general of the Han army, he was stunned for a moment, and it was normal for the enemy to not understand it.

Gao Shun nodded and ordered: "Then according to what Zhuge Changshi said, we will advance slowly along the river, divide the front and back troops with cars but not cars, and advance with caution. Many scouts will be sent. If you find that you are chasing Cao's army, the Cao's army will turn around and fight. Do not underestimate the enemy and seek war, and just bite the distance and wait for the meeting."

Gao Shun and Zhuge Liang pretended to continue advancing towards Yancheng along the river, and the one who retreated to Yancheng was the Lejin army that had previously surrounded Ye County. The troops were not sufficient. If Gao Shun and Zhuge Liang were really surrounded by more than 100,000 people, it would be very dangerous.

Cao Cao himself retreated from the Kunyang battlefield, so he could only retreat to Dingling first, not directly to Yancheng.

...

At the same time, Cao Chun's more than 10,000 cavalry troops retreated from Bowang to west of Kunyang and bypassed Kunyang and prepared to cross Pingding Mountain, were finally blocked in Pingding Valley by Guan Yu who was waiting for his work.

Guan Yu did not have many people, and the proportion of cavalry was not high. The Kunyang defenders had only about 20,000 people before, and there would be casualties for many days of bloody battles, and other non-combat reductions would be caused. Therefore, at this time, only 15,000 people with combat power would be allowed.

Guan Yu brought half of his life force to intercept, which was only 8,000 people. In fact, it was quite risky. If he really hit Li Dian, there were 20,000 or 30,000, it would be 8,000 to 20,000, which was very hard. He could only be bet on Li Dian's troops, because of their forced marching for several days, were physically exhausted and morale was depressed, and Guan Yu was defeated with ease.

But now Li Dian did not appear, and came to Cao Chun's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Cao Chun's troops had not marched for too long: Who made him run fast? Li Dian's infantry unit took the luggage to travel for three days, more than 200 miles, and Cao Chun actually arrived after only one day and one night.

Cao Chun retreated the afternoon of the previous day, and hit Guan Yu in Pingding Valley in the evening the next day. Cao Chun's marching speed was almost as fast as the Cao army's light cavalry chased Liu Bei on Changbanpo in history, "marching more than 200 miles a day and a night."

But in history, he was chasing others, and now he escaped from Gao Shun's pursuit.

Seeing that there were only seven or eight thousand people in front of him blocking the road, and half of the infantry and cavalry were all, Cao Chun, who had been leading the elite for a long time, was also irritated in his heart.

He led ten thousand tiger and leopard cavalry! He could not deal with the common infantry and cavalry mixed with seven or eight thousand people on the other side! Besides, he did not intend to wipe out all the troops. As long as the entire army sprinted through the enemy's formation, it would be enough to break through! After passing through the hilly valley of Pingding Mountain and reaching the Rushui River, it would be Xiangcheng, and it would be completely safe and you could go back to the city to sleep.

"I can only fight to the death. It is impossible to go around. I will have to cross the Ru River later. If I don't destroy the enemy and break it through, I will be troublesome when I cross the river."

Cao Chun quickly made a decision and prepared to drill through the enemy who blocked the road.

It’s not his own confidence. After all, he didn’t know that Guan Yu was leading the troops on the other side, and he thought it was the troops from other Han troops who rushed by chance and appeared on his retreat.

Cao Chun didn't even know that Guan Yu actually didn't have a boat and knew that he would definitely not be able to catch up with Xiahou Yuan by water. He didn't have a date to hit him, and he was bored to intercept the Xiangcheng side.

If you can't meet Cao Chun today, Guan Yu would have finished work by himself in two days. It can only be said that Cao Chun's life is not good.
Chapter completed!