The ambush point chosen by Xia Houyuan was near Qian County, on the edge of the Dabie Mountains. Although the mountains were not as steep as the main mountains, they were also crisscrossed by ravines and hills.

Wu Jing had many troops but could not spread them due to the terrain. He initially wanted to break out from the bank of the Xianshui River to the north. More than ten miles away was the plain area belonging to Lu'an. However, Xia Houyuan had heavy troops to defend it. They occupied a favorable terrain to block the attack and forcibly captured the Jiangdong army.

Trapped in the mountains to the south.

Xiahou Yuan's troops were small and focused on defense. With Zhang He joining later, the situation on the battlefield was completely reversed.

Seeing the extremely high battle losses of Jiangdong soldiers, Wu Jing could only give up the idea of ​​​​killing Xia Houyuan to reduce his merits, and instead ordered the battalions to disperse and open roads to the eastern valleys to break out.

Xia Houyuan and Zhang He mobilized their troops and began to encircle Wu Jing. They wanted to bring Wu Jing out and keep all the more than 20,000 people. This was also Cao Cao's strategy and tactics arranged in advance.

Since it is impossible to cross the river and march into the mainland of Jiangdong, Sun Quan's effective forces must be eliminated as much as possible this time, so that Sun Quan will not have the courage and troops to cause trouble in a short period of time. Cao Cao needs the south to be quiet for a few years before he can free his hands to completely defeat Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao believed that only by capturing the prefectures and counties in Hebei would he not have the north to worry about before he could advance to Jiangdong.

Wu Jing had many soldiers and wanted to escape. It was difficult for Xia Houyuan and Zhang He to completely stop them. The mountainous terrain was initially an advantage for Cao's army to fortify, but it also became an obstacle when it turned into a pursuit battle.

Climbing up the slope consumes a lot of physical strength, and the 20,000 Jiangdong soldiers are like water in a cofferdam. As long as there is enough water flow upstream, the trapped water in front will find a breakthrough on its own.

The troops of Xia Houyuan and Zhang He were not proficient in running in the mountains. Foreseeing that they might not be able to stop Wu Jing from defeating his troops, they decisively sent people to ask Cao Cao of Shu County for help.

The place where the defeated troops in Jiangdong went was Chaohu or Wan County. As long as Cao Cao mobilized troops and horses to intercept them on the way, Wu Jing and other soldiers would still be the turtles in the urn.

During the pursuit of Cao Jun, the scouts on the hilltop reported to Xiahou Yuan that there was a faint light of fire at the ambush point of Xianshui River.

At this time, Jiangdong's army was in disarray. Cao Jun's officers and men were all excited about accumulating military merits. It was impossible to send troops back to check the situation, not to mention that Zhang He left a garrison in place.

Xia Houyuan mistakenly thought that the fire was a burning fishing boat, so he ignored Wu Jing and continued to chase Wu Jing. After about three days, he chased Wu Jing out of the western mountains of Lujiang River and into the plains.

Both sides had been fighting for three days, and each had paid a heavy price, but the situation on the Jiangdong side was obviously more serious. Many battalions were broken up into organic structures, and they were like headless flies scurrying around without command.

Wu Jing could no longer care about the defeat at this time. Sun Ce's old troops were still in charge at the critical moment. Under the leadership of Chen Wu, the Lujiang Shangjia came out of the mountainous area with only 10% of their losses.

At the critical moment, God works for us.

The dense clouds that had accumulated in the sky for three days finally turned into a heavy rainstorm.

Heavy rain poured down towards Huainan, and countless clouds of water were splashed on the dry ground. The blurred vision made Cao Jun lose his target.

In the dark, there seems to be a force helping the Jiangdong people escape.

Xia Houyuan was soaked by the heavy rain and was so angry that he almost cursed his mother in public. Cao Bing did not have such a strong will and would chase the enemy despite the storm.

It is easy to get sick if you are exposed to continuous rain, so you will not risk your life for this military merit.

Xia Houyuan then thought about it, the heavy rain affected the speed of Cao's army, and the defeated troops in Jiangdong would also be affected. In addition, Cao Cao's reinforcements were on the way, and Wu Jing would not be able to escape the encirclement.

Heavy rains may cause rivers to swell, and ships that were stranded on the Xianshui River may lose control. Xiahou Yuan always kept in mind his responsibility to protect grain, and he was worried about inducing enemy grain ships to get stuck in the river and causing losses.

Thinking of this, Xia Houyuan asked Zhang He to return to the ambush point and ordered him to escort the grain ship and the warship to dock downstream at Lu'an. It was inappropriate to let the ship park in mountainous waters. It would be an accident if it encountered a big flood.

It was risky to drive into the valley due to heavy rain, so Zhang He could only lead his troops to detour northward, intending to return to the ambush point from the lower reaches of the Xi River.

The heavy rain in summer came and went quickly. In less than half a day, the clouds cleared and the rain cleared. The soldiers were in a good mood behind the clouds and the blue sky was beautiful. They wrung out their clothes and walked lightly.

After marching for two days, we arrived at the river downstream.

The turbid and turbulent river water carried burnt pieces of wood, one piece, two pieces, dozens of pieces

Zhang He saw this scene and thought that the things in the river were the remains of burned fishing boats. He walked upstream along the river bank with Bu Qu. When he saw more and more burnt floating objects in the river, his brows instantly furrowed.

stand up.

Didn’t dozens of fishing boats burn down? Why does it feel like something is wrong?

It has been two days since the heavy rain. The wreckage of burned fishing boats should have been washed away long ago. Why are there still so many wrecks now?

Zhang He walked into the river valley with doubts in his mind. When he had advanced less than three miles, a scout spotted a crowd of people moving on the mountainside on the left. Zhang He mistakenly thought they were Wu soldiers escaping, so he arranged for his elite soldiers to take a path and climb up the mountainside.

More than a hundred people hiding in the bushes were captured by Zhang He's elite soldiers, but upon confirmation they were found to be one of their own, and the leader was Zhang He's fellow soldier Sima Zhang Bo.

Zhang Bo then came to Zhang He, as dejected as a defeated rooster.

Zhang He knew something was wrong when he saw this, and asked Zhang Bo in a deep voice: "If you don't stay near the grain ship, what are you doing hiding on the mountainside outside the quantity? Are you playing?"

"General, we encountered a surprise attack on a grain ship." Zhang Bo did not dare to say any more.

When Zhang He heard that there was something wrong with the grain ship, he suddenly felt his heart sinking. He raised his voice angrily: "Are you still hesitating? Tell me the truth quickly. Don't think that I won't kill you just because you are from my hometown?

"

"No. I didn't say it. I said it."

Zhang Bo immediately began to tell what happened, and when he opened his mouth, Chen Wu led his troops to attack in a sneak attack. First, they hit a round of stones and arrows, killing and wounding less than half of Cao's army who stayed behind.

In the end, the enemy rushed down from the mountain. Their individual strength was ridiculous. Zhang Bo could not resist and was killed. He had no choice but to flee with his troops, and found that these damn enemies began to burn the ship.

When Zhang Bo finished speaking, Zhang He frowned and asked: "I just said that Chen Wu led troops to attack in a sneak attack? Which force does this person belong to?"

Zhang Bo asked back and added: "Isn't it Jiang Dong? This person is extremely fierce."

Xia Houyuan and Zhang He have been chasing for the past few days. They only know that the commander of this army is Wu Jing. Chen Wu has no chance to show his personal bravery, so it is not clear that someone is impersonating him.

Now that Cao Cao's grain ship is burned, it will definitely affect Cao Cao's plans.

Zhang He felt as if a dark cloud was pressing down on his forehead, and he thought to himself that if he didn't catch Chen Wu, the hard work he had done in the past few days would not be enough to offset the loss of the grain ship.

"How many people did Chen Wu have? They escaped in a warship?"

Zhang He was even more frightened when he thought of this. Could this be Wu Jing's plan? He deliberately used himself and 20,000 troops as bait in order to use Chen Wu to burn down the grain ship and then force Cao Sikong to retreat?

If Chen Wu returned by boat, the direction Wu Jing fled would not have been Wan County or Chaohu.
Chapter completed!