Sometimes things are so weird. The hostage really wants to escape, but before he actually escapes, Cao Jun's soldiers in the camp escape first...
So is this considered the hostage escaping, or is it considered the ordinary Cao soldiers escaping?
But this issue doesn't seem to be that important after the collapse in the camp down the slope.
The army is a war machine, but when every screw on the machine is escaping, no matter how huge the machine is, it will become like scrap metal.
Cao Jun's soldiers ran around in panic, leaving everything behind.
Flags, armor, baggage, and even the dignity and glory they once had.
They tried to survive while escaping, but pushed themselves and their surrounding comrades into the embrace of death.
Cao Bing ran away, just like a sand tower collapsing. Liu Zhu could not stop it, and finally committed suicide angrily in the camp down the slope.
After Liu Zhu committed suicide, only two of the most loyal guards died with Liu Zhu, while the other guards fled without looking back.
Fei Qian stood in front of Liu Zhu's body and sighed slightly, "Let's give it a good burial."
A few years ago, Fei Qian might have lamented or felt sad about Liu Zhu's death, but now Fei Qian feels even more indifferent.
As the war develops and deepens, more and more people will die.
When death comes, it will not be different just because a person is famous or unknown.
This may be the greatest fairness, but it may also be the greatest unfairness.
After hearing Fei Qian's order, Xun Chen responded with his hands, and then waved to the side, indicating to the soldiers to move Liu Zhu's body away and restrain it.
Several soldiers came forward, lifted up Liu Zhu's hands and grabbed his legs, and half dragged and half carried him away.
When a person is alive, he is a person; when he is dead, he is just a pile of bones and flesh.
Fei Qian continued to move forward.
Looking at the layout of Cao Jun's camp, we can understand that Liu Zhu is actually a good general.
The camp is well planned and the fortifications are well organized.
If Liu Zhu is given a bigger stage or more support, then Liu Zhu may indeed cause more trouble to Fei Qian.
It's just a pity...
This is the habit in Shandong. Whether you can get a bigger stage and more resources does not depend on your personal ability, but on whether you are reincarnated well and whether you have enough connections.
Fei Qian bent down, picked up a flag with "Han" written on it, and shook the dust off the flag.
The once bright and bright flag is now in dilapidated condition.
Fei Qian was silent for a while, then found another spear for the flag, tied it to the handle of the spear, and then stuck it on the ground inside the camp. He looked at it with his hands behind his back for a while and said, "Cao Jun is injured."
Soldier, treat the injury first and then put him back.』
Xun Chen nodded in agreement.
This isn't a particularly strange operation.
The reduction in personnel and morale caused by wounded soldiers has a great impact on any side.
It's just that this "healing" is a bit original.
…
…
The wind was strong and the clouds were like galloping horses, rushing from north to south in the blink of an eye.
On Gufeng Mountain, Cao Xiu was looking at the sky in the distance, looking thoughtful.
"General!"
A messenger came and bowed in front of him.
"General Protector, I would like to invite you for a moment!"
Suddenly, Cao Xiu was a little surprised when he heard the messenger coming over and saying something like this.
He turned around and glanced far to the north. It seemed that he could see the Hussars flag floating faintly at the intersection of heaven and earth. He couldn't help but said, "The war is about to begin. What is General Xun Mou doing?"
"The Protector General said that we have something important to discuss." The messenger didn't know what exactly Cao Hong wanted to do when he came to Cao Xiu, so he could only answer in this way.
Cao Xiu frowned slightly, "I understand."
He didn't know why, but he suddenly had a bad premonition.
Cao Xiu temporarily handed over the command of the soldiers to the deputy general, and he himself took a small number of guards and hurriedly rode towards Cao Hong's camp in Anyi.
This section of the road is not close. In order to form a pincer attack on the hussars, Cao Hong and Cao Xiu deliberately left a certain distance. By the time Cao Xiu arrived at Cao Hong's camp, the horses were already sweating profusely from running.
Panting heavily. After Cao Xiu dismounted, he touched the neck of the war horse and looked at the sweat on his hand. He was a little dazed, but he had no time to think about it and immediately went into the tent to see Cao Hong.
Cao Hong was meditating in front of the map. When he looked up and saw Cao Xiu coming, he waved with a calm expression and said, "Come here, no need to be polite."
In the Cao Cao family system, although everyone is surnamed Cao, it seems that there is only a difference in seniority, but in fact this is not the case. Regardless of the three brothers of the Cao family, Cao Cao, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong are not from the same family.
Cao Cao's father is Cao Song, and Cao Song's father is Cao Teng. Then, Cao Cao, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong have a common ancestor, Cao Jie. Cao Ren's eldest father is Cao Bao, and Cao Ren and Cao Chun are of the same blood.
They are more similar. Cao Xiu's eldest father is Cao Ding, and Cao Ding and Cao Hong's fathers are from the same lineage, so Cao Xiu and Cao Hong have similar bloodlines.
"I've met my uncle," Cao Xiu said, cupping his hands.
"I received news that the Hussars rushed to attack the Poxia camp," Cao Hong said in a deep voice, "Liu Hu failed to support him, and the Poxia camp was destroyed...Liu died in battle, and Hu was defeated..."
"What?!" Cao Xiu was a little surprised, "How many days have it been?"
Cao Hong frowned deeply, obviously dissatisfied with this matter, and the scars on his face looked a little ferocious.
Cao Xiu sat on one side, digesting the news. The more he thought about it, the more chills he felt down his spine. "How could it be that they were defeated so quickly? Could it be that Liu and Hu were slacking off on purpose? The defense was weak? Or was there Piao hiding in the camp?"
Riding a spy, the inside should be coordinated with the outside?"
Cao Hong shook his head, "It's artillery..."
"Artillery?!" Cao Xiu's eyes widened, "Didn't it mean that there are not many Hussars artillery pieces, and most of them have been abandoned after repeated use? What's more, the place at Tongguan...could it be that the Hussars were originally..."
Cao Hong was silent.
Cao Xiu said and fell silent after a moment.
Neither of them spoke.
Because this matter was more terrifying than the Qiusi's defeat of Liu Zhu's hostage.
If there are artillery on Tongguan, Cao and others can understand. After all, Tongguan is an important pass, and it would not be strange at all to place heavy military weapons on it. If Cao and others have any important passes,
The same arrangement will be made.
However, there are artillery in Pingyang, Linfen, and they were successfully used by the Hussars to capture the camp downhill. This shows that artillery can not only be placed on the pass as a defensive weapon, but can also be transported and used, becoming
Siege weapons!
The more important point is that Qiusi is hoarding artillery in Pingyang, which shows that Fei Qian may have planned everything and prepared everything long before Cao Cao attacked...
Such an opponent is obviously something that no one wants to encounter.
The two sat for a while. Cao Hong let out a long breath and stood in front of the map. "Here, if the hussars attack..."
Cao Xiu also calmed down and walked to the map.
They have the same surname, the same mood, and the same interests. If the gentry and literati in Shandong still have a way to retreat, then Cao Hong, Cao Xiu and others have no retreat. Before Cao Cao got up, the Cao family was not in Shandong.
What a powerful family it is, this can be seen from the fact that the Xu brothers in Yuedan Ping never shunned Cao Cao's face.
In later generations, the Qing Dynasty had an additional word to describe families like the Cao family, "nouveau riche."
Suddenly gained a lot of wealth... Well, are you sure that this word that appeared in the Qing Dynasty was not used to talk about Kang Mazi and Gan Gou Pi?
But the attitude towards the nouveau riche, whether in the Han Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, was not much different.
In Shandong, most of the gentry children have some concerns about the Cao family's high position and monopoly on military, financial and personnel power. Once the Cao family loses power, the people and things that were previously suppressed will rebound...
Therefore, neither Cao Hong nor Cao Xiu wanted to see the Cao family fail, even though they knew it would be difficult this time.
In addition, Cao Hong and Cao Xiu were somewhat conceited, believing that no matter how dangerous the situation was, they had the ability to turn the tide.
Looking at the arrow symbol on the map that represented the strength of the Hussars, Cao Hong couldn't help but curse in a low voice. But now, the situation was getting worse and worse, and the two of them still felt a little discouraged.
"That's your mother!" Cao Hong spat and said irritably, "Now that the camp down the slope has been destroyed, it has not weakened the hussar's spirit... Now it's up to you and me to support it! What a waste!"
s??????.???
Cao Hong put his hand on the map, "In the past two days, I asked the soldiers to urgently build fortifications and build earthen walls in the camp... But in this way, I lost the ability to fight back..."
Cao Xiu nodded silently.
In view of the fact that the camp down the slope was quickly captured by Fei Qian, they had to adjust their layout urgently. However, it was obvious that the higher the defense was, the worse the ability to counterattack, which meant that Cao Xiu was forced to bear more burdens.
"My lord, do you have any instructions?" Cao Xiu did not object to Cao Hong's change of tactics, nor was he qualified to object, so he asked Cao Cao if he had any instructions.
"It's too late. I have already sent someone to report the message, but do you have to wait for the reply before taking action..." Cao Hong shook his head. After a moment of silence, Cao Hong said, "Now in Shandong, there are some gentry and gentry who are not willing to submit to us."
There are signs that this battle...cannot be fought, nor cannot be won.』
Cao Xiu nodded.
For this battle, Cao and others initially had expectations. They wanted to take advantage of Fei Qian's westward march to at least destroy the economy of Guanzhong and Hedong, plunder resources, seize manpower and craftsmen, and weaken Fei Qian's strength. But now
This hope has become increasingly dim.
"Don't be discouraged." Cao Hong patted Cao Xiu on the shoulder and said, "You and I are both people who become more courageous the more frustrated we are. We just need to regroup and fight again."
"So, what's the plan?" Cao Xiu asked.
"Surround Wei and rescue Zhao!" Cao Hong spat out these four words, "We need to change our original plan..."
…
…
The hostage escaped and returned.
He didn't know how he managed to escape, nor why the hussars didn't pursue him.
The hussars' cavalry clearly had a chance to kill them all...
why?
However, this problem soon ceased to be his most difficult problem.
When he actually escaped back to the camp, he discovered that actually escaping with his life might not be a good thing.
Cao Hong met him immediately, and after sternly asking about the battle situation, he quickly placed him under "house arrest" and placed him in a corner of the camp together with the wounded soldiers who were sent back.
Although there was no explicit order restricting the hostage's freedom, the unkind eyes of the soldiers guarding the camp gate after the wounded soldiers made the hostage understand that his current situation may not be so good.
When the hostage mentioned Liu Zhu's death, Cao Hong seemed to be very surprised, but after thinking about it, the hostage felt that Cao Hong's surprise at that time was not because he really felt that Liu Zhu's death was a pity, but because he felt why the hostage did not fight to the death...
"hehe……"
Hu Zhi laughed a little nervously.
At the moment, the guard no longer had the majesty of the leader at that time. Not only was his armor skewed, his silk ribbons were loose, his face was covered with dust and dirt, his hair was disheveled, even his expression was dull, as if he had been humiliated by more than a dozen big men for a day.
Same overnight.
"Victory or defeat is standard issue."
Hu Zhi murmured.
No one was around him, and no one listened to what he said. He seemed to be comforting himself more.
"We have suffered losses in these battles, but if we can survive, we may soon turn defeat into victory..."
"The Hussars are not invincible..."
"That thunder cannon is just that..."
"..."
The guard muttered, then his face twisted, "Yes, we can win... we can win..."
By the end of the soliloquy, Hu Zhi's tone had almost become choked with sobs.
He kept saying these words to Cao Jun's soldiers before the war started, and now it was his turn to say them to himself.
But the effect is the same.
He told the ordinary soldiers of Cao's army before, but the soldiers of Cao's army did not believe it. Now he told himself that he himself did not believe it either.
His guards were "sent" to work.
Because Cao Hong's camp down the slope was "easily" breached by Fei Qian, in order to prevent the tragedy from happening again in Anyi, he focused on strengthening his resistance to artillery and preparing to repair the earth. Because digging earthwork requires a lot of manpower, so he
Even some of the lightly wounded soldiers in the wounded soldiers camp were dragged and sent to work.
The hostage still had the status of a general, so he didn't go.
He sat alone for an unknown amount of time. Finally he closed his eyes tiredly and fell asleep after a while.
In his sleep, he seemed to have returned to his hometown, back to his own home, sitting in a house with solid walls on all sides. He almost burst into tears with joy. He was really fed up with living in a tent.
Not only is there air leakage everywhere, but there are also bugs and sand. Even the slightest movement makes it difficult to sleep peacefully, even though my own house is comfortable.
A house made of bricks and stones is strong and warm. No matter it is windy or rainy outside, you can feel at ease inside...
"General! General!"
Suddenly some panicked screams broke through the surrounding houses. The house that he originally thought was made of bricks and stones was actually made of paper. In the blink of an eye, it collapsed and burned!
The guard sat up suddenly.
He found that he was still in this leaky tent. In front of him was a frightened and trusted guard, with blood on his face and a new injury.
"What's wrong?" Hu asked.
This plain tone surprised the hostage guards, but soon the guards said: "General, they... they don't treat us as human beings... We came back together... a little bit... we were taken over by them
Killed on the spot... I went up to argue and was beaten like this..."
Many of the soldiers who escaped back were members of the hostage group, and some of them were familiar with each other.
Originally they were all the same Cao Jun soldiers, they were all comrades-in-arms. However, after losing a battle, they became the objects of contempt and belittlement, and had to endure bullying...
Hu Zhi seemed to be thinking about what to do. He rubbed his face with both hands, as if to wipe away the fatigue on his face, but in fact it had no effect at all.
"I just want to understand now why the hussars didn't chase us..."
The guard said slowly.
"Why?"
The guard asked subconsciously, but after a moment he understood and fell silent.
After the two were silent for a long time, the guard sighed and said, "Is there anything to eat?"
"General? You..." the guard became angry, "They don't even want you... I'll go find them..."
"Forget it." The hostage grabbed the guard, then shook his head and smiled, "I heard that the people from Shandong said that the Cao family was like bamboo shoots in spring. I didn't know what it meant at first, but now I finally understand..."
"Spring bamboo shoots?" the guard asked.
Hu Zhi nodded, "They are spring bamboo shoots that burst out of the ground. They grow quickly and grow suddenly, but... they are empty in the belly..."
"General..." the guard asked in a low voice, "What are you..."
"Where are you going to get wood?" The guard suddenly changed the subject, "The trees around here seem to be thinner."
The guard nodded and said: "Yes, there is no decent timber for ten miles around. The only woodland is to the southwest... We all go there to log wood..."
"Okay." Hu Zhi nodded and said, "Tomorrow, tomorrow I will go logging with you."
"General?" The guard was stunned for a moment, "General, what do you mean?"
The guard signaled.
The guard moved closer.
The guard whispered: "Tomorrow, we will act as the opportunity arises."
『Σ(⊙▽⊙“a!』The guard’s eyes widened.
"Can't you see?" the hostess whispered, "They don't trust us... they think we have... so they don't give us anything to eat, and they try to use it... I think when the hussars arrive, we
They were the first batch... Do you still remember the people from Hedong who were driven away by us? Now it's our turn."
"We, we didn't..." The guard was about to argue, but his mouth was covered by the hostage.
The guard sighed, "Whether there is or not is not up to us."
The guard was silent for a long time, "We, then General, where can we go?"
"Haha... You can't go there no matter where you are... Let's escape. Escape first," Hu Zhi said in a low voice, "In this troubled world... humans are not as good as dogs... humans are not as good as dogs... survive first."
Let’s talk about it…』
They didn't listen to what the people in Hedong shouted when they were held hostage at first, so now Cao Hong and others won't listen to what they shout.
"It's all in vain!" Hu Zhi thought of the dream he had just had and couldn't help but shed tears. "The family fortune that I worked so hard to accumulate is now all in vain, all in vain!"
