At the end of dusk, the flames soared into the sky and dyed half of the sky red.
Cao's army on the other side was at a loss when they saw this situation, and quickly sent people to run to the south in the direction of Ruxukou to report the situation to Cao Xiu.
But the place where Shazhou Island is located is Ma'anshan City in later generations, and Ruxukou is in Wuwei City in later generations, a hundred kilometers away.
Therefore, even if Pegasus went to report it immediately, it was still night time, and we would not be able to arrive until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
Distant water could not save the nearby fire, and Cao's army on Shazhou Island was isolated and helpless.
Wei Yan was riding on horseback, holding a long sword in his hand, looking around, then pointing to the west bank and shouting: "Burn their ships!"
"kill!"
More than 10,000 Han troops were all over the mountains and plains, like countless ghosts in the dark night, rushing towards the dock.
There were still two thousand soldiers left in Cao's camp at the dock, but they had no intention of fighting and jumped on the ships one after another to escape, leaving behind hundreds of warships of various types.
After driving away the remaining Cao troops, Wei Yan ordered the dock to be burned down.
The flames quickly burned.
It happened that Lu Qian had retreated and returned. There were two camps nearby, but he no longer cared about returning to the camp to defend himself and went straight to the dock.
As a result, as soon as they arrived, they saw the pier burning with flames, and the Han army rushed towards them in overwhelming numbers.
Lu Qian had no choice but to order the soldiers to return to the camp to defend. If they could hold out until dawn and Cao Xiu's reinforcements arrived, they might still have a chance.
However, what he didn't expect was that the camp was already occupied by Guan Yu's pursuers. As soon as they approached, they were dispersed by a dense rain of arrows.
There was no suspense in the next battle. Under attack from the north and the south, Cao's army was defeated. Lu Qian, Wang Shuang, Puzhong and other generals were killed among the rebels. A large number of Cao's troops surrendered on the spot. More than 30,000 people on Shazhou Island surrendered.
Cao's army was almost wiped out.
"General!"
Wei Yan, covered in sweat, galloped up to Guan Yu on his horse, dismounted, knelt down on one knee and said, "Fortunately, I will live up to my command."
Behind him, flames shot into the sky. Not far away, in the wilderness of Zhoudao, the Han army and the remaining Cao army were still fighting. There were shouts of death, screams, cries, and wailings, creating a scene of chaotic fighting.
.
However, as the main force of the Han army merged with Wei Yan's partial division, a total of 60,000 Han troops launched a fierce attack on Cao's army. Most of the more than 30,000 Cao troops surrendered, leaving only sporadic fighting.
Guan Yu nodded slightly while riding on the horse and said: "Wen Chang, you have done a good job. You can return to the ship immediately and join me in commanding Zhongzhou to attack Cao Jun tomorrow!"
"only!"
Wei Yan was overjoyed.
This time it was another great achievement.
After Guan Yu asked Wei Yan to follow him, he left two generals to station on Shazhou Island to guard the prisoners, while he immediately returned to the beach.
Now is the critical moment. Cao Jun is in the stage of dividing his troops and crossing the river. It is also the time for them to turn defeat into victory.
At this moment, Cao Xiu didn't even know that Shazhou Island had been attacked. He saw Guan Yu crossing the river and leaving during the day, and then began to cross the river in the afternoon. Half of the army had already crossed the river and reached Zheqi City.
There were only 5,000 Han troops in Zheqi City. Cao Xiu did not attack the city immediately. Instead, he sent another 20,000 people from Zang Ba to immediately rush to aid Lu Qian while he continued to cross the river.
According to his plan, it would be best if Lu Qian could intercept Guan Yu. Even if he could not, the main force would have to cross the Yangtze River immediately. In this way, 130,000 of them plus Sun Quan's 50,000 would destroy the scattered troops and lack of food.
It would be easy for Guan Yujun.
However, at this time, Guan Yu was not intercepted at all as he imagined.
In fact, the reason why he dared to pursue him was because he received intelligence that Sun Quan had now captured Wu Commandery and Wei Yan was already on his way.
In this way, in Cao Wei's eyes, the only remaining Han army was Guan Yu, the main force floating on the Yangtze River. At the same time, there were more than 10,000 Han troops scattered in Zheqi City and the cities along the line, so the Han army was seriously lacking in strength.
At this time, the Han army was faced with suppressing Sun Quan's rebellion in the east and guarding against Cao Wei's attack in the west. It could be said that it was surrounded by enemies from both sides, and the situation was extremely serious.
If we don't take this opportunity to eliminate Guan Yu and occupy Jiangdong, how long will it take?
It's just that Cao Xiu never expected that this was a trap. Sun Quan's side had been put down long ago. The information he got was from a few days ago, and the latest information was still false. This would be a fatal problem for Cao's army.
An hour later, Guan Yu's troops gathered again, destroyed the iron locks used to intercept ships on Shazhou Island, and arranged all the ships at the head of the island.
It was not easy to sail at night, so the Han army rested all night. When the sun began to rise and the sky was just getting dark, the navy set out again.
Nearly a thousand ships of various sizes covered the entire Yangtze River, moving all the way south.
Shazhou Island is not far from Zhongzhou Island, only less than ten kilometers away. The Han navy was in the stage of favorable wind and countercurrent, and their ships were all paddle steamers, so they were very fast and arrived at Zhongzhou in just half an hour.
At this time, Cao's army was actually beginning to retreat, and wanted to withdraw all the troops from Zhongzhou Island to the shore.
Because Shazhou Island was too close to Zhongzhou, after their side was attacked, Cao Jun from the left bank of the river rushed over overnight and informed the general Xue Ti of the situation.
It was just that when Cao Jun came over, Xue Ti hesitated for a long time and decided to temporarily cross the river and retreat to the left bank of the river. A long time passed. In addition, it was difficult to cross the river at night. The Yangtze River was vast and there were countless reefs and islands. It was a little careless to sail at night.
It will hit the rocks.
As a result, Cao's army was unable to move forward, so Xue Ti had no choice but to pack up the camp at night and wait for dawn like the stars and the moon. He hoped that the Han army would not attack so quickly and they could retreat to Jiangzuo calmly.
After staying up all night, Cao Jun finally waited until it got light, and Xue Ti immediately ordered the soldiers to start crossing the river.
But not long after crossing the river, Han army ships could already be seen on the river in the distance, which caused great panic among Cao Jun. Cao Jun's soldiers scrambled to seize the ships and escape. Before the two sides fought, they themselves fell into internal strife.
The soldiers of Cao's army began to fight among themselves. Even if many people grabbed the boats, due to improper operation, there were many collisions with each other. A large number of boats capsized and countless people drowned.
In the distance, Guan Yu stroked his beard and laughed loudly: "On this river, Cao's army is really vulnerable. Before our army started to attack, they collapsed on their own."
Lu Xun, who was beside him, smiled and raised his hands in salute, saying, "This is all due to the ruler's command. When Cao's army learned of the monarch's power, they all fled."
"Hahahahahaha."
Guan Yu was so happy that he waved his hand and said: "Command the three armies to kill!"
"kill!"
Zhou Cang shouted angrily.
"Kill!"
Thousands of Han warships rode the wind and waves and launched a fierce offensive against Cao's army in Zhongzhou.
This moment was just like Zhuge Ke's Battle of Dongxing. In order to snatch the hope of escape, Cao Jun's own internal conflicts emerged, and they all chose to escape, without any order.
The most terrifying thing about human beings is order. When there is order, people can divide labor and cooperate and explode with great strength.
Whether in agricultural production or military warfare, the power of unity is terrifying.
But once order is lost, everything is lost.
In the Battle of Kunyang, Wang Mang's army numbered more than 400,000. If the battle was carried out in an open field in an orderly manner, Liu Xiu's thousands of men could be trampled to death.
But Liu Xiu relied on surprise attacks and meteorites to disrupt the order of Wang Mang's army and put them into panic. He easily defeated Wang Mang's army and laid the foundation of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Therefore, when there is no order, the so-called army of hundreds of thousands is no different from hundreds of thousands of escaping hares.
Now Cao Jun is just a bunch of hares.
The Jiangdong Army led by Guan Yu was not only trained to be strong in foot combat, but also very powerful in water combat. The vast fleet penetrated the enemy's riverside docks diagonally, dividing their battlefield and making Cao's army even more chaotic.
Then a large number of hooks, ropes, ladders, and planks began to be built, and the soldiers used bows, crossbows, swords, guns, axes, or long-range or close combat to fight fiercely with Cao's army.
However, it was said to be a fierce fighting, but in fact it was a unilateral massacre. Cao's army had almost no power to fight back, and many people were even forced to jump directly into the river. Then, they could not even stir up a wave in the river, and were submerged by the vast river water.
Very few of the tens of thousands of Cao's soldiers survived, and many more were either killed or drowned, or hid on the islands and eked out an existence. Even the general Xue Ti drowned in the river because his boat capsized.
In addition to Xue Ti, several generals including Zhuge Qian, Li Xing, and Yin Lu were killed, captured, or drowned.
The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, and the waves wash away Cao's army.
By the end of the morning meal, Cao's army in Zhongzhou had been completely wiped out. In the two battles of Shazhou Island and Zhongzhou Island alone, Cao's army had lost more than 50,000 people, which was terrible.
However this is just the beginning.
Because Cao Xiu's reinforcements had been sent over, they were intercepted by Wei Yan on the river. A fierce water battle broke out between the two sides. By noon, Cao's navy was defeated and the losses were equally heavy.
Afterwards, Guan Yu sent his troops south and began to enter a full-scale counterattack, heading straight for Ruxukou.
"What?"
At this moment, Cao Xiu received the news and was shocked and speechless.
Jiang Ji was also shocked and said to the messenger: "Say it again."
The messenger said with a mournful face: "We were fighting Guan Yu, and suddenly tens of thousands of Han soldiers came from the rear and burned our forts and docks. When I came to report the news, I only saw the flames on the island soaring into the sky. I'm afraid this is the time."
"How could this happen, how could this happen!"
Cao Xiu roared angrily: "Where did Guan Yu get the tens of thousands of Han troops? Didn't Wei Yan already lead his troops to suppress the rebellion? Could it be that Sun Quan has captured Wu County and he doesn't want his rear?"
He thought Guan Yu was at the end of his rope, but he never expected that when Lu Qian was fighting with him on Shazhou Island, more than 20,000 Han troops appeared and raided Lu Qian's rear. Now he didn't care whether Lu Qian's army was alive or dead.
clear.
Liu Ye slowly recovered from the shock and said thoughtfully: "General, now is not the time to think about this. Maybe Sun Quan's offensive was blocked and Wei Yan did not immediately put down the rebellion. In any case, the top priority now is to send out troops immediately.
Send reinforcements."
"Reinforcements? Didn't I send 20,000 people?"
Cao Xiu walked around restlessly on the ground and said angrily: "I thought Lu Qian stopped Guan Yu, but I didn't expect that he was flanked. What can Zang Ba do in the past?"
"Now we can only hope that General Lu can hold on and wait for General Zang's rescue."
Jiang Ji smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Their current position is in an awkward position. Half of the army has crossed the river, and the other half has not yet crossed. As a result, something happened again on Shazhou Island. What should we do now?
"Report!"
At this time, another bad news came.
A messenger hurried in and said with the same mournful face: "At sunrise today, General Xue wanted to withdraw to the shore from Zhongzhou, but the Han army raided Zhongzhou."
"It's over."
Cao Xiu sat back on the table, his whole face turned pale instantly: "How is it possible? Is this a trap, deliberately luring me to the river? Where did they get the troops to stop Sun Quan? What is Sun Quan doing to eat?"
"General, withdraw your troops and horses immediately."
Jiang Ji quickly said: "Whether Guan Yu is planning it, or he has ignored us and no longer wants the rear, we have been led to the river by him, he suddenly attacked, Zhongzhou and Shazhou Island were breached by him, we must ensure the safety of the main force.
"
"Yes, General."
Liu Ye also advised: "If Guan Yu doesn't want the rear, then while we are fighting with him, Sun Quan will sneak attack Danyang. He has already captured the land of three counties, and will soon be able to gather tens of thousands of troops. By then Guan Yu
He was homeless and didn't have much food and grass. At that time, we still had a chance."
"Yes."
Cao Xiu murmured to himself: "We must withdraw our troops and horses, and we must not be defeated by Guan Yu one by one. Quick, give the order to have all the people on the other side of the river withdraw, quick!"
"only!"
The messenger hurriedly went to convey the military order.
After the military order was issued, Cao Xiu was very anxious and ran to the bank of Ruxukou River to watch.
At this time, the city of Ruxukou had been burned by Guan Yu, and the dock was also in ruins.
Fortunately, Cao Jun pursued in time and quickly put out the fire after arriving at Ruxukou. Therefore, they only burned the outer docks and piers, and the city was still intact.
Cao Xiu stood on the city wall at Ruxukou and looked anxiously.
A speedboat quickly sailed towards the Zheqi Mountain on the other side of the river. There were 30,000 Wei troops at the foot of the mountain, who had passed there yesterday afternoon.
Cao Xiu originally planned to move a large number of baggage there today, and then the entire army would cross the river tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
In this way, he can quickly gain direct access to Jianye.
As a result, Guan Yu never expected to launch a counterattack and broke through both of his defense lines. Now the Wei army was completely divided. There were more than 30,000 people on Shazhou Island, more than 20,000 people on Zhongzhou Island, and his main force of 80,000 people was also separated by the Yangtze River.
There were about 50,000 people at Ruxukou and 30,000 people at Zheqi City. The entire Wei army's force distribution on the Yangtze River was completely beaten to pieces by Guan Yu's army and fell into disarray.
Now Cao Xiu's only hope is that the 30,000 people on the other side of the river can be withdrawn smoothly, and he also hopes that Sun Quan will work harder and provide more force.
"I just hope that Wei Yan suddenly changed his mind and came over suddenly to attack us."
Cao Xiu stared at the river and said to himself: "Sun Quan wrote to me a few days ago and said that he had captured Wu County. If everything goes well, he is already attacking Danyang. The Han army is completely undefended in the rear. As long as Sun Quan can attack
Jianye, everything will be fine."
"The worst we can do is perish together!"
Cao Xiu suddenly looked at the river with a ferocious face, gritting his teeth, and his whole face was almost distorted.
Guan Yu's style of play is completely to perish together. Even if he conquers Zhongzhou and Shazhou Island, he completely ignores the rear. Does he think he can ignore Sun Quan's attack and retake the entire Jiangdong?
In the distance, fast boats are crossing the river quickly. The river at Ruxukou is very wide and is several miles long. This distance cannot be covered even with gongs, drums and horns, let alone using gold to withdraw troops, so boats can only be used.
The fast boat was swaying on the river. I don't know what happened. Suddenly, a huge wave came and it turned over. The boat capsized. The messenger sent above to deliver the message was submerged in the vast and turbulent river.
Cao Xiu was dumbfounded.
Jiang Ji reacted quickly and shouted: "Quick, send more people, send more ships!"
"yes."
The messenger hurriedly went to convey the order.
After a while, several fast boats continued to cross the river. This time it went smoothly and the mission was conveyed to the other side of the river.
It took nearly an hour from the time they received the order and quickly began to evacuate.
The fleet began to set sail, and hundreds of ships sailed towards the other side of the river.
Seeing this situation, Cao Xiu calmed down and said to his left and right: "It's okay, it's okay, as long as they can withdraw smoothly, they will be safe."
The words have not yet fallen.
The lookout on the side suddenly shouted in an almost desperate voice: "General, Han army ships!"
Cao Xiu quickly turned his head and looked north, only to feel his heart stop.
On the river in the distance, countless ships had vaguely appeared, heading towards them as fast as arrows.
At that speed, their ship would collide with the enemy head-on as soon as it reached the center of the river!
If the previous signaling ship had not capsized, their ships would have already started to approach the shore, just in time to avoid it.
But there are no ifs in this world.
Liu Ye burst into tears and howled: "God does not bless the Wei Dynasty!"