Le Jin's army collapsed, and all that was left was to pursue them.
A large number of Cao's troops fled south, and some were even forced to jump directly into the rolling water.
Gan Ning kept chasing Le Jin. Le Jin fought and retreated, and was surrounded by thousands of people.
At this moment, he was at the end of his rope and had nowhere to go. He was slowly forced to the shore of Feishui River, with only a few guards around him.
The scattered Cao troops on the distant battlefield were captured, and more Cao troops were cut down to the ground. At this time, even if Cao Cao came over, they would be unable to recover.
"Le Jin, surrender."
Shen Chen rode out from the crowd, looked at the brave man, and said loudly: "Cao Cao killed Dian Wei because of his greed for beauty. Such a person is not worthy of your life."
Le Jin stood on the bank of Feishui River, looking at the Jingzhou troops crowding around him, and said with a smile: "Since ancient times, all ministers have been loyal and have no regard for the two masters. Since I have served as Cao Gong, how can I survive by betraying my master?"
Shen Chen said: "If you died fighting for Cao Cao on the battlefield, no one would praise your bravery. But Cao Cao's adulterous aunt forced Zhang Xiu to rebel. It is really ridiculous that you, the generals under his command, died for this reason. Extremely."
Le Jin was silent. He actually didn't know why Zhang Xiu rebelled. He only knew that the Xiliang army suddenly launched a sneak attack and defeated Cao Cao's main camp. As a result, Dian Wei, Cao Ang and Cao Anmin died in battle, and Cao Cao withdrew from Wuyin.
After all, this matter was considered a scandal. When Le Jin sent people to investigate, it was impossible for Cao Cao to tell him the whole story, so it was not until now that he understood the cause and effect of the matter.
Moreover, Le Jin also believed that Shen Chen was telling the truth, because there was no need to lie to him.
He is at the end of his rope. Life or death is just a matter of words. Even if he lies to recruit him, how can he continue to sacrifice his life when he learns the truth afterwards?
More importantly, Le Jin was actually Cao Cao's personal bodyguard in his early years. He had a very clear idea of the nature of his master. He was basically unable to walk around after seeing a beautiful woman, and he could do such things as a lecherous aunt. .
So he had no doubt about the authenticity of Shen Chen's words.
But he has a strong character. Even though he knew that Cao Cao had killed countless soldiers because of this kind of thing, he finally smiled miserably and said: "Mr. Cao. Mr. Cao was also confused for a moment. It is inevitable for everyone to have this kind of time, so you don't have to Say more. Did you command this battle?"
"it's me."
"She's very young. She looks like 14 or 15 years old. What's your name?"
"Shen Chen, I am twelve years old this year."
Shen Chen looked at him blankly: "When Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, I was among them. More than a hundred members of my family and relatives, including the Deng and Shen clans, were massacred by Cao's army."
"oh."
Le Jin nodded and laughed: "I remembered, you were the one who cut off Zixiao's ear."
"Now not only his ears, but also his head have been chopped off by me to pay homage to the dead souls."
"That's it, then it looks like I'll be able to see him soon."
"Yes, you still don't want to surrender?"
"It's useless to talk more."
"Well."
Shen Chen waved his hand and shouted: "Kill them."
"bring it on."
Le Jin grinned and clenched the Huanshou knife in his hand, feeling happy and fearless.
At this time, Shen Chen had already turned his horse's head and stopped looking. The sound of weapons clashing and screams soon came from behind.
Surrounded by thousands of troops and on a relatively muddy river bank, even if Lu Bu rode a red rabbit horse, he would probably be dead.
Unless Le Jin has the swimming ability of Gan Ning and can swim in rough waters, there is no way to survive.
One of the five good generals was lost, and Dian Wei, Cao Ren, and Cao Ang were lost. This battle can be regarded as recovering the interest in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou.
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"It hurts me too!"
More than two hundred miles away from Wancheng, Wuyin County, the backyard of the county government.
When Cao Cao received the news that Dian Wei, Cao Ang, and Cao Anmin were killed in battle, his heart ached for a moment and he almost fainted.
There was still a bandage on his shoulder at this time, but the arrow wound on his arm was far outweighed by the grief in his heart. His whole body was shaky and he collapsed on the corridor in the courtyard.
Cao Hong and Yu Jin next to them looked at each other and did not dare to say a word.
Although they secretly complained that the cause of this matter was not your own fault, they did not dare to say it, and naturally they did not dare to ask.
After half a ring.
Cao Cao regained consciousness and said through gritted teeth, "Where are their bodies now?"
"It should still be outside Wancheng."
Cao Hong replied: "The spies in the past saw that the Xiliang army was cleaning the battlefield. There were many corpses and no one was restraining them."
Cao Cao covered his head and lamented: "Send dead soldiers to take back their bodies."
"only."
Cao Hong responded and left.
After a while, Cao Cao asked Yu Jin again: "Where are Zi Xiao and Wen Qian now?"
Yu Jin said: "I have sent someone to ask. Zi Xiao is far away and there is no reply yet. Wen Qian has returned from Anzhong and will arrive in Wuyin soon."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded and said, "Continue to send messengers to contact Zi Xiao and tell Wen Qian to be careful when you come back."
Yu Jin said: "Don't worry, Ming Gong. That Zhang Xiu just took advantage of the darkness of night to attack us and caught us off guard and allowed him to win. If there is a fierce battle in the wild, Wen Qian may not be afraid of him, and our army can respond at any time."
"That's good."
Cao Cao breathed a long sigh of relief and thought of Dian Wei and Cao Ang again. He felt angina pectoris and his head was buzzing. He waved his hand to Yu Jin to go do things first.
Yu Jin saw that Cao Cao was in a bad mood and knew that Cao Cao was in a bad mood at the moment, so he immediately went down to arrange things.
He actually wasn't worried about Le Jin.
What I said to Cao Cao just now was not to praise Haikou, but to state a fact.
Zhang Xiu's troops were seriously insufficient, and the reason why he defeated Cao Cao was just a sneak attack in the middle of the night. If they met head-on, Zhang Xiu might not be able to defeat Le Jin's troops.
Once Le Jin was in the process of withdrawing from Wuyin and Zhang Xiu dared to send troops to attack, the news spread to Wuyin, and Cao Cao could immediately go to support him.
By then, let alone rescuing Le Jin, even Zhang Xiu's troops may be directly wiped out by Cao Cao.
Therefore, neither Cao Cao nor Yu Jin were worried about Le Jin's safety.
The only thing that made them feel something was wrong was that so far, there seemed to be no feedback from Cao Ren.
However, considering that Huyang was indeed far away, it was normal for a day or two to be delayed. Therefore, they did not rush immediately. Instead, they sent out scouts to continue investigating and wait for the exact news.
But they must have never imagined that Liu Biao's army had actually joined the battle a few days ago. Moreover, Cao Ren and Le Jin had been lost in Nanyang and would never come back.
Therefore, they will definitely have to undergo a baptism of grief in the near future.
Cao Cao waited until Yu Jin left, then covered his chest and huddled under the wooden corridor, the tears he had been holding back falling down.
He curled up into a ball and buried his head in his arms.
A low sobbing sound came from her arms, and the snot and tears wetted the clothes on her chest, soaked her inner clothes, and gathered into a ball on the wooden board in the corridor.
"Zixiu, Dianwei woo woo woo."
The spring breeze in February blew across the earth, gently swaying the small trees in the courtyard. A few fallen leaves were blown down by the wind, flying and circling in the air, and slowly drifted to Cao Cao's side.
The sun was hanging high in the sky, and the warm sunlight passed through the small courtyard, through the shade of the trees and branches, and shone dappledly on a crying middle-aged man.
It was as if his crying was the only thing left in the world.
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Liu Biao got the news after the third day of the Battle of Huangmenting.
Gan Ning was still his general in name, so the day after Cao Ren was defeated, he wrote a letter of enfeoffment and sent it to Xiangyang.
Only then did he know that not only had the bad news of Zhang Xiu's surrender arrived in Nanyang, but there was also news that Huyang had been attacked.
However, what pleased him was that Huyang defender Gan Ning lived up to his expectations. He not only defended Huyang, but also cooperated with Deng Hong, who was on annual leave in Huangmenting, to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop.
Originally, according to his intention, since Zhang Xiu had surrendered to Cao Cao, the entire Nanyang army must be reduced and defended to the front line around Xiangyang.
Huyang is still a bit far away from Xiangyang. He plans to transfer Gan Ning to Caiyang behind him, so that the three defense lines of Deng County in the northwest of Xiangyang, Fancheng in the north, and Caiyang in the northeast will be connected together. Cooperating with the defenders of Xiangyang, they can Resist Cao Cao's attack.
After all, Liu Biao had already prepared for the worst at that time, thinking that Cao Cao had easily obtained Nanyang and would probably take advantage of the situation to attack Xiangyang, just like Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to attack Xiangyang that year.
In the end, he never expected that Gan Ning actually repelled the invading enemy, so Liu Biao thought to let Gan Ning continue to investigate the situation. If the situation was not right, he would retreat to Huyang.
However, on the fifth day, which was the fifth day after the Battle of Huangmenting and the third day after Zhang Xiu secretly attacked Cao Cao, he got new information.
Shen Chen annihilated Le Jin on the banks of the Feishui River. On the same day, Deng Hong took a boat south along the Feishui River and went to Xiangyang to report.
At this moment, when he learned that Deng Hong had returned to the Mud's Mansion in Xiangyang Prefecture, Liu Biao hurriedly said: "Let him in quickly."
When Deng Hong came in, he saw many people in the hall.
This time there were not only Kuai Liang, Liu He, Zhuge Xuan, Liu Xian and other state officials, but also some guests.
For example, Fu Xun, Yi Ji, Wang Can, Du Kui and others, as well as Cai Mao, the governor of Nanjun, and Zhang Yun, the governor of Fancheng, were also among them at this time.
Except for the Zhangling prefect Kuai Yue who is still in Zhangling, Liu Biao's main advisers are basically here.
It is worth mentioning that the former subordinate Deng Yi had a falling out with Liu Biao.
Because last year when Cao Cao welcomed the emperor, Liu Biao paid tribute to Liu Xie and also sent people to form an alliance with Yuan Shao. However, Deng Yi dissuaded him. Liu Biao refused to listen, so Deng Yi abandoned his official position and left.
Therefore, Deng Yi was no longer around at this time, and a new Jingzhou driver named Liu Guan, also named Wangzhi, was appointed.
At this moment, more than 20 officials and counselors from various prefectures and prefectures gathered together.
Deng Hong walked into the hall, cupped his hands and said: "Ming Gong."
"sit down."
Liu Biao waved his hand.
Deng Hong went to his seat and sat down.
In fact, his position is not low. Cai Hao and Zhang Yun naturally sit in the first place beside Liu Biao.
The rest are the meritorious officials, and in order they are Kuai Liang, Liu He, Liu Xian, Zhuge Xuan and Deng Hong.
Therefore, Deng Hong is considered to be in the upper middle position.
After he sat down, Liu Biao looked at him and asked, "Youshuo, how is the war in Nanyang going now?"
Deng Hong said with a smile: "Congratulations to Duke Ming, congratulations to Duke Ming, a great victory."
"A big victory?"
Liu Biao was confused at that time. What happened?
You know, although he has deployed tens of thousands of troops outside, except for Wenpin, Zhang Yun is not reliable at all.
The war had been going on for almost half a month since Cao Cao entered Nanyang. He knew nothing except that Cao Cao was approaching fiercely, Zhang Xiu had surrendered, Nanyang had fallen, and Gan Ning had repelled the invading enemy.
Because Wenpin actually fought with Lejin in the Anzhong area, but he withdrew after only a slight contact. He did not have many troops and could not withstand the torment with Cao's army.
Therefore, Wenpin's side had very little information. He could not spread out his scouts, so he naturally had no way of knowing the other party's information.
And what about Zhang Yun?
There are more than 10,000 troops under his command, squatting in Fancheng every day, and not even a few scouts are sent out.
Therefore, except for Wenpin who reported to him some news about Cao Jun's general Yue Jin and Kou Luo'an Zhongrang City, Liu Biao was now blind and did not know the specific situation of Nanyang until now.
I originally thought that the situation in Nanyang was very bad, but today Deng Hong suddenly took a boat back to Xiangyang. The first thing he said was to tell him that he had won a great victory.
What does this mean?
Deng Hong said: "Ming Gong, Zhang Xiu feigned surrender and defeated Cao's army at night. After repelling Cao's army from Huyang, General Gan pursued all the way and killed Cao Ren at Huangmen Pavilion in Xinye. He happened to meet Le Jin.
, Lejin withdrew his troops to Jiyang, and then defeated Lejin on the banks of the Feishui River. Cao Cao himself also retreated to Wuyang, where his entire army was almost wiped out."
"Is there such a thing?"
Liu Biao was shocked at that time. Two days ago, he had told him that Zhang Xiu had surrendered and Nanyang had fallen. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a false surrender. Cao Cao was defeated and his entire army was almost wiped out.
Is the world changing too fast, or is he unable to keep up with the times?
Deng Hong cupped his hands and said: "Yes, in this battle we will annihilate Cao Ren's and Yue Jin's troops together. Gan Ning alone has wiped out nearly 10,000 Cao's troops. General Zhang has already led his troops to Wuyin and is preparing to continue the attack.
Cao Cao, Ming Gong, and Hong thought that this was a good time to take advantage of the victory and pursue the enemy."
"Ming Gong is not allowed."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone stood up and said: "Cao Cao welcomes the emperor and is orthodox. If we annihilate him, I'm afraid the imperial court will blame him."
"Indeed."
Kuai Liang also stood up and said: "Although Cao Cao came to invade our Jingzhou first, he ultimately attacked Zhang Xiu in the name of the emperor, rather than sending troops to attack Duke Ming. Therefore, if he were to be annihilated, it would indeed be unfair. The emperor
The blame must be placed on Mr. Ming."
Liu Biao noticed that Kuai Liang winked at him, so he nodded slightly and said: "That's true. Let's forget about chasing after the victory. Deng Hong, let Gan Ning come back and let him continue to garrison in Huyang."
That’s it.”
Deng Hong glanced at Liu Biao in surprise. He quickly remembered what Shen Chen had said to him before returning to Xiangyang. He lowered his head and cupped his hands and said, "Yes, but Mr. Ming, Hong has one more thing to do."
"What's the matter?"
"Now that Zhang Xiu has pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and defeated him, he asked me to ask Duke Ming for an alliance. What do you think?"
"This is it."
Liu Biao stroked his beard and said, "Then just follow him. It's still the same as before."
"only."
Deng Hong cupped his hands and said: "Then I will go to Nanyang immediately, recall Gan Ning, and declare Ming Gong's wishes to Zhang Xiu."
"Um."
Liu Biao nodded with satisfaction, looked around, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Everyone, please disperse."
"only!"
Many subordinates got up and left one after another. Before Zhuge Xuan left, he coughed twice and looked a little unhappy. Since last winter, he seemed to have caught a cold and never recovered.
Waiting until everyone left, Liu Biao looked at Kuai Liang and asked, "Zirou, what do you think?"