On the left bank of the turbulent water, Cao's army was ready and lined up to meet the enemy.
After Gan Ning and Shen Chen reunited, they also organized their teams and formed several square formations.
The two sides were less than a mile apart, and the soldier standing at the front of the team could even see the appearance of the other side's soldiers.
However, neither side took action, just watched the confrontation, and no one had any intention of taking a step forward.
Cao Cao said it was because they had just finished a battle, and the soldiers were breathing heavily and were a little exhausted, so they were taking the time to rest.
Gan Ning's army was slightly stronger than Cao's army, but he still needed to rest for a while while waiting for Zhang Xiu to collect his troops.
Zhang Xiu's defeat must have been a huge blow to the coalition forces, as their strength was directly reduced by nearly half.
Cao Cao only used 8,000 men and horses on this side of the river to accomplish this. He still had 3,000 or 4,000 men on the other side of the river, and they are now coming one after another.
So at this time, neither side dared to do anything rashly. After a while, a horn sounded in the distance.
Although it was a disastrous defeat, Cao Jun did not continue the pursuit. Zhang Xiu's army fled for several miles, and began to collect the defeated troops with the help of trumpets. Gradually, four to five thousand men and horses were gathered and arrayed again.
Seeing this situation, both sides actually knew that they couldn't fight anymore, because if the fight continued, if the number of troops and morale of both sides were about the same, there was a high probability that both sides would suffer losses, so they had no choice but to stop fighting.
The most important thing is that Cao Cao has already begun to think about retreating.
When he came to Nanyang before, Zhang Xiu had already surrendered before anyone arrived. Liu Biao knew that Nanyang was lost, so he did not dare to send troops.
But now Zhang Xiu rebelled, and when he saw Gan and Ning's army, he knew that Liu Biao's army had joined the battle.
If the 30,000 elite troops heading south were all there, he wouldn't be afraid.
However, Dian Wei, Cao Ang, Cao Anmin, Cao Ren, and Le Jin died in battle one after another. They lost more than 10,000 troops and horses, and there was no way they could continue to fight in Nanyang.
Therefore, retreating is inevitable.
Now that he had successfully crippled Zhang Xiu's army and was not afraid of being pursued, he could naturally choose to withdraw his troops calmly.
Soon the soldiers of Cao's army on the river bank began to take action. The three to four thousand men and horses coming across the river had not participated in the battle before. At this time, most of the troops were sent to the hill on the left, which was the hillside that Shen Chen occupied before.
The rest of Cao's soldiers began to cross the river one after another. Except for the teams still arrayed on the outside, they began to retreat in an orderly manner on the bridge.
Further away, Yu Jin's remnant soldiers had also come to respond.
Everyone continued to watch like this. Gan Ning turned around and asked Shen Chen, "Aren't we going to fight?"
Shen Chen pointed to the hill and said, "Just now we shot people with arrows. If we take the initiative to attack now, they will shoot us with arrows."
"pity."
Gan Ning licked his dry and cracked lips. As a low-level officer, he longed for military promotion more than anyone else.
certainly.
In fact, he also understood that under the command of a man like Liu Biao, no matter how many military achievements he had, it would be in vain.
Because people trust relatives more.
Except for Huang Zu, most of the senior officials in Jingzhou were relatives of Liu Biao, so their military achievements were of little significance.
But now he is different too.
There is a backer.
Deng Hong has now entered Liu Biao's circle of relatives. He is still a popular person under his command and can speak well.
If he had accomplished military exploits and had Deng Hong helping him, perhaps his rank could be improved.
Even if he is not as good as Cai Hao, Zhang Yun and Huang Zu, he can still enter the second level and become a middle man.
So Gan Ning's hands were itchy and he longed for a fight.
Shen Chen shook his head and said: "It's nothing to regret. In fact, if we continue to fight, we will probably lose."
Gan Ning was dissatisfied and said: "Our troops and horses are about the same, why should we lose?"
Shen Chen muttered to Zhang Xiu: "The morale of the Xiliang army is very low. If we continue to fight, Cao Cao will definitely break through them. Once they collapse, we will be the unlucky ones."
Gan Ning spat on the ground: "Bah, I'm taking advantage of Cao Cao. I originally wanted to chop him with my own hands."
Shen Chen glanced at Gan Ning and thought, Uncle Ba, you are really ignorant and fearless. If only you knew his later achievements. Oh, you can rob Cao's camp with hundreds of horses, then it will be fine.
At this moment, Cao Jun slowly came out of the formation and rode out.
Cao Cao still stood at a relatively high place on the river bank and looked from a distance. The distance between the two sides was about one mile, but he just watched quietly.
The knight galloped up to Gan Ning's army and shouted: "Who is Shen Chen?"
"I."
Shen Chen patted his horse and walked out. In the three years since he came to Jingzhou, his biggest gain was nothing else but a stable place where he could grow.
Among them, necessary skills such as equestrianism and archery are gradually mastered during this period.
The knight said: "Sikong said that he will kill you one day."
Harsh words, right?
"Um?"
Gan Ning frowned and said, "Do you want to die?"
The knight was young, about eighteen or nineteen years old, and he said proudly: "What's the fear of death?"
Buzz!
Gan Ning took out the steel knife. The bright blade reflected light in the sun.
Shen Chen rode his horse to stop in front of him. He looked at Cao Cao's cavalry who was only a few meters away and said with admiration: "You are a man. It's a pity that you followed Cao Cao. But everyone has his own ambitions. You chose your path, and others can't force it. You called What? "
"Li Dian."
Young Li Dian said this.
The Li family in Shanyang was considered a powerful and prominent family in the local area. Li Dian's uncle Li Qian had thousands of followers. After Cao Cao came to Yanzhou, Li Qian defected to him. From then on, the Li family worked for Cao Cao.
The year before last, Cao Cao fought with Lu Bu and Li Gan died in the battle. Li Gan's troops were led by his son Li Zheng.
Li Dian, on the other hand, followed his cousin and is currently serving as a low-level officer in Cao Cao's army. He will take over Li Zheng's army after Li Zheng's death during the Battle of Guandu. From then on, he will follow Cao Cao in the north and south and become a powerful general.
Seeing this later famous general of Cao Wei, Shen Chen showed enough respect, nodded and said: "General Li, please go back and tell Cao Cao."
"Please say."
Li Dian looked at him and said.
"I have never doubted his ability, but don't forget that this big man belongs to the Han people after all, not to Cao Mengde."
Shen Chen said seriously: "He was cruel and unkind, angered by both humans and gods, and will be remembered by everyone in the world! It goes without saying that he came to take my life. Sooner or later, I will go find him personally and avenge the people of Xuzhou and my hundreds of relatives!" "
When Li Dian heard that there were no curse words in these words, but only warnings and harsh words, he nodded and said: "I understand, I will go back and tell Sikong the exact words."
"This is a poem I wrote."
Shen Chen took out a bamboo slip from his arms, had already tied it up and threw it over, saying, "This is specially written for Cao Cao, let him take a good look at it."
Li Dian took the bamboo slip, took a deep look at Shen Chen, turned his horse's head and ran towards the bridge.
At this moment, most of Cao's army had evacuated to the other side. Cao Cao was also among the troops, riding in the middle of the bridge, watching the situation from a distance. It was not until Li Dian took the bamboo slips and walked back that he headed to the other side of the river.
After a while, Li Dian came back and reached the right bank of the rushing water. He came to Cao Cao, dismounted from his horse, put his hands on one knee and reported: "Sikong."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded and said, "What are you talking about?"
Li Dian put aside Shen Chen's original words, then raised the bamboo slips in his hand and said, "Shen Chen said this was a poem written for Sikong."
A poem written for me?
Cao Cao looked unhappy. What good poems could a child write?
It was probably a vulgar poem scolding him.
However, he did not throw it away directly. Instead, he opened the bamboo slips in his hand and began to scan them.
If it is really a vulgar poem written by a child, then there is nothing to worry about. It can only be regarded as a joke.
But after a moment, Cao Cao's expression became serious.
From his level of appreciation, one can naturally see that this poem "Seven Sorrows" is considered to be the best among contemporary poems.
Not only is the content sincere and easy to read, but it also has high literary value. After reading it, one can immediately sigh at the brutality of Cao Jun and the desolation of troubled times.
And this was what made Cao Cao most unhappy.
Because the poem is a good poem, but unfortunately the content condemns his cruelty.
Speaking of which, Cao Cao has not completed many of his most popular poems in later generations.
For example, "Guan Cang Hai" was written after he conquered Wuhuan, "Gui Suishou" was written when he was pacifying the north and preparing to attack Liu Biao in the south, and "Dan Ge Xing" was written by Hengshang Fu on the eve of the Battle of Chibi.
Even "Hao Li Xing" was not written until the second half of this year, or before the Battle of Guandu, because the sentence "the title of Huainan brother" in it refers to Yuan Shu's proclaimed emperor.
Yuan Shu had just proclaimed himself emperor this year, and the news had only recently reached Jingzhou, Henan and other places. It is impossible that he wrote "Hao Li Xing" just after learning about it.
Therefore, the only relatively famous poem written by Cao Cao at the end of last year is "Xiao Lu Xing", a companion piece to "Hao Li Xing" written with great penmanship when he welcomed Liu Xie into Xuchang at the end of last year, lamenting the emperor's death.
However, the literary value and poetic level of "Xie Lu Xing" are far less than those of "Qi Ai Poem" because the descriptive content and macro narrative of "Qi Ai Poem" are larger than that of "Xie Lu Xing".
"Xie Lu Xing" writes about the insecurity of the Han Dynasty. Basically, it simply describes the destruction of the Han Dynasty by He Jinzhang, Dong Zhuo and others.
The "Seven Sorrow Poems" writes about the harm done by warlords to the world and the pain and disaster caused by the melee between princes to the common people of the Han Dynasty.
One only writes about the royal family and dignitaries, and the other writes about all the people of the world and reflections on the war.
The depth and conception are naturally different.
Even if we take out "Hao Li Xing", it is probably at the same level as "Seven Sorrow Poems". It can be ranked in the top five among all the poems written by Cao Cao.
And Cao Cao has not written his top five poems yet...
So to a certain extent, all the poems he has written so far are not as good as Shen Chen's "Seven Sorrow Poems".
This is what makes him most uncomfortable.
"snort."
Cao Cao snorted coldly, rolled up the bamboo slips again, and said to his left and right: "It's just the arrogant words of an ignorant child."
No one among the surrounding generals noticed that he was speaking arrogant words, but he rolled up the bamboo slip and put it in his arms, obviously intending to take it back to savor it.
Yu Jin had already arrived and asked, "Sikong, what should we do now?"
Cao Cao said solemnly: "Retreat the army and return to the court!"
"only!"
All the soldiers responded feebly.
In this battle, they went to Nanyang and suffered great losses.
Dian Wei, Cao Ang, Cao Anmin, Cao Ren, and Le Jin died in the battle, and many soldiers were also lost.
At least after I return, I'm afraid I'll have to rest for a long time before I can continue to use our troops abroad.