Chapter 18 Tigers and Leopards Compete, Qilin Seals Frontiers
It was very quiet outside the hall, and from time to time you could hear the sound of snowflakes sweeping away dead leaves. The moonlight reflected on the door, and you could vaguely see the figures of father and son having a drink in the hall.
In the fifth year of Jian'an, the Guandu battlefield was fought. The autumn wind was sharp and bone-piercing, but it could not dissipate the strong smell of blood.
Different from Xiahou Shang's imagination of the joy of the battlefield, when his spear and iron sword were covered with blood, he seemed to feel that his arms were a little unresponsive, and the weapons that were usually so handy suddenly became useless.
Heavy.
That wasn't a target haystack, that was a living person! They didn't even have time to scream, before they collapsed on the battlefield filled with rage...
Behind the majestic and murderous tiger and leopard face, the childish face was already covered with tears. After all, he was only a sixteen-year-old boy...
Xia Houxuan looked at his father with trembling brows and filled a bowl of wine for him.
"This battle, which almost determined who would win in the world, finally ended with our army's victory. On the battlefield in Hebei, when Yuan Jun saw the black-armored cavalry with the commander's flag with the word 'Cao', he turned against him. The late king actually used just
Within a few years, they defeated Ji, Qing, You, and Merger, and unified the north. From then on, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry became a legend on the battlefield."
"In this way, I grew up from a boy on the battlefield. I was used to seeing killings, so I always thought that I had a hard-core heart. Until later, I met her in Qingzhou..." Father
There seemed to be infinite tenderness in his eyes, like a gentle breeze, which made Xia Houxuan look crazy.
The tenth year of Jian'an, the suburbs of Qingzhou, early autumn.
The girl who had gone out to pick mulberry medicine was waiting to return home when she suddenly discovered the strong black horse in the forest.
It seemed to have suffered a leg injury or was waiting for something. It stayed by the stream and refused to leave. Looking at the horse's attire, it looked like a military horse. There was a majestic and terrifying horse hanging on the saddle.
black tiger mask.
"Ma, you must be waiting for your master." The girl knelt down, caressed the horse's injured leg sympathetically, took out the herbs in the straw basket, chewed them in her mouth, and applied them gently on
He treated the injury on the horse’s leg: “Don’t worry, horse, it will get better soon after applying the medicine.”
In the distance, she seemed to hear the sound of branches scraping against metal. When she turned around, she saw a sergeant approaching slowly.
That smile, like a warm spring breeze or a hazy drizzle, instantly melted Xia Houshang's heart...
Such beauty made him so awe-struck that he actually bowed to the woman, causing the wild fruits he picked to fall all over the ground.
"Later, the war was over. I took her back to Xudu together. I still remember telling her that one day, when I no longer fight, I would take her away from the busy city and go to the peaceful place.
Days... and later..." Xia Houshang drank the wine in one gulp: "It will come later, and you will know the rest."
Yes, later on, the late king granted marriage and the parents got married. My father once promised to give Aunt Han a lifetime of happiness, but he could only make her a concubine. And my mother loved her father so much, but she would never get the same weight.
Love, many things are always beyond one's control...
Xia Houxuan saw that his father was a little sad, so he tried to change the subject: "Then, what happened to my father in the army, uncle, and Commander Cao Cunda?"
"Speaking of your uncle, there is something very majestic. Do you want to hear it?" Xia Houshang raised his wine bowl and smiled.
―――
In the north that year, the cold wind was still biting to the bones. The New Year was approaching, but the soldiers did not return home, just to stabilize the northern territory that had just been pacified.
Youzhou, the countryside of Daijun.
The sergeants accompanying him discussed quietly.
"It seems that I won't be able to go home again this year. Unfortunately, my dog is one year old, but I can't go home to visit him."
"Hey, that's wrong. Didn't the Lord even return to the Central Plains? He stayed here with us to suffer the cold, and took us out to hunt in the countryside?"
"That's right. It's just that in such a cold season, where can we find prey? But stepping out and stepping on the snow in the north has a different taste."
At the head of the hunting team were Prime Minister Cao Cao, as well as Tiger and Leopard Cavalry Commander Cao Chun, Leopard Cavalry Camp Sima Cao Xiu, Xia Houshang, and Cao Zhen and other young generals from the clan.
The cold wind in the north and riding horses through the snow, although there is no prey, do have a unique flavor.
Amidst the biting wind, there seemed to be a strange noise, like some giant beast roaring.
Just when the leading guard general was about to send people to investigate, a huge creature jumped out of the strong wind and snow! It was a tiger!
"Protect the lord!" The accompanying guards hurriedly took out their curved bows, but unexpectedly the weather was too cold and the horn-end bow was too hard to pull open. The group had to defend them at short range and long swords.
"I heard in the early years that there were many strange beasts in the Yan Dynasty. When I saw them today, they were indeed majestic!" Cao Zhen said with a bold smile: "My lord, please order me to capture this tiger and present it in front of the battle!"
Before Cao Cao and the others could stop him, Cao Zhen bolted out.
"Zidan, no!" Xiahou Shang Cao Xiu shouted and was about to get out of the queue, but was stopped by Cao Chun.
"The snow is very slippery, and the large number of people will make it difficult to move forward!" Cao Chun pulled the reins of the two horses and said in a commanding tone: "Don't worry."
Cao Zhen rode his horse and circled around with the tiger in the snow. He saw him holding a short bow in his left hand and an arrow in his right hand, and actually pulled the hard curved bow away. Xiahou Shang couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Whoops!" The feather arrow pierced the fierce cold wind, pierced the blocking snowflakes, and also shot through the head of the tiger!
A loud roar was heard, and the tiger fell to the ground. The three armies raised their arms and cheered, and the shouts shook the wilderness.
[Note 1: "Three Kingdoms·Wei Shujiu": "(Cao Zhen) often hunted, but was chased by tigers. He shot at the tiger, but fell down in response. Taizu strengthened his courage and ordered the general to ride a tiger and a leopard."]
―――
"Back then, your uncle shot down that fierce tiger in the snow, and immediately became the Army Commander of the Tiger Cavalry Camp, and became the deputy general of Cao Chun. He is truly a young hero!" Xia Houshang laughed heartily.
He looked like the heroic young man he once was.
"Since my father, uncle, and uncle Cao Xiu were all deputy generals of the Hubao Cavalry back then, why is it that the name Hubao is no longer seen in the army now?" Xia Houxuan suddenly became very curious and asked casually.
"Then, that's what happens after Red Cliff..."
―――
In the seventh month of summer in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Prime Minister Cao Cao's army went south to conquer Jingzhou. In August, Liu Biao, the herdsman of Jingzhou, died of illness. His son Liu Cong led his troops to surrender, and Liu Bei led the remaining troops to flee south.
Cao Chun, the commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, received the mission and must intercept and kill Liu Bei before he fled to Jiangxia.
In a suburb of Jingzhou, five hundred tigers and leopards who were ordered to intercept were taking a short rest.
Xia Houshang wiped the blood-stained iron sword with his incomplete battle robe. In the past, brothers fought side by side, but this time, Zi Dan and Wen Lie were all ordered to defend Wuhuan from the north, and he actually felt an inexplicable panic.
"Brother, take advantage of this little time to drink some water. We will be setting off again in less than a moment." A fellow sergeant threw a water bag over.
Xia Houshang took the water bag and took a nice sip. He looked at the sergeant and saw that he had a handsome face. He looked like a Confucian scholar, not a member of the military. What's more, he was a man riding a tiger and a leopard. Xia Houshang
He opened his mouth and asked: "Brothers look familiar, but are they from the same battalion?"
"I'm from the Leopard Cavalry Camp just like you. My name is Yu Gui..." Before the man finished speaking, he heard the sound of beating drums. Xia Houshang stood up, held his sword, and joined Yu Gui.
Follow the team in pursuit south.
"It turns out that Master used to be a soldier of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, no wonder he is so powerful..." Xia Houxuan couldn't help but murmured.
"Although Brother Cao Chun led us in pursuit at full speed, Liu Bei was still able to escape at Changbanpo. The late king was furious and ordered the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry not to follow the army south, so we could only stay in Xiangyang and wait for the Lord's victory.
.”
"As a result... wasn't the late king defeated in Chibi back then..." Xia Houxuan listened in rapt attention and then asked.
"Yes, after hearing that the army was attacked by fire in Chibi Wulin, Brother Cao Chun immediately led more than 4,000 troops south to rescue and rescue. When we arrived at Chibi, we didn't know that the late king had already withdrawn to Huarong...
.”
―――
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Chibi.
When Cao Chun led his troops to the battlefield, they found fireworks everywhere and the battle had ended long ago.
"Report..." A cavalry galloped from the northwest: "General, we found out that the lord has withdrawn his troops towards Huarong!"
"Huarong..." Cao Chun frowned slightly and immediately issued an order: "The entire army retreats slowly towards Huarong to stop the pursuing troops for our lord!"
"No!" The generals of each battalion obeyed the order with enthusiasm.
"Back then, we retreated less than twenty miles before we encountered the pursuers of Soochow. At that time, there were more than 20,000 pursuers, and they were all the elite troops of Wu, Danyang Shangjia.
....."
Jian'an year, Jingzhou battlefield.
War drums thundered, and the sound of killing shook the sky.
Not long after the long-distance attack, the four thousand tigers and leopards who had not had time to rest were engaged in a bloody battle with the mighty 20,000 Danyang Shangjia.
For the first time, Xia Houshang felt that Hubao might be defeated, and he was actually panicking. Not long ago, a letter came from home saying that his wife was pregnant, and he didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl... and
Han'er, I wonder how she is doing lately...
Being distracted, he failed to block the flying arrow, and the sharp arrow penetrated his right arm. In his daze, he could only hear the shouts of killing in his ears, and he finally fainted.
"Xiahou Shang!" Yu Gui, who was not far away, quickly raised his round shield and ran forward to protect Xia Houshang...
"I don't know when the battle has ended. Although more than ten thousand enemies were killed, the tigers and leopards also suffered heavy losses. They lost nearly two thousand people. After being rescued by Brother Yu, my right arm was severely injured. Even if it recovered, I could not
Then I opened the curved crossbow in the Tiger and Leopard Army, so I had no choice but to leave the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry." Xia Houshang drank another bowl of wine and sighed with emotion: "The next year, you were also born. Apart from my joy, I
I thought of hosting a banquet for the brothers in Tiger and Leopard, including Brother Cao Chun, but I didn’t expect that bad news came from Chang’an soon. Brother Cao Chun, who was only in his thirties, died suddenly of illness..."
Xia Houshang was in a daze. He seemed to remember the confident expression of the former commander before each charge; and at a celebration banquet that year, the half-drunk commander in the military tent patted his shoulder.
The words 'brother...'
"After the death of Brother Cao Chun, Hubao disbanded his organization and mixed into the Forbidden Army. Later... the late king died and Zihuan became the King of Wei. Zidan, Wenlie and I each guarded one side.
We rarely get together anymore…”
[Note 2: It is said in "Heroes" that after Cao Chun's death, an official asked Cao Cao who could continue to command the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Cao Cao replied: "How can we regain the pure ratio! I am not the commander-in-chief alone?"
, which means who can compare to Cao Chun, I should lead it myself.】
Outside the courtyard, the color of the sky curtain changes from dark to light.