Cao Ren squatted half-crouched, breathing heavily. The thin line between life and death just now almost made him give up hope of survival, but Wenpin's rescue was obviously in place.
He simply could not imagine what impact the outcome of this battle would have had on the entire world if Wenpin had not arrived.
But...even though they came back to life, this did not rewrite the fact that they were defeated.
"Zixiao! Catch the rope!"
Wenpin's shout suddenly came to his ears, and the next moment, a rather thick and strong rope flew over the rushing water and arrived at Cao Ren's side with great precision.
At the same time, the loopholes in the siege of Guan Yu's army caused by Cao Ren's all-out breakthrough have not yet been filled.
The key... The battle between Cao Ren and Guan Yu really calmed down many people present. Taking advantage of this emptiness, Wenpin on the other side of the river quickly arranged an escape route for Cao Ren's army.
The rain is still falling, it seems to be just an illusion.
Guan Yu was covering his chest, blood flowing out from his fingers, while he was holding on to the handle of the knife, standing in the wind and rain with an ashen face.
"Father...Father! Are you okay!?"
After seeing Guan Yu being slashed by Cao Ren, Guan Ping and others finally rushed over and joined forces with Zhou Cang to force back the hesitant Cao Ren army soldiers who were unable to move forward.
Guan Yu was silent, his eyes fixed on Cao Ren who was retreating in the distance - in fact, they had won too much in this battle, but in this last move, the opponent seemed to have good luck, and actually made himself have to
Watch them leave helplessly.
This kind of frustration is no less than that of the Battle of Chibi, when Zhuge Liang pinned me down in the rear.
The wound on his chest was actually not deep, but both the outer and inner armor had been chopped into pieces by Cao Ren. If he rashly chased after him again, he would be easily injured by his opponent's hidden arrows if he was not careful.
Maybe many years ago, Guan Yu would still do those impulsive things from his superiors, but now he is no longer the same person he used to be.
"Father...Father...you...your injuries..."
Seeing Cao Ren retreating, Guan Ping did not dare to pursue too much, not to mention that due to the flood, the sandbank where they settled at this time also showed signs of being submerged.
He threw himself at Guan Yu's side with concern, looked nervously at the blood flowing out of Guan Yu's fingers, and was extremely frightened.
"It's just a minor injury. It's nothing to worry about. Frankly speaking, there is Yuan Fu. Although there is no need to pursue them, we still need to send people to investigate their departure movements. They cannot be allowed to retreat to the north easily."
Guan Yu shook his head and refused Guan Ping's offer of support, but immediately ordered the two of them to track Cao Ren.
Although he did not kill Cao Ren, and even nearly died in that moment, it did not mean that the war between the two sides was about to end.
As long as Liu Bei does not resolve the crisis, he will bite Cao Ren and not allow Cao Ren any chance to breathe - even if the opponent's reinforcements have arrived.
"yes!"
Guan Ping hurriedly agreed, turned around and began to order his subordinates to organize tracking.
The rain came down harder again. Guan Yu looked at the sky and looked around at the soldiers who would never go back... Regardless of whether they were enemies or friends, I am afraid that they would all be wiped out by this monstrous flood soon.
The moment of sadness did not make Guan Yu lose his fighting spirit. On the contrary... the experience of almost killing Cao Ren made the anger in his heart even stronger.
This war is probably going to be a fight to the death.
——
News of the war spread quickly.
Guan Yu launched a surprise attack on Cao Ren's 50,000-strong army from Hanchuan with 20,000 troops. He only paid a small price, but combined with the power of the flood, more than half of Cao Ren's army was killed or injured.
Cao Ang and Cao Pi quickly received confirmation of this news, as well as... a letter from Cao Ren requesting help from an abandoned city called Queyue City.
...Yes, although Cao Ren was rescued by Wenpin, Wenpin only brought 3,000 soldiers and horses. They walked out of the siege of Guan Yu's army, but because they did not have sufficient transportation, they often had to take long detours to retreat. .
Cao Ren and Wenpin originally planned to retreat all the way back to Shiyang City in the north, so that they could take care of some of the defenders he had left behind in Anlu - compared with Southern Jiangxia, at least Jiangxia was not overwhelmed by floods. The point of traveling.
As long as he retreated to Shiyang, Cao Ren could regain the initiative. Although he was defeated, it was not meaningless - he had long noticed the attire of Guan Yu's soldiers. It looked like they had abandoned all their food and heavy items. , came lightly... This also explains why Guan Yu was able to go to Hanchuan to ambush them early without them noticing.
After confirming that Guan Yu's army was in a desperate situation, Cao Ren knew that even if they were defeated, they could still achieve their ultimate goal by containing Guan Yu.
But either God is not good at it, Cao Ren even feels that God is really sparing no effort to help Guan Yu this time...
Their retreat to the north was completely blocked by the flood in just one day when Wenpin came to rescue them. It was impossible to cross the river. If they took a detour, they would inevitably enter Qichun-Qichun. Chun is now Mi Fang's territory. If they really want to enter Qichun, then they will have no chance of escaping.
As a result, before Cao Ren could think clearly, the scouts told Cao Ren and the others that Guan Yu and the others had regained their strength and began to sweep the entire Han River Basin. It wouldn't be long before they would be overtaken by the enemy.
In desperation, Cao Ren and Wenpin finally had to retreat to a nearby abandoned city - Queyue City.
——
"Que...where is Queyue City?"
When Cao Ang learned the news of Cao Ren's defeat, he was still processing the documents in the Xiangyang army... Although Cao Ren had only been away for a few days, the work he had done for these few days had already made Cao Ang a little busy.
However...Cao Ren fought hard on the front line, which encouraged Cao Ang to persevere. Under such pressure, Cao Ang grew rapidly.
Until...this letter came to him.
"Back to the general...Queyue City is located to the west of Xiakou and to the left of Mian River.
In Hanyang County, it was built by Huang Zu to resist Sun Jian from the east of the Yangtze River. Later, after Sun Ce led his army to defeat Huang Zu, he massacred all the soldiers in Queyue City, and it has been abandoned ever since..."
"A ruined city..."
Cao Ang murmured, his eyes couldn't help but be a little dull.
His subordinates nodded with a heavy expression, which was considered an answer to his soliloquy.
At this moment, all the soldiers in the entire meeting hall were silent.
Abandoned city...Cao Ren and Wenpin have been forced by Guan Yu into a situation where they have to retreat to an abandoned city. Doesn't this illustrate the crisis of the situation?
The key is... when Cao Ren wrote the letter, it may be because Guan Yu's pursuers had arrived, so the letter was incomplete——
"We must send troops... If we don't send troops anymore, I will worry about my uncle!"
The more Cao Ang thought about it, the more anxious he became. The words Cao Ren said to him from the bottom of his heart before setting off for the battle were echoing in his ears. He didn't want his uncle to make any mistakes because of his obedient and hesitant behavior, so he said
The order to attack must be issued immediately, but...
"My eldest son...this matter cannot be sudden! The general said in his letter that the Han River Basin is completely covered with ocean at this time. He taught you to cooperate with Jiang Ji in Shouchun to try to rescue him. He did not really ask you to take the lead and attack rashly.
.”
An extremely deep and firm voice came out from the hall, which could not help but calm down many soldiers, and also made Cao Ang stunned for a moment.
The person who spoke had an average appearance and an unremarkable figure. It could be seen that everyone's expressions were awe-inspiring when they saw him, as if they were waiting for his next words.
