On the fourth day after receiving the news, a meteor fell outside Dingtao City. Fires suddenly burst into flames, and horses and donkeys brayed. Someone said: "When a big star falls, either a noble person will be born, or a noble person will die!" Then!
Others said: "Could it be that we lost our troops and generals in this battle, and we are all going to die here?!" Even though the army issued repeated orders to prohibit rumors, not only the soldiers, but also many officers were worried. They also heard rumors that Chen Chong had defeated Liu in Guanzhong one after another.
Fan and Lu Bu have raised another large army to help. They will cross Hangu Pass in a few days, and they will be attacked from both sides. All kinds of unfavorable news make Cao's soldiers even more worried.
At this time, Cao Cao had decided to withdraw, but the overall situation was at stake, so he did not inform the generals of the news. Instead, he sent a message to Bao Xin first, asking him to lead his troops across the river and retreat into Hanoi. After his withdrawal was completed, he would withdraw again.
.
It was already April, and even the unprecedentedly cold spring was over by this time. The surrounding willows were flying like rain, and the grass on the ground fell with the wind, revealing the sparse or dense white or blue flowers in the grass.
Sometimes he would look at the flowers in a daze, and he couldn't help but remember the past a long time ago. Suddenly, he said to his adopted son Cao Zhen who was accompanying him: "Back then, in Luoyang, I sent Chen Chong to the White Horse Temple at night, and the starry sky looked like this that night.
Unexpectedly, more than ten years have passed since then, and we will finally meet on the battlefield."
He took a breath and smiled sadly: "When I first heard about Chen Chong's assassination, I felt pity and joy. The pity was that he was so smart that he died at the hands of a villain, but the joy was that if he died, Liu Bei would
The strategy of ruling the roost without Chen Chong is just a rhinoceros with a broken horn. I will catch him sooner or later. But now he has survived again. What a pity. In this way, in the future, history will be like iron. Between me and Chen Chong,
Just like the pair of swords of Yitian and Qingzhi, only one can be passed down to future generations."
When Cao Cao said this, he showed Cao Zhen the Heavenly Sword on his waist. Cao Zhen was wearing Mingguang Iron Armor and holding a plow knife in his hand. He stared at the Heavenly Sword in Cao Cao's hand resolutely and said, "In a moment in life, who will become the king or lose the bandits?"
Isn’t it human? Now that our army is in dire straits and feeling sad, let’s leave it until we accomplish something.”
"This is really the answer of a warrior!" Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh. He looked at Cao Zhen and said to himself: "Unexpectedly, A Shao Wen is weak, but his son has the spirit of ending the army. Maybe it will be Zi Dan who will prosper my family in the future."<
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The next day, Cao Cao summoned all the generals in the army. There were a lot of people in the tent, and it seemed that the tent was crowded. Cao Cao looked around at the people, and there were more than 60 important officials who came to the tent.
Sit around on the animal skin mat.
Cao Cao said to everyone: "Everyone has been working very hard these past few months. Since the Battle of Bohai Sea, we raised troops to cross the river and fought all the way from Qingzhou to Hulao without rest for a moment. Thinking about it now, it has been almost half a year, right?
How many hardships we have gone through!"
"Now that the war has been going on for a long time, even the spring plowing season has passed, and Liu Xuande is still huddled in Hulao Pass. It seems that at least this year, he will not dare to fight me. But so what? I have occupied Hebei.
Henan is half cut off, and Liu Fan and Han Yue are watching over Kansai. In terms of human and financial resources, the strength of East and West has been reversed. I just need to rest and recuperate, train troops, and prepare troops until there is a locust disaster in Kansai and the men and horses are starved.
, I will contact Ke Bineng again and attack him from two sides. Now that your Majesty and Liu Bei are at odds, many loyal ministers in the court have been exchanging letters with me. As long as there is a natural disaster, I will use Beilu to disrupt him, and I will not worry about no one from inside.
Get up. When I come back with my army, crushing the thieves will be like crushing a bird’s egg!”…
At this point, all the generals understood that the marshal was preparing to retreat this time.
Cao Cao then said: "I want a strong force to cut off my rear for me. This person must guard Juyang so that the pursuers from Kansai cannot cross the Pu River."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zhao and Xu Zhu stood up almost at the same time. A smile appeared on Cao Cao's lips and he said: "Two ferocious tigers, it was you who shed blood to protect my safety in the Bohai Sea. It's thanks to your hard work this time."<
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Lu Zhao cupped his hands and replied: "I am willing to let the marshal drive the battlefield, but I hope that I will die together with the enemy's superior general, and I will have no regrets with this seven-foot body!"
Gao Huan looked at them with a warm feeling in his heart. But when he came out of the tent and saw the not majestic Dingtao City in the distance, he felt a new sense of powerlessness in his heart. He turned around and sighed to the generals: "I
During the war, I had a headache and could hardly see. I wasted a lot of time here, and as a result, my reputation completely shifted to Zang Ziyuan!"
The generals dispersed, while Cao Cao stood there, quietly feeling the breeze of late spring.
At this time, the news of the withdrawal spread to various departments, and cheers arose one after another in the army. But Cao Cao was in the center of this sound, and he felt more and more that time was passing by. He suddenly had an illusion, as if he was not in the sound, but in the sound.
He was on a cliff. He couldn't see the end going up or down, and he couldn't let go. He could only continue to climb to the top of the mountain. The ignorance and frivolity of his youth were far away from him, but he could not help but feel depressed in his heart.
So before he completely withdrew his troops, he casually wrote a poem "Autumn Hu Xing" in his account. Although the rhetoric was not gorgeous, the artistic conception was lofty and indifferent. The text is as follows:
Going up to Sanguan Mountain in the morning, how difficult should this road be? How difficult should this road be when going up to Sanguan Mountain in the morning? Newton couldn't stand up, and the cart fell into the valley.
Sitting on the rock, playing the five-stringed harp, as a Qingjiao rhyme.
When I feel confused, I sing to express my ambition. In the morning, I go up to Sanguan Mountain.
What three husbands are there, I will be by my side when I die. What three husbands are there, I will be next to you when I die.
With his back covered by the quilt, he seems to be a non-permanent person. Why is it that Qing Yun is in trouble and feels sorry for himself? He wanders about what he wants and comes here?
Songs express aspirations. What are the three husbands?
I live in Kunlun Mountain, so-called real people. I live in Kunlun Mountain, so-called real people.
There is a deep path to be found, a view of the famous mountains. Traveling to the eight extremes, pillowing on a stone and drinking from the flowing spring.
I pondered undecidedly, then ascended to heaven, singing to express my ambition. I live in Kunlun Mountain.
When you go, you can’t chase after you, because you will always regret it. When you go, you can’t chase it, because you will always regret it. You can sleep peacefully every night, and feel melancholy and pity yourself.
It is upright but not erroneous, and the words and poems are based on the cause. What has been passed down by the scriptures has been passed down from the West.
Songs express ambitions, but they cannot be pursued after they have gone.
On the night of Bingzi in the fourth month of summer, Cao's army suddenly relieved the siege. At dawn, except for the cavalry who had been cut off from the rear, the army divided into two groups. They arrived in Changyi and built a defense line from Shanyang Lu State, and retreated all the way to Zhencheng and Puyang.
They began to cross the river and return north. The forts built under the city were ignited with raging flames. After a while, the forts where Cao Jun was stationed around Dingtao were left with only messy ruins.
At dawn, you can still see Cao Cao's cloud-patterned flag cover in the distance. Lu Zhao and Xu Zhu looked toward the flag cover to say goodbye. They were surrounded by tiger and leopard warriors who had experienced hundreds of battles.
However, at this moment, in Dingtao City behind them, there was no expected sound of gongs and drums or the cheers of the soldiers. The defenders in the city did not seem to be rejoicing at the rescue, and were still in a dead silence...<
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Two days later, on a windless morning, the black flag of the Guanxi Cavalry appeared in the sky of Jishui in the southwest.
It was the New North Army under Chen Chong who came, but it was just a vanguard force, about 300 cavalry. The leader was the Northern Army's military commander Guan Qiuxing. He saw that there was no large army under the city, only Cao's army was still in the distance.
The ranger couldn't help but said disappointedly: "What a pity, the thieves are moving so fast! It seems that there will be no war." His adjutant saw that there were only a few people in the distance and there were no large troops, so he said: "In that case, why not cut a few grains first?"
Let's go to the dragon head to ask for credit!" Guanqiu Xing was in his early twenties at this time, young and energetic, he nodded slightly and said: "That's fine." So they did not enter the city, but continued riding northeast. p>
However, Cao Jun's cavalry ran very fast, and they soon lost their trace, and then got lost in the forest, and had to walk back in disgrace. At this time, the sky had not darkened, the earth was hard, and there seemed to be only miscellaneous things between heaven and earth.
He recalled the sound of horse hoofbeats in the forest. Guanqiu Xing was walking in front and looked up at the sky. He did not see crows or other birds starting up, which made him a little strange. He thought that it was probably because Cao Jun had been passing by for several days, and the birds had already flown away.
Let's go.
At this moment, several groups of reddish-brown things suddenly ran out from a forest entrance. From a distance, they looked like several foxes passing by. Everyone didn't notice them at first, but when they looked closer, this kind of reddish-brown thing appeared.
The things seemed to be bigger than foxes. And there were more and more of them, with twenty or thirty subordinates. They seemed to be enraged. When they saw the soldiers and horses, instead of avoiding them, they howled and ran straight towards them.
Its cry was hoarse and creepy. The war horses were so frightened that they stopped moving forward. Someone recognized it and shouted: "It's not a fox, it's a jackal!"
Is this the kind of jackal that attacks prey in groups and even tigers are afraid of it? People in Guanzhong rarely see jackals. Tigers, wolves and foxes are common in the forests of Hedong Mountains, but jackals are rarely seen. I don’t want to live in Yanzhou, which is famous for its prosperity and harmony.<
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During the trip, I encountered a group of jackals.
Because the war horses were afraid of the swarms of jackals, they cowered. The knights on the horses hurriedly got off their horses, took off the bows on their backs, took out their hunting arrows, and shot at the red figure running quickly. The sharp arrows were in the air.
Jackals shuttled among the group and shot arrows into the soil one after another, but they moved too fast and it was difficult for the arrows to hit the target.
In the blink of an eye, several jackals rushed to the front. The first one opened its mouth and sharp teeth, aimed at Guan Qiu Xing's frightened mount, and bit the horse's front leg. The horse trembled in pain and could no longer stand still.
Guanqiu Xing was furious, pulled out his knife, and slashed at the beast's back. The beast was very clever, and suddenly let go of the bloody horse's leg, and dived under the horse's belly.
At this time, the following jackals also came close, scurrying like ghosts among the panicked horses. The crowd showed their gleaming knives, clattering and slashing, and for a while people shouted and horses neighed, and the scene was chaotic. Before long, the scene was chaotic.
, a jackal's retreat was chopped off by a knife, and the beast let out a ghost-like wail, writhing and rolling on the ground. A soldier took off his spear from his horse and stabbed him randomly, the tip of the spear stabbing him.
It pierced its belly, and the foul-smelling intestines overflowed. He jumped it up and started to protest against the group of jackals that had been driven out. Those animals did not run far away, and gathered together to lie down on several high rocks, licking each other's faces.
There were bloodstains on their hands and minions, and they howled from time to time. When arrows from the crowd were shot at them, they jumped to avoid them, but they refused to run away.
Suddenly someone pointed at something on the ground and said, "Look, what is that!" Someone looked up and found that it was something picked out from the belly of a jackal corpse. When he got closer, he discovered that it was a human finger bone!
Only then did people remember that jackals also made a living by eating carrion. There were so many jackals here, and they must have been attracted by the strong smell of corpses around them. Guanqiu Xing and others couldn't help but look pale, and a thought lingered in everyone's mind.
:If this is the case outside the city, what kind of tragic situation must it be inside Dingtao City, which has been besieged by Cao's army for several months?
[An old book friend who has known me for ten years recommended this book to me, @@! It’s so easy to use. I rely on it to pass the time while driving and before going to bed by reading and listening to books. You can download it here].