The general ambushing here is Yuan Shao's surrendered general Zhang He.
After Zhang He surrendered to the imperial court, as a surrendered general, he would not necessarily be reused.
Because there are many surrendered generals like this, in addition to Yuan Shao's surrender, there are also Baibo Army's surrender, Dong Zhuo's old army, Yellow Turban's surrender, Heishan Army's surrender, etc.
There are countless generals under Liu Bei's command, and there are countless capable and skilled warriors. It is not yet the turn of these defeated generals to succeed.
Therefore, Zhang He's position was not very high at the beginning, and he could only get the position of general.
In fact, whether these people can be reused has a lot to do with their attitude of surrender and the time of surrender.
For example, the Baibo Army also surrendered to the imperial court, but they did not fight and were directly surrendered by Zhu Jun. They joined when the imperial court was relatively weak, so they were valued.
In the same way, people like Zhang Yan, Zhang Xiu and Duan Xuan all joined with their own troops, did not go against the imperial court, and were capable themselves.
Therefore, several leaders of the Baibo Army, Zhang Yan, Zhang Xiu, Duan Xuan and others were incorporated into the ranks of the Sixteenth Generals. Even Yang Feng's subordinate Xu Huang was on the same level as Yang Feng because of his outstanding military exploits.
The group of yellow turban surrendered generals including Xu and Sima Ju were in charge of Wang Dan Zhangrao. Although they surrendered early and had relatively senior qualifications, they had struggled to resist Liu Bei in the early days and did not surrender sincerely, so their promotion speed was slow. Much more.
In addition, their abilities and levels are just like this, and they cannot stand alone. Therefore, most of them are partial generals or generals at present. It is impossible for them to be like the leaders of the Baibo Army who have the ability to follow the dragon and be promoted quickly.
Zhang He was originally one of Yuan Shao's four great lieutenant generals. The one with a higher rank was one of the Four Court Pillars of Hebei, ranking higher than General Nine Tigers.
But firstly, he surrendered late and had little qualifications. Secondly, he surrendered under no choice but not directly like Zhang Xiu and Zhang Yan. Therefore, when he first surrendered, he was just a partial general. After a few years, he was barely promoted to the rank of general. Just a general.
Moreover, the reason why he was promoted was because he brought tens of thousands of people with him when he surrendered, which was considered meritorious. In addition, he followed Chen Mu to pacify Nanyang and established some meritorious deeds, so he was promoted from partial general to general.
It just sounds like a general. In fact, before Chen Mu's military reform, he was at the rank of captain, which was a middle- and high-level general. There was a big gap between him and the previous rank of general.
Therefore, if there is no gap between Zhang and He, it is false.
But now he has a chance.
A chance to prove yourself.
Zhang He himself knew very well that the biggest reason why he got the opportunity to lead the army this time was not because of his ability, but because he knew how to lead the cavalry.
There are very few generals under Liu Bei who can command large-scale cavalry. There are only Zhang Fei, Xu Rong, Ju Yi, Duan Xuan, Xian Yufu, Yan Rou, Kebi Neng and barely Gongsun Zan. They are basically from Youzhou or Xiliang.
But these people all have other places to go. Zhang Fei is in Hedong, Xu Rongcai was transferred back from Liaodong, Ju Yi cannot be trusted, Duan Xuan is in Guanzhong, Xianyu Fu Yanrou and Kebi Neng are all in Youzhou area.
Therefore, this time the cavalry went out, Zhang He, who was born in Hejian and had good cavalry skills, was taller than the short one and reluctantly served as a cavalry commander to assist Xu Chu in attacking Junyi.
Zhang He naturally understood that if he could win this battle, it would be a turnaround, so he was very careful and hid in the forest without moving.
After seeing Xu Chu retreat all the way to the jungle as planned, he suddenly became excited.
The deputy general next to him immediately said: "General, attack now."
Zhang He took a look at the situation and saw that Xu Chu's cavalry were coming in a relatively scattered manner, and the enemy was also pursuing them in a relatively scattered manner. He shook his head and said: "The timing is not right, please wait patiently."
"Aren't they already here?"
The deputy general was confused and saw that Xu Chu's army had passed outside the forest, and the enemy was chasing them not far away.
But Zhang He said: "You can tell by looking at the torches. General Xu Chu is running in a relatively scattered manner in front, and the enemy's pursuit in the back is also quite scattered. If we go out at this time, they can turn around and leave, and they won't be able to kill many enemies at all.
"
The deputy general scratched his head and said, "Then when should we wait?"
Zhang He was silent for a moment and said: "There are two options. One is to wait for General Xu Chu to reorganize his team and then attack suddenly when the enemies gather, so that they will not be able to escape many people. The second is to go straight to Junyi. At this time, Junyi
The city is empty and there are few defenders, so we can take this opportunity to burn their food and grass."
Seeing that what Zhang He said made sense, the deputy general stopped talking and waited patiently for Zhang He to issue the order.
Zhang He, on the other hand, was staring at the battlefield intently, always ready to adapt to changes.
A good general must be good at accurately judging the battlefield situation. At this time, countless soldiers and horses were scattered across the wilderness like stars. Although it was midsummer, the moon was bright, and both armies had torches, so they could vaguely see clearly.
The situation on the field.
But precisely because the situation on the field is so chaotic and there is no unified rules and regulations, we cannot act rashly.
When fighting an ambush, you are fighting a surprise attack, and it is best to ambush in a narrow alley.
Junyi is located in the Henan Plain area. It is a flat area with few mountains. It is impossible to intercept people.
After all, once Zhang He orders an attack, the enemy is too scattered. When they see you coming out of ambush, they immediately withdraw their troops and turn around and run away. How should you pursue them?
When the time comes, the enemy and we are scattered and unable to form an encirclement. The final result is nothing more than killing and wounding hundreds of people, and then letting the enemy run to the city to fight stubbornly.
Therefore, Zhang He knew that if he wanted to annihilate all the enemies or complete the instructions given before the minister's order came, he had to wait for the perfect opportunity.
In addition, he was not worried about Xu Chu's safety.
As mentioned earlier, it is best to choose a place with narrow terrain for an ambush. Although Xu Chu was ambushed, he was mostly a cavalry man and was located in the wilderness, so he was not easily blocked. Instead, he had to be careful about being dragged down by the enemy.
It is estimated that Cao Jun's intention was to take advantage of the fact that Xu Chu had come all the way and had fought a battle in front of the city, and the horses were all tired, so that they could be paralyzed.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Xu Chu really felt that the horsepower was a bit too much.
The explosive power of horses is higher than that of humans, but their endurance is far inferior to humans. They fought all the way and fought a battle at the gate of the city. Most of the horses' physical strength was consumed. Now they are running again, and they really can't hold on.
So when he found that the person he was ambushing had not taken action yet, Xu Chu couldn't help but cursed: "TNN, what is that Zhang He doing? He hasn't taken action yet."
Wen Su was also Liu Bei's cavalry general, but he had no experience in commanding large-scale cavalry. He only accumulated military exploits and was promoted to the rank of partial general.
He was serving as one of Xu Chu's lieutenants at the moment. Hearing Xu Chu's words, he looked back at the situation and immediately made his own judgment. He loudly said to Xu Chu: "General, I suggest you stop immediately and entangle with the enemy."
Xu Chu reined in his horse and said in confusion: "Why stop? Our formation has been scattered, and the enemy is attacking us. If we stop now, wouldn't we be at the mercy of others?"
Of course, dealing with cavalry does not rely on frontal charges, but often breaks up the formation of the cavalry, and then launches an attack. For example, when Cao Cao killed Wen Chou, he used his own baggage as a bait to make Wen Chou's thousands of cavalry disperse their formation and run over to snatch supplies.
Eventually he was defeated by Cao Cao.
Now their formation is scattered, and each unit basically fights independently. If the order is given to turn back now, it will be difficult to have time to organize the formation. By then, they will be killed and defeated with just one charge. This does not rely on level 20 military merit.
Can be changed.
However, Wen Su said: "General, look, our formation is scattered, and the enemy's formation is also scattered. If General Zhang attacks now, the enemy can escape back to the city at any time. It is impossible to kill the enemy, so General Zhang is waiting for the opportunity.
.”
Xu Chu has been with Liu Bei all year round and often listens to the advisers talking about strategies and tactics. He is not completely ignorant. Seeing this situation, Wen Su was indeed right and said: "But if I turn around now, wouldn't I be defeated by others?"
?”
Wen Su thought for a while and said: "After the general is willing to lead some troops and horses, the general leaves the battlefield and immediately blows the horn, summoning many soldiers to gather here and organize a formation."
A ferocious smile appeared on Xu Chu's face: "Your Majesty has entrusted me with a great responsibility, how can I return without success? I will come to stop you, and you can gather the soldiers."
"General..."
"No need to say more, execute the order!"
"only......"
Wen Su had no choice but to turn his horse around and let the ordering soldiers follow him.
Everyone knows that Duanhou is close to death. As a cavalry commander and a confidant of the emperor, if Xu Chu dies on the battlefield, even if the battle is won, their cavalry will be disgraced and their faces will be tarnished.
That's why Wen Su was willing to cut off his family and die. After all, he had a son, Wen Qin, and his family received a lot of rewards and assets. Secondly, Xu Chu couldn't die, because his death would easily disrupt the morale of the army.
But since Xu Chu insisted so much, he had no choice but to obey the order.
Xu Chu stopped there and called on the cavalry around him to come closer to him. He gathered hundreds of knights and turned around to fight with the enemy's pursuing vanguard.
Cao Ren was waiting for work, while Xu Chu rushed for dozens of miles and fought another battle. The number of people was also small, so it was destined to be an unfair duel.
But war is like this. If you don't pay a price, how can you win?
Therefore, faced with this situation, Xu Chu had no choice but to fight hard.
The two sides soon fought together.
Under the moonlight, countless torches shine like fire dragons, and the cold light shines on the iron clothes, making a ball on both sides.
At this time, Wen Su immediately left the battlefield, and then asked the ordering soldiers to blow the trumpet. According to the different melody of the trumpet, the orders issued were different, including retreat, assembly, attack, and the tunes all changed.
The desolate sound of the trumpet resounded throughout the battlefield. When the imperial cavalry heard the sound, they immediately followed the sound and began to gather.
In the night, the sound of horse hooves shook the wilderness.
In the distance in the rear, Xiahou Dun and Chen Gong also left the city and began to pursue.
Hearing this sound, Xiahou Dun wondered: "This is not our trumpet sound, but the enemy's. What do they want to do?"
Chen Gong thought for a while and said: "Their horse power is insufficient. If they don't fight to the death, the whole army will be wiped out."
"They are going to fight to the death."
Xiahou Dun's face suddenly became serious. The imperial army was fierce and fearless. If they chose to turn around and fight hard, even if they won, they would probably lose miserably.
Chen Gong muttered: "The correct approach at this time should be for us to retreat immediately and keep the distance. If the enemy retreats, I will pursue them. If the enemy attacks, I will retreat to temporarily avoid the edge. When their physical strength is exhausted, I will catch them all."
"
The sixteen-character saying of the great man actually had a similar saying in ancient times, that is, if you don't pursue a poor enemy, you must besiege the city. The reason for this is to prevent the enemy from counterattacking before death and causing huge casualties to yourself.
Now the imperial cavalry intends to turn back and fight to the death. If they go to fight, they will easily get into a fight with the enemy. Such casualties will be very high and will not be conducive to victory.
But Xiahou Dun raised his head to observe the situation and said: "Zixiao is already fighting with them. If we order the withdrawal now, I'm afraid it will be too late."
Chen Gong sighed and said: "We can only continue to advance. I hope the enemy will not reorganize their formation so quickly."
Cao Ren's cavalry in front was already fighting with the opponent.
The infantry followed behind and kept chasing. If Xiahou Dun and Chen Gong paid gold, it would be easy to retreat.
But that would undoubtedly abandon the cavalry, so we could only choose to continue charging.
Under the moonlight, Xiahou Dun's infantry team in the wilderness moved closer to the battlefield ahead like a black cloud, while Wen Su stepped up his formation.
At this time, Xu Chu led hundreds of cavalry back to tangle with Cao Ren's troops. Cao Ren was not mediocre. He knew very well that if Xu Chu was allowed to delay and the enemy's cavalry formed a formation and fought in the wild, it was hard to say who would win.
Therefore, he ordered a thousand cavalry to besiege Xu Chu, and the rest followed him to pursue Wen Su and cut off the gathering of the imperial cavalry.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As the Xiahou Dun infantry phalanx in the rear approaches, the battlefield becomes increasingly dense.
It was the time of summer and autumn, and the moonlight was pure. Even without lighting a torch, you could still have a good view. Otherwise, if dark clouds obscured the moonlight and you couldn't see your fingers, no one would be able to tell the difference in this war.
The distance between the two sides became closer and closer. After about a few minutes, the infantry phalanx finally caught up with the cavalry in front. As Xiahou Dun entered the battlefield, the originally stalemate battle suddenly fell into a one-sided situation.
Although Xu Chu's cavalry was brave and good at fighting, they had exhausted a lot of their physical strength. At this moment, both men and horses were exhausted, and it seemed that the army was in danger of being defeated.
At this moment, in the forest not far away, birds started to fly, and the sound of horse hooves roared like thunder.
In fact, there were sounds of birds flying in the jungle outside the city before, but that was when Xu Chu was attacking the city and his army was passing by the forest next to it.
At that time, everyone thought it was Xu Chu's cavalry crossing the border and startling the birds. This was a normal thing. They had all been in the army and it was very common.
No one thought that when the enemy passed by, he would hide an ambush inside.
At this critical moment, the cavalry and infantry of Xu Chu and Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun were entangled together, and the two sides were fighting together. At this time, the enemy was waiting for work and suddenly came out...
In an instant, Chen Gong decisively ordered: "Quick, Ming Jin withdraws the troops!"
But it's too late.
Zhang He ordered hundreds of horses to go straight to Junyi.
The rest of them suddenly attacked Xiahou Dun's rear formation from the rear, crushing towards the infantry phalanx like chisels.
The fine horses selected from Youzhou and Xiliang were like rumbling chariots, crashing into it.
Almost as soon as Ming Jin's voice sounded, Xiahou Dun's tribe had already been penetrated.
"There are still ambushes in the imperial court!"
Xiahou Dun's eyes were about to split, he reined in his horse and turned back.
If they cannot be stopped, there will be many casualties.
Zhang He rushed into the enemy formation first, and while he was killing them, a general rushed towards him.
He immediately knew that the enemy wanted to behead him. If the general died, he might be able to repel the ambush, and then he would still have a chance of winning.
But Zhang He is not a vegetarian. This is a good opportunity for him to make contributions. How could he miss it?
At that moment, he raised his spear and stabbed with all his strength, and fought with Xiahou Dun with his broadsword.
The two exchanged more than ten moves in an instant.
At this moment, although Wen Su had not yet had time to gather everyone together, Zhang He came out from an ambush. The morale of the imperial army was greatly shaken, and they immediately turned back to fight back.
Xu Chu was covered in sweat and blood, panting constantly, but his physical strength was extremely abnormal. He rested for more than ten seconds and then went into battle again. People came and went in the wilderness, and they were caught and killed, and corpses were everywhere.
Among the rebels, Xu Chu cut down more than ten Cao soldiers and continued to pursue. Suddenly he noticed an enemy general not far away, surrounded by dozens of cavalry guards, who was fighting and retreating.
"Kill me!"
Xu Chu roared angrily and rode towards the man to kill him.
Dozens of remaining cavalrymen also followed behind.
That person was Cao Ren.
Cao Ren pursued too deeply and was surrounded by enemies, making it difficult to evacuate.
Xu Chu came over, but Cao Ren was not afraid. They fought together for hundreds of rounds. In the end, it was difficult to resist. Xu Chu knocked him off his horse and tied him up.
At the same time, the battle was still going on. Cao Jun was suddenly attacked in the dark night, and people were panicked. For a while, the soldiers could not find the generals, and the generals could not find the soldiers, running around like headless flies.
At the rear, Xiahou Dun and Zhang He had been fighting for dozens of rounds. As the two sides fought without a winner in a short period of time, Cao's army was already at a disadvantage. Many people saw that the imperial army was ambushing, and their morale dropped sharply, so they scattered and fled.
The morale of the imperial army was greatly boosted. The imperial army, aroused by the twenty-level military merit and title system, were madly pursuing and killing.
Seeing that he was defeated, Xiahou Dun had no choice but to fend off Zhang He and ran away.
Zhang He didn't chase after him. He always cherished his life. Although he fought with Xiahou Dun for dozens of rounds without deciding the outcome, the rabbit bit him when he was anxious and refused to give up. What if everyone died together and died together?
So he pretended to be defeated and watched helplessly as Xiahou Dun ran away.
A great battle raged until dawn, and the wilderness about four or five miles outside Junyi City was filled with blood. The dead and wounded soldiers of the enemy and our own were covered in the wilderness. Broken body parts were flying everywhere, and the blood dyed the land red.
Soaked weeds.
At the same time, the city was blazing with flames. Almost all Xiahou Dun's troops went out to chase Xu Chu. There were less than a hundred people left in the city. Zhang He sent 300 people over, captured Junyi, and set fire to the remaining supplies of Cao's army.
When the battle reached dawn, the last resistance of Cao's army was eliminated. Xu Chu and Zhang He also fought bloody and began to count the remaining soldiers and record the enemies killed.