Three Kingdoms

Dongyuan fell in a short period of time. As Cao's army looted and replenished supplies in the city, the city suddenly fell into chaos. Cao's army looted wantonly, but there was no large-scale massacre.

　　It’s not that Cao Jun suddenly understood what kindness is, but that there was no need for massacre.

In the past, it was to hide the whereabouts as much as possible, but now it is no longer necessary. Moreover, the massacre may cause the people to resist and waste troops in vain, so it only needs to be shocked once or twice to let the people of Dongyuan know that they will not resist if they don't resist. If he dies, no one will come to hinder Cao's soldiers.

 This is a helpless fact.

There were obviously more people in Dongyuan City than Cao Jun, but these residents under the rule of the feudal dynasty did not have much sense of resistance. It seemed that it didn't matter who was their shepherd. Even if they killed some sheep, they would not be able to resist. As long as you don't kill yourself, you can pretend you didn't see or hear.

 This is the loyal and filial people that the Han Dynasty has pursued, taught and cultivated for three to four hundred years.

 There was no resistance and it did not cause much trouble to Cao Jun.

Xia Houyuan successfully obtained sufficient supplies in Dongyuan City, and did not stay in Dongyuan County for a long time. He quickly fled Dongyuan County, which made the two brothers Sima Yi and Sima Fu who came in a hurry were a little confused.

Before Xia Houyuan left, he set a fire.

When the fire reached their houses, the people in Dongyuan came out to put out the fire with howls.

At this time, it was discovered that Cao Jun had run away.

After receiving the news, Sima Yi looked at the thick smoke and fire in Dongyuan County, and said with a little disappointment: "You just ran away like that?" 』

　　　　Brother, are you sure this is Xiahou’s doing? Could it be a bandit? ” asked Sima Fu. His wounds haven't healed yet, but he can already put on the armor, but he can't make too many movements.

Sima Yi believed that those who attacked Dongyuan were not bandits. Of course, they could not be thousands or even tens of thousands of Cao's troops...

As for what the fleeing officials in Dongyuan said, about tens of thousands of soldiers, about fierce momentum, about struggling to resist, about being invincible in **** battles, about having to endure the pain to report the situation of Cao's army in time, Sima Yi didn't believe a word of it. .

"It must be Xiahou..." Sima Yi said, "How can ordinary bandits have such courage...But...why didn't Cao Jun stay longer in Dongyuan?" 』

　　　Stay longer? ” Sima Fu was a little puzzled.

"Now that the whereabouts have been revealed, there is no point in hiding anymore..." Sima Yi said as he took the map from the guard's hand, "Look, this is Yuanshui. No matter how Xiahou hides, it is still impossible to leave the water source... No matter what Advances and retreats must be along this road... so it is not difficult to search for its traces... and if we stick to Dongyuan, wouldn't it be better to hold us back? 』

　　　『Stick here? Delay us? ” Sima Fu was a little confused, “Wouldn’t this be asking for death? 』

After all, if Cao Jun holds firm in Dongyuan, it will be equivalent to being surrounded by Sima Yi and others. This Dongyuan City is not a great city. No matter how hard it is to defend, it will die sooner or later, and won't it be impossible to escape?

　　　　Can’t look at it that way. ” Sima Yi said in a low voice, “After all, there is a city wall here... Cao’s army has only one soldier, relying on the city wall to drag down three or five of us... Even if we can’t replace the battle damage, it’s better to delay for a while... We are all dragged here, so Pingyang Isn't it..."

Sima Fu suddenly thought, "Is it just to confuse us?" 』

"Then we should delay here for a while..." Sima Yi said, "Although some of Cao's soldiers will die here, it can tempt us to wait... In this war, mercy is not in charge... In many cases, the outcome is determined by the outcome. Let's see who dares to fight hard... The more Cao Jun fights hard here, the more soldiers we will have to send, and we may even need to send troops from Pingyang... So I don't understand why we need to withdraw so quickly? 』

Sima Fu said: "So you think we won't be fooled?" 』

　　　How will you know if you don’t try? Sima Yi frowned and said, "Why not give it a try?" 』

Sima Fu said, "Are you planning to run away?" 』

Sima Yi pondered for a moment and glanced at Sima Fu, "Maybe... But it's also possible... Forget it, you can lead five hundred people to follow the trail first... Be sure to send more scouts, don't rush to the front... Remember , Compassion does not command troops..."

Sima Yi raised his head and looked into the distance. There seemed to be something meaningful in his tone.

Sima Fu hesitated, "Let me go?" 』

　　　　What, what are you worried about? ” Sima Yi still looked into the distance and did not look back at Sima Fu.

Sima Fu was silent for a while, then nodded and accepted the order, and then quickly led his five hundred cavalry around Dongyuan, searching for the traces left by Cao's cavalry and following them.

Sima Yi looked at Sima Fu's retreating back, then sighed and ordered the soldiers to enter the city to put out the flames and appease the people...

 …

 …

Xia Houyuan and his men lurked behind a small slope.

 One of the henchmen lies on the ground with his ear to the ground.

 People around him held their breath as much as possible and breathed carefully.

 Suddenly, the confidant raised his head and said, "General, here we come!" 』

Xia Houyuan rushed up the **** in a few steps, looked into the distance, saw the smoke and dust rising in the distance, and quickly waved his hand, "Hide them all!" Get ready for battle! 』

Not long after, the leading troops of twenty or thirty hussars appeared on the road.

 Two cavalrymen, one on the left and one on the right, moved forward along the edge of the road, running in front of the queue, while the remaining cavalry scouts followed behind, keeping a certain distance. These scouts are all elite, experienced, not too slow, but they maintain enough vigilance, scanning the surroundings, seeming to be ready to deal with various changes at any time.

This made Xia Houyuan couldn't help but click his tongue, feeling somewhat emotional...

　　Xia Houyuan retracted his head from under the sparse bushes, and then waved his hands to signal his men to take up their positions.

 Trapping a horse into a pit or building a horse to resist is obviously the most lethal to cavalry. Unfortunately, whether it is to trap a horse or to resist a horse, it requires a lot of energy and can only work at a fixed location.

 So Xia Houyuan only used one method, tripping the horse rope.

The trip horse rope is simple, easy to use, easy to carry, and can be reused after recycling. Moreover, after the trip horse rope is soaked in mud, it does not match well with the loess ground, and it cannot be seen at all if you are not careful.

The hussar scout who came forward seemed to have noticed something when he was approaching the stumbling rope. He tilted his body and lowered his head to patrol. However, the speed of the war horse was not slow. When he lowered his head, he had already rushed to the stumbling rope...

The war horse suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground with a neighing sound.

Of the two hussar scouts, one of them had no time to turn around and was pinned down by his horse. He immediately vomited blood and fell to the ground. The other cavalryman adjusted his body posture in time, followed the momentum of inertia, rolled twice on the ground, and then half-crouched on the ground. He also pulled out the sword from his waist and was ready to defend. He shouted loudly: "Enemy attack!" 』

The cavalry following behind had no time to rein in their horses, but they reacted almost instantly. Two of them pointed their spear points directly down to the ground, and the spear points drew a long mark on the loess. The cavalryman drew out his sword and stared at the road ahead.

"found it! 』

The hussars scouts picked up the stumbling ropes, and some were cut directly by the blades of the spears. However, some were not cut immediately because the spears were at the wrong angle, so the scouts behind them swung their sabers and cut the ropes with one blow.

Seeing that there was a trap and the situation ahead was unclear, the scout cavalry further back slowed down one after another. Some cavalry simply left the road and rushed out towards the fields on both sides.

Xia Houyuan couldn't help but praise secretly when he saw the hussars scouts who were still orderly and not panicking despite the sudden change. These hussars are indeed very elite and work well together. No wonder the hussars can dominate the world with their cavalry.

However, although these hussar scouts responded quickly and cooperated very well, Xia Houyuan and Cao's soldiers who were ambushing on both sides of the road did not give them more time to respond. The moment the trip horse rope was pulled up, Cao's soldiers holding bows and arrows stood up from behind the ambush bushes, and fired a dense rain of arrows at the decelerating hussar scouts. Xia Houyuan roared, and with his elite guards, he rushed out from behind the **** and headed towards the hussar scout formation.

The ambush location chosen by Xia Houyuan was not a dangerous place suitable for an ambush in the "traditional" sense, such as dense forests, narrow mountain roads, or ravine ridges, etc., but on an ordinary road, so it was somewhat unexpected for the hussar scouts. unexpected.

Suddenly attacked, some of the hussars instinctively raised their shields to cover themselves, or made movements on horseback to avoid arrows. However, several cavalrymen were still shot. At close range, the bows and arrows The damage is even comparable to that of pistols of later generations. If it is shot in a place with thicker armor, there is still a certain chance of immunity. If it happens to be shot in a gap or weak spot in the armor...

Several hussars screamed and fell off their horses, while the rest of the hussars shouted angrily. Some raised their crossbows to fight back, and some directly urged their horses to greet Xia Houyuan.

 Xia Houyuan waved his horse's sword and roared loudly, swinging away the sword that had been chopped down by the hussar cavalry on the opposite side, and stabbed the hussar scout in the abdomen. The sharp horse blade pierced deeply along the hussar scout's thigh. The long handle of the horse was bent with difficulty. Xia Houyuan shook his hands and knocked the hussar scout off the horse, and then stabbed another cavalryman.

 Although Xia Houyuan was bullied to death by Huang Zhong, his opponent at that time was Huang Zhong.

No matter what, Xia Houyuan's martial arts skills are much better than those of ordinary soldiers.

Under the leadership of Xia Houyuan, Cao's army went out with all their horses and surrounded the twenty or thirty hussar scouts and killed them. However, the hussar scouts were suddenly ambushed. On the one hand, they lost their speed advantage, and on the other hand, they were insufficient in number. In addition, their personal force was no match for Xia Houyuan. They were quickly defeated, and only three or five hussar scouts remained. get away.

After ambushing the front of the hussar scouts, Xia Houyuan did not stop much, because he knew that the hussar scouts must be followed by a large force, so he immediately ordered to take away several hussar horses that were still able to move, and collected some After replenishing the supply of bows and arrows, he immediately fled the scene of the crime...

 Cao Jun’s horses were also damaged and they needed to replenish their horses.

The most important thing is that Xia Houyuan's men and horses are insufficient, and they stay in one place. It is inappropriate to have more people, and it is meaningless to have less, so they simply abandoned Dongyuan.

 Locally, Xia Houyuan now has the advantage.

By the time Sima Fu arrived with a large force, there was no trace of Cao Jun on the official road, leaving only some injured cavalry and horses.

Sima Fu asked his soldiers to check the surrounding areas and send out warning posts. He also asked people to treat the wounded and injured horses, and asked about the situation of the battle. In fact, he was not far from the scouting front army. After receiving the alarm, he did not delay and caught up immediately. However, he still failed to catch Xia Houyuan's tail, which inevitably made Sima Fu a little frightened.

 That’s right, I’m shocked.

 The fright of a frightened bird.

Sima Fu was injured, and he was not a highly skilled general.

 The smaller the army, the more important the role of generals.

 Be able to deal with twenty or thirty scouts in a short time, this combat power...

 Should we go back to find Sima Yi now?

 Sima Fu had the thought of giving up for a moment in his mind.

 After all, nothing is difficult in the world, as long as you are willing to give up.

 But the next moment, Sima Fu took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

 He only lost more than 20 men and horses. It would be too embarrassing for him to go back like this.

Does Cao Jun really want to escape back to the mountains?

 Are there any other plans?

If Cao Jun was really allowed to escape so easily, let alone anything else, would Sima Fu still have the dignity to command troops in the future?

Sima Fu ordered that small troops should no longer be separated to support Xia Houyuan, but should instead be assembled into a unit to march.

 Because the scouts who were injured in the ambush said that the number of Cao's troops was not large, that is, about two to three hundred people.

Sure enough, when Sima Fu pursued as a whole, he was no longer ambushed by Cao's army. However, Sima Fu did not notice that although his marching as a whole reduced the risk, it also reduced the efficiency and speed of the search.

 A mesh surface is definitely not as strong as a fist, but the area it sweeps is quite different.

In the evening, Sima Fu did not catch up with Cao Jun, but it was already getting late, so he prepared to set up camp.

 Except for the first batch of more than 20 cavalrymen who were lost in Xiahou Yuan's ambush, Sima Fu did not suffer any other losses. His caution allowed him to go smoothly in the subsequent pursuit. The scouts also found some traces, such as shallow pits, tripping ropes, etc., but there was no sign of Cao Jun. This shows that Cao Jun at least considered ambush again, but because Sima Fu was advancing as a whole, Cao Jun gave up.

This seems to make Sima Fu feel that his response is correct...

 But as the chase continued, Sima Fu felt that something was wrong again.

 This is an instinctive feeling, but he doesn't know exactly what went wrong.

 He sent liaison cavalry back in an attempt to get in touch with Sima Yi, but it also took time for the cavalry to pass information back and forth.

Although Cao Jun's traces generally seemed to be leaning towards Wangwu Mountain, some of them seemed to be going in circles.

Sima Fu touched his wound and felt a dull pain.

　　When he was in Beiqu, not only did he almost surrender on the battlefield, but he also almost failed. Although Sima Yi didn't say anything to him afterwards, Sima Fu felt quite ashamed.

This battle in Hedong was Sima Yi's first time leading an army, so why not Sima Fu's first time?

As a result, Sima Yi turned the tide and held back and even killed Cao Zhen with a small number of soldiers. However, he was beaten and fled with a large number of troops!

 Comparing these two phases...

Now that Sima Yi asked Sima Fu to lead people to track Cao Jun, he may not have the intention to give Sima Fu another chance, so Sima Fu must do a good job. However, this pressure of worrying about gains and losses made Sima Fu forget what Sima Yi had just told him before. Those words, perhaps because of the pain of the wound, prevented him from thinking calmly.

At one moment he was thinking about what Cao Jun was going to do and where he would be. At another moment he was thinking about whether he should continue to chase after him or speed up if he continued like this. The more he thought about it, the more difficult it became to calm down.

 At midnight, Sima Fu fell into a deep sleep. Perhaps in his dream, he captured Cao Jun and showed his bravery and wisdom, but in reality, he ushered in a nightmare...

 Because Xia Houyuan has already gained confidence.

 At the beginning, when Xia Houyuan received the news that Cao Zhen had broken his halberd in the north, he was somewhat nervous. It could even be said that he was somewhat worried and scared. However, he relaxed after Xia Houyuan led his troops into Hedong.

It's not that Xia Houyuan has great wisdom, but Xia Houyuan's psychological quality and combat experience are stronger than Sima Fu. In battles with a small number of troops, the role of generals is often magnified, the smaller the scale of the battle. , the more obvious it is. To put it simply, the Cao army led by Xia Houyuan has been strengthened in the front, but Sima Fu seems to be a little timid because he is afraid of failure and thinks too much.

 From the moment Sima Fu caught up with him, Xia Houyuan had been sending people to keep an eye on Sima Fu.

Especially after Sima Fu started to form a group, because the movement of the large army was far more obvious than that of the scattered soldiers, and the smoke and dust were larger, this allowed Cao Jun's scouts to keep an eye on Sima Fu from a longer distance. Xia Houyuan stared at Sima Fu, firstly to see if Sima Fu had any intention of dividing his troops, and secondly to see if there were other troops behind Sima Fu.

If Sima Fu divides his troops, Xia Houyuan will use his own bravery to fight back. However, ordinary hussars cannot resist Xia Houyuan's force and may be eaten by Xia Houyuan. If Sima Fu was still followed by a large army, Xia Houyuan would withdraw directly and let a small number of Cao's troops lead Sima Fu in circles, and then he would lead the large army to sneak attacks on other places in Hedong...

Xia Houyuan's strategy was flexible, but Sima Fu even forgot Sima Yi's explanation.

The positions of hunters and prey are not fixed. After Xia Houyuan confirmed that Sima Fu had set up camp, Xia Houyuan was ready to sneak attack on Sima Fu.

Sima Fu’s camp is relatively standard. Because although Sima Fu, as a commander, had average abilities, his hussar soldiers still arranged the camp in accordance with the regulations and set up multiple sentry posts to watch the surrounding areas vigilantly.

However, there were no night vision goggles in the Han Dynasty after all. Near dawn, when the human body was most exhausted, Xia Houyuan led people outside Sima Fu's camp...

 (End of this chapter)