Chapter 148

But once they withdrew their troops,

Hua Xiong, who was less than five miles away from them,

would definitely order a pursuit immediately!

Whether Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan chose to stay and fight Hua Xiong or continue to retreat, their armies would suffer heavy losses.

And at the grain storage site, the remaining soldiers would also be quickly slaughtered by the Camp-Breaking Battalion!

To put it bluntly,

the Cao Cao army and the Gongsun Zan army had been forced into a desperate situation.

No matter how they chose, they would have to pay a painful price for it today!

Cao Cao gritted his teeth fiercely.

As the saying goes,

if you don't lose a child, you can't catch a wolf.

The grain must be saved.

Otherwise, whether the army could successfully return to the Yanzhou lair was a question.

But if the entire army was wiped out because of saving the grain, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

At the critical moment, Cao Cao showed the side of an ambitious hero!

He quickly summoned the Cao army generals.

Soon, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Li Dian, Yue Jin, Yu Jin, and others all rushed over.

"My Lord, what are your orders?"

"Is it time to launch a general attack on that fellow Hua Xiong?"

The Cao camp generals did not yet know that the grain storage site had been raided by the Camp-Breaking Battalion.

They thought Cao Cao finally couldn't help it and was going to take the initiative to attack Hua Xiong!

Who knew,

Cao Cao sighed lonely.

Afterward, he signaled Cheng Yu to tell them about the desperate situation the Cao army was currently facing.

After listening, all the generals fell into silence.

Everyone was no longer a rookie who had just entered the battlefield, so they naturally understood the urgency of the situation.

To put it bluntly, Cao Cao now, whether fighting or retreating,

if the army was not careful, it was very likely to face the desperate situation of being wiped out!

Sweeping his gaze over the generals, Cao Cao sighed:

"Gentlemen, I intend to leave a portion of troops as a rearguard to block Hua Xiong."

"The remaining main force will immediately follow me back to the grain storage site."

"I wonder, who among you is willing to stay behind?"

When saying this, Cao Cao's heart felt like it was being cut by a knife.

The Cao camp generals all had quite good abilities.

But there was no other way.

Leaving a great general and some soldiers as a rearguard was the only way to avoid the main force being wiped out.

However, this great general who stayed behind would likely die nine times out of ten.

At this moment,

all the Cao camp generals fell into deep thought.

And the next instant!

Everyone among them stood out in unison, wanting to apply to stay behind.

Including Xiahou Dun, who was covered in blood, also shouting that he wanted to stay behind.

But before he could speak, he was quietly pulled by his sleeve by Xi Zhicai.

As a strategist in the Cao camp, Xi Zhicai saw more clearly than these military generals.

No matter who stayed behind, Cao Cao could not let Xiahou Dun stay!

Sure enough.

Cao Cao's gaze swept over the generals.

Finally, it stopped on Yu Jin.

Except for Yu Jin,

the remaining Cao camp generals had all come to defect when Cao Cao first raised his army, or even before he raised his army.

Only Yu Jin had originally followed the Jibei Chancellor Bao Xin.

After Bao Xin died, Yu Jin led the remnants to defect to Cao Cao.

(PS: It is clearly recorded that Yu Jin formally defected to Cao Cao's camp in the third year of Chuping (192 AD).)

In terms of personal feelings,

compared to other Cao camp generals,

the friendship between Cao Cao and Yu Jin was the shallowest.

But in terms of ability,

Yu Jin was good at governing the army, and his personality was relatively steady.

Staying behind as a rearguard could be said to be quite reliable.

Thus, among the other Cao camp generals, Cao Cao finally chose to sacrifice Yu Jin.

Facing Cao Cao's gaze, a hint of helplessness flashed in Yu Jin's eyes.

But he also knew that he was indeed the most suitable candidate to stay behind.

"Subordinate Yu Jin is willing to share the worries for my Lord."

Yu Jin said, cupping his hands.

Hearing this, Cao Cao sighed long:

"Wenze, rest assured."

"If you meet with misfortune, I will raise your wife and children."

Yu Jin showed a miserable smile.

But afterward, a flash of firmness flashed in his eyes.

He quickly selected five thousand elite soldiers from Cao Cao's command, preparing to serve as the rearguard.

Meanwhile,

the same scene was happening on Gongsun Zan's side.

Finally, it was decided that Wang Men would lead three thousand soldiers to stay behind.

But...

Whether it was Yu Jin or Wang Men,

or the eight thousand rearguard troops,

none of them understood what the significance of this rearguard action was.

.......

"General, the troops on Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan’s side have moved; it seems they intend to retreat!"

Beside Hua Xiong, several personal guards came to his side and reported.

Hearing this.

Hua Xiong instantly perked up.

He licked his dry lips slightly and sneered:

"Hehe, it seems Gao Shun and the Trapping Battalion have succeeded."

"Since that’s the case, pass down the order."

"The whole army is ready to charge at the enemy with me!"

Following Gu Yi’s order, Hua Xiong brought a full 50,000 defenders from Sishui Pass.

After Hua Xiong finished speaking.

In an instant.

The 50,000 defenders erupted with earth-shattering shouts!

Not far away, Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan, who were retreating, couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

They only hoped that the 8,000 rearguard troops could delay Hua Xiong for as long as possible.

Yu Jin and Wang Men looked at each other.

Subsequently, the two immediately led the rearguard to launch a surprise attack on Hua Xiong’s 50,000 troops!

However.

Even if these 8,000 troops were stupid, they knew at this moment that they had become abandoned pawns.

How could they erupt with enough combat effectiveness?

Therefore, in front of Hua Xiong’s 50,000 troops, these 8,000 rearguard troops were like persimmons made of mud.

In less than a quarter of an hour, they were scattered.

Although Yu Jin and Wang Men tried their best to stabilize military discipline, it was of no avail.

In the end, even these two simply threw away their weapons and waited for death to come.

Suddenly.

Hua Xiong’s thick voice came over.

He raised the weapon in his hand and roared sternly:

"Give up resistance, those who surrender will not be killed!"

Hearing this, the 8,000 rearguard troops scattered more than half.

Being able to survive is naturally better than dying.

Yu Jin and Wang Men didn’t have any intention of stopping the rearguard from surrendering.

Soon, including the two of them.

Nearly three-quarters of the 8,000 rearguard troops were taken prisoner.

After capturing these rearguard troops, the personal guards beside Hua Xiong asked him:

"General, do we still need to continue the pursuit?"

"Do not pursue a desperate enemy."

"Everything that follows has long been arranged by Linzhi."

Hua Xiong smiled.

If it were in the past, with his personality, he would definitely have rushed to launch a pursuit without regard for his own safety.

But with Gu Yi, Hua Xiong is used to listening to Gu Yi’s arrangements for everything.

Anyway, he just needs to charge and fight.

Gu Yi will arrange everything in advance.

So far.

No enemy has been able to get any benefit from Gu Yi.

In Hua Xiong’s view.

Since Gu Yi didn’t let him rack his brains to pursue Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan, there is naturally a certain reason for this.

On the other side.

Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan led their main army and tried their best to rush back to the grain storage area.

But when they returned to the grain storage area.

The battle had long since ended.

All the grain was burned to ashes by the fire.

Corpses were strewn everywhere, blood flowed into rivers, and tragic scenes appeared.

Only a few wounded soldiers who were lucky enough not to die were resting by the tents at this moment.

But looking at the injuries on their bodies, I’m afraid they don’t have long to live.

In the grain camp, Dan Jing, Tian Kai, and Cao Chun, who were stationed here, all lost their tracks.

According to the report of the few wounded soldiers who were lucky enough not to die, all three generals were captured by the Trapping Battalion.

The hot-tempered Gongsun Zan immediately threatened to skin the Trapping Battalion alive.

But... he could only be impotently furious at this moment.

The Trapping Battalion, at Gu Yi’s request.

Had long used the Qinling Mountains to train an excellent ability to climb mountains!

They used the continuous small mountains to quietly bypass the rear and raid the grain camp of Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan.

Don’t look at the Trapping Battalion climbing mountains very easily.

But if it were other infantry.

It would be impossible to climb over the mountains near Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass so easily.

"Miaocai, Zixiao, count the casualties."

Cao Cao suppressed the anger in his heart and ordered Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren beside him in a deep voice.

The two generals took the order and left.

But in reality, except for the few wounded soldiers who were lucky enough to escape by relying on the tents.

There was no one alive in the entire grain camp.

Cheng Yu and Xi Zhicai followed behind Cao Cao.

They were very worried that Cao Cao would be deeply hit by this matter.

Cao Chun might not be famous in the romance.

But in reality, he was the first commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in the Cao camp, and also Cao Ren’s own younger brother.

They were cousins.

He was one of the generals Cao Cao trusted the most.

Although the Cao camp Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had not yet officially taken shape.

But Cao Chun had good talent in commanding cavalry.

Cao Cao was planning to form an elite cavalry led by Cao Chun after returning.

But he didn’t expect that he would die before he could succeed.

The shadow of the elite cavalry hadn’t been seen yet.

Cao Chun had already been captured by the Trapping Battalion, and his life or death was unknown.

After thinking slightly.

Xi Zhicai decided to take the risk of angering Cao Cao and spoke up to persuade:

"My Lord, please take the overall situation into account."

"Our army has lost all its grain."

"And there are no crops to harvest near Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass."

"For a hundred miles around, it is all barren land."

"Whether our army retreats or continues to fight, we must first solve the grain problem."

"Otherwise... the three armies will be in danger!"

Cao Cao naturally understood what Xi Zhicai said.

When the Guandong warlords formed the coalition, the grain was all brought by themselves.

Nowadays.

The grain of Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan was burned to ashes by Gao Shun and the Trapping Battalion.

The troops under their command didn’t even have a single bit of rations left.

What’s even more pit-like is.

All the soldiers already knew the fact that the grain was burned.

Even if Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan wanted to temporarily hide the news, they couldn’t hide it at this moment.

Deeply sighing a long breath.

At this moment, Cao Cao seemed to have aged more than five years.

He turned and said to Cheng Yu and Xi Zhicai: