Chapter 74: Regression
Wancheng, Sun Qian rode his horse straight into the city.

This is a very large city. Even if only a small area in the city is cleared, it is enough to garrison Liu Qi's 3,000 soldiers and horses.

When Sun Qian arrived, 3,000 men under Liu Qi's command were lined up in an open area waiting.

And Xu Shu was still playing chess with Liu Qi.

The news of Yuan Shao's death had already arrived, and more news from Hebei also gradually reached Jingzhou.

The fact that the two Yuans joined forces to purge the people of Yingchuan dealt a severe blow to Liu Qi's morale. What made him even more frustrated was that Guo Yuan, who was highly valued by General Yuan Shao, turned out to be Cao Cao's accomplice.

This person is the nephew of Zhong Yao, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, and also the brother-in-law of Yuan Tan.

It was also Yuan Tan who exposed it himself, but Guo Yuan ran too fast and escaped from Taiyuan to Hedong.

In terms of time, there is the ancient inheritance of the old and new by Liu Zhang and his son in Yizhou.

Liu Yan let his third son Liu Mao lead the troops very early on, and his intention to inherit his legacy was very obvious.

Unfortunately, the big families in Yizhou preferred the gentle Liu Zhang, so Liu Mao stepped aside.

Liu Zhang looked kind but was actually cruel. After he came to power, the big families in Yizhou found it difficult to control Liu Zhang, and the conflict led to a war between the two sides.

Almost the entire state rebelled, and the rebels of the big families in Yizhou trapped Liu Zhang in an isolated city. Liu Zhang relied on the soldiers from Dongzhou to fight back and suppress the rebellious big families in Yizhou.

Liu Qi did not want to be involved in military affairs because of Liu Zhang of Yizhou, so as not to arouse the vigilance and resistance of the big families in Jingzhou.

However, recent events in Hebei have made Liu Qi increasingly confused about the way forward.

In general, he did not want to lose Jingzhou's favorable status, nor did he want to take the risk of expanding into other places.

Inheriting my father's legacy, I will live the same life in the future as I did in the past.

This was Liu Qi's wishful thinking, so he resisted the military power.

Just like his father Liu Biao, he rarely went to the front line to participate in command and combat.

He was very similar to Liu Biao and imitated him in every way. He just wanted to inherit everything intact and did not want to be involved in any other troubles.

Liu Qi lacked concentration and his thoughts were in a mess. Soon, he was forced into a desperate situation by Xu Shu. He held the chess piece in his hand and pondered.

It seems like he is still trying to find a way to make a comeback.

Xu Shu spoke at this time: "Hebei is about to take Guanzhong, why don't you use it as a support? You can make friends with the heroes in Guanzhong, and they will be helpful if something unexpected happens in the future. If your foundation is overturned, it will also be a place to stay."

While Liu Qi was hesitating, Sun Qian bowed and said, "My lord Liu Xuande has declared in public that it will take you only one thought to defeat the enemy. If you defend yourself without helping, after this battle, my lord Liu Xuande will gather his officers and soldiers to enter Guanzhong through Wuguan Road!"

Liu Bei took his men away. Did he expect the people of Nanyang to stand up and resist Cao's army?
Liu Qi remembered very clearly how badly his father had cheated the people of Nanyang.

Seeing that Liu Qi was beginning to waver, Xu Shu also stood up and bowed: "Today's battle will surely be heard far and wide. If you just stand by and watch, who will dare to serve Jingzhou?"

Liu Qi glanced sideways at the military officers who were commanding the troops. They all had dark, determined eyes filled with expectation, and it was clear that they wanted to fight.

When Cao's army marched south, they had to either surrender or fight back.

If Liu Bei led his men to escape into Guanzhong, who in the current Jingzhou could resist Cao's army?

Seeing this, Liu Qi stood up and drew his sword: "To keep Jingzhou peaceful, I will follow the officers and soldiers to kill the bandits!"

With his sword raised and his arms waving, Liu Qi shouted, "Beat the drums! Send the troops to Bowangpo!"

The sound of drums rumbled through the air; Xu Shu and Sun Qian looked at each other silently and both shook their heads slightly.

It is too dangerous to fight together with such an ally.

On the other side, Bowangpo East.

As time gradually approached afternoon, the more than 800 soldiers of Black Bear's army began to eat the last dry food before the war.

He was riding on a horse and looking far to the east from a small ridge on the east side. He saw that more than 3,000 troops under Li Dian also crossed the river one after another. They took apart the armor they were carrying on their backs on the shore and put on the armor one after another.

More than a hundred knights gathered and moved slowly along the road towards the east of Bowangpo, obviously trying to contact Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin.

Black Bear didn't want to perform any more tricks like "the warhorse is tired", so he immediately ordered Lu Bu, who was riding on the one-horned Yin-dried horse, to gallop forward.

Unexpectedly, the other side had never seen the ability of Lu Bu. More than a hundred knights on the opposite side accelerated and charged with spears and halberds.

In this state, Lu Bu didn't know what fear and mercy were.

A single rider crashed into the enemy's cavalry formation, raising a cloud of dust that obscured the view.

The black bear couldn't see Lu Bu's figure clearly, so he couldn't give accurate remote control commands.

Soon the mountain wind blew away the smoke and dust, and it was seen that Lu Bu had failed to penetrate the enemy cavalry formation in one fell swoop, and was surrounded and fell into chaos.

The horses collided with each other, and only a dozen people could get close to Lu Bu to launch an attack, while more people could only ride horses and circle around the periphery.

Anyone could be knocked off their horse by Lu Bu's halberd at any time. He did not need any skill to wield the 18-foot-long Fang Tian Halberd.

If you push it towards someone, you can easily knock him off his horse; when you pull the halberd back with your backhand, if the side branch of the halberd hooks or touches him, you can definitely seriously injure the opponent.

After knocking down more than twenty enemy cavalrymen in succession, Black Bear saw an opening when the enemy dragged the wounded out of the battle, so he immediately ordered Lu Bu to break out of the encirclement and head south.

The remaining knights chased after him and kept chasing Lu Bu.

"As expected of a soldier from the Shanyang Li clan!"

Black Bear sighed, he had learned a lot from fighting these days and also learned some military knowledge.

The elite troops could only withstand 30% casualties, but more than a hundred of the enemy knights were shot down by Lu Bu, and more than twenty of them were killed or injured. As a result, they chased Lu Bu like crazy.

He was so focused on revenge that he ignored his fear.

Not only these knights, but also more than a hundred knights from the Li family's army that crossed the river came out one after another, chasing Lu Bu southward. At this time, Gan Ning also came to the earthen ridge, with heavy steps and a large area of ​​eye shadow smeared with ink. Gan Ning squinted his eyes and looked into the distance, exclaiming: "He is really fierce and stubborn!"

He knew very well that the cavalry general was not a human being at all.

Black Bear was a little disappointed: "I thought it could stir up the Li family's troops, but I didn't expect it could only lead away more than 200 cavalrymen."

To hold back an army of 3,000 men alone in the wild...is obviously unrealistic.

It was only because Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin encountered an ambush and dropped too many weapons when they retreated in panic, otherwise they would not have been bullied by Lu Bu repeatedly.

In fact, it was just harassing a group of tired soldiers, and there were not many effective casualties.

It just interfered with Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin's rest plan and limited the other party's water-collecting efficiency.

While they were chatting and watching, Liu Qi's 3,000 fresh troops also meandered out of Wancheng, bypassing Yushan Mountain, and there was a small hill called Fengshan between them and Bowangpo.

Liu Bei's troops beat slow drums everywhere, the rhythm of the drums was deep and slow, which boosted morale.

Xiahou Dun's troops also began to beat drums, making a final effort for the upcoming final collision.

Xiahou Dun looked around and felt that the situation was becoming more and more critical.

When Liu Qi's 3,000 men arrived at Bowangpo, it was the time for Liu Bei to launch the decisive general offensive.

And behind them, there are eight hundred white goose thieves waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Regardless of whether the enemy blocked Li Dian or let him pass, it would threaten the flank and prevent his side from fully responding to Liu Bei's fierce attack.

Even by calculating the distance, the enemy could arrive before Li Dian and cooperate with Liu Bei to launch a pincer attack!

Otherwise, should we evacuate in advance before Liu Qi's troops arrive?

In this way, Li Dian's troops would not need to move more than ten routes to provide support, and could conserve their energy and stay by the Lishui River.

After Liu Qi's troops arrived at Bowangpo, they hardly had the strength to continue the pursuit and fighting, and had to rest.

As long as they retreat, Liu Qi's 3,000 men can be wiped out from the battle sequence, and Li Dian's troops will have full physical strength!
Liu Bei's troops pursued to the edge of Lishui. A distance of more than ten miles was enough to exhaust the physical strength of Liu Bei's troops!

If Liu Bei really dared to chase that far, he would have to face Li Dian’s counterattack!
Xiahou Dun made a decision in a split second and summoned the commanders of each battalion: "I want to withdraw the troops in sequence. The front line will withdraw first and set up a battle array behind Yu Jin's formation. I will lead the central army to withdraw and set up a battle array behind the new front line. The third line will withdraw again, followed by Yu Jin's rear line and two lines. In this way, we can meet up with Li Dian's troops before nightfall."

This is not some profound tactic. All the military officers said, "Yes!"

As for the wounded, they can only take care of themselves.

There were also soldiers who died or were lost in the morning, and the military officers in charge of each team also made a rough statistics.

After the troops have withdrawn safely, the officials will then make the detailed arrangements.

Xiahou Dun still had considerable trust in the troops under his command.

Because... this is the legendary Qingzhou soldier!
Liu Bei reacted quickly. When he found that the Cao army in confrontation began to retreat, he immediately sent Zhang Fei to the front.

Zhao Yun and Guan Yu each led their troops to bypass both sides in an attempt to intercept and disrupt Cao's army's retreat.

As long as the order is messed up, the soldiers will be in panic and their morale will fluctuate when they withdraw. If the order of retreat is messed up, the whole army may fall into chaos at any time and rush to flee!

At this moment, Black Bear was watching the battle on Bowang Slope, and asked with a smile, "Xingba, how do you think we should fight?"

Gan Ning thought seriously, "Since Xiahou Dun dared to retreat, he must have considered our army. What I mean is that we should retreat instead of advancing, and walk another three or four miles east along the road."

"This three or four li walk is just the right time for the soldiers to stretch their muscles, and the enemy is hungry and thirsty. When they reach the water, they will definitely fight for water, and their formation will definitely be in chaos!"

Gan Ning pointed to the river where more than 800 people were stationed and said, "This is where the enemy will surely attack. They will not relax until our army is defeated. They will surely attack fiercely in order to survive. Even if our army blocks their way, the loss will outweigh the gain."

He smiled and said, "When they are fighting for water, our army will suddenly rush out and achieve twice the result with half the effort!"

Xu Lin and Wang Wei were listening on the side. Xu Lin thought what he said made sense and nodded.

Wang Wei frowned after listening to this. What Gan Ning said made so much sense. After Black Bear listened to it and finally defeated Cao's army, how would this military achievement be counted?
Then I heard Black Bear say, "Let's go and mobilize the troops together."

More than a dozen people mounted their horses and returned to their own teams, commanding the soldiers to move to the Chidao, and then began to move towards Li Dian's troops, giving up control of the river.

At Bowang Slope, Xiahou Dun's central army fought and retreated, and soon retreated into the third formation led by Xiahou Lan.

The third formation originally had two battalions, but now there are only more than 1,200 soldiers able to fight. They are organized into fourteen square formations of 100 people and arranged in three layers along the road.

Zhang Fei attacked head-on, Guan Yu was still marching on the flank, and Zhao Yun's troops came the fastest and penetrated from the flank!
In an instant, the northwest corner of Xiahou Lan's blocking formation collapsed.

Zhao Yun rode his horse straight ahead, followed by more than thirty knights, who frightened Xiahou Lan and caused the various teams under his command to lose coordination for a moment.

When Xiahou Lan saw the three formations in the right front collapsed, he could not stop them and led his team forward to provide support.

It happened that Zhao Yun rushed into the formation and turned back, recognized Xiahou Lan, and immediately rushed sideways on his horse.

With one spear, Zhao Yun knocked down Xiahou Lan's flag bearer, and the moment the spear shaft broke, Zhao Yun let go.

They caught the spear thrust by Xiahou Lan almost at the same time and pulled it skillfully. Xiahou Lan had almost no chance to resist or fight back, and he and his flag-bearing soldier fell off their horses one after another.

Xiahou Lan's personal soldiers stepped forward and tried to force Zhao Yun to retreat, but Zhao Yun repeatedly blocked and hit them with the spear he had seized.

In just two breaths of time, Zhao Yun's cavalry arrived one after another, charging with waves of lances. Xiahou Lan's personal soldiers fell off their horses one after another, and the infantry immediately dispersed.

When the dizzy Xiahou Lan stood up, Zhao Yun drew his sword and put it on Xiahou Lan's shoulder: "Tie him up!"

Xiahou Lan looked up angrily and recognized Zhao Yun, but he was immediately discouraged and surrendered.

Zhao Yun sheathed his sword again, and a cavalryman took out Zhao Yun's spare lance and handed it to him: "Sima, the Black Captain is retreating!"

He turned his head to look at the distance below the slope, then moved his gaze closer. A hundred steps away was the battle flag of General Yu Jin: "Don't worry about him, just follow me and bite Yu Jin!"

(End of this chapter)