Chapter 91 The fight between trapped beasts
Standing on the top of the Xiangyang city wall, Liu Biao looked out at the battlefield seven or eight miles away.

Here you can vaguely see white flags on the mountains.

Liu Biao's staff watched the battle. When Liu Xian, the governor, saw Cai Mao advancing to the vicinity of Wanshan and forming a battle array, he wondered, "Is he waiting for reinforcements?"

Will Cai Mao have other reinforcements?
Liu Xian couldn't think of who would help Cai Mao now. No one would give up easily before the war situation became clear.

General Han Xi explained: "The soldiers from Yicheng came upstream and are exhausted. Although the White Goose bandits were also exhausted after attacking Wanshan, they are now in a high place, which is not conducive to a feint attack."

Seeing this, Liu Biao stroked his beard and pondered: "Let's wait and see."

The scouts returned, entered the city gate, and quickly climbed up the city wall.

Panting, "The White Goose bandits are brave and fierce, attacking left and right, harassing Lord Cai's camp, causing unrest in the formation and making the officers and soldiers uneasy!"

Liu Biao was puzzled: "What is this white goose thief general?"

Liu Hu, the nephew wearing a golden helmet and armor, said, "Uncle, he is the cavalry general who repeatedly penetrated the camps of Xiahou Yuanrang and Yu Wenzhe. We still don't know his name."

"It turned out to be him."

Liu Biao was deeply impressed by this. Zhang Yun, who was in charge of internal intelligence, said: "As far as I know, this man is called Taishi Jin, with the courtesy name Wengong, and is from Langya. It's strange that he has such great strength, but he serves under the command of a small thief. It's really a pearl thrown into the dark."

He was Liu Biao's nephew and was very trusted.

Even the incident in Nanxiang was learned by Zhang Yun first, who notified Liu Biao immediately.

"Taishi Wengong..."

Liu Biao stroked his beard and pondered, then glanced at Liu Xian: "If I can get such a brave general, Jingzhou will have no worries."

Liu Xian bowed and said, "My lord, you love talents. I will go out of the city to recruit this person."

"Well, I would like to treat you as a General of the Central Army."

Liu Biao couldn't help but smile as he spoke, and he told Liu Xian: "Success or failure is not important. If I don't do this, people will say that I don't value talents."

"Yes, I understand."

Liu Xian bowed again, and without hearing any instructions from Liu Biao, he immediately stepped back a few steps, went down the city wall, and led several guards towards the battlefield.

Anyway, the opportunity has been given, and whether he can seize it depends on Tai Shi Wengong.

Liu Xian galloped westward along the road and first passed the garrison at Qiaokou, led by Wen Pin, a native of Wanzhou, Nanyang.

Wen Pin rode his horse to greet him, looking very majestic in his gilded armor. He immediately asked, "Mr. Zhizhong, what brings you here?"

Liu Xian looked at the figure of the general in white robe and golden armor galloping on horseback three or four miles away and said: "I am here to recruit Taishi Wengong in accordance with the order of my lord."

Seeing Liu Xian pointing his whip at the golden-armored general, Wen Pin suddenly realized his true name and immediately advised, "This General Taishi is extremely brave and has killed seven of our elite scouts in the battle. If you want to go, please hold the apricot yellow flag to avoid any accidental injuries."

At this time, a military officer beside Wen Pin reminded him, "General, Lord Zhizhong, this general Taishi dragged his halberd and drew two circles on the ground. Don't get close to these two circles, or you won't be attacked by him."

Liu Xian thought about it for a moment and also observed that side. He saw that the man was riding his horse slowly around Cai Mao's position. If there were any knights invading, he would only pursue them in a small area and had no intention of pursuing them deeply.

While he was thinking, Wen Pin beside him waved his hand, and immediately a military officer took down a hidden apricot yellow flag from the drum cart.

When Liu Xian got the Apricot Yellow Flag, he did not refuse, but he always felt something was wrong.

They looked at Wen Pin from top to bottom and asked, "If Cai Degui is clearly on the verge of defeat, will the general send troops to rescue him?"

"Without the lord's order, I will not dare to move my troops."

Wen Pin looked back at the outline of Xiangyang City, and then said to Liu Xian: "My scouts have seen many white flags on the top of the mountains, with the words 'Cai Mao colluded with the enemy and plotted rebellion' written on them. The prince is kind and kind, and many people in Jingzhou love him. Would the Duke of Zhizhong be willing to pay a visit to the prince? Perhaps there is some misunderstanding."

"Is there such a thing?"

Liu Xian frowned and asked, "Then have you sent anyone to pay a visit to the prince?"

Seeing that Wen Pin was silent, Liu Xian said, "I am afraid that this is another witchcraft rebellion. From the look of my master, he seems to be unaware of it. If someone is interfering and intercepting the prince's letters... the prince is filial and worried about the change in Xiangyang, so it is reasonable for him to send troops to fight against the rebels and protect my master."

A prominent family from the Jingnan royal family and a powerful man from Nanyang looked at each other at this moment.

Liu Xian said cautiously, "Last night, Cai Degui disturbed the lord late at night and then left the city. Unexpectedly, he brought all his old subordinates and soldiers here."

Wen Pin frowned, and followed this line of thought to deduce and analyze: "So the lord only knew that there was a change outside the city, but didn't know the details, so he just ordered the navy to cut off the Han River?"

Many people in later generations felt deeply sorry for the Witchcraft and Poisoning Rebellion, and it seemed that it could have been avoided in time if the information channels had been unblocked.

And now, there seems to be a similar information barrier.

Liu Xian nodded and immediately solemnly instructed Wen Pin: "I will go to pay my respects to the prince right away. If there are any military orders during this period, please delay for a while."

Wen Pin looked embarrassed: "My lord has trusted me to lead the army. If I hesitate or get in the way..."

"Can the general feel at ease knowing that the lord and the prince have been deceived by a villain?"

Liu Xian asked back without giving Wen Pin a chance to reply. He immediately kicked the horse's belly lightly, turned the horse's head, and headed west along Longzhong Road. Three guards followed him holding an apricot yellow flag.

On top of the mountains, Black Bear saw that the Blue, Red, Yellow and White teams had assembled, and immediately controlled the actions of the four Taoist soldiers from a distance.

Each Taoist soldier was assigned fifty flag guards, who served as moving indicators and led the assigned Qingzhou soldiers down the mountain.

At this time, it was around eleven o'clock in the morning.

Seeing the four teams of Qingzhou soldiers in blue, red, yellow and white colors set out, Gan Ning's troops, who had arrived at the foot of the mountain to rest for nearly an hour, blew the horn again.

Along the flat Longzhong Road, the eight hundred-man teams of the Jinfan Front Camp formed a battle formation and advanced.

There were three teams of heavy armored soldiers in the front, followed by two teams, and finally three teams at the end.

Two miles away, Cai Mao stood on the chariot and looked around. He was very annoyed with the thief general in white robe and golden armor.

Although he had heard of the enemy's reputation at Bowangpo, battlefield legends were bound to be exaggerated and distorted. He did not expect that the enemy could really invade his 5,000-strong army on a single horse.

A dozen knights rushed forward, but they were no match for the enemy; if there were more than twenty knights, the enemy would turn around and leave. If they were pursued, their formation would be stretched and they would take the opportunity to counterattack and kill them.

If more people were sent to pursue, the enemy would just circle around the formation, and after running two or three rounds, the horsepower of most knights would begin to run out. No one knew where the enemy got the divine and fine horses from, but they had such abundant horsepower!

He was unable to drive out the enemy, but the enemy did not dare to charge into his dense formation alone.

Therefore, the soldiers under Cai Mao could take turns to rest, drink water, and eat dry food to replenish their strength.

But near noon, when Cai Mao was waiting for reinforcements, he saw Gan Ning begin to advance at the foot of Wanshan Mountain, and four groups of soldiers holding four-color battle flags were coming down the mountain in an orderly manner.

Gan Ning even divided his rear team into three teams of one hundred men and sent them to the bank of Tan Creek, two miles away. These three hundred lightly-armored bandits took off their pants and began to add water to the Tan Creek.

Two miles downstream, a military officer who was using a bronze helmet to strike water saw this and smashed the helmet to the ground, splashing water: "The Jinfan bandits are bullying me too much!"

He had a red scarf wrapped around his head, a pale face and no beard. He was over seven feet tall, but not considered strong.

He just has thin eyebrows and a sinister temperament.

He immediately went to find Cai Mao angrily and said, "Uncle, I am willing to lead the front team to fight the Jinfan bandits to the death!"

"You and Wen Pin are old friends. Go and urge them to come!"

Cai Mao lowered his eyes to examine his nephew and said, "Bring a few more horses. Wen Pin is unwilling to send troops to rescue us. Go ask Lu Gong and Chen Mao stationed on the island. If these two are unable to provide support..."

Cai Qiang's eyes shrank after hearing this, and he trembled, "Uncle?"

"If they are unable to support you, you should cross the Han River and escape to the Central Plains."

Cai Mao's tone was low, and Cai Qiang couldn't believe it. He leaned close to the chariot and whispered, "What does uncle mean?"

"Don't think too much, I'm just taking precautions."

After comforting his nephew, Cai Mao smiled and said, "Prince Liu Qi was kidnapped by the enemy army. My lord knows the seriousness of the matter."

Moreover, even without reinforcements, we must fight this battle to the end!

Only by letting people around know that the Cai family has the military force to protect themselves can we avoid unnecessary coveting and spying.

Cai Mao was very clear about his own position, and even more clear about what the consequences would be if he failed in this battle.

Even though Liu Biao might abandon Liu Qi and enthrone Liu Cong, the Cai family would expose their own weakness in this battle.

That would cause Liu Biao to dislike him and bring more trouble.

Therefore, when the enemy general patrolled to the west, Cai Qiang and his dozen riders took the opportunity to gallop eastward and attack Wen Pin's position directly.

After watching his nephew walk away, Cai Mao saw that Gan Ning's three heavily-armored troops of 100 men had stopped a mile away, so he let out a grim smile and said, "How dare you come? You don't dare to fight me?"

He turned his head to look at the person next to him: "Beat the drum, order the front team to press forward!"

"Here!"

The military officer shouted loudly and rode his horse to the front. At the same time, eight drum carts around Cai Mao started beating giant drums.

The sound of drums was like thunder, inspiring the spirits of the tired soldiers.

The front team beat drums in an orderly manner, and a battalion of eight hundred men advanced westward along Longzhong Road.

Soon afterwards, the second battalion formed up and began to march westward to the beat of drums.

In front of them, Gan Ning was marching in front of the heavy infantry formation, seven bells on his waist jingling, he raised his sword and shouted: "The attack and killing of Zhang Tong has proved the sharpness of our army!"

"General Qu is on top of the mountains. Now is the time to show our army's tenacity!"

After shouting, Gan Ning raised his sword and struck the small shield in his hand. The three heavy infantry centuries struck their weapons one after another, most of them using spears and halberds.

Short-range weapons such as the ring-handled sword are only effective in melee combat. When the battle formations collide, it is natural to seek long-handled weapons such as spears and halberds.

The front teams of both sides gradually approached each other, all equipped with heavy armor, spears and halberds, and assisted by upright shields and small shields.

When they were seventy steps away, Cai Mao's troops, who were wealthy and powerful, began to shoot arrows.

Gan Ning also had a skilled archer in his ranks, who wielded a strong bow to shoot at the enemy.

But the other side intended to suppress them, and arrows rained densely on the three heavy infantry phalanxes, making it difficult to kill them on the spot.

The heavy infantry in the front row held upright shields, spears and halberds, while those in the back held small shields at an angle and bent their bodies slightly to reduce their exposed area.

As the distance approached forty steps, Gan Ning's rear formation fired a volley of arrows into the air, which fell seventy or eighty steps away and landed right on the enemy's archer formation.

Almost at the same time, the enemy's front-line heavy infantry launched a charge.

Gan Ning shouted loudly: "Hold on! Hold on!"

"Throw a spear!"

Three square formations of one hundred men constitute a round of short spear projection.

The powerful short spears pierced the enemy's heavy infantry phalanx, and the slightly scattered phalanx was immediately thrown into chaos, followed by a second round of short spear projection.

Three consecutive rounds of short spears threw out, causing Cai Mao's five heavy infantry phalanxes to be separated in front and back. The soldiers who reacted turned around and ran, and the armored soldiers with better quality did not forget to drag the wounded.

During this time, Gan Ning resisted the urge to chase and still shouted loudly: "Don't chase! Stay steady!"

Soon, the armored soldiers on the opposite side who turned around and fled were immediately picked up by the soldiers in the second formation and driven forward again.

Gan Ning had used up all his spears here and now stood firm in his formation.

In the blink of an eye, the two sides collided with each other. During the fierce confrontation, the lines were pulled apart and the front-row soldiers were caught in a melee.

At this time, Lu Bu, who had circled back, slowly accelerated his horse, raised the Fang Tian Ji in both hands, and aimed directly at the captain of Cai Mao's front team.

At this time, Cai Mao also sent the third battalion to detour southward, attempting to flank Gan Ning before the Wanshan bandit army could reinforce him.

(End of this chapter)