Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 191 Cao Rui escapes, the Han army captures Chang'an City (6k)

The Han army surged like a torrent.

Liu Feng's military power was already very strong, and his soldiers were submissive to him.

At this moment, he personally rode his horse to charge into battle, leading by example.

The bowstring of the precious eagle sounded, the sharp arrow flew out of the string, and in an instant a flag-bearer of the Wei army fell off his horse.

His brave posture is like that of a god.

"kill!"

"Kill!"

The general is the courage of the soldiers.

Liu Feng's bravery was like a raging fire in the hearts of the Han soldiers. Their courage grew so much that they only focused on the Wei army ahead.

"The Han army is mighty."

The school officer who was in charge of leading the slogan shouting shouted at the top of his lungs.

There were also war cries like tsunamis one after another, shouting in response.

"Escape quickly!"

The strength of the Han army made the Wei army officers frightened, and they called on their troops to fight as they marched towards Chiyang.

If they fail to break out quickly, it will be difficult to break out again once the Han army attacking from both sides completes the division and encirclement on the battlefield.

The situation in a team battle often cannot be reversed by individual bravery.

Just like when Cao Cao adopted Xun You's strategy in the past and used baggage to lure Wen Chou's soldiers, causing chaos in Wen Chou's army formation and Cao Cao took advantage of the chaos to attack and kill them. In the end, even a brave man like Wen Chou died in the chaos.

The Wei army at this moment is not much better than Wen Chou's army in the past.

The army was already exhausted from the long journey back, and had been in a standoff with Liu Feng for a long time. When both sides were in a tug of war, they were suddenly outflanked by Wei Yan and Meng Da.

Not only was their morale at risk, but their formation was also in disarray. Worse still, they pushed and trampled on each other, and in their panic they completely ignored the lives of their former comrades.

Fortunately, it was Cao Zhen and Zhang He who were in command. If it had been an ordinary army, the moment Wei Yan and Meng Da appeared, the Wei army would have been defeated like a landslide.

Even so, Cao Zhen and Zhang He still had difficulty in commanding.

If you look down.

It can be seen that the further the Wei army strays away from Cao Zhen and Zhang He, the more confused they become, running around like headless flies.

"It's urgent, everyone follow me to break through."

Seeing that the formation was becoming increasingly chaotic, Zhang He knew that it was no longer possible to safely withdraw the army back to Chiyang.

He did not care about the soldiers in the rear who were still in panic, and only focused on breaking through with the soldiers who could keep up.

Cao Zhen looked at his soldiers who were becoming increasingly chaotic and was filled with anger. He said, "I never thought that we would suffer such a great defeat today. I am ashamed of my Majesty!"

When Cao Zhen was ordered to guard Chang'an, Cao Pi once held Cao Zhen's hand and told him, "Zidan should go to Guanzhong to hone his skills. The position of general will definitely be yours in the future."

The first general of Cao Wei was Xiahou Dun, and after Xiahou Dun’s death, it was Cao Ren who took over.

What Cao Pi meant by this was that after Cao Ren's death, Cao Zhen would become the general.

Although Cao Xiu should be more qualified than Cao Zhen to succeed Cao Zhen as the general in terms of seniority, Cao Pi prefers Cao Zhen to be the general in terms of closeness.

As for fairness?

There is no fairness.

Cao Pi was an advocate of a centralized type of emperor, and since his power resources were limited, he would naturally use whoever was closer to him.

Cao Zhen has always been willing to serve Cao Pi wholeheartedly.

Never thought.

Cao Pi's expectations have now been let down by Cao Zhen.

In the battlefield.

Wei Yan spotted Cao Zhen's flag with his sharp eyes, and led his personal guards to charge forward, and ordered the soldiers to shout, "Kill Cao Zhen and you will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins."

Wei Yan was the first to take the lead, shooting and killing the Wei soldiers in front of him, while shouting: "Here is General Wei Yan of the Han Dynasty, Cao Zhen, you dare to fight me!"

Hearing the shouts of "Kill Cao Zhen and get a reward of a thousand gold coins," and seeing Wei Yan's general flag, Cao Zhen's eyes turned red and he also became ruthless.

"A tiger in a low position is playing tricks on a vicious dog!"

"Your Majesty's kindness, I can only repay it with a fight to the death!"

Cao Zhen bent his bow and shot dead a fierce soldier on Wei Yan's left, then picked up his spear and was about to rush forward to fight.

Seeing that Cao Zhen was advancing instead of retreating, everyone around him was shocked and hurried to stop him.

"General, don't be impulsive. Retreat quickly!"

"General, victory and defeat are common in the military. Don't lose your life because of a momentary mistake!"

"General, the Han dogs are powerful, let's avoid them for now!"

"You guys, please escort the general and quickly retreat. We will stop the Han dogs."

"."

Cao Zhen wanted to fight, but Cao Zhen's personal guards did not dare to let Cao Zhen get carried away and die.

A personal guard general even tried hard to turn Cao Zhen's warhorse around and stabbed the horse hard on its butt.

The warhorse felt pain and ran away dragging Cao Zhen along.

Some of the personal guards on the left and right quickly followed, while others formed an arc to block the rear.

"You guys misunderstood me."

Cao Zhen was a little furious, but he couldn't stop his horse from running wildly after feeling the pain. He was both anxious and angry for a moment.

The guards carrying the general's flag didn't care what Cao Zhen shouted.

For the personal guards, the current battlefield situation is irreversible even for them, so how to save Cao Zhen's life is the duty of the personal guards.

As Zhang He and Cao Zhen retreated and fled in defeat, the morale of the remaining Wei soldiers became even lower. They wished their parents could give them two more legs, fearing that they would lose their lives if they ran too slowly.

The chaotic battlefield continued until dark.

In the end, there were less than five thousand people who could follow Zhang He and Cao Zhen to escape to Chiyang!
The rest of the soldiers were either killed or surrendered, but more of them fled in all directions.

Unless it is a large-scale encirclement and annihilation battle, there is actually not much effective casualties on the battlefield.

When charging, the priority is basically to kill the general and seize the flag, and few people are busy chasing after the scattered soldiers.

"You escaped so fast!"

Wei Yan made a "Puh" sound and spat out the saliva in his mouth.

Although the Wei army suffered a great defeat, it failed to capture and kill Zhang He and Cao Zhen, so naturally it did not get the greatest credit.

If he could capture and kill either Zhang He or Cao Zhen, Wei Yan believed that his reputation would be at its peak.

Huang Zhong killed General Xiahou Yuan, who immediately became famous in Hanzhong and his power spread to Cao Wei.

If Wei Yan could capture and kill Zhang He, the left general of Cao Wei, or Cao Zhen, who was also the general of the Western Expedition of Cao Wei, he would also be able to achieve the same fame as Huang Zhong in the past.

Although it was a pity, Wei Yan was not really upset about it for too long.

After a while.

All the generals joined forces.

Wei Yan asked Liu Feng about etiquette, and was quite polite.

Meng Da turned his head away proudly and just bowed symbolically.

Today, Liu Feng is not only the King of Yan, but also the General of the Northern Expedition and the General of Chariots and Cavalry. He is no longer the Liu Feng in Shangyong who regarded Meng Da as an unstable factor and suppressed him in order to survive.

For people with great ambitions, the higher their position, the more they will become extraordinary.

Even if Meng Da was disrespectful at this moment, Liu Feng would not be angry.

"Today, I am fortunate to have General Wei and General Meng come to my aid in time. Otherwise, I would have been defeated and returned to Yaoguan. When I see my father in the future, I will report the great achievements of the two generals."

Even without Wei Yan and Meng Da, Liu Feng would not have been defeated, it would just have been more difficult.

but.

Liu Feng's words sounded very pleasant to Wei Yan and Meng Da.

Meng Da, in particular, was filled with joy: Haha, without me, Meng Da, even Liu Feng could not defeat Zhang He and Cao Zhen; well, since Liu Feng has acknowledged my contribution, if I am rude again, wouldn't people underestimate my ability?

Think of this.

Meng Da also put away his arrogance and suppressed his joy. He saluted Liu Feng again and said, "Your Highness is too polite. If Your Highness had not captured Wuguan in one day and Yaoguan in ten days, and ambushed Zhang He, the two of us would not have been able to achieve this success."

But after these words were spoken, Wei Yan on the side looked at Meng Da with a strange and amusing look, as if to say: Arrogant at first and respectful later, it's laughable to think about it.

Liu Feng did not care about Meng Da's rudeness at first and respect later. After the greetings, he calmed down and said, "Although Cao Zhen and Zhang He retreated to Chiyang, they will definitely go to Chang'an.

Leave a thousand men to clean up the battlefield, and we can go to Chang'an first to intimidate Cao Rui inside the city and force him to abandon the city and flee."

The Wei army in Guanzhong suffered successive defeats, and this was the best time to attack Chang'an City.

Time is also destiny.

From ancient times to the present, the victory of a war is 70% hard work and 30% destiny.

For example, if the defender of Chang'an City at this moment is Cao Zhen, even if Liu Feng defeats Zhang He and Wei Yan and Meng Da outside the city and approaches the city, he can only achieve the "siege achievement" at most.

With such a small number of troops, it would be of little use to besiege the city.

the reason is simple.

Cao Zhen is a general who can live and die with the city.

however.

The current defender of Chang'an City is Cao Rui.

Cao Rui could not survive or perish with the city of Chang'an. This was not a military issue but a political issue.

Even if Cao Rui was determined to fight to the death, the civil and military officials around him would not let him fight to the death.

Taking advantage of the fact that Zhang He and Cao Zhen had just been defeated and had not yet returned to Chang'an City, and the fact that the Han army was advancing with an unstoppable momentum, it was a good opportunity to go to Chang'an City and scare the civil and military officials around Cao Rui.

Soldiers are valuable and quick.

Neither Liu Feng nor Wei Yan and Meng Da hesitated.

After leaving behind a thousand soldiers to escort the prisoners and clean up the battlefield, the three generals rushed to Chang'an City.

Wei Yan and Meng Da were in the north, while Zhang He went south to rescue Chang'an while besieging the city on guard against Cao Zhen who had fled to Chiyang.

Wang Ping and Li Ping were in the west, Liu Feng personally led the army in the south, leaving only the east undefended.

By using the strategy of "surrounding three and leaving one", a way to survive was left and the will to fight to the death of Cao Rui and his civil and military officials in Chang'an City was undermined.

The siege of the Han army caused panic among the officials, soldiers and civilians in Chang'an.

The piles of flags under the city also greatly undermined the morale of Cao Rui and others defending the city in Chang'an.

"General Zuo and General Zhengxi were both defeated?"

Cao Rui looked at the Han army under the city in disbelief.

Thinking of Zhong Yao's previous judgment, Cao Rui's mouth turned bitter.

One wrong move, every step is wrong.

If Xiahou Mao had not been allowed to go to Wuguan, the situation in Guanzhong would not have developed into its current predicament.

When masters compete, it is not so much about using clever strategies to defeat the opponent, but rather about using clever strategies to increase the probability of the opponent making mistakes.

Just like what Lei Jun said: our competitors are all XX.

We are not afraid of not being strong enough, but we are afraid of our opponents not being abstract.

Xiahou Mao's defeat at Wuguan was as abstract as those at Changsha, Liao Li, Jiangling, Mi Fang, and Jieting, Ma Su.

This is why.

Liu Feng has always believed that three parts of the battle are determined by fate, and seven parts depend on hard work.

To achieve a great victory does not necessarily mean that one is invincible in political strategy or military tactics, but more likely it is a matter of destiny and luck.

Or it can be simply understood as: gambling with your life.

If you win the bet, you live; if you lose the bet, you die.

The Battle of Jingzhou was able to save Jiangling and defeat Sun Quan, and the Battle of Guanzhong was also able to break through Wuguan and reach the city of Chang'an.

now.

Liu Feng won his life again, and changed the fate of Liu Bei's Northern Expedition and his inability to enter Guanzhong.

Liu Feng rode his horse and held a spear, his voice was like a loud bell, and his shouts were continuous.

"Military and civilians in the city, listen up!

I am Liu Feng, the King of Yan of the Han Dynasty, and I wish to welcome His Majesty back to the old capital!
If you are willing to open the city gates, I will ensure that you will retain your official titles and your land and houses.

If you are stubborn and want to be buried with Cao Ni, on the day the city is captured, you will be slaughtered and sacrificed in front of Emperor Gaozu's mausoleum."

Behind Liu Feng.

The Han army roared like thunder, shouting in unison: "Surrender quickly!"
After the shouts were heard, the officials and soldiers of Cao Wei on the city walls were even more frightened.

at the same time.

Wang Ping and Li Ping at the west gate and Wei Yan and Meng Da at the north gate were also shouting for surrender.

Some said "Longyou has been pacified, Liangzhou has surrendered"; some said "Zhang He's halberd was broken, Guo Huai fled"; some said "Cao Zhen vomited blood, was seriously injured and fled."

Either true or false, a mixture of true and false.

You can scare people however you want!
And at night.

A large number of torches gathered at the foot of the city, as if an endless stream of Han soldiers were heading towards Chang'an City.

Just like when Dong Zhuo cheated Luoyang in the past, he fabricated his momentum.

To make the sound more real.

Liu Feng also mobilized the powerful people around Chang'an to respond, and asked them to bring their men to mix in with the army and cheer.

Especially at night.

Outside the city of Chang'an, torches lit up the mountains and fields, as if fulfilling Liu Feng's edict to attack Cao Cao: "An army of one hundred thousand is approaching Chang'an."

"Your Highness, the situation in Chang'an is urgent, go to Tongguan quickly." Inside the city, Zhong Yao urged again.

Cao Rui clenched his fists, frowned, and clenched his teeth, obviously unwilling to accept defeat: "General Zuo and General Zhengxi have not returned yet, why not wait a little longer."

Zhong Yao sighed and said, "If the Left General and the Western Expedition General could return, they would have returned long ago.

I know that Your Highness suspects that Liu Feng is bluffing, and I can also guess that the torches outside the city at night were not from Liu Feng's troops. It must be that Liu Feng summoned the civilians around Chang'an to boost his prestige.

But if General Zuo and General Zhengxi had not been defeated, how could the civilians around Chang'an dare to respond to Liu Feng? How could Liu Feng dare to let a group of civilians mix in the army?
Your Highness, the situation in Guanzhong is irreversible now, so you can quickly go to Tongguan to protect the crown prince's position."

Seeing Cao Rui silent, Zhong Yao continued: "The Guanzhong area has never been the foundation of the Wei Dynasty. As long as the seven states of Hebei and Henan are still there, the rich land of the Central Plains will be controlled by the prince.

Even if Liu Bei got a ruined Yongliang, what would it matter? He was just lucky enough to have a few advantages and survive.

The Great Wei was rich, and even if it lost ten battles it would not be seriously hurt; the Pseudo-Han was weak, and if it lost one battle it would lose the ability to go north.

Your Highness, please do not let a single leaf blind you to the majesty of Mount Tai."

Zhong Yao was good at giving advice.

As Zhong Yao said.

Since Cao Cao conquered the world, he never used Yongliang as his base.

After swallowing up the heroes in northern Jiangnan, Cao Cao's base was in the seven states of Qing, Ji, You, Bing, Yan, Yu and Xu.

If Cao Cao had not been unable to capture Jing and Yang after the defeat at Chibi, he would not even have bothered to use military force against Yong and Liang.

The purpose of sending troops to Yongliang was to march south to Hanzhong and seize Xichuan. Fortunately, the navy was trained above Jingyang, so as to form a momentum to go downstream and destroy Jingchu.

Even though Cao Cao conquered Yongliang, he still spent a lot of energy and military power in suppressing the rebellion in Yongliang over the years.

He did not really control Yongliang.

This was also one of the objective conditions for Liu Feng to capture Guanzhong this time.

If Cao Wei had managed Guanzhong for many years and the people had surrendered to him, Liu Feng would not have been able to even enter Wuguan, let alone seize Guanzhong.

As recorded in history, Zhuge Liang's side had to withdraw its troops after repeated northern expeditions.

As the saying goes: He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world.

In this era, the people are more focused on the nobles and powerful families, and the people's will refers more to whether the nobles and powerful families support them.

There were many people in Yongliang who were dissatisfied, but there were many supporters in the seven states of Qing, Ji, You, Bing, Yan, Yu and Xu.

This is also due to the Nine-Rank System currently implemented by Cao Pi, which distributes resources more evenly and ensures that Cao Wei's basic base remains.

As for Liu Bei's restoration of Han.

That would be tantamount to robbing the resources of the vested interests in the seven northern states. How could they welcome Liu Bei with food and drink just because he shouted "Restore the Han Dynasty"?

Unless: Liu Bei also recognized the vested interests of the northern gentry and powerful families under the Nine-Rank System.

But this would make the nobles and powerful people in Liu Bei's camp unhappy.

It seems that we contributed money, manpower, troops and food, but after conquering the north, we still have to eat the soup of the northern nobles and powerful families?
Then why should I fight?
Wouldn’t it be nice for everyone to live in peace?
Zhong Yao was already quite old, and he came from a prominent family in Yingchuan, so he understood the ins and outs of this matter very well.

Therefore.

After learning that Wuguan had been breached, Zhong Yao focused not on how to preserve Guanzhong, but on how to preserve Cao Rui's position as crown prince.

The same is true now.

The most important thing is to let Cao Rui evacuate Chang'an and head to Tongguan as soon as possible.

As long as Cao Rui is here, everything is here.

With Cao Rui's death, everything ends.

At least for the current situation, northern clans such as Zhong Yao do not want the Cao Wei regime to perish in the second generation.

We are all grasshoppers on the same rope. If the rope breaks, we will all fall into the fire pit and burn to death!

The civil and military officials around him also tried to persuade him.

What Zhong Yao was thinking was: to protect Cao Rui.

What the civil and military officials were thinking was: Take us with you and escape together!
Although people’s minds are different, their goals are the same.

a long time.

Cao Rui took a deep breath and gave up struggling.

There are less than 5,000 people in Chang'an City now, and their morale is low, and there are no brave generals to give them courage.

If Cao Rui really insisted on not surrendering, the other civil and military officials who could not bear the pressure might not be willing to die with Cao Rui.

When Lü Bu was besieged in Xia Pi in the past, if Hou Cheng, Song Xian, Wei Xu and others had not captured Chen Gong alive and Gao Shun had not led his troops to surrender to Cao Cao, Cao Cao would not have been able to capture Xia Pi.

The same was true when Cao Cao conquered Ye City. If Shen Rong, the nephew of Shen Pei, had not secretly opened the city gate when he was the captain of the east gate of Ye City, Cao Cao would not have been able to conquer Ye City.

Do you expect that when the situation becomes desperate, both civil and military officials will die with Cao Rui?

This makes no sense.

Given the momentum Liu Feng has created in Guanzhong and outside Chang'an, the fact that the civil and military officials in the city have not captured Cao Rui alive but have urged him to retreat to Tongguan can already be regarded as a "loyal minister with a clear conscience."

Real thoughts.

The worst that could happen would be bearing a bad reputation and capturing Cao Rui alive in exchange for wealth and glory.

"Break out tonight and retreat to Tongguan."

After Cao Rui issued this order, he felt as if all his strength had been drained from his body.

The civil and military officials on both sides were all celebrating and preparing to break out.

"If I ascend to the throne in the future, I will repay you tenfold for today's humiliation!" Cao Rui swore secretly, with a cruel look in his eyes.

Only by enduring what ordinary people cannot endure can you accomplish extraordinary things.

That night.

Cao Rui mobilized the soldiers in the city and sent strong men to carry Zhong Yao, who had a leg disease. He opened the east gate at night and prepared to go to Tongguan along the Wei River.

It is more than 300 miles from Chang'an to Tongguan. If you want to break out, you cannot carry too much food and supplies. You need to bring dry food and water and travel light.

Cao Rui was not a pampered dandy either. He also wore armor, rode a horse, held a spear and carried a bow, and looked quite awe-inspiring.

The eldest grandson who could be praised by Cao Cao is naturally extraordinary.

at the same time.

Cao Rui also sent people to set fire to the city, burn granaries, and destroy armories. He abandoned Chang'an without leaving any trace to aid the enemy.

Compared with Liu Zhang of the past, Cao Rui inherited Cao Cao's ruthlessness, and was even more ruthless and decisive!

"Cao Rui must be trying to escape!"

Liu Feng acted decisively. He sent people to the city to persuade the enemy to surrender, while he personally led 2,000 infantry and cavalry to pursue Cao Rui.

In addition to preventing the enemy troops in the city from fighting to the death, the strategy of encircling three sides and leaving one side open was also to create opportunities to ambush or pursue the enemy troops outside the city.

"The Han army is chasing us!"

A lieutenant colonel of the Wei army exclaimed, then turned and ran.

Cao Rui's face also changed drastically. He rode away without caring whether the rear troops caught up or not.

The moon is dim at night.

The Wei army illuminated by the firelight were all running in panic.

Because Liu Feng led his troops to pursue and kill, most of the troops Cao Rui mobilized from Chang'an were dispersed.

Seeing the Han army chasing him relentlessly, Cao Rui became even more panicked. Even Zhong Yao, who had a leg disease, changed from being carried by strong men to riding a horse.

And behind.

The shouts of "Cao Rui, don't run away" were still heard.

Obviously.

Liu Feng had no intention of letting Cao Rui go.

The reason why Zhong Yao tried to save Cao Rui's life first was essentially the same as the reason why Liu Feng wanted to hunt down Cao Rui.

Cao Rui was the most talented emperor among Cao Pi's sons.

If Cao Rui died, Cao Wei would become a mere shell without a qualified successor.

In order to clear obstacles for his incompetent son, Cao Pi must have resorted to some unconventional abstract operations.

This proves the saying: All competitors are XX.

"Your Highness, change your helmet and robe quickly!"

Seeing that it was almost dawn and they were still unable to escape Liu Feng's pursuit, Zhong Yao made a prompt decision. He asked Cao Rui to give the helmet and robe to a personal guard and let him take the main road, while Cao Rui took Zhong Yao and other trusted men to take a detour to Tongguan.

The personal guard general was also a loyal minister. He did not run away but set an ambush along the road!

When Liu Feng's pursuers arrived, the general shouted, "The Crown Prince of Wei, Cao Rui, is here. Who dares to fight me to the death?"

Seeing that "Cao Rui" wanted to fight, everyone looked at Liu Feng who was in the lead.

Liu Feng squinted his eyes and looked at "Cao Rui" in front of him, then looked to the left and right of "Cao Rui", and couldn't help frowning.

But only a few breaths later, Liu Feng took out an arrow and shot the general in front of him who was pretending to be "Cao Rui".

The rest of the crowd were shocked.

This script is wrong!

Even if His Highness is fake, shouldn't you step forward and fight him decently?
"Leave a few alive!"

A cold voice sounded, and it was obvious that Liu Feng did not believe that the person who called himself "Cao Rui" was the real Cao Rui.

If you really want to fight to the death, why abandon the city and flee?

It's not logical.

really.

During this interrogation, they found out that Cao Rui had escaped through a small road.

Lieutenant General Lu Zhuo said: "Your Highness, the path is rugged and it is difficult to guard against hidden arrows. If you are not careful, it will be too late to regret. It is better for me to go and pursue the enemy, while Your Highness returns to Chang'an first."

Liu Feng pondered.

If we continue to pursue, not to mention whether there will be anyone to support us at Tongguan, it would be bad if Zhang He and Cao Zhen suddenly appeared from the side.

Lu Zhuo was a young general who once followed Liu Feng in fighting in the snow in Jingzhou, and he was also the one Liu Feng wanted to focus on training.

If Lu Zhuo was killed because of his greed for merit, it would also be a great loss for Liu Feng.

The overall situation in Guanzhong is about to be settled, and Liu Feng doesn't want any more accidents to happen.

After a while, Liu Feng rode back and said, "Cao Rui only has a few men, so it is very easy for him to hide. The soldiers have been chasing him all night and are tired. Don't be greedy, let's go back to Chang'an together."

(End of this chapter)