Tiger Guards

Chapter 624 Heavy losses
Under the cover of night, Zhang Fei led only two hundred men in a retreat on foot.

More than a hundred wounded men rode ahead on horseback, while Zhang Fei's two hundred-odd men carried powerful bows and crossbows, abandoning their armor and other burdensome items.

After dark, Wei Xing had no intention of pursuing them to the death. He simply followed behind Zhang Fei like a pack of wolves, waiting for Zhang Fei's troops to become hungry, thirsty, and weak.

The makeshift position that Xiahou Bo had set up had already been set on fire.

After retreating into this place, Zhang Fei held the wine sack in both hands and drank heartily. After his body suddenly replenished too much water, sweat quickly seeped out of his cheeks, forming beads of sweat that kept sliding down and dripping.

Zhang Fei felt a great sense of relief as his pores opened up, but he still wrapped a cloak around himself.

After drinking half the wine from the other wine bag, Zhang Fei was slightly quenched of his thirst and gasped for breath: "Gao Cai, where has my elder brother gone?"

"Gan Ning cut off the retreat route, and the lord led his troops south."

Xiahou Bo presented Liu Bei's sword, saying, "This was left by our lord. He ordered Yide to help me break through the encirclement when the opportunity arises."

"So you're saying we can't go south, we have to go north, to the area around Suanzao, Baima, and Puyang?"

Zhang Fei muttered something, and seeing that Xiahou Bo or Tian Yu did not object, he knew that they had tacitly approved of this breakout route.

Immediately, Zhang Fei went to see Tian Yu. After washing his hands and face, Tian Yu was swallowing a wheat cake with difficulty. Zhang Fei asked, "The emperor appointed you as the vanguard, how come you didn't discover the rebel ambush?"

“There were some signs of burning in the reeds around Guancheng. I only sent troops to scout the outer perimeter and did not conduct in-depth reconnaissance. The officers and soldiers in the army were in a hurry to pursue the defeated soldiers. Apart from my personal guards, most of the teams were perfunctory and did not discover the rebels hiding deep in the reeds.”

Tian Yu had figured it out, so his tone was smooth. After taking a sip of vinegar and sour soup, he continued, "Looking back now, the place where the reeds were burned during the day must have been burned by the rebels to cover up the traces of their ambush. It's a pity that the Imperial Guards... fought to the death and did not retreat, and all of them have sacrificed their lives for the country. It's truly lamentable."

What he actually regretted was that the Imperial Guards did not encounter Zhao's officers and soldiers; otherwise, considering their past friendship, the new Imperial Guards led by the three Lius would have had a better chance of surrendering and receiving better treatment.

However, the new Imperial Guards encountered the soldiers of Lü's army, who charged with the same ferocity as the Trapped Camp... Even if the new Imperial Guards surrendered decisively, they would not have a good end; at the very least, the wounded would not receive proper treatment.

As for the three Lius, they were captured by Gan Ning's side, but they would be spared to make it easier to attack and plunder Ji Province in the future.

But if it fell to Gao Shun's side, Gao Shun would not show any mercy to these 'traitors'. He might just wash the severed heads casually and send them to Luodu on horseback.

As Zhang Fei pondered, he heard a series of urgent clapper sounds. Xiahou Bo jumped up and said, "Yide and Guorang, go first. I'll cover the rear!"

Zhang Fei put his hand on Xiahou Bo's shoulder: "Let's go together. Set up more campfires and leave the knights to beat the drums. Our army has been fighting for a day and a night and is exhausted. How much better off can the enemy be? This is a plan to wear us down. Don't take it too seriously."

"Here."

Xiahou Bo agreed and immediately went to arrange the selection of knights to cover the rear and guard the temporary position.

Although they had no boats or anything else, they had no vehicles or supplies, only infantry on foot and a small number of knights, who could easily traverse the swamps and wetlands or walk along country lanes to find a place to hide and spend the night.

Once they leave the main road, the rebel army will be unable to locate them quickly, thus creating an opportunity for them to break out.

Although the Honggou River system is difficult to cross, with so many people, even if they harvest reeds to make reed rafts, they can still cross the Honggou and Yingou Rivers and enter the safe area supported by Sun Ce's central army.

Lou Fa's naval detachment had no intention of taking risks and took the initiative to withdraw. At the same time, Wei Xing also began to gather his troops and head towards Guandu, where Gan Ning was located.

The battle took place at night, and they were ambushed by small groups of rebels... Although the losses were not significant, Wei Xing still felt very cheated and humiliated.

Before Zhao Ji's main force arrived, Wei Xing had no interest or intention to participate in or promote the decisive battle.

Thus, the ambush planned by Gao Shun and Gan Ning resulted in the greatest losses for Liu Hui, Liu Qi, Liu Sheng, Liu Dai, and Wang Zhong, all of whom were killed and their armies wiped out. Their respective local forces were also severely damaged, and in the ensuing competition, the people of these regions would lose their voice and become mere bystanders.

Zhang Yang, the governor of Yan Province, who had almost broken away from Lü Bu, also saw his power further crumble, forcing him to once again firmly rely on Lü Bu, suppressing his resentment. The second biggest loser was Tian Yu, whose nearly a thousand You Province knights, engrossed in looting during a pursuit, went missing.

Although Tian Yu was still alive, the remaining Youzhou knights would either flee with their rich spoils and take a detour back to their hometowns, or surrender and join the Lü Zhao rebels.

However, Tian Yu lost his only army. If he wanted to acquire an army in the future, he would either have to borrow troops temporarily arranged by Liu Bei, or he would have to return to his hometown to recruit soldiers again and establish his own private army.

However, the young and middle-aged population in various places is being harvested in batches and consumed by each other, and in the short term, they are returning to their hometowns to recruit soldiers... It is difficult to achieve any ideal results.

The second biggest loser after Tian Yu was Zhang Fei. His elite force of over a thousand men was reduced to just over three hundred in the battle, with nearly half of them wounded.

As news of Liu Bei's pursuit of Zhang Yang spread, before dawn the next day, Sun Ce set out from Baima Ford with his central army and a fleet of warships heading towards Aocang and the entrance to the Honggou Canal, north of Xingyang.

Even General Dong Cheng, who was stationed in Yangdi and Changshe in northern Yingchuan, mobilized his troops to attack after hearing the news, advancing along the imperial road and heading straight for Xingyang in order to gain merit.

Gan Ning and Gao Shun, who had planned to withdraw their troops in advance, both withdrew overnight after their successful attack.

Gan Ning transported Wei Xing and Han Meng's troops to withdraw to Mengjin, Hanoi. No matter how tired the army was, once they returned to Hanoi, they would have enough time and safe space to rest and replenish.

Gao Shun retreated towards Hulao Pass, moving slowly, but still outpaced by the various armies of Xudu.

However, as the latest military intelligence continued to spread, Sun Ce's warships, which were heading west with great momentum, suddenly stopped just as they were about to reach the mouth of the Honggou Canal. In the dim light of approaching night, they retreated downstream once again.

Similarly, General Dong Cheng's vanguard set off from Changshe and marched eighty li north along the imperial road during the day. When they were about forty li away from Guancheng, they encountered the defeated troops of Liu Bei and the Three Lius.

So they retreated fifty li overnight and camped in Xinzheng.

If they weren't completely exhausted, this vanguard would most likely have retreated back to Changshe along the same route.

News of Liu Bei's defeat spread extremely quickly, reaching Xuchang that very night.

In the palace, Liu Xie held the battle report, remaining silent for a long time.

At present, there are only general negative battle reports, and no one knows exactly how many troops Liu Bei lost.

However, the Lü Zhao rebels had many cavalry. Even though they were called the Tiger Infantry Army, the soldiers were wealthy and brought their own fine horses with them. Although they were called the Tiger Infantry Army, they had actually become a cavalry force.

Even the troops under the pseudo-General Gan Ning, due to their high past merits and accumulated rewards from their officers and soldiers, would still carry extra transport ships to transport warhorses if conditions allowed, even though they were originally ship-carrying soldiers.

Gan Ning, this pseudo-General Fubo, is more like a valiant cavalry general equipped with warships.

Liu Xie stayed up all night, and the next day, a more detailed battle report was presented to him.

Shi Qian held the scroll of silk, bowed his head, and held it up beside Liu Xie.

The candlesticks that had been burning all night on either side of Liu Xie had gone out, and the cold morning sunlight was dim and not very bright.

Liu Xie reached out and picked up the silk book, unfolded it, and began to read.

General Liu Bei went missing, and Chief Clerk Mi Zhu and surrendered general Lü Qian joined forces and retreated to the State of Chen.

General Liu Hui, Commandant of the Imperial Guards, and Generals Liu Qi and Liu Sheng died in battle; General Wang Zhong, General of Light Chariots, and General Liu Dai, General Who Subdues Rebels, died in battle; General Lu Zhao, General of the Eastern Army, surrendered to the enemy.

For the imperial court, these armies were tantamount to complete annihilation.

(End of this chapter)