I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 306 Ma Chao, the Brocade of Xiliang

When Yuan Tan chose to return and face Liu Miao again, he was also comforting himself.

"Taishi Ci and Zhang Liao are both in Puban, so Zhu Huan and Huang Zhong probably aren't any formidable figures either!"

Yuan Tan didn't believe it; every general under Liu Miao was so capable and skilled in battle!
Guo Yuan was a famous general of Bingzhou. If he spared no expense, he would surely be able to push Zhu Huan into the river!
When Guo Yuan, who was in Maojin, heard that Yuan Tan was not coming to his aid, his heart sank to the bottom.

Although he had only fought Zhu Huan for half a day, Guo Yuan could already tell that Zhu Huan was definitely a troublesome person!
Guo Yuan had also witnessed the scene where Zhu Huan was able to charge forward with his sword even after being stabbed in the face.

Faced with such a general with excellent temperament, perseverance, and resilience, Guo Yuan could not think of any way to suppress him except to overwhelm him with sheer numbers!

Guo Yuan had no choice but to send a messenger to Yuan Tan again to explain Zhu Huan's power!

But Yuan Tan was already overwhelmed with problems, so how could he possibly care about Guo Yuan?

He simply transferred an extra thousand infantrymen and two hundred cavalry to Guo Yuan: "That's all! Guo Yuan must fight, whether he wins or loses!"

Yuan Tan dispatched troops to Puban, and the situation was already extremely precarious.

Taishi Ci and Zhang Liao surged with extraordinary force, like a mighty river overflowing its banks, wave after wave crashing against the shore.

Just as Yuan Tan was about to order a counterattack, he heard the sound of gongs coming from Liu Miao's camp on the opposite side. Liu Miao's soldiers, who had been rushing to the shore, suddenly retreated like the receding tide and returned to the opposite bank by boat.

"They...they withdrew?"

Yuan Tan was stunned for a moment, but what followed was a chill that went deep into his bones.

Just now, as Liu Miao was leaving, he immediately ordered his soldiers to attack the opposite bank, without sparing their lives.

When Liu Miao saw him arrive, he completely disregarded the previous battle and, without any hesitation, sounded the retreat, leaving Yuan Tan's fist to slam hard onto the soft silk.

Is it really possible to win against someone who is generous with small favors and doesn't covet small gains?
Therefore, when Liu Miao withdrew his troops and Puban returned to peace, Yuan Tan was not relieved at all; on the contrary, he was even more worried about Maojin to the south.

"If only we had sent aid to Maojin back then!"

Yuan Tan was filled with regret once again, but unfortunately, there is everything in this world except for the elixir of regret.

If Yuan Tan then chooses to head to Maojin, and Liu Miao takes the opportunity to cross the river at Puban, the morale of the Puban garrison will likely plummet, and it's not impossible that they will be completely defeated by Liu Miao!
Yuan Tan could only pray that Guo Yuan could successfully drive Zhu Huan off the riverbank and completely halt Liu Miao's offensive!

Otherwise, Hedong would be in grave danger!
------

After Zhu Huan bravely repelled Yuan's army, the ships transporting crossbow bolts finally arrived belatedly.

With the support of the Han crossbows, Zhu Huan stabilized the situation once again. Only then did Zhu Huan have time to clean the wounds on his face.

Yuan Jun chopped with extreme force, causing Zhu Huan unbearable pain in his arm and a wound on his face that was six or seven inches long, causing the flesh to be turned inside out!
The army medic, seeing Zhu Huan's horrific wounds, was also frightened: "General! This wound is far too severe; we're afraid we'll have to retreat to the rear to treat it!"

"Ha! What a joke!"

Zhu Huan can feel pain on his face whenever he speaks, and he can even feel the blood on his face seeping directly into his teeth.

"Now is a critical moment, how can I lead the army to retreat!"

The physician earnestly advised, "Otherwise, this wound may fester and become infected! I urge the general to reconsider!"

The guards around him also gathered, hoping that Zhu Huan would retreat and leave the area to Huang Zhong or someone else to command, so that they could recuperate in peace. However, they were all scolded away by Zhu Huan.

"Fuck off!"

"You've followed me for so many years, and apart from our lord, have you ever seen me submit to anyone? Now you want me to back down in the face of battle? No way!"

"And didn't you hear that just now? These Yuan soldiers look down on us Jiangdong people! They keep calling us 'southern barbarians'! They want me to bow down to them? Bah!"

Zhu Huan caught a glimpse of a sword blade that had fallen into the fire.

The blade of his sword was glowing red-hot, which gave Zhu Huan a different idea.

"You're all so anxious about a mere few inches of wound, you're really pathetic!"

Zhu Huan stepped forward and snatched the red-hot sword blade. A fleeting look of hesitation and fear crossed his eyes, and he pressed the blade heavily against his face.
"General!!!"

The guards shouted urgently, and Zhu Huan almost fainted from the excruciating pain!
After being helped up by his personal guards, Zhu Huan reached out and touched his face.

"Look!"

"The bleeding has stopped! So where did the wound come from?"

"Push forward! No one is to retreat without my order!"

The soldiers on either side looked at the long brand on Zhu Huan's face, and felt nothing but admiration and anger!
That damned Yuan Jun!
How dare they treat our commander-in-chief like this!
Kill them!!!

The morale of Zhu Huan's soldiers suddenly soared! They quickly drove Yuan's army back again, firmly holding the chariot defense line and preventing Yuan's army from advancing even an inch!

Guo Yuan, who was in the distance, also witnessed Zhu Huan's heroic act.

As a fellow general, Guo Yuan naturally admired Zhu Huan and completely shattered the notion that "southerners are weak."

"Lord Yuan, and all the officials of Ye City, you have probably underestimated Liu Miao!"

If Liu Miao's troops are all such arrogant and fierce generals, then future battles with Liu Miao will probably be much more difficult!

At the same time, Guo Yuan also realized that he had no chance of breaking through Zhu Huan's camp on his own.

Helpless, Guo Yuan had no choice but to call it quits and avoid further pointless losses.

When Zhu Huan's troops saw Yuan's army retreat, they cheered and celebrated!

Huang Zhong seized the opportunity to quickly transport more grain and supplies to the other side of the river to replenish the strength of Zhu Huan's troops.

Huang Zhong even specially dispatched soldiers to buy fish, shrimp, pigs, chickens and ducks from the surrounding farmers and send them to Zhu Huan so that Zhu Huan's troops could be nourished as much as possible.

Just then, Ma Chao, who had been waiting on the shore, finally couldn't contain himself and came to Huang Zhong's side—

"General Huang! I request permission to lead a night raid on the enemy camp!" "Hiss—"

Huang Zhong looked at Ma Chao helplessly.

I thought Zhu Huan was fierce enough, but I didn't expect Ma Chao to appear as well.
Are young people these days so reckless? Aren't they afraid of dying at all?

Huang Zhong knew Ma Chao's identity, so he refused without hesitation.

But Ma Chao persisted: "If we proceed step by step, it will probably take three days to launch a counterattack against Yuan's army."

"Who knows what might happen in the next two days! What if Yuan Tan comes to our aid? Or what if troops from Hebei come to our aid?"

Ma Chao's grandmother and mother were both Qiang people, and their eyes were already deep-set. Now, their eyes were bright and shining, just like the stars in the sky!

"Moreover, the reason why Guo Yuan withdrew his troops ahead of schedule today was not only because he was afraid of General Zhu Huan's bravery, but also because he knew that our army would not be able to launch an offensive in a short period of time."

"In that case, we should strike first and catch them off guard!"

Huang Zhong looked at Ma Chao with a complicated expression, then looked helplessly at Pang De, as if to say, "Take care of your young master!"

But Pang De seemed not to see him at all and completely ignored Huang Zhong.

When Ma Chao saw that Huang Zhong still wouldn't agree, he suddenly realized what Huang Zhong was worried about.

"I assure General Huang that if anything goes wrong, I will immediately lead my troops back!"

"If all else fails, I will lead my soldiers to set up camp to the east. I will never risk my life!"

After hearing this, Huang Zhong softened slightly: "But even if we start transporting warhorses now, we can only send three hundred men at most..."

"Three hundred iron cavalry are enough to accomplish this!"

Ma Chao is now completely like a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers!

Let alone Guo Yuan, even if it were Yuan Tan or Yuan Shao, Ma Chao would dare to lead his troops to charge!
"All right!"

Huang Zhong agreed to Ma Chao's request, but repeatedly instructed Ma Chao: "If anything goes wrong, retreat immediately!"

"Here!"

At this moment, Zhu Huan, who was resting on the opposite bank, heard that Ma Chao was going to lead his army to attack the camp, and praised Ma Chao, saying, "Good lad!"

"Go with peace of mind. I'll leave you a passage in this camp. As long as the tail you bring isn't too big, I'll take care of the rest!"

Ma Chao had witnessed Zhu Huan's performance throughout the day and held him in high esteem: "In that case, thank you very much, General Zhu!"

With a breach opened in the camp, Ma Chao and Pang De led three hundred cavalrymen to sneak into Guo Yuan's camp.

Just like Ma Chao thought.

Guo Yuan truly hadn't expected that Liu Miao's army, already exhausted during the day, would still be able to launch a night raid on the enemy camp. As a result, they didn't even set up sentry posts, allowing Ma Chao to easily infiltrate the area around the enemy camp.

Ma Chao assigned one hundred cavalrymen to Pang De.

Many of his soldiers were Qiang people, and most of them carried bone flutes.

Pang De led a hundred cavalrymen quietly to the flank of the camp and immediately began to play bone flutes. The sound was like the howl of wolves. Although there were only a hundred men, they seemed to have the momentum of a thousand!

Ma Chao also began to break through Guo Yuan's camp from the front!
Guo Yuan never expected Liu Miao's army to launch a surprise attack. Furthermore, because he went straight to besiege Zhu Huan, he had no time to build a large camp. Therefore, the camp was very simple, and one could easily charge into it on horseback!
Ma Chao lightly tapped his spear, lifting the brazier and throwing it into the camp, whereupon it instantly burst into flames.

Two hundred cavalrymen galloped about, and with the noise Pang De made outside, it sounded as if a thousand troops were attacking Guo Yuan's camp, which greatly alarmed Guo Yuan!
"Where did so many soldiers come from? Could it be that Liu Miao himself came here?"

Ma Chao's advancing speed is extremely fast!

The Qiang cavalry, skilled in speed warfare, quickly charged towards Guo Yuan's central command tent, causing Guo Yuan to shout in fury, "Retreat! Retreat!"

Guo Yuan fled in haste, with only a few dozen riders with him.

These few dozen riders, after running for a while, ran head-on into Pound on the flank.

Pang De was unaware that Guo Yuan was right in front of him, but why would he not take the meat that was already in his mouth?

Leading his troops, Pang De charged to Guo Yuan's side, and with a mere sidestep, he beheaded Guo Yuan. He then went to join Ma Chao.

Unable to find Guo Yuan, Ma Chao had no choice but to retreat hastily to avoid being surrounded by Yuan's army.

At dawn, Zhu Huan found it strange that Guo Yuan did not come to attack, so he sent Ma Chao with cavalry to scout out the situation again.

It was at this moment that Zhu Huan and Ma Chao learned of Guo Yuan's death, and they stared at each other in disbelief.

"Did Meng Qi kill Guo Yuan?"

"No!"

Pound, standing nearby, felt a chill run down his spine: "Last night... I think I killed someone who looked like a general."

Why didn't Lingming say so sooner?

"Who knew that was Guo Yuan!"

"..."

The three men were silent for a moment, then stood up in unison and shouted at their personal guards who were running around in disarray.

"What are you standing there for? Go!"

"Quickly send a message to the lord! Ask him to send reinforcements immediately!"

"We have won the Battle of Hedong!!!"

(End of this chapter)