Can I get to the other side?

Yecheng.

Liu Xie put down the information in his hands, stood at the highest point of the palace, facing the rising sun, looking in the direction of Qingzhou, and murmured:

"I have ascended to the highest position, and this is the battle!"

…

Dongguan County, somewhere deep in the mountains.

Cao Xing sat by the campfire, carefully looking at the map of Dongguan County that he had finally obtained in his hand by the light of the fire, and imagining the next marching route in his mind.

At this time Wang Chong came over, handed a roasted rabbit to Cao Xing, and then said: "General, have something to eat."

The roasted rabbit is plump and attractive, with golden color.

At first glance, this craftsmanship is quite impressive.

Cao Xing put away the map and took the roast rabbit from Wang Chong, but did not eat it. He suddenly asked: "How long can the army's food and grass last?"

Wang Chong was stunned, and after hesitating for a moment, he said: "It has been completely exhausted today, and only some game from the mountains that the brothers have been left."

"Relying on these alone can last for up to three days."

During this time, they had been hiding in the mountains. In order to avoid being hunted, they had to hide deep in the mountains.

But as the Qingzhou Army's manhunt became more and more intense, it became increasingly difficult for them to hide, let alone purchase supplies from nearby cities.

Hearing this, Cao Xing couldn't help but frown.

If this continues, even if they are not discovered by the Qingzhou Army, they will starve to death in the mountains. They must find a way to change the status quo.

While Cao Xing was deep in thought, a soldier came to report in a panic: "The general is in trouble! A large number of Qingzhou troops are coming to search the mountains!"

"What?"

Cao Xing's expression suddenly changed, and he said in surprise: "Didn't the Qingzhou Army search this mountain five days ago? How could it come again?"

They all chose to hide in the mountains that had been searched by the Qingzhou Army, because the other party would definitely not search the same mountain forest twice in a short period of time.

But this time it was something beyond his expectation.

Cao Xing asked: "How many people came to search the mountain? From which direction did they come? Did you see clearly?"

The soldier replied nervously: "I don't know the exact number, but there are a lot of Qingzhou troops gathered at the foot of the mountain, at least 3,000 people. Adding those in the mountains, it is estimated to be more than 5,000."

"They searched from the east, north and south, but no one was seen in the west."

Cao Xing's face became more solemn when he heard this.

Mobilizing five thousand people to search again in this mountain forest that has already been searched means that the other party has confirmed that they are in this mountain and their whereabouts have been exposed!

"Damn it, when did it happen!"

Cao Xing was extremely puzzled, but there was no time to dwell on this issue right now. He immediately ordered: "Put out the fire, take the false emperor with you, let's go down the mountain from the west! Move quickly!"

"promise!"

The soldier left in a hurry.

After a while, the group packed up their things, covered up the remaining traces of the fire, and took advantage of the night to descend the mountain from the west.

Although it was extremely difficult to travel through the mountains at night, they had been living in the mountains for a long time and were quite experienced, so it took them less than half an hour to get out of the mountains.

But not long after they came down the mountain, fire suddenly appeared in the forest, and many Qingzhou troops rushed out - there was an ambush here!

"Kill out!"

Seeing this, Cao Xing said nothing, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he took the lead and rushed forward to fight the enemy troops, directly hacking to death several enemy troops rushing at the front.

Although they were disguised as a caravan this time and were not wearing armor, they had all their weapons with them, so they were not without the ability to fight.

Moreover, these five hundred of them are all elites in hundreds of battles, so facing the ambush of less than a thousand men at the foot of the mountain, Cao Xing had no fear at all!

The two sides soon reached a point of fighting.

Under the night and firelight, swords flashed, blood was splashed, people kept falling, and torches scattered on the ground ignited the dry leaves and mountain forests, and raging fires quickly ignited around them and spread quickly.

The blazing fire and shouts of death soon attracted the attention of Yuan Tan, who was leading the troops waiting at the foot of the mountain to the south. He couldn't help but asked in surprise: "What happened over there?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cavalryman rode up to report: "My lord, traces of enemy troops have been found to the west, and they are now engaging in a confrontation with our troops!"

"The enemy is so brave that we can hardly resist it!"

Yuan Tan was surprised at first when he heard this, then he was overjoyed and laughed loudly: "God help me! God helps me! The Emperor is indeed hiding in this deep mountain!"

"General Lu, quickly lead a team of troops to rush for reinforcements and hold off the enemy while I go and assemble the rest of the army. They will be there soon!"

"Remember not to shoot arrows, don't hurt the emperor!"

Yuan Tan was extremely excited. After searching for so long, he finally had the result. The emperor was very close at hand!

As long as we capture the emperor, the crisis in Qingzhou can be resolved!

"promise!"

Lu Kuang clasped his fists and accepted the order, then led hundreds of cavalrymen to leave in a mighty manner, taking the lead to rush to the battlefield at the foot of the west mountain.

Then Yuan Tan also quickly gathered all his troops and rushed there.

At this moment, the battlefield in the west.

Cao Xing had already broken out of the ambush at the cost of a hundred men, and then fled to another mountain range regardless of the pursuers behind him - that mountain was deeper, but they had heard of poisonous snakes and miasma, so they had been there until now. Don't dare to set foot.

But right now I don’t care about that much.

As long as they escape into the mountains over there, they will be safe for the time being. Even if the Qingzhou Army enters the mountains to search, it will not be easy to catch them.

They can also delay longer.

"Don't run away, thief!"

At this moment, a loud roar came from behind.

Cao Xing turned his head and saw Lü Kuang leading two hundred light cavalrymen to charge at them aggressively, and the distance between the two sides was closing quickly!

Seeing this, Cao Xing couldn't help but change his face, and immediately ordered Wang Chong: "You take a hundred brothers to escort the false emperor into the mountains, and I will resist the enemy!"

After that, he took off the longbow behind him, bent the bow and shot seven or eight arrows in one breath. Except for the arrow shot at Lü Kuang, which was blocked, the rest of the arrows were not missed, and several cavalrymen were shot and fell off their horses.

Cao Xing rolled on the ground to avoid the long spear stabbed by Lü Kuang, and then reached out to grab the reins of an ownerless horse, turned over, turned around and raised his sword to fight Lü Kuang!

It can only be said that Cao Xing is worthy of the title of the Eight Strong Generals.

This combat power and adaptability are extraordinary!

Even the other soldiers under his command were not ordinary people. The infantrymen fought against the cavalry without panic. They worked in groups of two to block the attacks and cut the horses' legs, cooperating freely.

For a moment, these three hundred people actually blocked the two hundred light cavalrymen, covering Wang Chong's one hundred people to escort Emperor Xian of Han to the deep mountains!

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, Lü Kuang was very anxious, but he was held tightly by Cao Xing and could not get away to pursue for a while. He could only watch the one hundred people flee to the deep mountains.

However, Yuan Tan had led his troops to kill them at this time.

He only glanced at the battlefield and noticed Lü Kuang who was fighting with Cao Xing and others, and Wang Chong and others who were fleeing from the battlefield.

There was also a familiar figure in the crowd who was tied up by Wang Chong and dragged away.

"It's the emperor!"

Yuan Tan recognized the identity of the man at a glance, and couldn't help but wonder in his heart-why did these guys tie up the emperor?

But this doubt was only fleeting. Yuan Tan was more excited. He immediately ordered: "Surround the battlefield! Quickly deal with the enemy troops fighting with General Lu!"

"Follow me, the guards, to rescue the emperor!"

The guards under his command were all elite, with top-notch weapons and equipment and war horses. It was easy to chase a group of enemies who could only escape on foot.

After Yuan Tan gave the order, the army quickly split into two groups.

The infantry went to help Lu Kuang.

The three hundred guards followed Yuan Tan to chase Wang Chong and others to rescue the emperor.

Cao Xing, who was fighting with Lu Kuang, also noticed the surrounding army. His face changed drastically, and he felt very bad in his heart.

Especially when he noticed that Yuan Tan led a team of people to kill Wang Chong and others, it was even more difficult to remain calm.

"Die, thief!"

Lu Kuang took advantage of Cao Xing's distraction and stabbed him with a gun.

But Cao Xing's reaction was much faster than he thought.

Cao Xing took advantage of the situation and grabbed the spear that Lü Kuang was stabbing at him, making him unable to draw his spear, and then cut off Lü Kuang's head with a knife!

At the same time, the Qingzhou army also surrounded him.

With thousands of troops, he had no way to break out of the siege.

But Cao Xing had no intention of escaping.

He took a deep breath, took off the longbow on his back again, pulled out the last arrow in the quiver, and aimed at the fleeing Han Xiandi with a cold look in his eyes.

The bow was like a full moon!

"Swish!"

The bowstring vibrated lightly, and the sharp arrow whizzed out.

It went straight to Han Xiandi!

At the same time, Cao Xing's body was pierced by the many Qingzhou soldiers who surrounded him with spears, and then knocked off his horse.

He died.

Yuan Tan heard the screams of Lü Kuang's death, so he looked back and saw Cao Xing aiming his bow at Han Xiandi, and he was shocked!

"This guy wants to kill the emperor?!"

Yuan Tan never expected that this group of people would be so cruel. Seeing that they could not escape, they chose to kill the emperor and fight to the death!

Seeing Cao Xing shoot an arrow, Yuan Tan immediately rode forward and waved his spear to block the arrow, but who knew that the force of the arrow was too strong. He failed to pick it away with one spear, but was hit in the left eye by the arrow!

"Ahhh!"

Yuan Tan screamed and fell off the horse. His left eye was bleeding. He rolled around on the ground in pain and sweated.

"Young Master!"

Many guards were shocked when they saw this. They hurriedly reined in their horses and wanted to check on Yuan Tan's situation, but Yuan Tan rudely pushed away the guards who surrounded him and roared: "Go and protect the emperor!!"

"Quick!!"

Although the guards were worried, they did not dare to disobey Yuan Tan's orders. They mounted their horses and continued to chase the deserters. The distance between the two sides soon became very close.

The soldiers around Wang Chong had to turn around to resist.

When Wang Chong saw the pursuers coming from behind, his face changed again and again, and finally he looked at Emperor Xian of Han fiercely.

He remembered that His Majesty had said that if he couldn't escape, he would immediately execute the fake emperor!

"What are you going to do..."

Emperor Xian of Han also felt Wang Chong's killing intent and retreated in fear.

"Die!"

Wang Chong didn't waste any words with him and chopped him off with a knife!

But at this moment, Dong Cheng, who was beside Emperor Xian of Han, suddenly jumped up and rushed into Wang Chong without hesitation, knocking him off his feet.

And under Dong Cheng's collision, Wang Chong's knife also hit nothing, and Emperor Xian of Han escaped death again, and broke out in a cold sweat.

Wang Chong was hit on the head by Dong Cheng. Although he was dizzy, he still didn't forget his duty and ordered the soldiers around him fiercely: "Go! Kill this fake emperor!"

"Come on! Save me, save me!"

Emperor Xian of Han was so scared that he ran away.

Before the soldiers could catch up, Yuan Tan's guards had already dealt with the soldiers who blocked them and rushed over!

They quickly dealt with the soldiers chasing Emperor Xian of Han, and even Wang Chong died under their spears. He fell to the ground, still staring at Emperor Xian of Han.

Then a group of guards rode their horses to the trembling Emperor Xian of Han, dismounted, knelt down and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty, we are late to rescue you! Please forgive me!"

Emperor Xian of Han was pale and gasping for breath.

He looked at the guards in front of him, still in shock, not knowing what was going on and who they were.

"Who are you?"

The leading guard said: "We are the guards under the command of the governor of Qingzhou, and we are ordered to rescue your majesty!"

"The governor of Qingzhou... Yuan Tan?"

Emperor Xian of Han changed his expression. Isn't that Yuan Shao's son?

He just got out of the tiger's den and fell into the tiger's mouth again?

Although Emperor Xian of Han felt despair, he still forced a smile and said, "All the soldiers rescued me bravely. I will remember your contributions."

"Where is the governor of Qingzhou?"

The guard said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please come this way."

Emperor Xian of Han followed the guard and left.

Soon he saw Yuan Tan.

But Yuan Tan was in a very bad condition at this time. He was lying on the ground, his face was as white as gold paper, and there was an arrow in his left eye. He looked dying.

The guard came to Yuan Tan and said with a heavy look, "My Lord, we have saved your Majesty!"

Yuan Tan opened his eyes slightly and weakly.

He was on the verge of death at this time, and stretched out his hand to call the guards to let them take the emperor to Youzhou.

But Emperor Xian of Han misunderstood this and thought that Yuan Tan wanted to talk to him, so he squatted down, held Yuan Tan's hand and asked, "My dear, do you have any last words to say?"

Emperor Xian of Han also felt a little emotional.

Although he didn't know why Yuan Tan, as Yuan Shao's son, didn't support the false emperor, but instead sacrificed his life to save him, he was still a great hero who saved the emperor.

If it weren't for Yuan Tan, he would be dead now.

Yuan Tan gritted his teeth and tried to pull his hand away, but Emperor Xian of Han held his hand tightly, making him anxious and angry, but he didn't have the strength to speak.

"My dear, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm here."

Emperor Xian of Han held his hand tighter.

Yuan Tan was so angry that he trembled all over, and finally his head tilted and he died.

"My eldest son!"

Many guards cried out in grief when they saw this.

They all knelt down to Yuan Tan.

"Alas, what a pity."

Emperor Xian of Han sighed in his heart, it turned out that Yuan Tan was actually a loyal minister, and was really different from his father Yuan Shao, and was so loyal to him.

After the guards cried, the leading guard choked up and said, "Your Majesty, what should we do now? Please give us your orders."

Everyone present turned their eyes to Emperor Xian of Han.

Yuan Tan died, and Lü Kuang also died on the spot.

The only one who can give orders now is the emperor.