Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3297 What is face

People who have never really been on a battlefield will probably have two extremes when they go on a battlefield for the first time. One is that they think it is difficult, and they will be very afraid, refuse, and escape. They are probably like Kong Rong, who uses reading scriptures or other methods to cover up their incompetence and helplessness. The other is very brave and thinks that the battlefield is just like this. Just charge, kill, kill, and go up and it will be over.

Guanqiu Jian is probably the second type.

He is young and easily gets carried away. Although Liu Fu told him to be cautious and even said that it didn’t matter even if the baggage was burned, it would be fine. At most, he could mobilize it from the rear, but Guanqiu Jian felt that he could win and he should win.

He was too eager to be praised and affirmed.

It was real praise, not false courtesy.

This impulse caused Guanqiu Jian to forget something.

Or to ignore something.

Guanqiu Jian's family environment was not as good as the best, but better than the worst. When he looked up, the successful people he saw were all giving him chicken soup, saying that hard work would be rewarded and bravery would definitely lead to success.

So he worked hard and was brave.

At the moment when Guanqiu Jian led his men out of the camp, the cavalrymen who were rampaging on the riverside and the floating bridge obviously shrank a little, as if they were a little afraid of Guanqiu Jian's arrival. The situation of one rising and the other falling greatly stimulated Guanqiu Jian and his Cao army soldiers, who rushed towards the floating bridge occupied and controlled by the cavalrymen with a roar.

Darkness, fire.

People shouting, horses neighing.

The river roared, and the artillery roared.

Everything was so chaotic, but so full of rhythm.

The rhythm of death.

Guanqiu Jian had just led his men to the vicinity of the floating bridge when the warhorse under him suddenly neighed, and then, as if it had stepped on something, it swung its front hooves, neighed, and kicked and stomped its hooves desperately, almost throwing Guanqiu Jian off the horse. Guanqiu Jian was suddenly awakened from his beautiful fantasy. He held the reins tightly and even had to hold the horse's neck to avoid falling off the horse.

Just as Guanqiu Jian was trying his best to control the warhorse, some frightening sounds suddenly rang in his ears.

『Swoosh! Swoosh! 』

Although the river was flowing nearby, the artillery of Tongguan was rumbling from time to time, and the shouts of the surrounding people and horses were still noisy, this fear that was almost engraved in his bones still made him instinctively bend down and lie on the horse's back.

In the intersection of darkness and light and fire, crossbow arrows whistled past.

The crossbow arrows shot from the river bank were as fast as locusts.

The Cao army soldiers who rushed to the front fell down with their horses. Most of them were infantrymen. A small number of cavalrymen might have been covered by the war horses, or attracted by them, and injured the horses instead of the people, but they also fell down and the formation was in chaos!

"Ambush! There is an ambush!"

The Cao army soldiers shouted loudly, but in the chaotic scene, they did not play the due warning effect.

Some Cao army soldiers still ran forward by inertia, and then stepped on their compatriots, or subconsciously stopped their feet, but were knocked to the ground by their compatriots behind.

On one side was the cold river water, and on the other side were the burning supplies. Guanqiu Jian and others were caught in the middle, enjoying the service of ice and fire, and had to endure not shooting... cough cough, not being shot...

The crossbow arrows and arrows whistled and flew in succession.

Although after the first round of arrows and crossbows, Cao's army quickly put shields in the direction of the arrows, which reduced the damage of the subsequent arrows and crossbows, the arrows and crossbows that attacked from the darkness still made Cao's soldiers flustered.

Including Guanqiu Jian.

At this moment when the commander should have stood up, issued orders and quickly counterattacked, what was Guanqiu Jian doing?

He was busy fighting with his warhorse.

In his nervousness, he did not even notice what his warhorse had stepped on, and just thought that his warhorse was out of control.

The ambition of making achievements and being crowned as a marquis has dissipated at this moment, and the only thought left in his mind is why this warhorse suddenly became disobedient?

Obviously, Guanqiu Jian underestimated the combat effectiveness of the cavalry.

Perhaps the one or two hundred cavalry is just a fraction compared to the tens of millions of people in the Cao army camp, but war is not simply a comparison of numbers. In this small local battlefield on the Fuqiao River, Cao's army was crushed in terms of individual quality.

Guanqiu Jian thought that the cavalry had few people, so he would set a few fires and kill a few people after the sneak attack. The current results must have been precious for the cavalry, so when he led his men forward, these cavalry should have fled in a hurry when they saw the situation was not good.

As a result, what Guanqiu Jian did not expect was that Hao Zhao not only did not run away, but secretly set up some people on the side of the river to lure Guanqiu Jian to deform his formation and then shoot arrows.

"Kill! Charge in the middle! Kill!"

Hao Zhao roared, covered half of his face with a shield, and rushed up first with a sword.

Why not spread out on both wings to counter-encircle Cao's army?

It was very simple. In the darkness and the firelight, Hao Zhao and the others could not see the caltrops on the ground clearly. They could only avoid the area where they had been spread before and rush forward.

Hao Zhao ran into the Cao army formation and knocked down a Cao soldier with one sword. He then used his shield to push away the sword and spear of another Cao soldier, and cut open the Cao soldier's bare arm without armor protection.

Blood spurted out, and the smell of blood immediately spread.

The screams of the wounded made the other Cao soldiers instinctively feel the danger, and they couldn't help but be restrained.

"Kill him! Kill him!"

After getting off the warhorse with great difficulty, Guanqiu Jian finally issued a command that seemed to be reasonable, but also pointed out the direction of attack to Hao Zhao.

Hao Zhao stood in the front of the army formation. This position was of course extremely risky, but it also had great benefits.

Most of the Shanxi generals and frontier commanders of the Han Dynasty liked to fight on the front line. Not only could they output damage, but they were also more efficient and effective in on-the-spot dispatching than commanding in the back line and running back and forth with messengers.

Hao Zhao and Cao's soldiers had fought many times, and he had a strong psychological advantage. Not only was he not afraid at all, but he was also more agile and brave because of the secretion of adrenaline.

When Guanqiu Jian shouted loudly, he was discovered by Hao Zhao in the front line in the gap between the chaotic light and shadow crowd.

Hao Zhao cut down a Cao soldier, then held the shield in front, blocked the swords and guns of the other two Cao soldiers, and shouted to the guards around him: "Five Elements Thunder! Fifty steps to the left front! "

"Fifty steps to the left front! "Hao Zhao's guards also shouted.

In the cavalry formation, several people immediately shrank under the shields of the friendly army, then took off the grenades hanging behind them, pulled out the plugs, pierced the sealed oil paper, pulled out the fuse, and put it on the torch next to them. Then, with a low shout, they threw it in the direction where Hao Zhao shouted.

Three or four grenades passed through the air and fell into the Cao army line.

『Ahhh...』

The Cao army soldiers seemed to realize something, and they screamed in panic. They subconsciously dodged, making the originally untidy formation even more chaotic.

『Boom!』

A grenade exploded.

After several improvements, the grenade is more powerful and more lethal than the first generation of grenades.

In short, the killing radius of the first generation of grenades is only about two to three steps. If it exceeds five steps, it will only be splashed by the stones and wood chips that are shaken up. The direct damage is very small, but with the purification of black gunpowder and the improvement of grenade fragments, the current grenades can do a certain amount of damage within ten steps.

It is just a certain amount of damage, not necessarily killing on the spot. Compared with the large-scale lethality within ten meters or even fifty meters in later generations, black gunpowder is still a little brother.

The air wave of the explosion knocked over two or three Cao soldiers near the explosion point, and the fragments of the grenade whistled.

A fragment cut a huge wound on the thigh of a Cao soldier like a sharp blade, and then stabbed into the lower abdomen of another Cao soldier without stopping.

The huge wound exposed the pale leg bone, and the irregular twisted muscles and skin on the edge. Blood gushed out from the huge wound like a fountain, "Ahhhhh..."

Until the blood splashed out, the injured Cao soldier seemed to feel the pain, screamed hoarsely, and fell to the ground.

"Boom! Boom!"

A few more explosions followed.

The broken limbs, flesh and armor fragments flew up in the thick smoke, and then fell with the soil and gravel, hitting the armor helmets of the other uninjured Cao soldiers.

A stone hit Guanqiu Jian's helmet with a "dong" sound, and his helmet was crooked.

Guanqiu Jian couldn't help but yelled, and he closed his eyes in fear. He staggered, his legs softened, and he almost fell to the ground.

There was panic all around, and all the Cao army soldiers were shouting and dodging, so Guanqiu Jian's behavior was not very obvious. After a while, Guanqiu Jian came back to his senses, and only felt a numbness on his head, but it didn't hurt. He quickly looked down at his body, and it was still intact. His soul had returned to his body.

??????????.??????

He moved his eyes to the place where the grenade fell.

The stomach of a Cao army soldier was cut open, and the colorful intestines in his abdomen were scattered, and filth and fragments of internal organs continued to flow out. He lay on his back on the ground, not dead yet, and his hands and feet were still twitching...

Guanqiu Jian looked at the scene in front of him with fear. His original ambitions had been greatly shaken, and a sour smell surged from his throat.

He vomited heavily...

The morale of the Cao army collapsed, and the cavalry soldiers naturally became more and more brave.

Hao Zhao held the shield in his left hand and the sword in his right hand, smashing and slashing, killing three or four people in an instant, as brave as a tiger.

"Kill the enemy general! Seize Cao's camp!"

Hao Zhao raised his sword and shouted.

"Kill the enemy general! Seize Cao's camp!"

The other cavalry soldiers behind Hao Zhao also shouted, and for a moment they even covered up the sound on the Tongguan side.

Who would have thought that just one or two hundred cavalrymen would actually want to rob the Cao army's camp with tens of thousands of people? !

But if Hao Zhao and others are really allowed to take advantage of the situation and rush into the camp, even if the camp is still in the hands of Cao Jun in the end, it will cause serious damage to the morale of Cao Jun. Think about it, a camp of tens of thousands of people was rushed in by one or two hundred people. Not to mention how much damage was caused, Cao Jun's face was completely lost!

Thinking of this, Guanqiu Jian felt that his crotch was a little wet. He didn't know if it was stained blood, gastric juice from his vomiting, or some other liquid.

He was completely shocked by the murderous intent displayed by Hao Zhao and others, and was also frightened by the grenades. He did not even have time to think about whether Hao Zhao and others would really seize the camp, and whether it would be possible for them to arrive with so many grenades. Here, after all, two hundred people are attacking a camp with tens of thousands of people. Even if they really succeed in rushing in, it will probably be a suicidal attack.

It's just that the posture Hao Zhao showed was indeed very intimidating.

Not only did he ambush the archers and attack from the side, but he also killed and wounded many Cao soldiers during the contact, and he also had that kind of terrifying weapon...

So Guanqiu Jian immediately decided to return to the camp and close the camp gate to at least ensure that the camp was not lost.

As the saying goes, if a gentleman does not establish himself, then he will do nothing.

"withdraw! Withdraw to camp! 』

Guanqiu Jian ran away with his tail between his legs.

He suddenly realized that only by living can one become a great man, if he dies...

Compared with this little life, what is face?

So, what about faith?

Guanqiu Jian fled back in embarrassment. It was embarrassing, but he survived!

congratulations!

He indeed blocked Hao Zhao from the camp, but he also blocked the remaining soldiers and laborers of Cao's army from the camp.

"Cowardless rats!" Hao Zhao held up his bloody sword and shouted outside the camp, "Come out and fight San Lily with grandpa!" 』

Guanqiu Jian's face was livid, "Fire the arrow!" Shoot the arrow! Don't let the thieves get close to the camp! 』

Arrows whizzed down.

Hao Zhaolue raised his shield, fired a few arrows, laughed, and withdrew from the range of the arrows.

Although Hao Zhao is brave, he is not single-minded. He knows that with his strength, even if he really charges into Cao Jun's camp, he may not be able to cause much harm to Cao Jun. The reason why he decided to seize the camp The purpose of this situation was to force Cao Jun to close the camp gate to prevent the soldiers from Cao Jun's camp from coming out continuously.

After all, Hao Zhao and others are also made of flesh and blood, and it is impossible for them to be exhausted forever.

When Guanqiu Jian really fell into the trap and fled back and closed the camp gate, it meant that the soldiers and laborers of Cao's army on the riverside were completely abandoned.

Hao Zhao can easily harvest, destroy, and then evacuate...

In fact, if Guanqiu Jian is given another chance, or if he is allowed to slowly plan after the war, he will definitely have a better response strategy, such as using shield soldiers to advance in front and using the advantage of many people to crush Hao Zhao to death. . Or they can fight head-on, send a small team to go around and burn the pontoon bridge, completely trap Hao Zhao by the river, etc.

It's a pity that there is no if in war.

Hao Zhao burned the grain, grass and supplies piled up by Cao's army by the river, and finally burned the pontoon bridge, and then retreated Shi Ran...

After Hao Zhao retreated and burned the pontoon bridge, the Tongguan garrison also retreated.

There was no contact between the two parties, nor any communication in advance, but on such a night, the Tongguan defenders, Sima Yi, Hao Zhao and others made an exquisite cooperation, as if they had planned it dozens of times beforehand.

But that's how combat is. It's not about how many hindsight moves you can come up with after the war, but how well you can turn your head when on the spot!

Just like being a keyboard warrior 10,000 times on the Internet, it is not as good as being able to speak up and say a word when seeing injustice in reality.

…

…

In this era, communication can only rely on shouting, and information can only rely on guessing.

The unknown is the mystery.

Even the hive mode relies on pheromones.

A little pheromone drifted to the Zhongtiao Mountain camp...

"Stop whoever comes!" 』

"Stop, or you'll shoot if you don't!" 』

The soldiers on the sentry post at Zhongtiao Mountain shouted loudly, trying to make the people on the official road stop.

But the visitor did not stop, but shouted loudly, "Tongguan is in danger!" quick! Send reinforcements quickly! Tongguan camp was broken! The camp is in danger! Send reinforcements quickly, reinforcements! 』

"Stop, stop!" ” The soldiers at the Zhongtiao Mountain sentry were also shouting, “Stop going forward!” Stand over there! 』

The person who came was still shouting and did not stop.

Warning arrows whistled down.

The soldiers on the guard post obviously wanted to warn, so they did not shoot him directly as soon as they came up. However, perhaps due to the influence of the mountain wind, or perhaps because the soldier's hands were crooked, the man suddenly screamed and fell to the ground with a pop.

"I..." The archer on the sentry post was dumbfounded. "I didn't want to shoot him to death... What should I do?" 』

"What else can we do?" Just say that you will die when you come, that's it..." Another sentry said.

"Wait, what did he shout just now?" 』

"Ah...ah!" It seems, it seems that the Tongguan camp was attacked! Tongguan asks for help! 』

The Cao Jun sentry on top of the sentry trembled and almost fell from the height. He hurriedly rang the warning gong, and then quickly reported to Guo Jia.

Guo Jia was startled and hurriedly ran out of the tent, then walked along the hillside towards the highest watchtower.

The night wind on Zhongtiao Mountain howled, blowing the vegetation on the mountain and making the leaves rustle.

Perhaps because of the terrain, or perhaps because there is a big river surrounding it, the wind on Zhongtiao Mountain is particularly strong, sometimes like the howling of ghosts and wolves, which makes people palpitate.

Because of the mountain, the Zhongtiao Mountain camp cannot directly see Tongguan. You must climb to the observation tower on the top of the mountain to see the Tongguan camp on the other side of the river across the ridge.

But it can only be seen.

The movement of the Tongguan camp and the earth-shaking artillery sound are almost inaudible here in Zhongtiao Mountain. Even if there is no disturbance from the whistling night wind on Zhongtiao Mountain, the sound will quickly attenuate with the increase of distance. Therefore, when Guo Jia climbed the high platform, he could only see the abnormal flames rising from the Tongguan camp, but he didn't know and couldn't hear any sound.

Except for the whistling night wind in his ears.

Near the floating bridge, the swaying fire in Tongguan was obviously wrong, but the Cao army did not have effective communication equipment at the moment, and could not transmit effective information to the Zhongtiao Mountain camp.

Guo Jia could only rely on guessing.

The most prudent strategy, of course, is to ignore everything. After all, it was only the Tongguan Camp that was attacked. What does it have to do with the Zhongtiaoshan Camp he led?

But the problem is that the Tongguan Camp is equivalent to the rear base of Cao Cao's series of camps in Hedong!

If he didn't know that something had happened in the Tongguan Camp, then there would be nothing to say, but now he clearly saw that there was something wrong with the Tongguan Camp, and someone reported it...

"Come here!" Guo Jia shouted in a deep voice, "Where is the person who reported it? ! '

"Reporting to the military advisor, the sentry on duty said that the person who came was too seriously injured. After running wildly to the mountain to warn, he was exhausted and accidentally fell into the mountain and died...'

The sentry obviously didn't dare to say that he was killed by mistake, even in this situation. It's much better for the messenger to fall to death, hide and seek, or kill himself with an arrow from behind than to admit that he missed.

"Fell into the mountain stream and died?" Guo Jia was stunned.

It seems a little wrong, but there is no big problem.

Although Zhongtiao Mountain has only one name, it is not a mountain peak. The sentries must be built in dangerous places. Not to mention at night, even in the daytime, you may accidentally fall to your death.

『Order, beat the drum to gather the generals! 』

Guo Jia got off the lookout, his legs and feet were shaking. When he first heard the alarm, Guo Jia couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. When he blew on the lookout, he felt cold all over his body. If Tongguan was lost, it would be a complete loss of breath, and all the dragons would die!

Although he felt a little surprised, Guo Jia still didn't dare to bet that Tongguan would be fine. He summoned the military academy overnight, readjusted the defense arrangements of the Zhongtiao Mountain camp, and then sent General Lu Chang with 3,000 soldiers and horses to rescue the Tongguan camp!