While Zhang Xiu was in a panic, Gan Ning took out another short spear and hit his mount hard, hitting him right on the forehead.
The warhorse neighed, fell to the ground with a bang, and threw Zhang Xiu off the horse. Before Gan Ning could take any action, several Jinfan soldiers rushed forward and hacked Zhang Xiu to death with their swords.
"Oh, what a pity!" Gan Ning put away his weapons and shook his head, "Catch them alive!"
One person cursed: "This despicable old thief should have died ten years ago. Instead of staying at home and enjoying his retirement, he actually tried to kill the general and become famous again. Bah!"
Gan Ning reorganized his troops and fought again. At this time, Le Jin was also stopped by Chen Dao. Seeing Zhang Xiu and Cao Xi being killed and the Han troops on both sides besieging him, he knew that the game was hopeless and struggled to break through and escape.
With the death of the great general, Cao's army collapsed without a fight. Gan Ning and other generals followed closely behind and attacked from three directions with an unstoppable momentum.
Le Jin returned to the camp in a panic, yelling at the guards to open the gate, and then he jumped over the gate and shouted, "Close the gate, all soldiers..."
Plop—
Before he could finish his words, his horse suddenly stumbled. It turned out that there was a tripwire hidden behind the camp gate, and both the man and the horse rolled forward.
The Cao army following behind was horrified. Some ran for their lives, while others went forward to help, but they saw arrows fired from the camp, shooting down countless people. The Cao army screamed and fell to the ground.
Le Jin was knocked down and saw stars. He got up in a panic and saw the defenders shooting arrows at the deserters. He shouted, "Stop! Are you blinding your eyes?"
"Hahaha, are you blind?"
Suddenly, someone behind him laughed. When he turned around, he saw countless Han soldiers surrounding him.
Le Jin was horrified, sat down on the ground, and asked in surprise, "Who are you?"
"I am Han general Huo Jun!" The man raised his sword and sneered, "You all thought you had a good plan, but it turned out to be exactly what Kong Ming had expected. We have been waiting for this for a long time!"
At this time, Gan Ning and others had led their troops to the front of the camp. Cao's army had no way to advance or retreat, so they fled in all directions, and countless of them surrendered.
Le Jin's mind was blank at this time. He really couldn't understand why he was defeated miserably and lost the Mobei camp when he was clearly sure of victory.
Seeing this, he sighed sadly and was about to draw his sword to commit suicide, but Huo Jun sent soldiers to come forward, tied him up, and took him to Ye County camp.
Gan Ning saw the Han army in the camp and asked in astonishment, "What is going on?"
Guan Ping stepped forward, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "The military advisor had already expected that Cao's army would send troops to ambush us, so he used the strategy of luring the snake out of its hole. General Gan attracted the defenders here, and when the defenders came to besiege us, he took advantage of the opportunity to attack the main camp. We will come to rescue them later and completely defeat Cao's army here."
Gan Ning stroked his stubbled face and secretly praised Kong Ming's plan, but then frowned and said, "So, the military advisor is using us as bait?"
Guan Ping said: "This battle is extremely dangerous. Father wanted to go to the battle himself, but he was worried that Cao's army would become suspicious. Besides, among all the generals in the camp, only General Gan can take on this important task."
Gan Ning laughed out loud and didn't take it seriously. He led his troops to the camp to rest. He and Guan Ping carefully asked Zhuge Liang about his plan. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang had even taken Cao's ambush into account. All the generals were impressed.
…
In Kunyang City, Zhang Liao became increasingly uneasy when he saw Guan Yu sending troops to harass various places many times. He asked Jia Xu for advice several times, but he only told him to use stillness to overcome movement.
Yesterday, scouts reported that Guan Yu had divided his troops to attack Mobei, so Zhang Liao felt uneasy. However, he also wanted Le Jin to guard the camp, and with Zhang Xiu setting an ambush in Lushan, he would be able to repel the invading troops.
They sent troops to gather information early in the morning. When they heard that Gan Ning's troops were trapped under Lushan, Guan Yu sent troops to support them, and Zhang Liao also prepared to send troops.
Jia Xu said, "Guan Yu divided his troops to attack several times because he saw no opportunity to take advantage of. This time, sending a large army to attack Mobei will inevitably affect the main army. General, do not act rashly."
Zhang Liao said anxiously: "Guan Yu divided his troops to support us. I am afraid that the two generals will not be able to resist and fail."
Jia Xu laughed and said, "Even if we can't defeat Gan Ning, at least the Han army will be defeated and will not dare to invade again. The defensive position will remain unchanged. If the general sends troops, there may be ambushes along the way. Guan Yu will definitely attack Kunyang, which will only disrupt our formation."
At dusk, the defeated army suddenly fled back and reported that Zhang Xiu and Cao Xi were killed. The Han army launched a surprise attack on the Mobei camp, Le Jin was captured, and the defending army was almost wiped out.
Zhang Liao was shocked and asked, "How... is this possible?"
Jia Xu pulled his beard and said nothing for a long while, then sighed: "Wolong is indeed worthy of his reputation. It is me who harmed General Zhang!"
Zhang Liao said anxiously: "Mobei cannot be lost, we must send troops to rescue it as soon as possible."
"Don't act rashly!" Jia Xu frowned. He didn't know much about Zhuge Liang, so he only treated him as someone to deal with Liu Qi and others. He didn't expect that this man's schemes were so profound, so he became more cautious.
Zhang Liao stamped his feet and said, "If we don't take this place back, Guan Yu will definitely attack Yingchuan from Lushan and go north! Yuzhou will be empty, and it will be like a flood that breaks the dam and cannot be stopped."
Jia Xu thought for a long time and sighed, "Whether to rescue or not, we are already in a passive situation: if we rescue, there will be ambushes and Guan Yu's army will arrive soon; if we don't rescue, the country will be in danger. Now we have no choice but to fight to the death."
Zhang Liao was shocked and asked, "Sir, you have always been cautious, why are you willing to take a gamble now?"
Jia Xu said: "Kong Ming sent out troops from several directions. It seems to disturb the enemy, but in fact, it is a combination of the strange and the normal. If one of them breaks through, it will be like an ant breaching a dam, as the general said, and the consequences will be unpredictable! At this time, we can only mobilize the whole army to kill Guan Yu, and the rest of the troops will be like rootless duckweed and retreat without a fight."
Zhang Liao's eyes were slightly stern, and he asked, "How confident are you, sir?"
Zhang Xiu died in battle and Le Jin was captured. The situation became increasingly dangerous. If the confrontation continued, the defense line would collapse sooner or later.
Jia Xu raised his cloudy eyes, showing no emotion, and said calmly: "Victory or defeat depends not only on the people's strategy, but also on the ability of the generals. Without the initiative, the outcome is unpredictable."
Zhang Liao's heart sank and he looked at Jia Xu with a complicated expression. Cao Cao left this man in Xuchang to help him repel the enemy, but he said such discouraging words before the decisive battle
Jia Xu seemed to be still immersed in the sorrow of Zhang Xiu's death, and sighed: "If the general had ambushed in Lushan, Gan Ning would have died. If Gan Ning was defeated, with Le Jin guarding the camp, how could Zhuge Liang's plan succeed?"
Zhang Liao sighed secretly, thinking back to the decisive battle of Guandu, when Yuan's army was so powerful. He had never felt so powerless before. The whole army was full of fighting spirit, and to recover Hebei, what an ambitious goal it was!
In the Battle of Bailang Mountain, the Wuhuan were slaughtered and the north was stabilized. From then on, his reputation was greatly enhanced, and he had many generals and counselors, and he seemed to be able to sweep across the south of the Yangtze River and unify the world.
The root of all this was after Liu Qi's rise. The Battle of Nanyang caused Cao's army to suffer heavy casualties and lose all morale. The situation was just like Yuan Shao's defeat at Guandu. The entire camp lost its fighting spirit and became lifeless.
Now that Cao Cao has fled to the northern desert, Cao's army is facing enemies on all sides and is outnumbered. The situation has changed so quickly. Could this be the truth that everything that goes up must come down
Putting aside his chaotic thoughts, he asked, "The military advisor said that we need a decisive battle. Does that mean we need to fight Guan Yu head-on?"
"No!" Jia Xu also collected his thoughts and said, pulling his beard: "I see that Kong Ming's strategy is to anticipate the enemy's moves. He is trying to be ahead of the enemy step by step and is clever in his schemes. I should defeat him with my clumsy tactics."
Zhang Liao was confused and asked, "What countermeasures do you have, sir?"
Jia Xu said calmly: "Send troops to capture Mobei immediately."
"Sending troops again?" Zhang Liao felt a little annoyed. Wasn't the conversation just now just bullshit