This move changed extremely quickly, forcing Gan Ning to panic. He quickly held his sword horizontally and dodged to the side.
Zhang Liao fought desperately and did not fight with him at all. He rode his horse forward again to kill him. At this time, Hou Cheng came up and stopped Gan Ning from fighting.
Zhuge Liang's deployment of the central army was very peculiar. It was surrounded by trenches and stone walls about ten feet long, interspersed with arrow towers and earth piles, arranged in layers, and the density became denser towards the inside.
If viewed from the air, the central part of the entire camp resembles a Bagua shape. The stone walls and trenches are arranged according to the principles of Yin and Yang, and are progressive layer by layer, like a maze.
Zhang Liao had no idea of the secret and just kept urging his horse forward. He was already exhausted as he marched forward under the hail of arrows. His mount was also struggling, so he had to go around two stone walls. When he looked up again, his face suddenly changed.
They had clearly only walked a dozen steps, but suddenly they were five hundred steps away from Zhuge Liang. The soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp were also scattered behind the trenches and stone walls and could not meet up.
Just when he was frightened, Chen Dao led his troops to attack. The Bai Li soldiers were well-rested and had been waiting for a long time. They rushed forward to fight against the Xianzhen Camp and killed the enemy without any chance to fight back.
Chen Dao urged his horse to charge forward and thrust his spear straight at Zhang Liao's chest. Zhang Liao held his sword horizontally to block, but he didn't expect that this spear contained a hidden move, stabbing and stabbing at the same time. Although he blocked it, the rebound force was used to thrust towards his forehead.
After all, Zhang Fei was a veteran who had been on the battlefield for many years. At this time, the fighting was fierce, his muscles were tense, and he subconsciously turned his head to dodge, narrowly avoiding the tip of the spear.
With a slight ding sound, the helmet tassel was hit by the spear tip and tilted to the side. Zhang Liao also felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. He didn't expect that this man's martial arts was not inferior to Gan Ning.
He discussed with Jia Xu and thought that if they could lure out Guan Yu and his son, the other generals of the Jingzhou army would not be a threat. As long as they eliminated Zhuge Liang with lightning speed, they could take advantage of the enemy's chaos to retreat.
He never expected that Gan Ning and Chen Dao were equally skilled in martial arts, and not only were they on par with him, but the central army was unable to break through.
Seeing that the surprise attack was on the verge of failure and seeing that the Jingzhou army was full of talented people, Zhang Liao inexplicably developed a feeling of frustration and powerlessness, which was very similar to that year at the White Gate Tower.
As soon as the thought came to his mind, his fighting power was greatly reduced. He was hit in the shoulder guard by Chen Dao's gun. Half of his armor flew into the air. He hurriedly concentrated on the fight.
Hou Cheng rushed over from behind and shouted, "Wenyuan, hurry up, I'll cover you!"
"Father, retreat quickly!" Zhang Hu was shocked and hurriedly led his troops to stop Chen Dao.
Zhang Liao looked determined and said in a deep voice: "We must not retreat unless we kill Zhuge Liang!"
Hou Cheng yelled, "Xuchang can't do without you. For the sake of the overall situation, leave!"
Zhang Liao was shocked and suddenly realized that he was the commander-in-chief of the three armies. If he died here in battle, Cao's army would be completely defeated, Guan Yu would reach Xuchang in one fell swoop, the Central Plains would fall, and the whole situation would be lost.
Thinking of this, he let out a loud roar, forced Chen Dao to retreat, and broke out with Zhang Hu and a dozen of his personal soldiers. Hou Cheng called on the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp to stop the pursuers.
Gan Ning killed all the Cao troops that were surrounding him, and when he saw Zhang Liao heading north, he led his troops to pursue him, shouting, "Zhang Liao, don't run away!"
A captain guarding the camp risked his life to rush out from behind a stone wall and stabbed Zhang Liao with a spear. If he could kill this man, he would be promoted to a general.
Zhang Liao saw the cold light approaching, so he drew his sword to block it. The tip of the spear brushed past his chest, so he grabbed the spear head with his backhand and pulled the man out.
Before he could react, Zhang Liao threw the spear back fiercely. With a dull sound of flesh and bones breaking, the spear handle pierced the man's abdomen, and he fell to the ground with a scream.
"Zhang Liao, you can't escape today!" Gan Ning led his troops to attack from the side and rushed over.
At this time, Zhang Liao had already retreated from the trenches and stone walls, and was about to fight Gan Ning, but Zhang Hu rushed over with his sword in hand, shouting, "Father, hurry up!"
"Hu Zi—" Zhang Liao yelled loudly, his eyes were red, but he still resolutely rode his horse and galloped away, killing the enemy troops that were blocking him in front.
Gan Ning saw a young general coming to stop them, and it turned out to be Zhang Liao's son. He said with emotion: "As expected, father and son fight together in battle!"
Just as he was about to kill Zhang Hu and chase Zhang Liao, he suddenly caught a glimpse of dust flying in the distance and saw a group of people approaching. When he was about to give an order to warn them, he saw a general in the lead riding a red horse and wearing a green robe, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing that it was Guan Yu who came back to help, Gan Ning knew that the crisis was over and the situation was under control, so he no longer chased Zhang Liao.
He pointed his knife at Zhang Hu and said with a smile: "You son of a bitch, why don't you surrender?"
"You are the turtle bastard!" Zhang Hu thought Gan Ning was scolding him and his son, so he flew into a rage and rushed over with his horse and sword in hand.
"Leave the kid to me and take care of those trash!"
Gan Ning fought with Zhang Hu, and the Jinfan Army rushed forward and surrounded the remaining soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp.
Zhang Liao broke out with dozens of his personal soldiers and saw Guan Yu returning to the camp. He was shocked and spurred his horse to gallop from the side, jumped out of the camp and fled to the north.
Guan Yu had just arrived at the camp gate when he heard the sound of drums in the camp. He was about to inquire about the situation when he turned around and saw Zhang Liao rushing out. His eyes widened and he turned his horse around to chase after him.
Guan Ping was startled and quickly called out to Zhou Cang: "Hurry up and follow!"
Guan Yu's Red Hare was extremely fast, like a ball of flame rolling forward. In a blink of an eye, he caught up with Cao's army and chopped down two of them with his sword.
These soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp had been together for many years and had a tacit understanding. Four of them immediately separated, two of them stepped forward to intercept Guan Yu, and two of them shot arrows from a distance.
Guan Yu swung his sword to kill two people, but was hit in the arm by an arrow. He was furious and rushed forward with a roar, and split the Cao soldier who shot the arrow into two halves.
The other person fled in panic, but Guan Yu ignored him and continued to chase Zhang Liao. He sent four more people from the Xianzhen Camp and tried every means to intercept him.
After killing more than ten people in succession, Zhang Liao had retreated to Wushui. The Cao army in front had already guarded the river bank, repaired the original camp, and built a pontoon bridge connecting Hebei. Zhu Ling led his troops to support him at the camp gate.
Zhang Liao retreated to the front of the formation, turned his horse around and saw Guan Yu chasing after him. His armor was stained with blood and his torn robe fluttered in the wind. Cao's army was in an uproar and they all drew their bows and arrows.
Guan Yu came close, reined in his warhorse, stroked his beard and shouted, "Zhang Wenyuan, I, Guan Yu, respect you as a hero, but you treat me as a rat from Jiangdong?"
Although Zhang Liao felt frustrated, he still laughed and said, "The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. It's a pity that Zhuge Liang was so cunning that I failed at the last moment. Otherwise, you would have helped me become famous again!"
Guan Yu was furious and urged his horse to charge forward. However, there was a volley of arrows fired in front of Cao's camp, so he had to turn his horse aside and returned to his starting point after making a circle, with his hair and beard flying.
Zhang Liao also sneered and asked, "Do you think I am a nobody like Yan Liang?"
Guan Yu saw that Cao's army was in good order and was helpless for a moment. Guan Ping and Zhou Cang led their troops to chase them back. Guan Yu stroked his beard and asked, "Do you dare to fight me?"
Zhang Liao clasped his fists and said, "Your Excellency used Kong Ming's strategy to capture Mobei. Don't you know that there are wise men in our army? This time, we will use Kong Ming's strategy against him. We will both win and lose. Why don't we withdraw our troops early and live in peace?"
Guan Yu stroked his beard and sneered, "I have inherited my brother's ambition to support the Han Dynasty. How can we withdraw our troops before the traitors are eliminated? Why does Wenyuan continue to help the tyrant and persist in his wrongdoings?"
Zhang Liao clasped his fists and said, "The right and wrong will be judged by future generations. You and I each serve our own masters. Regardless of our past ties, please return!"