Chapter 200 Zhang Fei captures Cao Hong alive
The words are divided into two parts.

Cao Hong took the order and assembled a hundred elite cavalrymen from his own private army.

Since Cao Cao had given the death order, Cao Hong did not dare to be negligent. He selected the best troops and went all out.

Cao Hong and Cao Cao are cousins ​​and have the same grandfather.

Cao Hong's family was extremely wealthy. Although not as wealthy as Cao Cao's family, they were much richer than the Xiahou brothers and Cao Ren.

However, Cao Hong was a very stingy person. He was rich and stingy, and could be considered an early prototype of Grandet.

The reason why he has to bring elite troops out this time is not because Cao Hong has changed his character, but because the difficulty of the mission requires him to do so.

A hundred cavalrymen were enough to launch a small-scale local battle. Cao Cao's purpose was simple, which was to have Cao Hong lead a hundred cavalrymen to launch a tentative attack.

In this case, the enemy will definitely deploy troops and expose their weaknesses.

Cao Hong will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to clearly see the enemy's military deployment.

"Cheer up, everyone!"

Cao Hong took the lead and kept giving orders.

"This place is less than ten miles away from the enemy camp. There must be scouts patrolling."

"After you find them, kill them immediately. Don't let anyone escape!"

After a cup of tea.

The people below began to get uneasy: "Captain, if we go any further, we'll be surrounded!"

Cao Hong had already noticed something unusual.

When passing the first hill, Cao Hong discovered an ambush, but perhaps because he had more people, the other side did not dare to take action.

Cao Hong was a very courageous man. Not only was he not afraid, he continued to go deeper.

Although it seemed that he was heading towards the enemy's encirclement, Cao Hong actually knew very clearly what he was going to do.

These one hundred people gathered together and entered the pocket formation like a drill.

Cao Hong expected that the enemy would be unprepared and form a fan-shaped encirclement.

In other words, there was nothing behind Cao Hong, and the enemy had no time to close their pockets.

"Stop!"

Cao Hong decisively ordered: "Turn around and retreat!"

The hundreds of riders hurriedly stopped advancing and ran back in a panic.

People didn't understand what was happening.

Only Cao Hong looked into the distance. The enemy armies on both sides were in chaos and he didn't know what to do.

This is a common tactic of cavalry, using super high mobility to pull the enemy formation.

"Remember this for me!"

Cao Hong observed both sides and shouted: "The reinforcements are about 10,000. About 5,000 have entered the camp. The left wing is about 3,000, and the right wing is about 2,000."

Although it is not very accurate, so much information can be seen at just one glance. It makes sense that Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to take action.

"Captain, enemy cavalry!"

The good times didn't last long, as enemy cavalry appeared.

Cao Hong ordered: "Follow me and attack to the left!"

The hundred cavalrymen of Cao's army suddenly changed direction, causing great trouble to Jinmao's army.

Upon seeing this, Ling Cao on the left wing immediately ordered the front army to stop advancing and adopt a defensive posture.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Cao Hong changed direction, made a big turn in front of Ling Cao's formation, and fled north again.

Ling Cao was fooled and was so angry that he jumped up and down, but he could only order the archers to shoot arrows, which shot down a dozen unlucky guys and left a dozen Cao cavalrymen who had no time to turn around.

Cao Hong led his troops galloping along the bank of the Yangtze River, secretly happy in his heart, thinking that he had successfully tricked the enemy.

Unexpectedly, a black man with more than a hundred riders came chasing and killing them, shouting and screaming.

"Dare to hunt me down?"

There was a strong murderous intent in Cao Hong's eyes. He could tell at a glance that the enemy's riding skills were not as good as his own.

At this moment, Cao Hong still had more than sixty cavalrymen under his command, enough to launch a counterattack, defeat the enemy and then escape.

Otherwise, if he wanted to get rid of these people behind him, he would sooner or later drag down Cao Hong and others.

The horses of both sides had different physical strengths. Cao Hong led his men to run for dozens of miles, while the enemy was well-rested and would definitely not be able to outrun them.

Cao Hong knew this very well.

After running for another quarter of an hour, Cao Hong found that there were no other pursuers behind him except the hundred cavalrymen, so he ordered them to stop and flee.

"Brothers, this place is still far from the main camp. If we don't defeat the pursuers first, none of us will be able to escape!"

The horses under everyone's crotch were panting heavily. Everyone was an experienced horse rider, so they naturally knew that what Cao Hong said was right.

"Captain, give the order!"

Cao Hong waved his hand and said, "No hurry, wait until the enemy is 200 steps away before launching an attack. Take this opportunity and everyone should quickly replenish their forces."

the other side.

The black man chasing after him was naturally Zhang Fei.

The pocket formation was originally set up well, and we were just waiting for the enemy to come and die.

As a result, Zhang Fei did not expect that the enemy general was so cunning that he could escape when he was sure to die.

In a hurry, Zhang Fei had no time to gather the scattered cavalry, and could only chase with his 128 cavalrymen.

What’s speechless is that the enemy’s horses were much better than those of Zhang Fei’s troops. Not only did the two sides not close the distance, but they were getting further and further away.

Zhang Fei had never seen the world and could not tell the difference between war horses.

If I have to put it bluntly, it's like the enemy's horses are young and strong, while Zhang Fei's side are all old horses that are about to retire.

There's no other way. Yangzhou is too remote. It's good enough to get war horses. Why bother about so many other things?

In fact, the difference between war horses and ordinary horses is like the difference between cavalry and infantry.

Cavalrymen were relatively tall. During the reign of Emperor Wu, one had to be at least seven feet five inches tall to be a cavalryman.

Now the standards vary from family to family, but again, you have to be at least seven feet two inches (173 cm) tall.

Otherwise, getting on the horse will be a problem.

Saddles and stirrups were not popular in this era, and riding a horse was a very dangerous thing.

The Han people are not like nomadic people who have lived on horseback since childhood. For the Han people, riding a horse is something that requires long-term training.

People in Yangzhou are generally not tall, which is why there are so few cavalrymen under Jin Mao.

The requirements for war horses are no less than those for cavalry.

The peak period of each ordinary warhorse can only last for two or three years. After the next five or six years, it can only become a second-rate warhorse, that is, an old warhorse.

Most of the war horses seized by Jin Mao were old horses, while the hundred cavalry led by Cao Hong were all prime horses borrowed from Yuan Shu.

The two are not on the same level.

Fortunately, Cao Hong was too confident, which gave Zhang Fei the opportunity to catch up.

Seeing the enemy right before his eyes, Zhang Fei could not suppress his excitement and shouted, "Charge! Charge!"

The captain of his garrison quickly reminded him: "Sima, don't be reckless!"

"The warhorse needs a rest!"

Zhang Fei didn't care about that and yelled, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Without the assistance of a loudspeaker, the voice of one person sounded like the roar of a tiger or leopard, shouting out murderous intent.

Zhang Fei's men were inspired and shouted, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" without caring about common sense.

opposite.

Cao Hong was startled by Zhang Fei's loud voice. When he saw that he was about 200 steps away, he wanted to shout back: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Unfortunately, the two are not in the same order of magnitude. If Zhang Fei is a tiger or leopard, Cao Hong is a Shiba Inu.

One hundred steps!

Cao Hong and his men just picked up their horse speed.

Fifty steps!
The horse speed of Cao Hong and others was the same as that of Zhang Fei and others.

Twenty steps!
Both sides pointed their weapons, their eyes bloodshot.

Cao Hong's side used a two-row interval charge mode, with a distance of ten steps between the front and the back.

In other words, if the front row engages with the enemy, the back row will not collide with the front row. Instead, due to the difference in movement between the enemy and us, a strong kinetic energy will be generated.

Regardless of life or death in the front row, the back row can easily harvest the enemy.

Zhang Fei's troops did not understand this, and they pursued all the way. Even if they had a formation, it was scattered in a mess, and they were supported purely by their courage.

"boom!"

In the first wave of collision between the two armies, Zhang Fei gained the upper hand by virtue of his numerical advantage.

In the blink of an eye, Cao Hong's second wave of attack arrived, and Zhang Fei's men were immediately thrown to the ground.

When the two armies turned their horses around and came back, Cao Hong still had nearly 40 cavalrymen left, but Zhang Fei had lost nearly 40 cavalrymen!

Sit down!

However, Cao Hong was surprised to find that the enemy showed no fear at all, which was unreasonable!

Normally, a 20% loss would have led to collapse long ago.

Cao Hong and others are different. On the one hand, they are private soldiers with stronger cohesion than most regular troops. On the other hand, they know that they will die if they escape separately, so they stick together to make the last bet.

The result was not unexpected, but the enemy's reaction was unexpected.

Suddenly, nearly forty riders scattered, not daring to fight any further.

"You bastard! If I let you go today, I won't be called Zhang Fei anymore!"

Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly away, Zhang Fei chased after Cao Hong with his spear.

Cao Hong cursed his bad luck inwardly. This black guy ignored everyone else and just targeted him.

After running only a hundred steps, Cao Hong helplessly discovered that the remaining eighty-odd cavalrymen of the enemy surrounded him and prevented him from escaping.

Finally, Cao Hong reined in his horse and challenged: "I am Cao Hong, the captain of the cavalry. Who dares to fight me?"

Zhang Fei immediately became interested: "Scatter! Everyone, scatter!"

Cao Hong originally wanted to take the opportunity to break out, but when he saw the scattered cavalrymen gathered in groups of three or two, they were very defensive.

He stopped thinking about it and focused on the battle.

"Only by killing the enemy general can we have a chance of survival."

Zhang Fei didn't care and shouted, "I respect you as a man, choose the way you want to die!"

Cao Hong was young, but he was able to ride a horse and wield a sword. This was purely because his family was rich and he was equipped with a good horse and a good saddle, which enabled him to be on par with Zhang Fei in riding skills.

"Don't be mad!"

Cao Hong rode up on his horse, holding his sword in both hands, with the tip of the sword pointing directly at Zhang Fei.

"Good horse! Good sword!"

Zhang Fei kicked the horse's belly and laughed, "You are not worthy of it, why not give it to me!"

In a few breaths, the two men and their horses crossed each other and fought back and forth.

When they first came into contact, Cao Hong was frightened by Zhang Fei's extraordinary strength and began to retreat, wanting to keep his distance.

But how could Zhang Fei give Cao Hong what he wanted? He swung his Zhangba Snake Spear up and down, and said he wanted to take Cao Hong's horse, but all his moves were aimed at the warhorse.

Cao Hong knew very well that he could not lose his warhorse, and he had a very hard time dealing with it.

After ten rounds, Cao Hong was sweating profusely and holding on with gritted teeth.

After twenty rounds, Cao Hong's face turned red and he was having a hard time coping.

After thirty rounds, Cao Hong's face turned pale, his legs were shaking, and he was about to fall off his horse.

"drink!"

Zhang Fei had a sharp eye. He seized the opportunity and used his spear to knock the long sword out of Cao Hong's hand.

"Oh!"

The snake spear knocked Cao Hong off his horse.

Zhang Fei changed direction and as he rode past, he picked up Cao Hong with one hand and raised him above his head.

"I captured the enemy general alive!"

"Captain, you are mighty!"

"Captain, you are mighty!"

Unlike Zhang Fei who enjoyed the cheers, Cao Hong was biting his back teeth to pieces and thought it would be better for him to just die.

...

Cao’s army camp.

"Report!"

Cao Hong was captured alive, and his subordinates were unaware of it, but only about ten riders escaped. Those who died all ran back to the encirclement like headless flies.

This is also the sadness of the soldiers. They have no education, come to an unfamiliar environment, get lost from their commander, or get lost. Only those with good luck can return to the base camp.

When Cao Cao learned about the general situation of Jinmao's army, he couldn't help but be very excited and asked, "Where is Cao Hong?"

The messenger kowtowed with a weeping face and said, "Captain, have mercy!"

"The situation is too urgent. The captain is here to cover our retreat in order to deliver the intelligence!"

In order to save his life, the messenger lied.

Cao Cao instinctively didn't believe it, but he showed both kindness and authority both inside and outside the army and didn't say much.

"Go down and receive the reward."

After the messenger left, Cao Cao waited until dark but still had no news of Cao Hong, so he knew that Cao Hong was in great danger.

The next day.

Faced with the pressing Jinmao Army, Cao Cao had to put aside his sadness and command the Jingzhou navy and his troops to proceed according to the original plan.

Cao Cao's troops, two thousand cavalrymen, were seen carrying Cao's flags and dragging branches on their horses' tails, creating the appearance of dust in the sky, giving the enemy the illusion that there were many enemy troops here.

The remaining nearly two thousand infantry and cavalry were arranged in an orderly manner to confront the three thousand mixed troops led by Guan Yu head-on.

The Jingzhou navy was divided into two parts.

Six thousand archers boarded warships, flying the flag of Cai Mao, and crossed the river to confront Huang Gai's navy.

Another 4,000-strong ragged navy, under the banner of Yuan Shu, was stationed at the rear of Cao's army.

That's right!

This was Cao Cao’s plan, to pretend to be a three-party force to fight against Jin Mao.

If Jinmao is frightened, the plan will be half successful.

Next, all he had to do was convince Jin Mao with words that Cao Cao had an endless supply of troops, and he would be successful.

This is the best strategy!

If Jin Mao was not frightened, Cao Cao still had a middle plan, which was to use his own troops to catch Jin Mao off guard.

On the way back, they passed by a navy pretending to be Yuan Shu's army.

By then, Jinmao would definitely not be able to resist taking action against the Jingzhou navy.

Doing so would be considered as offending both Yuan Shu and the Jingzhou gentry at the same time, which would definitely bring huge trouble to Jin Mao when he rules Jingzhou in the future.

Cao Cao was indeed worthy of Cai Mao.

As for the worst plan, Jin Mao would not be fooled at all and would not only keep the Jingzhou navy, but also Cao Cao and others.

For this reason, Cao Cao had already made preparations for escape.

...

Zhu County.

Zhang Fei captured Cao Hong alive and praised himself to everyone he met.

"Guan Lao San! Have you seen my strength?"

"capture!"

"Taozi, I captured him alive!"

"capture!"…

In short, along the way, none of the generals including Guan Yu, Ling Cao, and Dong Xi were spared, and Zhang Fei showed off to them all.

The Chinese military tent.

When Jin Mao learned that Zhang Fei had captured Cao Cao's general alive, he was shocked and said, "Quickly call Zhang Yide!"

Then, Cao Hong had his first meeting with Jin Mao in an almost shameful way.

Cao Hong was tied up, and Zhang Fei was carrying Cao Hong like a maggot. He came in front of Jin Mao and then threw him heavily to the ground.

"My Lord, I am guilty!"

Zhang Fei winked and said, "I let more than a dozen scouts escape, but I also captured the enemy general alive. I am guilty!"

Jin Mao couldn't stand Zhang Fei's show-off, so he nodded in agreement and said, "Since you say you are guilty, then I will punish you."

"No, no, no!" Zhang Fei waved his hands and said, "Please don't listen to my nonsense. This is a great achievement!"

Jin Mao smiled and said, "Then you haven't done your job well either."

Zhang Fei's face suddenly fell, and he sat down on the ground, throwing a tantrum: "I don't care! I'm the first person in the army to capture an enemy general alive!"

Jin Mao laughed and asked, "Then tell me, who was captured alive?"

Zhang Fei jumped up happily and pointed at Cao Hong and said, "His name is Cao Hong! He must be Cao Cao's brother! This is a big fish!"

　The update will be a little later tomorrow, so no need to wait.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)