Chapter 274 Sun Ce's War Criminal Performance

The Huaihe River Navy did not have cavalry.

The war horses ridden by Sun Ce and Han Dang were all seized after they defeated Niu Fu.

Zhou Tai only left 300 war horses for officers to ride, and all the rest were handed over.

When Sun Ce set out, it was only You hour, and when he arrived west of Luoyang it was already Hai hour.

The main reason is that Mengjin Pass is relatively far away and the Huaihe River Navy is composed entirely of infantry.

Because of the difference in light and shadow, Sun Ce's side was in the light, and the naked eye did not immediately notice Guo Si's troops who were in the dark.

However, just because the eyes can’t see doesn’t mean the ears can’t hear.

Guo Si's troops had a thousand cavalrymen, and the sound of horse hooves was deafening.

"The whole army forms an array!"

Sun Ce acted decisively, adjusted his formation, and then launched an attack on Guo Si's troops based on his instincts.

"kill!"

the other side.

Seeing that he could not escape, Guo Si quickly ordered his men to light torches, not to illuminate the Yangzhou army, but to light the way for the war horses.

In the dark, it is easy for war horses to trip or miss a step, resulting in non-combat casualties.

This was like stirring up a hornet's nest.

There was a huge commotion in the Yangzhou military camp behind Guo Si, and the neighing of war horses resounded through the sky.

Guo Si understood that it was impossible to escape unscathed, because there were a large number of cavalrymen about to leave the camp behind him, and there were an unknown number of enemy troops in front of him.

"Brothers! Scatter!"

"The cavalry is coming closer to me!"

Guo Si called it "buying time for the infantry brothers to escape!"

He didn't care what his subordinates thought, whether they were grateful or resentful, and just left it to fate.

"Charge with me!"

At Guo Si's command, the first 500 elite cavalrymen who gathered began to speed up without hesitation.

The other 500 miscellaneous cavalrymen were a step behind due to their hesitation, and it was impossible for them to catch up.

At this time, the Yangzhou cavalry rushed out of the camp, and Guo Si's troops lost the guidance of their commander and became a mess.

The soldiers on the periphery took the opportunity to slip away, and the soldiers squeezed in the middle were too late to leave.

Someone shouted, "The Yangzhou Army does not kill prisoners!"

Suddenly, there was a crackling sound and the weapons fell to the ground.

Those who didn't have time to escape all dropped their weapons, knelt down and raised their hands in surrender.

Some cavalrymen did not flee, but followed the example of the infantrymen, dismounted and surrendered.

Zhang Fei and Cheng Pu led a thousand cavalrymen respectively, one from the south and one from the north, and came in parallel.

I thought it was going to be another big battle and was very excited.

When they got closer, illuminated by the torches, they saw groups of Xiliang soldiers kneeling on the ground to surrender, cursing as they put away their weapons and went to join Sun Ce.

There were also some unlucky Xiliang soldiers who were either killed by mistake or died from horse hooves. The nearby Xiliang soldiers were frightened and stood up to escape, but they were immediately subjected to more violent attacks and pursuit.

Therefore, the remaining Xiliang soldiers either had to be on high alert to prevent accidental injuries, or simply lie on the ground to avoid being harvested by the cavalry like rice.

When Zhu Zhi and Wu Ning arrived with their infantry, the Xiliang soldiers were so excited as if they had seen their reborn parents, leaving the two men confused.

East.

Guo Si led the elite cavalry and charged into the Huaihe River navy.

Sun Ce had little experience in leading troops and failed to react immediately, resulting in many soldiers in the front row being killed or injured by Guo Si.

"How dare you, thief!"

Sun Ce was so excited that he forgot to command the entire army to form a defensive formation. Instead, he led Generals Zu Mao and Han Dang to charge diagonally towards the Xiliang cavalry.

"Herod!"

After a while of people falling down and horses falling.

Sun Ce actually relied on his personal bravery to cut the Xiliang cavalry column into two.

"happy!"

Sun Ce wiped the blood foam from his face, turned around and looked, only to find that the fire dragon formed by his own torches had been torn from head to tail and split into two parts.

With a chill in his heart, Sun Ce remembered that he was the commander-in-chief and not a fierce general charging into the battle.

"Uncle Han, Uncle Zu, please stop this cavalry and don't let them move forward!"

"Your command!" Han Dang and Zu Mao clasped their fists and received the order, then charged forward again.

Sun Ce did not dare to delay any longer. He turned his horse around to chase after Guo Si and the others, while shouting, "Form a battle array! Form a battle array!"

The Huaihe River Navy was an elite force and they organized themselves very quickly upon hearing the order.

Unfortunately, Guo Si had already killed the fire dragon's head and fled to Luoyang without looking back.

By the time Sun Ce drove his horse to the tail end of the dragon head, the enemy had already been lost.

The casualties along the way shocked Sun Ce again.

"Fuck!"

"I'm lucky this time!"

The thought lasted only a moment. Sun Ce shook his head and threw away everything that was not necessary. He drove his horse back again, wanting to kill a few riders to vent his anger.

I don’t know whether Sun Ce is really lucky or just unlucky.

By the time Sun Ce returned, the elite cavalry of Xiliang had not yet been wiped out and were still putting up a stubborn resistance.

Immediately, Sun Ce shouted angrily: "Prepare to die!"

A man and a horse rushed in.

In the light and darkness, all one could see was the Overlord's Spear flying and corpses falling off their horses.

Soon, Zhang Fei and Cheng Pu arrived with two thousand cavalry.

Seeing that they were defeated, the elite cavalry of Xiliang scattered and tried to escape, but it was too late.

In a quarter of an hour, they were driven together by Zhang Fei and Cheng Pu. During this period, more than a dozen riders wanted to break through, but they were easily stabbed to death by Zhang Fei and others.

When the encirclement was formed, this group of Xiliang cavalry were stubborn and refused to surrender even if they were beaten to death.

"I admire you for being men!"

Zhang Fei spoke first: "Zhang Fei from Yan is here to see you off!"

Having said that, he rode forward.

"You bastard!" Cheng Pu yelled, "Don't try to steal my military credit!"

Also joined the battle.

Sun Ce said nothing and just worked hard.

After a while, the remaining twenty or thirty elite cavalrymen from Xiliang were stabbed to death one after another.

Zhang Fei captured ten riders!

Sun Ce also captured ten cavalrymen!
Cheng Pu had the least, only five riders!

A few of the riders were picked up by the rest of the soldiers.

It was the first time that Zhang Fei saw Sun Ce fight on the battlefield, and he couldn't help but praise him: "Boy! You are really brave! You have the style of me in my old days!"

Cheng Pu introduced him appropriately: "Yide, please don't be rude. This is Master Sun, Sun Bofu!"

Sun Jian, Zhang Fei was still convinced, clasped his fists and said: "So it is you, sir! I am sorry for offending you, please forgive me."

Sun Ce quickly clasped his fists in return and said, "Captain Zhang, you are too kind to me. I am only a general, how dare I pay my respects to you?"

"Let's put it this way." Zhang Fei said nonchalantly, "I only call you Young Master for the sake of your late father."

"If you really care about these things, then make a name for yourself on the battlefield!" "I look forward to the day when you surpass Sun Yuzhou!"

Sun Ce was very touched. He did not expect his father to have such a good friend. He could not help but ask, "Did the captain have any relationship with my late father?"

"No!" Zhang Fei said bluntly, "If it weren't for Sun Jian...Sun Yuzhou's death in battle, he was a real man, I wouldn't look down on him at all!"

Sun Ce was stunned. He did not expect Zhang Fei to have such a clear mind. He clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Captain."

At this time, Han Dang and Zu Mao moved closer to Sun Ce.

Cheng Pu greeted his old friend excitedly: "Yigong (Han Dang's courtesy name)! Darong (Zumao's courtesy name)!"

Zu Mao clasped his fists in greeting, having already let go of his grudges.

Han Dang was different. He snorted coldly as a response.

Zhang Fei and Cheng Pu had been getting along well these days, so he couldn't help but stand up for him and made things difficult for Han Dang: "What's your official position? Why didn't you bow to your superior?"

Han Dang had a hot temper and had been scolded by Zhang Fei before. He was filled with new and old grudges and was about to explode.

"Uncle Han!"

Sun Ce pulled Han Dang back in time to stop him from losing his temper.

Then, Sun Ce explained for Han Dang: "Captain, please forgive me. Han Shu is now without an official position. He is my retainer just like Zu Shu. If he has offended you, I will apologize to you on their behalf."

Zhang Fei and Jin Mao have similar temperaments in some aspects, both of them are the kind of people who are soft-hearted and do not tolerate tough situations.

Since Sun Ce had humbled himself so much, Zhang Fei stopped being aggressive and walked away cursing.

"Uncle Cheng."

Sun Ce bowed respectfully to Cheng Pu, who quickly returned the greeting and exclaimed, "Young Master has grown up!"

"I'm already seventeen." Sun Ce half-jokingly said, "I've grown up naturally!"

Cheng Pu shook his head and said with relief: "With such performance from the young master, the spirit of Lord...Sun Yuzhou can rest in peace in heaven."

There are two people that Han Dang hates the most in his life, one is Jin Mao and the other is Cheng Pu.

After hearing this, he finally couldn't help but said, "Cheng Pu! Stop being so hypocritical!"

"How did the lord treat you at that time?"

"what about you?"

"Ungrateful person!"

"The governor of Yangzhou is really blind. He actually fell in love with a traitor like you. It seems that he is not a wise leader, but a mediocre one!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the two men shouted loudly.

"Uncle Han!"

"Han Dang!"

The former is naturally Sun Ce, and the latter is Cheng Pu.

Cheng Pu pointed his Iron-Backed Snake Spear at Han Dang and shouted angrily, "It doesn't matter how you humiliate me, but if you humiliate the lord!"

"I will fight you to the death!"

Han Dang knew that he had said something wrong, so he snorted coldly and said no more.

Sun Ce covered for Han Dang in time and said, "Uncle Cheng, you know that Uncle Han is in a bad mood and always speaks out of turn. I hope Uncle Cheng will not tell the lord about this for the sake of our past friendship."

Cheng Pu immediately put away his iron spear, clasped his fists and said in return: "Sir, what are you talking about? We are one family after all, why should we have different opinions?"

"Sun Yuzhou once entrusted the matter to me, how could I put you in an unjust position?"

Sun Ce heard a hidden meaning and asked excitedly, "What did my father entrust you with?"

"Why bring up the past again?" Cheng Pu knew that he had let the cat out of the bag, so he immediately said, "Sir, just know that I will not harm you."

After looking at Han Dang and Zu Mao, Cheng Pu said, "My lord values ​​talents. If you two are interested in joining the army, I would like to recommend you."

"Don't worry, the lord will still give me some face."

Zu Mao had already been tempted, but because Han Dang was present, he did not speak.

Han Dang had a deep grudge against Cheng Pu, and sneered again, "Recommend him to be a soldier?"

"You don't need to give me this little bit of face. I can earn it myself!"

Cheng Pu was helpless, and he clasped his fists towards Sun Ce and said, "I am busy with military matters, so I will take my leave now."

Sun Ce responded, "That's right."

Afterwards, they organized their ranks and collected the prisoners.

By the time everything was settled, it was already the next morning.

In this battle, more than 500 of the 5,000 men led by Sun Ce suffered casualties, which can be described as a war criminal-level performance.

It should be known that the intelligence and battle situation of each unit would be summarized, which means that Guo Si only led 500 cavalry to cause such heavy casualties to the elite Huaihe Navy.

If Sun Ce had not accidentally succeeded in leaving behind half of Guo Si's elite Western Liang cavalry, it would have been difficult to resolve this incident.

Except for the heavy losses of the Huaihe River Navy led by Sun Ce, the casualties of Zhang Fei and Cheng Pu's troops were almost negligible.

The harvest was amazing!
More than 2,000 prisoners were captured and more than 500 war horses were seized!

There were countless other baggage and equipment, but the war horses alone were a great achievement.

There were only about 5,000 cavalrymen in the entire army, and just over 6,000 including the messenger cavalry.

The plunder this time is equivalent to one-twelfth of the war horses. Isn't it considered a great achievement?
As for the remaining 2,000 people that Guo Si led out of Luoyang, they were all running around in the wilderness, and the task of capturing prisoners was left to the scouts, scouts, and infantry.

What worries us is not the scarcity of wealth, but the inequality of wealth.

If you want to lead soldiers well, you have to take care of everyone's emotions. Zhang Fei, Cheng Pu and others know this well.

After winning the battle, Sun Ce was not in a hurry to lead his men back to Mengjin Pass, but took them to rest on the spot.

Fortunately, Luoyang is not that cold in early summer, and the rain is not as heavy as in the south. It just so happens that it has been sunny these days.

It would not be a problem for Sun Ce and others to camp outdoors for a night or two.

March 25th, 3:00 p.m.

After more than three hours of rest and a full meal, Sun Ce's troops recovered to full health.

When they were about to return to Mengjin Pass, they received a report from the scouts saying that another group of Xiliang troops were spotted ten miles to the west, flying the flag with the word "Li" on it, with a number of about 5,000.

"It must be Li Jue!"

Sun Ce immediately gave up the idea of ​​returning to Mengjin Pass and prepared to participate in the pursuit of Li Jue again.

If he just went back like this, the best result would be that his merits and demerits would offset each other, with no punishment or reward, which was not what Sun Ce wanted.

If we can tear off a piece of fat meat from Li Jue, then this time will not be considered a failure.

After all, Jinmao advocates the principle of "only taking advantage and not suffering loss", and all the generals in the army have to try their best to gain benefits, making the army like a den of bandits.

Soon, the Yangzhou army held a meeting.

The generals all agreed that it would be enough to send out cavalry to pursue, and there was no need to involve the infantry.

Unable to expand the results of the battle, Sun Ce could only join the battle himself, hoping to earn more military merits with his personal strength.

Zhang Fei originally disagreed with this.

However, Cheng Pu strongly supported Sun Ce, and Zhu Zhi also came forward to speak well of Sun Ce.

As the main general of the two, Gong Lei saw that the deputy general was so insistent, so in order to maintain harmony between the upper and lower levels, he agreed to let Sun Ce join.

However, Gong Lei also had a request: "Sun Junhou, take good care of your troops. If something goes wrong, be careful of your head!"

Sun Ce knew this, and he assured him again and again: "Don't worry, Captain Gong, I will make arrangements!"

The meeting dispersed.

Sun Ce waited outside the tent until Cheng Pu and Zhu Zhi left together. He then went to meet them and thanked them, saying, "Thank you for your help, uncles. I don't know how to express my gratitude!"

Cheng Pu raised his hand, patted Sun Ce on the shoulder and said, "Bofu, why are you so polite? I have already told you that Sun Yuzhou asked me to take care of you."

"Yes." Zhu Zhi took over the topic and said jokingly: "As long as Bofu cuts off a few more heads, it will be worthy of our efforts."

Sun Ce immediately stated: "Don't worry, my two uncles! I will definitely chop off Li Jue's head!"

(End of this chapter)