I am not a counselor, I am trying to survive in the late Han Dynasty

Chapter 68 Decisive Battle at Linqiu
Zhang Miao was determined not to release Cao Ang, but he couldn't just say that he didn't care about Xue Lan's life.

So he chose to release Mr. Ai and express his readiness to negotiate. Taking advantage of this gap, he quickly ordered Zhang Liao to prepare to leave the battlefield and retreat to Chengyang first.

Opening the battlefield is a great science, and leaving the battlefield is also a science.

The mobilization of thousands of people can be seen by anyone who is not blind. It cannot be solved by placing a few scarecrows at the door. If the enemy accidentally sees the flaw and covers it up, it may cause the entire army to trample and collapse.

In the middle of the night, Wang Kai and Zhang Liao personally ordered the sergeants to pack their bags and leave as slowly as possible. They carefully abandoned the defensive line surrounding Linqiu City and retreated quietly.

There seemed to be no flaws in all this. During the long night, all the soldiers followed the commander's instructions as much as possible. With their hearts in their throats, they moved slowly on the hard ground, and even tried their best to control the breathing in their mouths. Afraid that someone might feel their heartbeat.

Zhang Miao also set up camp and built a stronghold.

He personally led people to keep an eye on Cao Ang, and the soldiers retreated in an orderly manner. The whole army walked in an orderly manner, walking hard and carefully in the night, everything seemed orderly.

Everything is going so smoothly. If nothing goes wrong, when Cao's army discovers the enemy's retreat tomorrow day, it will be too late to pursue them. The main force of Zhang Miao's army will be able to return to Chengyang smoothly, and it will be too late to pursue them by then.

But Zhang Miao's good luck finally ended on this day.

Seeing them setting up camp and slowly relieving the siege, Cao's army, which had been ravaged by Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, suddenly moved.

Countless torches in the dark night were raised high at almost the same time to form a winding fire dragon. In the cold windy night, Sergeant Cao's soldiers formed two rows and walked out of the barracks silently and orderly.

They were all armored and ready, and there was no panic in their steps. They rushed towards Zhang Miao's army like a flood that burst a dike.

Wang Kai, who commanded the retreat of the entire army, was shocked. He never expected that his own side had been so careful and the other side was actually prepared!
The morale of Cao Jun, who had been ravaged back and forth by Zhang Liao and Gao Shun before, was not reduced, and he was still able to fight!
In the swaying firelight of Cao Jun's stronghold, a tall black-faced man stood facing the wind, his dark and cold square face full of perseverance and cruelty.

"It's just as I expected... March with drums and fight to the death with Zhang Miao tonight!"

Zhu Ling rode his horse and stood in front of Cheng Yu. The cold night wind made the man's expression almost freeze.

He took a deep look at Cheng Yu and said coldly:
"What if the eldest son dies in the rebellion?"

"Then you will die in the rebellion!" Cheng Yu's voice was as solid as stone.

Zhu Ling no longer hesitated and waved his hand violently. Cao's soldiers shouted in unison, the sound of killing was loud, and they roared towards Zhang Miao's army camp.

It turned out that after three days of fierce fighting between the two sides, Cheng Yu had already seen the flaw.

If Zhang Miao wanted to fight decisively in one go, Lu Bu and Chen Gong would have arrived on the battlefield lightly armed within three or four days to boost morale.

But after a fierce battle, the two of them still didn't show up, which meant that Zhang Miao had no intention of calling in the two of them.

Zhang Miao must have captured the eldest son Cao Ang. After using Linqiu to lure the main force of Cao's army to take the initiative, he then released the news that Cao Ang was captured. Cao's army must be frightened. Cao Cao suffered heavy losses, making it difficult for Cao Cao to fight Lu Bu again after the spring.

Wanting to understand this matter, Cheng Yu has been holding back since then. He deliberately pretended not to know that Cao Ang was captured, and was still running around every day pretending to be trying to save Cao Ang. In fact, he had secretly accumulated troops and waited for Zhang Miao's opportunity to retreat. .

During this period, Zhu Ling repeatedly urged him to mobilize his entire army and confront Zhang Miao head-on to try to rescue Cao Ang, but Cheng Yu was determined and refused.

How could Duke Cao's military and state affairs be delayed because of Cao Ang alone?

Even if you are fighting, you must find the moment when the enemy is relaxed!
Zhang Miao originally thought that his retreat was concealed enough, but he never expected that Cheng Yu had been waiting for this moment. When they were packing their bags, Cheng Yu was already keenly aware of it and completed the preparations before the war.

In this battle, Cao's army went out with all its strength, like floods opening and tigers descending from the mountain. Zhang Miao's army immediately fell into chaos!
Zhang Liao remained calm, but there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

He raised his halberd and said sternly:
"The enemy army is exhausted. I will come to the rear and ask you to form formations and defend yourself. The thieves will fight to the death!"

Wang Kai immediately nodded and left. Zhang Liao breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the approaching sergeants of Cao's army, he gave a loud shout, raised his halberds and jumped on his horse to attack.

His not-so-tall body instantly burst out with unimaginable terrifying power. A single horse collided head-on with the torrent of Cao Jun's army. The iron halberd in his hand drew a dazzling silver arc. The sharp twig pecked hard, and he was instantly It penetrated a person's head and blood flowed like a stream.

"I am Zhang Wenyuan of Yanmen, who dares to come up and die!"

Zhang Liao's roar was like thunder, and the silent Bingzhou cavalry beside him also urged their horses. Hundreds of people were like a solid embankment, blocking the rolling torrent of Cao's army.In the past, Zhang Miao's army was able to withstand Cheng Yu's fierce attacks despite being at a disadvantage, because Zhang Liao's martial arts skills were indeed far superior to everyone else.

He single-handedly ordered the three armies to be invincible. The surrounding Cao army was forced to attack by him from the left and right, and did not dare to approach. The surrounding Bingzhou knights cooperated with Zhang Liao tacitly, and kept raining down dense arrows. Cao Jun's screams and roars were blown away by the cold wind. It penetrated into everyone's heart and shocked everyone's expression.

With such a powerful general and the main force of Cao's army absent, how could anyone dare to touch this man alive?

Zhang Liao's previous battles were like being in a no-man's land. The generals of Cao's army were completely unable to stop this fierce warrior, but today Zhang Liao was fighting with all his strength, and an iron halberd collided with him!
Zhang Liao reacted quickly. When the iron halberd collided, he suddenly stopped his hand. The small branch was lightly entangled with the opponent's iron halberd. He made a sudden hook, and the enemy on the opposite horse immediately tilted his body and almost fell off his horse.

Zhang Liao seized the opportunity, raised his hand and stabbed the man with a halberd, firmly piercing the chest of the man. The man was wearing iron armor. Zhang Liao did not pierce him in his haste, but there was still a frightening muffled sound in the dark night. Obviously, The man's ribs had been broken by Zhang Liao's stab!
How can ordinary people endure this kind of bone-piercing pain?
As expected, the man screamed and fell on his horse in pain.

At this moment, several more soldiers from Cao's army came to kill them. Zhang Liao was distracted to deal with them, but he never thought that the man who was lying on his horse screaming just now suddenly got up and stabbed them with all his strength.

Zhang Liao immediately dodged, but the iron halberd still scraped across his chest. The branch flickered and actually scratched Zhang Liao's leather armor, tearing a scar on his chest!
"what!"

Although the wound was not deep, Zhang Liao was still shocked. He clearly felt that the enemy's martial arts was far away from his, and he actually dared to fake defeat and sneak attack on him. Where did this courage come from?
In the dim light of the fire, he could see the man's face clearly.

This man was tall, with an elegant face, but his eyes were filled with unimaginable madness and ferocity.

Seeing Zhang Liao's gaze coming towards him, instead of avoiding it, he opened his mouth and gave Zhang Liao a warm smile.

"Cheng Yu?"

"It's down!"

Cheng Yu, the leader of Cao's army, rode his horse to challenge Zhang Liao!
Cheng Yu has always been known for his scheming, but this person has a fierce and violent temperament, and he has been accustomed to lead the way since he asked for the Yellow Turban.

In the previous battle, Cheng Yu had been holding back, but this time he finally had a chance to pursue. This "strategist" who had been patient and cautious all winter suddenly exploded.

He brought out the violence and madness that he had suppressed for a long time, and vented all the anger and unwillingness he had felt these days on Zhang Liao!
Cheng Yu slowly retracted the iron halberd, smelling the smell of blood on the spurs, with a look of extremely morbid obsession on his face.

"Such fresh meat... Zhang Fujun, it would be a pity to use this meat to make jerky. Look at me eating you alive!"

Cheng Yu showed his ferocious white teeth, screamed strangely, and fought Zhang Liao with his halberd. The hair on Zhang Liao's body stood up.

What kind of monster is this?
One person's efforts are hard to stop.

The iron halberd in Cheng Yu's hand was being struck with all his might, all in an unreasonable and mutually perishable style.

If the two of them had fought each other, Zhang Liao would have killed Cheng Yu within three or four moves.

But Cheng Yu attacked fiercely, and the generals of Cao's army were inspired and went crazy to kill Zhang Liao. At this moment, Zhang Liao had few soldiers and dared to stop. He could only glare at Cheng Yu bitterly and immediately turned his horse's head and left!

"Zhang Liao is defeated! Zhang Liao is defeated!"

Zhu Ling fought hard, but when he saw Zhang Liao retreating, he shook his arms and shouted to kill the enemy, and charged Zhang Liao with all his strength.

Zhang Liao tried his best to resist, feeling quite anxious.

He thought to himself that these rats actually dared to provoke him. When Wang Kai's supporting troops arrived, I would hold back for a while, and I would definitely kill every one of these thieves!
Zhang Liao retreated slightly, but when he turned around, he was shocked to find that Cheng Yu's infantry had quickly rushed around behind him, and they actually looked like they wanted to surround and annihilate all the cavalry under his command!

Zhang Liao, who had experienced hundreds of battles, finally realized that this retreat would not go as smoothly as Zhang Miao wished.

Cheng Yu had always been conservative and forbearing before. Once such a person chooses to attack, he will fight to the death.

In this way, the decisive battle between Cao Cao and Lu Bu is not expected to start until next spring...

Arrived early!

(End of this chapter)