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Standing on the city tower and looking down at the Wei army under the city, Zhao Yun's eyes quickly locked on the central army's general two miles away, which was the commanding flag of the Wei general Cao Ren.

In an instant, Zhao Yun's face suddenly changed, his eyebrows were frowning together, and his expression became solemn.

Wei general Cao Ren followed Cao Cao for more than ten years and experienced many battles. He has long been a famous general of the Cao army. Since Cao Cao ascended the throne and became emperor, Cao Ren became the general of the Wei State and commanded the three armies.

At this moment, since Cao Ren personally led his army to attack the city, Zhao Yun could guess that the 100,000 Cao troops in front of him were definitely not all the troops under Cao Ren's tent, and he must have a backup plan.

"The general is right. Cao's army is really prepared this time!" Xiahou Lan, who followed Zhao Yun to the city tower, couldn't help but sigh when she looked up at the dark Wei army under the city.

Zhao Yun nodded slightly after hearing the sound, but said nothing. Although he had guessed that the Cao Wei army must have been bad at this time and had great plans, he did not expect that Cao Cao would actually send Cao Ren to lead an army of more than 100,000 to attack the city. This could no longer be considered a sneak attack, but a real large-scale attack, sending troops to attack the Western Jin Dynasty with great fanfare.

Just as Zhao Yun was thinking secretly, Xiahou Lan behind him whispered: "For the sake of a small city in Kaifeng, Cao's army dispatched a hundred thousand troops. In this way, the purpose of mobilizing a large number of troops was definitely not to capture Kaifeng County, but must have greater plans and deeper strategic goals. You must know that our Western Jin Dynasty had a million soldiers, and Kaifeng City was a border town that resisted the Yanzhou army. It was only a 30,000 troops stationed at the city gates on all sides. There were only 5,000 defenders stationed at the city gates on all sides. The remaining 30,000 iron cavalry could only be used for field battles, but they were not good at defending the city.

In contrast, the Cao army was attacking the city head-on at this moment, and there were more than 30,000 infantrymen stationed in the wilderness of the east coast. More than 80,000 infantry and cavalry attacking a county town, and the Cao army really respected us. Not only that, judging from the formation of Cao army, it is not difficult to see that these more than 80,000 infantry and cavalry were just their front and central army, and there must be tens of thousands of soldiers and horses behind them to provide food, grass and supplies for the army.

In this way, Cao's army dispatched at least tens of thousands of troops to attack a county town. It would be a bit of a big deal to kill chickens. How can one use slaughter knives to kill chickens? More than 100,000 Cao's army can attack the entire Sili in an all-round way. We will launch a head-on decisive battle with our army." Xiahou Lan read very little and did not understand any military tactics. He relied on his own superb martial arts for many years. Therefore, his words were very vulgar, and he blurted out "How to use slaughter knives to kill chickens" and belittled himself, but his words were rough and not rough, but instead he described the current situation appropriately.

His words coincided with what Zhao Yun thought. As Xiahou Lan said, Kaifeng City had more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, and in addition to the 5,000 county government soldiers who were responsible for the heavy responsibility of defending the city, the main responsibility of Zhao Yun's 33,000 Wushuang Iron Cavalry under the tent was to beware of the Cao army's surprise attack on Henan County. Because of this, Zhao Yun had expected that Cao's army might sneak attack Henan County in advance, so he made preparations in advance and ordered Wushuang Iron Cavalry to prepare half a month's dry food three days ago and prepare for a long-distance raid at any time; he also ordered the soldiers guarding the city to prepare enough weapons to defend the city, and the rocks and roll wood piled up like mountains, and all the archers distributed fifty arrows. All the remaining food and grass in the city were transferred to Luoyang.

Although he had prepared well before the war and thought about it almost all aspects, Zhao Yun never expected that the Yanzhou army, a hundred miles away from Kaifeng City, would have emerged in full swing. More than 100,000 troops were crushed like a tsunami. Just now, Zhao Yun had the confidence to hold Kaifeng City for more than half a month, but now after seeing the overwhelming powerful formation of Cao's army with his own eyes, his confidence began to shake. He was not sure whether he could hold on for half a month, and even doubted whether he could block Cao's army under the city for ten days, five days, or three days.

This is not fear, nor is it timid. Zhao Yun was born without knowing what fear was. He never feared any opponent or enemy. No matter how powerful the enemy is, he would dare to fight to the death and never retreat. But he is not alone at the moment. He is still thousands of soldiers guarding the city, and there are 30,000 iron cavalry and more than 50,000 people behind him. He himself can not be afraid of life and death, but he cannot bring all the soldiers and people in the city into the fire pit and burn them all.

The most important thing is that Li Li has already made clear orders. Once things cannot be done, he will immediately give up the city and retreat to Luoyang. This is the strategic policy of losing land and saving people that Li Li has always advocated. If he can fight, he will fight. If he knows he is out of the way, he should not fight to the death. It is best to be able to retreat without losing his body. If he cannot, he should also preserve his vitality as much as possible, exchange space for time to fight again.

So Zhao Yun was in trouble. The scale between retreating in this battle is really difficult to grasp. If there is a slight mistake, all his efforts will be wasted and his entire army will be wiped out. Faced with more than 100,000 Cao troops, if you want to retreat unsuccessfully, the safest way is to block the East Gate and organize the people to retreat immediately. As long as you retreat fifty miles, Zhongmu County is the east gate of Luoyang. If you have heavy troops in the garrison, retreating into Zhongmu County means complete safety. However, if you encounter a strong enemy, you will retreat without fighting. This is not Zhao Yun's combat style, nor does it conform to his principles of dealing with things. In the past ten years of leading troops to fight, he did not charge forward in any battle, and did he kill the enemy's troops. How could there be a precedent for avoiding war and retreating in shame?

After pondering for a while, Zhao Yun ordered: "Xiahou Lan obeyed the order and immediately sent the order and ordered General Yugu to lead 10,000 Iron Cavalry of the headquarters to organize the people in the city to evacuate from the city. Be sure to arrive at Zhongmu County tonight; if there is any delay, severe punishment will be made! Ma Tie will lead 5,000 cavalry to reinforce the North Gate. You personally lead 5,000 cavalry to reinforce the South Gate and assist Yugu in transferring the people. After the people leave, reinforce the Ma Tie headquarters immediately and be sure to guard the North Gate."

"No, I will take the order!" Xiahou Lan responded. Then she turned around and left. At this time, Zhao Yun reached out to hold him and leaned into his ear and whispered: "Die half of the black lumps, take it to the north gate and hand it over to Ma Tie. Remember that it cannot be used during the day. Only use at night can it exert its maximum power. Today, you must guard the city gate during the day. If our army suffers too much casualties, we will go out of the city to fight tonight, throw all these black lumps into the Cao army's camp, and then retreat at night. If the casualties are not serious, we will hold on for a few more days, try to delay the time of Cao's army's journey south, and win time for Your Majesty to dispatch troops."

Xiahou Lan nodded happily and said reluctantly: "Brother, take care of yourself, don't act irritably. Once the situation is unfavorable, don't fight. If your brother encounters an accident, you will never live alone and follow your brother to the death." After saying that, he raised his legs and left.

Zhao Yun clearly saw that Xiahou Lan's voice was choking before leaving, with tears in her eyes. When Zhao Yun watched him leave, the corners of his eyes were wet. He looked up at the sky and raised his hand to cover his eyes. It seemed that the sunlight was too strong and wiped away the wetness of the corners of his eyes without a trace. Then he turned around and looked at Cao Jun who was following the city with a cold expression.

No one knows that he looked up at the sky to wipe away his tears, and no one knows that Zhao Zilong, who was praised by Li Li as "a courageous" would also shed tears, although his tears were only for his brothers and for more than 20 years of friendship. Tears were not cowardice or timidity, but for the true feelings, because he was not a god, but a person with flesh and blood and love.

Whether it is ability or official title, Xiahou Lan cannot compare with Zhao Yun. The gap is huge and there is no comparison at all. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that feathers of feathers gather together, but people are not only fame and fortune, and not only people with equal status and wealth can become friends. True friendship comes from friendships that are not mixed with fame and fortune, otherwise life would be too boring.

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When the fierce battle in Kaifeng City was in full swing, the war in Deng County was coming to an end.

When the city gate was lost, Yu Jinzong, the governor of Deng County, could not save the defeat even if he had the talent to overcome the world. Moreover, he did not have this talent, so failure was unavoidable. All he had left was to lead his army to break through.

The moment he learned that the East Gate was attacked, Yu Jin attempted to gather troops and fight the Jingzhou army that entered the city to launch a street battle. Even if the defeat was decided, he would give the Jingzhou army a blow and resolutely attack it. After all, the Xiliang army did not have the habit of not fighting back when they were beaten. Eyes for eyes and teeth for teeth is the usual style of this tiger and wolf army.

This is the truth. When Liu Pan, the vanguard of Jingzhou Army, led 25,000 cavalry to the northern city where the city guards were located, a rain of arrows rushed towards him, and there was a strong sound of breaking through the air, which was the whistle that only crossed the air was heard. Just one round of arrows fired at once, the cavalry under Liu Pan paid nearly 2,000 casualties, and Liu Pan, who was charging forward, was the first to be hit, with four crossbow arrows coming towards him.

At the critical moment, Liu Pan decisively gave up his cavalry under his crotch, jumped up desperately, broke through the window of the private house on the right, and barely escaped and saved his life with the help of the private house. After the first wave of arrows, the second wave followed, and then the third wave. The continuous arrows were sent one after another, causing huge casualties to the Jingzhou army. About three thousand iron cavalry were swallowed by arrow rain, and there were many injured cavalry.

After the three-wheeled arrow attack, at least 5,000 Jingzhou cavalry lost their combat effectiveness, which was really a blow, which made the Jingzhou army dizzy and morale a setback. However, this kind of blockade could not last long, and at best it was a flash in the pan. With the subsequent battle cavalry rushing over at lightning, more than 3,000 county government soldiers led by Yu Jin were in a catastrophe.

The mere three thousand infantry troops could not stop the charge of tens of thousands of cavalry. Just a charge broke through the defense line that Yu Jin had finally set up, and it was no exaggeration to say that it was a defeat for the defenders to fall.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Yu Jin made a quick decision and immediately ordered a breakthrough, not to mention the direction of the breakthrough, because breaking north was their only choice.

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Chapter completed!