Chapter 469 Iron Cavalry

East of Yushui River and north of Duyang, it stretches 120 miles from east to west and 270 miles from north to south.

As Guan Yu thought, this dry plain became a favorite place for fighting between Cao and Liu.

For Cao Ren, using one's strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses is the right way of military strategy, and the strengths and weaknesses of each other are clear.

Even if Liu Bei took Guanzhong, what would happen? Yongliang is bitterly cold, and Chang'an is dilapidated, and they all need long-term management.

Prime Minister Cao controls Ji, Yan, Xu, Qing, Ji and other states, accounting for eight out of ten of the world's population.

As long as he brings a large number of soldiers, uses the majority to defeat the minority, and leads the strong to attack the weak, he can win.

Therefore, after the troops surrounded Duyang, Cao Ren immediately led his army to Bowang behind Duyang.

But he didn't expect to meet Guan Yu, who was also tit-for-tat, halfway.

From the battle to the close combat, and then to the life-and-death fight, the two sides did not exchange too many pleasantries, as if the tepid attack and defense in the past six months was an illusion.

The cavalry charged, the infantry formed a formation, the spears rose like a forest, and the archers drew arrows like rain.

Xiahou Yuan rode on his horse and tried to get up a little, trying to observe the situation on the battlefield.

As a general, Xiahou Yuan knew the composition of Cao's troops.

Mixed infantry and cavalry, suppressing the quantity and seeking a quick victory. Cao Ren had said clearly before that as long as Guan Yu was destroyed, Jingzhou would collapse.

Although Jingzhou and Hanzhong were connected by Fangling Shangyong, the roads there were bad and it was difficult to mobilize troops. The generals of the Cao army knew this very well.

After all, when they held the north of Jingzhou, they had considered attacking Hanzhong from Fangling Shangyong.

At present, Xiahou Yuan felt that Guan Yu was worthy of being a fierce general, and the current response was to use all the cavalry.

Use the flexibility and mobility of the cavalry to control the slow movement of the infantry and cavalry.

Moreover, Xiahou Yuan could see that the war horses of this cavalry included both Youzhou horses and Liangzhou horses. Considering the geographical location of Jingzhou, it would be quite difficult to put together such a cavalry.

But... Xiahou Yuan shook his head slightly, thinking that it was really difficult to generalize people.

When Bai Ma was relieved, Guan Yu stabbed Yan Liang in the midst of thousands of troops, like a great general.

During the Battle of Jingxiang, the victory was due to the navy. It is said that the navy is still showing off its power on the river.

And now, although this cavalry in front of him is not worthy of the name of bravery, it is also quite methodical in its advance and retreat, which can be regarded as remarkable.

However, this cavalry of about 4,000 can only hold off for a short time with Prime Minister Cao's army. It is simply wishful thinking to want to win.

Guan Yu's cavalry was not as elite as Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and there were no infantry raiders, so the most reliable way was probably...

"The cavalry assembled, and attacked the enemy from behind!"

"The infantry formed a formation, and the troops were sent to Bowang!"

Cao Ren issued a military order expressionlessly, and then the order spread to all directions and was faithfully executed, so the cavalry of each unit broke out of the formation and gathered under the central army.

As a general, Cao Ren knew the strength of his troops very well. There were about 12,000 cavalry assembled, of which there were about 3,000 Tiger and Leopard Elite Cavalry, which were far superior to the cavalry led by Guan Yu.

These were the most precious assets of Prime Minister Cao. In order to win this battle, curb the arrogance of the enemy army, and to subdue and unite Jiangdong, he went to this place.

12,000 against 4,000, and there were even 3,000 elite cavalry among them. Only then did Cao Ren feel much safer.

The following battle was just as Cao Ren had expected. As soon as the two sides came into contact, nearly a hundred knights of Guan Yu's cavalry fell off their horses and died.

Cao Ren rarely smiled, and then he ordered the cavalry to pursue and kill Guan Yu here.

Although Prime Minister Cao had told him to capture Guan Yu alive before the attack, Cao Ren had made up his mind privately:

He wanted to kill Guan Yu again in Jingzhou and avenge Cao Zilian!

Prime Minister Cao's thoughts were only told to him privately, but Cao Ren's own thoughts were known to everyone through the military at this moment:

"Pass on my order, whoever kills Guan Yu will be granted a title of 5,000 households!"

For Cao Ren, this was not the first time he and Guan Yu fought.

When he was defeated by Zhou Gongjin in Nanjun, Guan Yu assisted from the side.

In Fancheng, Guan Yu sneaked out of the city and attacked Wancheng in the north. Although he was determined to take Wan, he could only let it go after the Han River flooded the north bank.

Both battles were lost, but neither could be considered a complete fight.

Now, seeing Guan Yu fleeing with his back to him, Cao Ren felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction from the bottom of his heart.

So what if he had 10,000 enemies? So what if he had an unparalleled navy?

It is ridiculous to want to make a living with cavalry!

Do you think that the cavalry can be as fast as the navy just because you won by chance?

For a moment, Cao Ren regretted the order he had just given. He should have captured Guan Yu alive, asked him for his heart-breaking words, and then killed him, so that he could vent his anger!

Guan Yu fled north, and Cao Ren personally led the cavalry to chase him.

Xiahou Yuan, who was at the end of the infantry, watched the pursuit and escape get farther and farther away, and couldn't help but feel a little worried, but then he laughed at himself:

In any case, Cao Zixiao is also a veteran general. Although the quality of the 12,000 cavalry is uneven, the 3,000 tiger and leopard cavalry among them can be called the world's elite.

Who can defeat such a powerful army?

But Xiahou Yuan still had some worries in his heart. Although he avoided the defeat in Guanzhong every time he thought of it, he actually remembered it more clearly than anyone else:

Chang'an was captured in half a day, which is still a mystery. He still doesn't know why he saw the shadowy things when he followed Liu Bei into Chang'an.

Shaofu guessed that maybe Liu Bei modified the Thunderbolt Chariot, so the Cao army that besieged Duyang this time followed the order of Prime Minister Cao to rush to make the Thunderbolt Chariot, but now it seems that the effect is not satisfactory.

Since Chang'an could be conquered in half a day, then the 12,000 cavalry... Xiahou Yuan's heart couldn't help but tremble.

For Cao Ren, he had no time to think about these things. He only knew that the revenge of Cao Zilian and the defeat of Guan Yu were all in front of him, as if he could grab them with a little more effort, and they were within reach.

So Cao Ren stretched out his hand and grabbed a cloud of smoke.

It was still summer and the sun was shining, but a thin but non-dispersing dust fog rose from the flat ground in front of him, just like a hundred families cooking at the same time.

He watched Guan Yu rushing in, but in just a few breaths, he could only hear the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground from a distance, and the general in armor and green robe could no longer be seen.

This unusual scene had caused Cao Ren's alarm bells to ring. Without giving orders, the entire cavalry also automatically stopped slowly. No one was willing to rush into the dust fog and test the law.

Cao Ren narrowed his eyes and didn't know what to do for a while.

He couldn't see, so he subconsciously listened, but soon realized something was wrong.

Why didn't the sound of the horses' hooves rushing into the fog go away, but became louder and clearer?

It was as if... it was as if the iron horses' hooves were hitting the ground!

But before Cao Ren could figure it out, he saw a cavalryman rushing out of the dust and fog.

His head was covered with iron mask, he was wearing iron armor, and his horse was covered with iron clothes. The cold light reflected by the armor immediately made Cao Ren's heart cold: What kind of monster is this!

But there was more than one such iron monster. As Guan Yu entered the fog, the dust and fog seemed to be a little thinner, revealing more cavalrymen inside.

Quickly estimating the strength of troops on the battlefield is a basic quality for a general. With just a glance, Cao Ren concluded that there were only more than a thousand cavalrymen in front of him.

But they were charging towards him and more than ten thousand cavalrymen!

The battle formation was only a moment away, and Cao Ren shouted and urged more than ten thousand cavalrymen under his command to charge.

He didn't know the power of the cavalry, but he knew that if the cavalry couldn't run, they would be no different from infantry.

The hasty confrontation lasted only a moment, and the dust raised by more than 10,000 cavalry also completely dispersed the strange dust fog.

Cao Ren looked back again and saw the bloody road behind him that was forged in just a few breaths.

The cavalry and the tiger and leopard cavalry, the internal organs and broken limbs, the war horses and soldiers, were indistinguishable from each other, and were torn apart and scattered on the road.

Flesh hit gold and iron, and iron hooves crushed bones. It was easy to tell who would win and who would lose.

The armor was no longer clean, and the blood-stained cavalry added a bit of murderous aura. They watched helplessly as the other side turned back to their team of cavalry that had been pierced.

Cao Ren only had one thought in his mind:

"Run!"