Chapter 410: Shocking China
Hearing the sound of the horn, Cao Cao and Sun Ce both breathed a sigh of relief.
At the critical moment, Yuan Shao indeed saw the overall situation and did not let them down.
Even if Yuan Shao wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to trick them, they had ways to protect themselves.
But once that step is taken, the Anti-Tian Alliance will no longer have trust in each other, and it will be difficult to organize such a war in the future.
Therefore, the best outcome would be for Yuan Shao to make concessions on his own initiative.
However, Yuan Shao was also feeling extremely aggrieved at this time.
That's it again!
When Tian Ze fought with them, he seemed to be holding back everywhere and restraining himself, feeling very frustrated.
But on the other hand, isn't he the same?
Tian Ze’s “kindness” was more like a soft knife, stabbing straight into his heart.
If Tian Ze was determined to seize the world, he would take this opportunity to completely annihilate them.
Yuan Shao would definitely not have any concerns and would fight to the death because they had no way of retreat.
Even if both sides would suffer losses, he would choose to lose spectacularly. Even if the entire South was crippled, Yuan Benchu would never give up.
But unfortunately, Tian Ze held back everywhere.
It was like besieging a city on three sides and leaving one gap, always leaving them a way to retreat, making it difficult for Yuan Shao to make up his mind to fight to the death.
After so long, Yuan Shao finally understood.
In every battle, it seemed that Tian Ze was holding back, but the final result was that he gave in step by step and was gradually eaten away.
It's like boiling a frog in warm water, not giving him the chance to overreact.
"Tian Chengshou wins this battle again." Yuan Shao sighed and said in a complicated tone.
At this moment, Yuan Shao seemed to have aged ten years, and his previous ambition to look down on the world seemed to have weakened a little.
Xun Chen looked at this scene and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
How could he, who was most familiar with human nature, not understand Yuan Shao's thoughts?
They lost this battle!
The defeat was inevitable and thorough.
An opponent like Tian Chengshou is too terrifying!
Not only on the battlefield, but also in people's hearts, the victory was complete.
There is a kind of victory called letting the enemy go, and there is a kind of cruelty called mercy.
The outcome of this battle was almost the worst outcome in Xun Chen's mind.
Even if Yuan Shao and other princes used up most of their troops and fought to the death with Guan Yu, Xun Chen felt that it would be much better than the current situation.
Because Tian Ze succeeded again.
They didn't give them any chance to overturn the table, and once again controlled the war only on the battlefield. And on this basis, they once again easily won the victory.
Although the vitality of the princes was preserved, their determination to march north would be difficult to regain.
One step back, all steps back.
Because Tian Ze held back time and time again, Yuan Shao and his men had become accustomed to this kind of compromise. Even though they were aware of the harm it would cause, the seeds of compromise had already taken deep root, and it was not easy to pull them out.
"This world will eventually belong to the Great Qi." Xun Chen couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
When this thought came to mind, Xun Chen's position and goal changed instantly.
Xun Chen, who unconsciously accepted all this, couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.
This time, Tian Chengshou won again.
Even he would have such thoughts, what about the others under Yuan Shao?
Yuan Shao and others were regretting the failure of this battle.
But the war was not over at this time. Cao Cao and others evacuated decisively, forcing Cheng Yu to send Xu Huang and Le Jin in advance to try his best to increase the results of the battle.
Yan Liang and Wen Chou led mostly cavalry who came and went like the wind, so Cheng Yu naturally would not target them.
Cao Cao was well versed in the art of warfare, and he used the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and Xiahou Yuan's cavalry as the spearhead of the attack. When he realized that the situation was not good, he had already secretly prepared to evacuate, and was not Cheng Yu's target.
The only one left is Sun Ce, the unlucky iron-headed kid.
After being beaten badly by Guan Yu and his swordmen, Sun Ce's Overlord Cavalry and Jiangdong soldiers once again faced a mixed doubles match between Xu Huang and Le Jin.
In this chaotic situation, Xu Huang showed for the first time his style as one of the five famous generals under Tian Ze.
He commanded an army of 50,000 and Le Jin's 20,000 elite troops, and defeated Sun Ce's Jiangdong army.
This was certainly due to the fact that most Jiangdong soldiers were good at archery but poor at land combat, but more importantly it was the result of Xu Huang's own talents and decisive command and dispatch.
The conditions for activating the talent were relatively harsh, but the corresponding power was terrifying. In the chaos of the battle, even Guan Yu, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were not afraid at all.
In the end, Zhu Zhi in Sun Ce's army faced such a desperate situation and took the initiative to lead his troops to stay behind to cover the retreat, which allowed Sun Ce to lead the army to successfully evacuate.
However, Zhu Zhi was captured as a result.
Guan Yu launched a pursuit, but Yuan Shao, who had been prepared, left behind a few soldiers and a large number of chariots to cover their retreat, and finally managed to escape.
After the inventory was counted, it was found that the Allied forces lost more than 200,000 troops in this battle, most of whom were captured.
Guan Yu's army also lost tens of thousands of soldiers, most of whom were young and strong recruits.
With such a result, no one dared to question the achievements of Guan Yu and Zhang He.
Guan Yu's feat of defeating seven armies in a row shocked the whole of China and established his position as one of the supreme military commanders.
Although the Allied forces were badly defeated, they still had some strength.
Cheng Yu's original ambition to take over Qingzhou and part of Yanzhou was shattered.
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao seemed to have anticipated this and sent troops to guard the key points in advance, not giving Cheng Yu any chance.
The difficulty of attacking and fighting is immeasurable.
Cheng Yu knew Guan Yu's weaknesses.
Without logistical guarantees, Guan Yu would never be allowed to lead his troops deep into enemy territory to prevent their retreat being cut off.
Control of the Taishan Mountains can indeed play a certain role in containment and support. However, it can only be used to help defend the land south of the Yellow River, but it is not enough to help Guan Yu go south.
The two sides can only remain in a stalemate.
As the news came that Xiliang was captured by Tian Ze, Cheng Yu, who received the order, had no choice but to withdraw his troops even though he was unwilling to do so.
The coalition forces, which suffered heavy losses, naturally did not dare to stay for too long and quickly withdrew to their own territory to lick their wounds.
In this battle, in addition to severely damaging the military power of the Central Plains princes, Tian Ze also brought back Xi Zhicai and Zhu Zhi.
Tian Ze attached great importance to these two "patients" and captives, and sent them to the Jixia Academy for good care as soon as possible.
Tian Ze even traveled thousands of miles back to Youzhou and took personal action, and with the cooperation of Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing, he saved Xi Zhicai's life.
However, because Xi Zhicai was unwilling to join Tian Ze, he was still in a half-crippled state. His talent was completely sealed and his body was extremely weak.
So Xi Zhicai and Zhu Zhi gloriously became special students of the Jixia Academy and began their journey of "further study".
They knew clearly what the future might hold, and although they were all loyal to their former masters, fortunately they did not commit suicide or take any extreme actions.
After all, although they were students, they were still treated specially. They couldn't even leave the back mountain, let alone escape.
They were all prepared to wait and see.
It's only a few years, and they want to see if Tian Ze can fulfill his promise.
(End of this chapter)
