Chapter 90: Bloody Battle to Break Out of the Encirclement

  In a forest about three miles outside the perimeter of Cao's army, Deng Wu and Liu Hu led one thousand Jingzhou soldiers hiding in the forest. They captured a Cao army scout and got the news from him that Liu Jue was surrounded by tens of thousands of Cao troops on a hill.

  Liu Hu's eyes turned red with rage, and if it weren't for Wei Yan holding him back, he would have charged into the Cao army camp with his sword immediately.

  Deng Wu gazed far into the distance at the hills, under the bright moonlight, the outline of the hills could be vaguely seen, and flames danced at the foot of the hills, countless Cao troops surrounded a hill that was tens of hectares in size.

  At this time, a scout rushed over, and everyone gathered around, "What's the intelligence?"

  "Report to all generals, Cao's army is surrounded on four sides, only the northwest corner has slightly fewer people, we can attack from the northwest corner."

  Deng Wu was cautious and concerned about whether he could approach the Cao army smoothly, and asked: "How many Cao troops are patrolling outside?"

  "Reporting back to General, Cao's army patrols are mainly concentrated in the south and northeast directions, with fewer on the west side. I didn't encounter any patrols all the way back."

  "How many troops are there in the northwest corner?"

  At this time, Liu Hu couldn't bear it anymore and scolded with a glare: "Deng Baldy, where did you get so much nonsense?"

  Deng Wu did not dare provoke him and could only explain: "If we can't rush over, we'll be surrounded by the Cao army instead, and our entire army will be annihilated."

  Liu Hu stood up and said loudly: "What's the use of asking so many questions? Are we not going to charge just because the enemy has more men?"

  "He shouted to the soldiers: 'This battle may result in our deaths, those who are willing to follow me, Liu Hu, let's charge up the mountain! Those with parents, wives and children at home, stay behind and remember to burn more paper for us when we're gone!'"

  He shouldered the big kitchen knife and strode towards Cao's army three miles away. In the woods, soldiers kept standing up, following Liu Hu without hesitation, ten people, fifty people, a hundred people...

  More and more soldiers came, finally there were seven or eight hundred people, no one spoke, every pair of eyes was filled with determination and a willingness to die.

  Even Wei Yan was moved. He ignored the wounds on his body, stood up and wanted to leave, but Deng Wu pressed him down, "You stay, I'll go!"

  Deng Wu turned over on his horse, holding a big knife and urging the horse to chase after Liu Hu. At this moment, a commotion appeared in the distance at Cao's large camp.

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  In the darkness, Liu Jue led a hundred cavalrymen to charge into the Cao army soldiers who were besieging the hill, killing them until they fell off their horses, and in an instant, they broke through more than fifty paces.

  Although Liu Jue and his cavalry broke through the cauldron, they came fiercely, but Cao's army was well-prepared. Troops from all sides surrounded them, like layers of spider silk, surrounding Liu Jue and his men tightly.

  Although the Cao Jun soldiers did not shoot arrows, their long spears were merciless, stabbing fiercely from all sides. Soldiers constantly fell off their horses, covered in blood, and were immediately hacked to pieces by chaotic blades.

  Watching one by one of his companions fall and die, Liu Jiong's eyes turned red with killing intent, bursting out with a torrent of hidden potential, shouting until his voice was hoarse, guns and knives clashing, the bodies of the fallen piled up around him, his entire body stained crimson with fresh blood.

  But the surrounding Cao army killed more and more, surrounding them tightly. Just as they seemed unable to break out of the encirclement, a great commotion arose several hundred paces away.

  A troop of soldiers rushed in, led by Liu Hu, who was like a mad tiger, wielding a large kitchen knife, chopping melons and cutting vegetables as he killed his way into the midst of Cao's army. Behind him followed seven or eight hundred Jingzhou soldiers, their morale high.

  The crowd worked together to kill the Cao army soldiers, who retreated in defeat. Liu Hu had already seen Liu Xuan and was excitedly shouting loudly: "Xuan-di, Lao Hu has arrived!"

  Liu Jiong heard Liu Hu's shouting, his nose suddenly twitched violently, and his eyes turned red. They had actually come to rescue him in his time of crisis, disregarding life and death, regardless of safety or danger.

  At this time he also doubled his strength, hoarsely shouting "Go die!"

  Liu Cong galloped his horse at full speed, his long spear flying left and right, gradually opening up a bloody path.

  Xiahou Dun received news of Liu Jue's descent and breakout. He rushed to the northwest corner with a guard of several hundred men.

  He was not worried that Liu Cong would break through their encirclement, as he had already given the order to kill. Except for capturing Liu Cong alive, all others were to be killed, not a single one spared.

  Liu Xuan's martial arts skills were not high, and he could not escape his own trap.

  "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, a troop of Jingzhou soldiers has been killed and is about to merge with Liu Xuan."

  Xiahou Dun flew into a rage, "Sound the drums and mobilize the troops!"

  The drums beat loudly in the Cao army, and thousands of Cao troops came from the east and south, like a wrapped package, surrounding Liu Jue and hundreds of Jingzhou soldiers. At this time, nearly six thousand Cao troops surrounded them.

  Xiahou Dun brandished his steel spear and charged forward. A cavalry officer reported to him on horseback, "Reporting to the General, Liu Biao's nephew Liu Hu is also here!"

  Xiahou Dun was overjoyed and immediately gave a stern order, "Capture Liu Xuan and Liu Hu, kill all the others, not a single one is allowed to escape!"

  On the battlefield, the cries of killing were like thunder, and more than a thousand elite Cao troops came from the west, divided into ten teams, rushing forward, scattering the Jingzhou soldiers, and surrounding them.

  The miserable cries on the battlefield rose and fell, the Jingzhou soldiers had been killed or wounded more than half, Liu Jue's strength was exhausted, his whole body was almost drained, he charged left and right, but never broke through Cao Jun's encirclement.

  A huge net came flying in, Liu Hu was caught in the net, dozens of Cao troops rushed up and pressed him down.

  "Let go of my brother!"

  Liu Jue exerted all his strength to kill, suddenly, a mournful cry came from not far away, the voice was so familiar, Liu Jue turned around abruptly, and saw a scene that made his eyes crack, just tens of steps away, Deng Wu was surrounded by dozens of Cao army cavalrymen, being hacked to death by the surrounding Cao army cavalrymen, he saw the desperate eyes of Deng Wu before his death.

  "Deng Wu!"

  Liu Jiong let out a loud roar, his chest feeling as if it had been torn apart, and a mouthful of blood spurted out. He charged forward like a madman, wildly stabbing and shooting, killing four cavalrymen in a row.

  Just then, he felt a heavy blow to the back of his head, and suddenly the sky was spinning around him. Liu Xuan let out a long sigh - was he finally going to die? Everything went black before his eyes, and he fell softly onto the warhorse.

  Behind him, the Cao army's deputy general was overjoyed and reached out to grab him. Suddenly, a wolf-tooth arrow shot over, and the deputy general dodged too late. One arrow pierced his throat.

  The horse let out a loud whinny, reared up and fell over, and immediately afterwards, a long shout came from not far away. The white horse galloped forward, and a great general like a heavenly god rushed forth, his silver spear seeming to bear the symbol of the King of Hell summoning souls. Wherever he passed, the Cao army was thrown into chaos, with men and horses tumbling over each other, blood flowing like rivers. It was Zhao Yun who had arrived on the scene.

  Behind him followed three hundred cavalrymen, each with shining armor and a majestic aura, like dragons. They followed Zhao Yun as he charged left and right, instantly cutting out a bloody path.

  Liu Hu's body was surrounded by Cao's army and they were killed and scattered. Liu Hu jumped up from the ground, grabbed his own big vegetable knife, and chopped randomly to the left and right.

  "Zhoa Yun shouted loudly: 'Guan Ping, take him away!'"

  Guan Ping snatched a horse and threw the reins to Liu Hu, "Go!"

  Liu Huo threw away his vegetable knife, mounted his horse, and led more than 300 remaining soldiers to escape with Guan Ping.

  Zhoa Yun charged forward with his spear to Liu Xun's side, the Cao army soldiers were frightened and retreated in a hurry. Zhoa Yun saw that Liu Xun was covered in blood, with blood flowing from the back of his head like a stream, pouring out from his broken helmet, leaning on the war horse, already unconscious.

  Zhao Yun furrowed his brow, what to do now? He was just about to grab Liu Xuan and pull him onto his warhorse when suddenly, Lu's horse let out a long whinny and galloped off with Liu Xuan towards Guan Ping.

  Zhao Yun was overjoyed, never expecting the horse to be so spirited. He let out a loud whoop, swung his spear and cleared a bloody path, protecting Liu Xun as they galloped northwards. Before long, the two of them vanished into the dark night.

  Xiahou Dun arrived at the battlefield with several hundred guards, but the battlefield was a scene of carnage, with corpses scattered all over the ground. However, Liu Jue and Liu Hu had already escaped with more than 300 troops from Jingzhou, thus foiling Cao's plan.

  Xiahou Dun's face turned iron-green with rage, his fists clenched so tightly they crackled. These useless things had set up a heaven and earth net, but Liu Jue still managed to escape.

  At this time, Jia Yu also hastily rode a horse to hurry over, the bloody and cruel scene in front of him was stunning, how could it be like this?

  Xiahou Dun sighed, "Sir, what should we do now?"

  Jia Xu shook his head helplessly, "Liu Xun has escaped, Wen Ping will not be deceived, abandon the Jingzhou army and concentrate on attacking XinYe county, at least bring Liu Bei's head to the prime minister."

  Xiahou Dun's spirit was lifted, and this was his main task. He immediately gave the order, "Regroup the army and advance on XinYe City!"

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  In a pine forest several miles away, Liu Xuan finally woke up, the wound on the back of his head had been bandaged, Zhao Yun sat beside him, looking at him with concern.

  His head was splitting, but before his eyes appeared Deng Wu's desperate gaze just before he died. Tears gushed from his eyes and flowed down his cheeks with a pattering sound.

  Zhoa Yun sighed and said in a low voice: "Liu Hu and the others have been rescued, they should be safe."

  As soon as the words fell, Liu Hu's shout came from outside, "Jingdi, are you there?"

  Liu Jiong struggled to get up, took two steps, and suddenly remembered something, stopped in his tracks, and sighed softly: "Big brother, I want to trouble you with one thing."

  "What did you say?"

  "Take care of Deng Wu's son for me for a few days. After the war is over, I will find a way to send him to Lumen Academy."

  Liu Xuan remembered that this was Deng Wu's greatest wish, and he had to fulfill it no matter what.

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  In the big camp of Jingzhou army, a soldier sent by Liu Bei presented a letter for help and begged bitterly: "The city of Xinye is vast, our defensive forces are insufficient, we have encountered danger again and again. If the city is broken, not only will the lord's life be in danger, but also the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Xinye will be affected. I beg General Wen to consider that we are all from the same military family and rescue Xinye."

  Man Chong carefully read Liu Bei's letter, which did not contain any pleading, but only stated that Xinye and Xiangyang were in a precarious situation, with Xinye unable to be defended and Xiangyang in danger. "Since the provincial governor has sent General north to resist Cao, at this critical moment, I still hope that General will lend a helping hand as soon as possible."

  It was Liu Bei's handwriting, Wen Ping was somewhat embarrassed, he had already received a secret order from Liu Biao, not to pay attention to Liu Bei's life or death, what could he do.

  He suddenly remembered Liu Xuan, he had issued a military order, but there was no news. Wen Ping hastily asked: "Is Master Xuan still in XinYe?"

  The soldier blinked his eyes, "Didn't Young Master Jing return this afternoon?"

  Wen Ping was stunned, a bad feeling surged in his heart, and he hastily asked: "When did you leave? Alone?"

  The soldier shook his head, "With over a thousand people, Lord Jing and Lord Hu were together. The two of them left Xin Ye at dusk."

  Wen Ping's face changed greatly, he received the scout's message, about thirty miles northwest, thousands of Cao troops surrounded a hill, could it be that the people being surrounded were indeed Jing and Hu?

  Wen Ping was suddenly anxious. If Liu Xuan and Liu Huo were to get into trouble, how would he explain it to the lord? He immediately gave an order: "Pass on my command, immediately mobilize 5,000 troops!"