The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 210 No hope in sight

Watching the departing cavalry, Liu Neng was furious, but the Jingzhou organization had always lacked cavalry, so he was helpless and could only watch as the cavalry ran rampant around them.

Fortunately, the attack did not result in too many casualties for the large organization, Liu Neng thought with relief. However, his smile soon faded as a cavalry unit would launch a surprise attack on his flank every half hour.

A few hours later, Liu Neng was shocked to discover that his large organization had less than 8,000 men capable of fighting, and most of the remaining soldiers were already in a state of panic and fear, ready to panic at the slightest disturbance.

Originally a fairly elite force, they had been exhausted by Zhao Yun's unscrupulous tactics, leaving Liu Neng with no choice but to order them to organize a defense on the spot and wait for reinforcements.

"Commander, what should we do now?" a general asked.

Cai Mao said to his generals, "Liu Neng's force of over 10,000 men is one of the most elite troops in Jingzhou. We must rescue them, or we will suffer a great loss this time."

"It's all Liu Bei's fault. If he hadn't persuaded our lord, we wouldn't have attacked Chen Er so rashly. Now look what's happened! We didn't capture Chen Er, but we've already lost seven or eight thousand men, maybe even close to twenty thousand. Our Jingzhou only has a total of 150,000 troops!" said a foot soldier general.

Cai Mao was the naval commander, but that did not mean he did not value infantry. On the contrary, everyone knew that wars ultimately depended on infantry to be resolved.

“What’s the point of saying all this now!” Cai Ming stepped forward and said, “We’ve already clashed with Chen Er, and just as Chen’s organization said, we may have even lost tens of thousands of members. Are you suggesting we abandon our battle plan and make peace with Chen Er now?”

Cai Ming cupped his hands to Cai Mao and said, "Commander, I suggest that we concentrate all our forces to reinforce Liu Neng's organization and inform Liu Bei so that he can come up with a solution. This matter was originally started by Liu Bei, so we can't just stand by and watch the show."

At this time, the generals of Jingzhou were unaware of Liu Bei's injury. In order to stabilize the morale of the organization, Liu Bei ordered Zhang Fei to keep his injury a secret and led his 20,000 main force in pursuit of Chen Er's retreat.

Originally, Liu Bei only wanted to try to keep Chen Er, but now Liu Bei already harbors resentment towards Chen Er, so it won't be so easy for Chen Er to leave.

However, when Liu Bei received Cai Mao's intelligence report, he still trembled a little, realizing that the fighting power of the district organization team he had trained was truly formidable.

Five thousand cavalrymen had managed to defeat two groups of the Jingzhou organization in succession. Soon after Cai Mao finished his battle meeting, he received a report from Yang Bo's defeated troops: all eight thousand of the large organization had been routed, and Yang Bo's fate was unknown. According to the defeated soldiers' description of the battlefield, there was basically no hope left.

Cai Maoshun also shared this intelligence with Liu Bei. Of course, he didn't do it to warn his ally Liu Bei, but rather to tell Liu Bei that as the initiator of this joint operation, he should do something.

"There's really no good way to deal with cavalry. The only hope is to concentrate our superior forces for a head-on confrontation. If we disperse our forces, we will definitely be defeated one by one by the cavalry we have trained. It's impossible to catch up with those four-legged cavalry on the plains," Liu Bei said to his generals.

"Brother, should we save Liu Neng or not?" Zhang Fei asked Liu Bei.

Liu Bei looked up and said, "We must provide support. If we do nothing, what will our allies think of us? Who will want to ally with us in the future?"

Zhang Fei mumbled an "Mmm" in response and then fell silent. He knew he had angered his elder brother, and that was the time to play dumb.

"Gentlemen, in order to ensure the safety of our organization's main force, we must stick together and move closer to our friendly organization in order to avoid being attacked by enemy cavalry."

Under the threat of the cavalry organized in his own district, Liu Bei had no choice but to abandon his plan to continue pursuing Chen Er. Ba Commandery had no decent cavalry, and faced with Chen Er's cavalry counterattack, he could only join forces with Cai Mao for passive defense.

Sigh, it's all my fault for not making thorough plans beforehand and for neglecting the problem of the sharpness of the district cavalry I was dealing with, which led to the current situation.

Liu Bei regretted it in his heart, but of course he would only think it in his heart and would not say it out loud. According to Liu Bei's consistent thinking, he was the BOSS, and there was no reason for the BOSS to explain to his subordinates. Even if I was wrong, you should take the initiative to stand up and take responsibility.

In his previous life, as a warlord, Liu Bei did not take the current defeat too seriously. He could simply fight back after losing a battle. In any case, the current losses were not too serious for either side, and for the region he governed, the losses from today's battle were just a drop in the ocean.

In reality, the battlefield area was not large at this time. The main force led by Liu Bei and Cai Mao was only seventy or eighty li away from Liu Neng.

They could send reinforcements soon, but they never expected that when Zhao Yun received the scouts' report, his first reaction was not to retreat, but to abandon the harassment of Liu Neng on this side, leaving only a few hundred cavalry to keep watch, while the rest headed west towards the main force of Liu Bei and Liu Biao's alliance.

They were going to harass the enemy's main force and tear another piece of flesh from Liu Bei's body.

However, having witnessed the defeats at the front, both Cai Mao and Liu Bei cautiously adopted a defensive posture, advancing slowly, even if they could only advance one mile after an hour.

Seeing the enemy's main force wrapped up like a hedgehog, Zhao Yun smiled helplessly. He had been so focused on enjoying himself in front that he had forgotten about what was behind him. Now that the enemy's main force was on high alert, it would be quite difficult for him to launch a surprise attack.

Seeing that they could not gain any advantage, Zhao Yun decisively ordered the entire organization to retreat. Today, the cavalry had already defeated more than 15,000 enemy troops, and there were still a few thousand left, if not completely defeated, then nearly defeated.

"Although you were unable to complete the initial plan, you have done a good enough job."

Chen Er said to Zhao Yun, "As a commander, not letting your brothers make unnecessary sacrifices is already an excellent command. And you, Zilong, have taught these arrogant southerners a lesson with fewer than a hundred casualties. It should teach them a lesson they will never forget."

"My lord, what should we do? Should we continue retreating?"

Zhao Yun asked Chen Er, and after the battle was over, Zhao Yun left two companies of cavalry to monitor the enemy's movements, while the rest of the men advanced toward the designated area according to the pre-battle plan.