Three simple floating bridges appeared on the Duting River.

Thread the wooden boards together with cables as thick as a child's arm and connect the two sides. The pontoon is not too wide and can carry two people side by side. The load-bearing capacity is not very good. If there are people standing on the pontoon, the bridge deck will be submerged in the water. People walk on it.

Up there, it's not particularly stable.

But walking is not a problem, the key is to have an order.

At this time, the east bank of the river was already crowded with people, including soldiers and people from Jujube.

For this retreat, Cao Peng put a lot of thought into it. In ten days, he traveled between Suanzao and Duting several times, and perfected the evacuation plan again and again. In history, Liu Bei led his people to evacuate Xinye.

There was no plan or arrangement at all. It was precisely for this reason that the evacuation was extremely slow, resulting in heavy casualties in Changbanpo and the displacement of the people.

There is a saying in later generations that Liu Bei took these civilians to evacuate because he wanted to use these civilians to slow down Cao Jun's pursuit.

In fact, the result is exactly the same.

If it weren't for the hundreds of thousands of people blocking him, Liu Bei would probably have a hard time escaping.

This is one of the reasons why many people hate Liu Bei deeply, thinking that this person is just a hypocrite and not a good person at all.

Compared with Cao Cao's massacre, the casualties caused by Liu Bei on the Changban slope seemed to be greater.

But many people in later generations recorded these casualties in the name of Mr. Cao...Cao Peng was not a great man, let alone a kind man. If he were really kind, he would not have burned the white horse;

If he was truly merciful, he would not remain indifferent after witnessing the casualties in several battles. War is war, and it is not that Cao Peng did not understand the principle of mercy not to control troops. But he still insisted on evacuating the people, which was more of a

***. The Night of the White Horse is of extremely important significance to Cao Peng. On that night, he knew what he should do. It was not to be a saint, let alone a hero. He just wanted to retain as much as possible.

The seeds of the Han people.

Yuan Shao's ferocity may not be inferior to that of Cao Cao.

After the brutal fight in Yanjin, he would definitely take revenge on Jujube.

This has nothing to do with origin. Even the overlord of Western Chu and the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty have records of massacres. Sometimes, the more you read and the higher your knowledge, the more unscrupulous you are in killing people. The origins of Yuan Shao IV and Three Dukes were different.

How about it? He was even more treacherous and ungrateful than Cao Cao. I think when Dong Zhuo came to Beijing and Yuan Shao fled to Bohai, he got a lot of help from Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou.

But after the war between the princes against Dong Zhuo, the first person Yuan Shao killed was Han Fu.

There is a song written in later generations that says, "Put morality on both sides, and profit in the middle." That's pretty much what it means.

Cao Peng rode up to a hill, built a pergola with his hands and looked at the long line of people on the east bank of the river in the night. He couldn't help but smile with relief.

"When is it?"

"It's almost time!"

Cao Peng nodded and said softly: "It seems like it's time for my lord to come."

He thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Derun, go down and tell Hao Zhao to clear the bridge and clear the bridge passage. Let everyone pass through the small floating bridge in order according to the number plates issued when leaving the city. Each time 600 people are released, the first batch

When they are almost at the end of the bridge, the second group can board the bridge.

We still have plenty of time, and we should be able to pass everything before dawn.

After you notify Bo Dao, go to the other side and tell Ziyu to light the torches and prepare to receive the people to retreat...Okay, let's get started."

Kan Ze accepted the order and rushed down the mound.

There was a commotion at the bridge end, but order was quickly restored.

On both sides of the river, bonfires were lit, making the view suddenly clear. Cao Peng and Xiahou Lan stopped on the mound with their horses halted, followed by hundreds of Fei Qi. Originally, Cao Peng wanted all Fei Qi to follow Gan Ning.

When they arrived at Qu Yuju, Gan Ning refused to die and took only half of the people with him. Later, Cao Zhen transferred 200 cavalry from the Hubao Cavalry, and Cao Peng gave them to Gan Ning to garrison Tacun.

"How is the situation over there, my lord?"

"We are setting up an ambush in Datan, waiting for Yuan Shao to pursue his troops."

"I guess we'll start soon."

While Cao Peng and Xia Houlan were talking, there was a sudden noise on the official road at the foot of the hill.

It turned out that Cao Jun's baggage vehicles arrived at Duting. It was Dong Zhao and Xun You who led the baggage vehicles and horses to retreat. Cao Peng did not dare to slack off and hurriedly went down the hill to greet them.

Xun You looked at the orderly river bank and the floating bridge on the river, and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

"Afu, you did it as expected."

Cao Peng quickly replied: "Peng is just trying my best."

Dong Zhao couldn't help but say, "But you still caused a lot of trouble to my lord.

Such a large-scale retreat is likely to be noticed by Yuan Shao in advance. The Lord should have arrived at Duting by this time, but now, he is still waiting for Yuan Jun's pursuit."

Cao Peng couldn't help but look stunned.

Little did he know that this behavior would add a lot of trouble to Mr. Cao and might even cause huge casualties.

However, Cao Peng had to insist. If 30,000 people were slaughtered by Yuan Shao, Jujuba would definitely turn into a huge Shura hell. This was by no means the result he expected to see.

"Gongren, Ah Fu did this out of benevolence and righteousness. Although it took some trouble, it's nothing."

Dong Zhao smiled and said nothing more.

In fact, he didn't really want to blame Cao Peng, he just couldn't help but complained a few words...

Boom!

Suddenly there was a loud noise on the official road, followed by people shouting and horses neighing.

"what's going on?"

"Your Majesty, a carriage has overturned and is blocked in the middle of the road."

When Cao Peng and others heard this, they rushed to the scene of the incident. They saw a six-pound truck lying in the middle of the road. Dozens of soldiers tried desperately to lift the truck up, but the items on the truck were too heavy.

, so that the vehicle lay motionless on the road. As a result, the originally wide road suddenly became narrower, and the cars behind had to stop, making the road suddenly congested.

"Pull the carts to the side of the road and clear the road."

"But in that car..."

"Important things are not as important as human life. Send the order, all the big cars are abandoned, and the light cars speed through the pontoon bridge."

Cao Peng urged his horse forward and shouted sternly.

Dong Zhao frowned and said, "Captain Cao, there is still a lot of baggage on this big cart."

"These things are not important. They are all gathered together and burned!" After Cao Peng said this, he cupped his hands and explained to Dong Zhao, "It is not Cao Peng who wants to waste the wine as a sacrifice. The cart is too heavy. If the bridge is passed through, the bridge will be damaged."

It may not be able to hold up. If there is a problem on the bridge, it will definitely be more troublesome. My lord now needs to strategically evacuate, and some unnecessary baggage should be burned if necessary, and discarded if necessary."

If you don’t become a master, you don’t know how difficult it is to be a master!

But I have to admit that what Cao Peng said makes sense.

Xun You thought for a moment and said, "Gong Ren, just follow what Ah Fu said."

Dong Zhao pondered for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement. Indeed, the presence of these large vehicles would indeed slow down the speed... So, six-pound vehicles piled up under the hill, and in the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred vehicles piled up.

It looked like a small mountain. Xia Houlan ordered people to pour tung oil on it and quickly ignited it. The flames crackled into the sky and illuminated the official road clearly, making people feel much brighter.

Sometimes, this light can bring people a sense of security.

The people who were originally a little anxious and worried suddenly became much quieter when the flames lit up.

One by one, light vehicles quickly climbed onto the pontoon bridge and headed towards the other side of the pontoon bridge. The speed of the baggage convoy more than doubled. Regardless of whether Dong Zhao felt comfortable or not, he had to admit that at this speed, Cao Zhao

When the *** soldiers and horses arrived, all the baggage convoys could pass. He couldn't help but glance at Cao Peng secretly, and saw Cao Peng pulling up the road and calling loudly for the convoy to speed up.

"Gongda, this Youxue is quite a courageous person."

He suddenly let out a sigh.

Xun You smiled slightly and said, "Otherwise, why would my lord be so accommodating to him?"

Dong Zhao couldn't help but laugh too...

When it was nearly time, a group of cavalry appeared from the end of the official road.

Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard cavalry to Duting. Seeing the flames soaring into the sky from a distance, he couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Xun You and Dong Zhao came over and asked with concern: "Zihe, how is the battle ahead?"

Cao Chun smiled bitterly, "I waited half the night, but I didn't see Yuan Shao's troops."

"Yuan Shao didn't pursue?"

"No!"

Xun You and Dong Zhao couldn't help but look at each other in astonishment.

"Then my lord..."

"The Lord has ordered Wen Qian to lead his troops to retreat to Fengqiu. He has led the Wuwei Army and the Tiger Army to break up the rear, and ordered me to lead the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to cross the river first and form an array on the other side."

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are the elites that Cao Cao spent countless money and energy to create.

Since Yuan Shao did not pursue the pursuit, the role of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry has also been weakened. The combat effectiveness of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry lies in charging. It seems that Cao Cao has decided to retreat, so naturally the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry has no place to use. Since it has no place to use, then

Simply evacuate first and retreat to Hexi.

By this time, all the baggage convoys had passed.
To be continued...