But in the encirclement of Pang De, the tiger and leopard cavalry exposed his fangs. With the cooperation of two other comrades, Cao Chun firmly entangled Pang De.

Other tiger and leopard cavalry entered the flock of sheep like tigers. Under the encirclement of two thousand light cavalrymen, they rushed forward. The tiger and leopard cavalry lost only more than ten cavalry, and defeated the most elite cavalry under Ma Chao and broke out of the encirclement.

However, these tiger and leopard cavalry were exhausted because they did not dare to fight. They joined forces with Xiahou Yuan and retreated to the direction of the camp.

The Western Liang cavalry led by Ma Chao was powerful. After rushing through the blockade of heavy infantry, it was as if it had entered a state of no one. Although Cao Cao had many generals and assistants, he still couldn't stand it.

Ma Chao, Ma Dai, and Pang De, who caught up from behind, implemented the "beheading" tactic of capturing the thief and capturing the king according to the initial arrangements, each leading more than a hundred cavalry, only staring at Cao Cao's banner, and entering the central army to capture Cao Cao.

At the beginning, Cao Cao was able to advance and retreat freely under the protection of the guards, but after the military formation was defeated, the defeated army rushed over like a tide, dispersing him and the guards.

Cao Cao was wrapped in a defeated soldier and ran away, and suddenly heard the Western Liang army shouting behind him:

"Catch him, it's Cao Cao who wears the red robe!"

Cao Cao didn't want to be stared at by everyone, so he decisively took off his red robe that represented his identity, exposed the light robe and soft armor he was wearing inside, and continued to flee in the direction of few people.

Not long after, a soldier in Xiliang raised his red robe that he had picked up from the ground. Ma Chao knew that Cao Cao had taken off his official uniform and ran away, so he asked Ma Dai:

"What else is there to be conspicuous about Cao Zhe?"

Ma Dai recalled and reminded Ma Chao:

"Because Cao loves Guan Yu, he also imitates him and leaves a long gray beard!"

Ma Chao also remembered it and quickly asked the soldiers around him to make a loud announcement that Cao Cao had not escaped from the crowd of defeated soldiers, and heard the Xiliang soldiers behind him shouting loudly:

"Catch the one who has long beards, that is Cao Cao who has taken off his official uniform!"

Since Guan Wenkong killed Hua Xiong in Hulao, Cao Cao has been an absolute fan of Guan Yu. He has been keeping this long beard for a while and is often proud of him!

Although he cherished his long beard, he was afraid that he would be stared at by Ma Chao and his life would be difficult to save. He turned his head to the dark, pulled out the precious sword he wore on his waist, and waved the long beard with great pain, and threw the cut white beard into the distance.

There was a soldier in the Xiliang army with good eyes. He saw someone shaving his sword from a distance, and he saw hair fluttering in the air. He became more confident and immediately told Ma Chao about Cao Cao's beard cutting.

Ma Chao naturally didn't want Cao Cao to escape calmly from his subordinates, so he immediately asked his soldiers to change their words and shout:

"Catch the one who keeps the short beard, that is Cao Cao cut off his long beard!"

When the defeated soldiers heard that Cao Cao was so embarrassed, they did not dare to stay. In a hurry, they saw Cao Cao's short beard, fearing that the fish pond would be affected, so they avoided Cao Cao and ran away.

Cao Cao also heard the shouts of the soldiers in Xiliang and ran away alone. Seeing the flags scattered all over the ground, he pulled up a green flag, tore off the corner of the flag, and ran away.

Because there were fewer and fewer people around him, Cao Cao was also moving faster and faster. Seeing that the camp was right in front of him, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down his escape.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves behind him rang out, and a horse rushed over. Cao Cao turned around and saw that it was Ma Chao who arrived.

Cao Cao was shocked. Looking back at his side, there was no guard with him. He had to whip the horses constantly and escape to the camp with his horse whip. Ma Chao shouted loudly from behind:

"Don't leave, let's take me a shot!"

Hearing the sound of the long spear dancing wind approaching his back, Cao Cao was so shocked that his horse whip fell to the ground. Seeing that Ma Chao was about to catch up, he pushed the gun from behind to Cao Cao's back.

There was a big tree on the side of the road. Cao Cao slapped his horse around the tree. The Ma Chao stabbed out his long spear and used too much force. He stabbed into the tree with one shot very deep. He was eager to pull it out. By the time he pulled it out with force, Cao Cao had already walked far.

Ma Chao was reluctant to leave, so he rushed over and turned a general from behind the hillside, shouting loudly:

"Ma Chao should not hurt my lord, Cao Hong is here!"

After saying that, Cao Cao was able to escape by stalking his sword and blocking Ma Chao's way.

Because of concern for Cao Cao's safety, Cao Hong's courage increased, and he insisted on Ma Chao and fought for 40 or 50 rounds without a chance of winning or losing.

Seeing Cao Cao safely enter the camp, Cao Hong relaxed in one breath and could no longer withstand Ma Chao's storm-like attack. Gradually, his sword skills were scattered and his strength was not increased.

Ma Chao hated Cao Hong in his heart, and he used his killer moves frequently. Cao Hong wanted to escape but could not, and was about to fall under Ma Chao's hands.

It happened that Xiahou Yuan led dozens of cavalry to arrive. When Ma Chao saw that his subordinates were chasing the defeated soldiers who were alone, he was the only one nearby, and he was afraid that he would be outnumbered and be counted by everyone, so he drove his horse back.

Xiahou Yuan was looking for Cao Cao who was missing on the battlefield, but he did not chase Ma Chao. He hurriedly asked Cao Hong about whereabouts of Cao Cao.

After knowing from Cao Hong that Cao Cao had escaped from danger, Xiahou Yuan felt relieved and returned to the camp with Cao Hong.

It turned out that Cao Hong was punished for his defeat in Tongguan, and was nominally demoted to the Central Army Guard, but with Cao Cao's promise to lose his merits, this was only temporary.

This time when Cao Cao went to the expedition, Cao Hong originally wanted to follow Cao Cao, so that he could make meritorious service and restore his post.

But this time it was Cao Cao's first expedition to Xiliang, but he didn't want Cao Hong to follow him. He was afraid that the defeated general would be unlucky, so he left him alone in the military camp.

Cao Hong was bored in the camp, so he walked out of the military camp and practiced sword skills in the woods outside the camp. He didn't expect to see Cao's army defeated and retreated.

Cao Hong was hiding in the woods, preparing to pick up the defeated Cao army general, but he didn't expect to just pick up Cao Cao!

Cao Cao returned to the camp and survived his death. He was filled with mixed feelings. The Western Liang cavalry chased him out of the camp, but because Han Sui did not chase him, Cao Ren returned to the camp first and decided to settle the camp and did not break the army for many horses.

After Cao Cao entered the tent, he saw that the counselors had already returned, and he felt a little relieved and sighed to them:

"Fortunately, you plead with mercy, leaving Cao Hong's life behind. If I insist on killing Cao Hong, I will die at the hands of Ma Chao today!"

Cao Cao ordered the guards to call Cao Hong over, give him more rewards, and then gather the defeated troops, guard the villages, deep ditches and high bases, and not allow all generals to fight.

Ma Chao was like fighting Cao Hong in Tongguan, and he led his troops to the camp to insult the battle every day, but Cao Cao personally took charge and ordered the soldiers to persevere, as if the movement was in trouble.

The generals originally wanted to fight, but they didn't dare to get Cao Cao's bad luck. No one took the initiative to ask for the fight. They just discussed the gains and losses of the last failure together in private.

Although Cao Cao was defeated this time, because Cao Ren and Han Sui were both waiting and watching, Cao Ren calmly retreated and returned to the camp. The damage to the war was not much greater than that of the Xiliang army, and there were some chances of turning the tables.
Chapter completed!