Before the Battle of Chibi, Xinye County was a large county with a population of nearly 50,000. It was managed in an orderly manner by Liu Bei. However, after Cao's army went south, tens of thousands of Xinye County people fled east with Liu Bei and finally crossed the river to Jiangxia. After the Battle of Chibi, Xinye County people never returned home and were placed in Xiangyang and Jiangxia.

Xinye County gradually became a military city, and tens of thousands of hectares of fertile fields south of the county town also became military fields. In addition to 3,000 troops, there were nearly 10,000 military families. They cultivated military fields, gained a lot, and enjoyed the preferential treatment of duty-free service.

But the good times did not last long. Cao's army suddenly launched a large increase in troops in Nanyang, which posed a huge threat to Xinye County. The shadow of the war approached Xinye County again. Before the Chengdu General's order, Xiangyang's prefect Cai Yan and Xiangfan Duwei Wenpin reached a consensus to retreat south. All the soldiers and civilians in the north of the Han River evacuated south of the Han River.

It was late December, and it was the coldest time of the year. In the bitter cold wind, on the official road leading to Fancheng, a team of refugees led by Xinye for about ten miles was slowly evacuating south. The civilians supported the elderly and young people, and were in a dark place. Most of them drove ox carts. The elderly and young children sat on the ox carts, loaded with food, bedding, clothing, large and small packages, and clay pots and other daily necessities.

The man was leading the cattle in front, while the woman was walking by the ox cart, and he cared for the children in the cart from time to time. Many teenage children also followed their mothers, and behind the civilian team, they also followed hundreds of mule carts full of supplies and grass. This was the military supplies, and they also retreated south with the civilians.

On both sides of the team, two thousand Han soldiers were fully armed and escorted the civilian team slowly. They were responsible for protecting the more than 10,000 military families and retreating safely. From time to time, they helped up the fallen old men and children who had no ox carts to ride in military mule carts.

The head general who led this army was Pang De, the former deputy general of Ma Chao. He was named deputy captain and sent to assist Wen Pin in guarding Xiangfan and becoming the general of Xinye Town.

Pang De was quite satisfied with his new position. The key was that he had military power and had three thousand troops. For a general, whether he was valued depends on whether he had military power.

Although Wenpeng nominally appointed him as the general of Xinye Town, Pang De knew in his heart that this was actually Liu Jing's appointment.

After surrendering to the Han army for nearly a year, Pang De also understood many rules of the Han army. Wenpeng had the power to command the army, but did not have the power to appoint military positions. The officers below the General's Office were appointed by the General's Office and the appointments above the General must be decided by Liu Jing.

Pang De was about thirty years old, eight feet three in height, with a head as big as a bucket, dark skin, black cheeks, and a big iron spear weighing 60 pounds, with outstanding martial arts skills.

Although he looked fierce and rude, Pang De had read books since he was a child, and after joining the army, he was well-read in military affairs. In fact, he was a general with both civil and military skills. When he followed Ma Chao, he was Ma Chao's think tank and made suggestions for Ma Chao. It was precisely for this reason that Liu Jing asked him to guard Xinye.

Pang De also received the news that Cao's army had launched a large increase in troops in Nanyang, and actually dispatched troops from Hefei to Nanyang. Pang De certainly knew that this kind of troops was very expensive and would not be without purpose. The Cao army in Wancheng already had 100,000 people, which was obviously going south to Xiangyang.

Pang De was a little worried about whether it would be a little too late for them to retreat south. It is said that Cao Cao had arrived in Wancheng. However, from a military perspective, the Cao army did not want to raid Xiangyang. If they wanted to raid Xiangyang, they would not wait for reinforcements to arrive before taking action. Instead, they would go south directly to attack Xinye and Fancheng, without giving them a chance to raid south.

It is very likely that the Cao army was just a military-pressing attitude and forced the Han army to stop the Northern Expedition on the Western Front. After all, the two sides signed an agreement for a ceasefire, and until the last moment, the Cao army would not easily tear up the agreement.

After understanding this, Pang De felt relieved. He looked back at the civilian team and saw that everyone looked tragic. Seeing that it was the New Year's Day in a few days, but he was suffering from a military disaster. Pang De couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Seeing that the team was walking very slowly, walking up to thirty or forty miles a day, it would take three or four days to reach Fancheng. Once Cao's army arrived, it would be dangerous, so he ordered the soldiers: "Snap the speed a little!"

At this moment, several scouts cavalry rushed to the distance and rushed to the scene. The leading scout immediately reported urgently: "Report to General, Cao's army has gone south, and the vanguard is only more than thirty miles away from us."

This news surprised Pang De. He just thought that Cao's army would not go south easily, but unexpectedly, Cao's army had already arrived. He suddenly became anxious and could not escape the pursuit of Cao's army, and only by escaping east into the forest would he have a glimmer of life.

Fortunately, Bishui is two miles away. After Bishui is an endless forest, and then to the east is the Tongbai Mountain area. As long as you pass Bishui, you can protect yourself. However, the ox cart obviously cannot travel east in the wilderness. He immediately shouted to the soldiers: "Let everyone throw away their supplies, bring food, and take livestock, and immediately evacuate to the east. Cao's army is about to kill him."

The news of Cao's death suddenly caused chaos in the army. Although the soldiers repeatedly explained that Cao's army was still thirty miles away, they could not control the panic of the people. The fugitives shouted at the sky, and they didn't care about their fatigue. The man carried the old man on his back and the woman picked up the child. Although everyone was extremely panicked, they still didn't want to throw away valuable things, especially the plowing ox, which was the lifeblood of the people.

They took off the cattle from the cart, and the women took some fine and soft food, and threw away the rest of the items. They quickly left the official road, mixed with people and animals, and rushed to the east in the wilderness. Men, women, young and old stumbled, in chaos, calling their children to call their husbands, and crying children falling throughout the wilderness.

Pang De shouted, "The army gathers immediately and follow me to meet the enemy!"

At this time, Pang De no longer cared about the refugees. He ordered a military marquis and said, "You can lead five hundred brothers to protect the refugees. After crossing the river, you must immediately demolish the bridge, and there must be no mistakes!"

"Abide by the order!"

The Junhou bowed and bowed, and he waved to the soldiers in the headquarters, "Come with me!"

He led 500 soldiers to follow the refugees. When Pang De saw them walking away, he ordered the scouts to rush to Fancheng to report the news. At this time, a general advised: "The enemy's vanguards have at least more than 10,000 people, but we only have more than 2,000 people. If we can't fight the enemy, why don't we retreat to the east bank of the river with the people?"

Pang De glared at him and said sternly: "It is not a real man who fled without fighting. It is also a blessing for us to die on the battlefield. You don't need to say much!"

The general was so scared that he dared not say anything. Seeing that the army had already assembled, Pang De shouted: "Brothers, block the enemy and buy time for the people of Fancheng to cross the river. This is the responsibility of our soldiers. Everyone follows me to the north and attack Cao's army!"

"I'd like to follow the general north!"

The soldiers shouted in unison, and Pound waved his hand, "Go!"

He turned his horse and ran north, leading 2,500 Han troops to the north, preparing to fight against the vanguard of Cao's army.

The 8,000 troops of Cao's army had already been killed in Xinye County, led by General Zhang He. When he found that Xinye County was an empty city, he immediately led his army to turn around and chase the fleeing Han army.

Pang De was not completely accurate to Cao's army. Cao Cao had made a large-scale mobilization of troops to gather in Nanyang, so he had decided to tear up the armistice agreement signed by both sides. The reason why he did not send troops to raid Xiangfan was because Cao Cao was not considering attacking the people of Fancheng.

Cao Cao was not very interested in capturing Xiangfan. He was concerned about gathering momentum, causing panic in Xiangfan as much as possible, and making the situation in Jingzhou serious. Only in this way can he affect Liu Jing's decision to the greatest extent and force him to temporarily give up the Northern Expedition to Jicheng, thereby gaining time for Cao's army to deploy on the Western Front.

At this time, Cao Cao had already obtained the information that Jia Xu had arrived in Xiangyang. The time was ripe. He resolutely ordered the army to go south and put pressure on Xiangfan in full.

Zhang He led 8,000 troops to run on the official road. He kept getting news from the spies ahead and found a large number of discarded trucks and supplies on the official road thirty miles away. There were signs of escaped people escaping eastward in the fields. Zhang He snorted coldly. He knew that two miles eastward was water, which was more than ten feet wide. Once the refugees escaped the river, it would be difficult for him to chase him.

At this time, Deputy General Yang Qing said on the side: "I remember there is also a bridge nearby. It is better to cross the bridge and chase south. These women, children, young and old cannot run far."

Zhang He pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "What can I do to catch up with them? Kill them? Or let them become our burden. The Prime Minister's order is to seize Fancheng as soon as possible and create a big momentum. If innocent people are killed indiscriminately, it may be difficult to explain to the Prime Minister."

"The general is right, he is in vain!"

Zhang He turned around and shouted, "Start up and head towards Fancheng!"

The eight thousand Cao army accelerated their speed and chased south along the official road. One hour later, a large number of large baggage trucks discarded by the Han army appeared on the official road ahead. The trucks were loaded with food, grass, weapons and tents and other supplies. Not only were the Han army's supplies, but also a large number of civilian vehicles. The livestock that pulled the carts were taken away, and there were large bags of small items, and all kinds of items were piled up.

At this time, the Cao army began to be in a little chaos, and the soldiers began to snatch people's wealth. Zhang He was furious and rushed forward, drew the soldiers violently, shouting loudly: "Put down all the things and start the team immediately!"

At this moment, an army suddenly broke out on a small road not far away, with about 2,000 people. The general in charge was Pang De. He originally planned to lead his army to the north, but suddenly he thought that he could use the property discarded by the people as bait, so he led his army to ambush in the woods a mile away. Just as Cao's army was chaoticly fighting for property, he seized the opportunity.

Pang De waved his big iron spear and shouted loudly: "Brothers, kill us!"

Two thousand five hundred Han soldiers shouted and killed the sky, ran hard, and instantly rushed into the enemy's rear army, turning Cao's army into two, killing the enemy soldiers overturned the horses and wailed everywhere. Pang De rushed around, his big gun flew, and wherever the iron spear passed, corpses were everywhere.

The general of the rear army was Yang Feng. Seeing that the enemy was coming fiercely, his army suffered heavy casualties, he was furious and waved his sword to urge his horse to come to Pang De, "Don't be arrogant, take me a knife!"

Pang De sneered, thrust his spear and urged the horse to meet him. The two fought fiercely. After less than five rounds, Pang De pretended to be defeated and drove away. Yang Qing chased him reluctantly and ran for only a dozen steps. Pang De took Yang Qing down with a shot and immediately took his life.

Yang Qing was killed, and all the three thousand rear troops were trembling with fear. The fighting spirit was destroyed. They were killed and injured by the Han army, and were in chaos. Countless soldiers began to turn around and flee. The army showed signs of collapse. At this moment, Zhang He led thousands of soldiers to come from the front.
Chapter completed!