Although Pang De took advantage of the chaos in the rear of Cao's army, he successfully attacked and defeated the three thousand rear troops, but after all, Cao's army was large. Seeing more than 5,000 people from the central and front troops coming, twice as much as himself, Pang De realized that if he could kill the enemy's chief general, it might be an opportunity to defeat the enemy.

He said nothing, urged his horse to rush toward him and stab Zhang He in the throat. Zhang He was known as a famous general in Hebei. He used a 68-pound steel spear, which was not as brave as ten thousand men. His martial arts skills were not as good as Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. Although Pang De was extremely brave, Zhang He was not vague. He sneered and swung his spear to slash Pang De. The two horses intertwined, and the two fought fiercely.

The troops on both sides beat the war drums and shouted like thunder. The dust rolled on the battlefield. The two had fought for more than thirty rounds, and there was no difference between the winner and the defeat. Zhang He saw that Pang De's spear was neat and had no flaws, so he couldn't help but praise him secretly, but he didn't have time to spend a long time with Pang De. He sold a flaw, left the battle circle, raised his spear and shouted to thousands of troops: "Kill me!"

The war drums of Cao's attack sounded, and five thousand troops rushed towards the Han army from three directions like a rushing tide. The Han army also fought forward, and the two armies fought fiercely in the wilderness.

While Pang De and Cao's army were fighting fiercely near Hekou Town, the Han River outside Fancheng was also evacuating people and supplies on a large scale.

Compared with the embarrassment of Xinye's evacuation, the evacuation of Fancheng and Dengxian seemed calm. Two floating bridges were built on the Han River, dozens of large ships were moored on the shore, and the soldiers brought the food and supplies from Fancheng warehouse onto the ship and transported them back to Xiangyang again and again.

Tens of thousands of people in Fancheng traveled back and forth from the pontoon bridge and moved all their property to the other side. Some families refused to even keep the water tanks in the yard, while merchants moved a large amount of goods and money to the other side and placed them in the Tao family's warehouse.

This time, the treatment of refugees was much better than a few years ago. Tens of thousands of camps were built in the wilderness south of Xiangyang, which stretched for nearly a hundred miles. It was almost a family and shared a camp with a family a few years ago. The conditions have been greatly improved.

On the one hand, there are not many residents north of the Han River, with only more than 10,000 households, which are easy to take care of. On the other hand, it is also because of the gradually stronger strength of its own strength, Jingzhou is unified, and Yizhou and Hanzhong are also equipped with thousands of miles of fertile land and millions of people. With strong strength as a backing, the treatment of refugees is naturally much better than before.

On the pier on the south bank of the Han River, there are long rows of tables, and nearly a hundred Xiangyang scholars are at their desks to register. The tables are lined up with refugees preparing to register. They line up with families as units, register in a long queue, and register and check a family. After obtaining a bronze medal, they can stay and receive food and blankets.

Cai Yan, the prefect of Xiangyang, was taking more than a dozen officials to inspect the refugees fleeing from the north bank. He and the county magistrate Dong Yun divided the work and cooperated with each other. Dong Yun was responsible for the arrangement of the refugee camp, while Cai Yan was responsible for receiving refugees, registering them one by one, and then sending them to the camp in the south of the city.

Cai Yan stood in front of the dock with his hands behind his back, looking at the people traveling from north to south on the floating bridge, but he was worried. The people in Fancheng and Deng County had basically ended their evacuation, but the people in Xinye had not arrived for a long time. Has something happened? After all, there were more than 10,000 people. If something happened to them, Cai Yan was worried that he would not be able to explain to the provincial governor.

At this time, a soldier rushed over and bowed to Cai Yan and said, "Report to the prefect, Wei Duwei is welcome!"

Cai Yan was also about to meet Wen Pin. He nodded and followed the soldiers to the riverside. A thousand-stone warship was moored by the river. Wen Pin stood at the bow and waited for Cai Yan. Although he had no Wen Pin's share in the march into Bashu, attacked Hanzhong, and the northern expedition to Longxi, it did not affect Wen Pin's promotion. Wen Pin had been promoted to a deputy general and was at the same level as Zhao Yun. Although he did not participate in the war, he shouldered the heavy responsibility and guarded the northern gate of Jingxiang.

This time, Cao's army went south from Wancheng again and directly attacked Wenpin's defense range. Wenpin stood at the bow of the ship and stared at the north. He had not participated in the west expansion of the Han army in the past two years and had been guarding Xiangyang. Although he had no record of any war, he was able to improve repeatedly. This has made many Han army soldiers complain. Wenpin knew this very well, and it was precisely this reason that when Cao's army suddenly moved south from Wancheng, Wenpin felt tremendous pressure.

If he could not fight this battle well, or suffered heavy losses, then he would have no face to gain a foothold in the Han army. At this time, what Wen Pin was most worried about was the safety of Pang De's army. He had received news from Pang De that nearly 10,000 troops of Cao's vanguard had already gone south. Pang De led his army to fight and block Cao's army from going south, but Pang De had only 2,500 people!

Wen Pin sighed slightly in his heart. He had sent Cai Jin to lead a hundred warships along the water to the north to meet Pang De's army and the people of Xinye. He didn't know if he could save Xinye's army.

At this time, a soldier behind him reported: "Prince Wen, Prefect Cai is here!"

Wen Pin turned around and saw Cai Yan quickly boarding the boat. Wen Pin and Cai Yan have known each other for decades. In addition, Cai Yan is the father of his apprentice Cai Jin, and their relationship is naturally extraordinary. Wen Pin welcomed him and smiled and said, "Come in to the prefect and disturb the prefect's official duties!"

Cai Yan waved his hand and said, "We don't have to be polite, but I'm very worried about the situation of the people in Xinye. Is there any news about General Wenpin?"

Wen Pin nodded, "I came to the prefect for this matter. I just got the news that the vanguard of Cao's army had already gone south and was blocked by Pang De's troops. At present, the people of Xinye escaped Bishui and hid in the forest east of Bishui. I sent Jin'er to lead the fleet north to greet him. There should be news soon."

The people of Xinye hid in the forest, which made Cai Yan feel a little relieved, but he immediately realized that danger was approaching. He asked nervously: "Have Cao's army headed south?"

"It should be!"

Wen Pin nodded, "The vanguard has gone south, and the main army will only set off one day at most. I invited the prefect to come here to tell the prefect that in two hours, I will demolish the floating bridge. Please inform the people of Fancheng to fully transfer!"

Cai Yan nodded silently. At this time, he remembered something again and asked quickly: "I wonder when General Gan's naval army will arrive in Xiangyang?"

"It should be on the way. I guess I will arrive in Xiangyang tomorrow and 10,000 reinforcements from Jiangling. In the past two days, please rest assured that the Han River is not frozen. Even in winter, Cao's army will not want to break through the Han River. As long as the people are retreated to the south bank, they will be foolproof."

Cai Yan sighed softly, "In a few days it will be the New Year, and Cao's army will not let us live in peace!"

He said to Wen Pin again: "In addition, I need five hundred soldiers to maintain order in the refugee camp for me. Can Commander Cai support me?"

"No problem, I will allocate five hundred soldiers to the prefect in a while."

Cai Yan said thanking her and left. Wen Pin pondered for a moment. He was still not very relieved of Longzhong's defense. Gan Ning had not arrived now, and he had insufficient warships. Once Cao's army crossed the river from Fangling, it would be a threat to Xiangyang. He had to deploy a defense line in Longzhong, and he could not be careless at all.

Thinking of this, Wen Pin immediately said to his personal soldiers: "Prepare horses for me, I want to go to Longzhong immediately!"

A fleet of 200 warships was sailing north along Bishui. The warships were almost all small warships of 300 to 500 stones. They were rowing manually. Bishui had already formed a layer of thin ice on Bishui, but there was no ice in the middle of the river. Two hundred ships were moving along the narrow river channel in turn. The fleet lasted for more than twenty miles and carried two thousand soldiers.

On the large ship led, Cai Jin's thug curtain blocked the dazzling sunlight and looked for the traces of Xinye soldiers and civilians on both sides. There was a large forest in the distance. A light snow fell last night, which covered the forest with a light silver cover. The snow also covered the traces on the ground. There was no people around. Since Hekou Town was bloodbathed by Cao's cavalry, the entire town has been abandoned and no one has lived in it, making this area rarely visited.

According to the information they received, the people of Xinye escaped Bishui in this area, but now he cannot see any signs of the fleeing people, let alone the Pang De's army, which made Cai Jin a little worried. Could it be that the Pang De's army had been wiped out? Did the Cao army massacre all the fleeing people in Xinye? If so, he should have seen a few fleeing soldiers or refugees, but his fleet had been gone for a day and no one was found.

At this moment, a soldier pointed to the forest in the distance and shouted: "General, it seems that there is someone there!"

Cai Jin looked in the direction of his finger and saw several moving black dots appearing on the snow on the edge of the forest several miles away in the northeast. They did not look like deer or wild beast, but like humans. Cai Jin immediately ordered: "Wave the military flag to indicate!"

The two soldiers immediately raised the two-meter-high Han army battle flag and waved it on the boat. For a moment, a large group of black dots ran out of the forest. They were indeed people. They were jumping and waving to this side. Among them, there were children. Cai Jin knew that they had found Xinye escaped people, so he immediately ordered, "So quickly!"

The fleet accelerated and was getting closer and closer to the crowd, and more and more people were running out of the forest. As expected, it was Xinye refugees. They did not dare to continue walking eastward, but hid in the forest waiting for rescue. When the Han army's warship finally arrived, the refugees were boiling, they cheered and jumped, and many people were so excited that they knelt on the snow and cried.

Soon, tens of thousands of refugees rushed out of the forest. They held large bags, led oxen, carried elderly parents, and held children, rushing towards Bishui, and cheered throughout the sky.

The Han soldiers on the warship broke the ice on the river surface, and warships slowly landed. The soldiers jumped off the ship and began to help the people get on board. At this time, the Han army marquis who were guarding the refugees stepped forward and said to Cai: "Report to General Cai, I am led 500 brothers to protect the refugees under General Pang's order. The task has been completed. I will give orders to General Cai!"

Cai Jin patted his shoulder, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone is fine!"

"Apart from the unfortunate death of more than a dozen elderly people last night, everything else is fine."

"I wonder if there is any news about General Pang?" Cai Jin asked again.

Junhou said with a sad expression: "Last night, Cao's army set fire to burn the big trucks and food on the official road. Bei Zhi sent people to inquire about the situation, but the sent people did not come back. Bei Zhi was also worried about General Pang's situation. Bei Zhi was willing to lead his brothers to pick up General Pang!"

Cai Jin shook his head, "You don't have to go, do one thing for me."

"Please give orders to the general!"

Cai Jin pointed to the large group of oxen on the shore and said, "There are at least a thousand of these oxen. Our ships are too small to carry them. You will lead your brothers to drive the oxen to the north shore of the Han River. There will be ferries there to pick you up on the river."

"I understand!"

The Junhou bowed, jumped ashore, and walked quickly towards the cattle. He led five hundred soldiers to drive more than two thousand oxen and mules and horses, and rushed southward.
Chapter completed!