Chapter 286 Thousands of miles back then, there were turbulent times
Originally, before Cao Ren led the army to attack Xicheng, although he took away most of the troops in Nanyang County, he did not also transfer away the Wei army belonging to Cao Xiu in the Fancheng area.
The reason is simple, because Fancheng was the first line of defense for the Wei Dynasty to guard Nanyang County, and at that time Guan Yu was more threatening than Mi Yang.
Therefore, even though the Wei army led by Cao Ren was destroyed outside the West City, the troops in Cao Xiu's hands were not damaged at all.
And if he wants to hold Fancheng, a battleground that is located in the plains and has no mountains as a barrier, Cao Xiu's troops will definitely not be less than 10,000.
In fact, Cao Xiu originally had about 15,000 troops. Later, because of Sun Li's plan, he transferred 3,000 troops to Sun Li to garrison in Yancheng. Therefore, Cao Xiu can currently mobilize about 12,000 Wei troops in Fan City.
The 20,000 Wei troops in Cao Xiu's hands were expanded from the foreign troops that Cao Cao left in Nanyang back then, so their combat effectiveness is naturally impressive.
Previously, because of Sun Li's advice and fear of Guan Yu, Cao Xiu led the 12,000 Wei troops to huddle in Fancheng.
It's just that among the only famous generals from the Cao clan left today, Cao Xiu's military style is particularly violent.
Although the tens of thousands of Han troops outside Fancheng did not attack Fancheng before, they were surrounded by tens of thousands of Han troops for several months. This made Cao Xiu, who had a violent personality, feel angry.
What's more, Guan Yu had previously placed the corpses of the Wei army's cavalry outside Fancheng.
Cao Xiu once served as the leader of the Central Army, so among the thousands of corpses, many of them were his old troops.
This behavior of Guan Yu made Cao Xiu hate him very much.
So today, when Cao Xiu in Fan City noticed signs that the Han army was withdrawing from the siege, he immediately organized his troops in Fan City.
After most of the Han army retreated from the northern siege of Fancheng, Cao Xiu immediately led an army of 10,000 people out of the north gate of Fancheng.
Although he was besieged, Cao Xiu was unable to obtain much information to deduce why the Han army suddenly withdrew from the siege.
No matter what the reason was for the Han army to withdraw from the siege, Cao Xiu, who was good at seizing the opportunity, would immediately lead his army out of the city.
The reason why Cao Xiu led his army to huddle in Fan City before was because there were no reinforcements from the Wei army outside Fan City at that time, and he did not have an advantage in terms of troops.
But now not far outside Fancheng, there are tens of thousands of Wei troops led by Zhang Liao.
Yancheng and Fancheng are not far apart. Cao Xiu, who is trapped in the city, cannot chat with Zhang Liao outside Yancheng in real time.
But it was very simple for Zhang Liao to tell Cao Xiu something by lighting the beacon fire.
There are tens of thousands of strong reinforcements of our own not far away. After the Han army withdraws from the siege, Cao Xiu will definitely choose to lead the army out.
From a military perspective, this move can be used as a rival to Zhang Liao's army.
Personally speaking, Cao Xiu wondered if he could find a loophole when the Han army retreated, so as to give the Han army a hard blow to vent the resentment he had been feeling for the past few months.
What disappointed Cao Xiu was that when he led his army out of Fan City, he did not find such a flaw.
Under normal circumstances, the infantry is somewhat similar to the aircraft of later generations.
The most likely time for an airplane to have a crash is during takeoff and landing.
The time when the ancient infantry was most easily taken advantage of by the enemy was during marching and retreat.
Many excellent tactics in ancient times were derived from this weakness of the infantry, such as "strike halfway across the battlefield, encircle the point for reinforcements, and wait for work at leisure" and other classic tactics.
Well, at first Cao Xiu also wanted to use a tactic similar to a half-crossing attack.
But when Cao Xiu led his army out of Fancheng, he immediately gave up this idea.
Although the Han army took the lead in withdrawing from the northern perimeter of Fancheng under Guan Yu's order, the Han army did not seem to be panicking in its withdrawal.
Before they evacuated, they transported a large number of antlers that could be used again onto the baggage trucks in an orderly manner, and chose to burn those items that could not be transported away.
So when Cao Xiu led his troops out, what he saw was that outside the north gate of Fan City was a mess, and there were even flames burning in many places.
The flames burning everywhere made the open space outside the north gate of Fancheng seem a bit hot in this cold winter.
Since most of the burning items were made of wood, blown by the cold wind, a lot of wood ashes produced by the burning floated in large quantities in the world where Cao Xiu and tens of thousands of Wei troops were located.
Many of them even fell on Cao Xiu.
Outside the north gate of Fan City, which was a bit hot and constantly filled with ashes, Cao Xiu saw that the Han army that had just evacuated from the north gate had not gone far at all.
Outside Fancheng was a vast plain. Cao Xiu, who was riding a horse, looked far away and saw that the follow-up troops of tens of thousands of Han troops were even less than a mile away from them.
This scene made Cao Xiu feel suspicious in his heart.
Isn’t it necessary to evacuate as soon as possible?
But he saw that the Han army was acting unhurriedly. It didn't look like they were retreating, but rather like they were luring the enemy.
The most important thing was that Cao Xiu had excellent eyesight. He looked down from a high position and happened to see the general who was leading thousands of Han troops to cover the retreat of the front army.
He is eight feet long, has a leopard's head with eyes, a swallow's jaw and a tiger's beard, and in his hand is a dark iron spear.
Who else could this person be if he wasn't Zhang Fei?
After seeing that Zhang Fei was responsible for leading the army and escorting him back, Cao Xiu couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
This was a subconscious action he made when encountering danger after serving in the army for many years.
The first time Cao Xiu met Zhang Fei was more than ten years ago.
But the first real fight between him and Zhang Fei was in the Battle of Shimona a few years ago.
In the Battle of Xiabian a few years ago, Zhang Fei, who did not have many troops of his own, successfully used bluffing to frighten Cao Hong, the then-coach of the Wei army.
It's just that Zhang Fei didn't hide his plan from Cao Xiu.
Cao Xiu guessed that Zhang Fei did not have many troops at all, so at Cao Xiu's suggestion, he personally led the tiger and leopard cavalry to attack Bian.
In that battle, Cao Xiu's formation killed Lei Tong, Ren Kui and other generals won the battle of Xiabian.
That battle made the world know Cao Xiu.
But what puzzles the world is that at that time, Cao Xiu had already judged that Zhang Fei did not have many troops at all.
Why didn't the Wei army, which had a superior force, directly attack Zhang Fei's headquarters? Or, after winning the Battle of Xiabian, did they continue to expand their results and attack Zhang Fei's headquarters?
You must know that there were famous generals such as Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Zhang Ji in the Wei army at that time, and the heads of Zhang Fei and Ma Chao were much more valuable than those of Wu Lan and others.
Others don't know this reason, but Cao Xiu himself knows it very well.
Nothing but him, because he was afraid of Zhang Fei in his heart.
Cao Xiu's fear of Zhang Fei originated from the moment he saw Zhang Fei for the first time in more than ten years.
That year, Cao Xiu was still under the command of Cao Chun, one of the five thousand tiger and leopard cavalry, and followed Cao Cao to pursue Liu Bei and others in Dangyang.
The day Cao Xiu first met Zhang Fei, he was in front of a bridge. The bridge was not long, only a dozen steps away at most.
On the other side of the bridge where five thousand tigers and leopards were riding, there were only Zhang Fei and twenty cavalry.
However, due to such a huge disparity in military strength, what happened later became a lifelong shame for the five thousand tiger and leopard cavalry, and even a lifelong shame for Cao Cao.
One man broke the bridge by the water, with his angry eyes and spear across his face, and roared at the five thousand tiger and leopard cavalry who were slaughtering the people:
"I am Zhang Yide, come and fight to the death together!"
That roar was as loud as thunder, making all five thousand tigers and leopards tremble with fear.
At that time, the long knives in their hands were still flowing with blood from hundreds of thousands of people.
This scene also deeply reflected in the heart of Cao Xiu, who was still young at that time.
Some shadows can never be erased.
It can be said that between Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Cao Xiu was more afraid of Zhang Fei.
When he saw that Zhang Fei was personally leading the army to suppress the battle, Cao Xiu, who had been rushing out in a hurry, thinking of leading the army to pursue the Han army to avenge his bloodshed, suddenly gave up his plan.
Now the distance between Zhang Fei and Cao Xiu is not far, only one mile.
At present, Cao Xiu has no less troops than Zhang Fei, and he even has a city behind him to support him.
It's just that Cao Xiu, who traveled thousands of miles across China in order to bury his grandfather and join Cao Cao, and was praised by Cao Cao as "the Cao family's thousand-mile horse", today does not dare to cross even this distance.
A thousand miles is easy to travel, but one mile is difficult to cross. Is this the Cao family's thousand-mile horse?
Just as Cao Xiu led more than 10,000 Wei troops to watch the Han troops retreating away, more than 10,000 Han troops who were retreating also saw the Wei troops leaving the city behind them.
Originally, when one's own army was retreating, if an enemy force with a strength no less than one's own suddenly appeared behind them, the retreating infantry would be panicked.
But with Zhang Fei behind them, the retreating 10,000 Han troops did not fall into this mood.
Zhang Fei, who was responsible for holding down the formation, also saw Cao Xiu not far away.
Unlike Cao Xiu, who was deeply afraid of Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei looked at Cao Xiu with a bit more amusement.
The turtle came out of the turtle shell.
Just playing for fun, Zhang Fei, who puts the overall situation first, has no intention of fighting Cao Xiu now.
He was just strolling around, guarding the back for more than ten thousand Han troops.
Just as the "confrontation" between the two sides occurred, 10,000 Wei troops led by Sun Li also rushed outside Fancheng.
When Cao Xiu's generals saw another 10,000 troops arriving, they immediately said to Cao Xiu with joy: "General, our army is now twice as powerful as the enemy's army, and we can attack it!"
This general does not know Zhang Fei.
Unlike the general's joy, Cao Xiu had a look of hesitation on his face after hearing what the general said.
There are 20,000 on our side and 10,000 on the enemy.
Our own side is getting ready to attack, while the enemy is retreating.
From the various contrasts on the surface, Cao Xiu felt that if he launched an attack against these 10,000 Han troops, his chances of winning were indeed quite high.
It's just that Zhang Fei has always been brave and resourceful. Could his move today be a ploy to lure the enemy?
Cao Xiu, who had always been bold and courageous, was now caught in a struggle with his thoughts.
While Cao Xiu was struggling with his thoughts, Sun Li hurriedly rode to Cao Xiu and reported to him the contents of Cao Pi's imperial edict.
Sun Li was worried that Cao Xiu would be impulsive.
What Sun Li didn't know was that his report freed Cao Xiu from his struggle.
Cao Xiu turned to his subordinates who advised him to attack and said, "Since your Majesty has given the order, our army will remain stationary for the time being."
After saying this, Cao Xiu naturally took over the command of the 10,000 Wei troops from Sun Li.
Then he led 20,000 Wei troops and followed the 10,000 Han troops not far or near.
It seems to be monitoring, but also seems to be seeing off guests.
If the infantry marches from Wancheng to Yancheng, it will take at least ten days.
But for the Qingqi who reported the military situation, they could reach Wancheng from outside Yancheng in just a few days.
A few days later, Cao Pi, who was in Wancheng, successfully received the news reported to him by Zhang Liao.
After learning that the Han army was withdrawing from Fancheng, Cao Pi was both angry and happy.
Cao Pi was angry because he thought that the Han army wanted to retreat back to Xiangyang.
You just wanted to run away after humiliating him. How could it be so easy?
If he really allowed these tens of thousands of Han troops to return to Xiangyang unscathed, where would he put his face?
What Cao Pi was happy about was that with the withdrawal of the Han army, this meant that Cao Xiu, who had been trapped in Fancheng, successfully escaped.
Cao Xiu still had tens of thousands of Wei troops in his hands.
There are now more than 70,000 Wei troops around Fancheng!
In this complicated mood of anger and joy, Cao Pi immediately made a decision.
He ordered people to quickly summon Xu Chu, the military guard general who had just arrived in Wancheng.
After Xu Chu arrived with a strong back and a strong back, Cao Pi came to Xu Chu, held his hand and said, "I'll leave it to Hu Hou next!"
After Cao Cao's death, Xu Chu was appointed by Cao Pi as General Wuwei, responsible for the governor of the Luoyang Central Army.
Originally, according to his status, he could not leave Luoyang.
It's just that the current war situation requires that Cao Pi can't control that much.
As a general of the military guard, Xu Chu certainly knew what Cao Pi's purpose was in summoning him to Wancheng. He also knew what Cao Pi meant by what he just said to him.
Xu Chu was serious and spoke few words. After Cao Pi said those words to him, Xu Chu just bowed deeply to Cao Pi.
He is willing to go through fire and water for the Cao family for generations.
After Xu Chu bowed to him, Cao Pi quickly asked Sun Zi to write an imperial edict. Cao Pi handed the imperial edict he had just written to Xu Chu and ordered to him:
"Go and defeat all the disobedient thieves for the Wei Dynasty!"
After Cao Pi said these words, Xu Chu respectfully took the imperial edict with both hands, and then walked outside without looking back.
Watching Xu Chu, who looked like a tiger and leopard, leave, Cao Pi suddenly felt a sense of stability in his heart.
When it comes to fierce generals, how can Cao Wei lack them?
In order to prevent the Han army from escaping, Cao Pi no longer wanted to wait any longer. Although the other generals he summoned had not yet arrived, the opportunity could not be missed.
It's just that when a person is too focused on one thing, he often forgets another.
Cao Pi now only thinks about killing the enemy and avenging his shame, but he has forgotten what his biggest purpose was when he urgently summoned General Zhang He of the left.
Maybe Cao Pi remembered it, but his strong strength allowed him to ignore this factor.
In the first month of the second year of Han Zhangwu, Wei Emperor Cao Pi moved Wuwei General Xu Chu to the right and became General Huwei.
In the same month, Xu Chu, who had just arrived outside Wancheng, quickly headed south with Emperor Wei's imperial edict in hand.
That was the imperial edict issued by Wei Emperor Cao Pi to officially start the war.
The storm is rising, right now.
Just one chapter tonight.
Staying up late the past two days was too harsh, and my wife has some objections.
I don’t have a manuscript saved, so I write one chapter and publish it one chapter.
This big plot will be finished tomorrow.
I just saw that some readers have been waiting for the update, and I felt a little moved after seeing it.
It's just that as an author, I can stay up late to update, but you lovely readers, it's best not to do this.
The cost of your body is greater than anything else. I hope you are in good health.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!