Flames shot up into the sky, and the huge forest suddenly became a hell on earth. Except for Ma Chao, Suo Xu and more than a thousand cavalry who escaped from the sea of fire in time, the rest of the people were all engulfed by the fire and were stranded in the woods, unable to escape from the conflict.
Screams of pain suddenly resounded throughout the world, and people with their whole bodies on fire kept running out of the sea of fire, as well as horses that were already charging wildly.
"Damn Cao Cao..." Ma Chao looked at the vast sea of fire, and Relang rushed towards him, making him personally feel the threat posed by the fire.
"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about so much. Before the Wei army encircles them, please rush out and reorganize your troops before it's too late to fight Cao Cao to the death." Suo Xu glanced at the Wei army infantry emerging from all directions and said immediately.
After hearing this, Ma Chao hurriedly turned his horse's head, led Suo Xu and more than a thousand remaining soldiers, and rushed out of the encirclement set by the Wei army before the Wei army encircled them.
Behind a hillside in the southwest, Cao Cao showed his face with Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, Xu Chu and more than a hundred tiger and leopard riders. Seeing that the woods had been devoured by raging fire, his face showed an expression of joy.
"The king's strategy of luring the enemy deep was really clever. He almost burned Ma Chao to death, but it was a pity that he escaped with more than a thousand remaining soldiers. This time Ma Chao should have tasted the power of the king."
." Cao Chun said happily.
Cao Cao smiled and did not answer, but felt quite happy when he saw Ma Chao fleeing with the remaining soldiers.
He didn't speak until Ma Chao disappeared from his sight, and said calmly: "Give me the order, and the whole army will retreat thirty miles."
Cao Chun felt very strange and asked: "Your Majesty, Ma Chao has suffered a new defeat. All his main forces have been destroyed. Our army should take advantage of the victory and pursue it. Why don't we advance but retreat?"
Cao Cao said: "Although Ma Chao's ghost army was defeated, his father Ma Teng's 100,000 Xiliang cavalry are still there. Our army has fought with Ma Chao six times in a row in the past few days, winning three times and losing three times. Both troops and food and fodder have been depleted.
We cannot attack rashly before Xia Houyuan arrives. The Xiliang soldiers are still strong, and our army is still passive, so we must be cautious. I ordered the entire army to retreat thirty miles and stationed in the Niujiatun area."
"promise!"
Having said that, Cao Cao was about to turn his horse around when he suddenly noticed a white-haired knight galloping from the horizon. The man was covered in blood and had a burly body. The man's appearance and figure were so familiar. He saw that man.
The man ran towards here quickly, and the dark cloud that had been covering his face just now disappeared immediately.
"Your Majesty, it's Brother Wei! Brother Wei is back..." Xu Chu also saw the man at the same time, pointed to Dian Wei in the distance and said to Cao Cao.
He couldn't restrain the joy in his heart. Before he finished speaking, he had already clapped his horse and galloped away, just to welcome Dian Wei's return.
Dian Wei's mysterious disappearance made Xu Chu feel depressed. The two were good brothers who talked about everything. Suddenly they disappeared from his life. He was really not used to it. It was more uncomfortable because in his heart,
Dian Wei is the person who understands him best.
"Brother Wei...Brother Wei..." Xu Chu was extremely happy, waving his arms and shaking towards Dian Wei.
When Dian Wei saw Xu Chu coming to greet him, he just showed a faint smile. Once they met, they exchanged a few words and then ran towards Cao Cao together.
After a while, Dian Wei arrived at Cao Cao's side, reined in the horse, rolled the saddle and dismounted, knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed: "Fortunately, I have fulfilled the mission entrusted by the king. Now I am back to report to the king."
!”
Cao Cao saw that Dian Wei had white hair, a fishy smell all over his body, and his face was extremely tired. Even the clothes on his body were not fully clothed. He jumped off the horse and killed Dian Wei with his own hands.
He was helped up, his eyes full of affection, he just patted Dian Wei's shoulder gently, and said lightly: "It'll be good to come back... it'll be good to come back..."
Afterwards, Cao Cao, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Cao Xiu and others returned to the camp together, leaving Cao Chun to direct other soldiers to clean up the ghost cavalry who were still suffering in the fire.
In a camp where Cao Cao was secretly stationed, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Li Dian, Le Jin, Yu Jin and other generals were all waiting at the gate of the camp. They saw the flames and smoke billowing not far away, which looked very bright in the wilderness.
It was extremely clear that they knew that Cao Cao's strategy had succeeded.
During the several days of confrontation with Ma Chao, Cao Cao had been hiding his own strength. He had elite soldiers and generals hidden behind him, but he led more than ten thousand old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers to compete with Ma Chao in Guandu. If necessary, he would use
Elite soldiers ambush and intercept the enemy halfway to achieve the purpose of surprise attack on the enemy.
It is for this reason that Ma Chao suffered losses when he pursued Cao Cao twice. This time, none of the elite soldiers and generals participated in the battle. Cao Cao still took the remaining thousands of old, weak, sick and disabled in the woods.
He set up a plan to burn Ma Chao.
Just after noon, Cao Cao, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Cao Xiu arrived at the camp. Xiahou Dun and others welcomed them into the camp. However, everyone was surprised when they saw Dian Wei returning with white hair.
As soon as they entered the camp, Cao Cao said to Dian Wei: "Go and clean yourself first and take a rest. I will have something to ask you later."
Dian Wei cupped his fists and said, "No!"
Xu Chu said: "Your Majesty, Brother Wei and I will go together."
Cao Cao nodded and walked straight into the tent, paying no attention to the surprise of Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others towards Dian Wei.
Not long after, Dian Wei had put on his clothes and, accompanied by Xu Chu, entered the Chinese army's tent where Cao Cao was.
In the main tent of the Chinese army, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Li Dian, Le Jin, Yu Jin, Cao Xiu and other leading generals were sitting in the left row. Xu Shu, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye, Dong Zhao, Man Chong, Ren Jun, Mao Jie, etc.
The counselors sat in the right column, Cao Cao sat in the center of the tent, and there were seats on the left and right beside Cao Cao.
"Dian Wei, Xu Chu, you two, please take your seats!" Cao Cao pointed to the two empty seats beside him and said.
Dian Wei and Xu Chu were startled at first, and then were moved. They sat next to Cao Cao, who was the king of Wei. And judging from the placement of the seats, they were obviously higher than other civil and military officials at all levels. What an honor it was.
ah.
When Cao Cao saw that Dian Wei and Xu Chu were still hesitant to appear in public, he said, "If I didn't have you two protecting me, I would have died countless times. What's more, Xu Chu has been flirting with Ma Chao these past few days.
This nest allows my king’s plan to be realized, and Dian Wei has returned from completing an extremely important mission. You all deserve this seat.”
Xu Shu glanced at Cao Cao and saw that Cao Cao's eyes were full of wisdom. He couldn't help but admire him secretly: "Your Majesty has extraordinary wisdom. This time, he used more than 10,000 old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers to deal with Ma Chao's superior ghost army.
Being able to have the upper hand is really admirable. When Dian Wei disappeared, I felt that something was wrong. His return today has indeed confirmed my suspicion. It seems that he went to perform a secret mission."
Dian Wei and Xu Chu did not refuse and took their seats directly.
Cao Cao looked around and said: "The former Dian Wei disappeared because he was sent by me to perform a very special mission. Dian Wei, please tell the generals the news you brought back, sir."
"promise!"
Dian Wei stood up, first slightly bowed his hands to those present, and then said: "My lords, generals, I have just returned from Hulao Pass without stopping..."
"Hulao Pass?" Xiahou Dun asked immediately after hearing this, "You went to Hulao Pass? What's the situation there? I heard that another 70,000 troops came to support Ma Teng and his son. Is this true?"
Dian Wei nodded slightly and said: "It is true, but it is not something that I think is important. Because, before the 70,000 troops arrived, something happened in Hulao Pass. Today, in Zhang
Under the protection of Xiu, Wang Shuang and thousands of Xiliang soldiers, he was assassinated by an assassin and is currently dead..."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty has passed away?" Everyone was surprised when they heard Dian Wei's words.
"As expected..." After hearing this, Xu Shu frowned and couldn't help but said at a loss for words.
Although the voice was very low, Cao Cao still heard it. He glanced sideways at Xu Shu, and saw that Xu Shu had a sad face, frowning, and an indescribable look in his eyes.
He was shocked and didn't show any surprise like others.
"Who was your Majesty assassinated? Is it..." Cao Ren was thoughtful and asked after listening to Dian Wei's words. However, he did not say it clearly, because if it was Dian Wei who did it, then Cao Cao must have asked Dian Wei to do it.
So done.
He glanced at Cao Cao and saw Cao Cao staring at Xu Shu expressionlessly with a trace of doubt in his eyes. He thought to himself: "Is this Xu Shu's plan?"
"Dian Wei, did you witness your Majesty's death with your own eyes?" Xiahou Dun closed his open mouth and asked.
Dian Wei nodded and said: "Yan Hou Gaofei sent a special team of 200 people, with Zhao Yun as the captain and Feiyu Army as the main body, to attack Hulao Pass at night and assassinate the current emperor, killing him on the spot."
"How dare Gao Fei do this? What a treason!" Liu Ye is a descendant of the Han Dynasty. Although he has no hope for the Han Dynasty, the assassination of His Majesty made him filled with righteous indignation. After all, he is also the emperor of the Han Dynasty.
, is the orthodox emperor.
"Gao Fei has always ignored the principles of the Han Dynasty. He proclaimed himself king two years ago. Now he probably wants to proclaim himself emperor, so he assassinated the emperor first. Moreover, he also has the imperial seal in his hand. It is completely logical for him to become emperor. This kind of person has no king and no king.
My father should be punished by everyone in the world!" Although Cheng Yu
Although he was not filled with righteous indignation, he also felt something was wrong. Since it was the Yan army who assassinated him, why did Dian Wei witness it with his own eyes? Moreover, he glanced at Cao Cao. Although his eyes were not sharp, they were full of murderous intent, as if he was trying to kill Cao Cao.
Looking at everyone in the big tent.
"Dian Wei, I have a question. The Yan army assassinated the emperor, why were you there?" Cao Hong has always spoken without scruples. He just asked whatever he wanted. Since he felt doubtful, he wanted to seek the answer from Dian Wei.