Chapter 255: The natives, I will take your head today
"Come in and talk." Cao Cao called.
The soldier hesitated for a moment, then resolutely walked into the tent. When he saw Cao Cao lying on the ground, he couldn't help but be shocked. He hesitated again before stepping forward to help him up.
"What did you say? Say it again."
Cao Cao stood up, stared at the soldiers and asked.
"The soldiers and horses of Jizhou and Nanyang in the south suddenly gathered and were heading towards our camp to the west. The soldiers and horses of Jizhou in the east also gathered and headed towards our camp in the north."
The soldier repeated what he had just said.
"Where are they? Do you know why they are here? Is there any unusual movement of soldiers and horses in the city?"
Cao Cao asked several questions.
"Not long after they gathered and left the camp, their soldiers and horses left the camp, but they did not break out of the camp. It doesn't look like they are retreating, but they are coming to attack us. There is no movement of the soldiers and horses in the city at this time," the soldier replied.
Cao Cao had calmed down at this time, thought for a moment, and ordered: "We will continue to investigate. The soldiers and horses in the south will come back to report every mile they move forward. In addition, quickly send someone to the north camp to inform Cao Ren and ask him to gather troops immediately to prepare for war.
"
"promise."
The soldiers promised to go in a hurry.
"Come here, go and summon the generals to discuss matters. Call Guo Fengxiao quickly."
Cao Cao ordered again.
There were soldiers outside the tent who agreed and went to summon the generals.
Cao Cao asked someone to put on his clothes and armor, put on his long sword, left his sleeping tent, and came to the meeting tent.
Soon, Guo Jia arrived first, followed closely by generals such as Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Lu Qian, Han Hao and others wearing armor.
At this time, soldiers came one after another to report that the soldiers and horses from Jizhou and Nanyang in the south had arrived at the corner of the city and would soon reach the camp.
"Ming Gong, what happened?"
Guo Jia couldn't help but ask.
Cao Cao's face was tense. When he saw everyone gathered, he said: "I don't know what's going on. According to the soldiers' report, Jizhou soldiers and Nanyang soldiers and horses south of the camp suddenly gathered and are heading towards our camp. There are also
, the troops and horses commanded by General Yan Liang in the east have also gathered and are heading towards the northern camp. They suddenly mobilized troops and they came with bad intentions. No matter why they came, we must prepare for war. Han Hao, please lead the five troops quickly.
Thousands of soldiers and horses were sent out of the camp immediately to block the incoming troops and ask them why they came. No matter what, we cannot let them come."
"promise."
Han Hao stepped out of the queue and accepted the promise, turned around and left the camp, ordering his troops to leave the camp.
"Cao Hong, you lead five thousand soldiers and horses and follow Han Hao. If they attack, you can help Han Hao to block them together. The rest of the people will follow Gu and lead the troops out of the camp to form an array."
"promise."
Cao Hong and everyone agreed in unison.
In addition to Cao Hong, who took away another 5,000 people, Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun and others led 20,000 troops and went out of camp to form a formation, waiting for the enemy to come.
Guo Jia has been thinking hard, but he still can't figure out why Jizhou soldiers and Nanyang soldiers suddenly gathered their troops to attack?
In fact, Cao Cao couldn't figure it out either, but Cao Cao was different. If he couldn't figure it out, he didn't think about it first. When he saw Ju Shou, he would naturally figure it out.
The most important thing now is to block the incoming soldiers and not let them launch a sudden attack.
On the city, Liu Bei saw clearly that not long after the soldiers and horses in the south left the camp, thousands of soldiers and horses from Cao Cao's camp came out of the camp and headed south, apparently to stop the soldiers and horses of Ju Shou and Zhang Xiu.
"Cao Cao reacted so quickly!" Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh.
"Look, my lord, there are soldiers and horses coming out of Cao Cao's camp again."
Zhuge Jin saw that the soldiers and horses in front had just finished coming out, and then a large group of soldiers and horses came out from behind, also heading south, apparently to block the soldiers and horses of Jizhou together with the soldiers and horses in front.
"Lord, is it time for our troops to go into battle now?" Mi Zhu asked.
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "Don't worry, wait until they start fighting, then we will come out. Only in this way can we catch them by surprise."
After a while, it was already bright, and Liu Bei and others saw a large number of soldiers and horses coming out of Cao Cao's camp and forming a formation in front of the camp.
"Lord, the soldiers and horses of Jizhou met Cao Cao's front army and started fighting."
The soldiers came to report urgently.
"My lord, Yan Liang has led his troops to the north and is fighting with Cao's army in the north."
More soldiers came to report.
Liu Bei was overjoyed, and only then was he truly sure that he was not dreaming.
"Let Xingba and Boping prepare to leave the city."
Ju Shou asked Wen Chou to lead 10,000 people as the front army, himself to lead 15,000 people as the middle army, and Zhang Xiu's 20,000 people as the rear army.
He originally thought that if he suddenly sent troops to attack, he would quickly rush into Cao Cao's camp, and then Cao Cao's camp would be in chaos and he would win a great victory.
But not long after he left, he received news that the soldiers and horses in Cao Cao's camp had moved, and then he heard that the soldiers and horses in Cao Cao's camp had left the camp and were heading towards him.
He knew that Cao Cao must have known about the gathering and dispatch of his troops in advance and was prepared.
However, in this situation, no matter how prepared Cao Cao is, there is only a dead end.
Wen Chou rode a war horse and walked in front of the army, carrying a long sword.
The scouts have come back to report that Cao Jun has sent troops to stop them.
However, Wen Chou didn't take them seriously and just urged the troops to move quickly.
Not long after, he found that there were soldiers and horses waiting in front of him. A general in front of the formation patted his horse and rushed forward dozens of steps. He pointed at Wen Chou and shouted loudly: "You Jizhou soldiers and horses are responsible for besieging Nancheng. After leading the troops here, what will happen?"
for what?"
"Hmph, if you dismount and ask for surrender, you can avoid death, otherwise, you will risk your life!"
Wen Chou didn't answer his question. After shouting, he raised his sword and charged towards Han Hao.
The soldiers and horses behind him followed and charged towards the enemy formation in front.
Han Hao was not a person who was afraid of death. When he saw Wen Chou clapped his horse and rushed toward him, he also clapped his horse to meet him and slashed him with his sword.
As the second bravest general in Jizhou, Wen Chou was more than enough to deal with Han Hao.
The two fought for only six rounds before Han Hao was struck by Wen Chou's sword and fell off his horse. The Jizhou soldiers who rushed over chopped off his head with a sword and threw it to Wen Chou.
Wen Chou picked up Han Hao's head and rushed towards the enemy formation. As he approached, he threw Han Hao's head into the enemy formation.
The soldiers brought by Han Hao saw their generals being beheaded, and now they saw their heads being thrown, so they dispersed in fright.
Cao Cao's soldiers were not weak, but although these soldiers and horses were trained, they were not elite soldiers.
Moreover, Wen Chou was so powerful after that that they rushed like tigers down a mountain, making it difficult to resist.
Wen Chou led 10,000 troops and horses into the already scattered enemy formation, and even smashed the enemy soldiers into pieces and scattered them in all directions.
Cao Hong led his troops from behind. When he saw the scattered troops and horses in front, he wondered what was going on.
At this time, a soldier fled back from the front and said: "General Han was beheaded by the enemy general."
Cao Hong was shocked. Although Han Hao's military strength was average, he was killed by the enemy general so quickly. It seemed that the enemy general was not an ordinary person. With his own little strength, it seemed that it was difficult to stop the enemy.
"Do you know why the enemy soldiers came to attack?" Cao Hong asked urgently.
What I want to know most now is why Jizhou soldiers came to attack. Yanzhou soldiers and Jizhou soldiers came to attack Xuzhou together!
"I don't know. General Han asked, but the enemy general didn't answer."
"Hurry and report to Duke Ming, I'm blocking you here."
Cao Hong had no choice but to bite the bullet and block the enemy soldiers' attack, preventing them from rushing into the camp.
"Anyone who retreats will be killed and let them go up to block the enemy soldiers."
Cao Hong ordered the soldiers to use their swords to kill those who retreated in front, and to maintain the formation and not to mess up the formation like before.
Many soldiers who retreated from the front ran so fast that they thought they could survive by chance, but unexpectedly they died in the hands of their own people.
After more than a hundred people were killed, the soldiers who retreated from the front did not dare to retreat anymore, so they could only turn back and fight back.
It's all a matter of death anyway, and dying in the hands of enemy soldiers is better than dying in the hands of one of your own. Besides, you might still be able to survive if you rush forward.
Wen Chou did not expect that these fleeing enemy soldiers would come back again and block his progress.
He slashed all the way with his sword, cutting down more than a dozen enemy soldiers one after another. His own troops were also more brave, and he killed these enemy soldiers who had made a comeback and retreated step by step, and were about to retreat to the enemy formation behind them.
Jushou received a report from behind and found out that Wen Chou had killed an enemy general, driven back the enemy soldiers, and was advancing forward. He couldn't help but feel relieved.
Jushou was quite satisfied with Wen Chou's force.
Cao Cao received the report and found out that Han Hao had died in the battle, his army was in disarray, and it had already attacked Cao Hong's army.
At this time, he had already led his troops out of the camp and formed a formation, and ordered: "Go and let Cao Hong lead the troops back. I want to see Jushou and ask him why he suddenly attacked me."
"Promise." The soldier responded and quickly went to give orders to Cao Hong.
At this time, in the north of Xiapi, Cao Ren was not as quick to prepare as Cao Cao.
By the time he had organized his troops and horses, Yan Liang and his troops were almost rushing outside the camp.
He asked Xu Huang to lead his troops out of the camp first to fight, and then he led the rest of the troops out of the camp.
Guan Yu stood on the city and looked at it. When he saw Yan Liang's troops and Xu Huang's troops fighting, he immediately ran down the tower and ordered: "Open the city gate and get out of the city."
The city gate opened. Guan Yu held the Qinglong Yanyue Sword and rode on a high horse. He took the lead and rushed out of the city gate, followed by five thousand soldiers and horses, followed by Chen Dao leading five thousand soldiers and horses.
Cao Ren still doesn't know why Yan Liang came to attack him. He only knows that Cao Cao sent people to prepare for the battle and resist the enemy.
He originally thought it was just soldiers and horses from Jizhou who were attacking, but when he led the troops out of the camp, he found a large group of people rushing out of the city and rushing towards him.
Helpless, Cao Ren had no choice but to lead his troops and horses to meet the enemy soldiers in the city.
He was defeated once in Pengcheng and again by Cao Cao in Xicheng, which made Guan Yu feel angry all the time. Now is a good opportunity for him to defeat the enemy to discourage him.
He took his sights on Cao Ren, raised his sword and ran straight away.
Cao Ren glanced in the direction of Xu Huang and found that Xu Huang had blocked the Jizhou soldiers from charging towards him.
Based on Cao Ren's understanding of Xu Huang, he believed that he could stop Yan Liang and that he could deal with Guan Yu. This time, he was not afraid of the two joining forces.
"Guan Yu, suffer death!"
Cao Ren ran close to Guan Yu, shouted and raised his sword to chop him down.
Guan Yu responded calmly: "Humph, you are a chicken and a dog, I will definitely take your head today."
The two of them rushed together and the troops from both sides also rushed together to engage in a melee.
"Report to my lord, General Guan has already led his troops to fight."
The soldiers came to report to Liu Bei.
"Lord, it's time for us to send out troops!" Mi Zhu asked, looking outside the city.
In the distance, Cao Cao's troops were lined up outside the camp, while Cao Hong had already led his troops back, leaving only a few remnants running behind.
Wen Chou led his troops to pursue him closely. After seeing Cao Cao's formation, he did not dare to rush forward rashly, stopped his troops, and faced Cao Cao's formation.
"hold on."
Liu Bei was not in a hurry to send troops. He wanted to wait until Cao Cao was fighting with Jizhou soldiers and horses, so that he could easily surprise Cao Cao.
Jushou finally arrived with his troops and faced Cao Cao in formation.
Zhang Xiu's soldiers and horses lined up behind him.
One side has 45,000 troops and horses, while the other side has less than 30,000 troops, which is only half of the opponent's number.
But Cao Cao was not afraid of the opponent. What he was afraid of was that Liu Bei in the city would suddenly send troops to help the opponent.
He glanced in the direction of the city, then turned back to look at the other side, and suddenly clapped his horse forward, with Dian Wei following closely behind.
"General, no!" Guo Jia said anxiously.
Cao Cao said nothing and continued to urge his horse forward slowly.
Jushou knew what Cao Cao meant and wanted to talk to him.
He also patted his horse and marched forward, stopping after fifty steps from the formation.
Cao Cao also stopped about a hundred steps away from Jushou.
"Gong Yu, what's the reason for this? You and I joined forces, why do we attack each other? If I have offended anything, please make it clear!"
"Mengde, I am acting under orders. You should understand why."
"Is it because of my son Cao Ang's assassination of Zhou Wen'an? Is this why the general ordered you to attack me?"
"If it was just to assassinate Zhou Wen'an, I believe that the general would not let me attack you. However, you tried every possible means to seize the imperial seal and never reported it to the general. How do you explain it?"
Cao Cao was surprised and asked: "What is the imperial seal?"
Jushou chuckled: "Mengde, you are a brave person. Why would you want to carry out this conspiracy? Do you think that the general cannot know what you are doing?"
"What does this have to do with the Imperial Seal? Gongyu, I really don't understand what you are talking about."
"Hahaha..." Jushu laughed and said, "Liu Xuande got the imperial seal in Wancheng, did you know? Zhou Wen'an wanted to give the imperial seal to the general to present to the emperor, did you know? You set up checkpoints in Yanzhou to investigate
, intercepted Zhou Wen'an's attempt to seize the jade seal, but the plan failed, and ordered your son to send assassins in Yecheng to seize the jade seal. The matter was exposed, and your son Cao Ang fled Yecheng. Cao Mengde, don't say you don't know anything about these things!
"
After hearing this, Cao Cao felt like he was struck by thunder. Now he finally figured it out.
Zhou Wen'an falsely accused him of intercepting him in order to steal the Jade Seal of the Kingdom, and sent assassins to assassinate him in Yecheng in order to steal the Jade Seal of the Kingdom.
His son Cao Ang, who was being held hostage, fled Yecheng again, further confirming his crime of trying to seize the jade seal.
And Yuan Benchu believed Zhou Wen'an's words. No wonder he let Jizhou soldiers and horses attack him. He thought that he was trying to seize the national jade seal without telling him!
Zhou Wen’an, Zhou Wen’an!
How can you frame someone for nothing!
"Mengde, do you have nothing to say? If you dismount your horse and ask for surrender now, the general may spare your life, or if you resist with your own troops, your only end will be death!" Jushou shouted again.
"Gong Yu, I don't know anything about the imperial seal! It was Liu Bei and Zhou Ping who framed me, you have to believe me!"
"Humph, it's useless to talk to me. Go talk to the general!"
"I...I...you lead the troops back to the camp first, and I will lead the troops back to Yanzhou immediately and explain to Yuan Benchu myself, how about that?"
Cao Cao now just wants to ask Jushou to retreat first, then lead his troops back to Yanzhou, and then find a way to explain it to Yuan Benchu.
Jushou hesitated for a moment. At this moment, Xiahou Dun shouted loudly and urgently: "Ming Gong, come back soon. The soldiers and horses in the city have come out to attack."
Cao Cao and Jushou heard the sound and looked together, and saw that the city gate had been opened wide, and a group of soldiers and horses rushed out.
