Chapter 351: Escape

Regardless of how prepared Liu Bei was, on Cao Cao's side, Xiahou Dun returned in defeat, making Cao Cao very dissatisfied.

"How many troops does Zhang Fei have?" Cao Cao looked at Xiahou Dun and did not scold him directly.

"About five to six thousand people." Xiahou Dun lowered his head.

"Their soldiers are better than our soldiers?" Cao Cao asked again.

Xiahou Dun shook his head. Xuzhou's army can only be said to be not bad, but it is impossible to say that it is more elite than Cao's army.

"Then the terrain in Xiapi is complicated and they have an advantage?" When Cao Cao asked for the third time, his voice was already a little low.

"There is a flat river outside Xiapi City. Zhang Fei must have hid his troops in Geze Mountain first. After the last general passed by, he made a surprise attack from the rear. Our army was caught off guard and was defeated by the bandit army." Xiahou Dun lowered his head even lower.

"What an ingenious strategy!" Cao Cao showed an exaggerated expression of surprise on his face: "If it were me, I would definitely fall into the trap!"

"The general is guilty, please punish me, my lord!" Xiahou Dun was ashamed.

"You are not guilty, you are incompetent! Even if I sent ten thousand vanguard troops to fight against Lu Bu, I wouldn't have lost so miserably!" Cao Cao's voice suddenly rose and he roared: "Come here, drag this defeated general out. , cut it!"

Xiahou Dun looked up at Cao Cao in astonishment, as if he couldn't believe it. A swordsman came in from outside the tent and held him down. Xiahou Dun opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but finally sighed helplessly, lowered his head and said: "I will accept my punishment!" "

"My lord, if you kill the general before the battle, don't you cause pain to those who are close to you? Yuan Rang was defeated in this battle by underestimating the enemy, not by incompetence." Cheng Yu stood up quickly, signaled Yu Jin and others to stop Xiahou Dun, and persuaded Cao Cao.

"Yes, my lord, victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers..." Cao Hong also stood up to defend Xiahou Dun.

"Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers? He just underestimated the enemy and it was fine. Who will care about the loyal souls of my ten thousand soldiers? How can I explain to their wives, children and parents? Ah? Because my incompetent general is incapable of leading the army and underestimates the enemy. Because of your carelessness, your husband, father, and son died needlessly on the battlefield?" Cao Cao roared with all his strength.

"My lord, who has no fault? How many meritorious deeds has Yuan Rang made in the past? He is already dead. If he kills another general because of this, it will only weaken our army and make the enemy happy. How about letting Yuan Rang perform meritorious service? Wait for the war. Let him comfort the families of the fallen!" Cheng Yu advised again.

The other generals also quickly stood up to intercede with Xiahou Dun.

Cao Cao's expression softened a little, and he snorted coldly: "You can be exempted from death, but you cannot escape from living punishment. From now on, you will be demoted to the rank of military prince, responsible for supervising food, and will be fined for three years. In addition, you will be credited with thirty military sticks. Now there is a war. Now, please note that if you commit such crimes again, you will be punished together. When the time comes, it will be useless for anyone to plead with you, you will be dead! "

"The last general takes command!" Xiahou Dun bowed to Cao Cao with a frustrated look on his face, and silently stood up and stood at the lowest position.

"Go out. How qualified are you, a military lord, to discuss military plans with us here?" Cao Cao waved his hand impatiently and asked Xiahou Dun to go out. The other generals did not dare to say anything, and Xiahou Dun could only quietly walk out through the curtain.

"It's a bad start!" After Xiahou Dun left, Cao Cao sat down, looked at everyone and said, "Do you have any strategies to defeat the enemy?"

In this battle, they are actually untenable in terms of justice, so they must fight quickly. Cao Cao does not have a good reputation in Xuzhou. The longer the time goes, the worse it will be for him.

"A strong attack on Xia Pi will naturally consume troops, but our army is attacking in large numbers. I'm afraid Guan Yu will have to save the troops outside." Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and said with a smile.

"Do you think Gongtai would have guessed that we would use this strategy to fight?" Cao Cao nodded at first, then looked at Cheng Yu.

This was not the first time that Cao Cao and Liu Bei had fought. It was just that they had been somewhat reluctant to let go before, but this time Cao Cao really attacked with all his strength. He didn't know much about Liu Bei, but Chen Gong was quite fond of himself. Understanding, it’s not surprising that Chen Gong guessed that he would use this strategy.

"The Lord's intention is..." Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao.

"My intention... is to do the opposite. See if I can deceive Xiapi first, and then deal with Guan Yu with all my strength." Cao Cao smiled and said: "Guan Yu has a lot of methods in fighting. If he can be used to my advantage, he will He must be a general!"

Because the three major princes of the Central Plains were divided and combined, Guan Yu, as the number one general under Liu Bei, defeated Yuan Shu and also fought against Cao Cao's generals, including Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan, Cao Hong, Yu Jin, and Mao Jie. Almost all the generals in the number were beaten by Guan Yu. Therefore, Cao Cao was both afraid and admiring of Guan Yu. If possible, he naturally hoped to keep Guan Yu under his own account.

After Cheng Yu thought carefully for a moment, he looked at Cao Cao and said, "Whether this can fall into the trap depends on whether Liu Bei has the courage to go out of the city to respond."

The time has come to test the friendship between Liu Bei and Guan Yu. If Liu Bei comes to take over, Xiapi will be defeated. If Liu Bei doesn't move, Guan Yu can be alienated. Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao, obviously understanding his lord's intention, and smiled at each other.

After everyone agreed on the details, they dispersed.

At night, Cheng Yu was taking a walk in the camp after dinner when he saw Xiahou Dun sitting in the corner of the military camp in the distance, crying silently. After a slight start, Cheng Yu felt funny and went straight to sit next to Xiahou Dun.

"Sir, the general is in a bad mood right now and has no time to talk to him." Xiahou Dun said in a dull voice.

"What's wrong? Are you blaming the Lord?" Cheng Yu said with a smile.

"How dare you?" Xiahou Dun shook his head.

"I don't dare, I just have." Cheng Yu patted him on the shoulder and said: "We were defeated in the first battle. Have you ever thought about how the lord would face the generals if he didn't scold him like this? Even if the generals don't say anything, but In my heart, I will inevitably complain that my lord is unfair. By then, the battle has not even started yet, and everyone has already become disloyal. Do you think my lord should punish you?"

Hearing this, Xiahou Dun sighed silently and nodded.

"The more my lord scolds you, the harder he punishes you. That is to protect you. My lord has been saying that he will punish you today. What do the generals say?" Cheng Yu said with a smile.

Xiahou Dun thought about it and said, "All the generals begged for me."

"Of course they have to intercede for you. In this case, it is not that the lord will not punish you, but that the generals will intercede for you. While you owe the generals a favor, today's mistake can be regarded as erased, and the lord can still listen. "Ren Yan, look at the end, will the lord really punish you?" Cheng Yu asked with a smile.

Xiahou Dun: "..."

Demotion and salary are considered a punishment, but if that's all it is, it's really nothing. Xiahou Dun is a kinsman. There will be many opportunities for meritorious service in the future, and he will be promoted back soon. As for the salary... let alone the Xiahou family. In terms of land, Cao Cao's daily rewards, both overt and covert, were much greater than his salary.

Thinking of this, Xiahoudun's pent-up knot was instantly untied. He looked at Cheng Yu and said with a bitter smile, "Yuan Rang lost his composure and made the gentleman laugh."

"Here, get some rest quickly. Tomorrow is the general's opportunity to make meritorious deeds, so you must seize it." Cheng Yu shook his head.

"Yes." Xiahou Dun stood up, saluted Cheng Yu and said, "Then I will leave first."

"No!"

Early the next morning, Xiapi suddenly noticed shouts of killing and beacon smoke rising in the distance. For a moment, they didn't know what had happened.

"It seems it's too late!" Chen Gong frowned slightly as he watched this scene, then looked at Liu Bei and said, "My lord..."

"Yide, save Yunchang!" Liu Bei didn't hesitate much. The three of his brothers have been together, eating and sleeping together, and have never been separated. This time Guan Yu was in trouble, Liu Bei naturally had to ignore it and immediately ordered Zhang Fei to order troops. Go to war.

"Okay!" Zhang Fei shouted and led his army out, heading towards the direction where the sound of fighting came from. However, as soon as he arrived, he found that Guan Yu's flag was nowhere to be seen, and Cao's army was everywhere.

"Zhang Fei, you are still waiting for your death!" With a sharp shout, Cao Jun came from all directions. Zhang Fei led his soldiers and horses to rush left and right, fighting desperately. Wherever he passed, a snake spear was like a strange python. Wandering back and forth in the middle, Cao's army did not have a unified general.

"This man is Zhang Fei, and he is so brave!" Cao Cao stood on a high place and couldn't help but be surprised when he watched the fight.

"Lord, this person is Zhang Fei." A general said.

Xiahou Dun was defeated, and many generals had seen Zhang Fei.

"How can Liu Bei be so virtuous? Not only does he have a good general like Yun Chang, but he also has such a fierce general!" Cao Cao couldn't figure out how Liu Bei could have reached the level of a prince if not for his fate. How could such a person be around him? Being able to serve for him at the same time with powerful generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

You know, these two people followed Liu Bei before he became Xuzhou Mu. At that time, Liu Bei really didn't have anything he wanted!

Xu Chu on the side saluted Cao Cao and said: "My lord, the last general invites you to fight!"

Cao Cao shook his head. There were fewer and fewer Xuzhou troops around Zhang Fei, and defeat was only a matter of time. He wanted to see, why let Xu Chu fight so hard?

On the other side, not long after Zhang Fei left, a remnant Xuzhou army rushed from the direction Zhang Fei left. It looked like the army was defeated.

"My lord, we have fallen into a trap. General Zhang is trapped by Cao's army. Please send someone to rescue him quickly!" the leading general shouted to the city.

Liu Bei was shocked. Although he had thought that he might fall into the trap, he did not expect that he would be defeated so quickly. Moreover, after Zhang Fei took away the troops and horses, Xiapi did not have many troops. Even if Liu Bei wanted to support him, he could not leave at this moment.

"Gongtai, you come to defend the city, and I will personally go to meet the third brother!" After hesitating for a moment, Liu Bei said decisively.

"My lord, no!" Chen Gong and Chen Qun's expressions changed drastically when they heard this. Just when they were about to say something, Chen Gong suddenly realized something was wrong and quickly shouted to the soldiers who were opening the city gate: "Don't open the city!"

However, it was too late, the suspension bridge had been lowered, but when the leading general below the city roared, he rushed into the city gate first and guarded the city gate. At the same time, a sounding arrow shot out of the air. In the distance, Cao Jun quickly rushed out and headed straight for the city gate. Come.

Liu Bei's expression changed greatly, and he quickly gathered his soldiers to close the city gate again, and even went into battle with his sword in hand. However, Cao Jun came too quickly, and Xiahou Dun personally carried the sword and entered the city gate. Liu Bei could not resist the enemy, so he could only protect Chen. Deng and Chen Qun retreated without even having time to take their family members with them...

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－

I won’t write about the wars between the princes in too much detail. It’s enough to know the basics, so as not to say that my word count is too low.