The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 410 Escape
When Cao Cao heard Gao Shun's words, his expression suddenly changed.

"Fengxiao, go to the river."

Cao Cao knew that he had been tricked and no longer cared about the lives of Xiahou Yuan and others. The only thing he could do was to escape quickly.

"My lord, we can't go to the riverside. Since Jia Xu has made preparations, he will definitely prevent us from escaping back to the riverside." Guo Jia stopped him and persuaded him, "Let's go east and return to Jiangxia by land."

Cao Cao's eyes widened, he turned his horse again and led his generals to attack eastward.

In an instant, he also understood Jia Xu's plan. This was a trap. Once he arrived at the city of Xiangyang, it would be harder than climbing to the sky to escape.

This is true for Xiangyang City and the Han River Navy behind them.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao's heart seemed to be bitten by a poisonous snake. But at the moment, he had no time to care about these things. How to escape was the most important thing.

The Cao army behind him had already been thrown into chaos, and he could only follow Cao Cao and flee.

"Where are you going, Cao? Liu Pi has been waiting here for a long time."

The army had fled for only ten miles when Liu Pi led his troops to attack them.

"My lord, go first, I will not resist you later." Le Jin rushed out and led his troops to intercept them.

This is how Cao Cao was able to escape.

"Don't run away, Cao thief. Gong Du has been waiting here for a long time."

In the darkness, Gong Du led a large army to rush out and charged straight towards the central army.

"The Yellow Turban bandits are seeking death."

Cao Chun was guarding beside them, and he immediately led his men to intercept them, allowing Cao Cao, Guo Jia and others to escape.

But in the chaos of the army, no one knows how many people were trampled to death, and no one knows how many people escaped in the chaos. The famous generals in ancient times had no way to deal with such a situation, and Cao Cao was no exception.

"My lord, we can't go east or south. Jia Xu has made every possible effort and must have set up many ambushes in the east. Let's go south to Nanjun."

Amidst the chaos, Guo Jia shouted loudly.

After hearing this, Cao Cao did not dare to delay and quickly led his army towards Nanjun. He also realized that his actions would definitely be guessed by Jia Xu. The other party knew that he would go to Jiangxia, and might have set up ambushes from all sides ahead, waiting for him to be fooled.

"Yes, yes. The whole army will march south to join Liu Bei."

Cao Cao's heart was bleeding. After the failure of this battle, he didn't know how many troops he would lose. The lives of generals such as Xiahou Yuan, Le Jin, Li Dian, etc. were now uncertain.

"Cai Mao, you deserve to die."

Cao Cao howled to the sky, all this was Cai Mao's fault. If it weren't for him, he would never have been fooled and would not have ended up like this. If he had the chance, he would definitely kill the entire Cai family.

As Guo Jia had guessed, the army headed south without encountering any enemy. By noon, they discovered that there were only 10,000 of the 30,000 troops left.

The rest either died in battle or fled.

Among the generals who accompanied him, Le Jin, Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, Xu Chu and other generals were also injured. There were also many generals who were missing, such as Xiahou Yuan and others.

"My lord, the Second Young Master and Young Master Anmin are also missing."

Xu Chu said in a low voice.

Cao Cao was stunned at first, and then he sighed. During this expedition, Cao Ang stayed behind in Moling, and his son Cao Pi and nephew Cao Anmin followed him. Unexpectedly, the two of them disappeared. Thinking that his son and nephew might die in the battle, Cao Cao felt very sad.

"Pack up the troops and go to Dangyang."

Cao Cao was a hero after all. He knew what he should and should not do at this time. He immediately ordered his troops to reorganize and prepare to march south to meet Guan Yu in Dangyang, and then consider other things.

Jia Xu was a sinister and cunning man, and who knew what tricks he would come up with. Now he was a defeated general with only a few soldiers. If an enemy suddenly attacked, his troops would not be enough to fight against them.

"It's all because of my incompetence that my lord fell into the trap." Guo Jia felt ashamed.

"It's not Fengxiao's fault. We underestimated Jia Xu. We didn't expect that this old man had such a deep plan. We didn't expect Qin Shou to be so treacherous. He left the Huben Camp in Jingzhou. Otherwise, Jingzhou wouldn't have so many troops to dispatch."

Cao Cao knew that it was impossible for the troops of Jingzhou alone to have such combat effectiveness. It must be because of the presence of the Huben Camp that Jia Xu was able to dispatch them calmly, and in the end, he was caught off guard.

But now that the army has been defeated, Cao Cao can only blame himself for his bad luck.

Inside Xiangyang City, Jia Xu sat in the lobby, while Cai Mao and Kuai Liang sat on one side, both with puzzled looks on their faces.

After a while, Gao Shun came in with four soldiers carrying a corpse. The corpse was full of sharp arrows, and it was obvious that the person was shot to death.

"Military Advisor, this is Xiahou Yuan, who was shot dead by our arrows in the city wall." Gao Shun said with a cold face, "In addition, we captured Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, and killed more than 30 generals led by Cao Cao's nephew Cao Anmin. We killed 5,600 Cao's soldiers and captured more than 1,300. Many people escaped, and the army is searching for them."

Cai Mao and Kuai Liang gasped when they heard this. Cao Cao brought 30,000 troops and 5,000 naval forces. Most of the 30,000 troops were probably lost, and the 5,000 naval forces were trapped in the Hanjiang naval camp, becoming a turtle in a jar.

"Cao Pi was captured?"

Jia Xu thought for a while before saying, "This man's life and death is up to you, my lord! Hasn't Zhang Yun come back yet?"

"Military Advisor, Cao Cao is already a frightened bird. I don't think he will be in any danger." Cai Mao comforted him.

"I'm not worried about Zhang Yun's safety. I'm worried about Cao Cao's whereabouts. This man is very cunning and may not escape according to my plan." Jia Xu said, stroking his beard.

"Get rid of Xiangdong and escape back to Jiangxia. Is there any other place to escape?" Cai Mao asked puzzledly.

"Military advisor thinks Cao Cao will head south?" Kuai Liang's eyes suddenly lit up and he looked horrified.

"Impossible! That's the heartland of Jingzhou. If he goes south, he will be dead." Cai Mao blurted out.

"But he is out of our control now." Jia Xu shook his head and said, "From the time point of view, Zhang Yun should have returned by now. Since he has not returned yet, it means something must have happened."

After hearing this, Cai Mao and Kuai Liang both showed a solemn look on their faces.

"Report, military advisor, Cao Cao led his army southward, General Zhang Yun led his troops in pursuit, but was ambushed by Cao Cao and killed by Xu Chu."

An urgent alarm sounded, waking up everyone in the hall.

After hearing this, Cai Mao and others' faces turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

It was really embarrassing. They were about to win a great victory. Even if they didn't catch Cao Cao, it wouldn't matter. But Zhang Yun actually pursued him without permission.

Is Cao Cao so easy to deal with?

Now, not only did he fail to catch up with Cao Cao, but he was also ambushed by the enemy and lost his life.

Well deserved.

(End of this chapter)