With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 177, Guan Yu surrenders Baima City

Just as Cao Cao was worried about the war, Cao Ang strode over and said, "Father, His Majesty summons you."

Cao Cao's face immediately lit up with joy. Guo Jia glanced at Xun You and said, "Gongda, you can rest assured now. His Majesty will soon send Guan Yu to make his move."

Sure enough, after Cao Cao met Liu Xie, Liu Xie told him, "Lord Cao, after two days of fierce attacks, Wen Chou has witnessed our army's determination to defend the city. He is no match for us in a duel, and he can't do anything to us in a siege either. In this way, Guan Yu's intervention is equivalent to helping Wen Chou."

Cao Cao nodded quickly, "Your Majesty and I have the same idea. If we let Guan Yu surrender the city from the beginning, it will not only arouse suspicion, but Wen Chou will also be dissatisfied. How about this, we hold out for two more days, and then secretly shoot arrows outside the city to let Guan Yu and Liu Bei make contact."

"Does Lord Cao mean we need to wait two more days?" Liu Xie looked at Cao Cao, somewhat surprised.

If it weren't for the casualties, Liu Xie would have preferred to wait longer; the longer Wen Chou failed to capture the city, the better the outcome of surrendering it would be.

However, seeing so many people die and are injured every day, and considering that his own resources were not as abundant as Yuan Shao's, Liu Xie genuinely felt sorry for Cao Cao.

Cao Cao said, "Your Majesty, Wen Chou has only been besieging the city for two days. If we wait a little longer and delay the attack, the effect will be better."

Liu Xie sighed, "But that would mean many more soldiers would die or be wounded."

Cao Cao replied calmly, "Your Majesty, casualties are inevitable in war. Since we are going to use a plan, we must do our best to ensure its success. Everything has a price to pay. As long as the result is worthwhile, that's enough!"

Cao Cao's ruthlessness was clearly beyond that of ordinary people. In order to make his plan more successful, he was willing to hold out for two more days and suffer more casualties.

Liu Xie looked at him and was also moved. After a long while, he nodded and said, "Alright, let's do as Cao Cao says. I will first have Guan Yu contact Liu Bei outside the city."

Next, the two discussed the specific details for a while. In order to make the performance more realistic, Cao Cao planned to collect some corpses and place them near the city gate.

Since Guan Yu was going to surrender the city, he would inevitably have to kill people. If the corpses weren't prepared in advance, Guan Yu couldn't possibly kill more of Cao Cao's soldiers.

Anyway, both sides have lost a lot of people in the past few days of defending the city, so there's no worry about not finding the bodies.

Cao Cao perfected every detail, making sure there were no flaws, and Liu Xie learned something from Cao Cao.

Learn from his decisiveness, his ruthlessness, and his ability to execute tasks efficiently and satisfactorily – either don't do it at all, or if you do it, make sure everything is done perfectly.

The next day, near dusk, Wen Chou was drinking in his tent, and Liu Bei reluctantly drank some with him.

Wen Chou was in a very low mood, drinking while sulking.

He lost to Dian Wei in a one-on-one duel. If he hadn't run fast, he might have died under Dian Wei's iron halberd. As for the siege, it was also a complete failure.

Wen Chou picked up a large bowl of wine, tilted his head back, and gulped it down. He said, "Our lord's army is about to arrive. I must capture Baima before our lord arrives!"

Liu Bei comforted him, saying, "General, there is no need to worry too much. We have the advantage in terms of military strength. The longer the stalemate lasts, the more advantageous it will be for us. Even if you cannot break through the city, trapping Cao Cao inside will still be a great achievement."

Wen Chou shook his head, "If I could only trap Cao Cao, it would make me look too incompetent."

Countless people have tried to trap Cao Cao but failed, but Wen Chou was not satisfied.

"I will capture Cao Cao and the Emperor alive before our lord arrives!" Wen Chou suddenly stood up and declared.

It is customary not to drink alcohol in the army, but Wen Chou was the commander-in-chief, and Liu Bei could not dissuade him, so he simply let him be.

Suddenly, a military academy student rushed in from outside, looking hurried, and was holding an arrow with a letter tied to it.

"General, a letter has just been shot from the city. Please take a look."

"Bring it to me and see."

Wen Chou waved his hand, took the document, and read: "Respectfully presented by your brother Guan Yu, elder brother!"

"Oh? Xuande, this is for you." Wen Chou said, but he didn't intend to hand the letter to Liu Bei.

Wen Chou was the commander-in-chief, and he was somewhat arrogant. He felt that no matter what was written inside, he had the right to read it.

Liu Bei understood Wen Chou's meaning and smiled dismissively, "General, please open and read it. I think that Yun Chang's letter at this time is not just about expressing his feelings of parting; it may even be helpful for us to break through the city."

Liu Bei was low-key and humble, and did not strive for fame or fortune, which made Wen Chou nod in satisfaction.

Unfortunately, Liu Bei had his own ambitions. Not to mention obeying Wen Chou's command, even in Xuchang, Liu Xie might not be able to keep him.

With Liu Bei's permission, Wen Chou hurriedly opened the letter and carefully read it from top to bottom.

After reading it, Wen Chou clapped his hands and laughed, "Xuande, great news! Your second brother Guan Yu has learned that you are in my army and wants to come and reunite with you. He even plans to offer Baima City as a gift to Xuande. Hahaha, if that is really the case, that would be wonderful."

The siege had been going on for three days, and Wen Chou's casualties were approaching 10,000. He was already impatient, so when he received this letter, he had no doubts at all.

Liu Bei was also very excited, but his joy lasted only a short while before he realized that this must be the emperor's scheme.

Even if Guan Yu missed him dearly, he couldn't possibly disregard the emperor and simply hand over Baima City.

Based on Guan Yu's performance during the hunt at Xutian, Liu Bei was 100% certain that this was the emperor's plan.

Liu Bei did not oppose such a plan, since he would also benefit from it.

Wen Chou did so many things in a loud and boisterous manner, but all of them were in vain. Liu Bei, on the other hand, did nothing, yet he immediately gained Baima City because his brothers came to join him.

At that time, Liu Bei would feel honored in front of Yuan Shao and would be more trusted by Yuan Shao.

Wen Chou had no objections and immediately made the decision: "The letter stipulates that Guan Yu will make his move at the South Gate at midnight tomorrow night, using fire as a signal. Xuande and I will wait outside the city. Once the city gates open, we will immediately coordinate an attack from within and without to seize Baima City!"

Leaving Wen Chou's tent, Zhang Fei was also very excited and couldn't help but say, "Brother, this is wonderful! We'll be reunited with Second Brother soon."

Liu Bei glanced at Zhang Fei and instructed him, "Yide, this matter must not be publicized. This must be His Majesty's scheme. We are in the enemy camp, so we must be careful with our words and actions to avoid revealing any flaws."

Zhang Fei muttered, "It's really annoying. Staying with Yuan Shao, I can't drink or talk freely. It's so stifling. I might as well leave as soon as possible."

Zhang Fei was guileless, outspoken, and his dissatisfaction was often evident on his face.

Liu Bei's expression turned very stern. "What nonsense are you talking about? The world is vast, but where can we find refuge? If it weren't for Your Majesty, we brothers would never have seen each other again. Now the opportunity to make a contribution is right in front of us. Don't say another word and be sure to follow my orders."

Zhang Fei nodded. "Understood."

Normally, within his own territory, Liu Bei generally indulged Zhang Fei's whims, except for appropriately limiting his drinking. Otherwise, Liu Bei was quite lenient with Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei was the most obedient to Liu Bei. While Guan Yu had some independent thought, Zhang Fei completely followed Liu Bei's orders. Guan Yu was loyal to the Han Dynasty and to the brotherhood forged in the Peach Garden, but Zhang Fei was only loyal to Liu Bei!

The next day, Wen Chou continued his attack on the city as usual, but still gained nothing. News came from the rear that Yuan Shao's army was preparing to set off from Liyang and was coming. Wen Chou didn't have much time left to show his strength.

As evening approached, Wen Chou ordered his soldiers to have a hearty meal before battle, making preparations in advance.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao was also making arrangements.

As night fell, Baima City on the banks of the Yellow River was quickly shrouded in darkness.

As night fell, Baima City seemed shrouded in mystery, its ancient walls appearing even more majestic and imposing under the twinkling starlight. The weathered bricks and stones seemed to whisper tales of this city's history.

As time went by, both sides tacitly waited for Guan Yu's performance.

Cao Anmin and Cao Pi, along with some men, guarded the inside of the south gate. Cao Anmin was carrying two steel knives. Cao Pi, puzzled, asked, "Anmin, what are you doing with those two knives?"

Cao Anmin chuckled. "Of course, we're just banging on it for fun. The louder the banging, the more realistic it will be. My uncle instructed us to coordinate tonight and make as much noise as possible."

Cao Pi nodded. As Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi was also very intelligent and understood immediately.

After a while, Liu Xie accompanied Cao Cao over. Xun You was leading people to arrange the corpses. Liu Xie glanced at them and shook his head with some dissatisfaction. "Gongda, you can't just arrange the corpses."

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Liu Xie shook his head. "There's only a corpse on the ground, no bloodstains. How can that be? It doesn't seem right."

Xun You suddenly realized, "Yes, thank goodness His Majesty reminded me."

The corpses were all very fresh, having been carried down from the city walls during the daytime defense of the city. To achieve the best effect, Xun You selected only the corpses of Cao Cao's soldiers.

If they use Yuan Bing's corpse, they'll inevitably be recognized by their own people.

"But these people have been dead for a while now. Where can we find so much blood in such a short time?"

Cao Cao walked over and whispered a few words of advice in Xun You's ear. Xun You left immediately with a happy expression. After a while, he returned. Liu Xie noticed that someone was carrying several large jars behind Xun You. When they came closer, someone scooped out a bowl of blood-red stuff from the jars.

Just like the bloodstains on a person, Liu Xie knew without asking that it was real human blood.

In such a short time, they managed to obtain so much fresh human blood. Liu Xie glanced at Cao Cao and vaguely guessed what was going on.

But Liu Xie didn't say anything. The blood must have been obtained by killing someone. In such a short time, he couldn't possibly kill his own people, could he?

They were either soldiers who had just died despite medical treatment, or they were obtained by killing some prisoners of war.

Both Xun You and Cao Cao thought this was a perfectly normal thing, and there was no need to explain it to Liu Xie.

Liu Xie couldn't possibly stand up and object, shouting, "Treat prisoners of war well, and forbid indiscriminate killing!"

In many situations, Cao Cao would instinctively weigh the pros and cons. If there were no prisoners of war, he wouldn't mind killing a few of his own soldiers.

Historically, there was a time when Cao Cao was defeated and retreating. The road was muddy and difficult to travel, and the carriage he was riding in got stuck in the mud.

Cao Cao ordered some soldiers to get down and push the cart, but the cart still couldn't move forward. Finally, Cao Cao ordered that these men be buried in the mud and water, and that the cart be run over them.

Cao Cao only cared about the result; he didn't care at all whether there would be innocent deaths or injuries in the process.

The corpses were scattered haphazardly at the city gate, lying in disarray, some even with their heads deliberately cut off, making them appear as if the bodies were separated.

Once everything was arranged in a tense but orderly manner, Cao Cao led his men to the North Gate to prepare for a retreat from there.

Wen Chou waited until midnight when suddenly, shouts of battle erupted from the south gate of the city, mixed with the sound of horses' hooves. Immediately following, the sounds of fierce weapons clashing rang out, the fighting was extremely intense, and the noise grew louder and louder.

"Kill."

"Stop him quickly! It's Guan Yu! Call for reinforcements!"

Cao Anmin shouted the loudest as he ran, clapping his two steel knives back and forth.

The shouts were deafening, and the sounds of fighting were extremely intense, so Wen Chou naturally had no doubts.

He sat on his horse, gripping his iron spear tightly, waiting for the city gates to open so he could lead his men in.

Soon, torches were lit at the south gate, and the city gate slowly opened thanks to everyone's tireless "efforts," but the inside remained chaotic.

As soon as the city gates opened, Wen Chou took the lead and shouted, "Soldiers, follow me and kill!"

Xu Chu led his men to the south gate and took over from Cao Anmin and Cao Pi, urging them, "Our lord wants you to leave quickly; I will cover your retreat."

Cao Anmin dared not linger any longer. He grabbed Cao Pi and shouted, "Zihuan, run! Yuan's troops are about to break in!"

Cao Pi knew, of course, that the play was over, and if he didn't leave now, he might not be able to leave once Wen Chou stormed in.

They quickly mounted their mounts and headed towards the North Gate.

When Wen Chou entered the city, he encountered Xu Chu. The two fought fiercely, neither willing to yield.

However, Yuan Bing was ultimately superior in number and strength. As more and more entered the city, Xu Chu led his men in a retreating battle, quickly heading towards the north gate.

Cao Cao and Liu Xie, on the other hand, left the city through the north gate first.

After leaving Baima City, Cao Cao headed towards Yanjin. In the middle of the night, Wen Chou successfully captured Baima City.

However, after searching the city, both of the most important targets were nowhere to be found. Wen Chou was furious and sent men to expand the search area. Soon, scouts brought news that Cao Cao had already withdrawn from the north gate.

Without further ado, Wen Chou left Liu Bei to guard the city and led several thousand elite soldiers to pursue him overnight.

Halfway there, Xu Chu, covered in blood, caught up with them. No one knew how many people Xu Chu had killed that night.

Upon seeing Cao Cao, Xu Chu, without even catching his breath, hurriedly reported, "My lord, Wen Chou is catching up from behind."

(End of this chapter)