Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 711: Taishi's First Battle
On the third day after the Cao Song incident, Cao Cao personally led an army of 130,000 and attacked Langya directly from Taishan County. In just four days, he had conquered the entire Langya and approached Donghai County.

In the residence of the Governor of Pengcheng, Tao Qian sat slumped weakly. In the span of a few days, he, who was already old, seemed to have aged a few years more. His hair, which was originally half black and half white, had now turned completely white.

Mi Zhu, Chen Gui, Chen Deng and others below felt quite distressed when they saw this.

A scholar in his thirties, wearing a plain robe and looking very gentle, said: "Don't worry too much, my lord. Yong has sent a letter to my master, who has always admired your kindness. When he arrives with Generals Jiang and Zhang, they will attack Cao's army from the rear, and the danger in Xuzhou will be resolved. And my lord has ordered General Taishi Ci to lead 3,000 cavalry to rush to our aid day and night, and it is expected that they will arrive in Pengcheng soon."

"I agree with what Mr. Jian Yong said. Lord Xuande now has 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers, and his three brothers are invincible. If they can march south, our army and Mr. Jian Yong's 15,000 soldiers will join forces to fight back against Cao's army. Although Cao Cao is powerful, he will surely be defeated."

Although Mi Zhu and Jian Yong tried their best to persuade him, Tao Qian still looked haggard and lacked spirit.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault... If I had known that Zhang Kai was such a villain, why would I have sent him to escort them? I have harmed the people of Xuzhou, I am guilty..."

Chen Gui came out with a cane, "Your Excellency, don't blame yourself. In my opinion, Cao Mengde has been eyeing Xuzhou for a long time. When the Taishan bandits entered the country, he took the opportunity to occupy Donghai County and split Xuzhou into north and south. I'm afraid he had the intention to annex Xuzhou at that time. He is coming back now, I'm afraid he has planned it all along."

"My father is right. For now, we should plan how to repel the enemy."

Tao Qian heard this and looked at Chen Gui and Chen Deng, father and son, and forced himself to be more alert: "I wonder what you two have to say? Can Lord Xuande's visit repel the enemy?"

Chen Deng said, "If we use common sense, Lord Xuande's coming with his army should be able to relieve our Xuzhou. However, since Cao Cao has been planning for a long time, he must have taken precautions. Yanzhou and Yuzhou have 170,000 to 180,000 soldiers and horses on the surface, but Cao Cao is ambitious and no one knows how much strength he has secretly. He has many powerful generals under his command, and I am afraid that Lord Xuande will also be harmed by them."

Tao Qian was horrified: "If so, won't I become a sinner for all eternity?"

At this time, Mi Zhu said: "I think His Majesty has already known about this matter. The court will definitely send troops to rescue us, so..."

Before he could finish, Chen Deng denied it, saying, "Cao Cao was avenging his father, which was justified and in line with the righteousness. The princes like Lord Xuande could come to help because of their personal relationship with the Lord, but the court's every move was related to the morality of the world, so the most they could do was mediate. It was impossible for the court to raise troops to punish the culprit. Moreover, if the court wanted to rush to help from a thousand miles away, it would have to use cavalry. However, Generals Guan and Zhao had been fighting in Xiliang for nearly a month, and their men and horses were exhausted. If they came after they had rested, I'm afraid Xuzhou would have fallen."

Chen Gui also nodded and said, "Your Majesty will issue an edict to mediate, but Cao Cao is determined to seize Xuzhou, so I don't think he will accept it. Even if he accepts, he must occupy our Xuzhou city and pay a huge amount of money and food as compensation before he can withdraw his troops temporarily. But this is just a delaying tactic. When there is another opportunity in the future, Cao Cao will raise his troops again."

Tao Qian was anxious and helpless: "This... This is what I should do. Fortunately, I can leave the city and commit suicide in front of the two armies. It is better than the people of Xuzhou suffering in vain from the war."

Chen Deng and others were shocked: "Your Majesty, you must not..."

At this time, a soldier came running in in a hurry: "Your Excellency, at dawn today, Xiahou Dun led 30,000 troops to attack Lanling City in Donghai County, Cao Ren led 40,000 troops to attack Cheng County, and Cao Cao personally led 60,000 troops to capture Xiangben County. Now the three armies have merged together and are heading towards Pengcheng."

Tao Qian was so frightened that his face turned pale. He stood up tremblingly and said, "I am helpless now. Only by committing suicide can I avoid the war in Xuzhou."

Mi Zhu and others hurriedly stopped him, "My Lord, we are not at a loss yet. When Yuanlong proposed, he reported it to Lord Xuande and withdrew the 15,000 troops led by Jian Yong to Pengcheng. Now there are 60,000 soldiers in the city, with enough food and equipment to last for a year. Although Cao's army is brave, they can never capture the city easily. My Lord, you should wait until Lord Xuande's reinforcements arrive before making any plans."

Jian Yong also advised: "My master will arrive soon. Besides, Your Majesty is wise and intelligent. Maybe he will have a good plan. You never know. You must not act impulsively."

After being persuaded by everyone, Tao Qian gave up.

That night, a large military camp was built in the wilderness more than fifty miles south of Lanling County. It was already past midnight, all the lights in the camp were off, and the soldiers were fast asleep, but from time to time one could still see teams of soldiers patrolling by.

In the woods not far away, several figures flashed and finally hid behind a bush.

The leader sighed softly, "I have heard for a long time that Cao Cao of Yanzhou is good at commanding troops. Now that I have seen his camp, it is indeed true."

A soldier nearby asked jokingly, "Cao Cao is capable, but he doesn't know how to compare with you, the general, or the second or third general?"

The general chuckled but did not answer.

After hiding here and observing for nearly an hour, the general suddenly leaned forward slightly. The soldiers who were familiar with him all knew that the general had found the opportunity and was ready to take action.

The general said: "Sure enough, no matter how strict the enemy's patrols are, there will always be loopholes, and this is it. Pass the order, everyone mount your horses, and attack!" A moment later, thousands of cavalry suddenly rushed out from this seemingly peaceful forest.

The forest was only a hundred steps away from the military camp, so the cavalry launched a charge and arrived there almost instantly.

The patrolling guards suddenly shouted in panic: "Enemy attack, there are enemies..."

Just after shouting a few words, there were a few "whoosh" sounds, and several sharp arrows flew over and pierced the throats of several patrolling guards.

"The general is mighty, the general is invincible!"

The morale of the cavalrymen who were coming to attack was boosted when they saw their general was such a great archer. Thousands of cavalrymen broke through the fence in a blink of an eye and rushed into the military camp.

"set fire!"

The general shot an arrow, knocking over a brazier, and the charcoal fire inside quickly ignited the tent next to it.

The cavalrymen followed suit, and in the blink of an eye, flames shot up into the sky.

At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed over on horseback: "Xiahou Yuan is here, come and tell me your name!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiahou Yuan raised his arrow and shot it directly at the opponent's face.

The general was not in a hurry. He used his longbow to knock down the arrow with a single strike. Then he shouted, "I am Taishi Ci of Donglai. I am here on the orders of my lord, Uncle Liu, to capture and kill Cao!"

As he spoke, he retaliated by shooting an arrow.

"Good archery!" After Xiahou Yuan dodged the arrow, he secretly praised in his heart.

"When did Liu Bei have such a brave general? Taishi Ci, I have never heard of this man. He actually has such martial arts skills. I need to be careful when fighting him."

The two men were a hundred steps apart, riding their horses while attacking the enemy with bows and arrows.

"System prompt: Taishi Ci vs. Xiahou Yuan. The host can choose whether to view the battle information."

Liu He, who had managed to go to bed early last night, was already groggy and about to wake up, but he was awakened completely by the reminder sound.

"Taishi Ci and Xiahou Yuan, how did these two people fight? Ah, yes, Liu Bei sent Taishi Ci to lead the cavalry as the vanguard to rescue Xuzhou, but unexpectedly Taishi Ci actually launched a night attack. Come and see this duel between the two famous generals of Wei and Wu in history."

"The two are now fighting with bows and arrows. Xiahou Yuan's archery skill is 95. The iron bow in his hand increases his archery skill by 1 point. His current archery skill is 96. When shooting arrows, archery replaces force. Xiahou Yuan's overall force is 96 points."

"Taishi Ci's Archery Skill is 96, no equipment bonus, special skill 'Continuous Shooting': When shooting arrows continuously, each time an enemy general is hit, the Archery Skill of the next arrow will be increased by 1 point, with a maximum of 8 points. It has not been triggered yet. Taishi Ci's overall military strength is 96 points."

"Oh, these two are evenly matched. But Taishi Ci surprised me more. Although he and Xiahou Yuan are of similar age, Xiahou Yuan has been in the army for many years, while he has just joined the ranks. He actually has such martial arts skills and a special skill of 'continuous shooting'. He really has extraordinary potential. If he were under my command..."

Liu He couldn't help but start to daydream, imagining that if Taishi Ci followed him and was trained by him, his potential in the future would be limitless.

"Oh, I'm thinking too far ahead. I'm thinking too far ahead."

Liu He shook his head vigorously. Although Liu Bei was not strictly speaking in the same camp as him, he was helping Tao Qian after all, and his purpose was the same as his.

(End of this chapter)