Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 850: Cao and Liu Contest

When the four men were in doubt, Liu Bei waved behind him, and then flags rose up from the woods, and a large number of soldiers and horses swarmed out.

"Kill..."

The four of them looked at each other in despair: "It's over, it's completely over..."

Xiangyang City in Jingzhou is a huge city that is in no way inferior to Chang'an, Jinyang and other important cities of the Han Dynasty. It is convenient for both land and water transportation, has prosperous commerce, and can be called a thoroughfare between the north and the south.

Cao Cao took control of the city without losing a single soldier. He visited famous people from all over the country in recent days and issued an announcement to appease the people. Now, everything in Xiangyang City is running as usual, and there is no sign that it has just experienced a drastic change.

Cao Cao was not idle at this moment. He was inspecting the city defenses on the city wall and stabilizing the morale of the troops.

The great victory in Jingzhou greatly boosted the morale of the troops in Yuzhou and Yanzhou, especially the soldiers in Yanzhou. After losing their hometown, they were all depressed. After this great victory, Cao Cao ordered his soldiers to rush into the treasury and take things at will, which inspired the army and united the morale of the army.

Cao Cao looked up and saw the Mian River rolling in the distance. He couldn't help but feel filled with pride and emotion.

"Everyone, I am deeply moved by such a beautiful scene. I want to write a poem to express my feelings."

Everyone said happily: "My lord, your writing is brilliant. We are all ears."

"Okay, haha." Cao Cao stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and was about to speak.

"My lord." Xiahou Yuan quickly climbed up the city wall.

Cao Cao was somewhat displeased that his poetic inspiration was interrupted, but when he saw that it was Xiahou Yuan, he suppressed his unhappiness.

Xiahou Yuan walked up to Cao Cao with a serious expression, "My lord, things are not going well. Zhang Fei led 30,000 troops to attack Pei County. The four bandits in Mount Tai launched a surprise attack according to my lord's order, but they were killed and fled by Zhang Fei alone. The four bandits were scared to death. When they were gathering their remaining troops to escape, they were ambushed by Liu Bei. Four of them were killed on the spot. Of the 50,000 bandits in Mount Tai, nearly 20,000 were lost, and the rest have surrendered."

When the news came out, all the generals around were a little surprised.

"What a brave Zhang Fei! He is so brave that he dares to charge into an army of 50,000 people alone to fight. He is truly a match for 10,000 people."

"It's nothing. Those bandits are cowardly and usually bully ordinary people. They don't have the courage to fight a reckless person like Zhang Fei, so it's reasonable that they were scared away."

"Liu Bei is now very powerful. If he invades our Yuzhou territory, Luoyang will surely send troops to respond. Wouldn't our army be attacked from all sides?"

All the generals had gloomy faces.

Cao Hong stepped forward and said, "My lord, I request to lead 30,000 soldiers to defend Yuzhou. I have nothing to fear from Zhang Fei and Li Fei. If I cannot capture Liu Bei alive, I will never return."

But Cao Cao looked calm. He looked at Cao Hong and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha... Zi Lian is truly a real man."

Everyone was further confused by his reaction.

Xiahou Dun asked, "Meng De, our army has just entered Jingzhou. To the west are Liu Yan, to the east are Liu Yao and Sun Jian, to the north are Liu He, and to the south are the four counties of Jingnan. We are surrounded by enemies on all sides. Two years ago, Meng De bribed the four bandits of Mount Tai in order to tie down the troops of Xuzhou. Now they have been defeated and killed, and Liu Bei's army will reach Qiao County in a few days. Why are you so calm and relaxed?"

Cao Cao glanced at him and said with a smile, "Liu Bei is just a piece of trash to me. The four bandits on Mount Tai are just small fry. How could I hand over the heavy responsibility of Yuzhou to such a mediocre person?"

The generals were immediately confused: "Does the lord have other plans?"

At this time, Cheng Yu came over and said, "Don't worry, generals. The lord ordered the four bandits from Mount Tai to ambush Zhang Fei. His intention was not to have them stop him or even kill the troops from Xuzhou, but to use them as bait to make Liu Bei arrogant and aggressive, so that he would attack Yuzhou with all his strength, and then our army would have an opportunity to take advantage of him."

The generals seemed to understand the meaning of these words and fell into deep thought. "Haha, cool, really cool..."

Zhang Fei mounted Wang Zhui's horse, adjusted his armor, and looked very happy and proud.

Liu Bei came from behind and looked at Zhang Fei's hearty smile, and also showed a look of joy.

"Third brother, why are you so ecstatic?"

Zhang Fei saw that it was his elder brother, and he saluted hurriedly: "It's elder brother, hey, we just captured Pei County in the first battle. As the saying goes, the first battle is critical, and morale is high. Doesn't this mean that we will win a great victory this time and capture Yuzhou? Moreover, our army will go out again today, and there will be another battle. Naturally, I am happy."

Liu Bei shook his head helplessly: "Third brother, you are still so warlike. You must know that weapons are ominous tools, and sages use them only when they have no choice. We are fighting against the traitors for the sake of the Han Dynasty and the people, not for you to fight everywhere for your own pleasure."

Zhang Fei grinned: "Hehe, big brother taught me a lesson, I remember it. Can we go to the battle now?"

Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said, "Alas, I knew you wouldn't listen. Let's go."

After the two men joined forces, the 80,000-strong army left Pei County and headed towards the next city.

The army set out in the early morning and arrived at the city of Xiang County in the afternoon. The defenders in the city were also panicked and unprepared. Zhang Fei attacked screaming, but the battle lasted less than half a day. The defender fled from another city gate with a group of his followers, but was caught up and killed by Liu Bei who was prepared.

After the army rested here for a night, early the next morning, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei split their forces into two groups. Zhang Fei headed west, while Liu Bei personally attacked south.

To the south of Xiang County is a county town called Zhuyi. Liu Bei led 50,000 troops to the city and launched an attack without saying a word.

However, as the battle went on, Liu Bei realized that something was wrong with the situation.

"That's not right. In the previous two cities, the defenders were completely unprepared and panicked. Our army captured the cities with almost no effort. In the two battles, the casualties were less than a thousand. However, the walls of this Zhuyi County are not as tall as the previous two, but they were able to fight in such an orderly manner. We attacked for three hours but still could not capture it. Our army has suffered nearly two thousand casualties. It's really not right."

"Lord..."

Liu Bei suddenly heard someone calling him from behind, and he turned around quickly, and it was Mi Fang.

"Mi Fang, didn't I order you to stay in Pei County? Why are you here?"

Mi Fang was without any armor at this time, his clothes were tattered, and he looked very embarrassed. When he saw Liu Bei, he jumped off his horse, fell to his knees with a plop, and burst into tears.

"My lord, I am... I am incompetent... Pei County... Pei County has been taken back by Cao's army..."

"What?" Liu Bei was so shocked that the whip in his hand fell to the ground.

"What happened?"

He grabbed Mi Fang's arms tightly, looking anxious.

"My lord, after you and the three generals led the troops away, I was guarding Pei County. Unexpectedly, that night, Cao's army suddenly attacked from the east. It was led by Han Hao, a general of the Cao army. There were no less than 20,000 troops. I was defeated and they took the city away. Of the 8,000 defenders, only I escaped here..."

Liu Bei felt dizzy and his body swayed. He could only stand up with the help of the horse behind him.

"Cao Cao, Cao Cao, it turns out that the four bandits on Mount Tai were just a bait. It's ridiculous that I, Liu Bei, thought I could get rid of the bandits for the country and establish meritorious service, but now I have been cut off by Cao Cao. What can I do?"

(End of this chapter)