Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 114 Xing Daorong praises Cao Hong
However, Cao Hong had originally disdained Xing Daorong, but when he got here, he found that it was indeed different from what he had imagined.

"Hanzhong defeated Zhang Lu, and the battle in Luo County decided the outcome!"

"After Bai Qi... the God of Killing is reborn..."

These titles are not just groundless.

Cao Hong gradually began to realize that Xing Daorong was not simple.

Although he still led the army to the three counties, he was not as impulsive as at the beginning.

In this way, they marched dozens of miles a day, setting up camp at dusk and marching out early in the morning, advancing steadily and cautiously.

Unexpectedly, when they were halfway through the journey, envoys from three counties came to report that Liu Bei's General Xing Daorong, who was in charge of the Northern Expedition, had learned that the general who was coming this time was Cao Hong, so he wrote a letter specially for him.

Cao Hong was puzzled. He wondered what Xing Daorong had written to him. He thought it was probably a declaration of war, so he asked someone to bring it to him.

But I didn’t know until I saw it, it was even more strange.

It turned out that Xing Daorong did not send a declaration of war, but wrote a letter of praise to himself.

...

"Daorong has long heard of General Cao Hong's bravery. Today, I heard that the general was coming to attack. Although we each serve our own masters, we still want to express our respect for him, so I wrote this letter to you."

"Praise the general, you wield a long sword and soar into the sky, your beauty has not diminished, you should be regarded as a hero."

"Praise the general, when a dragon sees its armor removed, an eagle is afraid, and when a white horse steps on blood, the wind will bring peace."

"Praise the general. In the past, Meng De of Xingyang was trapped. He bravely faced the enemy and his murderous aura frightened the gods and ghosts!"

"General, it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor in this world, but how can you measure your breadth of mind?"

"I have always heard of the general's bravery. Today I can't help but admire him. When we meet on the battlefield in the future, I will see your bravery again under the West City."

The letter written by Xing Daorong actually has no rhythm or rhyme. After all, he is not a scholar like Kuai Qi. It would be too difficult for him to write an article like Kuai Qi.

It is not easy to write a limerick.

However, this letter does not require much literary skills like the one written by Kuai Qi. It is purely used to confuse the enemy generals.

Sure enough, Cao Hong burst into laughter when he saw it, and showed it to Cao Xiu and others around him, saying: "Before two armies meet, how can you praise the enemy's commander, or even send a letter to praise him?"

"It's because Xing Daorong got scared before the battle, that's why!"

"You guys keep saying how great he is, but I think he is just so-so!"

"Today he will hide in the west city. When I besiege the city, he will surrender!"

Cao Hong spoke with great confidence, but Cao Xiu still had some hesitation in his heart.

Cao Xiu was the nephew of Cao Hong. He had followed Cao Cao since he was young. Although he was young, he was already a veteran who had fought in many battles.

Seeing this letter, he frowned and said, "I heard that Xing Daorong always leads the vanguard in every battle, and never hesitates to sacrifice his life in marching and fighting. He was the first to reach Hanzhong and killed the general in Luo County. He is clearly a brave general. How can he be cowardly before the battle?"

But although Cao Xiu was so worried, Cao Hong didn't take it to heart at all.

He laughed and said, "Isn't this a simple matter? Hanzhong and Yizhou have no great generals, which is why people think Xing Daorong is so powerful."

"Now that he has met us, how can he not be afraid?"

Cao Hong even began to be magnanimous: "Since Xing Daorong is so sensible, if he is willing to surrender in the future, I will not make things difficult for him."

When Cao Xiu heard this, he felt something was wrong.

It's really dangerous for my uncle to be so careless.

How could Xing Daorong be an ordinary person if he could hold the position of General Zheng Bei in Liu Bei's camp?

What's more, if it's not to paralyze myself, what else could it be for?
He immediately advised again: "Uncle, you must be careful, Xing Daorong is not an incompetent general."

Unfortunately, Cao Hong didn't take it seriously and just said, "Even if he has some ability, he can't do anything to me."

Having said that, he showed no intention of listening to Cao Xiu's advice and just waved his hand and said, "Order the entire army to march quickly to West City!" Cao Hong just thought that Xing Daorong would really be waiting for him in West City and rely on the advantage of the city wall to resist him.

But he didn't know that when he received the letter, Xing Daorong had already sent out his entire army.

All the generals under his command, including Ma Chao, Pang De, Meng Da, Guan Ping, Bao Long, etc., went out, leaving only Ma Dai to defend the city.

...

Bamboo mountain.

The mountain got this name apparently because it is covered with bamboo forests.

It is best to avoid this kind of mountain when marching.

After all, it is difficult to know what is happening in the mountains, and it is also a natural "ambush holy land". You can go around it if you can. At most it will waste a little time. The key is to avoid major problems.

However, at this moment, in order to hurry on his way, Cao Hong had to enter the mountain.

Cao Xiu advised again: "Uncle, there are dense bamboo forests in this mountain. I am afraid there may be an ambush. We should avoid it."

Cao Hong waved his hand and said, "Xing Daorong will only wait for me outside the city. How can he ambush me here? Just go there with peace of mind!"

Cao Xiu had no choice but to volunteer to be the vanguard and explore the way into the mountains.

Cao Hong agreed this time, but he told Cao Xiu not to waste time and just go across the mountain.

When they were halfway into the mountain, they suddenly heard that Xing Daorong had led his troops to set up camp thirty miles in front of Zhushan to meet the enemy.

Cao Hong was stunned, but laughed and said, "I didn't expect Xing Daorong to dare to go out of the city to fight the enemy, but he actually doesn't know the art of war!"

"If you lie in ambush in the mountains, you might be able to fight my army. But now you are camping in front of the mountains, how can you defeat me?"

"Hurry up and ask Xiu'er to lead the troops out of the mountain. I will meet Xing Daorong in person!"

Cao Xiu, who was ahead, had also heard the news a long time ago and knew that Xing Daorong was camped in front of the mountain, but he was confused.

When marching and fighting, it is important to take the enemy by surprise.

This bamboo mountain was clearly a good opportunity for an ambush, but he did not know how to use the terrain and instead set up camp in front of the mountain.

“It seems so.”

"Could it be that Xing Daorong really exaggerates?"

Cao Xiu thought about this, but he still felt a little uneasy in his heart.

Xiahou Yuan's previous caution was not fake. If Xing Daorong was really just an ordinary person, how could he be so cautious?

But the facts are before our eyes. Xing Daorong could have clearly intercepted and killed him in Zhushan but he didn't. How can this be explained?

Cao Xiu felt that there was a problem, but he couldn't tell where the problem was. He could only follow Cao Hong's order and cross Zhushan first.

Although this Bamboo Mountain is not too big, if you don’t investigate carefully, it is possible that there are thousands of people hiding in the mountain.

Xing Daorong clearly appeared in front, but Cao Hong and Cao Xiu didn't think that he might just be trying to attract their attention. They just kept working hard all the way, and after quickly passing Zhushan, they joined forces and killed Xing Daorong in front of the battle line with great momentum.

When the two armies were in a stalemate, Cao Hong saw Xing Daorong's appearance.

Holding a big axe, riding a white horse, and wearing chain mail, he looks very impressive.

Cao Hong stepped forward and called out, "Are you Xing Daorong?"

This greeting was considered polite by Cao Hong. If he had not remembered Xing Daorong's previous letter, he would probably have started scolding him and asked Xing Daorong to surrender.

But before he knew it, Xing Daorong shouted, "Cao Hong! You came quickly, but this is the first time I've seen someone rush to die like this!"

After hearing this, Cao Hong was obviously stunned and doubted his ears.

He had just written a letter boasting that he was "a hero", but how come his attitude changed completely when we met?
(End of this chapter)