The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

Seeing that they would lose their lives if they didn't leave, Cao Cao suppressed his anger, grabbed his long sword, and followed Guo Jia and Cao Anmin out of the backyard, shouting as they went:

"Dian Wei, Ang'er, don't linger in battle, retreat now!"

The leading Snow Dragon Rider, enraged that so many men had failed to kill their opponent, brandished his cold blade and roared:

"Kill them! Don't let them escape!"

"Kill them!"

When the soldiers saw Cao Cao flee, they all chased after him fearlessly, determined to kill him.

"Young master, you must retreat quickly! I'll stay here, get out of here!"

Seeing Cao Cao run out of the backyard, Dian Wei, wielding his double halberds, moved towards the front hall while reminding Cao Ang to retreat first.

Although Cao Ang's arrival greatly relieved the pressure on Dian Wei, he was, after all, Cao Cao's eldest son, and Dian Wei dared not let him cover his retreat.

However, Cao Ang did not respond for a long time, which made Dian Wei feel disheartened. He glanced casually and saw that Cao Ang had not fallen despite being pierced through the chest by a long sword. He stood upright in front of the soldiers, trying to use his body to block their continued pursuit.

"Young master~~!"

Seeing Cao Ang dead, Dian Wei was overcome with grief. A glint of madness flashed in his bloodshot eyes as he roared:

"Ahhhhh, I'm going to kill you all!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he brandished his twin halberds, turned around, and charged back into battle, abandoning the brief chance of escape that Cao Ang had fought so hard to secure for him, and preparing to take all the soldiers before him down with him.

Dian Wei wielded his pair of short halberds with unstoppable force, and in no time, a large number of soldiers died tragically at his hands.

However, the soldiers who surrounded him surged forward like a tidal wave, and even though Dian Wei was brave and invincible, he eventually fell in a pool of blood because he was outnumbered.

Despite suffering heavy losses, the soldiers who were besieging the enemy did not give up the pursuit; instead, they swarmed towards the front hall.

When Cao Cao and his two companions arrived at the front hall, the sight before them made their hearts sink instantly. Almost all of the two hundred guards had been wiped out, leaving only a dozen or so struggling to hold on.

"Cao Cao, prepare to die!"

Hu Che'er, who was leading his troops to fight against two hundred guards, saw that Cao Cao and his men had actually fled to the front hall. He immediately changed his attack direction and charged at Cao Cao with his spear.

"Ahhh, Anmin, save me!"

Seeing a fierce general, about the same size as Dian Wei, thrusting his spear at him, Cao Cao was terrified.

"Pfft~~~"

Seeing that the spear was about to pierce Cao Cao's chest, Cao Anmin, who was standing next to him, pushed Cao Cao in a hurry and used his own chest to block Hu Che'er's spear. He gripped the spear shaft tightly with both hands to prevent Hu Che'er from getting out.

"My lord, my lord, hurry, let's go!"

Cao Anmin spoke haltingly.

Seeing his nephew shield him from the fatal blow, Cao Cao had no time to grieve. He immediately scrambled to his feet, picked up his sword, and ran out of the mansion without stopping.

"Damn it!"

Seeing Cao Cao run away, Hu Che'er tried his best but failed to pull the spear out of Cao Anmin's hand. In desperation, he thrust hard and released the spear, picked up the long sword that had fallen to the ground and chased after him.

"My lord, let's go!"

Before Hu Che'er had run half a meter away, he felt a murderous aura coming from behind him. He quickly turned around and swung his long sword in the right hand.

"Whoosh~~~~!"

The sound of two sharp blades piercing skin rang out simultaneously. A long sword was seen piercing Hu Che'er's back, while the long knife in his hand slashed Guo Jia's neck, and a large amount of blood gushed out.

"Lord~~~Lord~~~~!"

Before Guo Jia could finish speaking, a strange sensation in his throat rendered him unable to speak again. His frail body slowly collapsed, and he eventually lost all vitality.

All of this happened in a short time. Soon after, the Snow Dragon Riders from the backyard arrived at the front hall with their pursuers. After searching around, they found no trace of Cao Cao's body. They saw Hu Che'er enduring excruciating pain and leading the remaining soldiers out of the mansion. They immediately understood everything.

"Chase!"

On the other side, Cao Cao, who had run out of the mansion, did not dare to be negligent at all. He fled desperately toward the city gate, muttering something under his breath.

"Damn Zhang Xiu! I, Cao Mengde, swear I will not rest until I avenge this!"

"With such heavy losses, once I escape alive, I will definitely send troops to Nanyang County and turn this place into a living hell."

·····

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Find Cao Cao even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, and then kill him!"

Just then, the sound of pursuers came from behind. Cao Cao turned around and saw a large number of pursuers holding torches, searching for him everywhere.

The commotion caused the city's residents to quickly close their doors and windows, fearing for their lives.

Seeing that running away was not a solution, Cao Cao quickly slipped into a side alley, took off his conspicuous robe, cut off his long beard, found a secluded courtyard, climbed over the wall and hid, waiting for the opportunity to slip out of the city at dawn.

·············

As dawn broke, the city of Xinxian was filled with the pungent smell of blood. After a night of fierce fighting and searching, Cao Cao was still nowhere to be found.

Looking at the several corpses before him, now completely cold, Jia Xu remained silent, lost in thought. After a long while, he slowly asked:

Looking at the several corpses before him, now completely cold, Jia Xu remained silent, lost in thought. After a long while, he slowly asked:

"What is the situation regarding casualties? Is there any news about Cao Cao?"

Zhao Yun, standing beside him, said sorrowfully:

"The Great Snow Dragon Cavalry suffered heavy losses, with only two men remaining. Of the 1,500 infantrymen, only 500 have survived. General Hu Che'er has a severe back wound and is currently unable to get out of bed."

As for Cao Cao, his fate is currently unknown.

Last night's operation was not perfect. Although Dian Wei, Guo Jia and others were killed, Cao Cao still has not been found. Moreover, such a big commotion must have alerted Cao Cao's reinforcements. After all, there are always some who escaped the massacre under the cover of night.

"Sigh..." Jia Xu sighed heavily upon hearing this. They still hadn't found Cao Cao's whereabouts. It seemed that the guy was not meant to die.

Thinking about all this, Jia Xu suddenly made an unexpected decision:

"General Zhao, Youwei, put these bodies in coffins, then take the rest of the men and evacuate. As for Cao Cao, we don't need to worry about him!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun and Zhang Xiu, who were standing nearby, both looked at Jia Xu with a hint of doubt in their eyes:

"Mr. Wenhe, why is that?"

"Yes, are we not going to look for Cao Cao anymore?"

Jia Xu then patiently explained the reason for doing so:

"Our commotion last night was quite significant. If I'm not mistaken, Cao Cao's reinforcements have already received the news and are marching here."

"The army of refugees in the city has no fighting power whatsoever; staying here will only lead to their death."

"The fact that Cao Cao has not been found by dawn is enough to show that he is not destined to die, and continuing to search is just a waste of time."

After hearing Jia Xu's explanation, Zhang Xiu nodded, but Zhao Yun asked:

"Didn't our lord say we should use this opportunity to kill Cao Cao? But if we just go back like this, won't that...?"

Zhao Yun didn't finish his sentence, but Jia Xu knew what he meant, and a mysterious smile appeared on his lips:

"Zilong, don't worry, our lord won't be angry because we failed to kill Cao Cao. As long as we bring Youwei and his main force back to Xuzhou safely, we will have completed our mission."

"Alright, do as I say!"

After explaining, Jia Xu left the county government office.

At noon, Jia Xu and his men left Xin County and headed straight for Jiangxia County, where Zhang Xiu's large army, which had been dispersed into smaller units, was located.