Three Kingdoms: Daily settlement helps Liu Bei revive the Shu Han dynasty.

When the scouts reported back, Cao Bao was drinking alone with Xu Dan in his mansion.

The scout knelt on the ground and reported: "There are at least twenty or thirty cavalrymen in Liu Bei's camp who have left the main camp and headed north, presumably to investigate the strength of Cao Cao's main camp."

Cao Bao put down his wine cup and asked, "Have you seen Guan Yu and Zhang Fei return to camp today?"

The scout replied with absolute certainty, "We haven't seen Guan Yu or Zhang Fei, and even Zhao Yun's five hundred cavalrymen are nowhere to be found!"

Cao Bao sneered, "Liu Bei is trying to steal the credit!"

"General, what do you mean by that?" Xu Dan asked.

"Liu Bei's strategist, Lu Yong, must have predicted that Cao Cao would withdraw his troops overnight."

So he instigated Liu Bei to pursue and kill him under cover of night, thus achieving a tremendous victory and silencing the public opinion in Xuzhou so that he could smoothly take over the province later!

Xu Dan suddenly realized, and then began to flatter, "No matter how much that brat Lu Yong schemed, he still couldn't escape the general's discerning eye!"

Cao Bao accepted the flattery without any hesitation.

However, he felt a little regretful.

I regret not being the one who left the city during the day.

If I were to repel 100,000 Cao troops in front of so many people, Tao Qian might just hand over Xuzhou to me!

But it's not too late.

Because if he could intercept Cao Cao before Liu Bei, and kill his generals and seize his flag,

He still has a chance to win the support of the people of Xuzhou and become the ruler of Xuzhou!

"Send the order to gather all soldiers and follow me out of the city!" Cao Bao thought to himself, then turned to Xu Dan and said.

Xu Dan was startled: "General, I'm afraid this will be difficult to explain to the lord..."

"What are you afraid of? Once we bring back Cao Cao's head, what can our lord say?" Cao Bao said, already wearing his armor.

Seeing Xu Dan still hesitating, he couldn't help but kick him and yell, "Go now!"

…………

In Liu Bei's camp, Xu Sheng hurriedly ran into the central command tent to report:

"My lord, strategist, Cao Bao has made his move! Twenty thousand troops are marching north in a grand procession!"

Liu Bei and Lu Yong exchanged a glance and laughed at the same time.

After they finished laughing, Xu Sheng rubbed his hands together and asked impatiently, "When are we leaving? I'm afraid we'll miss our chance if we're any later."

Lu Yong picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and said unhurriedly, "No rush, let Cao Bao leave an hour first."

…………

the other side,

Cao Bao led his troops on a rapid march, urging his soldiers to quicken their pace.

An hour later, a scout reported: "General, several thousand men from Liu Bei's camp are sneaking north!"

Cao Bao's heart tightened. He glanced back, gritted his teeth, and said, "Pass down the order: keep speeding up! We must get ahead of them and catch up with Cao Cao!"

Cao Bao's soldiers were already exhausted.

But under the kicks and curses from officers at all levels, the soldiers could only grit their teeth and persevere.

Rushing along the way

Cao Bao finally caught up with Cao Cao's army in the early hours of the morning.

Cao Bao was overjoyed, drew his sword, and shouted, "Brothers, today is the day to make our mark! Charge with me!"

Twenty thousand men charged forward, shouting as they attacked.

Cao Bao originally thought he could easily reap the rewards of the war and defeat Cao's army.

However, upon reaching them,

Cao Bao suddenly noticed a person sitting under the other party's banner.

And this person was none other than Cao Cao!

Cao Cao glanced at the approaching Xuzhou army, then suddenly turned to Yu Jin beside him and laughed, "I thought it would be Liu Bei chasing after us, but I didn't expect it to be that good-for-nothing Cao Bao."

Yu Jin sneered and said, "If it weren't for Liu Bei, Xuzhou would have been wiped out by you, my lord, long ago with this bunch of ugly and wicked people."

When Cao Bao saw Cao Cao's composure, he knew he was in trouble.

But what made him even more desperate was...

Cao Cao had already laid an ambush.

Cao Bao and his 20,000-strong army are already trapped in an ambush!

Soldiers from both sides emerged simultaneously, unleashing a hail of arrows.

Yu Jin then personally led his elite troops to flank Cao Bao's 20,000 men from the rear, instantly cutting them into several pieces.

Cao Bao felt dizzy and disoriented, surrounded by Cao's army on all sides.

His soldiers, who had been traveling all night, were suddenly attacked and scattered in disarray.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Cao Bao killed several deserters, but he couldn't stop the rout.

In less than half an hour, more than half of the 20,000 Danyang soldiers were killed or wounded, and the rest scattered and fled.

Cao Bao was left with only Xu Dan and four or five hundred wounded soldiers, all of whom were in a sorry state.

Cao Bao dared not fight any longer and turned his horse to flee.

Cao Cao did not pursue them, but instead sent scouts to continue reconnaissance.

However, Liu Bei's army, which was expected to arrive, never showed up.

The scouts who went to gather information returned and said that Liu Bei's several thousand men had suddenly stopped halfway and were not moving.

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed and murmured:

"It seems that Liu Bei is using Cao Bao as a pebble to test the waters."

Seeing Cao Bao's crushing defeat, they dared not advance any further.

"Well, Zhicai is right. This man has capable people around him; he won't be easily fooled."

Cao Cao and his party retreated as they went, eventually entering the territory of Taishan Commandery.

Seeing that no pursuers were closing in, he realized that...

Therefore, the task of covering the rear was entirely entrusted to Yu Jin.

He then returned to the central army and led the main force to retreat swiftly to Yanzhou.

Now,

After his defeat, Cao Bao fled south.

As dawn broke, they passed by the black pine forest five miles outside the north gate of the city.

Cao Bao was both angry and afraid.

What angered them was Liu Bei's army, which had clearly been deliberately luring them into attacking; they actually had no desire to attack Cao Cao at all!

What he feared was that he didn't know how to explain things to Tao Qian when he got back.

Deploying troops without prior notice

The 20,000-strong army was almost completely wiped out.

No matter how much Tao Qian considers him a confidant, he probably won't let him off easily this time.

"It's all Liu Bei's fault!" Cao Bao gritted his teeth. "If he hadn't deliberately leaked the information, how could I have fallen into his trap?"

People are just strange sometimes.

Don't blame yourself.

Don't blame the person who caused you direct losses.

Instead, they blame everything on people they don't like.

At this moment, Cao Bao hated Liu Bei to the core and wished he could go back and tear Liu Bei to pieces right now.

Just then, a deep, angry roar suddenly came from the forest.

Cao Bao looked up and saw a group of soldiers suddenly rushing out of the pine forest!

The man at the front, riding a black horse and wielding a long spear, could only be Zhang Fei!

"Zhang Fei!" Cao Bao and Xu Dan cried out in shock.

Zhang Fei, however, remained expressionless. He raised his spear and shouted, "Kill! Leave no one alive!"

A thousand veterans followed Zhang Fei in a silent charge.

There was no shouting.

Without orders,

Only footsteps and the sharp whistling of swords and spears cutting through the air!

The remaining soldiers around Cao Bao were already demoralized.

Seeing the ferocity of the ambushers, they didn't even have the courage to resist, so they threw down their weapons and ran away.

Zhang Fei then went straight for Cao Bao.

Xu Dan tried to step forward to stop him, but Zhang Fei swept him off his horse with a spear without turning his head, and he was hacked to death by Liu Bei's soldiers...

Cao Bao barely managed to raise his gun to block.

But they didn't win in the first round.

He was then pierced through the chest by Zhang Fei's spear.

Cao Bao gripped the spear that pierced his chest tightly, his eyes filled with venom as he said:

"Zhang Fei... Liu Bei... Lord Tao, we will not let you go! You will all... die a horrible death..."

Zhang Fei sneered and said, "Don't worry, only people will know that Cao Cao killed you."

"You...!" Cao Bao's eyes widened as he slowly slid off his horse.

Zhang Fei withdrew his spear and glanced at the battlefield.

Of the four or five hundred remaining soldiers, most had been killed or wounded, and the rest knelt down begging for mercy.

A guard approached: "General, what should we do with the prisoners?"

Zhang Fei glanced at the trembling soldiers kneeling on the ground, and after a moment of silence, said, "Leave not a single one alive!"

The guard was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and turned to relay the order.

Zhang Fei was not a bloodthirsty person.

But he knew that only the mouths of the dead were truly sealed.

If the prisoners are released or taken back, and the news leaks out...

At that point, let alone Xuzhou, I'm afraid I won't even be able to save my life.

In chaotic times, there are some things that must be done.

……

In Liu Bei's camp, Lu Yong, who was drinking with Liu Bei while waiting for news, suddenly received a notification from the system.

[System Log: Based on the host's suggestion, Zhang Fei executed the plan, successfully ambushing and killing Cao Bao and Xu Dan. Today's achievement +1.]

[Current Achievements Pending Settlement: 3 item.]

Seeing Lu Yong lost in thought, Liu Bei couldn't help but ask, "Strategist, what's wrong?"

Lu Yong snapped out of his daze and then smiled, saying, "Congratulations, my lord, Cao Bao is dead!"

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