Mi Han

Chapter 286
Before Cao Ren led the army to attack Xicheng, although he took away most of the troops in Nanyang County, he did not also take away the Wei army belonging to Cao Xiu in Fancheng area.

The reason is simple, because Fancheng was the first line of defense for Wei Wei to guard Nanyang County, and Guan Yu at that time was more threatening than Mi Yang.

So even though the Wei army led by Cao Ren was destroyed outside the west city, the troops in Cao Xiu's hands were not damaged in the slightest.

And if he wanted to defend Fancheng, which was located on a plain without mountains as a barrier, Cao Xiu would definitely have no less than [-] troops.

In fact, Cao Xiu originally had about [-] troops in his hands. Later, because of Sun Li's strategy, he dispatched [-] troops to Sun Li to take to Yancheng to garrison, so Cao Xiu can currently mobilize about [-] Wei troops in Fancheng.

The [-] Wei troops in Cao Xiu's hands were expanded from the foreign troops that Cao Cao left in Nanyang back then, and their combat effectiveness is naturally good.

Before Cao Xiu, because of Sun Li's advice and his fear of Guan Yu, he led the [-] Wei army to hide in Fancheng.

It's just that among the only remaining famous generals of the Cao family, Cao Xiu's military style is particularly violent.

Although the tens of thousands of Han troops outside Fancheng did not launch an attack on Fancheng before, they were surrounded by tens of thousands of Han troops for several months.

What's more, Guan Yu had placed the bodies of Wei Jun cavalry who died in battle before outside Fancheng.

Cao Xiu used to be the leader of the army, so among the thousands of corpses, many of them belonged to his former troops.

Guan Yu's approach made Cao Xiu hate him very much.

So Cao Xiu in Fancheng today noticed that the Han army was showing signs of withdrawing from the siege, so he immediately rectified his troops in Fancheng.

After most of the Han army retreated from the northern encirclement of Fancheng, Cao Xiu immediately led an army of [-] out of the northern gate of Fancheng.

Although being besieged, Cao Xiu could not get too much information to deduce why the Han army suddenly withdrew from the siege.

It's just that no matter what the reason for the Han army's withdrawal from the siege, Cao Xiu, who is good at seizing the opportunity, will immediately lead the army out of the city.

The reason why Cao Xiu led the army to hide in Fancheng before was because there were no reinforcements from the Wei army outside Fancheng at that time, and the strength in his hands was not dominant.

But now not far from Fancheng, there are tens of thousands of Wei Jun Zhongjun led by Zhang Liao.

Yancheng is not far from Fancheng, although Cao Xiu, who was trapped in the city, had no way to chat with Zhang Liao outside Yancheng in real time.

But it was very simple for Zhang Liao to tell Cao Xiu something by lighting the beacon fire.

There are tens of thousands of strong reinforcements not far away. Cao Xiu will definitely choose to lead the army after the Han army withdraws from the encirclement.

From the perspective of the art of war, this move can be used as horns with Zhang Liao's army.

Personally speaking, Cao Xiu wondered if he could find a loophole when the Han army was retreating, so as to give the Han army a hard blow to vent the resentment in his heart over the past few months.

What disappointed Cao Xiu was that when he led the army out of Fancheng, he did not find such a flaw.

Under normal circumstances, the infantry is somewhat similar to the aircraft of later generations.

The times when planes are most prone to air accidents are during takeoff and landing.

The time when the ancient infantry was most likely to be taken advantage of by the enemy was when it was marching and retreating.

Many excellent tactics in ancient times were derived from this weakness of the infantry, such as classic tactics such as "strike at half-crossing, surround the point for reinforcements, and wait for work with leisure".

Well, at first Cao Xiu also wanted to use a tactic similar to attacking halfway.

But when Cao Xiu led his army out of Fancheng, he immediately dismissed this idea.

Although the Han army took the lead in withdrawing from the northern encirclement of Fancheng under Guan Yu's order, the Han army's withdrawal did not seem to be in a panic.

Before they evacuated, they transported a large number of antlers and horses that could be used again in an orderly manner to the baggage truck, and for those items that could not be transported, they chose to burn them on the spot.

So when Cao Xiu came out to lead the army, what he saw was: outside the north gate of Fancheng, there was a mess, and even many places were still burning with flames.

The flames burning everywhere made the open space outside the north gate of Fancheng seem a bit hot and dry in this cold winter.

And because most of the burning objects were made of wood, under the blowing of the cold wind, a lot of wood ashes produced by the burning floated in large quantities in the world where Cao Xiu and tens of thousands of Wei troops were located.

Many of them even fell on Cao Xiu.

Outside the north gate of Fancheng, which was somewhat hot and ashes were constantly floating, Cao Xiu saw that the Han army who had just evacuated from the north gate had not gone far at all.

There was a vast plain outside Fancheng. Cao Xiu, who was riding a horse, looked into the distance, and the tens of thousands of follow-up troops of the Han army were even less than one mile away from them.

This scene made Cao Xiu feel suspicious.

Shouldn't evacuation be done as soon as possible?
But he looked at the unhurried appearance of the Han army now, not as if they were retreating, but as if they were luring the enemy.

The most important thing is that Cao Xiu's eyesight is excellent, he looked forward condescendingly, just in time to see who is the general who is currently leading thousands of Han troops to cover the retreat of the former army.

He is eight feet long, with a leopard's head and eyes, a swallow's jaw and a tiger's beard. He holds a black fine iron spear in his hand.

Who is this person if not Zhang Fei?

After seeing that Zhang Fei was in charge of leading the army to postpone, Cao Xiu couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

This was his subconscious action when he encountered danger in the army for many years.

It was more than ten years ago that Cao Xiu met Zhang Fei for the first time.

But the first real confrontation between him and Zhang Fei was the battle of Xiabian several years ago.

In the battle of Xiabian a few years ago, Zhang Fei, who didn't have many troops, successfully bluffed Cao Hong, then the coach of the Wei army, through bluffing.

It's just that Zhang Fei's strategy did not hide Cao Xiu.

Cao Xiu guessed that Zhang Fei didn't have many troops at all, so at Cao Xiu's suggestion, he personally led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to attack Xiabian.

In that battle, Cao Xiu defeated Lei Tong, Ren Kui and other generals, and won the battle of Xiabian.

That battle made the world know Cao Xiu.

What puzzled the world was that Cao Xiu had already judged that Zhang Fei didn't have much army at all.

Why didn't the Wei army, which had a superior force, go directly to Zhang Fei's location, or in other words, after the victory in the battle of Xiabian, continued to expand the results and attack Zhang Fei's troops?

You must know that there were famous generals such as Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Zhang Ji in the Wei army at that time, and the heads of Zhang Fei and Ma Chao were much more valuable than Wu Lan and others.

Others don't know this reason, but Cao Xiu himself knows it very well.

Without him, because he was afraid of Zhang Fei in his heart.

Cao Xiu's fear of Zhang Fei originated from the moment he saw Zhang Fei for the first time in more than ten years.

In that year, Cao Xiu also belonged to Commander Cao Chun, one of the five thousand tiger and leopard riders, and followed Cao Cao to chase and kill Liu Bei and others in Dangyang.

The day Cao Xiu met Zhang Fei for the first time, it was in front of a bridge. The bridge was not long, only a dozen or so steps away at most.

On the other side of the bridge with five thousand tigers and leopards, there were only Zhang Fei and twenty cavalry.

But with such a disparity in military strength, the scene that happened later became a lifelong shame for five thousand tiger and leopard riders, and even Cao Cao's lifelong shame.

One person broke the bridge by the water, with glaring eyes and a spear, he roared at the five thousand tiger and leopard riders who slaughtered the people:
"I am Zhang Yide, so let's fight to the death together!"

That roar sounded like a torrent of thunder, making all five thousand tiger and leopard riders terrified.

At that time, the long knives in their hands were still flowing, the blood gathered from hundreds of thousands of people.

This scene was also deeply reflected in the heart of Cao Xiu, who was still young at that time.

Some shadows can never be erased.

It can be said that between Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Cao Xiu's fear of Zhang Fei is stronger.

Seeing that it was Zhang Fei who led the army in person, Cao Xiu, who had rushed out in a hurry and wanted to lead the army to pursue the Han army to avenge their blood hatred, suddenly gave up his plan.

Now the distance between Zhang Fei and Cao Xiu is not far, only one mile.

At present, Cao Xiu has no fewer troops than Zhang Fei, and Cao Xiu even has a city behind him.

It's just that Cao Xiu, who traveled thousands of miles across the land of China to bury his grandfather and seek refuge with Cao Cao, was hailed by Cao Cao as "the thousand-mile horse of Cao's family", but today he dare not even cross the distance of this mile.

It's easy to travel a thousand miles, but difficult to cross a mile. Is this the Cao family's thousand-mile horse?
Just as Cao Xiu led more than ten thousand Wei troops to watch the Han army gradually go away, the retreating ten thousand Han troops also saw the Wei troops leaving the city behind.

Originally, when one's own army was retreating, an enemy army with a force not less than one's own suddenly appeared behind it, and the retreating infantry would panic.

But with Zhang Fei behind the formation, the [-] Han troops who were retreating did not fall into this mood.

And Zhang Fei, who was in charge of the formation, also saw Cao Xiu not far away.

Unlike Cao Xiu who had a deep fear of Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei looked at Cao Xiu with more playful eyes.

The turtle came out of the turtle shell.

It's just for fun, Zhang Fei, who puts the overall situation first, has no intention of fighting Cao Xiu now.

He was just like strolling in a garden, guarding the back for more than ten thousand Han troops.

And just as the "confrontation" between the two sides happened, the [-] Wei army led by Sun Li also rushed outside Fancheng.

Cao Xiu's generals saw another [-] troops coming from their own side, and immediately said to Cao Xiu happily: "General, our army is now twice as powerful as the enemy army, and it can be attacked!"

This department will not know Zhang Fei.

Different from the general's joy, after Cao Xiu listened to the general's words, hesitation flashed across his face.

There are [-] on your own side and [-] on your enemy.

One's own side is ready to go, and the enemy is retreating.

From the various comparisons on the surface, Cao Xiu felt that if he launched an attack on the [-] Han troops, his chances of winning were indeed quite high.

It's just that Zhang Fei has always been brave and resourceful. Could his move today be a trick to lure the enemy?
Cao Xiu, who has always been daring, is now caught in a struggle of thoughts.

When Cao Xiu was struggling with his thoughts, Sun Li hurried to Cao Xiu on horseback and reported to him the contents of Cao Pi's edict.

Sun Li was worried that Cao Xiu would be impulsive.

But what Sun Li didn't know was that his report freed Cao Xiu from his struggle.

Cao Xiu turned his head to Jianyan's attacking subordinate and said, "Since His Majesty has ordered, our army will stand still for the time being."

After saying this, Cao Xiu naturally took over the command of Sun Li's [-] Wei army.

Then he led [-] Wei troops, and followed the [-] Han troops not far or near.

It seems to be watching, and it seems to be seeing off guests.

If you march from Wancheng to Yancheng, the infantry will need at least ten days.

It's just that for the Qingqi who report the military situation, they can come to Wancheng from outside Yancheng in just a few days.

A few days later, Cao Pi in Wancheng successfully received the news reported to him by Zhang Liao.

After knowing that the Han army was withdrawing from Fancheng, Cao Pi was angry and happy.

Cao Pi was angry because he thought the Han army's move was to retreat back to Xiangyang.

Just after humiliating him, you want to run away, how can it be such a cheap thing?
If these tens of thousands of Han troops were allowed to return to Xiangyang unscathed, where would his face be?
What Cao Pi is happy about is that with the withdrawal of the Han army, this means that Cao Xiu, who has been trapped in Fancheng, has successfully escaped.

Cao Xiu still has tens of thousands of Wei troops in his hands.

Now there are more than [-] Wei army troops around Fancheng!

Under this complex mood of anger and joy, Cao Pi immediately made a decision.

He ordered someone to quickly summon General Xu Chu, who had just arrived in Wancheng.

After the hulking Xu Chu arrived, Cao Pi came to Xu Chu and held his hand and said, "I'll leave it to Huhou!"

After Cao Cao's death, Xu Chu was appointed by Cao Pi as General Wuwei, in charge of the governor of the Luoyang Central Army.

Originally, according to his status, he could not leave Luoyang.

It's just that Cao Pi can't care so much about the needs of the current war situation.

And Xu Chu, who is a general of Wuwei, of course knew the purpose of Cao Pi calling him to Wancheng, and he also knew what Cao Pi said to him just now.

Xu Chu was serious and seldom said anything. After Cao Pi said that to him, Xu Chu just bowed deeply to Cao Pi.

He is willing to go through fire and water for generations of the Cao family.

After Xu Chu bowed to him, Cao Pi hurriedly asked Sun Zi to write an imperial edict. Cao Pi handed the newly written imperial edict to Xu Chu, and ordered to him:

"Go, defeat all the thieves who are not ministers for Wei!"

After Cao Pi said these words, Xu Chu took the imperial edict respectfully with both hands, and then walked outside without looking back.

Seeing Xu Chu, who looked like a tiger and leopard, leave, Cao Pi felt a sense of stability in his heart.

In terms of fierce generals, how could he be lacking in Cao Wei.

In order to prevent the Han army from escaping, Cao Pi no longer wanted to wait any longer. Although the other generals he summoned had not yet arrived, the opportunity was not lost.

It's just that when a person is too focused on one thing, he often forgets another thing.

Now Cao Pi is only thinking about killing the enemy to avenge his shame, but he has forgotten what his biggest purpose was when he hurriedly summoned the left general Zhang He.

Perhaps Cao Pi remembered, but his strong strength allowed him to ignore this factor.

In the first month of the second year of Zhangwu in the Han Dynasty, Cao Pi, Emperor Wei, moved to General Xu Chu of Wuwei to be General Huwei.

In the same month, Xu Chu, who had just arrived outside Wancheng, hurried southward with the imperial decree of Wei Emperor in hand.

That was the imperial decree issued by Wei Emperor Cao Pi to officially start the war.

It's at this time that the wind is surging.

　Just one chapter tonight.

　　Staying up late two days ago was too fierce, my wife has an opinion.

　　I didn't save the manuscript, I wrote a chapter and published a chapter.

　　Tomorrow will end this big drama.

　　Just now I saw that some readers have been waiting for an update, and I was a little moved after seeing it.

　　It’s just that as the author, I can stay up late to update appropriately, but you lovely readers, it’s best not to.

　　The cost of the body is more than anything else, I hope you are in great health.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)