Three Kingdoms: The Guan Family's Rebellious Son, Long Blessing Jing Xiang

Today is destined to be the most surprising day in Liu Bei's life.

When Fa Zheng told the reason for his excitement and the contents of the battle report, he said that Hanzhong had been captured by Guan's army and that the grain stored by the Five Pecks of Rice Sect in Chenggu County had been burned in one fire.

When all these things were told to Liu Bei...it was like an electric current rushing down from the top of his head.

He thought he had heard it wrong, so he shook his head, trying to make himself more awake and alert...

But Fa Zheng's clear, powerful words still reached his ears as always.

At this moment, he was shaking with excitement.

No wonder, no wonder Fa Zheng was so emotional;
No wonder he was so excited all the time. Liu Bei had told him not to be so excited, but Fa Zheng couldn't suppress his excitement.

This... this sudden change in the situation, the Guan family army's cutting off of the source of their support, is really... really too exciting, it makes people forget everything else!
Taking a deep breath, Liu Bei's mind started to work instantly. He thought of the Battle of Guandu, the decisive battle between the Central Plains and the North, the Wuchao Fire, the comeback of Cao Cao, the death of Yuan Shao after the Battle of Guandu, how Cao Cao eroded the four states of Qing, You, Bing and Ji, and the story of the beginning of Wei Wu's hegemony...

At that time, Liu Bei could only stand on the top of Xinye City and look north, sighing, lamenting the fat on his thighs, feeling that he was getting old in the blink of an eye, and that he had not yet accomplished anything, and finally cried with sadness.

But now, hahahaha…hahaha…

After more than fifty years, Liu Bei finally waited for this day! He waited for the rebellious Wei general to perish, and waited for the day when Liu Bei stood up!
Of course, none of this is important. What’s important is that Liu Bei… is about to… is about to imitate the scene when Cao Cao burned Wuchao in the Battle of Guandu. He will quickly defeat the Wei army, and then begin to erode Wei’s foundation to the north, just like Cao Cao eroded Yuan’s territory back then.

This is the result of good deeds and evil deeds being rewarded, this is also the result of the changing fortunes!
Finally, there came a day when Liu Bei could defeat Cao Cao in Cao Cao's way. This feeling... Liu Bei had been longing for it... and had been looking forward to it for at least twenty years.

Surprised and happy... Liu Bei couldn't help chanting, "Great, great, taking Hanzhong and burning the enemy's food and grass, the Guan family army's actions are tantamount to cutting off the firewood from the rebellious Wei. As expected... As expected, my second brother is invincible in the world! If we can win this battle, my second brother will be the first meritorious person in the Han Dynasty——"

Liu Bei had just finished speaking when Fa Zheng hastily reminded him, "Although the two generals are invincible, they have quietly captured Fangling and Shangyong, taking advantage of the moment when Cao Cao is gathering his main forces to attack Luoyang and Bashan, and secretly passing through Shangyong to raid Hanzhong, burning Cao Cao's food and grass in one fell swoop. Yunqi's plan... is a great move for Cao Cao, and it is a brilliant move!"

At this point, Fa Zheng, who had seen a lot of things, couldn't help but sigh deeply. But after sighing, he seemed to realize something, "My lord, there is actually a piece of good news in Yunqi's plan..."

"What?" Liu Bei asked impatiently.

Fa Zheng narrowed his eyes, looking at the battlefield where he already had the upper hand and was about to win a great victory. He chanted lightly, "I can't say for sure, but... the existing intelligence only shows that Major General Guan Ping captured Hanzhong and burned the grain and grass in Chenggu County, but the battle report never mentioned the Second General. In other words... where is the Second General now? What is he doing now? We don't know anything!"

This…

If Liu Bei had just heard the full picture of the battle report from Fa Zheng, he would have been ecstatic.

So now...his second brother Guan Yu's unknown position made him even more excited.

In today's current situation, the unknown is bound to be more exciting and ecstatic than the known.

For a moment, Liu Bei's eyes were shining!

It seemed that he was already prepared for new surprises!
He was determined to take this overwhelming victory—

...

It was completely different from the excitement and surprise on the command podium of Liu Bei and Fa Zheng.

On the command platform where the Wei army was located, Cao Cao looked dizzy, listless and in a trance.

He even had to cover his forehead with one hand and hold the wooden railing around the podium with the other hand.

He chanted in a very slow and sorrowful voice, as if he was disappointed with his friend.

"Cao Xiu, Cao Wenlie——"

"You are ashamed of me, you are ashamed of your father, you are ashamed of the Great Wei. I misjudged you... I actually regarded you as the best talent of the Great Wei. You have harmed me and the Great Wei. You are simply... simply a fool!"

Cao Cao's voice became increasingly sad and hysterical.

After learning the whole story of the attack on Hanzhong and the burning of Chenggu, in addition to hating Zhong Yao's betrayal, he hated Cao Xiu even more for losing the two military fortresses of Shangyong and Fangling.

Actually, it was okay to lose two cities, Cao Cao could afford to lose them...

But the entire Guan family army advanced straight ahead, and he didn't even receive any news of defeat!
Cao Cao was also convinced...

Under the current situation, such negligence... is more than just a ripple effect, it is a fatal blow to Wei——

"Your Majesty..."

As more news came in, Zhang Fang, the chief priest of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, was able to confirm that the entire Chenggu County was engulfed in fire, and the grain in it...

All the grain, enough for Hanzhong to use for ten years, is stored here and is being burned... This is the hard work of their Five Pecks of Rice Sect!
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Fang's words were filled with extra sorrow.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... The most urgent thing is to rescue that batch of food. You must quickly withdraw from the decisive battle in front of you and go to rescue the food... If, if this batch of food cannot be saved, then... then..."

Zhang Fang's tears were about to burst out, and he was already incoherent, "Your Majesty, the grain has been saved...has been saved..."

"I don't know that the grain has been saved..." Cao Cao stared at Zhang Fang with a sad and sorrowful look, and even clenched his fists, but in the end, the fists were still loosened, "Hehe... Hehe..." Cao Cao laughed bitterly with an extremely painful expression. "It can't be saved, it can't be saved..."

He shook his head and sighed, "During the Battle of Guandu, I personally led the troops to burn Wuchao. How fast would the fire burn when the fierce oil was poured on the grain? No one knows better than me... I know it clearly..."

As he spoke, his words were already full of bitterness. Despite this, Cao Cao continued to murmur bitterly: "I can't save her now! I won't come back——"

As the mournful voice rang out, Cao Cao angrily smashed his fist on a big drum with a "bang". Because of the force of the fist, the big drum... made a heavy muffled sound.

As the muffled sound came, Cao Cao could not help but close his eyes in despair. He felt his head hurt more and more...

The three armies have not moved yet, food and grass go first!
This fire burned the lifeblood of Cao Cao's 350,000 soldiers! It was the food for the entire Wei army.

Without food, what’s the point of winning the battle?
Without food, more than 300,000 of them would starve, would waver, would disintegrate, would fall apart…

Thinking of this, Cao Cao painfully issued an order, "Pass on my order, sound the horns to withdraw the troops, sound the horns to withdraw the troops... Retreat to Yangping Pass! Retreat to Yangping Pass!"

Call off the troops——

Hearing this order, all the counselors of Wei immediately knelt on one knee. Jia Kui was the first to say, "Your Majesty, no! Now that we have run out of food and grass, we need to win this decisive battle. Only in this way can we buy time for the subsequent evacuation. If we call off the troops, then... then... even if we retreat to Yangping Pass, the news of the food shortage will soon spread to the three armies. At that time... the morale of the three armies will surely be shaken. At that time... if we retreat again, we can't take the Qishan Road and Chencang Road to the west. To the east... even if we take the Baoxia Road and Tangxia Road... but Hanzhong is in front of us, and the big-eared thief is chasing us from behind. How can we escape?"

Ha ha…

Hehehe...

Jia Kui’s words made Cao Cao smile bitterly!

How could Cao Cao not know and understand what Jia Kui said?
Even though he had a splitting headache, he was more aware of the difficulty of fleeing. To escape to Chang'an City, it would be more than just a difficult and thorny journey.
This is almost an impossible task!
But... unfortunately, he had experienced the Wuchao fire, and he knew that it would not be long before the Shu army would know the news and then spread it quickly on the battlefield.

At that time, a crushing defeat was a minor matter. The most feared thing was that these hundreds of thousands of soldiers would turn against their own side. Wasn't that what happened to Zhang He and Gao Lan back then? If that happened, Cao Cao would really follow Yuan Shao's example, and even his corpse would never be able to escape from the battlefield of Hanzhong.

"Sound the retreat——"

"I ordered you to call back the troops. Are you all deaf? Can't you hear me?" Cao Cao had already covered his head with his hands, but he was still struggling to speak, "Or do you think my words are no longer effective..."

As he spoke, Cao Cao was about to draw his sword...

At this time, the counselors headed by Jia Kui quickly knelt down, "Your Majesty, please calm down, Your Majesty, please calm down..."

Then, they immediately ordered, "Sound the horn quickly...Sound the horn quickly to withdraw the troops...Sound the horn quickly to withdraw the troops..."

At this time, Jia Xu, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

He saw the burning battlefield and where Xiahou Yuan was, and he tried to remind him: "My King..."

"What? Is Wenhe going to disobey my orders too?"

Cao Cao glared at Jia Xu fiercely.

Jia Xu shook his head quickly, but continued: "I dare not question the king's decision. I just want to remind the king that General Xiahou is still at the forefront of the battlefield. If you call back the troops, General Xiahou may... may..."

Speaking of Xiahou Yuan, Cao Cao's expression was visibly shaken. With a splitting headache, he even struggled to open his eyes... Obviously, he was a little hesitant and reluctant to leave his good brother and brother-in-law... He was full of worry and uneasiness!

But, it was only for a moment, Cao Cao still showed the resolute and swift side of a great hero. He waved his hand, raised his voice, and shouted angrily: "What I said is - sound the horn to withdraw the troops!"

"Yes... yes..." Jia Xu stopped talking.

But in a moment, the flag on the command platform waved, which was a brand new military order...

——All Wei army soldiers, no matter where on the battlefield you are, switch from charging to retreating! ——The whole army retreats!

at the same time.

"When, when, when—"

When the gong was sounded, the sound of a small hammer hitting a hollow bronze gong was heard. The crisper and sharper the sound, the farther it would travel... This also stunned the Wei army, which was still fighting a desperate battle with the Shu army on the battlefield.

Why are we withdrawing our troops out of the blue?

But military orders were as firm as a mountain, so they had no choice but to give up the close combat with the Shu army, and quickly withdrew with endless doubts.

"Retreat, retreat——"

Zhonglang Jiang Cheng Wu, Cheng Yan, and Xixiang Hou Zhang Ji had already forced Yan Yan, Chen Dao, and Huo Jun into a desperate situation. It only took another half a quarter of an hour to kill the Shu army on this battlefield and support the battlefield on the right wing...

But after the horn sounded, they could only give orders resentfully.

"Retreat, retreat——"

Fortunately, they had the advantage and retreated. The Shu army was unable to catch up and there was no loss...

But the two remaining sons of Hande are different...

Han Ying and Han Yao turned around. They had just run a hundred steps with their troops when they were hit by crossbows from the Shu army, which had pulled away again... All of a sudden, all the crossbows were fired... Before they could react, they were sent to death!

You know, the Shu army's bows and crossbows are powerful. Fleeing with your back to them is tantamount to maximizing the power of the enemy's bows and crossbows... It is also tantamount to completely exposing your own weaknesses. This is basically a suicide—

On the other hand, Xiahou Yuan is not on the side where Cheng Wu and Cheng Yan have an advantage, nor is he on the side where Han Ying and Han Yao have a disadvantage...

However, this so-called balance of power becomes most desperate when the "dangdang" sound of the horn is heard.

The outcome is still undecided...

Continue the attack... let's fight!
But once you flee, it is almost like handing your life over to God.

It was precisely because of this that Xiahou Yuan, a usually gentle and righteous man, could not help but swear at this moment, "Brother? Which fool has bewitched you? You actually called back the troops at this time..."

"Hmph..." With a cold snort, Xiahou Yuan swung his sword to force back the Shu army in front of him, and successfully retreated back to the army formation.

At this time, all the deputy generals and guards around asked in unison.

"General? When the horn sounds, what should we...what should we do?"

"General? Isn't this a decisive battle? How can we call off the battle before the outcome is decided?"

"General, General... so many soldiers have fought hard here. If we want to retreat, can we escape from the powerful crossbows of the Shu army?"

Yes…

Just as the soldiers' questions touched their hearts.

A decisive battle? A decisive battle with no retreat?
How the hell... is there any reason to... ring the fucking bell... and recruit fucking soldiers!
But the key point is... with the sound of the horn, the morale of the three armies has been shaken, and many legions have quickly retreated under the enemy's powerful crossbow rain of arrows... with heavy casualties!
It is no longer possible to continue fighting this war!
"Huh...huh..."

Heavy gasping sounds came from Xiahou Yuan's nostrils, "Ah..." He roared angrily, and then ordered with endless unwillingness and resentment.

"Retreat... Retreat. I will personally lead the rear guard. The rest of you... withdraw your troops and quickly evacuate this battlefield!"

It was also because of Xiahou Yuan’s order.

In an instant, the entire Wei army's formation suddenly changed, and the rear team became the front team and fled quickly.

really…

As the distance widened, the Shu army no longer had any concerns about their crossbows, and they took the opportunity to once again fire their deadly crossbows...

Every moment, there were unlucky Wei soldiers falling to the ground. The Wei army, which was originally so powerful, suddenly... turned into a panicked and fleeing stray dog.

...

It was a rare opportunity, as the Wei army evacuated across the board, and Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong gathered together.

Zhang Fei was somewhat bored. He waved his Zhangba Snake Spear, which was unwilling to be lonely, and shouted, "We finally had such a good fight. What does Cao Cao mean by that? Why did he withdraw his troops so suddenly? Does he look down on me? Ah..."

Zhang Fei was a little angry, very angry!
Damn, that's not possible... The winner hasn't been decided yet? Run away!
Huang Zhong felt something was wrong and guessed, "Something must have happened to the enemy's rear... otherwise, they would never have withdrawn! Could it be that Xiaozhi ambushed his troops and attacked them from behind?"

But after saying this, Huang Zhong felt something was wrong. The rear of the Wei army was Yangping Pass. Want to attack their rear? You can't just go around Yangping Pass, right?
Just when everyone was confused...

"General Zhang, General Zhao, General Huang..." Zhuge Ke had hurried over and explained to them excitedly, "Great victory...Great victory. Military Advisor Fa Zheng just sent someone to bring news that it was Guan's army...Guan's army secretly crossed Shangyong...and attacked Hanzhong directly. Now Hanzhong has been captured by Guan's army, and even the ten years of military rations left by Zhang Lu were burned by Guan's army! Cao Cao had no choice but to order a withdrawal..."

what…

The first one to be surprised was Zhang Fei. His leopard eyes rolled and he exclaimed in disbelief: "Second brother... so fierce? I'm still here fighting with that thief Cao, and my second brother has already gone around to the back... and stabbed that thief Cao in the ass! Ah... hahahaha..."

Zhang Fei was in great spirits as he shouted and laughed.

But suddenly, Zhang Fei thought of something, "Since they have escaped, let's just chase them and kill them..."

As he spoke, Zhang Fei looked around for a horse.

Huang Zhong stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "Yide? No need to look for horses... I have already given the order. Once the distance is widened, the crossbows will be the nightmare of the Wei army. This is much more effective than chasing on horseback!"

As Huang Zhong spoke, Zhang Fei subconsciously turned his head and looked towards the fleeing Wei army. As expected...

Turn your back and flee;

draw the crossbow;
Under this kind of chain reaction, the losses of the Wei army were extremely heavy!

Seeing this, Zhang Fei nodded.

Zhao Yun was originally laughing when he heard what Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong said... But his eyes were extremely sharp and he noticed Xiahou Yuan's position immediately.

He could not help but mention the Longdan Silver Spear, "The thief general Xiahou Yuan is actually behind the guard——"

As Zhao Yun spoke, he was about to ride his white horse, the Jade Lion Shining in the Night...

But who would have thought that Zhang Fei had found a horse from somewhere, jumped on it, and stopped Zhao Yun with his Zhangba Snake Spear.

"Zilong, hahaha..."

He smiled, looked towards Xiahou Yuan's position and said, "This is my father-in-law, don't make trouble for him! Let me go..."

As he was talking, Zhang Fei had already ridden away...

Zhao Yun was worried about Zhang Fei, so he quickly called on his personal cavalry to catch up.

But at this moment...

Xiahou Yuan seemed to have completed his mission of guarding the rear and was riding away.

"Not good..." Zhao Yun groaned softly when he saw this, "Xiahou Yuan is known as the 'speedy' general. Yide's horse is slow, I'm afraid he won't be able to catch up with him..."

“I’ll do it!” Huang Zhong had already jumped onto his horse, taking the Mongolian composite bow that belonged to him. He stared at Xiahou Yuan who was fleeing on his horse, and said coldly: “With me, Huang Zhong, here, even if Xiahou Yuan is faster than that rabbit, he can’t avoid my arrows that can penetrate a hundred steps——”

"drive…"

As he was speaking, Huang Zhong also rode his horse to chase after him.

Zhao Yun hurriedly shouted, "General Huang, take it easy... This is Yide's father-in-law, don't really shoot him to death--"

"I know..." Huang Zhong responded while driving his horse, "This time, I will not shoot people, but horses——"

...

…(End of chapter)