Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 461: Marching into Yizhou, Xichuan Spear King

Early in the morning, Cao Cao called Dian Wei and Cao Zhang to his room. Delicious food was placed on the table in the room. Cao Cao seldom ate such a sumptuous meal early in the morning, and he seldom let others have breakfast with him.

This unusual behavior, coupled with the fact that Cao Cao had asked Cao Zhang yesterday whether he was willing to follow him to Yizhou to quell the barbarian rebellion, made Cao Zhang realize, no matter how stupid he was, that Cao Cao was ready to set off immediately.

Sure enough, after Cao Cao had almost finished eating, he suddenly spoke.

"Dian Wei, Ziwen, the two of you, come with me to Yizhou."

Although Dian Wei didn't know the reason, he had never had any objections to Cao Cao, so he didn't even hesitate and agreed faster than Cao Zhang.

"My Lord, I will go wherever you go. I will go wherever you tell me to go."

After Dian Wei finished answering, he continued to eat, while Cao Zhang put down his bowl and chopsticks the moment Cao Cao spoke. Although Cao Zhang did not have profound knowledge, under the influence of Cao Cao, he was very good at etiquette. Even though he was in the army, he still did not forget these things engraved in his bones.

"Father, I will obey your orders."

Cao Zhang sat up straight and clasped his fists towards Cao Cao. Cao Cao waved his hand at Cao Zhang, signaling him to put his hands down.

"You and I are master and subject, but more importantly, father and son. There is no need to be like this. Continue eating. We will leave after you finish eating."

Cao Cao said this, but he had stopped eating. Cao Zhang also did not pick up the chopsticks, while Dian Wei continued to eat his rice as if no one was around. Cao Cao noticed Cao Zhang's restraint and continued.

"Don't worry about the etiquette. It's better to be like Dian Wei. Besides, you are a military commander wearing armor, how can you only eat this little? Keep eating. If you are not full today, we will not leave!"

Having said that, Cao Zhang picked up the bowl and chopsticks again.

"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing. You will be in charge of the tomb-raiding lieutenant and the general of the Fa Qiu army. The general of the Fa Qiu army can act as a scout, and the tomb-raiding lieutenant can be a surprise force. The two complement each other, and when combined with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, it will surely be very effective."

When saying this, Dian Wei didn't even raise his head, as if he was in the middle of a battle between two armies, and the enemies were the delicious dishes on the table.

"Father, this?"

"Since I trust you, you should be more confident. I am only accompanying you on this trip to Yizhou to meet Liu Zhang. I will not interfere in anything. You can decide everything by yourself. Dian Wei will be your deputy general. Hahaha, how about that? Deputy commander of the three armies, a first-rank general, and I will be your deputy general."

Yesterday's surprise was so big that Cao Cao, who was usually serious, was chatting and laughing with the two of them in private today, and he was in a very happy mood.

The meal ended with the conversation between the father and son and Dian Wei's crazy eating.

On the day after Dian Wei and Cao Zhang returned to Xu Du, Cao Cao led the two of them, as well as the 4,000 Tiger and Leopard Cavalry that had just been fully replenished, plus 500 tomb-raiding lieutenants and 500 Fa Qiu Lieutenants, a total of 5,000 people, and set out for Yizhou.

At this moment in Yuexi County, Yizhou, Zhang Ren, the first general under Liu Zhang, was holding a spear and fighting fiercely with a strong man holding a Pangu axe. However, he was obviously no match for the strong man and was losing ground.

After dozens of breaths, Zhang Ren was defeated, but not in too bad a state. After Zhang Ren retreated, the strong man was the only one left on the battlefield, shouting and cursing madly.

"Liu Zhang! You coward! Get out here! I'll teach you a lesson about how weak the Pangu axe of your grandfather Meng Huo is. You bastard, you actually dared to attack me when your grandfather is not around. If I don't beat the shit out of you today, you've done it cleanly!"

Liu Zhang was in the big tent, listening to Meng Huo's shouting and cursing. His face was so dark that it could not be described in words. If Liu Zhang was not unskilled in martial arts, he would probably have gone to the battlefield to fight Meng Huo.

"Who else can go out and fight that barbarian?!"

Liu Zhang said this angrily, but several generals under his command fell silent. After all, almost every one of them had suffered at the hands of Meng Huo, and Zhang Ren, the most powerful among them, had been defeated. Naturally, they did not want to make trouble for themselves. If one of them was not careful and was left on the battlefield by Meng Huo, who would they go to for justice?

Seeing that none of his generals dared to speak, Liu Zhang was immediately furious. In the past month, he had not gained any advantage over Meng Huo. Not only that, a first-class general under his command was killed. This was what made him most distressed.

He was like an old farmer who had worked hard to cultivate his one-third acre of land and had finally accumulated this huge family fortune. There were only a few first-rate generals, but Meng Huo just killed one of them casually. How could he let it go?

So, he turned his attention back to Zhang Ren, the general under his command who was closest to a famous general and also the number one general in Yizhou. In addition to these, Zhang Ren had another identity, that is, the second disciple of the gun prodigy Tong Yuan.

However, he had never met his senior brother Zhang Xiu, and his junior brother Zhao Yun, so naturally there was no friendship between them.

As Tong Yuan's second disciple, Zhang Ren also learned excellent spear skills. His senior brother Zhang Xiu was known as the Spear King of the North in Liangzhou. Zhang Ren was not bad either, and was also known as the Spear King of West Sichuan in Yizhou. However, due to his level, he was only a first-rate general and was no match for Meng Huo.

With his level as a first-class military general, he was able to fight with Meng Huo for dozens of moves and still have the strength to escape, which was enough to show Zhang Ren's strength. It was only because Meng Huo was too strong that he did not seem so outstanding.

Looking at the cursing Liu Zhang, Zhang Ren stood up again and clasped his hands towards Liu Zhang. "My lord, I will fight Meng Huo again!"

Seeing Zhang Ren asking for battle, a hint of joy flashed in Liu Zhang's eyes.

"Great! You are worthy of being the number one general in Yizhou! I will personally beat the drum to cheer you on!"

In fact, Liu Zhang did not want to force them to fight, but Liu Zhang needed a famous general under his command, otherwise he would be controlled by others. The last time he went to Xudu to borrow troops, although Cao Cao was kind to him, he could feel Cao Cao's disdain deep in his heart, which made him more determined to have a famous general under his command.

Among all the first-class generals in Yizhou, Zhang Ren is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. He has high combat power, full experience points, and is only two points away from becoming a famous general. He may be promoted to a famous general at any time.

Liu Zhang had no idea that if he wanted to get Zhang Ren promoted, he only needed to pick a second-rate general to kill, and he would basically be promoted. The importance of information asymmetry was once again demonstrated. Gu Rubing, Cao Cao and Sun Jian had all begun to promote the ranks of generals by any means necessary, while Liu Zhang was still figuring out how to get promoted.

Zhang Ren picked up his spear and mounted his horse, returning to the battlefield. Meng Huo, who was cursing between the two armies, couldn't help but laugh when he saw his defeated general Zhang Ren coming back.

"What's the matter? Didn't your grandfather beat you into submission? Or are you not happy that your life doesn't lie here today?"

Meng Huo held Pangu Axe and looked at Zhang Ren with contempt. He had fought with Zhang Ren several times, and each time ended with Zhang Ren's defeat. However, Meng Huo was also very alert in his heart, because he found that every time Zhang Ren lost a fight with him, he would become stronger the next time.

It is not scary to become stronger, but the speed at which Zhang Ren became stronger is a little too unbelievable. The first time they fought was in Yongchang County. At that time, Meng Huo could defeat Zhang Ren within ten moves, and Zhang Ren was able to retreat because of the cover of other first-class generals. But the last time, not only did Zhang Ren fight with him for more than fifty moves, he still had enough strength to retreat, and Meng Huo could feel that this was not Zhang Ren's limit.

If this continues, Zhang Ren will probably grow to the point where he can be on par with him soon. Thinking of this, Meng Huo looked at Zhang Ren with a gloomy look in his eyes and indifferently. He stopped talking nonsense and rushed towards Zhang Ren waving the Pangu Axe. Zhang Ren turned the spear in his hand, made a few spear flowers, and faced Meng Huo head-on.

Meng Huo held the Pangu Axe in his hand, and it seemed as if he could split the sky. His power was so great that Zhang Ren, who was facing the enemy head-on, felt pressured. He also learned the Bainiao Chaofeng Spear from Tong Yuan. Zhang Xiu's learning focused more on strength and attack, while Zhang Ren focused on cleverness and defense.

At this moment, Zhang Ren used the Kung Fu he learned from Tong Yuan to the extreme, not daring to slack off for even a moment. Each of his strikes was precisely aimed at the point where Meng Huo's Pangu Axe exerted force, so that the original force of more than ten points from Meng Huo was reduced to only three or four points when it reached Zhang Ren.

However, Zhang Ren was still no match for Meng Huo and kept retreating on his horse under Meng Huo's fierce attack. Meng Huo did not stop pursuing him after beating him back as he did before, but continued to chase him with Pangu Axe. When Liu Zhang, who was beating the war drum, saw this scene, he couldn't help but regret that he should not have forced Zhang Ren to fight Meng Huo just for the sake of his face.

Seeing that Meng Huo was biting him to death and that he could not escape at all, Zhang Ren became ruthless and spun the red tassel spear in his hand rapidly, hoping to use the force of the spear to reduce Meng Huo's attack. However, Meng Huo was no ordinary man. He swung his Pangu Axe horizontally, breaking Zhang Ren's rotation and almost knocking the red tassel spear in Zhang Ren's hand away.

Zhang Ren took advantage of the force, dismounted, and retreated several feet. Meng Huo's attack failed to work, so he rode forward and chopped off the head of Zhang Ren's mount with an axe, then began to chase Zhang Ren.

Zhang Ren's two legs were naturally no match for the horse's four legs, and the several feet distance that had just been opened was shortened almost in an instant. Seeing this, Liu Zhang, who was beating the drum, stopped beating the drum and hurriedly urged the people below the drum platform.

"Quick! Go and support him! Go!"

Liu Zhang's palms were sweating, because his plan was to let Zhang Ren find an opportunity to break through the famous general in the battle. After all, Zhang Ren and Meng Huo had fought many times, and each time he was able to retreat safely. In Liu Zhang's view, this was because the gap between the two was not too big, so Zhang Ren was able to escape every time.

But he had no idea that Meng Huo had not killed all of them because he was afraid that Liu Zhang would become ruthless and attack Yongchang County with a large army at all costs. Even if Meng Huo could defend it at that time, the barbarian soldiers under his command would certainly suffer heavy losses. Meng Huo did not want to suffer a loss, so he kept letting them go, defeating them but rarely killing them.

Only last time, a general was so blind that he shot Meng Huo's brother. This was the first time Meng Huo killed a first-class general. He stopped chasing the others after repelling them. Meng Huo didn't know that it was his thoughts and actions that made Liu Zhang have a glimmer of hope that the generals under his command could be promoted under Meng Huo's training.

Following Liu Zhang's order, four riders rushed out of the Yizhou military camp and charged into the battlefield. At this moment, Meng Huo was riding a horse to chase Zhang Ren who was fleeing on the ground. Zhang Ren frequently looked back and used his advantage of being at the bottom to continuously attack Meng Huo's mount, hoping that Meng Huo would not be able to chase him on horseback, so that he would still have a chance to escape.

Meng Huo also saw through Zhang Ren's thoughts, but he ignored them and continued to attack Zhang Ren. Both of them were gambling. Meng Huo was gambling that Zhang Ren would not be able to break his horse's legs before he killed him, and Zhang Ren was also gambling that he could break Meng Huo's horse's legs before Meng Huo killed him, making it impossible for Meng Huo to chase him.

After the two fought three times, Zhang Ren suddenly turned over and avoided Meng Huo's move of splitting Huashan. At the same time, he swung out with the butt of his spear like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, and the horse's leg was broken. Seeing Meng Huo falling forward as his horse lost balance, Zhang Ren seized this hard-won opportunity and stabbed out with his spear, aiming directly at Meng Huo's head.

Seeing that he could not avoid the attack, Meng Huo slapped the horse's head with his other hand, and used the force to bounce up from the ground and avoid the fatal blow. However, his mount was in a miserable state. Its head was shattered by Meng Huo's slap, and it fell to the ground helplessly.

Zhang Ren's shot missed, and he turned and left without any hesitation. That was the best chance to kill Meng Huo, but he failed to do it. If he continued fighting, it would be a fool for Zhang Ren.

At the same time, four riders also joined the battle. The four men rode their horses, surrounded Meng Huo in the middle, and attacked Meng Huo together. The generals on the barbarian side were not stupid either. They also rushed out five riders. Surprisingly, each of them was a first-class general and joined the battlefield at this moment.

What was originally a one-on-one fight between Meng Huo and Zhang Ren suddenly turned into a melee between the generals of both sides.

In the center of the battlefield, Meng Huo, who had just escaped the siege, was staring at Zhang Ren with eyes like an eagle. He had made up his mind that no matter what the cost, he must kill Zhang Ren here. With that shot just now, Meng Huo truly felt the threat of death. It was the first time he had such a feeling, and it made him feel very nervous.

Zhang Ren was also staring at Meng Huo in the crowd. If the barbarians had not sent troops, they could have retreated. However, the other side had also sent people, and they had an advantage in numbers. There was also Meng Huo, a famous general who was far superior to the others. This situation was full of dangers.

If Zhang Ren wanted to save himself, he would have to turn around and run now, and then the four of them would undoubtedly all die here.

(End of this chapter)