Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 135 129. Cao Ren Arrives
"Report, General, there is a large camp of our army thirty miles ahead. It is headed by General Niu Jin and General Xiahou Ba."

Within a few days, Cao Ren's troops had crossed Xinye, headed straight for Deng County, and entered the territory of the "old" Jingzhou.

"Hmm? Why is Zhong Quan here? Well, let's go and see what Zhong Quan and Niu Jin have done."

Cao Ren chuckled. These two people had a close relationship with Cao Ren.

Needless to say, Xiahou Ba was the son of Xiahou Yuan, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he and Cao Ren were uncle and nephew. As Xiahou Yuan's only son, Cao Ren usually took good care of him.

Niu Jin had followed Cao Ren and Zhou Yu's favorite general since the battle between them in Nanjun. When Niu Jin was besieged by Zhou Yu, Cao Ren even led his troops to rescue Niu Jin personally, which shows how well Niu Jin was treated by Cao Ren.

Cao Ren's appointment of these two as vanguards may have been a means of promotion and gilding. After all, vanguards have to clear the way through mountains, build bridges across rivers, and prepare the garrison for the subsequent central army in advance. Doing these things well is meritorious. If they can kill the generals, seize the flags, and capture the pass, it will naturally be even more meritorious.

Even if they lose the battle, it won't be a big problem. After all, they are the vanguard, so it's not surprising if they lose. They can still perform the role of firepower reconnaissance. It can be said that as long as the two of them come back alive, they have basically done nothing wrong.

"Haha, Zhong Quan, and you old man, why are you setting up camp here? Could it be that the Shu army is counterattacking?"

When the two armies met, Cao Ren and generals including Xu Huang, Cao Zhen, Wen Pin and others came to the big tent and met Niu Jin and Xiahou Ba. Cao Ren didn't care about other people's eyes at all and greeted the two with the face of a kind elder.

"Uncle Zixiao, it is my incompetence. I fought a great battle with the Shu army a few days ago and suffered heavy casualties. I was also harassed by the Shu army and was overwhelmed. I had no choice but to retreat 20 miles and retreat here."

"General, I am also at fault. I failed to detect the Shu army's trick in time, which led to Zhong Quan falling into the Shu army's evil plan and being seriously injured. I am willing to accept the punishment."

Xiahou Ba's face flushed, and he knelt on one knee to ask for punishment. Niu Jin saw that Xiahou Ba had said so, so how could he, the commander, stay out of it? He had no choice but to kneel on one knee and take some of the blame on himself.

"Zhong Quan is injured? Let me see where he is injured. Has the doctor been to see him?"

Unexpectedly, Cao Ren didn't care much about the losses mentioned by Xiahou Ba. Cao Ren had been a soldier all his life. Before he came, he took a look at Xiahou Ba's camp. There were many Wei soldiers coming and going inside, and none of them were particularly dire. So he knew that the losses would not exceed five thousand.

In comparison, if something happened to Xiahou Ba, it would be a major loss, and Cao Ren would probably not be able to face the brothers Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun for a few years.

"Uncle Zixiao, it's nothing. I was just tricked by that shameless young Han general. When I was retreating, he shot me in the back and arm with two hidden arrows. It's nothing serious."

When Feng Xi and Xiahou Ba were mentioned, they were so angry that their teeth itched, but they still responded to Cao Ren's concern first.

"Oh? Who is leading the Shu army on the opposite side? How could they hurt Zhong Quan?"

Cao Ren glanced at Niu Jin and asked.

"General, when Zhong Quan and I first arrived, the Shu army was led by a scholar, Huang Quan, Huang Gongheng, who led the troops to guard Fancheng. Later, the Shu army's reinforcements arrived one after another. Guan Xing came in the middle, and behind him was a young general who claimed to be Zhang Nan, the commander-in-chief of the Shu army's navy."

Niu Jin did not dare to be negligent and reported truthfully.

"Navy Commander Zhang Nan? He's the one who hurt you?"

There was a hint of doubt in Cao Ren's eyes, and he looked at Xiahou Ba and asked.

"Yes, Uncle Zixiao, that's what the man said, and he also humiliated my father, saying that he was a 'farmer who sells fake medicine'. Uncle Zixiao, I will not be a human being if I don't avenge myself!" Feng Xi had not expected that the two casual curses he had uttered before would leave such a huge psychological trauma on Xiahou Ba, making him hold a grudge until now. This was also something Feng Xi had not expected.

"This is quite strange. Niu Jin, tell me in detail what happened that day."

As a veteran, Cao Ren had already noticed something unreasonable. After all, the generals of the Han army's eastern expedition had done their homework, and they knew the names of Zhang Nan, Feng Xi and others.

Cao Ren also knew that Zhang Nan definitely didn't have the ability to beat Xiahou Ba like this. Zhang Nan had made quite a few military achievements since the Eastern Expedition, but the people he killed were all unknown generals like Xie Jing, so the Wei State didn't pay much attention to him and only "knew" about him.

However, both Cao Pi and Cao Ren were quite cautious with Feng Xi, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition Army.

Feng Xi quickly became famous from the beginning of the Eastern Expedition by stepping on the corpses of a group of old and experienced generals of the Eastern Wu who were well known to Cao Wei, such as Han Dang and Jiang Qin. He even turned the tide in the Battle of Yiling when everyone thought that the Han army was doomed to lose.

In Cao Wei's view, Feng Xi's martial arts were definitely first-rate. The fact that he could defeat people like Jiang Qin and Han Dang showed in itself that his martial arts were extraordinary.

Niu Jin recounted the details of what happened that day, and Cao Ren frowned. It was obvious that the other party deliberately showed weakness to the enemy in order to provoke Xiahou Ba's anger. Then, when Xiahou Ba was unable to extricate himself from the rage, he suddenly exerted his full strength and caught Xiahou Ba by surprise.

If it weren't for Xiahou Ba's extraordinary martial arts, quick reaction and good luck, he would have probably been defeated by this man.

"This man is definitely not Zhang Nan. Zhang Nan is just a naval commander. Logically, he should be at most on the same level as Huang Quan. How can he be so powerful? The only one who can make brave generals like Guan Xing willing to be under his command and who is so cunning is probably the commander-in-chief of the Shu army, Feng Xi, Feng Xiuyuan."

After a little thought, Cao Ren guessed that Feng Xi was impersonating someone else.

"Ah?! Feng Xiuyuan is such a shameless person! He actually pretended to be his subordinate!"

After listening to Cao Ren's analysis, Niu Jin suddenly realized what was going on and couldn't help but curse Feng Xi a few times.

"If Feng Xi comes here in person, this battle might be a little troublesome. Niu Jin, you just said that the big man who stopped you, did Feng Xi call him 'Bao Feng'?"

"Yes, General, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I heard from Wenyuan that there were four famous families in Bingzhou in the past, and one of them was the Bao family. But later the Bao family disappeared. I didn't expect to see their family members in Jingzhou."

Cao Ren shook his head, but he still felt a little worried.

"Feng Xi, Guan Xing, Bao Feng, Fu Zhun... How many talented people are there in the Shu army? It seems that Liu Da'er has been like this from the beginning. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun... Why are all the talented people in the world so willing to serve him?"

Cao Ren sighed inwardly, wondering what charm Liu Bei had that could make such a large group of brave generals and counselors willingly work for him.

Shaking his head, Cao Ren dismissed these issues that were not his concern and asked Niu Jin seriously:

"Niu Jin, do you know how many enemy soldiers there are?"

A general on the battlefield should know both himself and the enemy. If he doesn't even know how many people are on the opposite side, there is no need to fight the battle.

(End of this chapter)