When Xu Huang received the order from Cao Hong, he could not wait to lead his troops to avenge the previous humiliation.
The soldiers of Jingzhou only relied on the geographical advantage of Wuguan to win. When it comes to deploying troops, he is confident that he can defeat the enemy.
Even though Zhang Fei was brave, he had beaten his three brothers many times in the Central Plains and forced them to flee in panic.
When he arrived at Shangluo with Generals Xu Shang and Lu Jian, he saw the enemy camp and wanted to fight. Xu Huang personally stepped forward and challenged Zhang Fei and Wei Yan to fight.
A moment later, there was a drum sound, the camp gate opened, and Zhang Fei came out with his Zhangba Snake Spear in hand, laughing and saying, "Xu Gongming, last time I told you not to leave, you fled, and now you're here to die again?"
Xu Huang said in a deep voice: "Zhang Fei, if it wasn't a sneak attack, how could you have succeeded? Have you forgotten how you were as frightened as a dog that had lost its home when you were in the Central Plains?"
Zhang Fei was furious and thrust forward with his snake spear. Xu Huang raised his axe to meet him. The two fought in front of the camp for more than thirty rounds without a clear winner.
Liu Qi was watching the battle at the camp gate. Xu Huang was indeed brave. His martial arts ability was second only to Zhang Liao among the Five Elite Generals. However, Xu Chu was the only one in Cao's army who could fight against the Five Tiger Generals.
Sure enough, after forty rounds, Xu Huang was gradually defeated. Zhang Fei had amazing physical strength. He fought Xu Chu naked and Ma Chao at night, and was as tireless as a bull.
No one else can match this kind of innate talent no matter how hard they try!
After barely holding on for another four or five rounds, Zhang Fei's snake spear became more and more powerful, like a strange python. He attacked seven or eight times in a row, forcing Xu Huang to panic and turn his horse and run away.
"Still want to leave?" Zhang Fei was furious and rode his horse to chase after him.
Xu Shang and Lu Jian hurried forward to support, but Zhang Fei stabbed with his spear and knocked Lu Jian off his horse in one move. Xu Shang was horrified and fled with Xu Huang.
"Beat the drum!" Liu Qi immediately ordered the troops to advance, and Fu Rong led the troops to charge behind him.
Xu Huang retreated to his main camp in defeat, and before he could recover, Zhang Fei had already galloped over. No one in Cao's army dared to stop him, and the central army was in chaos, fleeing in all directions.
Zhang Fei chased Xu Huang so hard that he ran away in a panic, and the troops behind him were in chaos. Fu Rong took advantage of the situation and led his troops to charge and kill Cao's army, forcing them to have no where to go. They abandoned their weapons and fled into the mountains and forests.
Just when they were in a panic, Cao Hong arrived with his troops. Seeing the people and horses ahead running around in a panic, he became furious and led his troops to guard the intersection.
When Zhang Fei saw Cao's army approaching, he stopped his horse and had no choice but to let Xu Huang escape back to the camp with his remaining troops.
Cao Hong's face turned pale. He didn't bother to deal with Xu Huang. He rode forward and shouted, "Zhang Fei, the Prime Minister treated Liu Bei well and protected his family. How dare you repay kindness with hatred?"
Zhang Fei was furious and said, "If there was no Cao thief causing chaos in the world, why would my brothers fight each other? My elder brother's revenge is all because of Cao thief."
When talking about Liu Bei, Zhang Fei became filled with grief and indignation. If they had not been forced by the thief Cao, why would they have run around everywhere and eventually ended up in Jingzhou and were harmed by the villain Cai Mao
"You thief with round eyes, you can't tell right from wrong!" Cao Hong was furious and rode his horse to fight Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei fought with Cao Hong for more than twenty rounds, then pretended to be defeated and turned his horse around and fled.
Cao Hong led his troops in pursuit, but Fu Rong had already provided support in the rear. The soldiers from Jingzhou blocked the main roads, let Zhang Fei pass, and fired arrows at will, forcing Cao's army to retreat.
Cao Hong camped his troops at the foot of the mountain. In the central military tent, Xu Huang knelt on the ground in embarrassment, with his head lowered and not saying a word. He had no words to say after being defeated by Zhang Fei this time.
Cao Hong did not blame Xu Huang this time. He chuckled and said, "Zhang Fei is as brave as Guan Yu. General Xu, since you know you cannot defeat him, you should not challenge him. Save him for the future."
Xu Huang was filled with shame and clasped his fists, saying, "Although Zhang Fei is brave, he is also very reckless. We cannot defeat him by force. We should use strategy to defeat him."
"How did I get rid of him?" Cao Hong sneered and waved his hand, saying, "Gongming, go to the rear camp and rest. Watch how I defeat the enemy."
Xu Huang sighed, withdrew and reorganized his troops. Cao Hong summoned Generals Ma Yan and Zhang Xi to discuss matters and prepare to retake Shangluo tomorrow.
The next day, Cao Hong led his troops to the front of the camp to challenge him. Pang Tong first ordered Fu Rong to fight, but he was defeated by Cao Hong after more than ten rounds.
Zhang Fei went out of the camp again to meet the enemy. The two fought for forty or fifty rounds. Zhang Fei was defeated and retreated, and the morale of Cao's army boosted greatly.
Cao Hong called on Liu Qi to fight, showed off his might outside the camp, and ordered his soldiers to take turns shouting and cursing, but the Jingzhou army just closed the camp gates and defended it.
Cao Hong had no choice but to order Ma Yan and Zhang Xi to charge the camp, but they were shot back by arrows. Seeing that it was getting late, he led his troops back to the camp.
After dinner, Cao Hong thought that if Liu Qi stayed in the camp and did not come out, he did not know when he would take back Wuguan. All the troops in Chang'an had been dispatched, so he could not stay outside for long. So he summoned all the generals to discuss and prepare to raid the camp overnight.
Ma Yan immediately agreed: "Liu Qi's troops were killed by the general today and dared not leave the camp. Their morale is low. If we go to rob the camp now, we will surely win."
Zhang Xi also requested the order, saying, "I am willing to be the vanguard."
Xu Huang said, "Liu Qi is full of tricks, and he has Pang Tong as his strategist. Now I only saw Zhang Fei, but not Wei Yan. I'm afraid he has other plans. We need to be careful and not attack rashly."
Cao Hong sneered, "Gong Ming has suffered a few defeats, so he is afraid of the enemy? Wei Yan is not in the army, he must have been transferred back to guard Wuguan, so it is a good time to raid the camp."
Xu Huang urged: "General, mobilize all the troops in Chang'an. First, you should establish an invincible position, and then think of a strategy to repel the enemy. If you rush to attack, once you lose your troops, you may also lose Chang'an."
"How dare you!" Cao Hong was furious. "You have not even fought yet, and you have already undermined my military prestige. What is your intention? Are you afraid that I will defeat Liu Qi and look bad in front of the Prime Minister?"
Xu Huang hurriedly said, "I am dedicated to the public, and what does personal honor and disgrace matter to me? I have absolutely no such intention. I just ask the general to put the overall situation first."
Cao Hong said coldly: "You were defeated today and lost many soldiers and generals, but I didn't punish you. Now you are slowing down our army's morale. If you don't think that the army is about to march, you will behead me. I don't think you will be convinced by the punishment now. I will argue with you when I return victorious."
He immediately transferred Xu Huang to the rear army to guard the main camp, and he led his troops and raided the camp overnight with Generals Ma Yan and Zhang Xi.
After three o'clock in the morning, Cao Hong led his troops to move out. Xu Huang did not dare to be careless, fearing that Liu Qi would launch a surprise attack, so he personally led the troops to patrol, thinking that if Wei Yan dared to come, capturing him would be a good way to atone for his crime.
When Cao Hong arrived at the Shangluo camp, he saw torches lit at the camp gate. Although there were soldiers patrolling, they were very lazy and careless and were not on high alert.
After observing for a while, he was secretly delighted. It was the transition from spring to summer and the east wind was strong in the canyon. He ordered 500 elite soldiers to set fire to both sides of the camp gate.
When the torches burned the fence and the flames shot up into the sky, the defenders began to shout in panic. Some people beat drums to warn people, and some shouted to put out the fire. The defenders at the camp gate were in chaos.
"The time has come!" Cao Hong shouted and led his troops straight to the camp gate.
Ma Yan and Zhang Yi came to the rescue shortly afterwards. The soldiers guarding the camp were in chaos and could not resist at all, and Cao's army rushed in.
Suddenly, shouts of killing rang out in the camp, and the Jingzhou soldiers ran around. Cao Hong went straight to the center of the army, but was stopped by Zhang Fei who hurried over. Fu Rong protected Liu Qi and fled in a panic.
Zhang Fei held out for a while, but seeing the fire rising to the sky and Cao's army growing in number, he had no desire to continue fighting and fled with the remaining soldiers.
Cao Hong chased him out of the camp and laughed loudly in the night wind, "Ring-eyed thief, if you follow Liu Qi, you will also be a dog that has lost its home, hahahaha—"