Xu Shang knelt down and begged for mercy, and told the story of how Ma Yan had broken into the ambush and rushed into the camp alone without listening to Xu Huang's dissuasion.
All the generals tried to persuade him, and Cao Hong ordered his men to bring Xu Huang back. In fact, he did not dare to execute Xu Huang on his own, but he had no place to vent his anger, and his face turned blue with anger.
He walked back and forth for a few steps with his hands behind his back before asking, "Since Ma Yan was ambushed, why didn't you go to rescue him?"
Xu Huang said helplessly: "Liu Qi had been prepared, and Zhang Fei rushed out from the camp. The morale of the soldiers was low, and they had no intention of fighting, so they had to retreat."
Zhang Yi felt a sense of grief over the loss of a rabbit and the grief of the fox. He pointed at Xu Huang and shouted, "Ma Yan saved you, but you watched him die. How can this be possible!"
Cao Hong snorted coldly and said, "Liu Qi has won a great victory, so he must think that I dare not advance. How about you raid the camp tonight to atone for your sin?"
Xu Huang was shocked and said, "General, the enemy was successful in the raid last time. They must be prepared. If we go again, I'm afraid..."
"Xu Gongming, it's a pity that the Prime Minister has placed such high hopes on you!" Cao Hong interrupted him and said in a deep voice, "It was during the last raid that Liu Qi must have thought that I dared not go again. If we do the opposite, we will surely catch him off guard. If I don't avenge this, how can I lead the army in the future? I will go with you."
Xu Huang also felt guilty about Ma Yan's affairs, so he agreed and decided that even if he died on the battlefield tonight, he would never retreat.
In the Taohuayi camp, Ma Yan was taken to the central army tent. Liu Qi asked with a smile, "Are you willing to surrender?"
Ma Yan nodded and said, "In the past, my lord was cornered by Cao's army and had no choice but to surrender. I am willing to follow the general to eliminate the treacherous villains and avenge my lord."
Liu Qi was overjoyed and personally untied Ma Yan. He ordered people to give him wine to calm him down and asked him for information about Cao's army. Ma Yan reported everything truthfully.
At this time, he also hoped that Cao Hong would be defeated or even die on the battlefield, so that his surrender to the enemy would seem more wise.
"Master, Xu Huang left behind on the road..."
As they were talking, Zhang Fei rushed into the tent. Seeing Ma Yan present, he suddenly covered his mouth and his eyes widened like bells.
Ma Yan was shocked. Zhang Fei had just gone to chase and kill Xu Huang and returned to the camp to report. Could it be that they were secretly communicating with each other
Liu Qi's expression changed slightly, then he smiled and said, "Yide, don't panic. General Ma has already turned from evil to good and will help me get rid of Cao and avenge the Yuan family."
Zhang Fei then breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to say something but held back and said goodbye and left the tent.
Ma Yan looked at Liu Qi in disbelief: "So, General Xu...he has already?"
Although he desperately hoped that Xu Huang would surrender to the enemy, he also knew that the possibility was extremely low. Even though Zhang Fei had just said it by mistake, he still didn't dare to believe it.
Liu Qi raised his glass and said with a smile: "The general is already one of us, so there is no need to hide it. General Xu is also one of us."
"This..." Ma Yan was stunned.
Liu Qi smiled and said, "General, do you still remember when Cao's army took Nanyang and Xu Huang led his troops to pursue the enemy at Bowang Slope, but was ambushed and defeated by Guan Yu?"
"I remember it!" Ma Yan nodded and said, "At that time, the general retreated to Bowang City, leaving Zhang Fei to guard the city. Prime Minister Cao... No, Cao ordered us to surround the city and divide our forces to chase after him. It was Xu Huang who led the troops. I and Cao Hong guarded the west gate of Bowang City, but Xu Huang was defeated. Guan Yu came back to support him, and Zhang Fei rushed out of the city. Cao Xiu couldn't hold them at the south gate, so he let the two of them escape."
Liu Qi said with emotion: "In fact, at that time, Xu Huang had been captured by Guan Yu and persuaded to surrender. It was only because his family members were all in Xuchang and were afraid that they would be killed by Cao Cao, and they also wanted to rescue Zhang Fei, that they made a temporary plan to let Xu Huang stay in Cao's camp temporarily and wait for an opportunity to make contributions."
"Hiss—Is this true?" Ma Yan took a breath and said in astonishment: "No wonder the battle at Wuguan is not going well..."
The Battle of Nanyang has been going on for nearly a year. Xu Huang has been lurking in Cao's camp for so long. If it weren't for Cao Hong leading the troops, wouldn't he have handed over Chang'an
Liu Qi smiled proudly and said, "General, don't be surprised. If Xu Huang hadn't failed at Wuguan, how could he have asked Cao Hong to send troops? Within a month, I will kill Cao Hong and enter Chang'an!"
Ma Yan was shocked. He never thought that Liu Qi would have such a strategy. Leaving Xu Huang behind to capture Chang'an was a long enough plan.
In addition to being shocked, he admired Liu Qi even more. He stood up, clasped his fists and said, "General, your calculations are indeed brilliant. There are less than 5,000 soldiers guarding Chang'an now, and only 3,000 soldiers are available. When we counterattack, I am willing to be the vanguard and charge into Chang'an City."
Liu Qi nodded and smiled: "The general is familiar with the situation in Chang'an, and will definitely rely on you when the time comes."
Ma Yan was overjoyed, and Liu Qi asked him to go down and rest first, and bring the captives back to Wuguan early the next morning to receive orders.
As soon as it got dark, Liu Qi suddenly ordered a banquet to celebrate the victory and invited Ma Yan. He saw Pang Tong, Zhang Fei, Fu Rong and others were also there.
Ma Yan was puzzled and asked, "The war is going on now. We should discipline the three armies and celebrate our victory after we capture Chang'an. Why are you so lazy, General? You must know that arrogant soldiers will be defeated."
He had personally experienced this in the armies of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Now that Cao Hong also had this tendency, he naturally felt it the most deeply.
Liu Qi laughed and said, "Look everyone, I said General Ma is loyal and not perfunctory. Please take a seat."
Ma Yan sat below Fu Rong and became more and more confused when he saw everyone laughing.
Pang Tong pulled his beard and looked Ma Yan up and down, and said with a smile: "Just now I doubted the general's sincerity, but after hearing what you said, it seems that he has returned to his heart."
Ma Yan was immediately displeased and pretended to be angry and said, "I am sincere, but the general is still testing me. This is really disheartening."
Liu Qi waved his hand and smiled, "The celebration banquet was not held to test the general. It was just a matter of following the trend. In fact, there is another purpose."
Ma Yan was stunned: "I wonder what the general means?"
Liu Qi said, "Xu Huang just secretly sent someone to inform us that Cao Hong is going to raid the camp tonight. This is to show Cao's spies."
"Ah, this..." Although he had already surrendered to Liu Qi, Ma Yan was still shocked to hear the news. He immediately asked, "What about the last raid?"
Liu Qi smiled and said, "We were well prepared last time and retreated overnight. Not many soldiers and horses were injured. We just lured the enemy deeper into our territory."
Ma Yan recalled that when Cao Hong raided the camp, although he got some baggage and weapons, he didn't kill many enemy soldiers because Zhang Fei was the last one to leave. He nodded repeatedly and said, "I wonder what plans the general has for this time?"
Liu Qi was confident, as if he had everything under control. He waved his hand forward and said, "This time, Cao Hong will definitely come but never return. We need someone tonight, so you don't have to go back to Wuguan first."
Ma Yan didn't expect that the opportunity to make meritorious deeds would come so soon, and he quickly clasped his fists and said, "I will obey your orders."
Liu Qi looked at Pang Tong and said, "Please ask the military advisor to arrange the troops."
Pang Tong clasped his fists and accepted the order, and said, "Yide, listen to my orders!"
"I am here!" Zhang Fei quickly drank the remaining wine in the cup and stood up to receive the order.
Pang Tong said, "Ten miles from here to Wuguan there is Crouching Tiger Hill. I order you to lead 5,000 soldiers to ambush there. If you see Cao Hong chasing us, let his front part pass and then cut him off from the waist."
Zhang Fei took the order and left. Pang Tong ordered Fu Rong and Ma Yan to guard the camp and wait for Cao's army to attack. After pretending to resist for a while, they would abandon the camp and retreat to Wohugang. When a fire broke out on the hilltop, they would turn back and fight back.
Pang Tong originally planned to let Liu Qi go first, but Liu Qi insisted on staying in the camp, wanting to advance and retreat with the other generals, personally lure the enemy, and let Cao Hong chase with all his strength to ensure that nothing could go wrong.
Ma Yan was also deeply moved and felt deeply moved. Liu Qi, a weak scholar, had such courage. No wonder the Jingzhou army was united and defeated Cao's army.
When Yuan Shao fought Gongsun and Cao Cao defended Guandu, they both went to the front line to boost morale. Why did everything change later