When Lü Kuang saw Huang Zhong coming to attack him, he was so scared that he turned around and ran away. The Cao army's formation was in chaos and they trampled on each other.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led their troops to charge in, like a tiger among a flock of sheep. Wherever they passed, people and horses fell to the ground, which made Liu Qi's blood boil on his horse.
Fighting on the battlefield and bloody fighting are the dream of every passionate man. Such brutal and bloody killings even make him feel the beast in his heart stirring.
"Those who surrender will not be killed!" Zhang Fei raised his snake spear high and shouted like a bolt from the blue, resounding throughout the venue.
Guan Yu stood up on his Red Hare horse, stroked his long beard with his sword, and scanned the whole place with murderous intent. The Cao army had long been intimidated by Guan Yu's reputation, and they threw down their weapons and knelt in surrender.
Lu Kuang fled in panic amid the chaos. Just as he rushed out of the rear, he saw a cavalry group blocking his way in front of him. Leading them was a general, riding a white horse and wearing a white robe, standing on his horse with a spear in his hand.
"Anyone who stands in my way will die!" Lu Kuang was eager to escape at this time, and seeing that there were only 500 people, he raised his knife and rushed forward.
Zhao Yun rode his horse and came at full speed, holding his spear in his hand. When the two horses met, they heard Lu Kuang howling miserably, and he flew off the horse's back and fell heavily into the grass in the distance, lying motionless.
"Zhao Zilong of Changshan is here. Those who surrender will not be killed!"
With a loud shout, Cao's army was shocked and all gathered together. At this time, Huang Zhong also led his troops to chase after them. With nowhere to go, they surrendered one after another.
The entire battle lasted less than half an hour. Two generals of Lu Xiang were beheaded, more than 3,000 Cao soldiers were captured, the rest were killed or wounded and fled, and countless weapons and horses were seized.
Liu Qi was waiting excitedly outside the city. If four of the Five Tiger Generals were dispatched in this battle, they would be able to crush the enemy with ease.
Four generals came to the city together to report to Liu Qi. They were covered in blood and looked terrifying. The morale of the soldiers behind them was high.
Liu Qi laughed and said, "You are truly today's great generals. Your reputation is well-deserved. It really opened my eyes."
Guan Yu twirled his beard and glanced at Huang Zhong on his left hand, then gently closed his phoenix eyes and restrained his edge.
"It's not pleasant to surrender without fighting!" Zhang Fei was still not satisfied and kept complaining.
Liu Qi smiled and said, "Generals, don't worry. The front army has been defeated. Cao Ren will surely raise an army to seek revenge. The fun is just about to begin."
Zhang Fei shouted, "Leave Cao Ren to me!"
These people are born generals. Only on the battlefield can they be completely released and get out of the grief of losing their loved ones as soon as possible.
Liu Qi and his generals entered the city, ordered his men to guard the prisoners, held a banquet to celebrate the victory, and rewarded the troops.
The several hundred war horses were selected by Zhao Yun, as the cavalry in the army were not enough for him to lead alone.
Cao Ren was waiting for news in Fancheng, thinking that Liu Qi was vulnerable and the two Lu brothers would be able to capture Xinye.
Suddenly, hundreds of defeated soldiers fled back and reported that the two Lu brothers were killed and most of the soldiers were captured. In fact, the entire army was wiped out. They were furious and wanted to raise an army to take revenge.
Li Dian, a military officer, said: "Although Liu Qi is weak, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are still brave. We should not underestimate the enemy."
Cao Ren said angrily, "Xinye is just a tiny place. If it weren't for the Prime Minister's orders, even if Liu Xuande was there, I would have been able to crush it. Liu Qi is just a weak boy, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are brave but not wise. Why should we be afraid of them?"
Li Dian said: "Fancheng is an important place in Nanyang. We cannot send out all the troops. We need to guard against the troops in Xiangyang."
Cao Ren smiled and said, "You are worrying too much, General. I have already deployed scouts along the river. Even if troops come from Xiangyang, the garrison is sufficient to defend. Once I conquer Xinye, it won't be too late to return to help."
At that time, he ordered Li Dian to be the vanguard and led 20,000 troops to rush to Xinye, leaving only 3,000 new troops to defend the city.
After a great victory yesterday, the morale of the Xinye defenders was high. They persuaded the prisoners to surrender and increased their strength to 10,000. Zhao Yun's cavalry was also expanded to 1,000.
While they were training, a scout came to report that Cao Ren had led his entire army to take revenge.
Liu Qi summoned all the generals and said, "Cao Ren has come in person to seek revenge. I want to recapture Nanyang in one battle. Generals, you must follow my plan and make no mistakes."
Everyone was shocked. Guan Yu's eyes slightly opened with a sharp light. They all felt that Liu Qi was overambitious and had become too proud of himself after a small victory.
Liu Qi smiled and said, "We need to proceed step by step. Let's set a small goal first: capture Cao Ren and take Fancheng. How about that?"
Zhang Fei shouted, "Leave Cao Ren to me, and leave the rest to me."
Xu Shu said: "Cao Ren has many soldiers. We should not allow him to enter the city. We should set up camp outside the city and fight with him until we have the chance to defeat him."
Liu Qi nodded and said, "Military Advisor is absolutely right!"
He ordered Zhao Yun as the vanguard, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led the army to go out of the city and set up camp east of Baihe River, while Wei Yan was still left to guard the city.
All the generals led their troops away. After the army was dispatched, Liu Qi called the depressed Wei Yan and asked with a smile: "Wen Chang, are you blaming me for not using you?"
Wei Yan looked unprepared, but said, "I dare not."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "There is no need to mobilize many generals for just a few small soldiers. I didn't ask Wen Chang to go out these days because I didn't want Cao's army to recognize me. I have other uses."
Wei Yan's worry turned into joy, and he clasped his fists and said, "Please give me your orders, General."
Liu Qi said, "Cao Ren has come out in full force this time, so Fancheng must be empty. I want you to take advantage of this opportunity to seize it. Do you dare to go?"
Wei Yan said loudly: "I will not refuse death!"
Liu Qi took out two letters and said, "Liu Mi, the magistrate of Fancheng County, is from Changsha and a relative of the Han Dynasty. He has a good relationship with my father and surrendered to Cao because of the situation. When the two armies confront each other, Wen Chang will rush to Fancheng overnight and use this letter to secretly contact Liu Qin, so that Fancheng can be taken."
"As you wish!" Wei Yan took it and saw that the other letter was unsigned, so he asked, "Who did you give this letter to?"
Liu Qi smiled and said, "I'll leave this letter for you to use. If you can successfully enter the city, follow the strategy in the book."
"Yes, sir!" Wei Yan was deeply impressed by Liu Qi's ability to plan ahead and gladly accepted the order.
Liu Qi also transferred Fu Rong and Wei Yan to accompany him, and left Huo Jun and others to guard Xinye. After everything was arranged, he and Huang Zhong rode to the camp.
During this period, he tried several times to persuade Xu Shu to bring his mother over, but Xu Shu was a very filial son and did not want his old mother to travel as the journey was long. In addition, the border inspections were extremely strict and he was frightened along the way. He thought his identity was secretive, so he politely declined.
Now that the war has started, it is even more impossible to go to Yingchuan to pick up people. Even if he finds out that the letter from Xu's mother is fake, Xu Shu will still go to Xuchang to rescue people. He can't stop others from fulfilling their filial piety, right
The authenticity of the letter was no longer relevant. What was important was that the hostages were in Cao Cao's hands. This was an open conspiracy, so Liu Bei was unable to dissuade him at the time.
Seeing that Xu Shu was about to be tricked, Liu Qi became anxious and suddenly came up with a plan. He decided to capture Cao Ren and use him in exchange for Xu's mother.
As a relative of the Cao clan and Cao Cao's trusted general, I don't believe that Boss Cao will not agree!
Moreover, Cao Ren was related to his plan to capture Wancheng, so the most crucial thing in this battle was to capture Cao Ren alive. If he died or escaped, it would not be considered a success.
Along the way, he was thinking about the various battles that were about to happen, and before he knew it, he arrived at the camp. Guan Yu had already set up camp, and the three camps in front and back were properly arranged.
Liu Qi went up to the tent to discuss matters and reiterated to all the generals: "The purpose of this battle is to capture Cao Ren alive. Using him as a hostage, we can threaten Cao Cao and delay his army's march south. We must not harm his life."
Zhang Fei patted his chest and said, "Leave it to me!"