In Mianzhu City, Zhang Ren organized his troops and went to guard Mianzhu Pass. A scout came to report that the Jingzhou troops were approaching, and he went out to meet them in person.
Liu Qi sent Chen Dao as the vanguard and led 3,000 soldiers in front. When he saw the defenders formed a battle formation, he went out and called on Zhang Ren to fight.
Deputy General Zhuo Ying said: "This is an unknown vanguard. I am willing to offer his head as a gift."
Zhang Ren sent Zhuo Ying to meet the enemy. After fighting with Chen Dao for more than ten rounds, he could no longer hold out and was defeated and retreated back into the battle formation. Zhang Ren had to go out himself.
The two men fought in front of the battle line, raising dust and shouting to the sky. After thirty or forty rounds, there was no clear winner, and the Shu army was shocked.
Fei Guan from Guan Shang accompanied Huang Quan to watch the battle. Seeing this, he sighed and said, "Chen Dao is not well-known in Jingzhou, but he has such a skill. If Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others come, who can stop him?"
Huang Quan frowned. In Chengdu, he advised Liu Zhang to concentrate his forces in Mianzhu and defeat Liu Qi in one fell swoop. The troops from Jiangzhou in the south could not hold on alone and would naturally retreat.
However, Zhang Song believed that Liu Qi divided his troops in order to encroach on the territory and isolate Chengdu, so he must divide his troops to intercept them. Otherwise, if the Jingzhou army attacked Chengdu, it would be an urgent matter.
Liu Zhang was already in a state of panic, and did not dare to let the enemy army get close to Chengdu. He ordered Ling Bao, Liu Gui and others to lead their troops to disperse and meet the enemy, and he himself was appointed as the Sima and followed the army.
Although Huang Quan knew that Zhang Song was behind this, he strongly advocated fighting. If he refused at this time, he would be laughed at. Moreover, with a powerful enemy at the door, he had no choice but to fight.
I had thought that Zhang Ren would be able to win the battle if he led the troops personally. But seeing this situation, I realized how strong the Jingzhou troops are. Now the troops are scattered. If they are defeated one by one, Chengdu will be in danger!
What worries him even more is the rear. Zhang Song plans to send him out of Chengdu, and Liu Zhang obeys his orders. Once the enemy approaches the city, he is afraid that his backyard will be on fire.
While watching the battle, I suddenly saw more troops coming from a distance. The first one was a general in black armor and on a black horse, carrying dust and sand, like a rolling dark cloud. I hurriedly sounded the horn to call back the troops.
Zhang Ren withdrew his troops and returned to the city, dissatisfied and said: "I was about to kill a general, why did the commander sound the horn?"
Huang Quan replied: "The reinforcements from Jingzhou have arrived. I think that man must be Zhang Fei. I am afraid that the general will be in trouble. Two fists cannot defeat four hands!"
Zhang Ren snorted slightly, but he also knew that Huang Quan meant well and did not blame him. However, he had fought with Chen Dao for more than fifty rounds and finally gained the upper hand. It would be a pity to stop there.
Just as he was wiping his sweat, he heard someone outside the city shouting loudly, the voice was like thunder, calling out Zhang Ren's name.
When they arrived at the top of the city wall, they saw a general who looked like a black iron tower, with a chin like a swallow and a beard like a tiger. He held a snake spear and shouted, "Zhang Ren, Zhang Yide from Yan is here. Do you dare to fight?"
Zhang Ren's defenders all looked grim. They were worried about not being able to defeat Chen Dao just now, and were also frightened by Zhang Fei's momentum. They picked up their guns and were ready to leave the city.
Huang Quan laughed and said, "Zhang Yide, I heard that the general is brave enough to fight against ten thousand men, but it turns out that he is just taking advantage of others' misfortune!"
Zhang Fei was furious and asked, "Who are you to dare to comment on me?"
Huang Quan said, "General Zhang, we have just fought a fierce battle and our men and horses are exhausted. Why are you challenging us to a fight again?"
Zhang Fei shouted: "Okay, I'll let you rest for a day, and we can fight again tomorrow!"
Seeing the Jingzhou soldiers retreating, Huang Quan breathed a sigh of relief, and Zhang Ren also secretly loosened his hands. This move finally saved his face temporarily and barely stabilized the morale of the army.
Zhuo Ying was ordered to defend the city. When everyone returned to the government office, Huang Quan frowned and said, "Zhang Fei is brave and cannot be defeated by force. We should use strategy to defeat him."
Zhang Ren thought for a moment and said, "Mianzhu Pass is backed by Lutou Mountain and is close to the Mian River. Although Zhang Fei is brave, he will be useless if he goes into the water. Sima Huang will lead his troops to the bridgehead tonight to ambush him. Tomorrow I will pretend to be defeated and lure him here. When Zhang Fei chases him across the bridge, I will destroy the bridge and shoot him into the Mian River. He will surely die!"
Huang Quan agreed with the plan and acted according to it. Fei Guan was secretly frightened when he heard it, but although he wanted to surrender to Liu Qi, he could not be a traitor, so he had to watch from the sidelines.
Zhang Fei and Chen Dao withdrew their troops and set up camp. In the evening, Liu Qi's army arrived and asked about the battle situation. As expected, Zhang Ren was an outstanding martial artist.
Pang Tong said: "Zhang Ren is indeed a famous general in Shu. We cannot defeat him by force, so we should defeat him by wits."
Liu Qi asked, "What do you think, sir?"
Pang Tong took out a map and compared it with the mountains in the distance. He said, "Mianzhu Pass is built on a dangerous mountain. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Tomorrow, Yide will go out to fight. We can feign defeat and lure him into the mountains. We can set up an ambush in the valley. I believe he will not be able to escape even if he has wings."
"My military advisor and I agree!" Liu Qi clapped his hands and laughed, "So I will have to trouble Uncle San tomorrow."
Zhang Fei stroked his stubble and said helplessly, "You two have both come to the same conclusion. What else do I, Zhang, have to say?"
Everyone laughed so hard that Lei Tong and Kou Feng took turns patrolling the camp that night. The next day, Chen Dao led the Bai Li soldiers to ambush in the mountains, and Zhang Fei went to challenge them.
Liu Qi and Pang Tong led their troops to raid the enemy camp. They saw Zhang Ren, a man of about 40 years old, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a beard on his cheeks, looking mighty yet calm and composed.
Zhang Fei held his spear high and laughed, "Liu Yizhou and my eldest son are both descendants of King Gong of Lu. You and I have been one family for hundreds of years. Why do we have to fight? Why don't you come to my place and we can work together to eliminate Cao Cao and support the court?"
Zhang Ren snorted coldly, "Since our two families are from the same lineage, and my master is Liu Qi's elder, you should all be Liu Mu's disciples, and you and I can unite to fight against the rebellion."
Liu Qi sighed upon hearing this. Originally, he and Liu Zhang were of the same generation, but when Liu Bei started his army, he worshipped Liu Yan as his uncle in Youzhou, and also became friends with Liu Biao.
As a result, he found himself to be a generation lower than Liu Zhang. How could he seek justice for this
"Uh..." Zhang Fei was startled and said loudly: "Everyone in the world knows that Liu Zhang is weak and incapable of employing people. He even fears Zhang Lu like a tiger. How can he take on such a great responsibility? My eldest son defeated Cao's army in the battle of Nanyang, and helped Sun Quan win a great victory at Ruxu, making Cao Cao dare not look south of the Yangtze River again! As the saying goes, water flows to low places, and people go to high places..."
As Zhang Fei spoke, he turned around and pointed at Liu Qi: "Open your eyes and look, this is the wise leader of today, the man who will revive the Han Dynasty!"
Liu Qi was criticizing Liu Da'er in his heart, but when he saw everyone looking at him, he had to cough dryly, straighten his chest, and put on a righteous attitude.
"Zhang Fei, how dare you slander my lord? This is intolerable. I will kill Liu Qi today!" Zhang Ren was furious and urged his horse to kill Liu Qi.
"Hey, you have to get through me first!" Zhang Fei stepped forward to stop him, raised his snake spear and blocked Zhang Ren's spear.
The two men fought for more than ten rounds in front of the pass, and suddenly, without any prior agreement, they turned their horses and fled backwards, one to the east and the other to the west.
"Huh?" The soldiers watching the battle were dumbfounded, their eyes wide open.
Zhang Fei heard the drums stop and looked back. He saw Zhang Ren had already reached the northwest corner of the city. He laughed and said, "Good fellow, you want to feign defeat. How can I, Zhang Ren, fall for your trick so easily?"
Zhang Ren also circled his horse and returned. He glanced at Liu Qi in the distance, his eyes slightly cold, and said in a deep voice: "Same here!"
Zhang Fei laughed loudly and said, "As expected of a Zhang family member, you and I are so in tune with each other. You should just obey me as soon as possible!"