In Shouchun City, Cao's army took turns defending the city day and night, and they blocked countless attacks from the Wu army.
However, Xiahou Dun was far away in Xuzhou and was unable to provide support. However, the Wu army outside the city continued to provide support, bringing countless weapons, such as catapults, battering rams, etc., which were lined up under the city. The morale of the Wu army was high.
Cao Ren, Cao Xiu and Zang Ba led their troops to attack the camp several times, but were each blocked by the Wu army. Cao Xiu attacked Zhou Yu's camp and was nearly captured, and Shouchun was in danger.
Seeing that more than half of the defenders had been killed and morale was low, Cao Ren discussed countermeasures with his generals. If they did not find a way to repel the enemy, they would be trapped in the city by Zhou Yu.
Cao Xiu suddenly said, "When the Prime Minister left, he left behind a brocade bag, saying that it should be opened when the enemy is at the gates of the city. Why don't you take a look at it?"
"Yes, I almost forgot about this!" Cao Ren slapped his forehead and quickly rummaged through the boxes and cabinets to look for the secret bag.
When Cao Cao left Shouchun and left behind the secret bag, no one took it seriously. With the defense line of Hefei, how could the Wu army attack Shouchun
Now Zhou Yu used many ingenious strategies, such as advancing from Guangling and bypassing the Fei River, making the Hefei camp useless and catching Cao's army off guard.
Cao Ren found the brocade bag, opened it and looked at it. He sighed with emotion: "The Prime Minister has foresight, he is truly a god!"
Cao Xiu hurriedly asked, "What's the Prime Minister's plan?"
Cao Ren, however, kept it secret and ordered that dinner should be prepared at five o'clock tonight. Tomorrow, all the generals should lead their troops and abandon the city, only hoisting flags on the city walls to bluff.
Cao Xiu was shocked and said, "We have been defending for half a month. How can we give up so easily? If Huainan is lost, the Central Plains will be in danger!"
Zang Ba clasped his fists and said, "We are ordered to defend Huai River. Losing Hefei is a great sin. If we give up Shouchun, how can we face the Prime Minister? I am willing to fight to the death!"
Generals such as Zhu Ling also requested orders, expressing their willingness to defend Shouchun to the death and wait for reinforcements. Everyone knew that once this place was abandoned, it would be extremely difficult to take it back due to the natural barrier of the Huai River.
Cao Ren shook the brocade bag and said in a deep voice: "This is the order of the Prime Minister. Who dares not to obey?"
The generals were shocked. They didn't expect that Cao Cao's secret plan was to give up Shouchun. How could this be considered foresight
However, with this order from the general, everyone felt relieved. At least they would not be punished for abandoning the city, so they all went to prepare.
Cao Ren left behind two generals, Cao Xiu and Niu Jin, and instructed them to cover the rear and defend the city.
Outside the city, Han Dang was patrolling the east gate when he suddenly discovered Cao's army coming out of the north gate, and he hurriedly informed Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu climbed up the arrow tower to observe. From here, the entire Shouchun City was in sight. This was one of the reasons why Cao Ren was beaten without any chance to fight back.
Han Dang said, "A group of Cao's troops just walked out. They were carrying packages and their whereabouts were very suspicious."
Zhou Yu's eyes were slightly stern. After looking for a moment, he pointed at the top of the city wall and sneered, "A few days ago, when Cao's army was defending the city, there were not so many flags on the city wall. Now it is covered with flags, but there is no one patrolling. It must be that Cao Ren saw that Shouchun could not be defended and was preparing to retreat!"
Han Dang was overjoyed and said, "In that case, we should seize the opportunity to pursue him and kill him!"
Zhou Yu laughed and said, "That's exactly what I meant!"
Liu Qi took Hanzhong and attacked Yizhou, and was successful in everything he did. Zhou Yu was dissatisfied when he heard the news. He had long wanted to take over Huainan and take over the Central Plains next year, so he was impatient at this time.
Zhou Yu descended from the arrow tower and immediately sent orders to the tent, ordering Han Dang and Huang Gai to lead an army each, and Chen Wu, Ding Feng and other generals to follow up, to encircle Cao's army from the east and west wings of Shouchun and not let them escape unscathed.
The war drums sounded and the Wu army marched out in two groups. The Cao army was also well prepared. Zang Ba at the east gate and Cao Ren at the west gate went to meet the enemy and each led their troops to block the Wu army. The Cao army at the north gate swarmed out and scrambled to retreat.
Cao Ren fought with Han Dang for more than ten rounds. Seeing Chen Wu rushing up from the rear, Cao Ren gave up the fight and led his troops to withdraw directly from the city. Zang Ba at the east gate was no match for Huang Gai and was defeated and fled. Cao's army abandoned the city and fled.
Zhou Yu was watching closely from the front of the battle and laughed, saying, "I have heard for a long time that Cao Zixiao is well versed in the art of war, good at defense and able to command troops. I see today that he is no better than him."
At this time, all of Cao's troops had fled, and there was no one left guarding the city. He ordered the entire army to pursue the enemy, and Cheng Pu led his troops forward to support them.
Zhou Yu ordered his men to build a pontoon bridge, open the south gate, first enter the city to pacify the people and set up defenses, and prepare a banquet to celebrate the victory for the generals.
As the troops entered the city wall, they heard a loud laugh from above their heads: "My dear Zhou Lang, do you know the prime minister's brilliant plan?"
Zhou Yu was shocked and looked up hurriedly, only to see countless Cao soldiers hiding behind the wall. At Cao Xiu's command, arrows were fired at random, pouring down like a storm.
"Retreat quickly!" Zhou Yu shouted and hurriedly reined in his horse to turn back.
"Zhou Lang, don't run!" Cao Xiu drew his bow and shot an arrow specifically at Zhou Yu.
Three arrows flew out one after another. Zhou Yu was unable to fight in the chaos of the army and was shot in the back, letting out a painful howl.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the personal soldiers all rushed to his side to protect him, pushed aside their own men and rushed out.
Zhu Ling and Niu Jin led the ambush troops in the city and rushed straight into the chaotic Wu army, killing people and horses. The city gate road was covered with blood and corpses.
Cao Xiu had ordered people to close the city gates and directed his soldiers to chase and kill Zhou Yu. The Wu army broke out from the south gate, and the defenders outside were in chaos, trampling on each other, and the central army was defeated.
Cheng Pu was crossing the city to chase Cao Ren when he suddenly heard a loud drumbeat from inside the city. He knew the situation was not good and hurriedly withdrew his troops to provide support.
Cao Ren and Zang Ba in front retreated for a while. On the road ahead, Cao's army, which had already left the city, ambushed on the roadside and attacked from both sides. Han Dang and Huang Gai could not resist. The Wu army was defeated again and was turned back and killed by Cao's army.
Dong Xi risked his life to protect Zhou Yu, and Pan Zhang followed behind. The two returned to the camp. The chaotic soldiers fled, and Cao's army followed closely. Seeing Zhou Yu spitting blood from the mouth and unconscious on his horse, they did not dare to delay and had to abandon the camp and leave.
"Zhou Yu, don't leave!"
"Capture Zhou Lang alive!"
Zhu Ling and Niu Jin led their elite troops in pursuit. The eyes of every soldier in Cao's army were shining with gold, as if they were bloodthirsty wolves seeing a fat sheep. If they could capture and kill Zhou Yu, they would be granted titles of nobility and generals, and would be rich and powerful for the rest of their lives.
Seeing Zhou Yu vomiting more and more blood, Pan Zhang became anxious and shouted, "Quickly bring the Grand Commander to a nearby location for treatment. I will cover your retreat!"
Dong Xi agreed, picked up Zhou Yu, and left through a small path with only a dozen men. Pan Zhang gathered the remaining soldiers, formed a battle formation to resist the enemy, and fought a desperate battle with Cao's army.
The two armies fought for a while, and the number of Wu troops became smaller and smaller. Pan Zhang suffered multiple wounds, but he still fought to the death. At this moment, suddenly an army came rushing from a distance and dispersed the flank of Cao's army.
It turned out that it was Lu Meng's reinforcements that arrived. Seeing the deafening sound of killing here, they sent troops to check. Seeing many Cao soldiers here, they rushed over to kill.
A young general led the way, brandishing his spear and sweeping across the field, killing Cao's soldiers and making them fall to the ground. Zhu Ling recognized him as Ling Tong, who had previously entangled Zhang Liao at Xiaoyaojin. Knowing that he was no match for him, he saw the reinforcements from Eastern Wu arriving and advised Niu Jin to retreat.
Lu Meng didn't know the enemy situation ahead, so he didn't dare to chase them rashly. When he was about to ask Pan Zhang about the military situation, he saw him fainted, so he hurriedly ordered people to treat him.
Cao's army retreated and encountered Cheng Pu's troops and charged at them again. However, Cao Ren and Zang Ba led troops to attack from the rear. Cheng Pu did not dare to fight and led his defeated troops to retreat again. He only managed to stabilize his position after retreating ten miles away.
Seeing the army in disarray, Lü Meng asked in surprise, "The Marquis of Wu learned that the Grand Commander was besieging Shouchun and was about to capture the city, so he ordered me to come and help. Why is he in such a mess?"
Cheng Pu sighed and briefly explained Cao's plan. The generals shook their heads. Who would have thought that Cao Ren was so decisive and actually came up with the idea of abandoning the city to lure the enemy.
Huang Gai, Han Dang and other generals also led the defeated troops to reunite, and everyone realized that Zhou Yu was missing, and they hurriedly looked for him everywhere.