Xiahou Mao cheered himself up and ordered his men to take a bath and change clothes. When he finished washing, Xiahou Ba invited Cao Tai to discuss the matter together.
Cao Taiyan said, "Zilin caused me so much trouble during this troop movement. If it weren't for the generals' pleading for me, I would have been beheaded by Zhang Liao. Now I am in Xuchang, bearing the guilt."
Xiahou Mao smiled bitterly and said, "You just had a false alarm. Compared to my loss of hundreds of millions of property, what does it matter?"
Xiahou Ba asked, "I wonder how much of Zilin's property he has hidden in Ye County? If time permits, we can secretly dig it out and bring it back."
"Where is the gold, silver, or treasure?" Xiahou Mao sighed, "My storehouse is full of banknotes! For the convenience of doing business in Ye County, everyone uses banknotes from Hanyuan Bank. Now the banknotes have been burned, and Hanyuan Bank has also turned to ashes. Now there is no evidence, and nothing can be proved. It has all turned into smoke."
Xiahou Ba was surprised: "No wonder everyone wants to kill you."
Cao Tai was dissatisfied and said, "It's because you are so arrogant that you insist on marrying Guan Yu. Isn't this asking for humiliation?"
"That's because I think highly of him!" Xiahou Mao said angrily: "Why should Guan Yu be so proud? Zhang Fei even stole my sister away..."
Xiahou Ba advised: "Okay, you two don't have to fight anymore. The war is about to start. Now is the time to make achievements and gain fame. You and I should work together."
Xiahou Mao said with emotion: "Zhongquan is right. The two setbacks made me realize that a real man should leave his name to future generations, and money is just a thing outside of the body. Since God does not want me to make money, it must be for me to lead the army to defeat the enemy. Let's go to see the prince now."
Cao Tai asked, "Have you decided where you want to go?"
Xiahou Mao said: "Of course I will go to Kunyang to serve. Guan Yu dares to underestimate me. I will defeat him with my own hands."
Cao Tai laughed and said, "Every family's losses in Ye County are blamed on my brother. If it weren't for the prince's protection, you would have been punished by the families and you would have no place to stand in the Central Plains!"
"Is this true?" Xiahou Mao was shocked and said angrily, "These profit-seeking people, if I hadn't helped them make money, how could they have become rich? Who can compare with me in this loss? How dare they come to me to settle the account? This is unreasonable!"
Xiahou Ba said, "Guan Yu specifically asked you to settle the score, and the prince guaranteed you with all his strength. If you go to the front of the battle, I'm afraid you will be killed by him. Do you know what happened to Yan Liang and Wen Chou?"
"Uh, this..." Xiahou Mao touched his neck unconsciously and said, "In this case, let's go to Huainan. My father..."
"I won't go!" Cao Tai refused immediately, "My father told me that if I want to lead troops again, I can't be under his command, so as not to be criticized."
Xiahou Mao looked at Xiahou Ba and said, "Zhong Quan, you just said that you wanted to ask for permission to go to war. What are your plans?"
Xiahou Ba smiled and said, "You two don't know, my father is fighting Liu Qi in Guanzhong with all his strength. Military Advisor Xun is worried that Chang'an will be empty, so he sent a letter asking for help. Now Guan Yu's army is approaching, and the prince is worried that no one will lead the troops. If we go to Guanzhong, we can do a lot."
"Guanzhong is good!" Cao Tai nodded happily and said, "I am about to fight Liu Qi to avenge my previous humiliation."
"Without further delay, let's go see Zihuan now!" Xiahou Mao stood up, grabbed the two men's arms, and said slowly: "The glory of the new generation of the Cao and Xiahou families will be carried forward by us!"
The three men nodded solemnly, went out with great enthusiasm, and went to the palace to meet Cao Pi, asking for permission to lead the army into battle.
…
Zhuge Liang took advantage of Xiahou Mao's vanity and provoked a war. Guan Yu led troops from Jingzhou to the north to attack the Central Plains.
At the same time, Liu Qi also sent troops from Hanzhong. The Longzhong strategy was about to be realized, and the morale of the Han army was greatly boosted.
Previously, Zhang Lu destroyed part of the plank road of Baoxiade in order to protect Hanzhong. Xiahou Yuan ordered people to repair the small road, but it was not enough to mobilize the main army, so they returned empty-handed several times.
When traveling through the Qinling Valley, there are many places where you need to pass through steep cliffs. If there were no plank roads, even if people could pass, vehicles would not be able to pass, and food and fodder could not be transported.
Without food and supplies, it is impossible to advance on a large scale. Crossing the river to the south via the Baoxiade Road is no less difficult than sneaking across Yinping, not to mention that there is a large army guarding ahead.
When Cao Cao was attacking Zhang Lu, he took the Wudu Road, traveling thousands of miles. When he arrived at Yangping Pass, his food and grass were exhausted. If the defenders had not quarreled among themselves, he would have been forced to retreat.
When Zhuge Liang went out to Qishan for the first time, Jieting was lost and all the troops suffered heavy losses. Only Zhao Yun burned the plank road and retreated calmly without any harm.
Later, Cao Zhen tried to take Hanzhong again, but because the construction of the plank road was slow, he returned empty-handed and died in anger.
When Zhong Hui attacked Shu, he used a strategy of killing someone with a borrowed knife and ordered Xu Yi to lead the way. Later, he executed Xu Yi for his poor governance.
Generally speaking, the Chencang Road is the flattest, which is also the main reason why Zhuge Liang launched the Northern Expedition to Qishan six times. Therefore, Liu Qi sent Zhao Yun as the general. Although he was a surprise force, he was actually the main force.
After Zhao Yun sent out his troops, Liu Qi also sent Yan Yan as the vanguard. Zhuo Ying and Deng Xian then led troops to repair the plank road. The army moved slowly as they repaired the road.
At this time, Yan Yan had led the vanguard straight into the Baoxiade Road, walked along the path on the cliff, cleared obstacles along the way, set up checkpoints to guard against Cao's army, and provided space for the rear army to repair the road at leisure.
On this day, while marching after the rain, scouts came to report that at Qingsongyuan, an important place ahead, Cao's army had built a camp on the road, guarding it with 3,000 soldiers.
Yan Yan asked, "Who is the commander of Qingsongyuan?"
The scout replied, "It's Xiahou Yuan's nephew Xiahou De!"
Yan Yan sneered and said, "Cao's army is full of relatives and rich children. Is there no one from the Central Plains?"
Deputy General Zhang Yi clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to go and capture the camp and kill this man to boost the morale of the army."
Ju Fu said: "Cao's army is stationed at Qingsongyuan. If they advance, they can take Hanzhong, and if they retreat, they can defend Jigu. They are well-prepared and must be well-defended. We need a trick to defeat them."
Yan Yan nodded and said, "The Cao army must have known that we were sending troops, but they did not leave the camp to fight. They must have been ordered to defend the camp to the death. We can use provocation to lure them out of the camp, kill them in the canyon, and then counterattack the camp."
Zhang Yi asked for the order and said, "I will go first."
Yan Yan laughed and said, "This is the first time I have fought against Cao's army. We must not embarrass our Sichuan army."
Zhang Yi clasped his fists and said, "As you command!"
Although Yan Yan is old, he has a very high prestige in the Sichuan Army. This time he was appointed as the vanguard. Zhang Yi took the initiative to ask to follow him and take the two young generals for training.
Ju Fuyan said, "On the way here, there is a cliff with dense forests, which can be used as an ambush. Master, go ahead and ambush, and I will stay here to support you."
Yan Yan waved his hand and said, "Xiahou De must know that I am the vanguard general. If I don't move, he will definitely be suspicious. This time, I will use the strategy of luring the snake out of the hole. I need to lure the enemy myself, and Xiaoxing will go to ambush. I have my own reasons."
Zhang Yi first led a thousand men to Qingsongyuan, where they saw steep cliffs and lush green pines growing on the top of the cliffs.
There was only a canyon on the road extending into the distance. The Cao army camp was built with rocks and was more than ten feet high. There was an arrow tower and a sentry post on the high platform. The defenders had already beaten drums to give warnings.
The sound of drums echoed in the valley, startling the birds to circle in the air. Cao's army stood at the pass, with bows drawn and arrows ready for battle.
Zhang Yi rode forward and shouted, "I am the Han general Zhang Yi. Who in the camp dares to fight me?"