Cao's army was exhausted after a day of fighting, so they rested early after dinner while Dai Ling continued to patrol the camp.
In the middle of the night, a soldier suddenly reported that the East Camp was on fire. Dai Ling immediately led his troops to check. However, there was no enemy attack, so he ordered his men to put out the fire and be on high alert.
When they arrived in front of the camp to observe, a fire suddenly broke out in the entire camp, especially the wooden stakes of the outer fence, forming a circle of fire that spread in the night wind and was out of control.
Dai Ling was shocked and saw that the fire could not be put out, so he quickly ordered the soldiers to beat drums and gongs, and told them to retreat. Liu Zhu called Xiahou Shang to protect them and retreat.
Xiahou Shang looked at the fire in the camp, which made the cliffs on both sides seem to shake. He was furious and asked, "How could Dai Ling defend the camp and be ambushed again?"
Liu Zhuyan said: "I didn't hear any killing, it seems that there was only a fire in the camp."
Xiahou Shang was startled, and after a closer look, he saw that only Cao's troops were fleeing from the camp, but there was no sound of shouting and killing. He cursed, "Dai Ling is a waste, he is not good at anything, but always makes trouble."
Dai Ling was leading his troops and rushed forward to report: "General, the Han army has buried kerosene and firewood in the camp, and the hollow railings outside the camp have been filled with sulfur. Someone is lurking in the army to start the fire."
"Why didn't you check it out beforehand?" Xiahou Shang roared, "This matter is all ruined by you."
Dai Ling sighed helplessly upon hearing this. The Han army was extremely secretive in their actions. The wooden stakes had been tampered with, and some bamboo tubes were filled with sulfur. There were also defeated soldiers mixed in the camp. Who could have predicted this beforehand
At this time, the entire camp was ablaze with flames, illuminating the canyon red. Although no enemy troops were coming, it was obviously impossible to station troops at Tiger Leaping Cliff. Liu Zhu persuaded Xiahou Shang, and everyone retreated back to Qinglongtan.
After all this trouble, when the people and troops were settled, it was already dawn. Xiahou Shang was furious and could not sleep at all. He ordered his troops to go to the tent and be inspected.
He instructed Liu Zhu: "Although the old thief Yan Yan is cunning, he can help me accomplish my goal. Let's use the plan from yesterday. You go and lure the enemy, and I will ambush him at Tiger Leaping Cliff. I will make sure that he will not return."
Liu Zhu took the order to go into battle, while Xiahou Shang divided his troops and ambushed them on two cliffs, waiting for the Han army to catch up and then cut them off and kill them to avenge their previous humiliation.
When Liu Zhu led his troops across Tiger Leaping Cliff again, he saw that the camp had long been reduced to ashes, with black smoke still rising from time to time. Half of the cliff was smoked black, and the canyon looked a little scary.
Just as he led his troops across the camp, ambushes suddenly appeared from both sides. Ju Fu on the left and Zhang Yi on the right caught Cao's army off guard and the army was immediately in chaos.
Liu Zhu was horrified and hurriedly organized his troops to defend himself. At that moment, Ju Fu rode his horse over and killed the frightened Liu Zhu in three or five moves.
Cao's army was blocked from retreating by their own camp and was completely routed, with countless casualties. The scattered defeated troops escaped and reported back. Xiahou Shang, who was lying in ambush in the mountains, was furious and led his troops to fight in person.
By the time he arrived at the slope of Tiger Leaping Cliff, the Han army had already retreated, leaving only corpses and wounded and wailing soldiers on the ground.
Xiahou Shang ordered the ambush troops to continue waiting, passed the remaining camp, ordered the soldiers to treat the wounded, went to Qingsongyuan to challenge, and loudly insulted Yan Yan.
Yan Yan was furious and rushed out to fight with Xiahou Shang. The two fought for more than ten rounds. Xiahou Shang was secretly frightened. He did not expect that this old general had such excellent swordsmanship. The fake fight became real and he was defeated.
Yan Yan led his troops to pursue and kill, but he only chased as far as the remnants of the Cao camp and stopped. Seeing Cao's army retreating up the slope, he went back with a big laugh.
Xiahou Shang was so angry that he gnashed his teeth. He returned to the camp and discussed with Dai Ling, saying, "Liu Zhu has been ambushed. The old villain Yan Yan is afraid of my bravery and dares not pursue me. If I join the army and lure the enemy, my plan will surely succeed."
Dai Ling advised: "Yan Yan did not pursue, he must have seen through the general's plan. We are only ordered to defend Baxiantai, why should we send troops and waste time?"
Xiahou Shang was furious and said, "You raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a moment. You are paid by the king, but you do not fight back when the enemy enters our territory. What is your intention? If you disobey my orders again, you will be punished by military law."
Dai Ling had no choice but to report: "Yan Yan seized the camp earlier and transported away the food and supplies. Now the food and supplies in the camp are all gone. Please transfer the food and supplies to us, General."
"I have my reasons!" Xiahou Shang was impatient and forced Dai Ling to fight.
In the afternoon, Dai Ling led his troops to lure the enemy again, and Liu Zhu was ambushed and killed. Dai Ling was very cautious and ordered his soldiers to investigate carefully and not to miss any vegetation in the canyon.
They stopped and walked along the way, not seeming to be advancing but rather searching. They even turned the camp that had been reduced to ashes upside down, and when they saw that it was getting late, they ordered a retreat.
Xiahou Shang was lying in ambush on the cliff. When evening came, he saw Dai Ling retreating cautiously, and no pursuers were seen approaching.
Xiahou Shang asked, "Why don't you see any pursuers?"
Dai Ling replied: "Yan Yan should be cautious and keep his troops in place."
Xiahou Shang snorted coldly and called a soldier to question him, but the soldier said that Dai Ling was only wandering around the front camp and did not advance because he was worried about an ambush ahead.
Xiahou Shang was furious and said, "So the reason why the front army was defeated so many times is because of you, a traitor who is passively avoiding fighting and betraying your country!"
Dai Ling waved his hands and said, "General, calm down and listen to my explanation..."
Before he could finish his words, Xiahou Shang rushed forward in anger, stabbed him to death with a sword, and announced to the three armies that anyone who dared to slack off again would be killed without mercy.
It was already dark at this time. Xiahou Shang returned to the camp in anger, but found the camp deserted. The soldiers in the rear camp were fishing around Qinglong Pond, and some were washing wild vegetables and fruits. Then he remembered that he had forgotten to allocate food and fodder, and quickly sent people to the camp to transport them.
Cao's army suffered a series of defeats and their morale was low. They ate wild vegetable porridge at night, which made the camp full of resentment. But when they saw Xiahou Shang beheaded Dai Ling, no one dared to persuade them to withdraw and take a rest.
By the time the food and grass arrived at the main camp, it was already three o'clock in the morning. The soldiers in the rear camp had to unload the food and count it. There was a commotion in the camp. Some people were woken up and could no longer hold back, shouting and cursing.
Those who were transporting and collecting grain were also full of resentment and retorted one after another. As a result, the soldiers in the front and rear camps cursed each other across the Qinglong Pond, and their saliva fell into the pool like raindrops.
Cao's soldiers were not satisfied with cursing, but they did not dare to take action. They spat at first, and then picked up stones to throw water at the enemy, splashing water everywhere. For a moment, the waves of Qinglongtan were rolling.
Before they knew it, the water level was rising higher and higher, reaching above Cao's ankles. The Cao army was still unaware. Some people upstream were washed into the pool by the muddy waves, while some people downstream were clapping and cheering.
Boom—
Suddenly the water level rose sharply and swept a row of people into the pool. Cao's army then realized the situation was not good. The crowd in front was dispersed, and they saw the surging flood under the moonlight, sweeping across the valley.
In the blink of an eye, Qinglongtan disappeared, and the entire canyon was flooded. Cao's army's food carts, horses, and tents were instantly washed away and followed the torrent downstream.
Xiahou Shang was in a daze, feeling dizzy. He shook him awake and suddenly felt wet underneath him. He wiped his clothes and found that they were all wet. He sat up suddenly and cursed, "Damn it, he wet the bed again!"
Before he could finish his words, he was suddenly hit by a huge force and fell out of the tent. He then realized that he was floating in the flood, with screams and turbid waves rolling all around him.
Xiahou Shang was in a state of panic, as if he was trapped in a nightmare. He wanted to wake up but couldn't, and he wanted to escape but couldn't. He hugged the bed tightly and shouted, "Is this a dream?"