Gan Ning fought without success and returned in disappointment. Cao's army held their ground and thought about countermeasures all the way.
After returning to the camp, he discussed with Guan Yu, "This stalemate is not a long-term solution. Why not split the troops into two groups: I will lead the team to rob the camp first. If Cao's army is on guard, the rear team will come to support them. After the troops retreat, General Guan will go again and will surely catch them off guard. Let's rob the camp first so that Cao's army will think..."
Chen Dao was overjoyed and said, "This is a brilliant plan. Even though the old villain Jia Xu is cunning, he will never be able to defend himself."
Zhuge Liang's eyes were slightly stern, and he looked at Guan Yu: "What do you think of this plan, Yunchang?"
Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "I think we can give it a try! Now the two armies are facing each other. If they are suspicious of each other and dare not move, I don't know when we can enter the Central Plains."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Since all the generals think this plan is feasible, then we will follow it. General Liao Hua will deliver food today, and it will be enough for him to guard the camp with me!"
After three o'clock in the morning, the moon was dim, the cold wind was howling, and everything was silent in the dead of winter. Gan Ning led his troops to the river bank first.
When he got close to Cao's main camp, he went forward to investigate in person. He saw that there were very few enemy patrols and the defenders were lax, all hiding in the arrow tower for shelter.
Seeing this, Gan Ning snorted coldly, "I've heard that Zhang Liao is good at commanding troops. With Jia Xu, this old fox, they are so lax in their defense. Surely there must be something fishy going on!"
Su Fei said, "Xingba, go ahead, be careful."
"I will lead the Jinfan Army to break into the camp, and you, my dear brother, guard the camp gate!" Gan Ning gave the order and led his troops straight to the camp.
When they arrived in front of the camp, they first burned the arrow tower with fire arrows, and then several people went forward to push open the camp gate. By the time Cao's army screamed and beat drums to warn them, Gan Ning had already led the way and rushed into the camp.
Su Fei led his troops to occupy the gate and sent people to set fire to the surrounding area. It was a dry winter day, and the night wind blew, and the entire fire outside the south gate lit up the sky.
Cao's army shouted everywhere and there was chaos in the camp. Gan Ning overturned several tents in succession, drove away the fleeing enemy troops, and went straight for the central army tent.
As they were chasing a group of Cao's troops fleeing, a general suddenly blocked their way and shouted, "Gan Xingba, you have fallen into my trap!"
"Zhang Liao, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Gan Ning did not retreat and galloped forward on his horse.
Zhang Liao brandished his sword to block the attack, and the two men fought in the camp. At this time, drums sounded from the direction of the river bank, and ambush troops came out and surrounded the camp.
Gan Ning fought for twenty rounds, and seeing that he could not defeat Zhang Liao, Cao's army surrounded and attacked again. He fought hard to force Zhang Liao back, threw out a short spear, and led his troops to retreat.
Zhang Liao laughed loudly and chased out of the camp. Su Fei led the troops and retreated, leaving only Cao's army shouting for help.
When Gan Ning retreated halfway, he saw Guan Yu waiting on the road, with his men and horses standing in a solemn manner, ready for battle. A flickering red light could be vaguely seen in the distance.
Guan Yu asked, "What is the situation in Cao's camp?"
Gan Ning sneered, "As expected, there are ambushes, but I have already led them out. I have burned the south gate. You can charge from the west gate later. I will go to the east gate and defeat them in one fell swoop."
Guan Yu stroked his long beard and nodded, "Leave Zhang Wenyuan to me!"
Half an hour later, the fireworks in Cao's camp went out and peace returned again. It was almost five o'clock in the morning. The winter morning was getting darker and darker, and only the sky was full of stars.
Guan Yu led his troops out again, and he and Gan Ning split their troops into two groups, taking revenge from the left and right, and once again broke into Cao's camp.
This time, Cao's army was indeed well guarded. The east and west gates were tightly closed, and wooden stakes as thick as waists were used to block the camp gate. The soldiers rushed forward in a hail of arrows before they were able to open the camp gate.
Cao's army fought hard and fired arrows in the dark night, but they were still unable to stop the two generals from charging at the same time. They were defeated one after another and the camp was lost again.
Drums were beating loudly in Cao's camp, and soldiers were constantly reporting military intelligence. Jia Xu was sitting in his tent with only a bean-sized oil lamp lit, so he couldn't see the changes in his expression clearly.
It was not until the defenders reported that Guan Yu and Gan Ning had simultaneously broken through the second line of defense that Jia Xu raised his head and slowly ordered, "Fire!"
Around the main tent of Cao's camp, a huge fire circle formed with a radius of over a hundred steps. The flames were more than ten feet high, illuminating the entire camp as bright as day.
Gan Ning was about to charge into the camp and was frightened when he saw this. Zhang Liao was guarding the camp with a wall of fire and ignored the soldiers outside
At this time, the Cao army outside was also blocked from entering and fled in all directions. Gan Ning rushed towards the east gate and saw Guan Yu coming to join him.
Guan Yu looked solemn, holding up his sword and looking at the flames, and said in a deep voice: "Zhang Liao is definitely not someone who would cut off his retreat and sit back. I'm afraid he has some tricks up his sleeve."
"Not good, let's go back to the camp quickly!" Gan Ning reacted suddenly and called on Guan Yu to retreat.
Guan Yu's eyes flashed with coldness. He was tricked by Zhang Liao again. His face became more gloomy. The two led their troops back to the camp in a hurry.
When the two were halfway along the journey, it was daybreak when suddenly an ambush appeared from the roadside. Gan Ning roared and led the way, while Guan Yu followed behind and divided his forces into two groups to resist Cao's army.
Cao's army attacked in an overwhelming force. Zhu Ling laughed loudly on the hillside and said, "Guan Yu, you have fallen into the trap again. This time, Zhuge Liang can't escape even if he has wings!"
Guan Yu snorted lightly, turned his horse and brandished his sword to charge straight at Zhu Ling. Cao's army fell like straw along the way. He rushed straight up the slope, and suddenly his horse lost its front hoof and crashed forward.
Seeing that Jia Xu's plan was indeed successful, and Guan Yu was relying on his military strength to kill the generals alone, Zhu Ling shouted excitedly: "Shoot, shoot--"
Guan Yu was shocked and held up his sword to support himself on the ground, barely able to keep his balance. The ambushers on the slope came out and shot arrows at him like locusts.
"Father!"
"My Lord!"
Guan Ping and Zhou Cang were horrified and led their troops to rush towards the slope. Gan Ning, who was seeing this from a distance, also fought hard to repel Cao's army and came to support them.
But Guan Yu was riding the Red Hare, which was extremely fast and had long since left the army behind. Arrows were right in front of him, and it was too late to rescue him.
Guan Yu tried his best to brandish his sword to block the arrows, but there was no way to avoid such a dense rain of arrows. Just when he thought he was going to die, his Red Hare leaped up and blocked his way with a neigh.
Puff, puff—
A series of sounds of piercing flesh and bones were heard. Red Hare raised its head and neighed, its whole body twitching, but it stood firm and blocked the rain of arrows.
At this time, Guan Ping led his troops to charge forward recklessly. The Han army fired crossbows at the same time and counterattacked Cao's army. Screams were also heard from the slope.
Zhu Ling saw that Guan Yu was right in front of him but he was unable to kill him. He felt it was a pity and had to lead his troops to retreat.
Guan Ping and Zhou Cang protected Guan Yu and checked his injuries. The Red Hare neighed for the last time and slowly fell to the ground. Half of its body was covered with countless arrows like weeds.
"Get away, you bastard!" Gan Ning came and urged his horse to chase Zhu Ling.
"General Gan, please stay!" Guan Yu tightly grasped the Qinglong sword, his eyes widened, his long beard flying, and he said slowly: "Don't chase after a desperate enemy!"
Gan Ning was furious and said, "I hate people who plot against me the most in my life. If I don't kill this thief, I will never be able to get rid of this hatred!"
Guan Yu's hand holding the sword trembled slightly, but he still tried his best to suppress his anger, took a deep breath and said: "Rescue the camp is urgent!"
Gan Ning suddenly came to his senses and saw that Cao's army had retreated. He rode away and said, "I will go ahead. My lord, wait!"
Guan Yu closed his eyes to calm his mind and ordered, "Bring the horses!"
"Father!?" Guan Ping became worried when he saw that Guan Yu did not show any sign of anger.
"I am the commander-in-chief of the three armies. I should put the overall situation first!" Guan Yu stepped forward with his sword in hand, grabbed a horse, and rode on, shouting, "Follow me!"