Cao's army sneaked outside the camp. The archers had been prepared for a long time. They lit firewood and fired arrows into the camp with the wind.
In an instant, flames illuminated the night sky, and the defenders hurriedly beat drums to sound the alarm. Cao's army took advantage of the chaos to rush into the camp gate, and did not engage with the enemy, but just set fire everywhere.
Feng Kai and Guo Huai also rushed out from the left and right, looking for Liu Qi in the camp. There were sounds of shouting and killing everywhere, smoke and fire, and people were fleeing.
Feng Kai was rushing towards the tent when he was stopped by a general who shouted, "Who are you, you bastard, to attack my camp?"
Feng Kai was overjoyed when he saw that it was Yan Yan, and thrust his spear forward and stabbed him: "Hey, old thief, you are not at home enjoying your retirement, but going out to fight. Today is the day you will die."
Yan Yan brandished his sword to parry, and after a few rounds of fighting, he saw that Cao's army was increasing in number, so he retreated. Feng Kai snorted lightly and followed closely behind with his spear.
As they were charging forward, Zhang Yi, Ju Fu and other generals stepped forward to stop them. The two armies engaged in a melee in the West Camp, occupied the main camp, and forced the Han army out of the camp gate.
The enemy troops were gathering in the west and had not fled. They were preparing to launch a counterattack. In the light of the fire, Liu Qi could be vaguely seen dispatching troops.
Seeing this, Guo Huai shouted, "Liu Qi is unwilling to retreat, so you must guard the camp gate."
Feng Kai snorted coldly. Liu Qi was still trying to defend Jigu, but he didn't know that reinforcements would arrive soon and their situation was already hopeless.
His and Guo Huai's mission was to burn down the main camp and meet reinforcements. Thinking that they were still unable to kill Liu Qi, he divided his troops and set fire to the camp, intending to burn down Jigu first.
The west wind was blowing hard, and in a blink of an eye the entire camp was on fire. The fire illuminated the entire valley, and the originally icy Ji Valley became scorching hot. All the men and horses fled under the cliff.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Han army had no choice but to retreat up the mountain. When they reached the foot of the mountain, drums suddenly sounded and ambushers rushed out. It was Xiahou Shang who was lying in ambush there.
Arrows flew everywhere, and seeing the enemy soldiers screaming in confusion, Xiahou Shang laughed up to the sky, and finally shouted out the words that had made him angry for a long time: "Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Yan Yan rushed out in anger and led his troops to fight on both sides of the hillside. The Han army protected Liu Qi and fought their way out, then escaped in a panic from the mountain.
Yan Yan fought with Xiahou Shang for twenty rounds, and suddenly he shouted, "Watch out for the arrow, kid!"
Xiahou Shang knew that Yan Yan was an excellent archer, but he couldn't see clearly in the dark, so he dodged hurriedly. However, Yan Yan's move was just a feint, and he led the remaining soldiers to escape.
"Don't run, old thief!" Xiahou Shang was furious and led his troops to chase and kill him.
When they reached the hillside, the defenders in the camp were already prepared. Arrows were fired from the trenches, knocking down countless soldiers. Xiahou Shang hurriedly retreated.
While he was hesitating, Xiahou Yuan arrived with his troops and shouted, "Where is Liu Qi?"
Xiahou Shang pointed to the main camp and said, "Liu Qi has fled back to the camp, and the defenders are on guard."
Xiahou Yuan was full of fighting spirit and issued an order: "There must not be many defenders here, we can take back the stronghold in one go."
Xiahou Shang immediately ordered his men to rush to the top of the mountain and head straight for the main camp. As expected, the defenders were unable to resist and Liu Qi abandoned the camp and fled.
Yan Yan organized his men to cover the rear, and this time he really shot arrows in secret, killing several people in succession. Xiahou Yuan also became fearful and did not dare to pursue the enemy rashly. After seeing that they had captured the high ground, he let them leave.
Before they knew it, the sky was getting light, and all the Han troops had fled. Only the burning flames and billowing black smoke remained in Ji Valley. The entire cliff was blackened and the ground was in a mess.
Finally, they recaptured Baxiantai and opened up the passage to Hanzhong. Xiahou Yuan felt as happy as if he had spit out a lump in his throat. He abandoned the Jigu camp and ordered the soldiers from all camps to gather on the mountain and prepare to pursue the victory.
At noon, Xun You rushed back from the rear army and ordered his men to check the food and grass, but he found that there was very little left in the village on the mountain. He was shocked, and when he wanted to go down the mountain to put out the fire, it was too late.
Xiahou Yuan's heart sank as well, and he said, "Liu Qi must not have gone very far. Now we have to focus on moving forward and seizing the camp ahead, so that we can ease the crisis a little."
Xun You suddenly felt a little uneasy, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. The army was short of food at the moment, and he could not afford to hesitate, so he had to let Xiahou Yuan advance first.
After the troops were dispatched, Xun You went to the Jigu camp in person to check it out. He saw ashes all over the ground. There were indeed many granaries under the northern cliff, all of which had been burned to scorched earth.
After observing for a while, he ordered people to dismantle one of the barns. The grain inside had turned into black ash, but its shape was clearly visible. He couldn't help but frown.
If Liu Qi really transported all the food and grass to Jigu and they were burned, all his plans would be in vain.
From Wuzhangyuan, the journey is slow and will take at least half a month along the Xiegu plank road. The army will mutiny if they run out of food for one day, let alone more than ten days
While he was racking his brains for a countermeasure, Xiahou Yuan sent someone to report that the Tiger Leaping Cliff camp had been recaptured at the front, and a batch of food and fodder had been obtained, which could temporarily solve the urgent problem, but was not enough to support the army.
Xun You was helpless. There was no way to retreat at this time. He could only lead his army forward. Victory or defeat depended on this one move!
He ordered his men to rush back to Wuzhangyuan overnight, and asked Xu Huang to lead his troops to Jigu for support, and to urgently transport 30,000 shi of grain, and to transfer grain from Chang'an to prepare to support the war at the front.
Cao's army abandoned Jigu and came to Batiantai. They occupied the high ground but had no food in the camp. The defenders skipped one meal a day and hoped desperately for reinforcements to arrive.
At this time, Xiahou Yuan had already advanced from Hutiao Cliff and recaptured Qingsongyuan, the first line of defense deployed. Liu Qi was defeated one after another and left some food and grass along the way, which was enough to barely support him.
Xun You stood at the camp gate every day, looking at the Jigu plank road with longing eyes, wishing that the grain carts and horses could fly in. The army had been slaughtering war horses in the past few days and morale was very low.
As the weather gradually warmed up and the ice and snow melted, Xun You felt as if his heart was covered with frost. He felt more and more that this was a huge trap, and he became increasingly uneasy.
On this day, Xiahou Yuan sent someone to report that the food and grass of the front army were about to run out, so they had no choice but to continue advancing and fight hard to seize food and grass and to consume manpower. Only 500 soldiers were left to guard the camps along the way.
Xun You felt heavy-hearted as he looked at the scorched earth of Ji Valley in the distance. Suddenly, an idea came to him and he ran like crazy, rushing down the mountain. He was puzzled as to why Cao's army had to go through so much trouble when they were already dizzy and hungry.
But when the military advisor went down the mountain, the personal soldiers had to follow. Two hundred soldiers hurriedly led their horses and chased to the foot of the mountain. They asked Xun You to mount their horses and rushed straight to the Jigu camp.
After several days, the burning ashes were blown away by the wind, revealing the corpses buried underneath. It was a tragic scene, but Xun You did not bother to dodge. He dismounted and rushed to a granary at the foot of the cliff, drew his sword and started digging himself.
The personal soldiers behind him looked at each other, wondering why he did that. After a while, they saw that after the tip of the sword had blown away a layer of ash on the outside, there was mud, sand, gravel and red soil inside.
Xun You stared at the falling sand in astonishment, powerlessly stepped back a few steps, and muttered, "Liu Qi really has the power of ghosts and gods. The Cao family is doomed!"
The granary in Jigu was full of fakes, which meant that Liu Qi had already seen through his counterattack plan and had transported the food and grass away. At this time, the army was out of food and had a dilemma. Xiahou Yuan was also going deep into danger, and the consequences were disastrous.
The Cao army behind him was unaware of the seriousness of the situation and thought that Xun You was trying to find food in the burned granaries, so they all sighed and shook their heads.
At this moment, a fast horse came galloping from the mountain, and it turned out to be a letter delivered by the family general.
Xun You felt exhausted all over at this time and had no intention of checking the letter. However, when he saw a special mark on the cover, his heart started pounding. He rubbed his eyes hard and opened the letter with trembling hands.