After dinner, Cao Hong once again urged his troops to attack the city. In the dark night, Cao's army suffered even more serious losses.
Corpses piled up like mountains outside Ye County, the soldiers were trampled into thick blood mud, and the kerosene burned, forming a wall of fire.
The soldiers had clearly climbed up to the top of the city wall many times, but Zhang Fei and his two companions were so brave that they were all killed and their efforts were in vain.
An hour later, Cao Ren took over the command from Cao Hong and personally went to the front of the battlefield to command the troops. Cao's army rushed to the top of the city wall in one go, but found that the defenders did not move and allowed them to kill them.
Just as Cao Ren was wondering, a soldier came to report that the city was covered with straw and Liu Qi had already led his troops to retreat.
Cao Ren was furious and was about to lead his troops in pursuit, but Cheng Yu tried to stop him, saying that pursuing the enemy in the dead of night would easily lead to an ambush.
At this time, Cao's army was exhausted, so Cao Hong ordered his soldiers to go into the city to rest and attack Bowang again the next day.
When the number of people was counted the next day, it was found that more than 30,000 people were killed. Even in the battle with Yuan Shao, there were not such heavy casualties.
Cao Hong ordered his men to report the victory to Cao Cao, left nearly 10,000 wounded soldiers behind to clean up the battlefield, transport money and food, and selected 50,000 elite soldiers to take Bowang.
Cao Ren was still the vanguard. When he arrived at the city, he saw Liu Qi dividing his troops outside the city, setting up a camp on each side, forming a pincer attack with Bowang City.
The west camp is beside the Baihe River, with a flag with the word "Guan" erected in front of the camp. Guan Yu is standing on his horse with his sword drawn, stroking his beard and looking around coldly. The east camp is close to the sunny slope, with a flag with the word "Zhao" erected in front of the camp. Zhao Yun is riding a white horse and wearing a white robe, standing upright like a spear.
Cao Ren stopped his troops far away and looked at Liu Qi on the top of the city wall. For a moment he didn't know which way to go, so he had to wait where he was.
Zhang Fei slapped the city wall regretfully: "I said Cao Ren would not dare to come, and it turned out to be true."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "I have a plan. I can lure Cao Ren here. Can Yide capture him alive?"
"Leave it to me!" Zhang Fei patted his chest again.
Liu Qi whispered a few words to Wei Yan behind him, and Wei Yan was overjoyed and led his troops out of the city.
Wei Yan urged his horse forward and laughed, "Cao Ren, I heard that you have been thinking about me since you went back. Do you want to compete with me?"
When Cao Ren saw that it was Wei Yan, he became furious. Without giving Wei Yan a chance to answer, he attacked with his sword in hand. The two fought for more than ten rounds, and Wei Yan was defeated and fled.
Cao Ren vowed to avenge his previous humiliation and led his troops to pursue and kill Wei Yan. Cao's army rushed forward to hunt down Wei Yan.
Seeing that Wei Yan had indeed attracted Cao Ren to chase him, Zhang Fei could not help but laugh and said, "General, your method of provoking the general really worked. I wonder how Wen Chang treated Cao Ren to make him hate him so much."
Gan Ning smiled and said, "Seeing Cao Ren is so angry and eager to kill me, it must be something that cannot be told to others!"
As they were talking, Cao Ren had already chased to the foot of the city. Seeing the two men getting closer and closer, he slashed at Wei Yan's back with his sword.
Wei Yan was also a skilled and courageous man. He waited until Cao Ren approached before twisting his waist, shouting loudly, holding the big knife, and fighting with him again.
Liu Qi saw that the time had come and ordered, "Beat the drum!"
Zhang Fei immediately rushed to the city and said: "If I can't catch Cao Ren this time, I will never return to the city."
Boom boom boom—
As drums sounded, Guan Yu and Zhao Yun from the left and right camps rushed out at the same time, like two dragons emerging from water, to outflank Cao's army from behind.
When Cao Ren heard the drumbeats from the city, he suddenly came to his senses and wanted to retreat, but Wei Yan held him tightly and he could not get away.
In the blink of an eye, 5,000 Cao troops were besieged outside the city. Although the city gates were wide open, Cao Ren did not dare to charge in and only wanted to break out and retreat.
Guan Yu and Zhao Yun joined forces, and Cao's army was no match for them. They attacked back and forth like weaving a shuttle, and were swept into pieces like a plow sweeping through a cave.
"General Cao, since you are here, let's make peace with you!" Wei Yan raised his sword and attacked fiercely, laughing: "You are mine now!"
"Bullshit!" Cao Ren couldn't help but curse. Seeing that he was surrounded, he made up his mind to fight Wei Yan to the death.
At this moment, Zhang Fei rode out of the city, holding his lance and charging straight at Cao Ren, shouting, "General Wei, you take care of these miscellaneous soldiers, and I will capture him."
Seeing Zhang Fei coming at him aggressively, Wei Yan could not stop him, so he had to step aside and block Niu Jin who came to rescue him, and shouted: "Little bastard, your opponent is me!"
"I am General Fenwu Niu Jin!" Niu Jin was furious and charged at Wei Yan with his spear.
Cao Ren fought hard with Zhang Fei. Although he also had the determination to die, his momentum was completely different this time. After thirty rounds, his arms were sore from Zhang Fei's attacks that he could not hold on any longer.
At this time, Niu Jin had been injured by Wei Yan, fell off his horse, and was captured by soldiers. Cao's army either fled or surrendered, and the fighting outside the city had stopped.
Cao Ren was sweating profusely as he fought. The shouts of killing became less and less frequent. When he looked back, he saw Guan Yu and Zhao Yun guarding him from afar, blocking his way. He was the only one left to fight with Zhang Fei.
Knowing that there was no way to survive and unwilling to endure the humiliation of being captured a second time, he swung his sword hard at Zhang Fei and then drew his sword to commit suicide.
Wei Yan had been on guard at the side. When he saw Cao Ren throwing the knife to commit suicide, he urged his horse forward, shouted loudly, and beheaded his mount. Cao Ren rolled into the dust.
Before he could stand up, soldiers rushed over, pinned him down and tied him up.
Zhang Fei came over and yelled, "Cao Ren is a coward. He has caused me to disobey orders twice."
"Let me go, let me go!" Cao Ren struggled and yelled, his eyes red: "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated, don't go too far!"
Wei Yan laughed and said, "General Cao is worth a thousand gold coins. Wouldn't it be a big loss to kill him?"
Zhang Fei led his troops to escort Cao Ren and Niu Jin back to the city first. He grumbled and ordered people to bring the prisoners and drive them into the city.
When Cao Ren was captured for the second time, he was like a violent beast, cursing Wei Yan and Zhang Fei. When he saw Liu Qi, he started cursing again, trying to provoke them to execute him.
Liu Qi walked down the steps, looked at Cao Ren and said with a smile: "General Cao, it's useless to yell until your throat is hoarse. Save your energy and wait for Cao Cao to redeem me!"
Cao Ren roared, "Liu Qi, you sick man, kill me if you dare!"
Liu Qi sighed, "Killing people is not enough. As the saying goes, it's hard to find a good general. General, you want to die, but have you ever thought about Prime Minister Cao, and your wife and children, who will take care of them?"
Cao Ren could not bear the humiliation and gnashed his teeth, "Liu Qi, you bastard, you don't need to worry about my family affairs. I just want you to give me a quick death!"
Liu Qi shook his head and sighed, waving his hands and said, "General Cao is too irritable, take him downstairs to take a shower and calm him down!"
"Leave it to me!" Wei Yan stepped forward and said with a smile, "I'm most familiar with this!"
"You dare?" Cao Ren was shocked, his eyes seemed to be spitting fire, and he said sternly: "Whoever dares to touch me will bite his tongue and commit suicide."
"Biting your tongue won't kill you, it will only add to your pain. General, be careful!" Liu Qi shook his head and said, "If you become mute, how will you lead troops to fight in the future?"
At this moment, the defenders on the city wall sounded the alarm that a large group of Cao's troops were approaching. Liu Qi ordered his men to take Cao Ren down and go up to the city wall to meet the enemy.
When Cao Hong heard that Cao Ren had fallen into a trap, he hurriedly led his troops to support him. When he chased him outside the city, he saw only corpses everywhere and no living people.
Seeing that the two large camps were guarding the city, he did not dare to approach rashly. He called over a deserter and shouted, "Where is Zixiao?"
"General Cao, he...ah—"
The deserter was so frightened that he could not answer and was hacked to death by the angry Cao Hong, which shocked Cao's army.