Cao Cao personally led 100,000 elite troops out of Bowangpo and headed straight for Wancheng to seek revenge.
Yesterday, Cao Cao used a trick to break Liu Qi's left and right camps and captured Bowang. He was feeling very proud of himself. However, as soon as he lay down, he received news that Xiahou Dun's army was wiped out and the whereabouts of several generals were still unknown.
This made Cao Cao furious, and he was about to send troops to take revenge that night, but was persuaded by Xun You. He waited until dawn and could not wait to send troops, but he did not know that Baihe had already set up a defense line.
Xu Chu led 3,000 armored soldiers to clear the way, with Cao Hong as the rear guard. They arrived at the Baihe River in a mighty force and saw that the Jingzhou army had already set up camp along the shore and laid out a defense line.
At noon, Cao Cao arrived in person and rode his horse to the riverside to inspect. His face was gloomy, and he sent troops across the river to attack without further explanation.
There was only one stone bridge here, and Cao's army gathered on it. The rest of the soldiers went down to the river to build a bridge and prepare to cross the river. Arrows and stones rained down from the other side, and all of them were killed before half of them had crossed the river.
In a blink of an eye, more than 2,000 people were killed. The bridgehead was piled with corpses, blood was flowing, and the surging river water turned red. It was a horrible sight.
Cao Xiu said: "Liu Qi is well prepared and has plenty of arrows. It is better to retreat temporarily and think of a way to defeat the enemy."
Cao Cao's face was as gloomy as water. He ordered Han Hao, "Go upstream to block the river. Even if we have to fill up the river, we must kill them. If we don't take Wancheng, I will not be a human being!"
Although Han Hao felt embarrassed, he saw that Cao Cao was very angry and did not dare to disobey orders. He led 3,000 troops upstream to make preparations.
The sun was scorching. Cao Cao dismounted and sat on a huge rock. He drank a few sips of water and stared at the stone bridge in a daze.
Although he successfully entered Nanyang, Cao Cao was not happy.
Nanyang was a sad place for him. When he had previously conquered Zhang Xiu, he had lost his eldest son Cao Ang and his close confidant Dian Wei. He still felt a dull pain in his heart whenever he thought of it.
Now we have lost Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun, not to mention deputy generals such as Yu Jin and Li Dian. Ever since we held the emperor hostage and commanded the princes, our army has been invincible. How could we have ever suffered such a great loss
This not only concerns the overall situation of Nanyang's threat to the Central Plains, but also concerns his face. It is simply a great shame and humiliation!
Now that Cao Cao is the prime minister and his power is respected throughout the world, Sun Quan dare not openly disobey his orders.
Liu Qi was a coward, yet he dared to insult him openly and fell into his traps many times, resulting in heavy casualties.
What would the generals in Cao’s camp think if we didn’t avenge our previous humiliation
What do the civil and military officials in the court think
What do you think of Bi Yaner
What do people in the world think
What do those defeated generals, such as Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and others, think of this in the afterlife
Just as he was lost in thought, suddenly a group of troops and horses came from the other side, carrying the banner of Liu Qi. Cao Cao narrowed his eyes into slits, with a cold light flashing.
Liu Qi's troops arrived at the shore and rode forward, with Huang Zhong on the left and Zhuge Liang sitting in a four-wheeled cart on the right. They faced the river breeze with great dignity.
Cao Cao, surrounded by Xu Chu and others, stepped forward and pointed at Liu Qi, shouting, "Liu Qi, you little bastard, you dared to use fire to break through my army. I swear to avenge you!"
Before he finished speaking, soldiers brought Xiahou Dun up. Cao's army was suddenly in an uproar. Unexpectedly, Xiahou Dun was also captured.
Liu Qi smiled slightly, clasped his fists and said, "Prime Minister Cao, General Xiahou did not know how to advance or retreat, and invaded our borders. He has been captured by me. If the Prime Minister is willing to take him back to Xuchang for trial, we will stop fighting, discuss respecting the emperor, returning to the old capital, and reviving the Han Dynasty. What do you think?"
When Cao Cao saw Liu Qi's attitude and thought he wanted to be on an equal footing with him and share power in the government, he became even more angry.
Pointing at Liu Qi, he said in a deep voice: "Liu Qi, if you know what's happening, you should release Xiahou Dun and the other generals earlier, dismount and surrender. I will spare your life because of our old friendship. Otherwise, I will destroy Jingzhou and leave no trace of you and your father!"
Liu Qi's face darkened, and he said slowly: "Prime Minister, if you insist on doing this, aren't you afraid that Xiahou Dun will lose his head?"
When Cao Cao saw the two soldiers holding up their swords, his face changed drastically and he shouted, "Liu Qi, how dare you be so presumptuous?"
Liu Qi looked like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, and chuckled: "As the son of the governor of Jingzhou, I should protect the territory. Since the prime minister wants to razed Jingzhou, the worst that can happen is that we fight to the death..."
"Prime Minister, don't worry, just come and avenge me!"
At this moment, Xiahou Dun on the side roared loudly, like a madman.
Cao's army was shocked. Cao Cao was heartbroken and advised: "Don't worry, Yuan Rang. I will definitely save you!"
"Gongming, shoot, shoot at me quickly..."
Xiahou Dun was also a man of strong character. He had pulled out an arrow and ate his eyes. He was so generous. How could he accept such humiliation
Xu Huang was so scared that he put away his bow and arrow and picked up the axe in his hand. He thought to himself, there are so many people who can use arrows, why did you choose me
"Wen Lie, shoot!" Xiahou Dun stared at Cao Xiu with his only red eye, his only remaining eyeball seemed to be about to burst out, "Give your uncle a quick death, remember to avenge me, shoot quickly-"
He was held hostage in front of the three armies, and after two military defeats, he felt he could not face Cao Cao again. He was so ashamed and angry that he wanted to die.
Cao Cao took a deep breath, and finally clasped his fists towards Liu Qi and said, "Take Yuan Rang back first and keep him under careful guard. I have my own reasons."
Liu Qi waved his hand and the soldiers took the violent Xiahou Dun away. Bursts of roars came from the wind, as shrill as the sound of a pig to be slaughtered, which was creepy to hear.
Liu Qi glanced at the Cao army in bright armor and said with a smile, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"
Cao Cao took a deep breath, tried to calm himself, and said slowly: "Liu Qi, since I have been serving the emperor to fight against the rebellion, all heroes have been treated like grass. The army has been invincible wherever it goes. Those who obey me live, and those who disobey me die. Do you understand?"
Liu Qi looked at Zhuge Liang. He was best at this kind of verbal attack. It would be even better if he could curse Boss Cao to death.
Zhuge Liang thought that Liu Qi was asking him if he wanted to show weakness, so he gently waved his feather fan and shook his head.
The two of them did not form a tacit understanding, so Liu Qi had to fire on his own, saying loudly:
"I have heard of the Prime Minister's mighty power. When he pursued Dong Zhuo in Luoyang, attacked Lu Bu in Puyang, and fought Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, people applauded. I believe that there will be more such feats in the future, such as winning every battle and taking every city."
Cao Cao was furious when he heard this and said, "How can you expose my shortcomings? Where is Xu Chu?"
Upon hearing the order, Xu Chu urged his horse to charge directly onto the stone bridge, raising his sword to kill Liu Qi.
Cao Cao observed on the opposite bank for a long time and saw that Guan, Zhang and Zhao were all gone, and Liu Qi was only guarded by an old veteran. Suddenly, he had an idea and ordered Xu Chu, who was wearing heavy armor, to launch a surprise attack.
If we can kill Liu Qi unexpectedly, the soldiers of Jingzhou will surely be defeated, and we can defeat the enemy and save people.
At this time, Xu Chu was fully armed, wearing heavy armor inside and iron armor outside. Even his mount was wrapped in iron armor, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
Both the man and the horse stepped onto the stone bridge like a moving block of iron, making a dull thud and the big sword flashed a cold light.
The Jingzhou soldiers on the shore shot arrows one after another, and the arrows swarmed towards Xu Chu like locusts, but there was only a sound as dense as raindrops, and the arrows fell one after another, unable to hurt him at all.
At this time, Xu Chu was like an armored vehicle, staggering across the bridge head. Guns and cannons posed no threat to him.
Such a fierce charge made the defenders panic. Even Zhuge Liang looked alert and put his hand on the mechanism of the four-wheeled vehicle.
Liu Qi, however, looked calm. Although Guan, Zhang and Zhao were not there, the Five Tigers still had old Huang Zhong to support them, and Gan Ning next to him was not inferior either. Xu Chu was just here to get killed.
"Humph, are you bullying me because there is no one in Jingzhou?" Huang Zhong's hair and beard stood up. He took out his bow and arrow, aimed at Xu Chu and shot three arrows in a row.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
In an instant, three arrows flew out from the air almost in no particular order, mixed with the random arrows, and shot towards Xu Chu.