My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Kill instantly with one move.

With their commander killed, the remaining Wei cavalry crumbled and fled at the mere sight of their enemy.

Above the Liyang Ferry, the screams of Wei soldiers rose and fell, staining the Yellow River with blood.

Around noon, the killing finally subsided.

After leaving behind thousands of corpses, the Wei army, with its remaining troops, fled in disarray towards Liyang.

Hao Zhao and Deng Ai, two young military generals, met over the corpses of enemy soldiers.

"Shizai, you've arrived just in time. If you had been half an hour later, I'm afraid I would have perished in this surging Yellow River."

Hao Zhao smiled, still feeling a lingering fear.

Deng Ai smiled and waved his hand, saying:
"Bo Dao, don't exaggerate. Grand Commandant Xiao said that you are a defensive genius comparable to Huo Zhongmiao. Not to mention holding out for another half an hour, you could hold out for another half a day without any problem."

"If it weren't for this reason, Grand Commandant Xiao wouldn't have recommended you for this important task."

Hao Zhao suddenly realized that Xiao He valued him so much, and he was flattered and overwhelmed.

"I am truly unworthy of such high regard from Grand Commandant Xiao."

Hao Zhao hurriedly made a self-deprecating joke, then asked:
"Shizai, we have already dealt a heavy blow to Cao Ren. Now, how should we proceed with our troops? Does His Majesty have any decrees?"

Deng Ai pointed his silver spear in all directions and looked back upstream:
"Our next step is naturally to set up camp on the spot, firmly control this ferry crossing on the north bank, and wait for His Majesty to personally lead his 300,000 troops to arrive."

Hao Zhao was stunned.

He could understand setting up camp on the north bank to firmly control the ferry crossing.

But what does it mean when Liu Bei arrives with an army of 300,000?
Wasn't Liu Bei going to lead the entire army of the country to attack Tongguan?
Unaware of the details, Hao Zhao was momentarily bewildered.

"Having come to this point, Bo Dao, don't you understand?"

"The attack on Tongguan is actually a feint. The purpose is to lure Cao's main force from Liyang to Guanzhong, so that we can join forces to severely damage Cao Ren and seize this foothold at the ferry on the north bank."

"Only then can Your Majesty lead my main force, taking advantage of the Yellow River waterway, to take the lead and turn back eastward, successfully land on the north bank, and besiege Liyang."

"Recovering Hebei is the true objective of our army's campaign against Wei, and this is Grand Commandant Xiao's plan."

Deng Ai no longer concealed anything and truthfully revealed the strategy agreed upon by the higher-ups to Hao Zhao.

Hao Zhao suddenly realized what was happening, gasped, and looked astonished as if he had heard a fairy tale.

"So it turns out that Grand Commandant Xiao wasn't using the same old tricks to imitate the attack on Luoyang, but rather a scheme to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"This plan is truly unpredictable, a scheme devised by both gods and men."

"Grand Commandant Xiao is truly... truly..."

Hao Zhao was so shocked and impressed that he became incoherent with emotion.

Deng Ai, filled with pride for his teacher, patted Hao Zhao on the shoulder and laughed:
"Bo Dao, now you should know why our king, after acquiring Grand Commandant Xiao, was able to rise from merely holding the city of Fancheng to his current prominence, right?"

After being treated with acupuncture by Hua Tuo, Deng Ai's stuttering problem improved significantly, and he began to speak much more fluently.

"Grand Commandant Xiao... truly... Your Majesty is truly the Mandate of Heaven... the Mandate of Heaven..."

Deng Ai stopped stuttering, but Hao Zhao, overwhelmed with emotion, began to stammer.

Deng Ai laughed heartily and then said:

"Alright, enough said. Let's set up camp and wait for the King's 300,000-strong army to arrive!"

Deng Ai immediately ordered the more than 13,000 soldiers who had landed to set up camp at Liyangdu.

At the same time, a messenger was urgently sent upstream to report the victory to Liu Bei and Xiao He.

...

Liyang City.

On the city wall, Cao Renshang stood with his sword at his side, gazing into the distance towards the ferry crossing.

Not far from the ferry crossing, one could still vaguely see some signs of the battle taking place in Liyang.

Blood mist filled the air above the ferry crossing, and the shouts and cries of soldiers could be faintly heard, indicating that a fierce battle was underway.

Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose from the east and rushed into the ferry battlefield.

"This should be General Yue's tactic: to feign a retreat with the infantry, luring the entire Chu army ashore, and then have General Chang lead three thousand iron cavalry to attack the enemy's flank, thus annihilating the enemy from both sides."

Cheng Wu pointed to the billowing dust and speculated.

Cao Ren nodded slightly and praised:
"Le Wenqian truly lives up to his reputation as a veteran general of Cao Wei. His tactics are masterful and will surely annihilate the Chu invaders!"

The generals on both sides were greatly encouraged.

Cheng Wu's eyes burned with a vengeful excitement as he laughed:
"In this battle, our army annihilated 10,000 Chu bandits, which can be called an unprecedented victory. It will surely boost the morale of our army, and the reputation of the General of the Flying Cavalry will also increase greatly."

"If General Yue and his men could capture that traitor Hao Zhao alive, that would be perfect."

Cao Ren's lips curled into a smile as he began to envision the wonderful blueprint drawn up by Cheng Wu.

He couldn't remember when Cao Cao had last defeated Liu Bei.

It goes back to more than a decade ago, to the battle when Cao Cao personally attacked Runan.

From that point onward, starting from the Battle of Fancheng, they were defeated whenever they faced Liu Bei, and never won a single victory.

Although today's battle only annihilated 10,000 Chu soldiers, which is a drop in the ocean for the Chu state, it is, as Cheng Wu said, an unprecedented victory for Cao Wei.

This great victory was undoubtedly a timely help for Cao Cao, who desperately needed a win to boost the morale of his army and the people.

It should be a foregone conclusion that he, as the General of the Cavalry, will restore his prestige.

Most importantly, capture Hao Zhao alive!
Executing this ungrateful traitor with his own hands would be of great significance, both to him personally and to the entire state of Wei. Cao Ren grew increasingly excited, his mind already conjuring up the image of Hao Zhao kneeling before him, filled with remorse, weeping and begging for mercy…

"Something's wrong. It looks like another cavalry unit is attacking from the northwest!"

"General of the Cavalry, something's not right."

Jia Kui suddenly shouted, interrupting Cao Ren's beautiful reverie.

Cao Ren's thoughts returned to reality. Looking into the distance, he saw a cloud of dust rising from the northwest, rushing towards the ferry battle group like a storm.

That formation clearly showed that several thousand cavalrymen had arrived!
However, the dust cloud seen from the east just now indicated that Chang Diao had led three thousand iron cavalry into the battle.

Where did this cavalry force from the west come from?
"Could it be that…"

Cao Ren shivered, his face darkened, and an ominous premonition instantly enveloped his entire body.

A moment later, groups of people rushed from the direction of the ferry crossing toward the south gate of Liyang.

Cao Ren's eyes widened, his breathing became heavier, and his ominous premonition grew stronger.

Suddenly, thousands of soldiers came into view.

Wei army.

The force that rushed in was Yue Jin and his Wei army.

They were utterly defeated, fleeing in terror and panic... clearly a scene of utter devastation.

Cao Ren's expression changed drastically.

The people around Cheng Wu and others were all horrified.

"Quickly, let our troops into the city—"

Cao Ren shouted as he rushed down from the city wall.

The city gates opened, and thousands of defeated soldiers, still in shock, rushed in.

"Le Wenqian!"

Cao Ren recognized Yue Jin and demanded an explanation in a stern voice:
"What happened to you? Why did you all suffer a defeat?"

Le Jin dismounted, knelt down, and said with a pained expression:
"Reporting to General of the Flying Cavalry, Jinben and Changdiao joined forces to attack the Chu army that landed on the shore, and almost annihilated the enemy."

"But at the critical moment, a Chu cavalry suddenly attacked from upstream, cutting off our rear. We were caught in a pincer movement and could not fight back, so we had to retreat to Liyang."

"Chang Diao was also killed by the enemy!"

Cao Ren's heart skipped a beat.

The earlier worries came true; the troops coming from the northwest were indeed Chu cavalry!
"This is impossible. How could a Chu army suddenly appear upstream and arrive on the battlefield at this very moment?"

Cheng Wu was the first to jump out, expressing his excited doubts.

After all, he was the one who strongly recommended Cao Ren to send troops into battle, but now they have suffered such a crushing defeat. As the instigator, he cannot escape blame.

Faced with Cheng Wu's questioning, Yue Jin was at a loss for words.

Jia Kui suddenly shivered, and his forehead was instantly covered in a layer of cold sweat.

"General of the Flying Cavalry, we may have fallen for the trick of the pseudo-Chu to lure us away from our mountain. What Liu Bei really wants to attack is not Guanzhong, but Hebei!"

Jia Kui turned his head shakily to look at Cao Ren, his voice trembling.

Cao Ren shuddered, glared at Jia Kui, and demanded:
"What did you say? What kind of 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' strategy?"

Jia Kui took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his emotions, and said in a deep voice:

“Those three thousand Chu cavalry who suddenly attacked from upstream must have come from Luoyang via the Yellow River waterway and landed west of Liyang, which is why they were able to catch us off guard.”

"The cavalry arrived so timely, it's clear they had an agreement with that traitor Hao Zhao, and it was a scheme pre-arranged by the Chu army."

"This plan is to use Hao Zhao as bait to lure our army into attacking, and then launch a surprise attack from both sides to severely damage our army in one fell swoop."

"In this way, the Chu army can successfully set up camp on the north bank and seize a foothold."

"I reckon that big-eared scoundrel has already boarded his 300,000-strong army and is speeding downstream back to the north bank, intending to seize Liyang in one fell swoop!"

"Liu Bei's attack on Tongguan was a feint, intended only to lure Your Majesty and our main force to Guanzhong to resist the enemy. His true intention was to take advantage of the situation to cross the river and seize Hebei!"

"This must be Xiao He's trick; the king and we have all been fooled by him!"

Jia Kui finally deduced the full picture of Xiao He's plan.

By the end, his voice was trembling, and his eyes and tone were filled with fear.

Cao Renru was struck on the head, staggered back half a step, his mouth wide open, his face frozen in astonishment.

"Jia Kui is right. Cang Shu must have misjudged the situation. That sorcerer's plan this time is not a repeat of his old tricks!"

"With the Yellow River waterway at its disposal, the big-eared bandit can sail back to Liyang from Tongguan in less than two days. If Your Majesty wants to go back to save Liyang, you will have to travel a long way."

"By the time Your Majesty returns with the main force, the 300,000-strong army of the Big Ears bandits will have already established a firm foothold on the north bank, completely surrounding my Liyang City."

"Cang Shu, oh Cang Shu, your cleverness has backfired; you've ruined everything..."

Cao Ren was so anxious that he stamped his feet and complained about Cao Chong.

Jia Kui stepped forward and said sternly:
"General of the Cavalry, now is not the time to blame Young Master Cang Shu. What's done is done, and we can only try to mend things after the fact."

"The best course of action now is to strengthen the defenses of Liyang while sending someone to Guanzhong to inform the King and urge him to quickly lead the army back to Liyang!"

Cao Ren's body jolted, and he suddenly awoke, shouting hoarsely:

"Quickly send someone to Guanzhong to request the King to return his troops to Liyang! Quickly, quickly!" (End of Chapter)