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

Chapter 330 Bowen, you will surely leave your mark on history! Xiao He: I will not only freeze you to death, but also destroy your spirit!

"Xu~~"

Cao Ren breathed a long sigh of relief as his cold body was finally warmed by the fire.

At this moment, he finally regained his senses, glanced around, and his heart skipped a beat.

Several thousand soldiers are currently huddled under the city walls to keep warm and avoid the water. What if the Chu army outside the city takes advantage of this situation to attack the city?
"General of the Cavalry, do not panic. The city walls are now covered with ice, and the siege ladders are unreliable. How can we possibly attack the city?"

"Liu Bei's actions are twofold: first, he wants to cause our soldiers to freeze; second, he wants to deplete our already scarce firewood, making our situation even worse..."

Jia Kui, shirtless and huddled in a fox fur coat, trembled as he pointed out Liu Bei's intentions.

Cao Ren suddenly realized what was happening and breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at the raging fire before him and the firewood being thrown into it, Cao Ren felt a pang of heartache, as if his own flesh were being torn away.

The city already had little firewood left, and after this massive consumption, there was almost nothing left.

If we get through today, what about tomorrow?
What about the day after tomorrow?
"How hateful! You big-eared scoundrel, Xiao He, how could you, my lord and my subject, resort to such insidious tricks? How despicable!"

Cao Ren could do nothing but grit his teeth and rage helplessly.

At this point, the Chu army's water cannon attack finally ended.

Immediately afterwards, cheers erupted from the Chu army.

The cheers contrasted sharply with the trembling and wailing of the Wei soldiers.

"Your Majesty, when will you come to rescue me? If you don't come soon, I fear we brothers will never see each other again..."

Cao Ren looked up at the blood-red setting sun, and a deep sorrow welled up in his heart.

Outside the city, the central army of Chu.

Zhao Yun, Lu Xun, Ding Feng, Zhang Bao, and other generals of the Chu army, looking at the frozen city of Liyang and listening to the wails and screams of the Wei soldiers, were all overjoyed.

"Bowen, the power of your Water Dragon Cannon is truly no less than that of the Divine Thunder Cannon!"

"Using water to attack the enemy army and freezing the enemy city—this is truly an unprecedented tactic, and it will surely be remembered in history!"

Liu Bei looked at Xiao He with delight, praising him highly.

At this time.

Zhang Bao spurred his horse forward and excitedly shouted:

"Your Majesty, the Chu army has been severely froze by the Grand Commandant's water cannons and has fled down the city walls to take refuge. Why don't we take advantage of this situation to attack the city and capture Liyang in one fell swoop?"

Xiao He smiled and pointed towards Liyang City, saying:

"Xingguo and Liyang are naturally to be attacked, but you don't need to be in such a hurry."

"The Wei soldiers are freezing, and they've all rolled down the city wall to warm themselves by the fire. But the city walls are completely frozen, and we can't even get our ladders up there. How are we supposed to attack the city?"

Zhang Bao suddenly realized what was happening and suppressed his fighting spirit.

"Bowen is right; now is not the time to attack the city."

Liu Bei nodded slightly, but pointed his whip boldly towards Liyang:
"Our water attack today is only to make things worse for the Wei invaders and crush their morale as soon as possible. It is not the right time to attack the city yet."

"Pass down the order: the other three gates will also attack the city with water cannons. I will exhaust Cao Ren's firewood!"

The generals gladly accepted the order.

Xiao He's eyes darted around slightly, and he sneered:
"Currently, that traitor Cao Ren is probably still in a state of impotent rage due to his helplessness. I have come up with a plan on the spot: we can rub salt into Cao Ren's wounds and at the same time demoralize the Wei army."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked Xiao He what his plan was.

Xiao He then calmly explained his impromptu plan.

Liu Bei laughed heartily and said with delight:

"Bowen's plan is excellent! Someone, quickly summon Hao Bodao to see me!"

...

South Gate of Liyang.

Cao Ren had changed his armor and was finally no longer shivering and losing all his dignity as he huddled around the fire with his men for warmth.

After learning that the Chu army, which had been arrayed outside the city, had retreated with its water cannons, he finally mustered the courage to carefully climb back onto the city wall.

After falling on his backside twice, Cao Ren finally stood on the city wall again.

A quick glance around revealed that the entire city wall was covered by a thick layer of ice armor, and the ground was littered with Wei soldiers who had frozen to death.

Some soldiers, whose hands and feet had been frozen off and who were still clinging to life, were lying on the ice, crying out for help.

"Big Ear Thief~~"

Cao Ren grew angrier the more he thought about it, and slammed his fist hard against the ice-covered battlements.

Looking up, he saw a rider galloping out from the retreating Chu army formation, heading straight for the city.

Cao Ren became alert, narrowed his eyes, and stared at the newcomer.

"Hao Zhao?"

When Cao Ren saw the approaching riders, his eyes suddenly widened and his face instantly twisted and distorted.

Indeed, the lone rider was none other than the traitorous general Hao Zhao.

"Where is Cao Ren? Come out and answer me!"

Hao Zhao reined in his horse in front of the moat and shouted loudly at the city wall.

Cao Ren's temper flared instantly, and he poked his head out, shouting:
"Hao Zhao, you ungrateful traitor, how dare you show your face before me! You traitor, I will kill you—"

Hao Zhao looked in the direction of the sound and found Cao Ren. His anger was instantly ignited.

"Cao Ren, you treacherous dog!"

Hao Zhao pointed his whip and angrily cursed:
"Cao Cao's cruelty and inhumanity caused the morale of the defenders of Luoyang to plummet, and they surrendered to the King of Chu without a fight. It is not my fault, Hao Zhao, for not fighting."

"To protect Cao Cao's reputation, you falsely accused me of surrendering to the Great Chu without a fight, and instigated Cao Cao to kill my wife, children, and family, and exterminate my entire clan!"

"You despicable, shameless, and ruthless scoundrel! How dare you shout at me like that!" "When Liyang City falls, I will personally tear you to pieces to avenge my wife and children—"

Hao Zhao exposed Cao Cao and Cao Ren's dark history in public, and angrily denounced Cao Ren.

"Traitor, you, you—"

Cao Ren, feeling guilty for his actions, was speechless for a moment when faced with Hao Zhao's weeping, though his face turned red with anger.

Hao Zhao suppressed his anger, pointed his whip at the Wei soldiers on either side, and shouted:
“Listen up, soldiers of the Wei army on the city wall! Cao Cao is currently blocked by my king at Neihuang and cannot advance an inch south. There is no way he can come to Liyang to rescue you.”

“My king’s northern expedition is solely for the purpose of destroying the false Wei and restoring the Han dynasty, not for slaughtering you heroes of Hebei.”

"Since ancient times, Hebei has been home to many righteous men. You are all heroes and brave men. Why do you needlessly aid and abet the Cao family and sacrifice your lives?"

"Think of your wives and children, think of your parents. Do you really want to abandon your loved ones and die for that treacherous Cao Cao, and be buried with that shameless Cao Ren?"

Hao Zhao's words of surrender resounded like thunder in the ears of the Wei army.

The Wei soldiers along the city line heard it all clearly, and how could they not be moved? They were all deeply touched.

Cao Ren's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly woke up.

Liu Bei sent Hao Zhao here precisely to exploit his status as a traitorous general from Wei, firstly to humiliate him and damage his prestige, and secondly to undermine the morale of the Wei army.

What a vicious move...

"Hao Zhao, you traitor—"

"Soldiers of Hebei!"

Hao Zhao sternly interrupted Cao Ren's rebuttal, shouting:

"Wake up, all of you. Now that we have captured Cao Ren alive, it is not too late to open the city gates and surrender to the King of Chu."

"The King of Chu has prepared meat and wine, lit the stove, and is waiting to reward those who have made meritorious contributions by surrendering the city."

"If you surrender to the King of Chu, you will become soldiers of the Great Chu and can join the Great Chu army. Your families will be allocated land, and everyone will be able to live a good life with enough to eat and wear."

"What are you waiting for? Quickly capture Cao Ren and surrender the city!"

Upon hearing these words, the Wei soldiers on the city wall were all moved, and their eyes lit up slightly.

If Hao Zhao's first words only moved the Wei army, his second set of words truly touched their hearts.

To conserve food supplies, Cao Ren has adopted a strategy of replacing large measures with small ones, resulting in a sharp reduction in soldiers' rations to less than 70% of what they were originally.

They were hungry.

Not only were they hungry, but they also had to endure the cold, and they had just experienced a nightmarish freezing attack.

At this point, Liu Bei said, "I have prepared wine and meat for you, and lit the stove. I am just waiting for you to come and surrender. How could they not be tempted?"

Moreover, there is another trump card:

Land distribution

Even though Cao Cao tried his best to block information exchange, news of Chu's implementation of the equal-field system had already spread to Hebei and was known to everyone.

Both were soldiers, but the soldiers of the Chu state had hundreds or even dozens of acres of fertile land at home. They had wives and children, warm beds, and big steamed buns every meal. They could even be rewarded with land for killing enemies and making meritorious contributions.

But if you serve as a soldier for our Wei Kingdom, you can only be a soldier's household for generations, receiving meager rations and barely enough to survive. Your wife, children, and elderly parents live a miserable life and are looked down upon by others.

Given such drastically different treatment, it would be impossible for these Wei soldiers not to envy the Chu soldiers.

Now, Hao Zhao, a former general of Wei, is promising them land and fields on behalf of Liu Bei right in front of them. What a huge temptation this is for them!

The Wei soldiers were all shocked, and their eyes secretly glanced at Cao Ren, a hint of ferocity already showing in their eyes.

Cao Ren naturally realized the destructive power of Hao Zhao's words, and panicked, shouting hysterically:

"You must not be misled by that traitor. Liu Bei has always been untrustworthy, cruel, and ruthless. If you surrender to him, that big-eared thief will surely kill you all!"

"Fire arrows! Fire arrows and kill that traitor!"

The soldiers on both sides hesitated.

Cao Ren was furious. He looked around at everyone and shouted:

"Where are the archers? I order you to fire arrows at that traitor and kill him! Do you dare disobey my orders?"

Le Jin was also enraged. He drew his sword and shouted:

"Anyone who dares to disobey orders will be punished according to military law, and I will kill them!"

The Wei archers, intimidated by his presence, dared not hesitate any longer and had no choice but to reluctantly draw their bows and nock their arrows.

Although he had been half-frozen to death earlier and had recovered quite a bit, his hands still lacked strength, and he couldn't draw the bow no matter how hard he tried.

Under the city.

Seeing that the morale of the Wei army had been further dampened, and having completed the task assigned by Liu Bei, Hao Zhao did not linger any longer, turned his horse around, and rode away.

When Cao Ren snatched a bow, nocked an arrow, and prepared to shoot Hao Zhao himself, Hao Zhao had already sped away, disappearing within an arrow's reach.

"Traitor, don't run! Don't run!"

Cao Ren could only stretch his neck, his face flushed, and roar helplessly at the departing Hao Zhao.

Le Jin was also indignant and resentful, and kept cursing Hao Zhao.

Jia Kui and the others remained silent, only shaking their heads and sighing.

The soldiers glanced at Cao Ren furtively, their eyes no longer filled with awe, but instead with a hint of menace.

Cao Ren sensed a change in the way the soldiers were looking at him, which made him feel a chill run down his spine.

Humiliated by Hao Zhao from the outside and eyed covetously by his own soldiers from the inside, Cao Ren was at a loss as to how to end this predicament.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it, his face turning increasingly purple, and suddenly a surge of anger rushed to his head.

"what--"

Cao Ren let out a loud cry, his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

(End of this chapter)