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

At the east gate of Chang'an, shouts of battle echoed through the sky, and a fierce battle continued.

The Han army's offensive was like a tide, wave after wave.

Under the relentless onslaught, the Wei army was already stretched thin, its defenses were crumbling, and it was gradually showing signs of collapse.

Cao Cao stood atop the city wall, his brows furrowed, his anxiety evident.

He kept glancing into the city, his eyes full of anticipation, hoping that Yang Fu would bring the reserve army to reinforce him.

However, as time passed, Cao Cao waited and waited, but the reserve army never appeared.

Just as he was getting anxious, a fast horse came galloping by.

The messenger looked flustered. As soon as he arrived before Cao Cao, he hurriedly dismounted and knelt down, saying:
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Zhang He has rebelled and is leading the Hebei army to attack the national treasury!"

"Upon learning the news, Attendant Yang immediately led the remaining four thousand reserve troops to rush to the grain depot. He earnestly requests His Majesty to dispatch reinforcements immediately!"

A thunderclap exploded atop the city wall.

Instantly, a wave of horror swept through the crowd.

The Wei soldiers looked at each other, their eyes instantly filled with fear and unease, and a sudden murmur of surprise arose.

Cao Cao felt his legs go weak, and his body swayed uncontrollably, taking half a step back and almost losing his balance.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the messenger, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

The strategists and generals, including Jia Xu, were all shocked and terrified, their expressions changing drastically.

"What did you say? You...you say it again to me?"

Cao Cao snapped out of his daze, shoved aside the officials who were supporting him, rushed forward, and lifted the messenger up.

At this moment, Cao Cao was so excited that he was incoherent.

"Your Majesty, Zhang He has rebelled! The Hebei army has rebelled!"

"They disobeyed Yang Shizhong's orders and all followed Zhang He in rebellion, intending to burn all the grain in our national treasury!"

The messenger was terrified and cried out in a tearful voice.

Cao Cao felt as if he had been struck on the head with a blunt object. His vision went black, his body stiffened like ice, and he stood frozen in place.

Zhang He actually rebelled!
Moreover, during the critical moment when the Han army attacked the city and Chang'an was in imminent danger.

Even more unbelievable is that Zhang He not only instigated the Hebei army to burn his national grain treasury.

Zhang He, this is going to cut off his lifeline and deliver a fatal blow!

Cao Cao was struck as if by lightning, his mind buzzing, and he stood frozen in place, completely bewildered.

"Your Majesty, it must be Zhang He who has secretly colluded with Liu Bei, raised an army to rebel, and wanted to burn my granaries, so that I would immediately run out of food and the morale of my army would collapse!"

Once he came to his senses, Jia Xu cried out in grief and indignation.

Cao Cao stiffened, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him from head to toe, and he was completely sobered up.

Regret, anger, despair... overwhelmed him in an instant.

"Zhang He, you disloyal and treacherous villain, how dare you betray me, how dare you betray me!"

Then Cao Cao looked up to the sky and began to curse loudly.

"The situation is urgent. Your Majesty should immediately dispatch troops to rescue the granary. If Zhang He actually burns down our granary, all will be lost—"

Jia Xu quickly regained his composure, realizing that this was not the time to be angry, and immediately tried to persuade Cao Cao.

Cao Cao suddenly realized what was happening. He struggled to his feet and shouted urgently:
"Wang Shuang, you lead three thousand soldiers to continue to defend the East Gate. I will personally lead five thousand soldiers to rescue the national treasury!"

"Furthermore, immediately dispatch three thousand troops from each of the North and West Gates to the national treasury to quell the rebellion!"

"At all costs, you must protect the national treasury for me!"

Cao Cao was now in a desperate situation. He disregarded the critical situation at the East Gate and the shortage of troops, and even decided to send 4,000 soldiers to quell the rebellion.

"Your Majesty, the enemy has an army of 100,000. Our army is already struggling to fight with its current strength. If another 4,000 troops are to be transferred away, I really cannot guarantee that I can hold the line!"

Wang Shuang dared not accept the order and could only report the truth.

Cao Cao waved his hand and said sternly:
"You only need to hold the gate for me for one hour. Within that hour, I will surely bring back the traitor Zhang He." "If you lose the East Gate after one hour, you will be innocent. But if you lose the East Gate within one hour, you need not come back to see me alive!"

Cao Cao's eyes revealed an undeniable determination. Without waiting for Wang Shuang's response, he pushed aside the crowd, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the city.

Jia Xu sighed and could only follow Cao Cao down the city wall.

Left with no other choice, Wang Shuang gritted his teeth and had no choice but to brandish his sword and shout:

"Soldiers of Wei, follow me to the death to defend the city! Do not retreat a single step!"

...

At this moment, in the Han army formation outside the city.

"Father, a fire has broken out in the west of Chang'an. That's the direction of the Wei treasury. Zhang He must have already made his move. My brother-in-law's plan has succeeded!"

Guan Ping shouted excitedly, brandishing his knife and pointing it south of Chang'an.

Guan Yu looked south and indeed saw thick smoke rising from the sky above the western city, indicating that a great fire was raging.

Thick smoke, like a giant dark cloud, shrouded the sky above Chang'an.

The Wei Kingdom's treasury was located south of the city. Such thick smoke could only mean that the granary had been burned down.

"Bowen was indeed a brilliant strategist; this was Heaven's will to destroy Cao Cao!"

Guan Yu's spirits lifted, and he pointed his whip forward, shouting:
"Pass down the order: the entire army must fight with all their might and continue the fierce attack on Chang'an City to crush the Wei army in one fell swoop!"

"Today, I will surely conquer Chang'an!"

The war drums sounded again, inspiring every Han soldier to advance bravely.

The Han army surged towards the east gate city wall in waves, their offensive becoming increasingly fierce.

Inside Chang'an City.

Cao Cao was galloping along, leading his men in a frantic rush towards Xicheng.

Every second felt like an eternity to him.

Before you'd gone a hundred paces, thick smoke was already rising over the western city, like a giant black dragon, its claws outstretched, circling in the air.

This clearly indicates that the Hebei army has already seized the national treasury.

"That good-for-nothing Zhang Ji, has he already lost the national treasury so quickly?"

Cao Cao was so angry that he gritted his teeth and cursed loudly. He wished he could fly to the national treasury immediately and tear Zhang He to pieces.

He had no choice but to urge his soldiers to run wildly, disregarding everything else.

"Your Majesty, do not panic. The granaries contain hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain, and there are hundreds of granaries alone. How could they be burned down in a short time?"

"It is believed that Yang Yishan is currently leading his troops in a fierce battle against the rebels. His troops outnumber the rebels, and he may have already defeated Zhang He, recaptured the granary, and is now putting out the fire."

"Even if we can't put out the fire in the granary, we should at least be able to salvage tens of thousands of bushels of grain so that our army won't run out of food that day and morale won't collapse."

"Then we can stabilize the morale of our troops and hold out until we can send more grain and supplies from Liangzhou to Chang'an!"

Jia Xu himself didn't believe his own words, yet he could only comfort Cao Cao in this self-deceptive way.

Cao Cao calmed down slightly and nodded emphatically:

"You're right, I still have hope, I still have a glimmer of hope—"

Before the word "hope" could be uttered, wave after wave of defeated soldiers collapsed and rushed forward like stray dogs.

Cao Cao's expression changed drastically. He abruptly reined in his horse and looked at the routed soldiers in astonishment.

These soldiers are clearly reserve troops.

Shouldn't these people be under Yang Fu's command and attacking the rebels?
But they were defeated and routed?

Could it be that…

Cao Cao shivered violently, his hand trembled, and the whip slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. (End of Chapter)