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

Chapter 68: The old rules, massacre the city! Xiao He is the madman I drove away?
"How dare the remnants of the Yellow Turbans act so recklessly!"

Cao Xiu only knew that Zhou Cang was from the Yellow Turban Army, but he didn't know Zhou Cang's martial arts skills. He cursed angrily and waved his spear to block the attack.

"throat!"

The swords and guns collided with a loud bang that sounded like the collapse of the sky.

Cao Xiu suddenly felt a huge force like a mountain pressing down on him, his internal organs ruptured and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Under the violent impact, his body was blown away like a kite with a broken string.

"Boom!"

Cao Xiu fell into the torrent before he could even scream.

Although he had lived in Wu for many years, he was born in the north after all and had not learned how to swim.

As soon as he fell into the water, he swallowed several mouthfuls of water and began to struggle and thrash in the water in panic.

"The chickens and dogs are vulnerable!"

Zhou Cang snorted disdainfully, swung his sword, and ordered Cao Xiu to be pulled out of the water.

He was Cao Cao's nephew and a member of the Cao clan.

Although his official position was not as famous as Yu Jin's, his status and position were far higher than Yu Jin's. He was truly a big fat sheep.

Capturing Cao Xiu alive is naturally a great achievement.

A moment later, Cao Xiu was fished out and thrown on a mound of earth.

At this moment, this leader of the younger generation of the Cao family had a belly full of water, which had drowned half his life. He was lying weakly on the ground, spitting out water. His previous fury was gone.

"Cao Xiu, you were captured alive by me, a remnant of the Yellow Turbans. What else do you have to say?"

Zhou Cang looked down at Cao Xiu lying on the ground with a sarcastic look.

One sentence instantly hurt Cao Xiu's dignity.

"If it weren't for this flood, I wouldn't have been defeated by a scoundrel like you. I, Cao Xiu, was defeated by God, not by someone like you—"

Cao Xiu kept talking stubbornly while struggling to get up.

Zhou Cang's face was filled with more sarcasm, and he snorted coldly:
"Cao Xiu, do you really think you were defeated by fate? Let me tell you, you were defeated by the brilliant plan of our Xiao Congshi!"

Xiao Congshi?
A brilliant plan?

Cao Xiu's body froze, and there was confusion in his sad and angry eyes.

"Do you think that if the autumn rains fall heavily and the Han River rises, it will surely flood you?"

"This is the plan that Xiao Congshi proposed to my master. Taking advantage of the flood, we will break the river embankment and flood your Cao camp. We will crush your 150,000-man army in one fell swoop!"

Zhou Cang revealed the truth in a proud tone.

Cao Xiu's body trembled suddenly, and he fell to the ground again in shock after just getting up.

"Just as I suspected, that big-eared thief dug up the riverbank and used the autumn flood to flood our camp!"

"Damn it! I should have realized that 40% of our troops were camped in low-lying areas and were in danger of being flooded by Liu Bei's dam breach. I should have warned my uncle earlier!"

"Also, who is this Xiao Congshi he mentioned? How could he come up with such a cruel and vicious plan?"

"Could it be that this person surnamed Xiao is the Xiao He that Cheng Yu mentioned that day?"

Cao Xiu, lying on the ground, looked as if his soul had been taken away, and he fell into endless regret and suspicion.

"Bind this thief and take him back to Xiangyang to await your lord's judgment!"

Zhou Cang didn't have time to talk to him anymore as he had to rush to surrender the other trapped Cao troops.

The soldiers tied Cao Xiu up, put him on a boat, and sent him to the camp on the south bank.

Zhou Cang continued to command the ships, following behind the main force, and captured all the Cao soldiers who were flooded along the way and trapped on the high ground.

...

North of Fancheng is the main camp of Cao’s army.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

Generals such as Xu Huang, Zhang He, Le Jin, and counselors such as Cheng Yu and Jia Xu have all arrived in a hurry.

Many of them still had a hint of sleepiness on their faces, obviously having been called out of bed by Cao Cao.

"Hou Yin, this thief, dared to rebel, occupy Rang County, and wreak havoc in Nanyang. He is truly despicable!"

"Who among you is willing to lead the army and quell the rebellion?"

Cao Cao angrily threw the urgent report in his hand onto the table.

The disastrous consequences of increasing grain taxes finally became apparent at this time.

If the rebellion happened somewhere else, it would be fine. But the key point is that Nanyang is very close to the front line. If the rebellion gets out of hand and the food supply is cut off, wouldn’t the 150,000-strong army be in danger?
Cao Cao's sensitive nerves were touched, and he immediately summoned his generals to transfer troops back from the front line to quell the rebellion.

"Prime Minister, I am willing to lead the army back to Nanyang to quell the rebellion!"

Le Jin was the first to step forward and volunteer.

Cao Cao nodded slightly and waved his hand, saying:

"I will give you 10,000 elite soldiers, and you must set out immediately to the north to quell the rebellion. Within ten days, I want to see Hou Yin's head placed on my desk." Le Jin accepted the order generously.

Jia Xu's eyes turned secretly, and he also bowed and said:
"Prime Minister, Xu is quite familiar with Nanyang and is willing to follow General Le north to quell the rebellion."

Cao Cao was slightly surprised.

Normally, Jia Xu rarely offered suggestions, but today he broke the norm and volunteered to quell the rebellion, which was really unexpected.

However, Jia Xu had assisted Zhang Xiu in separatist Nanyang, and was well aware of the geographical advantages and people of Nanyang. Having him assist Le Jin in suppressing the rebellion would indeed achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao did not think much about it and happily agreed to Jia Xu's request.

"After you put down the rebellion and kill Hou Yin, I want you to massacre the entire Rang County as a warning to others!"

Cao Cao issued the order to massacre the city in a cold tone.

Everyone in the tent was startled and looked at each other secretly. They all understood that Cao Cao was really angry and wanted to use his usual method of massacring the city to intimidate those who were plotting rebellion.

Even though some people felt that Cao Cao's move was excessive, no one dared to advise him.

Le Jin naturally accepted the order without hesitation.

Jia Xu frowned, and a barely perceptible regret flashed across his eyes.

But since he had already volunteered for this task, it was difficult for him to refuse. He had no choice but to accept the order.

Le Jin and Jia Xu then took their leave and left. Before dawn, they led 10,000 soldiers out of the camp and headed north.

After sending off the troops to suppress the rebellion, Cao Cao's expression improved a little.

"Zhongde, have you found out the details about Xiao He whom I ordered you to investigate?"

After suppressing the rebellion, Cao Cao remembered this incident.

Just as Cheng Yu was about to speak, the curtain was lifted and a young man in armor walked into the tent.

"Zihuan?"

When Cao Cao saw the young man, his eyes lit up.

That noble young man was his second son, Cao Pi.

"Son greets father."

Cao Pi stepped forward to pay his respects and said,

"I have been ordered to escort grain and fodder south from Xudu. I have successfully brought 100,000 hu of grain to the main camp and would like to report to you, father!"

After the grain and grass in Deng County were robbed, Cao Cao simply withdrew the grain camp to prevent the Chaoyang grain camp from being lost, and all the grain and grass were escorted from Wancheng to the front line of Fancheng.

As for Cao Pi, he was appointed as the Cavalry Commandant before the southern expedition, assisting Xiahou Dun in stationing in Xuchang and being responsible for supervising the transportation of grain and grass.

This time, Cao Pi volunteered to escort 100,000 hu of grain south.

"Zihuan, you did a great job on this mission. Thank you for the hard work along the way."

Cao Cao praised Cao Pi and ordered him to give his son a seat and tea.

Cao Pi stood up and sat down. Cao Cao asked some more questions about Xuchang. Cao Pi was obviously well prepared and answered them fluently.

Cao Cao nodded slightly, quite satisfied with Cao Pi's performance.

"Zhongde, how's your investigation going on with the person I just mentioned?"

After the father and son chatted for a while, Cao Cao's attention returned to Xiao He.

Cheng Yu then took out a piece of information.

"According to my detailed investigation, Liu Bei trusted and relied on this person extremely highly. Rumor has it that Liu Bei's surprise attack on Xiangyang and the raid on our Dengxian granary were most likely the work of this person."

"There's a rumor going around in Liu Bei's army that this man is the son of an immortal from another world, and that he can predict the future!"

"Although Yu believes these rumors are somewhat exaggerated, they are sufficient to prove that this person's wisdom and strategy are indeed extraordinary."

Cheng Yu told all the information he had obtained.

There was a burst of discussion in the tent.

Cao Cao's eyes flashed with surprise, and he asked anxiously:
"There's actually such a powerful figure in Jingzhou. How come I've never heard of him?"

"Zhongde, what is the origin of this person?"

Cheng Yu shook his head and said helplessly:

"This Xiao He's origins are mysterious. My spies haven't been able to uncover any of his past. All we know is that he was picked up from the wild by Guan Yu's daughter and brought back to Fancheng. When he met Liu Bei, he had no beard or hair and was dressed in strange clothes."

Cao Cao and the others listened to Cheng Yu's description, looked at each other, and their faces became more and more surprised.

"He has no hair or beard, wears strange clothes, and his name is Xiao He... Why do I seem to have some impression of him?"

Cao Pi's thoughts were churning, and some memories were vaguely evoked.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

"Could it be that the man father and the others are talking about is the madman I chased away outside the Xuchang camp that day?"

(End of this chapter)