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

Chapter 75: Liu Bei, are you kidding me? I, Cao Cao, have never been so cowardly in my life!
Liu Bei issued a killing order.

In today's battle, the primary goal is naturally to defeat Cao's army and completely lift the siege of Fancheng.

If Cao Cao could be killed in one fell swoop, it would be a pleasant surprise, and of course the best thing.

Chen Dao received the order and shouted:

"My Lord, the short, fat, long-bearded man is Cao the thief!"

"Whoever captures and kills Cao thief alive will be rewarded handsomely!"

He ordered his cavalry to gallop away and convey Liu Bei's orders to the pursuing troops layer by layer.

"Hurry and send someone to the south bank to report the victory to Bowen and his men, and ask Bowen to cross the river and go to Xinye for a while!"

After Liu Bei gave the instructions, he whipped his horse and personally joined the pursuit.

More than 30,000 soldiers of Liu's army, carrying the momentum of defeating Cao's army, divided into several groups and marched north to pursue them.

"My lord has issued an order: the short, fat, long-bearded man is Cao's thief. Kill him and he will be rewarded handsomely!"

"My lord has issued an order: the short, fat, long-bearded man is Cao's thief. Kill him and he will be rewarded handsomely!"

The soldiers of Liu's army who were in pursuit passed on Liu Bei's orders from mouth to mouth.

Word spread from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and in a blink of an eye, the sound resounded over the wilderness, as if the sky was collapsing and the earth was splitting apart.

The soldiers of Liu's army heard the thunderous shouts clearly, and Cao Cao, who was fleeing, naturally heard them clearly as well.

He lowered his head in a hurry and looked at his chin.

With his long beard and short and fat body, he was a conspicuous figure. How could he not be noticed by Liu Jun's soldiers?
Cao Cao hurriedly wrapped his red robe around himself to cover up his bulging belly.

But I can cover my belly, but how can I cover my long beard?
Cao Cao rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth, drew his sword, grabbed his long beard and cut it off.

This sudden action frightened the counselors and generals who followed him and made them change color with horror.

"Prime Minister, victory and defeat are common in the military. How can you commit suicide?"

Xu Chu grabbed Cao Cao's hand.

Cao Pi was also horrified, and hugged Cao Cao's arms, crying and admonishing:

"Father, we've only lost tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. We're far from desperate!"

Everyone rode their horses and surrounded Cao Cao to stop him from committing suicide.

Cao Cao pushed everyone aside and snorted arrogantly:
"You all underestimate me too much. Since I started my army to fight Dong Zhuo, I have been defeated more than once. I didn't commit suicide when Lu Bu stole Yanzhou, let alone this small defeat today!"

After saying that, Cao Cao swung his sword and before anyone could react, he had already cut off a mouthful of long beard.

Cao Pi and others suddenly realized.

Cao Cao was not so depressed as to want to commit suicide. He was just afraid that his long beard would be too conspicuous and would be spotted by the pursuing Liu Jun, so he had to bear the pain and cut it off.

Everyone felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

Cao Cao held the long beard he had grown for decades in his hand, but his heart was broken.

He was badly defeated by Xu Rong when he was chasing Dong Zhuo, lost to Lu Bu in the Battle of Puyang, and lost to Zhang Xiu in the Battle of Wancheng...

There were several dangerous situations and he almost lost his life.

But none of those defeats were as terrible as today's!

He was actually defeated by Liu Bei, a general who had been his subordinate for most of his life, and was forced to cut off his beard in order to escape.

When the news reached Xudu, the puppet emperor must have woken up laughing in the middle of the night.

Wouldn't those pro-Han people who have been lying in wait for the right time be celebrating and ready to take action?
"We are incompetent and have allowed the Prime Minister to suffer this humiliation!"

Cao Ren beat his chest and stamped his feet, feeling ashamed and self-blaming.

Xu Chu drew his sword and cried out in grief and anger:
"The master has humiliated the minister and he died. The big-eared thief has forced the prime minister to this point. How can Chu have the dignity to live in shame?"

"You all protect the Prime Minister, I will go back and kill Liu Bei!"

After saying this, Xu Chu turned his horse around and was about to turn around and attack the pursuers.

Cao Cao stopped Xu Chu and said disapprovingly:

"It's just a few wisps of beard. Cut them off and they'll grow back. A gentleman's revenge is never too late. This little humiliation is nothing to me."

Cao Cao threw away his broken beard and smiled proudly:
"Zhongkang, there is a time for you to kill Liu Bei to avenge my shame, but it is not now."

"Let's go, retreat back to Xinye first and gather the defeated troops."

Cao Cao whipped his horse and rode away in a cloud of dust.

Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao's back and nodded in satisfaction:
"A true man can bend and stretch. This is the Cao Mengde I, Cheng Yu, know!"

Cheng Yu breathed a sigh of relief, whipped his horse and followed.

Xu Chu had no choice but to suppress his grief and anger, and chased after Cao Cao closely with a heart full of rage.

Cao's army continued to flee.

Cao's army was fleeing wildly, and Liu Bei, commanding tens of thousands of soldiers, was chasing them frantically.

Cao's army had been completely defeated and had lost its organization. Hundreds of thousands of people were like frightened birds, scattered across the vast wilderness, each fleeing for their lives.

Liu Bei led his army in pursuit, killing countless Cao soldiers and capturing countless of them along the way.

Soon, Liu Bei learned from a prisoner that Cao Cao had reluctantly cut off his beard in order to avoid being targeted.

"Send word to the three armies: Cao Cao has cut off his beard!"

"The one wearing the red robe is Cao Cao. I will reward anyone who captures him alive and kills him!"

Liu Bei immediately changed the pursuit order.

The messenger galloped away and quickly spread the order to all the pursuing soldiers.

"The one wearing the red robe is Cao Cao!"

"The one wearing the red robe is Cao Cao!"

Across the wilderness, the roar of heaven and earth collapsing was heard again.

Cao Cao, who was fleeing wildly several miles ahead, naturally heard it vaguely.

Cao Cao was in tears.

I just reluctantly cut off my beard, and you immediately changed your message to "The man in red robe is Cao Cao". Liu Bei, are you kidding me?
"Father's red robe is too eye-catching and will be easily recognized by the enemy!"

"Father, please throw away this red robe immediately!"

Cao Pi reacted quickly and began to persuade Cao Cao anxiously before he could come to his senses.

Cao Cao glared at Cao Pi fiercely.

It's already embarrassing enough for me to shave my beard, and now you're advising me to throw away my robe. Don't you think I'm embarrassed enough?

"Prime Minister, a real man should be able to bend and stretch. Please put the overall situation first and quickly abandon your robe!"

Cheng Yu did not care about Cao Cao's face and immediately persuaded him in a stern voice.

Cao Cao sighed helplessly.

His beard had been cut off and his face had been knocked to the ground by Liu Bei, so why should he care about being stepped on a few more times?

Cao Cao was determined and hurriedly tore off the red robe that Madam Bian had sewn for him and threw it on the ground. After glancing at the red robe on the ground, Cao Cao sighed and rode away.

The Cao army behind him fled in panic, quickly trampling the red robes on the ground into pieces...

Shuiying, south bank of the Han River.

As the sun approached noon, the news of victory had been passed back to the south bank, and the entire camp was filled with the cheers of the remaining soldiers.

Only in one military tent was there a loud snoring sound.

Xiao He was lying on the couch, still snoring. No matter how loud the cheers outside were, they could not wake him up from his sweet dream.

"Bowen, Bowen, we won, I won!"

Ecstatic shouts rang out outside the tent.

Guan Yinping was filled with ecstasy. She opened the curtain and rushed in. She didn't care that Xiao He was shirtless and pulled him up by force.

"I'm sleeping soundly~~"

Xiao He muttered to himself, raised his head and rubbed his sleepy eyes, looking lazy as if he hadn't gotten enough sleep.

"You've slept until noon, and you still think you haven't slept enough?"

Guan Yinping grabbed his hands tightly and shouted excitedly:

"Your plan to flood Cao's camp was successful. Uncle has defeated Cao's bandits. Cao's army has collapsed and fled north!"

"Bo Wen, your plan worked! You really helped my uncle defeat Cao Cao's 150,000-man army!"

Xiao He suddenly woke up, his sleepiness disappeared in an instant, and the laziness on his face was replaced by surprise.

So he jumped off the couch, without even having time to put on his clothes, and rushed out of the tent with his bare chest.

Everywhere you look, the soldiers in the camp are cheering.

Warships were returning from the north bank, escorting tens of thousands of Cao's prisoners into the camp.

Picking up the telescope and looking to the north, I saw that Cao's camp, which was near the low-lying area of ​​Han River, had been submerged in a swamp.

Everything he saw clearly confirmed that Liu Bei had defeated Cao Cao.

The siege of Fancheng was lifted, and the threat from Cao Cao was also lifted.

Liu Bei escaped danger and secured his position in Xiangyang.

As a member of Liu Bei's group, he was naturally safe and no longer had to worry about dying under the iron hoof of Cao's army.

"Finally, we won this battle. It wasn't easy..."

Xiao He let out a long sigh and couldn't help laughing.

Guan Yinping was overjoyed and excited. She walked forward and hugged Xiao He tightly.

"Bowen, thank you, thank you so much!"

"Without you, uncle and father wouldn't be able to win this almost impossible battle!"

"Without you, we wouldn't know where we would flee to right now. We might have already perished at the hands of Cao Cao's cavalry."

"Bowen, thank you~~"

Guan Yinping rested her head on Xiao He's shoulder, tears welled up in her almond-shaped eyes, and she kept saying thank you.

Xiao He's body froze.

Guan Yinping's unexpected "throwing herself into his arms" and her gentle and infinite words of gratitude really caught him off guard, and he was a little at a loss for a moment.

Xiao He didn't know how to respond to this tenderness, so he just stood there and let her snuggle tightly in his arms.

After a while, Guan Yinping calmed down, suddenly came to her senses, and hurriedly pushed Xiao He away.

That pretty face had flushed cheeks and eyes were filled with shyness.

"Ahem, um... since our lord has won a great victory, shouldn't we cross the river and join him?"

Xiao He changed the subject in time, breaking the subtle awkward atmosphere.

Guan Yinping nodded repeatedly and replied with a red face:
"The Lord did send a message, asking me to escort you across the river to meet you at Xinye."

"Hurry up and put on your clothes. Let's set off as soon as possible. I'll wait for you by the river."

After saying this, Guan Yinping didn't dare to look back, and turned around and left in a hurry.

Xiao He looked at her back and murmured:

"I didn't expect that a daughter of a general would be so gentle that it's hard to resist..."

A quarter of an hour later.

Xiao He dressed neatly and walked to the riverside.

A familiar figure came into view.

Lu Su was standing on the shore, staring at the north bank motionlessly, his eyes full of emotion.

"Zi Jing, you should have heard about the victory on the north shore. It seems that the master of the family was lucky. We won this battle."

Xiao He stepped forward with a smile, raised his hand and pointed eastward:
"Our two families are allies. If my lord defeats Cao Cao, it is equivalent to General Sun defeating Cao Cao."

"As the saying goes, happiness is better shared than happiness alone. Zijing must quickly send someone back to Jiangdong to report the victory, so that General Sun and my lord can share in the joy!"

Lu Su smiled slightly awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

His mood at the moment was mixed.

The good news was that Liu Bei defeated Cao's army, Cao Cao's plan to invade the south was interrupted, and the situation in the south turned from danger to safety.

What was worrying was that Liu Bei had firmly established his presence in Xiangfan, gained great fame after one battle, and captured countless Cao soldiers.

After this battle, Liu Bei's reputation and strength will skyrocket.

After this, it was inevitable to wipe out Liu Cong and swallow up Jingzhou.

Liu Bei wanted to take Jingzhou, and his lord Sun Quan also wanted to take Jingzhou, so the two families were bound to go to war.

Wouldn't that mean Cao Cao would just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and then he would benefit?
What worries Lu Su even more is that Liu Bei has such a sharp sword as Xiao He. Can they in Jiangdong really defeat Liu Bei?

"He still needs to cross the river to join the lord, so he won't be able to accompany Zijing for now."

Xiao He's farewell interrupted Lu Su's heavy thoughts.

Lu Su hurriedly bowed and said goodbye, watching Xiao He get on the boat and slowly sail towards the north bank.

"Liu Xuande has always been a hidden dragon, and now he has the support of Xiao Bowen, the auspicious cloud. After this great victory, I'm afraid no one can stop him from soaring to the sky..."

Looking at Xiao He's receding back, Lu Su muttered to himself, as if thinking about something.

After a long while, Lu Su came back to his senses and instructed the military officer beside him:

"Marquis Ma, quickly send a message to Commander Zhou and the Lord, reporting in detail how Liu Xuande defeated Cao Cao."

The military marquis Ma Zhong did not obey the order and said in a low voice:
"General Lu, Commander-in-Chief Zhou has issued a secret order. If Cao Cao retreats north, General Lu must return to Chaisang immediately without delay!"

Lu Su's eyes were shocked, and he suddenly looked at Ma Zhong, and suddenly seemed to guess something in his heart.

(End of this chapter)