I, Zhou Cang, am the number one tank in the Three Kingdoms.

Hu Che'er led 500 soldiers, 100 Xiliang cavalry, and 400 infantry.

In a very short time, they wrapped the horse's hooves in linen, and under the cover of night, they secretly lowered the drawbridge at the East Gate and headed towards Liu Bei's brightly lit Eastern Camp.

The soldiers carrying grain, holding torches and pushing carts, kept urging and shouting, completely unaware of the Hu Che'er troops sneaking in from the darkness.

"Kill!" Hu Che'er shouted as he approached the camp gate, leading the charge into the camp.

After all, they were the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Although their elite forces were depleted by Cao Cao at Guandu, the fighting force left in the city was still formidable.

Despite being on guard and instructed to run if attacked, more than a dozen soldiers transporting grain, who happened to be at the camp gate, were still killed in an instant.

Hu Che'er was fooled by this illusion and charged straight into the camp. Upon seeing this, the soldiers in the camp abandoned their carts and scattered.

Hu Che'er, being cautious, ran straight to a small cart, stabbed the knife into a sack on the cart, and pulled it out with a burst of strength. In the dim light, all that could be seen flowing out was sand and dirt.

"We've fallen into a trap! Retreat!" Hu Che'er shouted, and the Xiliang cavalry stopped and turned their horses to retreat out of the camp. At this time, there was still no movement in the camp.

Just as the infantry had retreated and the cavalry was about to withdraw safely, at that moment—

With a single cannon shot, dozens of ropes were strung up on the flat ground in the middle of the camp, tripping over the thirty-odd warhorses that had not yet managed to escape.

The soldiers lying in ambush on both sides of the camp gate cut the ropes holding the heavy sacks with a single stroke, and the mechanism that Xu Shu had carefully set up was activated instantly. The camp gate closed quickly, completely trapping Hu Che'er and more than thirty other riders inside the camp.

In an instant, shouts of battle erupted throughout the camp. A hundred or so soldiers, who were lying in ambush closest to the main road, shouted and pushed the carts along the roadside toward Hu Che'er and his men. The Xiliang cavalry were surrounded by a semi-circular formation of carts.

As the riders got up from the ground, they were greeted by a large circle of archers who were ready to attack.

Guan Yu, sword drawn, stood not far from the top of the arc and roared, "Hu Che'er! You have fallen into the strategist's trap and have no chance of escape. I will ask you only once: will you surrender or not?!"

Hearing this from the middle, Hu Che'er shouted without hesitation, "Fight to the death, never surrender!"

More than thirty riders also shouted, "We will fight to the death and never surrender!"

Guan Yu sighed, closed his eyes, and helplessly ordered, "Release the arrows!"

A dense rain of arrows surged toward the Xiliang cavalry in an instant.

Behind them was the camp gate, yet they could not leave; in front of them were carts, but they could not break through. The outermost ring of cavalry, along with their warhorses that had just gotten up, quickly collapsed in despair once again.

Hu Che'er was in the center of the semicircle, already hit by three arrows. At this moment, the image of Dian Wei, which he could not shake off, came to mind again. The desperate situation he was experiencing now was no less than that of Dian Wei back then, and perhaps even worse.

Hu Che'er's eyes were bloodshot and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to push away a cavalryman who was falling towards him, and braved the rain of arrows to climb onto a horse that had been shot dead but whose body was still twitching. Using the momentum, he jumped over the corpses of two cavalrymen on the outside and onto a small cart.

Despite being struck by more than a dozen arrows, he still shouted and charged at Guan Yu with his sword.

Before he could run five steps, he was hit by a hail of arrows and fell to the ground, unable to move.

Hu Che'er's last conscious thought was that he was turned over, and a burly man with a dark face and a bushy beard said, "Righteous man, Zhou Cang will see you off!" Then he slowly closed his eyes and fell into silence.

Standing on the city wall, Zhang Xiu watched as the troops he had forcibly sent to raid the enemy camp were routed and returned in defeat. As the screams and shouts from the enemy camp gradually subsided, his face turned pale, his heart turned to ashes, and his lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.

Hu Che'er was not only a fierce general under his command, but also like a brother to him. He believed that Hu Che'er's loyalty to him was no less than that of any good general or wise minister.

When Hu Che'er surrendered to Cao Cao the year before last, Cao Cao admired his bravery and personally rewarded him with gold. Zhang Xiu became suspicious of Cao Cao because of this. Later, when Zhang Xiu rebelled and plotted to kill Cao Cao because of the Zou family incident, Hu Che'er did not hesitate at all.

Now, his right-hand man, Jia Xu, has been taken away by Cao Cao for important positions, while Hu Che'er has been harmed by his momentary anger and is trapped in the enemy's camp.

Overwhelmed with remorse, Zhang Xiu felt dizzy and collapsed against the city wall.

When Zhang Xiu woke up, a soldier reported that Hu Che'er's body had been cleaned by Liu's army, covered with a white cloth, and sent to the north gate of the city in a cart.

There was also a line of small characters on the cloth: "The righteous men attacked the camp, preferring death to surrender, but were killed out of necessity."

The corpses of more than thirty Xiliang cavalrymen were also lined up outside the North Gate.

The bodies were transported into the city without a sound, and then the city gates were closed again.

Liu Bei's army stopped shouting and added five more layers of barricades, even closing the passage that originally allowed messengers to go out to seek help. Now, it was virtually impossible to break through.

Only the banner that read "Zhang Xiu of Wancheng, a traitor to the Han dynasty, should surrender early and leave his name in history" still flutters in the wind.

Zhang Xiu never went to inspect the city; instead, he stayed in his residence, drinking alone in his loneliness.

For ten consecutive days, the two armies remained locked in a stalemate.

Ten days later, at dusk, a soldier guarding the city rushed in to report: "My lord! My lord! The Prime Minister's reinforcements have arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiu's eyes lit up, and he excitedly shouted, "Where is Hu Che'er?! Where is Hu Che'er?! The Prime Minister has indeed lived up to my expectations!"

When Zhang Xiu donned his armor and climbed the city wall, he looked up and saw that, sure enough, dust was billowing in the distance on Xia Road.

But Liu Bei's besieging troops remained completely unmoved.

Cao Cao ultimately decided to send Cao Ren as the main general, with Xu Huang and Yu Jin as his deputies. Between attacking Yan County and rescuing Wan City, he chose to assemble 5,000 elite troops to rescue Wan City.

Xu Shu had already received intelligence from scouts and set up layers of roadblocks along the Xia Road. He also dispatched Zhang Fei to meet the enemy head-on, while Liao Hua and Zhou Cang each led archers and infantry to ambush on both sides of the valley between Wancheng and Bowang.

Just as they were about to reach Wancheng, Cao Ren was about to order the entire army to advance when Xu Huang stopped him.

Xu Huang said, "General, this road is narrow and difficult to traverse, overgrown with vegetation, and easily ambushed. We must not advance rashly!"

Yu Jin also suggested, "General, why not station our troops at Bowang today and then advance slowly tomorrow?"

Having suffered a great loss in Yan County, Cao Ren nodded repeatedly and ordered his troops to return to Bowang to garrison.

Upon learning this, Xu Shu dispatched Zhang Fei to challenge Bowang City directly, while Liao Hua and Zhou Cang remained in ambush on both sides.

In Bowang City, Cao Ren discussed with Xu Huang and Yu Jin: "The Prime Minister ordered us to rescue Wancheng and instructed me to minimize casualties."

"But the enemy is well-prepared and has actually challenged us to this point. The road ahead is narrow and treacherous. What good strategies do you two have?"

Xu Huang and Yu Jin exchanged a glance. Xu Huang said, "General, do you mean we should withdraw our troops?"

Yu Jin said, "But if we retreat without a fight, I fear the Prime Minister will blame us..."

Cao Ren said, "In that case, we will go out of the city and fight Zhang Fei. After a few rounds, we will retreat, close the gates, and not come out. After tonight, we will withdraw our troops tomorrow. What do you think?"

Xu Huang and Yu Jin nodded in agreement.

Thus, a truly comical scene unfolded beneath the walls of Bowang.

Xu Shu instructed Zhang Fei that he should only be defeated, not defeated, and that he should lure the enemy deep into his territory.

Xu Huang was instructed by Cao Ren to only accept defeat and make a show of it before withdrawing.

The two exchanged blows for less than five rounds before both deliberately revealed weaknesses and retreated to their own lines, hastily withdrawing their troops.

The only one who was injured was Zhang Xiu, who was anxiously waiting on the walls of Wancheng.