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

When news of Liu Bei's army marching out of Runan reached Xuchang, Cao Cao was so angry that he summoned his civil and military officials late at night, despite being ill, to discuss the matter.

"If this son is not eliminated, I will never have a peaceful day!" Guo Jia, supported by his servants, had just stepped outside the hall when he heard Cao Cao cursing Liu Bei from inside.

"Fengxiao! Has Fengxiao recovered?" Upon seeing Guo Jia, Cao Cao immediately suppressed his anger, donned his brocade robe, and went down to the hall to greet Guo Jia.

"Prime Minister, I am now out of danger." Guo Jia clasped his hands and bowed to Cao Cao.

As Cao Cao took Guo Jia's hand and led him to his seat, he said with remorse, "I heard that Liu Bei has once again raised an army in rebellion, and I have been unable to sleep at night. I did not expect to disturb you, Fengxiao. This is my fault!"

Guo Jia waved his hand and said, "Thanks to the Prime Minister's kindness, my body has recovered. I have come here to lend the Prime Minister a helping hand."

"Good...good!" Cao Cao watched Guo Jia sit down, his eyes filled with heartache and emotion, and returned to the hall.

"Gentlemen, how should we defeat Liu Bei's rebellion this time?" Cao Cao asked loudly, glancing at his civil and military officials.

"Prime Minister! I am willing to lead five thousand troops to first capture Yancheng, then take Runan, and present the heads of Liu Bei and Xu Shu to the Prime Minister!" Xiahou Dun stepped forward and shouted.

Cao Cao ignored Xiahou Dun's request to fight and instead looked at his advisors on the other side.

"Prime Minister, I believe that Liu Bei's true intentions in this rebellion are still unknown. We should not rush into battle, but rather proceed cautiously," Xun You stepped forward and said.

"Hmm... Yuanrang, please step back." Cao Cao waved his sleeve, signaling Xiahou Dun to return to his unit first.

"What does Fengxiao think?" Cao Cao asked Guo Jia with concern.

"Prime Minister, Gongda's idea is reasonable. However, Yancheng is only a stone's throw away from Xudu. Why not send a general with three thousand elite troops to camp north of the Ru River to repel them, and then make a plan after observing their movements?" Guo Jia said, bowing slightly.

"Fengxiao's words resonate deeply with me. Now, Ma Teng's army is approaching Chang'an, Yuan Shao is besieging Baima, and Xuchang has few troops left. If we rashly launch an attack and suffer a loss, Xuchang will be in grave danger," Cao Cao nodded.

"Mr. Wenruo, how is Duan Wei doing?" Cao Cao turned to look at Xun Yu.

"Zhongde has already sent a letter, and Duan Wei has dispatched 3,000 troops and military supplies to support Chang'an. They will arrive soon."

"Hmm...very good. Has Ziyang replied regarding the matter in Hefei?"

"Uh, not yet. Bandits are rampant in Huainan, and Ziyang will probably need quite some time."

Cao Cao frowned, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Generals, who is willing to go to Yancheng to investigate the situation for me?"

Xiahou Dun stepped forward again and said, "Prime Minister, this humble general is willing to go!"

Cao Cao nodded and said, "Alright, then you shall be the commander-in-chief and Man Chong the deputy commander. As Fengxiao said, tomorrow you shall lead your troops to camp north of the Ru River, observe Liu Bei's movements, and report to me as soon as possible."

"Your humble servant obeys!"

"Yuanrang, you must heed Bo Ning's advice this time and absolutely must not go into battle on your own!" Cao Cao said, still worried, and gave Xiahou Dun another instruction.

Xiahou Dun accepted the order.

Ever since he was captured alive by Zhou Cang while chasing Guan Yu, Xiahou Dun had been holding back his anger, wanting to have another good fight with Liu Bei's army, and preferably another fight with Guan Yu or Zhou Cang, to avenge his previous humiliation.

What he didn't know was that Guan Yu was far away in Wancheng, Lujiang, while Zhou Cang had already entered Wancheng, Nanyang with the army.

After Liu Bei entered the city and exchanged pleasantries with Wen Ping, he did not station his troops in the city. Instead, he built a large camp in the north of the city, where Xu Shu was to fight an unprecedented battle.

Along the Xia Road, also known as the Wanluo Ancient Road, between Wancheng and Xudu are Bowang, Fangcheng Pass, Yexian, Kunyang, Xiangcheng, Yingyang, and Yingyin.

These cities are located along a road less than 500 li long between Wancheng and Xudu, with the three passes of Bowang, Fangcheng Pass, and Yexian Pass being particularly strategic and the road being long and narrow.

During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, Kunyang became a turning point in the entire era. By this time, its strategic importance and strategic location were no longer as significant as those of the passes that followed.

If Liu Bei's army were strong and well-equipped at this time, and marched north simultaneously from both Yancheng and Wancheng, they would have joined forces at Xiangcheng after Kunyang. However, such conditions are not currently available.

Xu Shu's plan was not to waste troops in attacking or defending cities, and this time he also wanted to make full use of the role of his allies, especially Ma Teng's Xiliang army.

The west gate of Wancheng leads directly to the ancient road of Wuguan. If there are enough troops, a surprise force can be sent directly northwest through Wuguan into Guanzhong, which can completely cut off all support from the east to Chang'an and achieve the effect of completely surrounding Chang'an.

Unfortunately, the troops were still insufficient, but how did Cao Cao know whether the troops were sufficient?

Cao Cao must have known the importance of the Wuguan Pass as a strategic route for launching surprise attacks, and Xu Shu was trying to use this to his advantage.

Following Xu Shu's instructions, Zhao Yun, who was stationed at Bowang, began to make arrangements.

After the Battle of Guandu, although Cao Cao was severely weakened, he immediately strengthened the defense of the Wanluo Ancient Road. Fangcheng Pass was the closest to Bowang, and the general guarding it at this time was Li Tong, a loyal follower of Cao Cao.

Fangcheng Pass consists of three passes, and its structure resembles three walls erected on a road with steep mountains on both sides.

The closest pass to Bowang is Daguankou, and Xiaoguankou is only three miles away from Daguankou, located northeast of Daguankou. Thirty miles further north is Huangcheng Pass, which is the closest pass to Yexian. Together, these three passes form the Fangcheng Pass defense system.

Li Tong deployed two thousand soldiers around the main pass, one thousand soldiers guarded the smaller pass, and another two thousand men, led by his lieutenant general, guarded Huangcheng Pass.

Because he was unaware of Liu Bei's main objective, Li Tong only received a letter from Xudu after Liu Bei had already quietly set up camp in Wancheng, informing him of Liu Bei's renewed uprising in Runan.

"Has anything unusual happened at the pass recently?" Li Tong rushed to the pass and asked the guards.

"Reporting to the General, there is none."

"Liu Bei has already raised an army in Runan. You must not let your guard down. If there are any villains, report to me immediately!" Li Tong instructed.

After the guards agreed, Li Tong doubled the number of guards at the city gate before leaving with peace of mind.

But it was too late.

From the day Zhao Yun received Xu Shu's letter, he followed Xu Shu's instructions and ordered his soldiers to work in groups of twenty, each day at different times, disguised as woodcutters, farmers, merchants, etc., and secretly sneak into the pass.

When Li Tong ordered the strengthening of martial law at the passes, more than a hundred people, including Zhao Yun himself, had already hidden inside the passes.

Zhang Fei led a thousand Xiliang cavalrymen and hid in the mountains and forests along the road from Bowang to Fangcheng Pass.

Xu Shu almost replicated the method of attacking Bowang, except this time he didn't trick the city gate open, but instead stole it open.

At 9 PM that night, when Li Tong reinforced the defenses, Zhao Yun ordered his men to set fire to the small pass, while he himself led a raid on the main pass.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhao Yun climbed the city wall, seized the city gate, and the main gate was wide open. He lit a fire as a signal, and Zhang Fei led his troops into the city, heading straight for the smaller gate.

Li Tong was organizing firefighting efforts at Xiaoguankou when he heard shouts of battle coming from Daguankou. He hurriedly led his troops to the rescue, but on the way, he ran into Zhang Fei, who had come looking for him.

"Hey! You scoundrel, take this spear!" Zhang Fei roared and charged forward with his eighteen-foot spear.

Li Tong hastily engaged in battle with his iron spear, but after only three exchanges, Zhang Fei swung the spear away.

Upon losing his weapon, Li Tong turned his horse around in an attempt to escape, but Zhang Fei grabbed him by the waist and tucked him under his arm, capturing him alive.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!" Zhang Fei pointed his spear, and Li Tong's men, seeing their commander captured, lost all will to fight and instantly knelt down.

After capturing Li Tong, Zhang Fei rushed to Daguankou to support Zhao Yun.

Under the cover of night, Zhao Yun, his body soaked in the blood of his enemies, saw Zhang Fei return and shouted, "Brother, help me!"

Zhang Fei, with Li Tong on his arm, subdued some of the soldiers at Daguan Pass, while the rest were swept away by the Xiliang cavalry. The entire battle lasted less than half an hour.

At the city gate, Zhang Fei sent someone to Bowang and Wancheng to inform them before binding Li Tong and sending him to Wancheng to be dealt with by his elder brother.

To avoid alerting the garrison at Huangcheng Pass, Zhang Fei deployed cavalry to search along the route to ensure absolute safety.

Zhao Yun searched Li Tong's residence and found Li Tong's military tally.

The following afternoon, Liu Yan led reinforcements to Fangcheng Pass with pre-made siege equipment and the latest instructions from strategist Xu Shu.

"Will Li Tong surrender?" Zhang Fei asked Liu Yan.

Liu Yan shook his head and said, "This man swore to die rather than surrender, and our lord has already executed him."

Zhang Fei nodded: "Hmm, what are the strategist's plans?"

Liu Yan looked at Zhao Yun and asked, "General Zilong, have you found Li Tong's seal?"

Zhao Yun then took out Li Tong's military tally and command arrow.

"The strategist ordered me to feign an attack on the city at Daguankou, and ordered General Zilong to lure the main force of the Huangcheng Pass garrison to Daguankou, while General Yide was ordered to ambush at Xiaoguankou."

"When the defending troops arrived, General Yide flanked them from the flank and forced them to surrender."

"Once Huangcheng Pass is undefended, we will seize it early tomorrow morning."

Liu Yan looked at the two of them and said.

"Alright, I'll go right away."

Half an hour later, Zhao Yun led three hundred men, all dressed in Cao Cao's army armor, to Huangcheng Pass, arriving at the pass at nightfall.

"Where is the garrison commander?!" Zhao Yun shouted at the pass.

A man on the city wall replied, "What is it?"

"The Great Pass has been attacked. General Li has ordered you to quickly send troops to provide reinforcements!"

"Do you have the military command token?"

"The military tally and command token are here!" Zhao Yun spurred his horse forward, holding a torch in one hand and raising Li Tong's military tally and seal high in the other.

Li Tong's subordinate said to his men, "It is indeed General Li's seal. There are indeed sounds of fighting at the pass. I will lead the army there."

After saying this, he beat the war drums, gathered 1,500 soldiers, opened the city gates, and headed towards the Great Pass, with Zhao Yun leading his troops in close pursuit.

Upon reaching the pass, they found the city gates tightly shut, and everything appeared normal. The adjutant was puzzled when suddenly a cannon fired—

Liu Yan slowly emerged from the city wall and shouted, "I am Liu Yan, a subordinate of Lord Liu! Li Tong is dead, and both the Great Pass and the Small Pass are in my hands! Surrender and you will not be killed!"

At the same time, countless archers on the city wall drew their bows and aimed at the people below.

Just as the adjutant was surprised, a troop of cavalry charged out from the east. It was Zhang Fei, who shouted, "Li Tong is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Zhao Yun, standing at the rear of the formation, shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Surrounded on three sides, about a third of the more than 1,000 people immediately knelt down and surrendered.

The adjutant roared, "Follow me and charge back to Huangcheng Pass!" He grabbed his spear and ran back. Seeing this, the soldiers also shouted, "Kill!" and turned to attack Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun said nothing more, raised his silver spear and thrust it at the subordinate general, killing him instantly from his horse.

The soldiers who had just been shouting "Kill!" were suddenly thrown into a panic and all knelt down to surrender.

The next morning, when Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei led three thousand men and siege equipment to Huangcheng Pass, the leaderless garrison opened the city gates almost without hesitation.

Within three days, Xu Shu used 4,000 men to conquer the three passes of Fangcheng, losing less than 300 men.

As per Xu Shu's request, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei replaced all the flags on the city walls with Liu Bei's army flags and began preparing to deal with Cao Cao's reinforcements.

Two days later, three pieces of military intelligence arrived at the Prime Minister's residence in Xuchang one after the other—

Fangcheng Pass attacked!

Fangcheng Pass has fallen!

Ye County has captured a spy from Liu Bei's army; requesting reinforcements!

Once again ambushed, Cao Cao finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"I have decided to personally lead the expedition against Liu Bei this time." Cao Cao, still suffering from a headache, said expressionlessly to the assembled civil and military officials with a turban wrapped around his head.

"Ah? Prime Minister, your headache has not yet healed. It may be inappropriate for you to go into battle at this time..." Xun Yu advised from below the hall.

"Yes, the Prime Minister's daughter is of noble birth and should not go into battle at this time!" Many people immediately echoed.

Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia, who was sitting quietly, and asked, "What does Fengxiao think?"

Guo Jia bowed and said, "I agree with the Prime Minister's proposal and request that the Prime Minister personally lead the expedition against Liu Bei."

Upon hearing this, a murmur of surprise rippled through the hall. Guo Jia ignored it and continued, "Liu Bei is a hero. Since returning to Runan to raise an army, he has been invincible. I believe that he cannot be defeated without the Prime Minister's personal intervention."

"In the past, it was only by the Prime Minister's personal command that Liu Bei was defeated in the Battle of Xuzhou. Moreover, Yuan Shao is now considering withdrawing from the siege of Baima. The Prime Minister should take this opportunity to defeat Liu Bei, sweep away our army's decline, and demonstrate our strength to the people of the world."

After Guo Jia finished speaking, the audience gradually quieted down.

Cao Cao nodded and said, "That is exactly what I meant. Liu Bei is the most shameless of all. He attacked our Fangcheng Pass and killed my Li Tong. He is now less than three hundred li away from Xuchang."

"Within a few days, the people of Xuchang will surely be in a state of panic, therefore I must personally lead the expedition."

"However, I am still hesitant about the matter of Yancheng."

Xun You stepped forward and said, "Prime Minister, I think we should first send a general to Ye County to defend the city and wait for the Prime Minister's army to arrive, while we build momentum along the way."

"If Liu Bei knew that the Prime Minister was going in person, he would surely mobilize a large army. At that time, we should order General Xiahou Dun to quickly capture Yancheng and cut off the passage between Runan and Nanyang. We will surely win this battle."

"Oh? Quickly bring me the map!" Cao Cao shouted.

Several people immediately carried a huge map into the hall.

"Gongda is right. If we can recapture Yancheng, we can attack from both the east and the north." Cao Cao nodded in satisfaction and ripped off his turban.

"But Yancheng is a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It will not be easy for Yuan Rang to win quickly," Cao Cao muttered to himself, staring at the map.

"Cao Ren!" Cao Cao decided to start making arrangements.

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You shall lead five thousand elite troops as the vanguard, with Li Dian and Xu Huang as your deputies. Set off immediately for Ye County, defend the city, and do not engage in battle. Along the way, also promote my personal campaign."

"Your humble servant obeys!"

"Xiahou Yuan, Yu Jin, Cao Hong!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You shall allocate ten thousand troops, inventory supplies and provisions, and accompany me on my personal campaign."

"Your humble servant obeys!"

Without any hesitation, Cao Cao used up almost all of his resources, leaving only three thousand men for Xun Yu to guard Xuchang.

"So, what good strategies do you gentlemen have for the matter of Yancheng?" Cao Cao squinted at the group of strategists below him.

Sure enough, a response came quickly.

Jia Xu stepped forward and slowly said, "Prime Minister, I have a plan that can be devised without losing a single soldier—"

"Retake Yancheng!"