flstandardbreds Chapter 125 Zhang Fei: Cao Cao's army is attacking? I'm not ready yet!
Chapter 125 Zhang Fei: Cao Cao's army is attacking? I'm not ready yet!
Dongguan County
Tao Qian's cousin, Tao Ji, wielded a long sword and killed the messenger sent by Liu Bei with a single blow.
Then, he took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood off his sword, and ordered his personal guards to open the city gates to welcome Cao Cao's army into the city!
The vanguard of Cao Cao's army consisted of Zhao Yun and Xu Rong.
Tao Ji invited the two to the city tower to discuss matters.
Upon seeing that Tao Ji had killed the envoy sent by Liu Bei, the two praised Tao Ji for his bravery, saying that he had the same spirit as Tao Gong of yesteryear.
Tao Ji smiled shyly.
He was an honest and simple person who didn't understand politics or scheming.
But he was utterly loyal to his cousin Tao Qian.
The five thousand soldiers who followed Tao Ji in the city were Tao Qian's true confidants, not the nominally loyal but actually scheming Cao Bao.
"General Tao, you shall still be in command of the five thousand troops."
"We are new to Xuzhou and not very familiar with it. We would appreciate it if General Tao could give us some guidance."
Zhao Yun and Xu Rong were very respectful to Tao Ji.
They offered their surrender voluntarily and even gave us Dongguan County, so we naturally had to be more polite to them.
Tao Ji and the two men found they shared similar interests.
However, Tao Ji was not good with words, so he handed a hand-drawn map to Xu Rong and Zhao Yun.
The map showed the defensive status of all the counties and prefectures in Xuzhou.
Even the balance of the grain warehouse was recorded.
This shows that Tao Ji is a person who appears rough on the surface but is actually meticulous.
Zhao Yun and Xu Rong were deeply moved.
With Tao Ji as their living guide and this map, it was as if they were attacking Xuzhou from God's perspective!
Liu Bei?
He's just a puppet governor!
Soon, Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Tao Ji marched towards other counties and prefectures in Xuzhou.
When Zhang Fei learned the news, only a few counties north of Pengcheng remained unconquered.
In an instant, Zhang Fei was dumbfounded!
But what followed was boundless anger!
"Damn it! What kind of lousy Cao army is this?"
"Taking advantage of the fact that my eldest and second brothers are away on campaign, they've come to launch a surprise attack on my Xuzhou?"
Enraged, Zhang Fei immediately ordered his 30,000 troops to leave the city and fight Cao Cao's army to the death! (Liu Bei led 70,000 troops to conquer Xiapi)
Sun Qian quickly tried to persuade him:
"Generals, you must not act rashly!"
"Have you forgotten the lord's instructions before he left?"
"In the event of any emergency, remain calm and do not leave the city on your own initiative, lest you fall into the enemy's trap."
As the head of a province, even though he had only just taken office, Liu Bei remained wary of his powerful neighbor Cao Cao.
therefore.
He planned to send a trusted confidant to Dongguan to replace Tao Ji.
Unexpectedly, his trusted confidant was killed by Tao Ji with a single sword strike as soon as he arrived in Dongguan.
At the same time, Tao Ji also led the entire Dongguan to defect!
This resulted in the fact that, despite Liu Bei making some preparations before setting out on the expedition,
But before those deployments could be triggered, Cao Cao's army had already closed in on Pengcheng.
Zhang Fei was so angry that he started smashing things.
But he didn't expect that, apart from Cao Cao's army, there would be other external enemies.
Inside the city, Cao Bao was also preparing to create some "minor trouble" for him.
……
Near the grain warehouse
Cao Bao waved his hand, and several soldiers came in and carried away the grain from the granary.
What?
Why didn't anyone tell Zhang Fei about this?
Because everyone here belongs to Cao Bao!
Imagine a soldier from Xuzhou facing a choice between two options.
Zhang Fei, an outsider, how could he possibly be compared to Cao Bao, a general from Xuzhou who knew him inside and out?
It's like asking you to vote for your homeroom teacher and another unfamiliar teacher.
Unless one has an extreme hatred for the homeroom teacher, even if there are minor frictions or conflicts with the homeroom teacher on a daily basis, it is highly likely that one will still vote for the homeroom teacher rather than a stranger.
The same principle applies to Cao Bao.
Although he only had 60,000 troops under his command.
But don't forget that Mi Zhu and Chen Gui's 40,000 troops were all from Xuzhou!
Which person from Xuzhou doesn't know General Cao Bao?
Choosing between Zhang Fei and Cao Bao was a contest with no suspense whatsoever.
"Zibu, I, Cao Bao, love you to death!"
Looking at the granary that had been almost completely emptied without anyone noticing, Cao Bao sighed from the bottom of his heart.
next morning
Zhang Fei was still asleep when he heard a commotion outside.
Chen Dao rushed in as if he had lost his parents, and said to Zhang Fei:
"Third General, something terrible has happened!"
"Apart from the veteran soldiers of Youzhou under your command, most of the remaining soldiers from Xuzhou have gone to Cao Bao's side!"
"Cao Bao, distribute food to them!"
"What!??"
Zhang Fei's eyes widened like copper bells.
But when he arrived at Cao Bao’s residence, all the Xuzhou soldiers in Pengcheng had already defected.
"kill!"
"Seize that black scoundrel for me!"
Cao Bao waved his hand, and all the Xuzhou soldiers rushed forward.
Aside from Chen Dao and Sun Qian, Zhang Fei was accompanied by only a thousand or so veteran soldiers from Youzhou.
Where is Cao Bao a match?
Originally, there were 3,000 veterans in Youzhou. Nearly 1,000 died outside Linzi City, and Liu Bei took more than 1,000 with him when he went to attack Xiapi.
At this moment, Zhang Fei, with only 1,000 men, was no match for nearly 30,000 Xuzhou soldiers.
But Cao Bao did not expect that Zhang Fei was extremely brave.
He fought fiercely, leading Chen Dao and Sun Qian all the way to the city gate, heading towards Xiapi!
Cao Bao was so anxious that he kept slapping his thigh.
In this battle, he annihilated a thousand veteran soldiers from Youzhou under Zhang Fei's command and also captured Pengcheng.
But Zhang Fei, Chen Dao, and Sun Qian, those three guys, ran away.
Next.
All we can do is wait for news of Liu Bei's defeat.
after all.
Many of the soldiers around Liu Bei were also Cao Bao's men.
Once Liu Bei and Zuo Rong engage in a decisive battle, Cao Bao's old subordinates will defect to him in no time!
however.
Just as Cao Bao was preparing to go to the governor's mansion to take full control of Pengcheng.
Suddenly, a sentry came from a short distance away and reported to Cao Bao:
"General! Something terrible has happened!"
"Cao Cao's vanguard generals Zhao Yun and Xu Rong, together with Tao Ji, the governor of Dongguan, are leading 30,000 soldiers to attack my Pengcheng!"
"Pfft!"
Cao Bao coughed up a mouthful of blood.
No... damn it, can anyone tell him where Cao Cao's army came from?
It's really not Cao Bao's fault for not doing his intelligence work beforehand.
Zhang Fei only received the news last night that Tao Ji had defected and was cooperating with Cao Cao's army to attack Pengcheng.
To avoid causing panic, Zhang Fei temporarily suppressed the news and planned to discuss battle strategies in the council hall today.
But I didn't expect it.
Before dawn, Zhang Fei was given a brutal assault by Cao Bao.
Pengcheng is gone, and I almost lost my life. Who has time to think about when Cao Cao's army will arrive in Pengcheng?
What was Cao Bao doing last night?
He's stealing Zhang Fei's military rations!
He was having a great time after working all night.
They had no idea what it meant to be like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Cao Bao, who thought he was about to win, suddenly heard the news that 30,000 Cao troops were about to arrive. You can imagine how devastated he was!
This feeling is similar to finally finishing your homework after racking your brains and staying up all night.
But then I suddenly learned that the teacher had assigned new homework in the WeChat group and said that if I didn't finish it, my parents would be called in!
God!
No one knows how devastated Cao Bao was at that moment.
……