Ma Teng didn't want to let Cao Zhang and the others into the house at this time, and thought about bringing them in after dark, so he said, "Young general, you should check the tunnel. This is necessary, otherwise you won't worry. But isn't it best to wait for a while?" After dark, our soldiers and horses who went out of the city for a sneak attack gathered together and asked the young general to buy us wine to see us off in order to have a good time."

"Well, of course I will give you a drink to see you off. Haha. In this case, there is not much time before dark. General Ma, hurry up and prepare it. If you need anything, just order it. At this time, the whole city is busy with this matter for you. You must reach it. Your satisfaction is as long as you capture Liu Cong alive as soon as you successfully leave the city."

So Ma Teng ordered his servants in front of Cao Zhang and Cao Ren: "Go home and tell your wife that the general and the Yamen officials will come to our home after the second watch tonight. They have important matters to discuss. Please make preparations for the reception early."

Cao Zhang smiled and said: "General Ma is really very careful. He handles big and small things at the same time. Hehe, such a careful person will definitely achieve great things."

So Cao Zhang and the others waited until dinner to go to Ma Teng's house to see off Cao's soldiers who attacked Cao. Ma Teng was busy here selecting candidates for Cao's soldiers to attack Cao.

It was not until dinner time that the eighty sneak attack team members were selected. Ma Teng called them together and introduced the purpose and action plan of the sneak attack in detail. Then he arranged for two officers to take them to the restaurant for dinner and ordered them to stay at the Yamen. The guards were waiting in the dormitory for the next order of action. "No one can act without my orders. Anyone who delays the military operation tonight will be dealt with by military law and will not be tolerated."

Ma Teng finished handling the matter here. At the first watch, he came over and took Cao Zhang, Cao Ren, Cheng Yu and other major generals and counselors to his home. He led the way and introduced the detailed action plan to everyone as he walked. He took a dozen of the main officials from the Yecheng Yamen to his home.

Besides, Wei Yan was ordered by Liu Cong to lead his troops and hide outside the east gate of Ye City in the dark. At midnight, he suddenly saw a flash of fire in the crack of the city gate, and then it flickered twice more.

Wei Yan knew that this was a signal arranged by Ma Teng in the city. He had agreed in advance that as long as he saw the city gate's fire flashing three times, he would know that the city gate had been opened and lead his troops to rush in.[

So Wei Yan ordered the cannons to be fired, only to hear three cannon blasts. Five thousand soldiers shouted and rushed into the city with a shout.

At this time, Liu Cong had ordered all the lights in the camp to be lit up at the same time. Almost at the same time, outside the other three city gates, there were cannons and cannons that shook the ground. Twenty thousand Jingzhou soldiers divided into four groups and rushed into the gate of Ye City.

The soldiers of Cao Cao in the city had lost their commander and no one was under unified command. When they saw the four gates opened wide and the Jingzhou soldiers swarming in, they immediately became panicked, like wasps that had been burned by the fire and were scurrying around in confusion.

Four groups of Jingzhou soldiers lit up torches, illuminating the whole city of Yecheng as if it were daylight. They used the light of the torches to pursue Cao's soldiers everywhere.

In this battle, the battle started at the third watch but before the fifth watch, 10,000 Cao soldiers in the city were killed or wounded, and many of them fled and disappeared without a trace.

Although the sky was dim at this time, Liu Cong's Chinese army tent was still brightly lit.

I saw Liu Congduan sitting in the center of the tent. Opposite him stood Cao Zhang, Cao Ren, Zhou Xing and more than a dozen of Cao Cao's civil servants and generals. Behind each of them stood two executioners from Jingzhou soldiers.

Ma Teng, Huang Zhong, Zhang Liao, Ma Yunshan and other Jingzhou soldiers and generals stood aside and watched Cao Zhang and the others.

It turned out that Ma Teng led Cao Zhang and Cao Ren to his home and after closing the door, he shouted: "Get it for me"

Behind the door, twenty or thirty plainclothes heroes rushed out of the room with a roar. Cao Zhang and the others were captured alive by these heroes while they were stunned.

Cao Zhang and Cao Ren couldn't figure out what was going on. He hurriedly asked Ma Teng and said with a straight face: "On the order of Prime Minister Cao, you, the defeated generals who delayed the military flight, will be imprisoned for trial."

Cao Ren argued: "Where is the Prime Minister's handwriting?"

"Hehehehe, just wait for a while, the Prime Minister's handwriting will be delivered naturally."

At this time, the sound of cannons outside the city was heard like a roaring mountain and a tsunami. Ma Teng smiled and said: "Come and see Liu Zhizhong of Jingzhou. If you all go there together, I will capture you on the order of Liu Zhizhong." After Ma Teng said this, he ordered the guards to join the brigade. Jingzhou soldiers came in and handed Cao Zhang and Cao Ren to them and asked them to escort them to Liu Cong outside the city.

[At this time, Cao Zhang, Cao Ren and the others had just been escorted over, and Liu Cong was talking to them [

Liu Cong asked: "Cao Zhang has been captured alive by our army. Is he willing to surrender?"

"This is not your fault, this is me falling into Ma Teng's trick. If I am captured by you in a fight with real guns and knives on the battlefield, I will surrender. If I fail like this, I will never surrender if I am not willing to accept it," Cao Zhang said angrily.

Liu Cong knew that he could not surrender. Even if he had a little bit of integrity, he would not surrender. How could he surrender easily to other father Cao Cao? Others could surrender. Cao Zhang and Cao Ren would not surrender. Liu Cong knew.

So after hearing Cao Zhang's answer, Liu Cong laughed and said with hatred: "If you are captured alive by me and you don't want to surrender, you will only die." At this point, he deliberately threatened Cao Zhang and said, "Leave Cao Zhang and Cao Hong out and behead him."

I heard a loud shout outside the door and rushed in. Four executioners twisted Cao Zhang and Cao Ren's arms fiercely and dragged him out. Cao Zhang turned around and said fiercely: "Kill if you want. But I'm not willing to die. It's a pity." Liu Cong fell into a trap by mistake and was executed like this. I really can't bear to have you and I fight one on one on the battlefield."

When Liu Cong heard this, he shouted: "Stop" and then turned to Ma Gan'er and told Ma Gan'er: "Prepare two horses for me. I want to compete with Cao Cao's precious son. I have to convince him." Ma Gan'er agreed and went out. Ready to go

Liu Cong asked Cao Ren: "Cao Ren, are you willing to compete with me? You can compete with me first so that Cao Zhang can open his eyes." Cao Ren kept his head down and remained silent.

Liu Cong did not push him and continued: "Forget it, Cao Ren will be there to testify and see how I defeated Cao Zhang. From now on, let your men in Cao Ying know my ability. Liu Cong surrenders to the court as soon as possible. Don't continue to fight with the court." against"

At this time, Ma Gan'er came in and reported that the horses were ready. Liu Cong stood up, took Cao Zhang's arm and said, "Let's go. There is an open field outside the door, and it's a good time for a fight. Let's make a document first. In the fight, we will discuss the death or injury at our own risk."

Liu Cong said this and asked Cao Zhang with a smile: "What do you think?"

Before Cao Zhang could answer, Cao Ren began to persuade: "Zhang'er, don't show off anymore and accept your fate. To be honest, we are not Liu Cong's opponents, so don't embarrass yourself in front of the three armies."

Cao Zhang was still pouty and unwilling to argue: "You are afraid of Liu Cong, but I am not afraid of him, and I have nothing to fear."

Liu Cong said with a smile: "You have a lot of backbone. I just like people with backbone, but I also like to teach people who don't know their own abilities."

Cao Zhang stared at Liu Cong with a pair of bull's eyes: "Who do you think is a person who overestimates his own abilities?"

"Your father, Cao Cao, is a man who overestimates his capabilities. He thinks that the world is his enemy, but he ignores one fact. The waves of the Yangtze River are followed by waves. In the world, new people replace the old ones."

Haha, and you, because you are Cao Cao's son, Cao Cao gave you the opportunity to lead the army. This is not because you have the ability, but because you are a relative. Today, since you don't overestimate your abilities, I will let you see it from now on. Able to see the world correctly”

At this time, they had already left the tent. Two war horses were tied to the wooden stakes next to the flagpole in the distance. They were saddled. Liu Cong pointed to the two horses and asked Cao Zhang: "Do you like that horse?"

Cao Zhang pointed to a horse in the distance and said: "That green-maned horse will do."

"Well, that war horse is impatient and I'm afraid it will be difficult for General Cao to control it. Let me help General Cao get on the horse."

After Liu Cong said this, he grabbed Cao Zhang by the back like Lao Yang catching a chicken, then lifted Cao Zhang up in the air and shouted: "General Cao, close your eyes and ride on horseback."

After shouting, he waved his arm and saw Cao Zhang flying in an arc towards the back of the green-maned horse like a torn bag filled with miscellaneous things. He could see it in front of him and only heard a puff. Cao Zhang fell onto the green-maned horse. on the back

The green-maned horse was startled, jumped up, snorted, and kicked Cao Zhang off the horse.

At about this time, Cao Zhang had passed out and was lying motionless next to the green-maned horse. He didn't know how many times he was kicked by the green-maned horse's hooves.

When Liu Cong saw it, he ordered the guards to escort Cao Ren, Cheng Yu and the others: "Go over and take Cao Zhang, imprison him together, and serve him three meals a day."

After Liu Cong finished speaking, he looked at Cao Ren and said, "I, Liu Cong, can't support the generals like the Cao family because of the poor mountains and rivers here. It's better to ask Cao Ren and Cao Zhang to go back to Cao's camp to find Cao Cao and give him a message about me." Advise him to surrender early and seek leniency from the court

Besides, he has no way out if he doesn't surrender. The situation has been decided. Hehe, the defeat has been decided. He has no way to recover.

Well, Cao Ren, tell Cao Cao that as long as he surrenders to the imperial court from now on, I will ensure that he has enough food and clothing to live in peace for the rest of his life."

Three days after handling these matters, Liu Cong moved into Yecheng Yamen and began to think about two things. One was how to stabilize the political situation in Hebei, and the other was to prepare to march to Chang'an.

As soon as the first thing was easy to handle, Liu Cong said to Huang Zhong: "Old General Huang, I will leave the major affairs in Hebei to your management. See if there are any difficulties." 014
Chapter completed!