Summary of the previous chapter: Lu Xian wrote a letter to Zhang Lu with the purpose of destroying history; Ma Xiaoquan also noticed it. Before Zhang Lu received Lu Xian’s letter, he also wrote a letter to Cao Cao. After Cao Cao received the letter,
Immediately change the marching arrangements...
In July of the 20th year of Emperor Xian's reign of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao's main force arrived at Yangping Pass.
Since Cao Cao had given an order to only feign attacks but not to attack by force, the then commander-in-chief Xu Huang strictly followed his lord's wishes and stationed himself 20 miles away from Yangping Pass, forming a confrontation with the Hanzhong army inside the pass.
Seeing that Cao Jun did not attack, Zhang Wei, the general guarding the pass, wrote a letter to his brother Zhang Lu quite proudly. There was no substantive content in the letter, and it was all about asking for credit.
After reading his brother's letter, Zhang Lu sighed helplessly, then took out the letter Lu Xian wrote to him, unfolded it, read it, shook his head and said, "It seems that I can't defend Hanzhong anymore."
On the side, counselor Yan Pu said: "Why did my lord say such depressing words? Yangping Pass is a dangerous place in the world, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The battle report just came from the scouts. Cao Cao did not attack Yangping Pass by force, but waited twenty seconds outside the pass.
We are stationed here... My lord, Cao Cao has an army of 100,000, and the food and grass consumption will naturally be fast. We only need to hold the pass. After a long time, Cao Cao will naturally withdraw..."
Zhang Lu shook his head: "That's not true. My brother is impatient, and Lu Xian's letter to me has already written down what will happen next. This..."
"My lord," Yan Pu interrupted Zhang Lu and said disdainfully, "That Mr. Lu is just a villager in the mountains. He is different from you. Although my lord has a close relationship with Mr. Lu, he will not obey Lu Xian in everything."
First... Besides, my lord, you are the governor of Hanzhong, and Mr. Lu is just a commoner, so your perspectives are completely different..."
Zhang Lu hummed and nodded: "What you said makes sense. Well, I was almost swayed by Mr. Lu's opinion... Okay, then I'll just wait for the good news. I hope Zhang Wei
I can hold on for a little longer."
As he spoke, Zhang Lu put the letter Lu Xian wrote to him on the candle flame and burned it with a small fire.
...
At the foot of Yangping Pass, General Xu Huang received the letter from his lord, and in his heart, Cao Cao ordered him to advance another 10 miles.
Xu Huang immediately executed it and ordered the entire army to press forward for 10 miles.
This move by Cao Jun made the Hanzhong Army in Yangping Pass immediately nervous.
Standing on a high place and looking from a distance, the darkness could not be seen beyond the horizon. Zhang Wei swallowed hard and said: "There are so many people, is Cao crazy?"
Next to Zhang Wei, Yang Ang said: "General, I think Cao Cao is also crazy. But as long as we hold the pass, it will be fine!"
Zhang Weidao: "What if Cao Cao takes a detour?"
Yang Ang laughed and said: "How is that possible? General, don't worry. If Cao Cao really comes around, we can't defeat him or run away."
Zhang Wei nodded in agreement: "Yeah, it makes sense!"
The two idiots whispered for a while, gave a few orders, and happily went into the house to drink.
...
Xu Huang just pressed forward for 10 miles, and after reaching the intended target, he stopped neatly.
In fact, Xu Huang was also very puzzled. It was originally agreed that the lord would command the main force. How could he change his original intention without hesitation with just a letter from Ma Xiaoquan? I can’t figure it out. I really can’t figure it out? My lord.
, what exactly do you mean?
...
Xu Huang's constant chanting soon had an effect.
In fact, he and Cao Cao were not too far apart, but the vanguard army led by Cao Cao was not to fight the vanguard, but to find the herd of deer.
"Ah Sneeze" Cao Cao rubbed his nose and said with a smile, "Someone is talking about me, hum... By the way, have you found the deer herd?"
One of the generals replied: "Lord Qi, we have found it."
Cao Cao laughed loudly: "Okay, Master Shangxian is really clever. Come on, please round up all those deer."
"yes!"
Cao Cao smiled and took out the letter written by Ma Xiaoquan from his arms. He shook the letter in his hand triumphantly and said: "Sir Shangxian wrote me this letter so timely. I think Zhang Luyi must not have thought that I would
Do this, haha..." As he said that, Cao Cao read Ma Xiaoquan's letter carefully and ordered, "After the deer are rounded up, they should be released towards Yangping."
...
Five thousand men and horses versus a herd of deer, of course the deer are no match.
It only took less than a stick of incense for Cao Jun's vanguard to corral the deer.
After driving the deer 10 miles away from Yangping Pass, Cao Cao and Xu Huang met up.
When Xu Huang saw his lord come back with a large herd of deer, he asked in confusion: "My lord, what are you..."
Cao Cao chuckled: "This is all a reminder from Lord Shangxian, um, Gongming Xu Huang, ordered to go down and open up the queue, I want to let the deer pass, um...
By the way, I will send a small team to explore the road carefully and mix with the deer herd..."
Xu Huang made a sound and asked: "Lord, can you learn from the Fire Ox Formation?"
Cao Cao chuckled and nodded: "No, the Fire Bull Formation is a charging and killing formation, while my Wild Deer Formation is a hidden path-finding formation. There is an essential difference between the two, haha...
Gongming, just wait and see the good show."
Xu Huangyi was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly went down to carry out Cao Cao's order.
Since telescopes and other telescopic equipment had not yet appeared in the late Han Dynasty, a distance of 10 miles was enough to make a lot of preparations without being discovered.
After everything was ready, Xu Huang gave an order, and a herd of deer sprang out from the center of Cao's army and headed straight to Yangping Pass.
At this time, Zhang Wei and Yang Ang were in the mood for drinking, when they suddenly heard a scout coming to report that they saw a group of extremely fast things running towards Yangping Pass from a distance.
Zhang Wei and Yang Ang looked at each other and then laughed.
"It's so fast? So what if it's so fast? Send the order and keep it safe for me!"
After the two of them finished talking, they continued to drink one cup after another.
If Yangping Pass were replaced by an ordinary pass, Zhang Wei and Yang Ang might not have such strong confidence. Although these two people's intelligence is less than 60, their experience and judgment are extremely accurate.
After the herd of deer driven by Cao Jun ran to Yangping Pass, they saw that there was no way to escape, so they immediately turned around and ran towards the mountains on both sides.
The defenders at the pass saw a herd of deer, and after a false alarm, they immediately relaxed their vigilance.
But... what they didn't expect was that among this herd of deer, there was a small group of Cao soldiers. This small group of Cao soldiers were trained by Cao Cao to explore roads. At this moment,
It has been mixed with the deer and disappeared into the mountains and forests on both sides of the pass.
That night, several Cao Cao soldiers returned to the camp and reported the situation of the road exploration to Cao Cao. After hearing this, Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said: "I sent out twelve, but only four came back. This Yangping Pass is indeed dangerous, but it's okay, as for the route,
, it’s really hard work for these explorers..."
As Cao Cao spoke, he took out the letter Ma Xiaoquan wrote to him from his pocket and read it again, and said: "Send me an order to have Xiahou Dun and Xu Chu each lead a thousand elite troops and sneak in from the side of the pass."
...
Xu Chu grew up in the mountains and was physically strong, so Xu Chu was very good at climbing mountains, but Xiahou Dun was not.
At first, the two groups walked together, but gradually distanced themselves. After burning incense, by the time Xiahou Dun reacted, he had lost contact with Xu Chujun.
It was pitch dark in the mountains and forests, and he didn't dare to light torches, so Xiahou Dun had no choice but to lead his troops climbing the mountain in the dark.
Because of the discredit on mountain climbing, tragic incidents of soldiers making mistakes always occurred, which made Xiahou Dun feel angry and aggrieved.
At this moment, Xiahou Dun suddenly saw a shallow light not far away.
"What is that?" Xiahou Dun asked alertly.
Xin Pi and Liu Ye, who were climbing the mountain with Xiahou Dun, saw it and were overjoyed: "General, I'm afraid that's General Xu Chu."
"Nonsense!" Xiahou Dun was a little angry, "My lord has already given an order not to light the fire. Why does this guy Xu Chu still light the fire? What a nonsense."
Xin Pi thought for a moment and said: "General, maybe... that's Zhang Lu's army..."
"How is it possible? We don't even know where we are now? How could we be so lucky to meet the defenders?"
Liu Ye said: "General, why don't you wait here for a while while Xinpi and I will lead a team to investigate."
Xiahou Dun hesitated and said, "You two... if something goes wrong, how can I report it to the master?"
Xin Pi and Liu Ye shook their heads and said: "General, my lord sent me and I to go out with you and gave us other instructions, so you don't have to worry."
At this point, Xiahou Dun couldn't say anything more and could only let the two of them go.
Xin Pi and Liu Ye followed the gleam of light and took a closer look. It turned out to be Zhang Lujun's camp. Without saying a word, they immediately called their bluff.
At this time, the garrison soldiers were sleeping. When someone yelled like this, they thought it was Cao Cao who was coming for a sneak attack. They were so frightened that they dared to fight. They barely resisted and ran away with oil on their soles.
Xiahou Dun, who was not far away, heard the cry of killing and was startled. He thought Xinpi and Liu Ye were in danger, so he quickly followed him as if he was risking his life. When he looked closer, he saw that the two men were looking at him with a chuckle.
Seeing that the two of them were fine, Xiahou Dun asked, "What's wrong?"
Xin Pi said: "General, the two of us have already secured the garrison's camp, haha..."
"What? How is it possible?" Xiahou Dun didn't believe it, but he still couldn't help but walk around.
After some inspections, Xiahou Dun was ecstatic and excited.
Liu Ye took out the horn that he had prepared and blew the horn into the sky.
"Woo..." The sound of the horn spread far and wide.
Cao Cao, who was in front of the pass, heard the horn sound and laughed loudly and said: "That's enough, all my sons, follow me to attack Yangping Pass!"
"Huha..."
Cao Cao stood in front of people with high spirits, his heart was filled with excitement, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Master Shangxian, this is really a wonderful plan."