Chapter 85: Fire Burns at Bowang Slope

  It was also a coincidence that Xiahou Dun's army arrived at Bofeng Ridge only two hours later than Liu Xun, and this time Xiahou Dun led 20,000 elite soldiers to come, not just to eliminate Liu Bei.

  At the same time, it also forced Jingzhou to strengthen its military strength in Xiangyang, weaken its defense in Jiangxia, and create an opportunity for Jiangdong to take advantage of, thus provoking a war between Jiangdong and Jingzhou.

  But for Xiahou Dun, provoking war between Jiangdong and Jingzhou was a bit far-fetched, this goal may not be achievable, but eliminating Liu Bei was a task within sight.

  In the main tent of the Chinese army, Xiahou Dun had already replaced Li Dian's position. He walked back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back, listening to Li Dian's report on the standoff with Liu Bei's army.

  Xiahou Dun was over forty years old, eight feet two inches tall, with a majestic and powerful appearance. Like his cousin Xiahou Yuan, he was a fierce general who could intimidate the three armies. Unfortunately, several years ago, when attacking Lü Bu, he was hit by an arrow in his left eye, losing one eye, and was called "Blind Xiahou".

  Despite this, he was still deeply trusted by Cao Cao, who appointed him as the Administrator of Henan and put him in charge of the armies in the Central Plains. This time, to thoroughly destroy Liu Bei, Cao Cao even ordered Xiahou Dun to personally come to Nanyang to supervise the battle.

  Xiahou Dun bore the heavy responsibility, and he feared that Liu Bei would escape into Jingzhou. He first ordered Li Dian to be the vanguard, holding down Liu Bei, and then personally led the main army to kill towards Xinye, preparing to annihilate Liu Bei in one fell swoop.

  As Liu Jue said, Xiahou Dun's greatest worry was that Liu Bei would turn into a rabbit and escape to the water country of Jingzhou, at which point he really wouldn't be able to catch him, so he had to cut off his retreat first.

  "I ordered you to send troops and cut off Liu Bei's retreat, how could you return in defeat?" Xiahou Dun asked with anger flashing in his eyes.

  Li Dian bowed his head in shame, "I dispatched General Han Zhi with 2,000 men to launch a surprise attack on Xinye County and cut off Liu Bei's rear route. Unexpectedly, Xinye was already prepared for defense. Han Zhi led the army to ambush the official road, preparing to ambush Liu Bei's retreating troops. However, they encountered the grain convoy of Jingzhou instead. Both sides engaged in a fierce battle with equal strength. Unfortunately, General Han Zhi died in the intense fighting, and our army was defeated. I am guilty, please punish me, General!"

  "Even the army of Jingzhou can't be defeated, it's really incompetence!"

  Xiahou Dun angrily scolded, but had no choice, and could only hold back his breath to ask: "How many troops are in the reinforcements of Jingzhou, and where are they stationed?"

  "Report back to the general, the Jingzhou army has about 10,000 men and is stationed south of Xinye, about 50 miles from Bowang Slope."

  "How strange!"

  Xiahou Dun frowned, "How can they be so far apart? Is it that the Jingzhou army is unwilling to assist Liu Bei?"

  "I think there must be a special reason for this. Liu Biao and Liu Bei may also have been at odds with each other, harboring grievances against one another."

  "Of course I know!"

  Xiahou Dun waved his hand in dissatisfaction. "Don't bother with them now, we need to prevent Liu Bei from withdrawing after hearing the news, and we must engage him in battle immediately."

  Xiahou Dun turned around and shouted at Yu Jin: "The army is not allowed to set up camp, immediately launch a surprise attack on Liu Bei's main camp."

  As soon as the words fell, a sudden report came from outside: "Urgent military situation, Guan Ping and Mei Fang led one thousand soldiers to escort their families out of Xinye, retreating southward!"

  Xiahou Dun was stunned, Liu Bei's army reacted so quickly? This is going to be terrible.

  At this time, a commotion came from outside, and some close guards shouted loudly outside the account: "There is a big fire on Bo Wang Slope!"

  The crowd rushed out of the account, and countless soldiers had gathered outside the big account. They looked out at Bozhou Slope three miles away, and Xiahou Dun also saw it. Only to see the direction of Liu Bei's large camp on Bozhou Slope, thick smoke was rolling, flames were soaring into the sky, and everyone looked at each other in dismay, not knowing what had happened.

  Xiahou Dun felt a growing sense of unease in his heart, and he thought of the withdrawal of the family members from Xinye County. This was likely to be the same incident, Liu Bei saw that things were not going well and wanted to slip away quietly. Hadn't he been doing this for so many years? Whenever things didn't go well, he would escape.

  At this time, a scout rushed in and knelt down to report, "Report to the general, Liu Bei has set fire to the military camp and led his troops to retreat south."

  "I knew it!"

  Xiahou Dun gritted his teeth and said: "This clever rabbit will run away as soon as it senses something is wrong."

  He thought of the Prime Minister's entrustment and was determined to cut off Liu Bei, this opportunity if not grasped, feared that there would be no more opportunities.

  Xiahou Dun thought that Liu Bei was going to escape, and he feared disappointing the Prime Minister's expectations. He hastily ordered: "Quickly mobilize 10,000 troops, follow me in pursuit!"

  Li Dian was shocked and hastily advised: "General, calm down. Liu Bei is extremely cunning. If he only pretended to retreat and ambushed us halfway, the consequences would be unbearable. We must not pursue."

  Xiahou Dun let out a heavy hum, "You and Liu Bei have been at odds for so long, yet I've never seen you take the initiative to attack. The only time you launched a sneak attack, you suffered a crushing defeat and returned in disarray. I think you're losing your nerve. What qualifications do you have to speak out of turn here?"

  Li Dian was ashamed and lowered his head, not daring to persuade anymore. Xiahou Dun glared at him fiercely, although he was anxious and hated Liu Bei so much that he wanted to kill him with a single sword. However, he also knew that his army had marched strongly and the soldiers were extremely exhausted. If they launched a rash attack, they would be ambushed by Liu Bei and suffer a great loss.

  He sank into thought for a moment, and said to the forbidden way: "General Yu can lead 5,000 troops to take a shortcut to get ahead of Liu Bei, cut off his retreat, I will slightly adjust my troops and immediately come to meet you."

  "Yes, sir!"

  Yu Jin received his orders and left. Xiahou Dun immediately gave the order: "The three armies will rest for one hour, eat and drink, and then deploy troops after one hour."

  ．．．．．．．．

  This time Cao Jun attacked Xinye, Yu Jin was self-recommended and took the order. In that encounter in Runan, he had always regarded it as his greatest shame. He was actually deceived by a little kid and became a big joke in the Cao army.

  Every time they gather to drink, someone will bring up this matter to tease him, even the Prime Minister will joke about it with him. On a grand feast day, the Prime Minister toasted him and jokingly said, "The Prime Minister is offering another cup of wine on behalf of Liu Gongzi." He was so ashamed that he didn't know where to hide his face.

  For half a year, Yu Jin had been harboring resentment over this matter. This time, when Xiahou Dun was ordered to advance and station in Nanyang, although it wasn't an attack on Xiangyang and he wouldn't encounter Liu Jue, Yu Jin still volunteered to follow Xiahou Dun on the southern expedition.

  He had a subconscious mind that the closer he was to Xiangyang, the more opportunities he would have to wash away his shame.

  At this time, Yu Jin was holding his breath, and he had only one thought in his mind, to capture Liu Bei and turn the tables completely.

  "Faster! Speed up again!"

  Yu Jin loudly gave orders, directing the 5,000 Cao troops to march quickly. The small road he took was the shortcut taken by Cao general Han Zhi leading 2,000 troops yesterday. Taking the mountain path and crossing over the hills is a straight line to Xin Ye, whereas taking the official road would require going around the hills through the valleys.

  Although it is a straight and shortcut road, no heavy vehicles or large-scale cavalry can pass through, only infantry and light troops can march quickly.

  Five thousand Cao troops surged forward, stretching for miles, passing through one hill after another, rushing towards Xinye at high speed. All the soldiers seemed to be fighting for their lives. Yu Jin gave a death order that they must arrive in Xinye County within half a watch.

  。

  Niao Chou Valley, this long forest path of nearly ten miles is the official road where Liu Xiu was ambushed last night. The winding forest path leads all the way to Bo Wang Slope. Whether taking a shortcut or the official road, they will eventually converge on this forest path.

  In the dense forest about two miles from the valley exit, Liu Bei's 4,000 troops had been ambushing here for a long time. The great generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei each led 2,000 men to ambush on both east and west sides.

  Guan Yu gazed into the distance at the long, narrow official road with his eyes narrowed, looking somewhat preoccupied. Zhou Cang noticed his concern and asked in a low voice, "Is it the young master that you're worried about?"

  Guan Yu shook his head, "Don't ask too much."

  Zhou Cang sheathed his sword and stood up, not daring to ask again. Guan Yu's thoughts were not on his adopted son Guan Ping, but on the worries of his future prospects.

  From the first year of Zhongping, 23-year-old Guan Yu followed Liu Bei to start an uprising in Zhuo County. It has been eighteen years since then. During this period, he experienced many hardships and separations, his wife and children were scattered, Guan Yu was already forty-one years old, and had reached the age of not being perplexed.

  However, he became even more bewildered. Their future was still uncertain. Although they temporarily stayed in the small county of New Wilderness, they were also dependent on Liu Biao's charity. His elder brother had said many times, "Endure and wait for opportunities. Heaven will not disappoint me."

  But... where is the opportunity?

  Guanyu also understood in his heart that the opportunity his brother mentioned was on Liu Biao's side. Liu Biao was already old, but he had no suitable successor, his eldest son was weak and his second son was foolish, neither of them could be used for great things.

  Once Liu Biao passes away, Jingzhou will be without a master, and their opportunity will arrive. However, it seems that brother is quite concerned about Liu Xun. Just last month, brother told him and Yide after drinking that Liu Xun hides a great secret within him, and their hope of seizing Jingzhou lies with Liu Xun.

  Guan Yu had some worries in his heart. From Liu Xun's judgment of the situation today, this child indeed has some vision, but he is only 17 years old. Guan Yu was worried that after fighting for a lifetime, his brother might be blinded by a big wild goose.

  Just as Guan Yu was deep in thought, a scout rushed over.

  "Report to General Guan: Cao's army general Yan Yue is leading 5,000 men and is killing his way towards us!"

  Guan Yu was slightly stunned, why is it Yu Jin, not Xiahou Dun? After a moment's thought, Guan Yu understood that this was just Xiahou Dun's vanguard, and estimated that he wanted to cut off his retreat.

  Guan Yu sneered, Xiahou Dun's idea was quite good, but unfortunately they were still one step too late. This is Xinye, didn't you think about it? Who is the local snake here?

  "General, he's here!" a soldier pointed into the distance and whispered loudly.

  Guan Yu nodded, "I've already seen it."

  Only a thousand-strong Cao army was seen rushing from the north, marching hastily, and even scouts couldn't get ahead to explore the road.

  Cao Jun emerged from a mountain pass in the middle of the valley, with steep terrain ahead that made it impossible to cross the mountains, so he had to turn onto the official road. However, they were already not far from XinYe County, and after exiting this forest path, they would arrive at XinYe County town after walking another two miles.

  Yu Jin was anxious and urged his soldiers to hurry, his mission being to occupy Xinye County and then lead the army to block the valley entrance, preventing Liu Bei's forces from advancing south.

  Now he doesn't know how far Liu Bei's army is from himself, but if the other side has grain and luggage, the marching speed should not be fast. At this time, Yu Jin has seen the valley mouth in front of him, and he shouted: "Leave the valley mouth to rest!"

  His words had just fallen when a burst of clanging sounds came from the mountain forest, followed by a barrage of arrows fired from both sides. Thousands of arrows shot densely towards Cao's soldiers from both sides of the mountain path, and suddenly a chorus of mournful cries rose up from the valley, with hundreds of men falling to the ground.

  Cao Jun was suddenly thrown into great disorder, and even Yu Jin's warhorse was shot by several arrows, letting out a long whinny as it fell to the ground, throwing Yu Jin off its back four zhang away. Over ten of his personal guards rushed up to support him.

  Drumbeats like thunder echoed from the woods on both sides, shouts of killing shook the sky. It was unknown how many troops were ambushing here, thousands of Cao's army were in chaos, everyone rushed to escape, Yu Jin hastily shouted: "Calm down! Calm down!"

  Although Cao Jun's soldiers had undergone training, the forest path was narrow and once they became disordered, it would be difficult to restore order. At this time, a team of cavalry suddenly emerged from the west, led by a great general with black helmet, black armor, and a black horse, with a stern face and tiger-like whiskers, extremely powerful, holding a 4-meter-long spear, shouting loudly like thunder on a clear day: "Yan people Zhang Fei is here, has been waiting for you for a long time!"

  He led two thousand soldiers into the enemy's midst, Cao's army was so frightened that they lost their souls and had no heart to resist, fleeing desperately. At this time, Zhou Cang also led over a thousand men out of the mountain forest in the east, and the two armies attacked from both sides, killing Cao's army badly, countless people knelt down and surrendered, begging bitterly.

  Nearly a thousand Cao army vanguard soldiers were about to rush out of the valley, but a battle drum sounded, and a team of hundreds of soldiers blocked their way. The general at the forefront was on a red horse, holding a green dragon crescent moon knife, stroking his long beard coldly and saying: "Guan Yunchang is here, quickly surrender, and I will spare your lives!"