NOVPUBWhen Liu Bei received the frontline battle report, Cao Bao had already been killed, and more than ninety percent of the thirty thousand elite Danyang soldiers had been captured by Cao Cao, taking advantage of the terrain.
Looking at the situation written in the intelligence report, Liu Bei felt that calling Cao Bao an idiot would be an insult to idiots. Thirty thousand elites of Danyang, Tao Gongzu’s very own coffin book, were squandered just like that, with even their own lives staked.
It so happened that on that day, Cao Bao led thirty thousand elites straight out of their nest, and after successive victories, Cao Bao forgot who he was. He held Cao Cao in utter contempt, leaving the defense of Pengcheng completely empty, that when Cao Cao departed, he sent five hundred men to take its place without Cao Bao’s knowledge.
Upon arriving at the confluence of the Yi River and the Yellow River, he did not encounter Cao Cao’s grand army but secretly rejoiced, thinking Cao Cao feared his military might and dared not come forth, so he sent men to urge him on.
True enough, the intelligence report from Cao Cao made Cao Bao laugh heartily, truly fearing his military strength. Thus, he sent another letter of urge, filled with mockery of Cao Cao. Sadly, not long ago, Cao Cao had been severely hit by Mi Heng, and Cao Bao’s ineffectual reproach was nothing but a joke to Cao Cao, who did not even consider it and decided to continue delaying.
In the lunar calendar’s February, the sun, having shone for an extended time, already began to scorch, and as time dragged on, even the elite of Danyang started to grow uneasy, not to mention that as the waiting prolonged, a pre-battle fear that old soldiers should not have also began to emerge.
Meanwhile, Cao Cao, along with Xun You, Cheng Yu, Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, and others were roasting steamed buns, glancing occasionally at the sun to determine the time.
Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and Xun You with a wry smile. He lacked their composure. Cao Cao was simply dragging things out, every incense stick’s time he could drag, he gained an advantage, while Xun You was waiting for the sun to slant westward, each blinding ray of sunshine giving them a further edge.
For Cao Cao and Xun You, issues like the set time for battle or fear of warfare didn’t matter. As long as they defeated Cao Bao, what they were doing now could be called strategy. If they failed, arriving early or late would be meaningless.
"Lord, isn’t what we’re doing somewhat improper?" Cheng Yu said with some anxiety, "The time has passed; it would not be good if others think we fear battle. Let us hurry and deploy our troops."
Cao Cao casually plucked a roasted bun from the Long Spear and handed it to Cheng Yu, "Try it, try it. This bun invented by Chen Zichuan is indeed good, easy to preserve, and tastes not bad as well."
"Lord," Cheng Yu accepted the bun with a laugh and a cry, wolfing it down, and was about to persuade further when Xun You spoke up, "The Lord has not written down the time for battle. When asked, just say that will suffice. Let them wait, until the right moment, location, and unity of the people are all on our side."
"Come, come, after eating and digesting, give the vanguard each three bowls of wine. Record the soldiers’ names well, no matter dead or alive, issue five times the money and grain," Cao Cao said with the air of a wealthy tycoon.
"As you command." A Chief Secretary by the side recorded Cao Cao’s instructions.
In this manner, not only did the Cao Army add an early meal, but they also had lunch, drank wine to aid digestion, and after doing all these, Cao Cao finally ordered the army to set out.
When Cao Bao, driven mad by waiting, saw the Cao Army finally approaching, he rode out in his chariot, pointing at Cao Cao and bellowed, "Cao Mengde, how dare you be so rude, arriving so tardily!"
"I never specified when we would battle, so why did you come so early?" Cao Cao said with a cold laugh.
"Good, good, good, you truly are Cao Mengde, not behaving like a son at all!" Cao Bao took out the battle letter to read and indeed, there was no time indicated, and he became furious, "No wonder your father ended up killed by Zhang Kai and thrown into a dung pit! He deserved it!"
Cao Cao was taken aback, then his beard and hair bristled with anger, "Cao Bao, you dare to slay my father!, Cao Xiu, Cao Hong, Lyu Qian, seize Cao Bao for me! I want to use his blood as a blood sacrifice for my father!"
Cao Cao was no fool, one second he was just raging, but the next second he knew why he couldn’t find his father’s corpse and immediately realized that this must be related to Cao Bao.
Cao Bao was also stunned, for he had blurted out the accusation in his urgency, but didn’t expect that Cao Cao would instantly relate this matter to him. His face darkened and without further reply, he resolved in his heart to eliminate Cao Cao there and then, or else his hope for becoming the Governor of Xuzhou would be completely dashed.
"Charge, all troops!" After pulling back his army, Cao Bao immediately shouted the command, directing the Danyang veterans who hadn’t had a meal of rice and water all day.
"Kill for me!" Cao Xiu roared, leading three thousand infantrymen from the left wing charging towards Cao Bao’s army. The blood-red Cloud Qi directly entwined with the Danyang elite’s crimson Cloud Qi as a rain of arrows crazily shot towards the enemy.
"Zilian, lead the Suicide Squad and capture Cao Bao alive for me!" Cao Cao’s eyes were bloodshot as he said, no longer considering saving the Suicide Squad for a last-ditch annihilating move. He wanted to capture Cao Bao alive.
Cao Hong tore off his helmet and, with a great shout, led a thousand Death Soldiers toward the direction of Cao Bao within the Danyang Troops’ Central Army. He slew a Centurion with a single blow, his subordinates hesitated not a moment to plunge into the Danyang Troops’ Spear Formation, determined to die as they breached an opening, then under the lead of Cao Hong, they charged towards Cao Bao’s position.
"Quick, quick, quick, strike down that unit on the left flank, Hann Qi on the left, hurry and block Cao Xiu for me!" Cao Bao saw his left flank troops collide with Cao Cao’s Cao Xiu on the left wing and get pierced through many layers, he began frantically issuing disorderly commands. Then, turning his head, he saw several Bed Crossbows’ bolts impale several people a few dozen meters in front of him and immediately started shouting commands to retreat.
"Quickly knock out those Bed Crossbows," Cao Bao ordered, retreating while holding the Command Banner, directing the Danyang Troops to charge. The Danyang Troops, previously relying on the Command Banner and commands for coordination, were already becoming somewhat disordered, but years of warfare experience allowed them to stabilize their formation, desperately blocking the Cao Army’s onslaught!
"Retreat quickly, don’t you see the enemy is about to reach me!" Cao Bao angrily yelled at his war chariot’s Military Attendant, "Retreat quickly, have the left and right flanks close in towards the center, and deal with this penetrating Cao Army force!"
Military Attendant Xu Sheng looked at Cao Bao with disgust and without retreating, bowed his head and said to Cao Bao, "General, I suggest we not retreat. The Central Army’s allowing them in deliberately, to divide and consume us. If we continue retreating, the army will become unstable."
"Get lost, are you the commander-in-chief, or am I the commander-in-chief!" Cao Bao, unable to bear it any longer as Cao Hong was closing in to less than a hundred and fifty steps away—a distance from which even suppressed Inner Qi would allow him to be fatally shot with bows and arrows—exploded in anger.
Seeing Cao Hong ready his bow to shoot, Cao Bao couldn’t stand it any longer and kicked Xu Sheng off the chariot, then took control of the war chariot himself and started retreating, widening the distance from Cao Hong.
"Bang!" A soft sound, and one of the trusted aides driving the war chariot next to Cao Bao fell from the horse, hit by an arrow. Realizing that there was no such thing as a safe place in the army, Cao Bao screamed in agony while frantically driving the war chariot towards the rear.(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it on QiDian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
