Xu Shang hurriedly knelt down to plead for mercy, broke Ma Yan's ambush, and told him about rushing to camp alone without listening to Xu Huang's dissuasion.
All the generals also tried to persuade him, and Cao Hong ordered people to escort Xu Huang back. In fact, he did not dare to kill Xu Huang without authorization, but he had nowhere to vent his anger, and his face was livid with anger.
After walking back and forth for a few steps with his hands behind his back, he asked, "Ma Yan was ambushed, why didn't you go to rescue him?"
Xu Huang said helplessly: "Liu Qi was on guard for a long time, but Zhang Fei came out of the camp again. The morale of the soldiers was low and they had no intention of fighting, so they had to retreat."
Zhang Wei felt quite sad that a rabbit had died and a fox had died. He pointed at Xu Huang and shouted: "Ma Yan saved you, but you just watched him die. How can it be unreasonable!"
Cao Hong snorted coldly and said: "Liu Qi won a great victory, so he will definitely think that I dare not send troops. How about you going to rob the camp again tonight and atone for your sins?"
Xu Huang was shocked and said: "The general successfully robbed the camp last time, so the enemy must be on guard. If he goes again, I'm afraid..."
"Xu Gongming, it's in vain that Prime Minister Fei Fei places so much importance on you!" Cao Hong interrupted him and said in a deep voice: "It was the last time we robbed the camp. Liu Qi must have thought that I didn't dare to go again. If I did the opposite, I would definitely kill him. You were caught off guard. If you don't take revenge for this, tell me how to command the troops in the future. I will go with you."
Xu Huang also felt guilty about Ma Yan, so he agreed, determined to never retreat even if he died on the battlefield tonight.
In the Taohuayi camp, Ma Yan was taken to the Chinese military tent. Liu Qi smiled and asked, "Are you willing to surrender?"
Ma Yan nodded and said: "In the past, my lord was forced by Cao's army and had no choice but to surrender. I am willing to follow the general to eradicate the traitors and avenge my lord."
Liu Qi was overjoyed and personally untied Ma Yan. He ordered people to drink wine to calm down his shock, and asked Cao Jun for information, and Ma Yan told the truth truthfully.
At this time, he hoped that Cao Hong would return in defeat or even die in battle, so that his surrender to the enemy would appear more sensible.
"My eldest son, Xu Huang left behind on the road..."
While they were talking, Zhang Fei broke into the tent and saw Ma Yan present. He suddenly covered his mouth and stared like bells.
Ma Yan was shocked. Zhang Fei just went to chase Xu Huang and returned to the camp to recover. Could it be that they secretly communicated the news?
Liu Qi's face changed slightly, and he turned to smile and said: "Yide, don't panic, General Ma has abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side to help us eliminate the Cao thieves and avenge the Yuan family."
Zhang Fei breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to say something but held back, saying goodbye and exiting the tent.
Ma Yan looked at Liu Qi in disbelief: "So, General Xu...he has already?"
Although he desperately hoped that Xu Huang would surrender to the enemy, he also knew that the possibility was extremely low. Even if Zhang Fei had just lied about it, he still couldn't believe it.
Liu Qi raised his glass and smiled: "The general is one of our own, so there is no need to hide it. General Xu is also one of our own."
"This..." Ma Yan was stunned.
Liu Qi smiled and said, "I wonder if the general still remembers when Cao Jun took Nanyang and Xu Huang led his troops to chase the enemy at Bowang Slope, but was ambushed and defeated by Guan Yu?"
"I remember!" Ma Yan nodded and said: "At that time, the general retreated from Bowang City, leaving Zhang Fei to defend the city. Prime Minister Cao... No, Cao Cao ordered us to surround the city and divide our troops to pursue them. It was Xu Huang who led the troops. I'm with you Cao Hong guarded the west gate of Bowang City. Unexpectedly, Xu Huang was defeated. Guan Yu fought back to help Zhang Fei. Cao Xiu was unable to resist at the south gate and allowed the two of them to escape."
Liu Qi said with emotion: "In fact, Xu Huang had been captured by Guan Yunchang at that time and persuaded to surrender. Because his family members were all in Xuchang, they were afraid of being killed by Cao's thieves, and they wanted to rescue Zhang Fei, so they made a temporary plan to let Xu Huang stay in Cao Cao temporarily. Camp, waiting for opportunities to make achievements."
"Hiss—is this happening?" Ma Yan took a breath of air and said in shock: "No wonder the war in Wuguan was so unsatisfactory..."
The Battle of Nanyang has been nearly a year, and Xu Huang has been lurking in Cao's camp for so long. If Cao Hong hadn't led the army, wouldn't he have given up Chang'an?
Liu Qi smiled proudly and said: "General, don't be surprised. If Xu Huang doesn't lose at Wuguan, how can he ask Cao Hong to send troops? In less than a month, someone will kill Cao Hong and step into Chang'an!"
Ma Yan was shocked. He didn't expect Liu Qi to have such a plan and left Xu Huang to plot for Chang'an. The line was long enough.
After being shocked, he admired Liu Qi more and more. He stood up and clasped his fists and said: "The general has indeed made great calculations. Today, Chang'an has less than 5,000 defenders and only 3,000 available troops. During the counterattack, General Mo is willing to be the vanguard and attack Chang'an City." .”
Liu Qi nodded and smiled: "The general is familiar with the situation in Chang'an and will definitely rely on you when the time comes."
Ma Yan was overjoyed, and Liu Qi asked him to go down and rest first, and take the prisoners back to Wuguan early tomorrow morning to listen to his orders.
It was just getting dark when Liu Qi suddenly ordered a banquet to be held to celebrate the victory. He invited Ma Yan over and saw that Pang Tong, Zhang Fei, Fu Wei and others were all there.
Ma Yan said doubtfully: "The war is going on. We should restrain the three armies to strictly observe military discipline and wait until Chang'an is conquered before celebrating. Why is the general so slack? You must know that arrogant soldiers will be defeated."
He had personally experienced this in Yuan Shao's and Cao Cao's armies. Now that Cao Hong also had this tendency, he naturally felt the most deeply.
Liu Qi laughed and said: "Look, everyone, I will say that General Ma is loyal and not perfunctory. Please sit down."
Ma Yan sat under Fu Xu and saw everyone laughing, becoming increasingly puzzled.
Pang Tong tugged at his beard and looked Ma Yan up and down, and said with a smile: "Just now I doubted the general's sincerity. After hearing this, he has indeed returned to his heart."
Ma Yan suddenly became displeased and feigned anger: "I'm so sincere, but the general still comes to test me. It's really chilling."
Liu Qi waved his hand and said with a smile: "The banquet to celebrate the victory is not just to test the general. It is just to follow the trend. In fact, it has another purpose."
Ma Yan was startled: "I wonder what the general means?"
Liu Qi said: "Just now Xu Huang secretly sent someone to report that Cao Hong is coming to rob the camp tonight. This is for Cao Jun's careful observation."
"Ah this..." Although he had surrendered to Liu Qi, Ma Yan was still shocked when he heard the news, and immediately asked: "What about the last time we robbed the camp?"
Liu Qi smiled and said: "We were well prepared last time and retreated overnight. Not many men and horses were injured. It was just to lure the enemy deeper."
Ma Yan recalled that when Cao Hong robbed the camp, although he got some heavy weapons, he didn't kill many enemy troops after Zhang Fei cut them off. He couldn't help but nodded repeatedly: "I wonder what the general has planned this time?"
Liu Qi was confident, as if he had everything under control, and waved his big hand forward: "This time, Cao Hong will never come back. If we hire people tonight, the general will not have to return to Wuguan first."
Ma Yan didn't expect that the opportunity to perform meritorious deeds would come so soon, so he hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "I will obey the order."
Liu Qi looked at Pang Tong: "Please ask the military advisor to arrange the troops."
Pang Tong cupped his fists to accept the order and said: "Yide obeys the order!"
"The general is here!" Zhang Fei quickly drank the remaining wine in the cup and stood up to take the order.
Pang Tong said: "There is Wohu Gang ten miles away from Wuguan. I order you to lead five thousand troops to ambush here. If you see Cao Hong chasing after him, let him go in front and intercept him from the waist."
Zhang Fei took the order and left. Pang Tong ordered Fu Xu and Ma Yan to guard the camp and wait for Cao's army to attack. They pretended to resist for a while, then abandoned the camp and retreated to Wohu Gang. When the fire started on the top of the mountain, they turned back to fight.
Pang Tong originally planned to let Liu Qi go first, but Liu Qi insisted on staying at the camp. He wanted to advance and retreat with the generals, personally lure the enemy, and let Cao Hong pursue him with all his strength to ensure that nothing went wrong.
Ma Yan was also greatly affected and sighed in his heart. Liu Qi, a weak scholar, could have such courage. No wonder the Jingzhou army worked together and beat Cao's army to the point where it was like a rat running away.
I think back when Yuan Shao was fighting against Gongsun and Cao Cao was guarding Guandu, they could come to the front line to boost morale. How did everything change later?
