Near the fourth watch, in the dead of night, Cao Hong personally led his elite troops and came to Taohuayi with Xu Huang.
Seeing the sparse lights at the camp gate, I approached quietly and smelled the faint aroma of wine, which was very mellow.
Cao Hong couldn't help smacking his lips: "I heard that there is Dukang wine in Xiangyang. It is very delicious. It really deserves its reputation."
Xu Huang stared at the camp warily, his expression becoming more solemn: "General, be careful of fraud!"
"Well, cough..." Cao Hong realized that he was off topic and quickly ordered: "I will attack the left road, Gongming will attack the right road, and capture Liu Qi alive while he is still drunk, which can help the Prime Minister pacify Jiangnan."
At this time, the arrow was on the string and had to be fired. Xu Huang had nothing to say, so he called the men and horses to approach the camp against the cliff.
A stone's throw away, the soldiers had already prepared fire arrows. When the order was given, the arrows flew into the camp like locusts, carrying flames.
The defenders were frightened and hurriedly gave a warning and beat drums. Xu Huang took the lead and chopped off the wooden door with a big axe. The soldiers pushed open the fence and swarmed in.
At the same time, Cao Hong on the other side also led his troops into the camp. Seeing that the Jingzhou army was indeed unprepared, the men and horses fled in panic under the fire and rushed towards the Chinese army's tent.
Ma Yan was ordered to guard the left camp. When he heard the cry of killing, he immediately led his troops to resist the enemy. Just as he was about to move forward, he saw Cao Hong and Zhang Wei coming to kill him. He felt guilty and ordered his soldiers to step forward to intercept them.
Liu Qi and Pang Tong ran out of the tent and called their soldiers to retreat. Ma Yan had to hide behind the tent to prevent both parties from seeing him. When Liu Qi left the camp, he immediately fled.
Looking back, Fu Wei, who was guarding the right camp, had already led his troops to fight out. He met Xu Huang. The two fought, but they couldn't get along. The furious Xu Huang knocked his weapon away with an axe, and then drove away on his horse.
"Not good!" Ma Yan originally wanted Fu Wei to be defeated, but seeing that he lost to Xu Huang, wouldn't he want to leave him at the end?
At this time, Cao Hong had seen Liu Qi and urged his troops to pursue him. Ma Yan panicked, quickly turned his horse's head, and retreated while lying low on the horse.
As soon as they arrived at the back camp, a half-length cane stuck out from nowhere and caught the horse's leg. The horse stumbled again, and both the man and the horse rolled forward.
"What the hell..." Ma Yan panicked and cursed.
Ma Yan was thrown so hard that his eyes were filled with stars again. He subconsciously rolled into the ditch beside the road and saw Fu Xu roaring out with the remaining soldiers.
"Wait for me..." Ma Yan was about to wave and shout, but Xu Huang had already caught up with him, so he had to hide in the ditch with his neck curled up.
In the blink of an eye, the Taohuayi camp has been occupied by Cao's army, who are searching and patrolling everywhere. Xu Huang chases forward, and Cao Hong is rushing over to command his troops to pursue the victory and capture Liu Qi alive.
With no way to advance or retreat, Ma Yan suddenly had an idea and took off his armor. When Cao Hong reached the camp gate, he climbed out of the trench and shouted: "General Cao, wait a minute, don't pursue me!"
Cao Hong's horse was so startled that he stood up. The soldiers roared and surrounded him, their swords, guns, bows and arrows all pointing at Ma Yan, the cold light flashing.
"Don't do it, it's me!" Ma Yan hurriedly raised his hands, "I am Ma Yan, Ma Yan——"
The soldiers moved forward with torches and escorted Ma Yan in front of Cao Hong. Ma Yan knelt down and said, "There is an ambush ahead. General Cao cannot pursue him."
"Huh? Get up and answer." Cao Hong's eyes gleamed slightly, he glanced at the dark night sky, and asked, "You were captured by Liu Qi, how come you are here?"
"Then Xu Huang..." Ma Yan pointed to the distance, suddenly stopped, clasped his fists and said, "General, I have a confidential military report. Can I talk to you alone?"
Cao Hong asked again: "How do you know there is an ambush ahead?"
Ma Yan replied firmly: "There is Wohu Gang ten miles ahead, and Zhang Fei is ambushing here. This is... the general has something to report. Is it likely to affect the morale of the army? I hope the general will forgive me."
Cao Hong hesitated for a moment, then sent Zhang Wei to lead the troops to meet Xu Huang. He was on guard, withdrew his troops back to the camp, and called Ma Yan to the tent alone for questioning.
Ma Yan knelt down and said: "General, that Xu Huang has surrendered Liu Qi a long time ago. Our army has suffered repeated defeats because he is secretly communicating the news."
Cao Hong stood up with a roar, walked to Ma Yan in two steps, looked down at him and asked in a deep voice: "Is there any evidence?"
"Yes!" Ma Yan nodded heavily, took a deep breath and said:
"The general was captured at the end, and Liu Qi wanted to persuade me to surrender, but I would rather die than obey. I warned him that Prime Minister Tianwei would obey him from all over the world, and his army was everywhere and invincible. Instead, he advised him to know the current situation early."
Cao Hong looked at Ma Yan sideways and snorted coldly: "You still have some guts."
"I will be loyal to the Prime Minister as long as the sun and the moon show it!" Ma Yan said solemnly, swallowed his saliva and continued:
"While the two of us were arguing, Zhang Fei suddenly broke into the tent and said that Xu Huang had received news. The general overheard such important news. With a change of heart, he pretended to surrender and inquired about the information."
Cao Hong hurriedly asked: "How is Xu Huang?"
Ma Yan replied: "When Liu Qi saw that I had discovered this matter, he told the truth. It turned out that Xu Huang had already been surrendered by Guan Yu at Bowangpo..."
Ma Yan told Liu Qi's words again with half truth and half lies. This time he lured the enemy deeper and set up an ambush, hoping to kill all Cao Hong's troops and capture the city of Chang'an.
"This...how is this possible?" Cao Hong was stunned and stood there dumbly unable to speak for a while.
Although he suspected that Xu Huang was unwilling to fight with all his strength, he never thought that Xu Huang would betray Cao Cao. This was even more absurd than Cao Pi asking him to borrow two million yuan.
Ma Yan gritted his teeth and said, "I know people, but I don't know their hearts. Xu Huang deceived me into the camp and wiped out the whole army. If the general had not endured the humiliation and endured the heavy burden, how could he have seen through the true face of the capable thief?"
"Is it true that Xu Huang secretly communicated the news?" Cao Hong was shocked and came to his senses with a gloomy expression.
Ma Yan pointed in the direction of Wuguan and said loudly: "If the general doesn't believe it, he will know it when he finds out the Wohu Gang ambush. If the general hadn't been among the rebels and risked his life to stop him, the general must have..."
The corners of Cao Hong's eyes twitched, and he slowly sat on the handsome seat. After a long time, he raised his hand and said, "Get up!"
Ma Yan also heaved a sigh of relief, stood up and took the opportunity to say: "This matter is of great importance. If the general does not dare to deal with Xu Huang, he must be escorted back to Xuchang for trial. Otherwise, not only will there be no hope of taking Wuguan, Chang'an may also be in danger."
Cao Hong's eyes were slightly gleaming, and he said in a deep voice: "Your newly surrendered person has not yet made up his mind. How can Liu Qi tell him something confidential? I'm afraid it's just a rift."
"That Zhang Fei is a reckless man. He broke into the tent and leaked the truth. It must be the truth!" Ma Yan looked aggrieved and said anxiously: "General Cao, let's not talk about the war in Nanyang. It is just a small martial arts pass. With Xu Huang's ability , If we can't attack it in half a year, I'm afraid the Prime Minister may not be willing to believe it. All the situations in these half months also show that Xu Huang has had second thoughts."
Cao Hong took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead with his fingers, hesitating. At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps outside the tent. It was Xu Huang and Zhang Wei returning to camp.
Cao Hong's eyes turned cold and he said in a deep voice: "Why doesn't General Xu pursue the enemy?"
Xu Huang cupped his fists and said, "It's dark at night and the wind is high. The mountains are high and the roads are dangerous. I'm afraid there's an ambush ahead."
"Look, look..." Ma Yan yelled at the top of his lungs like a duck whose neck was pinched, "He already knew it, he already knew it"
Cao Hong was furious, smashed the case with a bang, pointed at Xu Huang and shouted: "Xu Gongming, do you know your crime?"
