The two armies were in peace that day, and each was on guard at night. At the third watch, before Cao Jun could beat the drums, the drums started beating on the south bank first.
Cao's army was all shocked. All the camps were alerted and went out to defend. They saw brightly lit fires on the shore and the Jingzhou army holding torches and laughing.
Lu Qian said angrily: "How dare Zhuge kid play tricks on us?"
Xin Pi smiled and said: "Zhuge Liang's old tricks are repeated, and facing our army, it shows that his skills are exhausted. I expect there will be changes soon."
Lu Qian suppressed his anger and told the defenders to defend carefully. That night, drums were beating continuously on both sides of the Jishui River. Cao's army was beating drums in the mountains upstream, while Jingzhou soldiers were beating drums downstream. The two armies did not look like they were fighting against each other, but they seemed to be training in response to each other.
For several days, the two armies faced each other across the river without sending troops. Later, the soldiers gradually became slack, and disturbing the enemy became as routine as patrolling the camp, and the officers and soldiers of the two armies became accustomed to it.
Zhuge Liang simply withdrew his troops and waited to see what would happen. There was no sound of drums that night, but Cao Jun's ears were roaring, and he could not sleep for a long time.
Xin Pi put on his clothes and went out of the tent, looked at the stars in the sky, and discussed with Lu Qian: "Zhuge Liang has many tricks up his sleeve. If he suddenly withdraws his troops, he must have other tricks. You need to be more careful."
Lu Qian said with a smile: "A certain person has sent troops to disturb the enemy, and he is about to take advantage of the situation to advance. How can we not send troops to him? There are soldiers and horses patrolling the river bank day and night, and the camp is also on guard. Don't worry about the Ming Dynasty."
When they were discussing countermeasures, they suddenly came to report that Jingzhou soldiers had a batch of grain and grass shipped from Yingchuan and were heading towards Jishui.
"God is really helping us!" Xin Pi couldn't help but feel happy and said: "The enemy army is blocked by me here, and the men and horses are exhausted. I guess Zhuge Liang has intention to retreat. If he burns his food and grass, he will definitely withdraw his troops, and we can take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack. .”
"Good morning, Mingfu!" Lu Qian was overjoyed. While dividing his troops to continue harassing the enemy, he sent someone to report to Wang Hui, ordering him to lead his elite troops from Songshan Mountain to cut off supplies.
The next day Gan Ning came to challenge the enemy again, but Lu Qian could not hold out. In the evening, Wang Hui returned from robbing the grain and went to the camp to report the victory in person. The morale of Cao's army was greatly boosted.
Lu Qian ordered people to call Xin Pi and discuss: "The Jingzhou army has no food and will retreat overnight. We can send troops tonight to defeat Zhuge Liang in one battle."
Wang Hui won a complete victory in the first battle, and his confidence was greatly increased. He clasped his fists and said: "General, I see that the Jingzhou army, except for Gan Ning and a few people, is vulnerable to a single blow. It has been harassing the enemy for days. If we rob the camp tonight, we will definitely succeed."
"No!" Xin Pi said: "Zhuge Liang is cautious and good at using troops. If he retreats, he must be prepared. We must first seek to be undefeated before we can win."
Wang Hui said anxiously: "Jingzhou's soldiers are already exhausted. If we don't take advantage of their morale to attack them now, we might miss a good opportunity."
Xinpi thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Let's monitor the enemy's movements first. It's not too late to make a decision tomorrow."
The food and fodder of Jingzhou soldiers were robbed, and Wu Ju returned to the camp with only a few hundred remaining soldiers. Zhuge Liang was furious and imprisoned them until they were released. The camp was shocked.
Gan Ning said angrily: "Cao Jun is so brave. He dares to attack from behind and deceive no one in our army?"
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Cao's army switched from defensive to offensive, which shows that he is arrogant. My plan has come true!"
Xia Houlan frowned and said: "The food and grass have been robbed, and there are less than ten days left in the camp. What is the military advisor's countermeasures?"
Zhuge Liang said: "Cao's army robbed food, so I went to rob the camp. Who dares to go and defeat the enemy and help our army?"
Chen Dao cupped his fists and said, "I would like to go."
Gan Ning said anxiously: "I have been fighting with Lu Qian for many days. The old thief refused to fight. Today we just ended it. We only need 800 Jinfan troops!"
Chen Daoyan said: "A certain five hundred soldiers can also take the enemy's head."
Gan Ning sneered coldly: "You only need a hundred riders to defeat the enemy."
Chen Dao frowned, glanced at Gan Ning, and retreated silently. The main task Liu Qi gave him was to protect Zhuge Liang. The white soldiers could not fight recklessly like Gan Ning's gang of bandits.
Zhuge Liang said to Gan Ning: "Xin Pi is a wise man. I'm afraid that Cao's army is on guard. If Xingba goes there, don't underestimate the enemy, let alone go deep into the enemy camp. If you see something that cannot be done, return immediately."
Gan Ning laughed and said, "I have already guessed something. I was just joking with my uncle. Let's see if the military advisor and I are on the same page."
Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Xingba has both wisdom and courage. He will surely return in triumph. You can give him food and wine to help the army."
Gan Ning took the order and returned to the camp. Not long after, wine and meat were delivered to the camp and shared with the Jinfan army. Everyone was confused. The food had just been robbed today and the army had not made any achievements. Why was it rewarded for no reason?
Gan Ning swallowed a piece of lamb kidney, stood up, raised his bowl and shouted loudly: "I'm going to rob the Wei camp with hundreds of horses tonight, who will go with me?"
Everyone was shocked when they saw Gan Ning's unruly gaze. After being stunned for a short time, they all waved their fists and shouted, wanting to fight with him.
"Ge Lao Tzu, this is my brother!" Gan Ning laughed, raised his head to drink, wiped his mouth and said, "No one is allowed to fight, shake the dice, I will win."
Su Fei quickly reminded: "Xingba, gambling is prohibited in the army!"
"Can the matter of ordering generals be called gambling?"
Gan Ning pushed him away, lifted the table, poured out the food and wine, stepped on the bench, slapped the table and shouted, "Get the sieve!"
Jinfan's army was playing and gambling, but had been discovered by the governor. Xiahoulan hurriedly reported this to Zhuge Liang, but Zhuge Liang laughed it off and ordered Wu Ju to lead three thousand troops out of camp to ambush at the mouth of the river, preparing to meet Gan Ning.
After the fourth watch in the middle of the night, Gan Ning led a hundred Jinfan troops to mount their horses and leave the camp. They quietly came upstream and waited quietly at the bridgehead for an opportunity.
Not long after, a group of Cao soldiers came lazily, stretching and yawning. They gathered at the bridge and went about their routine. The soldiers beating drums even closed their eyes to relieve their sleepiness.
"Brothers, come with me!" Gan Ning shouted loudly, and Pegasus rushed onto the bridge.
The sound of drums covered up the sound of horse hooves. By the time Cao Jun found someone on the bridge, Gan Ning was already approaching. He yelled and swung his sword to kill several people.
Cao Jun was caught off guard and fled to both sides. Gan Ning ignored it and ran straight to Cao Jun's camp to capture it.
Later, Cao Jun was frightened and hurriedly beat drums to warn. However, Cao Jun in the camp had long been accustomed to the sound of drums and thought it was to disturb the enemy as usual. No one paid attention to it. The defenders at the camp gate did not even close the camp gate, waiting for them to return.
Gan Ning took the lead and rushed in. The defenders at the door were dispersed by the cavalry who followed. A group of patrolling soldiers were coming from the front. Gan Ning rushed forward and swept through holes like a plow, causing numerous casualties.
The defenders were shocked and hurriedly beat drums and gongs. The rapid sound of gongs and drums resounded throughout the camp. Cao Jun was finally awakened and got up to fight in a hurry.
Gan Ning led a hundred cavalry and galloped wildly, as if they were in an uninhabited country. Cao's troops all over the camp did not know why. When Gan Ning urged their horses to kill them, they all fled and ran around. When he passed by, they came out from behind and shouted warnings.
At this time, Gan Ning was like an angry pig-shaped dragon running across the river. If there was any obstruction in front, whether it was enemy troops or camps, they would be destroyed. Cao's army was like a wave of water, and the front moved out of the way, and the rear gathered to follow, but no one dared to come close to fight.
Gan Ning turned a blind eye to the surrounding enemy troops and marched straight into the Chinese army's tent, shouting: "Jin Gan Ning is here!"
