In a large camp not far from Fancheng, there were stationed 15,000 elite soldiers commanded by Wei Pingkou General Xu Huang.
At this moment, a debate was breaking out in Xu Huang's Chinese army tent.
In the Chinese army's tent, Xu Huang's deputy general Xu Shang was arguing with Zhu Gai, who was also a Wei general, about whether to send troops.
As Xu Huang's deputy general, Xu Shang certainly supported Xu Huang's decision to send troops, but Zhu Gai had different opinions.
"All of our troops are new recruits and cannot be trained."
"Guan Yu is tyrannical, but our army still has the ability to protect itself in the camp. It is like fighting in the field. Covering the enemy will worry the general."
The reason for Zhu Gai's objection is that most of Xu Huang's men are new recruits who have joined the army, and they are not yet proficient in drills.
What's more, they have to fight in the field with Guan Yu's army, which has high morale and has experienced hundreds of battles.
Zhu Gai was worried about Xu Huang's face, but he still had something to say.
That is to take the prohibition as a warning.
To put it bluntly, Zhu Gai is afraid of fighting.
But in fact, there are many generals in the tent who are like Zhu Gai and are afraid of war.
It is true that Guan Yu is too fierce this year. The name of a person is like the shadow of a tree.
Sitting at the top of the tent is a tiger general with a majestic face and an upright posture. This man is Xu Huang.
Xu Huang is similar in age to Guan Yu, but his appearance looks much older than Guan Yu.
His majestic and upright posture cannot conceal his old age.
The reason why he has such an old state is that he has been under too much pressure during this period of time.
Xu Huang looked at the plausive Zhu Gai with burning eyes. He knew very well that the reason why Zhu Gai did not support sending troops was simply because he was afraid of the enemy.
Seeing that his generals were timid before fighting, Xu Huang sighed heavily in his heart.
Although he was appointed by Cao Cao as the commander-in-chief of these 50,000 elite soldiers, unlike Yu Jin, he was not awarded a military title by Cao Cao.
In addition to his own troops and horses, these 50,000 elite soldiers also have twelve battalions of soldiers and horses.
These twelve battalions of soldiers and horses were temporarily mobilized by Cao Cao from various places, and they were not under each other's control at ordinary times.
Xu Huang, who did not have the power of holiday, had no way to control these 50,000 elite soldiers.
Take Zhu Gai as an example. He dared to raise objections in the tent today just because he was a Qiao Pei person and had Xiahou Dun's support behind him.
But no matter how much Zhu Gai and others resisted sending troops, Xu Huang was determined to send them.
Seeing that Xu Shang and Zhu Gai were still arguing, Xu Huang slammed the table, and then he said in a majestic tone,
"I have reported to the King of Wei about sending troops. It is imperative."
"If anyone dares to question this matter again, I will deal with it under military law."
Although Xu Huang did not have the right to take vacations, he made a lot of contributions to Cao Cao during his lifetime of fighting. His status is not comparable to those in the account today.
Therefore, when Xu Huang made a decisive decision, as his momentum unfolded,
Zhu Gai could only shut his mouth silently.
No matter who was behind him, openly opposing the general's orders was something Zhu Gai would not dare to do.
As the commander-in-chief, Xu Huang, when given a military order, even if someone in the tent is dissatisfied, they can only accept the order silently.
At this time, a middle-aged scribe sitting under Xu Huang spoke:
"On that day, General Xu led his troops to Yanglingpo, with less than five thousand men under his command."
"At that time, the generals and commanders in the tent had not yet arrived with their troops.
But despite this, the generals sent envoys or marched quickly to Yanglingpo to urge General Xu to send troops to relieve the siege of Fancheng. "
"Today, the reinforcements from the north have arrived. Why are you generals acting so seriously?"
As soon as the middle-aged scribe said the above words, Zhu Gai and others in the tent, who had just disagreed to send troops, all had a look of shame on their faces.
This middle-aged scribe was Zhao Yan, who was Yilang and the prime minister's protector of the army at that time.
Zhao Yan, courtesy name Boran, was one of the four famous figures in Yingchuan in his early years.
He can serve as the prime minister's guard, which is enough to prove that he is Cao Cao's confidant.
And what Zhao Yan said is true.
When the people in the tent clamored to send troops, this matter even reached Cao Cao's ears.
Cao Cao quickly sent someone to warn Xu Huang that he would wait until all the troops were gathered before sending out troops.
The reason why the generals and commanders like Zhu Gai had inconsistent performance was because of their evil intentions.
Cao Ren was the most powerful general in the lineage of Wei State, and he had a deep relationship with Cao Cao. If he died in battle,
Not only Xu Huang, but also the generals and commanders who were ordered to come to support him would definitely end up miserable.
Therefore, Zhu Gai and other generals deliberately clamored to send troops when Xu Huang did not have enough troops to send troops, in order to express an attitude.
Even if Cao Ren is killed in the battle and Cao Cao pursues the case, Zhu Gai and others can still defend themselves.
Put all the blame on Xu Huang.
But slogans are slogans after all. When it came time to actually send troops, they began to be afraid again.
Zhao Yan despised these people, so he used a sarcastic tone to indirectly reveal their true colors.
And after being exposed by Zhao Yan,
Zhu Gai and others only dared to feel ashamed and did not dare to refute.
Seeing that Zhu Gai and others looked ashamed, Zhao Yan continued,
"General Xu has discussed with me the issue of sending troops, and I agree.
If anyone dares to violate the law in the future, I will report it to the King of Wei and have him punished. "
The guardian army is the supervisor army,
Zhao Yan was known for his integrity and uprightness in Wei State.
Everyone in the tent knew that what he said was not a joke.
Zhao Yan is actually the eye sent by Cao Cao to Xu Huang.
And with Zhao Yan’s endorsement and support,
Zhu Gai and other generals could only put away their petty thoughts and no longer dared to comment on Xu Huang's proposal to send troops.
Seeing that the whole army's thoughts were temporarily unified, Xu Huang struck while the iron was hot and
He ordered, "They can go back to their respective military camps, restrain their respective subordinates, and stand ready to wait for the general's order to send troops."
As soon as Xu Huang's order came out, all the generals in the tent took the order.
After the generals in the tent took their orders and left,
Zhao Yan asked Xu Huang,
"Gongming, how confident are you in this battle?"
Xu Huang saw Zhao Yan asking this,
He said frankly,
"If Yun Chang falls into the trap, 70%."
Seeing that Xu Huang seemed to have yet to say a word, Zhao Yanfu asked,
"What if Guan Yunchang doesn't fall into the trap?"
Faced with this question from Zhao Yan,
Xu Huang was silent.
Failure to fall into the trap means that Guan Yu has seen through his scheme.
After pondering for a long time,
Xu Huang pretended to smile lightly and said,
"Liu Bei asked Zhang Mi, Jian, and Zhao's five loyal ministers to die.
How could the King of Wei not have Xu Gongming as a minister who would die for him? "
Xu Huang never took it lightly when facing his friend and rival.
Hearing what Xu Huang said, Zhao Yan sighed.
But Xu Huang then said,
"There is no need for the guards to worry too much. According to my understanding of Yun Chang, there is a high probability that Yun Chang will fall into my plan."
"Unless he has someone to help him."
Among Cao and Wei, who knows Guan Yu best, it is undoubtedly Xu Huang.
Guan Yu was a handsome man, and he upheld the royal way in using troops, so he didn't think too deeply about some deceptions.
It's not that he doesn't understand, it's that he doesn't even bother to do it.
For example, when the Seventh Army was flooded, someone suggested that Guan Yu further destroy the dikes, and then capture Fancheng would be easy.
However, Guan Yu flatly rejected this suggestion considering the survival of the people on both sides of the Han River.
How could such a person who upholds royal principles be wary of his friends cheating on him?
Xu Huang stood up and walked outside the camp. From his angle, he could clearly see the many barriers surrounding Fancheng.
He looked at Fancheng, which seemed to be within reach,
said,
"Fan City can be lost, but nothing can happen in the expedition to the south."
"Yun Chang, you really threw a good bait this time."
...
Not long ago, a news came out from Xu Huang's camp, and this news was quickly discovered by Wang Fu and reported to Guan Yu.
After Guan Yu received the news from Wang Fu, he asked:
"You mean, Gongming threatened to attack my location?"
In order to surround Fancheng, Guan Yu not only built ten layers of antlers outside Fancheng, but also established two camps in the north and south outside Fancheng.
The camp located in the north, mainly responsible for resisting Cao Cao's reinforcements, was named "Weitou", where Guan Yu is now.
The large camp in the south was named "Sizhong", and the soldiers and horses in it were mainly responsible for attacking Fancheng.
Wang Fu's spies in Xu Huang's camp found out that Xu Huang will attack Weitou in the near future, intending to confront Guan Yu.
After Wang Fu learned the news, he immediately came to inform Guan Yu, and he suggested,
"General, there are only a few thousand soldiers in the camp, but Xu Huang has about 20,000 elite soldiers.
The subordinates believed that they should immediately send an order to Lieutenant Liao in the Sizhong Camp to mobilize a large army for reinforcements. "
In the past, Guan Yu would have immediately adopted Wang Fu's suggestion after learning the news.
But at this time, he recalled in his mind the advice given by a young man before leaving,
"General, beware of Mr. Xu's statement of attacking from the east to the west."
Guan Yu was proficient in the art of war. He thought carefully about Mi Yang's analysis in the camp that day.
Then his eyes flashed,
He said to Wang Fu,
"You quickly send an order to Yuan Jian, instructing him to strengthen the defense in the camp these days.
Without my order, you cannot go into battle easily. "
Wang Fu was stunned after hearing Guan Yu's order.
What is this operation?
He was about to give advice, but he saw that Guan Yu had already made up his mind.
He said to Wang Fu,
"Go ahead and don't ask."
Wang Fu saw Guan Yu's resolute attitude, so he could only accept the order and retreat.
After Wang Fu retreated, Guan Yu picked up the candle and went to a map in the tent to look at it carefully.
Guan Yu's figure flashed, and the candle in his hand followed his movements, sliding left and right on the huge map.
The light finally settles in one place,
With a snap, Guan Yu's right fist hit that place hard.
He said confidently,
"I have captured one of the five good generals.
So why not have one more. "
On the third day after Guan Yu received the news, Xu Huang finally issued the order to send troops.
