Liu Bei's "arrogance" made Cao Cao extremely uncomfortable. He vaguely remembered the big-eared man who was afraid of thunder and chopsticks when he was cooking wine in the mansion of Xu Duxiang. How could he still be humble at the meeting today?
"Walk."
Cao Cao raised his whip and turned back to his horse, signaling Xu Chu to come forward and challenge him.
Xu Chu understood and stepped forward with his sword in hand, shouting wildly: "I am Xu Chu of Qiao County, does anyone dare to come and fight?"
As soon as Liu Bei walked back to the commander's flag, he heard Xu Chu calling for formation at the foot of the mountain. At this time, generals Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong were not in the camp, and only Wei Yan was able to take action.
Originally, Wei Yan was eager to try, but neither Pang Tong nor Fazheng said a word. Although he had made meritorious service in front of Yangping Pass, it was a pity that he was still young in the army, so he could only stand aside and listen silently.
"I thought Cao Cao would attack the mountain out of anger, but after he was defeated, he made others fight against the generals. It was beyond my expectation." Pang Tong frowned and looked down the mountain with emotion.
Liu Bei's eyes were stern: "Cao Mengde is really old and no longer what he was before. Bei is very confident to defeat him."
"Kong Ming once said in Longzhong that when Cao Cao occupied the sky, Sun Quan occupied the territory, and the lord occupied the people. Unfortunately, now that the weather has not changed, Cao Cao's offensive and defensive forces have changed, and the lord can finally feel proud." Pang Tong said, stroking his beard.
"Xu Chu is like a tiger and leopard. He once fought with Ma Mengqi on the Wei River. Now he is inviting a fight at the foot of the mountain. How should we respond?" Liu Bei asked.
"My lord, don't worry, just let him call you." Pang Tong sneered and didn't care.
Liu Bei nodded slightly after hearing this. When Xu Chu called out and saw no response, he ordered people to curse at the bottom of the mountain. The sound became more harsh and unpleasant, but Dingjun Mountain remained quiet, and not even a few birds or animals in the mountain were surprised.
The generals did not respond because they did not have the confidence to deal with Xu Chu, but Wei Yan, who had the strength, could not bear the frustration.
Seeing that the generals around him ignored him, Wei Yan came to Liu Bei after a battle between heaven and man.
"Lord, military advisor, should I go down from the mountain and kill him?"
Liu Bei had a good impression of Wei Yan, but neither of the two military advisors spoke. He looked at Pang Tong and Fazheng undecided.
Pang Tong replied calmly: "If you want to win, you must take the initiative. Just like the situation with Xu Chu at the foot of the mountain. The more he wants to ask for a fight, the more we refuse to respond. When the other party becomes angry, we will lose the initiative."
"If we don't fight, will it affect the morale of the three armies?" Wei Yan asked.
"Xu Chu didn't mention anyone by name. Whose morale can he affect? Don't ignore it, Chief Wen. He's still waiting for you when you go to war." Pang Tong comforted.
"Wei." Wei Yan nodded with his fists clasped.
Seeing that Yamashita's yelling and scolding for a while had no effect, Xu Chu changed his strategy and started calling him names and scolding him.
"Where is Zhao Yun? Come down the mountain and die."
"Changshan Zhao Zilong, are you not brave? Are you afraid of me, Xu Chu?"
"Zhao Yun doesn't dare to go out to fight. Is Huang Zhong there?"
"Can Mr. Huang Zhong not be able to hold the knife?"
"And the one named Wei, are you all dead?"
...
When Wei Yan heard Xu Chu start to roll his name, he thought that he would ask for a fight when he was mentioned, but Xu Chu couldn't even say his name in full. I, Wei Yan, don't deserve to have the full name?
Xu Chu's shouts made Wei Yan's face turn blue and purple. Seeing the other generals trying not to laugh, the little pride in Wei Yan's heart immediately turned into anger, and he came to Pang Tong once again to ask for a fight.
"Military advisor, I..."
"Chang Wen, please be patient. Xu Chu can't even remember your name. Why do you need to go down the mountain to respond to him?"
"But I..."
"It's already a good thing that Xu Chu remembers your last name. We all need to learn from my lord and know how to be punctual so that you can shine in the future."
Wei Yan's request for a battle was once again suppressed by Pang Tong. When Liu Bei saw this, he also comforted him: "Chang Wen is waiting for the military advisor's dispatch. It is not the behavior of a general to rely on bravery and ruthlessness. Think more about Xia Houyuan who died at the foot of the mountain."
"I can't afford it."
When Wei Yan saw Liu Bei comparing himself with Xia Houyuan, a heroic feeling of a scholar dying for his confidant came to his heart.
At this time, no matter how Xu Chu yelled and scolded, and no matter how his colleagues laughed in private, he felt that it didn't matter.
Xu Chu and his entourage were scolded until their mouths were dry. The people on Dingjun Mountain were like stones, and there was not even a sound of scolding in return. His unilateral actions seemed particularly meaningless.
The warm sun of March rises to the middle, and the north and foot of Dingjun Mountain finally receive warm sunshine.
Xu Chu bathed in the warm sun and felt more and more that he was competing with the air, mountains and rivers, so he returned to his horse and went to Cao Cao's command to apologize.
"King Wei, the general is incompetent. No one has come down from the mountain..." Xu Chu lowered his head.
Cao Cao waved his hand gently, "What's your crime? I can see clearly here just now that Liu Bei has become despicable and shameless, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't fight. The victory or defeat is not decided here."
"Then I..."
"Instruct the three armies to withdraw their troops for the money. Come back tomorrow."
Cao Cao's inexplicable behavior confused the generals, so Xu Chu only had to follow Cao Cao back to the camp.
The commander of the march, Shi Liu Ye, urged his horse to come closer. He raised his hand and asked Cao Cao: "The battle has not started today. Why does the King of Wei have to withdraw his troops?"
Cao Cao replied calmly: "It's not Gu who doesn't want to fight, but it's actually Liu Bei who is too timid to fight. Today we are all exhausted. Tomorrow Zhong Kang will fight again."
"Is King Wei waiting for news from outside Yangping Pass? If we don't go all out on the front battlefield, and if Liu Bei's side is suspicious, it would be bad to return to Jinniu Road to support him.
Pang Tong and Fazheng are both wise and resourceful men, so they may not be able to detect their attacks in the east and in the west. "Liu Ye advised.
Cao Cao reined in his horse and stopped. He carefully thought about Liu Ye's words and felt that they made sense.
"If it hadn't been for Ziyang's reminder, I would have almost missed the important event. We will attack Dingjun Mountain with all our strength from tomorrow. Liu Bei can no longer be allowed to be so comfortable."
"Wei." The generals around Cao Cao responded in unison.
Early the next morning, Cao's army roared at the foot of the mountain and launched a massive attack.
The defenders of Dingjun Mountain were deployed according to Pang Tong and Fazheng. They each relied on the terrain and carried out step-by-step blockade and defense under the command of generals such as Wei Yan and Wu Yi.
Cao's soldiers at the foot of the mountain were like a tide rising up to attack. Thousands of arrows were fired from Dingjun's mountain, like rain.
Cao Jun launched a fierce attack on Dingjun Mountain for several days in a row. Because the terrain restricted the attacking side, the casualties were heavy, but the defenders' arrows were also consumed very quickly.
When Cao Cao estimated that Liu Bei's arrows were about to run out, rolling trees and falling rocks came one after another on the mountain, and the sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling echoed through Dingjun Mountain.
The fierce offensive and defensive battle at Dingjun Mountain lasted for more than ten days, until Cao Cao and Liu Bei received news from Jinniu Road.
Although Cao Zhen defeated Gao Xiang and occupied the Miobei camp, Huo Jun built a fortress on the main road from Miancang to Micang Mountain. No matter how hard Cao Zhen attacked, he could no longer move forward.
Xu Huang led thousands of elite troops through Maming Pavilion Road and over Zouma Ridge, but unexpectedly encountered Deng Ai's trap and ambush.
Deng Ai relied on the 500 soldiers mobilized by Huo Jun and gathered nearly 10,000 villagers to participate in the defense. Xu Huang fled with hatred after losing half of the soldiers.
The battle over Liu Bei's food supply ultimately ended with the defeat of Cao Zhen and Xu Huang.
The news of Jinniu Dao reached the Zoumagu camp. Cao Cao was so angry that he threw seven or eight cups in a row and cursed trash. All the generals in the army did not dare to get into trouble.
When Cao Cao was looking for someone to get angry with, General Cao Hong broke into the camp.
"Is something wrong?" Cao Cao restrained himself from getting angry.
"Zhang He encountered Huang Zhong on the bank of Yangshui River, and Liu Bei sent him to harass our army's food route." Cao Hong reported in a low voice.
"An encounter is an encounter? What will happen to him?" Cao Cao's tone was cold.
"General Zhang wants to ask for help..." Cao Hong's voice trailed off.
Cao Cao was even more angry: "Trash."
