Lu Bu was of course very happy after winning the battle. He started a banquet to celebrate that night and reward the army.
Chen Gong suddenly came in and said, "Please listen to me!"
Lu Bu waved his hand and asked everyone to stop drinking and said, "What's the matter? We have to talk about it while we are drinking."
Chen Gong bowed and said, "I just found on the map that Xizhai is a very critical place. If Cao Cao takes advantage of everyone's celebration to sneak attack this place, the consequences will be serious."
Lu Bu smiled and said: "Cao Cao was killed today and ran away. How can he have the courage to come back?"
Chen Gong said: "The general doesn't understand Cao Cao. This man is very good at using troops. We must be careful to prevent him from attacking unprepared."
Lu Bu was disturbed and didn't want to drink anymore. After thinking about it, he felt that what Chen Gong said was reasonable, so he asked Gao Shun, Wei Xu, and Hou Cheng to guard Xizhai with some soldiers and horses.
At Yu Jin's suggestion, Cao Cao still adhered to the original path and quietly approached Xizhai at dusk. There were not many people observing Xizhai outside, so he immediately left with his troops and horses in a surprise attack.
Xizhai was suddenly attacked, and soldiers and horses rushed in all directions. Cao Cao quickly captured the camp. He thought he could sit back and relax, but at the fourth watch, just as he fell asleep, Gao Shun came over with another group of troops. Cao Cao personally led They fought with soldiers and horses, and fought in a melee with Gao Shun's troops until dawn. Suddenly, they heard the sound of drums in the west. Someone reported that it was Lu Bu who personally led the troops to come to the rescue.
Cao Cao knew how powerful Lu Bu was, so he had no choice but to abandon his camp in Taozhou. After Gao Shun got the news, he led Wei Xu and Hou Cheng in pursuit, but Lu Bu came in front with his troops and horses. Yu Jin and Le Jin fought with Lu Bu, but they were no match for each other and could only continue to escape.
Cao Cao fled all the way to the north. Suddenly a group of soldiers appeared behind the mountain, with Zhang Liao on the left and Zang Ba on the right. Cao Cao sent Lu Qian and Cao Hong to fight, but they were no match. They could only continue to escape, but this time they changed their direction. No longer to the north, but to the west.
I thought it would go smoothly, but suddenly there was a loud shout. Four generals, Hao Meng, Cao Xing, Cheng Lian, and Song Xian, blocked the way. Everyone fought hard and were able to escape. Cao Cao was the first to break out of the encirclement, but he did not In Taiping, there were all kinds of bows and arrows shooting, and there was no way to move forward at all. Cao Cao was in a deadlock for a while and had no way to continue to escape, so he shouted loudly: "Who will save me!"
Suddenly, a general walked out of the army. It was E Dianwei whom Cao Cao had previously accepted. He held an iron halberd in both hands and shouted loudly: "My lord, there is nothing to worry about. I am here!"
He got off his horse, took out a dozen short halberds from his luggage, held them there with both arms, then turned back to the person on the side and said: "If you are about ten steps away from me, tell me!"
So he let go and walked forward, braving bows and arrows. The ten cavalrymen brought by Lu Bu rushed over. The entourage followed the request and immediately shouted: "There are only ten steps left!"
Dian Wei didn't panic and said with a smile: "Call me again in five steps!"
Not long after, another voice came, "Five steps are here too!"
So Dian Wei started shooting with a short halberd, which basically had a 100% hit rate. When he took out a short halberd, an enemy fell down and quickly killed about ten people. The others ran away because of fear.
So Dian Wei got back on his horse and charged towards him with a pair of big iron halberds. The four generals Hao, Cao, Cheng, and Song were unable to withstand Dian Wei's attack and fled one after another. Dian Wei took the opportunity to kill the other enemies, so that Cao Cao could be saved.
The soldiers arrived soon after and were looking for a way back. It was already evening and the sky was starting to get dark. Suddenly, there was a shout from behind. It was from Lu Bu, saying: "Thief Cao, don't leave!"
Cao Cao originally thought he would leave just like that, but then Lu Bu came again. After everyone killed him all night, he really didn't have much strength. Now that Lu Bu was chasing him in person, he really didn't have much fighting spirit.
On the verge of despair, suddenly a group of troops came from the south. It was Xiahou Dun who brought the troops to rescue, and they fought with Lu Bu until dusk. Suddenly it started to rain heavily, so they had to disperse and withdraw.
In the panic, Cao Cao was deeply impressed by Dian Wei's rescue and got to know this man again, so he rewarded him heavily and added his official title to the captain of the leading army.
After a day of fighting, some people were tired. Lu Bu was not familiar with Chen Gong before, but Cao Cao's attack on Xizhai turned out to be true this time. He somewhat trusted Chen Gong's words. After returning to the camp, he first called Chen Gong to discuss with him and suggested: "There are people in Puyang City. A rich farm family has thousands of servants at home. He is a representative of the local area. You can quietly send someone to write us a letter. The content is that Lu Bu is cruel and unkind, and the people in the city are dissatisfied and have great grievances. Now we are going to send the troops Moved to Liyang, now only Gao Shun is in the city. You can march overnight, and I will open the door as the internal response. If Cao Cao really comes, we will lure him into the city, set fire to the four city gates, and set up an ambush outside. , Even if Cao Cao is talented, how could he escape from this situation?"
Lu Bu naturally accepted this plan and sent someone to ask Tian to deliver a message to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was a little worried in the camp at this time. He had lost two games in a row. Suddenly someone reported that someone from the Tian family had come and received a letter. The content was: "Lü Bu has gone to Liyang. The city is now empty. I hope to come here as soon as possible, and I am willing to serve as an internal agent and plant a white flag on the city wall with the word "righteousness" written on it as a secret code."
This news rekindled Cao Cao's hope and sighed: "God really wants me to capture Puyang!"
So while he rewarded the messenger heavily, he gathered his soldiers and prepared to attack.
At this time, counselor Liu Ye came out to dissuade him and said: "Although Lu Bu is brave and unintelligent, Chen Gong has many tricks. I'm afraid this is a trap set by them. We must be on guard against it. If Ming Gong must go, he can divide it into three parts." Put two teams outside the city to meet them, and one team enters the city to avoid being ambushed and the entire army being annihilated."
Cao Cao thought there was a good way out, so he divided into three teams and came to Puyang to attack.
Sure enough, he found flags erected on the city wall and a white flag with the word "righteousness" on the corner of the west gate. He was very happy. This was basically consistent with the content of the letter.
At noon the next day, when the city gate opened, two enemy generals came out of the city. The former was Hou Cheng, and the latter was Gao Shun. Cao Cao quickly sent Dian Wei to fight, and directly attacked Hou Cheng. The enemy could not defeat him, so he fled into the city. Dian Wei pursued him near the suspension bridge, and Gao Shun could not block the attack, so they all retreated into the city.
Several people mingled among the soldiers and secretly came to see Cao Cao. They said that they were Tian's secret envoys and submitted a letter. The content of the letter was: "At around the first watch tonight, I will be beating the gong on the city, and you will You can march in the army, and I will secretly open the city gate when the time comes."
