Cao Cao assigned Xiahou Dun to lead the left army, Cao Hong led the right army, and he led the four generals Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, Yue Jin, and Dian Wei to enter the city according to the agreement.
Li Dian was afraid of a conspiracy, so he said: "My lord, you should wait outside the city. Let us go inside the city to take a look. If there is no problem, you can come in."
Cao Cao laughed and said: "Being cowardly at this time will cause panic in the army. Besides, if I don't go, then who will be willing to go?" So he led the team into the city in person.
The time is according to the final information provided by Tian. The moon has not yet fully emerged. I can only hear the sound coming from the west gate, but it is very small and intermittent. The torch on the door is burning brightly, the city gate is also open, and the suspension bridge is also open. After putting it down, Cao Cao quickly rode in, but after entering the city, there was no one on the street, and there was no one when he arrived at the county magistrate's mansion. This was obviously a trap. Cao Cao quickly turned around and shouted, "Quickly." retreat!"
Suddenly, a cannon shot came from the county magistrate's mansion, and the surrounding area was filled with flames, falling from the sky. There were shouts all around, which almost drowned Cao's army. Zang Ba came out of the east alley, went straight to Cao Cao, and tried to cover up and kill him as he approached. Cao Cao fled toward the main gate, but Hao Meng and Cao Xing came out and chased and killed him for a while. Cao Cao could only flee toward the south gate. Gao Shun and Hou Cheng came to stop him. Dian Wei could only grit his teeth and rush out. Gao Shun and others could only avoid it.
Dian Wei fought all the way to the suspension bridge, but found that Cao Cao was not behind him, so he turned back and fought into the city. He met Li Dian at the gate, and Dian Wei asked, "Where is my lord?"
Li Dian replied: "I don't know either, I'm looking for him too."
Dian Wei said: "I understand, you quickly go out of the city to get reinforcements, and I will go to the city to find the lord."
So according to this plan, Li Dian went out, while Dian Wei continued to fight into the city. He entered very deep into the city, but still did not see Cao Cao. When he went inside, he saw Le Jin. Le Jin Ask: "Where is my lord?"
Dian Wei said: "I have killed twice here, but I can't find the lord."
Le Jin said: "Okay, let's fight in together to save our lord."
So the two of them arrived at the gate. The city wall was full of artillery fire rolling down. Yue Jin's horse could not enter. Dian Wei could only brave the fireworks and rush into the city, looking for Cao Cao everywhere.
Cao Cao followed Dian Wei at that time, but Dian Wei killed him too quickly. Cao Cao could not follow up at all. He could only intercept the enemy's horse in the chaos and wanted to go out through the south gate, but the south gate had been blocked. Then, he walked toward the north gate, and in the light of the fire, he happened to see Lu Bu walking over with Fangtian Painted Halberd.
Cao Cao secretly sighed inwardly that it was bad. Fortunately, he was very adaptable. He messed up his hair, covered his face with his hands, deliberately bent his waist very much, and sneaked past Lu Bu.
Lu Bu followed him, stabbed Cao Cao on the helmet with his halberd, and asked, "Have you seen where Cao Cao ran?"
Cao Cao pointed to the man behind him and said, "The man riding the yellow horse is Cao Cao. Go and catch him." Cao Cao deliberately lowered his voice and tried his best to disguise himself, for fear that Lu Bu would see something wrong.
Lu Bu was very happy after hearing this, abandoned Cao Cao, and galloped away in the direction of the yellow horse. Seeing that Lu Bu had gone far, Cao Cao quickly turned the horse's head and galloped toward the east gate. He happened to meet Dian Wei who came to rescue him, so Dian Wei protected Cao Cao and fought his way out. When he arrived at the city gate, the flames were burning fiercely. Weeds were piled under the city and the ground was full of flames. Dian Wei used his iron halberd to push them away and rode his horse quickly from there. Breaking out of the fire, Cao Cao followed.
When they reached the gate, a burning beam suddenly came down from the city gate and hit Cao Cao's horse on the buttocks. The horse was also knocked down. Cao Cao struggled to push the beam away and put it on the ground. His arms and hair were burned. Dian Wei rode back to rescue him, and happened to see Xia Houyuan arriving. So the two of them rescued Cao Cao together and broke out from the fire. Cao Cao took advantage of Xia Houyuan. Cao Cao was able to return to his camp and take a rest.
Everyone thought that Cao Cao felt uncomfortable after these three failures and wanted to go up and comfort him.
Unexpectedly, Cao Cao just raised his head and laughed loudly: "I just accidentally fell into the trap of a common man, and I vowed to take revenge!"
Guo Jia stood aside, observing Cao Cao's injuries, and said: "If there is a plan, it should be launched early."
Cao Cao said: "Now we will use our tactics to lie to the outside world that I was burned by the fire and was on the verge of death. When Lu Bu hears this news, he will definitely lead troops to attack us. I will ambush at Maling Mountain and wait until they After only half of my army has crossed the crossing, I will attack them so that I can capture Lu Bu alive."
He replied: "My lord, what a good plan!"
So he sent sergeants to mourn and publicize that Cao Cao had lost his life in the fire. In order to increase the momentum, Cao Cao deliberately sent people to cry loudly and loudly.
The news soon reached Lu Bu. Lu Bu was depressed because he had found the wrong person. Because Cao Cao was mistakenly identified, he really killed the man on the yellow horse, only to find that it was one of his own.
After Lu Bu heard about the situation, it turned out that Cao Cao had been burned by the fire, and the burns were very serious. He entered the camp and died due to ineffective treatment. Naturally, he would not miss this opportunity. He immediately ordered his troops and headed towards Maling. When he was about to reach the vicinity, a drum sounded and ambushes appeared from all directions. Lu Bu quickly ran away and finally killed many soldiers before charging forward. After breaking out of the siege, a large number of troops were lost in this battle. From then on, Lu Bu became honest and did not dare to challenge again, but stayed in Puyang City.
This stage is the season when locusts flood, and the grain harvest is poor. Because the grain output is very small, the price has skyrocketed. Many people among the people want grain without money.
Lu Bu and Cao Cao, the two warring parties, were unable to continue the war due to food problems. Cao Cao took his troops and horses to temporarily return to Juancheng to garrison, while Lu Bu took his troops and horses to eat in Tunshanyang, and the two places ended there. soldiers.
In Xuzhou, Tao Qian was thirty-six years old. He suddenly contracted an illness and became a little heavy, so he asked Mi Zhu and Chen Deng to attend the meeting. In fact, Tao Qian's health had never been good. Mi Zhu said: "Cao Cao was able to retreat this time for two reasons. One was because Lu Bu suddenly attacked Yanzhou, which was his base camp, and the other was because of Liu Bei's face. Now because there is no food, the two sides stopped. Bing, you will definitely make a comeback next spring. My lord wanted to give up your position to Liu Bei twice. At that time, because you were still in good health, Liu Bei refused to accept it. Now that you are seriously ill, you must take advantage of this opportunity. Give him Xuzhou's seal and ribbon, and he won't refuse."
Tao Qian thought it was reasonable, so he sent people to Xiaopei to find Liu Bei to discuss concessions.
