Kong Ming said: "If we don't do this, now Cao's army has arrived in Wancheng, with as many as 50,000 soldiers. How can we, in the small area of Xinye, resist?"
Liu Bei said: "Why don't we go to Fancheng to escape temporarily."
Although Kong Ming was disappointed, fortunately Yu Yi persuaded him in the letter and was not too entangled. During the discussion, someone suddenly reported that Cao Jun had arrived in Bowang.
Liu Bei quickly asked Yi Ji to return to Jiangxia to reorganize his army, while he and Kong Ming continued to discuss other ways to resist Cao Cao.
Kong Ming said: "Lord, don't be anxious. Previously, I lost most of Cao's army with a single fire, and their vigor was greatly reduced. Now that Cao's army is coming again, I will definitely let them fall into the trap. Now Xinye can't stay any longer. Please go there as soon as possible." Go towards Fancheng."
So Liu Bei sent people to post notices everywhere in Xinye City. The content was: Anyone who is willing to follow me, regardless of gender, old or young, please come with me to Fancheng to escape today. Don't delay!
He sent Sun Qian to the river to arrange the boats to help the people, and sent Mi Zhu to escort everyone's family members to Fancheng first. He gathered all the generals to listen to the order. He sent Guan Yu with a thousand soldiers and horses to ambush on the Baihe River, each carrying cloth bags to contain some sand. , blocking the water of the Baihe River. After the third watch, I heard people shouting and neighing from the downstream direction. I quickly took out the cloth bag, released water to drown them, and then went to meet them from the direction of the river. Send Zhang Fei with a thousand troops to ambush Boling Ferry. The water here is relatively slow. After Cao's army is flooded, they will definitely flee from this place. They can take advantage of the opportunity to kill the fleeing people. He sent Zhao Yun with three thousand soldiers and horses, divided into four teams, each with a pair of men and horses to ambush outside the east gate. The other three teams were at the west, south and north gates. Now there are more fire starters hidden on the houses of the people in the city. East and west, after Cao's army entered the city, they would definitely rest in private houses. There would be strong winds at dusk that day. After seeing the wind rise, he ordered the soldiers in ambush at the west, south and north gates to shoot rockets into the city. When the fire broke out in the city, they Shout and cheer outside the city, leaving only the east gate to allow them to escape. You attack from behind outside the east gate. After daybreak, turn around with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and lead the army back to Fancheng. Mi Fang and Liu Feng were sent with two thousand soldiers and horses, half red flag and half green flag, to station in Qiantun on Queweipo, thirty miles outside Xinye City. When they saw Cao Jun arriving, the red flag sergeant walked to the left and the green flag sergeant If you go to the right, he will definitely feel suspicious and dare not chase you out. You two split up to ambush. As soon as you see a fire in the city, you can come out to chase Cao's soldiers, and then meet them in the upper reaches of the Baihe River.
After this complete set of strategies was given, he and Liu Bei went to a high place to take a look, just waiting for the good news of victory.
Cao Ren and Cao Hong came with an army of 100,000 people, and Xu Chu led 3,000 soldiers and horses in front of them to clear the way, and rushed towards Xinye in a mighty manner.
At noon, three thousand soldiers arrived at Quewei Slope. They saw a group of people in front of the slope with red and cyan flags. Xu Chu urged the soldiers to move forward. Liu Feng and Mi Fang divided the team into four teams, with green flags and blue flags. The red flags are on both sides.
Xu Chu quickly stopped his horse and told the troops not to advance, and said: "Looking at this, there must be an ambush ahead. Let's stay here today."
Xu Chu sent a pair of troops to report to Cao Ren in the front team. Cao Ren said: "There is no ambush here. It must be to confuse us. We can move forward quickly."
After receiving the order, Xu Chu returned to the slope and led his soldiers and horses to charge in. When he went to the forest to pursue, he didn't see anyone. It was already dusk.
When Xu Chu was about to move forward, he suddenly heard the sound of drums on the mountain. Looking up, he found a big flag on the top of the mountain with a big umbrella in the middle: Ming Ming and Liu Bei were drinking there.
This contempt made Xu Chu very angry. He led his soldiers and horses to find a way up the mountain, but some wood and stones rolled down the mountain, making it impossible to move forward at all. Then he heard loud shouts from behind, and he was about to find a way to fight. It was already very late, so Cao Ren rushed to Hungry with his troops and horses, and asked the soldiers to seize Xinye City and then stopped.
When the sergeant rushed to Xinye, he saw no one in the city. Xinye had become an empty city. Cao Hong said: "There must be no way, so he took the people and fled. Our army happened to rest in Xinye City and waited for dawn. Let’s argue again.”
At this time, Cao's army was out of men and horses, and very hungry, so he went to seize the residents' houses to cook. Cao Ren rested in the yamen. After the first watch, a strong wind suddenly came up, and the sergeant guarding the gate reported a fire.
Cao Ren didn't take it seriously and said: "This must be a small fire caused by the sergeant accidentally while cooking. There is no need to make a fuss."
Later, he received several reports, all saying that there was a fire, and then the fire became bigger and bigger. The west, south and north gates were all surrounded by fire. Only then did Cao Ren realize the seriousness of the matter and ordered all the soldiers to mount their horses. At this time, Xinye City was lit up by the fire, and the top and bottom were red. This time the fire was bigger than the previous fire in Bowangpo, dyeing half of the sky red.
Cao Ren led everyone to break through the encirclement amidst the fireworks, looking for a way to escape. Hearing that things were fine at the east gate, he led his soldiers to escape in the direction of the east gate. The soldiers all left in a panic, and countless people were trampling on each other. Cao Ren waited until Out of the range of the flames, suddenly there was a cry of killing from behind. It was Zhao Yun who came to fight with his troops and horses. The defeated troops were all trying to escape for their lives. Who was willing to turn around and fight.
In the process of escaping, Mi Fang led a group of men and horses to charge and kill for a while. After leaving, Liu Feng came out to intercept and fight for a while. At the fourth watch, the men and horses were exhausted, and the sergeants were exhausted. Fortunately, they arrived at the edge of the Baihe River. The river was not deep, so people and horses went down to the river to replenish water, thinking that this was the end.
Guan Yu used cloth bags to block some of the river water upstream. At dusk, he saw a fire breaking out in Xinye. At the fourth watch, he suddenly heard the sound of people and horses downstream. He quickly sent his sergeants to tear open the cloth bags. After the water recovered, he went to Rushing downstream, Cao's army was washed away by the water, and many of them drowned in the water.
Cao Ren led his soldiers and horses to a place where the water was relatively slow. When they arrived at Boling Ferry, they heard loud shouts and a group of people blocked the way. The leading general was Zhang Fei, who shouted: "Cao Jun has accepted his order." !”
Zhang Fei knew that Guan Yu had released water on the upper stream, so he led his soldiers to fight from the lower stream and intercepted Cao Ren's melee. Suddenly he met Xu Chu. He did not answer and went to fight. Xu Chu did not dare to fight and ran away. Zhang Fei rushed He came and met Liu Bei and Kong Ming, and together they went upstream along the river. Liu Feng and Mi Fang arranged for the boats to be waiting, so they crossed the river together and headed towards Fancheng. Kong Ming had all the boats burnt, which was considered to have completed their plan.
Cao Ren packed up the remnants of his army and settled temporarily in Xinye. He sent Cao Hong to see Cao Cao and explain the failure.
Cao Cao said angrily: "Zhuge Liang, a village man, how dare you do this!"
