Cao Cao first sent elite soldiers to cross the river to the north bank and built a camp. Cao Cao himself took some personal guards and hundreds of people. He prepared his sword and sat on the south bank to watch the crossing. Suddenly someone came to report and said: "The white-robed general is here!" As soon as everyone heard it, they knew that Ma Chao was coming, and the order immediately became very chaotic. The soldiers by the river were rushing to cross the river first, and the noise continued, while Cao Cao sat down. He remained motionless there, pulled out his sword, pointed it at everyone and asked not to make any noise.
Suddenly I heard people shouting and horses swarming in. A general on the boat flew ashore and shouted: "The thieves have arrived! Prime Minister, please get off the boat quickly!"
Cao Cao saw that the man was Xu Chu. Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and asked, "What if the thieves arrive?" After saying that, he turned back to look at the situation and found that Ma Chao was no longer within a hundred paces.
Xu Chu quickly pulled Cao Cao out of the boat. At this time, the boat was still more than ten feet away from the shore. Xu Chu directly picked up Cao Cao and jumped onto the boat. The other soldiers who followed could only swim in the water, grab the edge of the boat, and scramble to get on the boat to escape.
After all, there were a lot of people and the boat was not big enough. It was soon torn around by the soldiers and was in danger of overturning. Xu Chu took out his weapon and slashed wildly. Some soldiers' hands that were holding on to the boat were cut off, and they shouted "Get down". Into the water. When the boat was slightly stable, the boat was rowed towards the water. Xu Chu stood on the bow of the boat and supported it with a wooden pole.
Cao Cao lay at Xu Chu's feet and observed the situation. At this time, Ma Chao also rushed to the river. Seeing that the boat had sailed a certain distance, he took bows and arrows and started shooting wildly. At the same time, he ordered the archers to surround the river and shoot arrows. The shears that hit the boat were like rain.
Xu Chu was afraid that these bows and arrows would hit Cao Cao, so he raised the saddle with his left hand to block it. Ma Chao's archery skills were so good that the people driving the boat were shot and killed one by one and fell into the water. Soon, more than a dozen people on the boat were killed by archers. He was shot and killed, while Xu Chu defended Cao Cao.
At that time, Ding Fei, the magistrate of Weinan County, saw Ma Chao chasing Cao Cao on the Nanshan Mountain. The situation was very critical. He was afraid of hurting Cao Cao, so he ordered all the cattle and horses in the camp to be driven away. Soon the mountains and fields were filled with cattle and horses, and everything was in chaos. When the Xiliang soldiers saw this, they all turned around to grab the supplies and became less interested in chasing Cao Cao. Only in this way did Cao Cao survive the crisis.
When the boat approached the north bank, Xu Chu helped Cao Cao off the boat and destroyed the boat. When the generals heard that Cao Cao was fleeing in the river and Ma Chao was chasing after him, they all came to rescue them, but they found that Xu Chu had already protected Cao Cao and reached the north bank.
Xu Chu was wearing armor, and all his bows and arrows were shooting on the armor. Everyone protected Cao Cao into the camp, and knelt on the ground to ask about Cao Cao's safety.
Cao Cao laughed and said: "I was just surrounded by a few thieves today!" It seemed that he did not take the previous critical situation to heart.
Xu Chu explained: "If someone hadn't released cattle and horses just now and wandered all over the mountains and fields, attracting the attention of the Xiliang army, then they would have crossed the river."
After hearing this, Cao Cao was thoughtful and asked, "Who released these cattle and horses?"
Someone in the crowd who knew it replied: "It's Ding Fei, the magistrate of Weinan County!"
Not long after, Ding Fei, the magistrate of Weinan County, came to see him. Cao Cao thanked him and said, "If it weren't for this trick of yours, I would have been captured by thieves!" After that, he appointed him as the captain of the Dian Army.
Ding Fei said: "Although the thief has left now, he will definitely come back tomorrow. We must find a way to solve it!"
Cao Cao laughed and said, "I've already prepared this method!" So he ordered the generals to build some corridors along the river to temporarily serve as the base of the stronghold. If the bandits came, they would station their troops and horses outside the corridors and pretend to be set up inside. Some flags were used as suspects, and trenches were dug along the river and covered with soil, but not fully. Hanoi used soldiers and horses to lure the thieves. When the thieves arrived, they would surely sink into the mud, and then we could attack.
Ma Chao went back to see Han Sui and said: "Originally I wanted to capture Cao Cao, but a general who was extremely brave carried Cao Cao onto the ship on his back. I don't know what happened!"
Han Sui said: "I heard that Cao Cao selected a very strong man to serve as a bodyguard in front of the camp, called the Tiger Guard. He was led by Dian Wei and Xu Chu, who were brave and good at fighting. Dian Wei has passed away now, so whoever rescued Cao Cao , it must be that Xu Chu, he has infinite manpower, and people call him a tiger fool, so don’t underestimate the enemy if you encounter him!"
After hearing this, Ma Chao became very interested in fighting and said: "I have heard about this person for a long time!"
Han Sui said: "Now that Cao Cao is crossing the river, he will definitely attack our rear. We can attack them quickly, but we cannot let them build camps. If their camps are built, it will be difficult to deal with them."
Ma Chao said: "In my opinion, it is best to fight him on the north bank so that they cannot cross the river."
Han Sui said: "My good nephew is guarding the camp, and I will lead my troops along the river bank to attack Cao Cao. How about that?"
Ma Chao said: "You can send Pang De as the vanguard and follow your uncle."
So Han Suihe and Pang De went directly to Weinan with 50,000 troops and horses. Cao Cao led the people to lure them on both sides of the corridor. Pang De led a thousand cavalry to rush over first. Where the shouts started, the people and horses fell into the pit. Pang De fiercely The ground jumped, and he jumped out of the pit. He stood on the ground and killed many enemies one after another. He Shengsheng used his walking skills to break out of the siege. Han Sui was trapped in the core. Pound continued to walk. They happened to encounter Cao Ren's general Cao Yong, who was killed by Pang De with a sword. Then Pang De snatched the horse, defeated Cao's army, and rescued a large number of Xiliang troops. They fought until night before returning.
After going back and counting the troops, they found that Cheng Yin, Zhang Heng and other generals were dead, and more than 200 soldiers were killed or injured after falling into the pit. Ma Chao and Han Sui discussed it and said: "If we delay for a long time, Cao Cao will Since they have established a camp in Hebei, it will be difficult to repel them. How about we take the light cavalry to attack Cao Jun's camp overnight."
Han Sui thought it was feasible and said: "You can attack by surprise, but you must divide your troops into priority and carry out rescue."
So Ma Chao acted as the front, with Pang De and Ma Dai as backup, and sneaked in that night.
Cao Cao took back his soldiers and horses and stationed them in Weibei. He said to the generals: "The bandits have bullied us and we have not completely built the camp. They will definitely attack us tonight. They can ambush soldiers and horses everywhere and pretend that the camp is empty until the sound of cannon fire." If there is a sound, the soldiers and horses who are ambushing on all sides will come out, and then they can be captured." So the soldiers took the order and carried out the ambush.
That night, Ma Chao asked Cheng Yi to take more than 30 cavalry to investigate the situation. Seeing that there were no men, Cheng Yi went directly into the Chinese army, hoping to establish his achievements.
When Cao Cao saw the Xiliang army arriving, he fired cannons, and the soldiers who were ambushing on all sides came out to surround the thirty cavalry.
