Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chen Deng quickly left Xiaoguan.When he saw that Xiaoguan City Wall was behind him, he whipped his horse in the dark and rushed back to Lu Bu's camp before dawn. When Lu Bu, who was waiting anxiously, saw Chen Deng, he hurriedly asked, "How is Xiao Guan's situation?" Chen Deng frowned deliberately, and said with a dejected expression: "As expected, the situation there is really worrying." Lu Bu's expression changed immediately after hearing this, and he asked again: "Chen Gong insisted on moving troops out of the city in order not to meet with me, did he already have a different intention?"

Chen Deng replied: "Sun Guan, Wu Dun and others are the thieves in the mountains. I have been worried that they may take advantage of the profit. But I didn't expect that a direct minister like Chen Gong who has been favored by the lord would plan to rebel. .In fact, people's hearts are the most unreliable." "No, Chen Gong has been dissatisfied with my words and deeds recently, and has always been at odds with me. It's dangerous now. If I go to Xiaoguan without knowing it, then the major events in my life, Lu Bu, will be ruined." Lu Bu praised Chen Deng for his great achievements, and gave Chen Deng advice to return to Xiaoguan to follow the plan.

Lu Bu said to Chen Deng: "Just pass on my order to meet with Chen Gong, and then spend time chatting with him as you like. Make Chen Gong drunk with wine as much as possible, then set a fire on the tower as a sign, and open the door in advance. Qianmen, as soon as I saw the flames of the city tower, I immediately rushed in to have a duel with Chen Gong." Lu Bu thought his strategy was very clever, so he moved his army from the camp at sunset, and slowly approached Xiaoguan.Chen Deng, who started his return journey earlier, arrived at Xiaoguan near dusk.As soon as he got off his horse, he greeted Chen Gong in a panic, and said to him out of breath: "It's not good, something serious happened."

Before Chen Gong asked, Chen Deng said again: "I received an urgent report today, saying that Cao Cao's army suddenly changed its direction and attempted to attack Xuzhou through the dangers of Mount Tai and the valley. So my lord thinks that it is useless for you to guard here. I order you to quickly lead the army to support Xuzhou." "Ok?!" After hearing this, Chen Gong was so stunned that he couldn't speak for a while, with a disheartened look on his face.Without waiting for his answer, Chen Deng immediately mounted his horse and hurriedly disappeared into the twilight...

It seemed that Chen Gong believed Chen Deng's lie, and within half an hour, all the defenders of Xiaoguan left the city and marched towards Xuzhou. Xiaoguan became an empty city. In that silent night, a figure climbed onto the watchtower of the city wall.This person is Chen Deng who rode away just now. Chen Deng tied the secret letter on the shaft of the arrow, then drew his bow and set the arrow, and shot towards the mountain behind the city wall. He stared at the foot of a mass of pitch black mountains.After a while, a pine torch was swaying there.The torch sent out the signal "I see Yawen, I understand" by shaking it.

It didn't take long before a large number of soldiers and horses poured into the city from Xiaoguan's Qian and Xun gates like the tide of the night, without sound of people or fire.After a while, the city was as deadly still as a cemetery. Seeing this scene, Chen Deng sent out a second signal. He lit the smoke from the watchtower, and the flames leaped into the air continuously like a fire mouse. At this time, Lu Bu was standing ten miles outside the city. After seeing the smoke from the city, he loudly ordered: "March to Xiaoguan!" The whole army immediately moved into action.

While Lu Bu's army was marching in a hurry, there was another large army leaving the city and leaving the village at the same speed.This is the Chen Gong army who believed Chen Deng's lies and ran on the road in a daze in order to support Xuzhou.Naturally, Lu Bu's side didn't know about it. In this pitch-black night, both sides were suspiciously preparing for the other's attack. As a result, the two armies finally had a huge conflict halfway.The intensity of the conflict was unprecedented in the annals of warfare—a poignant fratricidal tragedy inevitably ensues. "Strange!" Lu Bu finally felt that something was wrong.

At the same time, Chen Gong's nervous voice also came from the opponent's army: "Why does the opponent have a general holding a halberd? Is it also our army? I don't think it looks like Cao Jun." "Asshole, fuck each other!" Lu Bu scolded loudly. However, it was too late to realize that he had been fooled.Both sides suffered a large number of casualties, and fought a meaningless battle with each other in a daze, and now there is only a daze. "Chen Deng dared to lie, it's really unreasonable. What he told me was completely different from what you said... Now no matter what, I will go to Xiaoguan first and then listen to you in detail."

Lu Bu met Chen Gong on the way, both sides were a little embarrassed, he said this to Chen Gong without doubt, then the two armies joined together, Lu Bu led Chen Gong and hurried towards Xiaoguan. However, when they came near Xiaoguan, they suddenly heard Cao Jun's shouts coming from Xiaoguan. This time it was the real Cao army, the army introduced by Chen Deng earlier.They were silently waiting in Xiaoguan for Lu Bujun to come to die.The troops of Lu Bu and Chen Gong were repeatedly defeated and confused under Cao Jun's surprise attack, and suffered another fatal blow. Lü Bu had no choice but to take advantage of the night and flee around, and finally waited until dawn before coming out from behind the rocky cliffs in the mountains.

Fortunately, they met Chen Gong and gathered a small number of remnants. Lu Bu said: "Let's go back to Xuzhou first and regain our strength. Then we will have a decisive battle with Cao Jun." A group of people rushed to Xuzhou quietly. However, when Lu Bu wanted to enter Xuzhou City on horseback, he didn't expect a rain of arrows from the tower. "How is this going?" Lu Bu murmured to himself in panic.While tightening the reins of the neighing red rabbit horse, he looked up at the tower, and saw Mi Zhu appearing on the tower. "Lu Bu, you bastard, why do you still come here?" Mi Zhu cursed, "You used to deceive our lord Xuande's Xuzhou. I didn't expect Xuzhou to return to the original owner today. This is no longer your home. You'd better run away and go wherever you want."

Lu Bu stepped on the stirrup hard, gnashing his teeth angrily.He shouted loudly: "Is Doctor Chen there? Is Doctor Chen in the city? Doctor Chen! Come out and see me!" Mi Zhu laughed mockingly: "Master Chen is toasting in the city right now! Do you still want this scheming old general to see your stupid and ridiculous appearance again?" After Mi Zhu finished speaking, he dodged slightly and hid in the tower, leaving a long series of clapping and wild laughter behind him. "I really regret it! I really regret it!...Could it be that Dr. Chen betrayed me?" Lu Bu lingered on the spot for a long time on the manic and screaming red rabbit horse, refusing to leave. Chen Gong gritted his teeth and said: "You have fallen into the villain's tricks, are you still not aware of it, are you still obsessed with that stupid remorse? Sadly, my lord, you are a person who can't see right from wrong until the end of your life .” Seeing Lu Bu's ugly appearance here, Chen Gong was full of anger, and rode away alone on his horse. Lu Bu hurriedly chased after him, and he said weakly to Chen Gong: "Let's go to Xiaopei now. Confidant generals Zhang Liao and Gao Shun are guarding, we will stay in Xiaopei for now and see the situation." Both of them are very clear that as a solution to the aftermath, there is only this way.Even Chen Gong had no choice but to follow Lu Bu silently. Strange, what is going on? Isn't it clear that the two generals Zhang Liao and Gao Shun came from there?And it seems that Xiaopei didn't leave any troops to guard, and the brigade was rushing here, raising sand and dust. ——Lu Bu and Chen Gong stared at the scene in front of them with their eyes wide open. "Huh?! What's going on..." Lu Bu opened his mouth in surprise, and a confused expression appeared on his face again. Gao Shun and Zhang Liao, who were coming here, also saw Lu Bu not far ahead, and felt very strange in their hearts. They asked loudly, "My lord, why are you here?" "You ask me, and I will ask you again! Why are you rushing over here in such a hurry?" Hearing Lu Bu's rhetorical question, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were even more puzzled. "This is so unreasonable! My lord once told us to stick to Xiaopei and not to act rashly. But just two hours ago, Chen Deng rode over on a fast horse and yelled at us in front of the city gate, 'My lord last night I fell into Cao Cao’s treacherous tricks, and now I am surrounded by the enemy army. I am ordered by my lord to go to Xuzhou to rescue the lord!’ After speaking, he rode away immediately. We were very nervous when we heard that, so after a little preparation, , and rushed here with the whole army. Proofreading by Feng Yichen." Chen Gong, who stood by and listened, seemed to have no strength to get angry at this moment, he just opened his bitter lips and said softly: "All this is a good thing planned by Doctor Chen and Chen Deng and his son, They echoed each other, and they did it so seamlessly. It's too late to regret it now, sober up.—Ah!" Chen Gong yelled and turned to look to the side. Lu Bu seemed to be still angry, he suddenly raised his head and looked at the sky, "Huh, this time I really drank a big cup of bitter wine. How did I dote on Chen Deng and his son in the past, and didn't I take care of them enough? Everyone knows I'm too good for them. These ungrateful things, look at how they see me." Chen Gong said coldly: "My lord, didn't the past end with great difficulty? What should we do next?" "Go to Xiaopei now!" "It's best not to go. If you go, you will only suffer further humiliation. Chen Deng will definitely lead Cao Jun into Xiaopei. Maybe they are drinking wine and toasting their victory." "Why are you afraid of him? Does such a cowardly thing dare to confront me head-on? I'll go and get Xiaopei back immediately!" As Lu Bu spoke, he took the lead and led his army to Xiaopei city. Just as Chen Gong expected, the enemy's flags had been planted all over the city, and they were flying in the air.After hearing the news of Lu Bu's arrival, Chen Deng climbed up the tall city tower and laughed loudly: "Look, that guy on the red rabbit horse is here to beg for food. Are you hungry? Then you bark like a dog. , you can still eat stones." Lu Bu scolded at the base of the city: "You ungrateful thief Chen Deng, have you forgotten all about my kindness to you? Until yesterday, whose family's clothes did you wear and whose family's salary did you eat?" "Shut up! I was originally a minister of the Han Dynasty. I have never followed you in my heart for a rough and rebellious villain like you. ——Stupid guy!" "Huh! I won't give up until I cut off your dog's head! Chen Deng, come out of the city and fight with me!" At this moment, there was a burst of shouting. I saw a group of soldiers and horses suddenly appearing in the north, attacking the Gaoshun camp behind. "What? Is there still Cao Cao's army outside the city?" Lu Bu's army was greatly shaken, and the formations on the left and right suddenly moved back, forming the shape of crane wings. "Hey, come on." The soldiers of this army are extremely ferocious, and everyone is eagerly waiting to fight with their opponents.As soon as Lu Bu's army approached them, they realized that they were not Cao Cao's army, but a ragged and unkempt motley army.Although the horses are weak and the weapons are messy, they have high fighting spirit and are very powerful.They didn't care about the opponent's situation, they only knew how to charge forward with loud shouts.In an instant, the forward soldiers and horses of both sides fell into the melee of fighting with each other. It was really swords and swords, blood spattered, and in the shouts of both sides, it immediately turned into an unprecedented bloody battle.After a while, the fighting soldiers all scattered and retreated. Suddenly, two horsemen flashed out from the army, and the horses neighed, trampling on the blood-soaked land in front of them. "I am Guan Yu, Liu Xuande's brother-in-law." "I am Zhang Fei, Liu Xuande's foster brother, you all should remember my face well!" The two generals announced their names, and the two horses they rode were roaring and jumping like lions. Looking carefully, one is a fierce man with a leopard head and tiger eyebrows, and the other is a hero with a red face and a long beard. "Ah, ah, they are all Liu Xuande's foster brothers." "Second generals Guan and Zhang have appeared again!" After seeing these two generals with their own eyes, Lu Bu's soldiers were all trembling with fright.The two generals Guan and Zhang charged and killed Lv Bu's army as if they were in no man's land. "You useless things!" Gao Shun, the general of Lu Bu's army, scolded his subordinates angrily, and he blocked Zhang Fei's way on his horse alone. The two generals fought immediately, and the weapons clashed with each other, clanging, and frightening sparks burst out from time to time. Gao Shun was defeated by Zhang Fei. He was so frightened that he whipped his mount immediately and fled among the scattered soldiers. Guan Yu held the eighty-two-jin Qinglong Yanyue Dao in his hand, and led a group of miscellaneous soldiers who were red-eyed into Lu Bu's central army position. Guan Yu shouted: "Pretentious Lu Bu, is your red rabbit still there?" The sudden turn of events and the appearance of unexpected enemies surprised Lü Bu.Now that Guan Yu had already attacked, Lu Bu had no choice but to turn his horse and go forward to fight. At this moment, another person shouted: "Second brother, give this guy up to younger brother!" I saw Zhang Fei rushing to the front of the formation with lightning speed. Lu Bu secretly cried out in his heart: "Today is really an unlucky day." So he ran away in a panic while yelling in a bravado. "You bastard, wait for me!" Zhang Fei chased after him. Guan Yu also rode and chased fiercely. When he chased behind Lu Bu and was able to touch the red rabbit horse's tail, there was a big difference between the foot strength of his mount and that of Lu Bu's mount.Due to the rapid exertion of Chituma, Lu Bu's life was finally saved at a critical moment. Under the unfavorable situation that Xuzhou was captured and Xiaopei could not enter, Lu Bu had to be defeated and leave Xiapi. Xiapi seems to be the outer city of Xuzhou.It was originally a small city, but now it is guarded by Lu Bu's subordinate Hou Cheng, and it is a vital place. Lu Bu said to his subordinates, "Let's settle down in Xiapi for the time being." As a result, Lu Bu's army lingered here, and collected many remnants who fled in all directions. It was a battle, and Cao Jun won a huge victory. Cao Cao specifically said to Liu Xuande: "Xuzhou was originally the place you ruled, and you still entered Xuzhou City as before, and took up the post of state shepherd again." Lu Bu once imprisoned Liu Xuande's wife and children in Xuzhou City, and now they are guarded by Mi Zhu and Dr. Chen, so everyone is safe and sound.Mi Zhu and Doctor Chen welcome Liu Xuande into the city.After a long time, a family of monarchs and ministers finally sat together. Liu Xuande asked, "Where did Guan Yu and Zhang Fei hide after they separated from Xiao Pei?" Guan Yu said, "I am hiding in a remote village in Haizhou." Zhang Fei said quickly, "I had no choice but to flee to Mount Mangdang and become a bandit." His frank words made everyone laugh. A few days later, Cao Cao held a grand celebration banquet in Daying. At that time, he gave Liu Xuande the seat on his left, and left the seat on the right vacant.After the generals and civil servants took their seats one by one, Cao Cao stood up and said, "This time, Doctor Chen, Chen Deng and his son will be the first ones, so my right seat should be given to Old Doctor Chen." So, amid the applause and cheers of the audience, Dr. Chen, supported by his son, sat from the last seat to Cao Cao's right seat. Cao Cao then rewarded Dr. Chen: "I will give you the salary of ten counties, and give your son Chen Dengfu the post of General Fubo." The celebration banquet went on amidst singing and laughing.In the meantime, everyone had various discussions on this last battle in a cheerful atmosphere around the topic of "how should we capture Lu Bu alive".Cao Cao finally made up his mind, no matter whether it is captured alive or killed, Cao Jun will never return to Xudu until the issue of Lu Bu is finally resolved. For Lu Bu, the small city of Xiapi was like a prison he escaped into by himself. Lu Bu has now become a tiger trapped in the animal pen. However, there is also a metaphor in the world that the poor mouse bites the cat, so it seems easy to deal with the tiger in the pen, but it is not.If not handled properly, there is also the danger of being bitten by a tiger. At the banquet, Chen Yu said: "It's like grilling fish over a distant fire. Now, if you attack Lu Bu's army slowly, the effect may be better. If you suddenly attack heavily and fight hand-to-hand, you will respond with the phrase 'break the can, break the fall' As the old saying goes, Lu Bu who lacks thinking may make some reckless actions regardless of the consequences." Lu Qian also agreed with Chen Yu's opinion to a certain extent.He said: "From Lu Bu's point of view, now he can only rely on Zang Ba, Sun Guan and other bandits on Mount Tai, but this will not last long, and it will make Lu Bu lose face even more. , it must be Yuan Shu who took refuge in Huainan, surrendered unconditionally to him, and then borrowed Yuan Shu's power to suddenly rise up to resist." Cao Cao expressed considerable affirmation of both remarks. He said: "These two statements are also within my expectations. What I am worried about is also the alliance between Lu Bu and Yuan Shu. Therefore, on all roads in Shandong, my army will be responsible for intercepting them, and Liu Xuande will supervise all of them. The Ministry of Police alerted the section between Xiapi and Huainan." Liu Xuande cautiously expressed his determination: "I will definitely complete the mission entrusted by the prime minister." At the end of the celebration banquet, everyone shouted long live together.Then they each returned to their own camps. Liu Xuande immediately began to rectify his troops and horses, preparing for battle.Except for Mi Zhu and Jian Yong who stayed in Xuzhou, he personally led Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Sun Qian and other generals to set off with troops to cut off the traffic between Xiapi and Huainan. Liu Xuande knew that this operation must be carried out in secret.If the poor enemies in Xiapi know about it, they will definitely resist desperately.So Liu Xuande's army quietly crossed the mountains and ridges, and finally got around to the back of Lu Bu's army. According to the topography of the main road, they first set up fences, set up gates, built log cabins and watchtowers, forming a complete security system.Such a system is extremely closely monitored, not to mention regular roads, even the logging passages on the top of the mountain and the small trails in the valley will not allow a single beast to pass through. Winter is approaching. Although the river in Surabaya is not yet frozen, the vegetation has withered, and the surrounding fields are desolate and cold. Lu Bu set up a deer village on the Sishui River surrounding Xiapi City, and gathered a large amount of weapons and military supplies in the city. "Heavy snow, quickly seal and bury the mountains and fields!" Lu Bu prayed devoutly to the sky. In desperation, he wanted to use the power of nature to deal with the enemy.But Chen Gong, who is super-intelligent, responded with a sneer. He remonstrated bitterly to Lu Bu: "Cao Cao's army has come from afar. .If we launch a counter-offensive immediately and beat the incoming enemy hard while waiting for work, we will surely win a major victory." Lu Bu shook his head and said, "It's impossible to do this, and it will fail in the end. Moreover, the morale of the soldiers here is not high, so they can't organize an attack. We can only hold the city and wait for them to attack. With one attack, most of Cao's army will be drowned by Surabaya." "Ah... is it?" Chen Gong didn't seem to have any enthusiasm for Lu Bu recently, so he stopped protesting, just laughed and retreated. Before he knew it, Cao Cao had controlled the territory of Shandong in time.So of course, he led his army to rush to Xiapi City again, and gathered heavy troops under the city to carry out a tight siege. After more than two days of fighting with bows and arrows, Cao Cao suddenly led more than 20 cavalry to the shore of Surabaya. "I want to see Lu Bu!" Cao Cao shouted towards the city.