Chapter 8: Deciding on a Plan to Guard the Grain

  The night was deep and dark, the entire surroundings of Wū Cháo were quiet and silent, as if the mountains, forests, and earth had all entered a dream.

  Yuan Shang, Chun Yuqiong and others climbed one after another to the top of the watchtower in the camp, relying on the moonlight to gaze far away. All they saw was a few miles south of Wuniu, a stock of smoke and dust flying deep and vast, like wind-swept clouds, rushing towards their side at high speed.

  If it's said that the suitable wine of Ma Niao woke up Chun Yuqiong's wine by three points, then at this moment, the wine of this Wuchao Baozi should have woken up by more than nine points.

  Jun Yuqiong's face turned bright red, his teeth chattered loudly, a pair of nostrils flared and closed, rough breathing sounded like a bull.

  With a loud slap on the wooden fence, he shouted at the back of Wei Yan: "This bold Cao's army, in the middle of the night, dares to leave their camp and come to attack our Wu's nest. It's too arrogant! I swear to destroy them! Pass my order, all troops prepare horses and weapons, go out of the camp and welcome the enemy!"

  At a critical moment, Chun Yuqiong's performance was quite bloody and did not disappoint the glorious title of Hebei Mingjiang.

  Yuwen Yan heard this and was about to turn around to make arrangements, but saw Yuan Shang suddenly raise his hand to stop him in his tracks.

  "Wait for now, it's not suitable to make rash moves at this moment."

  Junyu Qiong turned his head to Yuan Shang in shock and said anxiously, "Third Master, Cao's army has already reached the gate of Wuchao, what else can we wait for? If we don't deploy our troops soon, are we going to watch them trample on the grain and fodder in Wuchao with our eyes open?"

  Yuan Shang shook his head and said, "In terms of combat, Cao's army was originally much stronger than the Hebei military officers. Moreover, this time taking Ucheng is a major event, Cao Cao must have made precise arrangements. Those who came to plunder grain must be the elite among Cao's elite troops. This move in this game can be called a clever move. A head-on confrontation, I estimate that the chances of winning are very low."

  Sun Quan's face turned red with rage: "Even if the chances of winning are low, Cao's army is still charging towards us! We can't not fight, what, do you think we can just run away? What do you plan to do, young master?"

  Yuan Shang closed his eyes and pondered, with thoughts rapidly swirling in his mind, one idea after another flashing before him, only to be immediately rejected by him.

  Cao Cao is a powerful and cunning man. Ordinary methods may not work on him, so to confuse and delay him, we might need to use some strong tactics.

  After a while, Yuan Shang's eyes suddenly opened wide, and a sharp gaze flashed in his eyes.

  "Pass on the order, take immediate action, burn our own grain!"

  "What?" Everyone present was shocked and seemed to have misheard what Yuan Shang had just said.

  From ancient times to the present, when two armies are at war, the commander-in-chief of the three armies always thinks about how to burn the enemy's grain and grass, cut off the enemy's food supply, but setting fire to one's own food is truly unheard of.

  What's wrong with this Third Young Master? Is he dissatisfied that his family has too much grain, so he's bored and sets fire to his own grain just for fun? Or is it because he saw the Cao army coming, and he's given up on himself, not even having the courage to resist a little bit?

  Such a young master is really too incompetent and too wasteful!

  Jun Yuqiong scratched his head and carefully asked Yuan Shang: "Third Master, what did you just say? Can you repeat it again? I didn't quite catch it."

  "I say burn the grain! Burn our own grain, only in this way can we set up a maze for Cao Cao, making him unclear what we are doing. Moreover, burning grain and hay, emitting black smoke, Father's big account at Guandu will know that Ukou is in trouble, and can speed up sending troops to rescue in the shortest time, which is much faster than sending fast horses and flying riders to inform."

  Everyone heard this and looked at each other suspiciously, wondering if this idea was a good strategy.

  Sun Quan hesitated and looked at Yuan Shang, after a long while he finally muttered: "Even if we let the three gentlemen burn the grain and grass, even if it's faster to welcome the arrival of our lord's reinforcements, but all the grain and grass are burned, what's the use of the reinforcements coming quickly? Without food, we will still not be able to defeat Cao Cao in the future..."

  Yuan Shang's eyes rolled, and he looked at Chunyu Qiong with a pained expression. He stamped his foot and said: "General Chunyu, I really can't communicate with you! I told you to burn the grain, but not all of it, just a small part of the warehouse, let some black smoke rise up. Are you so idle that you want to burn all the grain?"

  Jun Yuqiong was taken aback, then chuckled and fully displayed his shameless quality: "Young master, please forgive me, this wine hasn't sobered up yet, my head is still a bit dizzy..."

  Guo Yuan furrowed his brow and said, "Third Master, even if we can quickly inform the lord of the situation at Ukou by burning grain, how are we to resist the enemy on this side?"

  Yuan Shang heard this and raised an eyebrow, saying: "Still the same words, a head-on confrontation is not the best strategy, I only have a one-word tactic to defend against the enemy."

  "What word did you just say?"

  "Wow!"

  "What's going on?" Everyone looked at you and me, I looked at you, and they all felt puzzled.

  What Yuan Shang said was not wrong, the troops sent by Cao's army to attack Ukno this time are indeed among the elite of Cao's elite, the vanguard cavalry led by Cao Cao, who dominated the Central Plains and looked down on the heroes.

  Tiger and leopard riding!

  And leading the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry as vanguard generals, they were among Cao Cao's few notable generals.

  One was Zhang Liao, who would later be acclaimed as the leader of the Five Elite Generals, and the other was Xu Chu, a fierce warrior known to the world as "Tiger Madness" who took over the command of the Tiger Guard from Cao Cao.

  Xu Chu, renowned for his exceptional bravery among the three armies' generals, always fought with unyielding ferocity and never retreated. During this night raid on Wu's camp, he led the charge, spearheading the troops, leaving even the elite Tiger and Leopard cavalry far behind.

  "Zhong Kang! Don't be so impatient!"

  Xu Zhu was galloping forward, when a horseman suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path. The man who blocked the way had a refined face, an extraordinary aura, and a pair of long, narrow eyes that shone like stars, looking like a cultivated scholar who had read extensively. His demeanor was restrained, and if not for the armor he wore and the long-handled iron sword in his hand, anyone would have thought him to be a gentle gentleman, but in fact, he was Zhang Liao, one of Cao Wei's most renowned generals.

  Xu Chu suddenly pulled the reins of his horse, looking at Zhang Liao with a dissatisfied expression, and said in a blunt tone: "What are you blocking me for?"

  Zhang Liao smiled and said, "Zhong Kang, how can you advance troops so hastily? Look at your momentum, the Tiger and Leopard Brigade's soldiers are far behind you. When our lord came, he had a strict order, telling us not to be impulsive, and not to get too far away from his supporting army. If something happens, it will be difficult for the two armies to support each other."

  Xu Zhu heard this and was stunned for a moment, then his face changed color, heavily "hmm"ed once, then raised his hand to pat the horse's buttocks, driving the horse to continue forward, but the speed was much slower than before.

  Zhang Liao couldn't help but smile, and rode his horse forward to catch up with Xu Chu. As they walked side by side, he said: "Zhong Kang, the front is about to reach Wu Chao. When we arrive at Wu Chao, you must not be impatient. We will attack from both sides, dividing into two teams, east and west, and charge in. Don't ask about anything else, just focus on burning the grain...

  "Got it!" Xu Chu's rough words interrupted Zhang Liao, and he said discontentedly: "You've said this three to five times on the way here, as if I had a bad memory and couldn't remember. My ears are all numb from your nagging!"

  Zhang Liao's temper was very good, and he didn't get angry when he heard the words. He just smiled and said: "I'm not afraid that you'll forget, tonight's matter is related to our lord's great cause. As long as there's no mistake, what's the big deal about grinding out a few cocoons? At worst, I'll find someone to help you treat it in the future."

  Xu Zhu heard this and felt a wave of frustration, turned his head and fell silent, speaking with Zhang Liao was more exhausting for him than fighting and killing, just a few words would leave him speechless.

  Zhang Liao saw Xu Chu turn his head and ignore him, and couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, stroking his beard as he turned to look in the direction of Wuchao.

  In just this brief moment, Zhang Liao's face suddenly changed color.

  Just ahead, the Wu Zongying camp, which was just quiet and peaceful, suddenly burst into flames, with black smoke billowing and red firelight illuminating the entire night sky in an instant!

  "Wu Chao... is on fire?..." Zhang Liao muttered to himself in some surprise.

  Xu Zhu also had a bewildered expression and asked strangely: "Could it be that our lord has already sent an ambush army before us?"

  Zhang Liao fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and said: "It won't be! Our troops are already fewer than Yuan Shao's, the raid on Wuchao is of great importance, our lord would not have any reason to disperse his troops like this. This move does not conform to common military logic...... This fire must not have been set by our army!"

  Xu Zhu rubbed his head, thought for a moment, then burst out laughing and said with a heroic tone: "Damn it, isn't this the soldiers rebelling in the middle of the night? The defending general of Yuan's army is truly a useless thing."

  "Escaping by water?" Zhang Liao heard this and couldn't help but bitterly smile: "The granary is heavily guarded, yet they can escape by water. Even if the Yuan army's generals are incompetent, they wouldn't do something so childish..."

  "Hey!" Xu Chu waved his hand impatiently and said, "What's the use of us guessing here for half a day? Let's hurry up and lead our troops to take a look. If it's really Cao Cao fleeing by water, we can take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack, which would save us a lot of effort!"

  Having said that, Xu Chu suddenly clamped his legs together and, disregarding Zhang Liao's attempts to stop him, hastily rode his horse towards Wuchao.

  Zhang Liao shouted several times, but Xu Chu didn't even turn his head. Helpless, he could only raise his whip and gallop after him in a hurry...

  The battle of Wuchao between Yuan and Cao has slowly begun its prelude......