Chapter Forty-Four Scaring People

  Li Yu rode his carriage, driven by Wu An Guo and followed by Dian Wei, to Chen Liu City. Why was it said that the carriage was driven by a cow? Because the charioteer was Wu An Guo, and the one following him was Dian Wei; because those who followed him were not ordinary people, so he also became extraordinary.

  Li Yu entered the city of Chenliu, but instead of going to the governor's mansion, he went to the Wei family's large courtyard. There was not only Wei Hong's strong support, but also Li Dian's 2,000 trained cavalrymen. Even if the persuasion failed, Li Yu would not allow his plan to go wrong. He would order Li Dian to attack Zhang Miao from within, and by then it would be a fait accompli, leaving Cao Cao with no choice but to accept it.

  "Long time no see, Man Cheng!" Li Yu smiled and greeted Li Dian, whose courtesy name was Man Cheng. He was from Junyi, Shanyang, and had gained fame at a young age. At this time, he was only in his early twenties, slightly younger than Li Yu. His family also supported thousands of guests, so when he came to join Cao Cao, he brought 500 soldiers as a gift;

  Compared to Wei Hong, he is a poor ghost, but compared to Cao Cao, he is still a rich man! (Note: In the official history, it was his father Li Gan who surrendered to Cao Cao. This person is written according to the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", so please don't be surprised!)

  This person is well-versed in righteousness, does not contend with others for merit, values learning and noble elegance, respects scholars, and has always respected Li Yu. Even though this gentleman seems to be a bit unorthodox, he appears to have some talent.

  "Sir, good health!", Li Dian bowed and paid his respects, then rushed to Dian Wei and paid another courtesy: "Is this General Dian?", "How do you know me?", Dian Wei was greatly surprised, "The general is nine feet tall, with angry eyes open and unangrily majestic, holding a pair of halberds, which matches the description of others. The story of the general capturing Hua Xiong has been widely spread among people!", Li Dian replied;

  "Haha! Is that so? Then I...", Di Yun usually looked like he didn't talk much, but it turned out he was a stubborn guy after all. When it came to his own reputation and whatnot, he would ask questions endlessly. Li Dian respectfully explained to him again and again, not getting tired of it.

  "Cough, cough! Dian Manzi! Why don't you tell me how I got you to join the boss's side?!", Li Yu couldn't take it anymore, there were still important matters to attend to, no time for his nonsense. Dian Wei let out a heavy hum and fell silent.

  He always thought that Li Yu was a bad person, and his words were not true at all! Unbelievable! He's like a cunning fox, and he's a little afraid of him.

  "This general is...", seeing Wu An Guo's majestic appearance, Li Dian didn't underestimate him despite his missing hand, and asked with courtesy; "This man is Wu An Guo of Beihai, Wu Xuyang, also a loyal and righteous scholar, unfortunately abandoned by Kong Rong. Our boss has always loved talented people, I've invited him to assist our boss!", Li Yu patted Wu An Guo's chest and introduced him.

  "Now I am a bodyguard of Mr. Meng, saved by Mr. Meng, my humble life is preserved, but I have become a useless person, the name of General is ashamed to be worthy! ", Wu Ankou responded calmly, but his expression did not show any humility or despair, his ambition still existed, every day he watched military books, asked Li Wei some questions, looking forward to being reborn through fire!

  "Alright! I won't waste any more words. How's the troop training going?" Li Yu asked, looking at the resting soldiers;

  He pondered for a moment, "Hmmm... should have the strength of one war, although these people used to be mostly weak and thin from being bandits, they are all some desperate people, who will at least put up a good fight! Cao Gong has been kind to them, they will also repay him with their lives!", Li Dian did not exaggerate;

  These people are indeed available, what is happiness? It's just when you're about to starve to death, having a meal to eat, so-called, the kindness of one meal can be compared to rebirth; Cao Cao uses them without holding grudges or being bound by conventions, and they also harbor gratitude, knowing that most people would not accept the riotous Yellow Turbans.

  "I've come to take Zhang Miao's Chenliu City!", Li Yu sneered with a smile, which startled Li Dian: "We only have over 2,000 men, while Zhang Miao has merged his forces with his brother Zhang Chao since returning from the campaign against Dong, now having an army of 40,000 strong. Moreover, they are also on guard against us, and just two miles east of our army, there is a military camp with over 10,000 men!"

  "Did I say to launch a strong attack?" Li Yu smiled: "If the plan doesn't work, you'll have to rely on you and the boss to cooperate inside and out to attack. However, I'm 80% sure I can persuade Zhang Mai! Now you just need to tidy up the troops and tell Wei Hong and Wei Wangcai 'I've arrived'!"

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  "Report!——", a shrill cry, directly from the Chenliu County Governor's mansion to Zhang Miao's bedroom. It was early March, and the weather in ancient times was quite cold. At this time, it was also more than five o'clock, and during the winter-spring transition period, the sky would darken relatively early. In this era, there wasn't much to do, so Zhang Miao could accompany his beautiful concubine and engage in some warming activities;

  The foreplay had just finished, and they were about to get into action, but a sudden shout made the short gun that couldn't see the light of day shrink back again. Zhang Miao sighed: Alas! It's all because I was too promiscuous in the past, now I'm not old yet, but I've already declined. With great difficulty, it finally rose once, but was scared back again!

  In the past, in Luoyang City, when he was a young master, Zhang Miao was older and everyone's big brother. Even now, Yuan Shao, who is arrogant and unbearable, was also a younger brother who followed him around with a runny nose at that time. But now, the situation has changed, and he is already outdated. He has to live in fear every day, this world is more chaotic than the Northeast's messy stir-fry.

  Helplessly putting on his clothes, Zhang Mao stormed out with a furious face and shouted: "Your mother is dead! Why are you yelling so loudly!", The messenger soldier was extremely wronged: "Report to the lord! There are tens of thousands of soldiers outside the city knocking on the gate!"

  "Who is leading?" Zhang Yan was startled and asked hastily, "He said he's an acquaintance of yours, Cao Cao, Cao Mengde! He also said it's cold outside and hopes to spend the night in the city, leaving early tomorrow!"

  "Do you believe this?" Zhang Miao asked. "No!" "You don't even believe a messenger, how can I believe it? Go and call my brother here!" Zhang Miao also calmed down and began to think about how to deal with Cao Cao;

  And what about Zhang Chao? He didn't rush to find a girlfriend like his brother, what was he doing? Look at that pose! Sitting cross-legged on the cushion, one hand on his knee and the other supporting his chin, just looking at him like this, you'd know he's an... artist?

  No! This old fellow has drunk too much wine and fallen asleep sitting up!

  "Report! General Zhang!...General Zhang? General Zhang!", the orderly shook Zhang Chao helplessly: "General Zhang! There are tens of thousands of cavalrymen outside the city, squatting outside the city! The master is calling you to discuss! Wake up quickly!"

  "Ah! ——", a mournful cry, the messenger was killed by a sword! Zhang Chao held a bloody sword and shouted loudly: "Where are the enemy soldiers?", Fortunately, he didn't shout: Don't come near me, even in my sleep, I am invincible in the world! Otherwise, people would have thought he was Cao Cao!

  Dazed and confused, Zhang Chao suddenly realized that he had mistakenly killed one of his own soldiers. Trying to cover up his mistake, he loudly shouted: "Guards!"; The guards outside responded with a loud "Yes!" ; "This man is an assassin! I've already killed him, take him out and feed him to the dogs!"

  This is the chaos of human life being cheaper than a dog! Zhang Chao gave orders without any sense of guilt, he didn't think about how the family of this messenger would survive after losing their pillar.

  He met with Zhang Chao, and Zhang Chao rushed to the city head with Zhang Miao. With the help of the rising moon, they looked out and saw flags fluttering, dust filling the sky, and the cold light reflected from the weapons under the moonlight made people's hair stand on end. The leader was his old friend Cao Cao, Cao Mengde.

  At this time, behind Cao Cao stood a large banner with the word "Cao" written in bold characters, and several generals stood behind him. Xiahou Dun, who was known as the Tiger General since he was young! Xiahou Yuan, who had been imprisoned for Cao Cao! Cao Ren, who commanded the troops! Cao Hong, who risked his life to rescue Cao Cao in the midst of chaos! And Le Jin, who was brave and decisive!

  There is also Hua Xiong, who beheaded several generals of the Eastern Coalition Army! And Xu Chu, who fought against Lü Bu for over a hundred rounds! "Hiss! Tsk tsk!", Zhang Miao took a breath of cold air and clicked his tongue: "This Cao Mengde has come with ill intentions! It seems he has more than 30,000 troops! Moreover, there are many powerful generals under his command, we... it's very difficult to resist!"

  He and Zhang Chao merged their forces, with a total of only 40,000 troops. Although the quality was not bad, they lacked a great general to lead them. In this era, having a good general was still very important. How could those wine bags and arrogant young masters resist the fierce Cao Cao?

  "This... Meng De and I have old ties, he won't want to attack the city... right!", Zhang Chao was also sobered up by this cup of wine, and wasn't arrogant anymore. The one who was invincible in his dreams, in reality was just a piece of clay, could be pinched into a ball or flattened at will! Of course, this is said about Cao Cao!

  Where did Cao Cao get 30,000 troops? He only had 8,000, okay?! It's just that the sky was very dark, and he chopped two wooden poles, standing them at the back of the army, trying to intimidate people and boost morale; Zhang Miao, who was nearby, could see clearly, but those far away would have to grow x-ray vision dog eyes to see clearly!

  Cao Cao's sudden shout scared Zhang Miao and his brother so much that their hearts were racing.