Chapter 9: Cleverly Capturing Ren City

  Inside Rencheng City. The General's Mansion.

  Cao Man was pacing back and forth anxiously inside the house, his hands occasionally rubbing together as he stared at the piles of military reports on the desk. This wasn't the first time today, and it seemed like he was waiting for something.

  In an instant, there was a sudden burst of urgent footsteps outside the house. Cao Meng looked up to see his deputy general Cao Huan.

  "General! Urgent military situation, according to scouts' report, Cao Ang's army has arrived outside the city of Rencheng."

  But before he had finished speaking, Cao Song exclaimed in great surprise: "What!? Didn't the scouts say yesterday that Cao Ang's army was mostly infantry? How can they arrive so quickly?"

  Cao Huan couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard Cao Mao's words: "I don't know either, but the enemy army is already outside the city, this is an indisputable fact."

  His eyebrows tightened slightly, Cao Meng also had a helpless expression at this moment, and immediately asked, "How many men did the other side bring?"

  "Cavalry eight hundred..."

  "What? A mere 800 men and it's like a siege? Or are those cavalry who aren't good at siege warfare?"

  "The Mojiang also felt strange."

  Continuing to pace back and forth, Cao Meng suddenly didn't understand the enemy's intention, walking back and forth while muttering to himself: "I thought Cao Cao would at least send Cao Ang with 5,000 troops. But unexpectedly there are only 800 cavalrymen. Is this young Cao Ang really ignorant of military tactics?"

  "General, Cao Ang is still outside the city and wants to invite you to have a conversation in front of the two armies."

  Suddenly hearing Cao Huan's words, the former was shocked at first, but thought of the other party's intention and turned to ask Deputy General Cao Huan: "Is Cao Cao trying to bribe us?"

  "This... I'd advise General not to go, beware of enemy's cunning plan."

  "No!" Cao Zhen waved his hand again, ignoring Cao Huan's suggestion. He said firmly, "I must go, I want to see what that young Cao Ang has to say."

  For Cao Mao and Cao Huang, the initial rebellion was nothing more than a result of not being valued in the Cao army. Although they were both cousins of Cao Cao, there is also a distinction between close and distant relatives among kinfolk. These two individuals belonged to the latter category. When Cao Ang temporarily took over as the governor of Rencheng Prefecture, these two men in their thirties could not bear being ordered around by a seventeen-year-old youth, so they decided to rebel.

  But now Cao Man really wants to see what his distant nephew wants to say to him.

  At noon, the sun is especially dazzling, and people are a bit dizzy from the heat.

  Outside Rencheng City.

  The two armies faced each other in formation, with one side being the soldiers from Ren City, while the other side, although slightly inferior in numbers to the former, was composed entirely of cavalry, looking majestic and formidable from a distance.

  At this time, Cao Ang rode alone to the center of the two armies facing each other. Looking at Cao Mao and Cao Huan in the distance, he shouted loudly: "Uncle Cao Mao, you and my father are relatives by blood. Today, I don't want to make things difficult for both uncles. I only ask to have a brief conversation with Uncle Cao Mao before the battle begins!"

  At this time, Ren Cheng's side.

  Cao Zhen saw that the other side was riding alone, but he didn't see any suspiciousness in the enemy army, and at this moment he was about to ride forward on horseback.

  However, before he could move, Cao Huan called out to him, "General, wait a moment. We have 3,000 troops defending the city. As long as we hold our ground, Cao Ang's 800 cavalry will be unable to do anything. Why bother negotiating with him?"

  When he heard this, Cao Meng burst out laughing and said: "A mere Cao Ang, how can I be afraid of him? Since he's here, let's see what tricks he has up his sleeve. You don't need to say any more." With that, he slapped the warhorse and galloped towards Cao Ang, who was riding alone.

  As he approached, Cao Pi suddenly reined in his horse and looked at Cao Ang with disdain, saying: "Cao Ang, although you are my clansman, today we are sworn enemies. What else do you have to say to me?"

  Seeing Cao Mengjin right in front of him, Cao Ang was overjoyed and couldn't help but burst out laughing from time to time. "Is your wife and children at home all well?"

  "Hmm? What do you mean?"

  "Hehe, how's your uncle's body recently?"

  "Cao Ang, what exactly do you want to say?"

  "Haha, is your father well at home, uncle?"

  "Nothing, nothing..." Hearing Cao Ang's string of inexplicable words, Cao Man suddenly felt a bit bewildered and wondered what was going on. Just then, he heard someone echoing from behind him.

  However, this seemed somewhat suspicious to Cao Huan from a distance. Although he couldn't hear what the two were saying, seeing Cao Ang's repeated loud laughter and Cao Mao seemingly discussing something delightful made Cao Huan increasingly uneasy.

  Just then Cao Zhen suddenly turned his horse and returned to the formation, but when Cao Huan asked him what he had said, Cao Zhen hesitated and muttered:

  "Cao Ang didn't say anything, he just asked about the health of his family and some trivial matters."

  It was precisely this kind of response that made Cao Huan even more suspicious.

  However, Cao Meng was indeed telling the truth, and this was exactly what Cao Anmin wanted to see.

  An hour later, inside Ren City.

  "Report! The enemy has sent a letter, one envelope for the general." A scout from the general's headquarters came forward with a letter in hand and knelt down to say.

  Cao Miao opened it by herself after a moment's hesitation, having thought about waiting for Cao Huan to open it together.

  However, when Cao opened the letter and took a look, he was surprised to find that it was full of blurry ink dots, messy and disorderly, and the font was difficult to distinguish, which made him even more puzzled.

  "Isn't it Cao Ang who brought the draft paper?"

  Just as Cao Miao was being weird, Cao Huan walked in at this moment and saw that Cao Miao was holding a letter, so he walked over.

  "General, this is..."

  "Oh... this is a letter sent by Cao Ang..."

  "Oh?" With curiosity, he took it from the grass hat's hand, but when he looked at it, what was it? It was a letter that had been deliberately smudged.

  Cao Huan immediately raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously: "General, what do you mean by this?"

  "What?"

  "Why is this letter slowly painted black with ink? Does the general not want me to see the content of the book?" As he spoke, he continued to sneer coldly.

  At the same time, Cao Huan was stunned and didn't understand what Cao Huang meant. Cao Huang then said in a daze: "Perhaps... Cao Ang mistakenly sent over the draft paper he wrote."

  Another cold laugh, Cao Huan said in a cold tone: "Oh? Hmm, then I'd like to ask the general, why did Cao Ang dare to attack my city of Ren with just 800 men? Anyone who knows some military law would know that cavalry is not suitable for attacking cities, but rather for fighting on open plains. This time, Cao Ang brought only 800 cavalrymen to attack my city of Ren, what's the meaning behind this? General! You haven't told me yet."

  As soon as the words fell, Cao Meng also became stunned at this time, looking at his deputy general Cao Huan in front of him, but he had already realized it and angrily said: "What do you mean by this? Can't I surrender to Cao Cao?"

  At this moment, Cao Huan's face was even more furious, and he coldly said: "So be it! Cao Huan takes his leave first!"

  Having said that, he didn't wait for Cao Meng to say anything else, and let out a cold snort, then strode away. Leaving Cao Meng standing alone, at a loss for what to do.

  Xuzhou border.

  "Big brother, we've finally arrived in Xuzhou. Which way should we go?"

  At this moment, Cao Anmin and Zhou Yu rushed day and night, traveling over a hundred miles to arrive at Xuzhou. They arrived at a fork in the road, whereupon Zhou Yu asked.

  Cao Anmin was sitting on his warhorse, looking far away, but suddenly saw a mysterious fortress in the distance. The more he looked, the more uneasy he became. However, seeing the garrison's strict vigilance and waiting for a major enemy to attack, Cao Anmin's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

  His body suddenly shook violently. Cao Anmin's face instantly became extremely bitter, and his mouth was like chewing wax, and he struggled to squeeze out a few words.

  "No need to go anymore... The old man is already dead."

  On the other hand.

  Cao Angjun, camp tent.

  An army of eight hundred men, stationed on the flat ground not far from Rencheng, and at this moment in the main tent, Cao Ang was also waiting for something.

  "As expected by elder brother, it should be soon..."

  Just as Cao Ang had finished speaking, a scout outside the tent suddenly shouted loudly and quickly ran to the entrance of the tent.

  "Report!"

  "Speak quickly! What is it?" Cao Ang hastily waved his hand and said.

  Na Zhihou saw Cao Ang's anxiety and didn't hesitate, telling the truth directly.

  "Report, a military mutiny has occurred in Rencheng, and the defending general Cao Mao has been killed by his deputy general Cao Huan. Currently, Cao Huan has led the remaining troops in the city to surrender, and has presented Cao Mao's head!"