Chapter 63: A Desperate Gambit

  "Bring Gao Shun up!!"

  Cao Hong and Cai Yong's faces changed greatly at once, but they were all unresponsive after hearing Cao Xin's words.

  In a moment, a tightly bound general was brought up under the command of the former, with a solemn expression and no fear.

  A worn-out armor with a hint of bloodstain visible through the ropes, his face was etched with exhaustion, yet he still stood coldly in front of Cao Hong, even as he was being pressed by the crowd around him, his former bravery still evident.

  "Is this Gao Shun?" Cao Hong was taken aback, his face pale. He stared at Cao Xin, who was smiling to himself, and for a moment he was speechless, unsure of what to say.

  "It was this man." Cao Xin smiled, but seeing that the crowd had not yet recovered from their shock, he laughed again: "Not long after we took down Wu Yan City, we rushed overnight to Lu County's large camp. I took advantage of the enemy's unclear situation and used a strategy to exhaust them, annihilating nearly all 5,000 of Gao Shun's men and horses, and even capturing this man alive."

  "...It's all because I insisted on defending Luzhou and waiting for reinforcements, who would have thought you'd take advantage of the emptiness and enter..." Gao Shun struggled for a moment, but couldn't help feeling a bit ashamed by the end.

  However, at this time, without waiting for the other's words to come, Cao Hong suddenly exclaimed with surprise: "So... you've been continuously defeating Zhang Liao and... and Gao Shun's 10,000 cavalrymen over the past few days?"

  "Not bad, at this moment only Lü Bu's 10,000 iron cavalry are active within the borders of Yanzhou, as long as we hold steady in Puyang, Lü Bu's situation will be over..."

  Compared to Cao Hong's extreme shock, Cai Yan was staring blankly at Cao Xin, looking at the group of fierce warriors behind Cao Xin...

  Suddenly... I remembered the Great Han Dynasty...

  If our great Han dynasty had such a good general, how could we have fallen into this state...how could we have fallen into...

  Five thousand people were killed, and ten thousand people disappeared into smoke within a few days. In the following days, Chenliu, Rencheng, Yangyi, Wuyan, and Lucheng were conquered one after another. Moreover, using a linked strategy in Chenliu County, they lured and ambushed Hou Cheng's five thousand iron cavalry, pretending to break into Chenliu City, and killed Zhang Mai.

  Looking at Cao Xin standing proudly in front of him, looking at this young man who is only eighteen years old, the legendary story that has happened during this period of time has actually occurred on his own.

  "Great talent for pacifying the people! Now that Yan Province is pacified, your merit cannot be ignored!" Cao Hong unexpectedly knelt down and exclaimed repeatedly.

  Seeing the situation, Cao Xin hastily and anxiously supported Cao Hong up. At this moment, he couldn't help but change his expression: "Uncle, why are you doing this? Are you trying to frame me for injustice?"

  “Ah...” Cao Hong was somewhat embarrassed, although Cao Xin was his nephew, the former had indeed defended Puyang and defeated the most threatening ambush camp. Looking at the numerous wounds on Cao Xin's body, Cao Hong, despite being troubled by his identity, truly felt grateful from the bottom of his heart. "Please accept Anmin's bow."

  One strong hand still firmly held down the opponent's knee, while the former showed a hint of difficulty.

  However, at this moment, when the situation was slightly awkward, Cai Yan had been sizing up Cao Xin from the beginning to now, and seeing the current stalemate, he couldn't help but step forward to mediate.

  "General Su and Cao Xin Gongzi are relatives, today Cao Xin Gongzi has made great achievements, he should rest early, Governor General shouldn't be too particular about this..."

  A soft and gentle voice suddenly reached everyone's ears, Cao Xin was the first to react, and he looked at each other with gratitude, and immediately helped Cao Hong up.

  For Cai Yan, Cao Xin knew that in two years' time, Cai Yan would be captured by the Southern Xiongnu and suffer greatly. The former was a person whom Cao Xin least wanted to see when he looked at the late Han Dynasty, someone who had experienced twelve years of drifting among foreign tribes, suffering humiliation and flogging, and whose tragic life had created the later Cai Wenji, but at the same time, Cao Xin was also a person who did not like tragedies.

  However, excessive daydreaming is futile.

  Cao Xin patted his own clothes and said, "I don't know, Uncle, what do you plan to do from now on?"

  As soon as he heard this, Cao Hong's face turned somewhat solemn. "This... I have my own plans..." He said, and then suddenly smiled at the former: "An Min, you're all tired, go to the residence to rest first, I'll go arrange for these brothers behind you to settle down, don't worry about anything else, Lü Bu can't stir up much trouble anymore, haha."

  At this moment, all the generals behind Cao Xin fell silent, and at the same time, Cao Xin's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, but he still didn't say anything, just barely put his mind at ease, and said:

  "That letter, just follow your uncle's words."

  At the same time, on the other side.

  A mighty army of ten thousand marched along a strange and narrow path, where the road was complex and not as smooth as that in the capital, but only slightly complicated, and all the blocked places were trampled by this cavalry.

  Lü Bu and his men arrived at a town, looking out at the desolate land and the sparse population. The army of 10,000 fell silent in an instant.

  A cold glint flashed across his face, and Lü Bu suddenly narrowed his eyes, coldly saying to the scout behind him: "Could it be Cao Xin again?"

  "Report to Your Excellency, according to our scouts, it should be Cao Xin's army..."

  "It's all over... everything is over..." At this moment, Chen Gong stood dazed beside Lü Bu, slowly closing his eyes, with a face of deathly stillness and depression, as if he had lost hope in everything.

  "Gong Tai... what do you mean by this?"

  Chen Gong suddenly opened his eyes, and couldn't help but look at Lü Bu's extremely resentful face. He suddenly let out a bitter laugh and said, "Lü Bu, we should retreat now. Cao Cao's army has entered Yanzhou and is rushing towards Puyang. We only have 10,000 troops, how can we fight against Cao Cao's 100,000 elite soldiers? It's over! Our situation is hopeless! We've all been ruined by that little brat Cao Xin... it's all over..."

  "Halt!" A cold wind slowly flowed out of Lü Bu's mouth, his face extremely gloomy and proud. He stared at Chen Gong with a stern expression: "Be careful what you say!"

  "We've suffered heavy casualties in this battle! We should retreat immediately! Zhang Liao has been defeated and Gao Shun is nowhere to be found. Cao Xiu is not someone you can fight against! Our only chance of survival is to retreat to Xuchang!!"

  "No, I must fight!!"

  "What's going on? Where is it?" Chen Gong was shocked again.

  At this moment, Lü Bu patted the Red Hare horse and looked at the 10,000 iron cavalry behind him. He couldn't help but sneer at Chen Gong: "I'm going to attack Puyang!!"

  "Impossible!" Chen Gong shouted in alarm, staring at Lü Bu as if he were a madman. "This time, Yan Province is already like a stone wall. We've been repeatedly defeated by Cao Xing and lost nearly 20,000 soldiers! You want to attack Puyang now? What are you trying to do? Are you waiting for Cao Cao to lead his army of 100,000 to come and defeat you? Even if Cao Cao doesn't come, can your meager force of 10,000 men take Puyang in one go?"

  "Enough!" Suddenly, another angry roar, Lü Bu abruptly interrupted the previous words, but at this moment, he revealed an extremely cold and arrogant face, and said in a deep and cold tone:

  "I swear... Kill Cao! Believe me, no one can stop..."

  PS: The Spring Festival is approaching, and I'm a bit late with this update, sorry about that.