The 56th chapter: Cao Cao's horse servant enjoys drinking with Sun Jian and Huang Gai rushes to be the vanguard.

  The vassal army set up camp fifty miles away from Tiger Pass, with mountains on one side and water on the other.

  Yuan Shao, after ascending to the tent, asked in a questioning tone to Ma Teng, Ma Fu and Cao Cao: "Without obtaining the general's order, you privately made plans. If it doesn't succeed, won't our entire army be annihilated?"

  Ma Teng, Ma Chao and Cao Cao exchanged a look, then Cao Cao smiled and said: "The Lord of the Yuan Alliance is worrying too much. This battle was just a small test! What we did, if we had informed each of you first, you would not have agreed, so we dared to act first. I hope you will understand!"

  "What's the meaning of this?" Yuan Shao was furious in his heart, but he couldn't show it too clearly. After all, the strength of their three families among these various lords was absolutely not to be underestimated, especially after witnessing the power of Ma Fu, he couldn't afford to belittle them even more.

  Cao Cao said, "I have learned that the fine horses ridden by Ma Teng's cavalry are all from Shangdang, extremely fast and powerful. On the other hand, Dong Zhuo's cavalry is still the fierce Western Liang cavalry, exceptionally brave and ferocious in battle. This can be seen from the troops led by Xin Pi. In this battle, Ma Teng's cavalry was able to charge and kill at will among tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, their combat strength astonishing! I think we should take advantage of this superiority, send light cavalry to launch a surprise attack on Dong Zhuo's rear, and then launch a fierce assault on Tiger Trap Pass with heavy troops. Dong Zhuo is sure to be defeated."

  Yuan Shao shook his head and said: "This plan is too risky, we need to think it over carefully!"

  Cao Cao made repeated requests, but Yuan Shao refused to adopt them.

  As for this point, Ma Fu had already understood. Now all the lords are harboring ulterior motives, of course, including himself. Although he was testing the power of his elite cavalry, he undoubtedly exposed his strength as well.

  And now that I think about it, the small battle in front of Tiger Trap Pass was indeed perilous. He and Yun Ying thought they had good martial arts skills so they ignored the enemy army, but this itself is also a very dangerous approach.

  Ma Fu's soul was good at launching surprise attacks, always giving people an unexpected feeling. Now that he is the commander of a military unit, he still hasn't changed this way of thinking about warfare.

  After the meeting was over, Yuan Shao kept Sun Jian and his generals behind, while the other lords returned to their camps one after another.

  Ma Chao's vanguard had just entered the camp when Cao Cao launched a surprise attack from behind.

  Ma Chao alone met Cao Cao who was displeased and smiled to himself, unangrily yet authoritative with a strong aura, and in his heart he actually had a bit of fear towards him.

  Cao Cao saw the groom's expression was strange, and said: "What? Is it that Governor Ma is not welcoming to Cao?"

  Ma Fu hastily invited him to sit down and smiled: "How dare I? Brother Meng De is a hero of the world, how could Ma Mou not welcome you?"

  Cao Cao said, "Among these eighteen vassals, there has never been one who called me, Cao, the hero of the world. In their hearts, I am just a eunuch's descendant, with a humble status. Now that I have received such praise from Governor Ma, I, Cao, am truly grateful!"

  Ma Fu smiled and said, "I am just a humble horse breeder, but thanks to the recognition of Lord Rui and the approval of the Emperor, I was able to rise through the ranks. What does it matter if one's status is lowly or noble? The world is vast, and there are countless examples of those who were once lowly rising up to defeat those who were once noble! And have those so-called nobles ever truly brought down those of lower status? Mencius said that the people are more important than the ruler, but don't those aristocratic families still treat ordinary commoners as dirt? Yet in the end, it is precisely these 'dirt' who bring them down!"

  "Good! Since ancient times, heroes have never asked about one's origin. Alas, the worldly poison has remained to this day. Today, I, Cao, am fortunate enough to meet a kindred spirit like Governor Ma, it is truly a blessing of three lifetimes!"

  Ma Fu laughed and said: "I am willing to work together with Brother Meng De, break this cage, smash this poison, restore equality, and create happiness for all eternity!"

  Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard such bold words. He called for wine to be brought in and insisted on drinking with Ma Chao until they were both drunk.

  Ma Fu said: "Today's great victory, we should have drunk heavily. But now that the great enemy is before us, it is better to drink a little, not too much."

  Cao Cao took the two cups of wine handed over by the soldier, and smiled slightly at Ma Feng: "How could I, Cao, not know this? It's just that it's hard to meet someone who understands you in life, and if you don't drink to your heart's content, wouldn't that be a waste of such a wonderful occasion?"

  The groom saw that he was determined to drink and thought his own capacity for liquor was still good, so he drank cup after cup with Cao Cao.

  They drank until dawn broke, but Cao Cao still looked as if nothing was wrong with him, showing no signs of intoxication.

  Ma Fu, who had always thought himself to be a good drinker, couldn't help but admire his drinking capacity at this moment. He was already 50% drunk now, and if he continued drinking, he would definitely get dead drunk!

  Just as they were getting more and more excited, Yin Feng suddenly rushed into the camp and said to Ma Fu: "Ma Taishou, it's not good! Yuan Mengzhu urgently summoned all the lords to discuss matters in the big account!"

  Ma Fu looked at Yin Feng with a drunken gaze: "Has Dong Ze come to launch a surprise attack?"

  Yin Fengdao said: "Now the sky is already bright, what sneak attack?"

  "What's so important that it can't wait? You go down first, can't you see I'm drinking with Brother Meng De?"

  Yin Feng's words were filled with anger: "Zhang Yang, Han Fu, Kong Yi, Yuan Yi, Zhang Chao, and Zhang Mai were ambushed by Li Jue and Guo Si at the Xingyang Gate last night and defeated, now they are urgently seeking reinforcements to assist!"

  What Commander Yu did not expect was that after hearing this, the groom became even more calm. He first exchanged a glance with Cao Cao, and then both of them burst out laughing.

  Yin Feng was somewhat puzzled: "You two have lost this battle, why are you still so happy?"

  The groom smiled and said, "These six princes originally wanted to maintain their reputation for loyalty and righteousness while avoiding the war and preserving their strength. Being ambushed like this is what they deserve, a group of hypocritical pseudo-gentlemen!"

  Cao Cao also applauded and praised: "Governor Ma said it well! If they don't suffer a bit, they will not be willing to join forces with us. Li Jue and Guo Si have done us a great favor."

  Yin finally came to his senses at this time, anyway, it wasn't them who lost the battle. For Zhang Yang and others who had repeatedly opposed Ma Fu, he had been looking at them with displeasure for a long time. With such a situation, he was happy to watch.

  However, although it is said that, Yin Feng saw Ma Fu was obviously drunk, and said: "Even if we don't go to rescue people, but now Yuan Mengzhu urgently summons the two of you, so the two of you should hurry up and discuss matters, lest you give the various lords a chance to gossip."

  Cao Cao pointed at Yin Feng and said: "General Yin's words are reasonable, but I wonder if Ma Teng can still get up?"

  The groom laughed and said: "What a joke!"

  When he finished speaking, the groom jumped up, but had only taken a few steps when he stumbled and staggered. Seeing this, Cao Cao said to Yin Feng: "You first help Ma Teng go rest, as for Yuan Shao's side, I have my own way of dealing with it."

  Yin Feng also worried that Ma Chao's drunken behavior would make a fool of him in front of the other lords, so he hastily called for Yun Ying to take good care of him, while he followed Cao Cao to the main camp.

  Yuan Shao did not see Ma Fu come forward and immediately asked Yin Feng where Ma Taisou had gone.

  Yin Fengzheng was thinking of how to respond when Cao Cao said, "Ma Taisou caught a chill last night and is not feeling well, so he cannot come. He asked me to apologize to the alliance leader on his behalf."

  As soon as the various princes heard this, they immediately began to discuss it. Some princes said that he had put on airs after fighting two battles; some princes said that from start to finish, he didn't take the various princes seriously, and there were even princes who said that he was clearly trying to set up his own banner.

  Cao Cao, hearing this, rebuked in a loud voice: "Please, certain lords should not measure the heart of a gentleman with the heart of a petty person! Now that we are all on the same boat, we cannot overly rely on anyone nor excessively slander anyone! Among so many troops of various lords, there is an abundance of talent; must Zhang Liao be absent for no one to be willing to go and rescue the other six routes of lords?"

  Yuan Shao said: "Meng De's words are reasonable. It's just that I don't know who is willing to go!"

  Sun Jian, who had always felt that he lost face in yesterday's battle, volunteered: "I am willing to go and rescue him. If it doesn't work out, I am willing to be punished by military law!"

  "Good! The alliance leader has been waiting for exactly this sentence from you!" After that, Yuan Shao really had him sign a military order and subsequently allocated several thousand more troops to him.

  Sun Jian said: "Sun certain leads Jiangdong sons and brothers enough to respond to the enemy, no need for extra horses, thank you, Yuan Mengzhu's good intentions!"

  Yuan Shao was overjoyed to hear this: "Good! Governor Sun indeed has great spirit. The alliance leader will set up a banquet and wait for your triumphant return!"

  Sun Jian bid farewell to the various lords and set off for Tong Pass with Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, Han Dang and Zu Mao.

  Zhang Yang, Han Fu, Kong Xi, Yuan Yi, Zhang Chao, Zhang Mai and others were in a precarious situation at this time. Last night, Li Jue and Guo Si directly mobilized 50,000 troops to launch a surprise attack, catching them off guard.

  They waited in vain for reinforcements, and what puzzled them was that Yuan Shao had only allowed Sun Jian to come with his own troops.

  Zhang Yang's face was ashen as he said, "Is the Lord of Yuan going to abandon us? If the army at Xiangyang is not held back, then it is very likely that Guo Si and Li Jue will attack our alliance from behind. By then, it would be too late."

  Sun Jian said: "As for Li and Guo's two generals, the seven routes of troops are already sufficient. Everyone will rest for a while, and we will go to battle in the afternoon!"

  Although they thought Sun Jian was arrogant, but things had come to this point, having reinforcements was better than not having any, so they could only set up camp on the spot.

  Sun Jian did not have the leisure to rest at this time, he and Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, Han Dang and others led dozens of people to rush secretly towards the direction of Ziwu Pass.

  Jizhou Governor Han Fu heard the report from the soldiers and immediately ordered his general Pan Feng: "You quickly bring some troops to go and take a look, what do they want to do."

  Pan Feng received the order and directly came to look for Sun Jian and others.

  Sun Jian led the crowd to investigate the terrain, looking for the best place to ambush Li and Guo's army, but who would have thought that during the investigation, they were seen by soldiers patrolling around Xiangyang.

  The soldier hastily returned to the pass and told Li Cui and Guo Si about it.

  Li Cui saw an opportunity that could not be missed and hastily led 5,000 light cavalry to quietly surround Sun Jian's group from behind.

  Sun Jian was discussing with Huang Gai and others how to ambush when he suddenly heard a loud shout, and when he turned around, he found that several thousand soldiers were ambushing behind them.

  Before they could ambush others, they were ambushed first. Sun Jian shouted "Not good!" and hastily led dozens of horsemen to escape in the southwest direction. But Li Jue was not about to give them this opportunity...