Chapter 19: Xu Chu Battles Lü Bu

  After Tao Qian's death, the whole army mourned! Tao Qian's eldest son, Tao Shang, took over as the ruler, and his second son, Tao Ying, was in charge of military affairs in Xuzhou. Chen Deng and Chen Gui, father and son, assisted him, and Sun Gan was invited to be the governor. Together, they assisted with the government affairs of Xuzhou! The day after Tao Qian's death, the people of Xuzhou gathered in front of the government office, crying and bowing down, saying: "Now that Governor Tao is gone, who can protect us so that we can live in peace?" From this, it can be seen that although Tao Qian was not qualified in the history of the Three Kingdoms' war, he was still a benevolent and righteous gentleman deeply loved by the people of Xuzhou. Otherwise, he would not have offered to give up Xuzhou to Liu Bei three times! He just wanted to give the people of Xuzhou a peaceful life! There are two completely different opinions about Tao Qian's evaluation. Chen Shou and Fan Ye evaluated him very low, but Zhang Zhao from Eastern Wu had a positive opinion of him. Zhang Zhao was invited by Tao Qian to serve as an official, but he refused. Tao Qian thought he was being looked down upon, so he arrested Zhang Zhao, who was rescued by his good friend Zhao Yu and escaped to the south. From this, it can be seen that Tao Qian was a very insightful person, and he also knew that Zhang Zhao was a great talent, which is why he wanted to keep him! After Tao Qian's death, the people of Xuzhou and officials were extremely grieved!

  However, at this time, Tao Qian's eldest son, Tao Shang, took over as the governor of Xuzhou and appointed Chen Gui, Chen Deng, and Sun Gan as his assistants. Chen Deng was in charge of the military affairs. They brought all the soldiers from Xiaopei into the city, issued a proclamation to pacify the people, and arranged for the funeral. Cao Pi and Sun Guan led the military affairs, and all the soldiers wore mourning clothes. After the funeral ceremony, they buried Tao Qian on the banks of the Yellow River. They then submitted Tao Qian's last will to the imperial court.

  Cao Pi was in Juancheng at this time and knew that Tao Qian had died. He was furious when he heard that Tao Shang, Tao Qian's eldest son, had taken over as the governor of Xuzhou. "My enemy has not been avenged," he said, "and now this young upstart is sitting in Xuzhou! I must first kill his son, Tao Shang, and then desecrate Tao Qian's corpse to avenge my father!" He immediately issued orders to prepare for battle against Xuzhou.

  Xun Yu entered the tent and advised Cao Pi, "In the past, Emperor Gaozu of Han protected Guanzhong, and Emperor Guangwu of Han occupied Henan. They both consolidated their power before they could control the world. This is why they were able to advance and defeat their enemies, and retreat and defend themselves without losing any ground. Although there may be many obstacles, in the end, they can still achieve great things.

  "Now, your foundation is in Yan Province, and the Yellow River and Ji River are the most important places in the world. If you take Xuzhou now, you will have to leave many soldiers behind, which would not be enough for use. If you leave fewer soldiers behind, Lü Bu will take advantage of the situation and attack us, and we will lose Yan Province. If we cannot take Xuzhou, where can you return to? Now that Tao Qian is dead, his son, Tao Shang, has taken over as the governor of Xuzhou. It would be better to wait for a more opportune moment.

  "Moreover, the people of Xuzhou have already submitted to us and will certainly help them fight against us to the death. If we abandon Yan Province and take Xuzhou instead, it would be like abandoning something important and pursuing something trivial, giving up the foundation and seeking the branches. I hope you will think carefully about this."

  Cao Pi listened to Xun Yu's advice and thought for a moment before saying, "This year is a time of famine, and our soldiers are idle here. It is not a good strategy." Xun Yu replied, "Why don't we attack Chenliu in the east and let our army live off the land in Yuzhang and Yingchuan? The remnants of the Yellow Turbans, such as He Yi and Huang Zu, have been plundering the provinces and have much gold, silk, and grain. These bandits are easy to defeat, and if we defeat them, we can take their grain to feed our army. This would please the imperial court and delight the people, and it would be in accordance with the will of heaven."

  Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard the plan and helped Xun Yu up, saying: "Xun Wenruo is truly my Zhang Liang!" He was delighted with Xun Yu's strategy. Then Cao Cao arranged for Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren to stay behind and guard the cities of Chenliu and others, while he led his army of several tens of thousands to attack Chen first, then Ru and Ying. When Huang Yi and Huang Chao knew that Cao Cao's army had arrived, they led their troops to welcome him and met at Yangshan. At that time, although the enemy was numerous, they were all scattered and disorganized, and could not be compared with Cao Cao's army in terms of discipline and formation. Cao Cao ordered his strong archers and crossbowmen to shoot at them, and then sent out Dian Wei. Huang Yi ordered his deputy commander to fight, but he was defeated by Dian Wei after only three rounds. Cao Cao saw that Dian Wei had won and the enemy's morale had collapsed! Then he led his troops to take advantage of the situation and chased them over Yangshan, killing for tens of miles before setting up camp. The next day, Huang Chao led his army to fight against Cao Cao. The two armies faced each other, and a general stepped out to fight on foot, wearing a yellow turban and a green cloak, holding an iron rod in his hand, and shouting: "I am He Man, the heavenly night demon! Who dares to fight me?" Cao Hong was standing beside Cao Cao and saw this, becoming enraged and shouting loudly. He flew down from his horse, holding his sword, and stepped out to fight He Man. The two fought fiercely for forty or fifty rounds, with neither gaining the upper hand. Cao Hong pretended to be defeated and retreated, dragging his sword behind him. He Man chased after him, but Cao Hong used a trick of turning around and striking with the back of his sword, catching He Man off guard! He was struck by Cao Hong's sword and fell to the ground. Li Dian took advantage of the situation and rode his horse straight into the enemy's formation. Huang Chao did not have time to prepare and was captured alive by Li Dian. Cao Cao saw this and personally led his troops to attack and kill the enemy, seizing their gold, silk, and food without number. Huang Yi's forces were isolated, and he led several hundred cavalrymen to flee towards Gebei. As they were fleeing, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from behind a mountain. The leader was a strong warrior, eight feet tall and ten feet around the waist, holding a large sword and blocking their path. Huang Yi held up his spear to welcome him, but after only one round, he was captured by the warrior. The rest of the troops were in a panic and all dismounted to surrender, being driven into the valley at Gebei by the warrior. Now, let us speak of Dian Wei pursuing Huang Yi to Gebei, where the warrior welcomed him with his army. Dian Wei saw this man and became angry, shouting: "Are you also a Yellow Turban rebel?" The warrior replied: "I have captured several hundred Yellow Turbans in the valley!" Dian Wei saw that this person was not a rebel and said: "Why don't you surrender them to me?" The warrior smiled and said: "If you can win my precious sword from me, I will surrender them to you!" Dian Wei became enraged and thought to himself: "Where did this little brat come from?" He held up his twin halberds and stepped forward to fight the warrior. The two fought from morning till noon, with neither gaining the upper hand. They rested for a short while, then the warrior came out again to challenge Dian Wei. Dian Wei also came out, and the warrior wielded his large sword like a windmill, striking left and right. His power was extraordinary, and he had an invincible air about him! Dian Wei did not show any weakness either, dancing with his twin halberds, protecting himself above and covering his horse below. His left halberd was like a dragon rising from the sea, while his right halberd was like a tiger returning to the forest! The two fought fiercely until evening, when they stopped due to their horses' exhaustion. Dian Wei's soldiers reported back to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was shocked and thought: "My evil has come! Who can match this warrior?" He hastily led his generals to come and watch. When he saw the warrior, Cao Cao felt a sense of admiration in his heart! Cao Cao decided that this warrior's martial arts skills were not inferior to those of his brothers Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong!

  The next day, the brave warrior came out to challenge again. Cao saw that he was even more majestic and powerful than before, and his heart was filled with joy and admiration. He secretly ordered Xu Chu to pretend to lose.

  Xu Chu led the troops according to Cao's orders and fought against the brave warrior. The two sides clashed for thirty rounds, and Xu Chu suddenly remembered Cao's order to pretend to lose. He turned around and retreated, preparing to return to the camp. The brave warrior saw that Xu Chu was defeated and chased after him relentlessly, pursuing him all the way to the gate of the camp.

  Cao took advantage of the situation and quickly led his troops to retreat five miles away. He secretly ordered his men to dig a hidden pit and lay an ambush. The next day, he again ordered Xu Chu to lead over a hundred cavalrymen out to battle.

  The brave warrior laughed and said, "You were defeated yesterday, how dare you come back today? Are you not afraid of death?" He then charged forward on horseback to engage in battle. Xu Chu fought for a few rounds before pretending to lose again, remembering Cao's previous order.

  The brave warrior only looked ahead and chased after him, unaware that he had fallen into the hidden pit along with his horse. The ambushers bound him and brought him before Cao. Cao was delighted with the brave warrior and personally came down from his tent to dismiss his attendants. He then personally untied the ropes binding the warrior and hastily put a large cloak on his body, ordering his attendants to offer him a seat.

  The brave warrior did not understand etiquette and sat down without thanking Cao. Cao also did not mind and asked about the warrior's hometown and name. The brave warrior smiled and replied, "I am from Qiao County in Pei State. I have long heard that your army's Xu Chu is an evil man of old, so I came to challenge him out of anger."

  "My surname is Xu, my given name is Shuo, and my courtesy name is Zhongkang. In the past, when our village was plagued by bandits, I gathered hundreds of villagers and built a strong wall to defend against them. One day, the bandits arrived, and I ordered everyone to prepare stones. I personally threw stones at them, hitting every one of them, and the bandits retreated.

  Another day, the bandits came again, but our village had no food. So, we made peace with them and agreed to exchange cattle for grain. The grain was delivered, but when the bandits drove the cattle away from the village, they all ran back. I caught two of the cows by their tails and pulled them back for over a hundred steps. The bandits were shocked and did not dare take the cattle.

  Cao laughed loudly and said, "I have long heard of your great name. Are you willing to surrender?" Xu Shuo replied, "I have also long admired Cao Gong's great name." He then led his hundreds of villagers to surrender together.

  Cao appointed Xu Shuo as a captain and rewarded him heavily. He then executed He Yi and Huang Zu. The regions of Jizhou and Yanzhou were all pacified by Cao. The problem of military supplies and grain was also solved, and countless soldiers surrendered. Now, Cao's military power was even greater than before!

  Cao Cao returned to the army, and Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun met him. They said that recently, they had been gathering intelligence and reported to Cao Cao: "The soldiers of Xuchang and Li Feng in Yanzhou have all gone out to plunder, leaving the city empty. We can take advantage of this opportunity to attack with our victorious army, and we will surely be able to capture it in one battle." Cao Cao listened and thought that this was a reasonable plan, so he led his army directly to Shangzhou.

  In the territory of Shangzhou, Xue Lan and Li Feng were caught off guard by Cao Cao's sudden attack and had no choice but to lead their troops out of the city to fight against Cao Cao. Xu Chu said with a smile: "I would like to capture these two men as a gift for our lord." Cao Cao was overjoyed and ordered Xu Chu to go into battle.

  Li Feng wielded his guandao, and Xu Chu charged forward on horseback. The two clashed twice, and Xu Chu swung his nine-ring elephant nose knife in a powerful motion, striking down at Li Feng with one blow. This move was called "Forcefully Splitting Mount Hua!" Li Feng could only raise his guandao to block the attack.

  Just then, there was a loud "clang" sound! Xu Chu's single blow had broken Li Feng's guandao in two and split Li Feng himself in half! The other two blows of the "three knives on horseback" move were not even needed. Li Feng died instantly!

  Xu Chu looked at Li Feng's corpse under his horse and muttered to himself: "Ah, you little brat! You're too weak to withstand a blow!" Xue Lan saw how tragic Li Feng's death was and didn't dare to have any thoughts of resistance. He didn't even have the courage to look at Xu Chu!

  Xue Lan hastily retreated back to his formation, but was blocked by Li Dian at the drawbridge. Xue Lan did not dare return to the city and led his troops in a retreat towards Juyong. However, they were pursued by Lü Qian, who shot an arrow that struck Xue Lan's horse, causing his army to scatter.

  After entering the city, Xu Chu said: "That little brat, whether he fled or not, would still have died! It's better for me to have killed him than for him to be shot dead by Lü Qian!" Cao Cao and the others laughed uncontrollably at this.

  Cao Cao regained control of Yan Province and Xun Yu suggested that he advance his troops to capture Puyang. Cao Cao ordered Xu Chu and Dian Wei to lead 50,000 soldiers as the vanguard, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan to lead 30,000 soldiers as the left army, Li Dian and Yue Jin to lead 30,000 soldiers as the right army, and he himself led 50,000 soldiers as the central army. Yu Jin and Lü Qian led 30,000 soldiers as the rear guard.

  Cao Cao had deployed all his strong soldiers and brave generals to decide the battle against Lü Bu! Cao Cao marched rapidly, living up to the saying that "speed is of the essence in war". He did not intend to give Lü Bu any chance to catch his breath!

  In less than ten days, Cao Cao's army arrived at Puyang. Lü Bu wanted to lead a personal expedition to welcome them, but Cheng Yu advised him: "Today, you must not go into battle. Wait until our generals have gathered before taking action." Lü Bu angrily shouted: "Who am I afraid of?" and ignored Cheng Yu's words.

  Lü Bu led his troops out of the camp alone, wielding his halberd and cursing Cao Cao. Cao Cao ordered Xu Chu to engage in combat with Lü Bu. Xu Chu rode out on horseback, brandishing his nine-ringed saber and shouting: "Tiger-crazy Xu Chu is here to fight you, three-surnamed slave!"

  Lü Bu was furious at being called a three-surnamed slave, a nickname that had been given to him by Zhang Fei. He charged forward with his halberd, determined to fight Xu Chu.

  Xu Chu was not afraid of Lü Bu's superior martial arts skills, but he knew that he could not defeat him in a prolonged battle. However, when he saw the opportunity to engage in combat with the world-renowned brave warrior Lü Bu, he put extra effort into his attacks.

  The two warriors clashed, their movements swift and deadly. Xu Chu wielded his saber with precision, striking left and right with lightning speed. His techniques were flawless, each strike aimed at a vital spot.

  Lü Bu retaliated with his halberd, its blade flashing in the sunlight as he stabbed, slashed, and hooked at Xu Chu. The two warriors exchanged blows for over twenty rounds, neither gaining the upper hand.

  Xu Chu grew anxious and launched a desperate attack, striking at Lü Bu's back with his saber. But Lü Bu was not to be underestimated; he parried the blow with his halberd and counterattacked, aiming straight for Xu Chu's heart.

  Xu Chu barely dodged the attack, but Lü Bu quickly followed up with a series of swift strikes, each one aimed at a vital spot. Xu Chu found himself on the defensive, struggling to keep up with Lü Bu's relentless assault.

  The two warriors clashed again and again, their movements lightning-fast as they exchanged blows. But in the end, it was clear that Xu Chu was no match for Lü Bu's superior skills.