Cutting General

  Nothing happened all night.

  The next morning, Cao Cao left Zhou Cang and Lu Xiang to guard the camp, and he himself led Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu's brother Guan Ping, and three thousand infantry and cavalry to arrive at Xiayang City.

  Below the city wall, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao stood on the city head, with their hair disheveled and a white cloth wrapped around their heads. They wore mourning clothes and held different weapons in their hands, their eyes filled with hostility towards the Han army besieging the city below. The Yellow Turban archers near the city wall were arrayed in formation, waiting for the attack, while logs and rocks were also prepared in abundance.

  Zhang Jue's beheading by the Han army spread like wildfire, serving as a huge boost to the Han forces. Within just a few days, the news had already reached Yingchuan and Nanyang on the south bank of the Yellow River, sweeping across the north and south of the river, far exceeding Gao Feng's expectations for the speed of information dissemination. In just a short span of time, Lu Zhi's name shook the heavens.

  He was well aware that Lu Zhi was his superior and also became his stumbling block. The fact that he killed Zhang Jiao was only known within the internal military of Lu Zhi, and what spread outside was still Lu Zhi's merit. No matter how brilliant he was in Lu Zhi's army, he was just a general, and could not surpass the prestige of the commander-in-chief.

  So he was eager to ask for a solo army, and he didn't even ask Lu Zhi for a general of the military marquis level, but only asked for troops in units of ten thousand. He wanted to gain this honor alone in Xiakou Yang, and let everyone in the world know that the most elite army of the Yellow Turbans was his own. Even if Lu Zhi would also gain some honor from this, his name would stand out from under Lu Zhi's shadow, and this is what he truly wanted.

  Gao Fei's spear was held high, his eyes fixed intently on the city of Xiakou. He saw that the Yellow Turbans were robust and strong, unlike the starving refugees besieged in Guangzong. They wore a thin layer of iron armor, and even their weapons and equipment seemed relatively uniform.

  "Sir, it seems that Zhang Jiao's death has already been reported here. The main force of the Yellow Turbans in Xincheng is at least 50,000 troops who can fight among the hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans." Guan Hai explained to Gao Fei in detail, reporting the situation in Xincheng to him.

  Those who participated in the Yellow Turban Rebellion were mostly peasants who could not eat their fill or wear warm clothes, and there were also a small number of bandits and thieves. They brought their families with them, and at first glance, they seemed to be a large force, but in reality, only a few tens of thousands of people were actually capable of fighting. Moreover, their weapons and equipment were no match for the regularly trained imperial army.

  Gao Fei obviously knew this, and just smiled lightly, saying: "Form up!"

  As soon as the words fell, Gao Sheng spurred his horse and rode forward for a while, then opened his throat and shouted loudly: "Zhang Liang, Zhang Bao, listen to me! The head of Zhang Jue was cut off by me. If you want to avenge your brother, come and fight with me to the death!"

  Zhang Liang heard this and immediately felt a surge of anger in his chest. He let out a loud shout, pointing at Gao Fei and yelling: "You just wait, I'll have your skin!"

  Gao Fei smiled slightly and saw Zhang Liang turn around and leave the city building, while Zhang Bao held a long gun in his hand and stood on the city wall, also glaring at him.

  Before long, the city gate opened wide and Zhang Liang led out 50 swift horses and 500 infantrymen from the city. He somehow managed to get a suit of armor, which he forcibly put on, completely covering his robust figure, looking very mismatched and not minding the tight fit at all.

  Zhang Liang wielded a large knife in his hand, didn't respond, and had bloodshot eyes, galloping his horse to chase after Gao Fei.

  Gao Feng saw Zhang Liang coming with a fierce momentum, and didn't dare to underestimate him. After all, Zhou Cang and Guan Yu had said before that Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao were highly skilled in martial arts. He shook off his sluggishness, let out a loud "Drive!" and charged forward with the Dragon-Headed Spear in hand.

  Two horses crossed paths, and in an instant they parted ways. With a crisp "ting" sound, Gao Fei felt his hands slightly numb, and he saw that the steel hilt of Zhang Long's spear had been chopped by Zhang Liang's large knife, leaving a small wound. He couldn't help but secretly admire Zhang Liang's strength.

  Turning his horse's head around, Zhang Liang swung his large blade down to the ground, grasping the hilt in his hand, and charged directly at Gao Fei.

  Gao Fei had only experienced one horse battle, and seeing Zhang Liao dragging his large sword with the back of the blade facing down and the edge facing up, he secretly felt a shock in his heart: "Could this be the legendary 'dragging knife tactic'?"

  Before he could think much, Zhang Liang had already arrived by his side. He saw that Zhang Liang's hands suddenly grasped the hilt of his knife and slashed down fiercely with the large blade in his hand.

  Gao Fei hastily raised his spear, and with a loud "clang", he immediately felt an overwhelming force on his hands, like a thousand pounds falling from the sky. His arms couldn't support it, and slowly, Zhang Liang's blade pressed down on him. He gritted his teeth, using all his might, but was still at a disadvantage. He could feel his spear slowly falling, and in just another moment, the blade would inevitably press against his shoulder.

  He saw a strange smile on Zhang Liang's face, and before he could react, the force on the dragon gun suddenly disappeared, a chill ran down the gun handle to his neck, and a cold light flashed in front of his eyes. He hastily leaned his body back, the blade cut past his face, only 0.01 millimeters away from his nose, it was really close.

  Zhang Liang missed twice in a row, and his heart was suddenly filled with regret. However, the horse he was riding did not stop, and it carried his body forward. As soon as his body rose up on the horseback, he heard a loud shout of "turn back" from behind him. He was so frightened that his spine felt cold, and he quickly held the big knife horizontally across his back. However, he did not hear the expected sound of clashing weapons. Curious, he slightly turned his head, and his eyes were filled with confusion. Behind him was an empty horse, but Gao Fei, who had been fighting him, was nowhere to be seen.

  "What's going on?" Zhang Liang was shocked and hastily pulled the reins of his horse, shouting out in alarm.

  Suddenly, he felt a black shadow blocking the light in front of him. Terrified, he abruptly raised his head and saw a long spear thrusting towards him. Gao Fei, who was fighting with him, descended from mid-air. Before he could turn the big knife on his back to block it, he heard a dull thud and felt something hard pierce into his left chest, penetrating his heart and coming out from his back. His face contorted in agony as he fell off the horseback and heavily crashed onto the ground. After convulsing for a few moments, he stopped moving altogether.

  "Hurray! Hurray!" After a moment of silence, an unprecedented cheer suddenly erupted from the Han army's formation.

  Gao Fei landed on the ground, pulled out his own Dragon Gun from Zhang Liang's corpse, and immediately a hot blood flew out of Zhang Liang's chest, splashing Gao Fei's face. Fresh blood dripped to his mouth, he stuck out his tongue and lightly licked it, salty and fishy, he turned his head, coldly seeing the bandits at the city gate were filled with fear, he drew out his own waist sword, cut off Zhang Liang's head, held it high, and loudly shouted: "Who else?"

  The shout was like a rolling thunderclap, stunning the enemy soldiers in front of them.

  On the city wall, Zhang Bao saw this tragic scene, slowly closed his eyes, and two hot tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. With a sorrowful and indignant mood, he faintly shouted: "The whole army retreats into the city and holds it tightly without fighting!"

  The order was then issued and the rebel troops retreated into the city, closing the city gates and not daring to come out again.

  In the Han army formation, Liu Bei let out a soft sigh and said nothing.

  Guan Yu and Zhang Fei heard Liu Bei's sigh, as if they had sensed their elder brother's mood. Guan Yu said in a low voice: "Elder brother need not worry, that Zhang Bao dare not come out lightly, when the time comes to attack the city, I will surely cut off Zhang Bao's dog head and present it to you."

  "Hmph!" Zhang Fei let out a heavy sigh, urged his horse forward, and arrived at Gao's side. He shouted loudly: "Gao, my younger brother, you're quite majestic today! Didn't we agree that Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao would be left for me to kill?"

  Gao Feng turned his head to see Zhang Fei's furious face, and smiled: "Wing De brother, I had no choice either. In that situation just now, if I didn't kill him, he would have killed me for sure. How about this, let Zhang Bao be left for Wing De brother to kill?"

  Zhang Fei looked up at Zhang Bao who was still grieving on the city wall and said: "Alright, I'll go challenge them to battle!"

  As his voice fell, Zhang Fei opened his throat and shouted loudly at the Yellow Turbans in the city: "Zhang Bao! Your brothers are all dead, you also come out quickly to die, and the road to the Netherworld will not be lonely!"

  The city gate was completely still, without a single echo.

  "Zhang Bao! You turtle with your head in your shell, come out and meet your death!" Zhang Fei saw that no one answered, so he shouted again.

  The city was still quiet, Zhang Bao stood on the city wall, speechless, his eyes filled with blood and anger burning within.

  Gao Fei carried Zhang Liang's head and walked to his horse, mounted it, and rode back to the formation.

  Guan Hai responded, took a glance at Zhang Liang's corpse, and asked: "Sir, how should the bandit leader's corpse be handled?"

  "Just leave it there and let the bandits deal with it themselves." Gao Fei said.

  The sound of Zhang Fei's shouting echoed in his ears again, followed by a string of curses. However, no matter how much Zhang Fei shouted and cursed, Zhang Bao did not come out, and the city gate remained tightly closed.

  By noon, Zhang Fei's throat was already hoarse from shouting, he wiped the sweat off his forehead, rode back to the formation, with a face full of anger, and cursed loudly: "I'm so angry! Those damned enemy soldiers won't come out!"

  Liu Bei rode his horse to the side of Gao Fei, cupped his hands and said: "Sir, it's almost noon. It seems that Zhang Bao will not come out to fight today. If he is prepared to defend the city, our army is clearly insufficient. Why don't we temporarily return to camp and deliberate for a long time?"

  Gao Fei nodded and ordered: "Return to camp!"

  On the way back, Gaofei was secretly observing Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. The facial expressions of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had already revealed their hearts, one squinting with a nonchalant attitude, while the other was grumbling all the way, but Liu Bei's face was expressionless, his eyes didn't show any unusualness, as if nothing had happened earlier.

  "People like that are often the most difficult to deal with, I can't figure out what's on his mind, so I don't know how to take medicine for the symptoms. It seems that in order to subdue Liu Bei, we need to plan for a long time." Gao Fei thought slowly.