Send troops out of the pass

  The next day, after waking up from his drunkenness, Cao Cao couldn't remember what had happened the night before. After dressing and grooming himself, he walked out of the door and saw that the sky was clear, the wind had stopped, the snow had ceased, and the sun shone brightly everywhere. He took a deep breath of the cold air and felt his head clear up. He pulled himself together and saw Ma Chao leading several officers to sweep away the accumulated snow in the courtyard, so he called him over.

  Ma Chao arrived at Cao Cao's side and bowed politely: "What are General Cao's orders?"

  Cao Cao opened his mouth and asked: "Where does your lord live?"

  Ma Jiu replied: "It's in the east wing."

  Cao Cao glanced at the room opposite, saw that the doors and windows were tightly closed, then looked up at the sky, estimated the time, and continued to ask: "Has Lord Hou gotten up?"

  "My lord usually retires late and rises early, at this hour he should be on the west gate tower. If General Cao wants to see my lord, I'll go call him back."

  Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "No need, I also want to go take a look at the scenery of Chen Cang, just head to the city gate yourself."

  As soon as the words fell, Cao Cao walked straight out of the county government office and arrived at the west gate of Chen Cang in a short while. He saw Gao Fei directing people to sweep away the snow. He beckoned to Gao Fei and shouted: "General Gao!"

  Gao Feng got up early and had nothing to do, so he strolled around the city. The large army in Chen Cang Shan had withdrawn, making the whole of Chen Cang seem empty and quiet. The 9,000 Han troops were fully stationed inside the city, but it didn't seem crowded. At this time, he heard someone calling him, turned his head, and saw Cao Cao walking towards him. He threw away the broom in his hand, went forward to greet him, and bowed: "Brother Meng De, you're awake?"

  Cao Cao also returned a courtesy, and then asked: "General Gao, as the Marquis of Anyi, should have left this matter of clearing snow to his subordinates. Why did you do it yourself?"

  Gao Xing heard Cao Cao always calling him General Gao, and couldn't help but feel a bit distant, so he smiled and said: "Brother Meng De, my name is Zi Yu, you can just call me by my name, no need to keep saying 'General' all the time. Or we can just address each other as brothers, that's fine too!"

  Cao Cao smiled and said: "It's just a slip of the tongue, can't change it now. Brother Ziyu, last night when we were drinking, did I say anything nonsense?"

  Gao Fei shook his head and said, "No, Brother Meng De is fine. By the way, Brother Meng De, do you have something important to discuss with me?"

  "Hmm, I'd like to discuss with you, younger brother, when we should send out our troops."

  Gao Fei looked around and said: "Brother Meng De, this is not a place to talk, let's go inside the county government office to discuss."

  The two returned to the county government office together, and Gao Fei had Ma Jiu call Fu Xie and Ge Xun again. The four of them sat inside the county government office, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then began discussing the main topic.

  "Fu Gong, Ge Gong, I suppose everyone is clear about General Huangfu's orders. Let's not beat around the bush. I just consulted with General Cao, and we plan to deploy troops tomorrow. However, we still need your assistance in providing banners, war drums, grain, and other supplies."

  Fu Xi lowered his eyelids and thought for a moment before asking: "How many sets of armor does the general need to purchase?"

  "At least 50,000!" Cao Cao stretched out five fingers and said, "The news of the 100,000-strong army pacifying Liangzhou must be known to the rebels. The previous deployment of Dong Zhuo and Bao Hong's 30,000 troops was just a show of force. Now that the 30,000 troops have been secretly transferred to the eastern front, in the eyes of the rebels, Chen Cang should have 50,000 troops. We will make it seem like we are advancing with 50,000 troops to deceive them. According to scouts' reports, there are only about 20,000 troops left in Hanyang, and most of the rest are in Anding, planning to march south from Anding after spring arrives. Therefore, this time we need to lure the troops from Anding over here."

  Fu Xi heard this, felt a bit strained, the flags, drums and other heavy equipment stored in the treasury were insufficient, his face looked slightly solemn, and he said: "General Cao, General Gao, can we delay for three days before sending troops?"

  Gao Fei hastily asked: "Lord Fu, is it true that there aren't as many banners in the treasury?"

  Fu Xie nodded and said, "Yes, the supplies in the treasury were brought back from Hanyang. The two million troops of the Han Yang Prefecture's regular army, the governor of Liangzhou, stored a large number of banners. But please rest assured, gentlemen, as long as you give me three days, I will definitely be able to make the banners that the two generals need."

  Cao Cao glanced at Gao Fei, saw Gao Fei nodding, and said: "Alright, Lord Fu, we will postpone the expedition for three days. All necessary supplies must be prepared in time. If we delay one day, we will also delay the capture of Liangzhou by one day."

  Fu Xiandao said: "General Cao, rest assured, I will definitely do my best."

  Gai Xun did not say a word, and after Fu Shuo finished speaking, he clasped his hands together and said: "General Cao, General Gao, I have a request to make, I don't know if the two generals can agree?"

  Gao Fei saw Gai Xun like this for the first time and asked: "Gai Zhangshi, if you have something to say, just say it, why are you being so evasive?"

  Gai Xun said: "Two generals, this time I want to go out with the troops, I wonder if you two generals can agree?"

  Cao Cao said: "One more person is equal to one more strength. We are short of manpower in our bluff, I have no opinion."

  "Since General Cao has no objection, I naturally won't have any either." Gao Fei said immediately afterwards.

  Gai Xun happily said: "Since it's like this, then I'll take my leave and thank the two generals first."

  After Ge Xun and Fu Xi left, Cao Cao asked: "Gao Xian-di, didn't you say you had 2,000 brothers-in-arms? It seems there isn't any extra military strength in the city?"

  Gao Fei laughed and said: "Brother Meng De, don't worry, when we send out the troops, naturally there will be two thousand people joining our ranks to boost our morale!"

  In the next three days, Fu Xi only mobilized 2,000 people and made many flags with old Han army uniforms, which were delivered to Gao Fei and Cao Cao as scheduled.

  Gao Fei, Cao Cao and Gai Xun immediately ordered the troops to set off. Every soldier carried a flag, except for the 500 light cavalrymen and 1,000 infantrymen at the front of the army. Almost everyone else was carrying large flags as they marched along the mountain path of Chencang, advancing westward in a majestic array that stretched out like a dragon.

  The troops marched forward for about fifty miles, and Gao Fei, Cao Cao, and Ge Xun saw from a distance a large black army with neat military appearance waiting by the side of the official road. The first person was Lu Heng, followed by Zhao Yun, Pang De, Hua Xiong, Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Guan Yu, Bian Xi, Pei Yuan Shao, Xia Hou Lan, and Li Wenhou, who were lined up in a row, with their soldiers neatly arranged behind them.

  Gai Xun suddenly saw the leaders of this large army and exclaimed: "General Gao, isn't that... aren't those the general's personal guards? How are they..."

  Before Gao Fei could respond, Lu Heng stepped forward and bowed his fist, saying: "Your subordinate Lu Heng pays respects to Your Excellency!"

  Zhao Yun and Pang De said in unison: "We pay our respects to Your Excellency!"

  Cao Cao's eyes were also filled with surprise, looking at the black-clad and black-armored warriors in front of him. Each person was tall and sturdy, with a resolute expression on their face. He never thought that such a majestic army would be Gao Fei's private soldiers. Apart from admiration, he felt more envy, and couldn't help but cup his hands and say: "General Gao, your private soldiers are not simple at all!"

  Gao Fei smiled and said, "These are all the fine soldiers I carefully selected from Liangzhou and trained. Let General Cao and Lord Gai see them."

  Gai Xun swept his gaze over the black-armored army, and whether it was their weapons or equipment, they were all impeccable. It wasn't something that could be accomplished with just money. His eyes suddenly stopped on a soldier's face, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "You're not Wang..."

  He had barely spoken halfway when he abruptly swallowed the second half of his sentence, saying nothing more, but instead turned his face to stare at Gao Fei with a very strange gaze, his eyes filled with anger, confusion and admiration!

  Cao Cao noticed something unusual, but he didn't say a word. He just whispered to Gao Fei: "General Gao, since the main force has arrived, let him join your team, one more person, one more strength."

  Gao Feng bowed and clasped his fists in respect, saying: "I beg of General Cao to lead the way ahead, I have a few words to say to my people."

  Cao Cao nodded and said: "General Gao, please go ahead!"

  Gai Xun spurred his horse forward and made a fist at Cao Cao, saying: "General Cao, I'm going to take care of this for you..."

  Cao Cao smiled and said in a loud voice: "Understood, Lord Gai, you may take your leave."

  The army continued to advance, following Cao Cao forward. Guan Yu stayed by the side of the road, raised his hand, and the Flying Feather Army stood upright by the side of the road, waiting for the army to pass by. Gai Xun came to Guan Yu's side, saw this black armored army, and found several familiar faces in this army, but also felt a sense of strangeness. Every person's eyes showed a hint of coldness, and their bodies did not hide the positive energy left after training.

  "Marquis Hou, you're hiding very deeply!" Gai Xun sneered and stared at Gao Fei, saying slowly.

  Gao Fei pretended to be unaware and asked: "What is Lord Ge referring to?"

  Gai Xun said: "Everyone is a sensible person, don't pretend to be confused in your heart. What I'm referring to, Lord Hou naturally understands in his heart. Since Lord Hou doesn't want to admit it, then let's just forget about it. However, Lord Hou doing this is really not showing enough brotherly affection. I thought that during these days of getting along with Lord Hou, we had all become good brothers, but unexpectedly in Lord Hou's heart, I am still an outsider, and even worse than County Lieutenant Ma Jiu!"

  Gao Fei had long expected this, and it was only a matter of time before the Flying Feather Troop surfaced. He didn't care about anything else, as he had already successfully deceived everyone and was now safe. The situation had already been set in motion, and the Flying Feather Troop was loyal only to him. What did he have to fear?

  Gao Fei pulled Gai Xun to one side and said slowly, "Lord Gai, it's not that I intentionally deceived you, but I had no choice. In order to train a truly elite army, I had to resort to this tactic. Moreover, both Lord Gai and Lord Fu are loyal and patriotic, if I had told them about this matter, would they have agreed? I'm not doing this for personal gain, but for the sake of the great Han dynasty. The rebellion in Liangzhou has caused the people to suffer, as a native of Liangzhou, I have an unshirkable responsibility."

  Gai Xun said: "The matter of the Liangzhou governor, have we two ever betrayed Lord Hou? Beforehand, Lord Hou did not discuss with us, how would he know that we wouldn't follow his orders? Now that things have passed, it's pointless to investigate further. I just want to let Lord Hou know that Gai Xun is not someone who doesn't know how to adapt."