Although he determined that the unscrupulous son-in-law was just sowing discord, for the sake of caution, while continuing to let Zhang He be responsible for the defense of the east gate of Hangu Pass, Boss Cao still let his trusted guard Huben Battalion take over the control of the gate, explaining that without his own personal According to the order, not even Zhang He has the authority to open the Hangu Pass. In this regard, Zhang He also said that Boss Cao was being cautious and unsuspectingly handed over the key to the door that he was originally in charge of. He had no idea that he had actually missed death - if Zhang He had no idea about handing over control of the door. If there is any objection, Dian Weike, who was ordered to ask for the key, will take down Zhang He without hesitation and even behead him on the spot!
We can't blame Boss Cao for being suspicious. It's really that Cao Jun's current situation can't stand the tossing. In addition, Zhang He was originally a surrendered general who surrendered from Yuan Sangong. There are a large number of former colleagues who are acting as accomplices and lackeys for Deputy Director Tao. What's going on with Li Xia in Gua Tian? You have to be careful. So Boss Cao said he believed in Zhang He, but in fact he was still a little worried. It wasn't until he confirmed that Zhang He handed over the key to the door without hesitation that Boss Cao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Zhang Junyi will live up to me."
"Lord, if there is really a traitor in Guanzhong, as long as you have the military power, it doesn't seem to matter whether you have the key or not." Confidential Secretary Sima Lang reminded carefully, and then suggested: "For the sake of caution, should you send more troops to General Zhang He?" Several people?"
Boss Cao was silent after hearing this, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "No, if I send someone to Jun Yi at this time, Jun Yi will think that he has lost trust, which is not good."
Sima Lang lowered his head and said nothing, but he was snoring in his heart. It was determined that Boss Cao was cunning and suspicious, and he refused his proposal in words, but secretly he might not secretly strengthen surveillance on Zhang He. At this time, it was already halfway through the second watch, and Boss Cao, who had not rested for more than a day, could not resist the invasion of sleepiness. He coughed and put down the official document in his hand, pointed to the mountains of official bamboo slips on the desk, and ordered Sima Lang: "Boda, distribute the official documents that I have read. I will read the rest tomorrow. Then you can go and rest."
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Boss Cao then ordered Dian Wei who was guarding the door: "Jun Ming, remember, tell the guards to wake me up at five o'clock. Don't miss it."
"My lord, you are not in good health. You haven't rested for more than a day. Get more sleep." Dian Wei kindly suggested: "How about asking the guards to wake you up at the end of the day?"
"There are too many things to do, so I don't dare to sleep too much." Boss Cao sighed. Dian Wei allowed him to help him get up, undressed and lay down on the bed in the study. Sima Lang, who was also exhausted, quickly packed up the official documents that Boss Cao had reviewed, saluted and said goodbye to Boss Cao, and went back to his room to rest. Dian Wei Then he slept in the outside room of Boss Cao's study, and used a listening urn as a pillow very carefully to ensure that he would be able to detect outsiders approaching Boss Cao's bedroom at the first time.
Because he was sick and tired, Boss Cao fell into a deep sleep not long after he lay in bed. However, just as Boss Cao's snoring sounded, there was suddenly a thunderous drum sound in the valley of Hangu Pass, and the gongs and drums shook the sky. The horns continued, and the sound amplified through the mountains and cliffs on both sides of the canyon. It shook the Hanguan Canyon and turned it upside down. The grass and trees were thick, and Boss Cao, who was awake from his sleep, suddenly jumped up from his gums and shouted: "Come here! Come quickly! What happened?"
"My lord, it seems there is an enemy attack." Dian Wei entered the room and said.
"Quick, follow me to the gate and check the situation."
Boss Cao hurriedly went to get his armor and put it on, but Dian Wei hurriedly stopped him and said, "My lord, you can rest in peace. General Zhang He and his troops are guarding the gate, so nothing will happen."
"No, Tao Thief likes tricks when it comes to military use. He won a big victory during the day. He thinks we might take it lightly tonight and launch a sneak attack overnight." Boss Cao flatly refused and insisted on putting on his armor and going out. Dian Wei had no choice but to , and had no choice but to quickly lead a team of guards to escort Boss Cao out and visit the wall to observe the enemy's situation in person.
When they arrived at the east gate, Cao Jun's troops guarding the gate were already on full alert. The gatekeepers drew their bows and arrows and pointed them at the dark outside of the gate. The reserve team gathered under the gate to prepare for orders. Zhang He also walked out of the city tower and was leading the troops in person. Close the wall and prepare to defend against the enemy. Seeing that his army was well guarded, Boss Cao was quite satisfied. He praised a few of his generals who led the reserve team to quickly assemble. He quickly went to the wall to understand the situation. He bowed to Zhang He who came over and asked, "How is it? Have you spotted the enemy team?¡±
"My lord, I only heard the horns and gongs and drums, but I didn't see the enemy." Zhang He replied truthfully.
No enemy was found, but Boss Cao's face became more serious. He personally observed that except for the thunderous drums, there were indeed no enemies in the valley. Boss Cao still refused to rest assured, and arranged for scouts to use ropes to descend the pass and carry torches to the dark place. After reconnaissance, it turned out that the scouts had just descended from the wall, and the sound of war drums and horns in the valley road suddenly stopped, and there was no more movement. Boss Cao calculated carefully,He soon understood the evil intentions of his unworthy son-in-law, and immediately cursed: "Damn you, Tao Thief, you actually used the tactic of exhausting your troops to make our army restless day and night."
"Please rest assured, my lord." Zhang He consoled him: "Hangu Pass is strong, and our army has enough troops to guard the pass. We will arrange for the team to take turns to rest and prepare for war, so that the Tao Thief's plan of exhausting the troops cannot succeed. Even if the Tao Thief If a truth suddenly appears among ten falsehoods, our army can immediately meet the enemy."
"Very good, that's how it should be." Boss Cao nodded with satisfaction. At this moment, Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others had already reached the Guanqiang. After meeting with Boss Cao, they all agreed that this was the Xuzhou Army's plan to weaken the troops. The army had no peace day and night, and could not rest peacefully. After many repetitions, it suddenly happened again, and together with Boss Cao, they cursed Deputy Director Tao for being despicable and shameless, and then asked Boss Cao to go back to Guancheng to rest.
It was night, and the Xuzhou Army was making a fuss almost every half hour. They were beating gongs and drums to disrupt Cao's army's rest. As a result, although Cao's army relied on the strong walls to take turns to rest and take turns to be on guard, they were not defeated by the Xuzhou Army's exhausted soldiers. The impact is too great. The sick and tired Boss Cao himself suffered a serious crime. He was awakened six or seven times in one night by the gongs and drums of the Xuzhou Army. Every time he was awakened, he had to listen carefully to the movements outside the pass until it was confirmed that the Xuzhou Army had not launched an attack. I just dared to fall asleep in a daze, and then I was woken up again not long after, and I was almost sleepless all night.
Deputy Director Tao's dirty tricks were not over yet. The next morning, when Boss Cao had just fallen asleep exhausted, there were messengers rushing outside the door to report that Deputy Director Tao had sent General Zhao Yun to lead an army of 3,000 troops. When he came to the pass to fight, Boss Cao, who could hardly open his eyes, was startled at first, and his sleepiness suddenly disappeared, and then he ordered Zhang He to only guard the pass. No fighting allowed. However, after the messenger took the order and left. I don¡¯t know how much time passed, but loud and clear shouts came from outside the pass again, "Cao Mengde! Come out and die! Cao Mengde! Come out and die!"
"What happened?" Boss Cao, who was awakened again, jumped up again and listened carefully to the content of the shout outside the gate. Boss Cao breathed a sigh of relief. He lay down again and rested. He also ordered that unless the Xuzhou Army sent troops to attack the key points, it was not allowed to disturb him.
Seeing that Boss Cao was sick, tired and tired, Dian Wei, Guo Jia and others naturally couldn't bear to disturb Boss Cao's rest. However, Boss Cao's unfaithful son-in-law's accomplice and lackey were not so considerate, and shouted provocatively twice. After noon, there was a loud thunder sound outside Hangu Pass, which was louder than thunder. Boss Cao was shocked. He quickly jumped up from the bed and asked why, but Dian Wei and others didn't know. Boss Cao had no choice but to wash his face with cold water to wake himself up, and then personally led everyone to the customs for inspection.
The thunderous noise was the sound of gunpowder exploding. In order to disgust the father-in-law who refused to admit that he was his son-in-law, Deputy Director Tao asked Zhao Yun's team to bring some gunpowder, ignited it outside the customs, and made a loud noise to disturb Boss Cao using the echo of the valley. When Degui came to ask for details, Boss Cao gritted his teeth with hatred and cursed: "You damn traitor! There are so many tricks! But don't let me be fooled. I just won't go out to fight. Let's see what you do!" After finishing the scolding, Boss Cao bent down and coughed painfully.
Because the camp had not yet been established and the siege weapons had not been built, in the next three days, the Xuzhou army never launched even a single attack on Hangu Pass. However, every night, Deputy Director Tao had to send out Hundreds of soldiers beat gongs and drums every half an hour to disturb Cao's army; they also sent troops to fight at Hangu Pass every day, shouting slogans in unison to disturb the defenders in Guanzhong, and from time to time during the day or night Fire a cannon and make a loud noise to disturb the enemies in the pass, putting Cao's troops in a state of tension day and night.
Deputy Director Tao's actions naturally had almost no impact on Cao Jun's troops. With more than 20,000 defenders only needing to defend the 1,800-meter-long wall, Cao Jun's troops could easily take turns to rest and prepare for battle, keeping their spirits high. The impact on the state and physical condition can be said to be minimal. But for Boss Cao, who is the commander-in-chief of the entire army, such harassment tactics are simply hellish torture. Every time the Xuzhou Army makes trouble and harasses Boss Cao, he has to pay attention and be awakened one night. This time, there was no chance to rest peacefully during the day. Therefore, after three days of this, Mr. Cao, who was already ill, was inevitably haggard, his condition became worse day by day, and his physical condition became even worse.
It was also on the fourth day, when the messengers again reported that Deputy Director Tao had sent Zhang Nan to the pass to fight, Boss Cao, whose eyes were already bloodshot, finally came to his senses and exclaimed: "Thief Tao is so busy day and night. If you continue to disturb our army, could it be that the target is not our army, but me?"
"My lord, did you just think of this?" Guo Jia said with a wry smile: "Tao Thief knew that you were seriously ill, so he sent his troops to take turns in the battle, disturbing our troops day and night, for no other reason than to make your condition worse. Therefore, I have repeatedly advised you not to pay attention to it in the past few days and let you have a good rest.If you don¡¯t listen, look for a bronze mirror and take a look at it. How haggard and emaciated are you now? "
Boss Cao was speechless, and after a while he sighed: "You are really a filial son-in-law. He was afraid that I would die too late, so he used such a cheap trick to make me die early."
"My lord, otherwise you move to the west gate." Guo Jia suggested: "Go to the west gate of Hangu Pass to rest and station. The noise there is much quieter. You can rest assured and have a good rest. We will report to you immediately if anything happens."
Boss Cao was a little hesitant. After thinking about it for a long time, he was about to accept Guo Jia's kindness. There were soldiers flying on horseback outside the door to report that it was the Xuzhou Army who shot an arrow at the east gate of Hangu Pass, indicating that it was Zhang Nan, the former general of Jizhou. A letter written to his former colleague Zhang He. Boss Cao was very angry when he heard the report and said: "It must be a surrender. Don't worry, Zhang Junyi will send me a letter."
What surprised Boss Cao was that after waiting for a long time, Zhang He never sent the letter. Boss Cao felt strange. In order to take precautions, he had to quickly lead Dian Wei and others to Guanqiang and question Zhang He face to face about this incident. Zhang He then replied: "My lord, this is true, but although the enemies below the city shouted that there was a letter on the arrow, the arrow flew outside the city, and the general did not find the letter on the arrow, so the arrow book could not be kept intact. Send it to the Lord in a hurry."
"There is no letter on the arrow?" Boss Cao was a little suspicious.
"No." Zhang He also knew that this matter was difficult to explain, so he immediately called a few soldiers. He explained to Boss Cao: "My Lord, you can ask them. In the end, the general sent them into the city to look for the Arrow Book, and ordered them to send it to the Lord immediately after getting the Arrow Book, and they were not allowed to read a word in the book. As a result, although they found Zhang Nan with a strong The crossbow fired arrows into the city. But no letter was seen on the arrows."
Several of Zhang He¡¯s soldiers all spoke up to testify. It was said that a few of them entered the city to find crossbows. No letter was found on the arrows, but the arrows shot into the city by the Xuzhou army's powerful crossbows were presented to Boss Cao for personal inspection. Boss Cao took the ordinary crossbow and turned it upside down and looked at it for a long time. He finally came to his senses and gritted his teeth and said, "It must be another treacherous plot by Tao Thief. He made people deliberately shout that there was a letter on the arrow, but then shot an ordinary crossbow arrow into my heart, just to make me doubt you and Zhang He." He is in cahoots with Tao! The damned little traitor, using an arrow to write a letter that does not exist, is simply more ruthless than wiping out a book to create a rift between enemies!"
After struggling to pull the crossbow arrow into two pieces, he threw it down the wall. Boss Cao shouted angrily: "Send me an order. From now on, any envoy of the traitor Tao Ying will come near the wall, regardless of whether he is carrying a weapon or holding a white flag. Shoot them all away with arrows!"
Zhang He and other generals sang their promises, and Cao Lao went down to the wall again and returned to his room to rest. On the way back to the room, Sima Lang caught the opportunity and whispered in Cao Lao's ear: "Master, is the arrow on the arrow?" There is indeed a letter, please be careful about this, my lord, those soldiers who picked up the arrows are all General Zhang He's personal soldiers."
Boss Cao stopped for a moment, glanced at Sima Lang, and then gritted his teeth and said: "The Chinese army camp will not be moved. I'd better live near the east gate, so don't worry!"
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden loud thunder from the east outside the pass, and then the Xuzhou Army officers made a loud noise, pretending to be attacking the pass. Boss Cao subconsciously looked back at the east gate wall and sighed: "Traitor, look Come on, you are determined to exhaust me, my father-in-law, to death."
Before he finished speaking, Boss Cao suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground. When Dian Wei and others rushed to rescue Boss Cao, they saw that Boss Cao's face was as golden as paper and his breath was dying. He had already passed out on the spot ¡
¡¡¡¡
When Boss Cao was rescued, it was already nighttime. Seeing Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Dian Wei and others waiting beside him, with tears on their faces, Boss Cao felt quite sad without realizing it, and asked with difficulty: " What time is it? How is the closing situation?"
"My lord, it's already halfway through the second watch." Guo Jia choked and replied: "Everything is as usual behind closed doors. Apart from disturbing our army from time to time, Tao's soldiers and horses have not launched any attack, so lord, there is no need to worry."
"Traitor." Mr. Cao cursed and said with difficulty: "This traitor, if he really comes to attack the problem, my situation may be better. But with this disturbing tactic, I will be unable to resist. Fengxiao, Zhongde, can you Do you have any clever ideas to break the Tao Thief¡¯s disturbing tactics?¡±
"My lord, you might as well send an army to camp at the entrance of the valley to form a buffer." Cheng Yu said with tears: "In this way, at least my lord, you can get a chance to rest."
"In order for me to rest, do we have to sacrifice hundreds of soldiers?" Boss Cao smiled bitterly and said: "Our army's combat strength is no longer what it used to be. Without the protection of the wall of Hangu Pass, how many troops can be sent to the entrance of the valley? Setting up camp is just a matter of death."
"But my lord, we can't go on like this." Cheng Yu cried loudly and said: "Hangu Pass is built in the valley, and the Tao thieves only need to send hundreds of people in the valley road.Drums and disturbances can make the mountains echo and shake our army. My lord, if you don't send soldiers and horses to fight and stop us, you won't have time to recuperate your golden body. "
Boss Cao still shook his head, refusing to sacrifice his army to get some sleep for himself. During the argument, Boss Cao coughed violently again. This time, his throat was clogged with phlegm and he couldn't cough it out. His throat was full of grunting sounds. Cheng Yu and others were shocked. Shocked, he could only ask the maid to guide Boss Cao's phlegm, but the maid was weak and could not suck out the thick phlegm from Boss Cao's mouth. Dian Wei was so anxious that he quickly lifted the maid and threw it aside, and put it to Boss Cao's mouth himself. , used his superhuman lung capacity to absorb carbon for Boss Cao, and finally sucked out the phlegm from Boss Cao's throat, allowing Boss Cao to resume normal breathing.
"Jun Ming." Boss Cao said with difficulty: "In the future, let others do this kind of thing, so as not to infect you."
"I am not afraid, general!" Dian Wei said loudly: "As long as my lord is healthy and can continue to lead us to kill enemies and thieves, I will be willing to contract tuberculosis."
Boss Cao smiled bitterly and asked himself in his heart: "Do I still have hope of victory? The Tao thieves are not inferior to me in treachery, and their military strength is far superior to mine. They also took advantage of my weak point of being seriously ill and pursued me fiercely. In the face of such an enemy, can I repeat the miracle of Guandu?"
"Boom!" Suddenly there was another loud noise outside the pass, and then there was the earth-shattering sound of war drums and horns. It was obvious that Deputy Director Tao's accomplice and lackey were greeting the father-in-law on behalf of the leader again. Hearing this voice, the dying Boss Cao couldn't muster the energy to pay attention to the enemy. He just coughed in pain and shook his head slightly. Dian Wei was furious and jumped up and said: "My lord, please rest peacefully. I will take three hundred tiger warriors out at the end." Kill all these Tao thieves' lackeys who are pretending to be gods and ghosts for you!"
Having said that, Dian Wei immediately strode out of the room without waiting for Boss Cao to agree. Boss Cao sighed helplessly at first, then suddenly remembered something, and coughed even more violently. While coughing in pain, he wanted to call Dian Wei back. , but couldn't say a complete sentence. Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others quickly gave Boss Cao a pat on the back and comforted him: "Don't worry, my lord, our army's scouts have already found out that the Tao thieves only send a few hundred people on the valley road each time." General Dian will not be in danger if there is any noise and disturbance."
"Cough cough cough" After coughing painfully for a long time, Boss Cao finally shouted out the complete words in a vague manner, "Confused! Dian Wei is the captain in front of my tent. He personally led his troops to fight with the enemy. Tao Thief will soon You can understand that I can no longer bear the harassment! In the future, I will only carry out the disturbing tactics to the end! Call Dian Wei back immediately, come back!"
After being reminded by Boss Cao, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and others came to their senses and quickly sent people out to chase Dian Wei. However, it was too late. Dian Wei had already led 300 elite soldiers out of the east gate of Hangu Pass and shouted at the Xuzhou military drum and buglers. Kill in the direction where they are, and because the east gate of Hangu Pass is controlled by soldiers from the Huben Battalion under Dian Wei, Dian Wei rushes out of the Hangu Pass gate smoothly. The messenger who did not receive the order from Boss Cao was stopped by the Huben Battalion. Inside the gate, he could not get out to catch up with Dian Wei's team.
The news was sent back to Boss Cao's ward. Boss Cao coughed up blood again and said helplessly: "Let the envoy take my orders and go out to chase Dian Wei and tell him not to chase Dian Wei out of the valley. Then let Xiahou Ba lead an army of three thousand and leave the pass. Accompany Dian Wei, if the Tao thieves are ambushing me, I will rescue Dian Wei no matter what the cost!"
That night, Dian Wei led his army to attack the drum and trumpet troops of the Xuzhou Army. As a result, the soles of his feet were injured by the horse nails scattered by the Xuzhou Army Drum and Bugle Corps in the valley. The horse nails were connected in long strings with thin ropes and laid out. In the narrow valley, it can not only prevent enemy surprise attacks, but also can take them all away at any time to avoid accidentally injuring your own soldiers.
After being injured, Dian Wei endured the pain and continued to lead his troops in pursuit, but the Xuzhou Drum and Bugle Corps had already bought time to retreat, and quickly exited the narrow valley with horns, gongs, drums and other items. Dian Wei, furious, led his troops to chase out of the valley, but the result was that At the entrance of the valley, he was ambushed by the Xuzhou Army's relief team and fell into a fierce battle. During this period, although Dianwei killed many Xuzhou soldiers, he still did not dare to fight because of the overwhelming number of Xuzhou's main soldiers. After receiving Xiahou Ba's response, Dian Wei immediately After returning to the valley road, Xuzhou's army pursued the valley road again and had a chaotic battle with Cao's army.
In this battle, due to the bravery of Dian Wei's troops, Xuzhou's army suffered a small loss, with dozens more people killed than Cao's troops. However, just as Boss Cao was worried, he heard that it was Dian Wei himself who led the army to attack him. After the team, Deputy Director Tao immediately clapped and laughed, saying: "Dian Wei jumped over the wall in a hurry, which proves that it works. My father-in-law is exhausted. There is hope." (To be continued)