"General Qiyu, I just received a detailed report, the day before yesterday, Guan Yu had led 30,000 Jingzhou troops to Xiangyang to kill, and now his forward army has passed the ...... of Dangyang Changsaka."

On the fifth day after Cao Cao's troops entered Hanzhong, Cao Ren, who was in Fancheng, also received the news that Guan Yu was attacking.

"What, 30,000 troops? In this way, Guan Yu is planning to seize my Xiangyang Fancheng in one fell swoop this time? ”

Knowing that Guan Yu had brought 30,000 troops to attack, Cao Ren couldn't help but feel a sinking in his heart.

You must know that although he, the general of Zhengnan, has more than 30,000 troops on his books, but that is only on the books.

Not to mention that these troops were all stationed in various parts of Nanyang, Nanxiang, and Jiangxia counties, just to ensure the safety of the grain road to Hanzhong, he had to send thousands of troops to clear out the bandits in Lu Hun and Jiaxia who suddenly swarmed some time ago.

Therefore, at this time, the troops he could really call on were only more than 10,000, and they were still stationed in Wancheng, Fancheng and Xiangyang. It can be said that in terms of the comparison of forces, he is at a complete disadvantage at this time.

"Guan Yu is powerful, our army is insufficient at this time, if we go out of the city to fight with it, it is really difficult to have a chance of winning, it seems that we can only rely on the city for the time being!"

After thinking about it for a while, Cao Rendang made the decision to stick to it.

"What General Zixiao said is very true, Guan Yunchang has always been brave and strategic, and now that the army is superior, it is really not possible to underestimate the enemy, so it is better to hold on for the time being!"

Regarding Cao Ren's decision, Manzhong, who joined the army, also nodded in agreement.

"However, guarding the danger must be guarded, Xiangyang Fancheng is each other's horns, Fancheng has Han water as a basis, and there is no need to worry for the time being. It's Xiangyang...... If Xiangyang is lost, the horns will inevitably be broken, and Fancheng will not be able to protect it at that time...... Boning, you guard Fancheng, I personally go to guard Xiangyang Town! ”

In the end, just in case, after leaving Manzhong to guard Fancheng, Cao Ren himself crossed the Han River in person, planning to guard Xiangyang with the deputy generals Zhai Yuan and Lu Chang to defend the second master.

……

"General, the art of war has clouds to guard the danger but not to defend the sky, and as the saying goes, 'The water comes to the earth and the soil is flooded, and the soldiers will meet it in the future'. No matter how strong he Guan Yu is, he will march for several days from Jiangling. Our army is waiting for work at ease, so why not take advantage of the fact that its foothold is not stable and it has not time to breathe...... It's better than holding on to ...... city."

In Xiangyang City, Zhai Yuan saw that Cao Ren led thousands of troops to come, but under the great increase in confidence, he was unwilling to defend it all the time, and planned to frustrate the second master's spirit first.

"Well, this is very true, it's better to frustrate his Guan Yu's sharpness first!"

Hearing Zhai Yuan's proposal, Cao Ren, who came to help Xiangyang with the idea of 'guarding the danger but not guarding the throne', agreed to this proposal. After leaving Lu Chang to lead more than 1,000 soldiers and horses to defend the city, he and Zhai Yuan led the remaining 5,000 soldiers and horses out of the city to meet the second master.

"Hehe, this Cao Ren deceived me and was tired from afar! Ordered Yuan Jian and Xingguo to order the two of them to only lose but not win in this battle......"

After receiving the news that Cao Jun had left the city from the scout Kuaima, he only had an insight into Cao Ren's plan in an instant, and he couldn't help but feel a move in his heart, and a plan to quickly seize the city came to mind.

Speaking of which, although the second master does not get along very well with his colleagues because of his arrogance, he is still very good in terms of his ability to lead troops in battle. Otherwise, Liu Bei would not have let him take charge of Jingzhou alone.

……

"Cao Ren, dare to fight in front of me!"

In front of the two armies, while both sides were reorganizing their military formations, Liao Hua, who received the order of the second master to defeat and not win, came to the front of the two armies on horseback at this moment, and launched an invitation to fight against Cao Ren with his three-pointed and two-edged knife.

"This thief will stall for time, trying to give the sergeant a respite. Zhai Yuan, you first pretend to fight with him, and then I take the opportunity to lead the army to cover up! ”

Seeing that Liao Hua actually played with the pre-battle generals who had been eliminated for I don't know how many years, Cao Ren, who thought he had seen through the other party's plan, suddenly thought about it and planned to make a plan.

"The nameless person is also worthy of fighting with my general, see if someone takes your head!"

Zhai Yuan, who got Cao Ren's order, did not shirk, and even waved the spear in his hand and rode his horse towards Liao Hua to kill him.

"Dangdangdang......"

In the blink of an eye, just in front of these two armies, a heads-up of generals who had been eliminated for a long time was staged like this.

It's just that what people didn't expect was that the two had just fought each other, but Liao Hua, who was proud and confident before, immediately exposed the essence of his 'embroidered pillow', and was killed by Zhai Yuan in just a few moves, without the slightest power to fight back.

"Haha, I think you have the ability to dare to make such wild words, and you want to fight with my general with this little ability!"

Seeing that Liao Hua was so unbearable, Zhai Yuan couldn't help but laugh mockingly.

"Hmph, I'm not feeling well today, and I'll fight you tomorrow!"

Seeing that this heads-up was not an opponent, after reluctantly setting up the spear stabbed by Zhai Yuan, Liao Hua didn't care that his side's military formation had not yet been lined up at this moment, but he turned around and urged the horse to flee.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that seeing him fleeing, the Jingzhou army, which was commanding the following team by Guan Ping, also panicked, and the already unorganized army formation was even more chaotic.

"Kill !!"

Seeing that the other party fled with Liao Hua and caused the military formation to be unstable, how could Cao Ren let go of this good opportunity, when even with the Cao army behind him, took the opportunity to cover up.

……

"Where will the thief flee and die!"

More than forty miles south of Xiangyang City, the high-spirited Zhai Yuan looked at Liao Hua, who was caught up by him again, and when he shouted, he urged the horse to stab the spear.

Because the martial arts were too 'stretched', Liao Hua delayed the time before, but on the contrary, the morale of the Jingzhou army plummeted, and it collapsed at the first touch, and was defeated by Cao Ren, fleeing all the way.

And Liao Hua himself was targeted by Zhai Yuan, and he was defeated several times along the way, and each time he narrowly escaped with the help of Guan Ping.

"Haha, really when Lao Tzu is afraid of you, can't you?"

Just as the spear in Zhai Yuan's hand stabbed out, with a loud laugh, I saw that Liao Hua quickly turned the horse's head, and the hilt of the knife in his hand only gently picked up the spearhead and swept away the spearhead, and then it was extremely fast and slashed towards Zhai Yuan.

"Click!"

With a crisp sound, Liao Hua, who had been pressed and beaten before, cut off the spear in Zhai Yuan's hand with a single knife this time, and did a 'disemboweling operation' for him by the way.

Just kidding, although there is a saying in the original history that 'there is no general in Shu, Liao Hua is the vanguard', but compared to an unknown person like Zhai Yuan, Liao Hua is still much stronger.

"Knock knock!"

"Kill !!"

Just when Zhai Yuan was disemboweled and planted by Liao Hua, accompanied by the sound of drums and horns, bursts of shouts and killings came from both sides behind Cao Jun.

At the same time, the Jingzhou army, which had been chased and killed by Cao Jun and fled like rabbits, also immediately stopped fleeing after hearing the sound of drums and horns, and turned around and fought with Cao Jun like chicken blood.

"Hit the mark!"

When he was dying, Zhai Yuan realized that this was an ambush by the Jingzhou army.

……

"Go to Fancheng!"

A few miles south of Xiangyang City, looking at the green-robed general with a face like a heavy jujube and a horizontal knife at the wide-open city gate, Cao Ren, who finally broke through the encirclement with a rout, gritted his teeth, but urged the horse to rush towards the Han Shui on the right.

"Prince, I'm going to capture Cao Ren!"

Seeing Cao Ren who fled to the river with only more than a thousand defeated soldiers, Zhou Cangdang behind the second master wanted to capture Cao Ren.

"That's it, pass the order down, don't chase after it, let Cao Ren and these defeated soldiers cross the river with peace of mind!"

To the surprise of Zhou Cang and the generals, in the face of such a good opportunity to capture the enemy commander, the second master shook his head and gave the order to let Cao Ren cross the river.

"The prince has an order, let the Cao army cross the river, and no chase and kill!"

At this point, after only one battle, Xiangyang City, the former Jingzhou Governor's Office, was taken back into the palm of the second master with one blow!