In the battle of Hangu Pass, Cao Jun's team was extremely aggrieved and depressed. The losses were far greater than Cao Jun's decision-makers imagined, because the terrain of Hangu Pass was placed here, and the widest part was only more than ten meters.

The valley road is more than ten miles long, and there is basically no space or room for detours in the valley. As long as Cao Jun's troops do not take the risk of rushing out of the valley road, the Xuzhou army has almost no chance to surround and annihilate a large number of Cao Jun troops.

So before that, Cao Jun's decision-makers unanimously determined that even the treacherous Deputy Director Tao suspected that Boss Cao was faking his death to lure the enemy, and deployed a large army to support the surprise attack on the army.

It is difficult for the soldiers of the Pass to cause heavy losses to Cao's army. As long as Cao's troops do not chase after the pass and go deep into the open area east of the narrow valley, no matter how many ambushes the Xuzhou army deploys or how many elite troops are dispatched,

, Cao's army can also take advantage of the terrain advantage to return to Hangu Pass calmly without incurring heavy losses.

But poor Boss Cao and Guo Jia, what Cheng Yu never imagined was that Deputy Director Tao would be so vicious and sinister that he would let all his sneak attack team wear Cao army uniforms and use the night and thick smoke to cover up the chaos.

Entering the ranks of Cao's army leaving the Pass, Cao Cao was so tortured that he did not dare to let the troops leaving the Pass return to Guancheng and escape for their lives!

As a result, all Cao Cao's wishful thinking was completely in vain. Since the strength of the troops was far inferior to that of the Xuzhou army, he was forced to let Zhang Liao's team engage in field battles with the main force of Xuzhou, or within Zhang Liao's team.

Mixed with a large number of Xuzhou troops, a decisive battle was launched with the main force of the Xuzhou army outside the pass. After the battle, nearly 7,000 Cao troops went out to fight, but less than 1,500 were able to escape back to Hangu Pass. The rest were not

Being captured means being annihilated by the Xuzhou Army. Among the casualties were a large number of the main combatants in Zhang Liao's team, as well as Zhang Liao's deputy Feng Kai.

Fortunately for Mr. Cao, whose talents were declining day by day, two generals, Xiahou Shang and Niu Gai, successfully escaped back to Hangu Pass. With the help of ropes, General Zhang Liao also managed to escape back to the pass wall -

-The price was that all the dozens of soldiers who covered Zhang Liao's retreat were killed in battle. Zhang Liao, who was tied to a rope by the soldiers at the same time, was also shot by Xuzhou Army's bow and arrow when he was going to the pass, and suffered considerable injuries.

About one-fifth of the team was lost in one breath. The vitality of Mr. Cao, who had already been damaged beyond repair, was so optimistic and free-spirited that he was so angry that he coughed up blood on the spot. His condition worsened and he almost fainted on the wall. The grief, anger and pain

In addition, Boss Cao is inevitably a little suspicious and surprised. He is not sure where he exposed his flaw, so that the unscrupulous son-in-law completely concluded before the war that he was just cheating his death to lure the enemy? He arranged such a shameless and extremely vicious plan to entrap the enemy.

Own?

Killing one thousand enemies and damaging eight hundred. Although the Xuzhou Army had the upper hand from beginning to end during this battle, because Zhang Liao's team fought desperately to resist, the Xuzhou Army also paid a lot of effort in this battle.

At the cost, more than 1,800 soldiers died in battle. Of the 500 elite soldiers who put on Cao's uniform and infiltrated into the enemy group, less than 200 returned to the main force. Among the more than 300 internal soldiers who died, there were quite a few.

Most of them died under the swords and arrows of Xuzhou Army officers and soldiers. With full control of the initiative, the casualty ratio was only one to three compared to the weaker enemy. It was definitely a tragic victory.

Regardless of a big victory or a tragic victory, it is always a happy event to win a battle. Therefore, after the war, when the Xuzhou army was cleaning the battlefield, the whole team was still full of festive atmosphere, and many Xuzhou soldiers used their taunting skills.

Outside the range of the wall, they shouted and cursed, provoking Cao Jun's troops who were hiding in the pass and did not dare to show their faces. Some Xuzhou soldiers with a reckless character pulled out a Cao Jun soldier who was hiding in a pile of corpses and pretended to be dead, pulled him to the pass and beat him.

He was kicked, tortured and humiliated to punish him for hiding. At the same time, he vigorously provoked Cao's army on the wall.

The reckless behavior of these Xuzhou soldiers was quickly stopped by Deputy Director Tao himself. After restraining these reckless Xuzhou soldiers, Deputy Director Tao personally helped the Cao soldier who had been beaten with a bruised nose and face. He faced him face to face.

Apologizing, saying that he had not thought carefully and had previously forgotten to prohibit the torture of prisoners, which had wronged him, the Cao soldier burst into tears of gratitude and hurriedly kowtowed to Deputy Director Tao in public and expressed his willingness to surrender.

Immediately afterwards, Deputy Director Tao issued an order to all the soldiers in the army, strictly prohibiting his troops from abusing and humiliating captured or surrendering enemies, and announced that surrendered and captured Cao Jun soldiers would be treated the same as soldiers from his own army. Then Deputy Director Tao ordered the guards to carry white flags.

Go to Hangu Pass and explain loudly that the Xuzhou Army officers and soldiers' abuse of prisoners just was a personal act and was not directed by the decision-makers of the Xuzhou Army and Tao Taiwei, who loves the people like a son. He publicizes Deputy Director Tao's order to treat Cao's prisoners of war well in order to redeem himself.

Influence, win over people's hearts and shake the enemy's determination to resist.

After personally whipping the chief of Xuzhou who took the lead in abusing the prisoners with a five-horse whip in public, Deputy Director Tao returned to the command podium. He did not rush to order the withdrawal of the troops. He just asked the guards to bring the Cao soldier who had been rescued by him personally.

, first comforted him with kind words, and then asked the guards to bandage his wounds, and then asked about his name, place of origin, and team he belonged to. The Cao Army soldier thanked Deputy Director Tao for his rescue, and answered the questions truthfully one by one, saying that he

Chen Mingtie was from Fufeng, Liangzhou. He had joined Cao's army for less than three years and was under the command of Zhang Liao's deputy Feng Kai.

"So you are a soldier under General Zhang Wenyuan." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and suddenly asked the Cao Army soldier named Chen Tie: "This time you go out to fight, will General Zhang He's troops participate?"

"Um..., it seems not." Chen Tie replied honestly: "Thank you, Mr. Taiwei, I am just a pawn. I don't know and I don't know if there are any troops under General Zhang He participating in the battle, but there should not be. General Zhang He is

He is in charge of the rear army, and his team usually does not come to the east gate of Hangu Pass."

"No wonder I can't find Zhang Junyi's soldiers among the prisoners." Deputy Director Tao said suddenly, and then Deputy Director Tao thought about it for a moment, and then asked Chen Tie: "Chen Tie, are you willing to surrender to our army?"

?”

"Yes, I am willing, I am willing a hundred times." Chen Tie quickly knelt down on his knees, kowtowed and said: "If it hadn't been for the Taiwei to save his life just now, I might have been beaten to death by several generals. I'm so kind to you.

People will never forget it in this life. If the villain is willing to surrender, the villain will do whatever the master wants him to do."

"Very good." Deputy Director Tao nodded with satisfaction, and suddenly said: "Chen Tie. From now on, you will be a member of the imperial court. I will reward you two pounds of gold and silver each, and thirty acres of fertile land. If you want to continue to serve as a soldier.

, I will make you Du Bo. If you don’t want to be a soldier, I will make you a county gate supervisor and tax collector, so that you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life."

"Master Taiwei, are you serious?" Chen Tie was so surprised that he thought he must have heard wrong, and asked tremblingly: "Master, do you really want to be so nice to this villain?"

"Of course." Deputy Director Tao smiled and said: "Of course. It's not for nothing that I reward you so highly. You have to do something for me. Only after you do it can I give you these.

Reward."

"Ah?" Chen Tie's surprise froze on his face. After a while, he came back to his senses and hurriedly kowtowed and said: "Okay, I am the villain's savior. Don't say that I still have a big reward, but there is no reward.

, whatever the master wants the villain to do, the villain will do.”

"That's enough." Deputy Director Tao was still satisfied with Chen Tie's reaction. He first asked the guard to take a small gold cake and reward it to Chen Tie, and then said: "This is a reward for you first, and it does not count as my promise to you."

It’s a reward for you, and what I want you to do is not difficult. You have heard that..."

………………

After cleaning the battlefield, Deputy Director Tao finally ordered the withdrawal of troops. He also arranged for Wei Yan to lead his elite troops to the rear, and with all the wounded soldiers and prisoners, they carefully evacuated from the narrow Hangu Pass Road. Cao's troops did not dare to pursue them.

They just sent some scouts out of the border to monitor the withdrawal of the Xuzhou army from a distance, and be wary of the Xuzhou army suddenly turning around and attacking. Fortunately, such a thing did not happen. At the same time, what surprised Cao's army was that they were dragged away by the Xuzhou soldiers before.

Chen Tie, one of his own soldiers who went to Guanxia to beat and torture him, was actually left at the scene by Deputy Director Tao, with a letter that Deputy Director Tao wanted to send to Boss Cao himself.

The news was sent back to the pass, and Boss Cao, who had just personally inspected the rescue of wounded soldiers, did not refuse. Regardless of his worsening condition and the fact that he had not slept for the past day and night, he asked the soldiers to escort Chen Tie back to the Hanguguan Gate Tower and asked Chen Tie face to face.

Chen Tie followed Deputy Director Tao's instructions and replied: "My lord, after the villain was rescued by Master Tao, Master Tao had someone deliver medicine to the villain, and also rewarded the villain with a golden cake.

Come back again and send him a letter, so the villain is back again." After saying that, Chen Tie quickly picked up the letter in his hand.

After coughing and thinking for a while, Boss Cao still couldn't suppress the curiosity in his heart. He asked the guard to forward the letter to him. He opened the unsealed envelope and took out the letter. He saw Deputy Director Tao writing crooked words in vernacular on the letter.

He wrote: "My lord-in-law is here, my son-in-law kowtows to you. My lord-in-law, although your plan of pretending to be dead is wonderful, you seem to have forgotten one thing. My son-in-law's medical skills are even better than those of Nanyang's genius doctor Zhang Ji, Zhang Zhongjing and Pei Guo."

The famous doctor Hua Tuo and Hua Yuanhua admire him very much. Is it possible that you died of illness suddenly and my son-in-law couldn't tell? Eat more fish, shrimp and crabs, it will be good for your health. My brother-in-law will pay you my respects again. You are not famous."

After reading the autographed letter from his unscrupulous son-in-law, Mr. Cao's already ugly face inevitably became even uglier. He cursed, "Traitor! Are you bullying me for not knowing medical skills? Fish, shrimp, and crabs are all animals. The more you eat, the worse your illness will be. Yet, you still...

Please advise me to eat more. If my daughter marries you, she will be really unlucky for eight lifetimes!"

"Lord, what did the letter say?" Guo Jia asked curiously. Boss Cao threw the letter to Guo Jia angrily and said bitterly: "It's all nonsense, just showing off his superb medical skills to Tao Ying, a traitor."

Guo Jia picked up the letter that fell on the case, coughed and read it carefully. Cheng Yu also came over to read it together. After reading it, Cheng Yu sighed quietly, somewhat believing that Deputy Director Tao had noticed Boss Cao's condition.

Whether it was true or not, Guo Jia looked suspicious. After some calculation, he coughed and said to Boss Cao: "My lord, do you feel that Tao Ying's letter to the traitor seems to be a bit cover-up and superfluous?"

"How can you conceal the truth? Add superfluity?" Mr. Cao asked hurriedly.

"Although Jia is not proficient in medicine, he also knows how to check the condition. You need to see, smell, and ask everything to know the seriousness of the condition." Guo Jia replied: "The day before yesterday, my lord and Tao Ying were talking in battle, and they were more than 20 steps apart. At that time, my lord, you deliberately pretended.

Your condition is extremely serious, and no matter how proficient Tao Ying is in medical skills, how can he be able to determine your condition, my lord, just by observing from twenty steps away?"

After raising this question, Guo Jia coughed and added: "To say the least, even if Tao Ying really had this wonderful medical skill, why would he bother to write a letter to show off to his lord? He also released a prisoner of war from our army and rewarded him for this.

Give a gold cake to our prisoners of war? With so much trouble, is Tao Thief just trying to tell the lord about his medical skills and supernatural powers?"

Boss Cao also became suspicious. After thinking about it for a long time, Boss Cao suddenly remembered a big question and blurted out: "Could it be that Thief Tao is covering up for his traitor? He deliberately falsely claimed that he discovered that I could not suddenly die of illness.

Misled me into not suspecting that there was a traitor hiding in the army?!"

"It's possible!" Cheng Yu also came to his senses and hurriedly said: "Master, whether Tao is deliberately showing off or covering up, this matter should be investigated carefully to see if someone reported your situation to Master Tao.

thief."

Boss Cao nodded. He immediately made up his mind to investigate the matter in detail. Then Boss Cao glanced at Chen Tie, who was still kneeling in front, and ordered: "Go down and return to your own unit to serve as a soldier. Tao Thief will reward you."

You should carefully keep your piece of gold cake. Being captured this time is none of your business. I don’t blame you."

"Thank you, Lord." Chen Tie kowtowed and was about to leave Guanlou, but Cheng Yu warned him uneasily: "Wait a minute. Remember, the Tao thief rewarded you with gold. You must not publicize it to the outside world. Also, you must tell others

The soldiers said that the Tao bandits were hypocritical to you because they wanted to send you to deliver a message. In fact, the Tao bandits were doing their best to abuse and bully our prisoners, do you hear that?"

Chen Tie agreed, and then followed Cao's guards out of the gate. When he asked the old guard Cao about the location of his team, the guards told Chen Tie that Zhang Liao's team, which had suffered heavy casualties, had withdrawn to the interior of Guancheng to rest. Let Chen Tie

He went to the city to look for his team. Chen Tie thanked him, but hesitantly refused to go down the wall because when Chen Tie was being escorted up the wall just now, he had already seen that the defenders at the east gate of Hangu Pass had been replaced by the general Zhang He.

Team, it is obvious that Zhang He has replaced the injured Zhang Liao in charge of the defense of the east gate of Hangu Pass. Chen Tie is a pawn who is not affiliated with Zhang He's team. Once he gets off the wall, it will be harder than climbing to the sky to climb up again.

Once Zhang He climbed the barrier, he would definitely not leave the barrier easily without orders. It would be extremely difficult for Chen Tie to meet him again.

"Why don't you leave?" Guard Cao Laodao asked strangely.

"This..." Chen Tie hesitated for a moment. Finally, he couldn't resist the temptation of the huge reward promised by Deputy Director Tao, so he said: "General, the villain was originally on guard duty, and there is a change of clothes left.

It's on the wall, and the villain wants to get it."

"Okay, where is it? I'll take you to get it." Cao Jun's guard said casually.

"No, I can just go get it myself. There is no need to bother the general." Chen Tie quickly declined.

"No, the ground is closed behind a wall and no one is allowed to walk around." Cao Jun's guard made a serious face.

"Then..., forget it." Chen Tie didn't dare to persist, so he walked down the pass and said, "No need to take it, I don't want that piece of clothing anymore."

Of course, those who can serve as Cao Lao's guards are not ordinary soldiers. In this era of backward productivity, a piece of clothing is not an ordinary item that can be dispensed with. Therefore, Cao Lao's guard quickly discovered that something was wrong and shouted:

"Stop, where are your clothes? Show me!"

"General, no need, I don't want it anymore." Chen Tie's words were trembling.

"I don't care if you want it or not!" Guard Cao Lao David shouted: "Tell me, where do you put your clothes?"
To be continued...