Chapter 387 Battle of Xiapi - Conclusion (1/2)
Chapter 387 – Battle of Xiapi - Conclusion
All troops rushed into the camp like a tidal wave, engulfing the patrolling soldiers as they passed.
Soon, Tian Feng's men detected the chaos and the invaders.
”WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!”
Sun Jian, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu commanded 12,000 soldiers each. They attacked the camp from all directions, killing as many men they could find.
Meanwhile, Pu Jing located their reserved granaries, which hidden north of Tian Feng's camp. Both Cao Cao and Pu Jing Army burnt down their supplies and withdrew to surround Tian Feng's main camp, assisting Sun Jian and his men.
.
Tian Feng did not prepare for a battle today as he heard from the scouts that Cao Cao was retreating. He even thought that Cao Cao wanted to withdraw all armies to avoid the upcoming winter.
By the time Tian Feng realized that his army was surrounded, half of his soldiers had already died inside their tents. Moreover, he could see the trail of smoke and fire in the direction of his hidden reserved granaries.
The entire 24,000 soldiers were outnumbered and were defeated before the daybreak. Sun Jian and Cheng Pu managed to capture Tian Feng in his command tent.
On the morning of the next day, Sun Jian escorted Tian Feng to Cao Cao.
The warlord smiled at the strategist, ”Nice to meet you, Tian Feng.”
”… Well met, Marquis of Wei. Having fun mocking the loser?”
”No. I want to meet the strategist behind this water dam scheme. It was a good strategy, I say. Had I been in my early days, I would have jumped into the city, and you would have trapped me in Xiapi like an animal in a cage. You also have a good grasp of timing and the weather. Combining the rainy season and the future winter together into a stratagem like this is no easy feat.”
”A failed scheme is worthless. Please stop talking nonsense. Kill me and get this over with.”
”Don't blame yourself. I actually cheated, so you should consider yourself the real winner of this war. Still, serving Yuan Shao like this is a waste of your talent. How about it, won't you work for me?”
Tian Feng scoffed, ”I have only one master. Kill me!”
”He doesn't even deserve to be called your master, though. Isn't he just an employer?”
”He took me from Luoyang when I'm still a worthless official. You didn't.”
”True. But I have an otherworlder as my subordinate. Yuan Shao didn't have one.”
”…”
”Last chance, strategist. Join me or die here.”
”Kill me.”
Cao Cao sighed, ”Without a hesitation, eh?”
”What's there to think? Kill me.”
”Don't you want to get back on Zhang Tong?”
Tian Feng gritted his teeth. When he began his career under Yuan Shao, his first nemesis was Tong. At first, he thought that Tong was just an upstart son of a cultist or a lowly noble.
Looking back, Tian Feng had many chances to kill Tong and his family. Unfortunately, he paid too much attention to Yuan Shao's reputation and repercussion of his actions to the point that he let Tong slipped away several times.
Now, Tong had become an emperor while Yuan Shao stayed as a fraud warlord, who had tried to enthrone his youngest son.
There was not a day that he regretted choosing Yuan Shao as his master. He wanted a more capable lord and more talented generals as his arsenal.
Tian Feng glared at Cao Cao, ”Will you fight against Zhang Tong? I heard you swore allegiance to him to get the Marquis title.”
”The title is just a decoration and a stepping stone to the greater height. I will have to fight him eventually since I don't agree with his government system. I don't plan to fight him in the open, though.”
”What about your son? Isn't he in Ye as a hostage?”
”… If I fucked up and he died. He will understand my purpose in the afterlife. I'll honor him as the god-emperor of Wei Dynasty once I unified the land.”
Tian Feng closed his eyes and sighed. This was a different trait between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was willing to kill his son to achieve his goal, but Yuan Shao valued reputation too much that it influenced all his subordinates, blinding them from the most straightforward solutions to many problems.
Tian Feng knelt, ”I, Tian Feng, Tian Yuanhao, sees the lord.”
Tian Feng made his decision. He joined forces with Cao Cao!
.
.
Morning of the next day.
Cao Cao: ”Miaocai, don't move or allow Yuan Shao to retreat. Wait in there until my force surround the city, okay?”
Xiahou Yuan: ”I saw the fire in the north. Was it you?”
Cao Cao: ”Yeah, Tian Feng surrendered, and all granaries have been burnt. The flood tactic won't happen this time. I don't want to restore the city from the flood. It's annoying.”
Xiahou Yuan: ”Will do.”
After confirming Cao Cao's order from the chat, he turned to Guo Jia and passed on the messages. He told the strategist about the recent event.
As Guo Jia listened to Xiahou Yuan, he revealed a wry smile.
”He really wants to kill Yuan Shao and all of his family, isn't he?”
”Can you tell?”
”Yeah, he is meticulous with his moves as if he knew that Yuan Shao's sons would be troublesome.”
”Will they?”
”I doubt it. If they had many territories like Zhang Tong, it will be a pain. But since he has only one city left, our lord is a bit over-paranoid.”
”So, what's next?”
”Let's get ready to kill all the Yuan clan members. I'm tired of this farce.”
.
Yuan Shao was in despair when he saw the fire from afar. He shouted at his strategists, Guo Tu and Shen Pei, ”What happened to Tian Feng!? Why is it burning over there!?”
”T-That's impossible! They are so close to the river. How can their camps burn!?”
”W-We don't know, my lord! We lost our communication with Sir Tian Feng ever since the beginning of the siege!”
Yuan Shao's face lost all color. All plans that he and Tian Feng had prepared were in ruin.
They supposed to weaken Cao Cao's forces and break out of the city. Not only they could not handle their armies, but Tian Feng also could not escape from Cao Cao's night raid.
”It's over.”
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Yuan Shao fainted while half of his hair became white.