Chapter 651

However, if he hadn't used the water, the number of casualties on both sides would definitely have been much higher than this.

Liu Bei arrived at Xiapi City and ordered the soldiers to post notices,

promising full compensation for the losses suffered by the people, and ordered the soldiers to rescue the people in the city.

Pang Tong tallied the results of this "six-nine-seven" victory,

"My lord, of the Cao army's one hundred and fifty thousand troops, only thirty thousand or so escaped, ten thousand drowned or went missing, and the remaining one hundred thousand Cao soldiers have all become prisoners."

Everyone sighed. Ten thousand prisoners—this great victory was comparable to the result in Hedong!

And to achieve such a result with just a flood made people sigh with emotion!

Liu Bei began to deploy his troops,

"Taishi Ci, lead Ling Cao, Ling Tong, and others with twenty thousand troops to take the Langye and Donghai commanderies north of Xuzhou."

"Understood!"

"Huang Zhong, lead fifteen thousand troops to take Taishan Commandery."

"After you two succeed, attack from both sides toward Qingzhou. Taishi Ci will take Donglai, and Huang Zhong will go to Beihai, pressing directly on Linzi City, which is guarded by Xia Hou Yuan."

"Understood!"

Liu Bei looked at Mi Zhu and Kong Rong,

"Zizhong will be the Inspector of Xuzhou, and Wenju will be the Inspector of Qingzhou. You two must contact the clans as soon as possible and soothe the hearts of the people."

"Understood!"

Mi Zhu was excited. He was right to defect to Lord Xuande back then; he had actually gone from a great merchant to an Inspector.

Kong Rong also didn't expect that after being defeated by Yuan Tan, he would still have the chance to return to Qingzhou as Inspector.

Both men were grateful to Liu Bei and soon sent men to contact acquaintances, preparing to build their teams as soon as possible.

Liu Bei left Wen Pin to guard Xiapi and watch over the prisoners.

The supplies brought by Cao Cao and the grain stored in Xiapi City were all captured by Liu Bei, so there was no shortage of grain for the time being.

"The rest of the generals, follow me to Peng Cheng to pursue and kill Cao Cao!"

"Understood!"

On the road from Xiapi to Peng Cheng, the soldiers were extremely wretched.

A portion of Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry also failed to escape the flood, and both men and horses disappeared, no one knew where they had been washed away.

Cao Cao's nearly ten thousand troops were extremely wretched. As they ran, his flag-bearer fell to the ground, and the commander's flag also fell.

Cao Cao caught the flag-bearer and ranted, venting his depressed mood,

"You've followed me for ten years, don't you know how important the commander's flag is..."

After he finished scolding the flag-bearer, he felt somewhat relieved. He looked around and saw that the soldiers' morale was extremely low,

"Where is this?"

Eagle Eye cupped his hands,

"My lord, we are in the area of Lüxian; we can reach Peng Cheng in half a day."

Cao Cao suddenly laughed,

"Haha!"

Cheng Yu was somewhat strange,

"My lord, why are you laughing?"

Cao Cao laughed loudly,

"I laugh at Liu Bei for having no strategy and Guo Jia for being short-sighted. This is the only road to Peng Cheng. If an ambush were set here, our army would surely suffer heavy losses."

"Liu Bei defied the world this time by digging through the dikes; I underestimated him, but he was just lucky and is not worth worrying about!"

The generals nodded. The Duke of Wei is very right!

Cao Cao wanted to belittle Liu Bei some more,

when a sudden, rapid sound of hoofbeats from the west interrupted Cao Cao's sales pitch.

"Cao thief, don't run! Ma Chao of Xiliang is here!"

Cao Cao was shocked. This slap in the face seemed to come too quickly!

And it was his nemesis, Ma Chao!

Ma Chao shouted,

"That long-bearded one is Cao Cao, kill him!"

Cao Cao couldn't care about cutting his beard now and hurriedly kicked his horse's belly,

"Run!"

Ma Chao was fresh and rested, while the Cao army were birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, so they were naturally no match.

Xu Zhu spurred his horse to cover the rear, temporarily entangling Ma Chao and winning time for Cao Cao.

Many Xia country people flooded into the US live broadcast room,

"Why does Ma Chao like pulling Cao Boss's beard so much?"

"This slap in the face for Boss Cao is too fast. I feel like I heard Brother Bei say, 'Arrange it!'"

"Cao Cao's psychological quality is truly good, but he keeps getting slapped in the face."

"Boss Cao is so pitiful. His company just went public, he expanded into the Hebei market, and now the Central Plains market is almost gone!"

Cao Cao led the routed troops to turn north, no longer heading toward Peng Cheng. The soldiers had run too hard and dismounted, gasping for air.

Before they had rested for long,

the soldiers suddenly shouted,

"Listen, the sound of water!"

"Bad! Liu Bei is breaking the dikes to flood us again!"

Many soldiers began to stir; some mounted their horses and instantly disappeared into the night.

Dian Wei hacked a few deserters to death, "No one is allowed to run!"

Cao Cao waved his hand,

"Let them go. Soldiers who have already had their courage broken are useless anyway. They are just birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, only increasing the chaos!"

Cheng Yu took a count,

"My lord, there are still over three thousand people left."

Cao Cao nodded and looked around,

"Heaven has treated me well. Back when I failed to assassinate Dong, I only had a few people with me. General Luo, you all know this."

Captain America cupped his hands,

"My lord's state of mind is beyond what we can compare to; you will surely achieve a great cause."

"My lord, we should set off."

Cao Cao suddenly laughed loudly again.

Cheng Yu...

"My lord's laughter just now brought Ma Chao; why are you laughing again now?"

Cao Cao looked at his surroundings,

"I am still laughing at Liu Bei for having no strategy and Guo Jia for being short-sighted!"

"Liu Bei calculated that I would flee to Peng Cheng, but he didn't deploy defenses near the southern part of Weishan Lake. If I turn my horse around and run north, there's nothing he can do to me."

"If I were Liu Bei, I would have deployed an ambush here, and I would surely be dead."

Several generals nodded. The lord is indeed wise!

In the darkness,

suddenly another sound of hoofbeats came.

Zhang Fei's roar came,

"Zhang Fei of Yan is here! Where are you running, Cao Cao!"

Cheng Yu?!

The soldiers all looked at Cao Cao. Was this mouth blessed?

Xia Hou Jie hurriedly helped Cao Cao onto his horse,

"My lord, let's run!"

Seeing Cao Cao about to run, Zhang Fei roared, his voice even louder,