Chapter 29

Just as Lü Bu was fighting the Second Brother in Xuzhou, his old rival Cao Aman also was not idle; Cao Cao had already mustered the 150,000 elite troops of the whole of Yanzhou, intending to do something big.

As a veteran political gangster, Cao Cao well understood the importance of Emperor Xian of Han; now Liu Bei has gone to rescue Xuzhou, so it's perfect for me to go and take Chang'an — as long as I control Emperor Xian of Han, then the great righteousness of the world isn't still up to me to decide?

Cao Cao summoned all his subordinate officers and strategists to the hall to discuss matters; now his forces truly can be called numerous troops and many generals, talents gathering. On the civil side were Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Xun Yu, Xun Zhong etc.; on the martial side were Xu Chu, Dian Wei, the Xiahou brothers etc.

Cao Cao half-narrowed his eyes, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and looked toward the crowd, saying.

Everyone, I intend to go to Chang'an to welcome His Majesty to my Yuzhou; now the world is in great chaos, His Majesty being by our side is the safest; what do you all think?

Several strategists glanced at each other, and behind Guo Jia, the fair-skinned, rather young Xun Yu had a flash of light in his eyes at this moment.

My lord, now Li Jue and Guo Si have been eliminated, Liu Bei's main forces have been moved to Xu Province, Chang'an is leaderless; we might as well be bold and directly seize all of Chang'an's territory to welcome His Majesty—this will be the beginning of your lord's unparalleled achievement.

Cao Cao laughed heartily for a moment, then said to the crowd.

Wen Ruo is just Wen Ruo; does anyone else have any other ideas? Speak them out.

Guo Jia pondered slightly, then stepped forward and replied to Cao Cao.

My lord, since Wen Ruo suggests you seize Chang'an in one move, we might as well be even bolder; Liu Bei and Lu Bu are like two tigers fighting, I think we can also make some moves in Xu Province.

Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed.

Feng Xiao truly is my Zhang Liang; then let us follow the two gentlemen's advice. Yuan Rang, Miao Cai, Che Zhou, Li Dian—you four each lead ten thousand troops, with Yuan Rang as commander-in-chief and Zhong De as military advisor, heading to Xu Province; when Liu Bu and Lu Bu suffer mutual defeat, we can seize the opportunity to take Xu Province.

The tall Xiahou brothers and Che Zhou and Li Dian each assented; afterwards Cao Cao said again.

The matter of welcoming His Majesty to Chang'an is no trivial affair; Wen Ruo and Feng Xiao shall follow me with eighty thousand elite troops. This time I will completely incorporate Chang'an's territory into my bag!

Having said that, Cao Cao clenched his fist fiercely and flung his sleeve; all his subordinates praised his wisdom.

These past two days the young emperor has been quite at ease, handling all major and minor affairs himself; moreover, before Liu Bei left he had left the Western Liang Army and Yang Feng's troops behind, so now in Chang'an he can truly be called the emperor in the real sense.

And Yang Feng rose rapidly in the court to become a prominent figure, receiving the title of Right General for his merit in guarding the emperor; he now commands not only his own ten-thousand-plus Feathered Forest Guards.

Li Jue's over forty thousand troops are all in Yang Feng's hands, while Guo Si's forces were given by Liu Bei to Zhang Ji and his nephew; Liu Bei reckoned that with a hundred thousand troops guarding Chang'an nothing could go wrong.

The next morning at court someone reported that a large force had appeared outside Chang'an's suburbs, looting the people's grain along the way; thus the young emperor ordered Zhang Ji to lead troops to suppress the bandits.

Zhang Ji, having defected to Liu Bei without yet achieving any merit, gladly accepted the order with his nephew Zhang Xiu; what they did not know was that these bandits transported the seized grain and fodder each day to Cao Cao's main camp.

Just as Zhang Ji and his nephew were leading over thirty thousand troops mightily to go out of the city to suppress the bandits, the disguised Xu Chu was displeased; having just led troops to seize grain, he complained to his sidekick Yue Jin.

Damn, why won't these turtlenecks come out? I reckon the Xiahou brothers have already clashed with Lu Bu and his men in Xu Province!

Yue Jin gave a hehe laugh.

It's not that fast, but don't worry about lacking a big fight; Zhang Ji and Yang Feng's subordinates still have plenty of people!

Hey! Just those few little shrimps under Zhang Ji...

As the two spoke, a scout arrived reporting that large numbers of troops were leaving Chang'an; Xu Chu, unable to contain his impatience, had the scout lead them to attack Zhang Ji's main force.

On the mountain path Xu Chu led over a thousand men to block Zhang Ji's troops; facing the iron-tower giant Xu Chu, who stood 1.9 meters tall with a waist nearly one meter, several of Zhang Ji's vanguard officers were each cleaved from their horses by a single blow.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ji personally led a few generals forward and shouted.

How dare you, villain! Xiu'er, seize this scoundrel for me!

Zhang Xiu brandished his spear and rode out; it is said that Zhang Xiu and Zhao Yun come from the same school, both disciples of the late Han spear master Tong Yuan. Both learned Tong Yuan's Hundred Birds Phoenix Spear; although Zhao Yun entered the school somewhat later, his aptitude was better, and he himself created the Seven Probe Serpent Coil Spear.

Zhang Xiu is known as the 'Northern Spear King', showing his strength is naturally outstanding.

When Zhang Xiu, with a martial value of 96, attacked Xu Chu, who has a value of 97, Xu Chu raised his great blade obliquely and struck down; Zhang Xiu blocked with his spear, and the two began to clash back and forth.

Speaking of Xu Chu, he too is a peculiar flower among late Han generals; although his martial value is 97, his reaction speed is extraordinarily swift, and his strength matches that of Dian Wei; even when battling those with a value of 98, Xu Chu never falls behind, and though Zhang Xiu's spear technique is superb, he can hardly prevail against Xu Chu.

As time passed, Zhang Xiu grew somewhat weak in strength; he feinted with his spear, Xu Chu dodged, and Zhang Xiu seized the moment to have his iron cavalry cover and kill, resulting in a crushing defeat for Xu Chu's troops.

Seeing the situation, Zhang Ji ordered his main force to press forward; Xu Chu and Yue Jin led their men fleeing to the base of a mountain, where Zhang Ji commanded his troops to encircle and advance, but unexpectedly arrows rained down like locusts at the mountain's foot, causing countless casualties among Zhang Ji's men in an instant.

Zhang Ji hastily ordered a breakout to the left, but unexpectedly Cao Ren and Cao Hong, leading men, blocked the route; Zhang Xiu rushed forward to obstruct the Cao brothers.

Zhang Ji had barely taken a few steps when Yu Jin again led cavalry from the mountain's base to surround them; Zhang Ji's troops fought desperately to resist, while Xu Chu and Yue Jin also surrounded Zhang Ji, and in the melee Xu Chu stepped forward to duel Zhang Ji.

Within less than three bouts, Zhang Ji was cleaved from his horse by Xu Chu's blade; Xu Chu watched the blood drip from the blade tip and Zhang Ji's head on the ground, giving a contemptuous smile.

The Western Liang Army is only of this caliber.

Immediately Xu Chu hoisted Zhang Ji's head to go claim merit before Cao Cao, while Zhang Xiu, watching from not far away with eyes nearly bursting, then led his personal guards to break out and re-encircle, fleeing to Zhang Ji's main camp outside the city.

After Cao Cao had dealt with Zhang Ji's thirty thousand troops, he immediately had his men don the Western Liang Army's uniforms and armor that Zhang Ji had used, then sent Cao Ren and Xu Chu with troops disguised as defeated Western Liang soldiers to pry open the city gate.

Under the dim light, the defenders on the wall thought they were friends, so Cao Ren and Xu Chu easily seized Chang'an's gate; thereafter Cao's forces marched straight in, and the Western Liang troops guarding the city, caught off guard, were slaughtered en masse in a moment.

Zhang Xiu also led his remaining ten thousand troops into Chang'an, his own family and aunt still being in the city! After fighting desperately three times, he managed to rescue his wife and son, but his aunt's family was again scattered amidst the chaotic troops.

Gazing at the flames shooting up from Chang'an, Zhang Xiu knew that re-entering the city would surely be suicidal, so he could only resentfully lead his remnant troops toward Xu Province.