HLnovel Chapter 126 Surrender Directly Upon Opening the City? Zhao Yun Suspects Trickery
Chapter 126 Surrender Directly Upon Opening the City? Zhao Yun Suspects Trickery
"Zibu, Cao Cao's army is marching towards Pengcheng. What should we do?"
Pengcheng Prefectural Governor's Residence
Cao Bao kept shaking Zhang Zhao's body, hoping that Zhang Zhao could come up with a solution for him.
Zhang Zhao had just been released from prison and was already in poor health.
Cao Bao's sudden movement nearly caused him to experience low blood sugar.
"Cough cough... cough cough cough, General Cao, please... stop..."
Cao Bao finally released Zhang Zhao.
But Zhang Zhao's pale face only improved slightly after several minutes.
"General Cao, what are you afraid of?"
"With 30,000 against 30,000, you still have Pengcheng to defend, so the advantage is on my side!"
Zhang Zhao said confidently.
Cao Bao hesitated, then looked up:
"But I have also heard that Cao Cao is personally leading an army of seventy or eighty thousand behind the vanguard."
Zhang Zhao: “…”
"General Cao, how about we consider surrendering to Cao Cao?"
"Send someone to negotiate with him. If you can continue to be the General of Xuzhou, it doesn't seem like a bad idea!"
Zhang Zhao spoke with great enthusiasm.
Cao Bao glanced at Zhang Zhao in silence.
"Snapped!"
Cao Bao slapped Zhang Zhao on the forehead.
"Quickly come up with a solution for this general, or I'll keep you locked up in jail!"
Zhang Zhao covered his forehead, feeling wronged.
Damn it... nobody told him that Cao Cao's army was unaware of the oriole behind them!
Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have allowed Cao Bao to attack Zhang Fei last night and this morning.
After much deliberation, Zhang Zhao, who was sometimes reliable and sometimes unreliable, actually came up with a plan for Cao Bao.
After listening, Cao Bao excitedly put his arm around Zhang Zhao's shoulder:
"Zibu, let me borrow a phrase from Emperor Gaozu's praise of Zhang Liang."
"You are truly my breast!"
Zhang Zhao: "???"
To be honest, Zhang Zhao, a cultured man, really didn't want to deal with Cao Bao, that rough and uncultured soldier.
Unfortunately, he had no choice at the moment.
……
Forty li outside Pengcheng
Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Tao Ji rode on their warhorses, chatting and laughing.
With Tao Ji as their guide and 30,000 troops leading the way, the counties and prefectures along the route encountered virtually no resistance.
Even if it wasn't a case of surrendering at the mere sight of the enemy, the city gates were at least flung open with a "bang" as soon as the army arrived at the city walls.
We're almost at Pengcheng.
Zhao Yun never even took out his Dragon Gallant Silver Spear.
"thread!"
Tao Jile stopped his horse and said solemnly to Zhao Yun and Xu Rong:
"Zilong, Boyuan, Pengcheng is not far ahead."
"I heard that Liu Bei left his third brother Zhang Fei and 30,000 soldiers to garrison Pengcheng."
"It seems a fierce battle is inevitable!"
Zhao Yun and Xu Rong also became serious as Tao Ji spoke.
But suddenly, several scouts came running up excitedly from the front.
"Reporting to General Zhao, General Xu, and General Tao!"
"A coup has occurred in Pengcheng. Cao Bao has driven Zhang Fei out and raised a banner of surrender, expressing his willingness to submit to our army!"
"What!?"
Zhao Yun and the other two stared at each other in disbelief.
Tao Ji was even more incredulous:
"I can understand why Cao Bao was plotting to drive Zhang Fei away."
"But he surrendered directly to our army. Is he still the same person?"
As Tao Qian's cousin, Tao Ji had some understanding of Cao Bao.
This person is impulsive and easily angered, yet also ambitious.
Having finally driven Zhang Fei away, instead of turning the tables and becoming the leader himself, he simply chose to surrender?
Then what was the point of Cao Bao going through all that trouble to drive away Zhang Fei and overthrow Liu Bei?
Is it about finding a new big brother and continuing to be a little brother?
Approach it with caution.
Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Tao Ji slowed their march, first capturing the last remaining county in the surrounding area, and then slowly approaching Pengcheng.
……
Pengchengwai
Cao Bao, dressed in plain clothes, waited at the city gate accompanied by Zhang Zhao.
Looking at Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Tao Ji, who were approaching Pengcheng not far away, Cao Bao waved with delight.
Yes, Cao Bao decided to adopt Zhang Zhao's strategy to deal with Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Tao Ji.
Three thousand against three thousand.
Although Cao Bao is on the defensive.
However, considering that Cao Cao and his main force could arrive at any moment, Cao Bao still did not want to fight Cao Cao's army head-on.
Using Zhang Zhao's strategy would have a high success rate.
If successful, Cao Bao will wipe out the 30,000 Cao army vanguard in front of him!
In this way, even if Cao Cao's main force arrived later, Cao Bao was confident that he could fight back with Pengcheng as his base.
Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Tao Ji had no idea what Cao Bao was up to, but they still went over.
after all.
Since Cao Bao has already adopted this attitude, if we are truly going to surrender, we shouldn't discourage him.
If it's a fake surrender, just stab him to death with the Dragon Gallant Silver Spear!
"Generals, I, Cao, have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me."
Zhao Yun and Xu Rong quickly waved their hands and said it was alright.
Tao Ji, playing the stern face, said coldly:
"Cao Bao! You ungrateful wretch!"
"My uncle values you so highly, how could you possibly side with Liu Bei?"
Upon hearing Tao Ji's words, Cao Bao immediately adopted a dramatic act, wiping away tears as he said:
"Young Master Ji, you have misunderstood me!"
"Cao Yi is wholeheartedly devoted to Master Tao, as well as Master Shang, Master Ying, and Master Ji."
"My heart has never changed from beginning to end!"
"But Liu Bei colluded with Mi Zhu and Chen Gui to seize Xuzhou, causing Young Master Shang and Young Master Ying to be unable to return home."
"Even Cao could only endure hardship and bide his time, temporarily submitting to the oppressive power, and waiting for the right opportunity."
"And so, Cao Cao seized the opportunity to launch a coup and drove away Liu Bei's third brother, Zhang Fei!"
Tao Ji was speechless.
Cao Bao grinned smugly.
joke!
These quotes of his were taught to him by Zhang Zhao!
Who is Zhang Zhao?
Xuzhou's notorious troll!
Back then, Zhang Zhao courted death by using various methods to verbally abuse Tao Qian.
If Zhang Zhao wasn't incredibly eloquent, why would Tao Qian lock him up if he had nothing better to do?
That must have been some really harsh insult that broke Tao Qian's defenses!
Tao Ji glanced suspiciously at Cao Bao and Zhang Zhao beside him.
It is worth mentioning that Tao Ji had never met Zhang Zhao.
Because Tao Qian had captured Zhang Zhao, he couldn't wait to imprison him.
Therefore, not many people have seen Zhang Zhao's face.
It is estimated that besides Tao Qian himself, there were only a handful of people like Cao Bao, Chen Gui, and Mi Zhu.
"General Cao, since you are determined to surrender, we will naturally consider you one of our own."
Zhao Yun and Xu Rong smiled and followed Cao Bao through the city gate.
In fact, the two had been observing whether there were any ambushes on or below the city walls.
Seeing that there was absolutely no sign of an ambush, the two dared to follow Cao Bao into the city.
Even so, they remained vigilant until they entered the governor's mansion.
suddenly.
When they reached a small alley, Zhao Yun found a note in his hand.
Not far away, the old fox Chen Gui revealed a cunning smile.
Mi Zhu bets on Liu Bei, while Cao Bao plots to establish his own independent regime.
Then Chen Gui, being an opportunist and diversifying his business, wouldn't that be a fair assessment?
Zhao Yun quietly opened the note and immediately understood.
That's it!
To be fair, Cao Bao's plan was quite clever.
But it seems... there's a mole among us!
……