The Rebirth of Lu Bu in the Legend of the Heroes of the Later Han Dynasty

In the winter of the tenth year of Jian'an (205), Cai Mao led the Jingzhou army to capture the palace in Wancheng, and Cao Cao died.

Cai Mao originally wanted to continue his march and attack Luoyang in one fell swoop. At this moment, Zhang Xiu led 30,000 Xiliang troops to surround Wancheng.

At this moment, Cai Mao was in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat. He resented Zhang Xiu for not keeping his promise and turning back midway instead of going to Chang'an.

Cai Mao sent an envoy to Zhang Xiu's camp in an attempt to negotiate peace. Zhang Xiu could not help but kill the envoy directly, and asked the soldiers to shout outside the city: "Surrender without killing!"

Cai Mao knew that he had fallen into a trap from the beginning. He was the victim of the three-party struggle between the emperor, the king of Wei, and the Xiliang army. Now he could no longer compromise with any party, because the fire not only burned him to death He included Wei King Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu's aunt Zou. It was power and desire that captured him.

Fortunately, Wancheng, as a strategic location, has a large amount of food and weapons, which can allow the Jingzhou Army to hold on for several months. Although the Xiliang Army has few opponents in the field, it is not very effective in attacking the city. OK.

What Cai Mao thought of was to hold on until the spring came. Sun Quan of Yangzhou, Shixie of Jiaozhou, and Liu Zhang of Yizhou. These three forces would start a new round of competition for Jingzhou, and by then they would also give Zhang Xiu's Xiliang army a heavy blow. , then the siege of Wancheng will naturally be solved.

Of course, Zhang Xiu outside the city also has his own plans. On the one hand, he has been operating in Wancheng for many years. Since leaving Liangzhou, tens of thousands of them have become duckweeds in troubled times, and Wancheng is their home. On the other hand, Wancheng is located in the center of Guanzhong, Sili, Yanzhou and Jingzhou, and is an important strategic location. What he was worried about was whether the emperor of Chang'an would fulfill his promise.

Cao Pi secretly returned to Luoyang before the Jingzhou army attacked Wancheng. With the support of Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Xiahou Shang, Cao Pi took over the throne of the King of Wei, and issued a royal edict to have Xiahou Dun's army from Yanzhou dispatched to defeat Wancheng.

Jia Xu of Chang'an listened to Hu Che'er's report and knew that the big thing had been done. King Cao Cao of Wei was dead and it was time for the Xiliang army to regain power. He immediately asked Hu Che'er to prepare a carriage and he was going to go immediately. Wancheng, meet up with Zhang Xiu to make the next plan. In Jia Xu's plan, Cai Mao and Wancheng were just pawns. Taking advantage of Cao Ren and Cao Hong's resistance to the Qiang soldiers in Liangzhou, it was the best strategy to quickly occupy the land in Guanzhong.

With the help of his son Xiahou Ba, Xiahou Dun successfully occupied the land of Jingzhou. The entire Cai family was executed. Kuai Liang's family was saved because of his meritorious service in offering land. The Huang family moved away under the protection of Huang Gai. Go to Jiangxia.

In this winter, Zhang Xiu retreated to Chang'an, but Cai Mao did not get any benefits. From the beginning to the end, he did not get any chance to recuperate. Under the staged offensive of the Yanzhou army, it was only a matter of time that the city was broken.

In order to survive in troubled times, deserters began to appear in Wancheng. Cai Mao was narrow-minded and did not hesitate to let so many people die for him for his own benefit.

As time goes by, the news of Cao Cao's death in Wancheng has spread, and the world is shocked!

Sun Quan, Zhou Yu, and Lu Xun from Yangzhou formed an alliance again and made a strategy of taking Hefei first, then Xuzhou, and finally Yanzhou from two directions.

Shixie from Jiaozhou chose to go north to attack the four states in Jingnan to consolidate his position as the southern hegemon.

Liu Zhang of Yizhou went all out to attack Hanzhong. To this end, he did not hesitate to unite with the Southern Barbarian King Meng Huo and hire Southern Barbarian soldiers for his own use.

The already peaceful world was once again involved in war due to the death of Cao Cao.

Spring has arrived, and the streets of Wancheng are still covered with thick snow, and the mornings and evenings are still as cold as winter.

There were less than 3,000 soldiers left around Cai Mao. He kept hearing rumors that the Cai family had been killed by Xiahou Dun, and that all the land and wealth of the Cai family had been occupied by Xiahou Dun. He was left alone in his once prosperous family.

The soldiers were no longer interested in fighting, so Cai Mao decided to lead them to break out of the encirclement and head to Chang'an. He still held the secret edict given to him by the emperor in his hand. The worst plan was to announce this secret edict to the world and point the finger at the emperor.

It was a rainy day, and Cai Mao led the Jingzhou Army on an embarrassing journey. The nearby mountains were shrouded in clouds and mist. Staring at the gradually reddening sky in the west, Cai Mao thought to himself: "If I can survive this time, You must take off your armor and return to the fields.”

In the dark rainy night, the torches were lit and extinguished several times. The soldiers were soaked to the skin, endured the cold, and complained. It was really difficult for them to march through the jungle.

If he couldn't make a fire, he couldn't cook. Cai Mao felt confused and unbearable with hunger. He put on his raincoat and commanded the soldiers to plunder the village. Deserters kept appearing and got out of hand. When he arrived near Tongguan , there were less than 400 people around Cai Mao.

After simply filling their stomachs in the village, it was already late at night. This night, the soldiers slept soundly and soundly.

They set out at dawn the next day. The group was already in terrible condition, not like an army at all, and became a group of homeless refugees.

"Tongguan is ahead of us. After passing Tongguan, we can reach Chang'an in half a day. Brothers, cheer up." Looking at the unrecognizable soldiers in front of him, Cai Mao tried to cheer them up.

At this time, an army of a thousand people appeared in front, and the leader was an old acquaintance Wei Yan, holding a big flag with the word "Wei" in it!

Cai Mao knew that his soldiers could no longer fight, so he stepped forward and tried to persuade Wei Yan to let him live.

Wei Yan refused, "According to the order of the general, take Cai Mao's head to pay tribute to King Wei's spirit in heaven! Only kill Cai Mao, and not kill any of his soldiers who surrender."

When the Jingzhou soldiers heard Wei Yan's words, they dropped their weapons one after another. They knew Wei Yan's abilities and were unwilling to accompany Cai Mao to death.

Seeing that the situation was over, Cai Mao drew his sword and killed himself.

Wei Yan cut off Cai Mao's head and gathered the surrendered troops from Jingzhou. He raised his head and glanced at the sky. The rain had stopped. The sky was blue and warm sunlight filled the earth.