After Cao Zheng received the accurate news, he immediately ordered,"" Ziming, immediately order the soldiers of the three battalions to gather and wait for orders. You'll lead the troops to Mount Mang Dang. Even if we have to turn Mount Mang Dang upside down and dig three feet into the ground, we must capture Zhang Kai.”
"Yes, I accept your orders." Cao Zhen guaranteed.
"However, I've taken away the elite soldiers of the three battalions. What if Liu Bei has a second thought?”Cao Zhen asked worriedly.
At this moment, Cao Zheng only had the elites of the Divine Arm Battalion, Ghost Owl Battalion, and the Tiger Might Battalion. The remaining soldiers were definitely not as strong as the three battalions.
"Don't worry, Zhang Liao has already selected 20,000 strong men from Lu Bu's old troops. Adding on the 40,000 we have left, we have no problem defending the city. However, you have to know that the soldiers of the three battalions have been fighting on the plains. This is the first time we are fighting in the mountains, so we definitely won't be able to use our warhorses.”Cao Zheng instructed.
"Don't worry, brother. I understand.”Cao Zhen accepted the order and retreated.
"Little Wu, lead the way for Ziming.”Cao Zheng instructed.
"Yes, Young Master."
Zhao Wu accepted the order.
Guandu Camp.
Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were confronting each other along the Yellow River. Yuan Shao had originally planned to catch Cao Cao off guard, but he did not expect Cao Cao to be so fast. He had given Cao Zheng full authority over Xuzhou, while he had brought a hundred thousand troops over.
Although the two of them were now in a state of confrontation, neither of them dared to make the first move because their relationship had not completely broken down.
Therefore, he could only greet the other party's safety across the Yellow River.
"Reporting, reporting to the Prime Minister, all of Xuzhou has surrendered to our army. Lu Bu has been killed, Chen Gong is dead, and only Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Hou Cheng, Song Xian, and Wei Xu survived.”
The messenger reported to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao listened for a long time but did not hear what he wanted to hear, so he took the initiative to ask,"Where is Diao Chan?"
When the messenger heard Cao Cao's question, he was instantly dumbfounded.
I worked so hard to report the results of the battle to you, but you asked me for a woman. This boss is too unreliable.
However, the messenger could only say truthfully,""General has sent Diao Chan and Lu Bu's wife and children to Xuchang, saying that they are to be handed over to you.”
"Alright, Ziyi didn't lie to me!" Cao Cao sighed. Previously, Cao Zheng had promised him to bring Lu Bu's wife, Lady Yan, and Diao Chan to him. He had not expected that he would really do it.
However, what confused Cao Cao was that Diao Chan wasn't that charming. How could Cao Zheng bear to send him over? No matter what, he had to sleep with her for a night first.
Thus, Cao Cao once again confirmed with the messenger,""Let me ask you, has Diao Chan met the general before?”
The messenger was at a loss. How did he know about this?
"Prime Minister, I heard that the General didn't even see Diao Chan before he sent her directly to the Prime Minister's residence in Xuchang. However, Lady Yan and Ling Ju were sent to another place, and there was a special person in charge of looking after them.”
Cao Cao finally knew that Cao Zheng wanted Lu Bu's daughter!
"Alright, you've worked hard. Go and rest.”
Cao Cao said excitedly after getting the information he wanted.
"Thank you, Prime Minister." The messenger hurriedly retreated.
At this moment, Cao Zheng was discussing with Cao Tai and the others about the garrison in Xuzhou.
Cao Zhen had also been ordered to mobilize 18,000 elites to search the mountains and seas to capture Zhang Kai.
Because of Zhao Wu's living map, Zhang Kai had brought his men to several places in the past few days. However, every time they went to the stronghold, it was empty. All the bacon and food he had hidden had been taken away.
Moreover, Cao Zhen's encirclement was getting tighter and tighter, and Zhang Kai's old brothers were getting fewer and fewer.
These days, Zhang Kai was almost forced to be mentally abnormal. He didn't dare to light a fire at night or smoke during the day. He could only eat raw meat and other raw things.
"Big brother, I've found out that the one leading the troops this time is Cao Hong's son, Cao Zhen. They're here under the orders of Cao Zheng, the general of the hussars.”
the lackey said to Zhang Kai.
"Heaven's will, I didn't expect that the sins I committed back then would come so soon.”Zhang Kai said with an ashen face.
"Big brother, what are you afraid of him for? At worst, he would die and be a good man again eighteen years later.”Another lackey said.
Zhang Kai looked at the few remaining brothers beside him, his eyes filled with despair.
Back then, they had hundreds of brothers who had gone up the mountain together. They did not expect that there were only a few of them now.
"Brothers, sleep early. This sleep might be your last.”
Zhang Kai said disappointedly.
When everyone else had fallen asleep, Zhang Kai decided to take responsibility for his own actions and went down the mountain alone.
In the morning, when everyone woke up, they found that their big brother Zhang Kai was gone.
At this moment, a brother who had been following Zhang Kai for a long time said,"Don't look for him anymore. Big Brother doesn't want to implicate us. He must have gone down the mountain to surrender.”
When the other mountain bandits heard this, they instantly became listless. Without Zhang Kai, they were like a plate of loose sand.
"Brothers, follow me down the mountain and save Big Brother.”It was still the same lackey who said righteously.
"Alright, let's go. We must die together." Everyone echoed.
At this moment, Zhang Kai had already arrived at Cao Zhen's camp. After Cao Zhen knew about it, he promised Cao Zheng to capture Zhang Kai alive, so he prepared a prison carriage to load Zhang Kai up and prepared to leave. However, just as everyone was about to leave, dozens of bandits appeared halfway.
Cao Zhen took out his crossbow and fired. After a volley of arrows, the bandits were all killed.
At this moment, Zhang Kai was already disheartened. He waited for death peacefully and did not struggle at all.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]