[Lightscreen]
[Cao Cao would absolutely never sit by and watch Liu Bei take Hanzhong. After all, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, used Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong as his base to declare himself King of Han.
He relied on this exact land to catch his breath and ultimately win the Chu-Han Contention to rule the world.
In the words of the Han people, Hanzhong was a textbook land where dragons rise!
So even just from the perspective of public opinion, Cao Cao had to keep Hanzhong firmly in his grasp!
In fact, at nearly the exact same time Xiahou Yuan died, Cao Cao's main army marched out from Chang'an. They took the Baoxie Path into Hanzhong and rushed straight at Liu Bei.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Liu Bei immediately ran away and climbed right back up Dingjun Mountain.
Cao Cao chased him relentlessly and set up camp at the base of the mountain, wanting to completely crush this unkillable little cockroach once and for all.
Liu Bei was equally determined to take Hanzhong. If he missed this opportunity, it was hard to say when the next one would come.]
"What does cockroach mean?" Jian Yong discovered a new term and found it extremely fresh.
"It must be some kind of divine creature!" Liu Bei spoke with absolute certainty. "This descendant said it is unkillable. They are definitely using this divine creature as a metaphor for me, praising my indomitable spirit!"
"If you ask me, it would be best if big brother could just crush Cao Cao right here!" Zhang Fei grumbled.
The battle was raging, but he was stuck in Wudu locked in a stalemate. Watching everything happen from far away was honestly frustrating!
"The defender of Yangping Pass will make his move soon." Guan Yu looked at the bigger picture and pieced together Cao Cao's side of the plan.
"Even though big brother brought Zilong and Hansheng, the fact that they crossed Micang Mountain means their numbers are small. The Cao army came through the Baoxie Path and has the Han River to keep supplies flowing. They definitely brought a massive force."
"They will use their numbers to overwhelm us. The troops at Yangping Pass will leave only a token guard and strike Gao Xiang to cut off our lord's retreat route."
"Then they will surround Dingjun Mountain and wear us down. Starve us out. That is when things get truly dangerous."
Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat.
He knew exactly how fiercely his second brother fought, but the Cao thieves... they probably would not go that far, right?
[Lightscreen]
[The first thing Liu Bei did after climbing Dingjun Mountain was send out a flurry of rescue letters. Kongming! Save me!
Cao Cao's main army sealed off the valley entrance below the mountain. Then he ordered Xu Huang to march out from Yangping Pass and attack Gao Xiang. Xu Huang won a solid victory.
Gao Xiang's forces fell back. Xu Huang pressed hard. But Gao Xiang pulled back to a narrow choke point on the Jinniu Road, stabilized his formation, held the line, and then repelled Xu Huang.]
"Well done! Gao Xiang did great!" Liu Bei was overjoyed.
Even though he knew the final outcome, seeing such a perilous situation still made his heart beat incredibly fast.
If Gao Xiang had completely collapsed, his retreat path and supply lines would be gone! Even if he fought Cao Cao to the death and won, the victory would definitely be tragic.
The generals looked at the complex terrain of Ba Commandery with thoughtful expressions. Under such steep mountains, the Shu roads were practically full of natural choke points that were easy to defend and hard to attack.
[Lightscreen]
[Xu Huang's attack failed, but Cao Cao did not seem bothered at all. He just waved his hand and ordered a full advance!
The assault on Dingjun Mountain was steady and methodical. The front line moved up in tight formation while archers at the back laid down covering fire. Step by step they came.
Liu Bei knew this was life or death. He stood right at the front, shouting for his men to hold their ground and never fall back!]
"Big brother is truly fearless and heroic!" Zhang Fei praised loudly. This was his big brother. He had personally experienced countless battles. This was that true old veteran!
Of course, Zhang Fei did not dare say that last part out loud.
Guan Yu offered a cautious reminder. "Big brother, a general can charge bravely, but a commander must not personally risk being hit by arrows. If you get hurt, the army's morale will definitely collapse."
Liu Bei waved it off. "You are telling me that now? It is useless. That is the future version of me standing there."
Although watching it from outside the light screen did look pretty dangerous...
[Lightscreen]
[Liu Bei kept fighting at the front and no one could talk him into stepping back. Fa Zheng watched for a moment, then ran straight up and stood right in front of him.
Liu Bei shouted, "Xiaozhi, get down! The arrows!" Fa Zheng replied, "My lord stands right where the arrows fall. How could I step back?"
Liu Bei paused for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Then we will both step back together."]
Well...
"Big brother cares for Fa Xiaozhi deeply!" Zhang Fei was the first to lay down a stepping stone. The others quickly followed his lead.
"He was only worried for his advisor's safety!"
"Think about it. If our lord had stayed up there, Cao Cao himself might have gotten struck down! What a shame that never happened!"
"Hansheng killed Xiahou Yuan. Imagine if our lord had killed Cao Mengde too. What a story that would have been!"
"Alright, enough!" Liu Bei held up a hand. "All of you, please act normal for once."
[Lightscreen]
[Of course we know Fa Zheng was just using that trick to get Liu Bei to move back. Still pretty funny to read though.
Liu Bei's men fought hard and pushed the Cao troops back down the slope. Cao Cao changed tactics immediately. He pulled his men back behind their defenses and refused to come out. He planned to wait them out and starve the defenders on the mountain.
Liu Bei grew more anxious by the day. He sent Liu Feng to the front of the Cao camp every single morning to shout insults and challenge them to come out and fight. He got so good at it that Cao Cao eventually got furious enough to shout right back.
"You son of a shoe-selling bastard! You keep sending your boy to yell at me! Just wait until I call my Yellow Beard here and let him deal with you!"
It is a pity that Liu Feng's curses were probably just too vulgar, so the history books did not record them, which only makes people very curious.]
Everyone present had zero trouble reading the classical Chinese text, but Liu Bei was a bit unclear.
"Who is this Yellow Beard the Cao thief speaks of?"
"I exchanged letters with a friend last year who mentioned it. Cao Cao has a son named Cao Zhang. He is good at archery and driving chariots, and can fight fierce tigers with his bare hands. People inside and outside Xuchang have heard of him. Some say Cao Zhang's beard has a yellowish tint, which is an extraordinary omen."
Extraordinary signs were exactly the kind of thing people of this time took very seriously.
"An omen of dying young then?"
Zhang Fei blinked. "From what we have seen so far, none of Cao Cao's sons seem to live very long."
He started counting on his fingers. "Cao Pi called himself emperor and died after six years. Cao Zhen fought for position and we all know how that went. Cao Chong died young. Cao Ang has grass growing over his grave already. Now add Cao Zhang to the list. How long does he have left?"
The logic was rough but hard to argue with. Jian Yong and Mi Zhu just exchanged a look. "Called himself emperor? Fought over the throne?"
Zhang Fei waved his hand calmly. "Just standard stuff in the Three Kingdoms era."
This made Jian Yong even more curious.
"But I never expected my dear nephew to have such a skill!"
Zhang Fei's attention was completely elsewhere. "He actually cursed the Cao thief until he was jumping with rage. I really want to hear it too."
Guan Yu strongly agreed. "With such verbal skills, he can serve as the vanguard!"
This was not a joke. Sieging cities was hard to fight at this time, so clever tricks were frequently used. A vanguard who could curse the enemy commander into losing his mind was absolutely a rare talent!
Cursing the defending soldiers until they lost all morale, and cursing the defending commander until he lost his reason and forced his way out of the city. That contribution was no less than slaying a general and seizing a flag!
Liu Bei was speechless.
Then slowly covered his face.
[Lightscreen]
[The standoff at Dingjun Mountain continued like this. But the Cao army had plenty of grain and food. They ate well every day, roasting mutton and braising beef whenever they had nothing else to do.
Liu Bei hiding on the mountain could only chew on dry rations. This could not go on!
Learning from his bitter experience, Liu Bei decided to take the initiative and attack. Thus, the Battle of Hanzhong arrived at its final crucial engagement, the Battle of the Han River!
Boss Cao, the Changban Slope Special Edition Seven Entries and Seven Exits Zhao Zilong you ordered is fully prepared. Are you ready?]
For a moment, the entire hall went still.
Zhang Fei's eyes lit up.
"Seven charges?"
He cracked his knuckles.
"Now this... this sounds like something worth watching."