On this night, the emergency messenger sent by Xu Rong crossed the mountains and ridges, and finally arrived in Xingyang before dawn and conveyed the news that Cao Ang set up a camp at the mountain pass to Li Ru.

Li Ru smiled slightly and said to the generals: "I didn't expect that Cao Ang was a little smart, but this was just a cleverness and would not be of great use!"

All the generals praised him, and Li Ru smiled and said to Du Yang: "Mr. Du County, your nephew Han Hao is also in Cao Ang's army. It will definitely be very lively to meet your relatives tomorrow!"

Du Yang said angrily: "As a county magistrate appointed by the court, what crime did Du commit? Why did you throw me into prison?! I want to complain to the court!"

Li Ru smiled slightly: "Welcome, I, Li Ru, are not talented, and now I am specialized in handling writing matters for the prime minister. Have you written the memorial of County Magistrate Du? If it is written, I will show it to me. As for your sins, who will let your nephew be in the hands of the Guandong rebels?!"

Du Yang roared angrily: "You are the rebels of my great man! The Kanto League army attacked Dong thief and followed the will of God...ah!"

Before Du Yang could finish his words, he was pushed to the ground by the guards under Li Ru and kicked him hard!

Li Ru looked at Du Yang with a smile until he closed his mouth obediently. Li Ru then smiled and said, "Those who know the times are heroes, the magistrate Du County. There are still many vacancies in the prefectures and counties. I hope you can recognize the situation and not resist anymore. Come on, change a better room for County Magistrate Du tonight and help him clean it up so that he will not meet his nephew tomorrow, and he will be unkempt and think he is abused here! What? County Magistrate Du, do you still want to live in that cold and wet prison today?"

After hearing what Li Ru said, Du Yang shuddered and finally lowered his head.

Li Ru laughed and ordered someone to take Du Yang down.

At this time, a general asked in a low voice: "General, the little thief Cao Ang set up a camp in advance. It seems that he has prepared for it. Should we modify tomorrow's action plan?"

Li Ru smiled, shook his head gently, and said in a deep voice: "Even if Cao Ang has all kinds of tricks, his strength is limited after all! According to Xu Rong's notice, Cao Ang's entire army is only seven or eight thousand, and we have mobilized 30,000 troops this time! When attacking the stone with eggs, Cao Ang will be defeated!"

The next morning, Cao Ang’s camp was at the beginning of the Si period, and the soldiers got up from the bed, hurriedly had breakfast, and began to wear armor to prepare for the war.

When everyone was sleeping most comfortably in the early morning, the forest outside the camp suddenly caught fire, and another gust of wind broke out, and the fire spread rapidly. The soldiers only heard a series of screams from the wind, and there was a scent of barbecue. I don’t know who was so greedy, and I had to eat extra meals in the early morning!

When everyone finished washing and breakfast, Le Jin led 500 cavalrymen to the camp first, forming a slightly loose formation and moving towards Xingyang.

Fang Yue led five hundred sword and shield hands and then left the camp. Everyone had already put on all their armors and lined up in neat rows to follow.

Behind them were a thousand spearmen led by Liao Hua. Everyone held up the spears that were shining with cold light and walked out of the camp with a little excitement. Because the enemy had not been discovered, the soldiers in the queue were talking in a low voice:

"I heard that it wasn't. Last night, Shi Huan led his army into the mountains and forests. While the bandits were all awake, they set off a lot of fire!"

"I heard that the Xiliang Army was so burned in the mountains and forests, like a wolf crying and howling. I just disrupted my dreams and only had a good sleep this morning."

"Hey, I heard that Shi Huan took five hundred people to the mountains and forests for a final break. Have you ever seen their team? It's so leisurely to get the battle! "

...

Liao Hua let them talk in a low voice. Anyway, everyone was a little nervous before the war, and saying these topics appropriately could ease the tension. Liao Hua looked at the mountains and forests, but he was not very envious of Shi Huan and the others. He was only satisfied with the military achievements with one sword and one shot. Moreover, when Shi Huan and the others came back, Liao Hua also ran over to watch the fun, and his hair and eyebrows were all burned by fire, and he looked very embarrassed.

Behind Liao Hua's troops are 500 elite soldiers led by Cao Ang. These soldiers do not have unified weapons. They have various hands, including those with ring-headed swords, red tassel guns, meteor hammers, and maces. They look very messy. However, don't underestimate the combat effectiveness of these soldiers. They are all veterans who have returned from injury. The rich battlefield experience has given them the capital to laugh and proudly.

Walking at the end of the team were 1,500 soldiers led by Han Hao. The soldiers did not wear armor, but piled all the armor and equipment onto the cart. About 1,000 of them were archers, and there were more than 20,000 feather arrows alone! Therefore, although they only had 1,500 people, they pushed 200 large cars.

Soon, the team advanced to the edge of the Sishui River. Although it was early spring, there was not much water in the river, so it could only barely penetrate the soldiers' calves. The soldiers casually tied up their trousers, hung straw sandals around their necks, and held their weapons to cross the river easily. Even Han Hao and his large baggage carts pushed and pulled, easily crossing the river.

At this time, everyone could vaguely see the scouts of the Western Liang Army in their sight. The cavalry of Le Jin immediately met him. They were about to exchange hostages. Everyone seemed to be more restrained and did not hedge and fight. They just shot a few arrows from a distance and drove each other out of the way.

Seeing that Cao's army was very vigilant, the scouts of the Xiliang army gradually retreated and gave up the road to Xingyang. However, Cao's army did not continue to move forward, but stopped by the river and searched several small woods by the Sishui River.

During this period, Han Hao's troops also began to take off armor from the car and put on armor to prepare for battle. They surrounded the empty car after the armor and formed a semicircular formation, relying on the river water to form a defensive formation. However, the river water was a little too low and could not achieve the expected effect. Han Hao could only draw some large carts from the front and stand behind him.

About a quarter of an hour later, the scout reported that there was no enemy in the surrounding area, and the generals couldn't help but be surprised. In everyone's advance deduction, the woods on the river bank were the focus of the enemy's ambush, but why is it empty now?!

Everyone gathered together to discuss this matter, and Han Hao whispered: "In my opinion, it may be that the enemy's goal here is too obvious and afraid that our army will notice it. Moreover, the enemy has set up two ambushes in the barren mountains and jungles, so it is not very meaningful to deploy defense here again."

Everyone thought it made sense and nodded. Le Jin said carelessly: "In my opinion, you don't have to think too much again. Just rushed straight to Xingyang. Maybe the other party felt that there were many soldiers in Xiliang and were waiting for us in line!"

What Le Jin said also makes sense. Although the strategy is clever, if both sides are resourceful, the outcome of the battle will be determined by the strength of both sides.

Cao Ang frowned and said in a deep voice: "Le Jin is right. It's not good to think too much if the soldiers come to block the water and cover the soil. Let's do it! Let's do this, Han Hao will stay here with 500 infantrymen and 500 archers; I will lead Le Jin's 500 cavalry, Fang Yue's 500 sword shields, Liao Hua's 1,000 spearmen, my direct subordinates, and 500 archers to Xingyang. What do you think?"

No one raised any objections, so Cao Ang ordered the entire army to go to Xingyang. Soon, Cao's army arrived at the exchange place agreed in advance, but saw that the Xiliang army had also set up a huge formation, with more than 15,000 people looking at the number of flags!

Cao Ang frowned and immediately ordered the formation to be launched. Fang Yue had five hundred sword and shield hands in front, Liao Hua's thousand spearmen behind, five hundred archers in the center, on the left was Cao Ang's five hundred sharp men, and on the right were Le Jin's five hundred cavalry, forming a defensive formation.

When the opposite army was divided into two parts, Li Ru and more than ten people rushed out of the horse and asked loudly: "Cao Ang, why don't you keep your promise?"

Cao Ang also brought more than ten guards out and came to Li Ru, saying in a deep voice: "General Li Ru, to show his sincerity, I left all the troops at the mountain pass more than ten miles away, and only brought three thousand horses here! But General Li Ru was a little unkind, why did he bring so many soldiers?!"

Li Ru laughed: "In today's world, the strong prey on the weak! Our Xiliang army is strong and we will naturally show you so that you won't be too smooth during this period and forget how many bowls of dry rice you can eat!"

Cao Ang frowned slightly, and Li Ru asked loudly: "Where is Hu Zhen in our army?"

Cao Ang raised his right hand, and Liao Hua ordered people to escort Hu Zhen out, let Li Ru see clearly, and then escort him back into the formation and pressed him to the ground.

Cao Ang asked in a deep voice: "Where is my father Cao Mengde?"

Li Ru laughed: "He is in Chang'an!"

Cao Ang frowned and shouted angrily: "Li Ru, are you deliberately spending me? What did you say five days ago, and what did you do now?"

Li Ru sneered: "Your Majesty invites you to come to Beijing to see you!"

Cao Ang snorted coldly, "Your Majesty is used as a guise. Now everyone in the world knows that Dong Zhuo controls His Majesty and frequently makes edicts. This is just Dong Zhuo's life-threatening life! Li Ru said nonsense, or return my father to me, or we will set aside and fight to the death to let the heroes of Kanto watch the fun!"

Li Ru chuckled, "Cao Zixiu, don't waste your time. Today we will take this posture. Do you think you can still leave? Come with me and enter the capital. The prime minister will still reward you, the father and son of the Cao family! Huangfu Song is promoted to the Central Censor now!"

Cao Ang laughed: "Li Ru, don't deceive me here! I heard that after Huangfu Song entered the capital, he was thrown into the imperial prison. His son Huangfu Jianshou kowtowed and cried and begged hard, so that Dong Zhuo released him and appointed him as the idle position of the Confessionate. Later, seeing the crowd talking, he appointed him as the chief censor!"

Li Ru sneered, "You know very well. Now I have 15,000 troops here, and there are more than 10,000 elite troops in the city. As you expected, I have hidden tens of thousands of troops in the barren mountains and thousands of powerful soldiers in the dense forest, which is enough to cut off your retreat! Cao Ang, surrender can survive, but resist will die!"
Chapter completed!