“Escape!”

Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren and others all looked guilty.

“These Kushans are so evil! They actually gave Bo Diao and others a way out in that situation!”

When Cao Cao heard that Bo Diao had escaped, there was a hint of anger in his brows.

“We can’t let Bo Diao escape back to Kushan!”

“Zihe! Lead the cavalry to chase them and hold on to them! See if you can make them flee. Bring us the Bodiao!”

“Here!”

Cao Chun immediately dropped what he was doing and led two thousand cavalrymen to chase after the Kushan army.

……

After returning to the army, Bo Diao immediately gave the order:

“retreat!”

Bo Diao gradually came to his senses from the shock given to him by the big man, and immediately realized that things were going to be bad!
In the battle in the valley, a large number of high-caste Kushan nobles were killed!
These people are the backbone of Kushan’s rule!
Now most of them have died here, and I’m afraid there will be trouble in the country!

As for the big man…

After thinking for a while, Bo Diao finally called a messenger.

“You should go and discuss surrender with the Han people.”

Seeing the envoy’s anxious look, Bo Diao said again: “It’s just a temporary solution!”

“Now that the army is in retreat, the generals and soldiers have no will to fight, and they can’t resist the big man’s bite at all!”

“We are now like a wounded buffalo on the grassland, helpless against the tiger behind us.”

“But when we return to Kushan, it will be like returning to our tribe, and we can drive away the tiger of Han!”

The messenger immediately realized.

It turns out that I was just trying to delay time!
However, when the messenger thought about having to go back to face Cao Cao, his face became gloomy and he seemed a little unnatural.

“The Han Chinese have an old saying: A real man can be short or long!”

“When we withdraw from Kangju and return to Kushan, we will have plenty of opportunities to settle accounts with Cao Cao!”

The messenger thought about it and finally agreed to this matter. He led a few guards and retreated.

However, after walking for a while, they ran into Cao Chun’s pursuers!
Cao Chun saw this and shouted: “Who are you? What are you doing?!”

The messenger shouted: “We are here on the orders of the king to surrender to the Han people!”

Please surrender?

Cao Chun looked at the Bo Diao envoy suspiciously, then sneered, “Is there anyone who would surrender like you?”

“You didn’t even prepare some gifts or livestock, and you want to use your sweet words to drag out time? So that Bo Diao can escape?”

Seeing that his intentions were discovered, the messenger shouted in panic, “No! Your Majesty, are you really surrendering sincerely? Aren’t you Han people a nation of etiquette? Is chasing like this really in line with the demeanor of a great country?”

Cao Chun sneered.

“It seems you have learned a lot.”

“But do you know that we, the Han people, have a saying: Anyone who openly offends the mighty Han people will be punished, no matter how far away they are!”

“And don’t forget, it was you, the Kushans, who started this war! You want to surrender now? It’s too late!”

The messenger was horrified and tried to go forward and hold Cao Chun’s horse, but Cao Chun pushed him away.

“Surrender? Sure! You have to come to me and tell me this yourself!”

“If Bo Diao can’t come, I will go and ask him to discuss the specific matters myself!”

Seeing the Han cavalry floating past him like flowing silk, the Bo Diao envoy wanted to reach out and grab it, but found that the silk… had thorns!
Cao Chun is good at cavalry and understands best that cavalry need to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses!
After catching up with Bo Tiao with his physical advantage, Cao Chun did not launch an offensive during the day, but asked his soldiers to wait until night and then raise torches to attack Bo Tiao’s camp!

Kangju is full of wilderness and flat on all sides, which means that strong winds are bound to blow across the land all the time!

The wind helps the fire!

Wildfire spread all over the prairie! The Kushan soldiers were terrified after the disastrous defeat the day before, and now they were attacked by fire, so they began to flee south again!

Bo Diao had never expected that the Han people would kill us all like this! He could not help but sigh: “Even the Huns back then did not pursue our ancestors to this extent!”

At this moment, someone in the crowd suddenly said:

“So it was the Han people who won in the end, not the Xiongnu…”

“…”

Bo Diao was helpless and could only continue to flee south!

When Cao Chun saw that his first attack failed, he knew that something bad might happen, so he kept chasing.

But this time, Bo Diao seemed to have realized the reality. He did not even take a rest at night and fled southward day and night.

The Ferghana horse that Cao Cao had gifted to the Kushan envoys became Bodiao’s lifeline at this moment, forcing the Han cavalry to get closer to Bodiao every time and unable to capture him!

Seeing that Bo Diao was about to take back Kushan, even Cao Chun had no choice but to write back to Cao Cao, asking Cao Cao to prepare for the worst.

After hearing this, Cao Cao also sighed to the sky.

“It seems that it is impossible to pacify Kushan from the north!”

The reason why Cao Cao risked pretending to surrender was to try to see if he could break the situation in the northern battlefield in one fell swoop and establish the first merit!

But now it seems that all efforts have failed…

But at this moment, Cao Chun sent another urgent letter!

After reading the letter, Cao Cao did not even bother to continue clearing the battlefield, and immediately led his troops to the front to meet up with Cao Chun.

When Cao Chun saw Cao Cao coming, he motioned for Cao Cao to look forward.

What you see is not the strange flag of Kushan.

The pure red flag of the Han Dynasty was fluttering quietly in front of us, like a solid rock!
As for the big characters on the red flag, they frightened the Han army soldiers even more –

【Liu】!
Liu Bei!

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then he immediately figured out the key…

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the inexplicable emotions in his heart, Cao Cao kicked his horse’s belly and walked forward.

Cao Cao guessed correctly.

The person in front is Liu Bei!
After Liu Bei learned that Cao Cao wanted to “surrender” to the Kushan Empire, he did reject Fa Zheng’s request to send troops to Yili, but at the same time he found Pang Tong and discussed another matter with him –

“Meng De must be pretending to surrender this time!”

“With Meng De’s talent, he will definitely be able to defeat Bo Diao and force him to flee south!”

“If we can rush through the Congling Mountains during this period and intercept Bo Diao from the rear, then the big man will surely win in one fell swoop!”

Liu Bei not only believed that Cao Cao’s surrender was a pretense, but he also believed that Cao Cao would definitely be able to defeat Bo Diao!
This mysterious confidence made Pang Tong unable to help but complain: “Uncle, if there is any problem with Cao Cao, then attacking the mountain by force will be a death sentence!”

“But if we succeed, we can wipe out the Kushan main force right here!”

Pang Tong could not help but use the battle of Yingshui in the past to persuade Liu Bei –

“Uncle, the last time the emperor was in Luoyang, he was able to turn the tide in the Battle of Yingshui.”

“If I risk everything again this time…”

“Shi Yuan, don’t worry!”

It is obviously impossible for Liu Bei to learn from his mistakes.

In other words, asking Liu Bei to give up some unrealistic ideas is nonsense! Liu Bei, from beginning to end, has always been the Liu Bei who came out of Zhuo County and wanted to support the Han Dynasty!
The corner of Pang Tong’s mouth twitched.

Although he had ten thousand risks he wanted to tell Liu Bei about.

But Pang Tong also knew that Liu Bei would most likely not listen to these words.

That being the case…

“Okay! Let’s storm the valley and give it a try!”

Liu Bei rang the gongs and beat the drums, mobilizing the three pillars of the country, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao, leaving Fa Zheng and Meng Da to guard the Western Regions, and led 20,000 troops to venture into the mountain road!
Good thing…

This time, Liu Bei made the right bet!
Liu Bei looked at Cao Cao coming towards him and immediately rode his horse to meet him.

Cao Cao glanced behind Liu Bei and asked, “Where’s Bo Diao?”

“Caught!”

“Did you catch the wrong person?”

“Can’t be wrong!”

“you sure?”

“…”

Liu Bei stepped forward and hugged Cao Cao’s neck, saying in a somewhat dissatisfied tone: “Meng De! At least trust me once. Do you think I am so unreliable?”

Cao Cao just curled his lips: “The fact that you can appear here proves that you are unreliable.”

“If I really surrendered to Kushan, and if I lost to Bo Diao, then even the Western Region would have changed hands by now! You would also most likely die in a foreign land!”

In Cao Cao’s eyes, Liu Bei’s behavior was obviously not what a qualified commander should do.

but……

Cao Cao suddenly felt relaxed all over, and his body visibly sank.

“If you don’t come, and let Bo Diao escape back to Kushan, the Han Dynasty might really be in a difficult battle in the future!”

“This time, you really are a blind cat that catches a dead mouse!”

“Tsk!”

Liu Bei looked at Cao Cao with dissatisfaction. What does it mean that a blind cat catches a dead mouse?

Moreover, I came here from afar and went through untold hardships to help Cao Cao clean up the mess. Instead of being grateful to me, Cao Cao scolded me like this right away. What was the meaning of this?
Liu Bei put his arm down and was about to leave when a voice came from behind –

“But thanks anyway.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not thanking you for being here. I’m thanking you for what happened in Yili back then… Of course, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. Of course, I will still write to the emperor and ask him to punish you severely for mobilizing troops without considering the overall situation…”

Seeing Cao Cao’s increasingly incoherent speech, Liu Bei laughed twice, then stepped forward and hugged Cao Cao: “Don’t worry! Meng De can complain however he wants!”

“But shouldn’t Meng De help make up for this celebration banquet? Hmm?”

Liu Bei had been thinking about the celebration banquet all the time, and Cao Cao saw that even Bo Diao had been captured by Liu Bei, so he naturally had no reason to refuse.

Although the conditions were simple, fortunately the Kushan army had so many livestock accompanying them that they were enough to feed the Han soldiers!

Even these Kushan surrendered soldiers could get some meat that the Han army could not eat to improve their food.

The Han soldiers saw these Kushan surrendered soldiers eating voraciously and couldn’t help but tease: “This is your food, why do you all look like you haven’t eaten it?”

It was meant to be a joke, but it unexpectedly led to the Kushan soldiers complaining about their injustice.

“Han gentlemen! Don’t you know that it is not our turn to eat these meats?”

“Generally, the ones who enjoy meat are the masters of high castes, and the next are the masters’ personal soldiers. How can we normally eat meat?”

Han army soldiers: ???
Even the Xiongnu and Xianbei would not withhold food from their soldiers while they were on the march or fighting, right?
What is the national situation of Kushan?

“So what do you eat when you’re on the march?”

“What else can I eat?”

Seeing the Kushan soldiers pointing their fingers at the bran and wheat chaff used to feed livestock, the Han army remained silent…

“Don’t worry.”

“When the Han Dynasty goes to Kushan, we will also give you all equal land!”

But these Kushan surrendered soldiers opened their eyes wide, obviously not understanding what “equal distribution of land” meant.

“Each of you will have your own land and your own house!”

“At the same time, your children will be able to go to school together to learn Chinese characters, poetry, books and etiquette in the future!”

“Be good!”

The words of the Han soldiers made the Kushan surrendered soldiers’ eyes widen: “Isn’t that the same as the masters?”

“How can you be like a master? The people of the Han Dynasty are all like this now!”

Have their own farmland and houses.

Even their own children can receive education!
This is something that people of lower castes dare not even think about!
But now with the Han Dynasty taking control of Kushan, it seems that all of this will be realized in the near future?
These Kushan surrendered soldiers told their compatriots about these things with dances and excitement, and for a moment the atmosphere in the entire camp became a little more cheerful!
The Kushans loved music, and Liu Bei happened to have the same hobby, so he quickly became friends with these Kushan soldiers!
Cao Cao was rarely indulged tonight, and he was inspired to write a five-character regulated verse!

But compared to Liu Bei’s singing and dancing, the Kushan soldiers obviously did not appreciate Cao Cao’s poetry.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I don’t understand.”

“…”

Cao Cao spat, cursed “barbarians”, and then wanted to go back to sleep.

But Liu Bei grabbed Cao Cao’s clothes and said, “Today is a feast of singing and dancing, why should Meng De refuse?”

“I can not dance!”

“Meng De, you are talking nonsense! You, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were all dandies in Luoyang! How could you not know how to dance?”

“…”

It was natural that Cao Cao, who came from a wealthy and noble family, would not be unfamiliar with singing, dancing, rituals and music.

However, since the chaotic times, Cao Cao has not engaged in these “distracting” activities for a long time.

It was not until now that Cao Cao realized…the troubled times seemed to be really over.

When Cao Cao heard Liu Bei mention that he was a playboy when he was young, he did not refute.

Cao Cao even wanted to tell Liu Bei that he was not an ordinary playboy, but a top-notch playboy!
Just dancing, isn’t that easy for me?
“Wine and song, life geometry!”

Thinking back to the past, the scholar was full of vigor and ambition, and he was full of vigor and ambition! He regarded the nobles as dirt! !

The only thing Cao Cao was thankful for was that after many twists and turns, he actually became the person he had hoped to be when he was young.

Although the road is tortuous, in the end…

For a moment, Cao Cao put aside all distractions and was pulled by Liu Bei to join in the celebratory singing and dancing, no longer thinking about anything else!

After a night…

Cao Cao couldn’t remember what had happened, he only remembered that yesterday was the most unrestrained night he had ever had since he came of age!
Except that after waking up, Cao Cao felt a little uncomfortable with Liu Bei sleeping next to him, Cao Cao felt that everything was perfect!
“Liu Xuande! Get dressed! Let’s go!”

……

In the east of Hua City, the Han army finally accumulated enough strength.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were the vanguards, following the waterway, together with Liu Bei, Cao Cao and others who set out from the north, they attacked the heart of the Kushan Empire – Peshawar! (End of this chapter)