Chapter 427: The wishful thinking was shattered, and I am crying without tears! Han troops headed straight for Jinyang, and the countdown to the demise of the Qin State began!
Cao Zhi was completely confused.

That’s 50,000 Hun cavalry!

Just one battle and they will be completely wiped out?
What he never expected was that Liu Bei actually used the Fire Bull Formation, a method that only existed in history books and legends, to destroy 50,000 Hun cavalry!
He got it.

From the very beginning, Liu Bei had already planned to use the fire bull formation to defeat the Hun cavalry.

Withdrawing troops from Baibo Pass to the south was just a bait, only to lure the 70,000-strong coalition force of Cao Ren and Yu Furuo out of Baibo Pass.

As for the deployment of the main force to attack Huguan and 30,000 troops to guard Anyi, it was also just a trap set by Liu Bei.

The purpose was only to show weakness deliberately and lure Cao Ren to lead his army to attack Anyi.

In this way, Liu Bei could use the fire bull formation prepared in advance to attack the Hun cavalry head-on!

Everything was a trap set by Liu Bei just to annihilate Yu Fuluo's cavalry!
Without the Hun cavalry, how can they defend Baibo Pass with only these 20,000 defeated soldiers?
Once Baibo Pass is lost, the road to Jinyang will be unobstructed. What can they use to defend Jinyang?

Once Jinyang is lost, Bingzhou will collapse and be at the mercy of Liu Bei!
The more Cao Zhi thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the more panicked he became, and his body began to tremble violently.

He threw all the calmness and composure he had pretended to have before out of the window. The nature of this Qin King Chenliu, a flower in a greenhouse, was finally exposed to the public at this moment.

"Uncle Zixiao, what should we do?"

"What should we do?"

Cao Zhi, frightened out of his wits, suddenly grabbed Cao Ren's arm and began to question him in trembling fear.

"What should I do? How would I know what to do?"

"Who would have thought that the big-eared thief could resort to such a despicable method as the Fire Bull Formation!"

"Who on earth could have come up with such a vicious plan for him?"

"Is it Xiao Fang, or that Fa Zheng, or some other vicious person?"

Cao Ren was helpless, but still stubbornly angry, wondering who was the one who offered the Fire Bull Formation to Liu Bei.

"At this point, is there any need to worry about who will offer this Fire Bull Formation to Liu Bei?"

"General Huqi, the situation is hopeless. We can no longer defend Baibo Pass."

"Before the Han army arrives, let's abandon the pass and retreat northwards towards Jinyang as soon as possible."

In the end, it was Xun You who calmed down first and reminded helplessly.

Cao Ren's heart was shaken, and he immediately jumped up and shouted:
"Pass the order down, the entire army will immediately abandon the pass and retreat north, quickly abandon the pass and retreat to Jinyang~~"

On and outside the city, more than 20,000 Qin soldiers rushed forward and fled towards the north gate in panic.

"But Lord Xun, Baibo Pass is the last relatively important pass south of Jinyang."

"If this pass is lost, there will be no defenses south of Jinyang, and Liu Bei's 100,000-man army will be able to march unhindered and reach the city of Jinyang."

"With our current strength, how can we possibly defend Jinyang?"

Cao Zhi came back to his senses and asked with a sad face.

Xun You was at his wits' end and could only sigh helplessly:
"At this point, You can't think of any way to turn the tide. We can only take it one step at a time."

"The only chance to hold on to Bingzhou now is to hope that Your Majesty can capture Pubanjin."

"The only thing we can do is to hold on until the day when Liu Bei is forced to withdraw his troops."

Cao Zhi wanted to cry but had no tears.

Originally, Qin's strategy to fight against the Han army was initiated by him.

He asked Cao Cao for permission to come to Bingzhou to assist Cao Ren, with the purpose of gaining military merit and prestige.

Who would have thought that all his wishes would fail and Bingzhou was on the verge of being lost. Not to mention that he came here to gain reputation and military merit, he was afraid that if Cao Cao held him responsible for the loss of Bingzhou, he would be held responsible.

"Big Ear Thief~~"

Cao Zhi gritted his teeth secretly and turned his hateful gaze to the south.

...

Twenty thousand Qin troops abandoned the pass and retreated northward overnight.

The next day, the Han army pursued and attacked, and captured Baibo Pass without bloodshed.

Liu Bei issued an imperial edict, turning the 70,000 main forces stationed at Jiguan and quickly returning to Hedong.

A few days later, one hundred thousand Han troops gathered at Baibo Pass again.

At Liu Bei's command, the army rushed out of Baibo Pass, headed north along the Fen River, and headed towards Jinyang in a mighty force.

At the same time, the good news of the capture of Baibo Pass was quickly spread to the eastern front.

The morale of the Hebei Army led by Zhang Fei was immediately boosted.

One hundred thousand Han troops from Hebei launched an unprecedented fierce attack on Jingxing Pass.

Qin's rule in Bingzhou was already in jeopardy.

...

Puban Pass.

"Confused, Zixiao is confused!"

"How could he make an alliance with Yufuluo on his own initiative, and even promise that the Hu chieftain would cede land and become a king, and also ask me to make peace with the Xiongnu?"

"Where does he regard the dignity of our Great Qin?"

"Does he want me to be despised by the world and leave a bad name in the history books?"

In the Guancheng government office, Cao Cao was furious and slammed a letter on the table.

That letter was a secret report sent by Cao Zhi's men around Hedong. In the letter, Cao Zhi described in detail how Cao Ren had no choice but to fake Cao Cao's order to cede land and become a king in exchange for Yu Fuluo leading 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry to Baibo Pass to help.

Of course, Cao Zhi cleared himself of all blame in the letter, claiming that he had strongly reminded Cao Ren to take Cao Cao's reputation and the dignity of the Qin state into consideration and to act with caution.

The end result was that Cao Ren ignored his warnings and acted on his own in order to keep Bingzhou.

The emperor of the great Qin Dynasty had to cede land to the Huns and give his three daughters to Yu Furuo as a marriage partner. What a shame and humiliation!
Even someone as confident as Cao Cao, who disregarded the slander of the world, could not remain calm when he saw the news and became furious.

All the counselors and generals in the hall were shocked by Cao Ren's action, and there was a lot of whispering in the hall.

Some people were angry at Cao Ren for his loss of national dignity, while others understood Cao Ren's difficulties in considering the overall situation.

But all the ministers remained silent and no one expressed their opinion.

Supporting Cao Ren and defending Cao Ren would be tantamount to walking into Cao Cao's trap and would cause Cao Cao to bear the blame.

Blame Cao Ren. After all, he is Cao Cao's brother and the most famous general in the royal family. Not everyone can afford to offend him.

Everyone was in a difficult situation and could only choose to keep silent.

"Feng Xiao, what do you think about this?"

After venting his anger, Cao Cao calmed down a little and glanced at Guo Jia.

Guo Jia coughed a few times and sighed softly:
"General Huoqi did indeed falsely convey the emperor's order, and the conditions he promised to Fuluo were also suspected of undermining the dignity of our Great Qin. Naturally, I dare not deny this, nor do I dare to defend it."

"However, it cannot be denied that the original intention of the Cavalry General was to reverse the unfavorable situation and to defend Bingzhou. He had no choice but to do so."

"Once Bingzhou falls, the Qin will lose an arm to Liu Bei. It will be much easier for the Han army to attack Guanzhong from Bingzhou than from Tongguan."

"It is no exaggeration to say that whether or not we can defend Bingzhou is related to the survival of our Great Qin!"

Guo Jia's calm analysis, every word was like cold water poured on Cao Cao's heart, extinguishing his anger bit by bit.

Cao Cao's face, which was filled with anger, gradually began to calm down.

"But the General of the Cavalry did not report to Your Majesty for instructions in advance. One reason is that the situation at Baibo Pass is urgent and we have to follow the discretion. There is no time to ask Your Majesty for instructions."

"Secondly, I think the General of Cavalry also has the consideration of maintaining your majesty's prestige and reputation."

"In the future, people will say that this was done arbitrarily by the General of the Cavalry, and Your Majesty had no prior knowledge of it, nor did he give his approval."

"Your Majesty, since you don't know about the so-called ceding of land to the Xiongnu and marrying off the princess, what does it have to do with you?"

"I think that the General of the Cavalry is enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens. For the survival of our Great Qin and to protect the reputation of Your Majesty, he is willing to shoulder the infamy alone!"

Guo Jia was eloquent and tried to whitewash Cao Ren.

He naturally understood that Cao Cao would not punish Cao Ren.

After all, he was his brother, and everything he did was for his country. How could he possibly blame such a minister?

Besides, the matter has been done, and even if Cao Cao is extremely reluctant, he has no choice but to accept this reality.

Since this was the case, Guo Jia simply took Cao Cao's pulse and made some plausible excuses for Cao Ren.

With just these few words, Cao Ren was touted from a person who falsely conveyed the imperial edict to a model of loyalty and righteousness who was willing to endure humiliation and bear infamy for the country and the people.

The dark clouds on Cao Cao's face disappeared, and the remaining anger turned into a helpless sigh.

"It's really hard for a filial son to bear this huge infamy alone for the sake of our Great Qin State."

"Ah~~"

Cao Cao expressed his position.

Not only did he no longer blame Cao Ren, but his words revealed approval and understanding.

After Cao Cao made this statement, the ministers saw the direction of the wind and immediately stopped being silent and spoke out to express their opinions.

The general public opinion naturally agreed with Guo Jia's, all of which were defending Cao Ren and paving the way for Cao Cao.

"This kid only wants to distance himself from the world. He is smart, but unfortunately he lacks responsibility..."

Cao Cao picked up the secret letter from Cao Zhi again. At this time, he finally saw through the little thoughts hidden in Cao Zhi's letter and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing.

After putting away the letter and his feelings, Cao Cao's sharp gaze returned to the map.

"Let's not talk about this for now. Zi Xiao is currently leading a large army out of Baibo Pass, intending to recapture Anyi. What do you think are his chances of winning?"

"Does Zixiao's move seem like underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly?"

Cao Cao changed the subject, obviously acquiescing to the fait accompli of Cao Ren's "collusion" with the Huns.

"The General of the Cavalry must be afraid that Liu Bei will turn to attack Huguan. Huguan is located in Shangdang County, and the area is mostly mountainous, which is not conducive to the Xiongnu cavalry attacking the Han army's food supply route."

"Once Liu Bei turns to attack Huguan, the advantage of the 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry will no longer exist."

"So for this reason, the General of the Cavalry followed Liu Bei southward, just to pin Liu Bei's main force firmly in Hedong."

"I think that the General of Cavalry has 50,000 cavalrymen, and the difference in total strength between him and Liu Bei is only 30,000. If we really compare them, he actually has the advantage."

"As long as the General of the Cavalry can keep his composure and not rush into a direct confrontation with the Han army, I don't think there is any need to worry too much..."

Guo Jia pointed at the map and analyzed it again.

Cao Cao stroked his thin beard, nodded slightly, and the shadow in his eyes gradually dissipated.

Just as he was about to speak, hurried footsteps were heard and the personal guards stumbled into the hall.

"Your Majesty, urgent news from Hedong!"

"Liu Bei defeated our army in the north of Anyi, and 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry were almost wiped out. The Xiongnu Chanyu Yufuluo was killed by Liu Bei!"

"The General of the Cavalry is now forced to abandon Baibo Pass and retreat to Jinyang. I beg Your Majesty to attack Pubanjin as soon as possible to save Bingzhou!"

There was a loud explosion inside the mansion hall!
(End of this chapter)