Chapter 33: The Brave and Heroic Cao Zhen

  By the time the sky was bright, hundreds of Western Liang soldiers had gathered around Cao Cao, many of whom were holding prisoners and spoils of war. Cao Cao looked around and saw that everywhere there were mutilated corpses and crimson ice and snow, most of the dead bodies being those of the allied army's soldiers.

  These Western Liang soldiers laughed and scolded without restraint, occasionally pointing at Cao Cao with their fingers, no need to guess, they were definitely sarcastic words.

  Just as Cao Cao was about to give up all hope, he suddenly heard the sound of a horse's hooves approaching rapidly. A warhorse galloped towards him, and a general on the horse shouted loudly. Cao Cao saw flashes of knives in front of him, blood splashing everywhere, and the soldiers escorting him fell to the ground with a miserable cry.

  In a few breaths, the warriors on horseback would have killed Cao Cao's soldiers who were binding him.

  Cao Cao looked at him with a genuine expression and exclaimed in great joy: "Zi Liang (Cao Hong, courtesy name Zi Liang) has saved me."

  In the chaos of yesterday, Cao's generals were killed by Lü Bu and fled in all directions, and Cao Cao's figure had long since disappeared. Cao Hong was extremely anxious, searched for a night, and finally found Cao Cao, suddenly feeling relieved and happy, beheading several soldiers on the spot. But just at this moment, the surrounding Dong Zhuo soldiers also closed in.

  Cao Hong hastily dismounted and urged: "My lord, quickly mount your warhorse, I'll fight on foot to escort you to safety."

  Cao Cao looked at Cao Hong, suddenly tears streaming down his face, refusing to mount his horse, and said sorrowfully: "I will die here, my worthy brother cannot be without a horse, quickly leave this place of danger."

  Cao Hong hastily said, "The world can be without me, but it cannot be without you." After speaking, he took off his armor and wrapped it around Cao Cao's body. He forcibly lifted Cao Cao onto a warhorse, wearing only his undergarments, holding a large sword, protecting Cao Cao in front of the horse, cutting through a bloody path, snatching a warhorse, and rushing towards the east.

  Yesterday, Lü Bu won a great victory over Cao Cao, chasing him for dozens of miles. His soldiers were no longer in formation, but instead scattered in groups of three to five, each pursuing and killing the defeated army. Even Lü Bu's own soldiers numbered only around a thousand.

  In this case, the two hundred men under Li Chong are considered numerous, and with fierce generals like Taishi Ci, it can be said that as long as they don't encounter Lü Bu, they can roam freely on the battlefield. While secretly following Cao Cao, Li Chong's group specifically targeted small groups of enemy soldiers, snatching horses and weapons, a move that achieved two goals at once.

  Standing on a desolate mountain, Li Chong watched Cao Hong fight bloody battles, and gave Cao Hong a thumbs up. No matter how the book described Cao Hong as violent or greedy for wealth, but Cao Hong's loyalty to Cao Cao was beyond doubt in the Cao camp.

  Taishi Ci also sighed: "Cao Zixuan is a true gentleman!"

  Li Chong smiled slightly and looked at Cao Cao with a complex expression, hesitating in his heart.

  Tai Shi Zi looked at Li Zhong's face and said, "The lord had expected Cao Cao to suffer this defeat. Why didn't he remind him? Now that things have come to this pass, it would be better to rescue Cao Cao quickly and return to Guangwu."

  Li Chong sighed and said, "Cao Cao is a hero of the world, with military strategy and internal affairs all being perfect. He is my future great enemy. I am thinking, whether it is here that I should understand Cao Cao and eliminate a major threat."

  Tai Shi Ci heard this and smiled, drawing out his bow and arrow: "That's easy, watch Tai Shi Ci go down the mountain and take his life."

  "But I still feel uneasy in my heart!" Li Chong said with a shake of his head.

  Tai Shi Zi could only accompany Li Chong in bitter laughter, actually he didn't want to shoot Cao Cao either, after all, they had been together for a period of time, and Cao Cao was very affectionate towards him.

  Cao Hong protected Cao Cao and turned around Li Zhong's hiding mountain, but saw that in front of him was actually a big river. Before Cao Hong could find a boat, a cavalry suddenly came from upstream, led by Xu Rong.

  Seeing Cao Cao being blocked by the river, Xu Rong was overjoyed and shouted loudly: "Cao Mengde, where can you go now?"

  Cao Cao and Cao Hong's faces changed greatly, now the only plan is to cross the river, but how can people in the water avoid the pursuing soldiers' random arrows, let alone the severe cold weather, the river water must be freezing, entering the water, soon will be frozen stiff.

  After a brief hesitation, Xu Rong had already chased for over fifty paces. He was afraid that Cao Cao would escape by swimming away and loudly shouted: "All of you, shoot your arrows..."

  Cao Hong brought up his horse, shielding Cao Cao behind him. The large blade in his hand flew up and down, fending off the arrows. However, after fighting for a while, Cao Hong was already exhausted, without even having time to catch his breath. How could he continue to wield the blade with wind and rain? A wave of arrow showered down, and Cao Hong felt his chest tighten, becoming dizzy and disoriented.

  Helpless, Cao Hong could only take a deep breath, and as he did, the big knife in his hand slowed down slightly. A strong arrow pierced through the knife net and shot straight into Cao Hong's abdomen.

  Cao Hong's body had no armor on it, and the arrow only penetrated two inches deep. He let out a mournful cry and almost fell off his horse.

  "Zi Lian!" Cao Cao saw Cao Hong was wounded, his eyes turned red with rage, and he was about to charge forward and kill.

  Cao Hong's body swayed for a moment before he steadied himself. He let out an angry shout and stretched out his hand to block Cao Cao behind him.

  Seeing the opposite side not having arrows flying over, it seemed that the arrows were all used up. Cao Hong took a deep breath, inserted his large knife into the snowy ground, tore off his clothes, wrapped them around his waist and abdomen, and pointed at the pursuing soldiers, shouting: "Come on, come on, see who can take Cao's life."

  Xu Rong saw that Cao Hong was wounded, so he led his horse to fight against Cao Hong. His soldiers also rushed up together. Now it's not a duel between the two armies' generals in front of the formation, but surrounding and attacking is the right reason.

  It was then that Cao Hong's martial arts skills became apparent, as he not only held off Xu Rong but also managed to strike down the soldiers who were attacking Cao Cao, truly displaying extraordinary bravery.

  But Cao Hong, no matter how brave he was, could not withstand the siege of so many people. In less than a cup of tea time, Cao Hong was shot multiple times, bleeding profusely, and panting heavily.

  At this moment, Cao Cao was stabbed in the arm by a soldier. Cao Cao groaned in pain and his spear fell to the ground. Cao Hong's eyes blazed with fury as he rallied his remaining strength, using his broadsword like lightning to protect Cao Cao, instantly killing over ten soldiers. The flying blood almost turned Cao Hong into a bloody man.

  Xu Rong was intimidated by Cao Hong's ferocity and for a time did not dare to engage in battle with him, hastily ordering his soldiers to surround and attack Cao Hong.

  Seeing Cao Hong's bravery, Liao Hua on the mountain exclaimed: "My lord, Cao Hong's bravery is no less than that of Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan!"

  Li nodded heavily, and Taishi Ci continued: "In terms of martial arts, he is not as good as Xiahou Dun's brothers, but when it comes to bravery, this man can be called the first in Cao's camp."

  "It's true, Cao Hong is a pearl in the dark." Liao Hua nodded and said: "Looking at Cao Cao, he doesn't know where the danger lies. His martial arts are mediocre, his strategies are not outstanding, and yet Master guessed that Dong Zhuo would set an ambush here, but Cao Cao was completely unaware of it. I really don't know why Master is afraid of him?"

  Li Chong heard the words and suddenly felt a shock in his heart, slowly closing his eyes, Liao Hua's words echoed in his mind again and again: Really don't know why Master is afraid of him?

  Am I afraid of Cao Cao? Li Zhong asked himself in his heart, No! Li Zhong suddenly opened his eyes, with a confident light flashing in them, and said to himself: How can I be afraid of him? If I'm even afraid of my opponent, how can I compete for the world? Today I can save him, when the time comes to become enemies, I will surely defeat him.

  Li Chong burst out laughing and said, "Why should I be afraid of Cao Cao? If I can save him today, I can kill him tomorrow. Zi Yi... go down the mountain to rescue people."

  Tai Shi Zi laughed and said: "Only someone with such grandeur is worthy of being my master."

  Having said that, he rode his horse down the mountain and went straight to Xu Rong.