Chapter Seventy-Two: The Death of Cao Ren

Shen Chen had prepared a comprehensive plan for the Cao army. In truth, he did not know which cities the Cao army had attacked when they advanced on Nanyang in history. But with a little analysis, it was clear that Huyang would inevitably face assault.

If Cao Cao wanted to attack Wancheng and eliminate Zhang Xiu, whether Zhang Xiu surrendered or not, Cao Cao would have to split his forces to intercept Liu Biao’s reinforcements. And Huyang, Deng County, Fancheng, and Caiyang were the cities where Liu Biao had stationed heavy troops. Unless Cao Cao was completely incompetent in military affairs and simply watched as Liu Biao’s army gathered to attack him, he would certainly strike first to drive back the reinforcements.

With this in mind, the next steps became much easier. Since Huyang was likely to be attacked, Shen Chen needed to anticipate how the enemy would advance. If the Cao army bypassed Huangmen Pavilion and charged straight to Huyang, that would be straightforward. As "The Art of War: Attack by Stratagem" says, “The rule for employing the military: tenfold to surround, fivefold to attack.” In siege warfare, a tenfold advantage is used for encirclement, fivefold for assault. Unless Cao Cao deployed fifty thousand troops, Gan Ning’s five thousand men would be more than enough to defend Huyang.

When the Cao army, unable to take Huyang after prolonged fighting and heavy casualties, Gan Ning’s five thousand, together with Huangmen Pavilion’s fifteen hundred, would launch a coordinated attack from inside and out, surely routing the enemy. If the Cao army foolishly believed that conquering Huangmen Pavilion would be effortless, then the pitfalls and tunnels would become their nightmare, trapping them in the mire.

To prevent the Cao army from realizing too early, Gan Ning’s troops could not move rashly. Only when it was certain that the entire Cao force had entered the valley did Shen Chen order the wolf smoke to be raised, signaling Gan Ning to approach.

The battle had raged for nearly an hour; Gan Ning’s army was already assembled and, upon seeing the signal, rushed into action, appearing at the critical moment to block Cao Ren’s retreat.

Seeing the enemy engaged in fierce combat with Huangmen Pavilion’s soldiers, Gan Ning shouted, “Kill them! Don’t let a single one escape!”

“Kill!”

“Charge!”

“Earn glory in battle—today is the day!”

The soldiers roared as they rushed forward. Having arrived at a run, their formation was—no formation at all.

On ancient battlefields, formation was crucial. Two armies facing off, whoever had a formation held the advantage; hence all the various formations of history. For instance, Zhang Liao, with just eight hundred death-defying warriors, broke the enemy at Xiaoyao Ford with a wedge formation, leading his men through the blockade and nearly capturing Sun Quan.

But Gan Ning’s troops had no formation, nor did the Cao army. They had just come down from the mountain, few were unscathed, and many were wounded.

Suddenly confronted with fresh enemies, the Cao soldiers were terrified, trembling and on the verge of fleeing.

Only Cao Ren knew he had no way out.

As previously mentioned, the rear mountain was part of Huangmen Pavilion’s manor, enclosed by walls on all sides. The tunnels had two exits within the walls, the rest outside. After descending from the mountain, large numbers of Huangmen Pavilion soldiers poured from the exits on both flanks, blocking all roads to the sides, while Gan Ning appeared at the manor’s front.

Thus, with the mountains behind, they were surrounded on all sides. Unless they could carve a bloody path, there was no escape.

Seeing this, Cao Ren roared, “Fight to the death! Fight to the death! Fight to the death!”

His bodyguards echoed, “Fight to the death! Fight to the death! Fight to the death!”

The next moment, Gan Ning crashed into them.

He was the first, mounted atop his horse.

The warhorse galloped to the front, knocking over a soldier, and Gan Ning’s steel blade flashed—two heads flew up in a spray of blood.

He killed two with a single strike, then swung his blade left and right, hacking down attackers, knocking aside spears thrust at him, and easily dispatching soldiers who tried to attack his horse.

“Gan Ning of Ba County is here! Surrender and you will be spared!” Gan Ning cried out from horseback.

“Surrender and you will be spared!” Behind him, a wave of voices thundered, drowning out Cao Ren’s earlier desperate cries.

Gan Ning’s troops, like a raging flood, smashed into the Cao army’s ranks.

“Let me slay that man,” Cao Ren saw the enemy general approaching—he knew it must be Gan Ning. He found a warhorse, leapt onto it, and charged at Gan Ning.

Gan Ning, bold and fierce, cut down the morale of the Cao army, who quailed at his onslaught. Suddenly, he heard hoofbeats ahead; looking up, a sharp blade was thrust straight for his face.

At the critical moment, Gan Ning twisted at the waist, his whole body dropping instantly, barely dodging the blow. His waist hung suspended in midair—a feat of acrobatic skill, executed to perfection.

Cao Ren was no slower. Seeing his opponent dodge, he immediately swung his blade downward, again targeting Gan Ning’s face.

Now that Gan Ning had become a captain, he was a mid-level officer, clad in full armor with a helmet. Only his face and neck were vulnerable.

“Clang!” A harsh metallic sound rang out as Gan Ning parried the blow.

Cao Ren switched tactics, slashing diagonally.

Gan Ning met him head-on, blocking and counterattacking.

The two exchanged blows, fighting over twenty rounds with neither gaining the upper hand.

Many later believed Cao Ren was a commander, skilled in strategy but weak in martial arts. In truth, he was not lacking in prowess.

He once alone drove back Xu Sheng and Jiang Qin, fought Zhou Tai for dozens of rounds, and battled Guan Ping, who only managed to defeat him in a desperate effort to save his father.

Guan Ping was a match for Pang De, a top-tier general with a martial rating around 93. For Cao Ren to fight him evenly, his own rating was not far behind.

Judging by his record against Xu Sheng, Jiang Qin, and Zhou Tai, he ought to be on the threshold of top-tier generals, with a martial rating around 90.

Gan Ning’s rating typically matched that of Zhang Liao, who was at the pinnacle of top-tier generals, rated 94—just one point shy of the super-elite. Gan Ning’s strength should be similar, perhaps only a point below.

So it was roughly 93 versus 90. No clear winner in the short term, but as time wore on, Cao Ren began to struggle.

After fifty rounds, Gan Ning seized his chance and struck Cao Ren’s waist with a mighty blow.

Cao Ren felt a surge of agony in his side; his armor rang out, stopping the blade from cleaving him in two, but not the force behind it.

The blow sent him flying, tumbling off his horse and landing amid the corpses.

“The general is dead! The general is dead!” The Cao soldiers, already demoralized, saw this and panicked.

Amid the chaos, Cao Ren struggled to rise, about to shout that he was alive, when several burly men pounced, pinning him down and binding him tightly.

“So you’re that one-eared Cao Ren?” Gan Ning, a reed in his mouth (plucked earlier on his journey, tucked away during battle), now retrieved it and looked at Cao Ren with a mocking grin. “You’re ugly with only one ear!”

“Let me go!” Cao Ren’s eyes blazed, bloodshot with rage.

He saw, upon being thrown from his horse, that the Cao soldiers around him were surrendering, even Chunyu Dao and Zhai Yuan were kneeling. Gan Ning’s army had seized control; this drove him to fury.

“A defeated prisoner, let you go? What right do you have to ask? Is it that ugly ear of yours?” Gan Ning mocked. He had long heard that the Cao army slaughtered Xuzhou, killing many of the families of Deng Hong and Shen Chen, forcing them to flee to Nanyang. Cao Ren was one of the executioners.

Today, helping his friends Deng Hong and Shen Chen take revenge, Gan Ning was naturally delighted.

“Uncle Xingba, thank you.” The crowd parted slowly. Shen Chen emerged, holding a ring-handled steel blade forged by Huangmen Pavilion.

The blade was about a meter long, and his eleven-year-old body seemed awkward holding it, but he gripped it firmly and stood before Cao Ren, who lay bound and pinned to the ground.

“Shen Chen! Do you dare kill me?” Cao Ren bared his teeth in a vicious grin, blood from the corpses staining his face and reddening his teeth.

Shen Chen wondered aloud, “Why wouldn’t I dare?”

“If you kill me, my elder brother will lead a hundred thousand elite soldiers to raze Huangmen Pavilion to the ground!” Cao Ren roared.

“Oh.” Shen Chen nodded, then...

He raised his steel blade, aiming at Cao Ren’s neck.

“I’ll wait for him in Nanyang,” Shen Chen said, moments before Cao Ren’s death.

Then—

The blade came down in a swift arc.

A sickening sound—flesh yielding.

It was like slicing a slab of pork on a butcher’s block.

The sharp steel met little resistance, passing cleanly through Cao Ren’s neck.

His head rolled several times on the ground, eyes wide with fury, unable to fathom why Shen Chen dared to kill him.

Did Shen Chen not fear the elder brother coming with tens of thousands to annihilate Huangmen Pavilion?

But seconds later, Cao Ren sank into darkness.

The surrounding Cao soldiers were ashen-faced.

Only Shen Chen gazed coldly at the severed head.

This was the second time he had killed.

But it would not be the last.

Having been cast into this chaotic age, after the events in Xuzhou, Shen Chen finally understood—those ordinary commoners meant nothing.

In the eyes of the great families, the people were nothing but weeds and cattle.

No wonder Zhang Jiao raised the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

No wonder, since the end of the Han, rebels had swarmed like fish crossing the river.

Though later dynasties painted such rebels as villains,

Those lofty officials and nobles—

Did you ever consider,

If everyone had food, drink, and clothing, who would rebel?

It was because you treated human life as nothing, saw the common people as swine and dogs, that they rose in anger to overthrow your rule.

Shen Chen’s blade dripped with blood, his gaze piercing the heavens.

Someday—

He would use his sword to shatter this cannibal world!