Chapter 543 - Fanning the Flame
Chapter 543 – Fanning the Flame
<>
<>
The system notification alarmed Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and all Cao Cao"s who were in Tong"s clan.
This was the greatest issue that Cao Cao was facing – They couldn"t directly kill the same clan members. Only wild cards like Ma Chao or non-clan members could kill them.
The current war between Cao Cao and Tong"s subordinates were different than Huang Zu, Gan Ji, and Sun Ce, who were non-clan members. No matter how their generals wanted to kill each other, they couldn"t do anything when the law of this universe was at work.
Unless Lilim could tweak something for Cao Cao…
Cao Cao: "Curse you! Li Feihong! Ma Chao!"
Cao Mengde couldn"t help but swear at Li Feihong in the public chat.
Li Feihong: "Surrender, then. Don"t waste my time if you know what will happen to all of you."
Li Feihong also had enough of this farce. He wanted to finish everything, so he could focus on recuperating himself.
Cao Cao ignored Li Feihong"s provocation as he got up from his bed. He rushed out to find his cousins and other officers, so they could guard him against Li Feihong"s system skill.
"Yuanrang! Miaocai! Come back and protect me!"
Not knowing when Li Feihong"s portal would appear, Cao Cao could only rely on his best officers.
Unfortunately, he was too late. Li Feihong already found Cao Cao.
*VHOOM*
A portal opened where Cao Cao was standing. The latter immediately fell into Li Feihong"s world.
Xiahou Dun and Dian Wei saw how their lord disappeared into the blue portal. They shouted in frustration.
*VHOOM*
The portal closed.
…
A minute later…
Ma Chao"s right foot was on Cao Cao"s head as the latter lay p.r.o.ne on the ground. This general beat Cao Cao to the point that he begged Ma Chao to stop.
As for Li Feihong, Xu Shu, Lu Lingqi, and Zhang Min, they watched the torturing of Ma Chao and waited for this rude general to be satisfied.
An hour later, Ma Chao had enough.
In the public chat, all Cao Cao"s relatives got desperate. They kept begging Li Feihong to release their lord.
Cao Ren: "Let"s talk, General Li. We will surrender, but please spare Cao Mengde."
Cao Xiu: "General Li. I know that you"re a kind man. I"m willing to work as for you as your slave or your servant for the rest of my life. Please spare my uncle!"
Xiahou Dun: "We give up, Li Feihong. You can kill me, but don"t kill Mengde!"
Xiahou Yuan: "I know that we"re in the wrong, and we"re willing to atone for our crimes. We will accept any punishment, but don"t kill him."
Cao Ang: "Spare my father, Sir Li."
Oddly enough, Cao Pi never begged for his father"s life after an hour.
Curious by Cao Pi"s inaction, Li Feihong operated his monitor to find this prodigious son.
Unfortunately, Cao Pi was not in Chibi Camp.
Since Li Feihong couldn"t find Cao Pi, he texted Diaochan and Liu Yang to use their abilities. Although he could always get out of his dimension to use his all-seeing eyes himself, using others to work was a better choice. Moreover, his soul injuries got worsen the point that he couldn"t use his portal skills for a while.
He needed some rest.
<>
Diaochan: "Cao Pi, Zhen Ji, and Zhen Yi are disguising as commoners. They are moving along with their envoys to Changsha at the moment."
Diaochan: "Cao Pi isn"t a clan member. I"ll send Zhang He to kill them."
Diaochan: "Also, I know what Guo Jia was trying to do. Don"t kill Cao Cao yet. Go ahead and sabotage the provision, and let Guo Jia finish his work."
Li Feihong: "Is that really necessary?"
Diaochan: "You"ll see. Just do it."
…
Li Feihong used his skill a few more times even though he felt like his souls might shatter to pieces at any moment.
By the time he completed his task, his injuries relapsed once more.
*Cough*
Li Feihong vomited several mouthfuls of blood. He sat on his b.u.t.t and gasped for air as if he almost fainted.
<>
Diaochan: "Well done. Leave the rest to me and others. You can rest."
At long last, Li Feihong could finally rest. He fell on his back and fainted. Ma Chao immediately transferred some of Li Feihong"s injuries to himself. As for the rest of the crews, Zhang Min, they carried him back to recuperate in his mansion.
…
The next day, more chaotic ensued.
Provision managers reported to their generals that their food had become bad, and they also found poison cauldrons that Cheng Yu had used.
Then, Cheng Yu"s subordinates thought that their master had poisoned their food supply. Afraid to be punished, they informed Xiahou Dun and others about what Cao Cao and Cheng Yu had ordered them to do.
Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, and every general wasn"t aware of Cao Mengde"s dirty schemes They were shocked when many soldiers told them that Cao Cao wanted to poison civilian"s water sources.
Cao Cao"s scheme might have been effective had Li Feihong never abducted both culprits. However, now that Cheng Yu died and Cao Cao went missing, their subordinates panicked and didn"t carry on with the ploy.
After all, only Cao Cao and Cheng Yu were the only ones who knew about this master plan.
"Cao Mengde…"
Everyone was disappointed in their lord. They thought that Cao Cao had been fighting for the people.
"Is this why Li Feihong and the royal family abducted Mengde?"
"They haven"t killed Mengde yet, so they might know something. Let"s send an envoy to negotiate with the Empress."
Since Cao Cao had planned to use a scorch earth tactic and retreat south. Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan suspected that Cao Cao would blame Dong Bai Army for the poisoning to entice clueless civilians to join their army. Then, ill rumor would spread after this battle, which would discredit the royal family"s conduct. Officials might doubt them, and many generals might rebel against them.
But the testimony of the soldiers proved otherwise. Everyone doubted if they were fighting on the wrong side.
…
Half a day later, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and all officers under Cao Cao flew across the Yangtze River to meet Zhuge Liang at Port Wulin.
At the port, several generals, such as Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and even Xu Huang were there. The Silver Axe unit already reinforced Wulin Port, which increased the number of troops.
Since they couldn"t harm each other, Zhuge Liang told other non-clan-members to leave them alone.
Everybody gathered at a meeting tent.
"Are you all here to surrender or a negotiation?" Asked Zhuge Liang, who had a bright smile on his face.
"Where is Cao Mengde?" Xiahou Yuan took the negotiator role as he was the most cool-headed person among all generals.
"In the supreme commander"s dimension world. Don"t worry, he"s alive."
"I know. No clan notification appears yet. Can we see him?"
"Not possible. The supreme commander has suffered great injuries. He can"t bring Cao Cao to see you."
"…"
Xiahou Yuan sighed. As Xiahou Yuan and everybody had guessed, Zhuge Liang wanted to capitalize on the captive of Cao Cao. Since Zhuge Liang had an absolute advantage over their forces, his words didn"t contain negotiation power.
"What do you want us to do so you can release Cao Mengde?"
"Swear allegiance to our empress. Empower your voice and say that you"re not Lilim"s servant, and you"ll work for our empire for the rest of eternity."
"I expect as much. But I have a question."
"Go ahead. Ask away."
"Do you know anything about the recent food sabotage and poison?"
"What sabotage?" Zhuge Liang feinted ignorance. Although he knew what Guo Jia and Li Feihong did, he still pretended that he didn"t know, "So far, we tried our best to overwhelm you with our number and our generals, but we haven"t sent anyone to do anything with your supply camps yet. Did something happen?"
"… Never mind."
Seeing that Zhuge Liang didn"t know, Xiahou Yuan guessed that the recent food sabotage was Cheng Yu and Cao Cao"s doing all along. However, Xiahou Yuan hadn"t ruled out the possibility that Li Feihong sabotaged their food supply with his skill and blamed it on Cao Cao and Cheng Yu.
"Personal reason? Well, if Mengde really planned to kill millions of innocents and his own soldiers, it"s not strange that Li Feihong interfered. But … what if it was Li Feihong"s work?"
Still, eyewitnesses and several soldiers all pointed out that it was Cao Cao"s doing.
"All evidence leads to Mengde. It was his doing."
Xiahou Yuan gave up thinking. He turned toward his comrades and bowed to them.
"I"m sorry. I"m going to surrender to Zhang Tong."
Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and others didn"t like it since they could still fight. They didn"t believe that they would lose to their former friends and former nemeses like this.
Zhuge Liang could read through their expression and thoughts. He pressured them, "If any of you refuse to surrender, you can leave. But we will resume the war."
Prolonged war without food was a suicide. Only insane warlords would want to take part in this crazy gamble.
"We surrender. Please spare Cao Cao and all of us."
"Spare our soldiers, too."
Everyone knelt and surrendered unwillingly. Had their food supply not sabotaged and their army"s morale not collapsed because of Cheng Yu"s underhanded ploy, they would have continued fighting.
…
<>
Zhuge Liang: "Good job, Sir Guo. That was brilliant."
Guo Jia: "All credits go to Supreme Commander Li. I merely give everyone my thoughts."
Zhuge Liang: "Don"t be humble. You created all those poisons, and that counter plan was the killing move. None of them has even realized that it was your doing."
Guo Jia: "Let"s stop the pleasantry for now. We have to prepare for the aftermath since Cheng Yu"s poison can spread."
Zhuge Liang: "Aye. Our work is done now. The rest is up to the G.o.ddess."
Aside from Zhuge Liang, Guo Jia, Diaochan, Li Feihong, and a few top generals, n.o.body knew that Li Feihong was the one who sabotaged Cao Cao Army"s food supply and blamed everything to Cao Cao and Cheng Yu"s poisoning plot.
This was Guo Jia"s master plan. By using Cheng Yu"s men as evidence against them, Guo Jia corrupted Cao Cao"s food supply and brainwashed everyone that Cao Cao was a vile warlord. Then, his subordinate surrendered as they questioned the morale of their lord.
In Guo Jia"s mind, he recited this metaphor that he came up with. Sometimes, ones only needed to add some oil to the fire and let the arsonist burn themselves at the cost of a house that the arsonist wanted to burn.
…
Early September, 201 AD.
Over 150,000 former Cao Cao"s soldiers at Chibi surrendered after they had no food left.
All Cao Cao"s generals gave their immortal oath to Dong Bai as Tong was not presented.
As for Cao Cao, he was forced to annul the oath with Lilim.
Unfortunately, he wasn"t so lucky as Sima Yi or Lu Su. When Cao Cao made the oath, the lightning killed him on the spot.
Only Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and other relatives cried for Cao Cao"s death. As for other former generals or distant colleagues, they only looked at Cao Cao in a pity.
He fought for supremacy. He bet everything even his own life and soul. Yet, he failed because of Li Feihong"s cheating skill and Ma Chao"s existence.
They brought his body back to his hometown at Qiao. Then, they retired from the political world as they had no reason to continue fighting anymore.
As for Cao Pi, Zhen Yi, and Zhen Ji, Zhang He managed to capture all of them. Zhen Yi and Cao Pi were executed by Ma Chao, but Zhen Ji was sentenced to serve as Tong"s newest chambermaid, ordered by Diaochan. Unfortunately, Zhen Ji committed suicide a few days later.
Sun Quan Army arrived at Chibi later, but his forces became humanitarian army as they had to provide food and relief to the surrendered soldiers.
The poison that Cheng Yu and Cao Cao had brewed spread many deadly diseases to the surrounding areas. Many innocent civilians suffered from various deadly diseases, such as typhoid, cholera, septicemia, and diphtheria.
Wulin Port and Chibi Port suffered the most from this epidemic outbreak. A million soldiers and civilians got infected within less than a month. Moreover, the report said that several cities near the Yangtze River showed signs of infection.
Rumor spread that Cao Cao had planned to kill his soldiers and millions of civilians for the sake of winning the war by intentionally poisoning them with various diseases. Scholars even recorded this event and portrayed Cao Cao as a selfish villain, who betrayed the Han Dynasty and planned to kill innocent people to achieve his goal.
Sun Shangxiang got busy creating vaccines and medicines for millions of people and soldiers from both factions. At one point, she almost snapped and cursed Cao Cao out loud in public, but she managed to keep her saint image till the end.