Under Cao Cao's orders, the generals led by Zhang Liao and Xu Huang spurred their horses into the main camp.
Xu Chu charged at the very front. Seeing the indistinct silhouettes of soldiers ahead, he roared and swung his blade.
One slash cleaved three "Yuan soldiers" into six pieces!
The might of the blow was shocking, but Xu Chu felt a surge of doubt.
Why did cutting them feel somewhat different from before?
Looking closer, he realized that what he had cut down were not flesh-and-blood bodies, but three straw men clad in armor!
Xu Chu glanced farther back. Wow.
All the indistinct Yuan soldiers stood perfectly still—they were all straw men! And the ones farther back were even more outrageous; they were not wearing armor at all.
The tip of Xu Chu's nose caught the faintly pungent smell of fire oil.
He suddenly realized what was happening and shouted a phrase countless generals had shouted before him, and countless more would shout after him:
"It's a trap!"
Gongs and drums thundered from all four directions!
On the walls of Anyang, torches were raised in unison, illuminating the battlefield.
Rows of archers rose atop the walls. A red flag unfurled, and a dense rain of fire arrows shot toward the western camp!
The western camp was made of wood to begin with. The straw men inside had been soaked in fire oil beforehand, and gunpowder had even been buried underground! The instant the fire arrows landed, flames erupted throughout the camp. The ground exploded with a thunderous blast, and the western camp was transformed into a sea of fire!
Cao Cao's mood plummeted from heaven to Hell in an instant, and he urgently ordered a retreat!
Shouts rang out across the wilderness. Yuan Clan elite troops charged in from the