Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 93.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our 100th episode Q&A last week,

and now let's pick up where we left off. So last time, Cao Cao was

stuck in a bad situation against Liu Bei in the region of Hanzhong. If he attacked, he was not

sure that he would win. What he really wanted to do was to quit the battlefield and go home,

but he was afraid Liu Bei would laugh at him.

But then his secretary Yang Xiu read his mind and decided to start packing for the trip home.

When Cao Cao found out about this, he got really mad and executed Yang Xiu.

He then gave the order to attack the next day. So, the next day,

Cao Cao and his army marched out of the gorge that they were in, and they were promptly greeted

by an army led by Liu Bei's general Wei Yan. Cao Cao told Wei Yan that he should

surrender, but Wei Yan replied with a string of expletives,

so Cao Cao sent out the general Pang De to deal with him. Just as the two were dueling,

Cao Cao's camp suddenly caught on fire, and word came that Liu Bei's general Ma Chao

had launched a sneak attack on the middle and rear camps. Cao Cao, however, refused to panic.

He pulled out his sword and declared,

Anyone who takes a step back will be executed. Given this ultimatum, all of Cao Cao's men

searched forward, holding nothing back, and Wei Yan turned and fled. Now,

Cao Cao split off a portion of his troops to go fight Ma Chao, while he himself watched

from a high vantage point. But suddenly, a detachment of Liu Bei's troops appeared right in front

of him, and the guy at their head was none other than Wei Yan.

...