Early the next morning, Zhang Liao led a group of soldiers and horses and left Puyang for Dingtao.
Just as the soldiers and horses left the city, a Cao army spy who was guarding the city immediately jumped on the war horse that had been prepared and rushed straight in the direction of Dingtao.
It was not until noon that the spies' horses rushed into a forest on the mountainside.
There are countless simple tents hidden in the woods against the mountain.
These tents are set up in dense woods and are almost impossible to spot outside the woods.
There is also a small stream flowing down from the mountain at the back of the mountain for drinking water by the army.
The spies rushed into the woods and were immediately stopped by a secret sentry. They were not released until they knew it was one of their own.
When Cao Cao heard that the spies had returned, he was overjoyed and immediately ordered someone to bring him in.
"Your Majesty, there are troops coming out of Puyang and heading towards Dingtao.
”
Cheng Yu suddenly asked, "Besides this group of soldiers and horses, are there any other soldiers and horses dispatched?"
The spy cupped his hand and said, "My subordinates only saw this group of soldiers and horses leaving the city, so they hurried back to report. As for whether there are still more soldiers and horses dispatched, we can only wait for follow-up news."
Cao Cao frowned and asked, "How many soldiers are there in this team and who leads it?"
"This group of soldiers and horses is about 10,000 people. My subordinates saw that walking in front was Lu Bu's general Zhang Liao."
"Zhang Liao!"
Cheng Yu nodded, "Lu Bu sent ten thousand troops, and Zhang Liao led the troops. It seems that we are bound to win Dingtao this time."
Cao Cao sneered, "If you want to take back Dingtao, you have to see if he has the ability."
Guo Jia suddenly said, "Although Lu Bu sent Zhang Liao to Ding Tao, we have to be on guard because they have another trick."
Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "The clever trick Fengxiao mentioned was from Juancheng?"
Guo Jia nodded, "If it were just Lu Bu, if he heard something was going on in Dingtao, he would definitely send troops to recapture it. However, Lu Bu has Chen Gong under his command.
Chen Gong is cautious and resourceful, so he might do the opposite, so we have to be careful."
Cheng Yu waved his hand and said slowly, "Fengxiao, don't worry too much, Juancheng is well-defended, and it's not that easy to attack.
In addition, Lu Bu's total military strength is about 20,000, and he has already sent 10,000 troops to Dingtao. Even if he wants to attack Juancheng, the number of troops he can mobilize will definitely not be much.
Don't forget, Puyang also needs to defend, and at least 5,000 people must be left behind. In this way, he only has 5,000 people left to attack Juancheng.
However, can we really attack Xiajuancheng with only 5,000 men?"
Hearing these words, Lu Qian smiled and cupped his hands, "Zhongde is right. Even if Lu Bu is very powerful in martial arts, how is it possible that he can attack Xiajuancheng just by leading 5,000 troops by himself?" p>
Cheng Yu nodded, "Yes, Lu Bu doesn't have many troops at his disposal. If he only sends 5,000 troops to Dingtao, then he will most likely send 10,000 troops to Juancheng.
But now that he has sent 10,000 people to Dingtao, it is absolutely impossible for him to send 10,000 people to attack Juancheng."
After hearing these words, Cao Cao nodded, "To put it this way, Lu Bu's main purpose this time is to recapture Dingtao. Haha, it seems that he is really angry this time. It's really ridiculous." Cheng Yu nodded, raised his hands and said, "As long as Zhang Liao's 10,000 troops are eliminated this time, Lu Bu's remaining troops are not of concern. Even if he defends Puyang, he will definitely not be able to hold on for long."
Cao Cao nodded and said loudly, "Everyone will obey the order and act according to the original plan."
This time the plan was designed perfectly.
The location where Cao Cao is now is called Green Mountain.
One side of Green Mountain is a gentle slope, while the other side is a real cliff, and the official road leading to Dingtao passes under the cliff of Green Mountain.
Why does the official road go to such a dangerous place?
That's because there are green mountains and cliffs on the left side of the crown road, and a river on the right, so you have to walk between the mountains and the river.
As long as Cao Cao's soldiers and horses ambush on the cliff, they can easily ambush Lu Bu's army coming from Puyang.
Several generals of Cao's army led their soldiers to ambush, while Cao Cao and several of his counselors stayed in the camp to wait for news.
The numerous spies sent out also sent back a steady stream of news.
An hour later, the spies sent back the news again.
"Reporting to my lord, the soldiers and horses led by Zhang Liao are continuing along the official road."
"Reporting to my lord, a group of soldiers and horses appeared again in Puyang. This time they are heading towards Juancheng."
Upon hearing the second news, Cao Cao's eyes narrowed, and he frowned and asked, "How many soldiers and horses are rushing to Juancheng?"
"About 5,000 people."
Cheng Yu hurriedly asked, "Who is leading the soldiers and horses rushing to Juancheng?"
"The soldiers and horses rushing to Juancheng were led by Lu Bu's general Gao Shun."
Hearing the spy's answer, Cheng Yu frowned and murmured, "Does Lu Bu really want to attack Juancheng with these 5,000 troops?"
After saying this, Cheng Yu shook his head with a wry smile, "How is this possible? Even if there are 10,000 soldiers and horses, they may not be able to capture Juancheng, let alone only 5,000 soldiers and horses?"
Lu Qian nodded, "More importantly, Lu Bu is not good at attacking cities. Even if he has 10,000 troops, he may not be able to capture Juancheng."
Cheng Yu turned to look at Lu Qian, frowned and asked, "In that case, why did he send 5,000 troops to Juancheng?"
While everyone was talking, suddenly, there were rapid footsteps from outside the door, and a spy hurried in.
"Reporting to my lord, another group of troops has come out from Puyang to go to Juancheng."
"What?"
This time, Cao Cao was surprised, "How many soldiers are there in this team?"
"About 5,000 people."
When the spy said this, he cupped his hands and said in a nervous tone, "My lord, among the 5,000 soldiers and horses this time, there are also Bingzhou cavalry under Lu Bu."
After hearing the news, Cao Cao's face became solemn. After a long time, he waved his hand and said, "You continue to inquire. As soon as there is news, I will send it back immediately. There must be no mistakes."
After the spies left, Cao Cao turned to look at Cheng Yu, frowned and asked, "Zhongde, what's going on, where does Lu Bu want to attack?"
At this moment, Cheng Yu also had a solemn face and frowned. Hearing Cao Cao's question, he was speechless for a while.
Lu Qian suddenly clapped his hands and sneered, "In my opinion, the target Lu Bu wants to attack this time should be Dingtao."
Cao Cao turned his head and looked at Lu Qian, "How can I explain this? Why is Lu Bu's real goal to Dingtao?"
Lu Qian said slowly, "This time, Lu Bu sent out soldiers and horses, and among them were the distinguished Bingzhou cavalry.
Normally speaking, the direction in which the Bingzhou Railway Cavalry advances is the direction in which Lu Bu attacks.
However, there is something going on in Dingtao now, and Lu Bu must not ignore it, so this time the Bingzhou cavalry was dispatched, he also deliberately attracted our attention. Maybe this was all on purpose, he just wanted to lead us in the direction of Juancheng and ignored
Come to Dingtao."
After hearing this, Cao Cao seemed to understand, and said slowly, "This is also possible."
Having said this, Cao Cao turned to look at Guo Jia and asked, "Fengxiao, in your opinion, where should Lu Bu's real goal be?"
Guo Jia said slowly, "It's strange this time. Lu Bu has a total of 20,000 troops. Now Zhang Liao leads 10,000 troops to Dingtao, and Gao Shun leads 10,000 troops to Juancheng.
Now that 20,000 soldiers and horses have left Puyang, I am wondering, does Lu Bu only think about attacking and not defending?"
Lu Qian clapped his hands suddenly, "Yes, if this happens, there will no longer be Lu Bu's army in Puyang City, wouldn't it mean that there is no one to defend it?"
Guo Jia nodded, "Yes, according to the number of soldiers and horses leaving the city, there should be no Lu Bu army in Puyang City now.
Could it be that Lu Bu did this because he wanted to give up Puyang?"
Cheng Yu waved his hand, "Absolutely impossible. I think no matter what the reason is, it is impossible for Lu Bu to give up Puyang."
Hearing Cheng Yu's answer, Guo Jia nodded and said slowly, "Since Lu Bu doesn't want to give up Puyang, he will definitely leave a heavy guard behind. I'm afraid he will need at least 5,000 people.
But he sent two people. What do you think the reason is?"
At this moment, hurried footsteps sounded again outside the big tent, and a dusty man rushed in.
"Reporting to my lord, a group of soldiers and horses has appeared again in Puyang City and has already rushed to the direction of Juancheng."
Everyone was shocked when they heard the news. Cheng Yu hurriedly asked, "How many people are there this time?"
"About 5,000 troops and horses, led by Lu Bu's general Wei Xu."
Hearing the number of soldiers and horses dispatched by Lu Bu's army, a gasp suddenly sounded in the big tent.
"5,000 soldiers and horses?"
Lu Qian's eyes widened and he asked sternly, "Have you seen clearly, are they really 5,000 troops?"
"Really, there are really 5,000 soldiers and horses!"
Cao Cao frowned and said, "Go back and inquire as soon as possible. Don't delay the matter, otherwise I will question you."
The spy hurriedly bowed his hands and hurriedly left the tent. Regardless of his fatigue, he jumped on the horse again and headed back the way he came.
Hearing the sound of the hoofbeats of the war horses outside, Cao Cao frowned more and more, and asked slowly, "Everyone, I didn't expect Lu Bu to send another 5,000 troops. This is really strange."
Cheng Yu's face was full of confusion, "Where did his 5,000 troops and horses come from?"
Lu Qian nodded, "Yes, with these 5,000 troops and horses, Lu Bu has already sent troops and horses. How is this possible? He clearly only has 20,000 troops and horses, how can he send troops and horses? There must be something wrong with this?"
/p>
Guo Jia suddenly sighed, "I really didn't expect that Lu Bu would be so cunning and use the trick of doubting the enemy."
Lu Qian turned his head and looked at Guo Jia, frowned and asked, "Fengxiao, what do you mean by this?"
Guo Jia just said, "Lü Bu has a total of 20,000 troops and horses. Now go and send out troops. This means that one group of soldiers and horses must be fake, but which group of soldiers and horses is fake, we can't guess?" Lu Qian was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was doing. He was shocked and his face turned ugly.
"Yes, we don't know where the extra 5,000 troops are?"
Cheng Yu also wanted to understand this, sighed, and said slowly, "If the extra 5,000 troops and horses are going to Juancheng, it's okay, but if the extra 5,000 troops and horses are going to Dingtao, 5,000 of them are fake."
Yes, that would be bad."
At this moment, hurried footsteps came from outside the door again, "Reporting to the lord, Puyang once again dispatched a group of soldiers and horses, numbering about 5,000 people, heading towards the direction of Dingtao."
"What?"
Upon hearing the news, everyone was shocked and speechless.
The 5,000 extra men just now made it difficult for them to guess. Now there are 5,000 more troops and horses. How should they guess?
Cao Cao felt his heart suddenly rise. The originally very confident plan suddenly became a little uncertain at this moment.
Heading towards Dingtao, there are already people in both groups!
Which way is it true that there are soldiers and horses?
How many people did the two teams of troops go to Dingtao have?
The troops heading to Juancheng have also reached the number of people.
After pondering for a long time, Cao Cao felt that he had no clue. In desperation, he could only raise his head and look at Guo Jia, and asked with a wry smile, "Feng Xiao, in your opinion, how do you explain this matter?"
Guo Jia also felt a little headache, and shook his head with a wry smile, "I didn't expect that Lu Bu only had 20,000 troops, and now he sent 30,000 troops into two groups. It seems that the person who made the plan this time must be
Chen Gong is undoubtedly."
Lu Qian sighed, "Now we can't figure out where the main force of Lu Bu's army is, what should we do?
Should we continue to stay here, or return to Juancheng?"
What are these two questions that Cao Cao has in mind?
If Lu Bu's army is really going to Dingtao, then by ambushing them here, they can be completely eliminated.
But if their real goal is Juancheng, wouldn't it be useless for them to stay here?
The most important thing is, if the soldiers and horses going to Juancheng are real, then Juancheng is really difficult to protect this time?
The most troublesome thing for Cao Cao is that there are many family members in Juancheng. If something happens, Lu Bu will take care of them all, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Cold sweat gradually broke out on Cheng Yu's forehead, and his heart was already in a mess.
This plan was proposed by him.
When he withdrew from Ma'anshan, Cheng Yu thought of this and sent a message to the Li family of Chengshi, asking them to take the opportunity to attack Dingtao in an attempt to lure Lu Bu's army there.
It was originally a smooth plan, but who would have thought that it would turn into this.
Up to now, even some of the initiators of this plan cannot recognize this plan.
The most important question now is, what should we do?
Stay and continue to ambush, waiting for the arrival of Lu Bujun?
But if this team is fake, wouldn’t it be a problem if they rolled up?
Thinking of this, Cheng Yu sighed, cupped his hands towards Cao Cao, and said slowly, "My lord, to be on the safe side, we should withdraw our troops."
Hearing this, a trace of anger flashed across Cao Cao's face, "If we leave like this, what is our plan?"
Lu Qian stepped forward and cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I am not sure where the main force of Lu Bu's army is now. It is better to be safe.
If Lu Bu's army heading to Juancheng is the real main force, even if we defeat Zhang Liao's army here, it will be of no avail. We might as well go back to Juancheng directly and consider everything in the long run."
Cheng Yu nodded and said with a wry smile, "I didn't expect that I underestimated Lu Bu and used this trick. It's really hateful."
Cao Cao was unhappy and turned to look at Guo Jia, "Fengxiao, what do you mean?"