The news quickly spread throughout Xudu, and the originally panic-stricken situation immediately calmed down.
It's not that everyone knows that Cao Cao is the backbone, but these people are just the standard wallflowers. When Yuan Shao became powerful, they wrote letters to Yuan Shao and secretly befriended him.
Now Shen Chen led his troops to the north, and Xu Du's troops were extremely empty, which led to these officials mistakenly thinking that Shen Chen was powerful, so they started to interact with him one after another.
Now that Cao Cao is back, everyone knows that Cao Cao is a ruthless man. If he makes trouble now, the probability of death is too high, so these so-called princes of aristocratic families have all settled down and waited for the development of things.
In summary, although they are useless, they will only wave flags and shout from behind. But again, they will help whoever wins. At least now they have to wait for a result.
Cao Cao galloped back to Xudu at starry night. Xun Yu, Xia Houyuan and Li Dian immediately came to plead guilty. Outside the north gate of Xudu, everyone saw a large group of cavalry approaching from a distance.
"Sikong!"
When Cao Cao approached, Xun Yu, Xia Houyuan, Li Dian, Cao Hong, and many other civil servants and generals guarding Xu Du came forward to kowtow and apologize.
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded. When he came back this time, except for the five thousand cavalry, he did not bring any generals with him. Only Guan Yu and Xu Chu followed him like two bodyguards.
At this moment, Guan Yu had just killed Yan Liang and achieved great success. A few days ago, he went to Liu Xie to ask for merit for him and was granted the title of Hou Tinghou of the Han Dynasty. As a result, he returned to Xudu today.
After Cao Cao entered the city, he saw many officials. He just nodded his chin majestically without blaming them. He then rode into the city on horseback in a high-profile manner, glanced left and right, walked around the streets of the city, and then returned to Sikong's mansion. .
The reason for doing this was naturally to reassure everyone first. When they arrived at the door of Sikong's mansion, they asked Guan Yu and Xu Chu to lead the knights to recuperate their tired bodies. After he returned to the hall of the mansion, he looked at Cao Hong with a serious look and said: " Zi Lian, what’s going on?”
Cao Hong looked very ashamed and said: "Brother, that day we learned that Shen Chen bypassed Ye County in the middle of the night and went north to Kunyang. Kunyang guard Liu Dai also reported that he saw thousands of torches in the middle of the night and went north. I thought He is going to attack Xudu."
"Snapped!"
Cao Cao kicked the table over and shouted to Cao Hong: "Do you think he will come if he wants to attack Xu Du? Xu Du has Wen Ruo and Miaocai here, no matter how hard it is, he can hold on for a few days. You Why don't you just send someone to inquire again during the day? Why do you have to leave in a hurry? You can actually fall into such a low-level trick? You are really stupid!"
Many soldiers and Cao Cao's confidants were uneasy for a moment, and none of them dared to express their anger.
Cao Cao glared at Cao Hong angrily, as if he hated iron for not being able to become steel.
This time he was really angry, because if he hadn't dealt with Yan Liang Wen Chou as soon as possible, and if he hadn't come back a few days later, Shen Chen would have really beaten him outside Xudu City.
If he joins forces with Zhang Xiu again, the consequences may be disastrous.
Xu Du's destruction is a trivial matter. The key is that once Liu Xie is lost, he will instantly become the target of public criticism.
Even if Yuan Shao is defeated by then, the current scene of gatherings of aristocratic families like Xu Du will suddenly disappear, and his reputation in the aristocratic family will instantly drop to the bottom.
You must know that from Yanzhou with only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, to now it has almost divided the entire Henan and even Xuzhou and Shandong, and Liu Xie's golden sign has played an important role.
Once he loses the support of the wealthy families, Cao Cao knows better than anyone what will happen.
Therefore, in the face of Cao Hong's dereliction of duty, he could not cover up.
Cao Hong was not only stingy, but also very strong-willed. When he heard Cao Cao's words, he immediately said: "It's Hong's fault. Please allow me to commit suicide and plead guilty, Brother Cong."
After saying that, he was about to pull out the swords of the guards on his left and right and commit suicide.
Cao Cao quickly came up and kicked Cao Hong to the ground and said: "You bastard, what do I want to do with your life? Just keep your life and atone for your sins. I just hope you can remember today's lesson and never do it again in the future."
, did you hear that?”
Cao Hong got up from the ground and said with a very ashamed face: "Wei."
Seeing that he still felt guilty on his face, Cao Cao's anger was almost gone. After all, in his early years in Bianshui, if Cao Hong hadn't given him the horse, he would have been killed by Xu Rong, so he had no real intention to hold Cao Hong responsible.
.
Cao Cao did this better than Cao Pi. After all, he was a relative of his own. If he had been replaced by another general, he would have been killed by Cao Cao. However, Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Xia Houdun, and Xia Houyuan were the pillars of his career, so naturally he would not be able to do so.
Including the so-called five good generals later, except for Yu Jin, they basically did not have the opportunity to lead troops alone. They were only assigned to the Cao family and the Xiahou family as deputy generals, because Cao Cao relied more on them.
Now that Cao Ren is dead, one of the four pillars of the Cao family is missing. How could Cao Cao be willing to let Cao Hong commit suicide because of this?
But he still had to do it, Cao Cao said: "I will demote you to the rank of Yingyang Colonel, remove your title, and reflect on your mistakes."
"yes."
Cao Hong lowered his eyebrows and looked down. He was already very happy to survive. What more extravagant hopes did he have?
After punishing Cao Hong, Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu and others and said, "Wen Ruo, Miancai, what is the current situation?"
Xun Yu then said: "Shen Chen stationed troops in Linying. Yesterday Li Dian led his troops to attack, but he was defeated by his plan. This man just sees the empty space in our rear, and feints to attack Xudu every time, forcing us to fight him. Now
Xu Du does not have enough troops to fight him, so."
"I see."
Cao Cao nodded and asked, "How many soldiers and horses are there in the city?"
"There are about 12,000 people, but these are all temporarily recruited. Among them, there are less than 4,000 elite soldiers."
Xun Yu's face looked troubled.
This is the embarrassment of Xu Du. Since Cao Cao mobilized all his main forces to fight Yuan Shao along the Guandu, Sili, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou lines, resulting in a serious shortage of troops in the rear, as long as the enemy breaks through the defense lines of Cao Hong and Li Tong, then Xu Du
It's very uncomfortable.
Cao Cao muttered: "There are not many soldiers, and four thousand are enough."
Xun Yu said again: "General Zhengnan was registered yesterday and has arrived at Jianqiang. I have asked him to attack the promised capital at Jianqiang."
"oh?"
Cao Cao frowned and said, "Did you call Li Tong back?"
Xun Yu smiled bitterly and said: "There is nothing we can do about this. If reinforcements are not mobilized as soon as possible, Xu Du is really at risk of being defeated. Even if Sun Ce attacks, Xu Du must be saved first."
Cao Cao frowned even deeper.
In his opinion, Xun Yu's behavior was the so-called drinking poison to quench his thirst.
Li Tong brought his own soldiers and horses to join Cao Cao, and he was relatively strong, with more than 10,000 men, so he was able to guard Runan to defend Sun Ce, and everyone, including Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, and others, wanted to win over him.
In fact, Cao Cao didn't know whether Li Tong was reliable at that time. After all, he had a foreign surname, and most of the counties in Yuzhou had rebelled at this time. Who could guarantee whether Li Tong would surrender?
Therefore, when Li Tong was mobilized back, Cao Cao had two concerns. First, he was afraid that Runan would be empty and Sun Ce would attack. Second, he was afraid that Li Tong would rebel and the situation would be dire.
But this time has reached a critical moment. In history, Cao Cao had just accepted Zhang Xiu's surrender, but he dared to put Zhang Xiu, a man who had betrayed once, into a ruthless role on Chen Liu's right wing.
He immediately gritted his teeth and said: "Don't doubt Gu when you employ him, and don't trust when you doubt him. Since you trust Wenda, there is no need to worry about him. Send someone to send a message asking Li Tong to go north and join Gu."
"only."
Xun Yu went down to do some business.
Cao Cao looked around and said: "Shen Chen is just a little boy. Taking advantage of the emptiness behind me, he thought he could attack Xu Du. It is really a wishful thinking. Now that I am back, I should capture this little boy alive. You can go back first, Li Dian Cao Hong, Xia Houyuan, you lead the troops to guard Xudu. Let me go to the palace to appease the emperor first, and then follow my troops into Linying tomorrow."
"only."
All the soldiers, counselors and officials retreated one after another.
After Cao Cao and others left, he forced himself to go to the palace to meet Liu Xie. After some superficial comfort, he immediately returned to Sikong Mansion to rest.
People are not made of iron.
It was more than ninety kilometers from Guandu to Xudu and we had to drive all night. Almost every hour of walking, the horses had to rest for two hours. They ran at an average speed of ten kilometers per hour. Both the horses and the soldiers were exhausted.
Therefore, it is unrealistic to lead troops to go on an expedition now. At least one day's rest is required. In addition to the soldiers, the most important thing is that these war horses must be fed with fine feed and have enough food and drink before they can send out troops.
So on the third day when Shen Chen's troops marched into Linying, Cao Cao finally finished resting. At this time, Li Tong arrived at Xudu yesterday and joined Cao Cao's troops. In this way, the number of elite troops in Cao Cao's army reached nearly 20,000. Coming towards Linying in great force.
But Shen Chen had already had eyes and ears in Xudu. He sent someone to buy a store in Xudu a few years ago, pretending to be a businessman, but in fact he secretly raised a few horses in a farm outside the city. Cao Cao had just entered the city, and his So people went to report the news.
After learning that Cao Cao was coming in person, Shen Chen withdrew his troops to Xiangcheng yesterday.
He didn't bring much food and grass, basically each soldier brought about ten days of dry food. Once Cao Cao besieged the city, he would either break through or plunder the people of Linying, so it was better to withdraw his troops early.
But how could Cao Cao let him go?
After being happy that Li Tong did not rebel, Cao Cao asked Li Tong to hand over the military talisman to Xia Houyuan and let him be Xia Houyuan's deputy general.
Then he personally led the cavalry, along with Guan Yu and Xu Chu, and before Shen Chen retreated from Xiangcheng to Kunyang, they were already galloping towards him, intending to intercept him halfway.
Although he only had five thousand cavalry, and the Han Dynasty cavalry did not have stirrups, horseshoes and high bridge saddles, the cavalry was still too fast. The infantry was not afraid of the cavalry if they formed a formation on the spot. However, if the delay was too long and Cao Jun's infantry arrived, Then encounter it.
At this time, Shen Chen's current location was near Jinche Township, about ten kilometers south of Xiangcheng and more than twenty kilometers north of Kunyang. In later generations, there was a famous name here - Pingdingshan City.
But of course he is not in the urban area of Pingdingshan, but in the Ziyun Mountain area to the east. This is also the only mountainous area near Xiangcheng, and Kunyang is to the south.
It was early summer. After the light rain in the previous two days, the weather was sunny today. After Shen Chen withdrew his troops, he followed the official road all the way south.
To their right is the Ziyun Mountain area. The official road is to the east of the mountain area. The mountain forest is lush and green at the moment. A few families can occasionally be seen at the foot of the mountain. Villages and fields are scattered all over. In the distance, there is a vast plain, with hills, mountains, rivers, forests and rivers looming.
Huangmenting's soldiers were behind, and Gan Ning's army was in front. Eight thousand people lined up in two long lines along the wide post road, which stretched for about two miles, and walked slowly towards the south.
"Enemy attack!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
At this moment, a sharp whistle sounded throughout the wilderness.
There were several scouts on horseback at the rear, quickly warning the front. They were the scouts arranged by Shen Chen to follow the rear of the team.
There is no need to send out for reconnaissance, you only need to follow the troops. Once you discover the enemy, you will immediately gallop over, catch up with Shen Chen's team, and give them a warning.
In an instant, whistles sounded one after another, and the soldiers of the Ganning Army were at a loss. The soldiers of Huangmenting, led by officers at all levels, gathered on the plain on the right, and then Shen Chen gave combat instructions. , take action immediately.