At nightfall, Cao's army retreated quietly.

They were not traveling lightly. They had a large amount of baggage and weapons and equipment, which resulted in their traveling speed being extremely slow, with a speed of less than three kilometers per hour.

Shen Chen did not send troops to pursue him immediately, but cautiously sent scouts to investigate.

Since ancient times, when an army retreats, because the army has no fighting spirit, it is often the most vulnerable to enemy pursuit and suffers heavy losses.

For example, during the Hengwen Northern Expedition, even though they reached Guanzhong and beat Fu Jian hard, when they ran out of food and retreated, they were severely defeated by Fu Jian and suffered many casualties.

Cao Cao himself is an example. When he was retreating from Nanyang the year before last, he was pursued by Zhang Xiu. The first time he personally broke off the rear and repulsed Zhang Xiu, but the second time he did not personally break off the rear and was defeated by Zhang Xiu.

Therefore, smart generals often make arrangements according to the terrain when withdrawing their troops. For example, Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition was defeated due to Jieting, so he sent Zhao Yun to break up the rear and successfully made the defeated Shu army return to Hanzhong without causing any major casualties.

Of course Cao Cao understood this. After nightfall, he arranged for Li Tong to lead 3,000 men to cut off the rear. The rest of the troops turned back to Xudu as soon as possible to prevent Sun Ce from going north, or Yuan Shao taking this opportunity to go south.

To the north of Kunyang, except for the Ziyun Mountain area, it is flat for dozens of miles. However, there are also many forests and small rivers on the plain, which can barely be used as an ambush point after the break.

The reason why Shen Chen thought he had an opportunity was because Cao's army withdrew in the middle of the night on the day of the attack.

Moreover, after several days of continuous siege, he withdrew his troops when the soldiers were extremely tired. This was a tactical mistake by Cao Cao.

Under normal circumstances, you should rest for a few days no matter what, and wait for the soldiers to recover their physical strength and morale. In this case, it will be very dangerous to withdraw the troops when the siege fails and the soldiers are very tired.

It was for this reason that Shen Chen considered pursuing him.

But he had to calculate Cao Cao's psychology.

How could Cao Cao make such a low-level mistake with his powerful military capabilities, having controlled the world for many years and conquering the north and south?

Therefore, Shen Chen, who was cautious in character, did not immediately send troops to pursue him, but patiently waited for the scouts to report back.

The scouts soon found out the news and came back to report it. It was too dark to see the specific situation, but they could vaguely see a long dragon of torches, stretching for several miles, winding all the way to the north.

When Shen Chen received the news, he immediately felt that it was unusual.

If Cao Cao really wanted to withdraw his troops, he would not have made such a big fanfare, but would have dealt with it in a low-key manner.

If Shen Chen was in Cao Cao's position, after retreating from the city, he should remain calm and let the soldiers rest for a while, pretending to stop fighting today and attack the city again the next day.

Wouldn't it be better to wait for the soldiers to sleep for a few hours first, get enough rest, and then suddenly break camp and retreat at midnight, light less torches, and hide in the warehouse in secret?

This kind of unabashed behavior is actually a bit like I'm going to leave arrogantly and there's nothing you can do to me.

It's really confusing.

Could it be.

Is there any fraud in it?

Shen Chen frowned.

What does Cao Cao mean?

He is looking down on himself and is really withdrawing his troops.

Or do you want to ambush yourself?

Or is it an empty city strategy, betting that he will become suspicious and not dare to pursue?

Shen Chen's head almost hurt thinking about it.

When it comes to things like fighting, we often think about these layers of matryoshka dolls: you have predicted my prediction, and I have predicted your prediction.

For example, in the Battle of Nanyang, when Cao Cao retreated, he predicted Zhang Xiu's eagerness to pursue and expand the victory, and personally broke up the rear, defeating Zhang Xiu who came to pursue him, and then returned with a heavy defeat.

When Zhang Xiu returned in despair, Jia Xu suddenly suggested that he pursue him again. It was Jia Xu who had controlled Cao Cao's psychology and knew that Cao Cao was eager to return to Xudu to prevent Yuan Shao from going south, so he would immediately retreat if he defeated Zhang Xiu. Walk.

Zhang Xiu pursued again and indeed defeated Cao Cao's rear army.

If Zhang Xiu listened to Jia Xu for the first time, it would be equivalent to predicting Cao Cao's prediction, first avoiding the failure of Cao Cao's personal judgment, and then succeeding in pursuit.

This is the most advanced psychological game, and it is also an extremely clever tactical game.

The same is the case now.

Cao Cao suddenly withdrew his troops in violation of military common sense, which gave Shen Chen a chance to see if he dared to come out and fight with him.

There are two ways to play the game here.

The first one is that if Cao Cao played an empty city strategy and Shen Chen was restrained and did not dare to pursue him, then it would be considered a success of Cao Cao's game.

If Shen Chen was a fool, or saw through Cao Cao's empty city plan, and chose to chase out and defeat Cao's army, then Shen Chen's game would naturally be successful.

The second one is if Cao Cao pretends to retreat and actually ambush.

This is just like Jia Xu's case. After Cao Cao personally broke it off, he immediately went after him, and he would definitely not be able to get a good deal.

The correct approach should be to wait as Jia Xu said. When Cao Cao can no longer wait for his pursuers and leaves by himself, he can catch up and defeat Cao Cao's rear army.

It's just that he wasn't sure what Cao Cao was thinking.

"What kind of tactic is he playing with me? An empty city strategy or an ambush? Or, pretending to retreat, but actually fighting back?"

Shen Chen stood on the top of the city, looking at the night sky in the distance, frowning.

The weather is extremely clear on summer nights, the evening wind blows slowly, the moon hangs high, there are stars, and there are no clouds in the sky.

But at this moment, Shen Chen was in a very bad mood.

He himself is not a scheming genius, and he is not as able to control people's hearts as Guo Jia Jia Xu.

If Jia Xu and Guo Jia were here at this time, they would definitely be able to accurately grasp Cao Cao's psychology and provide him with advice.

It's a pity that neither of them is here.

"well."

Shen Chen sighed.

It's really tiring to play tactical games with people like Cao Cao.

His cousin Shen Tao, who had been following him, saw that he looked troubled and asked curiously: "General, what's wrong?"

Shen Chen said: "Cao Cao is withdrawing his troops in a big way. There are two possibilities. One is to set up an ambush, and the other is to do it deliberately. I bet we don't dare to pursue him. I can't get an idea now."

Shen Tao thought for a while and said: "Then let's try it. If he does this on purpose, we will defeat them directly. If they set up an ambush, then be cautious and test it first. Don't chase too hastily. If it doesn't work, we will pull back." "

"It's not that simple."

Shen Chen smiled bitterly. It was midnight and he was chasing the enemy's army. If they set up an ambush in some key places and the army was scattered, it would not be a matter of withdrawing. It was hard to say whether he could save his life.

Shen Tao shrugged: "Although I don't know much about military affairs, I understand one thing. Sometimes you shouldn't think too much about problems. Just like if I was worried that I would die if I joined the army, then I wouldn't think about joining to avenge my parents. The only thought in my heart is revenge."

"you're right."

Shen Tao's words reminded Shen Chen of what the great man once said. He nodded slowly and said: "No matter what, you have to try it. Even if it's a pot of raw rice, you have to bite the bullet and eat it. Don't try it." If you try, how do you know if you can win?"

"Send my order and all the troops must assemble!"

"only!"

Shen Tao went to convey the order.

After a while, the Huangmenting soldiers who were resting in the city began to move closer to the city gate.

Gan Ning, Shen Zhen, Deng Zhao and others came in a hurry.

After the meeting, Gan Ning did not ask any questions. Shen Zhen and Deng Zhao, as leaders of the Huangmenting soldiers, came forward and said, "Ah Chen, why did you gather so suddenly?"

Shen Chen said: "Pursue Cao Jun."

"Pursuit now?"

Gan Ning was shocked: "But the soldiers are very tired."

It is true that Cao Jun was very tired from attacking the city for several days, but their army was not invincible. After Cao Jun retreated, most of them had rested except for necessary defense arrangements.

Shen Chen said: "The siege battle between our army and Cao Cao's army has been fierce these days, and both sides are very tired. At this time, Cao Cao's army retreats, and his troops have no fighting spirit. If they pursue, it will easily cause great damage to Cao Cao."

Gan Ning worriedly said: "Even so, our soldiers are very tired. I'm afraid we may pursue them now."

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. We can raise troops for a thousand days and use them for a while. It's at this time that I will personally lead my men to pursue them. In half an hour, Uncle Xingba, you will bring another 3,000 men to meet them."

"good."

Gan Ning knew that Shen Chen had always had his own opinion, so he did not question it and just obeyed the order.

The soldiers at Huangmenting immediately took action.

In fact, his army was already very tired at this time. From the end of last year until now, he had been fighting for four or five months and had killed two to three hundred people.

However, thanks to Shen Chen's daily training methods and the complete pension, reward and other systems, the military morale is still very stable.

This method can only train a small number of elites. Three thousand people is already the limit, and it takes almost the entire Huangmen Pavilion to train them. Therefore, no matter how hard and tiring it is, you can persevere.

In the starry night, more than 2,700 people left the city gate and chased all the way north.

Shen Chen did not ride a horse, but chose to walk with the soldiers. Except for the messengers who rode horses, the commanders including Shen Zhen and Deng Zhao did not ride horses.

The visibility is not good at night, and the crowd needs to light torches for illumination. Targets riding bright horses can easily be shot by ambush bow and arrow snipers, just like Pang Tong, so walking is more convenient.

There are many farmland villages on both sides of the wilderness post road in the north of the city. Cao Cao's previous station was around a village four miles away, surrounded by a small river and forest.

When Huangmenting soldiers were about to arrive at the forest, a cry rang through the night sky: "Enemy attack!"
To be continued...