Cao Cao first sent suspicious soldiers out of the camp in the middle of the night carrying torches. Thousands of people held more than 20,000 torches and stretched for more than ten miles, creating the illusion that a large number of Cao's troops were marching south overnight.
After the suspected soldiers went out, the main force of Cao's army was composed of men and horses with bound feet, ambushing behind Cao's camp.
On the second day, Yu Jin, who was left behind in Cao's camp, was unable to resist the attack of tens of thousands of Yuan's troops. He retreated in panic and led Yuan's army to an ambush point. At this time, ten people rushed out at the same time, defeating Yuan's vanguard and front army.
Fortunately, Yuan Shao was extremely cautious after the disastrous defeat at Guandu. All his 50,000 troops were in the rear, and he only lost more than 20,000 men in the front, saving the main force to retreat.
On the hill, Cao Cao was riding on horseback, with his red cloak fluttering behind him. He looked into the distance with squinted eyes. He saw Yuan's army's middle and rear troops decisively abandoning the vanguard and front army and receding like a tide. He sighed with emotion: "Yuan Benchu
I’m a lot more cautious.”
Cheng Yu said with a smile: "With Jushu's plan and Tian Feng's wisdom, it is difficult for Yuan Shao to fall into the trap. However, this plan of building a plank road in secret to infiltrate Chencang can be considered a success. At least Yuan Jun will never dare to pursue him again.
"
This strategy was a joint effort between Guo Jia, Xun You, and Cheng Yu. Guo Jia was responsible for controlling the psychology of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, Cheng Yu was responsible for the implementation of the specific plan, and Xun You connected the two strategies together, and used Guo Jia's analyzed psychology to make a number of plans.
They all used bait to lure Yuan Shao to take the bait, and then used Cheng Yu's plan to defeat the enemy.
80,000 Yuan's army faced 50,000 Cao's army. Yuan's army was far less elite than Cao's army. Now they have lost more than 20,000 people, leaving only 50,000 soldiers and horses. It is obviously impossible to defeat Cao Cao's army head-on, and Yuan Shao is also afraid that Cao Cao will fight again.
It's an ambush, so it's unlikely to give chase.
However, Guo Jia said: "If this is all, Yuan Shao may still catch up. Then he will definitely act cautiously and step by step. But in a few days, the news that General Xiahou's two thousand almost exceeded eighty thousand should have spread.
If this matter reaches Yuan Shao's ears, he probably won't pursue us again."
"Ha ha ha ha."
Cao Cao burst out laughing: "Yuan Rang is really my lucky general. If it weren't for him, I'm afraid I would still have a headache from Yuan Shao."
Guo Jia also smiled and said: "Yes, this battle made Yuan Shao see how miserable the Southern Army was. Even if they supported more than 100,000 people, they were just a mob. He knew that Liu Biao could not attack Xudu, and he was afraid that we would ambush him halfway, so it was very likely that
We will withdraw our troops to the north."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded, waved his hand and said: "Retreat and go straight to the south!"
"woo woo woo woo!"
The long rally horn sounded continuously. At this time, the vanguard of Yuan's army and the front army were ambushed from all sides, and less than half of them were lost. The remaining people surrendered and were killed by Cao Cao on the spot. Only less than a few thousand of the others escaped.
On March 8, Cao's army marched south in a mighty manner, heading straight for Xudu.
At this time, Yingchuan and Zhaoling.
After Liu Bei arrived in Runan, he used his personal prestige to recruit tens of thousands of Yuan's old troops, and with great momentum, he went north to attack Xudu.
At this moment, the south of Xudu was garrisoned by Li Dian of Jianqiang County. However, Liu Bei had the support of powerful locals in Runan and sufficient food and grass. He was not afraid of being cut off from the food route, so he bypassed Jianqiang and went straight to Xudu.
He went from Zheqiu in the northeast of Zhaoling to Xinji in the north, and almost reached the foot of Xudu City.
When Li Dian learned of this, he quickly returned to the defense and joined forces with Xia Houyuan's 10,000 troops to confront Liu Bei in the Yanggaoting area southeast of Xudu.
At this time, Liu Bei's army was less than 20 kilometers away from Xudu.
Although Liu Bei had many troops, he was outnumbered, so he continued to attack for two days but could not win. Therefore, the two sides were still in a stalemate.
This made Liu Bei a little anxious.
But there is nothing we can do.
Except that Li Dian and Xia Houyuan held on without incident, the main reason was that the combat effectiveness of the troops was too weak.
The army he now formed consisted of two parts.
Some of them are new troops recruited in Nanyang. This part actually has some combat effectiveness, but they are all new troops and lack actual combat experience, so they are inevitably somewhat incompetent.
The other large part is the newly arrived troops from Runan.
When Liu Bei arrived in Runan, he originally attacked from the south. However, as a former Yuzhou shepherd, his prestige in Runan was actually inferior to that of Yuan Shao. When they heard that he was back, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered.
Although they looked very powerful, Liu Bei also knew that these people had little fighting power.
Giving it up will easily offend others, but not giving it up will lower the strength of the army and put Liu Bei in a dilemma.
Fortunately, Xu Shu was smart and separated these people from Liu Bei's army, and ordered General Guan Yu to lead them. This way, they were temporarily divided into two groups. Even if these old troops in Runan were dispersed, they would not be able to harm the army, and they could still use them.
People serve as bait and cannon fodder, killing two birds with one stone.
So under such circumstances, Liu Bei's army went straight to Xudu, and almost reached the outside of Xudu on the same day that Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao. However, due to his combat power and Li Dian and Xia Houyuan's persistence, he was unable to conquer it in a short time.
But even so, the impact was huge, comparable to Shen Chen's three visits to Xudu. Li Dian and Xia Houyuan just held on hard. If they were given a little more time, they would conquer sooner or later.
This led to countless officials and dignitaries in Xudu writing letters to Liu Bei, hoping to maintain friendly relations with him.
Although Liu Bei left Xudu, after all, he had stayed in Xudu in his early years and was Liu Xie's confidant, which made him familiar in the circle of Xudu officials.
After hearing that he was coming again, many people secretly befriended him, hoping that once Liu Bei breaks into Xudu City and the king's flag changes at the top of the city, they can still occupy high positions and not be replaced by new forces.
What is unexpected is that the political struggle is not only in Xudu, but also in Xiangyang.
At this moment, Liu Biao was very happy at Chu Gong's residence in Jingzhou.
Zhang Yun reported good news but not bad news, concealing the news that he was almost defeated. He only told Liu Biao that he had surrounded Xudu and was approaching Xudu's walls.
So when Liu Biao heard about this, he was very excited and immediately summoned his cronies to discuss the matter of becoming king.
In the mansion, Liu Biao, Jia Xu, Kuai Yue and Cai Mao were sitting in rows.
Historically, Cai Mao of Kuai Yue was a staunch supporter of Cao Cao. For this reason, after the Battle of Guandu in the fifth year of Jian'an, he urged Liu Biao to join Cao Cao. However, Liu Biao ignored him and removed his official position. He did not appear in any historical records for seven or eight years.
.
For example, Cai Mao's prefect of Nanjun was removed and replaced by Cao Pi's father-in-law Guo Yong. Kuai Yue's prefect of Zhangling was also dismissed and replaced by Huang She, Huang Zu's son.
However, although the two were left out, Liu Biao still doted on Mrs. Cai. After Liu Cong succeeded to the throne, he became Liu Cong's confidant again, and then persuaded Liu Cong to offer Jingzhou, ruining Liu Biao's foundation.
But now that Cao Cao's power was declining and Liu Biao was getting stronger, the two of them changed their mentality and began to support Liu Biao.
The characteristics of the family wall grass have been transformed incisively and vividly.
Now that the news came, Liu Biao stroked his beard and laughed proudly and said: "Cao Cao is really vulnerable. Now that the lonely army has surrounded Xu Du, it is just around the corner to overthrow Cao Cao."
Kuai Yue and Cai Mao looked at each other and hurriedly raised their hands and said: "Congratulations to Duke Ming, congratulations to Duke Ming. After this battle, Duke Ming will be the most powerful in the world!"
"Hahahahahaha."
Liu Biao was very happy.
Jia Xu said with a smile: "The Duke has the ambition to conquer the world, but at this time, Jingzhou's troops are out, and the Duke must be careful about Liu Zhang and Sun Quan. They may not miss this opportunity."
"It doesn't matter."
Liu Biao waved his hand: "Liu Zhang and Sun Quan are just defeated generals. What if Sun Quan's father and brother came to attack our Jingzhou? Isn't it a dead end? There is only Yuanyang guarding Jiangxia, so there is nothing to fear."
Sun Quan, Liu Zhang and Liu Biao all had enemies.
The first is Sun Quan. His father Sun Jian was killed by Liu Biao. Sun Ce attacked Jingzhou several times, but lost all his troops and returned without success.
Followed by Liu Zhang, his father Liu Yan had the intention of proclaiming himself emperor in his early years, but was reported by Liu Biao. At that time, Liu Xie was still in Chang'an, so he sent someone to scold and warn Liu Yan, so that Liu Yan gave up the idea of proclaiming himself emperor.
Later, after Liu Zhang succeeded his father, Shen Mi, Lou Fa, Gan Ning and others gathered to rebel. Liu Zhang sent troops to defeat them, and the three led the army to defect to Liu Biao. Liu Zhang was furious and planned to settle old and new grudges together, using Zhao Wei as his General Zhonglang of Zhengdong led an army to attack Liu Biao.
The two sides had been confronting each other in the Wushan area for a period of time. Although the war did not break out, the two sides had obviously lost their temper. At this time, seeing Liu Biao's northern expedition against Cao Cao, Jingzhou was depleted of troops, so it was possible that he would choose to attack Jingzhou.
It's just that Liu Zhan was growing in strength. His army of more than 100,000 went north to besiege Cao Cao, one of the two overlords of the Central Plains, and even planned to become king. Therefore, it was normal for Liu Zhang and Sun Quan not to be taken seriously.
Jia Xu added: "The Duke's northern expedition to Cao Cao has made him famous all over the world, and he has gained prestige. It is a good time to become king. By then, he will sweep across Henan, and he can also sit back and watch the world."
"Um."
Liu Biao nodded and said: "Wen He's words are very agreeable to Gu's heart. Gu Ye has this intention and has already ordered the princes and kings to make uniforms. When good news comes from the front, he can officially become the king."
Kuai Yue and Cai Mao once again bowed their hands and said: "Meet the king!"
"Hahahahaha."
Liu Biao looked happy again when he saw that the two men were no longer urging him to surrender to Cao Cao as before.
No one in this world can be king.
Only the clan surnamed Liu can.
Sweeping across Henan at this time is a good time to become king.
"Report!"
At this moment, the messenger hurriedly rushed in, knelt down on one knee in the hall and said: "Ming Gong, Liu Bei's army went north and surrounded Xu Du. Xu Du is in danger!"
"What?"
Liu Biao's face froze instantly.
Kuai Yue and Cai Mao looked at each other again and remained silent.
Liu Biao quickly asked: "Where is Zhang Yun now?"
"Still in Yingyin."
"Where's Wenpin?"
"In Linying."
Snapped!
Liu Biao slapped the case angrily and said: "What does Zhang Yun do? At first, Qian Dingzhu and Wan asked him to keep an eye on Liu Bei and not let him rush into Xudu, but now he is allowed to fight outside the city of Xudu!"
"You go down first."
Jia Xu waved his hand, signaling the messenger to leave first.
After the messenger left, Jia Xu bowed his hand to Liu Biao and said, "If Liu Bei breaks into Xudu, it will be detrimental to the public."
"How can I not know?"
Liu Biao's expression changed.
He didn't recruit Shen Chen because he was afraid of this happening.
Once Liu Xie is rescued by a guy like Liu Bei and Chen Chen and sent to Jingzhou, will Liu Biao still play tricks?
Not to mention the addition of an ancestor, it is estimated that more than 90% of the aristocratic families in Jingzhou will seek refuge with Liu Xie. Not to mention becoming king and emperor, I am afraid that all his foundation will have to be used as a wedding dress for others.
it's good now.
Shen Chen was not recruited to participate in the battle, but Liu Bei, who was thought to be a scumbag, accomplished this feat. Is this okay?
"Liu Bei must be recalled as soon as possible!"
Kuai Yue hurriedly said: "Please give me an order immediately for Liu Bei to retreat to Xiangcheng in the rear."
"Yeah."
Liu Biao came to his senses and immediately said: "Send me an order for Liu Bei to withdraw his troops!"
Now, on the same day of March 8, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at Cangting, and Liu Bei marched to Xudu at Gaoting in Yang. Liu Biao issued twelve warrants in one day, asking Liu Bei to withdraw his troops.