Cao Cao originally thought that by taking advantage of Liu Bei's absence in Xuzhou and leading a large army, he would force the Pengcheng defenders to surrender and then quickly capture Xiapi.
However, Pengcheng did not surrender and held the city firmly. Xiapi also defended the city firmly and could not be conquered in a short time.
Even a small city like Lucheng refused to surrender, which shows that Liu Bei really has Xuzhou's heart.
Now that Zhang Liao was defeated again, the cities in Xuzhou were even more determined to hold on.
Cao Cao gave up the siege, thinking that as long as he defeated Liu Bei and killed him, the cities in Xuzhou would be destroyed without attack.
He came with 50,000 troops from Xudu, leaving 10,000 men to guard Pengcheng. Now he has lost nearly 5,000 men, and there are still 35,000 men with him.
According to the scouts, Liu Bei brought back only more than 10,000 troops from Yangzhou. Therefore, even if another 10,000 people were left to guard him, it would be easy to defeat Liu Bei.
However, Cao Cao was vaguely worried. He was worried that Liu Bei would bring back all the soldiers and horses from Jiujiang. In that case, there would be 40,000 soldiers, which would not be so easy to deal with.
But according to current intelligence, Liu Bei is not ready to abandon Jiujiang, which is good news for Cao Cao.
Liu Bei was leading his troops to Xiapi and was overjoyed when he suddenly heard that Cao Cao was moving his troops to take action.
What he was most worried about was Xiapi City. Cao Cao moved his troops to take care of Xiapi City, which meant that Xiapi City was already safe.
"Cao Cao did not capture Pi, but came to encircle it. What was his purpose?"
Liu Bei couldn't figure out Cao Cao's intention for doing this. Zhou Wen'an usually had Zhou Wen'an by his side, so Zhou Wen'an would usually guess this kind of thing.
Now that Zhou Wen'an has gone to Jingzhou, there are almost no people around Liu Bei who can discuss matters except Zhang Fei.
"Brother, Cao Cao definitely couldn't attack Xiapi, so he turned to attack Liao, and Zhang Liao's fellow was defeated and beheaded while trying to worry. Cao Cao may have come to avenge Zhang Liao." Zhang Fei expressed his thoughts.
"Impossible, Cao Cao wouldn't have turned to attack in order to avenge Zhang Liao. He is now stationing troops in the south of the city and seems to be waiting for us." Liu Bei said.
Zhang Fei was amused when he heard this and said with a smile: "Hey, if that's true, that would be great. I can also kill the old thief Cao Cao. Not only will I achieve great success, but I can also save the emperor."
"My lord is right. Liang also thinks that Cao Cao is stationing troops to wait for us."
Zhuge Liang, who was standing nearby, suddenly said.
After hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Liu Bei's eyes lit up. He remembered that Zhou Ping had strongly recommended Zhuge Liang to him, knowing that this young man who was only sixteen years old might have some wisdom and could temporarily replace Mr. Wen An.
"Go on, why is he waiting for us?" Liu Bei smiled at Zhuge Liang and asked.
Zhuge Liang took a step forward and replied loudly: "When soldiers and horses go out to fight, they have two purposes, one is to seize the city, and the other is to destroy the enemy. Cao Cao took advantage of the emptiness of Xuzhou and personally led an army of 50,000 people, aiming to capture Xuzhou, that is,
Capture the city. However, the Lord and Mr. Wen An had expected that Cao Cao would attack and had already prepared for it. Now that Pengcheng and Xiapi defended the city and were both unbreakable, Cao Cao could not capture the city, so he had no choice but to come and destroy the enemy.
"
"Cao Cao knew that his lord had left a lot of troops in Jiujiang, but not many were brought back. Therefore, he abandoned the attack on Xiapi and switched to attacking Xiapi. In fact, he was waiting for us and wanted to fight us. Xiapi
It is the foundation of the lord, and the lord is the foundation of Xuzhou. Cao Cao's intention is to defeat the lord. If the lord is defeated, Xuzhou will collapse. This is Cao Cao's strategy of digging up the roots."
Liu Bei nodded repeatedly and said in appreciation: "What Kong Ming said is very reasonable. In this case, how should Gu Dang respond? Cao Cao has a lot of troops. Should Gu let Yunchang, Ziyi and others return to Xuzhou together?"
Zhuge Liang hurriedly said: "No, Jiujiang is not easy to win. Don't give up easily. Besides, Mr. Wen'an has gone to Xiangyang to persuade Liu Jingzhou to send troops to attack Xudu. If my lord lets General Yunchang, Ziyi and others retreat with them, Cao Cao will know that it is hard to win."
It would be inappropriate to retreat from Xuzhou. Our current strategy is to drag Cao Cao here so that Liu Jingzhou can take advantage of it. If Xu Capital is lost, the emperor will be saved, and Cao Cao will be defeated."
"It's just that," Liu Bei was filled with worry, "we have so few soldiers and horses, and Cao Cao is waiting for work..."
"Small troops may not lead to victory. Lord, we can march slowly, from marching sixty miles a day to marching twenty miles a day. This way we can delay Cao Cao here for a long time and make him anxious, and we will not be tired from marching."
, achieve multiple things with one stroke.”
Zhang Fei laughed and said: "Brother, I think Kong Ming is right. Isn't Cao Cao waiting for us? We can walk slowly and let him wait slowly, hahaha..."
Liu Bei did not speak immediately, thinking carefully in his heart.
Originally, he was rushing back to Xuzhou for rescue, but now that Cao Cao has not captured Xiapi and Xiapi is safe, he doesn't have to be in such a hurry.
There are thousands of soldiers and horses from Li Jia and Zang Ba in the city of Qoru. They have just killed the enemy general Zhang Liao and defeated the enemy army. Their morale is high. It should be no problem to defend the city of Qoru.
Don't let what the enemy wants come true.
Since Cao Cao was waiting for him to go back to fight, he had few troops and horses, and was not sure of victory, so he might as well use Kong Ming's strategy and return slowly.
This will not only delay Cao Cao and give Jingzhou's soldiers an opportunity to take advantage, but also make their own troops less tired. Even if they fight Cao Cao, they will not be defeated so easily.
What I hope most now is that Mr. Wen'an can go well in Jingzhou and persuade Liu Jingsheng to send troops to attack Xudu.
After Liu Bei made up his mind, he used Zhuge Liang's strategy and ordered the whole army to move slowly, and they could march twenty miles a day.
On the one hand, a large number of scouts were sent to explore the information in Xiapi, Pengcheng, Qilu and other places.
Cao Cao gave up the attack on Xiapi and turned to siege. The happiest thing was the people who were defending the city in Xiapi.
Mi Zhu, Zhuge Xingjin and others finally relaxed and sent back all the guards and people they had recruited, and said that if Cao Cao came to besiege the city again, they would recruit them again.
However, they did not dare to leave the city. Who knows if this was some conspiracy by Cao Cao, who pretended to retreat first, and then suddenly attacked.
Also afraid to leave the city were Zang Ba and Li Jia, who were worried.
Cao Cao moved his troops. Zang Ba didn't know what Cao Cao was thinking for a while, but Li Jia guessed what Cao Cao was thinking.
This makes considerations even more important.
If Cao Cao were to occupy Chuli, it would be even more difficult for Liu Bei to come back, so they had to hold on to Chuli, both to attract Cao Cao's troops and to protect Xiapi.
…………
Zhou Ping took Zhang Wu and eighteen guards and rushed all the way to Nanyang.
At this time, Zhang Xiutun was in Wan County.
If Zhou Ping wants Liu Biao to send troops to attack Xu, Zhang Xiu must be the one to take the lead.
Therefore, he had to visit Zhang Xiu first and convince him first, and then he would get twice the result with half the effort when he went to see Liu Biao.
Zhou Ping arrived at Wancheng and asked to see Zhang Xiu.