The garrison on the city saw a group of soldiers suddenly coming below the city. Although these soldiers were wearing the same military uniforms as themselves, they were all Cao Cao's men.
But this group of people was really in a mess, their clothes were disheveled and dirty, and every one of them was dirty and downcast.
It's hard to believe they are one of our own.
When have you ever seen Cao Cao's soldiers look like this? If Cao Sikong had seen them, they would have been captured and beheaded.
Moreover, the soldiers and horses of Jizhou, Jingzhou, and Zhangxiu of Nanyang are approaching the city. It is very likely that these people are pretending to be deliberately wearing Cao's military uniforms and deliberately making their hair and faces dirty to make it difficult for people to recognize them.
Sneak into the city to respond internally.
Therefore, the guards on the city would shoot arrows to prevent them from approaching the city gate.
I was afraid that they were really Cao soldiers, so I didn't shoot them directly.
"Cao Sikong is here, open the city gate quickly."
Dian Wei pointed at the city and shouted loudly.
When the military princes in the city heard this, they couldn't believe it. They quickly identified it carefully and saw that the person pointing at them and giving orders was none other than Cao Cao's guard Dian Wei.
There were generals Xu Huang, Guo Jialu Qian and others nearby, but Cao Sikong was the only one missing.
These people were indeed Cao Sikong's people, but Dian Wei said that Cao Sikong was here, but did not see Sikong, which made the defenders of the city very confused.
Could it be that Dian Wei, Xu Huang and others all surrendered to Liu Bei to gain the opportunity to open the city gate?
"Where is Cao Sikong?"
The city defender couldn't help but ask.
"Don't you recognize Gu? Are Yuan Rang and Zi Xiao here?"
Cao Cao raised his head and asked loudly, but there was no anger at all in his tone.
The defender of the city took another closer look, and hey, Cao Sikong was standing right under his eyes all this time. Why couldn't he see it with his blind eyes?
Yes, Cao Sikong had his long beard cut off, and he didn't have the red robe that he always wore, and his face was a little dirty. No wonder he couldn't recognize it.
"Sikong, wait a minute, my subordinates are going to open the city gate."
The city guard did not dare to neglect, but he did not open the city gate immediately. Instead, he ran to report to Cao Hong, who was guarding the east gate.
Among Xudu, Xiahou was responsible for guarding the north to resist the enemies of Jizhou; Cao Ren was responsible for guarding the west to resist the enemies of Jingzhou; Cao Hong was responsible for guarding the east to welcome Cao Cao; Han Hao was responsible for guarding the south, and Xun was in the middle.
Cao Hong was leading troops to patrol the city. When he heard that Cao Cao was back, he hurried to the east gate tower and looked down. He was dumbfounded.
What kind of people are these? Why are they in such a mess? Are they really his brother Cao Cao?!
But if you take a closer look, you will see that the man under the city is not his brother Cao Cao.
Although he looked embarrassed, his heroic spirit was still intact, and there seemed to be a smile on his face.
"Hurry, open the city quickly." Cao Hong quickly ordered, and the military marquis took the order and went down to deliver the order.
He followed him down to the city gate tower and rushed to the city gate to wait.
Cao Cao and others waited outside the city for a while, but still did not see the city gate open. They were afraid that Liu Bei would lead his troops to pursue him. Dian Wei couldn't help but cursed: "This man neglected Duke Ming. Wei will kill him after he enters the city."
Some people quickly agreed, saying that the man guarding the city should be killed.
But Cao Cao laughed and said: "Hahaha... you are wrong, this person should be rewarded!"
"He was so negligent. First he didn't recognize Sikong, and then he didn't open the city gate for a long time. Why should he be rewarded instead of killing him?" Dian Wei couldn't understand.
"Yes, doesn't he recognize the military uniforms we are wearing? He is obviously deliberately making things difficult." Someone else echoed.
Cao Cao laughed again: "Hahaha... Take a look for yourselves and see what you look like. If an enemy soldier wears our military uniforms and pretends to sneak into the city, wouldn't he be opening the door to welcome the thieves? He should be cautious and stick to his duties.
"
"Even so, if he can't trust us, why can't he trust Sikong and not let him enter the city?"
"Gu Qipao cut off his beard. It's understandable that it's difficult for him to recognize him for a while. Okay, don't talk about it anymore. The city gate has opened. Let's enter the city."
Cao Cao walked in front with his head held slightly high, followed closely by Dian Wei and Guo Jia, followed by Xu Huang and Lu Qian.
He led more than 300 soldiers into the city slowly.
"General, you..."
Cao Hong went to greet him. At this time, he didn't know about Cao Cao's defeat.
"We'll talk about this later. You, Dian Wei just said that you came back alone, why didn't you open the city gate?"
Cao Cao suddenly asked, pointing to the person standing behind Cao Hong who was asking questions on the city just now.
Ever since the city defenders saw Cao Cao, they knew that they had caused a big disaster, so they blocked Cao Sikong's drive and ordered the city defenders to shoot arrows at them. It seemed that they were destined to die this time.
You know, Cao Si's military discipline is very strict, and he is afraid that he has committed a capital crime.
If you die, you will die. Anyway, I acted according to the law. I really didn't recognize Cao Sikong just now.
The defender of the city was shocked, took a step forward, raised his hands and replied loudly: "Sikong, I didn't recognize Sikong just now. Although I recognized Dian Wei, he said that Sikong is here.
You must first see Sikong before you can open the city gate."
"If I'm alone and only Dian Wei and Xu Huang come back, wouldn't you want to open the city gate?" Cao Cao asked again.
"If he hadn't said that Sikong was here, his subordinates would have reported it to General Cao Zilian immediately, and General Zilian would have made the decision."
"Hahaha... What's your name? What's your position?"
The defenders of the city were puzzled. They didn't know why Cao Cao was laughing, and it didn't look like he was laughing in anger.
Although I didn't understand, I had to answer: "My subordinate's name is Tang Qi, and he is a military lord who guards the city."
Cao Cao stepped forward, patted Tang Qi on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "You have done your duty loyally and from now on, I will appoint you as the city guard. Anyone who fulfills his duty will be rewarded."
Tang Qi did not expect such a result. He thought he would die, but he did not expect that he would be promoted.
"My subordinates, thank you Sikong!"
Tang Qi prostrated himself on the ground and watched Cao Cao and others go away.
When Cao Cao returned to his mansion, his concubines and maids rushed to welcome him to wash and change clothes.
Cao Hong had already informed Xiahou, Cao Renxun and others. They told their subordinates to guard the city gates to guard against a sudden attack by enemy troops outside the city, and then hurriedly came to Sikong Mansion to wait to see Cao Cao.
"You are all here."
Cao Cao changed his clothes and went out to the meeting hall. He saw Xiahou and Cao Ren, as well as Cao Hong and Xun. Guo Jia had also gone back to change his clothes.
These are people whom Cao Cao trusts very much.
Cheng Yu was in Yanzhou at this time and was appointed by Cao Cao as the prefect of Jiyin, and at the same time he supervised the troops and horses in Yanzhou.
Before Cao Cao came out, Guo Jia had already roughly explained the situation of the battle with Liu Bei.
"Ming Gong, according to the report of the scouting horse, Liu Bei's soldiers and horses can arrive at the city gate tomorrow."
Xun said with concern.
"If Liu Bei's troops arrive, they will besiege the city on three sides. General, how are we going to repel the enemy?"
Xiahou was even more worried about how to retreat from the enemy.
"What do you think? Tell me any good strategies you have, no matter whether they can be used or not, as long as they can defeat the enemies besieging the city."
Cao Cao knelt down and said to everyone.
"When the water comes and the earth comes to cover, the soldiers come to block it. The enemies besieging the city are mainly Jizhou soldiers. As long as the Jizhou soldiers are driven back, the Jingzhou and Xuzhou soldiers will retreat. General, let me lead the troops out of the city to fight with the Jizhou soldiers and defeat them. The siege
The troops retreated."
Cao Ren followed Cao Cao on his expedition to Xuzhou this time, and was surrounded outside Pengcheng. Tian Yu did not dare to fight, and later returned to Xudu in advance, so he never fought with Xuzhou soldiers.
"If we go to war, how many troops can you lead to win?" Cao Cao looked at Cao Ren and asked.
Cao Ren thought for a moment, stretched out two fingers and replied: "Twenty thousand."
The Jizhou soldiers surrounding Xudu to the north had 30,000 soldiers and horses. There were only 30,000 soldiers and horses in Xudu city. Of course, it was impossible to bring out all the soldiers and horses, so Cao Ren said 20,000.
If he leads fewer soldiers, he will not be sure of victory.
Cao Cao nodded slightly and said calmly: "Well, the Jizhou soldiers are led by Chunyu Qiong and Guo Tudu, and Yan Liang is the general. If you lead 20,000 soldiers to fight, you should be able to win. However, if Jingzhou and Xuzhou send 5,000 soldiers to help at the same time,
, do you think you can still win?"
If there are troops and horses coming from the east and west at the same time, it means that 20,000 troops will be used against 40,000 troops. Moreover, he will not only have to face the enemy in the front, but also guard against the enemies on both sides. No matter how confident Cao Ren is, he feels that it is difficult to defeat him at this moment.
.
Not to mention the current Xuzhou generals are so brave.
"Well, if we can't fight, how can we retreat?"
"Yuan Rang, what good advice do you have?" Cao Cao turned to Xia Hou.
Xia Hou hesitated for a moment and shook his head silently.
If you can't fight with the Jizhou soldiers, then you can't fight with the Xuzhou soldiers and Jingzhou soldiers who are surrounding you on the other two sides.
Because the enemies currently surrounding the city on three sides are dominated by Jizhou soldiers.
Moreover, the Xuzhou soldiers have won consecutive victories and their morale is high. uuReading www.uukanshu.com Even if they go out of the city to fight the Xuzhou soldiers, they may not be able to win.
And if he didn't fight and wanted to make the besieging soldiers retreat, Xiahou really couldn't think of a way.
Cao Cao had a smile on his face and did not feel depressed or desperate. Now he still has so many brave generals and counselors, 30,000 soldiers and horses in Xudu, and 10,000 soldiers and horses in Yanzhou. It is not the end of the road yet.
He knew that Xia Hou could not think of a good solution, and he also knew that Cao Hong could not come up with any good countermeasures either. He glanced at Cao Hong and looked at Xun.
"Xun Lingjun, how are the people in the city? Is there anything unusual?"
Xun naturally understood that what Cao Cao was asking was referring to Dong Cheng and the people around the emperor. Now around the emperor, there were many people who were dissatisfied with Cao Cao. As long as there was a chance, they would rebel and open their doors to the enemy.
"Ming Gong, please be at ease. No one in Xudu dares to move. You will know as soon as you move. Now that Ming Gong is back, no one dares to move."
"Haha, if you have Wen here, you can be alone without worries. Does Xun Lingjun have any ideas about this strategy to repel the enemy?" Cao Cao asked with a smile.
Xun looked at Cao Cao and saw that he was slightly squinting, his eyes were firm, and there was a slight smile on his lips, as if he already had a countermeasure in mind.
After thinking for a while, Xun probably guessed Cao Cao's countermeasures. He also thought that this would allow the besieging soldiers to retreat, but Xun really didn't want to do this.
After hesitating for a moment, Xun finally shook his head and replied: "It's hard to think of a good way to retreat from the enemy at the moment."
"Haha, Fengxiao, where are you?" Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia again.
Guo Jia, like Xun, had already guessed what Cao Cao was thinking from Cao Cao's eyes and smile, and replied: "It's easy to retreat from the enemy. I'm afraid Duke Ming won't allow it."
Cao Cao's face was slightly happy: "Tell me."
"If you give him what he wants, his troops will retreat." Guo Jia said.
