Dian, Wei, Wen, Chou and Xu Huang did not hesitate and nodded directly to Cheng Nuo. This was not the first time that they had obeyed the instructions of others.
This is how the Jizhou Army is, the capable ones are promoted and the mediocre ones are demoted. Who is to say that one's own cavalry is not as proficient in cavalry combat as someone else's Ma Chao?
Anyway, as long as there is a fight, it will be fine.
"Then take action, I hope you will bring me good news."
"promise"
A group of four people left the city wall directly and came to the cavalry camp, preparing their horses and horses for attack at any time.
Cao Cao's camp was not completed until noon. More than 100,000 people were divided into front, middle and rear armies and retreated towards Dan Tu.
Just when Cao Cao left, the gate of Wangdu City opened instantly, and 35,000 elite cavalry poured out like a mountain torrent, running towards the direction of Cao Cao's retreat.
"Meng Qi, what are you going to do?"
Wen Chou rode his horse and followed Ma Chao, looking into the distance with thoughts in his eyes.
"I am not going to pursue the pursuit now. Cao Cao has just taken action now, and he will definitely warn us of our pursuit. Moreover, they are very energetic now. I am going to follow the army behind. I will first kill all Cao Cao's scouts near Wangdu City, and then send out
Scouting, if nothing happens, wait until the night before he approaches Dantu before making a surprise attack."
Ma Chao thought for a moment, now may not be the time to pursue him. Cao Cao will definitely send people to keep an eye on him. If he attacks now, he might be ambushed by others and engage in a wave of annihilation. Rather than rush over and fight impulsively now, it is better to arrive first.
Take it easy and look at the situation clearly before talking.
"Well, I agree with Meng Qi's idea."
Hearing Ma Chao's words, Xu Huang couldn't help but nodded beside him. He was brave but cautious. From this point of view, Yuan Shu did not make a mistake in sending Ma Chao as this general.
"Well, let's follow Meng Qi's advice and send out scouts first to investigate."
The same goes for Wen Chou, who chose to agree with Ma Chao's strategy.
"I have no opinion."
Dian Wei also nodded. To be honest, he was not interested in marching and fighting. If he was to charge into battle, he would definitely have no obligation to do so. It would be best to listen to someone who understands better.
After all four agreed, the march of the thirty-five thousand cavalry slowed down, and at the same time countless scouts rushed out and ran towards Cao Cao's army.
"How is it? Did Yuan Shu send troops to pursue him?"
Although the army retreated, Cao Cao did not relax his vigilance. He even had a small idea. If Yuan Shu's entire army pursued him, he would lead his army back and have a decisive battle with Yuan Shu in an upright manner. If Yuan Shu only sent a small cavalry force to pursue, then
He arranged a trap and tried to capture Yuan Shu's cavalry.
"Lord, there are many Yuan Shu scouts following us, but we have not found Yuan Shu's troops."
Xi Zhicai glanced at Cao Cao. He had discovered Yuan Shu's scout.
"Only scouts?"
Cao Cao thought for a moment and asked Xi Zhicai again.
"Yes, only scouts."
Xi Zhicai nodded.
"Then have any news come back from the scouts we arranged in Wangdu?"
Yuan Shu just sent scouts to follow him from a distance. To be honest, Cao Cao didn't believe it. You must know that his retreat now is definitely a good opportunity for Yuan Shu. Even if he doesn't dispatch his entire army, he will at least send elite cavalry to pursue him. The current situation
There are only scouts, which is not a normal situation.
"There is no news. It may be that all our scouts near Wangdu were killed, or it may be that Yuan Shu's scouts followed us and blocked the scouts from spreading the news back."
Xi Zhicai thought for a moment and gave Cao Cao an answer.
"Now Yuan Shu has probably sent troops out of the city, and our scouts have been killed by him. He will send his scouts out again and take a detour to Wangdu City. I want to know accurate news."
Hearing Xi Zhicai's words, Cao Cao's brows twisted into the Chinese character "Sichuan". He now had an ominous premonition that something might happen, so he wanted to know the dynamics of Yuan Shu's troops.
"promise."
Xi Zhicai also knew the seriousness of the matter. If Yuan Shu did not send troops but gave up, if Yuan Shu sent troops, especially the elite cavalry hovering around him without him noticing, then the result would be that the moment he relaxed, he would suffer.
A terrorist attack from the enemy.
The army marched until night, then set up camp and rested.
"Zhicai, who is responsible for the night watch tonight?"
Cao Cao sat in the big tent, lighting up the lamp and reading.
"My lord, General Xiahou Dun is responsible for patrol tonight."
Xi Zhicai directly pointed out the general who was on patrol today.
"Go ahead and order us to loosen up the outside and tighten the inside tonight. We will remove the outer defenses and patrols and all personnel inside will be on standby."
Cao Cao thought for a moment and issued the order directly.
"Master, are you trying to lure the snake out of its hole?
Create a little danger and see if Yuan Shu has any pursuers following him?"
As soon as Cao Cao said this, Xi Zhicai immediately understood what Cao Cao meant, which was to lure the snake out of the hole and let Yuan Shu's pursuers jump out on their own.
"Well, I always feel that Yuan Shu will not let go of this opportunity to pursue, so I will give them something sweet to try."
Cao Cao nodded. Xi Zhicai's words were exactly what he was thinking. Since he didn't know if Yuan Shu had any pursuers, he would reveal some flaws and let the pursuers jump out on their own.
"No, I'll make arrangements right away."
Xi Zhicai didn't say anything more, he turned around and went out to arrange Cao Cao's orders.
"General, what do you mean by Cao Cao's arrangement?"
The generals were sitting together in Lu Bu's tent, and Cao Xing asked Lu Bu directly what Cao Cao meant.
"This is very simple. Cao Cao feels that Yuan Shu may have sent pursuers to follow us, but he has never been able to find them. This is like a tiger that has been entrenched around us but cannot be found. This feeling is very bad.
That’s why Cao Cao wanted to create an illusion, an illusion that he had neglected to take precautions, so that Yuan Shu’s pursuers would feel they had an opportunity to jump out, so that we could directly kill this tiger hiding around us with a stick.”
Although Lu Bu was a reckless man and knew nothing about grand strategy, he had a keen sense of war. In fact, he also had Cao Cao's premonition, and it was stronger. Therefore, as soon as Cao Cao's order came out, he immediately understood what Cao Cao meant.
"What the general said is true. Now we have to see whether Yuan Shu's pursuers will bite the bait."
Song Xian nodded beside him, this was his lord, the number one general of the Han Dynasty who could see through everything.
"Okay, I'm going to take a rest first. If you need anything, just call me."
"promise."
There were very few soldiers and horses patrolling outside Cao Cao's camp that night, and the firelight in the camp was extremely sparse. When the scouts sent by Ma Chao saw this, they immediately rode their horses to find Ma Chao and told the news to the people hiding behind him.
General.
"You said Cao Cao's defense is sparse tonight?
Any chance of stealing a camp?”
Ma Chao and the others were hiding in a mountain col. When he heard the news from the scouts, he stood up immediately.
"That's right, they have very few patrols outside the military camp today. Even the two of us didn't notice each other when we touched each other. There were sparse lights in the camp. Although there were patrols, there were not many of them."
The scout directly reported what he discovered to Ma Chao.
"Generals, what do you think?"
Ma Chao frowned slightly, then glanced at the three generals beside him.
"If what the scout said is true, I think we can steal the camp tonight."
Wen Chou glanced at Ma Chao. He believed his scouts. Since they said that, it was the truth. This opportunity should not be missed.
"Brother Gongming, how do you feel?"
Ma Chao looked at General Xu Huang.
"My lord has said that Cao Cao is unparalleled in his civility, military skills, and suspicious temperament. He never misses any flaws when marching and fighting. But now that he knows that he may face the lord's pursuit of his troops when he withdraws, he doesn't do much at night.
They sent out patrols, but instead let down their guard, which I feel is very suspicious, and what I see in front of me may be a trap."
Xu Huang glanced at Ma Chao, frowned and expressed his thoughts directly. Cao Cao was Cao Cao after all, and even his lord was on guard. He really didn't expect that such a character would be on guard against stealing camps for others under the current circumstances.
Opportunity.
Ma Chao nodded to Xu Huang. What Xu Huang was thinking was what he was thinking. Cao Cao was not a simple person. It was impossible for him to make such a low-level mistake. It was obvious that he was trying to fish for a beating.
