Xun Yu nodded to Cao Cao. It was for this reason that he could not allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the bed. Yuan Shao would never dare to let himself enter Nanyang now.
"But we can't return to Xiling now. Are we going to Jiaozhou to compete with Lu Bu's men for supremacy?"
After listening to Xun Yu's analysis, Cao Cao fell into deep thought again.
"Lord, of course we can't go to Jiaozhou. There are only two choices we can make now. One is to march west to Yizhou via Wuling. The other is to fight Yuan Shu. If we win, we can hold Jiangxia. If we lose, we can lead the remaining army.
Head to Nanyang to rest."
Xi Zhicai shook his head and directly stated two helpless choices.
"The mountain roads in Yizhou are not rugged. It is impossible to enter Sichuan without a map. The troops and horses may be completely damaged halfway through. But now, can we win a decisive battle with Yuan Shu?"
In ancient times, Yizhou was definitely a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Li Shixian, a later generation, even wrote a poem about the road to Shu being difficult, and the difficulty of reaching the sky.
Cao Cao rashly wanted to enter Yizhou. Not to mention the checkpoints and fortresses along the way. The blocked roads alone would cause him heavy losses. Moreover, he did not have enough supplies to enter Yizhou rashly. It was tantamount to a desperate move. It was good to be able to enter Chengdu.
, if you can't kill them, you may really be buried in that piece of Yizhou.
But if he doesn't enter Yizhou, he has no choice but to fight Yuan Shu. Needless to say, if he defeats him, all the land of Jiangxia will be in his hands. If he defeats, he may lose all his hard-earned team, which is a dilemma.
"This is all we can do now. Everything depends on the Lord's decision."
Xi Zhicai clasped his fist towards Cao Cao. At present, it seems that marching into Yizhou is definitely the most profitable, but the risk is also huge. If you are not careful, the entire army will be wiped out. Although the benefits of a decisive battle with Yuan Shu are not big, they are more expensive than entering Yizhou.
There are many insurances, but how to choose depends on what Cao Cao thinks.
"Gongda, what do you think?"
Cao Cao was also a little undecided for a while.
"My lord, I suggest a decisive battle with Yuan Shu. If we win, Jiangxia will be ours, if we lose, we will retreat to Nanyang to rest."
Xun Yu thought for a while and still disapproved of going to Yizhou. After all, they had no baggage, no ships, and no guide. It was basically impossible to enter Yizhou. Instead of doing this, it was better to retreat and find a way to enter Nanyang first.
Say it again.
"Well, I also agree with Wen Ruo's statement."
Xi Zhicai also nodded and agreed to Xun Yu's arrangement.
"Okay, then put on your horses and have a good fight with Yuan Shu."
Cao Cao also made a decision. Since Yizhou could not enter, he would start a war with Yuan Shu.
"promise."
With Cao Cao's order, more than 70,000 troops began to march north to seek Yuan Shu and prepare for a decisive battle.
After a few days, Yuan Shu finally turned around with Dian Wei Yanliang and gathered more than 100,000 troops. Then with Ma Chao's cavalry as the leader, he began to look for Cao Cao for a decisive battle.
Both sides were searching for traces of the enemy. Ma Chao led his cavalry from north to south, while Li Dian led Cao Cao's five thousand fine cavalry from south to north, running in both directions, and finally found the other side's cavalry in a plain area.
"General, Cao Cao's cavalry has been discovered."
Soon a cavalry team reported the news of the discovery of Cao Cao's cavalry to Ma Chao.
"When you discover Cao Cao's cavalry, you immediately send someone to report the news to your lord, and gather additional troops to prepare to eat them."
Upon hearing the news, Ma Chao reported the news to Yuan Shu behind him, and on the other hand, he gathered his cavalry troops to destroy Cao Cao's troops.
The same was true for Cao Ren. The cavalry informed his general about the discovery of Ma Chao's cavalry.
"Immediately send someone to report to the lord and gather troops to prepare for a decisive battle with them."
"promise."
Cao Ren also began to gather his cavalry to prepare for a decisive battle with Ma Chao.
Soon the cavalry from both sides gathered together. After several small-scale conflicts, the two cavalry finally came together.
There was no prelude, the enemies were extremely jealous when they met, and the two sides immediately started a cavalry charge.
"kill."
"kill."
"kill."
A sword-on-knife, gun-on-gun battle. In the end, Cao Ren left behind the corpses of more than 3,000 cavalry and retreated towards Cao Cao with less than 2,000 remnant troops. Ma Chao also lost more than 2,000 cavalry and did not pursue it. He just sent out
The scouts followed from a distance, and the army returned to Yuan Shu's army.
"My lord, Meng Qi had a great battle with Cao Cao's cavalry and killed more than three thousand enemies."
Chen Gong directly informed Yuan Shu of Ma Chao's battle situation.
"A bloody cavalry battle?
What is Cao Cao doing?"
Yuan Shu was also stunned when he heard that a cavalry battle broke out.
"It feels weird, right? I'm a little weird too."
Chen Gong looked at Yuan Shu with doubts in his heart.
"Does he want to fight us?"
Yuan Shu thought for a while, and now this is the only reason that makes sense. Cao Cao no longer wants to play a cat and mouse game, but wants to decide the outcome in a battle.
"Now Yuan Shao has been defeated by us and retreated to Nanyang. Now Cao Cao's military strength is as good as Yuan Shao's. If he wants to enter Nanyang now, Yuan Shao will never allow it. So now he can only fight with us and defeat us."
If he withdraws from Jiangxia, he can recuperate in Jiangxia; if he is defeated, he can also let the remaining army enter Nanyang to recuperate."
Chen Gong heard what Yuan Shu said and immediately understood what Cao Cao meant. Now that Cao Cao has been roasted on the fire, Yuan Shao will definitely not let him enter Nanyang, so now he only has one battle, no matter he wins or loses.
There is always a way out.
"Since Cao Cao wants to fight, then we will fight. The pressure on other states and counties here is too great, and our food and grass are not enough to support a long delay."
Cao Cao wanted a decisive battle, so why didn't Yuan Shu do the same?
It has been so long since his army entered Jingzhou. Even though he had prepared a lot of food and grass, it has now been consumed by 7788. If Yan Liang hadn't captured Yuan Shao's many food and grass, he would have had no choice but to attack Suixian to recover health. Since Cao Cao wanted to fight, then
Just fight.
"promise."
Chen Gong nodded. This battle has been going on for long enough and it's time to end it.
Both Yuan Shu and Cao Cao had reasons to fight, and both sides had discovered the other's troops, so a war was inevitable.
Both sides placed their chariots and horses in formation on both sides. On one side was Yuan Shu's army of more than 100,000 men, and on the other side was Cao Cao's army of 70,000 men.
"Cao Mengde, I still say the same thing. Now come to my side. As long as you treat me sincerely, I will definitely not treat you badly. When the war between Han Dynasty is over, the position of the three princes must belong to you."
Yuan Shu rode his horse and came between the two armies. Looking at Cao Cao in front of him, he still didn't want to give up on Cao Cao.
"Yuan Gongli, stop talking nonsense and fight when it's time to fight."
Cao Cao shook his head. If he wanted to surrender, he would have surrendered long ago, and he wouldn't be beaten like this.
"Then fight."
After saying this, Yuan Shu rode back to the military formation, and Cao Cao also rode back to his army.
"Beat the drums and march."
"Dong dong dong."
The continuous war drums on Yuan Shu's side resounded throughout the sky, and the same was true for Cao Cao everywhere. The war drums were rumbling and his morale was skyrocketing.
"kill."
"kill."
"kill."
The shouts of killing were like rolling thunder exploding in the sky. The murderous intent of both sides condensed, and the birds nearby all spread their wings and flew away from the noisy battlefield.
Five generals, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Gao Shun, Xu Huang, and Zang Ba, led their elite troops forward slowly. On Cao Cao's side, five generals, Li Dian, Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan, and Wenpin, led their troops and rushed towards Yuan Shu's army.
