After hearing the scout's report, Yuan Shao was stunned. Cao Cao also had a fight with Yuan Shu?
What the hell?
"Well, General Sun Wentai asked me to come and ask my lord what to do next."
The scout nodded at Yuan Shao.
"Xu You, Yang Hong, what do you think?"
Yuan Shao glanced at Xu You and Yang Hong beside him. He always felt that this matter was a bit unreal. Didn't you say that Cao Cao would avoid Yuan Shu and lead the army north?
Why is this a little different?
"Lord, what we have to do next is to send people to inquire about the news to see if the war with Yuan Shu is really like what Cao Cao said. If it is true, then we can accept him into Nanyang. If it is fake, Cao Cao has bad intentions.
, you can order Sun Jian to directly destroy Cao Cao's army outside Suixian County."
Xu You glanced at Yuan Shao in front of him. To be honest, he felt that this situation was a bit impossible. Cao Cao had basically never been caught by Yuan Shu since the beginning of the war in Jiangxia. Now that he suddenly came with the remnants of his army, it was indeed a bit suspicious.
"Will this create a gap in Cao Cao's heart?"
Hearing Xu You's words, Yuan Shao was a little confused. It was okay to reject Cao Cao for a while, but it might cause some trouble after a long time.
"Lord, it might as well be like this. Cao Cao's army can enter Suixian County, but the prerequisite is to let Cao Cao come to Zhangling to meet us. As long as he is in our hands, we will not be afraid of his soldiers and horses. At the same time, we will send people to the battlefield to investigate the fighting situation. If Cao Cao
If he doesn't come, it means he has different intentions, and the soldiers and horses will definitely not be able to enter the city."
Yang Hong thought for a while and gave Yuan Shao such a countermeasure.
"feasible."
Yuan Shaochong nodded to Yang Hong. If you have no ghosts in your heart, you will definitely come to see him. If you have ghosts in your heart, that's a different matter.
"promise."
After hearing Yuan Shao's definite answer, the scouts clasped their fists and returned to Sui County. At the same time, a group of cavalry came out of Zhangling and ran towards the battlefield that Cao Cao mentioned.
In two or three days, the scouts returned to Suixian County and reported Yuan Shao's decision to Sun Jian.
"Is that so?
I see."
After hearing Yuan Shao's thoughts, Sun Jian also nodded. This was indeed a good strategy to identify Cao Cao's thoughts.
"Come here, call Cao Mengde to come and see you."
"promise."
Soon Cao Cao arrived at Sun Jian's place.
"Brother Wentai, why did you call Cao over?"
Cao Cao couldn't help but frown when he looked at Sun Jian. He didn't know what was going on when he called him over so suddenly.
"Meng De, I originally wanted to invite you to Zhang Ling for a talk. Are you willing to go?"
Sun Jian directly said what Yuan Shao meant, and then stared at Cao Cao in front of him with a sharp look.
"Oh, since Yuan Benchu wants to talk to me, then Cao will naturally go."
Hearing Sun Jian's words, Cao Cao was stunned at first, but after thinking for a moment, he understood what Yuan Shao meant. He was afraid that the war he said was false. If he dared to go to Zhangling, then Yuan Shao would believe it 90% of the time. If
If he didn't dare to go, he might face Sun Jian's attack.
"Okay, then I will make arrangements now and send someone to escort you to Zhangling tomorrow."
Seeing that Cao Cao agreed without hesitation, Sun Jian also withdrew his gaze.
"Well, then Cao will wait for Brother Wentai to arrange it. If nothing happens, I will go back and rest first."
Seeing that Sun Jian had nothing else to do, Cao Cao also clasped his fists to leave.
"Well, Meng De can just do what he wants."
Sun Jian also nodded and cupped his fist towards Cao Cao.
Cao Cao left Sun Jian directly and returned to his residence.
"My lord, why did Sun Jian come to see you?"
Xi Zhicai saw Cao Cao returning and asked Sun Jian directly about his purpose.
"Haha, it's nothing. It's just that Yuan Benchu wanted me to meet in Zhangling."
Cao Cao smiled at Xi Zhicai and said what Sun Jian meant.
"It seems that Yuan Shao still doesn't believe that we will fight Yuan Shu. This is to test the lord."
Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Cao and directly guessed what Yuan Shao meant.
"Well, I have promised him that I will go to Zhangling tomorrow."
Cao Cao nodded, he also understood what Yuan Shao meant.
"Isn't this too dangerous? What should I do if Yuan Shao has evil intentions?"
Hearing that Cao Cao agreed to Yuan Shao's request, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but bow his head and ponder.
"It doesn't matter, now Yuan Benchu and I will benefit from peace and harm from separation. Although I don't have many troops, these 30,000 people are very useful to Yuan Shao now. He doesn't dare to attack me."
Cao Cao shook his head. Although Xi Zhicai said there was a slight possibility, the possibility was too small. Yuan Shao would never dare to take the risk of breaking up with him and kill him.
"Since the lord has plans, I don't know what to say. Let's take Zi Lian and General Mancheng with us. If anything changes, the lord will not be unable to fight back."
Cao Cao has decided to go, and Xi Zhicai has nothing to say. As he said, Yuan Shao is just testing this time, and it is basically impossible for him to have any evil intentions against Cao Cao.
"Well, let's do it like this."
"promise."
The next day, Cao Cao, Cao Hong, and Li Dian led 200 cavalrymen, escorted by Sun Jian's 1,000 cavalrymen, and rushed towards Zhangling.
"Open the city gate and let Cao Cao's troops enter the city."
After Cao Cao left, Sun Jian temporarily relaxed his vigilance towards him. After thinking for a while, he opened the city gate and allowed Cao Cao's troops outside the city to enter the city to recuperate.
Just as Cao Cao was marching towards Zhang Ling, Yuan Shao's troops finally arrived at the battlefield where Yuan Cao fought. Looking at the blood that had not yet dried up and the faintly visible broken limbs, they nodded to each other and then turned around and returned to Zhang Ling.
Mausoleum.
"My lord, there is news from Sun Wentai that Cao Cao has arrived at Zhang Ling."
Xu You came to Yuan Shao and told him about Cao Cao's whereabouts.
"Well, since Cao Cao is willing to come, it proves that he really has no different intentions."
Yuan Shao nodded to Xu You. Cao Cao dared to come to see him, which proved that he had no objection to him for the time being.
"My lord, Cao Cao is a very human being. Even if his original news is true, we still have to guard against him. It is better to kill him directly before he comes, or put him under house arrest to prevent accidents."
Yang Hong looked at Yuan Shao in front of him, a ruthless look flashed in his eyes.
"Lord, you must not do this."
After hearing Yang Hong's words, Xu You on the other side directly interrupted.
"Why not? Now is the best opportunity to deal with Cao Cao. If we don't keep him here, I'm afraid there will be trouble in the future."
Faced with Xu You's objection, Yang Hong responded tit for tat and opened his mouth to refute.
"Lord, now we have lost our troops and our strength is greatly reduced. Although Cao Cao does not have many soldiers, he still has 30,000 elite soldiers. If we kill or detain Cao Cao rashly, his soldiers will rebel.
Although there is General Sun Wentai and an army of 60,000 in Suixian County, if we really have to fight Cao Cao's army, even if we can destroy them, we will suffer heavy losses.
Yuan Shu of Jiangxia is determined to be a traitor. If he knew that we were at odds with Cao Cao, he would definitely take advantage of the situation and attack Nanyang.
Harmony will benefit both parties and division will cause two harms. Instead of offending Cao Cao, it is better to comfort him and ask him to send troops to Suixian County to defend us against Yuan Shu who may appear in the south. We can also send troops north to support the Yuzhou battlefield.
Now Yan Xiang is having a hard time facing Tian Feng's 90,000 troops. Once Runan is defeated, Nanyang will inevitably fall into the encirclement of Xiangyang, Jiangxia, and Runan. In this way, we will be completely finished. Please think twice, lord."
Xu You directly expressed his worries and at the same time glanced at Yang Hong beside him.
"My lord, what is happening in front of me is just a minor trouble. Yuan Shu has just experienced two battles and his vitality has been greatly damaged, so he will not go north to Nanyang. But if Cao Cao really recovers, if we can't suppress it, this will be a major trouble, and Nanyang will be in danger, too."
Think twice about your lord."
Yang Hong also clasped his fists at Yuan Shao and expressed his worries.
"Well, Cao Mengde's ability to give up his own safety and come to see me in Zhangling is a sign of his trust in me. If I make an attack now and let the world see me, Cao Mengde can't move now and let him stay in Suixian. We can do our best
Facing Tian Feng in the north, Runan must not lose."
Yuan Shao thought for a while, but still did not agree with Yang Hong's strategy, and instead chose Xu You's appeasement strategy.
"Lord, think twice."
Hearing Yuan Shao's words, Yang Hong couldn't help being stunned, and once again clasped his fists to him for orders.
"Okay, I have made my decision, there is no need to discuss this matter further."
