The news of Cao's army's defeat swept across the city. The wealthy families were in panic all day long, and the people were restless. Some even began to discuss fleeing to the north...
Of course, some people were happy because of Cao Jun's defeat.
Ma Mansion, Back Courtyard…
Ma Liang was smiling sickly at this moment. He was laughing at Yi Xiaotian, laughing at the collapse of Yi Xiaotian's backing, and laughing at him that the Ma family once again had a chance to turn around.
To this end, he wrote furiously at the table in the house. On it, he wrote all kinds of information about Xiangyang City in great detail. He even wrote down the names and backgrounds of all the officials in Xiangyang City today.
come out.
"Yi Xiaotian...hehehe...you caused the death of my fifth brother, and also caused half of the foundation of my Ma family...do you think you can escape from my grasp?"
Ma Liang smiled sickly, making people's hair stand on end. Li Yue shuddered and looked at Ma Liang, who had a withered face. He didn't dare to say anything... Since Ma Liang fell ill last time, he hadn't seen Ma Liang look so good for a long time.
…I don’t know whether the feeling Ma Liang gave him was good or bad…
——
At this moment, Ma Liang was plotting revenge against Yi Xiaotian, but Yi Xiaotian quickly locked himself up after receiving Cao Cao the day before. For two days, even Cao Cao couldn't find what Yi Xiaotian was doing.
.
Everyone is back.
The military advisors were safe and sound, but due to excessive fright, many of them were expelled by Cao Cao and sent back to the north.
The generals all stayed...because Jiangling can be lost, but Xiangyang cannot...Although Chibi is defeated, if the loss is to be stopped, Xiangyang City must be defended.
Jia Xu stayed, and for no other reason, Yi Xiaotian compiled a treatise on febrile diseases and miscellaneous diseases. Although he was not as good as a real doctor in dealing with some injuries, when it came to recuperating the body, Yi Xiaotian was better than most doctors of this era.
Be good at it.
After two days of conditioning, Jia Xu's health improved a lot.
During this period, even though he faced the possibility that the Sun and Liu coalition forces might attack at any time, Cao Cao still personally buried Dian Wei and mourned...
Dian Wei died in battle, and many generals still cannot accept this fact.
The more they knew the details of that battle, the more people couldn't bear this scene...
Dian Wei died in the battle, saving the lives of Cao Cao and a group of civil servants and generals. Everyone, as long as they had a little conscience, were mourning for Dian Wei...
——
Finally... under such circumstances, the troops headed by Dong Xi and Chen Wu on Soochow's side, and the troops headed by Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun on Liu Bei's side finally joined forces and marched towards Xiangyang with great force.
Yes, from Cao Cao's perspective, his escape process was extremely thrilling. It seemed that Liu Beijun and Sun Quanjun were not worth mentioning, but precisely because he escaped from Huarong, the army had no time to rest after returning to Jiangling.
.
Cao Cao fled north, while Zhang He, Yu Jin, Xu Huang and others continued to rear. Jiangling only lasted for one day before it completely fell.
Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, who became more and more courageous as they fought, were at their peak. During this period, their army quickly expanded to 30,000.
On the other side, the pursuing team of Cheng Pu, Gan Ning and others was blocked. They changed their formations, and Dong Xi and Chen Wu, who were recharging their strength, happened to be on top.
The two of them, Dong Xi had just captured and killed Huang Zu with Zhou Yu in Jiangxia, and was in the limelight for a while, while Chen Wu was a powerful general who had already become famous during the Sun Ce period - the most famous evaluation of Chen Wu in later generations was
It is "unstoppable", which is enough to show how powerful Chen Wu is.
Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun had 30,000 troops, while Dong Xi and Chen Wu accepted the surrender and quickly expanded their troops to 70,000. The two armies totaled 100,000 troops and headed straight for Xiangyang.
And what about Xiangyang?
It may sound a little desperate to say it. Even when Cao Cao heard this number, he felt that the situation was over and Xiangyang could not be defended.
He even persuaded Yi Xiaotian after he came to his senses, saying:
"Brother Yi, with only three thousand infantry and two thousand county soldiers, Xiangyang City... cannot be defended..."
"When Brother Wei goes back and explains to the Prime Minister, you should not take such a big risk here... Just listen to Brother Wei and stop doing stupid things..."
What Cao Cao said was true. The three thousand soldiers and horses were Le Jin stationed outside the city. The men and horses who were originally going to help Yi Xiaotian build the villa were now Cao Cao's last remaining strength.
And those two thousand county soldiers... To put it bluntly, Cao Cao had taken away all the soldiers and horses in Xiangyang that were still capable of fighting. These two thousand people were simply picking the rest——
Even if we were to find a random group of bandits on the mountain tops of Jingnan, they would probably be more effective than this group of weak county soldiers.
In such an almost desperate situation, Yi Xiaotian actually rejected Cao Cao:
"Brother Hide, I told you that since I promised you, I will naturally protect you, five thousand soldiers and horses?"
Yi Xiaotian said calmly:
"Three thousand soldiers and horses are enough...just give me a little more time...just a little more time is enough..."
After saying this, Yi Xiaotian locked himself in the villa and thanked the guests behind closed doors. Not even Cao Cao could disturb him.
——
On the early morning of the third day after returning to Xiangyang, bad news came to Yu Jinshao's reconnaissance troops.
"The combined forces of Sun and Liu, together with the navy, totaling 150,000 troops, are coming towards Xiangyang from both land and water."
There is a saying that the shorter the message, the bigger the matter. Yu Jin heard this sentence, which completely silenced the generals in the camp.
However, Cao Cao knew the consequences of low morale, so he quickly joked:
"In the battle in Guandu back then, we didn't seem to have the same disparity in strength as we did this time."
But as soon as the words came out, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, and no one responded.
Cao Cao sighed and glanced to the side, where Jia Xu was thinking about something:
"Wen He...do you have any good ideas?"
Jia Xu, who has always been quiet, did not show his magic this time.
"Ashamed..."
"I don't blame you...Wen He...all the failures are due to arrogance and underestimation of the enemy...you don't need to blame yourself..."
"This news... remember to send it to Brother Yi. Brother Yi is preparing the final strategy for us to retreat from the enemy... Just send the message..."
"Here——"
Yu Jin responded and quickly left the camp.
Cao Cao waved his hand and said to everyone:
"Since none of you have anything to say, let's just stop here today..."
Cao Ren, Xu Huang and others seemed to have something to say, but Cao Chun, who was more impatient, saw Cao Cao turning his back and slapped himself hard.
They felt guilty... guilty that in this situation, they had no way to prevent failure. In such a desperate situation, they could only wait helplessly for Yi Xiaotian to save them.
"It's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, let's all fall apart... let's fall apart..."
The city defense has been adjusted countless times, but with three thousand plus two thousand troops, no matter how many adjustments are made, nothing can change.
Cao Cao shook his head and led Jia Xu and Cao Ren out of the tent.
