Early the next morning, after the Eastern soldiers worked hard to repair the camp all night, they finally returned to their tents to rest. Knowing that after the Western army was defeated, they would not be able to fight again in a hurry, so they slept particularly peacefully, snoring one after another for a while.
It was like a surging wave. Cao Cao had just woken up at this time. He raised the tent again, informed everyone about the capture of prisoners, and ordered everyone to stop.
Although there was an accident in yesterday's battle, the Easterners generally had the upper hand, so the morale of the generals was greatly boosted. The radical ones may say that they will fight again tomorrow, while the conservative ones also say that it is not too late to repair for a few days before challenging. The generals will rush to be the first.
Asking for a fight, Cao Cao nodded secretly in his mind: The generals are so eager to fight, which shows that their military morale is ready, and victory will not be difficult.
However, he scanned the crowd and found that there were two disharmonious factors in the enthusiasm for fighting: Qu Yi was sitting in the corner with a knife, his eyes staring blankly at the soil, not knowing what he was thinking;
While chatting, his brows were furrowed, obviously what he was talking about was not a happy event.
Cao Cao waved his hand to silence everyone, and then asked Xun Ruo, "Wen Ruo, do you have anything to say?"
Xun You stood up and said: "I'm thinking that yesterday's victory was really a fluke. If Ming Gong wants to win again, it may not be easy."
Seeing that the generals looked worried, he continued: "Yesterday's victory was due to the unwiseness of the Western thieves who came all the way from afar; the second was the help of the divine wind, and the great Sima took the opportunity to act bravely and break his formation; the third was the Ming Gong.
Only by making decisive decisions when the opportunity arises and clearly observing the actual situation can we defeat the enemy in one battle. In this battle, our army has the right time, place, and people, but it cannot win completely. Why? It’s because the Western Army is strong but our army is weak!"
After making this conclusion, Xunhe finally said: "It can be seen from this that the Western thieves are difficult to eliminate. In this case, it is better to retreat to Hebei first and seize one or two Henan cities before the Westerners can respond."
After Xun or finished speaking, Ju Shou also stood up and said slowly: "Ming Gong, Shou also holds this intention." Lan
After the two expressed their opinions, the generals were in an uproar. Xun You and Ju Shou were the leaders of the scholars in Henan and Hebei respectively. Unexpectedly, after winning the battle, they estimated the Westerners so highly that even Cao Cao himself did not expect.
After all, it was Shangshu Ling Xun or who persuaded Cao Cao to fight with all his strength before. If he opposes it now, it would seem to be capricious.
Cao Cao knew that there was some truth in what he said, but it was also not entirely true, so he turned to look at Qu Yi and said: "Da Sima has been in battle for a long time. Yesterday he defeated the enemy first and won the three armies bravely. What do you think about the future war?
Let’s talk and listen.”
Qu Yi glanced at Cao Cao, covered his shoulder injury and walked to the center of the main tent, and said bluntly: "Xun Wenruo seems to have some truth, but he is just trying to blame the marshal. If the marshal sent elite troops to me today, why would he let Chen Chong escape?
If after defeating Liu Bei, he led his army to attack Chen Chong with me, why would there be so much trouble? Even if the entire army of the Western bandits cannot be wiped out, the two thieves will be in a panic and unable to escape."
Everyone was shocked after hearing this, and they all looked back at Cao Cao. Qu Yi's words were completely taking the credit for yesterday's achievements to himself, and attributed the mistakes to the generals of the Eastern Dynasty. But what he said was very reasonable, even if
Xun Yu, who was known as a wise man, could not think of words to refute for a while.
Fortunately, Cao Cao was not as embarrassed as his subordinates imagined, and just smiled. He walked up to Qu Yi, looked at Qu Yi's bear-like figure, then pointed to the injury on his shoulder and asked: "Da Sima
The injury is not a problem!"
Qu Yi said casually: "It's okay to ride a horse, but if you want to get into battle and kill the enemy like yesterday, and capture Chen Chong alive, I'm afraid it won't be possible."
】
This made Cao Cao laugh out loud. He pointed at Qu Yi and said, "Da Sima is so straightforward. No wonder Benchu couldn't tolerate you." Lan
Qu Yi's expression suddenly changed, and he was speechless. Cao Cao took off the fox fur robe from his back, put it on Qu Yi, and then said: "Da Sima is right. I did make many mistakes in yesterday's battle. It's just that
The past is over and cannot come back. I present this coat to you in the hope that the Great Sima will not mind you. So in the opinion of the Great Sima, what should we do next?"
Qu Yi originally thought that Cao Cao was going to recall old things, but he was unexpectedly shown such concern by Cao Cao. He was deeply moved for a moment, and after a moment of reflection he replied: "Although the Western bandits have lost this alliance, they are quite resilient and can probably fight again.
But in the field of military battle and the place where corpses are erected, if you must die, you will live, and if you are lucky, you will die. This is a truth known to the ancients. To put it bluntly, the brave will win when two armies fight. Our army has won a battle, and the morale of the army is usable, but
It’s not enough. If the marshal wants to win completely, he must conquer Xianbei.”
Cao Cao said "Oh" when he heard this, turned to look at the other generals, and asked them what they thought. The generals' opinions were relatively unified. After all, the biggest factor in turning the tide of the battle was that Xianbei stayed out of the matter, and everyone knew it.
They were all dissatisfied. However, this was a critical period to contend with the Western Army. If Kebi was pushed and scolded, everyone was afraid that Kebi would defect before the battle, so they all tried to appease him and wait until he returned to the army to make plans.
But Qu Yi disagreed and said to Cao Cao: "These are all knowing one thing but not the other. I have been in the Western Dynasty for a long time and I know that Liu Bei has no intention of recruiting Ke Bineng, but he only supports Tuoba Xianbei. Ke Bi
Neng also knows it very well. But yesterday when Xianbei was sitting and watching, we can see that the captive chiefs are all leprous dogs, fearful of power but not moral. The marshal should scold them sternly and demand punishment from the guilty, so that these white captives will obey.
”
When Cao Cao heard that what he said was reasonable, he couldn't help but look at him with admiration. He also sent someone to get a gold belt, gave it to Qu Yi and said, "Da Sima speaks straightforwardly, and he is really insightful when he sees people and things!" Looking back, he summoned Chen Lin and asked him to
Write a sternly worded document and give it to Cao Xiu, and deliver it to the Xianbei camp on the same day, so that Kebi can send an envoy to explain.
Qu Yi guessed right, and Kebineng indeed sent an envoy and a follower over the next day. The envoy was a man with a height of seven feet and five inches. Although he was not considered majestic, his behavior seemed extremely smart and capable.
Entering the tent, he remained calm even if the generals around him seemed to have ill intentions. After Cao Cao appeared, he solemnly introduced himself to Cao Cao, claiming to be Ke Bineng's son-in-law Yu Zhutan.
Although Yu Zhutan bowed to Cao Cao with thoughtful etiquette, his words were neither humble nor arrogant, which made Cao Cao feel resentful. Lan
Cao Cao asked: "What is Chanyu's reply to sitting on the sidelines and watching the battle?"
Yu Zhutan replied in fluent Chinese: "My king thinks that the marshal will win, and he doesn't want to compete with the marshal for credit. The changes that will follow are beyond what my king could have predicted."
Cao Cao asked suspiciously: "Then the Western Army counterattacks in front of the formation, and you wait for no help and retreat, what's the point?"
Yu Zhutan had obviously expected this question, and immediately replied: "The Western Army attacked too quickly, and your troops collapsed too quickly. My throne is by the Wenying Lake, and it is difficult to launch a rescue in a hurry. When I asked the generals for their opinions, they all thought that
The general will be defeated and his head will be lost. It is better to save all the troops first and wait for another battle in the future."
Cao Cao was filled with anger when he heard that he was talking so freely and confusing right and wrong, but he still held back and asked: "How is the Shanyu going to explain to me?"
Yu Zhudan ordered his followers to present two boxes, and when Cao Cao opened them and looked at them, he said: "These two people are the ones who suggested that my king should not move. One of them is Wang Le from Gu'an, and the other is Li Liu from Lingqiu.
They are the masterminds of my king. To express his shame, my king specially killed these two people to thank the marshal."
When Cao Cao heard this, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted to him: "Get down!" Yu Zhutan was stunned, but he didn't dare not listen, so he had to kneel down on his knees, lie on the ground with his hands, and lowered his head to wait for Cao Cao.
Continue. Cao Cao rushed forward, pulled out the short sword from his waist, turned the back of the sword, and shouted coldly: "Kebi can treat me as a coward, and he uses such nonsense to explain? He wants to kill someone to apologize, why doesn't he chop himself?
What kind of favor do you want to do to me as a Han?" Lan
Yuzhu was in pain and did not dare to speak. He lay prone on the ground and was speechless. Cao Cao went on to say: "If I hadn't fought with the Western bandit for several years, making the Western bandit unable to go north, would he have thought that Liu Bei would be able to accommodate him?"
He will die without a whole body! Now in a battle, I am willing to fight with him and form a blood alliance, but he is capricious and retreats in public. What is his intention? Do you want to imitate Tan Shihuai? He is still far away!"<
/p>
After saying that, he raised his sword and wanted to chop off his head. He lifted it up in the air and put it down. After a while, he raised it again and put it down again. The same thing happened again and again. Yu Zhutan fell to the ground on all fours, his soul was flying in shock, he was sweating profusely, and he couldn't even breathe.
Dare to come out.
For a long time, Cao Cao ordered people to bring hundreds of things wrapped in black cloth, and put them on Yu Zhutan's back one by one. There were about seventy of them until they were piled up like a hill. Yu Zhutan had difficulty breathing, and he couldn't breathe anymore.
I didn't dare to ask for mercy, so I could only lie there and try my best to hold on.
At this time, Cao Cao lost some of his anger and said to Yu Zhutan: "Go back and tell Ke Bineng that I don't care about what happened last time, but if he wants to sit back and watch again, he doesn't need to be here anymore. He should take care of him immediately."
Lead his men and horses to climb Huituihan Mountain! Next year, without the Western bandits taking action, I will sacrifice his head to the soldiers here."
Yu Zhutan repeatedly said that he did not dare, and Cao Cao asked him again: "Do you know what is pressing on you?" Yu Zhutan shook his head, and Cao Cao smiled and said: "Stand up and see for yourself!" Yu Zhutan stood up with difficulty, and the weight on his body was
Things suddenly rolled to the ground, and some black cloth spread out, and he was shocked to realize that these were the heads of Xianbei people with their hair tied in braids.
Cao Cao turned around and said: "These are all the results of the battle of our great Sima Quyi. Tuoba Xianbei is afraid of being killed. I hope that one day you will not be in it."
Yu Zhutan then asked: "Is Grand Sima Qu considered the best warrior in your country?" Cao Cao shook his head slowly and said with a smile: "Sima Qu is already a very strong warrior, but compared to one of my bodyguards, he is even slightly weaker.
We are inferior. There are many heroes from the Central Plains, and I will let you see them today." 阑
After he finished speaking, he threw the short sword to a tall warrior behind him and went straight out of the tent. Yu Zhutan stood there blankly, watching the warrior come over with a sword. He was dressed very simply, just in linen clothes.
He was indeed very tall, but there was no one in Xianbei who could compare with him. But when this man walked up to Yu Zhutan, he suddenly held the knife in his right hand and barely shook it at the Xianbei people. Then he stretched out his left hand and pinched it with his fingers.
He held the tip of the knife and rolled it back. The hard steel knife was like a soft and obedient piece of paper in his hand. He clicked it three times or twice, but in the blink of an eye, the murderous weapon turned into a ball of scrap metal. Yu Zhutan was stunned. When he saw the man throwing down his knife and leaving, he quickly shouted: "Wait a minute, I don't know the name of the hero yet. Please tell me so that I can report back to my king."
The man then signed up and said: "I am Chen Liu Dianwei. I am just a warrior. I am incapable of generalship. You don't need to remember it."