When Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia and others arrived at the Chinese army's tent, Cao Cao had already calmed down his anger and became calm and calm again. Only the blood stains on the ground and the residual smell of blood in the air reminded them that this place had once been
What terrible things happened.
"Why did my lord suddenly give the order to stop the siege? Why did he call us here in a hurry? Could it be that something has changed in Yanzhou?"
Cao Cao smiled while stroking his palms and said: "Fengxiao is smart and can see the problem at a glance. Wen Ruo wrote a letter saying that the imperial army suddenly moved eastward, and there was another rebellion in Chen Palace. Now most of Yanzhou has been lost, only Juancheng and Fan County
, the three cities of Dong'a are still holding on. Most of the families of the soldiers have also fallen into the hands of the imperial court!"
Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia and others immediately changed their expressions. Now that they were trapped in Xuzhou and their bases in the rear had been raided, they were already in a desperate situation. But they immediately became confused. In such a dangerous situation, Cao Cao
Why are you still smiling so happily?
"You ask me why I laugh?"
Cao Cao laughed twice and said: "Since I raised my army, I have won every battle, captured every attack, and defeated all my enemies. The enemies I encountered before were all mediocre people. That is Liu Bei. In someone's opinion,
Only perseverance is worthy of praise, and everything else is insignificant. Now that I have finally met a well-matched opponent, I am naturally very happy!"
When everyone saw the bright smile on Cao Cao's face, which seemed to be sincere, they couldn't help but look at each other. Is the Lord really happy, or is he angry? But soon, Guo Jia reacted and asked: "What is the enemy's movement now?
?If the three cities are lost again, then we won’t even have a place to stay.”
Cao Cao laughed and said: "Chen Cheng and Zang Ba led the troops and were stationed near Xiaopei, waiting for us to crash into them!"
Xi Zhicai said: "Our army should bypass Xiaopei and join Wenruo first, and then move on to other things."
The other generals in the tent also agreed that no matter what, they must have a place to rest first. While they were discussing, a soldier loudly reported outside, "Your Majesty, the enemy's messenger has been caught on horseback!"
"Bring me up!"
The two groups of war envoys had their hands tied behind their backs and were pushed into the tent. The soldiers presented the letters they found. Cao Cao took them and looked at them. He smiled and said, "As I expected, Chen Wenzheng is going to attack me with Liu Bei."
military."
Cao Chun said loudly: "The situation is critical now. Please, my lord, order the withdrawal of troops immediately!"
Cao Cao smiled and said: "Don't be busy. Even if you want to lead the troops to retreat, you must defeat Liu Bei first."
He asked the man who was tied on the ground, "Tell me, who sent you here?"
"My master is Zhang Miao..."
The envoy knew Cao Cao's reputation for cruelty and had been trembling since he entered the tent. At this time, he trembled and told the whole story. After finishing speaking, he cried out: "Mr. Cao, I know everything.
I said, please spare my life!"
"What's the point of keeping you, a traitor who has betrayed his master?" Cao Cao's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted to the soldiers: "Push this man out and kill him!"
"promise!"
"Spare your life, spare your life!"
After a while, there was a scream outside the big tent, and then it fell silent. Cao Cao calmly mobilized his troops and generals, arranged for the soldiers to retreat, and laid an ambush in the wild.
Finally, Cao Cao said to everyone: "The affairs of Yanzhou must be kept absolutely confidential. Anyone who dares to reveal even the slightest rumor will be killed without mercy!"
"promise!"
Large-scale military operations generally cannot be concealed. As soon as Cao Jun began to retreat, Liu Bei in Xuyi City noticed it. He took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to the top of the city and looked at Cao Jun's camp in the distance. Only the camp was visible.
The middle man raised his head and neighed, making the noise extremely loud. The solemn expression on Liu Bei's face relaxed, and he said with relief: "It seems that the general's troops have arrived! Otherwise, Cao Cao will never retreat!"
Chen Cheng, of course, sent someone to deliver the news to Liu Bei before taking action. On the one hand, it was to strengthen Liu Bei's will to continue to defend the city. On the other hand, it was an agreement with Liu Bei to attack Cao Cao from front to back, so as to achieve the greatest results with the least casualties.
.
Zhang Fei immediately said: "We can't let Cao Cao retreat like this!"
Cao's army invaded Xuzhou and fought with Liu Bei's army for a long time. Both sides suffered heavy casualties and had a bloody feud for a long time. When they heard that Cao's army was about to withdraw, there were many people who wanted to take the opportunity to take revenge.
Guan Yu also said: "Take advantage of Cao Cao's opportunity to retreat. Not only will we kill many enemy troops, we will also be able to seize some supplies!"
Liu Bei was quite moved. Why didn't he want to defeat Cao Cao? But he still looked at Chen Deng and asked, "What do Yuan Long think?"
Chen Deng bowed and said: "Cao Cao had to retreat because of changes in the rear. Although he was an enemy, he was well versed in the art of war. How could he not prepare elite troops to intercept the rear when he retreated? If we rashly pursue him, we will only
I’m afraid I’ll be defeated by Cao Cao instead!”
Zhang Fei shouted: "We have been suppressed and beaten by Cao Cao for so long, how can we let him retreat comfortably? Even if he ambush his troops, we are not afraid!"
Liu Bei comforted Zhang Fei, and then said to Chen Deng: "The general sent someone to send a message, asking me to attack Cao Cao with him. If we don't send troops, we will break our trust. The general will not let me down, and I, Liu Bei, will never let me down."
What a shame! Moreover, now is a great opportunity, wouldn’t it be a pity if we don’t take advantage of it?”
Chen Deng said: "Since Duke Xuande is determined to send troops, it is better to lead the army to advance slowly and hang the soldiers and horses behind Cao Cao so that he cannot retreat with peace of mind."
Liu Bei said: "This statement is very suitable for me!"
So Liu Bei ordered his troops and horses and made preparations in the city. Two days later in the early morning, Liu Bei was awakened from his sleep. Zhang Fei strode in and shouted: "Brother, Cao's army has retreated in large numbers!"
Liu Bei had not taken off his armor in the past few days. He always slept in his clothes. Hearing this, he jumped up from the couch, grabbed his sword, and shouted: "Send the order to the whole army to attack immediately!"
Not long after, the city became noisy, the streets were brightly lit, and the neighing of war horses and the sound of metal clashing could be heard far away. Guan Yu and others had already been prepared. When Liu Bei came, the city gate was opened, and six thousand steps
The cavalry rushed out and chased towards the north.
Chen Deng pulled Liu Bei's horse and said loudly: "Mr. Xuande, remember to walk slowly and don't chase too fast!"
Liu Bei pulled the reins and replied equally loudly: "Got it!"
After that, he kicked the horse in the belly, and the majestic Xiliang war horse neighed and ran away.
The army moved forward quickly and arrived at Cao Jun's original camp. There were lights in the camp, but no one was patrolling, and it seemed very quiet. Liu Bei's army rushed forward, and the soldiers shouted loudly and swarmed in.
"boom!"
The camp gate was pushed down, and the soldiers who rushed in cheered. Cao's army was large in number. Although they retreated, they still left a lot of supplies. When Liu Bei's army saw it, they started to plunder them. They fought hard for more than a year and often suffered from hunger.
I was hungry and almost on the verge of collapse. Now that I could grab something, I naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass me by.
When Liu Bei saw the soldiers gradually dispersed, he couldn't help but became furious. He shouted loudly on horseback: "Let the soldiers continue to pursue, and you are not allowed to stop here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, something unexpected happened. Suddenly a fire broke out in the camp, and hundreds of Cao Jun soldiers appeared out of nowhere. Countless people shouted loudly: "The Lord has an order, whoever takes Liu Bei's head will be rewarded with ten thousand yuan of gold."
two!"
"Oops, I fell into a trap!"
Liu Bei's expression changed drastically and he shouted: "Yun Chang leads his army forward and defeats this Cao army!"
Guan Yu took the order and rushed forward with 500 soldiers to fight the enemy. In the light of the fire, Li Dian leapt on his horse and came with a spear drawn. Guan Yu raised a knife, cut off the spear in Li Dian's hand, and hacked Li Dian's mount to death with another knife.
Continuing to move forward, Le Jin led more than a thousand soldiers to charge out from the edge, almost scattering Guan Yu's troops.
Groups of Cao Jun troops emerged from all directions. Liu Bei also sent Zhang Fei, Chen Dao and other generals out, but they could only barely stabilize the situation. Suddenly, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves behind him, but Xia Houyuan didn't know when.
They reached the rear of Liu Bei's army and launched an assault.
Before escorting Yanzhou's grain to Xuzhou, Xiahou Yuan had been competing with Liu Bei's cavalry and made a lot of gains. Zhang Fei was once forced to dare not continue to plunder Cao's grain. That's not to say that Xia Houyuan's ability was necessarily stronger than that of Cao's.
Instead of Zhang Fei, Cao's army had more cavalry. When fighting in the wild, the advantage was too great.
When Xia Houyuan's cavalry joined the battlefield, Liu Bei's army finally couldn't hold on anymore and was defeated across the board. Cao Cao's army took advantage of the situation to cover up the attack and chased them for more than ten miles. Then Cao Cao ordered his men to ring the gong and watched Liu Bei's army retreat in embarrassment.
In Xuyi City, Cao Cao smiled and said: "When it comes to leading troops to fight, Liu Bei is still far behind."
All the soldiers around said: "How can Liu Bei be my lord's opponent?"
Someone said: "Liu Xuande is no more talented than a prefect, but he is described by ignorant people as a hero who can be compared with the Lord. It really makes people laugh!"
Cao Cao said with a smile: "Otherwise, among the enemies I have encountered, Liu Bei is the most difficult to deal with. This man has been defeated and defeated many times, and he has the legacy of the great ancestor. No wonder Chen Wenzheng said, 'Who can rival the heroes of the world?
Cao Liu' said this."
Then, he added: "Unfortunately, this victory came too late. If I could have come ten days and a half earlier, Xuzhou would have fallen into my hands!"
If Chen Cheng hadn't led his troops into Yanzhou, Liu Bei would not have led his troops to attack rashly and was defeated by Cao's army.
Cao Ren said on the side: "My lord, why don't you take advantage of this opportunity and capture Xuzhou first?"
Cao Cao shook his head and said: "What's the point of taking Xuzhou? In a short period of time, people's hearts will be unstable, which will become a drag. It's better to withdraw the troops first!"
So Cao Cao's army packed up the baggage, supplies, and wounded, and retreated calmly. Liu Bei lost his troops and lost his generals, leaving only 4,000 capable soldiers and horses. Although he knew that Cao Cao had really retreated this time, he did not dare to continue the pursuit. The last time
, If it weren't for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's bravery, I'm afraid he would have died in the battle.
After returning to Xuyi City, Liu Bei met Chen Deng. He looked ashamed and said, "I regret not listening to Yuan Long's words, which led to such a big defeat!"
Chen Deng comforted Liu Bei and said: "Cao Cao has always been cunning in his military use. Don't take it to heart, Duke Xuande. This time Cao Cao retreats and will not dare to stay in Xuzhou. Duke Xuande can lead his men to recover the northern cities one by one."
