Chapter four hundred and fifty first victory or defeat
The war on Yuan Yao's side was over. The generals on both sides sent scouts to present the news of the war to their respective lords.
Sikong Cao Cao and Grand Tutor Tao Shang received letters from their respective generals.
Through Liu Xun, Cao Cao recruited and surrendered most of the Huainan troops, and also gained Liu Ye, Yang Hong and others, and also killed Zhang Ji along the way. It was a great victory.
Cao Cao was really happy that he had obtained the army and could get a wife later.
The old Huainan generals such as Zhang Xun and Li Feng took their troops and surrendered to the pottery merchants. At the same time, Zhang Xun also recommended Huainan Lei Bo and Chen Lan to the pottery merchants and was willing to persuade them on behalf of the pottery merchants. In addition, there were
Liu Pi and other Yellow Turbans also returned to Xuzhou, and the pottery merchants received a lot of goods.
This time, Tao Shang and Cao Cao were equally matched.
Next, it’s up to Cao Cao and Tao Shang to see whether the main army wins or loses.
According to Cao Cao's original intention, he wanted to wait until the tenth day was over, after a secret planning matter on the northeastern line was decided, and then have a showdown with the pottery merchant.
But at this time, there is no news from the Eastern Front, but Yan Xing has already achieved success and gained a lot. From Cao Cao's point of view, there is no need for him to continue waiting. It can be said that he has won the game.
Half, then the next step is to have a good fight with the pottery merchant.
Just when Cao Cao was about to use up all the troops in Lu Valley to fight the potters, urgent news suddenly came from behind.
Xu Sheng, the military commander under Tao Shang, led his troops and plundered the newly established farming sites of Cao's army in Yuzhou, disrupting the rear of Yuzhou. However, his actions were in line with the art of war. A group of soldiers carried out guerrilla warfare and used war as a means of warfare.
The method of maintaining war was to break away at the first touch and retreat at the first strike. This caused a storm in the southeastern territory of Yuzhou.
When Cao Cao heard this, he felt a little uncomfortable.
He immediately found Jia Xu and discussed with him.
As the head of the Eagle Snake Mansion, Jia Xu usually did not accompany the army in battles, but this time Cao Cao asked him to accompany the army no matter what. Jia Xu did not disobey Cao Cao's orders and followed them carefully. However, he usually
However, he rarely opened his mouth to counsel the military aircraft, and he kept silent when discussing matters in the big tent. Only when Cao Cao and he were planning in private did the old man give advice.
Cao Cao brought Jia Xu to the commander's tent and said: "Wen He, after ten days, Yan Xing's side has been completed. There is no news from the eastern front yet, but Tao Shang has sent generals to our rear in Yuzhou. Now Cao is under attack from both sides.
, I’m afraid I can’t wait any longer.”
When Jia Xu heard this, he immediately frowned.
"The rear was attacked? Which group of people under the potter's command were they?"
Cao Cao stroked his beard and said calmly: "I heard that he is a man named Xu Sheng. He is also a treacherous person. He has been running rampant in my hinterland, but he has not left any flaws. Tao Shang Xiaoer has many good generals under his command."
Jia Xu thought for a while and said: "It is not impossible for Sikong to send troops at this moment, but in my opinion, this expedition will only be meaningful if there is news from the eastern front. Otherwise, even if Yan Xinghe
Liu Xun gathered many Huainan soldiers, but they were of no use."
Cao Cao secretly thought that this old man Jia was really weird.
Yan Xing and Liu Xun gathered a lot of troops, but such achievements were not worth it in his eyes. Instead, they were thinking about the 18,000 people on the Eastern Front battlefield.
"Wen He, in your opinion, if Cao sent troops to defeat the pottery merchants, is that considered a great achievement?"
Jia Xu lowered his head and said, "Of course."
But he secretly thought to himself, there is no way you can defeat him.
Cao Cao didn't know what Jia Xu was thinking, so he laughed loudly and said, "Since Wen He doesn't object, how about Cao having a fight with Tao?"
Jia Xu was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "If this is really the case, it is not impossible, but if there is news from the battlefield on the Eastern Front, Sikong will not be able to fight anymore, and we will have to withdraw our troops."
Cao Cao laughed and said: "Don't worry, Cao will certainly be able to avoid this matter!"
…
The next day, Cao Cao sent Cao Xiu, whom he called Cao's Thousand Mile Horse, to lead a tiger and leopard cavalry secretly back to Yuzhou to find a way to deal with Xu Sheng. At the same time, Cao Cao sent someone to write a letter of challenge to Tao Shang, inviting him to meet at noon the next day.
Hunter Valley.
The potter readily agreed.
After the envoy who issued a letter of war on behalf of Cao Cao left, Tao Shang immediately summoned his Xuzhou Central Army team, headed by Xu Rong, Xu Huang, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, Tao Ji, Cao Bao and other generals, for a meeting.
"Instruct the three armies to prepare food at You hour today, assemble the army at Xu hour, and prepare for war at Hai hour to Zi hour!"
Upon hearing the potter's order, all the generals were immediately confused.
Jiang Qin said strangely: "Master, didn't Cao Cao invite me to fight at noon tomorrow? We will prepare at midnight. Isn't it a little too early? It will disturb the people so much in the middle of the night..."
Guo Jia said with a smile: "If Gong Yi said this, it means that you still don't understand Cao Cao... If Cao Cao's war letter is handed over to you, it is estimated that tonight, we will all have to be destroyed by Cao Cao's army."
Already."
Xu Huang was the first to come to his senses after hearing this.
"What Mr. Guo means is that Cao Cao will attack the camp tonight? The so-called battle tomorrow is just a means to confuse the morale of our army?"
Guo Jia smiled and nodded.
The potter stood up and started walking in the tent. As he walked, he said: "You must remember that when dealing with people like Cao Cao, you must always be vigilant. Even when you sleep, you must keep one eye open... If you are not careful,
I don’t know what small details were calculated by him.”
Generals, you look at me and I look at you, sighing secretly in my heart.
It is indeed as the young master said, fighting against someone like Cao Cao is really a trap every step of the way.
You have to be careful about everything.
Xu Rong admired the pottery merchant and said: "Cao Cao is a treacherous villain. He is usually vicious and cunning, but the master can actually see through his thoughts and guess his plans while talking and laughing. It's really amazing."
As a real man... I will take the liberty to ask, how did the Grand Tutor see through this despicable person like Cao Cao?"
The pottery merchant looked around at the generals, lowered his voice, and said slowly: "Actually, it's not difficult. If you look in the mirror, you can guess that he is the same person."
All the generals were shocked when they heard this.
The Tutor is still so awesome, he can clearly see what his opponent is thinking by looking in the mirror!
Although I don’t understand what the principle behind this is, it is really profound.
…
Around midnight at night, Cao Cao's troops quietly lurked out of Lu Valley.
As expected by Tao Shang and Guo Jia, Cao Cao's letter of challenge was actually a smoke bomb, and the so-called hunting of Lu Gu with Tao Shang was nothing more than bullshit.
For Cao Ah Man, winning by sneak attack is the way to go.
Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Chun, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and the five clan generals under Cao Cao each commanded an army. They came out from five directions and went straight to Tao Shang's camp.
In the dead of night, Cao Ren, the number one general in the Cao family, personally commanded three hundred soldiers of the Cao family and moved towards the antlers formation in front of the Taoshang camp.
They all had bundles of straw in their hands, and according to Cao Ren's instructions in advance, they threw the straws in front of the camp one after another.
After the three hundred people were finished, they immediately retreated.
Immediately afterwards, the following soldiers and horses fired rockets. The straws had been sprinkled with tung oil in advance, which immediately caused a fire.