Thirty miles southeast of Pengcheng, there is a small city called Lu County.

Although Lu County is not very famous, it is also of great significance. Because, Lu County is the hometown of Lu Pheasant, the wife of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty. The original name of Lu County is Lu Gu Village, because of a character like Lu Pheasant, it was renamed Lu County.

At the beginning, Lu Pheasant's father Lu Wen was a rich man in Lu County, because he offended people, he was afraid of being retaliated against, because he was friendly with the county order of Pei County at that time, Lu Wen went to live in Pei County, so he contributed to the combination of Liu Bang and Lu Pheasant. Although Lu Wen ran away from Lu County, it is also the birthplace of Lu Pheasant, Liu Bang became the emperor and still took a lot of care of Lu County. In addition to exempting taxes for ten years, Lu County was also built on a large scale. Therefore, although Lu County is not big, it is also like a small city.

Today, Cao Bao and the potters are stationed in Lu County with hundreds of thousands of defeated soldiers.

Previously, in order to guard against Cao Cao, Tao Qian mobilized all the troops in Xuzhou, except for the 100,000 soldiers under the Xuzhou Governor's Office. Pengcheng, a fortified city, was garrisoned by an army of 200,000. With the solidity of Pengcheng, an army of 200,000 is enough to hold on to an army of one million for several years, and according to Cao Cao's grain and grass, it won't take that long, and Cao Cao will have already withdrawn. However, because of the potter's lust, he was stunned that a fortified city like Pengcheng was lost in one day, and he gave up 20,000 soldiers. Therefore, the current army of 200,000 is more than 170,000.

"General Cao, according to the report from the spies, Cao Cao's army has already marched towards Lu County, and Shen can reach outside Lu County, and I also ask the general to show it. ”

Cao Cao's attack on Xuzhou was aimed at deterring the surrounding forces, and he never thought of occupying Xuzhou's territory. Therefore, after capturing Pengcheng, Cao Cao did not go to operate, and after the army was reorganized, he continued to attack and attacked towards Lu County. Originally, Cao Cao's grain and grass were only enough for one month, and it took more than ten days to march from Shanyang County, and counting the grain and grass for the return trip, Cao Cao's grain and grass could support about ten days at most. However, because of the 100,000 stone grain and grass supported by the Liu family in Pei County, Cao Cao could hold on for a while longer.

At the beginning, Cao Bao promised Tao Qian that he would definitely resist Cao Cao in Pengcheng until Cao Cao retreated. Although Cao Cao captured Pengcheng because of the potters, Cao Bao, as the main general, also had a certain responsibility.

"Send spies to keep an eye on Cao Jun's movements. ”

Now that Pengcheng has been lost, Cao Bao doesn't want to blame the potters anymore, that would be useless. Now I can only forget the mistakes of the pottery merchant, and when the time comes, I will have nothing to say when I return to Xiapi Tao Qian, after all, it was your son who caused the loss of Pengcheng. Therefore, what to do now is to block Cao Cao's progress in Lu County, as long as he delays a little longer and does not let Cao Cao get close to Xiapi, it will be almost the same.

If Cao Cao's army is allowed to attack Xiapi City like a bamboo, it is estimated that Tao Qian's old face will also be lost. At that time, Tao Qian was angry, and maybe he would cure Cao Bao's crimes.

Following Cao Bao's order, the adjutant general Yiyan sent more than a dozen waves of spies to keep an eye on Cao Jun's movements.

"General Qiyu, Cao's army is still advancing, and there is no special move. ”

"General Qiyu, the Cao army is still advancing..."

"General Qiyu, according to the news obtained by the spies, the Cao army has very few grain and grass guards, and it seems that we can start from this aspect. ”

The news of the spies is all the same, they are just saying that Cao Jun is approaching Lu County, and there is no news that makes Cao Bao happy. It wasn't until Cao Cao's army was about to approach Lu County that there was finally a piece of news that made Cao Bao feel good.

Cao Cao's attack on Xuzhou this time, grain and grass are the only shortcomings. Yanzhou's grain and herbs are not very rich, and in order to attack Xuzhou this time, Cao Cao can be said to have taken out all the grain stocks in Yanzhou. Once the grain and grass are lost, Cao Cao's strategy of attacking Xuzhou will not only fail, but even Yanzhou may fall into turmoil. Therefore, as long as Cao Cao's grain and grass are destroyed, Xuzhou can win without a fight.

Of course, Cao Bao also had doubts in his heart. Cao Bao knew the importance of Cao Cao's grain and grass, but how could Cao Cao himself not know it? In this case, how could the guards of grain and grass be so lax. Therefore, Cao Bao felt that this was most likely Cao Cao's plan, which was to attack Cao Bao and take the opportunity to ambush and eliminate Cao Bao's forces. It's just that Xuzhou has been failing, and Cao Bao also wants to win a battle and improve his morale, and now there is a glimmer of hope, and Cao Bao doesn't want to let go.

"Let the spies continue to stare at Cao Jun's grain and grass, and there must be no mistakes. ”

After thinking for a while, Cao Bao decided that it was better to be cautious. Therefore, let the deputy continue to send spies to investigate, unless there is a 100% guarantee, otherwise, Cao Bao will definitely not send troops.

"General Qiyu, according to the repeated investigation by the spies, the grain and grass guards of the Cao army are indeed lax. In order to speed up the march, Cao Cao's army had been cut off from the guards who were escorting grain and grass. According to the news obtained by the spies, Cao Cao's army is more than ten miles away from the grain and grass, and if our army makes a surprise attack, it will definitely be successful, and I hope the general will make a decision as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Cao's army's grain and grass kept up with Cao Cao's army, there would no longer be such an opportunity. ”

Cao Cao's 100,000 army was taken away by Xiahou Yuan 15,000, and there were 85,000 left, and after fighting all the way from Shanyang County, there were more than 60,000 left. The people who escorted the grain and grass were only the strong men of Yanzhou, and they were not counted among the regular soldiers. In addition, Cao Cao also sent 5,000 soldiers to protect the grain and grass. And the news that the spies inquired about was that Cao Cao's army of 60,000 people was not less than one, and it was obviously not an ambush. Therefore, the possibility of a sneak attack on Cao Cao's grain and grass is very high.

The 5,000 soldiers responsible for protecting the grain and grass are not elites, but some old, weak and disabled people with relatively low combat effectiveness. Perhaps Cao Cao felt that the soldiers in Xuzhou did not dare to attack, so he was so bold.

"Hmph, Cao Cao actually underestimated my Xuzhou soldiers so much, this time I must let him know how powerful my Xuzhou soldiers are. ”

Although the soldiers in Xuzhou are not strong, they are much better than the disabled soldiers of the Cao army who escorted grain and grass. Cao Cao ignored the soldiers in Xuzhou, and used such soldiers to escort grain and grass, and he didn't take Xuzhou in his eyes at all. Cao Bao, as a general in Xuzhou, was also honored at this time, and secretly thought in his heart that he wanted to give Cao Cao a heavy blow and let Cao Cao know how powerful he was Cao Bao. Besides, the spies have made many inquiries, and the soldiers of Cao Cao's army are all there, and there is no ambush, so Cao Bao still needs to be afraid? Therefore, Cao Bao resolutely gave the order for a sneak attack.

"Vice General Xu, I will order you to command 20,000 soldiers to raid Cao's grain and grass, don't destroy Cao Cao's grain and grass, and don't leave a grain for them. ”

"The last general obeys!"

Vice General Xu took the order with a happy face, Cao Bao handed over such a task to him, obviously giving him credit for nothing, how could he not be happy?

In fact, letting Vice General Xu sneak attack Cao Cao's grain and grass was also carefully considered by Cao Bao.

Although judging from all indications, Cao Cao's grain and grass guards were very weak, this battle was a battle without suspense. However, Cao Bao still had concerns, and if he had no worries, Cao Bao would have led his troops to a sneak attack, and how could he give credit to Deputy General Xu in vain? It was precisely because of his worries that Cao Bao made such a decision. Of course, Cao Bao also thought that if Cao Cao's guards were really scum, let Vice General Xu go to the sneak attack, once successful, he Cao Bao would have nothing to lose. Vice General Xu is his cronies, and he is also his Cao Bao's person who has the credit. Cao Bao is now in charge of Xuzhou's military power, and there is no room for promotion, unless he kills Tao Qian as an assassin. Cao Bao still knows very well how much he has ability. It was for various reasons that Cao Bao gave this task to Vice General Xu.

In a short time, Deputy General Xu had already ordered 20,000 soldiers and horses, and then quietly went out of the city to attack Cao Cao's grain and grass.

However, he said that Cao Cao has always destroyed other people's grain and grass in history, and has never been destroyed by others. As an excellent military strategist, Cao Cao knew the importance of grain and grass. Moreover, the purpose of this expedition to Xuzhou is greater than anything else, how could Cao Cao let all his previous actions be in vain? In this case, how could Cao Cao's grain and grass guards really be as weak as they appeared and would allow Cao Bao to succeed? However, Cao Cao's 60,000 troops were all detected by spies, and there was obviously no ambush, could it be that he wanted to repel Deputy General Xu's 20,000 horses just by relying on those 5,000 disabled men and tens of thousands of strong men who worked hard?

Of course not, but don't forget that Cao Cao still has 15,000 men and horses.

That's right, it was Xiahou Yuan's 15,000 soldiers who went to Ren City. Ren Cheng's front was obviously meaningless, and Tao Qian gave up resistance and concentrated all his forces on the front line of Xiapi City and Pengcheng. Xiahou Yuan's 15,000 soldiers could not defeat Xiapicheng, which was stronger than Pengcheng as the seat of Xuzhou. Therefore, Cao Cao decisively recalled Xiahou Yuan's soldiers and horses, and at the same time gave Cao Bao an illusion that the guards of grain and grass were very weak and could be sneak attacked. And Xiahou Yuan's soldiers and horses were hidden behind, waiting for the Xuzhou soldiers who were sneaking up to appear, and then giving them a fatal blow.

Vice General Xu led 20,000 Xuzhou soldiers to raid Cao Cao's grain and grass, but was surrounded by Xiahou Yuan's 15,000 soldiers and horses. In the end, Vice General Xu was killed in battle, more than 10,000 of the 20,000 Xuzhou soldiers surrendered, and only a few thousand fled back to Lu County.

When he learned the news, Cao Bao almost didn't mention it in one breath, and he died with a whimper.

Let him make a lot of calculations, but in the end he forgot about the Xiahou Yuan soldiers and horses on the front line of Ren Cheng. As a result, it was such an oversight that more than 10,000 soldiers were lost, and it was a heavy blow to the already low morale of the soldiers in Xuzhou.

"Come on, take down the spy who is responsible for finding out the news, the captain is beheaded, and the team members are all reduced to hard labor, what a group of useless things, more than 10,000 people are hiding behind, and they haven't found it. ”

In the end, Cao Bao attributed the reason for the failure to the false news of the spies, and dealt with the team of spies who delivered the news. And he, Cao Bao, as the chief general of this order, is of course not responsible. It was because of the mistake of intelligence that led to his wrong order, and it was the spies who were wrong, not him.

"Pass the order down, stick to Lu County, and not go to war, and if someone raises the matter of war, the military law will deal with it. ”

After this failure, Cao Bao was also disheartened. The combat effectiveness of the soldiers is not as good as others, and the strategy is not as good as others, and this battle cannot be fought at all, so Cao Bao can only make the decision to stick to the city.

After all, Lu County is a city, and there are 150,000 troops, if you just defend the city, you can still hold out for a long time; if you look at Cao Cao's side, more than 80,000 soldiers, deducting 10,000 cavalry, is 70,000 soldiers who can attack the city. If you really want to attack the city, with the combat power of Cao's soldiers, you will naturally be able to take Lu County. However, Cao Cao's purpose of going to Xuzhou this time was to demonstrate, not to really take Xuzhou. Now Yanzhou is not yet fully controlled, and Cao Cao is not in a hurry to take Xuzhou. Even if you take Lu County, there is a stronger Xiapi, if you don't take Xiapi, if you capture Tao Qian, it will be useless to capture more cities. When Cao Cao's grain and grass were exhausted, Cao Cao still had to withdraw from Xuzhou, Tao Qian raised his arms, and the territory of Xuzhou returned to Tao Qian's hands.

At the same time, because the performance of the tiger and leopard riding in Pengcheng has already spread in Xuzhou and will soon blossom in all directions, the strategic action of Cao Cao's demonstration has been achieved. Therefore, whether to continue to attack Lu County and approach Xiapi is of little significance to Cao Cao.

Five miles away from Lu County, in Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao had also gathered his subordinates to discuss.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of this attack on Xuzhou has been achieved, do you have any other good strategy?"

As a politician, military strategist, and strategist, Cao Cao is still very good at grasping the battle situation. The purpose of this attack on Xuzhou was to demonstrate, and since the purpose had been achieved, Cao Cao was naturally preparing to retreat. Attacking Lu County did not benefit Cao Cao in the slightest, and since this was the case, it was better to save grain and grass, and also save a sum of money, so why not Cao Cao? However, Cao Cao was very open-minded in other respects except for his suspicious problems. Although he had a decision in his heart, he did not give a direct order, but chose to ask his advisors. If the strategist could have come up with a better idea, Cao Cao wouldn't mind changing his mind and reformulating his strategy. It is particularly important that Cao Cao can become the largest force in the world in history and adopt the opinions of his subordinates.

Compared with Liu Bei and Sun Quan, Cao Cao is undoubtedly a more perfect superior, because Cao Cao will not be influenced by emotions in his brain.

After Guan Yu was killed, Liu Bei wanted to start a war with Eastern Wu regardless of the consequences, and even Zhuge Liang, who he usually obeyed the most, did not listen to the words of Zhuge Liang, because he wanted to avenge Guan Yu, so that Zhang Fei also lost his life, and the grudge with Eastern Wu was even deeper. The originally powerful Shu Kingdom plummeted because of this, and finally became the first of the Three Kingdoms to be destroyed. As for Eastern Wu, Sun Quan also suffered a sharp decline in the relationship between the Shu State because of Zhou Yu, which caused a deeper contradiction between the two families on the issue of Jingzhou. As a result, in the incident of Guan Yu's murder, Soochow has a lot of responsibility.

It is precisely because Liu Bei and Sun Quan will be affected by emotions that they will give up their great foundation to Cao Cao. Otherwise, the two will be able to control their emotions, and it will not be certain who will write history.

"My lord, my subordinates think that the morale of the soldiers in Xuzhou is low now, and it is a good time to attack. ”

In fact, like Cao Cao, most of the strategists agreed to retreat and return to Yanzhou to recuperate. The battle in Xuzhou was just a plate of hors d'oeuvres, and neither Cao Cao nor the civil and military forces under Cao Cao thought that they would lose at all, nor did they take it to heart. The purpose of deterrence has been achieved, and it is a waste of energy to continue fighting. It is better to go back to Yanzhou to do a good job in politics and prepare for the next expedition. Of course, most of the people agreed to retreat, and there were still those who wanted to continue the attack.

And Cheng Yu is naturally one of them.

"What is Zhongde's good plan, just say it!"

Cheng Yu's intelligence is no less than that of everyone present, and it stands to reason that retiring now is the best choice. But why did Cheng Yu insist on continuing to attack? Obviously, it was not Cheng Yu who made a mistake, but he had a reason.

"My lord, the soldiers of Xuzhou have been defeated repeatedly, and their morale is already extremely low, as long as they capture Lu County, they can increase the prestige of our army. Although our army won many victories, it did not eliminate many soldiers in Xuzhou. Now there are still more than 100,000 Xuzhou soldiers in Lu County, and according to the news from the spies, there are still more than 100,000 troops in Xiapi City. If our army withdraws, Tao Qian will definitely recruit troops again, and when the next time the lord attacks Xuzhou again, he will still have to face hundreds of thousands of troops in Xuzhou. Although our army's goal of shock and deterrence has been achieved, it has failed to eliminate the living forces in Xuzhou. Therefore, his subordinates thought that they could capture Lu County and kill these hundreds of thousands of Xuzhou soldiers, even if there were still hundreds of thousands in Xiapi, when the next attack on Xuzhou, Tao Qian only had more than 100,000 troops, as well as some soldiers who had not yet taken shape. ”

I have to say that Cheng Yu is indeed a ruthless person, and he wants to destroy all the Xuzhou soldiers in Lu County in one breath. As far as war is concerned, Cheng Yu's approach is actually not wrong.

Moreover, Cao Cao is actually similar to Cheng Yu's idea, if he wants to destroy the enemy, he will destroy the enemy and not give the enemy a chance to resist. Of course, Cao Cao can't agree with Cheng Yu's opinion, after all, Cheng Yu is a ruthless person, and Cao Cao is also a ruthless person. However, many of Cao Cao's subordinates were not as ruthless as them.

"My lord, my subordinates think that Zhongde's words are wrong. ”

It was Xun You who stood up against him, Xun You was known as the mastermind and the main figure of Cao Cao's strategist group. Xun You is from Yingchuan Xun's family, he learned the Confucian way of Confucius and Mencius, and talked about benevolence and etiquette. Of course, Xun You also knew that Cheng Yu was thinking about Cao Cao, which was beyond reproach.

In history, Cao Cao welcomed the emperor and moved the capital to Xuchang, which was to let Cheng Yu be responsible for managing the security of Xuchang, which was equivalent to the Minister of Defense. Because Cheng Yu is ruthless enough, whether he treats the enemy or his own people, as long as there is wind and grass, Cheng Yu can do it. Cao Cao's civil and military forces were afraid of Cheng Yu because of this, and Cheng Yu's popularity was naturally very bad. Originally, Cheng Yu could be ranked as the third prince according to his merits, but Cheng Yu's popularity was too poor, and no one spoke for him, so he couldn't achieve this position in the end.

"My lord, our army went to Xuzhou this time to deter Xuzhou and the surrounding forces. The goal has been achieved, and our army can withdraw to Yanzhou, recuperate, and prepare for the next offensive. If there is too much killing, it will have a great impact on the future occupation of Xuzhou. The soldiers in Xuzhou have been killed by our army and have no power to resist, even if they go to Xuzhou next time, they will not have much impact on our army. In that case, why do you want to kill?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think?"

Relatively speaking, Cao Cao is more inclined to Cheng Yu's opinion. However, Xun You raised objections, and Cao Cao had to pay attention to it. At the same time, Cao Cao also had to listen to the opinions of others.

"My lord, I think what Professor Xun said is very true. ”

Sure enough, most people still agree with Xun You's opinion. Cao Cao also expected it and was not too surprised. Therefore, in the end, Cao Cao also decided to withdraw to Yanzhou.

As for Cheng Yu, he didn't care very much.

Any person in power will have two roles under his command, red and white, and Cheng Yu is willing to play this white face, as long as he can display his talents.

Just as Cao Cao was about to withdraw his troops, another soldier reported the military situation to him.

"Report, there is a military intelligence in Qingzhou. ”