Heavy rain fell like a curtain of beads with broken threads.

The ground was already muddy, and every now and then the wheels would sink into the mud, and the soldiers needed to push it together to continue their advance.

At this time, a herald rode a horse, braved the rain and came to Guo Jia's carriage, hugged his fists and said loudly: "Guo sacrifice wine, the prime minister has an order, and the army will go to Yicheng to rest and recuperate." ”

"The prime minister said to rest? Ahem," the curtain of the carriage was opened, and Guo Jia frowned and looked at the herald who was already soaking wet.

"Yes, the prime minister said to rest."

Guo Jia waved his hand, held back the herald, frowned, and began to cough violently.

The green slave hurriedly snuggled up and gently rubbed Guo Jia's chest with his bare hands to alleviate his pain.

The army soon reached Yicheng.

This Yicheng used to be an important town in the north, but at this time it has long been decayed and sparsely populated.

Fortunately, the city is large enough and there are many empty houses, so Cao Jun came to take shelter from the rain, which is exactly what the soldiers want.

All the nobles found a place to shelter from the rain, and built a fire to dry their soaked clothes.

Cao Cao occupied a vacant mansion and summoned all the civil and military officers to discuss the matter.

A large fire was also lit in the middle of the lobby, and Cao Cao was not very restrained, and surrounded the fire with a group of civil and military personnel.

Among the army, only Guo Jia, a patient, was treated as a car, and the rest, including Cao Cao, rode a war horse and braved the rain.

When encountering muddy places on the road, the horse's hooves were easy to fall, and Cao Cao could only come down and lead the horse and march with difficulty.

It is precisely because Cao Cao treated everyone equally and took the lead that although the army was in distress, there was no mutiny.

"Since Lone marched into Hebei, the calculation is like a bamboo, and the wind is smooth, who would have expected that this expedition to Wuhuan encountered such a ghost weather," Cao Cao glanced at the rain curtain outside, sighed and said: "Is this the heaven immortal Yuan?" ”

"Big brother, little brother doesn't know whether to say a word or not," Cao Chun clenched his fists next to him and said tentatively.

"We are here today to brainstorm ideas, and it doesn't hurt to talk about it."

Cao Chun said: "That Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi only led thousands of men and horses to flee to Wuhuan, they were already panicked like lost dogs, and it was impossible to set off any more big storms.

Why did the eldest brother personally lead the army and go on an expedition, he couldn't help but look up to those two too much. ”

"What Zihe said is," at this time, Xiahou Yuan also echoed beside him: "It is raining heavily this day, and it is extremely difficult to march, and the soldiers don't say it, but there are inevitably complaints in their hearts."

And this time, just to catch those two children, it's not worth it, it's better to withdraw the army earlier. ”

"When did you two come to an agreement?" Cao Cao seemed to be smiling, and glanced at these two black-eyed chicken-like brothers who were usually noisy, and it was rare that they agreed this time.

While holding up his wet coat and roasting it in front of the fire, he said to the crowd: "If you still have any opinions in your hearts, you might as well say it, and the one who speaks is not guilty." ”

"What the two generals Zi and Miaocai said is extremely true," Cheng Yu said: "When the two Yuan were in possession of the two states of Ji You, they were still invincible to our Wang Shi, not to mention that now they live in the place of Wuhuan barbarians, it is impossible to pose a threat to us.

Now the expedition of the master and the master is too worthless.

It is also recommended to withdraw the troops below, leaving a general here to defend. ”

When Cheng Yu said this, everyone immediately echoed it.

"That is, that Eryuan has been defeated, there are only thousands of military horses left under his command, and there are no brave generals, it would be good to be a bandit in this life, we really don't need to make such a big effort to kill those two children."

"Now although we have pacified Jizhou and Youzhou, there are still several counties in Qingzhou that have not been leveled, and there is still a high-ranking cadre in the state who has not been attached.

Everyone nodded one after another, all persuading Cao Cao to withdraw his troops quickly.

The reasons are similar, the march is so difficult, but it is just to capture Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi's two useless wastes, why bother?

It's not worth it.

Moreover, at this time, the rear of Cao's army is not very stable, and there are still many battles to be fought.

Cao Cao remained silent, glanced at everyone, and then looked at Guo Jia intently: "Why didn't Fengxiao speak?" ”

"Prime Minister, I don't dare to agree with you," Guo Jia coughed twice and said: "Yuan Shao was kind to the Hu people at the beginning, connived at the Hu people to plunder the people in the border areas, and married the daughter of the clan to Wuhuan Shan Yu Dun as his wife.

Now that the two Yuan are not worried, but they have fled to the Wuhuan Hu people, Na Bandun will definitely help to fight against Wang Shi.

There are tens of thousands of military horses under his command.

If the lord does not eliminate the evil this time, it will become a disaster in the north in the future, and the lord will never be able to move south and pacify the south of the Yangtze River. ”

"Well said!" Cao Cao praised loudly, and said with light in his eyes: "The words of filial piety have won my heart."

The one who is lonely and worried is not the second son of the Yuan family, but he is afraid of his alliance with the Hu people.

So Wu Huan, you have to fight! ”

Cao Cao's words were regarded as overwhelming, and his attitude was clear, and everyone bowed their heads and remained silent when they heard it.

It doesn't matter if you fight Wuhuan, but the difficulties are also obvious here, this weather, this road is indeed impossible to march.

If you continue to walk so strongly, it will not be good to cause a mutiny among the soldiers.

"Prime Minister Cao, there is a word below." At this time, there was a sudden humane behind the crowd.

Everyone turned around, only to see that the person who spoke was Tian Chou, a famous man who had just been recruited by Cao Cao from Youzhou.

The reason why Tian Chou was conquered by Cao Cao, rather than surrendered, was because this person was once a subordinate of Liu Yu, but later refused Yuan Shao's invitation several times, and led hundreds of clans into Xu Wushan to open up fields and live in seclusion.

Yuan Shao connived at the Wuhuan people to plunder the Han people, Tian Chou hated this matter deeply, hated the Wuhuan people to the core, and of course could not be loyal to Yuan Shao.

Later, as soon as Cao Jun came over, he immediately put on a posture of being incompatible with the Wuhuan people, and Cao Cao wanted to personally lead the troops to conquer, but he sent a letter to Tian Chou, and Tian Chou took the initiative to bring his disciples to serve in the army, and was recommended by Cao Cao as Maocai.

For Tian Chou, attacking Wuhuan is to avenge the shame of the Han family who were harmed by the Hu people at the beginning.

At this time, seeing that Cao Jun was in difficulty, Tian Chou took the initiative to stand up and said: "The road we are traveling on is often flooded in this season, and the shallow places cannot pass through the carriages and horses, and the deep places cannot carry boats, resulting in this kind of disaster for a long time. ”

He has lived in Youzhou for a long time, so he is naturally very familiar with the surrounding roads, and paused: "But I still know a hidden path in the next place, you can go up to Xu Wushan, go out of Lulongsai, pass through Pinggang, and climb the White Wolf City, you can reach the Liucheng where Dun is entrenched."

It's just that the road has been dilapidated and cut off for nearly 200 years since the founding of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty.

As long as you can find that way, it should be much easier than the road in front of you. ”