Cao Cao's command is indeed a fierce general, but Chen Zhi is not a simple character.

Under Cao Cao's frantic attack, Xiapi City was still crumbling for the first two days, and it was almost taken down the city wall several times, but under the desperate resistance of Chen Zhi's army, it was blocked without danger.

Although Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu are full of wisdom, there is also a Xun Yue in Xiapi City! Cao Cao had no choice but to engage in a grueling siege battle.

Forced by the situation and Xun Yue's constant lobbying, Tao Qian finally compromised and allocated another 10,000 Danyang elite soldiers to Chen Zhi for the time being.

And after Chen Zhi got enough troops, the ability he showed was simply shocking, almost single-handedly resisted the attack of Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou, although he was the defender in the siege battle, occupying a lot of advantages, but it was not inferior to the world's first-class generals at all.

Cao Cao's frantic attack on the next two days was all blocked by Chen Zhi in an orderly manner, and seeing the futility of returning for two consecutive days, as well as the terrifying loss of troops, Cao Cao almost gritted his back molars and ordered a retreat. If you continue to fight like this regardless of losses, wait until Guan Yu estimates that the army under his command will have to be in it.

Chen Zhi in the city also took a breath when he saw Cao Cao stop his crazy attack, and then said to Xun Yue: "Military Division, what should we do next?" Are you waiting for General Guan to arrive? ”

Xun Yue glanced at a resentful figure behind him, and said indifferently: "I can only wait like this now." ”

If it weren't for Cao Bao, a-stirring stick, Xun Yue might be able to persuade Tao Qian to give Cao Cao a ruthless blow, and it would be possible to take down Xuzhou. But there was a pig teammate with a different heart behind him, and Xun Yue could only choose to compromise with Cao Mengde.

"But fortunately, Yun Chang should occupy the territory of the three counties along the way, otherwise Cao Mengde will definitely regret our excessive actions."

Chen Zhi bowed and said: "The military advisor is far-reaching, and he is really a god!" ”

Three days later, Guan Yu led an army of 20,000 to arrive as scheduled, and Chen Zhi secretly took nearly 20,000 Danyang elite soldiers and Xun Yue, Tao Qian and others, and retreated at night after concealing Cao Bao.

And Cao Cao didn't bother to pay attention to Chen Zhi's retreat, if Chen Zhi didn't run, he wouldn't be able to take Xuzhou, and leaving them in Xuzhou would completely hurt each other.

Even if Cao Cao was very angry with Liu Bei, after all, he was a generation of heroes, and after calming down, he still gave up this idea of losing both sides and swallowed the bitter fruit.

……

"Xun Yue is really a talent! Gongda, you have such a powerful uncle, why don't you recommend it to me? Yuan Shu sighed.

Yuan Shu thought that the matter of Xuzhou was a foregone conclusion, but he didn't expect that under Xun Yue's plan, Liu Bei actually put Cao Cao in two ways, which was really unexpected.

Xun You also looked at Yuan Shu helplessly: "Lord, you should also know the situation of my Xun family." Although this uncle of mine is a great talent, even if I recommend him to my lord, I am afraid he will not be able to come. ”

"Xun is in Cao Cao, Xun Chen is in Yuan Shaona, Liu Bei has a Xun Yu here, your Xun family is really going to bet!" Yuan Shu said teasingly.

Xun You hurriedly said, "Let the lord smile." ”

Yuan Shu smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, most of the top families are not like this!" Eggs can't be put in the same basket, and what they do, while somewhat shameless, is understandable. ”

"Now the situation in the Central Plains has been decided. It's a pity that Cao Cao and Liu Bei still couldn't fight as we wanted. ”

"We didn't have much hope, did we? If Cao Cao and Liu Bei can't even see such a situation clearly, then they are not worthy of being our opponents. Jia Xu said.

At the beginning, he didn't expect Cao Cao to fight Liu Bei to the death, but this situation was indeed a bit unexpected for him.

"Lord, although Cao Cao will not fight Liu Bei due to the situation, it is indeed too strange to give up the land of the three counties so easily, and I am afraid there is a bit of a problem here." Jia Xu said.

"What's the problem?" Yuan Shu didn't see anything unusual.

"It's true that Cao Cao is a little too decisive, this is not his style." Xun You also said affirmatively.

Although Yuan Shu didn't understand what the problem was, since the two strategists he relied on said so, combined with Cao Cao's domineering character, he nodded as if he was aware of it.

Although Jia Xu had some vague guesses about it, he still couldn't think of the reason, after all, no one would have imagined that there was a top strategist who didn't give advice to his lord for most of the year, and stared at Yuan Shu's movements all day long.

"Lord, at this time, I can't think of what the reason is, so let's put it aside for the time being, and now controlling Yizhou is my first priority."

"What do you think?"

Since you can't think of it, let's put it aside. Yuan Shu was not interested in the cats between Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the first place, or he didn't plan to attack the Central Plains in the past few years.

Yizhou is divided into two parts, the northern part of Yizhou, centered on Chengdu, and the southern part of Yizhou, which is dominated by barbarians.

Taking the northern part of Yizhou is not a difficult task in Yuan Shu's opinion, after all, the entire Yizhou family has defected, how long can Liu Yan's waste last alone?

A prince who can't even suppress the rebellion of the exiles, it's really a big laugh to say it. You must know that even Tao Qian, a weak chicken, can destroy the Xuzhou Yellow Turban, and Liu Yan is still mixed like this in this situation where there is no foreign enemy to develop with peace of mind.

It is estimated that there is really no one for an incompetent prince like Liu Yan except Kong Rong in Qingzhou. That is, Yizhou is located in a remote area and there are many checkpoints, if Liu Yan was left in the Central Plains, he would have been swallowed long ago, and there would not even be any bones left.

If Huang Zhong still can't take Yizhou in this situation, then Yuan Shu really has nothing to say.

It is very simple to control the northern part of Yizhou, as long as those families are subdued, but many southern barbarians in the southern part of Yizhou are not easy to deal with.

Historically, the Nanban region has always been a difficult problem to solve. Don't look at Zhuge Liang's seven captures of Meng Shu and Ping Nanban's words so good, it can only be said that Zhuge Liang temporarily deterred Nanban.

Think about it, did Nanban help Shu after that? Were they in the Northern Expeditionary Army? From beginning to end, there was no sense of existence at all, that is, the destruction of the Shu Kingdom and the Nanban still did not show any expression, and there was not even a single reinforcement.

The subjugation of the southern barbarians, in fact, was to temporarily encircle Meng Shu with his official position and money and grain, basically stabilizing the southern part of Yizhou, and preventing these barbarians from causing chaos during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. From this point of view, Zhuge Liang is still very successful.

Because of the national strength and situation of Shu at that time, it was not able to take charge of the Nanban region at all. After all, there is still a threat of Wei in the north, and the southern part of Yizhou is steep and mostly smoky. The medical level of Shu at that time was insufficient, and it was impossible to invade the southern part of Yizhou and defeat these barbarians.

Besides, these barbarians are basically all soldiers, and the people are very strong, and if they are defeated, they can drill into the mountains and forests, and then find a mountain to settle down.

Think about how Meng Huo, the so-called Southern Barbarian King, fought against Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms? There are only so many of their own soldiers, and they are basically the troops put together by the cave masters from all walks of life, and they are fighting separately.

And this so-called cave master, to put it bluntly, is a tribal leader who just finds a better mountain and occupies a cave. It would be nice for a tribe to have a population of 10,000.

So from beginning to end, Nanban was a plate of scattered sand, and there was not much threat at all, but it was just that it always caused some small troubles. However, although this kind of loose sand does not pose a threat, it also has advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult to eliminate.

The soldiers are in thousands, and the population is in tens of thousands, and this kind of territory is really difficult to control. In addition to sending a large army to spend a lot of time sweeping all the way and completely conquering, I am afraid that there is only Zhuge Liang's method.