Yuzhou, Xudu, Prime Minister's Mansion.

Now that the time has come to November, the north is cold and snowy and the roads are closed, and the strategic confrontation between Cao Cao's troops and Yuan Shao's army has eased slightly, Yuan Shao has returned to Yecheng from the front line, and Cao Cao has also returned to Xudu from the front line.

On this day, Cao Cao was dealing with the affairs of the court, Guo Jia suddenly hurriedly walked in, Guo Jia had the right to see Cao Cao, Cao Cao saw Guo Jia was not surprised, and said with a smile: "What is the matter with Fengxiao coming in a hurry?" ”

Guo Jia bowed down, then got up and said: "Lord, the news has come back from the south, the battle of Zhouling has ended, the Jingzhou army has really been defeated and retreated, and even Baling has fallen into the hands of Yuan Yao, Yuan Yao now occupies the cities of Baling, Jingling and Anlu, and the land of Jiangxia is as stable as Mount Tai, and the land of Jiangxia has officially changed hands!"

After Cao Cao listened, his brows frowned, the end of the battle of Zhouling and the defeat of the Jingzhou army were all expected by him, but the fall of Baling City was a little unexpected.

If Baling City is in the hands of the Jingzhou Army, then the Jingzhou Army can threaten the land of Jiangxia from time to time, so that Yuan Yao must gather a large army in the land of the state tomb, so that Yuan Yao's main army will be pinned down in the land of the state tomb and it will be difficult to move!

However, Baling City is now in the hands of Yuan Yao, Baling City is high and deep, and the terrain is dangerous, extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack, Yuan Yao occupies Baling City and occupies the strategic initiative, and can seek to capture the four counties of Jingnan, and retreat can rely on a small number of soldiers and horses to keep the Jingzhou army out, so that Yuan Yao's main army will be revitalized, and Yuan Yao will resume his initial aggressiveness!

Cao Cao rubbed his frowning brows, and said quietly: "The Jingzhou army has no will to fight, and it is inevitable to retreat, but the terrain of Baling is dangerous and easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are heavy guards of the Jingzhou army, why did they suddenly lose it?" What are the details of this battle, you and I will talk about it in detail. ”

Guo Jia replied: "Back to the lord, Yuan Yao's surprise soldiers actually dispatched Zhang Xutuo, a general under his command, from Lujiangshu County in the rear, and led thousands of elites to sneak hundreds of miles to attack Baling City. ”

"After Zhang Xutuo captured Baling, he immediately integrated the soldiers in the city and continued to attack the back road of the Jingzhou army, the Jingzhou army outside the city of Zhouling knew nothing about it, Yuan Yao led the army out of the city and the Jingzhou army after the arrival of Zhang Xutuo's army; Just when the two armies were facing each other, Zhang Xutuo suddenly sent troops to burn the Jingzhou army camp, the Jingzhou army saw the camp on fire, and the army was immediately in turmoil, Yuan Yao took advantage of the situation to launch a decisive battle, and the Jingzhou army collapsed without a fight; Yuan Yao then personally led a large army to chase and kill the Jingzhou army, the Jingzhou army suffered heavy casualties, and even the Jingzhou general Huang Zhong was defeated and captured, it is said that this person has already surrendered to Yuan Yao! ”

"Waste !!"

Cao Cao slammed the brush in his hand on the table, and continued to scold: "Let Yuan Yao succeed so easily, Liu Pan, Wen Ping, and Huang Zhong are in vain called Jingzhou generals!" ”

Guo Jia hurriedly bowed and said, "The lord is angry!" ”

"Anger? How do you make me angry! ”

Cao Cao stretched out his hand and pointed in the direction of Xuzhou, and shouted angrily: "Now is the critical period of the decisive battle between our army and Yuan Shao's army, with Liu Bei on the side, it has already made me sit on pins and needles, and now there is another Yuan Yao, how can you let me calm my anger!" Yuan Yao has an army of 100,000 people, standing in the land of Shouchun, the army can directly reach my Xu capital in just a few days from Shouchun, let him pull out his hand, how can you let me fight with Yuan Shao with peace of mind! ”

Your own safety cannot be pinned on others, Guo Jia deeply believes this!

Guo Jia nodded slightly, and then comforted: "What the lord said is very true, and the lord's concerns are also the worries of the ministers, not to mention that Yuan Yao is the son of the Yuan family, Yuan Shao will definitely send someone to unite with him, if Yuan Yao and Yuan Shao unite, our army will suffer from the enemy on its back, so it is very harmful to the lord, and his mind must not be ignored!" However, Baling's matter is a foregone conclusion, and it is too late to say anything now, and now we can only deal with Yuan Yao first and try our best to save the situation! ”

Cao Cao was angry for a moment and calmed down, seeing that Guo Jia was full of confidence and seemed to have a bamboo in his chest, he asked softly: "I don't know what is the best strategy for Fengxiao?" ”

Guo Jia stroked his beard and replied, "Lord, do you think Yuan Yao has the heart to dominate the world?" ”

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and said: "Yuan Yao has won the battle since he led the army, and in a short period of time, the power under his rule has developed from the land of Shouchun to the land of the three counties today, and the military under his command has also grown from a few people to the point where there are many heroes now; Yuan Yao is now complacent, even if he didn't have the heart to dominate the world before, he will definitely have this heart now; Even if he doesn't have the heart to dominate the world, his subordinate martial arts will force him to think about it! ”

People are forced to come to this point step by step, Cao Cao simply understands this truth too well, just like him Cao Cao himself, if there is no chaos for Dong Zhuo to enter Beijing, will he Cao Cao have the heart to dominate the world?

Guo Jia has the ability to perceive people's hearts, so he naturally understands this truth, nodded and smiled: "What the lord said is very true, the minister thinks that as long as Yuan Yao has the intention of dominating the world, he will definitely not unite with Yuan Shao again!" ”

"Yuan Shao sits in the northern land, the strength is far better than the lord, now the lord and Yuan Shao have a decisive battle, if Yuan Shao wins, he can sweep the Central Plains and even the world with a great victory, this general trend is almost unstoppable! On the contrary, if the lord wins, with Yuan Shao's power and heritage, if the lord wants to enter the northern land, it will take at least seven to ten years! ”

"These seven to ten years is the time for the princes of the world to accumulate strength, and this time is only for the lord to fight for them, so as long as the princes have the intention of dominating the world, before the battle between the lord and Yuan Shao is not decided, they will never help Yuan Shao but will help the lord!"

"Although Yuan Yao is young, he is extremely resourceful, and his subordinates Pang Tong Liu Ye and others are also talented people, they will not fail to understand this truth, so the minister dares to assert that Yuan Yao will not unite with Yuan Shao!".

Cao Cao is also an unusual person, he was just in the bureau before, but now after listening to Guo Jia's words, he also reacted, and said with a smile: "Fengxiao really has insight into people's hearts, but if it's just like this, it's still a little unsafe, right?" Feng Xiao still has a good plan? ”

Guo Jia bowed his hand and said, "The one who knows me is also the lord!" Yuan Yao's matter is very important, Xu Du's safety and victory cannot be pinned on this point alone, and there are two strategies here to force Yuan Yao to make a decision immediately, to see whether he wants to help the lord or help Yuan Shao! ”