Cao Cao definitely has a reason to reprimand Cao Ren and Xiahoudun, but he is not in the mood now!

The successive defeats dealt too much damage to the morale of Cao's army. Originally, when Cao Ren got rid of it, Cao Cao thought that it was Liu Cong and Liu Bei who worked together to cause Cao Ren's defeat. The enemy Chinese Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang, Wu Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others, if the two work together, it is reasonable for Cao Ren to suffer.

It's just that he didn't expect that Cao Ren didn't see Liu Bei, Guan Yu, or even Liu Cong at all, and the vanguard of 30,000 people was inexplicably undiminished. Xiahoudun saw Liu Bei, and when he saw the victory that was about to go, it was Liu Cong who appeared and drove Xiahoudun away with an overwhelming advantage. If Xiahoudun hadn't run fast, he would have been in the enemy's prison at this moment.

What made Cao Cao depressed was the loss of 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, and several of the main generals didn't even see Liu Cong's face.

This had to make Cao Cao adjust his strategic thinking, originally thinking that his main enemy this time was Liu Bei, but he never thought that Liu Bei was better than a mouse, and ran away before they met. And that young Liu Cong is said to be waiting in Fancheng at the moment!

Cao Cao misses Guo Jia and Jia Xu even more at this time, if the two of them follow Cao Ren and Xiahoudun respectively, why is this so?

Of course, Cao Cao has not yet reached the point of despair, after all, his superior forces are still there, and the biggest enemy locked before the war According to Xiahou Dun, he is now afraid that there are only some remnants of the defeated army, and Liu Cong is free to tie up and clean up.

After Cao Ren's temptation, Liu Cong's troops also had a general understanding of their field strength.

After a day's rest in place, Cao's army still advanced to Xiangyang according to the established route.

This time, more than 100,000 troops acted together, the front army was Zhang Liao and Li Dian, the left army was Yu Ban and Xiahou Yuan, the right army was Lejin, Cao Cao led the Chinese army slowly, and Cheng Yu and Liu Ye were responsible for escorting grain and grass.

The entire team, in addition to the main force of about 100,000 fighters, also has nearly 50,000 people.

Although Cao Cao seemed very calm, the morale of Cao's army was the lowest since Cao Cao raised his army, including Xu Zhu, Cao Ren and others who were with Cao Cao were not optimistic about the outcome of this battle.

And more soldiers remembered Kong Rong and Kong Wenju's words to dissuade Cao Cao before he died.

The sky is unpredictable. Just when Cao Jun slowly came to Xinye City, it was pouring rain in the sky, and it rained intermittently for most of the day, which could be regarded as a meeting gift to Cao Cao.

The northern soldiers, who were not accustomed to the southern climate, finally began to see the power of water, but fortunately, the large army soon entered Shinno Castle, and if they were allowed to stay in the low-lying places on both sides of the White River, they were afraid that they would go crazy.

In this way, it was impossible for Cao Cao to go on an expedition immediately.

As soon as the Chinese army entered Xinye, Cao Cao immediately convened a military meeting, and Cao Ren and Xiahoudun were asked to recount in detail the circumstances of the initial ambush, and the military advisor Xun You shook his head as he listened.

The two generals were all harmed by Cao Cao, repeatedly emphasizing Liu Bei and Liu Bei, but they forgot to guard against Liu Cong. After Liu Bei ran away for the first time, the two generals gave up their due vigilance.

"Gongda, Liu Cong'er is sticking to Fancheng, what is your best plan?"

"Prime Minister, our army's morale is low now, and with the frequent rain recently, it is not suitable for a quick battle. Jingzhou has few soldiers, although they took a lot of advantage in the previous time, I believe that if they are smart, they will not dare to rush out of the city. Our army can send envoys to Xiangyang and secretly stir up those wealthy families in Xiangyang to help our army. If not, we will ...... after our army breaks through the city."

This Xun You is also very black, and after Liu Cong and the Xiangyang clan are not in harmony, he became one of the attack points after he got it.

Cao Cao also nodded again and again after hearing this, the continuous rain is indeed not suitable for attacking the city, it is better to temporarily rest in Xinye, and at the same time send people to Fancheng and Xiangyang to incite the residents in the city.

"Who's better to send?" Cao Cao looked at Xun You, and then at the civil officials, this envoy was nominally a negotiation envoy, but more responsibility was to incite the people of Jingzhou and divide the civil and military officials of Jingzhou, so the intellectual and political ability was relatively demanding.

"Lord, I am willing to go!"

"I'm willing to go!"

Cao Cao saw that it was Dong Zhao and Cheng Yu, and then laughed: "Gongren and Zhongde are going, this plan will be successful!" ”

Indeed, I have to say that Cao Cao's advisers are indeed numerous, Guo Jia, who died of illness in Wuhuan in the Northern Expedition, Jia Xu, who was assassinated by Liu Cong, and Xi Zhicai, who died a few years ago, and now Xun Yu who stayed in Xuchang, and Xun You, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye, Dong Zhao and others who accompanied the army.

Let's just say that this Dong Zhao, the original Shi Yuan Shao, has a lot of merit, left because of slander, became Zhang Yang's adviser, and then followed Zhang Yang to meet Emperor Han Xian, and was worshiped as a speaker. Dong Zhao suggested that Cao Cao move Emperor Xian of Han to Xuchang, and from then on he became Cao Cao's advisor and was deeply trusted by Cao Cao. Later, at the suggestion of Dong Zhao, Cao Cao added Jiuxi and became the Duke of Wei and the King of Wei. During the reign of Cao Pi and Cao Rong, Dong Zhao also had many plans, and the official was Situ.

The identity of the Son of Heaven as a participant in the order of the princes is enough to prove that Dong Zhao is talented, and when Emperor Han Xian arrived in Luoyang, Han Xian, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng and others were at odds and fought for power with each other. Dong Zhao faked a letter from Cao Cao to win over Yang Feng, Yang Feng was very happy, and persuaded the generals to jointly seal Cao Cao as the general of Zhendong, and Dong Zhao was promoted to Fu Jieling. Soon, Cao Cao came to see Emperor Han Xian and asked Dong Zhao for advice, Dong Zhao suggested that Cao Cao move Emperor Han Xian, and Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Han Xian to Xuchang according to the plan. Yang Feng and others were dissatisfied and sent troops to stop them, but they were defeated and took refuge in Yuan Shu.

Dong Zhao's specialty is to attract talents, and in 198, Dong Zhao was promoted to Henan Yin. At this time, Zhang Yang was killed by his subordinates, and Cao Cao sent Dong Zhao to win over Zhang Yang's remnants, and Dong Zhao successfully completed the task and was promoted to Jizhou Mu. In 204, Cao Cao pacified Jizhou and besieged Yecheng, and Dong Zhao wrote a letter to persuade the Yecheng defender Chunqing to surrender. After the pacification of Yecheng, Dong Zhao was appointed as a counselor.

In 207, Cao Cao went on an expedition to Wuhuan, and it was difficult to transport grain, so at the suggestion of Dong Zhao, he dug the two canals of Pinglu and Quanzhou to enter the sea for transportation, and solved the problem of transporting grain. Cao Cao named Dong Zhao as the Marquis of Qianqiu Pavilion on the table, and turned to worship the air force sacrificial wine. Dong Zhao suggested reinstating the fifth-class title and lobbied the ministers to suggest adding nine tins to Cao Cao. Later, Cao Cao accepted the titles of Duke of Wei and King of Wei, all of which were created by Dong Zhao.

Such a talent went to Xiangyang or Fancheng, and Cao Cao was very confident. And Cheng Yu is even more wise, when Cao Cao captured Xuzhou, he persuaded Cao Cao to kill Liu Bei to prevent future troubles. Cao Cao didn't listen, and then sent Liu Bei to Xuzhou to intercept Yuan Shu, Cheng Yu and Guo Jia said to Cao Cao: "If the prince didn't get rid of Liu Bei the day before yesterday, and now he uses it as a soldier, he will definitely have different intentions." Cao Cao regretted it, but he couldn't catch up. Sure enough, after Yuan Shu died of illness, Liu Bei went to Xuzhou, killed Che Guan, and raised troops to oppose Cao Cao.

"Gongren, you go to Fancheng, Zhongde, you go to Xiangyang, you must disturb the people of Jingzhou and the civil and military officials!"

"Yes!" The two gladly accepted the order, and these strategists did have great combat effectiveness, and often boasted of winning thousands of troops. If according to Xun You's strategy, if the two of them successfully complete the task, they are indeed better than thousands of troops.

Soon, Cheng Yu was promoted to General Zhenwei. At that time, Yuan Shao would move his troops to the south in Liyang, but Cheng Yu only had 700 soldiers to guard Juancheng, Cao Cao knew that it was critical, and ordered someone to tell Cheng Yu that he wanted to add 2,000 troops to Juancheng to help defend it. Cheng Yu refused to accept it and said: "Yuan Shao has 100,000 soldiers, and he thinks he is invincible. If he saw that Yu led few troops, he would not dare to attack easily. But if I increase my soldiers, I must attack too much, and if I want to attack them, I will only lose both sides. May the Lord not doubt! Cao Cao followed. Yuan Shao heard that Cheng Yu had few soldiers, so he really didn't dare to enter the army. When Cao Cao heard about it, he said to Jia Xu: "Cheng Yu's courage is too good and nurturing. ”

Cao Cao saw that his morale was low now, and it was good to attack and win easily, but if he was defeated again, his morale would definitely plummet, so for the sake of prudence, Cao Cao decided to send two strategists to the enemy camp to test the temptation!

This also gave Liu Cong plenty of time to prepare, and a large number of arrows and modified leather armor were made every day, while Zhuge Liang and Li Yan began to recruit new soldiers in Xiangyang and Jiangling City respectively to prevent accidents.

Wenpin mobilized nearly 20,000 Fancheng residents as volunteer soldiers, responsible for carrying weapons, food and grass.

Everything was ready, and the soldiers and civilians of Fancheng entered a state of imminent battle from the first day that Cao's army arrived in Xinye.