Xun You returned to Cao Ying and conveyed Yuan Xi's words....

If you want to negotiate peace, you must cede 14 districts of Hanoi!

Everyone didn't expect that Yuan Xi would be cheap and behaved, and in turn wanted to seize Cao Cao's city. Hanoi County belonged to Cao Cao long before the Battle of Guandu, and it was a nail rooted in Hebei, and its strategic position was extremely important.

Cao Cao has a heavy army in his hand, how can he give in?

"Yuan Xi, a madman, dared to deceive me for my lack of food and grass and forcibly extorted Hanoi County. Is it tolerable or unbearable! Did he really think that I would not dare to fight him? Cao Cao was furious.

"Xu Huang, Zhang Liao."

"Yes."

Cao Cao ordered: "With the two of you, lead 80,000 elite soldiers, return to Hanoi, and prepare to meet Yuan Xi." I will prepare food and grass and equipment for you immediately. ”

"No."

Xu Huang and Zhang Liao prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute." Guo Jia stopped them.

"On the advice of filial piety, I will never give up Hanoi County to Yuan Xi." Cao Cao said with certainty.

"I think that there are three difficulties in guarding Hanoi. On the one hand, our army was defeated in the baths, which caused the morale of the battalions to be demoralized, and it was not suitable for further fighting. The two will run out of food and grass, and it will be difficult to operate. Once Liyang is lost, Hanoi will be left alone, and it will be difficult to supply grain, grass and soldiers, so it will become a turtle in an urn. Sooner or later, it was captured by Yuan Xi. Three, we have sent people to inform Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and Zhang Yan that they will evacuate Jizhou immediately. At that time, Yuan Xi will have no worries and will mobilize more troops to fight against us. The situation is favorable to Yuan Xi, not to the prime minister.... Guo Jia told eloquently.

"Are you trying to persuade me to give up Hanoi County to Yuan Xi?" Cao Cao asked.

"Please think twice."

Guo Jia did not directly explain his intentions.

Cheng Yu said: "I don't agree with Feng Xiao's remarks. The 14 counties of Hanoi, located on the flank of Luoyang, can not only contain Yuan Xi and threaten Wei County, but also support Yuan Shang in the state to fight against Yuan Xi. It's so important to us. Yuan Xi asked for Hanoi County in preparation for the attack on Yuan Shang. He knew that the prime minister and Yuan Shang had formed an alliance, and if they attacked and annexed the state, Wei County would be in danger. It is the first to recover all the cities north of the dawn. Severed the connection between Yuan Shang and the prime minister. If the prime minister agrees to give up Hanoi, he dares to assert that within two years, the annexed state will be captured by Yuan Xi. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, you have to hold Hanoi! ”

"Humble duty is also the main battle!"

Xun Yu hugged his fist.

"Prime Minister, although Hanoi is very important, it is not easy to keep. As soon as the war starts, it will deplete our soldiers, horses, money and food. Don't forget Sun Ce in Jiangdong, Liu Bei in Xinye, and Ma Teng in Xiliang, they all want to take advantage of the fire to rob. When the results of the Battle of the Bath are spread, they will surely attract strong enemies. Cheng should take the division as soon as possible and deploy heavy troops to the Central Plains. It must not be a county in Hanoi and affect the overall situation. Guo Jia persuaded again.

In normal times, Cao Cao would not hesitate to listen to Guo Jia's opinion.

However, the defeat of the bath water lost tens of thousands of steps.

He also endured the pain and the humiliation of defeat and promised to withdraw from Hebei. Unexpectedly, Yuan Xi didn't know what to do, and he wanted to take his city in turn. He couldn't agree to it.

"What does the prime minister think?" Guo Jia asked.

"My mind has been decided, and I don't need to persuade Feng Xiao anymore." Cao Cao's face was resolute.

He beckoned to Xu Huang and Zhang Liao.

The two walked over.

Cao Cao said: "Hanoi is our base in Hebei, and there is no room for error. Especially at this time, it can't fall into Yuan Xi's hands. Otherwise, all the princes of the world can laugh crookedly. They will say, I Cao Cao can't steal chickens, and I will eat a handful of rice. The prestige of the court will fall, and the princes of all walks of life will pounce on us like hungry wolves and attack our cities. ”

"I hand over to you my best 80,000 soldiers, stationed in Hanoi and Dawn. Then there are more than 20,000 county soldiers under General Li Tong, which is enough for 100,000. You only need to hold out for two months, and I will force Yuan Xi to withdraw his troops. ”

"No."

The two answered.

......................

......................

Early April.

Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and Zhang Yan learned of Cao Cao's defeat, and they were afraid of attracting Yuan Xi's heavy troops, so they hurriedly withdrew from Jizhou.

Juyi recovered 19 counties in the plain.

Jiao Touch, the newly appointed governor of Youzhou, also mobilized heavy troops and recovered Zhuojun and Zhongshan.

Families, wealthy families, and ordinary people everywhere were looted and suffered heavy losses. Young men and women from dozens of counties were forcibly abducted, causing great resentment among the people.

Zhang Liao led 30,000 troops to garrison Liyang.

Xu Huang led 50,000 troops to garrison Hanoi.

Cao Cao's self-unified army then withdrew to the south of the Yellow River and camped in the area of Baimajin and Puyang, while mobilizing grain and grass to support the war in Hanoi and Liyang, and on the other hand, returning to the south of the Yangtze River to guard against Sun Ce's sneak attack.

Yuan Xi also did what he said, personally led 100,000 Jizhou troops to attack Liyang!

Zhang Liao fought desperately.

Xu Huang also led the army to help, but halfway through, he was ambushed by Gao Ran, lost more than half of his troops, and had no choice but to retreat to Hanoi.

Liyang is lost!

Yuan Xi got the Liyang moat, blocked the road, and transferred his troops to the west, and the Cao army in Hanoi County became a turtle in the urn, unable to advance or retreat, let alone get supplies from the Central Plains, and the grain and grass were cut off, which was extremely dangerous.

Cao Cao also realized his mistake ....

He adopted Guo Jia's advice and urgently ordered Xu Huang to abandon Hanoi and retreat to Ha Duong Jin.

Then take a boat from Heyangjin to Mengjin and rest in Luoyang.

Unexpectedly, when crossing the river, he encountered Yuan Xi's Titan Python, and all the warships and fishing boats were overturned and sank to the bottom of the river. The general Xu Huang was also seriously injured and floated back to Yanzhou along the river, almost dying.

Yuan Xi's 100,000 troops, all the way to the withered and decayed, like a bamboo, took only a month, occupied Liyang, Huaixian, Wenxian and other counties, and drove Cao's army out of Hebei.

The war is over.

Cao Cao sent an envoy Xun Yun to Wen County to read the edict of the Son of Heaven.

"Edict: Hussar General Yuan Xi, loyal and brave, with outstanding intelligence, specially named the general, the Marquis of Jicheng. Commander-in-Chief of the two states of Hebei, You, and 14 districts of Hanoi for military and civil affairs. ”

"Ahem..."

Yuan Xi did not kneel, but reached out and took the holy decree in his hand.

"Congratulations to the General." Xun Yun said with a smile.

"Congratulations to me for what? Congratulations to me for my success in the first battle and defeat Cao Cao? Yuan Xi put away the holy decree and sneered: "This holy decree is of no use to me. You go back and tell Cao Cao that his attack on my Jizhou is not over, and I will settle accounts with him sooner or later. ”

"Uh..." Xun Yun's face was ugly.

"Sending off guests." Yuan Xi turned his back.

Xun Yun was driven away.

Yan Liang leaned over and smiled: "Congratulations to the lord, the general of the honor." ”

"What is there to congratulate? It's just an empty decree. Yuan Xi didn't care.

"Could this also be Cao Cao's conspiracy?" Gao Ran asked.

"Not really. Cao Cao was frightened by us and urgently needed to recuperate, so he had to show favor to me, wanting to turn the war into a jade silk. I also received news that Sun Ce raised troops from Liyang and attacked Hefei. The troops of Hefei and Xuyang are all gathering in Huainan. At such a time, how could Cao Cao dare to have another incident? Yuan Xi said.