"Don't be in a hurry, listen to my orders." Hao Zhao hesitated.

After all, he is still young, and he has not followed Cao Cao for a long time, so he is not absolutely loyal to Cao Cao. If it is said that he is obedient to Yuan Xi for the sake of his family, Hao Zhao is acceptable in his heart. It's just that he was thoughtful, worried that Yuan Xi would pretend to surrender, but in fact lure him to come forward and besiege him again.

"Hao Zhao, I know that you are hiding here, I can turn you out sooner or later, you can't hide it, or take the initiative to surrender..." Yuan Xi carefully guarded the surroundings and launched a psychological offensive against Hao Zhao, who was hiding in the shadows.

Ma Chao, who was following behind Yuan Xi, snorted: "The lord doesn't need to shout, I don't think he will come out." Let the soldiers search it. ”

"Don't worry, we've already won, why wait a little longer? Give Hao Zhao some time to think, and also give us a chance to recruit Hao Zhao, although I also think it's impossible, but I still have to give it a try. Yuan Xi replied.

Hao Zhao and Jiang Wei are both generals who only appeared last year.

In terms of fame, Jiang Wei is stronger, but Hao Zhao is also rare, especially good at defending the city. Compared with the two, Yuan Xi likes Hao Zhao's talent even more, no matter where he is put and gives him tens of thousands of troops, he can hold the city steadily.

...........

In order to give Hao Zhao time to think, Yuan Xi asked the Xiliang army to occupy the school field and the city guard mansion first, and take over the city tower. Then all the buildings in the city were surrounded and put on standby.

After all this, it was already the middle of the night.

Hao Zhao sent someone to deliver a letter and handed it to Yuan Xi.

"Lord, what did Hao Zhao say in the letter? Is he willing to surrender? "In the city guard mansion, Yuan Xi and the Xiliang generals haven't slept yet, and they studied the road to Hebei overnight.

After reading the letter, Yuan Xi said, "Hao Zhao didn't agree, but he didn't refuse either. He asked me to take the Xiliang army and retreat to the north. I'll get back to you in fifteen days. ”

"Hehe... What a joke. Pang De said: "We are fortunate to have captured Chen Cang, so we left?" And give him the city? ”

"The point is, what does Hao Zhao mean by this?" Ma Dai Road.

Yuan Xi put away the letter, sat down and chuckled: "Hao Zhao is a smart person, he is worried that I will deliberately lead him out, so he will test me to see if I really care about him." ”

Ma Chao responded: "I understand... If the lord was tempting him, he would not risk withdrawing, but on the contrary, he would agree to his request because he cared about Hao Zhao. ”

"yes, that's right."

"The lord..."

Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "I really value Hao Zhao very much, and I hope he can work for me." Isn't it just to return Chen Cang to him, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Meng Qi, early tomorrow morning, we will withdraw to Wuzhangyuan. Stay there for fifteen days, waiting for Hao Zhao's last feeling. ”

"Gojogahara? Are we going east? ”

"Well, three hundred miles to the east, it's not far from Chang'an, I'm just going to see Jiang Wei..." Yuan Xi remembered Yuan Wolf who went to Chang'an to kidnap Jiang Wei, and he didn't know what the situation was.

Yuan Xi was not only worried that Yuan Wolf was not strong enough and was killed by Jiang Wei, but also worried that Yuan Wolf was ruthless and attacked in secret, injuring Jiang Wei.

No matter who is injured, Yuan Xi can't bear it.

Ma Chao responded: "Okay, the last general will give an order early tomorrow morning to pull out the camp and march east." ”

"It's just... Will Hao Zhao really fall? Pound asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try. If he breaks his promise, it will be regarded as a favor for him, I believe... It's a long time coming, and I'll have a chance to catch him in the future. ”

Yuan Xi wrote a letter and sent it to Hao Zhao, expressing his agreement to his request. Then, according to the terrain of Xiliang and the deployment of Cao's army in the Chang'an area, Yuan Xi worked out a route for retreating north.

Ma Chao, Pang De, Ma Dai, etc., all did not understand the situation here and did not express their opinions. Yuan Xi said that he would retreat wherever he went.

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

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

Longxi City.

After Cao Cao's victory in Ji County, he was already cut off from grain and grass. He used the horses on the battlefield to make a large amount of dried meat as dry food for the soldiers to eat. A tragedy was avoided in which the army was broken up due to a lack of food and grass. Then he left half of his troops and scattered them to the counties of Xiliang to recover the city. The remaining half of the army, led by Cao Cao himself, regained Longxi City.

City.

Cao Cao walked on the street with Jia Xu and Sima Yi.

While appeasing the people, Cao Cao, Jia Xu, and Sima Yi said: "After this battle, we have also pacified Xiliang." This is a lot of your work, and without your plan, I would not have been able to win. ”

Jia Xu said: "The prime minister said that he was joking... It should be the prime minister's wisdom, we are just doing our best. ”

"Yes, yes..." Sima Yi also hurriedly agreed.

"How much work you have done, I know in my heart that when you return to Xuchang, you will definitely be rewarded. It's just that... I still have concerns in my heart, and I hope you can help me solve my doubts. ”

"Please make it clear."

Cao Cao stopped and said, "After Ma Chao's army is defeated, he will definitely go to Hebei and completely surrender to Yuan Xi." In the future, the Xiliang army will be Yuan Xi's, including the Qiang and Rong peoples. You know, they are the best at field warfare, cavalry warfare. And Yuan Xi has his back to the grassland, and he is not only a war horse, he can form tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry at any time, and the threat to us is incalculable. Therefore, I want Jiang Wei of Chang'an to send troops to set up a card to stop Ma Chao. We took advantage of the victory to pursue and besiege Ma Chao. It's just that... I'm worried about Yuan Xi again, his giant beast... Alas, if I anger him, will it affect my recovery of Xiliang? ”

Sima Yi smiled: "Actually... The prime minister has already thought very clearly, so why bother asking us? ”

"It's not a question, it's really hard for me to make up my mind." Cao Cao rarely showed cowardice in front of people, which should have been the first time Jia Xu and Sima Yi had encountered.

Sima Yi replied: "Although Ma Chao was defeated, there are still tens of thousands of troops. Coupled with Ma Dai, who was blocked in Chencang, the strength of the Xiliang Army did not weaken much. If the prime minister wants to stop Ma Chao, he has to defeat the Xiliang army. I beg your pardon... The Prime Minister's troops are too small to be achieved."

The minister agreed with Zhongda. It's better not to ask for trouble at this time. Jia Xu said: "Anyway, we have already obtained Xiliang, and our strength has increased greatly." Why pay an extra price in order to kill Ma Chao? At this time, we should rush back to Xuchang, redeploy the prefectures and counties, and find a way to solve Liu Bei in Yizhou. Prime Minister don't forget, Liu Bei has won Hanzhong, and he doesn't want to advance into the Central Plains all the time. Maybe it won't be long before he will have to use troops against us. And we have just experienced a major war, and there is a serious shortage of soldiers.... ”

Jia Xu said that the situation was very dangerous.

Cao Cao originally felt that his strength was good, but after listening to Jia Xu's analysis, he was a little flustered.

"Report..."

At this time, Zhang Liao ran over: "Prime Minister, there was a quick report just now, Ma Dai, who was blocked in Chencang, under the rescue of Yuan Xi and Ma Chao, had conquered Chencang and fled to the east yesterday. ”

"Where's Hao Zhao?" Sima Yi asked.

After Hao Zhao was defeated, he retreated to the city to fight in the streets. Yuan Xi was afraid of delaying time, so he didn't rush to kill them all. ”

"It's okay, it's okay..." Sima Yi breathed a long sigh of relief.