Cao Cao sat on horseback and looked back to the south.

There was silence in the heavens and the earth, only the dust raised by the army after the march drifted in the wind for a long time. Not to mention the pursuers, not even a scout.

Sun Jian had already rushed to Xinye and was in pursuit, but he was very cautious and did not have the slightest opportunity to take advantage of. There was a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, and in the case that Sun Jian had no flaws, Cao Cao did not dare to face the enemy head-on, so he could only retreat and continue to wait for the appearance of fighters.

The night attack outside Xinye City was a great victory, and the looted grain and grass relieved Cao Cao's urgent need, but nothing more. After a long time, he will still run out of food. Xu You said that he could say that the heroes of Nanyang would send troops and food, but Cao Cao did not dare to pin all his hopes on Xu You. The Nanyang family is proud and conceited, if Yuan Shao comes, they may contribute, he Cao Cao comes, those people may not take him seriously.

"Let's go." Cao Cao turned his horse's head and chased after the army.

Cao Ang and Cao Anmin rode their horses to follow, silent all the way. The attack on Shinno failed, and the morale brought by the great victory a few days ago has been exhausted, the future is uncertain, life and death are unpredictable, and no one can be happy.

Seeing that his nephew was not in a high mood, Cao Cao laughed and raised his horsewhip. "What's wrong, I'm depressed, could it be because I didn't take Xinye?"

"Don't dare." Cao Anmin laughed wryly.

"Father, where are we going?" Cao Ang said timidly.

"Zixiu, raise your head." Cao Cao reached out and patted Cao Ang's shoulder. "Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and you should not be burdened by the momentary victory or defeat. You can't give up at any time. As the saying goes, the three armies can win the commandery, but the horseman cannot win the ambition. How can there be any victorious generals in the world, Sun Tzu fought Chu back then, and it seemed that he had won a hundred battles, and in the end, he also withdrew to Wu State. Wu Qi claims to be undefeated, but he is only undefeated, and he is not sure to win every battle. ”

Cao Ang nodded and straightened his waist.

Cao Cao laughed twice. "Besides, it's not that I can't capture Shinno, it's just that I don't want to capture Shinno."

Cao Ang was puzzled. "Why?"

"If Xinye is breached, what should I do with Yuan Highway? Kill him, or send him to the Alliance Leader and leave him at his disposal? ”

"Then you ......"

"Our task is to relieve the siege of Xiangyang and capture Nanyang. Xiangyang has been lost, so it can only retreat to the next best. I besieged Xinye to trap Yuan Highway, buy time for Xu Ziyuan, and pin my hopes on what happened. If you can take Wancheng, you will have a chance to take a breath and take Nanyang again. ”

Cao Ang looked at Cao Cao in surprise before he sighed. "Father, I'm stupid and can't share my father's worries."

"It's not that you're stupid, it's that you're too kind." Cao Cao also sighed. "I am very happy for you that you practice the teachings of the saints and have loyalty and filial piety, but the heart of the people is sinister and the world is difficult, if you do not have the heart to guard against others, it is inevitable that people will be mistaken. Xu Ziyuan is indeed resourceful, but he is too conceited, thinking that Yuan Benchu is more important to him than ordinary people, and he is willful, and he wants to make a great contribution, but he doesn't know the trickiness of this mission. Or maybe he knew, but he wasn't convinced, and he had to show those people what he was capable of. ”

Cao Ang and Cao Anmin listened and nodded in unison. Cao Ang thought for a moment, and then said, "Father, what should we do now?" ”

"Continue north. If Xu Ziyuan has already taken Wancheng, we will enter Wancheng. If not...... Cao Cao paused and looked up into the distance. "We left Wancheng and returned to Dong County via Ye County. Yuan Shu already has Xiangyang, and he will inevitably send troops to Yuzhou next, and we must leave as soon as possible to avoid his troops. ”

Cao Anmin asked, "Why don't we go to Yuzhou?" ”

Cao Cao didn't answer, but looked at Cao Ang. Cao Ang was a little nervous, but he was encouraged by Cao Cao's warm gaze, thought for a moment, and said, "Father, Lord Yuan doesn't want his father to become the state general of his own state, right?" ”

Cao Cao smiled, but with a bitter smile. Yuan Shao would rather let Zhou Yu do the assassination history of Yuzhou than let him come, for no other reason, Yuzhou is the capital of the Yuan family, and he is just a descendant of a eunuch. It's like a brand that has been seared on him from the day he was born and can never be erased.

"Let's go, go to Wancheng."

——

Thanks to the water, a large amount of money, grain, and baggage were loaded onto the ship and transported by water, and Sun Ce was able to catch up with Sun Jian, and after exchanging the mutual situation with Zhou Yu, he was very satisfied with Zhou Yu's appearance in front of Yuan Shu. He inquired in detail about Yuan Shu and the others' reactions, and he had some ideas in his heart, and couldn't help but sigh secretly.

The eyes of the masses are bright, and Yuan Shu is indeed not a heroic lord worthy of service. What he does is not at all like a child of a family, he is a street gangster, short-sighted and has no city government, and he can only talk with brains. If he has self-knowledge and gives Yuan Shao a supporting role with peace of mind, the Yuan family may really win the world. But he obviously didn't have the ability to be the boss, so he had to compete with Yuan Shao for the position of the boss, forcing Yuan Shao to rely on Cao Cao, who was good at using soldiers. Thinking about the interaction between him and Lu Bu later, it was really half a catty and eight taels, a pair of living treasures.

They are the monster for Cao Cao to upgrade, but now, this monster is mine, Cao Cao don't think about it.

"Then is he still on Haoqiang's side now?"

Zhou Yu smiled. "I've said everything I need to say, and I don't know the situation in Wancheng yet. If Wancheng changes, with his temper, he will definitely go on a killing spree, and no one will mention your incident in Xiangyang. But ......" Zhou Yu thought for a moment. "I'm afraid that those meat-eaters don't have the guts. If they hadn't rebelled, we would have been a bit of a disgrace and would have wanted to make a name for ourselves. ”

"There is no one in the world who wants everything to do, do your best." Sun Ce could see it and waved his hand. "Even if he wants to appoint someone else to guard Xiangyang, it's okay, almost all the money and property of the Xiangyang family have been looted by me, and he can't slow it down in a few years, he can't get anything, it's really urgent, and it's not a bad thing to kill someone. As for the Cai family, he couldn't take it away if he wanted to. ”

Zhou Yu stared at Sun Ce for a while. "Are you so sure?"

"Huang Chengyan can't even look down on Liu Biao, will he look down on Yuan Shu?"

"Bo Fu, be cautious in your words and deeds. It's so easy to fool around last time, so don't make trouble anymore. Now if you look down and don't see what you look up, you will fall off if you don't pay attention. The latter general is a man of bad spirits, and he cares most about face. You call him by his name and provoke him plainly, it's not worth it. ”

Sun Ce nodded. "Okay, I remember."

Zhou Yu was very satisfied with Sun Ce's attitude of following the advice and correcting his mistakes. "Bo Fu, if Wancheng does not change, Cao Cao is likely to speed up his retreat, and if we want to intercept him before he leaves Nanyang, we must speed up the march. I'm worried that the baggage can't keep up, and Cao Cao has a chance to escape. ”

"What are your plans?"

"It's time to contact the two generals Cheng Wu."

Sun Ce touched his head, waking up like a dream. "Look at me, I've been so busy these two days that I've forgotten about them."

"You forgot, the general didn't forget." Zhou Yu smiled slightly. "General Hou is worried about Wancheng and wants to rely on the general to fight. However, he also knew the importance of Yuzhou, and wanted the general to take office as soon as possible and control Yuzhou in his hands. The general's meaning is that we will take the first step, unite the two generals Cheng and Wu, and seize Yuzhou with the help of the power of the Yellow Turban in Runan. However, in order to get the consent of the general, we must first give up something. ”

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