Cao Cao and the generals came to Chun Yuqiong, and asked Chun Yuqiong with a smile: "I think you and I were the eighth lieutenant of the West Garden, and you are in such a state now, why did you fall into such a situation?" ”

Chun Yuqiong was bound and knelt on the ground, tilted his head over and replied: "Today's victory or defeat is determined by heaven, ask me what to do?" ”

Cao Cao had Chun Yuqiong's nose cut off, beheaded all the more than 1,000 Yuan troops who were unwilling to surrender, cut off the noses of all of them, and sent them to the Yuan army along with the tongues of cattle and horses, and the Yuan soldiers were shocked.

Cao Cao wanted to leave Chun Yuqiong's life alive and exchange Sun Ce with Yuan Shao. Xu You advised: "Sun Ce is not a person who has lived under the people for a long time, and his defection to Yuan Shao is also to recapture Jiangdong Er." Today, Cao Gong will not kill Chun Yuqiong, and when he looks in the mirror in the future, he will not forget today's shame and will repay him with hatred. ”

After listening to Xu You's words, Cao Cao ordered someone to drag Chun Yuqiong out of the camp gate and behead him, and he no longer cared about Sun Ce's affairs.

Cao Cao ordered Xun Yu to quickly transport grain to Guandu to solve the urgent need. And Yuan Shao's army grain and grass were all hoarded in Wuchao, Wuchao was burned, Yuan Shao's hundreds of thousands of troops had no food for several days, and countless soldiers starved to death.

Xu You, Zhang He, and Gao Ran knew Yuan Jundi in detail, and Yuan Shao lost the grain and grass of Wuchao, and the army was panicked. Xu You persuaded Cao Cao: "Today, the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Yuan army have no food, and Cao Gong should march quickly, then the Yuan army will collapse without a fight." ”

Zhang He and Gao Lanqi stepped forward and bowed: "The two of us are willing to be the vanguard and guide the way for the Cao Gong army." ”

Cao Cao listened to their advice and ordered Zhang He and Gao Ran to lead troops to rob Yuan Shaojun's Dazhai. At the third watch of the night, Zhang He led Zhang Xiu, Cao Hong, Xu Chu and other generals, Gao Ran led Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Le Jin, and Cao Cao introduced Dian Wei, Yu Ban, Xian Yufu and other generals from the middle road and went out to rob the village three ways.

The night patrol soldiers under Yan Liang and Wen Chou found out, and Yuan Shao hurriedly urged all departments to organize a counterattack. Han Meng had just put on his battle armor and was about to go out of the camp to meet the enemy, but he saw Lu Buce's red rabbit horse galloping over, raising Fang Tian's halberd and rushing towards Han Meng, Han Meng dodged twice and was stabbed to death by Lu Bu's halberd.

Yan Liang, Zhang Nan and others will arrive, Lu Bu and Gao Lan, Zhang Liao led the troops to attack all the way, melee to Ming, Yan Liang was severely injured by Lu Bu, Zhang Nan and others will be killed. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao each collected their troops, Yuan Shao counted the casualties, and the sergeants lost most of them. Most of them took advantage of the chaos to escape, Yuan Shao had no food, and he was bound to lose, so there was no need for them to work for him anymore.

It's just that Yuan Shao has nearly 100,000 horses in his hands, so Xun You proposed to Cao Cao: "Today, you can threaten to allocate people and horses, take sour dates all the way, and attack Ye County; Take Liyang all the way and cut off the return of Yuan Bing. When Yuan Shao heard this, he was bound to be frightened and divided his troops to reject me; If I take advantage of his troops to attack it, Yuan Shao can break it. ”

Cao Cao adopted Xun You's strategy, so that the whole army threatened from afar that Cao's soldiers would win a great victory and would inevitably take the opportunity to seize Yuan Shao's territory.

After Yuan Shaojun heard the news, he came to the village to report and said: "Cao Cao divided his troops into two routes, all the way to Yejun and all the way to Liyang. ”

Yuan Shao was shocked, and Guo Tu hurriedly said: "Cao Cao's move is intended to take me Jizhou and cut off my retreat. Now our army has lost food and grass, and if the retreat is broken again, our army will collapse without a fight. Please send troops back as soon as possible! ”

Frustrated and dissuaded, "No, my lord. Cao Cao induced me to divide my troops, and when the lord divided the army, he would raise a large army to attack him. ”

Yuan Shao scolded angrily: "Do you also secretly communicate with Cao Cao? If you want to kill me, come and take it down for me! ”

Yan Liang and Wen Chou persuaded bitterly, but Yuan Shao did not listen. Before Yuan Shao raised an army to fight a decisive battle with Cao Cao, Tian Feng suggested that the plan should be delayed, Tian Feng just committed it, and his words angered Yuan Shao, and he was locked up in Yecheng by Yuan Shao.

Now that he was imprisoned in the army by Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao only listened to Guo Tu's slander, and Yan Liang and Wen Chou really didn't know how to persevere.

Yuan Shao sent his eldest son Yuan Tan to divide 30,000 troops to save Ye County, and Xin Ming to divide 20,000 troops to save Liyang, and set off overnight. Cao Cao's army carefully explored Yuan Shao's troop transfer, so he divided into large groups of military horses, and went out in eight ways to Yuan Shao's camp.

Yuan's army had no fighting spirit, scattered in all directions, and was defeated by Cao Cao's army. Yuan Shao didn't have time to put on his armor, so he only wore a single scarf and fled. Zhang Liao, Xu Chu, Xu Huang, and Yu Ban led the army to chase Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao hurriedly crossed the river, discarded all the things such as books, chariots, and gold silks, and led only more than 800 personal guards cavalry to flee north. Cao Cao's army failed to catch up, and pulled back all the things that Yuan Shaojun had left behind with oxen horses.

In the first battle of Guandu, the Cao army annihilated and killed more than 80,000 Yuan troops, and the blood flowed so much that the water was dyed red, and countless people drowned before they had time to board the boat.

Cao Cao won a great victory and rewarded the soldiers with the gold and satin he had obtained. When he was counting the books, a large stack of letters was found inside, and Guo Jia said: "This must be the book of secret communication between Xu Du and the people in the army and Yuan Shao. ”

Cao Hong said: "You can match the names one by one, capture and kill." ”

Cao Cao sighed: "Yuan Shao is strong, and he can't protect himself, let alone others?" ”

Cao Cao then ordered someone to burn all the letters between these people and Yuan Shao, and no longer asked about it. Cao Cao's approach bought people's hearts and minds, and at the same time stabilized the rear.

Yuan Shao's troops were defeated and fled, and because he was imprisoned, he did not have time to cross the river, so he was captured by Cao's soldiers and captured to see Cao Cao. Cao Cao already admired Fu Zhu's talent very much, but Fu Zhu didn't want to surrender to Cao Cao, and shouted: "If you don't surrender!" ”

Cao Cao sighed: "There is no plan in the beginning, there is no need for the king's words, why is the king still obsessed and does not regret it?" If I had been reconciled earlier, the world would have been decided. ”

Cao Cao treated him favorably and kept him in the army. He stole a horse from the camp and wanted to return to Yuan Shao's tent. Cao Cao was furious, so he let Zhang Liao shoot Fu Zhu with an arrow. Cao Cao also lamented the loyalty of the frustrated grant, and ordered people to bury them with generous gifts and build a tomb to be buried at the crossing of the Yellow River.

Yuan Shao led more than 800 horsemen and fled to the north bank of Liyang, where the general Jiang Yiqu went out of the village to greet him. Yuan Shao told Jiang Yiqu what happened before. Jiang Yiqu was then ordered by Yuan Shao to recruit the scattered troops, and when everyone heard that Yuan Shao was there, they all attached themselves.

Yuan Shao's army reinvigorated, and Sun Ce said: "Yuan Gong still has the land of four states, but he can make a comeback. Now it is advisable to return to Jizhou, and the strategy should be supplemented with all its might. I only hope that Yuan Gong will not forget the appointment of the day. ”

Yuan Shao said: "Now I am defeated by Cao Cao, and Bo Fu will not abandon him, why not?" ”

Sun Ce clenched his fists and said: "Cao Cao has always loved other people's wives, and now my wife Qiao has fallen into his hands, and I am afraid that she has been taken by Cao Thief." I should think about revenge now, Cao Cao and Han Xuan are my enemies, and Yuan Gong is my ally. ”

Yuan Shao sneered: "Now you have no soldiers and no generals, dare to call me an ally? ”

Sun Ce said with a smile: "My brother Sun Quan is still in Wu County, and there are veterans such as Sun Jing, Quan Rou, and Han Dang. I can write a letter to my brother and ask him to encourage Han Xuan to attack Xu Du later, and Cao Cao will retreat. At that time, Yuan Gong only needed to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, recuperate, and when he was both defeated, Yuan Shao raised the troops of the four states to attack him, and the world could be decided! ”

When Yuan Shao heard Sun Ce say this, he immediately respected Sun Ce a little, so he bowed to him and said, "If Brother Ling can really encourage Han Xuan to send troops, I will be a guest of honor." ”

Yuan Shao then decided to return to Jizhou, and after two or three days in a row, Yuan Shaojun stayed overnight in the barren mountains. Yuan Shao heard crying from a distance in the tent, so he quietly listened.

It turned out that the defeated army got together, telling each other about the loss of their brother and brother, and the pain of abandoning their companions and relatives, each of them beat their chests and cried, and they all said: "If you listen to Tian Feng's words, how can we suffer from this disaster!" ”

Many of Yuan Shao's troops were temporarily recruited from various households, and each household had to produce more than two men, and now more than half of them were killed in battle. Yuan Shao returned to Jizhou and the people's hearts were lost, and the situation was reversed at once, Cao Cao turned from a disadvantage to an advantage, and Yuan Shao could only defend passively.

Yuan Shao returned to Jizhou, distraught and unable to serve. Yuan Shao regretted not listening to Tian Feng's advice, so he released Tian Feng and asked him how he responded to the current situation.

Tian Feng was grateful, thinking that Yuan Shao had finally learned from the pain, so he said: "Now the lord's army is newly defeated, and we must not fight again." Although I am in prison, I often listen to the jailers talk about the situation in the world. Liu Bei had hundreds of Cao troops in Runan, and Han Xuan wanted to send troops to attack Xudu for a long time, and the lord could make Cao Cao attack Han Xuan and Liu Bei in the world, so as to win a chance to breathe. ”

(End of chapter)