Cao Cao led his army back to Xudu.

Cao Ren, who guarded Xu Du, came to see Cao Cao.

Cao Ren said: "Liu Yu saw that the lord returned to Xudu, and he has returned to Guanzhong. ”

Cao Cao said angrily: "Liu Shimin despised the imperial court and helped Yuan Shao, he is a thief, and I will definitely crusade against him!" ”

He was very resentful that Liu Yu first sent Guan Yu to help him defeat Yuan Shao, and then sent troops eastward to Xu Du, forcing him to return from Hebei, giving Yuan Shao a chance to breathe.

Xun Yu persuaded and said: "Lord, Liu Yu sits in Guanzhong, there is a dangerous pass, it is not easy to attack, and it is still important to annex Hebei." ”

Cao Cao's intention to crusade against Liu Yu was firm, and he said: "If I don't attack Liu Yu, how can I annex Hebei with peace of mind?" ”

Xun You and Cheng Yu glanced at each other, knowing that Cao Cao had already made a decision, he would not change it, so he stopped speaking.

Five days later, Cao Cao raised 100,000 horse troops, 250,000 infantry troops, and a total of 350,000 troops to kill Bentong Pass and crusade against Liu Yu.

Liu Yu was not surprised at all when he learned that Cao Cao led his army to kill, although the army he placed in Tongguan was only 150,000, less than half of Cao's army, but the danger of Tongguan, he was not worried that Cao Cao could break through Tongguan.

When Cao Cao arrived with his army, Liu Yu confronted Cao Cao on the tower of Tongguan City.

Liu Yu asked loudly: "Why did Meng De attack me?" ”

Cao Cao was furious, what you Liu Yudu did just did before, and now you still have the face to ask him why he crusaded?

"Liu Shimin, I respect you as a hero, and I ask Your Majesty to make you 'Marquis of Qin' and let you rule Guanzhong and Liangzhou, but you help Yuan Shao, attack my Hongnong and Luoyang, rebel against the imperial court, and I will destroy you!"

Liu Yu sneered, Cao Cao had such a big face, saying that he rebelled against the court?

"Cao Mengde, I am a relative of the Han family, Your Majesty respects me as a 'imperial uncle', and who in the world does not know that you Cao Mengde is holding Your Majesty hostage, your Cao Mengde is called Han Xiang, but you are actually a Han thief, and you dare to call it 'Imperial Court'? The rebel against the court should be you Cao Mengde! Liu Yu scolded.

Cao Cao was furious, at this moment, he hated Liu Xie, the son of heaven, and the good puppet emperor didn't do it, but he took advantage of his unpreparedness to do such a thing, so that he lost his righteousness in front of the princes of the world, if there was no righteousness, what would he do with Liu Xie?

Of course, no matter what he thought in his heart, it was impossible for Cao Cao to really kill Liu Xie, the son of heaven of the Han Dynasty, even if it was only the nominal son of heaven, he could still borrow some of the righteousness of the imperial court.

Deeply feeling that he and Liu Yu continued to pull on, there was no result, Cao Cao didn't talk nonsense, drew his sword and pointed at it, and ordered angrily: "Siege the city, I want to step on the Guanzhong and kill Liu Yu and the thief!" ”

Cao's army began to storm the city.

Tongguan has Liu Yu personally in charge, there are 150,000 troops and many generals, Cao Cao does not pay the price of more than three or four times the number of casualties, it is impossible to break through Tongguan, and obviously Cao Cao does not have more than four times the force.

Cao Cao attacked for half a month, paid tens of thousands of casualties, and finally failed to break through Tongguan, and the army ran out of grain and grass, so Cao Cao had no choice but to suspend the siege and retreat back to Xudu.

A month passed quickly, and news came from Hebei that Yuan Shao had died of illness.

Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang brothers fought for the succession, and internal strife broke out, and Hebei was in chaos.

Xu You said to Cao Cao excitedly: "Prime Minister, this is a God-given opportunity, send troops to the Northern Expedition as soon as possible, sweep away Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang, and capture Hebei." ”

Of course, Cao Cao also knew that this was a godsend, but Liu Yu's heavy troops were eyeing Tongguan, and he was worried that once he sent his troops north, Liu Yu would attack Xudu in the east, and then he would have to retreat and return to defense, in vain.

Cheng Yu expressed Cao Cao's concerns: "Prime Minister, if he doesn't try to hold Liu Yu back, he will definitely not sit idly by and watch the Prime Minister capture Hebei." ”

There was silence.

Cao Cao gritted his teeth angrily and said: "I should attack Liu Yu again, I will break through Tongguan and kill him in the pass!" ”

Xun Yu persuaded him: "The prime minister can't, Tongguan is not easy to break." Moreover, Liu Yu has 3560,000 troops, which can not be destroyed overnight, and it will inevitably waste the opportunity of internal strife among the sons of Yuan Shao in Hebei. ”

Cao Cao sighed and asked, "So, what are your best plans?" ”

Xu You's eyes rolled, he had taken refuge from Yuan Shao, and naturally hoped that Cao Cao could capture Hebei as soon as possible, but he should also have more strategies to make Cao Cao pay more attention to him.

After thinking for a while, Xu You made up his mind: "Prime Minister, why don't you use Qiang and Di Erhu?" ”

Cao Cao suddenly perked up, Cheng Yu, Xun Yu, and Xun You were stunned for a moment, and they all laughed.

Cao Cao laughed and said: "Yes, yes, the Hu people are fierce and insatiable, Liu Yu defeated the Huns last year, and led Qiang and Erhu to be jealous, I should try to make Erhu turn his back on Liu Yu and contain Liu Yu in the name of the imperial court." ”

Everyone planned and agreed on a strategy.

……

Guanzhong Chang'an City.

After learning of Yuan Shao's death, the three Yuan brothers were infighting, and Liu Yu scolded again: "What a bunch of muddy things that can't be built on the wall!" ”

Jia Xu said: "Lord, Cao Cao will not let go of such a good opportunity, and will send troops to Hebei again." ”

Liu Yu nodded, but he sneered: "Of course Cao Cao will not let go of such a good opportunity, but he is also deeply jealous of my heavy troops stationed in Tongguan, and is worried that once he sends troops to Hebei, I will also go east again to threaten Xu Du, but I don't know how he will plan." ”

Soon Liu Yu knew.

"Report, lord, the Di people are making trouble in Jincheng County, and the Qiang people have broken through Wudu County and killed General Yang Yan." The sergeant came to report.

Liu Yu was furious: "Damn it, dare to oppose me!" ”

If it is not my race, its heart will be different, Liu Yu has never believed in the Hu people, and since he destroyed the Huns, Liu Yu is also ready to destroy Qiang and Di Erhu sooner or later, but he didn't expect that Qiang and Di Erhu would choose to oppose him at this time, which caught him off guard.

Guo Jia concluded: "This must be Cao Cao's handiwork, otherwise the erhu would not be so accurate." In any case, it is imperative to pacify Qiang and Di Erhu, and I am afraid that Cao Cao will take this opportunity to annex Hebei. At that time, Cao Cao's power will be greatly expanded, which is not good for the eldest brother. ”

Liu Yu nodded, but he was not panicked in his heart, once Cao Cao captured Hebei, the power would become extremely strong, but he had Tongguan Tianqian to defend, and it was easy to resist Cao Cao to hold the Guanzhong, and he had a plan earlier, when Cao Cao captured Hebei and his power skyrocketed, he besieged Cao Cao with Sun Quan and Liu Bei, and let Cao Cao know that even if he annexed Yuan Shao and became the strongest prince in the world, in the face of the siege, he should also know why the flowers are so red.

"It is imperative to pacify Qiang and Erhu, and when the Erhu is pacified, Fang will really have no worries and be able to fight Cao Cao with all his might."

Three days later.

In order to pacify Qiang and Di Erhu and recover Wudu County, Liu Yu took Guan Yu and Ma Chao as generals and Jia Xu as military advisors, commanding 150,000 troops to attack the Qiang people, with Zhao Yun and Lu Bu as generals and Chen Gong as military divisions, and commanding 80,000 troops to attack the Di people.

……