At the end of July, outside the city of Xiapi, Xuzhou.

At sunset, Cao Cao stood outside the tent, looking at Xiapi City standing in front of him, his expression was very calm. More than half a month has passed since arriving at Xiapi City, during which Cao Cao's army launched several fierce attacks, but still failed to shake the city defense of Xiapi City. However, Cao Cao did not have any anxiety, because the current situation was under his control.

"With the current situation, I'm afraid it won't be long before the wealthy families in the city will begin to waver, and as long as there are forces from all over Xuzhou to defect, there will be chaos in Xiapi City without a fight! At that time, even if Tao Qian has the ability to reach the sky, he will not be able to return to the sky! Cao Cao stared at Xiapi City, thinking in his heart.

"And as long as you take Xiapi, the whole Xuzhou will inevitably fall to the wind! At that time, I will have Yanzhou, Xuzhou and several counties in Yuzhou. At that time, even if the generals under his command are still not as numerous as Zikang, their strength is enough to surpass Ben Chu and Na Yuan Shu. At that time, Jin, you can attack Chang'an with Zikang, hoe the traitorous Wang Kuangfu Han room. Retreat, you can also ......" With his thoughts, the flame called ambition in Cao Cao's heart became more and more vigorous.

"My lord."

Just when Cao Cao was thinking about it, a voice came from behind him, and without looking back, Cao Cao could hear that it was Xun Yue's voice. And at this time, only Xun Yue dares to disturb himself.

"How? Is there a reply from Guangling? Cao Cao didn't look back, still staring at Xiapi City in front of him, as if he wanted to see through this fortified city.

"Back to the lord, there is no response from Zhang Fujun's side, calculate the time, I'm afraid it will be ......" Xun Yue shook his head and said, with a hint of incomprehension in his expression.

And Xun Yue is also incomprehensible Cao Cao, "Even if I am surrounded by troops now, plus Meng Zhuo and my letter persuasion, can't I impress him?" Cao Cao muttered in a strange tone, "This Zhang Zhongyue is really elusive, his brother worked under me, and when he fought against Dong Zhuo with me in the past, the relationship was reasonable, why didn't he help me at such a time?" ”

"The lord is not worried, at least according to the intelligence, there is no sign of any troop movement on the Guangling side. Come to think of it, Zhang Fujun just wants to wait for the lord to take Xuzhou, and then serve the lord justifiably, right? Hearing Cao Cao's muttering, Xun Yue comforted him.

"Hehe, maybe he originally wanted to agree, but after hearing that I slaughtered Tancheng......" Cao Cao suddenly laughed at himself after hearing Xun Yue's words. Then, without waiting for Xun Yue to speak, he continued to ask, "Is there any news from Yanzhou?" How did Gongda and others react to this? ”

Hearing this, Xun Yue suddenly showed a hesitant look, but he still replied quickly, "Lord, according to the news that came back, all parts of Yanzhou have reacted very much to the matter of Tancheng, and many scholars and hermits in the opposition have ...... In addition, there was some commotion among the local people, but Gongda, Zhongde and others did not have any abnormalities about this. However, the relatives of the lord such as the lord of Xiahou Mansion have expressed their support for the lord......"

"Really?" Cao Cao muttered when he heard this, his tone and expression were very indifferent, and he didn't seem to be surprised by this result.

Seeing this, Xun Yue said respectfully, "My lord, my subordinates think that they should pass an order to Xiahou Mansion and let them control the speech in various parts of Yanzhou. After all, if this kind of remarks continue to spread, it will definitely have a huge blow to the prestige of the lord. Moreover, it is easy to be exploited by people with ulterior motives. ”

"No need, the public station will take care of all this." Cao Cao waved his hand and said, although Chen Gong has fought fiercely with the Yingchuan faction led by Xun You over the years, Cao Cao has never doubted Chen Gong's loyalty. After all, strictly speaking, Chen Gong is not only his first staff military advisor, Cao Cao can have everything today, and Chen Gong is also the undisputed greatest hero.

Hearing Cao Cao's words, Xun Yue didn't say much, Xun Yue was very clear about the status of Chen Gong in Cao Cao's heart. So even if Xun Yu and Chen Gong disagree and have many arguments in many cases, their attitude is still very respectful in ordinary times.

Well...... I don't know what Chen Gong would have if he knew what the two of them were thinking?

The two of them stood outside the camp silently and looked at Xiapi City, and they didn't know how long it took, Cao Cao suddenly asked in a flat tone, "Zhongyu, you said that I slaughtered Tancheng, is it right or wrong?" ”

"This ......" Xun Yue heard this, and didn't know how to answer for a while. After a long while, Xun Yue said respectfully, "Although the matter of the lord slaughtering Tan City sounds a little ...... However, after the breakthrough of Tancheng, almost all the cities along the way surrendered without a fight. In this way, it also reduces the number of killings and sacrifices......"

"And as the lord said, this practice has greatly shaken the fighting spirit of all parts of Xuzhou, and even in Xiapi City, if it weren't for Tao Qian's continuous morale, I'm afraid it would be difficult to resist such a long time." Xun Yue said in the end, and couldn't help but sigh, "And if we don't do this, I'm afraid our army is likely to repeat the mistakes of last year, and when the food is exhausted, we won't even see the shadow of Picheng......

"Haha, Zhong Yu can speak. But killing is killing, but I, Cao Mengde, am not afraid of such a murderous name! Cao Cao laughed when he heard this.

"The Dong thief in the past, the horse thief today, which one is not cruel and unreasonable, and has done all the things that people and gods are angry about? But in the end? Dong Thief died at the hands of his own people, although the horse thief was in Chang'an by Zikang's soldiers, and there was only one way to be defeated, but after all, he forced Zikang to withdraw by shameless and cruel means. Look at that Liu Bo'an, who practiced good governance in Youzhou, but in the end he was also killed by that Gongsun Zhan......" Cao Cao said in a rather emotional tone, "So, I can see it, whether you want to be a supreme minister or support the Han family, or guard the place to protect the people, you must first have strong strength, enough to be proud of the strength of the world!" ”

"I'd rather be a loser! No one will fail me! Instead of sticking to Yanzhou and drifting between many forces, it is better to take the initiative to attack and strengthen yourself while other forces have no time to take care of others! Slaughtering the city or anything else, as long as you can achieve this goal as soon as possible, reputation or something, don't do it! Cao Cao said loudly, with a hint of inexplicable fanaticism in his tone.

"Lord......" Xun Yue muttered when she heard this, wanting to say something, but she didn't know what to say. He knew the meaning of Cao Cao's last words, because all along, Cao Cao's identity as a eunuch would always be talked about and even attacked by those scholars who pretended to be high-minded, just like Bian Rang, who was killed by Cao Cao before.

Is Cao Cao bad for them? Naturally good! Since becoming the pastor of Yanzhou, Cao Cao has been constantly wooing those wealthy families in Yanzhou. But the result? Among Cao Cao's subordinates, there are more of Cao Cao's relatives and Yingchuan or Yuzhou people! And what about those wealthy families in Yanzhou? Most of them were cursing Cao Cao for not reusing them, and at the same time making a big fuss about Cao Cao's background and the things that followed Yuan Shao and Li Yi in the past.

While the two were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the north, and when they looked at the sound, they saw a cavalryman moving quickly towards him. After a short time, the cavalry came not far from the two of them, only to see him turn over and run over quickly, and said loudly, "General, there are about 5,000 troops in the north, and they are rapidly approaching this place, and it is expected that they will arrive here in less than half an hour." ”

"Huh?" Hearing this, Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "Can you find out whose troops it is?" ”

"Please atone for the general, the villain only saw that the flag of that unit had the word Taishi written on it." The soldier said respectfully.

"Taishi? If you come from the north, it is ......" When Cao Cao heard this, a trace of bad feelings suddenly surfaced in his heart, because in his cognition, there was only one general in the north with this surname. Just immediately, Cao Cao shook his head and said, "No! It can't be him, it could be the troops under the command of Zang Ba, right? ”

"Probably not, if Zang Ba really plans to intervene, whether it is to help the lord or rejoin Tao Qian's command, this is not a good time." Xun Yue stroked his beard and said, with a hint of solemnity in his expression, obviously he also guessed that one possibility.

"Yes, with that Zang Ba's cunning, even if he plans to participate in the war, it must be when Tao Qian and I are both defeated......" Cao Cao echoed casually, but when he said this, he was so absent-minded. Obviously, although Cao Cao said Zang Ba, he was already thinking about the worst result in his heart.

After thinking about it, Cao Cao said in a deep voice, "Spread the wonderful talent." ”

"No!"

After a short time, Xiahou Yuan walked over quickly, and Cao Cao immediately told Xiahou Yuan about the matter, "Miaocai, now I order you to lead 5,000 troops to investigate the situation, remember, as long as the enemy army does not take the initiative to attack, you should not do anything with it!" ”

"My lord, what if that army is here to support Xiapi?" Xiahou Yuan asked when he heard this.

"Then you must not be the first to do it!" Cao Cao said in a solemn tone.

"My subordinates understand!" Seeing this, Xiahou Yuan nodded, and then led the army to the north.

"Xuande, I hope it won't be you......" Looking at the troops that were constantly moving away, Cao Cao thought secretly in his heart, his eyes were full of haze.

And when Xiahou Yuan led the army to leave, the movements of Cao's army were immediately reported to Tao Qian by the soldiers on the city wall.

"My lord, my subordinates thought that Xiahou Yuan suddenly left the camp and went north, and it must be Liu Yuanjun's reinforcements arriving. And when you calculate the time, it's about the same. Mi Zhu said immediately when he heard this.

"The subordinates also feel that they should prepare immediately in order to receive Liu Yuanjun's reinforcements into the city." As soon as Mi Zhu's voice fell, Chen Deng on the side suddenly opened his mouth and echoed, "And even if Xiahou Yuan left the camp to carry out some mission, our army only delayed some rest." ”

The words of the two were immediately echoed by everyone, after all, for them now, Liu Bei's reinforcements are the only motivation for them to continue to follow Tao Qian to defend Xiapi. If it weren't for this support army, I'm afraid that as Cao Cao expected, they would have already figured out their own way out.

"Well, let's do it." Tao Qian nodded when he heard this, and then ordered Cao Bao to gather troops and be ready to respond at any time.

On the other side, Xiahou Yuan led the army north only about a cup or two of tea, and saw the smoke and dust billowing in front of him, which was the unit that suddenly appeared in the intelligence.

"All on alert! Remember! No one is allowed to do it without my orders! Xiahou Yuan immediately raised his gun, looked at the incoming army and shouted. Although Xiahou Yuan didn't take this army seriously at all, Cao Cao's advice made Xiahou Yuan have to be careful.

In a short time, the army came to a halt at all positions about a mile in front of Cao's army. Seeing this, Xiahou Yuan immediately slapped his horse forward, pointed his gun at the incoming army and shouted, "I am Xiahou Yuan, the captain under the command of General Fenwu, who is coming, quickly pass the name!" ”

As Xiahou Yuan's words fell, he saw one of the enemy generals galloping out of the formation, coming to a stop about fifty paces or so in front of Xiahou Yuan.

"I am the Prime Minister of Qi under the command of Liu Yuanjun of Qingzhou, Tai Shi Ci is also, I don't know what Captain Xiahou led the army to block the way of our army, what is his intention?" Tai Shi Ci immediately looked at Xiahou Yuan with a horizontal gun, and said loudly. It's just that the attitude seems to be very respectful, but in the tone, there is no half of respect at all.

"It turned out to be the prime minister of Taishi, and now General Cao is leading the army to attack Xiapi to avenge Tao Qian's murder of his father. I don't know why the Prime Minister of Taishi is not in the place where Qi is governed, why did he appear here? Hearing this, Xiahou Yuan also arched his hand and asked.

"But as the vanguard of Liu Yuanjun, he was ordered to come to investigate the situation~" Tai Shici smiled when he heard this, "If Captain Xiahou has nothing else to do, please give way." ”

Hearing Tai Shici's words, Xiahou Yuan's face suddenly became gloomy. Although he didn't know much about Tai Shici, Liu Bei in Qingzhou was like thunder. After all, by Cao Cao's side, he had heard a lot of rumors about Liu Bei, not to mention that Liu Bei, as a Qingzhou pastor, was not inferior to Cao Cao in the slightest.

"General Cao and Liu Yuanjun have always been friends, I don't know why Liu Yuanjun suddenly led his army to prevent General Cao from avenging his father?" Xiahou Yuan asked with a gloomy face.

"This is not something that the prime minister should be in charge of, why don't you wait for Liu Yuanjun to lead 30,000 troops to Xiapi and personally solve General Cao's doubts?" Tai Shi Ci sneered when he heard this.

Hearing Tai Shici's words, Xiahou Yuan only felt a wave of anger in his heart constantly emerging, you must know that over the years, except for a few brothers in his own family, who dared to talk to him like this? But on the contrary, he could only endure it, although he already knew that the incoming army was not a friend or foe, but Cao Cao's advice and scruples about that Liu Bei made Xiahou Yuan have to suppress his anger.

"Humph! In that case, I will report this matter to General Cao in detail and ask him to decide! Xiahou Yuan snorted coldly, then arched his hand to Tai Shi Ci, and returned directly to the formation.