After Cao Ren returned to the Central Plains, with the assistance of Guan Yu, he went straight to Runan. Although Yuan Xi ordered Chen Deng to lead the Danyang troops to support Runan, at this time, Chen Deng was seriously ill and could not lead the troops, and Ganning, Zhoucang, and Liaohua had to defend Eastern Wu and could not draw troops and horses from Guangling to support. did not receive the order of Yuan Xi to withdraw from the army, even if Cao's army was several times larger than himself, Gao Ran still chose to defend Runan, insisting on the arrival of reinforcements, or the city was ruined.

Yuan Xi has also received the news that Guangling cannot send troops, and Gao Ran will not be able to support it for long without reinforcements, although he has the upper hand, it will take some time to take the Central Plains, but once he loses Runan, Cao Ren and Cao Cao are very likely to attack him from both sides. Although Yuan Xi was very unwilling, he still ordered Pang De to lead the army to meet Gao Ran's retreat.

Xu Shu saw that Yuan Xi was already preparing to withdraw the army, and he also blamed himself: "General, this time I was derelict in my responsibility, I didn't expect Liu Bei to let Cao Ren come back, and asked the general to punish him." ”

Yuan Xi shook his head and said: "The military division has his own crimes, and our army has not lost, but I don't want to waste military strength, so let's withdraw the troops first!" There will be many opportunities to go south in the future, so why put yourself in danger? ”

The Yuan family in Hebei dispatched an army of 400,000 in a huge manner, and returned in vain under the strict defense of the Cao family in the Central Plains. Yuan Xi's army withdrew to Hebei overnight, and although Yuan Tan defeated Xiahoudun, he could only retreat to Xuzhou because of Cao Ren's army. The 100,000 troops led by Gao Gan and Fu Zhi were also blocked by Xiahou Shang and Mao Jie in Chenliu and could not advance, and when they heard that Yuan Xi had withdrawn his troops, they also retreated to the Liyang camp. Although Yuan Shang and Ma Chao's 100,000 troops surrounded Chang'an City, Han Sui led the Xiliang soldiers to support, the strength of the two sides was equal, and no one could help anyone, Yuan Shang also received the order of Yuan Xi to retreat, and he could only lead the army back to the state.

In this war, Cao Cao successfully blocked Yuan Xi's southward advance, and although he did not get the city, he kept the Central Plains, which was already the biggest victory. However, Cao Cao was not the biggest victor, that was Liu Bei, Liu Bei won the entire territory of Jingzhou because of this war, and because he helped Cao Cao drive Yuan Xi, he got the opportunity to join forces with Cao Cao.

The loser was naturally Yuan Xi, who swore to dispatch an army of 400,000 troops, but he wasted his strength and did not gain an inch of land in the Central Plains. Yuan Xi returned to Jizhou, and this time he did not win a big victory, but the people of Jizhou still welcomed the return of the general. They don't know the military, and they don't know why their general suddenly chose to withdraw his troops, but they know that the general must have his reasons, his soldiers have never been defeated, and this time it is the same, but it is just comparable.

Of course, in addition to Yuan Xi, Sun Quan also regarded himself as the loser of this war, because his neighbor Liu Bei seized Jingzhou, which he had coveted for a long time, and fulfilled his promise to attack Yuan's army. Sun Quan summoned his subordinates to discuss: "Now that Cao Cao has repelled Yuan Xi, if he holds our army accountable, why don't you take the opportunity to attack Yuan Xi, what will be done?" ”

Zhou Yu confidently stepped forward and said: "The lord doesn't need to worry, although my Jiangdong is small, I am not afraid of the Central Plains, Cao Jun is not good at water warfare, if you dare to raise troops to attack, although Zhou Yu is not talented, Cao Cao will not come back!" Sun Quan listened to Zhou Yu's words and praised: "What Gong Jin said is extremely true, with Gong Jin here, Jiangdong is worry-free." ”

Zhang Zhao reminded: "My lord, although Cao Cao has no water army, he is afraid that Liu Bei will join Cao Cao and seek to take the land of Jiangdong. ”

Sun Quan remembered that Liu Bei actually fished in troubled waters to obtain Jingzhou, but he was unhappy and said: "Liu Bei is known as the emperor's uncle, fake benevolence and false righteousness, forcibly occupy Jiangxia, my Jiangdong has not yet settled accounts with him, and he dares to unite with Cao Cao to attack Jingzhou." It's better to strike preemptively now, and we will take advantage of Liu Bei's unstable seizure of Jingzhou to eradicate Liu Bei! ”

Yu Tuo, although his military foresight is not as good as Zhou Yu's, and his internal political theory is not as good as Zhang Zhao's, this person is good at diplomacy, especially marriage, and stepped forward and said: "My lord, my subordinates think that before we deal with Liu Bei, we should find a strong reinforcement to contain Cao Cao's attack on our army." Since Liu Bei can join forces with Cao Cao, why can't we join forces with Yuan Xi? ”

This is a very creative idea, but Hebei is a dominant family, even if it forms an alliance with it, Cao Cao can be jealous, but he can also be dominated by Hebei, but he is not very free, Sun Quan is conflicted in his heart and hesitates. Zhou Yu also vetoed: "If our army forms an alliance with Yuan Xi, he will think that our army is afraid of Liu Bei and Cao Cao, and will make our army a pawn to contain Cao Cao or Liu Bei, and ask the lord to think twice." ”

Of course, Yu Fu also knew that Yuan Xi would definitely use him, but he continued to say his thoughts: "The concerns of the Metropolitan Governor do exist, but Yuan Xi returned in vain this time, and he urgently needs our help, and if our army can marry Hebei, the general Yuan Xi will definitely respect the allies." ”

At this time, everyone guessed Yu Xuan's idea, it turned out that he wanted to marry in exchange for an alliance with Hebei. So it sees, if a woman can be exchanged for an alliance with Hebei, Sun Quan is naturally willing, and asked: "I don't know who can marry Yuan Xi, I heard that Yuan Xi's wives are all peerless beauties, and ordinary people are afraid that they will not be able to enter their eyes?" ”

Do you know who is the best fit? Of course, it's Sun Quan's sister Sun Shangxiang. No one wants to be a bird, Sun Quan saw that everyone was speechless, so he naturally knew everyone's thoughts, and he was afraid that Wu Guotai would blame him. Sun Quan could only ask Yu Chuan and said, "Since Zhong Xiang has this idea, there should be a suitable candidate in his heart, right?" ”