Cao Shuo arranged for someone to send Gao Ran back to Shouchun.

Watching a team of men and horses escort a prisoner cart away, Cao Cao said to the staff and generals on the side: "Since recruiting talents, he really has his own way. ”

"Childe wants Gao Ran to know that if he refuses to vote for him, there will be no more opportunities to lead troops into battle in the future." Guo Jia said: "How can a general like Gao Ran endure mediocre days. ”

"But if he's like this, isn't he afraid that Gao Ran will rebel in the future?" Cao Cao asked.

"Childe should still try his best to get the Gao Lan family to Shouchun." Guo Jia said: "Even if Gao Ran has the intention to rebel and throw a rat bogey, he will not dare. ”

"It's still Feng Xiao to understand Zirong." Cao Cao said: "This kind of thing, only Zirong can do it." ”

Gao Ran was captured by Cao Shuo.

Yuan Shao, who was watching the battle from a distance, frowned.

He asked Guo Tu, "Has Gao Ran been arrested?" ”

"The soldiers came back in a hurry, and no one saw what happened to Gao Lan." Guo Tu said: "But some people saw him surrounded by Cao Zirong's subordinates. ”

"So, Gao Ran was captured." Yuan Shao asked with a very bad face.

"It should be." Guo Tu asked, "What is Yuan Gong going to do?" ”

"Send someone to Yecheng immediately to protect Gao Lan's family." Yuan Shao instructed: "Send more people, at least twenty messengers must set off one after another." Beware of Cao Zirong intercepting the messenger halfway through. ”

Yuan Shao sent a messenger, but he didn't expect that not long after the messenger set off, there were already Huo Wu and others intercepting him in the middle of the road.

More than twenty messengers, without exception, were all dealt with by Fire Dance in the middle of the road.

The Fire Dance Camp sent people to Yecheng to rescue Gao Lan's family.

Cao Shuo stayed in Guandu and continued to confront Yuan's army.

After capturing the earthen slope built by Yuan's army, Cao's army turned from complete passivity to some initiative.

Cao Cao's mood was also much better.

Unconsciously, the two sides confronted each other for more than 10 days.

That night, Cao Ren took several soldiers around the barracks.

As he walked, he felt as if something wasn't quite right under his feet.

Stopping, Cao Ren asked the soldiers who were following him, "Did you hear anything?" ”

The soldiers listened as if they had heard something, but there was nothing at all.

"You." Cao Ren pointed to a soldier and said, "Lie on the ground, listen with your ears on the ground." ”

The soldier who had been ordered lay on his stomach with one ear on the ground.

After listening for a while, he looked at Cao Ren in astonishment.

"What's wrong?" Cao Ren asked.

"There's someone down there." "The voice is coming from underground," the soldier said. ”

"Keep an eye on me." Cao Ren gave an order to the soldiers, and then said, "I'll go and report to Cao Gong." ”

Cao Cao hadn't fallen asleep at this time.

When he came to the outside of the tent, Cao Ren said: "Qi Gong Cao, just now I led people to patrol, and I heard movement underground. ”

It had long been expected that Yuan Jun would dig tunnels, and Cao Ren's report did not surprise Cao Cao.

He got up and went outside the tent and commanded Cao Ren, "Call everyone here." ”

Cao Ren turned his head to a guard guarding the tent and said, "Go and invite all the generals." ”

"Where did you find it?" Cao Cao asked.

"It's not far ahead." Cao Ren pointed forward.

With Cao Ren, he came to the place where he heard the sound, and Cao Cao saw more than a dozen soldiers pouting their butts to listen to the sound of the underground.

"How?" Cao Cao asked, "Is there any voice?" ”

A soldier stood up, saluted, and said, "Back to Cao Gong, the voice is still there." ”

"Keep an eye out and hear where they're going." Cao Cao instructed: "Be sure to follow the whole process, don't let them take advantage of the loopholes." ”

"Don't hurry up yet!" Cao Ren shouted: "Listen carefully to me." ”

The soldiers were still listening to the movement underground, and Cao Shuo and others came one after another.

"Father, what's wrong?" As soon as he arrived, Cao Shuo asked Cao Cao.

Muttering to the ground, Cao Cao said, "They have dug the place where we set up defenses, trying to kill them from behind. ”

"It's easy to deal with from underground." Cao Shuo said: "Father only needs to have people lined up vertically and horizontally, set up a bonfire every five steps, and not have a pot of boiling oil boiling on the fire." ”

"What does that mean?" Cao Cao asked.

"We don't know where the enemy will come from, so no matter where they come up, there will be a tank of boiling oil waiting for them, and the nearest soldiers can immediately carry the boiling oil into the hole."

"That's good!" Cao Cao immediately instructed Cao Ren: "Do what Zirong says." ”

Cao Ren arranged for the soldiers to set up a bonfire where they heard the sound.

On each bonfire, there is a clay pot filled with oil.

The flames licked the bottom of the pot, and smoke soon rose from the mouth of the pot.

Around each bonfire, there was a soldier of the Cao Army.

The soldiers of the Cao army held their breath and listened carefully to the sound coming from the ground.

"Father." Cao Shuo reminded Cao Cao: "We are all here, and the people underground will also be aware of it, so it is better to let the soldiers get ready, and my father will go back to the tent to rest first." ”

"It's fine." Cao Cao nodded: "Zirong come with me, hand it over to Zixiao and Yuan Rang here, and the others will disperse." ”

Cao Shuo followed Cao Cao back to Shuai's tent, while Cao Ren and Xiahoudun stayed where they were to direct the enemy army to break ground.

After entering the tent, Cao Cao asked Cao Shuo, "When will your flying kite be put into use?" ”

"It's going to be three or five days." Cao Shuo said: "Although one has already been built, I will pull him to everyone's place to try it." The flying kite not only involves being able to fly, but also after flying, so that the soldiers can control it freely, and when they land, they will not be surrounded by enemy troops and assassinated. ”

"Do you think we still have a chance of winning this battle?" Cao Cao asked suddenly.

"Why did my father say such a thing again?" Cao Shuo grinned and said, "I said that as long as I am here, I will definitely let the Cao family win this war." ”

"You're too arrogant sometimes." Cao Cao sighed and said: "Yuan Benchu was sitting in Hebei, and it is not easy to deal with the fact that he can gather hundreds of thousands of troops in so many years. Moreover, our army's battle line is too long, and the grain and grass cannot be transported at all......"

"The grain and grass transportation route is too long, in fact, the transportation method can be changed." Cao Shuo said: "Father can order that the team transporting grain and grass be divided into five and establish a transit between Xudu and Guandu, so that the team transporting grain and grass does not have to go too far." First, it can prevent the enemy from suddenly intercepting and killing from the middle of the road, and second, it can let the soldiers who deliver food take a breath. ”

Looking at Cao Shuo, Cao Cao's eyes lit up: "This method is not bad." ”

Immediately, his expression darkened again: "It's a pity that the harvest in Yuzhou and other places has not been good in the past two years......"