Withdraw troops back to Xiangyang!

Cai Mao's figure shook slightly, her brows condensed, and her face suddenly became gloomy.

Yi Yuan and Wen Ping glanced at each other and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

According to the meaning of the two of them, of course, it was the best policy to suspend the northern expedition, but because of Cai Mao's insistence, he could only obey.

Now that Liu Biao's warrant has come, he personally ordered the withdrawal of troops back to Xiangyang, which is exactly what he and the two of them want, and they are of course relieved.

"Cai Beijia, since the lord has an order, then what are we waiting for, hurry up and collect the troops and return to Xiangyang." Yi Yuan laughed.

Cai Mao was silent.

He led the troops to fight Su Zhe in a good manner, and only a few days after he sent out the troops, Liu Biao suddenly ordered the class for no reason, which made Cai Mao keenly feel that Liu Biao probably already knew that Liu Qi was stabbed by his niece, so he was suspicious of him and wanted to transfer him back.

Cai Mao is even more aware that if he returns in vain like this, he will not be able to deal with Liu Biao's questioning at all, and when Liu Biao blames him, the interests of him and the Cai family will inevitably be hit.

This is something he would never want to see.

"Cai Shu, it's all you, a dead girl, who have harmed me to such a passive situation, if I have the opportunity, I will definitely clean up the portal and kill you, the scum of the family, with my own hands!"

Cai Mao secretly gritted his teeth in his heart, but took a deep breath, brushed his hand and said: "You go back and tell the lord, just say that I am about to destroy the Su thief, at this time, if the class teacher is tantamount to falling short, please let the lord give me a few more days, and when I capture Su Zhe's traitor alive, I will immediately return to Xiangyang to return to the lord to return to my father." ”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Yi and Wen Ping changed in shock, and the messenger was stunned, not knowing what to say.

"Time is pressing, why don't you go back to Xiangyang to report to the lord soon!" Cai Mao drank with his hands and gave an eviction order.

The messenger was helpless, he was just ordered to come to give the order, and Cai Mao had no choice but to retreat in a hurry.

As soon as the messenger left, Yi Yuan immediately said: "Cai Beijia, this is the lord's order, how dare Cai Beijia disobey?" ”

"Didn't I just say that if we return to the division at this time, we will fall short of defeating the Su thief, how can we miss this great opportunity." Cai Mao said eloquently.

Yi Yuan couldn't help it, the corners of his mouth swept up with a touch of sarcasm, and he snorted coldly: "We were just scared away by the tricks of the Su thief, when we can destroy the Su thief, we can't see the shadow, at this time, the class teacher, it can't be said to be a 'fall short'." ”

Cai Mao's face sank, and she shouted angrily: "Yizhi, are you ridiculing this official? ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, how dare the lower officials, the lower officials are just talking about things." Yi didn't dare to be too rude, so he hurriedly denied it.

Cai Mao snorted and said proudly: "The real and false officials of the Su thieves have been figured out, and I don't expect him to be able to play any tricks. ”

Yi was dumbfounded.

He really didn't expect that Cai Mao could be so confident, he knew that Cai Mao was overconfident, but seeing that he was so stubborn and afraid of Cai Mao's powerful position, Yi didn't dare to argue anymore, so he could only smile bitterly in his heart.

Cai Mao saw that he had subdued the Yi nationality, and the corners of his mouth swept up a little proudly, so he said to Wen Ping: "Wen Zhongye, quickly go to pass on the official's order, and the army will leave immediately and go to Xinye with me." ”

Wen Ping pondered for a moment, but he arched his hand, and said in a resolute tone: "Don't drive Cai, I will not be able to obey my fate." ”

"Why, you dare to disobey?" Cai Mao's face immediately became gloomy.

Wen Ping said calmly: "The lord has already ordered the class teacher, and the lord's order is higher than Cai Beijia's order, and of course the general will listen to the lord." ”

Cai Mao was anxious and said: "That's what I said, but outside, the king's order is not subject to the truth, don't you understand, how can you be so stubborn." ”

"Maybe Cai Beijia thinks that the king's order can be disobeyed, but the last general thinks that the king's order is like a mountain and must be obeyed." Wen Ping coldly retorted.

"Wen Ping, you-" Cai Mao was annoyed and angry, and didn't know how to refute for a while.

Wen Ping arched his hand: "If Cai Beijia has nothing else to do, then the general will leave first." ”

With that, Wen Ping turned around and walked away.

Cai Mao was so angry, and scolded in his mouth: "Okay, you are a civil servant, you dare not take this official in your eyes, do you think that this official has to rely on you, you can get out, this official himself led an army of 40,000 to take Xinye, and when the time comes, in front of the lord, you don't want half a share of credit." ”

Cai Mao was angry there, but Yi Yuan next to him was secretly laughing, as if Wen Ping had taken a bad breath for him.

"Yi Jibo, what are you still doing in a daze, why don't you go and pass on the generals." Cai Mao yelled at Yi Yuan again.

Yi had no choice but to take the order.

Cai Mao sat down, drank a few glasses of wine, and sat there sulking.

There was a cacophony of voices outside the tent, and I thought the soldiers were packing up and preparing to go.

Cai Mao's mood gradually calmed down from his annoyance, and he began to think about how to capture Xinye without the appointment of this pioneer general.

At this moment, Yi Yuan hurriedly barged in, looked nervous, and shouted: "Cai don't drive, the big thing is not good, the big thing is not good!" ”

"What's the matter, so flustered!" Cai Mao glared at the team.

Yi Ji said in a deep voice: "Cai don't drive, General Wen Zhongye has left without permission and is going south to Xiangyang." ”

"He's gone, what's the big deal, the sky can't fall without him." Cai Mao said sarcastically disapprehantly.

Yi Ji said with a bitter face: "It doesn't matter if General Wen is gone, but he also took nearly 20,000 people and horses." ”

What the!

Cai Mao was startled, jumped up, and the word shock instantly hit his face, and the whole person froze in place.

"Damn Wenpin, damn it!" After a while, Cai Mao, who reacted, gritted her teeth and scolded with hatred.

Yi Yuan said cautiously: "Cai don't drive, General Wen took away half of our men, our army is less than 20,000 at the moment, do we still want to continue to attack Xinye?" ”

Cai Mao's eyes rolled, and he was silent, calculating the comparison of troops in his heart.

He thought that although he had less than 20,000 soldiers and horses, the number of his troops was still close to three times that of Su Zhe, and if he could attack the city with all his might, he still had a good chance of winning.

If he returns without success, he will face Liu Biao under the rage, what will he do to make up for his merits.

After weighing it again and again, Cai Mao waved his hand and said proudly: "Just one Su Zhe, even if there are 20,000 soldiers and horses, this official can still destroy him, pass on my order, don't change the plan, and immediately set off to kill Xinye!" ”

Seeing that Cai Mao had reached this level and was still so stubborn, Yi couldn't figure out what he was for, but he was helpless, so he shook his head and sighed secretly, and silently went out to give orders.

Cai Mao clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and said: "Sure enough, a guy from a low background, there is no good thing, Su Zhe is, so is Wen Ping, Wen Ping, you wait, after I kill Su Zhe, how can I clean you up!" ”

On the same day, under Cai Mao's forcible insistence, the remaining 20,000 Jingzhou soldiers could only cheer up and continue to go north.

It's just that Wen Ping's move of taking away 20,000 horses and horses has dealt too much damage to the morale of the army, and rumors soon spread in the army, and people are panicked.

The news of Liu Biao's order to withdraw troops soon spread throughout the battalion, and Cai Mao's disobedience to Liu Biao's order also caused widespread speculation among the soldiers.

Even rumors have begun in the army that Cai Mao disobeyed the order, but he was against it, and wanted to destroy Su Zhe, coerce the Son of Heaven to stand on his own, and betray Liu Biao.

All kinds of rumors made the soldiers' hearts even more uneasy, not only did the march be slow, but there were also a large number of soldiers fleeing along the way.

Cai Mao used all kinds of means to kill dozens of escaped soldiers, but he still couldn't stabilize the morale of the army and curb the trend of soldiers fleeing.

In this way, he originally planned to kill under Xinye Castle in one day, but it took nearly three days to arrive.

After this grind, Cai Mao's remaining grain and grass were almost exhausted, and it was only enough to support less than two days.

Rumors were rife in the army, people's hearts were unstable, and the grain and grass were about to run out, which dealt a more serious blow to the already low soldiers, and the 20,000 Jingzhou soldiers were not far from the point of being scattered.

In this unfavorable situation, Cai Mao is difficult to ride a tiger, and has no choice but to capture Xinye.

After camping at dusk that day, Cai Mao issued an order to distribute the remaining two days' rations to the soldiers, intending to let them eat enough, break the cauldron and sink the boat, let go of Yibo tomorrow, and desperately take Xinye.

……

In the evening, Shinno Castle.

On the tower of the South Gate, Su Zhe stood idly in the night, looking at the direction of the enemy camp from afar.

Li Yan next to him said: "According to the report of our scouts, that Wen Ping took away 20,000 soldiers and horses privately, Cai Mao came this time, and many people fled along the way, and now he has more than 18,000 soldiers and horses at most." ”

"Interesting, this is a defeat before the battle, have you found out the reason?" Su Zhe asked with a sneer.

Li Yan said: "According to the confession of several enemy soldiers captured by our scouts, it is rumored in the enemy army that Liu Biao strictly ordered Cai Mao's squad to return to Xiangyang a few days ago, but Cai Mao disobeyed the order and had to attack our Xinye, so Wen Ping took half of the men and horses in a fit of anger. ”

Su Zhe's expression moved, and he seemed to see something greasy from it.

"Ordering the withdrawal of troops is a taboo in the use of troops, even if Liu Biao doesn't know the soldiers, he shouldn't make such a low-level mistake." Ganning questioned.

Su Zhe suddenly thought of something, and sneered: "That's not necessarily, unless it's something more fatal, so that Liu Biao suddenly lost his trust in Cai Mao." ”

Everyone was stunned, and looked at Su Zhe with puzzled eyes, thinking that Cai Mao was the person Liu Biao wanted to marry, even if it was a girl from the Cai family, she was robbed by their lord, speaking of which Cai Mao is also a victim, Liu Biao should not lose trust in Cai Mao.

Su Zhe was laughing secretly.

Of course, he wouldn't tell everyone that Cai Shu not only stabbed Liu Qi, but also stabbed Liu Qi to the possibility of cutting off his children and grandchildren.

It seems that Liu Biao sent Cai Mao to lead the army to fight before, and it is very likely that he did not know about this matter, but now he suddenly and abnormally ordered Cai Mao to withdraw from the army, most of which was due to the fact that he knew about it and made a decision that did not conform to the art of war in anger.

While everyone was talking about the enemy, suddenly a sentry shouted a warning voice, saying that it was from the south, and a horse was coming this way.

The Soviet soldiers at the head of the city immediately became alert, and Gan Ning gave an order, and the crossbowmen were ready to shoot at any time.

When they were more than 30 steps apart, the rider suddenly shouted loudly: "Don't release arrows, in Xiayi, if you have something important to meet Master Su, don't release arrows!" ”