After Cao Cao cried bitterly, he called Xiahoudun's personal guards and asked him in detail about the matters before and after. Although he is sad, he will not delay his business, which is the talent of a person who has achieved great things, and it can also be said to be ruthless.

Xiahoudun's personal guards told the story again, and Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu's personal soldiers compared what they said, and there were basically not too many errors. Only then did Cao Cao know that Zhang Xiu could be trusted.

Cao Cao called Zhang Xiu to encourage him, and Zhang Xiu was also grateful to Dade for his trust in Cao Cao.

Xiahoudun's death still made Cao Cao angry, and he did not return to Xinye, and directly ordered the army to be pulled out to Hanshui, looking across the river from Xiangyang.

Xiahoudun was a general who was very loved by the soldiers, and the rewards he received were distributed to his soldiers. Many people are grateful to Xiahoudun and vow to avenge Xiahoudun. Many people spontaneously brought filial piety to Xiahoudun, which made the atmosphere of the entire Cao camp sad.

The so-called mourning soldiers will win, and Cao Cao is also using this to boost morale. Xiahoudun's death will inevitably affect the morale of the whole army, and what he can do is to turn the things that affect morale into morale improvements. Otherwise, he would basically be able to withdraw from the army directly.

Originally, the soldiers were not as elite as Zhang Yi, and the navy was still at a big disadvantage, and the morale was not as good as Zhang Yi, so there was no way to fight this battle. The time and place are favorable, he always has to occupy the same, what else will he fight in the defeat game! Now use Xiahoudun's death to boost morale, so that you can occupy the people, and have the strength to fight.

In fact, he regretted it a long time ago, he didn't expect that the situation in Jingzhou had become so erosive. It's just that he has already withdrawn from Jizhou, and it is impossible to send troops again. So no matter what, we also have to make some benefits in Jingzhou. Xiangyang can be saved, and if it can't be saved, it will take the southern part of Nanyang County, and it is also good to add some strategic buffers to Xuchang.

Cao Cao's army went south, and the water in Shuishui could no longer be intercepted, so let go of the heavy interception, anyway, Zhang Yi's army could not be allowed to enter Shuishui and harass him from the side.

When Cao Cao was marching, he was also looking for craftsmen to study the strong crossbow parts that Zhang Xiu got, but there were too many parts that were damaged, and he couldn't get them together at all. The craftsman roughly restored the strong crossbow, and saw that the bow arm of this strong crossbow was nine feet, which was obviously not used by individual soldiers. According to the craftsmen's calculations, it would take four or five people to use these crossbows, three or four people to wind them alone, and one person to crouch in front of them as a support point.

But this information is obviously wrong, the strong soldiers Cao Cao got, these strong crossbows are clearly used by one person, so many people are needed?

This crossbow is a good thing, but it's not easy to obtain. Cao Cao didn't have much to do, so he could only promise a rich bounty, as long as he could develop a strong crossbow, he would be rewarded.

Cao Cao reached the north of the Han River and began to collect boats, preparing to cross the river to the south bank to rescue Xiangyang. Although it is unlikely, Cao Cao still wants to give it a try! After all, Xiangyang is too important, not to mention that this is Liu Biao's place of governance, and those tens and hundreds of talents alone make Cao Cao covet. These talents came to Jingzhou to escape the war in the north, and many of them were the best among them, and if they got these people, Cao Cao's rule would be much more stable.

However, just as Cao Cao was collecting ships, he was attacked by Zhang Yi's army. This was the cavalry sent by Li Jing on the Cai Yang side, led by Qin Qiong, which caused heavy losses to those Cao soldiers who collected ships.

Cao Cao also knew that Qin Qiong, a fierce general who could injure Xiahou Dun, how could Cao Cao not pay attention.

"Feng Xiao, can you find a way to capture the enemy general?" Cao Cao couldn't help but love talent and wanted to capture Qin Qiong. Although Qin Qiong killed Xiahou Xuan, he still couldn't help but want to recruit Qin Qiong. There are many fierce generals under his command, but there are still too few fierce generals like Qin Qiong. And Cao Cao saw an acquaintance from Qin Qiong, that is, Guan Yu.

The temperament on Qin Qiong's body made Cao Cao think of Guan Yu. Cao Cao is very fond of Guan Yu, although he is not like in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he is a red rabbit horse and a beautiful woman with gold and silver, but Cao Cao really admires Guan Yu. Guan Yu's title of beautiful bearded prince was given by Cao Cao, which was the best of the few nicknames in the Three Kingdoms period.

Qin Qiong's heroic appearance on the battlefield is too similar to Guan Yu, the same bravery.

It's a pity, Guo Jia shook his head and said: "Lord, the enemy is cunning and always finds our weak points. It seems that the enemy also has a person who is good at surprise attacks, and he is very good at the battlefield situation. This person is the fierce rival of the lord, and as for the fierce general, it is secondary. ”

Cao Cao also scratched his head, he also found out that there was a problem with the enemy in the past two days, the enemy army was too fierce, and he could always find his own loopholes. Cao Cao considered himself to have been in battle for a long time, and he was familiar with military books, and his ability to adapt to changes at will was outstanding. His ability is not bad, but he is always exploited by the enemy, which is amazing.

"The enemy is in Caiyang, if our army surrounds Caiyang, then it will fall into the enemy's strategy!" Cao Cao also had some worries: "If we don't encircle Caiyang, it will be impossible for our army to cross the Han River." ”

Guo Jia said: "Not only that, if the lord forcibly crosses the river, there will be many casualties. ”

Cao Cao made a choice in his heart, "Then attack Cai Yang!" ”

Cao Cao decided to attack Cai Yang, and Cai Yang's Li Jing was also paying attention to Cao Cao. He let Qin Qiong make frequent moves during this time, just to attract Cao Cao's attention and help Zhang Yi delay time.

"Envoy, Cao Cao should come to Caiyang this time, right?" Qin Qiong has been making frequent trips in the past few days, and she also feels that Cao Cao can't stand it.

"Almost!" Li Jing took the map, "The boats around the Han River have already been collected by me, and Cao Cao can't cross the Han River without a boat." What he can do is to take Nanyang County, as long as he takes Caiyang, Nanyang County will not resist him. So no matter what, he will definitely come to attack Cai Yang! ”

The two of them are talking! Some soldiers came to report: "Report to the general, Cao Cao is marching towards Caiyang." ”

Qin Qiong laughed: "Everything has been calculated by the envoy, and the next thing is to see General Shang." ”

Li Jing also nodded, "Nanyang County is actually secondary, the main thing is that the lord can take Xiangyang." As long as we take Xiangyang, our strategy of attacking Jingzhou will be mostly completed, and the rest will depend on Jingnan and Jiaozhou. ”

After Qin Qiong heard this, he couldn't help asking: "I don't know what happened to Jingnan, the army transferred by the lord from Jiangdong should reach Changsha, right?" ”

"It should have arrived a long time ago!" Li Jing said: "It's just that there is Huang Zhong in Changsha, and it is still a little difficult to take Changsha." ”