The Tiger Prison Pass has been won! But Xu Huang and Sima Yi couldn't pursue immediately, this Cao Ren is also a ruthless man, and when he led his troops to retreat, he actually set fire to the tiger prison and burned the tiger prison, which really did I can't get it, and you can't imagine it. By the time the fire at Tiger Prison Pass weakened and Xu Huang and Sima Yi could lead people through, Cao Ren had already led his troops to retreat to Zhongmu.

Xu Huang, who asked Cao Ren to burn his heart, ignored Sima Yi's dissuasion, and personally led his troops to chase him, but he didn't expect to fall into Cao Ren's plot again, and on the way to retreat to Zhongmu, Cao Ren ordered Niu Jin to lead 3,000 cavalry to ambush beside the road. When Xu Huang led the army over, the catapults that had fallen behind due to their slow movement passed by, and Niu Jin immediately led people to kill them and burned all the catapults with the fire oil that had been prepared. Although the surprise attack force led by Niu Jin was finally only Niu Jin escaped from the encirclement with more than a dozen people, the losses of the Han army were still too great.

"Damn!" Xu Huang couldn't help but be furious when he heard the news, and immediately wanted to order the siege of the city, the catapult was gone, the ladder and the crash car were still there, and it was not impossible to break Zhongmu.

"General, slow." Sima Yi stopped in time.

"Zhongda, don't persuade me, this time my old Xu's face is lost." Xu Huang said annoyedly.

"General, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and there is no good thing to take advantage of and not suffer losses. This time, it was indeed Cao Jun who took advantage, but it was a long time to come, and there was always a time to ask for it. And in my opinion, I am afraid that this Cao Ren has capable people around him, otherwise with Cao Ren's brain, I am afraid that he will not be able to think of such a scheme. ”

“…… So Zhong Da thinks that who is giving Cao Ren advice? Lu Su or Guo Jia? ”

"General, Cao Cao's command is full of talents, and the resourceful people are probably not only Guo, Lu, and Cheng. I have heard the lord say that if there is no sudden rise on the lord's side in this world, it is probably Cao Cao who is likely to end this troubled world. ”

“…… Chung Da, what do you think we should do now? ”

"Now that the Tiger Prison Pass has been broken, we have opened the door to the Central Plains, why should the general care about the gains and losses of a city and a pool at this time, before sending troops, the lord once said that the most unfortunate troops should also take Yan and Henan Prefectures. At present, the two generals Zhang Liao and Zhang Ren have basically completed the requirements, and our side is lagging behind a lot. ”

"Then Zhongda means dividing the troops?"

"Well, please also ask the general to leave a road with me, and the general will lead his troops to attack the city and plunder the land, and take Jibei, Shanyang and other places in Yanzhou as soon as possible."

"Why do you want to take these two lands?"

"Qingzhou is adjacent to Yanzhou, so this is done so as not to give Cao Jun a chance to return to Yanzhou. As long as Cao Cao does not return for a day, it will be of great help to our army. ”

“…… Okay, then I'll leave it to you here, the soldiers are fast, I'll set off with the whole army, who do you need me to leave behind to assist you? ”

"Cao Ren is brave, and I also ask the general to leave two generals, Lei Tong and Yang Ren, to help me."

In Liu Xie's regular army, first-class fierce generals serve as the main generals, and they are generally equipped with three or four deputy generals, plus one or two military divisions. Speaking of Lei Tong's surrender to the army, there are really some twists and turns, Lei Tong was ordered to escort Liu Yan's son back to Chengdu, but the son was poisoned halfway. Lei Tong didn't dare to return to Brazil to return to Pang Yi, so he had to fall into the grass. Later, Liu Xie took the opportunity of Liu Zhang's attachment to Yuan Shao to send troops to recover Yizhou, and hid in the mountains to be the king of the mountain, so he dared to go down the mountain.

Lei Tong is known as the first warrior in Bashu, and force is naturally no problem, but it is easy for him to continue to stay in Bashu and be excused by others, so Liu Xie transferred Lei Tong to Xu Huang. At first, Lei Tong was quite unconvinced by Xu Huang, but after being beaten by Xu Huang a few times, he became honest.

Lei Tong didn't dare to have any opinions on Xu Huang's order, and he didn't contradict obeying Sima Yi's orders. Sima Yi is not the first to stop the troubled army, after Yuan Shao retired from the army, Sima Yi and the troublesome army share weal and woe, these more than half a year, Sima Yi made suggestions to help the army solve a lot of Hun troubles, has won the approval of the army to solve the troubles.

After sending Xu Huang away, Sima Yi took Lei Tong and Yang Ren to Zhongmu City to call for battle. Sima Yi didn't care if he won or lost, he just wanted to take this opportunity to confirm his guess.

Seeing that the Han army outside the city had set up a formation, Cao Ren, who had eliminated the catapult, was not afraid of battle, and immediately led his men and horses out of the city to meet the battle.

Sima Yi was right to leave Lei Tong and Yang Ren, Cao Ren was brave, not Lei Tong was invincible, Lei Tong and Yang Ren fought Cao Ren undefeated. But Sima Yi didn't have the intention of killing Cao Ren and the three of them at this time, but picked up the clairvoyance that Liu Xie gave him to look at the city, and after finding a person dressed as a scribe at the head of the city, Sima Yi nodded secretly, it seems that there is a chance that this person is the one who gives Cao Ren advice.

After confirming that his previous guess was correct, Sima Yi immediately asked Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. Cao Ren was already tired enough, if Niu Jin was by his side, he could let Niu Jin go after him for a while, but now, he could only collect his troops and return to the city.

"The general is hard." As soon as Cao Ren returned to the city, Chen Deng greeted him and said.

"Yuanlong, you have been watching the city for a long time, what have you gained?" Cao Ren shook his head slightly and asked Chen Dengdao.

"General, the Han army has divided its troops, and Yuanlong is only afraid that this Yanzhou will fall into the hands of the Han army if he can't get the lord back." Chen Deng replied when he heard this. Originally, Chen Deng was traveling with Cao Cao, but on the way back from the army, Guo Jia, who stayed in Qingzhou to confront Yuan Jun, suddenly fell ill. Cao Cao and Guo Jia are named monarchs and ministers, but their feelings are more like a pair of old friends, learning that Guo Jia is sick, although Cao Cao knows that it is wrong for him to do so, but he still insists on returning to Qingzhou to visit Guo Jia. However, Yanzhou was in a hurry, and Cao Cao himself couldn't go back immediately, so he let Chen Deng take the first step.

After Chen Deng returned to Yanzhou, he learned that more than half of Yuzhou had been lost, Cheng Yu was trapped in Chen Liu, and Cao Ren was about to lose the Tiger Prison Pass. On the one hand, Chen Deng ordered someone to report to the lord Cao Cao, and on the other hand, he personally led his troops to Zhongmu. The burning of the Tiger Prison and the ambush in the middle were all from Chen Deng's handwriting, and through these two strategies, Chen Deng was also recognized by Cao Ren.

Chen Jiao is cautious, suitable for logistics work, Niu Jin is brave, suitable for charging into battle, and if Cheng Yu had Cheng Yu by his side to give advice, Cao Ren would not have worked so hard. But Cheng Yu was trapped in Chen Liu, so naturally he couldn't help Cao Ren. Chen Deng's arrival just made up for Cao Ren's shortcomings at this time.

"Divide the troops, just divide the troops, just enough to annihilate them one by one. Yuanlong, what do you think? Cao Renzheng was saying that he suddenly found that Chen Deng was a little absent-minded, and couldn't help but ask in a dissatisfied tone.

"Oh, the general forgives the sin, Deng just thought that someone in the Han army formation today took a black and long tube to look at the city, I don't know what it is?"

"Oh, you said that, I heard people call it clairvoyance, it is rumored that you can see things thousands of miles away, but I think it is a false rumor, how can there be such a divine object in this world." Cao Ren replied when he heard this.

"Otherwise, the general should not underestimate this thing, since it is also scarce in the Han army, it must be useful."

"Yuanlong, don't think about it, when he breaks the Han army, I'll capture one for you."

"Thank you so much, General." Chen Deng thanked him. However, the promise to Cao Ren did not go to his heart. Cao Ren was full of confidence in the lord Cao Cao, but Chen Deng was not. In Chen Deng's heart, the interests of the family are put first, thinking about him Chen Deng, when Tao Qian was still a pastor in Xuzhou, Chen Deng served Tao Qian, after Lu Bu entered Xuzhou, Chen Deng began to serve Lu Bu again, and when Cao Cao controlled Xuzhou, Chen Deng also became Cao Chen. The fundamental reason for betraying the master several times is to ensure the interests of the Chen family in Xuzhou.

Why Guo Jia suggested that Cao Cao take Chen Deng with him is because Guo Jia understands Chen Deng's personality, if Chen Deng is placed in Xuzhou, Chen Deng will be a loyal minister of the Cao family when Cao Cao gains power, but once Cao Cao shows his decline, I am afraid that Chen Deng will start to consider another new master in order to ensure the interests of the Chen family in Xuzhou.

Before Chen Deng is concerned, he will definitely defect to the imperial court, and what he will take refuge in is the lord who can guarantee the interests of his Chen family in Xuzhou, which can be Cao Cao, Liu Xie, or Sun Ce.

Guo Jia recommended Chen Deng to Cao Cao, the purpose was not to give Chen Deng a chance to "think wildly", to be honest, if Chen Deng found an excuse to refuse at that time and insisted on staying in Xuzhou, maybe Cao Cao would have used Chen Deng to sacrifice the flag before he ordered to return to the army, and forever eliminate future troubles. Fortunately, Chen Deng was smart and accepted Cao Cao's dispatch without hesitation. But to say that Chen Deng didn't feel awkward at all, it was impossible. Hearing that Guo Jia was sick, Chen Deng was secretly happy for a while.

Xuzhou Guangling is the foundation of Chen Deng, and now the Chen family is still in Cao Cao's "clutches", even if Chen Deng has two intentions, he does not dare to show the slightest, but will fight to the death with the Han army in order to prove his loyalty to Cao Cao.

……

Outside the city of Zhongmu

The Han army has collected troops and returned to the camp, Sima Yi came back from patrolling the camp, sitting alone in the tent and thinking about countermeasures, at the latest tomorrow morning, the Tianyan of the imperial court will send a list of the main personnel in Zhongmu County. Sima Yi can also use this to know who his opponent is this time? And before that, Sima Yi tried to rule it out. According to the latest news, Cao Cao's most trusted strategist Guo Jia is still confronting Yuan Jun in Qingzhou, while the No. 2 trusted strategist Cheng Yu is trapped in Chenliu, and the remaining Lu Su is in charge of monitoring Jiangdong in Shouchun, and the strategist who appeared in Zhongmu County seems to have no one else except for Chen Deng in Xuzhou.

Know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles. Long before the imperial court sent troops, Sima Yi had obtained a detailed information from Liu Xie about Cao Cao's subordinate generals. In terms of Wenchen, the top four are Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Lu Su, and Chen Deng.

Cheng Yu and Guo Jia have been famous for a long time, but they don't know much about Lu Su and Chen Deng. However, from the current point of view, he can be listed as one of the four major strategists under Cao Cao by the Tianyan of the imperial court, and this Chen Deng is really not a wasted person.

After a night without incident, Sima Yi waited for the whole army to have breakfast, and led the army to Zhongmu City, ready to attack the city. Although there is no powerful catapult this time, Zhongmu is not as high as the Tiger Prison Pass. At the sound of an order, the Han army infantry carried the cloud ladder and rushed towards Zhongmu under the cover of their own crossbowmen.

An offensive and defensive battle began.

Ci is not in charge of the soldiers! Sima Yi is not a newcomer to the battlefield, so he was naturally not intimidated by the tragic battle at the head of the city, and although the Cao army was desperately defending under the leadership of Cao Ren, the combat power of the Han army was really strong, especially when Cao Ren called Lei Tong and Yang Ren to join forces to stop it, the situation of the Cao army was even more precarious. Although the Cao army resisted bravely under the command of Chen Deng, as time went by, the Cao army on the city became less and less......

"General, you can't hold it, let's withdraw quickly." Chen Deng commanded his own soldiers to snatch Cao Ren out of the trap of Lei Tong and Yang Ren, and persuaded him bitterly.

"Withdraw? Where to retreat? Cao Ren asked with a sword pestle, panting.

"Go to Chenliu, as long as Chenliu is defended, the Han army will not dare to advance eastward unscrupulously, and the lord will not have no place to stay when he returns."

"But in this way, wouldn't Yanzhou be handed over?" Cao Ren asked unwillingly.

"General, if you can't bear it, you will make a big plan, how can Cheng Zhongde stay for a long time with Cheng Zhongde alone? At present, only by concentrating on keeping Chen Liu, can we change the opportunity for the future. On the same day, Lu Bu entered Yanzhou, if it wasn't for Cheng Zhongde to defend Dongjun, how could the lord have a chance to turn defeat into victory. Leave it useful for the time being, and we'll see you later. ”

“…… Well, it's up to you. Cao Ren saw that there were more and more Han troops in the city, so he had to nod and agree to Chen Deng's proposal, and ordered someone to protect Chen Deng to go first, while he left behind.

Sima Yi only planned to test the reality of the Cao army today, but he didn't expect that after the war, Sima Yi found that Zhongmu's Cao army had not fully recovered from the shadow of the Tiger Pass, so he simply turned a feint attack into the main attack, and invested all his troops in one go, striving to take Zhongmu in one go.

And the facts also developed as Sima Yi expected, although Cao Ren had the intention to ask the Han army in Zhongmu for the nest of the people in the tiger prison, how could his men not be angry, so they had to break through again.

Sima Yi was unwilling to let go of Cao Ren, a big fish, and immediately ordered Lei Tong and Yang Ren to chase after him. As soon as they heard that they were going to catch Cao Ren's big fish, Lei Tong and Yang Ren immediately agreed, leaving the aftermath work to their deputy, and they picked out a thousand elite soldiers to join Sima Yi's discharge.

The two groups chased all the way and fled all the way, and it was at this time that Lei Tong and Yang Ren finally saw Sima Yi's terrible. This guy is too obscene, relying on his own horse, Sima Yi is not in a hurry to catch up with Cao Ren and his group, but like a cat playing with mice, every time he waits for Cao Ren and his group to stop and rest, he takes people to catch up and fight for a while, Cao Ren and his group do not dare to fight at this time, they can only fight and flee. In this way, Cao Ren and his group will not get a time to rest, but Sima Yi's side takes turns to rest, and he can always maintain a certain amount of energy to catch up with Cao Ren.

After chasing more than fifty miles in one go, Cao Ren could still run, but the subordinates under him who had no horses to ride could no longer run. Cao Ren didn't care about these subordinates who ran away, gritted his teeth and lifted Chen Deng to his horse, broke away from the brigade with dozens of cronies, and went straight to Chen Liu.

"Ran away? …… It's a pity. Hearing that the captive told Cao Ren to run away first, Sima Yi was a little regretful, but he had chased so far, and Sima Yi didn't want to chase anymore, so he sent someone to inform Zhang Ren and Zhang Liao of the matter, and at the same time led people to escort the captives back to Zhongmu.

Sima Yi planned to wait for Zhongmu's affairs, and he went to meet Xu Huang. Zhang Liao and Zhang Ren are assisted by Pang Tong and Fa Zheng respectively, and they may not have the opportunity to display their talents when they go, but it is different when they go to Xu Huang, maybe there is still a chance to fight with Guo Jia, the chief strategist under Cao Cao. I have long heard that the lord attaches great importance to that Guo Jia, but unfortunately he has never had the opportunity to learn one or two in person, and this time it is an opportunity.

……

Cao Ren ran wildly all the way, and only then stopped after confirming that there were no pursuers behind him. Look around, barren mountains and mountains, and I don't know where I am now. Cao Ren was hungry and thirsty at this time, even if he could still run forward, the horses couldn't stand it. I don't know how far away from Chen Liu is here, so Cao Ren had to order to stop and rest and raise his horsepower.

As the main general, a small matter like finding water naturally does not need to be done by himself, and he has his own personal guards to do it for him. Cao Ren accompanied Chen Deng to sit on a stone on the side of the road to rest, waiting for the soldiers who were looking for water to return. After a short time, the soldiers returned, not only found water, but also brought back Niu Jin.

Since the withdrawal of troops from Tiger Prison Pass and Niu Jin were separated halfway, Cao Ren lost the news of Niu Jin, although he later knew that Niu Jin broke through the siege, but where he went, Cao Ren did not know. When the old people reunited, Cao Ren felt that the fatigue on his body had been reduced a lot, and he took Niu Jin's hand and asked, "Niu Jin, where have you been running during this time?" ”

"God forbid, let me meet the general here, or I will take my brothers to throw myself into the net." Niu Jin said excitedly.

Since successfully setting fire to the catapult of the Han army and breaking through, Niu Jin took more than a dozen people who survived in a panic and ran wildly all the way, and when they finally got rid of the pursuers, Niu Jin and others also found themselves lost. A group of more than a dozen people wandered around the wilderness for several days before they finally came across a hunter. It was also from Orion's mouth that Niu Jin and others determined the direction of going to Zhongmu. Unexpectedly, when they rushed to Zhongmu to look for Cao Ren, they met the pro-soldiers who came out to find water, and then they met Cao Ren.

"General, where are we going now?" Niu Jin asked Cao Rendao.

“…… Go to Chenliu. ”

"Chen Liu? Don't go to Puyang? Niu Jin asked puzzled.

"I can't go, when Zhongmu was besieged by the Han army, the Han army divided its troops to attack Puyang and other places. Now that Zhongmu has been broken, the northern part of Yanzhou may have been occupied by the Han army. We went to Chenliu to guard the last passage back to Yanzhou for the lord. Cao Ren patiently explained to Niu Jin.

"The last general understands, general, let the last general open the way for the general."

"Okay, let's go."