For Cao Jun, this was the first initiative after the start of the war. Not only did Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun's soldiers and horses cross the Yellow River, but even Cao Cao's main forces already had plans to cross the river. Cao Jun's movements naturally couldn't hide from Yuan Shaojun's scouts, of course, Cao Cao didn't think about hiding it, but made a big fanfare, for fear that Yuan Shao wouldn't know. Yuan Shao, who was stationed in Liyang City, looked at the military newspaper in his hand, and laughed at the people in the tent: "It is said that Cao Apu is good at using troops, if you want me to see it, it's just that." ”

Guo Tu, who was at the bottom of the head, hurriedly said: "What the lord said is very true, now that Puyang is in the hands of the lord, this Cao Cao doesn't think about how to recapture Puyang, but wants to come to a decisive battle with the lord." This is a ridiculous joke! ”

Fu Zhu frowned, closed his eyes tightly, shook his head and said: "Cao Cao is quite a soldier and will never do such an unwise act." If you want me to see it, there must be a conspiracy in Cao Cao's move. ”

As soon as the words of the frustrated professor came out, Feng Ji immediately opened his mouth and sneered: "Are you looking too highly at that Cao Mengde?" If you want me to say, this Cao Cao just saw Puyang fall, and he was unable to regain it, so he made such a decision in a state of confusion. If he can't take Puyang, he wants to defeat the lord in a fight. If you want me to say, he's crazy. Why do you have to grow the morale of others and destroy your own prestige? ”

He was about to speak, but he saw Yuan Shao waving his hand and said: "Now that Cao Apu is leading his troops to attack, he looks like he wants to fight a decisive battle, am I Yuan Benchu still afraid of him?" Now that I have 400,000 soldiers and horses, how much can he Cao Cao have? If you want a decisive battle, it's exactly what I want! There is no need to say much to the prince and you, I have made up my mind, let Yan Liang continue to attack Baima, transfer Wen Chou back, and then send troops to cross the river and fight a decisive battle with Cao's army! ”

Frustrated, he could only arch his hand, to be honest, although he was quite suspicious of Cao Cao's move in his heart, but until now, he didn't know what the meaning of Cao Cao's move was. Because of this, for Yuan Shao's decision, Fu Zhu really didn't know how to refute it. In this case, it is better to plan carefully for Yuan Shao and see how to completely eliminate Cao Cao, the great enemy, with this decisive battle.

It's just that Wen Chou had just been ordered to return to Liyang, and Yuan Shao of Liyang received extremely bad news. The plains fell, Yuan Xi was defeated and fled, and now he has retreated to the river. Gao Ye's soldiers and horses have already settled in the plain, completely gaining a foothold in Hebei, and the soldiers can threaten their flanks at any time. Fortunately, Yuan Xi still has some ability, although he was defeated, his soldiers and horses have gathered nearly 20,000, and now he is making a detour from the river and rushing to Qinghe to garrison. As soon as the news came back, Yuan Shao in the big tent had already lost his temper, and all the strategists were called into the tent by him, and Yuan Shao, who was still angry, didn't say a word at this time, just waiting for these people to read the military report.

"Lord, in this way, it can explain why Cao Cao insisted on fighting a decisive battle with the lord." Guo Tu, who read the military newspaper, was the first to speak. Speaking of himself, Feng Ji and the two have followed Yuan Shao since Yuan Shao was still the Taishou of Bohai, but now the status of the two of them is far inferior to Tian Feng and Fu Zhu, who surrendered from Han Fu. It is precisely because of this that Guo Tu wanted to suppress the two of them, so he took the lead in speaking in everything, and dug pits for the two of them from time to time. So this time he was still the first to speak. "Now that Gao Ye has taken the plain, the soldiers are pointing directly at the Qinghe, the second son had 80,000 soldiers and horses, and there are the Yellow River moats, but they have not been able to block Gao Ye's attack. This time, I lost my troops and lost my generals, but I am afraid that it will be more difficult to hold on. Cao Cao has Gao Ye on the flank, presumably this is where his confidence in the decisive battle lies. ”

Hearing this, the rare one did not object to Guo Tu, but nodded solemnly: "I'm afraid it's just as the public rule says." When our army reached Puyang, it was like a nail wedged in Yanzhou, but Gao Ye's killing in Hebei was also a problem that could not be ignored for our army. Wuyuan High Night, sure enough, lives up to its name. ”

When Yuan Shao heard this, he also took a long breath and said: "Mingxi's ability, I have already learned it, I said in the early years, if Mingxi is here, why worry about the world!" I knew that Xianyi was not his opponent, but I didn't expect that he would lose so badly and so quickly. Now that he has been killed in Hebei, what should we do? ”

Guo Tu then said: "Although Gao Ye has killed the Yellow River, his troops will inevitably be lost. Cao's army came to support, but it was still inferior to our army in terms of troops. The lord can order a general to divide his troops to Qinghe to resist the enemy. As long as the lord breaks through the front Cao Cao, everything can be solved. ”

Yuan Shao nodded when he heard this, and asked, "Who can be in charge of this?" ”

When he heard this, he immediately arched his hand and said: "According to the minister's opinion, only Zhang ......"

As soon as the words were spoken, a pawn outside the big tent also ran in as if he was flying, and shouted loudly: "Lord, Puyang is urgent!" Yuan Shao couldn't care about the frustrating words when he heard this, and hurriedly took the letter in his hand. He was afraid that Puyang would change, if Puyang changed and was obtained by Cao Cao, it would mean that Cao Cao's movements at this time were all fake, and he was afraid that his preparations would fail. Therefore, Yuan Shao, who received the urgent report, hurriedly opened it, and was immediately shocked.

Feng Ji arched his hand and asked, "Lord, what is the military situation in Puyang?" ”

Yuan Shao frowned, handed the urgent report in his hand to Fu Zhi, and then said with an unhappy face: "Xu You, who is supervising the army in Henan, came to report that Wang Mo captured a Cao Jun in Puyang and found a letter from him. A letter written by Cao Cao to Liu Bei. Yuan Shao bit the names of Cao Cao and Liu Bei very hard, his face was a little worse, and his voice became a little more stern, and then he continued: "He sent the letter and the interrogation results together, I have seen it, and it is indeed Cao Agui's handwriting." Ziyuan felt that Cao Cao's decisive battle with our army ignoring Puyang was not caused by impatience, but because he had already planned it. Now that Gao Ye is killing from Qinghe, Ziyuan feels that if Liu Bei in Puyang is really connected with Cao Cao, if Liu Bei comes to help in the decisive battle, I will not wait to investigate, it will definitely be an internal and external difficulty, and he will be attacked on three sides! If this is really the case, can our army be undefeated? ”

Although the content of this letter is not much different from what Yuan Shao said, Cao Cao asked Liu Bei to be ready, and when he and Yuan Shao fought a decisive battle, in the name of helping the war, the line should be a combination of internal and external strategies. But to be honest, I didn't even believe a word. Therefore, as soon as Yuan Shao's words fell, he said in frustration: "Lord, this must be Cao Jun's plan to divide the world, don't be gullible!" ”

Liu Bei was originally recommended to Cao Cao by frustration, and if Liu Bei really had a problem, he would not be able to escape the blame. Therefore, although there was a little drum in his heart at this time, he hurriedly retorted. It's just that Guo Tu and Feng Ji on the side saw that there was such a good opportunity, so how could they let it go easily. Therefore, Guo Tu on the side immediately said gloomily: "I don't think so." To be honest, when he Liu Bei came, I was quite strange. That Cao Cao is not a soft-hearted person, how can Liu Bei escape from Xu Du, and how can he escape under Cao Ang's encirclement, Puyang City is heavily guarded, he can hide in Puyang City from being discovered by Cao Jun, and even come out of the city to vote for the lord. It's just that Fu Gong swears, and I can't refute Fu Gong's face. But now it seems that this Liu Bei is indeed strange. ”

Hearing this, he shook his head and retorted: "The public rule is wrong. That Liu Bei was in Yingdu, and he did the strategy of Taoguang to raise obscurity, so he escaped by luck. He has been fighting for many years, and he is a person who knows the soldiers, Cao Ang is just a yellow-mouthed son, and Liu Bei escaped from him, which can be regarded as normal. Among the eastern counties, there are many families, Cao Cao killed Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, and the Yanzhou family may not be dissatisfied with Cao Cao, and it is not a strange thing to help Liu Bei. ”

"But don't forget, that Liu Bei is Gongsun Zhan's junior brother, and he is even more supported by him. Even if he was hostile to Cao Cao, how do you know that he is loyal to his lord? Moreover, this person is quite ambitious, and now he has the name of the emperor's uncle and the edict of His Majesty. Can you guarantee that he doesn't want to take advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters? ”

"You must know that the enemy of your enemy is your friend! As long as our army takes Cao Cao, it will not be easy to deal with a Liu Bei! At this time, there were Wang Mo and He Mao beside him, and even if he wanted to rebel, he had to weigh it. He Liu Bei is not stupid, how can he dig his own grave. We are rashly suspicious, but I am afraid that it is inappropriate. ”

"Hmph, it's because he Liu Bei is not stupid that he is most likely to rebel. If our army wins, what will happen to him Liu Bei? Only when our army is defeated and retreats will he have a chance to fish in troubled waters! ”

The more the argument between Fu Zhu and Guo Tu became, the more intense they became, and there was quite a posture of arguing until tomorrow. Yuan Shao, who was at the top, saw this situation, and his head was even bigger. Hurriedly stopped: "Okay, don't fight anymore." Now Ziyuan is quite uneasy about Liu Bei in his letter, and he must have found something wrong. Now I'd better think of a solution. ”

As soon as Yuan Shao's words came out, Guo Tu and Fu Zhi both stopped arguing. Instead, they were silent, thinking about countermeasures. On the contrary, Feng Ji on the side spoke: "Lord, it just happened that the night was coming, and he should send all the soldiers and horses to block it in Qinghe." On the other hand, why not let Liu Bei lead his troops, raid Taishan County, and enter Qingzhou? ”

When Guo Tu heard this, he nodded violently and said, "Yuan Tu's plan is wonderful. used this reason to test Liu Bei, Liu Bei would definitely not perceive that this was a temptation, so he felt resentful. If Liu Bei had no second thoughts, Gao Ye's rear would be attacked, and he would definitely not be able to fully support Cao Cao. If Liu Bei really had a connection with Cao Cao, he would definitely not do his best to attack Mount Tai. When the time comes, the lord will send a team of men and horses, called support, but in fact, he will defeat Liu Bei, and both will be beautiful! ”

Seeing Yuan Shao's face showing joy, he knew in his heart that he was afraid that Yuan Shao had already agreed to this plan. If Liu Bei really had an affair with Cao Cao, he would not be able to escape responsibility this time. The most important thing is that he lost to Guo Tu and Feng Ji, the two villains, how can he swallow this breath! Sure enough, Yuan Shao immediately agreed with Guo Tu's opinion, and then said: "Gonghe, you just said that you want to recommend someone to lead the troops to resist Gao Ye, who is it?" ”

Frustrated Zhu glanced at Guo Tu, who looked proud, and said with a lonely face: "The minister thinks that Zhang He and Zhang Junyi are familiar with battle formations, and they are skillful and unique, and they can block the high night!" ”[.]