With the three of Xiahou Yuan tied their hands, the war between the Gao Tang Dynasty ended, and the trend of the three princes 'joining forces' collapsed, and the confrontation against Liu Yuan was completely defeated.

When the news reached the ears of Cao Hong, Li Dian, Yu Ban, and Le Jin, who had already occupied the three counties in the south of Qingzhou, Donglai, Beihai, and Qi State, the four of them only felt a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and they were scorched by thunder!

How can it be?

In just one day, more than 200,000 people were defeated!

No, it's more than 100,000, Qingzhou has already taken refuge in Liu Yuan!

"How's that good!?"

Cao Hong, who had already occupied Linzi, lost his eyes. Xiahou Chun, Xiahou Yuan, and Chen Gong were captured, the 40,000 army was scattered, Chen Deng and Cao Bao were captured, and the 80,000 army was wiped out. The news hit him too hard.

Not to mention that the two brothers of Xiahou Chun and him are small and have a deep relationship, just saying that the collapse of this half of the forces in an instant has a big impact on Cao Ying's calculations, Cao Hong knows very well.

Xiahou Chun's defeat caused half of the 80,000 main army invested in Qingzhou to be lost in an instant.

Moreover, the various negative news brought back by the rout army has greatly damaged the morale of their own side, making most people have an irrepressible fear of the Youzhou army!

Even, he lost confidence in Cao Mengde, the lord.

People can use miracles, that is the destiny of heaven, what qualifications do you have, what ability do you have to fight for it?

This is what many people think. The evil consequence of the spread of such thinking is that not only the three counties of Qingzhou that have just been occupied are turbulent and unstable, but also the Yanzhou base area has begun to undercurrent and the people's hearts are uneasy.

In other words, Cao Ying's invasion of Qingzhou has almost completely failed, not only did he not reap the benefits, but it affected the local area, which is more than worth the loss!

Cao Hong thought about it for a long time and was undecided, so he immediately sent someone to send a letter to Li Dian, who was guarding Panyang County on the border between Qi and Jinan, Yu Ban, who was guarding Changguo County on the border between Qi and Le'an, and Lejin, who was guarding Guanting at the junction of Beihai and Le'an, summoned these three people to Linzi to discuss how to deal with it.

After a while, the three arrived in Linzi one after another.

"Guys, what do you say to do?"

Cao Hong counted the matter from beginning to end and said in a deep voice.

The three of them also knew the news for a long time, and they all had sad faces these days.

Speaking of which, now that Gaotang County has been defeated, Liu Dai's surrender in Qingzhou has made Liu Yuan have an absolute advantage in Qingzhou. The 40,000 horses under their command are simply to deliver food to people, and they have no effect.

Qingzhou, Liu Yuan will win.

And if a few people are still guarding these passes, and they are holding on to the three southern counties of Qingzhou and not letting go, then the final result will be like Gao Tang, and a big battle with the Youzhou army, and their encounters may be no different from those of Xiahou Yuan. It's not that they're afraid of the Youzhou Army, after all, they haven't personally experienced the horror of the Youzhou Army, and they only hearsay, and it's really hard to convince a few people.

It's just because Liu Yuan is too powerful. That Gaotang, in addition to the 50,000 people in Youzhou headquarters, there are about 110,000 Qingzhou soldiers and more than 60,000 captured Xuzhou soldiers, a total of more than 200,000! And Li Dian and the others are only 40,000 together, what to fight against?

What's more, now Cao Ying is attacking Yuzhou with all his might, and the four of them have no backing!

"Now, the strategy to attack Qingzhou has failed. But we can't allow the Battle of Yuzhou to go wrong as well. Otherwise, how can we be worthy of the grace of the Lord? Li Dian slowly spoke: "The defeat of Qingzhou is irreparable, but Yanzhou must not make a mistake!" What I mean is to abandon the three counties of Qingzhou, retreat to Yanzhou, try to defend, and at the same time appease the interior of Yanzhou, make it stable, and let the lord take Yuzhou with peace of mind, which is the safest way to deal with it. ”

Yu Jian bowed his head and said, "I also agree with General Li's opinion. Qingzhou can't be defended, and can't be defended. That being the case, it is better to give up happily. But Yanzhou can't go wrong in any way, otherwise"

The four of them discussed for a long time, and finally finalized it, and decided to start the army immediately, abandon Qingzhou, and return to Yanzhou.

Since Liyi captured Gaotang and captured Xiahou Yuan and other people, he moved slowly, a town market in three days, and a county town in five days.

In fact, it is to give Li Dian and others time, to be safe and stable, and to take the entire territory of Qingzhou completely without spending a single soldier and peace.

Facts have proved that Guo Jia's speculation is indeed correct, and sure enough, after five or six days, I heard that Cao Hongjun had withdrawn to Yanzhou.

At this time, Lu Yicai smiled, waved his army south, one city and one county, and soon included most of Qingzhou in his hands.

Previously, when Cao Hong and others were looting everywhere and were about to retreat, an envoy from Xuzhou came to visit and invited him to join forces to resist Liu Yuan and prevent him from going south.

Cao Hong refused without hesitation.

It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that he can't.

Yanzhou is already turbulent, if you don't return to the army, I'm afraid that the civil strife will not end well!

The envoy of Xuzhou was rejected, and he was very unhappy at the moment, and when he went back to Xuzhou, he only said that Cao's army was weak and did not dare to resist the enemy, and had already withdrawn from the three southern counties of Qingzhou. and suggested that Tao Qian eat this piece of fat.

Tao Qian was very moved when he heard this, and said in his heart, why not take this opportunity to swallow one or two counties, first, to make up for the loss of Chen Deng's defeat of Cao Bao, and second, to expand the territory of Xuzhou?

You must know that the Cao army retreated, the Youzhou army had not yet finished moving south to occupy Qingzhou, and the two counties of Beihai and Donglai were in a political vacuum, but this was the best time to take these two counties. Tao Qian had been coveting these two counties for many years, and when the opportunity came to his mouth, he deliberately took a bite.

But he has been dying of old age in recent years, losing the decisiveness of his youth, and becoming more gentle, so he hesitated a little in his heart, so he summoned his subordinates to prepare to discuss it first, and then make a final conclusion.

Chen Deng's father, Chen Gui, thought that Youzhou was too strong, and such an act was tantamount to grabbing food from the tiger's mouth, which angered the other party and was easy to be counterattacked. And others think that they should take the opportunity to take down the two counties of Donglai and Beihai and strengthen Xuzhou.

The two sides argued for a long time, and in the end, Chen Gui compromised.

Just because the other party mentioned that if you take these two counties, you really can't hold it, and when the time comes, depending on the situation, you will see the opportunity to exchange the land of the two counties for Chen Deng and Cao Bao!

Chen Gui was worried about Chen Deng and couldn't refute it, so he had to be silent.

The discussion finally had a result, Tao Qian was overjoyed, and sent his generals Sun Guan and Yin Li, each leading 50,000 troops, all the way to Gumu and into Beihai; All the way through the counties, through the Beihai Gaomi, and then to Donglai.

He also ordered Mi Zhu and Wang Lang to be military advisors, assist the two generals, and obtain the two counties.

It is said that Mizhu is a big merchant in Xuzhou, and he had close ties with Youzhou in his early years and knew that Youzhou was terrible. He also often tried to speak to Tao Qian, describing the strength of Youzhou. But as soon as he came to be a businessman, although he was engaged in the expedition, he was still not very valued, and the two had political enemies as an obstacle, saying that his heart was to Youzhou, praising the enemy and degrading himself, so Tao Qian was even less close to him.

This time he was appointed as a marching military division, but also caused by political enemies, although he did not accept the order, he had no choice but to be tough Tao Qian, it was worth compromising and seeking perfection, and he sent troops to Qingzhou with Sun Guan.

After a while, the two armies arrived at Gumu and Zhuxian respectively, and after resting for a while, they marched into Qingzhou and entered the Beihai range.

Sun Guan's army marched all the way, even under several cities, he was complacent, and on the other side, Yin Li was the same.

The two of them knew in their hearts that they only said that the power vacuum of these two counties was easy to take, and a little caution in their hearts completely dissipated.

is Mi Zhu and Wang Lang, both of whom think so.

On this day, Sun Guan's army defeated Chang'an, and they were going straight to Anqiu, a neighboring county, without stopping.

The army marched in a roundabout way, the generals were lazy, such as playing in the mountains and rivers, and the soldiers were relaxed, talking and laughing without any vigilance.

The 50,000 army marched to a mountain col, and suddenly, the shouts of killing were loud in all directions, and Sun Guan's soul was scattered, and when he looked up, he was facing a giant hammer in his hand, leading the army to kill and run over from the hillside!

Sun Guan hurriedly ordered the army to resist, and while holding the blade, he met the giant hammer general.

"Phew! A thief, dare to invade the North Sea, and die! ”

A pair of sledgehammers smashed down overwhelmingly, Sun Guan was caught off guard, the first hammer was smashed and the blade flew away, and the second hammer was smashed in the head!

"Hahaha Beihai Wu'an is here, the thief will be dead, don't you surrender quickly!"

With Wu Anguo's loud shout, there were two more Biao troops in the slash, and in an instant, Sun Guan's army was in chaos, and they collapsed in an instant, scattered and fled, abandoning their weapons and surrendering!

At the same time, Yin Li's army was also ambushed outside Gaomi.

The leader is none other than the Qingzhou Mu Liu Dai who has been ignored by everyone!

Although Liu Dai has no courage and military strategy, he does not need to be taught to ambush, just ambush in a dangerous place, wait for the enemy army to pass by, and shoot arrows and rolling stones, so that Yin Li's army is chaotic, and then lead the army to cover up, and immediately break Yin Li's army, besiege Yin Li, and capture Wang Lang.

Then the two armies each guarded Beihai Anqiu and Donglai Qianxi, and responded to each other to resist Xuzhou.

When Tao Qian learned that the two armies had gone and never returned, and all of them died in Qingzhou, he couldn't help but feel very sad.

I wanted to get a piece of fat to taste, but I didn't expect it to be a copper pea, and two front teeth were knocked out, and the gains outweighed the losses.

Now Xuzhou lost 80,000 horses in the Battle of Gaotang and 100,000 in Beihai. Only these two times, most of Xuzhou's total strength was lost, and its strength was greatly damaged.

"I didn't expect it to be the terminally ill Liu Dai and Wu Anguo under the command of Kong Rong!" Tao Qian said quickly: "A certain person actually ignored these two people, is it the will of heaven that ends it?" ”

There was silence in the hall, and after a long time, Pei Xiang Chen Gui stood up and said slowly: "Liu Dai has always been deliberately weakened, diluted, and hidden.

Chen Gui did not blush and blamed it on the will of heaven, and said: "The only plan for the present, my strength in Xuzhou has been greatly damaged, because of the attack on Qingzhou and the evil of Youzhou, but I have to worry about its retaliation, and I need to outline a plan and be cautious." ”

When Tao Qian heard this, his face couldn't help but turn pale.

Indeed, Xuzhou's strength has been greatly damaged, and in the face of the victorious division that came to the world, it is really more than enough but not enough!

"How can this be?" Tao Qian almost cried, secretly regretting in his heart, he shouldn't have responded to Chen Gong's words, isn't it good to sit in Xuzhou safely, shouldn't be greedy for that inch of land!

"I have two plans to solve Tao Gong's worries."

stood up, it was the Pengcheng celebrity who was forced by Tao Qian to come out, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Zibu.

Everyone was amazed.

You must know that when Tao Qian recruited Zhang Zhao to go out, Zhang Zhao refused, Tao Qian thought that he was despised, so he forced him to go out of office, and he was detained in the state pastor's mansion and never said a word. Now he wants to give advice to Tao Qian, which makes people feel incredible.

Tao Qian frowned, only looked at him, and did not speak.

"Of course, there are also requirements below. As long as the strategy in the next solves Tao Gong's worries, he will ask Tao Gong to return home and no longer be embarrassed. ”

Zhang Zhaodao.

I see!

Everyone was stunned.

Tao Qian's face changed, and he finally nodded: "Okay, as long as your plan works, I will no longer embarrass you and let you go home." ”

Zhang Zhao's eyes were happy, and he said: "I have two plans, one of which is marriage." ”

"Marriage?" Tao Qian's brows furrowed more and more deeply. He has two sons and a daughter, but he is not young, he has already been married, and there is no outstanding woman among the offspring, how to marry Liu Zihong?

"Yes, it's a marriage." Zhang Zhaodao: "There is a daughter in the Mi family in the East China Sea, whose name is Mi Zhen, who is outstanding in talent and appearance, and is waiting for the boudoir!" ”

"But the sister of Mi Zhu, Mi Zhen?" Chen Gui asked.

"Exactly." Zhang Zhao returned indifferently.

"My lord, this plan is feasible." Chen Gui bowed slightly and said: "The little girl of the Mi family is eighteen years old, quite beautiful, I think she is a mother with the king of Yuyang, and she should be married." ”

Seeing that Chen Gui actually agreed, Tao Qian was suddenly confused.

To say that this marriage is naturally a marriage between the heads of the two parties, it is the safest, but why did even Chen Gui agree to let the Mi family marry the King of Yuyang?

"My lord, Mi Zhu is a businessman, and he often has contact with Youzhou, and he wants to be an old acquaintance with the King of Yuyang, and on this point, the King of Yuyang should not reject this marriage. The two Mi families have a lot of money, and they are taking this as a dowry to apologize to King Yuyang; Three coming."

Chen Gui didn't continue, but Tao Qian also knew that he was not a descendant with outstanding appearance, otherwise how could he get the Mi family?

"It's a feasible plan." Tao Qian pondered for a long time, nodded yes, and said, "What about the second plan?" ”

"The second plan, hehe," Zhang Zhao smiled slightly and said, "Tou Cheng." ”

When everyone in the hall heard this, they couldn't help but change color!

"Bold!" Some of them shouted and asked, and they all glared angrily.

"Hehe," Zhang Zhao shook his head disapprovingly, and said: "These two plans, to put it bluntly, are just to have a relationship with the King of Yuyang." Otherwise, do you have any other strategies to resist the Yuyang King? United Cao Mengde? Hey, Cao Mengde is now suffering from internal and external troubles, Yanzhou is making a lot of trouble, and he is fighting with Yuan Shu on the other hand, and the strength of self-protection is not enough, how can he have the heart to help you? Joint Yuan Shu? Yuan Shu is even more dying, and he has no time to take care of himself! As for Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others, not to mention that these people are separated from Xuzhou by several mountains, why should he help you? Although it is well said verbally, unite to resist the king of Yuyang in Hebei, but who doesn't have an abacus in their hearts, and each has a ghost? ”

"For example, if you ask Yuan Shao for help, what assistance can Yuan Shao give? Do you want him to send troops to attack Hebei and contain the forces of King Yuyang? He absolutely refused, at most let the puppet son of heaven make a will, reprimanding the king of Yuyang. But the king of Yuyang has already broken with the Son of Heaven, will he be very reasonable? ”

"For example, Gongsun Zhan and Wang Kuang, these two people said that they were threatened from the north, but they could only swallow their anger, you want to ask these two people for help, it's a big joke, people can't avoid it, and they can set themselves on fire?"

"For example, Liu Biao, Liu Yan, not to mention that these two people have a good relationship with the King of Yuyang, just say that these tens of millions of mountains and rivers, there are a few princes in between, and people really want to rescue, but they can't come!"

"Besides, these people are busy expanding their strength and expanding their territory, I wish there was one less prince in the world, will they care about you?! Joke! ”

After saying a few words, everyone in the hall was speechless.

Indeed, Xuzhou, which has suffered a great loss of troops and has no external assistance, is now extremely weak, and if the army of King Yuyang goes south, it will not be able to stop it at all, and it is in danger of overturning.

(To be continued)