Yanzhou, Taishan County, Fei County.

The night was dark, Cao Cao had not rested, and as a male lord like him, he rarely rested, because he had too many things to deal with and too many problems to think about.

The biggest problem at the moment is that the battle situation is very unfavorable to him, he gathered more than 100,000 troops, and launched a battle against Liu Qi's Xuzhou, Yangzhou and Jingzhou at the same time, thinking that at the same time to contain the three forces, at least in one place to make a breakthrough, but the war has been stalemate for more than a year, Liu Qi's soldiers and horses are not able to hold out, Yangzhou Xu Shu and Nanyang Zhou Yu needless to say, these two people themselves are extremely calm and patient characters, and he himself has no intention of being able to find a breakthrough from these two places, Therefore, although the dispatches are all elite soldiers and strong generals, they are only used to contain Zuò.

In fact, his breakthrough was originally Xuzhou, first of all, Xuzhou is by the sea in the east, surrounded by his own army in the north and west, and there is only a rescue channel in Yangzhou in the south, and the main force of Yangzhou is contained by Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Xuan, it can be said that there is no foreign aid, plus Xuzhou Assassin Shi Wei Yan is just a brave man, he believes that as long as he lures each other, or deliberately provokes, Wei Yan will definitely send troops lightly, and as long as he lays an ambush by himself, not to mention that he can kill Wei Yan, at least he can lose a lot of soldiers and horses, There is no problem even taking the opportunity to get Langya.

It's just a pity that he found that he didn't even know Wei Yan well, although this person was bold and adventurous, but he was also very careful and could forbear, and he had never been provoked or tempted by himself for more than a year.

Later, Cao Cao led his army to launch an offensive against Peng Chengguo, preparing to lure Wei Yan to send troops to rescue him, and then take the opportunity to send troops to occupy Langya, but he didn't expect that a Zhao Yun would emerge here, and he had already set up ambushes along the way, and he was defeated. Even the general Xiahoulan took him prisoner and surrendered to him.

After this battle, Cao Cao led his troops to attack Pengcheng, but saw that Zhao Yun could not hold out like Wei Yan.

Cao Cao was undoubtedly a very good leader. The strategists under his command are also the best in the world, and they can see through all the flaws at a glance. And make the most appropriate arrangements accordingly, and Cao Cao can always listen to the correct opinions, which leads him to fight for many years, and has always won more and lost less, and the development of his career is very smooth.

But the problem now is that the other party has no flaws at all, and his strategists can't do anything even if they have vision. Liu Qi has too many troops, whether it is Xuzhou or Yangzhou. It is still the Nanyang area of Jingzhou, where there are more than 50,000 troops in each place, and although these armies are full of many so-called government soldiers with low combat effectiveness and lack of experience, they only defend and do not attack, but they are more than enough.

What made Cao Cao feel even more helpless was that after more than a year of confrontation, the surplus food in his army was insufficient. The land of Hebei has just been pacified, and the wounds of the war have not yet recovered, so he does not have a stable grain production base at present!

After more than a year of attrition. The surplus food in his army is already insufficient, and it is difficult to support it anymore, so what he thinks about next should be only one way to retreat from the army, more than 100,000 troops to the border, and then to store grain in the fields to lay a good foundation for the next operation. But will Liu Qi give himself so much time for development?

Now Liu Qi has a lot of soldiers and enough food, whether it is in Nanyang, Langya, Pengcheng or Jiujiang, there are heavy guards. An attack by his own army with all its might will not be able to threaten them, if they retreat. Is there a guarantee that they will not take advantage of the situation to counterattack?

"Fortunately, now Liu Bei is fighting in Liangzhou, dragging Liu Qi's main force. Otherwise, once his army comes to the aid of any place, it will inevitably upset the original balance, thus making his own side fall into passivity, or even lose his territory.

Cao Cao pondered and sighed silently.

But at this moment, he suddenly heard a whispered voice from outside the tent, and hurriedly asked in a deep voice, "What's the matter?" ”

I heard Liu Dazhu, a personal soldier, say: "Qi Wei Gong, is a spy who transmits military information, saying that there is an urgent military situation to see Wei Gong, and the last general sees that the night is dark, and he is afraid that it will affect Wei Gong's rest, so he stopped him and asked him to talk about it tomorrow morning." ”

Cao Cao groaned slightly, and saw that since the spies were delivering the news at this time, he knew that it was definitely important military information, so he immediately ordered it to be transmitted.

Cao Cao took the letter handed over by the spy, and after only reading two sentences, his face changed greatly, and he immediately instructed Liu Dazhu: "Immediately upload Guo Jia, Xun You, and Cheng Yu." ”

Although it had passed the third watch, Guo Jia, Xun You, and Cheng Yu did not dare not go immediately after hearing the news of Cao Cao's urgent summons, they knew that since Duke Wei called them so late, something big must have happened!

Sure enough, when they came to Cao Cao's tent, they found that Cao Cao had a gloomy face, and his complexion was as ugly as it was.

Even Guo Jia, who had always been reckless and casual, couldn't help but restrain his form, and asked cautiously, "Duke Wei, what happened?" ”

Cao Cao was silent and handed the letter in his hand to the three of them.

The three of them all looked at it, and their faces became as solemn as Cao Cao.

"I really didn't expect Liu Bei to lose Liangzhou so quickly." A wry smile appeared on Cheng Yu's face, and he sighed softly.

Guo Jia said suddenly: "In fact, Liu Bei can have this defeat, of course, because Liu Qi is cunning, Jia Xu is wise, and Ma Chao is brave, but speaking of which, it is also mixed with inevitability." ”

"Oh? What does Feng Xiao mean by this? Cao Cao couldn't help but glance at Guo Jia and asked in surprise.

I saw a touch of sarcasm on Guo Jia's face, and he sneered and said: "Liu Bei seems to treat people with sincerity and righteousness on the surface, but the truth is not true, he has been mixed among the heroes over the years, and has attached himself to Gongsun Zhan, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao and the lord, but every time he leaves when everyone needs it most, and even betrayed the lord twice in order to gain territory and strength. The loss of Nanyang was caused by Liu Bei's long-term failure to repay it in the name of Nanyang; Ma Chao's rebellion was caused by his trickery to take the right to support the wind, even if it was the loss of Wuwei, it was also caused by forcing Han Sui to rebel. Liu Bei thinks he has a plan, and he looks down on the world's heroes, but he has this loss, who is to blame? ”

Cao Cao and the others all nodded and were silent after listening, they are all rare contemporary wise men, naturally know what Guo Jia said, the analysis can be described as incisive, but this can not replace the sadness on their faces, I saw Cao Cao said: "Although what Feng Xiao said is good, but after all, Liu Bei is our ally, and now he is frustrated in the west, I am afraid that from now on he can only be in a passive defense, and he will no longer be able to attack Liu Qi, so that if we want to capture Xuzhou, it will be even more difficult." ”

"Lord, Weichen has a sentence that should not be said, in fact, the lord has also seen that now Liu Qi is under the rule of the land of six states, the entire Han family has three points in the world, and his strength is nearly two points, plus the land of Jingzhou, the land of fish and rice in Yangzhou, the country of Yizhou Tianfu, Jiaozhou trade is prosperous, and the annual income is hundreds of millions, although the soldiers under his command are not good at fighting, but there are more than enough rules, and Xu Shu and Zhou Yu are all wise and resourceful, Wei Yan and Zhao Yun are brave and good at fighting."

Seeing that Cao Cao and the others were silent, Guo Jia continued: "Although the Central Plains and Hebei region are the most developed under the rule of the lord, but after several wars, the economy has withered, and the vitality has not recovered, and there are still Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi entrenched in the north of Liaodong, although Liu Bei has formed an alliance with our army, but his people are treacherous, and they have to guard Yanmen and Taiyuan with heavy troops, so it is really not easy to seize Xuzhou, and our army has been fighting for more than a year, costing millions of military rations, and the soldiers are tired of war, and the people are Si'an, according to the plan of Weichen, if you stop the army and truce, Retreat to Yanyu, carry out the plan of Tuntian, and then follow Liu Qi in the rear, implement the law of Juntian, and then pacify Liaodong during this period, and completely stabilize the north, so that our army will hold Liu Qi in Hebei and the Central Plains, and the great cause can be guaranteed. ”

Cao Cao listened to Guo Jia's words, was silent for a while, and slowly asked Cheng Yu and Xun You: "What does the second prince think of the words of filial piety?" ”

Cheng Yu and Xun Yu glanced at each other, and both said: "Weichen also thinks that Fengxiao's words are very reasonable, as long as the lord is a good person, he is benevolent, he advises agriculture and mulberry, and pays attention to production, and after the economic revitalization of Hebei and the Central Plains, he will have the strength to compete for the world. ”

"Hehe, Lone also thinks that what Feng Xiao said is very reasonable, but the key is that Liu Bei can hold the land of Guanzhong, once Guanzhong is obtained by Liu Qi, the situation in the world will be unbalanced again, I am afraid that it will be difficult for our army to keep the world, but Guanzhong has now become a bird in a cage, a turtle in an urn, and it may not be easy to hold it." Cao Cao couldn't help but shake his head and said with a wry smile.

A trace of coldness flashed in Xun You's eyes, and he said slowly: "That's no way, now Liu Qi is pressing step by step, aggressive, but Liu Bei has repeatedly lost his division and lost his ground, and his soldiers are outnumbered, if he is satisfied with the status quo and sticks to Guanzhong, he may be able to survive for a decade or two, but if he is not ambitious and goes out to fight for Liangzhou again, I am afraid that his danger is at the moment, with Zhuge Liang's wisdom, he should understand this, right?" However, if Liu Bei really sent troops, then we can't sit still, and can only take advantage of Liu Bei's danger to seize the Guanzhong fortress as much as possible and strive for more buffer opportunities for our army. ”

Cheng Yu also smiled and echoed: "Hehe, Liu Bei has won the world by deception, and has repeatedly failed to live up to the expectations of the lord, and we do this at most to govern others in the way of others, of course, the best result is naturally that Liu Bei will not take the initiative to attack, stick to Guanzhong, and develop production, so that the strength of the two countries will fight against each other, and the world can still be divided into three points." ”

"In this case, then we will act according to the plan, three days later, launch an attack on the whole front, and then take advantage of the enemy's defense, the army quietly retreats, and then leads the troops to hold Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou and other places, and when the strength is restored, we will first conquer Liaodong, and then wait and see the changes in the world." A trace of helplessness flashed in Cao Cao's eyes, and he said slowly. (To be continued)