84_84334 said that Ma Chao led the army to pursue Sima Lang, and he was about to succeed, but he saw Cao Cao leading reinforcements to arrive, and the two sides fought at the moment, and then they each led their troops back.

After Ma Chao returned to Baima, he pleaded guilty to Liu Qi because he didn't get the full credit, but saw Liu Qi and said with a smile: "Meng Qi doesn't have to care, it's just a little Sima Lang, what's the point?" It is just right that he does not die, and it is useful for this king to keep him. Hehe, this time our army captured Baima, a strategic place in Baima, and from now on we can flank the Cao thief with Zhang Yide's army in Changyuan, and this time let the old thief see the powerful siege methods of this king. ”

Ma Chao couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw that Liu Qi already had a strategy to attack the city, but he still said cautiously: "King, isn't it the last general to destroy his prestige, Cao Cao's old thief has always been cunning like a fox, and his experience in defending the city is even richer, we must be cautious when attacking the city, and we must not take it lightly, otherwise once it is taken by the old thief, there will be a chance to turn defeat into victory, just like the battle of Guandu, isn't the old thief also defeated first and then won?" ”

But seeing Liu Qi laughing, "Although Meng Qi can rest assured, this time the king has made a detailed plan, and he will not let the old thief get the opportunity to turn defeat into victory." ”

So Liu Qi gave an order, the army postponed the siege, and made a good preparation, ready to be on call at any time, and after an order was given, he immediately went to Puyang.

Let's say that Sima Lang led the remnants of the army back to Puyang, and saw that he had a heavy army stationed in Baima, and he didn't hold on for even two days, so he couldn't help but feel ashamed, and hurriedly asked Cao Cao for guilt.

Although Cao Cao hated to kill Sima Lang immediately, he knew that Sima Lang was the brother of Sima Yi, his most relied on strategist, and even if it was to entrap Sima Yi, he couldn't kill him, so he decided to spare Sima Lang's life, but demoted his official position to the captain of Dongjun and let him make meritorious contributions.

Sima Lang is not arrogant. It was already very satisfying to be able to pick up a life, so he immediately thanked Cao Cao for his grace not to kill.

Sima Yi naturally knew that the reason why Cao Cao did not kill his brother was entirely because of his kindness, so he hurriedly thanked Cao Cao for his generosity, and then offered a plan: "Lord, now Liu Qi's army has surrounded Puyang. A siege could be made at any moment, and while we are fully prepared, we must be careful. I don't know if the lord still remembers the 'thunder and fire from the sky' when Liu Qi broke Runan? ”

Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this, and then said: "Naturally, I remember that it was precisely because of this battle that the situation in the Central Plains took a sharp turn for the worse, and as a result, in less than four months, he actually lost a large area of land such as Runan, Qiaojun, Huainan, Luoyang, Chenliu, Peiguo, Liangguo, Lujun, and Rencheng, if it wasn't for the original defeat." Why is this king so poor? Liu Qi'er was so lucky that he was able to get such an opportunity as thunder and fire from the sky, which was really unexpected. ”

Cao Cao couldn't help but feel a little excited when he said this, and his expression was gloomy, as if he was a little depressed because God had helped Liu Qi.

But I heard Sima Yi step forward and say: "Does the lord really think that the so-called thunder and fire from the sky is the work of God?" ”

"Zhongda, what do you mean by this? Could it be so powerful or is it man-made? If this is the case, how terrible is Liu Qi's child? Cao Cao couldn't help but look gloomy, and said in a deep voice to Sima Yi.

In fact, Cao Cao has never believed that the so-called thunder and fire from the sky is providence, but he would rather attribute it to heaven's will. I don't want to admit that it was Liu Qi who had such a powerful weapon in his hands, because the help of heaven was only accidental. It's not so terrible, if Liu Qi really masters such a terrible weapon, I'm afraid that no matter how strong the city is, it will no longer be able to stop Liu Qi's progress, and the danger brought by this fear will be immeasurable.

Because of this, Cao Cao didn't want to. I don't dare to admit that the so-called "thunder and fire from the sky" is man-made, and now I see Sima Yi mentioning that incident again, and seeing that the meaning is actually to admit that it is man-made, how can I not be annoyed? Only then did he change color and asked in a deep voice.

Although Sima Yi is scheming. But after all, he was young, and he thought much less about it than Cao Cao at this point, and he didn't expect Cao Cao to have this meaning.

However, Sima Yi just thought about it for a moment and laughed and said: "Back to the lord, Yi thinks that this matter is indeed caused by man, it should be a siege weapon developed by Liu Qi's children, hehe, although this thing is strong, but it may not have no way to crack it, if Liu Qi didn't use it before, we naturally have no way of knowing, but now that he has already taken it out and used it, how can we be unprepared?" Therefore, Weichen believes that as long as we plant an ambush under the city, we will immediately kill someone once they come, so that we can not only stop Liu Qi's conspiracy, but also find out what Liu Qi's siege equipment is? Once this kind of siege weapon is in the hands of the lord, we can also break through the enemy's city defenses overnight, since Liu Qi'er has no heavenly help, but how can he compete with the lord who has the time of heaven? At that time, won't the lord take the world like a bag? ”

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, nodded and exclaimed: "Zhong Da's words are very true, as long as this king makes the defense watertight, how can Liu Qi'er use it even if he has a good weapon?" What's more, even if he can use it? Can we still drive this king out of Henan? Hehe, the land of Henan stretches for hundreds of miles, Liu Qi Xiaoer divided the troops to attack, it is a taboo for soldiers, once the king feels that Puyang is in danger, he immediately leads the troops to the east, when the time comes, the king Ben Dongping, lead the army to take Rencheng, Lu County, subdue Zhang Liao and Tai Shici, and then go down Langya, capture Pi, you can recapture Xuzhou, hit Wei Yan hard, so that although the king loses the East County, most of the Central Plains will return to the hands of the king, and Liu Qi Xiaoer If you don't follow the king and are tired of running, the king is just going to get the land, if you are tired of running, This king can be defeated in a battle, so what is the way? ”

Sima Yi heard the words and said yes again and again, but after thinking about it, he still persuaded: "Even so, if the lord defeats Liu Qi in Puyang, the impact will definitely be much greater than taking Xuzhou." Hehe, although Liu Qi's hegemony looks very strong, but these are all supported by his prestige, once Liu Qi is defeated, his prestige will inevitably be greatly damaged, and then the lord will definitely create a miracle again like the original battle of Guandu. ”

Cao Cao nodded, and said with a smile: "Zhongda doesn't need to be reminded, this king naturally understands that as long as Liu Qi Xiao'er is defeated, it is not easy for this king to take Xuzhou with 100,000 people?" You can rest assured that this king will arrange the defense. ”

After finishing speaking, Cao Cao ordered Sima Xu Bing of the Tiger Guard Army: "Send 300 of the most elite soldiers under your command, and go down the city after nightfall, at the four city gates, as long as someone comes to the city gate at night, immediately capture them on the spot, and escort all the qiē items they bring to the king's camp, this matter is related to the victory or defeat of our army, you must do it seriously, and you must not slack off." As long as you make great contributions, this king will definitely not hesitate to reward. ”

Xu Bing was naturally overjoyed when he heard this, but as Cao Cao's personal general, he had already learned to hide his joy, and then said with a straight face: "Promise, the last general will definitely live up to his mission." ”

After finishing speaking, Xu Bing, who had an unwavering face, immediately arched his hand to Cao Cao, and then Xia Zhang went to arrange it.

Although the arrangements have been made, but Cao Cao did not take it lightly, he ordered the soldiers of the city to be vigilant, especially to prevent Liu Qi from digging tunnels, arson and other means, there must be no slackness, because as an old opponent for more than ten years, he knows that this Liu Qi has always been insidious and cunning, scheming, partial and vicious, I can't tell where to find the weak link, and then break through the city defense in one fell swoop, killing himself by surprise.

In addition, Cao Cao insisted on personally inspecting the city defense twice a day, and at the same time asked Sima Yi, Xiahoudun, Cao Hong and others to inspect from time to time, as long as they found problems, they would be severely punished immediately, and there should be no leniency.

It can be said that Cao Cao's guard this time is unprecedentedly strict, even if it is stricter than the previous battle of Guandu, Cao Cao believes that this time Liu Qi will definitely be able to conquer Puyang even if he has the help of heavenly soldiers.

Although he thought that his defense was extremely strong, and even a fly could not fly to Puyang, Cao Cao's heart was still extremely cautious, because Liu Qi'er had not taken action since he conquered the white horse, and he had not even left the military camp, as if he was a lion ready to hunt, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any time.

If something goes wrong, it is a demon, so Cao Cao was more vigilant against him, and sent spies to pay close attention to the movements of the Chu army, and never let go of any trouble.

Time passed day by day, seeing that it has been ten days since Liu Qi took the white horse, Cao Cao sent people to investigate, the ice on the Yellow River has been very strong, he has even ordered to send reinforcements from Hebei, I believe that at most ten days, the reinforcements will come, and as long as the reinforcements arrive, Liu Qi's army is not enough to threaten, so Cao Cao is strictly defending on the one hand, and looking forward to the arrival of reinforcements.

But at such a critical moment, Cao Cao suddenly saw his own soldiers breaking into the camp with pale faces, and shouted: "King, it's not good, Zhang Liao's army suddenly broke through our army's camp in Snake Hill last night, Jibei Prime Minister Yang Jun was killed, Zhang Liao led the cavalry to break into Dulu County, Jibei State, and then Zhang Liao took advantage of the chaos in the country to lead the army to occupy the entire Jibei. ”

"What?" Cao Cao and Sima Yi, who were shocked to hear the news, were suddenly shocked, because Jibei was lost, and since then Cao Cao's Dongjun and the adjacent Dongping Kingdom have severed their ties with Taishan County and Qingzhou, so that as long as Puyang is lost again, Cao Cao can no longer flee to the east, but can only flee to Hebei.

In fact, this was not the biggest worry, because Cao Cao and Sima Yi almost thought at the same time that since Liu Qi's army had captured the northern kingdom of Jibei and cut off his connection with Zang Ba, it would mean that Liu Qi would soon attack Puyang.

"The big war is finally about to start, I wonder if this time I can withstand Liu Qi'er's attack?" Even those who have always been calm and calm, such as Cao Cao and Sima Yi, are now a little nervous. (To be continued......).