The lead clouds were dense, obscuring the scorching sun of midsummer, and the continuous drizzle had been falling for several days, so it was not big or small, and it was falling slowly, I don't know when it started, and I don't know when it will end. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The crops in the wheat fields greedily sucked the rain and grew vigorously, it should be the busy season of farming, but there were few people in the fields, and not far away the gray and white camp tents were one after another, arranged in a patch, and the sound of trumpets and war drums came and went.

Cao Cao sat in the handsome tent, looking at a wooden carving in his hand in a daze, this is from a carpenter's craft, to be precise, it is from the hand of a carpenter who was conscripted as a soldier, the eyes of the wood carving are round, revealing an indomitable arrogance, and the appearance of General Bao Xin in Jibei is quite similar.

Bao Xin, on the other hand, had been killed in the raid the day before yesterday, and the rest was in the hands of his subordinates.

Cao Cao's current army is only more than 3,000 people, plus Bao Xin's 800 remnants, barely enough to make up the number of 4,000, although he claims to have 10,000 strong troops, and the camp and stove have also been deliberately doubled, but this kind of bluff is only a little to cheer himself up, and cannot deter the 100,000 Yellow Turban Army in front of him.

He knew very well in his heart that now the enemy was outnumbered, and the reason why his side was not surrounded by the Yellow Turban Army was not because the Yellow Turban Army had no foresight, but because of the narrow terrain and the rolling mountains on both sides, if you wanted to attack Shouzhang, there was only one way to go.

Fortunately, this road is not open, so although there are many enemies, the troops that can be invested in each battle between the two armies are only more than 1,000 people, and no matter how much investment is invested, it can only be queued up in the back, but this way blocks the retreat of the front army, and the gains outweigh the losses.

In this way, the advantage of the Yellow Turban Army's large number could not be brought into play, and Cao Cao's troops were superior in terms of armor and training, so they had a slight upper hand, but the Yellow Turban Army was endless, and their own side suffered losses in every battle, although it could drag on for some time, but it was difficult to last in the long run.

As the number of wounded in the battalion increased dramatically every day, the morale of the soldiers became lower and lower, and it was no wonder that seeing the Yellow Turban Army on the opposite side had troops with different banners coming out to meet the battle every day, while only a few troops on their own side took turns to attack, seeing that there were fewer and fewer comrades-in-arms around them, it was difficult for anyone to be excited.

"Lord!" Chen Gong didn't know when he walked in, Cao Cao was very kind to him, and he didn't need to be allowed to enter and leave the handsome tent, looking at Chen Gong's appearance, it seemed that he had been in for a while.

Cao Cao sat up straight, and said with a smile: "It's a public platform, sit down, what's the matter?" ”

Chen Gong bowed and bowed, did not take his seat, and said with a calm face: "My lord, the joint letter has been sent to Chang'an, I believe that the appointment of the imperial court will come soon, and I will congratulate the lord in advance on taking over the post of Yanzhou pastor!" ”

Cao Cao smiled indifferently, although the name of this Yanzhou Mu is important, the premise must also be to repel the invading Yellow Turban Army, otherwise the entire Yanzhou will fall into the hands of thieves, what is the use of this false name?

Seeing that Chen Gong had no intention of leaving after finishing this matter, he got up and walked to Chen Gong's side, patted him lightly on the shoulder, and said, "It is not easy to lobby the wealthy families in various counties this time, and the public platform has worked hard!" ”

Chen Gong bowed down again, but this time his waist bent lower: "Thanks to the lord's appreciation, I will definitely bow down and do my best!" When the wealthy clans of the counties heard that the lord was righteous and resisted the thieves, they all expressed their willingness to raise troops to support, but they were afraid that they would prepare grain and grass, but they were afraid that it would take some time, and it was expected that it would take three or five days to gather at the earliest. ”

Cao Cao was overjoyed, clapped his hands and said: "The public platform really knows my mind, so gather the strength of everyone, I believe that the Yellow Turban thieves will be defeated, but... Five days, do you need five days..."

"My lord, it's not good!" Cao Ren (Note 2) hurriedly opened the curtain of the tent, broke in, and saw that Chen Gong was also beside him, nodded and signaled, and did not salute Cao Cao, but said directly: "Lord, the Yellow Turban Thief..." Why don't you give a salute when you see the manager? ”

Cao Ren was stunned for a moment and defended: "Big brother... I..."

Cao Cao's face sank, and he said, "Zixiao, are you twenty years old this year?" ”

Cao Ren didn't know what Cao Cao meant, and Mu Ne said, "Ah... I'm twenty-three years old..."

"Bastard, they're all twenty-three years old, and they're reckless all day long, and now they're on the march to fight, and you don't worship the boss when you see him? If you enter the commander's tent and don't make a notice in advance, you will do things so upside down, how will you lead the three armies in the future, and how can you become a general? Cao Cao glared, obviously moving his liver fire.

Cao Ren was like an eggplant beaten by frost, he was discouraged, and it has always been his dream to become a general admired by thousands of people, but he has rarely had the opportunity to fight before, even if the coalition forces fight against Dong, in fact, there is no tragic battle, but he forced Dong Zhuo back, and then disbanded, this is the first time he really fought with the army, so he is particularly excited.

Now that he had made a mistake, he wanted to defend himself a few words, but when he heard that Cao Cao intended to cultivate himself to become a general, he didn't care about scolding, so he hurriedly bowed down and retreated, shouting outside the tent: "The last general, Cao Ren, has an important military situation to tell the lord!" ”

"Come in!"

Cao Ren walked in steadily and hugged his fist to Cao Cao: "The last general Cao Ren, meet the lord!" ”

Cao Cao sat back in his handsome position, nodded slightly, and said, "If you have any military information, report it quickly!" ”

"Whoa!" Cao Ren learned to be obedient this time, and didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore, and said word by word: "Report to the lord, explore the horse and report back, the Yellow Turban Thieves have recently had a large number of people and horses, probably because they have been unable to hold on to our army for several days, and they are ready to make a detour to attack the rear of our army. ”

Cao Cao smiled and nodded: "This is a bit like being a general, okay, I know, you go down!" ”

"Whoa!" Cao Ren was overjoyed by Cao Cao's praise, and he held back the joy in his heart and slowly withdrew.

It wasn't until Cao Ren left that Cao Cao sighed, his eyes fell on Chen Gong, and said: "Gongtai, the current situation is very dangerous, and now the enemy has divided his troops to attack my roots, I don't know what good way to deal with it this time?" ”

Chen Gong said with a smile: "This is the Yellow Turban thief who killed himself, no wonder others!" ”

Cao Cao Qi said: "Oh? What does this mean? ”

Chen Gong said: "Now that the two armies are facing each other, it has only been a few days, and the enemy army has divided its troops and left, which shows that its food and grass are insufficient, and it is difficult to last, and it is urgent to move forward to trap the city and seize food." But Shouzhang here the river swamp is dense, coupled with the rain continuously, the road to the south, even if you want to take a detour, to arrive in Puyang to say less than a month. And in this way, most of the enemies in front of you are missing, and the wealthy clans are coming with troops, and they will be able to defeat the thieves in one fell swoop! At that time, we will raise our troops and look back on the blow, and we will definitely be able to inflict heavy damage on the thief army! ”

(Note 2: Cao Ren was good at archery and horse riding, and did not practice inspection when he was young, but when he became a general, he became strict and obeyed the law.) The first time he showed his prominence was when he was crusading against Yuan Shu. ）

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