Two days later, Guo Tu led a mixed corps of 20,000 horses and infantry from Linzi to Langya to meet Yuan Tan, and then summoned Yuan Mai and the generals to discuss the strategy of breaking Cao.

During the meeting of the main army, the battalion guard came to report: "There is a messenger from Hanoi, asking to see General Fenwu!" ”

"Oh...... Looking for me? Quick pass! ”

Yuan Mai, who was sitting on Yuan Tan's side, changed his complexion, and his heart was most likely that something had happened in Hanoi, and he had been away for more than half a month, if he hadn't been dragged back by Cao Jun, he was embarrassed to lead his troops to leave Qingzhou, and he was already on the way back at the moment, but he didn't know what happened at home?

Not long after the herald had gone, a dusty-faced and dusty messenger came to the tent and bowed down to the ground to report the military situation.

"Reporting to General Fenwu, Zhenggu, who was guarding Mengjin, was lured by Cao Ren to surrender, killed Xue Qin, and led his troops to join Cao Ren; Cao's army marched to Hanoi in three directions. Zhu Ling and Zhu Ling on the west road, with a total of more than 8,000 people, plundered Yixian and Heyang; In the middle of the road, Xiahou Shang led 5,000 troops, Kouwen County, Pinggao; Shi Jian of the East Road led 5,000 troops to capture the area of Jia and Xiuwu. Eight of the eighteen county towns have been lost, and Captain Hao specially sent a villain to report to the general, please return to Hanoi as soon as possible! ”

"What? This traitor is stubborn, and there is a backbone in the back of his head, and I swear to kill this person! Yuan Mai exclaimed in surprise and took the case. It seems that people who easily betray the Lord and seek glory are really useless, since this Zheng Gu can betray Zhang Yan yesterday, he can betray himself today!

Yuan Mai guessed that the reason why Zheng Gu defected to Cao might be related to Ma Yi's case, and he killed his henchmen and scolded Zheng Gu with a cane. So he planted hatred in his heart, and in the face of the olive branch thrown by Cao Ren, he did not hesitate to fall into Cao Jun's arms.

The biggest mistake he made was to hand over the Mengjin fortress at the crossing of the Yellow River to him to guard, which led to the introduction of wolves. He rebelled against Cao and led Cao's army across the Yellow River and Korohan River. finally had a county, and if it was taken away by Cao Jun, it would be difficult for him to develop again in the future. In any case, Hanoi must not be lost, and the lost county town must be regained!

"Brother. Cao Bing invaded the territory in a big way. Half of the land in Hanoi has been lost. If I lose Hanoi, my younger brother will no longer have a foothold, please forgive me for not being able to help my brother anymore, so I can only lead my troops back for the time being. ”

A fire broke out in Yuan Mai's backyard. Yuan Tan couldn't say anything more. Anyway, Guo Tu's 20,000 horses have already arrived in Langya. His own strength has an absolute advantage, and he doesn't need to be afraid of Cao Jun, so he nodded and said, "That's it." Hurry back. I will send a thousand men and horses to Hanoi with you to retreat the enemy, and when the Cao army is retreated, let them drive the horses back to Qingzhou. ”

Yuan Mai knew that Yuan Tan's dispatch of troops to help him retreat from the enemy was fake, and it was true that he asked for horses. However, since he has been promised, there is nothing to regret, and it is a smart choice to maintain a good relationship with Qingzhou for the time being, lest Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang join forces to squeeze themselves.

"Brother, don't worry, when Cao Jun retreats, he will definitely send 1,500 good horses!" After Yuan Mai finished speaking, he got up and said goodbye, greeted the generals under his command, and walked out of the tent.

Yuan Tan took Guo Tu, Xin Bi, Jiang Yiqu and others to send Yuan Mai to the gate of the camp, and comforted him when he parted: "Although Xianyong is relieved, if Hanoi can't hold it, you can come to Qingzhou." For the sake of brother, you must not be allocated a county of land, so that you can accumulate strength. ”

"Thank you, brother, little brother keep it in mind!" Yuan Mai bowed and thanked him.

As for the meaning of this brother, Yuan Maidong is like watching the fire. The reason why he is so generous is probably because he sees that the soldiers under his command can fight well, and wants to let him help him guard the southern gateway and resist Cao's army. Even if you give yourself a county, most of it is the Langya country where you are now.

If it really develops to that point, doesn't it still need to look up to Yuan Tan's snort? It is still the royal road to keep Hanoi who was personally defeated, it was laid down by his own hands, he does not owe anyone affection, and he does not have to look at anyone's face to act!

However, since Yuan Tan said this, he had to say a few polite words, and thanked him: "Thank you, brother, little brother keep it in mind!" ”

Yuan Mai bid farewell to Yuan Tan's camp, took Tian Feng, Liyi, Zhang Liao, Xu Sheng, Zhou Cang and others to quickly get on the horse and return to his own military camp. Since the Qingzhou soldiers came to Kaiyang City, in order to avoid disturbing the people, Yuan Mai's men and horses have all withdrawn from the city, and a large camp has been set up next to Yuan Tan's camp.

After returning to his own camp to discuss, it was decided that the three most elite troops led by Lu Yi and Zhang Liao would go first, and Tian Feng and Xu Sheng would lead three thousand people to follow; Yuan Mai, Zhou Cang, and Fu Hu led the rest of the men and horses to camp in the palace, and then set off with Zhuge Jin, Gao Shun and Fu Hu's family, as well as Yuan Mai Xinna's two concubines.

The plan stopped, and everyone will go their own way. The first group of men and horses led by Lu Yi and Zhang Liao immediately set off to the west, followed by Tian Feng and Xu Sheng. Yuan Mai and Fu Hu commanded the rest of the men and horses to pull out the camp, escort the grain and grass, and escort the carriage carrying the family to finally leave. Before leaving, a lieutenant sent by Yuan Tan with a thousand men also joined the ranks of the westward.

Yuan Mai was anxious along the way, constantly urging the team to move forward; When I camped at night, I didn't care about making love with the two newlywed wives. If Hanoi is lost, the foundation that has just been established will be gone, and what to talk about dominating the world, maybe in the future their beautiful girl will become someone else's account stunner, if you want to enjoy the blessings forever, you must build on a strong strength.

The development of the situation was not as bad as Yuan Mai imagined. Cao Ren, who was in charge of Chenliu and the military affairs of Yan and Si Erzhou, in order to retaliate against Yuan Mai's fraudulent surrender plan, sent all Zhu Ling, Xiahou Shang, and Shi Jian under his command to attack, and raided Hanoi while Yuan Mai was away. Unexpectedly, the angry Yuan Shao also reacted, sending Zhang He out of Baima and Wen Chou out of Dunqiu, and the two armies of 50,000 people jointly attacked Puyang, and Dongjun was in an emergency.

And the three-way men sent by Cao Ren were also strongly blocked by Hao Zhao, Wang Shuang, Tian Chou and others in Hanoi County. Wang Ling of the county sat in the town of Huai County, Hao Zhao led 5,000 troops to the west to meet Zhu Ling and Zhenggu, and Tian Chou led 5,000 people to meet Xiahou Shang in the middle. Wang Shuang and Zhao led 5,000 iron cavalry to attack Shi Lian, and broke the Cao army in Xiuwu, killed more than 2,000 Cao soldiers, expelled Shi Lian to the other side of the Yellow River, and recaptured five county towns in a row.

The attack was unfavorable, and there were large troops in Dongjun to press the border. Cao Ren also sent two armies on the north bank of the Yellow River, and ordered Zhu Ling to withdraw from Hanoi after joining up with Xiahou Shang, and attack Yanjin, the rear of Zhang He; Use the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao to force Zhang He back in order to relieve the siege of Puyang. and personally raised 10,000 troops to help Puyang. And Feishu complained to Xuchang and asked Cao Cao to send troops to rescue.

When Xiahou Shang was waiting for Zhu Ling and Su Gu, he was attacked from both sides by Tian Chou and Wang Shuang, and knowing that he was invincible, he led his troops to quietly bypass Chaoge County, the easternmost county town in Hanoi, and entered the territory of Wei County, preparing to attack Zhang He's base camp.

Who knew that halfway through the road, he encountered three thousand elites led by Liyi and Zhang Liao. Although Cao's army was superior in numbers. But there are elite divisions like "trapped camps" in Yuan's army. Zhang Liao and Koji Yi are both generals who are good at using soldiers. After a fierce battle, Yuan's army defeated the outnumbered Cao army, and Xiahou Shang couldn't resist it, losing more than 1,000 people. Lead the defeated army across the Yellow River. Retreat in a hurry towards Chenliu. Koji Yi and Zhang Liao took advantage of the situation to cover up. Cao Jun drowned another six or seven hundred people in the water, which can be described as a heavy loss.

The three people retreated two ways, and Zhu Ling and Zheng Gu thought to themselves that it was difficult to scream. He decided to carry out Cao Ren's plan and attack Zhang He's stronghold Mengjin.

Compared with the other two people, Zhu Ling's advantage is that he has a 1,000-person sailor under his command, which was created when he guarded the Yellow River fortress "Heyin Ferry" for a long time, with more than 100 large and small warships, which can transport a team of 7,000 or 8,000 people.

So Zhu Ling ordered all 8,000 men and horses to get on the boat, go east along the Yellow River, avoid the Hanoi soldiers and horses on land, go straight to Liyang, and stab Zhang He in the back.

An autumn rain and a cold, in the blink of an eye, it was already the autumn wind, the trees withered, the branches all over the mountains were bare, and there was no longer a single fallen leaf.

It had been seven or eight days since he left Langya, and the 4,000 men and horses led by Yuan Mai, Fu Hu and Zhuge Jin were marching slowly because of their heavy baggage, and they were more than 150 miles behind the men and horses in front. At this time, Ko Yi and Zhang Liao had already entered Hanoi County, and their team had just arrived in Liyang.

"The whole army will work harder, and the three miles ahead is Liyang City, let's camp and rest when we get to the city!" Yuan Mai stopped on the side of the road and loudly urged the team to move forward.

At this moment, a fast horse flew in: "General Bao, I found a Cao soldier in front, about 10,000 people or so, rushing towards Liyang, about to meet our army, please make a decision quickly!" ”

In this era, intelligence is much more backward. Prior to this, Yuan Mai only knew that Shi Jian had been defeated by Wang Shuang's cavalry, and he had just received the news that Xiahou Shang had been defeated by Zhang Liao and Liyi in the morning, and his hanging heart had just landed. But he didn't know anything about the whereabouts of Zhu Ling's team.

In fact, don't say that Yuan Mai, who had just returned from Qingzhou in a hurry, didn't know Zhu Ling's military intentions, and even Hao Zhao, Tian Chou and others, who had been fighting against Zhu Ling, couldn't figure out what Zhu Ling was doing down the east side of the river? I thought that Zhu Ling wanted to enter Dongjun to aid Puyang, but he didn't know that Zhu Ling's target was actually Liyang, and he used the strategy of "encircling Wei to save Zhao", attacking Zhang He's lair and forcing Zhang He to return to the rescue to relieve the siege of Puyang.

"What? How could Cao Jun suddenly appear here? ”

After listening to the spies' intelligence, Yuan bought an egg ache for a while. Yuan Shao's defense really didn't dare to be complimentary, how could he let Cao Jun come and go freely in the territory like this?

If Hanoi County hadn't used the advantage of crossing to recruit Hao Zhao, Wang Shuang, Tian Chou and other people who were good at fighting, I am afraid that they would have fallen into the hands of Cao Jun at this moment. If Hanoi was lost, Cao's army could use outflanking tactics and send a large number of troops to cut off Zhang He and Wenchou's retreat from behind, and Yuan's army would be in a difficult situation.

"It seems that the strategy of Cao Cao's generals is indeed a grade higher than that of Yuan Shao's subordinates, if it weren't for my existence, Yuan Shao would really not be Cao Cao's opponent. The defeat in the Battle of Guandu was not accidental, but an inevitable result! ”

Yuan Mai sighed in his heart, he couldn't imagine that just one Cao Ren would make himself and his father Yuan Shao scramble, and even a partial general under Cao Ren was unpredictable, and Cao Agui's strength was really terrifying!

"How many defenders are there in Liyang City now?" Yuan Mai asked loudly.

"Only a thousand!"

Yuan Mai's brows furrowed again, most likely because Zhang He didn't take into account that Cao Jun dared to sneak into the rear, so he only left a thousand people to defend the city. If he hadn't arrived by himself, more than 10,000 Cao troops would have attacked Liyang, and if there were no reinforcements, it was likely that the Cao army would have broken the city with one drum and cut off Zhang He's back road.

"Pass the order, the whole army and horses are ready for battle, and assist the defenders of Liyang to repel the Cao soldiers!"

Yuan Mai pressed the Chongxiao Sword and gave a calm order. Helping Zhang He to defend Liyang and making him owe him a favor will be more conducive to encircling Zhang He in the future, and this battle will not be paid in vain.

But there are only 4,000 men and horses on his side, plus 1,000 Qingzhou soldiers sent by Yuan Tan, but only 5,000 people. And the information of the scouts is that Cao has 10,000 soldiers, and the enemy is outnumbered, so this battle is not easy to fight!

What made Yuan Mai even more headache was that the three generals who were good at using troops, Lu Yi, Zhang Liao, and Xu Sheng, were not there, and the command ability of Fu Hu was unknown, Zhuge Jin's diplomacy was okay, and it was estimated that there was no way to fight. As for Zhou Cang, let's be an honest bodyguard!

"It seems that this battle has to be personally commanded by me, Yuan Xianyong?"

Yuan Mai pulled out the Chongxiao sword, stared at the blade in the night, and murmured in his heart: "No matter what, this battle only needs to be won or lost, I don't believe that my ability to command troops can't even beat a partial general under Cao Ren?" Cao Bing, come on! ”

Ps; 'It's Monday, exchange recommended tickets, call for monthly passes, come on! (To be continued......)