Yuan Shao ordered Zhizhong to sit in Yecheng, and gathered 120,000 troops in Dunqiu to personally attack Cao Cao in the south.

Ordered Yan Liang to rate 30,000 people for the first road, Wen Chou to rate 30,000 people for the second road, Yuan Shang to lead 30,000 people for the third road, personally led Han Meng, Su You, Lu Kuang, Lu Xiang and other generals, led Feng Ji, Xu You, Fu Zhu, Chen Lin, Chen Zhen, Xun Chen and other staff to lead 30,000 people, the fourth route army went south along Dunqiu, left Wei County in a mighty way, killed Puyang, and the Central Plains shook.

In addition to the 120,000 troops of the Yuan army from Jizhou, there are still two partial wings of men and horses coming out together, echoing each other from afar.

The left flank was commanded by Gao Lan, commanding 25,000 men and horses from Qingzhou and Youzhou to come to support, attacking the areas of Dong'e and Fanxian, and the troops were directed at Yanzhou. On the right flank, 17,000 men and horses from the headquarters led by Zhang He, plus 10,000 people under Gao Shun of Bingzhou, went out of Liyang, crossed the Yellow River, attacked Yan County and Suojube, and deterred Chen Liu.

The six-way army, with a total of 170,000 people, was mighty, covering the sky with flags and dust, and marching south.

The people fled in despair, helping the old and the young to go south to escape this unprecedented and tragic war. On both sides of the Yellow River, there was no one for a while, and there were no living creatures.

Cao Cao of Xuchang received the report and decided to meet the battle, gathering 90,000 horses and marching north, preparing to give Yuan's army a head-on blow.

Xiahoudun and Xu Huang led 20,000 horses as the vanguard troops, and Yu Ban and Le Jin led 20,000 people, and personally led Xu Chu, Li Dian, Cao Chun, Li Tong, Cao Xiu, Zhu Ling, Lu Zhao and other generals, Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye and other strategists, commanding 50,000 troops and palaces, a total of 90,000 horses. Leaving Xuchang, he entered Dongjun to the north to meet Yuan's army.

On the one hand, Cao Cao prepared for battle, and on the other hand, he ordered Cao Ren, who was guarding Puyang, to consolidate his defenses and hold Puyang for support. At the same time, he ordered the generals Zang Ba and Chen Deng to send troops from Xuzhou and go north to attack Qingzhou as a counterattack to Yuan Shao.

Just when Xiahoudun and Yu Ban's two groups of men and horses left Xuchang, Cao Cao was ready to personally lead the third group of people to the north. There are scouts coming to report. Liu Bei of Huainan secretly dispatched troops and his actions were suspicious, so he asked Cao Gong to be on guard.

Cao Cao, who had not had time to leave Xuchang, received a report and immediately summoned the civil and military staff. Discuss countermeasures.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I only hate letting Liu Daer go at the beginning. Unexpectedly, he actually captured the two counties of Huainan and Lujiang, which became the climate, and this time he took advantage of the duel between our army and Yuan Shao. Secretly dispatching troops with bad intentions, what do you think? Cao Cao sat in the grand hall and asked aloud the opinions of his staff.

Jia Xu said: "Gong Cao, in my opinion, Liu Bei's move is probably to carry out the act of 'fighting with cranes and mussels, and profiting from fishermen', and wants to take advantage of the decisive battle between our army and Yuan Shao to attack Runan, and send a general to Runan to sit in the town, in case Liu Bei violates the border!" ”

Cao Cao approved, and in his heart he also thought that Liu Bei's move was intended in Runan, and asked loudly: "Who dares to go to Runan to sit in the town and beware of Liu Bei?" ”

"Hong Yuanxiang!"

Cao Ren, Xiahou Xuan, Xiahou Yuan, and Yu Ban were not there, and Cao Hong was counted in terms of seniority, and this seven-foot-8-inch warrior came out in response.

"Liu Bei is related, Zhang is assisted by the two fierce generals, Zilian will go alone, I don't worry!" Cao Cao stroked his beard and said in a deep voice, the two standing under his fingers, "You two can go with Zilian and attack Liu Bei together!" ”

The two people on Cao Cao's finger were Man Chong and Zhang Xiu, and the two of them went out together, bowing down to receive the order: "Obey Cao Gong's order!" ”

After choosing the generals, Cao Cao assigned 10,000 horses to these three people, and ordered them to immediately lead their troops to set off and go south to Runan, do a good job of defense, and beware of Liu Bei taking advantage of the situation and stabbing him in the back.

After Cao Hong and the others left, Guo Jia came out and said: "Cao Gong, it is better to have another good strategy to contain Liu Bei in passive defense, so that he can't take care of each other, so that he will not dare to covet Runan anymore, so that the south can be safe!" ”

"What's the best way to do it?" Cao Cao bowed slightly to Guo Jia and stroked his beard and asked.

"Jiangdong Sun Ce has occupied the two counties of Huiji and Danyang, and is attacking Yuzhang, Luling and other places, all the way like a bamboo, and it is expected that it will not take half a month to pacify the southwest of Yangzhou. In this way, there is only one place left in Jiangdong, Wu County, and it is expected that it will be difficult to resist with Yan Baihu and other rabble, if nothing else, it will not take more than a month for Sun Ce to pacify Jiangdong. Cao Gong should be named Liu Bei as the pastor of Yangzhou in the name of the Son of Heaven, and Sun Ce as the assassin of Yangzhou, so that the two tigers can fight, so that the siege of Runan can be solved...... Ahem, ahem! ”

Guo Jia's body deteriorated, and after a long speech, his throat became a little uncomfortable, and he covered his mouth and coughed a few times in a row.

Jia Xu stroked his palm and said approvingly: "Drive the tiger and devour the wolf, and the plan of filial piety is very good!" Sun Ce is young and vigorous, and the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. After Liu Bei occupied the two counties of Huainan and Lujiang, Sun Ce's development was curbed, as if he had been choked by someone, and Sun Ce naturally would not be willing to sit in Jiangdong. If Cao Gong named Liu Bei as the state pastor, Sun Ce was the state assassin, and the competitive Sun Ce was naturally unwilling to live under Liu Bei, and he would covet Lujiang and Huainan. ”

Cao Cao ordered Guo Jia and Jia Xu to draft an edict, canonizing Liu Bei as the pastor of Yangzhou in the name of the Son of Heaven, and Sun Ce as the assassin of Yangzhou, hoping that a conflict would break out between the two and relieve the pressure on Runan.

After solving the problem of Runan, Cao Cao left his eldest son Cao Pi, Xun Yu, Ren Jun and others to sit in Xuchang, personally led 40,000 horses, set off on Keri, and went north to Puyang to meet Yuan's army.

When he was about to leave the city, Guo Jia proposed to Cao Cao again: "Duke Cao, Yuan's army is powerful, and Yan Liang and Wen Chou are both fierce generals in the world, should we take Lu Bu with us?" Let him serve our army on the battlefield? ”

Cao Cao shook his head and said: "Lu Bu is a tiger wolf, if he has made great achievements, he will be arrogant and arrogant, and there is no one in his eyes, so put him in a cage for the time being, and when necessary, it is not too late to release him!" ”

The horn sounded, and the 40,000 Cao army went out of Xuchang, like a long dragon, along the post road to the north, towards Puyang, the seat of the eastern county.

Yuan Shao's vanguard general Yan Liang led his troops out of Liyang, and was met with fierce resistance by Cao Ren in the area of Baimajin, Yan Liang oversaw the army stormed, the two sides fought fiercely for several days and nights, with countless casualties, just when the defense line of Cao's army was about to collapse, the reinforcements led by Xiahoudun and Xu Huang rushed to Baimajin to reinforce and help Cao Ren reverse the disadvantage, and the two sides entered a stalemate.

It was July, the weather entered the rainy season, and after a few days of heavy rain, Yuan Cao's two armies set up camp at the foot of the White Horse Slope 20 miles apart, facing each other from afar.

Hanoi County Office, Huai County County, Binh Thi General's Mansion.

Yuan Mai stood at the door of the study, looked up at the sky, and saw that it was pouring rain, and it had been raining for three days and three nights. The Yellow River has overflowed, and although its banks have not been broken, many places have overflowed the riverbed and poured into the crops, and the autumn harvest will be in a month, and the yield will inevitably be reduced.

"Damn, there was already a shortage of food, and now there is a flood, which is really a cool thing!" Looking at the rain curtain in the sky, Yuan Mai slammed his fist on the door panel, cursing the thief.

"Childe...... Drink a bowl of honey water to defeat the fire, right? ”

Zhen Mi carried a bowl of freshly soaked honey water, held a paper umbrella, and braved the pouring rain from the backyard to Yuan Mai's study.

Yuan Mai was in a hurry, his mouth was dry, and he was not polite at the moment, so he poured it into his stomach in one breath, only feeling sweet and refreshing, fragrant and pleasant, and very refreshing after his stomach.

Wan Er smiled and thanked him: "Ah Mi, the rain is so heavy, you are still thinking about me, I am really grateful!" ”

It has been more than half a month since Zhen Mi was snatched back from Yecheng, but the situation forced Yuan Mai to give Zhen Mi a fair wedding, so he could only let Zhen Mi be a black household temporarily. Fortunately, Zhen Mi is knowledgeable and reasonable, and has been serving Yuan Mai gently and carefully, and has no complaints about it.

When the love between the two is strong, it is naturally indispensable to hug and hug, gnaw and touch; But Zhen Mi is very measured, she can stick to the bottom line every time, and she will not let Yuan Mai cross Lei Chi by half a step, and you can touch or kiss him, but she will never let him complete the last step.

Yuan Mai couldn't give Zhen Mi a wedding, he felt guilty, plus he was accompanied by the Helan family at night, he could go to Cai Yan if he wanted to try it, and he didn't worry about not having a woman to accompany him, so he didn't use force on Zhen Mi, and the two have always maintained a relationship between their fiancés.

The two of them were whispering in the study, Tian Chou came to the general's mansion in the rain with an umbrella and a robe, and sighed after seeing Yuan Mai: "Son, more than 1,000 acres of fields in Wen County have been flooded by the overflow of the Yellow River, and it is estimated that Wen County will reduce the output by two-thirds, and the grain output of the entire Hanoi will be reduced by more than half this year!" ”

Although Yuan Mai was also depressed in his heart, he still pretended to be calm and stable: "Zitai don't blame yourself, the disaster from the sky is beyond human resistance, so you can only resign yourself to fate!" ”

After a pause, he asked, "By the way, how much grain is still in the granary?" ”

Tian Chou took the towel handed by Zhen Mi, thanked him, and thought for a while: "Hanoi originally had 20,000 stone grain, when General Zhao Zilong led his troops south, he escorted 50,000 stone grain from Jinyang, after these days of consumption, there are only 30,000 stone of grain left in the entire Hanoi, and it can barely be supplied for more than 40 days, and if you don't think of a way to solve it, I'm afraid the situation will deteriorate!" ”

Yuan Mai frowned, nodded and said: "I know, I will find a way to solve the matter of grain and grass, you continue to be responsible for disaster relief, mobilize more people and horses, strengthen the defense along the Yellow River, and avoid the vicious accident of bursting the embankment." If the Yellow River opens, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Hanoi will be threatened! ”

"No!" Tian Chou bowed down to receive the order, "The defense of the Yellow River will be handed over to Chou, as long as I live, I will never let the Yellow River burst its banks!" ”

After Tian Chou left, the rain weakened and turned into sporadic light rain.

Yuan Mai leaned against the door in a daze, thinking hard about how to solve the problem of grain and grass. At this moment, the firewood room in the backyard began to live and cook, and the smoke wafted in the drizzle, like a dream, beautiful.

"Haha...... Yes, maybe this method can be tried! ”

Yuan Mai had an idea, and suddenly thought of a way to get grain and grass, although I don't know if it will work, but at least I should try! (To be continued......)