"Tao Ying's thief was injured by our army's stray arrows? Or the possibility of dying from his injuries? Do you believe such stupid words? Can you believe it?! Stop dreaming, idiot! ”

Because of the road, distance and speed of the march, it was not until the Great Yuan Sangong decided to use his grandson Tao Luo to annex the Xuzhou army and territory that Cao Lao Da learned the good news that Deputy Director Tao was shot by an arrow during the attack on Wuyan City from the mouth of Dongping Taishou Che Guan, who was ordered to lead the army to Juancheng to join the army. But it is a pity that after the joyful General Che Zhou reported the good news, what greeted General Che Zhou was not the praise and reward of Boss Cao, but the stinking scolding that was full of anger, splitting his head and covering his face, and spitting stars.

"Prime Minister, the last general won't dare to lie." The scolding of the dizzy car was very aggrieved, and distinguished: "After our army hit the Tao Ying thief, the Tao thief who was besieging the city was suddenly in chaos, and the last general only led more than 1,000 teams to pursue, and the Xuzhou thief army did not dare to fight back, and then the last general caught two Xuzhou prisoners, and learned from their torture that it was indeed the Tao thief who was hit by our army's arrow." If the prime minister doesn't believe it, he can send the generals and soldiers to ask, and they will ....... ”

"Fake! Fake! It's all fake! Boss Cao, who was in an extremely bad mood, had a hysterical attack, and yelled in the tone of a confidant who grew up with Deputy Director Tao wearing open crotch pants, "Let me tell you, don't say that you just heard that Tao Ying's thief was hit by an arrow, even if you saw Tao Ying's thief being shot in front of you, it was definitely fake!" It's a play that the pottery thief will show you! If you want to seriously injure Tao Ying's thief, the grass hasn't grown on your Che family's ancestral grave yet!! ”

As we all know, although General Che Zhou has a bad reputation and no outstanding achievements, he is definitely a trusted confidant of Boss Cao, but even as a confidant, General Che Zhou has never seen Boss Cao's hysteria in such a gaffe, and his arbitrary judgment with strong words.

However, Xun You, who was deeply trusted by Boss Cao next to him, couldn't stand it, stood up and arched his hand and said: "Prime Minister, please calm your anger, although it is a coincidence, but the arrows and crossbows on the two armies are like rain, and the arrows and crossbows have no eyes, and no one dares to guarantee that a stray arrow in General Che's team may not be able to hit Tao Ying and destroy the thief." According to his opinion, the prime minister may wish to send someone to investigate ...... in detail. ”

"Don't waste your energy." Boss Cao waved his hand vigorously and said categorically: "No matter how many scouts are sent to investigate, the news received will definitely be that the pottery thief was seriously injured by our army's arrows, or even seriously injured and will die!" But I'm sure the pottery thief hasn't lost a single hair! The so-called serious injury from the arrow is just an excuse for the pottery thief not to give Yuan Shao his life! This thief is the best at doing such things! ”

Xun You also closed his mouth helplessly, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu and other strategists were silent together, hoping that Che Xuan's report was true, and Cao Junliuya did hit Deputy Director Tao, who deserved to die, but he also understood that Boss Cao's judgment was true-with Deputy Director Tao's bad surname, such a thing as refusing to be cannon fodder for Da Yuan Sangong was definitely done!

Finally vented enough anger at Deputy Director Tao's cunning actions, Boss Cao tried to suppress the anger in his chest, and after careful calculation, Boss Cao quickly sneered again, and said: "It's okay for the Tao thief to deceive the injury, although our army has lost the opportunity to take the opportunity to drive a dedge between the Ji and Xu troops, and there is no way to immediately intensify the contradiction between the Tao thief and Yuan Shao, but at least don't worry about being chased and killed by the Tao thief on the way to retreat, although the Tao thief's team is small, but it is far more dangerous than Yuan Shao's team, in general, the Tao thief is injured and refuses to fight, For our army, the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages. ”

"What the prime minister said is extremely true." Cheng Yu nodded and agreed: "Regardless of whether the pottery thief's arrow is true or not, the Xuzhou army will definitely not launch a pursuit of our army, first, the pottery thief cannot personally lead the army to pursue, and the second is that the pottery thief will never hand over his team to Yuan Shao's command, and our army can rest assured to concentrate on the pursuit of Yuan Shao's team." ”

"Exactly." Boss Cao nodded, and asked again, "Yuan Shao's chasing team, has already arrived there?" ”

"The forward Han Meng's army is about 5,000 horsemen, and he has now arrived at Qinting, about 80 miles away from Juancheng." Cheng Yu replied: "As for Yuan Shao's main force, I received the news last night that Yuan Shao had personally led the main force westward to pursue our army early yesterday morning. ”

"Fortunately, we still have a chance to retreat." Boss Cao breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Che Zhou and said: "Che Zhou, let your team hurry up and recuperate, our army will withdraw from Juancheng and retreat to Puyang, and your team will be in charge of the rear of the palace at that time." Remember, once Yuan Shao's cavalry pursues, it must meet the battle with all its might, buy time, and never allow retreat without an order! But don't worry, I will arrange an ambush and arrange a team to meet you, and I won't let you stand alone, so go down and prepare. ”

"No." Che Xuan hugged his fists and sang a promise, and asked cautiously: "Prime Minister, the last general was also ordered to bring Xu Shu, and I don't know how to deal with it." ”

"Hand it over to my guards, and I'll pick him up when I'm free." Boss Cao waved his hand again with a tired face, and the car didn't speak anymore, and the old man resigned. Then Boss Cao ordered the guards in the tent: "Quickly go and order all battalions and departments to load all the grain and grass in Juancheng, prepare two days of dry food, and withdraw to Puyang tomorrow, without resting on the way, and not making fires to make food." ”

All the guards sang the promise together, and hurriedly went out of the tent to order the Cao army to prepare to withdraw the troops, and Mao Jue on the side reminded: "Prime Minister, you seem to have forgotten to arrange the team to ambush, just now you said that you should prepare an ambush to meet the team behind General Che Xuan's palace." ”

Boss Cao rolled his eyes, and only hummed after a while: "I asked Che Zhou to give up Wuyan, in addition to letting Yuan Shao and the pottery thief meet as soon as possible and have a conflict as soon as possible, I am preparing to send his second-line team to death, our army Cangting was defeated, and the losses were extremely heavy, so there is still an elite team left to answer him?" ”

Mao Jue was stunned, Guo Jia, Xun You and others bowed their hands to Boss Cao, and even praised Boss Cao for making a quick decision, with clear priorities and priorities, and he was really a smart, wise, and benevolent lord. However, Boss Cao didn't have the heart to listen to these sycophants, and quickly thought about it and said: "The pottery thief is unwilling to pursue our army, with the surname of Yuan Shaopifu, even if he makes a move on Xuzhou, he will definitely not give my army a chance to breathe, and he will definitely personally lead the army to pursue our army and kill us completely, we must take precautions and prepare for a rainy day, and concentrate on fighting another decisive battle with Yuan Shaopifu." ”

"What the prime minister said is very true, although our army was defeated in Cangting, it still has the strength to fight, and it may not have no chance to turn defeat into victory." Guo Jia coughed and said: "Jia suggests that the prime minister may wish to leave an army to hold Puyang, and at the same time urgently mobilize the teams of Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Zhong Xuan and Ren Jun, and rush to Guandu to meet with the main force of our army, and fight another battle with Yuan Shao in Guandu." ”

"Another battle with Yuan Shao in the Guandu War?" Boss Cao showed a hesitant look.

"The prime minister is worried that it won't be too late?" Guo Jia misunderstood what Boss Cao meant, so he coughed again and said: "Please rest assured, Puyang is the throat of Yuan Shao's march into Xuchang, if you don't pull out the nail of Puyang, Yuan Shao has a million troops, and he will never dare to bypass Puyang and take Guandu directly, as long as our army's Puyang guards work hard to hold on, they will definitely be able to win time for our army to rush to Guandu for reinforcements." ”

"No, no, Feng Xiao misunderstood, I'm not worried that there won't be enough time for reinforcements to gather." Boss Cao shook his head and muttered: "I just think that Guandu may not be suitable to become the main battlefield for our army and Yuan Shao to fight again." ”

"What do you mean by that?" Cao Jun's strategists looked at each other and said: "Guandu is the throat of Yuan Shao's march into Xuchang, and it is also the battlefield where our army broke Yuan Shao before. ”

"It is precisely because Guandu is where our army broke Yuan Shao before, that it is not suitable to become a decisive battlefield." Boss Cao frowned and replied: "Our army is not afraid of Yuan Shao's light advance and rapid battle, but I am afraid that Yuan Shao will be in the camp step by step, steadily and steadily confront our army, the terrain of Guandu is too dangerous, Yuan Shao has a psychological shadow on Guandu, if our army sets the decisive battlefield in Guandu, Yuan Shao will definitely not dare to fight immediately." If Yuan Shao is like Cangting again, giving us a few months of consumption, then our army will really be finished. ”

Cao Jun's strategists were silent, only then did they realize that Cao Boss's worries were very reasonable, and retreated to Guandu to seek a decisive battle with Yuan Shaojun, but it was likely that Yuan Shaojun was dragged into the most unfavorable situation for Cao Jun.

"In this way, the decisive battle must be prepared in advance, but don't be in a hurry to arrange the army in Guandu first." Boss Cao pondered and said: "First let the soldiers and horses of Yuzhou, Chenliu, Sili and Guanzhong gather in Xuchang Marquis, and then we will decide where to fight the decisive battle according to the situation." The strategists sang a promise, and hurriedly took up their pens to draw up orders for Cao Boss, and ordered the Cao army teams guarding various places to quickly rush to Xuchang to assemble the Hou Zhi, and then send them out with fast horses.

In the early morning of the next day, taking advantage of the precious opportunity that the main force of Yuan Shao's army was not yet approaching, the main force of Cao's army, which was greatly injured, decisively abandoned the former important rear town of Juancheng, carried all the grain and grass baggage that could be carried, and retreated at full speed towards Puyang, the important town of Yanzhou. After discovering this action of Cao Jun, Yuan Shaojun pursued the forward Han Meng also led the army to launch a pursuit, but was desperately intercepted by the Che Xuan team, after a hard battle, although Han Meng's team beheaded nearly a thousand, but also never broke up the infantry phalanx of the Che Xuan team, and worried that the elite of the Cao Army would come back to help, so he had to order Ming Jin to withdraw his troops, first bite the tail of the Cao Army, and then wait for the main reinforcements led by the Great Yuan Sangong himself.

The news reached the front of the Great Yuan Sangong, the Great Yuan Sangong listened to Guo Tubing's suggestion, sent his eldest son Yuan Tan to lead five thousand elite cavalry to the west of Juancheng to reinforce Han Meng, and after a few days again caught up with the Cao army after the army chariot team, and the Che Xuan team fought fiercely in the Xiancheng Xiaoting, the poor Che Xuan general decided that his own reinforcements must come to reinforce, so he used 3,000 second-line infantry to resist nearly 10,000 Yuan cavalry, but of course the reinforcements were not, and the three thousand infantry of the general Che Xuan were also wiped out, and the Che Zhou was personally beheaded in the chaotic army by Yuan Tan Gongzi, The main force of Cao's army, which carried a large amount of heavy grain and grass, took the opportunity to retreat into Puyang City, and Yuan Tan and Han Meng, who were all cavalry, could not attack the city, so they had to camp thirty miles east of Puyang and wait for their main force to arrive.

Relying on the betrayal of his subordinates to successfully withdraw to Puyang, Cao Lao didn't even have time to breathe, so he immediately summoned the general Xiahoudun and Dongjun Taishou Liu Yan, and told Xiahoudun and Liu Yan straight to the point, "I need you to defend Puyang for a month, to buy time for the retreat of our army's main force and the gathering of reinforcements, are you willing to accept this task?" ”

Needless to say, Xiahoudun is not only a relative of Boss Cao but also a good friend who first followed Boss Cao, hearing Boss Cao's order, he naturally didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately hugged his fists and sang a promise, Liu Yan, who was demoted to a useless person by Guan Erye, also proved that he was not completely useless, and said without hesitation: "Please rest assured, the last general will swear to stick to Puyang for a month, even if there is only one soldier left, and he will never let Yuan Shao's thief army enter the city." ”

"In that case, then please." Boss Cao bowed and saluted, and said solemnly: "Whether our army can win time and win the opportunity to turn defeat into victory depends on the two generals. ”

Seeing Boss Cao saluting, Xiahoudun and Liu Yan hurriedly knelt down on their knees to return the salute, and Boss Cao also hurriedly picked up these two cannon fodder who were almost destined to die, and said: "There were originally 6,000 defenders in the Puyang area, and I have taken back all of them in the city, in addition, I will leave you with 2,000 soldiers and a month's grain and grass, as long as you hold for a month, you can find a way to abandon the city and break through." Remember, without reinforcements, I have no reinforcements to send to you. ”

Speaking of this, Boss Cao's nose suddenly became sour, and he choked up and said: "A month later, if you can't break through, Yuan Shao can also accept your surrender, you can surrender to Yuan Shao, I don't blame you, I will also treat ...... of your family in Xuchang." ”

Xiahoudun and Liu Yan cried loudly together, kowtowed desperately to Boss Cao, and said in unison: "Please rest assured, Prime Minister, the last general will not surrender to Yuan Shao!" A month later, if the last general can't break through, he will continue to hold on to the city, even if he can buy one more day for the prime minister, even if the last general is broken, he can still be blind! ”

Hearing Xiahoudun and Liu Yan's heartfelt words, Boss Cao couldn't help crying loudly, hugging Xiahoudun and Liu Yan together, and Guo Jia and Xun You and others next to him also cried, knowing that this farewell with Xiahoudun and Liu Yan was likely to be an eternal farewell. While crying bitterly, Cao Jun and the others couldn't help but grit their teeth at Deputy Director Tao again, "God kill your Tao thief, this time in the Cangting War, if you didn't deliberately make trouble, would our army have today?" Can there be a day?! ”

In view of the receipt of the scout report, knowing that the main force of Jizhou led by the Great Yuan Sangong was getting closer and closer to Puyang, in the early morning of the second day after arriving in Puyang, Cao Lao Da said goodbye to Xiahoudun and others in tears, and led the main force of 30,000 to retreat to Guandu at full speed to meet Cao Ren's team stationed in Guandu. After discovering the movement of Cao Jun, the greedy Yuan Tan Gongzi led the army to chase after him, but was attacked by Zhang Liao's team behind the Cao Jun Palace, and Xiahou Dun also led the army to kill out of Puyang City, and attacked the poor Yuan Tan Gongzi before and after.

Two days later, the main force of Yuan Shao's army led by Yuan Sangong personally arrived at the city of Puyang, and soon surrounded the lonely city of Puyang, in order to pull out the nail stuck in the throat of the grain road as soon as possible, and open up the direct contact with the rear of Jizhou in order to enter Xuchang, the Great Yuan Sangong listened to the advice of the strategist Cui Yan, sent envoys into the city to surrender, and Xu Yi, a high-ranking official, recruited Xiahoudun and Liu Yan, the two generals, who expected Xiahou Yuan and Liu Yan to not only tear the surrender letter to shreds, but also put the Jizhou army envoy on the head of Puyang City, beheaded in front of the Jizhou army to show that he would not surrender to the heart of the three princes of Yuan. When the third prince of Da Yuan heard the news, he was furious, and immediately ordered the army to rush to build siege weapons at night, prepare to break through Puyang by force, capture Xiahoudun and Liu Yan and behead them, and behead them in order to behead them.

After a few more days, Yuan Shaojun's siege battle against Puyang City began, the three precious sons of Yuan Sangong took turns to supervise the siege of the city, the offensive was very fierce, but the Puyang city was very strong, and the defenders in the city also held the determination to defend the city, so after three consecutive days of siege battle, Yuan Shaojun not only failed to conquer Puyang Jiancheng, but also suffered heavy casualties and serious morale under the stubborn resistance of the Puyang defenders. The remnants of the main force of the Cao army, led by Cao Boss himself, took the opportunity to successfully withdraw to the Guandu camp, and finally regained their foothold after the Cangting fiasco, and also brought the Cao Yuan war back to the confrontation.

When the news of the latest battle situation of the Cao Yuan War reached the Xuzhou army, the main force of the Xuzhou army, which was seriously injured by the commander, had withdrawn to Rencheng County, although it missed the great opportunity to 'take advantage of the victory to expand the results', but fortunately, the deputy director Tao who was seriously injured by the arrow had already improved a little in Yuan Shaojun's disappointed eyes, and was able to speak, eat and drink, so after receiving the news sent by the detailed summary, Deputy Director Tao also quickly summoned Jia Xu, Liu Ye, Xun Chen and Shiyi The four major strategists discussed the battle situation of Puyang and Guandu with them. Then there is the discussion of what to do next.

"Puyang is obviously Cao Ying's outcast, an outcast to buy time." Jia Lao Poison pointed out sharply: "As for Guandu, if Cao Ying repeats his old tricks and once again concentrates the last troops to hold the Guandu Pass, then Cao Ying will be defeated in this battle!" Our army should not want to covet the land of Yanzhou for the time being, and can only be ready to start a war with Yuan Shao at any time. ”

"If the thief sticks to Guandu again, he will be defeated?" Deputy Director Tao, who had gradually lost the advantage of a historical prophet, hurriedly asked, "Why does Mr. Wenhe have this judgment?" The terrain of Guandu is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Cao thief has defeated the Jizhou army on the battlefield of Guandu, and has a huge psychological advantage, why does Mr. say that if the Cao thief sticks to Guandu, he will be defeated? ”

"Because Cao Mengde is going to lose at Yuan Benchu's psychological disadvantage." Jia Lao Poison smiled and said: "Yuan Shao was defeated in the previous Guandu, one is to lose in the grain and grass was burned, the second is to lose in the early stage of the light enemy to advance, and the third is to lose in the later stage too cautious to divide the troops, at that time, if Yuan Shao can pay attention to the protection of the Wuchao granary, don't divide the troops too much in the early stage, don't let the partial division too light the enemy go deep, if you can boldly divide the troops in the later stage, and attack Xuchang with light horses, as long as one of the three mistakes is made less, then the last Guandu battle, the loser will only be Cao Ying, not Yuan Shao. ”

"Yuan Shao is also a person who can learn lessons, this Cangting battle is an example, although he was unwilling, but Yuan Shao still listened to the advice of Fu Zhu and Cui Yan, and adopted a steady strategy of step-by-step, rather than miss the fighter than pursue a quick battle, and finally survived until the main force of our army came back to help, helping him win a big victory in Cangting."

Yuan Shao, who has already suffered a big loss on the battlefield of Guandu, will definitely be cautious in the use of troops, not only to strengthen the protection of the granary, but also to boldly try to divide the troops to attack Xuchang, and to adopt the tactics of attrition in the cangting, with the advantage of more soldiers and enough food to consume Cao Ying's food, and the inevitable turmoil after Cao Ying's large number of troops from the local area will make Cao Ying's backyard catch fire, and the front is unstable, and Cao Ying has no chance of winning. can only wait for death. ”

Deputy Director Tao was silent, and he also began to congratulate himself on his good luck, and he had already dug up Jia Lao's poison, a dual expert in tactics and strategy. Xun Chen, Liu Ye, Shi Yi and others over there were also full of sighs, secretly lamenting that they might not have a chance to grab the position of Xuzhou military division in their lives. Then Liu Ye asked again: "Mr. Wenhe, then in your opinion, this time in the decisive battle of Yuan Cao, can the Cao thief still have any hope of turning defeat into victory?" ”

"Yes, of course." Jia Lao Poison nodded, and said calmly: "If Cao Mengde takes the initiative to give up Guandu, the whole army retreats to Xuchang, and lures Yuan Shao to Xuchang City for a decisive battle, then there is still a glimmer of hope for Cao's army." Basically, this is also Cao Mengde's last hope, if he didn't give up the courage of Guandu, which was in danger, and couldn't not lure Yuan Shao's main force to Xuchang City for a decisive battle, then Cao Mengde would have lost. ”

"In the decisive battle under Xuchang City, there is still a glimmer of hope for Cao Thief?"

Deputy Director Tao twisted the mustache that gradually grew on his chin, closed his eyes and calculated, after a long time, Deputy Director Tao opened his eyes violently, nodded vigorously and said: "Yes, if I am Cao Thief, I will also choose to fight under Xuchang City!" First, there is no need to divide troops to protect the grain road and protect Xuchang, you can concentrate your forces on one point! The second is the decisive battle under the city of Xuchang, and the Cao army has no way to retreat, so it will inevitably burst out with amazing combat effectiveness and give full play to the elite advantage of being one of ten! The third is that the Battle of Xuchang is already the last battle to destroy Cao, and my father-in-law sees that victory is only one step away, and he will inevitably reveal flaws when he gets carried away, giving Cao Thief a chance to take advantage of the loopholes and surprise his troops! ”

"Exactly!" Jia Lao Poison nodded, and said with a smile: "My lord, I suggest that our army should be ready to continue the war, once it is confirmed that Cao Mengde has returned to Xuchang, and Yuan Benchu has also continued to pursue to Xuchang, our army can immediately send troops to advance west along Surabaya and Jishui to capture the entire territory of Jiyin!" ”

"What? Still going to fight? Deputy Director Tao was again stunned, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Wenhe, what is your intention in suggesting that I do this?" ”

"After confirming the decisive battle between the Cao army and the Yuan army in Xuchang, our army immediately sent troops to attack Jiyin, of course, it has good intentions." Jia Lao Poison smiled and replied: "At that time, if Yuan Shao defeats Cao Mengde in Xuchang and takes Xuchang, and our army sends troops to Jiyin, that is, the lord you will send troops to Jiyin in spite of your serious injuries, and in order to be filial to your father-in-law, you will have face, and when you negotiate with Yuan Shao about the ownership of Yanzhou land, you can also have one more bargaining chip." ”

"If Cao Mengde wins." Jia Lao Poison smiled even more kindly, and said: "Meng Degong did not turn defeat into victory until he returned to Xuchang, the army must have suffered huge casualties and was very tired, and the grain and grass baggage was basically exhausted, and the most important source of grain and grass Xuchang Tuntian is estimated to have been almost destroyed by the Jizhou army." Then our army has enough food and grass, and the main team is waiting for work, and it is time to take advantage of the fire to rob Chen Liuzhi and smash Xuchang, and invite the Son of Heaven back to the land of Sishang Longxing. ”

Hearing Jia Lao's poisonous words, Liu Ye, Xun Chen and Shi Yi were all startled at first, and then laughed cruelly, Deputy Director Tao also laughed, and said slowly: "Mr. Wenhe, some people often say that I am the biggest wall grass in the world, and now it seems that those people have really wronged me." ”

After that, Deputy Director Tao laughed heartily, Jia Lao Poison grinned, Liu Ye, Xun Chen and Shiyi laughed, their smiles were all the same evil, and the laughter was full of the same silver evil and deceit.

……………… At the same time in the Guandu camp, Cao Boss's brother-in-law, Captain Changshui and Diannong Zhonglang General Ren Jun, was ordered to come to the Chinese army's tent to meet Cao Boss, and when asked what Cao Boss had to order, Cao Boss instructed: "You take Wang Yuan and them to count the grain and grass, leaving only the necessary grain and grass for our army for one month, and all the excess grain and grass will be escorted back to Xuchang for use." Remember, on the way, it is necessary to march with the momentum of the Ten Columns to ensure that the grain and grass are safely sent back to Xuchang. ”

"Shipped back to Xuchang?!" Ren Jun was taken aback and blurted out: "Brother-in-law, aren't you joking?" Guandu is the throat of our army to resist Yuan Shao's advance into Xuchang, a large amount of grain is not enough, how can we withdraw grain and grass? ”

"Not a joke, of course." Boss Cao didn't care about what Ren Jun called him, but said in a yin voice: "Although Guandu is a throat, it is no longer suitable for a decisive battlefield. ”

"Xuchang! Only Xuchang! It is the ideal battlefield for our army to fight to the death with Yuan Shao! ”

(To be continued)