Xiahou Yuan died, Zhang Han and Li Huai led their troops to flee north, Xuzhou fell, the news arrived in Shouchun, Zhang Liao was surprised, at this time, Cao Zhen's department that pursued the Shu army had just arrived in Shouchun, Cao Zhen heard that Xuzhou had fallen, he was shocked and angry, and hurried to Zhang Liao's camp to discuss countermeasures.

At this time, Zhang Liao was discussing countermeasures with the generals in the big tent, and when he heard that Cao Zhen was coming, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to open the gate and greet him in person, "Hahaha, General Zidan is here, and I have missed the welcome, please forgive me!" Zhang Liao hugged Cao Zhen outside the gate and said with a smile.

Cao Zhen is young, Zhang Liao is the elder, and he is Cao Cao's confidant general, Cao Cao naturally didn't dare to support him, and he said with a smile: "General Zhang said this, but it was a bad thing!" Where does Zidan dare to be a general in front of the old general? ”

Cao Zhen's humility made Zhang Liao very useful, patted Cao Zhen on the shoulder, and said, "Deserve it, deserve it!" The two exchanged pleasantries, joined hands in the military tent, Zhang Liao ordered Cao Zhen to add a place in his next place, and when Cao Zhen sat down, he asked: "Zidan is here for the fall of Pengcheng?" ”

Cao Zhen nodded and said: "Exactly, this Shu army took advantage of the fact that our army was in full swing with the main forces of the Shu army in Jingzhou and Yizhou, entered the Central Plains, broke Wancheng, attacked Xudu, trapped Shouchun, occupied Pengcheng, and crisscrossed thousands of miles in the hinterland of my Central Plains. General Xiahou Shang commanded tens of thousands of troops to garrison Yuzhou and Xutian on the front line, blocking the road of the Shu army to the west. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Liao nodded, and said, "It seems that the prime minister is really angry, in order to deal with this mere 5,000 people, he actually put on such a formation!" ”

Cao Zhen waved his hand when he heard this, and said: "Although the number of Shu troops on this road is small, it is the elite of the Shu army, and the commander of the army, Zhao Yun, is the general of the Five Tigers under Liu Bei, who is famous in Huaxia, and the deputy general Zhuge Zhan is the son of Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei's military division, and the current general of Jingzhou, the general of Zhenbei. If these two people can be captured, it will be more significant than capturing Xiangfan! ”

"Well, I heard of Zhao Yun's prestige, this Zhuge family kid has not made trouble for us over the years, and they are indeed difficult characters to deal with, so let's go out and play with them, Zidan, tell me what you are going to do!" Zhang Liao asked.

Cao Zhen stood up, walked to the map hanging in the tent, his finger started from Xu Du, drew an arc on the map, and said loudly: "After Shu Kou failed to attack Xu Du, he was defeated by our army in Runan, all the way south, captured Shouchun, and then because the general's army was in the south, they had no choice but to go north into Xuzhou, where the army was empty, resulting in the fall of Pengcheng, but they were far away from the rear, and the grain, grass, weapons, and supplies were all problems. I estimate that the supplies they carry with them should be almost consumed, so they will take the risk of attacking the city, all they do is to get supplies, but their ultimate goal should be to go south, so the primary goal of this siege is to cut off their way south and consume them in the north. ”

"Well, Zidan is reasonable, you can tell me what to do!" Zhang Liao nodded and agreed with Cao Zhen's proposition.

Cao Zhen was very happy to see Zhang Liao's agreement, and then said: "The general can divide his troops to guard the line of Shouchun and Huai'an, block the way for the Shu army to go south, and lead the army north to pursue the Shu army!" ”

When Zhang Liao heard this, he thought about it and asked, "How many soldiers and horses do Zidan still have in his hands?" ”

"Five thousand tigers and leopards to ride!"

When Zhang Liao heard this, he frowned and said: "Although the tiger and leopard cavalry is elite, but if you want to completely annihilate this stubborn enemy, five thousand is a little less after all, so let's do it, I'll give you another 10,000 foot soldiers, two generals, to help you?" ”

Where is there a lot of soldiers in the war? Zhang Liao wanted to divide his troops to help Cao Zhen, Cao Zhen was naturally happy, and heard that Cao Zhen was going to send two generals to himself, so he was curious: "I don't know who the two generals the general gave me?" ”

Zhang Liao smiled slightly, slapped his palms three times in a row, but saw the two people outside the tent open the tent, knelt on the ground, and said loudly:

"Xuzhou partial general Zhang Han, meet General Zhang and General Cao!"

"Captain Li Huai of Xuzhou, meet General Zhang and General Cao!"

When Cao Zhen heard this, he frowned, turned his head and asked Zhang Liaodao, "Are they Wen Lie's subordinates?" "Wen Lie is Cao Xiu.

Zhang Liao nodded and said: "Yes, Wen Lie went west, ordered the deputy general Xiahou Yuan to stay in Xuzhou, a few days ago, Xiahou Yuan was killed on the night of his concubine, the Shu army immediately attacked the city, Pengcheng fell, and the generals were scattered, only the two of them led the troops to counterattack, snatched out Xiahou Yuan's body, and went all the way south to report the news to Shouchun!" ”

"What does the general mean when he said that Xiahou Yuan was killed on the night of his marriage? Could it be that he wasn't killed by the Shu army? Cao Zhen asked suspiciously.

Zhang Liao shook his head, pointed at Zhang Han and the others and said, "Please ask the two of them to tell you about the specific situation!" ”

When Zhang Han heard this, he nodded his head and then described in detail how Pengcheng fell and how Xiahou Yuan died tragically in the cave room that day, the more Cao Zhen listened, the more he felt that something was wrong, after listening, he clapped his hands, sighed, and said, "What robbers entered the house?" This is clearly the careful work of the Shu army, first kill the main general, and then deceive the city gate, put into the Shu army, I should have thought, with the Shu army's soldiers and horses, whether there are siege equipment, how can it be so easy to capture the strong and well-defended Pengcheng? The meticulous work of the Fuxing Society is really pervasive! ”

Zhang Liao also sighed when he heard Cao Zhen talk about the Fuxing Society, and said: "This Fuxing Society has indeed caused us a lot of trouble over the years, hey, if Guo Saijiu is still there, how dare these thieves be so rampant?" ”

When Cao Zhen heard this, his face was displeased, and he said in his heart that Zhang Liao's house was obviously ugly for Lao Tzu! But it seems that this is indeed the case, Cao Zhen sighed, and it is difficult to say anything.

In fact, Zhang Liao was really unintentional, and he didn't mean to squeeze Cao Zhen, seeing that Cao Zhen was depressed, he remembered that it was Cao Zhen who replaced Guo Jia, and he was a little embarrassed, so he hurriedly smiled and diverted the topic, saying: "The matter has come to this point, and there is no annoyance!" Now let's hurry up and act separately according to the plan, sincerely unite, in order to eliminate this Shu army as soon as possible, and it will be shameful before the snow! ”

Cao Zhen looked stunned, smiled reluctantly, and said, "It's all up to the general!" ”

Zhang Liao garrisoned Lianghuai, holding heavy troops, in order to block the Shu army, he personally led tens of thousands of troops to garrison Shouchun, and sent a partial division east to Huai'an to garrison, and Cao Zhen borrowed more than 10,000 cavalry from Zhang Liao, with Zhang Han and Li Huai as the lead, and went to Pengcheng.