At the same time as Cheng Yu entered Xuzhou, in a village not far from Xuzhou, Deng Zhan and more than 500 dragoons changed into the clothes of the common people, and worked in the fields during the day like ordinary farmers in the village, and returned to the village to rest as soon as it was dark.

If a person of good heart comes to this village, he will find that the village is full of men, and there is not even a single woman or child to be seen.

The village is not very large, and there are only a few dozen houses.

Due to the siege of the city by Cao's army, the village not far from Xuzhou has long been empty, and the residents of the village are all dragoon guards disguised as ordinary people.

"General!" With a group of dragoon guards dressed in people's clothes, Deng Zhan was wielding a hoe in the field outside the village, and a dragoon guard who went to the vicinity of Xuzhou to inquire about the news ran towards him quickly, and as soon as he arrived in front of him, he bowed down with his fists and said to him: "Cao Cao wants to negotiate peace with Lu Bu, and has already sent Cheng Yu into Xuzhou City!" ”

"Peace talks?" When he learned from the soldiers who went to listen to the war in Xuzhou that Cao Cao had peace talks with Lu Bu, Deng Zhan frowned and asked the soldier, "Have you found out?" ”

"I've heard it indeed!" Maintaining the posture of clenching his fists and bowing, the dragoon guard then said to Deng Zhan: "General Zhao had previously ordered people to hunt outside the Cao camp, intending to have some disputes with the Cao army, but he didn't want that Cao Cao to have no intention of arguing with the tiger guard, but was humble everywhere, which made General Zhao very embarrassed!" ”

"Picking quarrels and provoking trouble!" The dragoon guard, who heard the news, said that Zhao Yun ordered Hu Benwei to go to stir up trouble, and the corners of his mouth showed a smile, as if he was talking to himself: "Cao Cao is bent on winning Xuzhou, how can he waste his energy on some small things?" Zilong did a bad job in this matter! ”

"Is there any other news about these two things?" first muttered that Zhao Yun's intention to pick quarrels and provoke trouble was bad, and then Deng Zhan asked the dragoon guard who reported the news.

"Although Cao Cao sent Cheng Yu to Xuzhou, I don't know why the generals in Cao's camp are transferred quite frequently!" With both hands in their fists, the dragoon guard who reported the news first responded, and then said to Deng Zhan: "We are just watching from outside the Cao camp, we can't go deeper, and I don't know how to mobilize!" ”

"I'm afraid I have something to do!" When the dragoon guard said that the soldiers in Cao's camp would be frequently transferred, Deng Zhan's brows were tightly twisted, and he said to the soldier: "You go to the village to pass on the general's order, everyone is ready, and in a few days, Lu Bu will definitely be defeated by Cao Cao!" ”

Deng Zhan said that Lu Bu must be broken by Cao Cao, and the dragoon guard who reported the news was stunned for a moment, and was very puzzled in his heart, the offensive and defensive sides had already sat down to negotiate peace, how did he get to Deng Zhan and become Lu Bu who would definitely be broken by Cao Cao in the future?

Although he was very puzzled in his heart, the dragoon guard who reported the news did not dare to ask more, but quickly answered, then turned around and ran quickly towards the village.

When the dragoon guard ran into the village, Deng Zhan turned his head to look in the direction of Xuzhou, and sneered with a sneering face.

"General!" Deng Zhangang laughed, and Huang Sheng, who had met Wang Liu in Yangzhou earlier and joined the Qin army, came over and asked him in a low voice: "Didn't the general think that the peace talks between Lu Bu and Cao Cao were fruitless?" ”

"It's just a façade!" Turning his head to look at Huang Sheng, who had been promoted to the centurion of the dragoon guard, Deng Zhan whispered: "Cao's army is besieging Xuzhou, seeing that the city of Xuzhou cannot be broken in ten days, Cao Cao ordered Cheng Yu to go to negotiate peace with Lu Bu at this time, I am afraid that he has another plan!" ”

"From the general's point of view, what is Cao Cao planning?" Deng Zhan said that Cao Cao might have another plan, and Huang Sheng hurriedly asked him.

"General Ben doesn't know!" Deng Zhan shook his head, and the look on his face became more and more confused when he shook his head.

In the battle of Xuzhou, Cao Cao took the lead, and he only needed to attack, and it was rare for the Xuzhou army in the city to hold on for ten days and half a month.

Deng Zhan saw that Cao Cao proposed peace talks with Lu Bu because he didn't want his soldiers to suffer too many casualties, but he couldn't guess what Cao Cao would do next.

All he could do at the moment was to prepare the soldiers in advance, and once Lu Bu was in danger, they would rescue Lu Bu from the predicament.

At the beginning, Lu Bu betrayed Liu Bi, but until now Deng Zhan still didn't understand why Liu Bi wanted to rescue Lu Bu when he was defeated.

However, Liu Wei has already given an order, and Deng Zhan will not disobey it.

Deng Zhan ordered the dragoon guards to prepare to rescue Lu Bu, and Zhao Yun, who was stationed twenty miles behind Cao Ying, also got the news that Cheng Yu had entered Xuzhou at this time.

After listening to the scout's report, Zhao Yun didn't say anything for a long time, but his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was thinking of something extremely difficult to figure out.

"General!" Zhao Yun was speechless for a long time, and Tao Hu, who had been by his side, had a feeling that something big was about to happen, and he hugged his fists to Zhao Yun and asked, "Then Cao Cao had already taken the lead when he attacked the city, why did he suddenly send someone to negotiate peace with Lu Bu?" ”

"Cao Cao is afraid that he doesn't really want peace talks!" Tao Hu opened his mouth to ask, Zhao Yuncai glanced up at him, and said with a little doubt in his tone: "As General Tao said, Cao's army has taken the lead in attacking the city, even if Cao Cao does not make a plan, Xuzhou City will not be able to defend it for a long time." But Cao's army suffered too many casualties, and even if it broke through Xuzhou, it would not be able to go south to Huainan in the future. The reason why Cao Cao let Cheng Yu enter Xuzhou City to negotiate peace with Lu Bu must have been secretly deployed. It's just that General Ben thought about it again and again, and he couldn't think of what kind of trick Cao Cao would make! ”

"If Lu Bu's army is defeated, Cao's army will definitely take advantage of the situation to go south!" Tao Hu also frowned, and said to Zhao Yun: "There is still a lot of time before the summer grain harvest, once the Cao army enters Huainan, it will not be easy for His Highness to break through Shouchun at that time!" If Huainan also falls into the hands of Cao Cao......"

Having said this, Tao Hu didn't continue, but Zhao Yun and he both knew that Huainan was rich in grain and grass, and it was a strategic point to go south to the Yangtze River Basin.

If Huainan is really won by Cao Cao, there will be many more obstacles for Liu Biankuang to return to the throne of the Han Dynasty.

Although Cao Cao did not have the idea of replacing Liu Xie, Liu Xie was just a puppet after all, and if Liu Wei did not replace him as the emperor of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty would not be restored for a day.

To recover the Han Dynasty, Liu Wei must rush out of Guanzhong and enter Jianghuai, and Huainan is the foundation for him to settle in Jianghuai!

Knowing that whether or not they can support Lü Bu to delay for more time is related to whether the Qin army can send troops to Huainan before Cao Cao, Zhao Yun and Tao Hu both know that Lü Bu's success or failure determines to a certain extent who will crusade against Yuan Shu first.

Yuan Shu is insignificant, his position is just a clown jumping off the beam, what really matters is the strategic point of the Huai River Basin!

"I'll be better if I can delay a little longer!" Like Zhao Yun, he was silent for a long time, and Tao Hu said with a bit of entanglement in his tone: "If Lu Bu is defeated in the near future, Cao Cao goes south, Yuan Shu will definitely be difficult to support ......"

"Even though Cao Cao will not be able to break through Huainan for a while and a half, once he brings the army close to the outside of Huainan City, His Royal Highness will attack Shouchun again, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to share how much benefit he will gain from entering the city!" Looking at Tao Hu, Zhao Yun's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said to Tao Hu: "General Tao, do you dare to enter Xuzhou?" ”

"What does the general want to do in Xuzhou?" As soon as Zhao Yun asked if he dared to go to Xuzhou, Tao Hu hurriedly answered: "As long as Lu Bu can be a little more vigilant and resist the attack of Cao's army, even if the last general dies in Xuzhou, it is nothing!" ”

"The general is loyal, and he knows it!" Staring at Tao Hu without blinking, Zhao Yun said to him: "When the general enters Xuzhou City, he doesn't need to see Lu Bu in person, he only needs to see Chen Gong!" ”

"The last general met Chen Gong, what did he say to him?" Looking at each other with Zhao Yun, Tao Hu opened his mouth and asked, "Could it be that he is reminding Chen Gong that Cao Cao's peace talks are fake, and his intention is not good for Lu Bu?" ”

"No!" As soon as Tao Hu's words were asked, Zhao Yun shook his head and said, "Who is Chen Gong?" I can't see that Cao Cao's peace talks are fake, how can he not see it? The general entered the city and brought this object to Chen Gong, telling him that if the city was in trouble, he would set it on fire, and we would take it! ”

Saying this, Zhao Yun got up and walked to a wooden box in the tent, took out a boxy object from the box and handed it to Tao Hu.

"Wolf dung?" Seeing the extremely flat square, Tao Hu asked Zhao Yun with a blank expression: "When Lu Bu's army is defeated, isn't General Deng going to lead the dragoon guards to pick it up?" The general gave Chen Gong this thing, but why? ”

"Deng Zhan took Lu Bu for the sake of Lu Bu's life, but at the moment, we want to delay the time when Cao Jun defeats Lu Bu, and this matter can only be done by our Tiger Benwei!" When Tao Hu took over the piece of wolf dung from all directions, Zhao Yun said to him: "I will wait to answer Lu Bu, and the right can open the way for him, as long as Lu Bu is not defeated, Cao Cao is worried about the instability behind him, and he will not dare to send troops to the south easily!" ”

"General Fei ......" Holding the wolf dung handed to him by Zhao Yun in his left hand, Tao Hu hesitated for a moment, and whispered to Zhao Yun: "If our army fights Cao Jun for the sake of Lu Bu, I am afraid that His Highness definitely does not want to see it." ”

"General Tao rest assured!" Knowing that Tao Hu thought that he was going to lead the Tiger Benwei to meet Lu Bu by force, Zhao Yun smiled slightly and said to Tao Hu: "To answer Lu Bu, it is not necessary to fight, the general just hand over this thing to Chen Gong!" ”

Tao Hu, who still had some doubts in his heart, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Zhao Yun say that Lu Bu did not necessarily need to turn against Cao Jun, and bowed to Zhao Yun with his fists and said, "General rest assured, the last general will definitely hand this thing over to Chen Gong!" ”

When Tao Hu and Zhao Yun were discussing how to send a piece of wolf dung to Chen Gong to ignite, in the front hall of the Xuzhou City Official Mansion, Lu Bu, Cheng Yu and others had already sat down, enjoying the sound of silk and bamboo, and watching the dancers dance with the music.

The low table in front of everyone in the hall was already full of meat and preserved fruits, and the banquet could start as long as Lu Bu gave an order.