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A bloody battle in Xincheng sounded the alarm bell for Cao Cao, which was also an important reason why Cao Cao made up his mind to retreat.

Zhang Fei failed to take advantage of the victory to break through the Xiahou brothers' camp, but then the Xiahou brothers took the initiative to retreat to Zhonglu, and Xiangyang depended on each other, although Zhang Fei chased over, but he was unable to continue to attack Xiangyang, and was about to turn north to attack Ji Ling, Chen Deng's troops finally arrived in Xiangyang.

The situation immediately changed when the reinforcements arrived, Zhang Fei had to retreat to Xincheng under the persuasion of Zhuge Jin, and the original trace of the fighter plane was missed, or it was blocked by the sacrifice resistance of the Xiahou brothers and Cao Jun at any cost, and plugged a terrible loophole for Cao Cao.

Cao Cao is now garrisoning Ruyin City, and while continuing to collect the troops that have been withdrawn from various places, he has also blocked Yuan Shao's troops who are trying to pursue.

Cao Cao put down the battle report summary in his hand, let out a long sigh of relief, raised his head and rubbed his somewhat dizzy eyes, under the light, Cao Cao felt that his eyes were blurry, and he didn't know if he was tired or because he was old.

Xi Zhicai, who sent the battle report, sat quietly opposite Cao Cao, with a tired look on his face.

"Zhicai, Zhongde has escorted the Son of Heaven and the courtiers to Runan, and the prime minister has ordered that there is no need to stay, and he will go directly to Jingzhou and go straight to Xiangyang."

"The Lord is wise1

Cao Cao smiled a little embarrassedly, looked sideways at the huge map hanging on the side, and sighed slightly: "Qiaojun, Huainan, and Lujiang are just gone." ”

"If you lose it today, you may be able to get it back tomorrow, these territories have no feet, and you can't go."

"Huh. Now I can only think like this, although my heart is unwilling, but there is no way, Zhicai, can Runan, Geyang, and Yingchuan be kept? ”

"My lord. Geyang is a chicken rib, the road is not easy to walk, Jiangxia in the west does not have enough cities to support large-scale battles, and we can't go through the waterway, but the reverse is the same, Fang Zhiwen may not seriously attack Geyang. Yuan Shao doesn't necessarily care. ”

Cao Cao nodded, this judgment should be no problem, Ge Yang is indeed a boring place, and defending it by himself can only consume military strength in vain, so it seems natural to abandon Ge Yang.

However, Runan and Yingchuan are different. These two places are the springboard to the Central Plains, especially Yingchuan, as well as Runan City, which are also the two gateways to Jingzhou.

"Let's talk about Runan, Runan has a large territory and a long defense line, so it is really not suitable to hold it now. In the opinion of his subordinates, the focus of our army is Jingzhou now, and Liu Bei should be beaten back to Yizhou first, and Jiangling, Wuling and even Shangyong and Xicheng should be captured, and at worst, Jiangling should be taken, and then the battle line should be advanced to the line of Nanxiang, Xincheng and Xiling, so that our army can be considered stable in Jingzhou, and then we can think about other things. ”

Cao Cao frowned: "Zhicai said to give up Runan?" ”

"Well, at least give up most of it, you just need to stick to the gateway of Runan City. In this way, the burden of our army in Runan will be small, and it will be able to devote its forces completely to the west to fight Liu Bei for Jingzhou. ”

Cao Cao was silent, and only after a while did he say in a astringent voice: "That's it, Runan is too big." It does take too many troops to defend, and Jingzhou is now my lifeblood, and I can't afford to lose it.1

Xi Zhicai quietly breathed a sigh of relief, I don't know when, Xi Zhicai's confidence in Cao Cao didn't seem to be so sufficient, he was afraid that Cao Cao would have something wrong just now, and if he had to defend Runan, it would be really bad.

Then Xi Zhicai's eyes turned to Yingchuan: "Yingchuan is very important, the terrain is good, there is no enemy in the north now, there is an army to hold Yangzhai, but Xuchang in the east and the stability and strength in the southeast need to be heavily garrisoned, and the subordinates estimated that if our army wants to hold Yingchuan, it needs at least 200,000 troops, two generals and a military division to preside, that is to say, the frustration corps, Cao Hong or Cao Ren's army can be stationed at the same time." This is just a garrison, and it is not easy to say whether they can stop the combined forces of Yuan Shao and Fang Zhiwen. ”

"This" Cao Cao has also thought about it a long time ago, and the way of nature is right, garrisoning and defending are two concepts, especially when the opponents are Fang Zhiwen and Lu Bu, it is too difficult to say whether they can hold it.

"The key is Fang Zhiwen's attitude, Lord 1

"This book is understood, does Zhicai still remember that map?"

"Maps? Oh, did the lord mean that Fang Zhiwen asked Zhongde to bring back the map? ”

It was 1 Cao Cao sighed secretly and said: "As marked on the map, there is only one Runan City in Runan County that is ours, and Yingchuan is not all ours. ”

"Not all?"

"Yes, Fang Zhiwen separated Yingchuan from Dingling, and gave us Dingling, Kunyang, and Wuyang, counting Runan City, Fang Zhiwen left the two gateways to the Central Plains for our army, and he didn't have a good heart1

"Yes, it's to let Yuan Shao continue to fight with us! This is also expected, the problem is that our army is not afraid to fight against Yuan Shao at all, but now Liu Bei behind him has not been solved, so"

"What does Zhicai mean to accept Fang Zhiwen's idea?" Cao Cao's eyes flickered, and he asked Xi Zhicai with an unknown meaning.

Xi Zhicai's heart suddenly sudden, but he didn't dare to have anything wrong with his face, and he didn't dare to hesitate in his mouth, and immediately replied: "My subordinates think it's acceptable, if we cooperate, Fang Zhiwen may immediately slow down the actions of the military division, the lighter the pressure on our army on the eastern front, the sooner we can surrender our troops to the southwest of Jingzhou, and the sooner we can solve Liu Bei's watching." When the time comes, go back and compete with Yuan Shao about who is the lord of the Central Plains. ”

Cao Cao was silent again, the lights in the room flickered gently, and a few ignorant little insects flew towards the flames, they had no idea that this bright place that made them rush to it was a place of mortal danger.

"Okay, I understand the appearance, Yingchuan doesn't have long legs, and he can't leave, hehe."

"The Lord is wise1

"Now that it has been decided, then don't hesitate any longer, Zhicai immediately plans according to this line of thought, the most important thing is the people, the population, these are the key to whether we can come back in the future1

"But rest assured, this work has been done, and now it's just a matter of speeding it up. Moreover, the northeast of Jingzhou is all well-developed land, but the land and population are somewhat mismatched, and the vast territory of Jiangling needs to be taken down1

"Hehe, then take it down, Wuling's territory is bigger. I heard that there is also an abundant water system, and if it is developed, it will also be a treasure land1

"Yes, my lord, moreover, Liu Bei is already developing, and we just took it down and continued to develop 1

"Good. Then take down 1

Qian County was abandoned by Cao Cao, Fang Zhiwen ignored the retreating Cao Cao, but waved his army north to block Cao Hong, the last remaining Cao Hong in Chen County, in Changping, where Cao Hong was Fang Zhiwen and the opponent of the trial, and the final end was the same as Lejin, and the whole army was scattered. Cao Hong himself was also hunted down by Huang Xu in the chaos army.

Then Fang Zhiwen did not continue to advance to Xuchang, but returned to Ruyang City under the pretext of insufficient supplies, now this is Fang Zhiwen's base camp, a few days later, Lu Bu, who destroyed Lejin, also led the army to arrive, and Yan Liang's department was also advancing in the direction of Ruyang, but Yan Liang was arranged to garrison Nanton. Next, the Yan Liang army will attack in the direction of Pingyu.

Fang Zhiwen personally went outside the city to greet Lu Bu, Lu Bu was like a dragon, and seeing that great momentum was definitely the confidence of the trump card troops.

Seeing Fang Zhiwen coming out of the city, Lu Bu dismounted from a distance and walked forward with his subordinates, and met Fang Zhiwen to pay the order.

Fang Zhiwen smiled and helped Lu Bu up, and then helped Diao Chan in military uniforms on one side, glanced at the two of them with satisfaction, and while saying words of praise and envy, he led the two of them towards the city, and Taishi Zhaorong also stepped forward to pull Diao Chan to speak. The two talked and laughed and were very intimate.

"Fengxian, the troops are in good shape, and they are full of momentum1

"Hehe, the momentum of the troops is fed by the bones of the enemy, but I like this armored cavalry. It works well, it's like a tailor-made troop for me1

"Originally, this is a unit trained according to your characteristics, but you have to summarize the tactics yourself1

"Well, I have a staff officer, right1

"Hehe, Feng Xian is brave and unscrupulous, he is the backbone of this army, and others are afraid that they will not be able to lead this unit 1

Lu Bu shook his head with a smile: "Otherwise, except for a certain family, there are at least four people in our Youzhou who can lead this army1."

"Oh? In addition to the general, there should be a lord who can, what about the rest? ”

"Huang Hansheng, Zhao Zilong and Taishi Ziyi, these three are all top generals who can do it from near and far, and there should be no problem in leading this kind of cavalry."

"Hehe, I don't plan to configure this kind of cavalry more, except for you, I will match Ziyi with one in the future, just two, you don't know how expensive this vest is."

"Uh, stingy1

"I'm calling it careful calculation, cutting, too lazy to tell you."

The two laughed and walked towards the city, Cheng Gongying couldn't help but sigh in surprise when he looked at the very natural relationship between the two.

"Lord, how to fight next? Yingchuan? ”

"Feng Xian, your fighting spirit hasn't been consumed yet? Wasn't Cao Cao already defeated? You also have two legions that have been completely wiped out, and you are not satisfied? ”

"I'm not satisfied, this time I'm tied up, it's not that I can't beat it, but I can't use all my strength, I always feel unpleasant, I could have solved Cao Cao's devastating and decaying way, but I still have the strength to stay, for fear that Cao Cao will be injured, hehe"

"Hehe, no way, who told us that we still need Cao Cao! I'm afraid that your side will simply destroy Cao Cao, and Liu Bei will be so strong that we can't do anything about it1

"I understand, that's what I said, the lord doesn't have to care1

Fang Zhiwen nodded with a smile, glanced at Taishi Zhaorong and Diao Chan behind him, smiled and leaned into Lu Bu's ear and said, "How is it, is it good or bad for Madam to follow the army?" ”

"Uh, well, of course, hehe"

Fang Zhiwen laughed hesitantly, and saw Taishi Zhaorong looking at him, and hurriedly said seriously: "Rest for two days, and then attack and advance in the direction of Shangcai first, including Dingying and Xiping are your targets, if Cao Cao is interested, probably when you arrive at Dingying, the war is almost over, autumn is coming, we should also pack up and embark on the way home." "To be continued ...