Yuan Shao remembered that after listening to the advice of the trial several times and making a choice, each time it was not smooth, and the last battle of Guandu was a fiasco, and after this time, he no longer trusted the ability of the trial.

He stood up and said in a deep voice: "Raise an army of 50,000 and set out on the expedition in a few days, shame before the snow!" ”

Immediately, he began to assign tasks, reviewing and assigning the governor's logistics support and supply of grain, grass, ordnance and other military materials, Xin Ping was responsible for military intelligence, Guo Tu, Xin Ping, and Feng Ji were responsible for counselor military affairs and giving advice, and Chen Lin was responsible for writing a letter to crusade against Cao Cao.

dispatched 50,000 people, Yuan Shao was still a little conservative, and the troops in his hands were far more than these.

Xu Du.

The news of Yuan Shao's dispatch of troops quickly spread to Xu Du through fine work.

"Prime Minister, report carefully, Yuan Shao sent 50,000 troops and is marching to Guandu!" Cheng Yu received the news and immediately reported it to Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao heard this, he laughed: "This Yuan Benchu, some time ago, he dispatched 30,000 horses and went back after only slipping around on the other side of the river, why did he come to walk the horses again this time?" ”

Cheng Yu reminded: "Prime Minister Yuan Shao dispatched 50,000 people this time, if he really fights this time, if our army does not increase its troops, Cao Hong is afraid that it will be difficult to resist!" ”

Cao Cao thought for a while and said: "Pass the order to Cao Hong, if Yuan Shao really comes to attack, let him try his best to resist, without my order, he is not allowed to take a step back!" In addition, order all armies to stand by and be ready to go out at any time! ”

"No!"

Cao Cao didn't believe that Yuan Shao would take the initiative to attack, but he couldn't be unguarded, in case this old boy learned that his 50,000 men and horses were wiped out in Nanyang, and wanted to take advantage of the fire to rob, it was not impossible.

It's just that sending troops at this time is a bit counterintuitive.

Two days later, Xun Yu came to Cao Cao with a secret letter.

"Prime Minister, where has Yuan Shao's army arrived?"

Cao Cao saw Xun Yu coming, and said, "The spies are coming to report, they should go to Liyang at this moment!" ”

Xun Yu took out the secret letter and handed it to Cao Cao: "This is a letter sent by Xun Chen secretly, in which Qin Feng sent a secret envoy to Yecheng to persuade Yuan Shao to send troops to attract the main force of our army to the south bank of the Yellow River, and planned to raid Xudu with 30,000 horses!" ”

"So the purpose of Yuan Shao's dispatch of troops this time is just to bluff and attract the main force of our army to the past, so as to create conditions for Qin Feng to send troops to raid Xudu?" Cao Cao asked as he took out the letter.

Xun Yu nodded: "Yes, Xun Chen said so in his letter, he participated in the pre-war meeting, and it was Yuan Shao himself who said it at this time!" ”

After Cao Cao finished reading the secret letter, his brows tightened, "Qin Feng saw that I lost 50,000 horses and wanted to take advantage of the situation to fight back, but Yuan Shao wanted to fall into the ground!" Ding Yi has been in Jingzhou for so long, and he didn't see anything from Liu Biao, so he didn't make trouble for Qin Feng, so Qin Feng was able to free up his hand and want to bite me! ”

Xun Yu said: "This matter is very strange, this is only the height of summer, Qin Feng sent 30,000 troops to have so much grain and grass supply?" ”

Cao Cao nodded, "Anyway, Qin Feng must have a conspiracy to reinforce Cao Hong by 10,000 people, no matter what Yuan Shao's idea is, with these 10,000 people, Cao Hong should be able to support it for a while!" ”

A few days later, the news came again, and this news was extremely unfavorable to Cao Cao.

"Lord, Yuan Shao's army crossed the river, and the Puyang defenders only held out for two days, and the Yuan army broke through the city, and the surrounding towns surrendered one after another!" Cheng Yu hurriedly ran into the Prime Minister's Mansion to report to Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao heard this, he immediately walked to the side to check the map.

"Where is Cao Hong now?"

"At the Guandu camp! General Cao should have thought that Yuan Jun would cross the river from Guandu, but he didn't expect that Yuan Jun did not choose Guandu, but crossed the river directly from Puyang! Now in the middle of summer, the river is rising sharply, and no one would have thought that Yuan Shao would take such a big risk to cross the river directly from Puyang! ”

Cao Cao has experienced a lot of wars, he is not impatient at the moment, what about Yuan Shao's capture of Puyang? Sooner or later, he will have to lead his army south, and if he wants to go south, he must first deal with Cao Hong's army stationed in Guandu, otherwise there is a danger that the grain road behind him will be cut off, and his back will also be threatened.

"Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, send an order to Cao Hong, let him stand still, don't be led by Yuan Shao's nose"

However, this time Yuan Shao did not rush south, instead of attacking Cao Hong's camp in Guandu, he sent troops to attack in all directions, conquering various cities in Dongjun one after another, and it did not cost much to conquer these cities.

At this time, Cao Cao couldn't sit still, and immediately summoned his advisers to discuss countermeasures.

Guo Jia stood up and suggested: "Lord, it is recommended to leave a general to guard Xudu, and the lord should personally lead the army to deal with Yuan Shao, but Cao Hong can be ordered to take the initiative to cross the river to attack, and wave his troops north behind his ears!" If the lord is worried that Qin Feng's army will go straight to the city of Xu Du and threaten Xu Du's safety, in fact, the prime minister doesn't have to worry, Qin Feng seems to be strong in soldiers and horses, but in fact, he lacks ordnance and food, and his attack power is insufficient, as long as Xu Du insists on more than a month, Qin Feng's army will retreat! ”

Guo Jia's words really hit the nail on the head of Qin Feng, he had only occupied Nanyang for half a year, his foundation was unstable, his grain and grass reserves were insufficient, and he had no ability to manufacture weapons, armor, bows and crossbows, etc., and if he used them, he would use them badly, and there were few craftsmen who could repair them.

When Cao Cao heard this, he felt that Guo Jia's suggestion and analysis were too timely, so he immediately ordered to gather 30,000 troops to set off from Xudu to Dongjun, and ordered someone to send someone to Cao Hong, ordering him to wait for an opportunity to cross the river and attack, the main task was to cut off the other party's grain route.

Qin Feng in Nanyang soon received a secret report from the gruel, and learned that Cao Jun had dispatched 30,000 people to fight Yuan Shao, and he sent someone to tell Liu Bei the news.

When Liu Bei received the news, he immediately prepared his troops and horses and set off eastward with grain and grass and baggage.

According to the agreement, the Flame Army was to deliver the promised 1,200 stone of grain and grass and some other weapons, bows and arrows to Liu Beijun in Wuyin County.

In fact, Qin Feng took out these armaments and materials and squeezed them out from between his teeth, he did not have the ability to produce and manufacture these equipment now, and the Flame Army now used the equipment donated by the Jingzhou Army and captured from the Cao Army.

Puyang.

"Lord, Cao Cao has dispatched, and he has come to report that he is personally leading 30,000 horses to Puyang! Now it is certain that it was Xun Chen who reported to Cao Cao, and his subordinates had been keeping an eye on him, and his entourage had been running wild after leaving Yecheng, and the people sent to pursue him were gotten rid of! Xin Ping reported to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao's face was gloomy and terrifying, and he immediately ordered: "Arrest Xun Chen for me, I will use his head to sacrifice the flag!" ”

"Lord······ After all, the Xun family is a big family of Yingchuan······" Xin Ping reminded.

Yuan Shao was furious: "It doesn't matter what big clan he is, they are all going to put me to death, what scruples do I have?" Scratch! ”