Ten days later, Yecheng.

"Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi escaped so quickly?" Cao Cao looked at the table and asked the envoy sent by Xian Yufu.

"Yes, Duke Cao, Lord Taishou personally went to Jicheng to check, and there are only people left in the city, and there is not a single soldier guarding it."

Cao Cao was a little colorful, and soon his face became solemn again, and he sighed: "Brother Ben, you are a hero in vain, how could you give birth to such a son who is inferior to a pig and a dog." Before, I killed each other, and now I fled without a fight, giving up the last bit of Yuan's foundation to me, although I am happy, but I still can't help but feel sad about the death of the rabbit and the fox - Wenhe. ”

"The lower official is here." One person came out of the ranks, it was the original Zhang Xiu's military advisor, and now he has surrendered to Cao Cao's Jia Xu. Cao Cao, because he was full of poetry and books, and his strategy was outstanding, so he put him in charge of teaching the studies of his sons.

"Ladies and gentlemen, how are your studies progressing lately?"

"All the sons are diligent and inquisitive, especially Cao Pi Gongzi, Cao Zhi Gongzi, and Cao Chong Gongzi, the three of them are gifted and different from ordinary people, you see, this is the article they wrote recently."

Jia Xu is worthy of being the first old fritter in the officialdom of the Three Kingdoms, and his answers to questions are not only reasonable, but also not offended. He has seen that since Cao Angzhan died in Wancheng, Cao Cao's heir must be one of Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Chong.

"How did my father hear that since Pi'er married Zhen, her studies have become increasingly slack, and she often closes her door, and she doesn't even attend classes."

"Rest assured, there will be no such thing, there will be no such thing!"

"That's good, you strictly warn all the sons, the lessons of the Yuan family are vivid, and there must not be the slightest slack in their studies. That's right......" Cao Cao changed the topic and said: "I asked Jiao Touch and Zhang Nan to look for guides who are familiar with the terrain outside the Seychelles in Youzhou, how did they find it?" ”

"Lord Qiqi, these two people just sent a letter a few days ago, saying that there is a person, named Tian Chou, when Liu Yu served as the pastor of Youzhou, he often went to Saiwai as an envoy, and he knew the military strength, folk customs and customs of Wuhuan, Xianbei, Gongsun and other departments well."

"Okay, since there is this person, why worry about the second Yuan not to die! Immediately put office documents, financial gifts, and sent Natian Chou to Yecheng to see me, just wait for the military rations to be ready, and my father should come to Youzhou in person and continue to pursue Eryuan! ”

"Yes!"

Cao Cao was anxious to cut down the grass and eradicate the roots, but Cao's army experienced two major battles in Guandu and Yecheng in just a few years, and the consumption of money, grain and other materials was extremely large, and it was urgent to rely on rent collection and supplies; In addition, if the infantry is not very useful, it is necessary to form more cavalry, so it was not until the twelfth year of Han Jian'an, 207 AD, that the Cao army had the conditions for large-scale battles.

In May of that year, it was confirmed that Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi had fled to the Wuhuan chieftain Badun's tent and now settled in Liucheng, Cao Cao personally led tens of thousands of elite cavalry to Youzhou and launched an expedition to Wuhuan.

As a result, from this moment on, a very heavy rain swept through the entire northeast region, and all the main roads became muddy, and the cavalry could not walk. Cao Cao saw that the sky was abnormal, and suspected that God was protecting the Yuan family, so he retreated, and the generals and strategists who followed him in the battle also advocated retreating. At the critical moment, Cao Cao's most trusted adviser Guo Jiali disagreed with the public, believing that the heavy rain blocking the road would be beneficial to Cao Jun, because only in extremely bad weather would Badun relax his mind, so that Cao Jun could catch him off guard.

Cao Cao was encouraged by Guo Jia, and his previous guide Tian Chou knew about a small road leading from Youzhou to Liucheng, where there happened to be no rain, so Cao Cao led his army through this trail, which lasted three months, and finally arrived in Liucheng.

As Guo Jia expected, at that time, with a large army of 300,000 people, the Wuhuan leader of the Hu tribe outside the fortress did not expect that the Cao army would come to attack him in such bad weather.

Cao Cao's two generals, Zhang Liao and Cao Chun, were powerful in this battle, Zhang Liao led the two elite cavalry "assault battalions" and "trap camps" formed by Lu Bu during his lifetime, of which the assault battalions were mainly light cavalry, coming and going, and were good at attacking from the flanks, while the trapping camp was dominated by heavy cavalry, with strong defense and good at attacking head-on fortifications; As for Cao Chun, the "Tiger and Leopard Ride" he commanded was the trump card among the trump cards. Although Bun Dun has an absolute advantage in terms of troops, but due to the hasty battle of the Wuhuan army, the formation is scattered, Zhang Liao and Cao Chun with two elite cavalry of the Cao army, like two sharp swords that are as sharp as clay, easily penetrated into the command center of the Wuhuan people, and the two generals met Bun Dun, and his head fell in his hand and beheaded him in the army. Seeing that the supreme leader had been killed, the Wuhuan army was leaderless, and it was quickly and completely defeated, and the number of soldiers captured by the Cao army alone reached 200,000.

It is worth mentioning that after Yan Rou surrendered to Cao Cao, he also followed Cao Jun to participate in this expedition, and he witnessed the terrifying combat effectiveness of Cao Cao's army, as well as Cao Cao's good knowledge, Zhang Liao and Cao Chunzhong's bravery, "taking the head of the general among the ten thousand armies is like probing the bag".

Now, even if he believes that one day, the mountains will be edgeless and the heavens and the earth will be combined, he will never believe that such an elite army will one day be defeated on the battlefield!

Even if a miracle happens, it will never be possible!

Thinking about the ridiculous agreement made by him, Xian Yufu, Tian Yu and others and Yuan Xi two years ago, Yan Rou shook her head and joined the search for Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi with her own troops.

"Second son, I hope you are lucky, don't be bumped into by me, otherwise I have surrendered to Cao Gong, and I will never show mercy to your subordinates!"

Fortunately, Yan Rou soon got the news: "Damn, the two rabbit cubs Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi have run away again, and this time they fled to Liaodong!" ”

But unfortunately, Cao Cao didn't mind this: "This time they can't run, our army only needs to rest here, and the troops will not move, and it won't be long before Gongsun Kang will send Er Yuan's head!" ”

Sure enough, half a month later, Sun Kang, the Taishou Gong of Liaodong, sent two brocade boxes.

Cao Cao got the head of the second Yuan, and ordered the whole army to triumph in class, in this battle, Cao Cao not only collected thousands of elites from the Wuhuan descendants, but also captured tens of thousands of livestock, and the overall strength of Cao's army was further strengthened.

However, the terrible natural disaster has struck again.

Last time it was torrential rain, this time it was a drought.

Cao Jun had previously set out from Youzhou and arrived in Liucheng, which took three months; It will also take at least three months for the class to return to Youzhou this time. For three months, Cao Jun endured the ruthless ravages of the "Autumn Tiger", and it rained everywhere he passed; The large green meadows were cracked by the scorching sun.

People lack water, horses have no food, tens of thousands of elite troops swept through Wuhuan, in the face of ruthless nature, fragile like ants, soon, Cao Jun died of thousands of soldiers due to hunger and thirst, and even sent a public opinion, trying to encourage Cao Cao to launch this expedition Guo Jia also died of illness in the army not long after embarking on the way home.

Cao Cao held back his grief and ordered all the previously captured livestock to be killed and used as food.

The soldiers of the Cao army who participated in this battle were all elites with one enemy and ten, and their food consumption was naturally not comparable to ordinary people, they were all burly men who could eat half a sheep in one meal, so no matter how frugal they were, tens of thousands of livestock were only enough for tens of thousands of Cao Jun's food for a month.

Cao Cao had no choice but to order again to kill all the war horses in the army, and there was no forage for a long time, even if they were not killed, they would end up starving to death.

In fact, the lack of food can barely endure, and the most unbearable thing for Cao Jun is the lack of water.

Damn the weather, it didn't rain for three months in a row, and in the end even horse urine became the most valuable resource. Halfway down, everyone in Cao's army staggered, and in the end, the horses were all killed, and even the horse urine was gone.

At this time, a counselor suggested that a well could be dug to get water.

Of course, Cao Cao also thought of this, but he sadly found that no matter how deep the well Cao Jun dug, there was no water in any way!

Cao Jun had no choice but to keep digging down, digging and digging, digging and digging until the end, when the surviving half of the soldiers finally dug an ultra-deep well, which was thirty zhang (100 meters) deep, and finally saw the groundwater.

As a result, Cao Jun drank a few sips, only to hear a loud "bang", because the well was dug too deep, coupled with the huge impact of the rapid rise of groundwater, the well collapsed.

"Feng Xiao mistook me!" Cao Cao howled desolately, he was so thirsty that he couldn't even shed tears.