On the fourth day of the fifth month, Xiangben County.

Cao's army almost slaughtered Xiapi, and the corpses were piled up, so that the Surabaya River could not flow.

After killing Xiapi, Cao Cao led his army north to eliminate Tao Qian.

Before, Liu Bei and Kong Rong sent troops to repel Cao Cao's small peripheral troops, and now the main force of Cao's army is coming, like a wolf and a tiger, Tao Qian can't be a fool.

So he asked Liu Bei, Kong Rong and others not to go out of the city, stick to the city, wait for work, and let Cao Jun take the initiative to attack.

Cao Cao tentatively attacked several times, but failed to break through the county, so he stationed troops in Xiangben, wanting to slaughter the surrounding areas of Xiangben, but he didn't expect the people of Xiangben County to escape, and no one could kill.

In the county government, Cao Cao's temporary residence, it was evening, he had just counted the grain stocks in the army, and last time he retired because of lack of food, this time he was fully prepared.

At this time, Cao Ren hurriedly came and reported to Cao Cao: "Big brother." ”

Cao Cao was surprised: "Why did Zixiao come back?" ”

He asked Cao Ren to slaughter the surrounding counties, such as Lanling, Wuyuan, Fuyang and other places, even if it should take four or five days at the earliest.

Clinker Cao Ren replied: "Most of the people in the surrounding countryside have fled, and the township pavilions are rarely inhabited, and then we caught some villagers who did not have time to escape, and they said that our army was slaughtering in Xiapi, and they were going to kill here in a few days, so they all fled." ”

Cao Cao was surprised: "How did the news spread so quickly? Could it be that after Tao Qian sent scouts to find out the news, he evacuated the county seat? ”

Before he personally led the army south to slaughter Xiapi, hundreds of thousands of people in five or six county towns were killed by him, even if there were a few fish that slipped through the net, at most they fled south to Huainan, and it was impossible to go north back to Xuzhou, and the speed of those people to deliver the news could not be faster than his army.

So in Cao Cao's mind, there was only one possibility, that is, Tao Qian sent scouts to investigate, and after discovering the situation, he immediately went back to report, and then Tao Qian ordered the people of the surrounding counties to flee and avoid the butcher knife.

However, Cao Ren shook his head and said: "No, it is said that there is a prodigy at the foot of Huangmen Pavilion at the foot of Xiangben Mountain, about 20 miles northeast of Xiangben County, he said that in order to prevent Yuan Shu from encroaching on Xuzhou, Xuzhou will inevitably be ruined, and the people will be killed at that time, so he publicized it in the township and persuaded the villagers to flee, and the surrounding people ran away." ”

"Oh?"

Cao Cao was extremely surprised: "There are still such people in the world? Can you guess my intentions? What is this person's name, and where is he now? ”

Cao Ren replied: "This person's name is Shen Chen, not yet nine years old, intelligent since childhood, one year old can speak, three years old can read a thousand words, six years old has read all the clan books, it is said that he often crouched in the road, ask the neighboring counties the past to come to the world, analyze the current situation, is a famous prodigy in Xiangben County. ”

Cao Cao's eyes flickered, and he nodded slightly: "If I get such a talent, it will be a great achievement." Zixiao, you sent someone to lurk in the countryside of Huangmen Pavilion, if Shen Chen fled and returned to his hometown, I would immediately order him to come to me. ”

"Yui!"

Cao Ren responded and left.

It was getting dark, and soon the sun was setting.

Cao Cao ate some dry food at will at the county office, and continued to deal with official documents in the middle of the case.

Just as night was approaching, Cao Hong suddenly sweated profusely, hurriedly broke into the mansion, and just entered the hall, he shouted: "Big brother, it's not good, something happened in Yanzhou." ”

Cao Cao raised his head, put down the brush, saw him panicked, frowned and said: "Panic, what kind of system, what to say!" ”

Cao Hong swallowed his saliva and said anxiously: "Zhang Miao and Chen Gong rebelled against Lu Bu to enter Yanzhou, and now all parts of Yanzhou have fallen, only Juancheng, Fanxian, and Dong'e are held by Xun Yu, Cheng Yu and Xiahou Yuanrang, and ask the eldest brother to immediately send troops back to rescue." ”

"What?"

When Cao Cao heard the news, he was like a heavy blow, his head suddenly became dizzy and painful, and he was shaky, sitting on the seat and barely holding on to the table, so that he did not faint because of the sudden news.

He held on to the table, gasping for breath, the cold hairs on his body stood on end, countless thoughts flashed in his mind, and cold sweat continued to break down from his forehead.

For Cao Cao, this news should be the darkest time in his life.

Because not only did he lose his foundation, but also because Zhang Miao and Chen Gong were the two people he trusted the most during this period, but they betrayed him, and his suspicious character has accompanied him all his life.

After Cao Cao and the princes of the Eighteenth Road crusaded against Dong Zhuo, he returned to Dongjun as the Taishou, and Chen Gong joined the Cao Cao Group during this period, and was the first strategist of the Cao Cao Group before Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, Cheng Yu and others.

The reason why Cao Cao trusted Chen Gong so much and regarded him as a confidant was that Chen Gong designed to help Cao Cao seize Yanzhou.

It can be said that if there was no Chen Palace, then Cao Cao would not have the foundation of Yanzhou.

And Zhang Miao and Cao Cao's relationship is even closer, they have known each other for many years, in the fourth year of the early peace when Cao Cao first went east to conquer Tao Qian, he once said to his family, if he failed to attack Tao Qian and died in the war, you can go to Meng Zhuo.

It can be seen that Cao Cao regarded Zhang Miao as his best friend who could entrust his wife and children.

As a result, at this juncture, the two people he trusted the most betrayed him at the same time, almost putting him to death, how could Cao Cao not suffer? How can you make him feel sad?

"Big brother!" Cao Hong saw Cao Cao's face showing an extremely painful expression, and hurriedly stepped forward to support him.

Unexpectedly, Cao Cao almost jumped up from the seat, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and almost yelled at Cao Hong: "Quick, send someone to pass the order, let Xiahou Yuan and Yu Ban them come back." ”

His 30,000 soldiers and horses were not all in Xiangben, but in the vicinity of Xiangben, Wuyuan, and Liangcheng in an encirclement situation, like a big net to wrap the Yanxian regiments, at this time there were many soldiers and horses still in the periphery.

After learning the news, Cao Cao immediately sent someone to send an order to mobilize all the soldiers and horses back, but it still took time for the soldiers and horses to be assembled, so he hurriedly arranged for people to prepare for the retreat.

The reason why they are heroes is because even if they encounter setbacks and difficulties, they will not give in like heroes.

It's just that the means of the heroes are different from those of the heroes.

The hero is insidious and cunning, unscrupulous. Heroes are above board and will not break through the bottom line of morality.

On the second day, Cao Cao sent Cao Hongxian to escort the grain and grass to Yinping, and at the same time stepped up urging Xiahou Yuan Yu Ban and others to come back immediately, and reorganize the troops and horses to rush back to Yanzhou as soon as possible.

On the fourth day, Xiahou Yuan had already received an order to leave, and after Cao Cao and Yu Ban converged, they also set off to evacuate immediately.

Before leaving, in order to prevent Tao Qian from making trouble, he left 5,000 men and horses, led by Cao Ren.

By the eighth day of the fifth month, Cao Cao's complexion had recovered a little, and in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he did not dare to show worry and pain, and ordered the army to officially set off back to Yanzhou for rescue.

Before leaving, he summoned Cao Ren and earnestly advised: "Our army has just withdrawn, Tao Qian must think that there is fraud and dare not pursue, so you must also evacuate to Lanling, and when Tao Qian sends people to pursue, you ambush them, they will not dare to pursue." ”

"Yui."

Cao Ren replied.

The army behind Cao Cao had already set off, and he turned his horse's head and was about to leave, when he suddenly seemed to remember something, turned his head and said to Cao Ren: "Zixiao, then Shen Chen, you sent someone to assassinate him." ”

Cao Ren was puzzled: "Big brother, didn't you say before that I would summon him?" ”

Cao Cao said in a deep voice: "This time Yanzhou was robbed, life and death are unpredictable, and I have no time to take care of this young son." If I were Tao Qian, after the war subsided, I would have learned that there was such a genius in my county, and I would have been recruited into the army. If I can't get it, how can I leave it to Tao Qian? ”

"Then why not take it away? After all, he was just an eight-year-old child. ”

"He has a family membership, even if he is taken captive to Yanzhou, how can he sincerely help me? Unless I move his clan away, but now there is chaos in the rear, it is no longer possible. ”

"So that's the case, I know, I have sent someone to ambush in the township, if Shen Chen returns to the township, it will just slaughter all the villagers to deter Tao Qian."

Cao Ren nodded, he is also a ruthless man, and later he also slaughtered Wancheng, and he will succeed in ten thousand bones, not only the lives of soldiers, but also the lives of unarmed civilians to lay the foundation of his famous Cao general!

"Okay."

Cao Cao reined in and left, strangling a young genius was nothing to him.

In history, he also sent someone to assassinate the genius prodigy Zhou Budo, as long as these people are not used by their enemies, whether they are alive or dead, even if they are under his command, they may be killed for some reason.

And the day after Cao Cao led the army back to Yanzhou, Tao Qian's scouts outside the city had already found out the news of his evacuation.

In the county, the residence of the governor.

Tao Qian summoned Liu Bei, Kong Rong, Mi Zhu, Chen Deng and others to the hall to discuss matters.

He coughed twice, looked around and said, "Everyone, Cao Cao suddenly retreated, what does this mean?" ”

Chen Deng thought for a while and said: "Maybe it's a trick to lure the enemy, pretending to withdraw troops, but in fact setting up an ambush." ”

"That's what I thought too."

Tao Qian was about to say that everyone should wait and see the situation first, and then make plans to determine whether Cao Cao would withdraw his troops.

Unconsciously remembered that Shen Chen had said that Cao Cao wantonly slashed and killed celebrities in Yanzhou, which had already caused the dissatisfaction of the Yanzhou family, and there might be chaos in the rear, so he hesitated for a while.

Liu Bei saw that he was thoughtful, so he asked, "What does Gong Tao think?" ”

Tao Qian looked at Liu Bei, thought for a while, and said hesitantly: "Xuande, someone once told me that there might be chaos in Cao Cao's rear, so I'm wondering, will Cao Cao really plan to retreat?" ”

Chen Deng shook his head and said: "How can there be such a person in this world who can calculate the future, don't be deceived and ignore the affairs of the state and county." ”

"Forehead ......"

Tao Qian said tentatively: "But if Cao Cao really retreats, wouldn't it be a missed opportunity?" ”

Liu Bei said: "Tao Gong, I am willing to lead the troops out of the city to test it." ”

Tao Qian was happy: "Then there is Lao Xuande." ”

At the moment, Liu Bei was not ambiguous, summoned Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, and brought about 1,000 elites himself, plus Kong Rong's 3,000 men, a total of 4,000 people were ready to go out of the city.

Tao Qian was afraid that it would be difficult to maintain the lack of people, so he ordered the general Xu Tan to lead 4,000 Danyang soldiers and follow Liu Bei to support.