Cao Cao first sent suspicious soldiers out of the camp in the middle of the night with torches, and thousands of people carried more than 20,000 torches, stretching for more than ten miles, creating the illusion that a large number of Cao's troops were heading south overnight.

After the suspicious soldiers went out, the main force of the Cao army was a man with a rank and a horse wrapped in a foot, and ambushed in the rear of the Cao camp.

On the second day, Cao Ying's remaining Yu Ban was attacked by tens of thousands of Yuan's army, retreated in panic, and led Yuan's army to the ambush point.

However, fortunately, after the defeat of Yuan Shaoguandu, he was extremely cautious, and the 50,000 troops were all in the rear, only losing more than 20,000 people in the front, and preserving the main retreat.

On the hill, Cao Cao rode on horseback, the red cloak behind him was spread, his eyes squinted and jumped into the distance, watching the middle army and the rear army of Yuan's army decisively abandon the vanguard and the front army, and retreat like a tide, he sighed: "Yuan Benchu was much more cautious." ”

Cheng Yu said with a smile on the side: "There is a plan to frustrate, Tian Feng's wisdom, and it is difficult to make Yuan Shaozhong plan." However, this plan to repair the plank road in the dark of Chen Cang can be regarded as a success, at least Yuan Jun will never dare to chase after it in the future. ”

Guo Jia is responsible for controlling Yuan Shao's psychology and Liu Biao's psychology, Cheng Yu is responsible for the implementation of the specific plan, and Xun You connects the strategies of the two together, using Guo Jia's psychology to bait Xu Shao to lure Yuan Shao into the bait, and then use Cheng Yu's strategy to break the enemy.

80,000 Yuan troops against 50,000 Cao troops, the elite of Yuan's soldiers was far inferior to Cao's army. Now that he has lost more than 20,000 people, only 50,000 soldiers and horses remain, it is obviously impossible to fight against Cao's army head-on, and Yuan Shao is also afraid that Cao Cao will set up an ambush again, so it is unlikely that he will chase him.

However, Guo Jia said: "If this is all there is, Yuan Shao may still be able to chase after him." When the time comes, he will be careful and take every step of the way. But in a few days, the news that General Xiahou's 2,000 almost broke 80,000 should have also been reported, and if this matter reached Yuan Shao's ears, he should not have chased after him again. ”

"Hahahaha."

Cao Cao laughed: "Yuan Rang is really my blessed general, if it weren't for him, I'm afraid I would still have a headache Yuan Shao." ”

Guo Jia also smiled: "Yes, this battle made Yuan Shao see the unbearable situation of the southern army, even if there are more than 100,000 people, it is just a rabble, knowing that Liu Biao will not be able to break through Xu Du, and he is afraid that we will be ambushed halfway, so it is very likely that he will retreat to the north." ”

"Hmm."

Cao Cao nodded, waved his big hand and said, "Retreat and take the south!" ”

"Woooooooooooo

The long assembly horn sounded continuously, at this time the vanguard and the front army of the Yuan army were ambushed on all sides, losing a small half, the rest of the people surrendered, and were killed by Cao Cao on the spot afterwards, and the rest of the people only ran out of the thousands.

On March 8, Cao's army marched south and went straight to Xudu.

And at this time, Yingchuan, Zhaoling.

After Liu Bei arrived in Runan, with his personal prestige, he recruited tens of thousands of Yuan's old troops, and the momentum was huge, and he went north to attack Xudu.

At this moment, the south of Xudu was garrisoned by Li Dian of Liqiang County, but Liu Bei had the support of the local heroes in Runan, and the grain and grass were sufficient, so he was not afraid of being cut off from the grain route, so he directly bypassed Liqiang and went straight to Xudu.

He went north from the ochre hill in the northeast of Zhaoling, and almost arrived at the city of Xudu.

When Li Dian learned of this time, he hurriedly returned to the defense, allied with Xiahou Yuan with 10,000 troops, and confronted Liu Bei in the Yanggaoting area southeast of Xudu.

At this time, Liu Bei's army was less than twenty kilometers away from Xudu.

Because Liu Bei had many soldiers and horses, there were quite a lot of rabble, so he attacked for two days in a row, but he never took it, so the two sides were still in a stalemate.

This made Liu Bei a little anxious.

But it can't be helped.

In addition to Li Dian, Xiahou Yuan insisted on no accident, mainly because the combat effectiveness of the troops was too weak.

The army he now consists of two parts.

Part of it is a new army recruited in Nanyang, and this part is actually a little combative, but they are all new troops, and they lack actual combat experience, so it is inevitable that some strength will be insufficient.

The other large part is the new army that came to Runan.

Liu Bei originally attacked from the south when he went to Runan, but as the former Yuzhou pastor, his prestige in Runan was actually only inferior to Yuan Shao, and when he heard that he was back, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered at once.

Although it looked like it was huge, Liu Bei also knew that these people had no combat effectiveness.

It's easy to offend people if you give it up, and if you don't give it up, it will lower the strength of the army, which makes Liu Bei a little dilemma.

Fortunately, Xu Shu was smart enough to divide these people from Liu Bei's army, and let the general Guan Yu command, so that he was briefly divided into two groups, even if these old Runan troops were scattered, they would not be able to hurt the army, and they could also use these people as bait and cannon fodder, killing two birds with one stone.

So under such circumstances, Liu Bei's army went straight to Xudu, and almost on the day Cao Cao repelled Yuan Shao, he was killed outside Xudu. It's just that because of his combat effectiveness and Li Dianxiahou Yuan's persistence, he couldn't overcome it for a short time.

But even so, the impact is very large, comparable to Shen Chen's three visits to Xu Du, Li Dian and Xiahou Yuan are just struggling to hold on, and if he is given a little more time, it will be sooner or later to conquer it.

This led to countless ministers and magnates in Xu Du writing letters to Liu Bei, hoping to maintain friendly relations with him.

Although Liu Bei left Xudu, after all, he stayed in Xudu in his early years, and he was Liu Xie's cronies, which made him familiar with the circle of Xudu Gongqing.

Hearing that he was coming again, many people secretly befriended him, hoping that once Liu Bei entered the city of Xu, the banner of the king of the city would change, and they would still be able to occupy a high position and not be replaced by new forces.

It's just unexpected that the political struggle is not only in Xudu, but also in Xiangyang.

At this moment, in the mansion of the Duke of Chu in Jingzhou, Liu Biao is happy.

Zhang Yun reported good news but not bad news, concealed the news that he was almost defeated, and just told Liu Biao that he had surrounded Xudu and was approaching the city of Xudu.

So when he heard about this incident, Liu Biao was very excited and immediately convened his cronies to discuss the matter of becoming king.

In the mansion, Liu Biao, Jia Xu, Kuai Yue, and Cai Mao sat separately.

Historically, Kuai Yue Cai Mao was a firm voter of Cao Cao, so after the battle of Guandu in the fifth year of Jian'an, he strongly persuaded Liu Biao to join Cao Cao, but was snubbed by Liu Biao and cut off his official position, and did not appear in any historical records for seven or eight years.

For example, Cai Mao's Nanjun Taishou was removed and replaced by Cao Pi's father-in-law, Guo Yong. Kuaiyue's Zhang Ling Taishou was also dismissed and succeeded by Huang Zu's son Huang Jie.

It's just that although the two were left out in the cold, Liu Biao still favored Mrs. Cai, which led to Liu Cong's succession to the throne, and then became Liu Cong's confidant again, and then persuaded Liu Cong to sacrifice Jingzhou and bury Liu Biao's foundation.

But now Cao Cao's power is quite declining, and Liu Biao is becoming stronger and stronger, which also makes the two change their mentality and start to support Liu Biao instead.

The characteristics of the Maison's wall grass have been vividly transformed.

Now that the news came, Liu Biao Fuxu laughed proudly: "Cao Cao is really vulnerable, and now the lonely army will besiege Xu Du and destroy Cao Cao, which is just around the corner." ”

Kuai Yue Cai Mao glanced at each other, and hurriedly arched his hand: "Congratulations to Ming Gong, congratulations to Ming Gong." After this battle, Ming Gong should be the best in the world! ”

"Hahahahaha."

Liu Biao was overjoyed.

Jia Xu said with a smile: "The public has the ambition to plot the world, but at this time, Jingzhou has all the soldiers and horses, and the public must also be careful of Liu Zhang and Sun Quan, the two may not let go of this opportunity." ”

"It doesn't matter."

Liu Biao waved his hand: "Liu Zhang and Sun Quan are just defeated generals, what about Sun Quan's father and brother attacking my Jingzhou back then?" Not a dead end? There is a lonely Yuanyang town guarding Jiangxia, and there is nothing to be afraid of. ”

Sun Quan, Liu Zhang, and Liu Biao both have enmities.

First of all, Sun Quan, his father Sun Jian was killed by Liu Biao, and Sun Ce attacked Jingzhou several times, but he lost his troops and returned in vain.

The second is Liu Zhang, his father Liu Yan had the heart of being the emperor in his early years, and was reported by Liu Biao, when Liu Xie was still in Chang'an, he sent someone to scold and warn Liu Yan, so that Liu Yan extinguished the idea of being the emperor.

Later, after Liu Zhang took over his father's throne, Shen Mi, Lou Fa, Gan Ning and others gathered to rebel, Liu Zhang sent troops to defeat them, and the three of them led the army to take refuge in Liu Biao. Liu Zhang was furious, planning to settle the new hatred and old hatred together, and took Zhao Wei as the general of the expedition to the east, and led the army to attack Liu Biao.

The two sides confronted each other in the Wushan area for a period of time, although the war did not start, but the two sides have obviously torn their faces, at this time seeing Liu Biao's northern expedition to Cao Cao, Jingzhou's troops are empty, and it is unlikely that they will choose to come and attack Jingzhou.

It's just that Liu Xian is expanding, and his army of more than 100,000 people went north to besiege Cao Cao, one of the two overlords of the Central Plains, and even planned to be king, so it is normal not to take Liu Zhang and Sun Quan in his eyes.

Jia Xu said again: "This Gongbei expedition to Cao Cao is famous all over the world and his prestige is a good time to be the king. At that time, it will sweep Henan, and you can also sit back and watch the world. ”

"Hmm."

Liu Biao nodded and said, "Wenhe's words are very lonely. Lone also has this intention, has made the princes and kings, and when the good news comes from the front, they can officially be called kings. ”

Kuai Yue and Cai Mao bowed their hands again and said, "Meet the king!" ”

"Hahaha."

Liu Biao saw that the two of them did not persuade themselves to surrender as before, and showed a happy look again.

No one in this world can be king.

Only the clan surnamed Liu can.

At this time, it is a good time to be the king.

"Report!"

At this time, the messenger hurriedly rushed into the door, knelt down on one knee in the hall and said: "Ming Gong, Liu Bei's army has surrounded Xu Du in the north, and Xu Du is in danger!" ”

"What?"

Liu Biao's face froze instantly.

Kuai Yue and Cai Mao glanced at each other again and were silent.

Liu Biao hurriedly asked, "Where is Zhang Yun now?" ”

"It's still in Yingyin."

"Where's the clerk?"

"In Linying."

Syllable!

Liu Biao slapped the case angrily: "What did Zhang Yun do to eat? At the beginning, he was instructed to let him watch Liu Bei and not let him rush to Xudu, but now he is letting him fight outside Xudu! ”

"You go down first."

Jia Xu waved his hand, motioning for the messenger to leave first.

After the messenger left, Jia Xu bowed his hand to Liu Biao and said: "If Liu Bei enters the Xu capital, it will be bad for the public." ”

"Why don't you know?"

Liu Biao's face changed.

He didn't recruit Shen Chen, he was afraid of this.

Once Liu Xie is rescued by a guy like Liu Bei and Shen Chen and sent to Jingzhou, then he Liu Biao still plays with a hammer?

Not to mention that there is an ancestor on the head, Jingzhou estimates that more than ninety percent of the family will take refuge in Liu Xie, and he will not say that he will be called the king and the emperor at that time, I am afraid that the foundation will have to make wedding dresses for others.

It's good now.

didn't recruit Shen Chen to participate in the war, but Liu Bei, the scum he thought he was, completed this feat, is this still worth it?

"Liu Bei must be summoned back as soon as possible!"

Kuai Yue hurriedly said: "Please also ask the public to issue a warrant immediately, so that Liu Bei can retreat to Xiangcheng in the rear." ”

"Yes, yes, yes."

Liu Biao came to his senses and immediately said: "Pass my order and let Liu Bei retreat!" ”

At that moment, on the same day of March 8, Cao Cao repelled Yuan Shao at Cangting, Liu Bei was in the capital of Xu at Yanggaoting, and Liu Biao issued twelve warrants on the same day, asking Liu Bei to withdraw his troops and return.

(End of chapter)