Zhang Xun opened his eyes in surprise, he really didn't believe that Qiao Rui was so bold, and said that he couldn't say it clearly last night? You take the words of my lord as a fart?

"Lost? Are you crazy? ”

Qiao Rui replied calmly: "The right time to explore the Malay report, Cao Cao's main force is only half a day away from here, and I am too conservative to let half of it be left, what is the situation on your side?" ”

"Cao Ren led 2,000 cavalry to block the road, and Li Feng was beheaded..."

Qiao Rui frowned and said to herself: "That can only rush through..."

"Hmm." Zhang Xun nodded slightly.

Zhang Xun immediately marched forward in formation, but Cao Ren, relying on the advantage of cavalry mobility, only harassed the Huainan flank, allowing the Huainan army to travel less than ten miles in half a day.

When he camped again at night, Zhang Xun was not as comfortable as yesterday, and he could also see that Cao Ren was deliberately delaying.

From the time Yuan Shu took the lead in running away, the whole army didn't want to fight Cao Cao, after all, everyone was just a soldier to eat food, and there were no ideals and beliefs to support them to fight hard.

Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui sat in front of the bonfire, using a tree branch to pluck the center of the flame.

As if casually said: "General Qiao's analysis is correct, Cao Cao's main force is only twenty miles away from us now, and it is no longer realistic to bring grain back to Shouchun, so let the soldiers have a full meal tonight, and leave all the grain trucks in place tomorrow morning, and then each person will bring their own five-day rations and hurry..."

"Five days should not be able to return to Shouchun, if Cao Ren continues to harass tomorrow, fifteen days may not be able to..."Qiao Rui was very pessimistic.

Zhang Xun frowned when he heard this, he picked it twice and threw the branch into the fire, and said: "The reason why we were harassed today is because we have some scruples, and tomorrow everyone will travel lightly to see what else Cao Ren can do to stop it." ”

Qiao Rui nodded and agreed: "If you can march in five days, you may be able to reach Ruyin County downstream, where there is a garrison in Huainan, and it will be safe..."

"Well, I will order to advance at full speed tomorrow, although I can't bring back food for Your Majesty, but these 50,000 soldiers must be brought back safely..."

Zhang Xun looked at the starry sky and secretly accepted his mediocrity.

Qiao Rui showed a trace of bitterness on his face, and said in his heart that General Zhang's current thinking seemed to coincide with Long Yunqi's style.

Because there were Cao troops in front and behind, Zhang Xun arranged a large number of sentries to be on guard at night, but the other party did not plan to sneak attack at all.

Before dawn the next day, Zhang Xun sent scouts, he wanted to monitor Cao Jun's things at any time, and let people bury the pot to cook, planning to start after eating.

Because Cao Ren's cavalry was too strong, the scouts who went south did not dare to get too close, and when they found out the location of Cao Ren's cavalry, they decisively returned to the camp to report, while the scouts who went north did not return until the meal was cooked, and the news they brought back was even more shocking.

Qiao Rui discarded the grain cart yesterday and was still in place, but Cao Cao's main force was not in the north, as if it had disappeared out of thin air.

"Cao Cao is really bluffing? Wrong... Even if he wants to leave, he should take the grain cart with him, what the hell does he want to do? ”

Zhang Xun kept patting his helmet at this time, because he really had a headache because he couldn't figure it out.

Qiao Rui: "Cao Cao is suspicious by nature, maybe he is afraid that the grain truck will be cheating, right?" ”

"Cao thief uses soldiers to deceive, the two of us are not his opponents, it's normal if you don't understand..."

Zhang Xun sighed, suddenly turned his head and asked: "By the way, I heard that under General Qiao, there is a Quhou surnamed Long, who is quite insightful, why don't you ask him?" ”

"Huh? No, no, this kid is a little clever, how can he see through Cao Thief's scheme, why waste time? Get everyone fed and on the road. ”

"That's right." Zhang Xun smiled leisurely.

Because all the grain carts had to be discarded, Zhang Xun asked people to make enough breakfast and asked everyone to eat as much as possible, so that they could have enough physical strength to hurry.

Orders were passed down layer by layer, and when it came to Long Xiang's song, he was only allowed to eat eight points full.

The veterans under Tang Yu's command did not ask the reason, and immediately executed it unconditionally, but the soldiers brought by Cao Xuan were puzzled, so Cao Xuan took the initiative to ask the reason.

"Qu Hou, it is said that there is no rest in the middle of today, and you have to wait until dark to have food, why don't you let the brothers eat more?"

"Didn't you eat a full meal last night? Don't you remember before you arrived in Chen Guo, how could you have such a large amount of food on the road? Eight points full is more than before..."

"But now that the rice is cooked, I can't finish it and I can't take it with me..."

Long Xiang glanced at Cao Xing, shook his head and smiled: "Eating more may not be a good thing, if you are a little anxious later, it may cause abdominal pain, and Cao Cao's main force will disappear, you know?" I'm worried that today's return journey won't be too smooth, and your cavalry will be bounced on their horses, and it is not advisable to overeat..."

"The last general can be saved..."Cao Xuan nodded slightly.

"You won't suffer if you listen to Yunqi, you don't think I will ask..."

Seeing this, Tang Yu next to him couldn't help but joke, Cao Xuan smiled embarrassedly after hearing this, and then went to tell the soldiers to eat less.

The Huainan army immediately started after breakfast, and Zhang Xun saw that Cao Cao was unmoved by yesterday's grain cart, so he asked people to throw the remaining grain carts into Yingshui, saying that he could not take it away and leave it to Cao Cao.

The army marched south for about two miles, but was blocked by Cao Ren's cavalry.

Zhang Xun was preparing to attack in formation, when he suddenly saw Cao Ren's cavalry waving flags behind him.

It is roughly estimated that the number of people is more than 10,000 people, and you don't need to guess to know that it is Cao Cao's main force.

Qiao Rui swallowed his saliva and said: "No wonder the Cao thief is not in the north, it turns out that he actually went back to the south overnight, it seems that he doesn't plan to let us go, fight hard or what?" ”

"The soldiers have just eaten, and the Cao army is waiting for work at this time, so it is not good for the army to start a war, but I see that Cao Cao has no intention of attacking, and now there is Yingshui blocking the road on the west side, so I can only keep on guard and turn to the east, and go and see..."

Qiao Rui chimed in: "It can only be like this. ”

Zhang Xun then ordered a diversion to the east, and Cao Cao's side also led his army eastward.

Cao Jun was very strange, they were just monitoring all the way, and they had no intention of attacking at all.

Cao Cao's strategy at this time is similar to the contest between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang, just follow the monitoring and do not fight, but there is an essential difference between the two, Sima Yi is because he can't beat head-on, and Cao Cao follows on purpose.

Although the soldiers of the Cao army had strong combat effectiveness, they had to pay a lot of price if they wanted to annihilate the 50,000 people of Yuan Shu, so they deliberately drove Zhang Xun into the encirclement.

After following for half a day, Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui finally found out that something was wrong.

The soldiers trembled and were confused, and the direction of the march was guided to the northeast.

Long Xiang guessed that Cao Cao deliberately consumed and wanted to use psychological warfare to reduce the morale of the Huainan soldiers, so he proposed to Zhang Xun through Qiaorui, suggesting that the 50,000 people be divided into dozens of teams, and then end at a destination, so that everyone could find a way to assemble like Zhongli had assembled at the beginning.

General meaning: Eight immortals cross the sea, each showing their magical powers.

There was a huge disparity in the combat strength of the soldiers on both sides, and Zhang Xun was worried that the division of troops would be broken by Cao Cao one by one, so he did not agree to the proposal to divide the troops.

It wasn't until he couldn't get rid of Cao's army after walking for two days that Zhang Xun tentatively organized a strong attack, but instead lost 3,000 men and horses, and the partial general Liang Gang was killed by Cao General Lejin.

Forced by the helplessness of the situation, Zhang Xun had to implement the plan of dividing the troops.

He chose the control area of Huainan and Peiguo Qi County as the assembly place of the army, and soon the 50,000 army turned into thirty detachments, each marching in a different direction.

Long Xiang's suggestion belongs to beating the master to death with a stick, and the overall idea is borrowed from the sparrow war.

He thinks that no matter how strong Cao Bing is, after all, there are few soldiers, and if there are more troops, some of them can always escape, and Long Xiang does not dare to guarantee that he is the lucky one, so he also has an element of gambling.

Cao Cao has been fighting in the south and north for many years, and he has never seen such a chaotic formation, and he didn't know which team to chase for a while.

Looking at the field, the Huainan soldiers who dispersed like birds and beasts.

Cao Cao sat on horseback and stroked his beard, and sighed meaningfully: "Things have become interesting..."