Xiahou Yuan still wanted to argue, but Xu Huang stopped him again and reminded in a low voice: "Since Guan Yu has returned to Xi'e, there is really no need to lie to us, Zhang Lu's matter is not trivial, we should go back to Duyang as soon as possible to resume our lives." ”

"It makes sense."

Xiahou Yuan bowed his head: "Since Gongming and Guan Yu have a friendship, I will leave it to you to break the queen, and I will lead the army to open the way." ”

"Oh good."

Xu Huang responded helplessly, although he and Guan Yu were both fellow villagers in Hedong, they only got along with each other for a short time in Baima.

In terms of friendship, it is neither comparable to Zhang Liao, nor may it be comparable to Xiahou Yuan.

Seeing Xiahou Yuan turn around and withdraw his troops, Guan Yu showed a teachable smile.

And when Xu Huang turned around and hugged his fists to resign, Guan Yu changed back to his previous cold appearance.

Xu Huang covered the withdrawal of the soldiers of the two battalions, but Guan Yu really did not send a single soldier to chase after him.

The actual situation was that the conditions did not allow it, and the soldiers of the battalion he brought back continued to run around, and they had exhausted their energy in the battle last night, and at this moment they were too weak to continue the pursuit.

On the way back to Bowang, Xiahou Yuan also sent scouts to inform Cao Ren that they abandoned the empty city of Bowang and went straight to Duyang.

The news of Wancheng and Xi'e is like a few big and dry cakes.

The news of the unknown military advisor Xu Shu choked in Cao Cao's mouth and had not yet been digested, and Xiahou Yuan presented a dialogue with Guan Yu, which directly made Cao Cao's face turn the color of pig liver.

Xiahou Yuan saw that Cao Cao's face was wrong, and hurriedly added: "This is all Guan Yu's words, and someone may need to be sent to verify it." ”

"Send someone to verify? Will Yun Chang lie? ”

Cao Cao replied without thinking, Guo Jia saw that his face was gloomy, and hurriedly admonished: "What General Miaocai said is not unreasonable, it is said that the Qinba Mountains are extremely dangerous, and there is a terrain that is difficult to open, as long as the main force of Hanzhong is not lured to the Nanyang Plain, it is very difficult for Zhang Lu to defeat, not to mention that I also told Jiang Ziyi"

"The question is that Zhang Lu has been defeated, is Zhang Lu too incompetent, or is Jiang Gan not reminding him in place?"

Cao Cao sighed and slapped his forehead with his palm, although he recognized what Guo Jia said, he had to face the reality.

After hearing this, Guo Jia continued to add: "So we have to find out before making a decision, after all, Zhuge Liang and Liu Ye are by Liu Bei's side, even if Zhuge Liang is not worthy of his name, Liu Ziyang is full of wisdom, I am worried that Zhang Lu is scheming."

"That's over"

Cao Cao raised his head and sighed, and said in his heart that Zhang Lu's tricks were no problem to deceive ordinary people, but how could he fight back in the face of wise men.

At the beginning, Jia Xu offered a plan to pull Zhang Lu into the water, and when he saw Guo Jia playing a round for himself, Jia Xu immediately got up and saluted.

Yan said: "As General Xiahou and Guo Fengxiao said, it is too early for Ming Gong to worry at this time, it is better to wait for the news to be accurate and then make calculations, now Guan Yu has returned to Wancheng, and found the unknown military advisor Xu Shu, we should find a way to deal with it, otherwise it will affect the plan to capture Hebei." ”

Cao Cao bowed slightly: "What is Wenhe's opinion?" ”

Jia Xu replied: "Guan Yu is brave and Xu Shu is resourceful, Liu Bei let these two people guard Wancheng, and the southwest of Yingchuan must be guarded, otherwise it will definitely threaten Xu Du, and you can check this Xu Shu in detail, if there is a weakness that can be used, it is better than launching an offensive from the front." ”

"Have you ever heard of Xu Shu?"

Cao Cao thought so, and immediately asked everyone, but when he saw that they were all shaking their heads, he couldn't help frowning.

Jia Xu reminded: "Liu Bei can rest assured that Wancheng will be handed over to Xu Shu, which proves that this person has been under his command for a long time, I guess it should be earlier than Zhuge Liang, and it is more likely that he was obtained in Jingzhou." ”

"How so?" Cao Cao frowned and asked.

Jia Xu explained: "Liu Bei reused Liu Ye during his time in Runan, but when he arrived in Jingzhou, he was restricted by Liu Biao, so he searched for talents in Jingzhou, Xu Shu was buried with such a big talent, and I don't know if Liu Biao knew the reason, why didn't Ming Gong attack it?" ”

"Huh?"

Jia Xu's words gave Cao Cao inspiration, and he said that Liu Biao was wary of Liu Bei, and he must not know that Liu Bei had worshiped the talented Xu Shu as a military advisor in addition to Zhuge Liang, how should he feel when he knew about this matter? Moreover, Xu Shu was found in Jingzhou, and the people of Jingzhou may know his name.

Cao Cao thought of Cai Mao again at this time, and he hadn't corresponded with him for a long time.

It seems that the separation between Liu Bei and Cha Xu Shu has to fall on the old friends of the past.

Guan Yu and Xu Shu blocked the way, Cao Cao's troops in Nanyang were insufficient, and it was pointless to stay in the empty city to block the empty city, so he decisively led his troops to withdraw from Nanyang.

Traveling to the boundary of Kunyang, good news suddenly came from the front line of Guandu, a large number of ships were assembled on the north bank of the Yellow River, and it should be Yuan Shaozhong's plan to cross the river.

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, so he left Cao Ren to garrison Kunyang to defend against Guan Yu, and he and his generals secretly returned to Xudu, where he was ready to deal a fatal blow to Yuan Shao this autumn.

As for the bad things such as Zhang Lu's defeat and Liu Bei's assistance with talents, it is not the same as defeating Yuan Shao to pacify Hebei.

When I returned to Xudu in the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Yellow River was in a comprehensive emergency, and the Hebei soldiers and horses landed in Yanjin and Baima, and it seemed that they were not in a hurry to start attacking.

After two years of recuperation in Hebei, Yuan Shao pulled out a team of 100,000 people, and after he crossed the river, he did not directly take troops to Xudu, but had a tendency to attack Yanzhou.

Cao Cao finally waited for this opportunity, he planned to suffer the people and defenders of Yanzhou, not only did not send troops to reinforce the counties in time, but also deliberately spread rumors of a hard battle in Jingzhou.

Only by letting the people and horses of Hebei taste the sweetness can they be carried away by the victory and stumbled, and Cao Cao will see the opportunity to break through each other.

Only a small number of high-ranking officials in Yanzhou knew the details of the strategy set by Cao Cao and Xun Yu to lure the enemy, so the soldiers and civilians in each county showed real panic.

In late August, the weather turns cooler.

Many places in Dongjun and Jiyin counties were captured by Yuan Shao, and only Puyang, Dingtao and other big cities were still holding on, and Cao Cao saw that the time was ripe and prepared to start a counterattack.

Before leaving, Cao Cao summoned Xun Yu and Xiahoudun to Sikong Mansion, intending to instruct on matters such as grain and grass, military and political affairs.

Xiahoudun chatted with Cao Cao for a while, only to see Xun Yu step into the hall door with a serious face.

Seeing this, Cao Cao stretched out his hand and quipped: "What is the reason for Xun Lingjun today?" You used to always be the first to arrive, Shangshutai is too busy with government affairs? ”

"Ming Gong."

Xun Yu bowed closely, did not respond to Cao Cao's quip, still maintained a solemn expression, and said with a straight face after getting up: "Shang Shutai just received Liu Qi's report, it's not too good."

"Liu Qi?"

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted: "Oh yes, is it Zhang Lu's business that he is now the Taishou of Hanzhong?" ”

"It's related to Zhang Lu." Xun Yu bowed slightly: "The combined forces of Liu Qi and Liu Bei defeated Zhang Wei in Tin County at the end of July, and now controls the four counties of Handong, Liu Qi moved the Hanzhong Governance Office to Xicheng and became a veritable Hanzhong Taishou"

"What?"

Cao Cao got up, and then sat down again, his eyes seemed to be able to kill, and it took a while to spit out a few words from his mouth: "What a Hanzhong Taishou." ”

(End of chapter)