Han Shimou

"Although the military strategist's strategy is clever, all of this is based on the premise that the second brother and Cao Mengde can catch up with Ma Teng and Han Sui before their troops arrive. How can you be sure, military commander, that Cao Mengde will cooperate with you one by one as you expected?"

Suddenly, Guan Yu, the chief standing on the right, asked Xi Long.

"The second general's worry is very reasonable. Long's talent is meager, and he dare not guarantee everything, everything will be as expected. However, if Cao Mengde wants to become the overlord instead of a prince, he is bound to win the current emperor. Based on this, Long Only then dare to open the mouth and make a plan."

Xi Long didn't clarify some words, but after thinking about it with Guan Yu's wisdom for a while, he gradually understood, so he nodded without doubt, and didn't speak for now.

"So, when does Zhicai think we should send troops?"

As for Cao Cao, Wen Han and Xi Long had already analyzed it, not long after Xi Long revealed his strategy, Wen Han had already decided to follow his strategy.

"When I wait for the time to send troops, I still need to look at Cao Mengde. Otherwise, my lord will rush to send troops and face Li Cui's troops alone, and I'm afraid there will be unnecessary damage."

"Well, Zhicai's words are also in line with my wishes. Right now, I will prepare troops and horses first, and when Yanzhou moves, I will send troops immediately!"

After Wen Han and Xi Long made an agreement, they immediately began to make a series of arrangements. For the situation in Chang'an, Wen Han had already dispatched troops from Bingzhou.At this time, Bingzhou was guarded by [-] soldiers led by Gao Shun, assisted by counselors such as Zhang Hong, Zhong Yao, and Han Song. Yuan Benchu, who could pose a threat to Bingzhou, had not yet ended the war in Youzhou, so Bingzhou should be fine.

At this time in Hedong, the number of Wenhan recruits and veterans was nearly [-], of which the number of recruits accounted for [-] and the number of veterans was [-].After nearly a year of cao training, the recruits are like sharp knives that have been opened under the new cao training process set by Wen Han himself and honed by Wu Qinxi, but they still need blood to become real killing knives.

Under Wen Han's order, Guan Yu, Xu Huang, and Zhao Yun received orders one after another, preparing to convene the various ministries.As for Zhou Long and Wang Lang, they were preparing for the army's supplies and siege equipment and other backup matters.

As a result, the whole of Hedong began to look busy again. Soldiers and horses in various cities and counties were constantly pulling out, and carts filled with armor or food carts were driven by teams of Hedong soldiers to shuttle through the streets of each city. .The people in Hedong also smelled the breath before the war, and they rarely left their homes.

Hedong is preparing for the chaos in Chang'an, and then look at Cao Cao, who is predicted by Wen Han and Xi Long to be a key figure in the future situation in Chang'an.

Before January, Xuzhou Donghai County.

At this time, Cao Cao still hadn't received any good news from Guangling, and after sending out scouts again and again, he learned that Chen Deng, the guard of Guangling, was defending under the attack of Cao Ren and Jia Xu's [-] troops. Guangling.Cao Cao heard at that time that he, who was usually sure about everything, showed a look of astonishment.

Cao Cao knew very well the abilities of Cao Ren and Jia Xu, and Chen Deng's ability to defend Guangling with the cooperation of these two people is enough to show his amazing ability.Later, Cao Cao learned from the document sent by Jia Xu that it was Chen Deng who saw through his fake play, and this person was the most powerful and powerful family in Xuzhou.As early as a few months ago, he united with the wealthy families of Guangling, dispatched private soldiers from each wealthy family, and paid a lot of money to hire the people in the city, and built another urn outside Guangling Huaiyin City, and at the same time dug deep ditches and high forts. Build Huaiyin into an impregnable fortified city.

When Cao Ren's troops began to attack Guangling Huaiyin, with Chen Deng's adequate defense, it was difficult to take advantage of even a day's attack. After several battles, Cao Ren lost a lot of troops.Unable to attack by force, Cao Ren asked Jia Xu for advice. Jia Xu tried two tricks. First, he deliberately let the soldiers pretend that their morale was low and the defense of the camp was lax, so as to attract Chen Deng to attack.However, Chen Deng ignored it and just kept defending the city, without any intention of using troops to go out of the city to attack.Later, Jia Xu resorted to another trick, intending to dig a tunnel and sneak into Huaiyin City, but Chen Deng seemed to have known Jia Xu would do this. Once Cao Ren's troops started to work at night, he sent several light cavalry troops to disturb him.Seeing that Chen Deng noticed it, Jia Xu had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​digging a tunnel.Chen Deng was extremely cautious and resourceful, and Huaiyin City was well-defended and difficult to attack by force.At this point, Cao Renjun and Huaiyin's defenders fell into a stalemate.

The name Chen Deng was deeply imprinted in Cao Cao's heart.Cao Cao secretly scolded himself for underestimating the heroes of the world. Originally, he thought Xuzhou was mediocre in civil and military affairs, but Tao Gongzu was an incompetent good old man, so it would not take much effort to take Xuzhou.Who would have thought that just one Chen Yuanlong would force his [-] elite soldiers into a predicament.

Guangling was unable to attack for a long time, and because of Liu Bei's prickly appearance, it was difficult to attack by force on the East China Sea.Cao Cao thought that the time was getting tighter and the situation in Chang'an was getting more and more tense, so he wanted to withdraw his troops.However, he was afraid that if he withdrew at this time, he would be stalked and killed by Liu Bei's soldiers and Xuzhou soldiers, which would be a worry, so he called Guo Jia to discuss.

Cao Cao and Guo Jia were discussing matters, and a soldier came to report that Xuzhou had a letter of war.Cao Cao frowned, and looked at it, it was Liu Bei's letter.

The letter reads: "Be prepared to worship the emperor Yan from outside the customs, and the successor will be separated from each other, so it is not as good as serving. I heard that Cao Yanzhou and Tao Xuzhou fought because of a misunderstanding. Cao Yanzhou was strong and strong, and Tao Xuzhou was not Cao Yanzhou's opponent. He is an official appointed by the imperial court to take the imperial order to guard Xuzhou. If Cao Yanzhou takes it by force, it may be incompatible. I have heard a little about the matter of respecting the father, and perhaps many of them are not what Cao Yanzhou thought. Heart. I also hope that Cao Yanzhou will investigate clearly.

What's more, the evil left by the Yellow Turban is disturbing the outside world, and Dong Zhuo's remaining party is entrenched inside.Cao Yanzhou has a general counselor with twenty soldiers. I hope that Cao Yanzhou will first deal with the urgent needs of the court, and then private enemies, and withdraw Xuzhou's soldiers to save the country. "

Cao Cao read a book and laughed coldly.

"The big-eared thief is just a Pingyuan Prime Minister, how dare he persuade me with a book! And there is a sense of sarcasm in it! He is really pretentious. Could it be that he really thinks that he is a descendant of the Han Dynasty, and I, Cao Mengde, should respect him three points! "

Guo Jia took the letter from Cao Cao, and after reading it for a while, maybe he was also amused by Liu Bei's self-confidence that he didn't know where he came from.After Guo Jia laughed for a while, he remonstrated with Cao Cao.

"In that case, my lord just sold his favor to Liu Xuande, retired from the army and rushed back to Yanzhou to prepare for the affairs of Chang'an."

"If that's the case, I'm afraid that Liu Xuande really thinks that I, Cao Mengde, are all him!"

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, showing bursts of terrifying killing intent.But Guo Jia knew that Cao Cao had already made a decision in his heart, and what he said was just angry words.However, it was true that Liu Bei aroused Cao Cao's killing intent.

"That's it, my lord, it's better to write a letter. It's okay to withdraw troops, but in Pengcheng and Xiapi counties, we will never return Cao Taigong until one day has been found. If there is any discrepancy, just come and kill. Come to fight back. What does your lord think?"

"Well, Fengxiao's words are quite to my liking. This can teach Liu Xuande not to be arrogant."

In fact, Guo Jia probably guessed Cao Cao's answer a long time ago, and smiled flatly.After that, Cao Cao went to the book case, repaired a book, and then called Liu Bei to send it back to Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei received the letter, he was a little surprised to see that Cao Cao had agreed to retreat.However, Liu Bei quickly restrained his expression, rushed to the State Shepherd's Mansion, and informed Tao Qian of the matter.

When Tao Qian heard that Cao Cao was willing to withdraw his troops, his pale complexion improved a little. As for the two counties of Pengcheng and Xiapi, the meat had already fallen into the tiger's mouth, and it was not so easy to get it back.However, if Cao Cao is willing to retreat, then Xuzhou will have a chance to breathe, and it will not be too late to retake Pengcheng and Xiapi when the time comes.

Tao Qian agreed to Cao Cao's request without much thought, and at the same time thanked Liu Bei with a salute.Liu Bei saw it, his heart was beating wildly, and his body was also full of blood.Once Cao Cao retreats, he can take over Xuzhou from Tao Qian.Moreover, if he persuaded Cao Cao to retreat, he would definitely win the admiration of all the civil and military people in Xuzhou. In this way, after he took over the Xuzhou card seal, he only needed to use some tricks to strengthen his position.

The next day, Cao Cao received a letter from Tao Qian and saw the terms of his promise, so he ordered Xiahou brothers, Cao Hong, and Dian Wei to withdraw their troops and rush to Yanzhou.At the same time, people were sent to Guangling to send letters, ordering Cao Ren, Jia Xu, Yu Jin and other civil and military forces to withdraw from Guangling's army and lead troops to guard Pengcheng and Xiapi counties.

Let's say that when the envoy returned to Xuzhou, he rushed to see Tao Qian when he entered the city, and presented a letter saying that Cao Bing had retreated.Tao Qian was overjoyed, the tiger retreated, the crisis in Xuzhou was relieved, and the worries accumulated in his heart disappeared.This made Tao Qian seem to have taken a fairy medicine, and his condition improved a lot in an instant, his face was flushed, and he sighed.

"If it weren't for Liu Xuande, the people of Xuzhou would have been ravaged by the flames of war, causing heavy casualties, and the old man's head would not be saved. If such a great kindness is not reported, how can this old man show his face to others."

At present, Tao Qian's determination to hand over Xuzhou to Liu Bei has become more and more firm.Then he thought about Liu Bei's benevolence and righteousness, and he might not be able to convince him with his mouth alone, so he called Mi Zhu again.Although Mi Zhu was an official under Tao Qian, seeing that Tao Qian was old, he gradually seemed unable to manage the huge Xuzhou. Especially now that although Cao Cao had retreated, he was still heavily stationed in Pengcheng and Xiapi. It needs a hero with great courage to lead.And Liu Bei was born in the royal family, and he has the virtue of virtue. Facing Cao Cao's tiger and wolf division, he can be magnanimous and not afraid of strength.This person is exactly what Xuzhou needs most right now.So Mi Zhu also agreed with Tao Qian to give up Xuzhou to Liu Bei. After thinking for a while, he came up with a plan and taught Tao Qian to invite Kong Rong and Chen Deng. Behind him, the Chen family is the most powerful and powerful family in Xuzhou. The two of them, together with Tao Qian, will persuade Liu Bei.Tao Qian also felt that it was reasonable, so he obeyed Mi Zhu, so he sent someone to invite Kong Rong and Chen Deng.

A few days later, Kong Rong and Chen Deng both rushed to Tan County in the East China Sea to see Tao Qian.Tao Qian immediately described Liu Bei's merits and virtues in detail, and explained that he had the intention of ceding Xuzhou. He hoped that Kong Rong and Chen Deng would work with him to persuade Liu Bei.Kong Rong had always admired Liu Bei's benevolence, and remembered his kindness in saving Beihai, so he agreed.As for Chen Deng who kept silent all the time, he didn't know what he was thinking in his mind. When Tao Qian asked his opinion, Chen Deng turned his face back. Seeing that Tao Qian had made up his mind, he first agreed.Seeing that the two agreed, Tao Qian was overjoyed, and immediately sent someone to arrange a banquet.

That night, Tao Qian held a big banquet on the grounds that Cao Bing had retreated, and invited Kong Rong, Liu Bei, and all the civil and military personnel from Xuzhou.After Liu Bei rushed to the banquet, Tao Qian first told everyone about his achievements, and everyone praised him. Liu Bei returned the courtesy one by one politely, and when returning the gift to Chen Deng, Tao Qian made a special introduction.When Liu Bei heard that this was seeing through Cao Cao's fake play, and made Cao Ren and Jia Xu helpless, they guarded Guangling.Liu Bei gave a big gift to Chen Deng, but Chen Deng just nodded slightly, as if he didn't like Liu Bei.His attitude caused Pan and Zhang, who were beside Liu Bei, to show their evil faces again and again.Especially Zhang Fei grinned at Chen Deng.