Han Xiang

Chapter 281

"Victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs? Huh?"

Yuan Shao shook his head with a bitter smile, threw his body down on the ground, looked at the top of the tent and sighed: "I have lost to Cao Ah twice, it seems that I will not be able to defeat him in this life."

"My lord." Guo Tu took a step up in surprise, and then squatted beside Yuan Shao to comfort him, "My lord, don't be depressed, it's only been two rounds. Cao thief has not only lost twice in these years? Bianshui meets Xu Rong, Puyang meets Lu Bu, Wancheng Even the eldest son of Zhan Zhangxiu took care of his life for him, isn't he able to survive now?"

"Mr. Gongze is right, father, you still have us."

Yuan Tan crawled over, as if telling the other party: Your eldest son is alive and well.

Guo Tu hastily turned his head to wink at Yuan Tan, thinking that if the eldest son can't persuade him, then don't persuade him, it will be even more difficult for you to please the lord.

"My lord, it's autumn now, and it's easy to catch cold on the ground. I'll help you up." Guo Tu immediately changed the subject, and went to help Yuan Shao without waiting for his consent.

Yuan Shao didn't refuse. He sat upright and grabbed Guo Tu's hand, questioning with doubts: "Can I really survive this? Do I still have hope to defeat Cao Aman?"

"Yes, I can."

Guo Tu looked determined, and he pointed to the outside of the account to analyze: "My lord sits in the four prefectures of Qing, You, Bing, and Ji. The population is still larger than that of the Central Plains, and the advantage is greater. At this stage, we will not compete with Cao Cao for the time being, and we will raise our essence first." It will not be too late to find a battle after accumulating energy for a few years.”

Yuan Shao frowned and shook his head: "Cao Cao has been jealous of me for a long time, how can he give me a chance to recharge his batteries? Maybe he will go north again in the spring of next year. If he rushes to recruit troops again, it will inevitably lead to frequent civil upheavals in various places, and I am afraid that he will lose people by then. lost ground."

Guo Tu said to him, "My lord, don't be pessimistic. Don't you still have Liu Xuande, Sun Quan, and Chang Ba? If Cao Cao doesn't deal with them well, how can he come to Hebei to fight with peace of mind?"

"hiss"

Yuan Shao regained his spirits: "I almost forgot about them, but I am no match for Cao Cao, and the three of them may not be able to do it."

Guo Tu nodded slightly: "Liu Xuande has no roots, and Chang Ba was originally a bandit. These two people should not be able to stop Cao Cao, but Jiangdong Sun Quan is different. He killed Li Shu last year and made the Sun family gain a firm foothold in Yangzhou. Moreover, the terrain in the southeast is rugged and the rivers are densely covered. If Cao Cao wants to completely conquer Yangzhou, he needs to train a strong navy, otherwise he will not be able to cross the Yangtze River if he can conquer Huainan."

"Your words are reasonable." Yuan Shao finally frowned, and muttered, "Training a navy is not something that can be accomplished in a day, so Sun Quan can really restrain Cao Cao?"

"I think the possibility is very high. Sun Quan's surprise attack on Shouchun offended Cao Cao. My lord can take this opportunity to send envoys to make friends with Jiangdong, and agree to attack the Central Plains and fight against the country's thieves together."

After hearing Guo Tu's suggestion, Yuan Shao thought it was right, and he added: "When I return to Yecheng, I will arrange for someone to go to Jiangdong. In addition, if Liu Xuande fails to succeed in Runan, he will go to Jingzhou to persuade Liu Biao to attack Cao. By that time. hum"

Guo Tu echoed with a smile: "Yes, yes, yes, it would be best if Liu Biao joins in. Cao Cao will be enemies on three sides from now on, so it's not bad if he can protect himself. How can he spare the energy to harass Hebei?"

Yuan Shao slightly nodded in affirmation, then stood up and walked to the door of the big tent to stop, quietly looking at the direction of last night's fiasco.

Cao Aman, you haven't won yet, and I haven't surrendered yet.

One day, I will trample you under my feet, just like Luoyang did back then, you can only live in my shadow.

At the same time, Cao Jun finished cleaning the battlefield and was gathering at the ferry to cross the river.

On the broad Yellow River, ships are like beads on an abacus, going back and forth non-stop from north to south.

Cao Cao stood on the bank with his hands behind his back, looking at the land of Hebei with melancholy, thinking that if there were no troubles from behind, he would definitely be able to completely defeat Yuan Shao this time.

Alas, good things take time, this may be fate.

Cao Cao secretly sighed, but was discovered by Guo Jia again.

"Last night's big victory, Duke Ming doesn't seem to be satisfied?"

"Last night, the soldiers in Hebei were terrified. If someone from the south threatened Xudu, how could I have left hastily? If you give me another month, I will definitely be able to wipe them out."

Guo Jia comforted: "Duke Ming doesn't need to be in a hurry. Yuan Shao occupies the territory of the four prefectures and is very powerful. It cannot be eliminated overnight. It is better to fight steadily and slowly. Now we have to deal with Liu Bei, Sun Quan and Changba first."

Cao Cao nodded, and asked, "Runan, Shouchun, and Donghai, how does Feng Xiao think about rebellion and rescue?"

Guo Jia thought for a while, then twirled his beard and replied: "Donghai County is far away from Xudu, and the scope of the rebellion is limited. Minggong can let it go for a while; although Liu Bei raised trouble in Runan, he did not invade Yingchuan to threaten Xudu. See It is not the most urgent thing to plan to take root in Runan; only Shouchun has been besieged by Sun Quan for nearly three months, and General Xiahou has brought soldiers from the field, and it is estimated that it is at the end of its strength, so we must send troops to rescue first."

"Continue to talk about how to save."

Seeing Cao Cao waving his hand, Guo Jia pointed to the boats on the river and added: "The two hundred or so warships in front of me were originally used to transport luggage, food and grass. Now if they are all used to transport troops, it is no problem to take away six or seven thousand soldiers. , for now, we can only advance by land and water.”

"It's really convenient to travel by water, but the number of warships in Jiangdong is astonishing, and there are patrol boats in Rushui and Yingshui. If Sun Quan sends a navy to stop them upstream, they may not be able to reach Shouchun smoothly, and they may not be able to reach Shouchun by land."

Cao Cao stroked his beard and shook his head slightly. He knew that Xiahou Dun was in a difficult situation, and he had already thought about Guo Jia's solution, but he was not confident because of the small number of ships and soldiers.

Guo Jia smiled slightly and reminded: "Why does Ming Gong have to go back the same way? There are not only Rushui and Yingshui to go to Shouchun."

"What Fengxiao means is to let the fleet go around Surabaya, and then go up the Huai River?" Cao Cao seemed to have found a way to solve the problem, and a smile appeared on his face immediately.

"Of course."

Guo Jia nodded confidently: "Sun Quan seized Shouchun for Xudu, that's why he set up patrol boats in Rushui and Yingshui. If he goes upstream from the lower reaches of Huai River, I'm sure he won't think of it."

"Wonderful, really wonderful." Cao Cao patted Guo Jia's arm, his eyes full of appreciation.

Guo Jia continued to offer advice: "The siege of Jiangdong cannot be overcome for several months, and the combat effectiveness of its soldiers should be limited. In addition, I have studied the map of Huainan. The waters near Shouchun that can park a large area of ​​boats can only be the lake Shaopi in the south of Shouchun. Sun Quan's The food for soldiers must be transported by water, and Shaopi is probably where the granaries are.”

"Haha, I have filial piety, so I have no worries."

Cao Cao laughed after clapping his hands, and sighed: "I like to cut off people's food and grass, but I have never destroyed the water granary. It seems that thousands of elite soldiers can solve the siege of Shouchun. Unfortunately, I can't personally lead people like I did when I attacked Wuchao." Go to the front line to fight"

Guo Jia asked in surprise, "Duke Ming, don't you want to go to Shouchun?"

Cao Cao shook his head and explained: "Sun Quan's mere child is not enough for me to come in person, just send a few generals. On the contrary, I am more worried about Liu Bei, so I will go to Runan to meet him."

(End of this chapter)