Han family achievements

Chapter 302 Bad Premonition

After noon.

Cao Cao waved his army and launched a fierce attack on Huixiaguan.

This time, Cao Cao did not have any intention of testing. The army poured down, all kinds of siege equipment were piled up, and he showed a posture of not stopping until he returned to Xiaguan.

In fact, Cao Cao personally supervised the battle and confronted the people who returned to Xiaguan from a distance.

"kill!"

Xiahou Dun charged forward, waving his spear and roaring.

Cao's army was like a tidal wave, surging and rushing back to Xiaguan.

Back at Xiaguan, not only Hua Xiong, Zhang Ji, Guo Si, Li Ru and others appeared. Facing the fierce attack of Cao Jun, they did not dare to be careless at all, which was very different from the calmness before.

This battle lasted from noon to evening, and then Cao Jun ordered the gold to retreat.

Cao Cao looked back to Xiaguan and returned to the main tent.

While discussing with Guo Jia and others, Xiahou Dun walked in and said: "General, three thousand people died and five thousand were injured."

Cao Cao had no expression on his face. He had already expected it, but subconsciously glanced at Guo Jia.

This was only the first day, and this number of casualties made him feel distressed.

Others had different expressions, and the silence in the hall was a bit depressing.

Guo Jia didn't understand. He smiled and said to everyone present: "You don't need to worry too much. The talented person may arrive tomorrow. He said in the letter that he will bring a lot of good things."

With Guo Jia on the steps, everyone looked a little better.

Yang Xiu suddenly answered and said: "Military advisor, if Dong Zhuo suddenly goes south to Jingzhou, and now Liu Biao is not in Changsha, Jingzhou is almost an empty city, how should we deal with it?"

"That's a dead end!"

Cao Cao sat upright and dignified, and then said in a deep voice: "Tomorrow morning, we will continue to attack the city. I want Dong Zhuo to return half a step back to Xiaguan!"

Everyone already knew Cao Cao's strategy - to trap Dong Zhuo to death!
"The last general takes orders!" Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren and other generals responded loudly.

Cao Cao nodded, and then asked Le Jin: "Will the spies everywhere be rewarded?"

Le Jin said: "There is no sign of Dong Jun for the time being. It seems that Dong Jun is returning to Xiaguan."

Cao Cao suddenly said loudly: "Continue to investigate and send more spies. We can't accommodate so many people if we go back to Xiaguan!"

"Yes!" Le Jin responded, turned around and went out.

Guo Jia drank strong tea and looked thoughtful.

Cao Cao's words are correct, and the other thing is that when Cao Cao appears and returns to Xiaguan, he must have a plan. What is his plan?

Without understanding this, Guo Jia still felt a little uneasy.

"Report!"

There was a loud shout outside the door, and then a soldier quickly walked in, knelt on one knee, and said happily: "General Qi, Xiahou Sima has arrived."

"The genius has arrived?"

Cao Cao slapped the table and stood up, without caring about anything else, he rushed out.

A group of people naturally followed and left the tent.

Not far away, they saw the somewhat fat Xia Houyuan coming on horseback, followed by hundreds of soldiers.

"Wonderful talent!"

Cao Cao hurried up to meet him and shouted loudly.

Seeing this, Xia Houyuan dismounted his horse a little unaccustomedly, strode over, raised his hand and said: "General Xia Houyuan, see you..."

Cao Cao helped him over and said, "No, let me see!"

He looked Xia Houyuan up and down, patted him on the stomach, and laughed and said, "Miaocai, how fat have you gained?"

Xia Houyuan also looked at Cao Cao and said: "There is nothing else to do in prison. It's just that you have so many delicious food and drinks delivered to me every day. I eat well, sleep well, and have gained forty pounds..."

"Hahaha,"

Cao Cao laughed, took his hand, and said, "Let's go! Zixiao, here's the order, let's have a truce for one day. Today I will stay drunk with Miaocai!"

Cao Ren was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Before he could speak, Xia Houyuan hurriedly said: "Meng De, no, no, no, how can you miss your important event because of me? Just have a drink!"

Cao Cao ignored him and pulled him toward the tent.

Seeing that Cao Cao could not be persuaded, Xia Houyuan felt inexplicably grateful and said quickly: "General, I have brought many things, please accept them first."

Cao Cao pulled him hard, but found that he couldn't pull him, so he had to stop and said: "What's more important than us reminiscing about the past? Let's go, let's drink three big bowls of him first!"

Xia Houyuan smiled and said, "You've seen it and I'm very happy. Let's take a look first."

With that said, Xia Houyuan pulled Cao Cao and walked towards the things he brought.

Guo Jia, Xiahou Dun and others were curious and all followed.

Xia Houyuan brought hundreds of people and thirty flat cars and carriages, which were piled with things, but they were covered with canvas, so he didn't know what they were.

Cao Cao patted a box and said, "Miaocai, you brought so many things and you came so fast?"

Xia Houyuan was beside him and ordered the soldiers to untie the rope and said: "The Tingwei Mansion reduced my sentence and let me go ten days in advance. This is why I came early."

Cao Cao was startled and looked back at Yang Xiu.

Yang Xiu didn't know what to say.

The current Tingwei is the only person recognized as Yang's party, and he is also Yang Xiu's teacher - Wang Lang.

Wang Lang released Xia Houyuan ten days early, which was not a violation of the law, but also sold Cao Cao a small favor.

Cao Cao and Yang Xiu smiled and nodded, but when they turned around, they were stunned.

The canvas was opened, and these carriages were filled with weapons, armor, swords and spears, crossbows, arrows, almost everything you need.

Seeing Cao Cao's expression, Xia Houyuan smiled with satisfaction, stretched out his hand and drew out a crossbow, and said: "General, these are specially approved by Huangfu Shangshu for you. Let me bring them. They are the smallest ones in the arsenal. I have checked them, and the armor is more Lighter and stronger, weapons are sharper, especially this crossbow..."

As he said this, Xia Houyuan wanted to pull, but found that he could only pull halfway.

He retracted his hand angrily and said, "I can't pull it."

Cao Cao was still thinking about 'Huangfu Shangshu', so he took the crossbow and found that he couldn't draw it open even though he tried his best and turned livid.

Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun and others couldn't help but look strange when they saw it.

You know, although Cao Cao loves reading, he is also a general. Although his force is not as good as theirs, he rarely has a bow that cannot be drawn.

At this time, a military prince came forward, raised his hand and said with a smile: "General Qiyangwei, this is not for archers, they must be equipped with this."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to indicate a very sturdy tool on the carriage - a pure wooden structure, similar to a horizontal crossbow, except that it had four slots and seemed to be folded underneath.

Cao Cao thought about the reasons why Xia Houyuan brought these things, and nodded calmly: "Try it."

The military leader responded and ordered people to move it down and support it on the ground. The slot was aimed at a big stone a hundred feet away.

Everyone looked at it curiously, and saw something like a triangular table. A soldier took the arrow, put it into the slot, and then pulled the bowstring.

shhhhhh

Four arrows were shot out at the same time.

In the blink of an eye, it hit the boulder in the distance, and the sound could still be vaguely heard.

Cao Cao opened his eyes slightly, stepped up and looked around, and seemed to see an arrow stuck in the crack of the stone!

"What a bow!" Cao Cao's eyes widened, staring at the crossbow in front of him, and couldn't help but reach out and touch it.

Xia Houyuan stood aside and said: "General, there are a hundred officers in total. General Huangfu said that after the summer harvest, the soldiers can make more when they have money and food."

Cao Cao nodded repeatedly, his mind already wandering to using these to deal with Dong Zhuo.

Xia Houyuan took Cao Cao and inspected the many weapons he brought until dark.

Everyone gathered in Cao Cao's tent and talked about the past, with equal emphasis on tenderness and pride. The tent was filled with a cheerful atmosphere of reunion after a long separation.

That night, Cao Cao and Xia Houyuan slept together. They talked for a long time until dawn, but they were still not sleepy.

Perhaps because of the arrival of Xia Houyuan, the morale of Cao's army was high. After having dinner at dawn, they launched another fierce attack at noon.

When I returned to Xiaguan in a small way, the ground was shaken and the mountains were crumbling.
The fight lasted from morning to noon, when Cao Ren withdrew and was replaced by Xiahou Dun. In the afternoon, Le Jin and Xia Houyuan were replaced again.

After fighting for a whole day, no one fell back to Xiaguan. There were rivers of blood and mountains of corpses in and out of Xiaguan.

Both armies were very exhausted from fighting, and they slowly withdrew their troops until the sun set.

The setting sun is like blood, and the shouts of killing gradually fade away.

After returning to the gate and looking at the retreating Cao Jun, I felt fear for the first time.

Cao's army was too ferocious, and they attacked with no regard for life or death. They lost at least tens of thousands of people in one day!
This fierce attack and defense is the most frightening.

Jia Xu, dressed in white, appeared in an arrow pavilion, carefully avoiding the blood on the ground, and then walked up to a high place like a leisurely stroll, overlooking Cao Jun's camp.

Guo Bang looked worried and said: "Military advisor, is Cao Cao crazy? If we continue to fight like this, all his soldiers will die!"

Jia Xu was silent, as if he was calculating something in his heart.

Guo Bang waited for a while, but couldn't help but continue to ask: "Military advisor, can it really be done?"

Jia Xu looked directly at Cao Jun's camp and said calmly: "In the past, I thought Cao Cao was just a reckless man, but now I see that he is surrounded by people, both civil and military. It is indeed a clever plan to storm back to Xiaguan. , if this delay continues, we will only die."

Guo Bang's face changed slightly, he glanced around, stepped forward and whispered: "Military advisor, Mr. Dong, do you really want to take us back to Xiliang?"

Jia Xu frowned slightly, his eyes flashed irritably, and said, "Can you persuade Mr. Dong?"

Guo Bang's expression flashed suspiciously, and he sighed pretentiously and said, "How can we escape from Cao Cao's fierce attack?"

Jia Xu didn't speak, just looked at Cao Cao's camp quietly.

Cao Cao was able to storm back to Xiaguan at all costs. This kind of determination and courage is probably rare in the world.

Because Cao Cao would not gain much if he returned to Xiaguan, his troops were evenly matched and it was impossible to kill Dong Zhuo.

If you can't attack it, it's all in vain.

Regardless of success or failure, at least half of Cao Cao's [-] troops were lost.

These are not miscellaneous soldiers, they are elites who have been trained by Cao Cao for many years. If it were anyone else, who would have such courage under the calculation of interests?

Although Jia Xu looked calm, Guo Bang still had a vague feeling that he was worried and hiding something.

He had always been suspicious of Dong Zhuo's plan of "returning home". This plan was too risky. Although the people under their command were homesick, but from Yuzhou to Xiliang, they had to pass through Sili, the indifferent core of the imperial court.

This is simply the way to death!

They tried their best to persuade Dong Zhuo, but Dong Zhuo refused to listen and stubbornly wanted to fight back.

However, Jia Xu remained silent, which made Guo Si and others suspect that it was him who gave Dong Zhuo a plan.

At this time, there was a sound of footsteps, and Li Ru hurried over, looked at the two of them and said, "Have you seen the Huazhong general? I have an urgent matter with him."

Guo Bang was startled, and then he remembered that he had not seen Hua Xiong from last night to now.

Li Ru knew it when he saw the expressions of these two people. He glanced at Jia Xu with his peripheral vision, coughed, walked into Guo Si, and said, "General Guo, what do you think of today's events?"

Guo Bang understood instantly and said calmly: "I think Cao Cao is determined to break through Xiaguan. I wonder if Military Advisor Li thinks we should defend or retreat?"

Li Ru sighed and said: "It's definitely not possible to defend. Yuan Shu should have been wiped out by the imperial court. When the soldiers and horses everywhere turn around, we will be surrounded."

Guo Si nodded and said, "Return to Xiangxian County?"

Li Ru shook his head and said: "We should go to Xuzhou and join forces with Lu Bu. It will be the summer harvest by then, and the princes in the south are exhausted and lack food and grass. It is a good opportunity to go south and collect half of the country!"

Guo Si's expression changed and he said, "Commander Li, can you submit this to Duke Dong?"

"Dong Gong said he would consider it," Li Ru said.

Jia Xu listened to the two singing and harmonizing, but it seemed as if it had just passed his ears. He said motionlessly: "At this time, there is only one way to go to the end."

When you're done, turn around and leave.

Guo Bang and Li Ru looked at his back with slightly cold expressions.

They had all realized that Jia Xu and Dong Zhuo must have other plans, but they just hid them from everyone else.

Guo Si and Li Ru looked at each other. They seemed to have something to say, but they had scruples, so they smiled and left.

On the other side, although Cao Jun suffered a lot of losses, his mood was relatively optimistic.

In an open space, Xia Houyuan was waving a spear and humming Hachi's practice.

He had been imprisoned for many years and had good food and drink, but he was too fat. Soon he was sweating profusely and panting, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted.

Cao Cao was on the side, eating mutton, drinking wine, smiling all over his face, feeling very uncomfortable.

Cao Ren and Cao Cao grew up together and knew his bad taste. After waiting for a while, he whispered beside him: "General, we lost nearly ten thousand people today."

Cao Cao nodded calmly, his narrow eyes twitching with cold light, and said: "Have you noticed that the return to Xiaguan seems to have been loosened today."

Cao Ren thought about it carefully and said, "I haven't found it yet."

Cao Cao turned his head and looked at Guo Jia, who was holding a teapot not far away and looking at Xia Houyuan sadly, and said, "Fengxiao, what do you think?"

Guo Jia was addicted to alcohol and couldn't hold back the strong tea. His face was pale and his energy was listless. He said in an erratic tone, "You have to ask Lieutenant Ledu about this."

Le Jin happened to be walking from a short distance away, heard the voice, and said, "What do you want to ask the general, military advisor?"

Cao Cao answered the question and said, "Is there any reward for the spies?"

Le Jin stepped forward, raised his hand and said: "No. The general went out personally and walked around a lot. Except for the rain, there was no trace of the movement of the army."

When the army passes by, it will definitely leave serious traces that are difficult to erase!
Cao Cao frowned slightly and said to himself: "That's strange..."

He believed in his own judgment. Today's return to Xiaguan was indeed loose, and there seemed to be a lot less guards at the gate.

But the spies who were sent out found no trace. So without the soldiers, could it be that they disappeared out of thin air?
Cao Cao thought for a while, looked up at the sky, and said, "Is it going to rain again?"

Le Jin sat next to Cao Ren, stretched out his head and said, "General, I have inquired about the old farmers around me. This time, it is the time when the rain is the most abundant."

Cao Cao couldn't think clearly, so he took the wine pot, walked towards Guo Jia and said, "Fengxiao, I think there is something wrong with it."

Guo Jia looked at the jug handed over by Cao Cao, his throat twitched, but he still stretched out his hand to push it away and said: "General, don't forget, we don't know how Dong Zhuo came back to Xiaguan or what he did before coming here."

Cao Cao's eyes were extremely calm, and he pondered for a long time, then said: "Feng Xiao's intention, Dong Zhuo is going to take action?"

Guo Jia stood up, with a serious look on his face, and looked back to Xiaguan. He flashed something obscure and said, "It may not be that there are no soldiers and horses in the pass. Perhaps, there are soldiers and horses hidden outside for a long time, hiding for our spies to explore." Out of range!”

Cao Cao's expression suddenly changed, and he suddenly shouted to Le Jin: "Le Jin, send more spies to expand the surrounding area by twenty miles, and let me find out clearly!"

"Especially in the north." Guo Jia added.

Le Jin was startled, stood up hurriedly, and left as ordered.

Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other. For some reason, they both had a bad feeling in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)