The son of Yuan Shao who traveled through the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 203

When Cao Cao returned to the city, feeling sorry for Cao Hong, he was depressed and cried a lot. Cheng Yu and Mao Jie begged to see him outside the door, but he ignored him.Early the next morning, Cheng Yu and Mao Jie came to see him again.Cao Cao let him into the house.Cheng Yu panicked and said: "Prime Minister, something is wrong, and the spies came to report just now, saying that Xuchang—Xuchang is lost."

"Ai—" Cao Cao was just a little more energetic, and was startled again.He grabbed Cheng Yu's collar and shook it: "Impossible, Xuchang city is well-defended, with [-] elite soldiers, even if it can't be defended, it can last for at least a month or two. How could it be lost in a day or two? —Could it be that he surrendered without a fight—" Cao Cao thought again, it's impossible, neither Li Tong nor Jia Xin are that kind of people.

"What's going on?" Cao Cao pushed Cheng Yu out.

Cheng Yu managed to stand firm with a stake, and stammered: "Prime Minister, Prime Minister, it was Jia Xin——Jia Xin defected to the enemy—assassinated Li Tong, and Xiancheng surrendered."

Cao Cao was stunned for half a stick of incense before he burst out a sentence: "Jia Xin—Jia Xin—I was killed by you." Mao Jie stomped his feet and said: "Prime Minister, this is not the time to be sad. Now that Xuchang has been lost, it is useless to defend Yingchuan as an isolated city, so it is better to go south to Jingzhou and seek a foothold."

Cao Cao cried bitterly: "How did things get to this point today? Go south to Jingzhou—no way, Jingzhou is close to Huainan, which is the sphere of influence of Yuan Jun. Going there is like throwing yourself into a trap."

Cheng Yudao: "The current strategy is to go into Guanzhong. Fortunately, Hongnong County is in our hands. As long as we enter Tongguan, Yuan Xi will be helpless."

Cao Cao's heart was as chaotic as a cat's scratching. He tried his best to concentrate and gritted his teeth: "What Cheng Zhongde said is true. Right now, the only way to avoid Yuan Jun's edge is to enter Tongguan."

Mao Jie said: "It's not too late, it's best to evacuate tonight." Cheng Yu said: "Yuan soldiers are besieging the city on all sides, how can we evacuate without anyone noticing."

Cao Cao waved his hands slowly and said: "It's okay, the truth has a plan, which can evade Yuan Jun's eyes and ears." Cheng Yu said: "What can the prime minister do?" Cao Cao said: "Tonight, at the second watch, there will be straw people all over the city, and then send a team of soldiers Go out of the west gate and flee westward, Yuan Jun will give chase with all his strength, we will take the opportunity to go out of the east gate and retreat to Hongnong."

Cheng Yu was puzzled: "How did the prime minister expect that Yuan soldiers would come out in full force?" Cao Cao said, "There are straw people all over the city, which makes Cao soldiers feel that our army is actively deploying defenses. This kind of deceit will never be fooled by Yuan Jun's resourceful men. , They expected that our army would break through and flee, so they must step up their defenses. If they send an army to the west, Yuan Jun will think that they are fleeing to Tongguan. There is no reason not to pursue them."

Cheng Yu said: "The Prime Minister really has a clever plan, but this person who lures the enemy is too dangerous. Who is the Prime Minister planning to send?" Cao Cao said sadly: "Looking at the current situation of our army, who else can take on this important task except Xu Chu."

As soon as Xu Chu received the order, he immediately jumped up. He liked to risk his life the most.Can also make meritorious service, wish for it.Xu Chu patted his chest and said: "Prime Minister, don't worry, the general will definitely keep Yuan Bing firmly in check. The Prime Minister will take one step ahead, and Xu Chu will be able to catch up in three days at most." Cao Cao held the back of his beloved general's hand with tears in his eyes: "Zhongkang, You are going to escape from death, so be careful, and you must not be brave." Xu Chuman didn't care, and was a little happy, carefree: "Don't worry, prime minister, if you can't win, run away, no one in Yuan Jun can catch me." But he thought in his heart, even if Run, I will also behead a dozen or twenty of his generals.

At the second watch, heavy snow fell from the sky, and the sky and the earth became chaotic.

Cao Jun planted straw men on the top of the city as planned. In the dark, soldiers suddenly filled the top of the city, which aroused Yuan Jun's vigilance.Someone reported to the tent of the Chinese Army, and a gust of cold wind rolled snowflakes into the room. Xun Yu, who was reading a book, murmured: "It seems that Cao Cao got the news that Xuchang had fallen and was about to flee." Guo Jia and Zhao Yun also thought so.Zhao Yundao: "It's obviously a trick! Bandit Cao must take advantage of the dark moon and the high wind to flee to Guanzhong."

Xun Yu said: "Immediately order the soldiers besieging the city to put up their spirits and prevent the Cao thief from escaping."

As soon as the order was conveyed, General Yang, Zhong Jin, and Zhong Shen, who were besieging Ximen, blew their horns.Zhao Yundao: "Sure enough, the bandit Cao has begun to break through, I'll go and see." With the gun in hand, he lifted the curtain that was rattling by the wind and rushed out.Xu Huang and Jiang Yiqu also rushed out of the tent: "What's going on, what's going on." Zhao Yun shook his horse's reins and said loudly, "Cao Bandit is about to break through, hurry up—" When the two heard this, they were in a panic. They got up their horses and galloped out.The horseshoe kicked the snow on the ground into the air.

Guo Jia stared straight out of the tent, staring at the flickering city tower: "No, I've been fooled--I've been tricked--" Xun Yu also reacted: "Cao Cao is so shrewd, how could he be so stupid to escape from the west gate, isn't it? Is it too obvious?" Quickly, chase the person back.

It was too late for Guo Jia to rush out of the commander's tent, Zhao Yun, Xu Huang and Jiang Yiqu all led their troops to the west gate.The defenders of the other three gates also assembled towards the west gate after receiving the order.

In the snowstorm, Cao Cao was neatly dressed and watched carefully from the tower.He rubbed his hands hard twice: "It's my plan! Cao Ren and Cao Chun obey orders." Cao Ren and Cao Chun loudly agreed.Cao Cao said: "You two, command five thousand soldiers from the headquarters, and go out to the north gate to cover Xu Chu. Remember, you can't confront the enemy. After attracting the attention of the enemy soldiers, quickly retreat to the Guanzhong Road——Xiahoudun, I order you The army is pressing down. Xia Houshang, Cao Zun, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhang are the vanguards, and follow me out of the east gate. Xia Houen, Zhang Pu, and Xue Qiao lead the army to lie in ambush on the left side of the road. You only wait for the pursuers to come up, and then let them go , don’t kill them. Cao Zhen, you lead an army and lie in ambush on the road thirty miles away. You only wait for Xiahouen to let him go. Then you rise up and set fire to kill the enemy. Xiahouen takes advantage of this moment to attack and kill him. If you don't stay, Yuan Jun won't dare to chase after him."

At this time, Xia Houen still couldn't forget, and flattered him: "The prime minister is smart, smart." Cao Cao ignored him, thinking, if he is really smart, he won't be where he is today.

The party is over.Cao Cao grabbed the knife and mounted his horse.Xia Houshang on the left, Cao Pi on the right, Cao Zun and Cao Zhang on the right, surrounded by four generals, went out of the east gate.In the middle is Cao Zhen, Xia Houen is behind, and these two soldiers are ready to ambush at any time.Xiahou Dun was at the end, holding his ground to prevent Yuan Bing from attacking.The large group of people came out of the east gate in the wind and snow, and the eyes were covered with white snow and silver.Snow grains were falling from the sky, and the millet-like snow grains made the dead branches and leaves rustle.

Surrounding the west of the city, shouting to kill and shaking the sky.Cao Bing's voice was in his ears, and everyone was silent like a cicada, and he didn't know whether he was cold or frightened.Shrinking his neck, he walked backwards and ran forward quickly.Cao Cao also didn't care about worrying about Xu Chu anymore, who cares about whom these days!

Cao Cao and his two sons, Xia Houshang and Cao Zun, rushed to the main road. Xia Houen, Xue Qiao, and Zhang Pu immediately lay in ambush on the side road.After walking for thirty miles, Cao Zhen also stopped his horseshoes, and according to his instructions, he lay down his soldiers and horses, waiting for Yuan Jun to make a plan.

But Guo Jia and Xunyu wanted to order Zhao Yun, Xu Huang and others to pursue in the direction of Guanzhong. However, the snowflakes were so loud that no one could be found.There was no news of any of the messengers sent out, and it is unknown why they died in the chaos.The two stared blankly, unable to do anything.Outside the west gate, they fought from the second watch to the dawn, and a few clever messengers saw Xu Huang. They hurriedly dodged knives and guns, and conveyed Xun Yu's order.

Xu Huang turned pale with shock, secretly blaming himself for being abrupt.He thought he had the winning ticket, but he didn't expect to fall into Cao's treacherous tricks. Without saying a word, he took Yan Ming and Xue Li and two divisions to chase after Guan Dao.When Zhao Yun heard that Xu Huang was chasing Cao Cao, his face turned green: "Cao Cao, you can't chase—" Whoever chases Cao Cao will be unlucky.In addition to cutting off the food road, Cao Cao's second magic weapon is to chase soldiers to death without paying for their lives.

Xu Huang was a little restless, mainly because he wanted to capture Cao Cao alive.The army moved forward at a very high speed, almost thirty miles away.Suddenly a burst of arrows denser than snowflakes shot out, killing countless Yuan soldiers, and the cold wind whipped up a rain of blood.A section of the official road turned blood red.A cannon went off.The two groups of men and horses squeezed over like a tide, sandwiching Yuan Jun in the middle.Cao Zhen laughed wildly: "The prime minister has a clever plan, Xu Huang, the bastard, let's see if you can survive."

Xu Huang didn't dare to love to fight, so he swung his army to retreat, but saw a group of soldiers coming from behind, [-] people.Yuan Jun's morale was taken away, and he couldn't resist it at all.The soldiers of Cao Jun can be regarded as the first breath in these days.Countless people were killed by Yuan Jun, his limbs and arms flew across the country, and his blood melted five miles of snow.

With a big axe, Xu Huang slashed and killed. There were no two-handed generals under his command, and there was not a single living Cao soldier within the reach of the axe.After all, Yuan Jun was passive. After a while, he couldn't resist the overwhelming offensive of Cao Bing. He retreated like a tide, and many of them simply scattered like birds and beasts.Xu Huang's pressure is also increasing.His body was full of cao soldiers, as if he had been sucked into the vortex of the black armor, and he couldn't get out of his body.

Fortunately, Cao Zhen and Xia Houen didn't dare to fight. Seeing that they had taken advantage of it, they immediately asked for money to withdraw their troops.Yuan Bing was afraid of being killed, so he didn't dare to chase, and retreated towards Yingchuan one after another.Xu Huang restrained his soldiers and realized that he lost a division's strength. He was ashamed and remorseful, and almost committed suicide.Thanks to Yan Ming and Xue Li for dissuading.

As soon as Xu Huang entered the commander's tent, he heard Guo Jia say: "Gong Ming, it's my fault. I'm such a waste. I'm useless. I can't even see such a plan, which caused the loss of soldiers and generals. I almost killed you. I deserve to die." Xu Huang Akira felt a rush of blood rushing to the top of his head.His chest seemed to be burning, and he said calmly: "Feng Xiao, don't say that, I acted recklessly, which ruined the big thing, and I am willing to be dealt with by military law."

Xun Yu waved his hand and said: "No, no, it has nothing to do with the two of you this time. It was caused by my improper command. The governor will plead guilty on his own and wait for the lord to judge. Gongming made a decisive decision and chased Cao thief. It is the duty of the general, not a fault. Feng Xiao found that something was wrong and reminded him in time, but there is no general in the hands of the governor, so tell me, is it because the governor did not command properly."

Xu Huangxin said that it made sense; "However, I'm still to blame for being too impulsive. If I had been more careful, I wouldn't have made such a big mistake."

Zhao Yun suddenly barged in from outside the tent and said, "Xu Chu rode away alone. The rest of Cao's soldiers either surrendered or were killed. Our army can enter the city."

Xun Yu smiled wryly and said, "Xu Zhongkang is too brave to be trapped by an army of 10,000+." Zhao Yun said sincerely, "I admire him too, but this person is too loyal to Cao thief to risk such a big The danger is Cao Cao’s decision—in the first battle just now, he killed nearly twenty lieutenant-level officers by himself, and it’s really a disaster to keep them.” He paused and said, “If I see you next time, I’ll get rid of him!”

The snow stops and the wind stops, and the yellow sun melts.

The Huainan army marched into Yingchuan, went out to calm the people, healed the wounded soldiers, and cleaned up the battle.When Xun Yu sent Zhao Yun to chase after him, it was already too late.

Yuan Jun has initially unified the north, only to the west of Tongguan.

The news of Cao Cao's defeat spread to Luoyang, and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty gave him another reward.Feng Xunyu, Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, Tian Feng, and Lu Su were granted the title of Marquis of Duting, with a thousand households in the township, and each was rewarded with 300 taels of gold and several beauties.Liu Ye, Zhuge Jin, Xu Huang, Jiang Yiqu, Gan Ning, etc. are all Liehou.Xun Yu was awarded the title of governor of Yangzhou, led the affairs of the minister, and held the festival.Lu Su was the prefect of Shouchun.Guo Jia is the prefect of Le'an and the servant of Huangmen.

Guo Jiake was overjoyed, he was rewarded for the first time for so many years in Yuan's family and made such great contributions.However, Liehou is too young, and his ambition is to be the prince of the country.

The emperor gave him the opportunity to make meritorious deeds with an edict.Leading [-] troops, they left Yingchuan, crossed Luoshui, and attacked Guanzhong.

As soon as Cao Cao arrived in Hongnong, he immediately contacted Ma Teng.He had already bribed Ma Teng's chief counselor Fu Gan and general Zhang Ji, and the two had a vernacular conversation in front of Ma Teng.Ma Teng was so fooled that he couldn't find the north.The general idea is similar to that of Liu Zhang welcoming Liu Bei.Ma Teng felt that the Yuan family was too powerful and was afraid that something would happen in Guanzhong, so he wanted to place Cao Cao on the line between Tongguan and Chang'an to protect him from wolves.I don't know, Cao Cao himself is a bad wolf.

It can be said that sitting alone on a poor mountain, let the tiger defend itself.

Cao Cao voluntarily gave up Hongnong County, and the whole division entered Guanzhong.The remaining 6 or [-] horses were stationed in Tongguan.Look up at people's nose and look at people's faces.I am really unhappy.Ma Chao often came to make troubles and caused troubles, which made Cao Cao gradually lose his patience.

Ma Chao firmly opposed his father's decision.But his reason was too far-fetched and too arrogant, and it missed the point, so Ma Teng couldn't accept it! !

Ma Chao couldn't stop bragging: "Dad, Dad, why did you bring Cao Cao here? There is a boy here, and a person surnamed Yuan will never enter Tongguan. The boy is a fierce horse with a golden gun, and no one can match him in the world. The soldiers trained by the boy Horses, they are all screaming teams, one is ten to one hundred, do you need Cao thief? Dad, if you can trust my boy, hand over the army to me. My boy promises that within half a year, I will defeat Yuan Jun and let daddy you It’s fun to be a prime minister.” Ma Chao rolled his eyelids and said, “My boy is definitely not bragging, really.”

Ma Teng said in his heart, you kid is not bragging.I really regret that I didn't discipline you well when I was a child. This tongue is too long.Defeating Yuan Jun in half a year is not such an exaggeration in a dream!My mother, what kind of child is this.God!

Seeing that Ma Teng didn't speak, Ma Chao thought he had a plan, so he said, "Father, drive Cao Cao away quickly, it's useless to keep him here." Ma Teng said calmly, "He has nowhere to go, so I will drive him away. There, the princes of the world should say that I will die. Besides, if I do that, I will offend people."

Ma Chao's eyes widened and he said, "At this moment, Dad, he can't wait to think about not offending others, and his eyebrows are already on fire. You don't know who Cao Cao is—"

Ma Chao talked for several days, spitting a bucket, but he couldn't persuade the stubborn Ma Teng.I can only give up.

(End of this chapter)