"Cao Cao, Cao Mengde, I will definitely kill you!" Liu Bei directly flipped the table. Liu Bei was a person who would not get angry. Even if he was angry, he would only see it in his eyes. If you did not look at Liu Bei's eyes carefully, you would not notice it. Liu Bei was a person who hid his emotions deeply. He would not show his emotions in front of ordinary people.
Cao Cao was an ambitious person. He could control the court and cover the sky with one hand. He did not even put the Han Emperor in his eyes. As for Liu Bei, he was a traitor. What was called a traitor? He was very loyal. He was respectful to the Han Emperor. He was also very respectful to Cao Cao. However, what you did not know was that once you turned around, he could send the sword in his hand into your body. Therefore, even a person like Cao Cao was deceived by Liu Bei. A banquet at Hongmen was abruptly avoided by Liu Bei.
Now, Liu Bei was furious. He could not hide his anger. This was because everything was foolproof. He could enter Shouchun tonight and hold a big banquet in the city. He could have taken the entire Yangzhou tonight. However, he was tricked by Cao Cao and Cao Mengde.
A soldier on the side was trembling. If one looked carefully, one would find that this person was a spy from Liu Bei's Army who was exposed in Shouchun. There were nearly a hundred of them. All of them were exposed at the last time. Xu Shu would not be lenient and directly caught them all. The only one left was to deliver a letter to Liu Bei. Otherwise, this person would not be alive to appear in front of Liu Bei.
100,000 shi of provisions, 100,000 shi of provisions! Traitor Cao, you are really good. You are really willing to part with it! " Liu Bei was really emotional. 100,000 shi of provisions, Liu Bei did not have it in Yuzhou. However, Liu Bei was really reluctant to give so much to others. But now, Cao Cao did not care and gave 100,000 shi of provisions to Shouchun and the Lvbu's Army. This was really a good move!
"100,000 shi of provisions? Where did Cao Mengde get 100,000 shi of provisions?" Liu Bei was now very angry. 100,000 shi of provisions was not a small amount, but now, Cao Cao suddenly took it out. One must know that Liu Bei received some information that Cao Cao was suppressed by Yuan Shao in Guandu. Although Cao Cao used 30,000 naval troops to defeat the 100,000 troops of Yuan Shao, the troops in Yuan Shao's hands were still several times more than Cao Cao's. On the other hand, Cao Cao did not have much provisions left. He was relying on the people who died in battle to not eat. This was just prolonging his last breath! But now, Cao Cao took out 100,000 shi of provisions. Where did this come from? Cao Cao would not be a good person who would sacrifice himself for others!
"Milord, the battle of Guandu should have already concluded!" Pang Tong smiled bitterly. Today, there were two bad news. The first was that Shouchun might be difficult to capture. 100,000 shi of provisions was enough for the millions of people in the city to live for more than a month. Liu Bei's original plan was disrupted. He wanted to use a psychological attack to make Shouchun fall into chaos. But now, the 100,000 shi of provisions was a cardiac stimulant. Not only did it break Pang Tong's psychological attack, but it also meant that he would have to face the millions of people in the city if he wanted to capture Shouchun.
From the spy who came back alive, Pang Tong learned that there were many people in Shouchun who hated Liu Bei. Now, Liu Bei was the enemy in the eyes of the people of Shouchun. It was because of them that Shouchun was besieged. It was also because of him that so many people died on the city walls. If Liu Bei's Army wanted to attack Shouchun again, they would have to sacrifice a lot of people.
Most importantly, Liu Bei's own provisions were running out. His provisions had not been delivered yet. He had been eating for the past few days and had been subsidized by Zhang Xiu's Army. However, this was not a long-term solution.
The second bad news was that the battle of Guandu had already concluded. There was not enough time left for Liu Bei. As long as Guandu was captured, it could be said that the overlord of the north was determined. Now, it could be seen that this overlord was Cao Cao and Cao Mengde. If Yuan Shao did not die in the battle of Guandu, then it would be fine. But once Yuan Shao died, the two precious sons of Yuan Shao would not be able to resist Cao Cao for long. Once Cao Cao unified the north, Cao Cao would have Ji Province, You Province, Bing Province, Qing Province, Xu Province, Yan Province, half of Yu Province, and Zhili Province. It could be said that he would become the number one warlord in the world in one fell swoop. If Liu Bei could not take down the Central Plains before Cao Cao unified the north, then it would be even more impossible in the future.
"Shiyuan! Then is there any news from Zhang Xiu? " Liu Bei asked Pang Tong. Zhang Xiu had already sent his Xiliang Cavalry to Guangzhou two days ago to protect the provisions. If possible, he wanted to take down Liu Mang's main force in one fell swoop. This way, Yu Province would be able to continuously transport provisions to Yangzhou.
"There is no news yet!" Pang Tong shook his head and said.
"Huh?" Liu Bei frowned. No news was the worst news. Now, Liu Bei was stuck in Shouchun. If he could take it down, he would be able to lead his army to the south and eliminate Lü Bu together with Jiangdong's Sun Ce. This would solve the problem in his heart.
"Milord, don't worry!" It would take two days to reach Guangzhou from Shouchun. Now, it seems that Hu Che Er and the Xiliang Cavalry have already reached Guangzhou. It is possible that the war will break out in the next few days. As long as we defeat Liu Mang's main force, not only will we be able to open up our supply route, we can also use it to attack the morale of the people in Shouchun! " Pang Tong was trying to calm Liu Bei's heart. Although Shouchun had millions of people, it was very difficult to take down the city. However, one should not forget that Xu Shu could not leave the city. The people could defend the city, but in the field, any soldier would be able to scatter them. It could be said that they were trapped in Shouchun. Without the field troops to save them, Shouchun would be a dead city.
…
"Haha, haha!" The land that Cao Cao stepped on was called Ji Zhou. It was a very famous place. This was the ancient capital of Zhaoge, the capital of Shang Chao. However, it was now under the feet of Cao Cao. This was because Cao Cao won the Battle of Guandu. Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu, his old friend, rashly led 300,000 troops to attack Yan Zhou. On the other hand, Cao Cao had less than 100,000 troops. Moreover, he did not have enough provisions and was very tired. After all, Cao Cao had experienced the Battle of Lü Bu and the Battle of Liu Bei. His foundation was exhausted. Now that Yuan Shao attacked, it gave Cao Cao a headache.
What was Cao Cao's strategy once upon a time? It was a completely defensive policy. Cao Cao did the same. He relied on the lives of his men to hold on for half a year at Guandu against the 300,000 Yuan Shao Army. More than half of the 100,000 troops died in battle. Cao Cao could not hold on any longer. Although Yuan Shao also lost nearly half of his men, his main heavy cavalry was still there. Once they crossed the Yellow River and attacked Yan Zhou, Cao Cao would have no other choice but to flee. He had already planned that once he was defeated, he would let his advisors, Xun You and Xun Yu, move the people of Yan Zhou and the officials of the Han Emperor to Zhili. Then, he would rely on Hulao Pass, which was outside of Zhili, to stop Yuan Shao's army. Back then, Dong Zhuo only had 30,000 troops at Hulao Pass, but he stopped hundreds of thousands of troops from the 18 feudal lords. At that time, Cao Cao only thought about how to defend himself and how to prevent himself from being destroyed by Yuan Shao. However, who knew that he had already stepped into Yuan Shao's territory and arrived in Ji Zhou.
"Milord, Yuan Benchu's troops have already gathered in Ye City! They seem to want to stop us in Ye City! " A handsome and enchanting general half-knelt in front of Cao Cao. He was a little too enchanting, but this general had a face that was more beautiful than a woman's. He had skin that would make women jealous. However, he was wearing armor and had a scar on his face that told them that he was a man.
"Juanyi!" Cao Cao also saw this general. A few days ago, this person was not under his command. At that time, they were enemies. When they met on the battlefield, they couldn't wait to kill each other. This person was one of the four pillars of Hebei under Yuan Shao's command, Zhang He, Zhang Juanyi. Cao Cao was very satisfied with Zhang He.
Zhang He was recruited from the Hejian Tribesmen to participate in the suppression of the Yellow Turban Uprising. He then served Ji Zhou's governor, Han Fu, as the military commander. When Yuan Shao took Ji Zhou, Zhang He led his troops and surrendered. Because of his contribution in defeating Gongsun Zan, he was promoted to Ning Country's Lieutenant General.
Lao Cao referred to Zhang He as Han Xin. When the two armies were facing each other, Cao Cao had a headache over this person. Not only was he skilled in martial arts, he was also a great strategist. Lao Cao took down Yuan Shao because of the Battle of Wu Chao. However, this Battle of Wu Chao was almost broken by Zhang He. At that time, everything would have been for naught. Luckily, it was Yuan Shao who pushed Zhang He into his hands. When Cao Cao attacked Wu Chao, Zhang He said, "Cao Cao's soldiers are brave and skilled in battle. They will definitely defeat Chunyu Qiong and the others. If Chunyu Qiong fails, then General's great cause will be over. You should quickly bring reinforcements. " However, the strategist Guo Tu said, "Zhang He's suggestion is not a good idea. Why don't we attack Cao Cao's main camp? Cao Cao will definitely return to save them. This way, if we don't save Chunyu Qiong, she will be out of danger." Zhang He retorted, "Cao Cao's camp is very strong. If Chunyu Qiong and the others are captured, then we will also become captives. " In the end, Yuan Shao listened to Guo Tu and did not listen to Zhang He's advice. He sent him to attack Cao Cao's camp. In the end, not only did they not succeed, Wu Chao, which lacked reinforcements, was also robbed. After Guo Tu's plan failed, he framed Zhang He. After failing, he spoke rudely. Zhang He and the other generals were afraid of being investigated and thus surrendered to Cao Cao.
With such a great general in his hands, how could Cao Cao not be happy? He directly gave Zhang He the position of Deputy General and Marquis Du Ting!
Cao Cao was satisfied with Zhang He's high opinion of him, which made Zhang He feel like he met a wise master. Although Zhang He was one of the four pillars of Hebei, he did not even have his own real troops. Although he had great halberd warriors, they were often controlled by Guo Tu. In Yuan Shao's army, they did not care about ability but reputation. Especially after Yuan Shao took over Youzhou and defeated Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao felt like he owned the world. All loyal words were unpleasant to his ears. Therefore, it was very difficult to accept talented people like Tian Feng, Ju Shou, and Zhang He. Most importantly, after Yuan Shao's two sons fought for power, they were divided into two camps. One supported Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan, and the other supported Yuan Shao's youngest son, Yuan Shang. Originally, the position should have been passed to the eldest son, but Yuan Shao preferred the youngest son, just like Liu Biao of Jingzhou. In addition, Yuan Shao's mother was already dead. Now, Yuan Shao's legal wife was Yuan Shang's mother. As a result, the two camps were evenly matched.
Many of Yuan Shao's subordinates had already taken sides and supported their young masters. As for those who did not take sides, they were naturally feared by both sides. Naturally, they would be ostracized by both sides. Zhang He was one of them.
"Ye City! Cao Cao is really a bunch of heroic men. What kind of place is Ye City? It's Yuan Shao's base, just like Cao Cao's Xu Du. If Ye City is taken, it can be said that Yuan Shao's morale will be reduced by half and their battle potential will also be reduced by half!
Therefore, Lao Cao must take Ye City. Even if it's done with human lives, Cao Cao still has a lot of troops under his command. After the Battle of Wuchao, not only did he obtain hundreds of thousands of grain, but he also obtained the defeated troops of Yuan Shao. Zhang He's Great Halberd Warriors originally had ten thousand men, but three to four thousand were killed by Lao Cao. Excluding those who were injured, there were still five thousand men left. There were also the Jizhou Cavalry and Bing Province Cavalry, which added up to tens of thousands of men. Now, Cao Cao had close to twenty thousand men under his command. In addition to Lao Cao's original Ferocious Cavalry, Lao Cao had a hundred thousand men under his command.
As for Yuan Shao, they couldn't be underestimated. A starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Although the Yuan Shao Army had been defeated, there were still capable people in Yuan Shao's army. With their help, there were still tens of thousands of men under their command. In addition to Yuan Shao's original main force and the troops left behind by the Jizhou Garrison, there were more than a hundred thousand men in total. This wouldn't be an easy battle to take down.
"Who is the general leading the troops?" Cao Cao must know all the movements of the Yuan Shao Army. Lao Cao is a very vigilant person. Although he won the Battle of Guandu, he didn't dare to let his guard down. Therefore, he must know everything in front of him in order to plan his strategy.
"Reporting to my lord, the flags in front of us are Yan, Wen, and Jie, Feng!" Zhang He didn't dare to hide anything and told him everything.
"Yan, Wen, Jie, Feng?!" "Yan is naturally Yan Liang and Wen is Wen Chou. In this period of time, there is no longer Guan Yu helping Old Cao to get rid of Wen Chou and Yan Liang. Therefore, these two valiant generals are still here. Shen is the interrogation. Feng is naturally Feng Ji. It can be said that this lineup is not simple. More than a hundred thousand soldiers, two generals and two close to first class strategists. As long as Yuan Shao is still in the middle of the army, Cao Cao will have to go through a bitter battle.
"Haha, haha." Just as Cao Cao was frowning and Cao Jun was thinking about how to defeat the enemy, a wild laughter sounded. "Ah Man, Ye City has been taken. Oh, Hebei has been taken!" "This person is a middle-aged scholar. His appearance is also very worthy of the audience. His small mustache was stroked in his hand, and coupled with his smile, he looked like an expert.
"Ah Man?!" This nickname was Lao Cao's life. Only Cao Cao's elders had the right to call him by this nickname. When he was young, his playmates would also call him that. However, ever since Lao Cao became Lao Cao's minister, not many people dared to call him by this nickname. Even Yuan Shao only called him that when he was angry at Cao Cao. Cao Cao subconsciously frowned. The civil officials and generals beside him were also a bit angry. Some didn't even dare to breathe loudly, afraid that Lao Cao would be angry.
However, Lao Cao's anger disappeared in a flash. This was because this person actually said that Ye City had been taken and Hebei had been taken. Cao Cao forcibly suppressed his anger. There was only one person who could call him by his nickname. That was the new Cao Jun's subordinate, Xu You, Xu Ziyuan.
Xu You's courtesy name was Ziyuan. When he was young, he had a good relationship with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Later, Xu You, Ji Province's provincial governor Wang Fen, Pei State's provincial governor Zhou Jing and other heroes conspired to depose Emperor Ling of Han and make Hou Hefei the Emperor. They also tried to persuade Cao Cao to join them. However, Cao Cao refused. Wang Fen wanted to take advantage of Emperor Ling of Han's northern patrol to send troops to defend against the Black Mountain Bandits. Yuan Shao escaped from Dong Zhuo and went to Ji Province. Xu You followed and became Yuan Shao's counselor. He strongly persuaded Yuan Shao and Cao Cao to form an alliance. Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan and annexed You Province. He was like a tiger in four provinces. He had hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Tian Feng, Xun Chen, and Xu You were the strategists. Yan Liang and Wen Chou were the generals. They were ready to attack Xu Du.
In history, Xu You was most famous for offering the Wu Chao strategy. However, in this life, Xu You's Wu Chao strategy was not a timely help. It was just icing on the cake.
"I don't know what Ziyuan can teach me!" Lao Cao's attitude was very humble. Although he was angry with Xu You's words, Xu You was still very useful to Lao Cao. He would not lose the big picture for a small gain. Seeing Lao Cao like this, the strategists naturally did not care.
"Ah Man! Do you know how many children Ben Chu has? " Xu You did not say it all at once. He was very satisfied with Lao Cao's respect. He did not get this kind of respect from Yuan Shao. Because Xu You was a follower of Yuan Shao since he was a child. Yuan Shao was his boss. But Lao Cao was different. When Xu You and the other two were friends, Xu You was the one with the lowest achievements among the three. The more Lao Cao was respectful to him, the more satisfied Xu You was. Originally, the lowest achievement among the three of them was the Central Plains. Now, he defeated Guandu and became the overlord of the north. Moreover, Lao Cao had the position of Minister of Public Works. Such a person could be regarded as second only to one person in the Great Han Dynasty.
But such a person was very respectful to him and he could call him by his nickname. Wasn't this a very proud thing? Wasn't this a very honorable thing? Naturally, Xu You was very proud.
"Ben Chu has five children! Tan, Xi, Shang, Mai, Bu! " Although Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were enemies now, they used to be good friends. Even if they had their own territories, they were allies for many years. The two of them formed an alliance to deal with Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, and Gongsun Zan at that time. Now Yuan Shu's body was thrown away, Tao Qian died of illness, and Gongsun Zan was burned to ashes. So the two of them naturally turned against each other. However, Cao Cao still knew that Yuan Shao had several sons.
Needless to say, Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi were the two oldest. When Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were still good friends, Cao Cao once took Yuan Tan to drink Yuan Xi's confinement wine. Although Yuan Shang was born later, Cao Cao also gave him a gift. It was the youngest son of Yuan Shao. When Lao Cao was trapped by Liu Bei and Lü Bu in Xuzhou, Ju Shou asked Yuan Shao to attack Cao Cao and make Cao Cao unprepared. In this way, Cao Cao would definitely be defeated. However, Yuan Shao refused with the reason that his son was sick. That son was Yuan Mai, Yuan Shao's youngest son, Yuan Bu, who was born prematurely and died not long after he was born.
"Then, Ah Man, do you know who will inherit Hebei after Ben Chu's death?" Xu You continued.
"Who will inherit Ben Chu's foundation?" Cao Cao thought for a moment. "But there are only two people. One is the eldest son, Yuan Tan, and the other is his beloved son, Yuan Shang!" Yuan Tan was the eldest son of Yuan Shao. According to the inheritance system of the eldest son in the Zhou Dynasty, Yuan Tan was the most likely person to inherit. However, Yuan Tan's mother, who was once Yuan Shao's wife, passed away early. Yuan Shao liked his youngest son, and his youngest son's mother, Mrs. Liu, was promoted to be his wife. Mrs. Liu wanted her son, Yuan Shang, to inherit Hebei, while Yuan Tan was unwilling to give up the Hebei family business that originally belonged to him. Therefore, these two people were the most likely to inherit Yuan Shao's foundation. As for Yuan Xi? This person was not the eldest son and had no ambition. He did not want to compete with others. Yuan Shang was his younger brother, so naturally, he would not inherit Hebei. As for Yuan Mai, he was too young. He was only a few years old. How could he inherit?
"Ziyuan, what do you mean?" Lao Cao was a little puzzled. Although these two sons had been fighting with each other, what did it have to do with Poye City?
"Ah Man! When I fought with Ben Chu in your Yan Province, Ben Chu had Guo Tu, Shen Pei, and Feng Ji as military commanders. Tian Feng, Xun Chen, and Xu You were strategists. Yan Liang and Wen Chou were generals. But now you see, there are only Shen Pei, Feng Ji, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou in the front camp. There is no Tian Feng, Xun Chen, Ju Shou, Guo Tu, and the others. "
Cao Cao nodded. It was true. Xu You continued, "Tian Feng was imprisoned by Ben Chu when he went to battle. Ju Shou was captured by Ah Man. Xun Kan's whereabouts are unknown. As for Guo Tu, if I'm not wrong, he should have left Ji Province for Qing Province." Xu You's words really hit the nail on the head. Xu You was very resourceful. Otherwise, he wouldn't have done something as big as crippling Spirit Emperor.
"Why didn't Guo Tu stay in Ji Province? Why didn't he stay by Ben Chu's side?" Now Ye City was very strong. There were hundreds of thousands of soldiers and a lot of provisions in Ye City. It could hold on for a year and a half. There was no reason for Guo Tu to run away. "Then there are only two possibilities." Xu You analyzed. Xu You suddenly let out a sigh, "Maybe Benchu has already died in the army!"
"Ben Chu died?" Cao Cao was also stunned. Although he and Yuan Shao were enemies, they used to be good friends. If Yuan Shao died, Cao Cao would be very sad. "If Ben Chu died, there should be a large number of condolences in the army." Cao Cao expressed his confusion.
"Maybe Yuan Shang blocked the news." This was one possibility. "The second possibility is that Ben Chu did not die. But now it seems that Ben Chu is not far from death." This was the most sad thing for Xu You. Yuan Shao should not have died. But now, he felt worse than death. Perhaps he was seriously injured and unconscious, and couldn't handle things anymore. Otherwise, Guo Tu wouldn't have run away. He was Yuan Tan's man. If he left, Yuan Tan wouldn't know anything about his father. He might be slandered in front of Yuan Shao, and he wouldn't even know!
But no matter what, Cao Cao did not need to think about the reason, because it had nothing to do with him. On the contrary, he was the most capable person. Ben Chu was in a coma and Guo Tu left. This meant that the land of Hebei had begun to be turbulent. Why did Guo Tu leave? He was afraid that Yuan Shang would kill him.
As long as Guo Tu told Yuan Tan that Yuan Shao was in a coma, the two brothers of the Yuan Family would fight among themselves. Now Ye City was difficult to fight, but Lao Cao did not need to worry about it.
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