Cao Cao's order to retreat naturally included the garrison of Jiyang County Town. Moreover, there were about 200,000 troops under Cao Cao in Jiyang County Town. It was the town with the most troops in Chen Liu County.
Yang Rui temporarily bypassed Changyuan County Town and headed straight for Jiyang County Town. Since they had set off at the same time, they were in a race against Cao Cao's messenger soldiers.
Cao Cao's messenger soldiers had set off from Chen Liu County Town, which was slightly closer to Jiyang County Town. On the other hand, Yang Rui's troops had set off from White Horse County Town. They were slightly further away, but they had set off earlier.
However, Yang Rui's troops were marching in a large army. Although they were all elite soldiers, they still could not match the speed of the messenger soldiers' horses. Therefore, Yang Rui's troops were destined to be unable to keep up with Cao Cao's messenger soldiers.
One of Yang Rui's advantages was his flying pet. It was much faster in obtaining and transmitting information. Information that the army had not yet reached could be sent to Yang Rui in advance.
When Yang Rui's army had just arrived at Jiyang County Town, a scout had already sent a message using his flying pet. Just two hours ago, Cao Cao's troops in Jiyang County Town had actually retreated in large numbers, leaving behind an almost empty town.
However, the enemy had used the Battle Exemption Token, so they were temporarily unable to capture it.
After that, more detailed information was sent over in a short period of time. After Cao Cao's troops had retreated from Jiyang County Town, they had headed straight for Pingqiu County Town. Their route was slightly to the northwest, which basically coincided with the route that Yang Rui had taken to break into the enemy's rear.
"Order Nanlou, Su Puyan, Wu Yan, Lou Ban, Nengchen Dizhi, and the other Wuhuan Generals to use Yuanju County Town as a base and send their troops out of Jiyang County Town. Besiege the city until the Battle Exemption Token expires. They must take Jiyang County Town!"
Yang Rui thought of two possibilities regarding the strange movements of Cao Cao's troops in Jiyang County Town. First, Yang Rui wanted to recover the losses caused by Yang Rui's detour. Yang Rui believed that after Yang Rui's troops left, Cao Cao's troops were already doing that.
Second, Yang Rui felt that there was a certain probability that Cao Cao was going to carry out a strategic retreat. Furthermore, it was very likely that he was going to focus on his newly established base in Si Li Prefecture!
If Yang Rui, who was a player, did not feel at ease with Cao Cao, his second guess was actually very close to the actual situation. Even Cheng Yu and Guo Jia agreed that Cao Cao was going to carry out a strategic retreat.
However, Yang Rui still did not let his guard down. In order to prevent Cao Cao from playing any tricks, Yang Rui made step-by-step arrangements.
This included the arrangements made by the Wuhuan generals toward Jiyang County Town and the Xianbei generals toward Changyuan County Town. Yang Rui gathered hundreds of thousands of troops to advance toward the node cities. He was not in a hurry to encroach on Cao Cao's territory in Chen Liu Prefecture.
Only Yang Rui's elite troops would not follow the rules. Yang Rui's main goal in attacking Cao Cao this time was to take over Chen Liu Prefecture, the only place in Yan Province that was not under Yang Rui's control.
On the other hand, Yang Rui wanted to eliminate Cao Cao's forces as much as possible to weaken Cao Cao's overall strength.
Of course, during this process, Yang Rui also targeted the famous historical figures in Cao Cao's hands, as well as the class change skill books for Tier-6 and above soldiers, and other items that were more crucial to increasing the overall strength of the army.
With these prerequisites, Yang Rui made arrangements for the rear to advance steadily and steadily. Then, he led the 500,000 elite troops and headed toward Pingqiu County Town.
It was not very accurate to call it Pingqiu County Town. Yang Rui's goal was naturally to chase after Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Lu Qian, and their troops in Jiyang County Town, as well as Li Dian, Man Chong, and their troops who had arrived to reinforce Jiyang. He wanted to deplete Cao Cao's forces.
As for Liu Ye, Xu Chu, and their soldiers who were heading to Jiyang County to reinforce Jiyang County, they had made a mistake in the previous Jiyang County. It was not Man Chong but Liu Ye. Due to the distance, they had not reached Jiyang County yet. Soon after, they received Cao Cao's order to retreat in the direction of Hulao Pass.
When Yang Rui arrived at Jiyang County Town, Xiahou Dun, Lu Qian, Li Dian, Man Chong, and their 200,000 troops had already left Jiyang County Town for more than an hour. It was not easy for Yang Rui to catch up to them.
When Yang Rui changed directions and began his pursuit, it was already close to five in the afternoon. It was not long before the sky turned dark. When Yang Rui led his troops out of Jiyang County Town, night had already fallen.
Yang Rui could only station his troops near the Dong Ji River in Pingqiu County Town and temporarily stop for the night. At this time, according to the information obtained by the flying pet, Xiahou Dun, Lu Qian, Li Dian, Man Chong, and their 200,000 troops had already entered Pingqiu County Town.
What caused Yang Rui a lot of trouble was the use of the Battle Exemption Medallion by the Cao Cao army. This time, Cao Cao seemed to have started to disregard the cost. Almost all the cities above the level of a small town were used with the Battle Exemption Medallion.
Even the more important and larger towns were also used with the Battle Exemption Medallion by Cao Cao!
Under such circumstances, even though most of the troops in the city had already retreated, Yang Rui's troops were still unable to take control of the city in a short period of time. It could be said that there was a hidden danger left behind. It also caused a lot of interference for Yang Rui's troops to replenish their supplies and rest.
Cao Cao's method of using the Battle Exemption Medallion could be considered a tactical innovation. However, Yang Rui could also see some clues from it. Perhaps Cao Cao had indeed made up his mind to withdraw his troops from Chen Liu County.
Otherwise, although Cao Cao's actions effectively restricted Yang Rui, it also left behind many loopholes. Some of the cities that had used the Battle Exemption Medallion the earliest were nearing the end of the Battle Exemption Medallion. In terms of time, it was unlikely that Cao Cao would be able to take control of these cities again.
It was also because of this that Yang Rui deduced some of Cao Cao's strategic plans. He believed that Cao Cao was very likely to give up on Chen Liu County.
At this moment, if Cao Cao knew of Yang Rui's thoughts, Cao Cao would probably secretly feel ashamed. Using the Battle Exemption Medallion to create trouble for Yang Rui was only one of his uses. His main plan was somewhat unspeakable.
Ever since Cao Cao sensed that the situation was not good, he immediately gave the order to withdraw all troops. Even though he did not explicitly say that he was going to give up on Chen Liu County, his intention to gather at Hulao Pass was very obvious.
As for using the Battle Exemption Medallion, it was because some of the troops were further away. Cao Cao wanted to use the time limit of the Battle Exemption Medallion to create a safe passage for the troops to retreat.
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