Three Kingdoms: I, the eldest son of Cao, a loving father of a great man!

Everyone else nodded.

Cao Ang's current situation is much better than Cao Cao's. If Cao Cao fights Cao Ang, he will be at a disadvantage.

Cao Cao disagreed: "If we retreat now, our army will be completely defeated."

"My lord, if we don't retreat, even if we win in the end, our army will be badly damaged, and Cao Ang will take advantage of us.

In my opinion, our army should avoid the enemy's attack first, and then seek revenge on Cao Ang after we have rested and recuperated." Ju Shou stood up and said.

Ju Shou's words moved the others. They felt that what Ju Shou said made sense and that the most important thing was to save their lives for the time being.

“Since all of you have your own opinions, I will adopt Zhongzhi’s opinion.

Pass the order down, have each camp guard it tightly, and forbid anyone to approach within a hundred steps of the camp. Anyone who violates the order will be killed without mercy."

Cao Cao finally chose to linger on.

In Liu Jun's camp, Cao Ang smiled slightly after receiving the news that Cao Cao was withdrawing his troops.

"Cao Cao really knows what's good for him. Since Cao Cao wants to linger on, I'll give him a chance. Let him enjoy it."

"My lord, Cao Cao has fled. Should we chase him now?" Jia Xu asked Cao Ang.

Cao Ang shook his head: "Not appropriate. I just took over Yanzhou, and the troops are exhausted. I'd better rest for two days."

The goal of Cao Ang's expedition this time was to capture Yanzhou, but now Cao Cao was so frightened that he had no courage to resist.

Cao Ang didn't need to waste so much time. He could just keep his elite troops to pacify Qingzhou.

"Yes, my lord is wise!" Jia Xu flattered Cao Ang.

Cao Ang looked at Lu Bu and asked, "Zilong, what are your plans?"

Lu Bu said: "I am willing to lead an army of 50,000 to sweep Qingzhou!"

"Zilong, are you sure?" Cao Ang frowned. Lu Bu's behavior was what he was most worried about.

"My lord, I am sure!" Lu Bu said firmly.

"Okay!" Cao Ang slapped the table and said, "I believe in your ability, just do what you want. Remember, don't try to be brave, but use your wits to win!"

"I will remember this!" Lu Bu said excitedly.

"My lord, what about me?" Li Gui asked weakly.

"Wentai, your mission is to assist Lu Bu." Cao Ang glanced at Li Gui and said lightly.

"Yes!" Li Gui was excited. Finally, he was not alone in Jingzhou and he could help Lu Bu.

"My lord, I feel that Cao Cao's current condition is not good. I think we should pursue the victory!" Ju Su expressed his thoughts.

"No!" Cao Ang rejected it immediately: "If we continue to pursue, Liu Bei will seize the opportunity and we will be attacked from both sides.

Our army has been fighting continuously and needs to rest, otherwise it will be of no benefit to the next battle."

"My lord is wise!" Guo Jia complimented Cao Ang and then made a suggestion.

"I think we can take advantage of this time to take stock of our military strength, especially the prisoners and battlefield spoils."

"Well, Fengxiao, I'll leave this matter to you."

Cao Ang nodded, this was indeed necessary.

Guo Jia received Cao Ang's order and started to get busy.

Cao Ang then instructed Cheng Yu, "Gong Yu, I now order you to lead 30,000 troops to Jiangxia and station them there.

In case Cao Cao counterattacks, I will personally lead the army to Yuzhang County. Do you have any objection?"

"I obey your order!" Cheng Yu was touched when he heard that Cao Ang actually asked him to stay in Yuzhang County. "Okay, everyone go and get ready. I'll go back and rest too." Cao Ang waved his hand, signaling everyone to disperse.

Cao Cao was relieved when he received the news that Cao Ang had stopped attacking.

"Prime Minister, our army's morale is high now. If we continue to attack, we may be able to save some soldiers' lives." Xun Yu advised.

"Gongda is right! All our troops should gather together to defeat Cao Ang!"

Cao Cao agreed with Xun Yu's suggestion.

Cheng Yu also expressed his support for Xun Yu's plan.

"Okay! In that case, I will order all the soldiers to come back and we will fight with all our strength!" Cao Cao made up his mind.

"Yes!" Xun Yu and Cheng Yu bowed and agreed at the same time.

Then Cao Cao summoned all the generals in the tent.

"Now that Cao Ang has withdrawn his troops, I have decided to abandon Xuzhou and return the entire army to Yanzhou. Do you have any objections?" Cao Cao directly announced his decision.

Everyone's expression changed unpredictably. They didn't expect that Cao Cao would give up Xuzhou so quickly.

Cao Cao observed everyone and found that no one stood up to refute, so he knew what they were thinking.

"Are you willing to give up the foundation you have built with years of hard work?" Cao Cao asked sternly.

Everyone shook their heads. They had long been fed up with Cao Ang, if it weren't for the fact that Cao Ang was too strong.

They had rebelled a long time ago, and now Cao Cao had given up Xuzhou, which made them feel very happy.

"In that case, let's proceed according to the original plan." Cao Cao said with satisfaction.

Cao Cao's move was very smart, because these generals did not want to fight Cao Ang, but were afraid that Cao Cao would blame them.

They could only pretend to be very eager to make Cao Cao think that they really wanted to counterattack, so as to reduce some of the punishment.

These generals guessed what Cao Cao was thinking, and they admired his foresight even more.

Moreover, Cao Cao's approach is feasible. At least it can prevent his soldiers from losing hope and allow them to burst out with higher combat effectiveness.

"The Prime Minister is wise!" Cao Cao's power has been established, and the other generals can only go with the flow and praise Cao Cao.

Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction.

Cao Cao then arranged for the army to pack up and sent messengers to notify the noble families in Yanzhou to come and greet them.

Cao Ang was very confused by Cao Cao's actions. How could Cao Cao suddenly become so benevolent that he even asked the noble families to come and welcome him? This was not like Cao Cao.

Cao Ang thought to himself: "Cao Mengde must be cheating!"

Cao Cao's envoy met a mysterious person on the way. The mysterious person said to Cao Cao's envoy: "Prime Minister Cao, my master has a letter for you!"

Cao Cao's messenger took the envelope, opened it, and said in surprise: "Thank you very much! I will return to Yanzhou to report to my lord!"

The mysterious man left, and Cao Cao's envoy hurriedly rode back to Yanzhou.

After Cao Cao received the news from the messenger, his face became gloomy and uncertain.

Cao Cao read the contents of the letter carefully, sighed, and muttered to himself: "I didn't expect Liu Xuande to be so cautious!"

The letter told Cao Cao that Cao Ang had deployed a large number of spies near Yanzhou, and once Cao Cao left the city, they would harass Yanzhou.

It's not that Cao Ang couldn't do this. If Cao Cao wanted to counterattack, he had to cross the Yangtze River first.

As a result, Yanzhou's troops could not march south to capture Xuchang. (End of this chapter)