Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

After counting the number of people, it was found that out of the 30,000 troops, less than 5,000 had escaped.

This can be described as a complete and utter defeat.

Xiahou Dun slammed his hand on the ground, his eyes bloodshot.

"Alright, let's hurry back and check on the lord's condition. This time, our losses have been enormous. Not only have we lost a large number of troops, but we've also lost Jianwei County and Mianzhu City. Now we only have Mianzhu Pass left, and we don't know how long we can hold out."

Upon hearing Xiahou Yuan's analysis, Xiahou Dun immediately stood up and led everyone to quickly meet up with Cao Cao.

With the complete fall of Mianzhu City, Gu Rubing immediately set his sights on Mianzhu Pass.

The entire pass, with both exits, was completely blocked by Gu Rubing's army.

But they still couldn't breach the city walls immediately.

Looking at Mianzhu Pass in front of him, Gu Rubing finally made a decision: to surround the entire Mianzhu Pass completely, just like Deng Ai had done, and wait for the people on the pass to surrender.

This would minimize all losses and allow us to capture the entire pass without bloodshed.

Jiang Wei naturally knew Gu Rubing's thoughts and immediately decided to abandon the attempt to break through Mianzhu Pass.

According to Jiang Wei's deduction, Mianzhu can no longer be defended, and Cao Cao will definitely go to Xindu County to redeploy his defenses.

Therefore, as long as they leave Mianzhu Pass and head to Xindu County, they can make a comeback.

However, Xu Huang rejected this decision outright.

In Xu Huang's view, if Gu Rubing were to continue attacking Xindu, then Mianzhu Pass would be a thorn in Gu Rubing's side. As long as Mianzhu Pass existed, Gu Rubing would not be able to fight Cao Cao with all his might.

Seeing Xu Huang's insistence, Jiang Wei had no choice but to abandon the idea of ​​retreating, but now the lack of food supplies had become the latest problem.

All roads leading into the city for grain supplies were blocked.

If food supplies can't get in, the people inside will go hungry.

At this moment, not only Jiang Wei was anxious, but Cao Cao was also anxious.

Cao Cao also realized that Xu Huang's decision not to withdraw was for the sake of the front lines, and he was very satisfied with Xu Huang's actions. However, the supplies could not be transported in, and Cao Cao did not know how long the people inside Mianzhu Pass could hold out.

Ultimately, Cao Cao made a decision.

Cao Cao concentrated all his troops in Xindu and entrusted the defense of the city to Cao Ren. He even transferred tens of thousands of new soldiers from Chengdu to reinforce Xindu.

Cao Cao, on the other hand, headed to Jiaozhou.

Cao Cao had already completely ended Liu Zhang and Sun Jian's plan to use him as a pawn.

But now that Gu Rubing's army is pressing in, he has no choice but to seek help from Liu Zhang again.

This time, it wasn't that he wanted to be a pawn, but that Gu Rubing was forcing him to be one.

Gu Rubing did not intend to continue attacking Xindu, but instead set his sights on Mianzhu Pass.

Xu Huang made many judgments. If Mianzhu Pass was not resolved, Gu Rubing would have no way to deal with the new capital.

Ten days later.

Cao Cao finally arrived at Jiaozhi Commandery.

Upon learning of Cao Cao's arrival, Liu Zhang immediately understood the meaning behind Cao Cao's visit.

Liu Zhang had also heard about the situation in Yizhou, and Surena was certain that Cao Cao would return to seek help within twenty days.

Sure enough, Cao Cao arrived in less than half a month.

However, Liu Zhang decided to leave Cao Cao out of the loop for a while. After all, if they came too easily, Cao Cao wouldn't cherish it and would always be thinking of getting rid of their control.

Cao Cao understood Liu Zhang's idea, so he simply waited outside.

after one day.

Only then did Liu Zhang welcome Cao Cao into his residence.

"Your Majesty, I am truly sorry. My subordinates just reported your arrival, but something came up that delayed us. I hope Your Majesty will not mind."

Cao Cao simply smiled and shook his head.

"I wonder what brings the King of Wei here to me this time?"

"I'm here to save you!"

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang's eyes widened immediately.

Anyone with a brain knows that Cao Cao came here to ask for help, so how did he end up saving himself?

Even though I'm relatively weak, I don't think I'm stupid enough to be a fool, do I?
Liu Zhang curled his lip.

“King Wei, if that’s your opinion, then let’s call it quits.”

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao smiled and nodded, then turned to leave.

"Wait a moment."

Seeing that Cao Cao actually made the request, Liu Zhang hurriedly stopped Cao Cao from leaving.

"King Wei, excuse me, but I still have a question. You came here today for the matter of Yizhou, right? Liu Bei is pressing forward relentlessly, and your front lines are suffering repeated defeats and your troops are almost exhausted. Didn't you come here this time to request reinforcements?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao smiled and shook his head.

"I'm here to save you."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang frowned.

It's one thing to treat yourself like a fool once, but why do you get used to it?

Thinking of this, Liu Zhang decided to stop hiding his intentions and looked at Cao Cao.

"Fine, you say you're here to save me? I'd like to see what I need you to save me from."

“It’s very simple. As you know, Liu Bei is pressing me relentlessly, and he’s about to take over my Yizhou.”

"That's right, isn't this what you came for?"

Cao Cao nodded, then said seriously, "Yes, but have you considered that the current target is Yizhou? Once Yizhou is occupied by Liu Bei, who do you think his target will be?"

"Yes……"

Liu Zhang was about to say it was himself, but he quickly realized that he was definitely the next target.

No matter what, Liu Bei could never surpass himself and attack the distant Sun Jian.

Even the powerful Cao Cao couldn't stop Liu Bei, so he certainly couldn't stop him either.

Seeing Liu Zhang's expression, Cao Cao knew that Liu Zhang had realized what was going on, and then continued, "That's right, you're next. So if Yizhou lives, you can live; if Yizhou dies, you will surely die. Don't you understand the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'?"

"I……"

Liu Zhang was speechless for a moment, not knowing what Cao Cao's purpose was, but he felt that what Cao Cao said actually made some sense.

This made Liu Zhang feel like he had suffered a loss he couldn't speak of.

Upon seeing Liu Zhang's appearance, Cao Cao couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He had no way to deal with Gu Rubing, but he was more than capable of fooling a nobody like Liu Zhang.

Wanting Liu Zhang's support was a last resort, but it was absolutely impossible for him to be completely controlled by it.

Seeing that Liu Zhang remained silent, Cao Cao immediately pressed his advantage. "My lord, if you don't understand what I'm saying, you can think about it from another perspective. In the current situation, I know I can't hold onto Yi Province. If I continue to fight Liu Bei, I will gain nothing, and the outcome will remain unchanged. So I'm preparing to take my remaining tens of thousands of troops and go directly into Jiao Province. You shouldn't have any objections, right?"

"What? Enter Jiaozhou?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang panicked completely.

What a joke! I'm already no match for Liu Bei. If Cao Cao really comes to Jiaozhou, won't I become Cao Cao's subordinate again?
The power they had painstakingly built up was about to benefit Cao Cao again?

No, absolutely not!
Liu Zhang had made up his mind.

"King Wei, what are you saying? How could I possibly ignore the situation in Yizhou? I have already prepared a large army, ready to support you at any time. Rest assured. In addition, I will also help you contact the King of Wu, who will also provide you with troops and provisions as support."

Upon seeing this, Cao Cao immediately smiled and nodded, while patting Liu Zhang and his gang, praising Liu Zhang for being pragmatic.

Soon, Cao Cao, with the 100,000-strong army that Liu Zhang had prepared for him, slowly left Jiaozhou.

Cao Cao's words were still echoing in Liu Zhang's mind.

Is it really to help me?
Seeing Liu Zhang's expression, Su Leina sighed; he no longer knew what to say.

If Liu Zhang hadn't had such incompetent generals, with only Yan Yan possessing any real ability, he would have already led his troops into Yizhou and seized the remaining territory of Cao Cao.

Cao Cao is now at his weakest point. Once he recovers, he will definitely not give them such a good opportunity.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhang's troops were really not very good.

Gu Rubing hadn't expected that he still hadn't solved the problem of Mianzhu Pass.

Cao Cao had already entered the new capital with 100,000 troops.

Looking at the intelligence in his hand, Gu Rubing felt somewhat helpless. However, if he could capture Jiang Wei, Guo Huai, and Xu Huang inside Mianzhu Pass, it wouldn't be a complete loss.

Cao Cao did indeed have troops at his disposal; he had already mustered nearly 150,000 soldiers in the new capital.

Moreover, there is Sun Jian's follow-up support. Although it is unknown how much, it will definitely not be less than 100,000.

But Cao Cao still couldn't resolve the situation at Mianzhu Pass.

It has been nearly twenty days since Mianzhu Pass was besieged, and the people inside the pass have run out of ammunition and food.

Many soldiers were so hungry they could not stand up.

Seeing his soldiers in such a state, Jiang Wei lost all hope of breaking through the encirclement.

Now, once the city gates are opened, who knows how many people will rush to Liu Bei's camp and surrender immediately.

Thinking of this, Jiang Wei immediately went to find Xu Huang.

"General, have the lord's reinforcements not arrived yet?"

"No, but according to the message sent by our lord, he has borrowed 100,000 troops. Now there are 150,000 troops in the new capital. Our lord has stabilized the situation, and it is time for us to break out."

However, as soon as Xu Huang finished speaking, Jiang Wei stopped him and pulled him onto the city wall.

Seeing the soldiers who were already too weak to move from hunger, and with the aroma of meat wafting from them, it was clear that Gu Rubing had done this on purpose.

The smell was so enticing that even Xu Huang, let alone the soldiers, couldn't resist it.

"General, we no longer have the ability to break out. The soldiers are too weak to fight. Moreover, they would rather lay down their weapons and surrender to Liu Bei's army to eat meat."

Jiang Wei rose through the ranks from the bottom, and although his rise was somewhat rapid, he understood the thoughts of the lower-ranking soldiers to some extent.

These people come here simply to get a meal and ensure their families have food. If they weren't starving and their families were starving, who would come here? Going to the battlefield means death.

It's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death; everyone understands this saying.

But nowadays, they can't even guarantee their most basic food and clothing, so naturally not many people really want to follow them anymore.

Seeing this, Xu Huang sighed and returned to the hall.

"Boyo, do you have any ideas now?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wei smiled helplessly.

He had a plan to break through the encirclement with everyone, but Xu Huang disagreed.

Now, more than twenty days have passed, and Liu Bei's army has long since surrounded the entire Mianzhu Pass. Even if I had extraordinary abilities, it would be impossible for me to bring the people out completely.

Seeing Jiang Wei shake his head, Xu Huang sighed and said nothing more, only sitting in his chair and waiting quietly.

Cao Cao knew that Mianzhu Pass could not hold out for much longer, and he was very anxious.

Urged on by Cao Cao, Xun Yu came up with a solution that was hardly a solution at all.

"My lord, we now have 150,000 troops, while Liu Bei and his men, after this great battle, originally only had 100,000 troops, and now they should have less than 70,000. Why don't we use these 150,000 troops to open a road and help the people from Limaina at Mianzhu Pass to come out?"

Although Xun Yu's method was not very good, it was still an opportunity.

However, the losses incurred may be greater than those suffered by the 30,000 people inside Mianzhu Pass.

However, what Cao Cao was worried about was never the 30,000 men in the city, but Xu Huang, Jiang Wei, and Guo Huai.

These three people are far more important than those 30,000 soldiers.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao came up with a plan.

Cao Cao then ordered the Xiahou brothers to lead an army of 50,000 to attack Mianzhu City.

At least some of Gu Rubing's troops will be drawn back.

This will also reduce some of the pressure on subsequent actions.

After receiving their orders, the Xiahou brothers immediately led an army of 50,000 towards Mianzhu City.

Upon receiving the news, Gu Rubing immediately dispatched 30,000 troops to defend Mianzhu City.

"Now that Cao Cao has troops, he wants to recover lost territory. Does he really think that he can take Mianzhu City with 50,000 troops?"

Gu Rubing gave a cold laugh.

Lu Su looked at the map, still somewhat doubtful about Cao Cao's goals.

Given Cao Cao's character, the city of Mianzhu was no match for the 30,000 soldiers and three generals inside Mianzhu Pass.

Why are people being sent to Mianzhu City instead of Mianzhu Pass?
"My lord, Cao Cao's intentions are questionable. We should be careful."

Gu Rubing nodded.

He had already guessed what Cao Cao was planning to do.

However, he wasn't in a hurry; he had made ample preparations for this operation.

When Cao Cao learned that Gu Rubing had begun to defend Mianzhu City, a smile appeared on his lips.

He then looked at Cao Ren.

"You shall immediately lead 50,000 men to attack Jianwei County. You must take Jianwei County for me. If that is not possible, at least take one city to use as our stronghold."

"Yes!"

Cao Ren didn't know what Cao Cao wanted to do, so he could only nod in agreement.

When Gu Rubing learned that Cao Cao had actually sent someone to Jianwei County, his expression immediately changed.

In preparation for Cao Cao's impending attack on Mianzhu Pass, Gu Rubing had a backup plan: he ordered Deng Ai to lead 50,000 troops to reinforce Mianzhu Pass. (End of Chapter)