Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 867 The Situation is Inexplicable

As Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and Xi Zhong had expected, Cao Cao turned back and attacked Xianyang City. Gao Shun, who had just started attacking the city, immediately led his troops to retreat without hesitation when he saw Cao's army coming back.

It was already dark at that time, and Cao Cao was afraid that Gao Shun had an ambush, so he did not pursue him any further and immediately led his troops into Xianyang City to rest.

In a bedroom somewhere in the county government, Cao Cao lay lazily on the couch with his eyes closed and fingers clasped together.

In front of the collapsing body, only Guo Jia stood respectfully by the side. The two of them did not speak for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, Cao Cao suddenly sighed. Guo Jia's expression froze and his body became straighter.

"Tell me... how did Liu He find out that our army's food and fodder were stored here? The food transport team acted very cautiously, and the fake granary was making a big fuss, attracting attention. Moreover, the food and fodder were transported here only three days before the battle yesterday. Does Liu He's intelligence agency really have such extraordinary power?"

Although the tone of these words was somewhat weak, Guo Jia knew that Cao Cao intended to kill him.

"My lord, I wandered around the two largest brothels in the city last night, and today I went to three large restaurants, and indeed I found something strange."

Cao Cao's eyes suddenly opened half a bit: "Tell me in detail."

Guo Jia said: "More than ten days ago, several caravans came to the city. They were from all over the country and different places. It was a common thing. However, after a few days, most of these caravans had left, but there was one caravan that stayed in the city."

Hearing this, Cao Cao immediately sat up and stared at Guo Jia: "Liu He's spy?"

"My lord, you are wise. That's right." Guo Jia continued, "According to the waiter in the restaurant and the girls in the brothel, the boss of this caravan and his two followers are very generous. Every time they go to the brothel, they reward each girl with one or two gold bars. They claim to be in the silk business and speak with a Jizhou accent. There is nothing unusual. It's just..."

"Just what?" Cao Cao asked.

"But according to my investigation, no matter they go to a brothel or a restaurant, they always choose a room or private room with a view of the city gate. After questioning the servants and girls, I learned that every time they drink or have fun, they will sit by the window for a long time, holding a pot of wine, quietly looking out, saying that they are away from home and miss their hometown. This caravan stayed in the city for more than ten days and only left three days ago."

"Hehe..." Cao Cao snorted coldly.

"Great! Great! Liu He's tactics are both admirable and frightening. I'm afraid that wherever our army marches, there are spies everywhere in the surrounding cities. It's even possible that in addition to the caravan you discovered, there may be other spies sneaking in. It's really hard to guard against. No wonder he knows everything our army does."

"May I ask, lord, do you want to seal off all the cities in Yanzhou and not allow anyone to enter or leave?"

Guo Jia's words made Cao Cao fall into brief contemplation, and then he suddenly smiled.

"That's not necessary. Since Liu He wants to know everything about me, then let him know. What else can that do?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia seemed to understand something and smiled as well.

In the Luoyang Palace, Xun Yu was holding an urgent report and reporting to Liu He. "In the battle of Runan, the outcome between our army and Cao's army was evenly matched. Cao's army was stationed in various places in Runan, and our army retreated to Yingchuan and Chenliu. Both sides held the fortresses. General Zhang Yong was seriously injured and had been in a coma for two days. He has now recovered, but he still needs to rest for more than a month before he can recover."

Liu He said, "Mr. Hua Tuo is old, so it is inconvenient for him to go to Yingchuan for treatment. However, his disciple Li Dangzhi has learned four or five points of the true teachings. I have ordered him to go to Xuchang today."

"According to the order."

After Xun Yu wrote it down, he continued to report: "In Xuzhou, Liu Bei led his troops to attack Pengcheng. Unexpectedly, Cao Ren, who was originally heading to attack Donghai County, suddenly appeared behind Liu Bei's army. Liu Bei fought hard for a day and retreated. However, Cao Ren's army also lost nearly half of its troops and entered Pengcheng to rest. Generals Yu Jin and Li Dian attacked Donghai County but were blocked by Jiang Huan. Jiang Huan defeated the two with 30,000 troops and almost killed Yu Jin himself. When the two generals fled in panic, they learned that Guangling County had been captured by Shen Pei and Taishi Ci. The two led the remaining troops and stationed in Xiapi."

Liu He understood everything. "The battle of Xuzhou was a loss for both sides. Liu Bei didn't have many troops to begin with. After this battle, it will take at least a year for him to recover. Cao Cao has many soldiers and generals, so he doesn't care about these tens of thousands of soldiers. But he lost Guangling County. I'm afraid Pengcheng and Xiapi will sooner or later fall into Liu Bei's hands."

Xun Yu replied: "This Jiang Huan is quite capable. Although he has Tian Feng and Shen Pei to advise him, it is rare for him to have such ability to lead troops."

Liu He nodded. Jiang Huan now has a command of 84. Among the generals who have appeared now, he is enough to rank in the top ten.

"Haha, I didn't expect that in this war, all parties suffered heavy losses, and in the end, Liu Bei benefited from it."

Liu He seemed to speak with some self-mockery.

Xun Yu said: "Liu Bei always has a pretext for his actions and speaks with righteousness, just like a king's army. However, whenever the court is in danger, he has many excuses to avoid it. Once he takes action, he can always get some benefits for himself. It seems that he is not completely in the same mind with Your Majesty and the court."

Liu He nodded, "Of course I know this. However, he is bound by the laws and righteousness of the court, and he has been won over by the support and support he received. Even if he has some selfish motives, he dare not, and he does not have the strength to be my enemy. No matter what his purpose is, he will always work with the court to deal with Cao Cao, so I don't need to be so picky. I might as well give him more rewards, so that the people of the world can see how to choose between submitting to the court and being my enemy."

"Your Majesty is wise. I will draft an order later."

After Xun Yu finished speaking, he took out the third urgent report: "Sun Jian personally led the army to attack Changsha County, but suffered setbacks for several days. Later, Cai Mao led the navy to attack Chaisang, but was defeated by Zhou Yu with only 2,000 naval forces, shocking the areas of Jing and Yang. The morale of the Eastern Wu army was greatly boosted, and Changsha was captured in just one day. The prefect Han Xuan broke out of the siege under the bloody battle of his general Huang Zhong."

"Oh?" Liu He twisted his head slightly: "Where did Huang Zhong go?"

Xun Yu was a little surprised when he heard this. He was surprised that the one who escaped was obviously the Changsha Prefect Han Xuan, so why did Liu He only care about an old general under his command?

But he did not ask any more questions, but answered respectfully: "They went west."

"West..." Liu He looked out the window.

"The situation in this world is quite interesting..."

(End of this chapter)