Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 240 Pang Tong's Strategy

"Retreat!" After firing another wave of arrows, Chen Dao suddenly waved his hand, and then all the crossbowmen began to retreat in an orderly manner, avoiding the enemy from both sides, bypassing Xuchang City and began to retreat to the west.

"What's going on?" Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun were puzzled when they saw that the crossbowmen who were still desperately blocking them just now withdrew like this.But the little soldiers couldn't care less about these. Without the dreadful rain of arrows, they only needed to cross the few trenches in front to successfully complete their set goal and enter Xuchang City.

"Strange, it's too strange to withdraw!" Cao Cao muttered to himself on the head of Xuchang City, and Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun under the city also looked at each other in blank dismay.However, the urgent military situation did not allow them to hesitate for too long. After sending scouts to make sure that there was nothing unusual around them, Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun carefully commanded the army and slowly moved towards Xuchang City.After they arrived at the city, Cao Cao ordered the gates to be opened and the army to enter.

"Father!" After seeing Cao Cao who had been separated for several months, Cao Pi and Cao Zhang were already sobbing. "Zihuan, Zihe, why pretend to be such a child!" Although Cao Cao was teaching his son, the comforting meaning in his words was obvious.After being besieged for a long time, his son was rescued. Rao Cao Cao, the first traitor, couldn't help but feel agitated.

"King Wei, I begged King Wei to forgive me for being late for rescue!" Then came Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun and others, and Cao Cao comforted them one by one.At this time, Xiahou Dun hesitated for a while, but still gritted his teeth and said, "King Wei, Mr. Feng Xiao passed away a month ago!"

"What?" Cao Cao felt dizzy for the rest of his life when he heard the news suddenly, and he almost couldn't stand still.Everyone hurriedly helped Cao Cao to sit down in the hall, panting for a long time, Cao Cao stopped Cao Pi who was about to call for a doctor, and asked calmly, "Zi Huan, how did Feng Xiao get there?"

"Mr. Feng Xiao is sick from overwork!" Cao Pi said with a sad face, and then told the story of Guo Jia's sickness and expedition to Liaodong until his death, and the plan he left behind to help the army cross the river.Of course Cao Cao and others sighed when they heard it, even Xiahou Dun and others who already knew about it also sighed after hearing Cao Pi's talk.

"Feng Xiao is dead, and I will be mourned today!" Cao Cao was stunned for a while, then suddenly yelled, and then fell down on the table and fell unconscious. Everyone panicked and called a doctor to check.

A group of doctors jointly treated the patients for about half an hour before leaving the room sweating profusely.Everyone knew about Cao Cao's condition. It was purely because he was so emotional after hearing the bad news that he had a relapse of his head and wind, and then he fainted suddenly.Now after the treatment of a group of doctors, it has finally stabilized.It is estimated that after a few more hours of coma, he will be able to recover, and everyone is relieved after hearing this.

When Cao Cao woke up, it was already night.Opening his eyes with some difficulty, Cao Cao felt a bit bitter in his mouth, knowing that he had already taken the medicine.Lifting his spirits, he hummed a few words, and Cao Pi and Cao Zhang, who were sitting aside and dozed off, quickly moved after hearing the sound.

"Is father better?" Cao Zhang hurriedly stepped forward and asked, while Cao Pi put a soft cushion behind Cao Cao and helped him sit up. "It's much better for my father, Zihe, how is the military situation now?" Cao Cao shook his head lightly, quickly adjusted his state, and began to ask Cao Pi's military situation.

"It's very strange. Liu Bei has disappeared since I entered the city. Uncle Yuan Rang has sent scouts to patrol a radius of [-] miles, but he has not seen a single soldier of Liu Bei!" Cao Zhang said in disbelief.He is also a person who has fought in battle, but he has never seen such a large retreat for no reason, and his instinct tells him that Liu Bei is going to play a conspiracy.

"Understood, call Wenhe over!" Cao Cao said flatly.This kind of thing is not something that Cao Pi and Cao Zhang can solve. We still need to discuss with Jia Xu to see what kind of trick Liu Bei is trying to do.

After Jia Xu got the money, Cao Cao had returned to normal, but he still sat on the bed to meet Jia Xu. "Wenhe, what do you think of Liu Bei's sudden withdrawal?" Cao Cao asked directly after signaling Jia Xu to excuse him.

"There must be fraud!" Jia Xu said very bluntly.

"Why?" Cao Cao asked a little playfully.

"After we received reinforcements from General Zixiao and others, although we had no less than 20 troops, it's just that this place is very close to Liu Bei's hinterland, so he can mobilize a large army to fight us to the death. Now that we have to withdraw in a hurry, there must be fraud here!" Jia Xu said calmly.

"I've also thought about it, if this is the case, Wenhe, how do you think Liu Bei will cheat?" Cao Cao continued to ask, frowning slightly.

"This, Xu really doesn't know!" Jia Xu sighed.If you can even think of this, then Jia Xu is really more than a magic stick.Cao Cao nodded, and then asked, "Wen He, in your opinion, what should we do now?"

Jia Xu was silent for a while, and finally said: "From Xu's point of view, it is not the best policy for me to wait for Liu Bei in Xuchangkong. There are still hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Hebei, and Yuan Tan has already been executed, so he has no worries. Now We can wait until the lord recovers from his illness, or take the initiative to attack with the army, and after forcing out Liu Bei's main force, we can fight to the death with him; or we can return to Hebei with safety as the top priority, and then make plans!"

"That's not bad!" Cao Cao nodded.Now Cao Cao thought for a while, but still hesitated.There is no other reason: Xuchang Cao Cao can't afford to lose it, but he can't afford to keep it either.

Right now Cao Cao is in Henan, and with Xu Huang's 20 defenders in Shanyang, there are only about [-] troops.If you return to Hebei, it is of course very safe.But after he was defeated and besieged for several months, not to mention heavy losses, low morale was inevitable.In addition, Liu Bei has been besieging the city for a long time, and Xuchang has insufficient food and grass. Therefore, even if soldiers are left to garrison after withdrawing the troops, I am afraid that Xuchang may not be able to keep Xuchang.

But even if he couldn't afford it, Cao Cao couldn't just lose Xu Chang.Not only for his own military interests, but also for the hearts of the people under his rule.Although Cao Cao is dominant in Hebei, most of the civil and military officials who assisted him in making a fortune, such as the Xun brothers and the Xiahou clan, are from Yanzhou and Yuzhou.Since these people joined forces with Cao Cao more than ten years ago, due to the rampant thieves in Yuzhou at that time, their clan children all moved to live in relatively peaceful Yanzhou.Now if Cao Cao abandons Xuchang and leaves, then Liu Bei can calmly attack Yanzhou from Jingzhou, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou.Cao Cao didn't want to repeat the tragedy of being ransacked by Zhao Feng ten years ago.

It's contradictory and ironic.Xuchang, which was originally of great strategic significance to Cao Cao, was turned into a chicken rib because of Sima Yi's clever strategy this time.Cao Cao is neither defending nor abandoning.The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.

Looking at Jia Xu, who was noncommittal and waiting for him to make up his mind, Cao Cao knew that Jia Xu was actually inclined to withdraw first.His first proposal to lure Liu Bei's main force to a decisive battle can be understood by anyone with a little brains. Cao Cao in this state is going to fight Liu Bei with a force that is not dominant. downwind.Cao Cao thought for a while, and still signaled Jia Xu to go down first, and he was going to discuss with Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun first to see what they could do.

But before Cao Cao's discussion came to a conclusion, this afternoon, Tan Ma, who had just returned from inquiring about the news, brought Cao Cao an astonishing news.

"What, Liu Bei's army has occupied Liang County?" Cao Cao wondered for a while when he heard the news.

"Exactly, before General Xiahou and General Cao came to Xuchang, Liu Bei's army withdrew their troops one after another and marched eastward. They took the Ru River and went straight into Liang County. They already occupied Liang County yesterday!" the scout said in a low voice.

"Didn't I also leave [-] defenders for Zhang Junyi to stay in Liang County? How could Liu Bei fall so soon?" Cao Ren couldn't help but said in amazement. Liang County was guarded by him. Something happened, and he couldn't afford the guilt.

"Mi Fang, Deputy General of Liang County, took advantage of General Zhang's unpreparedness and secretly opened the south gate to support Liu Bei to enter the city. General Zhang Jaw fought hard, but he still failed to hold the city. Now General Zhang has packed up his troops and went to Shanyang to join General Gongming. Already!" the scout said in a low voice.

"Mi Fang?" Cao Cao really couldn't laugh or cry when he heard the words. He raised his troops this time to make a fuss about him. He didn't expect that if the lie was repeated too much, it would become the truth. When Liu Bei's soldiers approached the city, Mi Fang, a soft bone, once again offered the city. It's really a retribution .However, Cao Cao also knew that after Cao Ren left, Zhang Jai relied on [-] defenders to stay in Liang County, and faced Liu Bei's hundreds of thousands of troops attacking the city, he might not be able to defend for long.At this moment, another detective came to report again.

"Report to the king of Wei, Li Tong, the general of Jingzhou, led an army of [-] from Wancheng to the north three days ago, and has already occupied Yiyang County!" This scouting brought another piece of even more puzzling news to Cao Cao.Yiyang County belongs to Sizhou, but the city wall there is low, and it is not a strategic location. Why would Li Tong go to fight there when he is really free?
"No, Liu Bei wants to split my army in Yanzhou!" Jia Xu said after looking at the map, his face suddenly changed drastically.

"Mr. Wenhe, what do you mean?" Cao Zhang hadn't turned his head, but Cao Cao's expression had changed.

"Everyone, please take a look!" Jia Xu pointed to the map and said to the crowd, "Now that Liu Bei has captured Liang Commandery, after occupying Yiyang, if we capture Chen Liu again, we will be completely stuck in Yingchuan, Xuchang. The eastward advance is blocked by Chenliu, and the westward advance is blocked by Yiyang. Liu Bei's army is on both sides of the east. In this way, Liu Bei does not need to fight hard. He only needs to wait for us to run out of food and grass, and the morale of the army is unstable. Victory!"

"What?" Cao Zhang's expression changed drastically when he heard the words, and he stared at the map for a long time before he said with some difficulty: "If that's the case, isn't it a big deal?"

"I'm afraid that may not be the case!" Cao Ren was much calmer than Cao Zhang. Pointing to Yiyang on the map, Cao Ren said, "Yiyang's city wall is small, and Li Tong's garrison is no more than [-]. Wait for me to send troops to attack." In a few days, we will be able to capture Yiyang and open up the road back to Sizhou! And Jingzhou’s troops and horses have already been dispatched by Guan Yu, so I’m afraid there will be no other soldiers and horses to reinforce Li Tong right now.”

"Yiyang is adjacent to Luoshui, which is convenient for Liu Bei's navy. Although the former Guandu was defeated, Gan Ning went upstream to the hinterland of Sizhou. Now he may have entered Luoshui and assisted Li Tong in guarding Yiyang." Jia Xu sighed. road.In fact, as Jia Xu said, this is the strategy that Pang Tong quickly drew up for Liu Bei after he heard that Gan Ning was defeated. Cao Cao's cage was changed from Xuchang to Yingchuan.At this time, Liu Bei was personally leading an army to attack Jiyin.Once you take Jiyin, you can take Dongjun directly, and divide Cao Cao's territory south of the Yellow River into three parts. From east to west, they are Xuhuang in Shanyang, Chenliu and Yingchuan counties in the middle. , and the counties of Henan in the west.

(End of this chapter)