Le Jin was defeated in Pei City. Not only was the food and grass burned, but even the eldest son Cao Ang, who was protected by him, was beheaded. He was embarrassed and angry and wanted to apologize for his death.

Fortunately, Le Jin's personal companion hurriedly dissuaded him, which made Le Jin give up the idea of ​​suicide.

So Le Jin decided to take the remaining troops to Pengcheng and apologize to Cao Cao in person. Along the way, Le Jin ordered people to burn all these villages to vent their anger.

Le Jin led more than 200 remaining troops and galloped non-stop along the way, and finally arrived at the Cao army camp in Pengcheng at the time of dusk.

At this moment, Cao Cao, who was in the big tent, was also full of fire.

During the day, he launched three consecutive attacks on Pengcheng, almost capturing Pengcheng three times, but in the end he was counterattacked by Xuzhou soldiers, resulting in his three attacks being futile, and instead, three thousand soldiers were killed. How could he not get angry?

Cao Cao wore a battle helmet, a long robe on his shoulders, a fur collar around his neck, a mail in his inner body, and his pants were hanging down. He sat in the middle of the military tent. His physique was short and not eye-catching, but his eyes that were sometimes narrowed into two slits revealed the cruel and ruthless nature in his heart, making him feel murderous intent, which made people dare not underestimate him.

"Since our army entered Xuzhou, we have played triumphant songs all the way, but we didn't expect that in the past two days, a small Pengcheng blocked our way. Three strong attacks today ended in failure, causing our army to suffer heavy losses. I don't believe it, I can't even capture a small Pengcheng!" Cao Cao raised his hand angrily, clapped his palms on the several tables in front of him, and shook some of the things placed on the tables to the point of being staggered.

On both sides of the tent were filled with people. Cao Cao sat a group of strategists on his right and a group of military generals on his left. After hearing Cao Cao's words, his face was dull, and his head was drooping, without saying a word.

At this time, the roller shutter of the big tent was lifted open, and a big man walked in from outside. The man was nine feet tall, with a cold face, burly figure, long arms and huge hands, and a pair of iron halberds behind him. His muscles were scattered all over his body, full of explosive power. It was Cao Cao's personal guard Dian Wei.

Seeing Dian Wei coming in from outside, Cao Cao asked loudly: "What's the matter?"

Dian Wei bowed and said, "Your lord, Le Jin is looking for a meeting outside the tent."

"Wen Qian? He is not in Peicheng to protect the food and grass, what does it come from?" Cao Cao said in confusion.

"I don't know." Dian Wei said.

"Let him come in!" Cao Cao waved his hand.

"Here!" Dian Wei responded and turned around and came out of the big tent.

Soon, Le Jin walked in from outside the tent, and was injured in many parts of his body, covered in blood, and emitted a strong smell of blood. As soon as he entered the tent, he immediately fell to the ground.

Before Le Jin could speak, Cao Cao frowned. Seeing Le Jin like this, he immediately felt an ominous premonition in his heart. He suddenly stood up and asked sternly: "Is something wrong with Peicheng?"

Le Jin nodded quickly and cried in tears: "The general was negligent and was attacked by Xuzhou soldiers. All the food and grass stockpiled in Peicheng were burned down, and even the eldest son......"

With a "boom", Cao Cao's mind seemed to be in an uproar. Seeing Le Jin hesitating, he hurriedly asked: "Tell me quickly, what's wrong with Zi Xiu?"

"The eldest son...he was beheaded..."

"ah--"

Cao Cao was furious and pulled out the Yitian Sword worn by his waist, slashed down with one sword, and split the several cases in front of him in half. He walked to Le Jin with great strides, put the Yitian Sword on Le Jin's neck, and shouted hysterically: "The food and grass were burned down, Zi Xiu was killed, do you still have the face to come back?"

"I knew that I could not escape the death penalty. I wanted to commit suicide, but when I thought that my lord didn't know about Peicheng, I came back to die for the lord!" Le Jin burst into tears, cried in tears, but looked fearless.

"You...you...I'll kill you!" Cao Cao was so angry that he waved his sword and slashed towards Le Jin.

Seeing this, Le Jin closed his eyes, stretched his neck, and let Cao Cao chop it.

Seeing that the Yitian Sword was about to hit Le Jin, a long sword suddenly appeared from the slanting point, directly blocking Cao Cao's Yitian Sword. The two swords collided and made a buzzing sound.

Cao Cao was shocked. Unexpectedly, someone dared to stop him and looked along the long sword. But when he saw that the person holding the long sword was Cao Ren, he hurriedly asked, "Zi Xiao! Do you dare to stop me?"

Cao Ren has a tall and slender figure, a straight nose, a beard on his lips, thick hair and dense beard, and a well-proportioned body.

Seeing Cao Cao getting angry, he hurriedly knelt on the ground, threw the sword in his hand down, and said with his fist: "Loss angry, our army is now at the moment of using people. Captain Le is brave and good at fighting, extremely courageous, and well-versed in military tactics. If he kills it, it would be a pity. It would be better to save his life and make contributions to the crime. Besides, Captain Le is not guilty of Captain Le. The lord did not expect that the Xuzhou soldiers dared to attack Peicheng. Captain Le was far away a hundred miles away. How could he think of the Xuzhou soldiers coming to attack the sneak attack on a long distance? The death of the eldest prince was indeed caused by Captain Le's unsafe protection. Captain Le also had an unshirkable responsibility, but the enemy was killed, not Captain Le. If the lord killed Captain Le, wouldn't it hit the enemy's mind? Please calm down and keep Captain Le's life!"

As soon as Cao Ren finished speaking, everyone in the tent pleaded with each other and said, "Please calm down and save the lord, and the Captain Le will live!"

Cao Cao frowned, and looked at Le Jin's body covered in scars, like a bloody man. After hearing Cao Ren's consolation, he also felt that it made sense. Moreover, Le Jin was indeed a general in his army. It would be a pity if he was killed.

He held the Yitian Sword and cut off the Helmet on Le Jin's helmet with one sword. He endured the pain of losing his son and said to Le Jin: "For the sake of the dissuasion of the generals, I will keep your life for the time being. I will be spared for the death penalty, but it is difficult to forgive the life penalty. You will be stripped of your position as a captain, demoted to a soldier, and made meritorious service."

"Thank you for not killing me. Jin is grateful!" Le Jin immediately thanked.

"Go out!" Cao Cao said coldly.

"Here!" Le Jin was lucky enough to die, and with gratitude in his heart, he slowly withdrew from the big tent.

"Fengxiao, how much food and grass are there in the army?" Cao Cao turned around and looked at the young scholar sitting in the first position on the right and asked.

The young scholar was about twenty-three or four years old. He looked gentle and delicate, his body was slightly thin, and he looked a little weak. However, under his clear eyebrows, he was a pair of shiny and gem-like eyes, his bright eyes, and his broad forehead showed wisdom beyond ordinary people. In his calmness, he faintly carried a melancholy expression that could touch anyone, but it also made people feel that the feelings were elusive.

This person is Cao Cao's chief clerk, Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao.

When Guo Jia heard Cao Cao ask about food and grass, he hesitated for a moment before answering: "Report to the lord, there is not much food and grass left in the army, and it can last for up to five days."

After hearing this, Cao Cao frowned and stopped saying a word.

The tent suddenly fell into silence. After a long time, Cao Cao spoke: "Fengxiao, in this situation, where should our army go?"

Guo Jia thought for a moment before answering: "Reported to the lord, the city of Pengcheng is strong, and our army has been attacked for two consecutive days but cannot conquer it. Now the food and grass are burned down again. If we continue to stay in Xuzhou, it will be very unfavorable to our army. It is better to retreat to Yanzhou for the time being, reorganize the troops, and then conquer Xuzhou after the beginning of spring next year."

Cao Cao was walking in the tent, thinking for a while, then said: "Tomorrow, we will launch a fierce attack on Pengcheng. If we can capture Pengcheng, we will plunder the food of the people in the city and continue to conquer Xuzhou until we capture Tao Qian and wipe out the entire Xuzhou. If we can't capture it, it will not be too late for our army to withdraw its troops back to Yanzhou."

...

The hazy sky is shrouded in a thick layer of dark clouds, and the north wind is sweeping snowflakes, flying freely between the sky and the earth.

Zhang Yan led more than 2,000 Danyang troops back on the same road and walked to the vicinity of Liu County. He encountered wind and snow. In addition, the sky was getting darker, and everyone was trapped and exhausted. He had to stop moving forward and rest in Liu County for a while.

As soon as everyone entered Liuxian County, they saw a miserable state. The county was in a mess, and the bodies were scattered in every corner of the county town.

The men and women in the city, both young and old, were lying in pools of blood. What was even more terrifying was that the ground was full of headless corpses, and their heads were cut off.

There are also many women's bodies that are even more miserable. They are naked and slapped on their backs. Some are cut into the room, some are cut into the stomach, and some are still arrows inserted in their lower bodies. You can imagine how cruel the person who killed them is.

This was atrocities committed by Cao's army in Liu County four days ago. Due to the cold weather, the corpses in the city were covered with thick layers of frost, and there was no sign of decay.

Zhang Yan hated Cao's army's behavior of killing and burying is very much. If it were in the hot summer, so many corpses were exposed to the sun without being buried, they would definitely rot. What's more terrible is that they might also turn into epidemics.

He ordered the soldiers to dig a large pit in the open space on the northeast side of Liuxian County, lifted all the bodies in the city and threw them into the pit for burial. At least this could be considered as the deceased people buried.

After finishing the burial work, Zhang Yan and others were already exhausted. They simply ate some dry food they carried with them and found some ruins in Liuxian County and spent the night for the time being.

There was no more people within a radius of dozens of miles. On this land without vitality and full of blood, there were only a few dogs left that fled and ran back. They were guarding the dead owner and shouting, showing their loyalty and grief.

Tonight, they can rest here with confidence without worrying about someone coming to attack.
Chapter completed!