After taking the small town of Hulu, the Xuzhou army, which had prepared for three days to attack the city, rested for another three days and three nights, and then slowly marched northwest to attack the important town of Changyi where Cao's army was heavily stationed.

The Japanese march was only thirty miles, relying on the Surabaya waterway to march cautiously, step by step, and fight steadily - Deputy Director Tao would be crazy to march in a hurry to seek a quick battle.

As a standard good father-in-law in the Three Kingdoms era, Sangong Da Yuan's reaction did not surprise his son-in-law, Deputy Director Tao. Even though he had already received his son-in-law's request to send troops - Sangong Da Yuan always stood still and did not respond to his son-in-law's request for war horse assistance.

There was no response to his request, as if he had stayed out of the matter, hiding in the luxurious Yehou Mansion and watching the fight between his son-in-law and Boss Cao coldly.

The leader of the alliance against Cao, Dayuan Sangong, has not yet seen any action. Of course, the voices within the Xuzhou army are quite dissatisfied. However, Deputy Director Tao did not complain at all about this. He also comforted his generals and expressed his belief that Lord Yue Zhang would send troops as soon as possible.

In response, Deputy Director Tao joined forces with the Xuzhou army to attack in a pincer attack. In private, Deputy Director Tao kept sending letters requesting Yuan Sangong to send troops as soon as possible, and his tone was constantly anxious, vaguely showing timidity and guilt, fearing that his lone army would not be a match for Cao's army.

Five days later, the Xuzhou army crossed the two cities of Fangyu and Jinxiang, which were abandoned in the war, and set up camp twenty miles away from Changyi City, and began to make preparations to attack Changyi City. Changyi guard Cao Chun kept Cao Chun in mind.

The boss warned that they only closed the city gates to strengthen the city defense and did not lead the army out of the city to fight in the field. The two armies were in peace for the time being. On the same night, Cao Cao's secret envoy Dong Cao Maojie of the Prime Minister also secretly came to the Xuzhou camp to request.

I met with Deputy Director Tao and got permission.

Although he knew that Deputy Director Tao would never have the guts to fight Boss Cao to the end, the situation was here. Mao Jie, who wanted to seek help from Deputy Director Tao, still did not dare to show any slightness in his words, let alone point out Deputy Director Tao to his face.

Sending troops to Yanzhou was just to perfunctory and lure Sangong Dayuan. In the conversation with Deputy Director Tao, he only tried to persuade Deputy Director Tao with cold words, and persuaded Deputy Director Tao to change sides and join forces with Cao Jun to fight against Sangong Dayuan, who was the most powerful in the world.

He promised to give half of Jizhou and the entire Qingzhou to Deputy Director Tao after the event was completed, so that the two armies of Cao and Tao would forever form an alliance and would never invade each other.

In addition, Mao Jie repeatedly hinted to Deputy Director Tao that the terms of the alliance could be negotiated, but Deputy Director Tao remained unmoved at all. He just shook his head and refused, and plausibly said: "You should send troops this time not for yourself, but for yourself.

It was for the sake of the country that Cao Mengde deceived the emperor and ignored his superiors. He ruled with authority. The emperor's bloody edict ordered the princes of the world to raise troops to conquer. As a minister of the Han Dynasty, he had to live in Han Dynasty. If he did not obey the holy order, he would join forces with the noble army to fight against the thieves.

Isn’t my father-in-law, Benchu ​​Gong, helping Zhou to do evil? Working as a villain for a tiger?"

"Are you, the traitor Tao, blushing when you say this?" Mao Jie murmured in his heart. He said, "Your Majesty, Yuan Shao is the rebel. The so-called blood edict in his hands has been refuted by the emperor, and he has personally proven it to be false.

Zhao: If you insist on sending troops to help him, then you are aiding Zhou and doing evil. Are you acting as an aide to a tiger?"

"Is the blood edict in the hands of the father-in-law a fake?" Deputy Director Tao asked with a sneer: "If the blood edict is fake, then after the emperor Yue Zhang spread the blood edict of the emperor to the world, why did Meng Degong execute the emperor in one breath?

Hundreds of the emperor's personal attendants ordered General Cao Hong to take over the imperial army and prohibit the emperor's relatives and clans from entering and exiting the palace? Why then issued a strict order threatening that anyone who visits the emperor without the permission of Duke Meng De will be executed, no matter who he is?"

Mao Jie was silent for a long time and then said: "Your Majesty, my lord also has good intentions. If your lord refuses to accept my lord's good intentions, then my lord can only accompany you to the end - I won't hide it from you,

My lord has already personally led 30,000 elite troops to march eastward to Changyi, and his coming here is just a courtesy first and then an army."

"Meng Degong personally came with 30,000 elite troops?" Deputy Director Tao laughed and said sarcastically: "Meng Degong is really courageous. The vanguard of the Jizhou army has already stationed in Liyang, Baima, Yanjin and Dongjun at the same time. Meng Degong still has the courage.

He personally led the army to Changyi, and his courage really made Ying admire him greatly."

"If you don't believe me, you can send someone to inquire." Mao Jie said slowly: "Based on the distance, the army led by my lord should have arrived in Jiyang today. It can reach Dingtao in two days. Tao Shijun

You can send someone to inquire."

Deputy Director Tao's pupils shrank suddenly, but he said with a smile on his face: "If this is really the case, that would be great. As a son-in-law, Ying has finally fulfilled his filial piety for his father-in-law at a critical moment."

"If Tao Shijun insists that the indecisive Yuan Shao can make up his mind so quickly, then Mao Jie has nothing to say." Mao Jie's acting skills are also quite good. He shook his head sadly, as if he felt sorry for Deputy Director Tao.

As if he was stubborn, Mao Jie raised his hands and said, "Thank you very much for your hospitality. If you don't mind, then Mao Jie will leave first."

"Mr. Xiaoxian, please go slowly. I think you still have military affairs, so I will see you off not far away. Come, please see Mr. Xiaoxian out of the camp."

Deputy Director Tao returned the courtesy with a smile, and ordered the guards in the tent to escort Mao Jie out of the camp for him. Mao Jie handed over his hand and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being verbose. My lord is very sincere in reconciling and forming an alliance with your army.

No matter when the envoy has figured it out, he can send an envoy to contact us, and our army will definitely welcome the envoy."

Deputy Director Tao didn't speak anymore. He just smiled and nodded, indicating that he understood. Mao Jie stopped talking and bowed his hands respectfully. When Mao Jie disappeared outside the tent, he was still smiling calmly.

Deputy Director Tao, however, was like a rabbit that had been shot. He immediately jumped to the map sand table next to the big tent, and began to find the location of Jiyang on the sand table, calculating the distance to Changyi. Next to him, Jia Lao Poison, Liu Ye

Chen Ying and others also came together and began to discuss with Deputy Director Tao that Boss Cao personally led the army to reinforce Changyi.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that Cao Cao personally led the army to reinforce Changyi." This was the conclusion Liu Ye came to, and then Liu Ye analyzed: "It has been two months since Yuan Shao sent out a message to attack Cao Cao, but he has always stood still. His intention is obviously to first

Let our army compete with Cao Cao's army, and then find an advantage. With Cao Cao's cunning, it is not difficult to see through Yuan Shao's intentions. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that Cao Cao will make a desperate move and lead his army to the southern front to deal with our army."

"Aren't Cao thieves afraid that Yuan Shao will take the opportunity to attack Xuchang?" Chen Ying asked: "Cao thieves personally led the army to save Changyi and resist our army. If the war drags on for a long time and Yuan Shao sends troops to the north again, Cao thieves will be attacked from both sides."

"Two possibilities." Liu Ye replied: "One is that Cao's thieves are looking for a quick victory, and the other is that Cao's thieves are here to intimidate our army and force our army to return to Xuzhou. Yuan Shaoqian was angry with us and took the opportunity to try to form an alliance with our army.

Resist Yuan - Judging from Mao Xiaoxian's tone, the second threat may be the biggest."

"Whether it's a threat or not, we must find out whether there is really an army coming to rescue Changyi. If so, we must also find out the situation of this team and whether it is led by Cao Cao himself." Deputy Director Tao pondered, and then

He told Liu Ye: "Mr. Ziyang, you will be personally responsible for this matter. You will send scouts to investigate. You must find out the situation of this supporting army."

"No." Liu Ye bowed and agreed, and then asked: "Lord, what about the preparations for attacking Changyi City? Do we need to suspend it?"

"No, continue to prepare, prepare with great fanfare." Deputy Director Tao shook his head decisively and snorted: "We must not show weakness at all. The tougher our army behaves now, the more the situation will develop in our army's favor.

!”

In the next few days, the Xuzhou army not only sent out a large number of scouts to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Cao Jun's reinforcements from the west, but also responded to Cao Jun's threats with a tough attitude in accordance with Deputy Director Tao's request, using wood transported from the Sishui River to build a large number of

siege weapons. They also specially built earth-carrying toad trucks for filling trenches - Huang Yueying invented a new weapon to bribe Deputy Director Tao. Then, under the instruction of Deputy Director Tao, he deliberately let

The soldiers practiced filling the trench with a toad truck in public in the field. It took only half an hour for the two toad trucks to fill a trench as wide and deep as the Changyi moat, which in turn intimidated Cao's troops in Changyi City.

I won’t say whether these actions of Deputy Director Tao scared Cao’s army, but Deputy Director Tao himself was frightened to death by Boss Cao - four days later, five scouts came to report, saying that it was

There is indeed a large number of Cao Jun troops advancing towards Changyi, numbering at least 30,000. They have already arrived at Dingtao City, whose name is very unlucky for Deputy Director Tao. What makes Deputy Director Tao even more frightened is that,

This Cao army is indeed carrying the banner of Boss Cao as prime minister!

In panic, Deputy Director Tao, who was far more protective of his life than ordinary people, could only divide 10,000 troops to station in the west of Changyi, build fortifications to prevent Cao Cao from unexpectedly launching a surprise attack, and at the same time began to plan the route and method of returning to Xuzhou. However,

What is quite surprising is that these 30,000 Cao troops stopped moving after they arrived at Dingtao City, a hundred miles away, and began to build camps and garrison troops outside Dingtao City - there were not enough troops to be stationed in the city. The result was like this.

Come on, Jia Laodu, who was three points ahead of the thousand-year-old fox, realized something was wrong and quickly went to Deputy Director Tao to express his opinion.

"My lord, I'm afraid that Dingtao's army may not be led by Cao Cao himself." Jia Laohu analyzed: "If Dingtao's army is really led by Cao Cao, then Cao Cao will definitely advance forward until he sets up camp under Changyi City to intimidate our army to retreat.

, it is also convenient to directly come forward to persuade the lord to join forces to attack Yuan, but the support army immediately stood still after arriving in Dingtao, and also built camps and fortifications as a long-term solution - this is very suspicious, the northern line of Yanzhou is in danger, how dare Cao Cao do whatever he wants

Wasting precious time?”

"Perhaps the thief Cao is trying to prevent me from jumping over the wall and really starting an all-out war with him, so he deliberately left room for relaxation." Deputy Director Tao was also very humble and used an idiom very appropriately.

"It is possible, but Xu thinks that we should send an envoy to visit Cao Cao to find out whether Cao Cao is really in the Dingtao army." Jia Laodu suggested: "Mao Jie said before that if the lord intends to form an alliance and reconcile,

, you can send envoys to contact you at any time. In this case, your lord may as well send your envoys to Dingtao to pay a visit to Cao Cao under the pretense of negotiating to exchange Cao Ang for your lord's brother, so that you can find out if Cao Cao is in the Dingtao army."

Of course, Jia Laopoison's suggestion played into the hands of Deputy Director Tao. At that time, Deputy Director Tao immediately sent Song Kai, a small diplomatic liar from Xuzhou, to follow the plan. However, when Song Kai came to Dingtao Cao Jun's camp to explain his intention, he had already returned from Changyi.

Mao Jie, the counselor of the Cao army who arrived in Dingtao, immediately understood Song Kai's intention and said to Liu Dai and Wang Zhong, who actually commanded the second-line Cao army: "The Tao thief is indeed treacherous. He is already worried about whether the prime minister is in the Dingtao army."

I doubt that the person who came to visit the Prime Minister is a fake, and I want to test whether the Prime Minister is here to see if it is true."

"How do you know this, sir?" Liu Dai, who was once the governor of Yanzhou and one of the eighteen princes who fought against Dong, asked in surprise.

"It's very simple." Mao Jie replied: "The Tao thief had previously sent Chen Qun, who was in charge of Xuzhou, to visit the prime minister in Xuchang and asked for the exchange of hostages from both sides. Now, although Chen Qun is still detained in Xuchang by the prime minister, the letters between Chen Qun and Tao thief

However, the communication was smooth and unhindered. Now that Tao has gone so far as to add another layer to the matter and send an envoy here to discuss the matter, he must be taking the opportunity to test whether the Prime Minister is here."

"In that case, how about we find an excuse to refuse on behalf of the Prime Minister?" Liu Dai asked again.

"No, the Tao thieves are extremely cunning. Jia Xu and Liu Ye are also wise men. If the Prime Minister refuses to meet, they will know that the Prime Minister is not here. Not only will they miss the Prime Minister's important events, but our army will also be in danger." Mao Jie shook his head.

, and then said with a smile: "But I have a plan, which can make the traitor Tao Ying believe that the prime minister is here and dare not take any action."

"Sir, what's your clever idea?" Liu Dai and Wang Zhong asked with great joy.

"It will be done in three steps." Mao Jie introduced: "In the first step, the two generals can send someone to inform Tao Thief's envoy that the Prime Minister is busy with military affairs and ask him to wait in the army for a while until the Prime Minister has finished his official duties.

If you have time to meet me again, I will be the envoy of the thieves for the time being."

"The second step is for the two generals to quickly go to the army to find a person who looks similar to the Prime Minister, bring him to me, and let me teach him how to deal with it."

"The third step is to wait until the sun is completely dark. Let the fake prime minister put on a brocade fox robe and make him look luxurious. Light less candles in the tent so that no one can see the fake prime minister's face clearly. Then I will escort him later.

The fake Prime Minister came out to meet Tao Zei’s envoy, and in a few words sent Tao Zei’s envoy back to Changyi to report the news. In this way, Tao Zei didn’t think that the Prime Minister was here?”

"Sir, great idea!"

Liu Dai and Wang Zhong clapped and laughed together, and then hurriedly went their separate ways. Wang Zhong went to receive Song Kai, a small diplomatic liar in Xuzhou. Liu Dai, who was very familiar with Boss Cao, went to the army to find soldiers who looked similar to Boss Cao, leaving them behind.

Xia Maojie sneered in the tent, "Tao Thief, don't you claim that you never fall into the trap? This time, I want to see if you fall into the trap or not!"
Chapter completed!