Cao Cao's choice was not wrong, but he should not underestimate Fang Zhiwen's badness. Although Fang Zhiwen would not interfere with Cao Cao's withdrawal of court officials and family members from Qiao County, he did not allow him to leave so easily. If he was wrong, he would have to pay a price. Cao Cao's price was his rear army and Chen Ji's cavalry.

Not only did Fang Zhiwen not retreat because of the rain, he took advantage of the inconvenience of marching and surrounded and annihilated Chen Ji and Cao Cao's rear infantry in one fell swoop.

After Cao Cao heard the news, he was helpless except for being unwilling to accept it. Fang Zhiwen turned around and occupied Ruyang, forcing Cao's army to retreat, and he could only go to the southern route of Ruyin.

While Cao Cao rushed back to Qiao County, he ordered Lejin from Dang County to retreat completely. The defenders of the cities on the eastern front also gave up their defenses and retreated westward.

On the north gate of Qiao County, Yuan Shao was standing on the side of the city, watching the street fighting situation advancing towards the inner city. The street fighting was very difficult, and Cao's army was very tenacious. With the assistance of Yiren, the two sides were fighting for buildings one by one. Every time they pushed a street, they had to cover the street with corpses.

"Lord, the latest information is here!"

"Read it."

Zheng Ji opened the scroll in his hand, looked at it first before he started to recite: "Lord, the main force of Cao's army has reached a range of fifty miles west of Qiao County and is continuing to accelerate to Qiao County. Fang Zhiwen has ended the encirclement and suppression of Cao's army's rear army, but the battle needs to be repaired. It is planned to return to the army to retake Ruyang after the war."

"This Fang Zhiwen is so cunning! Is it that we will continue to fight with Cao Cao on purpose?"

"The subordinates think this is true, otherwise why wouldn't Lu Bu's troops stop them?"

Xu You glanced at Jiang Ji and said, "I don't think so!"

"Oh, Ziyuan thought why Fang Zhiwen let Cao's army come back? Could it be that he wanted to let Cao Cao come back and encircle and annihilate it?"

Yuan Shao's words were full of sarcasm, and Xu You smiled disconcertedly. He twisted his goatee beard and said slowly: "Benchu ​​himself doesn't believe this possibility. In fact, Fang Zhiwen let Cao Cao back to make Cao Cao retreat."

"retreat?!"

Yuan Shao asked in surprise, and Pang Ji frowned, quickly pondered Xu You's words, and then his eyes lit up, as if he had figured out what Xu You meant.

"Yes. The imperial court is still there in Qiao County. If Cao Cao doesn't come back, what will the imperial court do?"

"What should the court do? Of course..." Yuan Shao was suddenly stunned. Yes, what should he do if he caught the court, kill the emperor? Enshrined it? No matter what, it will be a trouble!

"Haha. Benchu ​​thought of it? That's right. This court is a big trouble for us. It's better to let Cao Cao take it away and then we chase it from behind. If he is separated on the road and has nowhere to be found, it has nothing to do with us. I believe Fang Zhiwen doesn't want to cause this big trouble either. As for Lu Bu, Lu Bu was once a niggin of the emperor. How could he watch us give the emperor... So there is a reason why he doesn't move. Benchu ​​must be careful. Maybe he will come and pull his back!"

Yuan Shao nodded suddenly: "So that's it, no wonder, no wonder! From this perspective, we should seem to be slowing down the offensive. When Cao Cao arrives, they will take the initiative to withdraw. It is better to fight outside the city than to play now!"

Xu You nodded with a smile: "That's right. When they go out, we will chase you from behind. In addition, there is still an opportunity to siege Lejin in Dang County. Benchu ​​can also consider it, or suggest that Lu Bu go east to assist Yan Liang in siege Lejin."

"This suggestion is good. I will discuss with Lu Bu now. I believe Lu Bu will not be unwilling to attack Le Jin."

When Yuan Shao went to Lu Bu's place, Lu Bu agreed. Lu Bu was indeed a little confused when facing the emperor of Qiao County. As for not sniping Cao Cao, it was Fang Zhiwen's order. Lu Bu himself understood that Cao Cao was here to take over the emperor. Fang Zhiwen did not want to get the emperor, nor did he want the emperor to be harmed by Yuan Shao.

Lu Bu left, and Cao Cao arrived at Qiao County. Cao Cao learned about the situation in Qiao County. In fact, Cao Cao is fighting hard now, and he may be able to regain the north gate, but what's the use of regaining it? The defenses on the periphery of Qiao County are almost gone. If Chen County falls again, Qiao County will face the situation of being surrounded by all sides. If it doesn't leave now, there may really be no chance of leaving.

Cao Cao returned to Qiao County and immediately held an emergency court meeting, announcing the relocation of the capital to Xiangyang. When the order for a great retreat was issued, most of the court officials, including the emperor, breathed a sigh of relief. Although under Cao Cao's control, the emperor was a puppet, but at least he had good food and drinks to offer, he could still play some small conspiracies and tricks behind him. If it fell into Yuan Shao's hands, it would be unimaginable how the emperor's life would be. Maybe it would be possible to be caught directly.

The court's retreat was very fast, and Yuan Shao seemed to have figured out the tricks here, slowed down the offensive, and allowed Cao Cao to organize the retreat in an orderly manner.

Cao Cao's retreat was very organized. First, the main personnel of the court and his family slowly moved south under the protection of Cao Cao, and then the logistics troops protected the baggage and some wealthy families who were willing to follow Cao Cao to the south, and finally Ju Su's troops who had cut off the rear. A large number of troops lined up along the straight road south and slowly moved south in the drizzle.

Yuan Shao occupied Qiao County first, but there was a large population and wealth here. If he didn't occupy it first, he would be more advantageous to Fang Zhiwen. After firmly controlling Qiao County, Yuan Shao sent a pursuing force, and Wen Chou was the vanguard, chasing Cao's army.

Ju Su's troops were not in a hurry to leave. Because it was raining, the fields on both sides of the straight road were muddy. Wen Chou's plan to bypass Ju Su's troops and pursue the logistics troops ahead could not be implemented.

Wen Chou had to follow Ju Su's troops and tried to attack from time to time to see if he could disrupt Ju Su's troops, but Ju Su was not so easy to deal with. Wen Chou tried his best to cause chaos to Ju Su's troops. The results were a little bit, but it was not worth it.

At the beginning, Wen Chou was still cautious. The two sides fought and made a fuss. After making a fuss for more than a day, Wen Chou found that Ju Su was walking slowly like a turtle, allowing him to attack, without any intention of counterattack. Wen Chou couldn't help but slowly relax.

Ju Su in front of him looked at Wen Chou following him step by step, but his eyes became colder and colder.

"Report to the general, General Zhang Xun has arrived and can dig the river embankment within a moment!"

"Okay! The command is sent to all the troops put the carriages loaded with sand and stone on the east side of the straight road, and the soldiers are connected by ropes to prepare to withstand the impact of the flood."

"promise!"

Wen Chou stopped again when he saw Ju Su, thinking that he wanted to block him for another time, so he didn't care. Just as Wen Chou was about to organize an attack, a rumbling sound suddenly came from afar, and then a white bright line appeared in the sky. Wen Chou was shocked and immediately understood that Ju Su dug the river bank and looked around again, and then he realized that this place was actually a depression.

He fell into a trap!! Ju Su was really cruel. He took great pains to lure Wen Chou into a low-lying area, then dug the river embankment in one fell swoop, flooding himself and Wen Chou's cavalry. Don't he know that it is even more difficult for the cavalry to be flooded when sitting on the horse?

Without waiting for Wen Chou to react, the river water that broke the dam rumbled like a galloping horse and rushed to the front. The frightened Wen Chou had only time to let the troops adjust their direction and form a formation head-on face, and the flood had already rushed to the front.

The flood was actually not deep, and there were basically no cavalry above the heads of people, let alone the cavalry above the war horses. However, the rolled flood hit the water with huge force, and many war horses were knocked to the ground. Wen Chou's formation suddenly became chaotic, and the war horses in the water were struggling and neighing, and the soldiers wearing armor were even more miserable. Although the water was not deep, it was difficult for them to stand under the impact of the torrent, and they were basically swept away after being caught.

Wen Chou was panicked and looked south, but found that although Ju Su's troops were also messy, they used a row of carriages as the pillars to form a solid formation, and remained unmoved in the impact of the flood.

Soon the flood eased, Wen Chou turned his head and looked around. His troops were already in scattered, but the terrain was low and the water could not dissipate. The water was covered with debris everywhere. The war horses were frightened and ran around. From time to time, war horses stepped into pits and ditches in the fields, and then fell into the water. The people and horses struggled and called. The remaining troops of Wen Chou were completely in chaos!

Ju Su's troops began to wade in the deep water at this time, and teams of attacks on Wen Chou's cavalry. The poor Wen Chou's cavalry could not move at all. They were then shot and killed by Ju Su's heavy crossbow and stabbed to death by a long spear. Wen Chou finally withdrew from the flooded area under the protection of the guards. Looking back, the water surface was covered with his own bodies, and there were only a thousand remaining soldiers around him. Wen Chou sighed to the sky and could only retreat dejectedly.

Although Ju Su's counterattack completely eliminated Wen Chou's cavalry, it was useless to the entire battle situation, which made Cao Cao's retreat much more stable. Cao Cao and the evacuated personnel were able to successfully arrive at Chengfu.

Le Jin, who evacuated Dang County, was attacked by Yan Liang and Lu Bu. Although Le Jin had good abilities, he fought with them under the attack of these two powerful generals. The outcome was imagined. Le Jin finally broke up his troops and broke through the south, almost returned to the city father alone to meet with Cao Cao. Le Jin apologized to Cao Cao. Cao Cao only comforted him for a few words and said nothing more.

After Cao Cao reached Chengfu, he continued to go south to Ruyin without stopping, and planned to turn to Runan City and enter Jingzhou. Ruyin became the last fortress for Cao Cao to evacuate Qiao County and Huainan in an all-round way. A large number of Cao troops gathered here. Then Xu Huang and Yuan Shao's troops also arrived near Ruyin, but did not attack Ruyin, but just wandered around and cleared them.

At the same time, Cao Hong from Chen County flicked a shot and then retreated westward to Yingchuan, but was intercepted by Fang Zhiwen in Changping. Shen Pei also led his army to chase him and surrounded Cao Hong in Changping. Li Dian from Yingchuan did not dare to come to support him. The strong Li Jin had no troops to support him. Cao Hong became an isolated army and his final outcome was probably not much better.
Chapter completed!