"But, that was the beginning of Xi Yu's entry into our land of Jizhou."

"Cough cough cough..."

Yuan Shao coughed heavily, and his eyes were filled with a sinister look.

Yuan Shao said in a deep voice, "However, I haven't really lost yet. I still have a plan. As long as it succeeds, the world will definitely fall into strife again!"

……

Liyang, in the camp.

In the past few months, Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren have been attacking from Dongjun and Yanjin. The two have continuously cooperated with each other and won successive victories. Now they have captured Baima, occupied the city near Liyang, and approached most of Wei County.

However, since then, it has been difficult for the two to make progress in the war.

On Yuan Shao's side, the defense of Liyang City was quite effective. Because Wuchao's grain and grass were burned by Cao Cao's troops, Yuan Shao's army began to lack food and could only wait for grain and grass to be shipped from various places. For this reason, Yuan Shao's army in Liyang had to shrink its defense scope.

.

Therefore, in the past few months, Jizhou has basically recruited thousands of new soldiers from the territory every month and then sent them to battlefields in various places to ensure the number of soldiers.

As a result, it was very difficult for Cao Cao to attack Li Yang and it would be difficult to capture it for a long time.

In this way, the longer Yuan Shao's army in Liyang City holds on, the more unfavorable the situation becomes for Cao Cao.

Once the fighting in the south becomes unstoppable or becomes tense, Cao Cao will inevitably be unable to insist on attacking Li Yang, so he can only temporarily abandon Li Yang and have to withdraw his troops. In this way, Yuan Shao, who is now passively being beaten, will have an opportunity to reverse his decadence.

At this time, a meeting had just ended in Cao Cao's military camp. The generals left one after another, but Cao Cao asked Zhu Ling to stay alone.

"Zhu Ling, you have been by my side for a long time. Now I am about to fight Yuan Shao, but I don't want to use you for the time being. You go back to Xuchang for now."

Cao Cao did not give him a chance and directly relieved Zhu Ling of his military power.

"Lord! Why on earth is this happening?"

Zhu Lingtong's face changed drastically, and he was even more frightened, "My lord, I have always been absolutely loyal to your lord, and I will never secretly collude with the enemy. The buyer seeks glory!"

"Haha, I know this very well..." Cao Cao smiled lightly and patted Zhu Ling's shoulder and said, "When I conquered the Yellow Turban bandits in the early years, you were already following me, but I also understand that you have always been treating Yuan Shao.

Just ask if you want, after all, he was kind to you in the past, and you can't get rid of this."

"So, if I let you go to attack Yuan Shao now, wouldn't it be putting you in a position of betrayal? Now that the war in the front has been stabilized, you should go back to the rear first and guard Xuchang. I will definitely record such achievements for you."

/p>

As he spoke, Cao Cao smiled and looked very sincere, without any hint of joking.

Cao Cao really believed that if Zhu Lingru stayed in the current war, it would have little impact on the war situation.

"What my lord said is true." Zhu Ling was deeply moved by Cao Cao's words. He immediately knelt on one knee in front of Cao Cao, clasped his fists and saluted, and said in a deep voice, "I will set off immediately and return to Xuchang immediately."
p>

After that, Cao Cao patted the main beam with great satisfaction. Zhu Ling turned around and left the camp, going to rectify his troops and horses in order to quickly withdraw to Xuchang.

At this moment, Cao Ren happened to be passing by and happened to pass by Zhu Ling. Cao Ren walked into Cao Cao's tent out of curiosity and said in a deep voice, "Brother, Fengyi has already told you not to let Niche go."

Zhu Ling, don’t you remember?”

"Hahaha, it doesn't matter. I just thought too much about it."

"Brother, you are about to start having those romantic thoughts again."

"Don't learn how to speak for justice! Is it possible that you still can't understand the current war?"

"Brother, please listen to your advice. Brother, this Zhu Ling used to be Yuan Shao's general."

"Because of this, I let Zhu Ling go and gave him two thousand infantry. In this way, Zhu Ling has no chance at all, so I will let him go back. Don't worry, Zhu Ling is in Xuchang and has one thousand infantry."

Two hundred people can't stir up any trouble."

The two chatted about military affairs until it was almost time to eat.

Cao Ren and Cao Cao chatted about military affairs for a long time, until dinner time.

At this moment, Zhu Ling returned to his tent. He sighed and took out a letter from his arms...

This letter comes from Yecheng, Jizhou.

After reading the letter, Zhu Ling murmured, "I don't know how I can save you from the difficulties now. You were kind to me in knowing me. I, Zhu Ling, have to repay such kindness."

"Early on, all the women, children, and children in my family died at the hands of Gongsun Zan. In any case, it was you who avenged this sworn revenge for me..."

Zhu Ling's face was very surprised, and he immediately urged the troops to set off. Now, among the core figures of the troops under his command, there are more than a hundred people who are captains of ten and at the level of centurions.

Although these people do not hold real power in Cao's camp, with only more than a thousand soldiers and horses on their side, but with the veterans and officers, as long as Zhu Ling wants to do something, he can still have more than a thousand soldiers and horses on his side.

, plus they are all veterans or officers, Zhu Ling can still do a lot, such as cutting off the food and grass in Cao Cao's rear, or even destroying it directly.

In this letter, Yuan Shao talked about his past kindness to Zhu Ling and also mentioned that he had been his adoptive mother for several years. Zhu Ling was inevitably a little moved in his heart, but he had no excuses.

Otherwise, Zhu Ling would feel deeply guilty.

And if Yuan Shao could stabilize himself, Zhu Ling thought he could go back.

In this way, Zhu Ling thought that Cao Cao would win, but at this time, Zhu Ling had a good chance to escape.

From the beginning of the war to the present, Zhu Ling had always thought that Cao Cao would win. However, at this moment, Cao Cao removed his military power and only gave him a few soldiers and horses to march to Xuchang. This gave him a good reason to escape, and he became a member of the army.

free man.

After coming out of Cao Cao's camp, Zhu Ling led his troops and horses towards Xuchang. On the way there, there happened to be many grain stations.

Zhu Ling thought to himself that he only needed to detour from the grain station to Xuchang in the name of Cao Cao, and then pass the grain and grass to Huaxian County, and then pass through two roads in Junxian County, successfully bypass Cao Cao's military camp, and then seize Cao Jun's military rations.

, Zhu Ling can return to Yuan Shao and help Yuan Shao solve the crisis in Liyang.

……

That night, it was very quiet in Cao Cao's camp. Now the midsummer is about to pass. This year, Cao Cao has been staying in the Guandu camp. He has never returned to Xuchang, and he is very tired.

Yuan Shao is grieving for Li Yang's army.

"It's a pity that Wen Chou can't compare with Yan Liang after all. If Yan Liang is still there, just because of his bravery, he can be deliberately favored and eliminated directly."

"However, Wen Chou doesn't have many strategies, but when he implements his strategies, he is very honest and reckless, and he executes all orders without any changes. This is very rare."

At this moment, it was in front of Cao Hong and Yu Jin that Cao Cao could calmly express his confusion.

However, in front of other generals, Cao Cao always had a very optimistic image. At the same time, he constantly encouraged his soldiers and often gave them good hopes. In this way, Cao Cao always avoided his bad mood from affecting his soldiers.

Cao Cao wants his soldiers to believe that as long as they capture Liyang, they will have stepped into the land of Jizhou.

Liyang City is the southern barrier of Wei County and the largest county in the south of Jizhou.

Up to now, Cao Cao has led his army to attack for half a year, but he has failed to capture this place.

If Cao Cao hadn't insisted on using military orders and various encouragement strategies to keep his soldiers and horses at all times, Cao Cao's camp would have been in turmoil.

When it comes to war, the ancients said: one can make a big effort, then it will weaken again, and three times it will be exhausted.

The same is true for the soldiers and horses in Liyang City. The defenders in Liyang City have been holding on to the city for more than half a year, and they are no longer as firm as they were at the beginning. Without the continuous supply of food and grass and the encouragement of Wen Chou and others, the defenders in the city would have already entered a state of fatigue.

.

"Lord, in my opinion, the current situation is just right." Cheng Yu said, "The six months we have been attacking Liyang can be regarded as buying a lot of precious time for Master Xi to develop his reputation in Leling County."

"Nowadays, many ordinary people know that Leling County is implementing benevolent governance, and there is money and food to be earned. A large number of refugees are climbing mountains and wading to Leling. At almost the same time, many rebellions occurred in Guangping.

Although they are rumors about refugees, I think these rumors are absolutely credible."

"Yuan Shao, with internal and external troubles now, is he in the same situation as Gongsun Zan back then?"

"I think that at that time, Gongsun Zan was besieged in Youzhou and could not go south, but he could not go north. Yuan Shao should be in the same situation now, with internal and external troubles, and a dilemma. In this way, my lord will be able to completely defeat Yuan Shao now!"

"Hehehe..."

Hearing this, Cao Cao felt an inexplicable bitterness in his heart, and even more strangely: he was suffering from internal and external troubles, which was very similar to Gongsun Zan's original situation.

Come to think of it, it seems a bit like retribution. Maybe Yuan Shao forced Gongsun Zan to death in the first place, and now he will be forced to death in the same way.

"I also know this, but after thinking about it for a long time, I don't know why." Cao Cao took a sip of cold water and said in a deep voice, "I really don't understand why Yuan Shao still insists on holding on to this situation now.

Withdraw troops?"

"The terrain of Liyang City is not high, so it is very difficult to defend it, and the losses are huge. Even with a strong general like Wen Chou, it is difficult to hold on for a long time!"

"If this delay continues, Yuan Shao will only suffer greater losses. By this winter, Yuan Shao will surely lose more than 30,000 troops. If I, Sister Jia, attack with such intensity, I will not hesitate to lose the consequences in the next few years. Yuan Shao's defense will be severely damaged."

The army attacked fiercely, and Yuan Shao's losses will surely exceed 100,000."

"At the same time, the men in Liyang City and even Jizhou will flee Liyang and even Jizhou to avoid military recruitment!"

"If I were Yuan Shao, I would never have defended Liyang. Instead, I should have retreated to Wei County. This is the largest city in Wei County. There are countless treasures and dangerous roads in the city. I would have retreated to Wei County. There is the entire Wei County.

The largest city in the county!"

"It seems that Yuan Shao must be waiting for something, perhaps something that forces me to retreat."

Cao Hong and Cao Ren looked at each other and asked blankly: "What is Yuan Shao waiting for?"

"It's ridiculous. If I knew what Yuan Shao was waiting for, why would I need to ask you two?!"

Cao Cao glared at Cao Hong and Cao Ren.
To be continued...