It is said that Yu Jin discovered the secret of Liu Bei's powerful cavalry, and Cao Cao immediately ordered all cavalry to be deployed.
There have also been some changes in Cao Cao's camp, and he is full of expectations for this black pimple.
After dinner, Guo Jia came to Cao Cao worriedly.
The things that are entangled in the heart are nothing more than war.
Facing Zhao Chen's suppression in terms of strategy and battlefield flexibility, Guo Jia felt very uneasy.
He bowed deeply to Cao Cao and said: "My lord, today's defeat is a fault of Cao Cao's, please punish me."
Cao Cao waved his hand calmly and replied: "Failure is a common thing for military officers, so it doesn't matter. Today we suffered a loss outside Xiapi City. If we find a way to defeat him tomorrow, that city will still belong to us."
On the surface, Guo Jia was willing to be punished, but on the inside he was quite worried. He himself has not fully figured out Cao Cao's suspicious and fickle character. If Cao Cao puts all the blame on him out of anger, Guo Jia will have no way out.
After all, it hadn't been long since he joined Cao Cao's account. In the past six months, all of his strategies against Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were accurate and effective.
Therefore, Cao Cao attaches great importance to him.
However, since the three battles with Zhao Chen, every plot was easily resolved by Zhao Chen. It is difficult for the lord not to suspect that he is not going all out, thus losing trust and no longer having a place for him in the army.
Fortunately, Cao Cao was willing to forgive him, and Guo Jia felt relieved.
He carefully mentioned what he had discovered on the city wall from a distance today: "My lord, although the army suffered a setback today, Jia also discovered an advantageous factor for our army."
"Oh?" Cao Cao raised his head and asked, "What did Fengxiao find out?"
"This morning, after General Cao Ren set up the eight-door golden lock formation, Zhang Fei wanted to come with Lu Bu to break the formation, but was stopped by Zhao Chen. Hou Chen Gong and Zhao Chen seemed to have a quarrel, and then the two armies faced off against Chen Gong It was only a network on the city wall and was not involved. Therefore, Jia guessed that the Liu and Lu coalition forces were not as strong as imagined, but there were huge gaps, especially in Chen Gong's mind."
Cao Cao suddenly became interested when he heard this: "Chen Gong is Lu Bu's think tank. If there is a gap between Chen Gong and Liu Bei's army, he may be able to make good use of it."
"My lord is wise. Jia has a plan to defeat Liu Lu."
Cao Cao asked expectantly: "What's the plan? Fengxiao will come quickly?"
Guo Jia leaned into Cao Cao's ear and explained his thoughts in detail.
Cao Cao's eyes narrowed into a straight line, then slowly widened, and finally he smiled with satisfaction.
"Okay! Just follow the filial piety plan."
The next day, Cao Cao personally led an army of 30,000 people to the intersection of Surabaya River and Yishui River outside Xiapi City.
Yesterday's battlefield had been cleaned, but there was still a lot of blood on the scene.
Cao Cao chose the narrowest and cleanest spot on the water and sat down and waited.
The outpost had already reported the news to Liu Bei and Lu Bu. Everyone went up to the city wall and looked out, and sure enough they saw Cao Cao sitting on the river bank.
Lu Bu mocked: "Cao Mengde, you just suffered a defeat, and today you come to Xiapi City again, haven't you had enough of defeat?"
Cao Cao sneered and said with a smile: "How can Marquis Wen be confident? Cao Cao's previous defeats were all thanks to Liu Bei and Zhao Chen. What does it have to do with you?"
When Lu Bu heard this, he became angry and shouted: "Don't forget, your two Xiahou generals were injured by my hands!"
Cao Cao still smiled and said: "Cao Cao knows that Marquis Wen is very weak, brave but without wisdom. He is just an ordinary man, far inferior to Liu Xuande. Liu Xuande has Zhao Chen, Wu Guan, Zhang and Taishi Ci under his command."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Bu became furious.
"Thief Cao, you are going too far!"
I heard Cao Cao say again: "Marquis Wen, please rest first. I came here today to invite Liu Xuande to come and talk."
Lu Bu turned to Liu Bei with wide eyes, as if asking, what does Cao Cao want from you?
Liu Bei was a little confused and asked Cao Cao: "Cao Mengde, you and I are meeting on the battlefield now, what is there to talk about?"
"What? Xuande doesn't dare to come? Are you afraid of the 30,000 troops behind me? No problem, just ask the troops to retreat a mile, so as not to disturb you and me from the narrative."
After saying that, Cao Cao's army really retreated one mile.
Liu Bei still didn't dare to leave the city. When hesitating, he turned his attention to Zhao Chen.
"What do you think, military advisor?"
Zhao Chen thought for a moment and said with a smile: "My lord, Chen doesn't know what Cao Cao wants to say to you, but according to Chen's opinion, it doesn't hurt to have a chat. Maybe we can find a strategy to defeat Cao Cao."
Liu Bei nodded solemnly: "In that case, I will go down and have a meeting."
"My lord, since you are going down, you should let General Ziyi follow, so that he can protect you. Let Yide and Yun Chang lead five thousand men each, and be ready to leave the city at any time."
Taishi Ci was the one who chased after Cao Cao to cut off his beard and throw away his robe. With Taishi Ci by Liu Bei's side, Cao Cao would have to consider the cards in his hand to avoid casual assassination.
Liu Bei rolled his eyes and decided immediately: "Just follow the military advisor's words."
In a moment, Liu Bei came out of the west gate of Xiapi City, rode his horse to the intersection of the two rivers, and faced Cao Cao across the river.
Taishi Ci stood behind him, and Zhang Fei and Guan Yu stood not far away.
Liu Bei was the first to ask: "What's wrong with Meng De?"
Cao Cao chuckled: "It's nothing, I just want to talk to Xuande about his preferences."
"Like?" Liu Bei was very puzzled.
"Yes, likes. Xuande is over thirty. Is there anything you particularly like?"
Liu Bei said boredly: "Does Meng De have nothing to do and wants to relax here? Why not go back to Yanzhou and deal with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu."
Cao Cao laughed loudly: "Why did Xuande say this? You and I are both heroes in the world. When heroes meet, they will naturally cherish each other. How can we make sense without chatting?"
Being called the hero of the world by Cao Cao, although Liu Bei couldn't guess what Cao Cao meant, he felt a little happy in his heart.
He responded to Cao Cao: "If you are not prepared to be a hero in the world, why don't Meng De just tell you what is going on?"
Cao Cao did not reply to Liu Bei's question, but kept talking and laughing very loudly.
Others looked at them as if they were two old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they had endless things to say.
Cao Cao's laughter reached the ears of Lu Bu and Chen Gong who were far away in Xiapi City.
Lu Bu said doubtfully: "Gongtai, what are they talking about so happily?"
Chen Gong shook his head.
Because the road was too far, the two of them didn't shout, so they couldn't hear the specific content of the chat.
Cao Cao's laughter made Chen Gong feel more and more uncomfortable.
Lu Bu's words just reminded Chen Gong.
"No, General! I'm afraid Liu Bei will betray the General! I have to wait and make plans."
Lu Bu suddenly turned around in surprise.
"Is what Gongtai said true?"
"The two of them have known each other for a long time. They had a very pleasant conversation today outside the city. They had nothing but plans for Xuzhou."
Lu Bu took a breath of air and hesitated in his heart.
After a while, Cao Cao stood up and left. When he was not far away, he turned around and shouted: "Xuande, I'm waiting for your good news!"
Liu Bei frowned, ignored it, and returned to Xiapi City with Taishi Ci.
As soon as he entered the city gate, he was stopped by Lu Bu and Chen Gong.
