Although Cao Jun's offensive was fierce, Dingtao's defense was strong. After a day of aggressive attack, they still achieved nothing.
Seeing that it was getting late, Cao Mengde could only order his troops to return to camp.
Zhang Chao looked at the soldiers of Cao's army retreating like a tide, and then he removed the cold sweat from his forehead and breathed a long sigh of relief.
…
In the camp of Cao Jun.
Cao Mengde sat in the middle, and the generals lined up on both sides.
Li Dian stepped forward and cupped his hands, gritted his teeth and said, "I didn't expect Zhang Chao to be so stubborn. Tomorrow the general will definitely lead his troops to attack and try to break the city as soon as possible!"
Cao Mengde nodded, "General Li, don't be impatient. It's not that easy to break the city. What's more, Dingtao City has high walls and thick walls. It's not easy to break the city."
Cheng Yu suddenly smiled and said, "General Li, if you really attack the city, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to our army's overall plan!"
Xiahou Dun smiled and nodded, "That's right. If the city was captured early, how could Lu Bu'er send troops to help?"
At this moment, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, and soon, a simple soldier appeared at the door.
"Lord, Lu Bu's army has appeared in the direction of Changyi."
Hearing this, Cao Mengde was immediately overjoyed, "Can you see clearly, how many people are there?"
"The opponent is fighting under the banner of Lu Bujun, and their number is about 3,000."
"3,000 people?"
A disdainful sneer appeared at the corner of Cao Mengde's mouth, "Lü Bu, I didn't expect that you only sent 3,000 people. Do you think you can defeat our army with just these few people? It's really ridiculous."
Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "Lord, don't forget there is Ju Ye."
As soon as he finished speaking, there were hurried footsteps outside the door again.
"My lord, Lu Bu's army has appeared in the direction of Juye, numbering about 3,000 people."
"Ha ha!"
Cao Mengde's powerful general Xu Chu Yangtian laughed, "My lord, now another 3,000 troops have arrived from Juye. The general is willing to lead the troops and promise to destroy them."
Cao Mengde smiled slightly, turned to look at Cheng Yu, and asked slowly, "Zhongde, what do you think?"
Cheng Yu sneered, "Since Lu Bu's army has moved, of course our army should also move."
At this point, Cheng Yu's tone paused, but then he continued without waiting for anyone to answer his words.
"It's just that if our army wants to move, we must not let Lu Bu's army discover it. Otherwise, if they find out, they will definitely flee. Then our plan will be in vain."
Xiahou Dun sneered, "Mr. Zhongde, you are right, Lu Bu's son will definitely run away when he sees the strength of our army."
Cheng Yu said slowly, "The official road from Dingtao to Changyi passes through a dense forest halfway.
This dense forest occupies a large area and is very unsuitable for cavalry operations.
Our army set up an ambush here, and when Lu Bu's army passed by, they immediately set fire to both sides, and then our soldiers and horses rushed out from the front and back. When the time comes, Lu Bu's army will be in chaos and will be wiped out by our army. "
Upon hearing this plan, Xiahou Dun looked up to the sky and laughed, then gritted his teeth and said, "Little Lu Bu, you have decided to take revenge on Tao. It's time to take revenge this time."
Lu Bu easily captured the Ding Tao, which almost made Xiahou Dun lose his face. He vowed to avenge this.
And now is the best time.
Cao Mengde smiled and nodded, "Yuan Rang (Xiahou Dun), since you want revenge, why not go and ambush him this time?"
After hearing this, Xiahou Dun was overjoyed and hurriedly handed over his hand, "Thank you, Lord, for your support. The general must completely destroy Lu Bu's army, otherwise he will never come back."
Cao Mengde smiled and said, "Yuan Rang, for the sake of safety, General Xu and General Li will go to help you. This time, this Lu Bu army must be completely eliminated."
Xiahou Dun looked solemn, stepped forward and said, "Don't worry, my lord, if we don't destroy these three thousand Lu Bu's troops this time, the general will be willing to raise his head to see us."
Hearing Xiahou Dun's answer, Cao Mengde nodded with satisfaction, then turned to look at Cheng Yu, and asked with a smile, "Zhongde, Changyi's soldiers and horses have already made plans to deal with them. Now, Juye's soldiers and horses are coming again." How to deal with it?”
Cheng Yu cupped his hands and said slowly, "There is a cliff where Juye's soldiers and horses passed. As long as our army lays an ambush here, when Lu Bu's army passes under the cliff, all the stones will be launched immediately.
When Lu Bu's army was in chaos, our army rushed out from the front and rear and wiped them out in one fell swoop. "
As soon as Cheng Yu finished speaking, Cao Hong walked out quickly and bowed his hands deeply to Cao Mengde, "My lord, the general has lost Juye, and I feel ashamed. Please give me a chance once, so that I can lead the troops to destroy Lu Bu's army." .”
Cao Mengde knew that Cao Hong was arrogant and this defeat was a big blow to him, so he nodded.
"In this case, it's up to you to deal with Lu Bu's army this way."
At this point, Cao Mengde's tone paused, and then he said slowly, "To be on the safe side, let General Han and General Lu go to help you, and make sure to destroy Lu Bu's army."
Cao Hong was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly handed over his hand, "I will obey my order. If I cannot destroy Lu Bujing, I will also be willing to raise my head to see him."
When Cheng Yu saw that the tasks had been assigned, he continued, "General Xiahou, General Cao, you two must remember that this operation must be steady and try not to misalign Lu Bu's army."
At this point, Cheng Yu suddenly sneered, "After you destroy Lu Bu's army, immediately change into Lu Bu's army's clothes and take the opportunity to seize the city.
So the key to this is that no one of Lu Bu can run away. The two generals must remember this. "
Xiahou Dun and Cao Hong nodded at the same time, "Mr. Zhongde, please rest assured that there will be no mistakes this time."
The two lost three cities in the southeast of Yanzhou. This time they worked hard to atone for their crimes. After talking, they left in a hurry and led their troops to their respective goals overnight.
Cao Mengde watched the two people leaving and couldn't help laughing, "Zhongde, after this technique, I'm afraid Lu Bu's army's strength in the southeast will be weakened by most. Even if he occupies the three cities in the southeast, I'm afraid he won't have enough strength." If we keep defending, we will definitely lose when the time comes.”
Cheng Yu suddenly sneered, "My lord, after this battle, as expected, Changyi and Juye will be taken back by our army. Even if one side loses, our army will take back a city. At that time, Lu Bu will only The remaining two cities are already in a certain death situation, and there is no room for counterattack."
Cao Mengde was even more happy when he heard this, "Zhongde, when Lu Bu's son attacked Yanzhou, you and Wen Ruo occupied the three cities of Juancheng, and then Yanzhou was protected, and finally drove away Lu Bu's son.
This time, Lu Bu's son actually wanted to occupy the three cities of Dingtao and resisted our army. It was really ridiculous. "
Hearing these words, Cheng Yu shook his head and said solemnly, "Lord," Lu Bu was reckless and ignorant in the past. He only knew how to fight blindly and didn't know how to plan, so he was defeated.
But this time, after Lu Bu's son captured Dingtao, he did not rush to Puyang immediately, but went to Changyi. This shows that Lu Bu's son has summed up the experience of failure and is no longer motivated. If he is not destroyed as soon as possible, time will be lost. In the long run, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to our army. "
Hearing this, Cao Mengde nodded, with a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes, "Zhongde, you still think too highly of Lu Bu'er, he is just a reckless and ignorant warrior, what is there to worry about?
What's more, now that our army is setting off in two directions, as long as the two groups of Lu Bu's army are eliminated, and our army is blocking Dingtao, it will be impossible for Lu Bu's son to escape back to Xiaopei. "
At this point, Cao Mengde suddenly slammed the table and snorted coldly, "Last time, it was to welcome the emperor, so I let Lu Bu's son go. Since he is ungrateful, this time, he must be completely eliminated, even if he escapes to the ends of the earth. He must be eliminated to relieve the hatred in his heart."
Hearing this, Cheng Yu nodded seriously, "If Lu Bu's child is not cured, it will become a serious problem sooner or later."
Cao Mengde suddenly snorted coldly, "In addition to Lu Bu's son, there are also Zhang family brothers. As long as Dingtao City is destroyed, I will definitely kill the nine Zhang family brothers to relieve the hatred in my heart."
Among the three people who attacked Yanzhou, the ones Cao Mengde hated the most were the Zhang brothers.
Lu Bu is a pure enemy. Although he attacked Yanzhou, it was done by the enemy. Although he hates it, he also hates the enemy.
Chen Gong was his subordinate and helped him a lot. Although he was betrayed, Cao Mengde still missed his old relationship.
Only the Zhang brothers made him hate him so much that he had murderous intentions.
Cao Mengde and Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, are good friends and have a very good relationship. When Cao Mengde was in trouble, he wanted to entrust his family to Zhang Miao, and it was because of him that he protected Yuan Shao and offended Yuan Shao. You can imagine that the two How are people's relationships going?
The two had such a relationship, but Zhang Miao chose to betray him, which made Cao Mengde furious.
The betrayal of friends around you is the most difficult thing to accept.
Cheng Yu smiled slightly and said, "My lord, as long as the two reinforcements of Lu Bu's army are eliminated, Zhang Chao in the city will be shocked. Maybe, knowing that he can't hold it anymore, he will abandon the city and run away. I want to catch him then. Easy as pie."
…
Xiahou Dun led his troops and horses to set off overnight and went straight to the place Cheng Yu mentioned.
In the middle of the night, Xiahou Dun finally arrived at the outskirts of the woods that Cheng Yu had mentioned. Without resting, he immediately ordered his soldiers to prepare fire starters and hid on both sides of the woods, preparing to set fires.
Xu Chu stepped forward and handed over his hand, "General Xiahou, I am going to ambush in front. When Lu Bu's army passes by, I will come out from behind and catch them off guard."
After hearing this, Xiahou Dun shook his head and said, "General Xu, you stay here while General Li and I go over there."
No matter which side Xu Chu is on, as long as there is a war, it is a happy event for him.
When at home, when he is idle and bored, he can fight with the gentle old cow, so you can imagine how belligerent Xu Chu is.
After the soldiers on both sides were in ambush, Xiahou Dun gave Xu Chu some more instructions, and then led Li Dian through the woods to the other side to ambush.
The plan this time is very simple. After Lu Bujun walks into the woods, he will immediately set fire to both sides.
When Lu Bujun saw that he was surrounded by fire, he would definitely panic and run away in all directions.
Just when Lu Bu's army was panicking, Xiahou Dun and Xu Chu's troops came from both sides and defeated Lu Bu's army easily.
Although the plan was very thorough, Xiahou Dun was still worried, so he asked Xu Chu to ambush on the other side because he was worried that Xu Chu would lose his composure and rush out without waiting for Lu Bu's army to enter the ambush, which would ruin everything.
After everyone was in their respective positions and ready to ambush, Xiahou Dun also led his soldiers and horses to hide in the outermost woods, waiting for the arrival of Lu Bu's army.
The bright moon hangs high tonight, illuminating the earth with silvery white.
Xiahou Dun sat under a tree, looking at the official road in the distance. Although he was far away from the official road and could not see it, only by doing so could she feel at ease.
Li Dian came from the side and looked silently in the direction of the official road.
The family was destroyed, and the hatred between Li Dian and Lu Bu could never be resolved.
It was very light in the woods, and no one dared to speak. More people leaned under the trees, closing their eyes and taking a nap quietly.
Everyone waited until late at night, but Lu Bujun never came over. Just when Xiahou Dun was feeling anxious, the sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance.
A spy galloped back on his horse and came to Xiahou Dun. He got off his horse, raised his hands and said.
"General Xiahou, Lu Bu's army has stopped to rest."
"rest?"
Xiahou Dun was startled, "What are you talking about? They are resting. How could this happen?"
The soldier hurriedly raised his hand and said, "General Xiahou, Lu Bu's army has indeed rested."
Li Dian frowned and asked slowly, "How did they rest, set up camp, or just rest on the roadside."
"They didn't set up camp, they were just resting on the roadside."
Hearing this, Li Dian nodded, "General Xiahou, don't worry, Lu Bu'er's soldiers and horses are only taking a temporary rest, and it will definitely not be delayed for a long time."
Xiahou Dun nodded, "Go back and continue to investigate. As soon as there is news, come back and report it immediately."
"I obey my orders."
The facts were as they had guessed. Not long after, another spy came running back to report the latest news.
"General Xiahou, Lu Bu's army has set off again and is heading this way."
After hearing the news, Xiahou Dun suddenly became energetic and said, "Great, go back and inquire now. Don't let the news slip."
After the soldiers left, Xiahou Dun said slowly, "General Li, let everyone get ready. Don't be discovered by Lu Bu's army."
Li Dian hurriedly handed over his hands and said, "General, I will go and give the orders right now."
After Li Dian left, Xiahou Dun looked at the official road in the distance again, with a sneer on his lips.
Little Lu Bu, I fell into your trick last time, let’s see how you escape this time.
At the same time, Cao Hong, who was on the other road, was also nervously listening to the news from the spies.
"General Cao, Lu Bu's army has advanced again."
Cao Hong gritted his teeth and said, "Go back immediately to investigate."
After the spies left, Cao Hong raised his head and looked at the looming mountain peaks in the distance and murmured.
"Little Lu Bu, as long as you dare to come here, I will never let you go this time."
The place where his soldiers and horses were ambushed was more dangerous than Xiahou Dun's side.
On the mountain peak in the distance, many Cao Qun soldiers have been ambushed. As long as Lu Bu's army passes by the foot of the mountain, they will immediately throw down the stones piled up on the mountain.
