During the banquet, everyone drank and talked happily.
Xia Houyuan said with a smile, "Mr. Gongze, when the day comes when Lu Bu's army is wiped out, Lu Bu's son will definitely be afraid and will definitely send more troops. By then, our army can easily attract a large number of Lu Bu's soldiers without having to go forward. Create opportunities for the eldest son."
Guo Tu nodded, "General Xiahou, in fact, we don't have this chance. It would be easy for the eldest son to take down Quye.
However, the eldest son knew that Meng Degong and Lu Bu's son had a deep hatred, so wouldn't it be beautiful to leave this opportunity to Meng Degong and let him deal with the enemy with his own hands. "
How could Cao Mengde not know Guo Tu's plan, but of course it was impossible to reveal it at this moment. He smiled and cupped his hands, "Mr. Gongze, in that case, I would like to thank you, eldest son."
Guo Tu waved his hand, "Meng Degong, this is easy to say..."
Before he finished speaking, there were sudden footsteps outside the door, and even the rapid breathing could be heard clearly.
Cao Mengde frowned and turned his head, looking in the direction of the door. When he saw the person rushing in clearly, he couldn't help but be startled.
"Zilian, what's wrong with you?"
It turned out that the first person to rush into the tent was Cao Hong, Cao Mengde's general. His face was blackened by smoke, his hair and beard had been burned and stained on his face, and he looked extremely embarrassed.
The person who rushed in behind Cao Hong was General Li Dian. He also looked like Cao Hong, as if he had rushed out of the fire. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see his appearance clearly.
Everyone present was surprised when they saw Cao Hong and Li Dian in such a mess.
"General Cao, General Li, what's wrong with you?"
Cao Hong and Li Dian rushed into the tent and fell to their knees with a plop before they could speak.
"Lord, please punish me!"
Hearing the words "please punish me", Cao Mengde's heart skipped a beat and he asked hurriedly.
"Zilian, what happened, please tell me quickly?"
Cao Hong hurriedly handed over his hand and told what happened. At the end, his tone was choked with sobs.
"My lord, I am guilty of this. I was ambushed by the enemy. Please punish me, my lord."
"What?"
Cao Mengde looked at Cao Hong with wide eyes and couldn't believe his ears.
"Zilian, do you think we lost?"
Cao Hong knew that he had sinned deeply, so he repeatedly handed over his hands, tears already streaming down his cheeks, "My lord, there will always be the worst, please punish me."
Cao Mengde looked at Cao Hong's tears on his dark face and the two white marks on his face, and suddenly felt unusually angry in his heart.
5,000 soldiers and horses went to deal with 1,000 enemies and were defeated. How is this possible?
Even if there were 5,000 pigs, they wouldn't be defeated so happily.
Everyone on the side saw Cao Mengde's ugly face and did not dare to speak.
Cao Mengde suppressed the anger in his heart and said slowly, "Zilian, Lu Bu is too cunning. If you lose, you will lose. Go back and comfort the soldiers so that everyone doesn't have to worry."
Cao Hong sighed, "My lord, no need. This time the whole army was wiped out, and less than a hundred people came back."
"What?"
Snapped!
Cao Mengde roared angrily and slammed the table, "What do you mean, the entire army was wiped out?"
Guo Tu on the side couldn't believe his ears and asked tentatively.
"General Cao, 5,000 soldiers and horses went to chase 1,000 enemies, but your entire army was wiped out?"
When Cao Hong heard Guo Tu repeat this sentence, his face turned red with embarrassment and he couldn't help but hold up his hands.
"The general is incompetent. Please punish me, my lord."
Hearing these words, Guo Tu's eyes flashed with disdain.
The lord praised Cao Mengde so much, but he didn't expect that he was so unlucky. With an advantage of 5,000 soldiers and horses, he was defeated by the enemy's 1,000 men and was completely wiped out.
No wonder he was beaten by Lu Bu and suffered heavy losses, so he had to go to ask for help.
Lu Qian suddenly asked, "General Cao, you said that the 1,000 soldiers and horses of Lu Bu's army were running ahead. After you chased them, they were ambushed in the woods. After you retreated, you were ambushed by Lu Bu's army again. Is that right? It's not like this?"
Cao Hong nodded, "That's true. If it weren't for the ambush outside the woods, the entire army wouldn't have been wiped out."
When Lu Qian heard Cao Hong's answer, he turned around and cupped his hands towards Cao Mengde, frowned and asked, "My Lord, Lu Bu's army has passed through the woods, so where did Lu Bu's army ambushing behind come from? ?”
After hearing this, Cao Mengde was stunned and thought of the problem, his brows furrowed.
"Yes, Lu Bu's army is in Juye and only sent 1,000 people. Where did these troops come from?"
Li Dian suddenly said, "My lord, I suspect that this group of soldiers and horses are the defenders of Changyi."
"What?"
Cao Mengde was surprised, "Have you already chased me to Changyi?"
Li Dian nodded, "The location of that forest is very close to Changyi. If the general guessed correctly, it must be the defenders of Changyi. Otherwise, Lu Bu'er will definitely not be able to send more troops."
When Cao Mengde heard these words, he immediately thought of Cao Hong's loss of Changyi and became even more angry.
"Since you know you have arrived in Changyi, why don't you be careful?"
Cao Hong secretly hated his eagerness to win, so he could only give up his hand, "My lord, these are all careless generals, please punish me."
Cao Mengde was angry and angry, and looked at Cao Hong with wide eyes. If he could recover the losses by punishing him, he would not hesitate.
After being attacked by Lu Bu, the total remaining strength was less than 10,000.
But in just the blink of an eye, Cao Hong lost half of his troops and had 5,000 troops left. What could he use to fight Lu Bu?
Thinking of this, Cao Mengde sighed and waved his hands feebly, "You guys go down first."
If it were someone else, Cao Mengde would definitely punish him without hesitation, but Cao Hong had saved his life, so he couldn't punish him anyway.
Cao Hong and Li Dian were immediately overjoyed, hurriedly handed over their hands, and then turned and left.
After the two left, Lu Qian stepped forward and said, "My lord, our army has less than 5,000 soldiers now. What should we do next?"
According to the original plan, Cao Mengde was going to lead his troops to lure Lu Bu out of the city to relieve the pressure on Yuan Tan, the eldest son of Jizhou.
But now there are only 5,000 soldiers and horses left, how can we attract Lu Bu's troops?
It's hard to say, if Cao Hong doesn't follow in his footsteps, even these 5,000 soldiers and horses won't be able to be saved.
Guo Tu on the side suddenly smiled softly, "Meng Degong, if this is the case, is there any countermeasure?"
Cao Mengde saw the flash of disdain in Guo Tu's eyes, and suddenly became furious and gritted his teeth.
"Mr. Gongze, please rest assured. Please go back and tell the eldest son that the plan remains unchanged. Our army will attract Lu Bujun's attention and we will definitely complete our plan."
