Cao Ying.
Cao Cao and the others had obvious dark circles under their eyes.
There was also a faint trace of blood inside the eyeballs.
But they did not rest. They stayed in the military camp and waited. What they were waiting for was the result. They were waiting for the latest news. They did not return to the camp until noon.
"Brother, great victory!"
As soon as Cao Hong came in, he laughed and said: "Yuan Shao was completely defeated. More than 20,000 Hebei troops surrendered. The rest were either killed or followed Yuan Shao across the river. On the other side of the river, there was an ambush by Mr. Wen He and others. , even if Yuan Shao can escape, he will still be injured, haha..."
Get this good news.
Everyone in the military camp was relieved.
Although they all knew that this battle would be won and Yuan Shao would definitely lose, they were still very nervous before the victory news came back.
"Okay, you guys did a great job!"
Cao Cao laughed and was overjoyed.
Defeating Yuan Shao is of greater significance than defeating Yuan Shu!
Because Yuan Shu's defeat was the result of the joint efforts of many parties. It was Sun Ce, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, etc. who cooperated with Cao Cao to defeat. Yuan Shao's defeat was entirely due to Cao Cao's personal ability and strength.
After this battle, Cao Cao had the ability to truly stand out from the rest.
In other words, among the princes of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao has become the strongest. It can also be said that he is tied for first place with Yuan Shao, making other princes frightened and even timid.
"Congratulations, lord!"
When Guo Jia and the others met, they congratulated in unison.
Xia Houyuan said: "Brother, we found a lot of letters in Yuan Shao's military camp. I have not read the contents, but they are all letters circulated privately within Xudu, between the imperial ministers and Yuan Shao."
He sent those letters to Cao Cao.
Hearing this, Cao Cao's expression turned ugly.
When he and Yuan Shao were confronting Guandu, the minister secretly communicated with Yuan Shao. This was treason and rebellion, but it was a capital crime. Cao Cao could take the letter and go back to kill people.
It doesn't matter if I kill them all.
From the beginning, Cao Cao wanted to kill all the ministers who were loyal to the Han Dynasty so that he could further gain power, but now after thinking about it in the end, he thought it was not necessary.
Yuan Shao has been defeated by him. Those ministers who are loyal to the Han Dynasty, besides being afraid, what use do they have now? Basically useless.
Cao Cao's complexion gradually improved. He looked at the letters, but without opening them, he shouted: "Someone, bring a brazier over."
Instead of going back with the letter to kill people, it would be better to use it to win people's hearts.
After a while, a soldier brought a brazier and Cao Cao put all the letters in it.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
Xia Houyuan shouted that it was a pity.
Those who dare to betray should all be killed. Now that the letters have been burned, it is impossible to determine who is going to betray. Even if they are determined, there is no evidence to kill them.
Cao Cao said proudly: "If I want to pacify the world, I don't necessarily have to rely on killing. Sometimes, killing is not the best way to make the people of the world obey."
This shows his unique personality charm.
Very good at winning people's hearts.
Xia Houyuan suddenly couldn't figure out what the purpose of burning the letters was.
But if you don’t burn it, it will burn. There is no other way.
"In Watanabe's words, the Lord has a great situation!"
Chen Qun laughed and said: "If you use letters to kill people, it can indeed scare many people, but it is not as effective as burning the letters. I believe that this time when we go back, the remaining ministers will not fight against us again."
Cheng Yu admired him: "My lord is benevolent and righteous!"
This is the difference between a true hero and those ordinary warriors.
If it were Dong Zhuo or even Yuan Shao, he might take the letter and go back to kill people.
"Okay, stop flattering me."
Cao Cao yawned and said again: "Du Zhi is right. If we survive any longer, we will lose our lives. Go back and rest quickly. When we wake up, we will go to Baima early tomorrow morning."
"yes!"
Everyone said in unison.
——
Early the next morning.
After Chen Zhou got up, not long after waiting, the army set off.
Last night, he got good news, and he wasn't too surprised by the good news. He was bound to win anyway, so that was about it.
Chen Zhou set off with the army and rushed in the direction of the white horse.
You can see traces of the war everywhere along the way, and even some corpses have not been properly disposed of, giving off a stench.
When we arrived at Baima, the city had already been taken back.
Liu Yan, the governor of Dongjun, began to bring back the people who had moved away before, and the place quickly regained its vitality.
"Do you think we should cross the river immediately?"
Cao Cao asked while standing on the tower of Baima.
Crossing the river to attack Yuan Shao became the next strategic focus, and Cao Cao was also eager to cross the other side.
Chen Zhou asked: "My lord, the food we have now is not enough to conquer Yecheng, right?"
It is actually very simple to cross the river to pursue Yuan Shao.
But chasing and attacking them is actually of no use. The only useful thing is to capture Liyang and then attack Yecheng. As long as Yecheng is lost, half of Jizhou will fall into Cao Cao's hands.
But fighting Yecheng is not easy.
Cao Cao calculated the food supply in the army, shook his head and said: "It is possible to attack Yecheng, but it is impossible to break the city. Maybe Yuan Shao will kill him outside."
In other words, you can’t fight now.
Of course there is no problem in crossing the river, but if we cannot make progress after crossing the river, it is better not to cross. Once we cross, Yecheng must be captured before the crossing is worthwhile.
"We can only wait for the autumn harvest and next spring before we can cross the river and fight again."
Xun You said: "But if you wait like this, Yuan Shao will be able to recover."
Guo Jia shook his head and said: "Yuan Shao has lost so much, it is not easy to recover."
Chen Zhou thought about the subsequent development, and it seemed that Yuan Shao had died of illness.
After the defeat in the battle of Guandu, he suffered another defeat in Cangting. The blow he received was too great and he could not recover. He was so angry that he died in confusion just like Yuan Shu.
"It's really difficult for Yuan Shao to recover."
Chen Zhou agreed with Guo Jia's statement and said: "Our momentum has been unleashed. Not only Yuan Shao is subdued, but other princes also have to weigh their own strength now to see if they can compete with us. They can cross the river and fight to Yecheng next year, or even It’s not difficult to capture Yecheng.”
Cao Cao thought about Chen Zhou's plan, which was more than half realized at this time. The four northern states were close at hand. As long as the Yuan family fell, they would become his Cao family's.
Yuan's body fell, half of it fell.
Cao Cao was immediately confident and said: "Du Zhi is right. Let's retreat temporarily and rest for a year. After the autumn harvest, when there is enough food and grass, we can then cross the river and attack Yecheng. We still have many things to deal with in Xudu."
For example, the reconstruction of Taixue.
Don't be impatient when attacking Yecheng.
Step by step, I got anxious.
"Lord!"
Cheng Yu came over and said, "Jia Wenhe is back, and Zhang Yan is here too."
"Bring them up quickly."
When Cao Cao heard that Zhang Yan had come to surrender, of course he accepted it.
Although Zhang Yan is not very good, after accepting it, firstly, he can build a reputation, and secondly, it can increase his military strength, which is better than nothing.
After a while, Jia Xu and Zhang Yan came to Cao Cao.
