Yuan Shu knew that it was impossible to attack Xuzhou, so he quickly gathered the remaining troops and fled towards his own Huainan.
Lu Bu's troops won a great victory, so he invited Guan Yu, Yang Feng, Han Xian and others to come to Xuzhou and held a banquet in person. There were rewards for those who participated in the battle. Guan Yu thought that Liu Bei still needed him, so it was not convenient for him. After staying for a long time, I said goodbye.
Lu Bu recommended Han Xian as Yidu Mu and Yang Feng as Langya Mu, and planned to let them stay in Xuzhou to help him.
After Chen Gui found out, he quickly came out to dissuade him, saying: "Han and Yang occupy Shandong. In less than a year, all the cities in Shandong will be occupied by generals."
Lu Bu agreed, so he sent the two men to temporarily camp in Yidu and Langya to wait for their favor.
At this point, Chen Deng was a little confused and asked his father: "Why don't you leave these two people in Xuzhou to avenge our hatred?"
He replied: "No, if these two people go to help Lu Bu, then we will be in trouble." Only then did Chen Deng understand and admired him repeatedly.
After Guan Yu returned to Yuzhou, he first went to see Liu Bei and told Liu Bei the news of Yuan Shu's defeat. Liu Bei was in a good mood.
After Guan Yu came out, he met Yu Yi, who smiled and said, "Why didn't Brother Guan take my younger brother with him when he went to fight?"
He replied: "I didn't go out!"
In fact, Guan Yu's trip to Xuzhou was secretly arranged by Liu Bei. He would never tolerate Yuan Shu proclaiming himself emperor, so no matter what, Yuan Shu had to pay a corresponding price. Going by himself would arouse Cao Cao's suspicion, so So he sent Guan Yu to fight.
Yu Yi walked up to Guan Yu, looked into his eyes, and suddenly shouted: "Second brother, you are lying!"
At this time, Zhang Fei also came. Seeing Yuyi blocking Guan Yu's way, he said: "Fourth brother, what are you doing? Why are you blocking the second brother?"
Yu Yi whispered: "Second brother is lying!"
Zhang Fei said: "Why lie?"
Guan Yu thought that if Zhang Fei knew that he went to fight without him, the whole Yuzhou would definitely make a fuss, so he walked up to Yu Yi and secretly said: "Please hide this matter, I owe you a favor!"
It has reached the level of owing a favor. Yu Yi thought about it and realized that this deal was a good deal. He immediately agreed and said to Zhang Fei, "Actually, Brother Guan has fallen in love with a girl in the city. I asked him and he said no!"
Zhang Fei patted Guan Yu on the shoulder and said, "There's nothing to be ashamed of about this kind of thing. Just marry whoever you like."
Guan Yu had no choice but to smile and resolve the matter.
After Yuan Shu's defeat, he returned to Huainan. The resentment in his heart could not be eliminated, so he sent people to Jiangdong to ask Sun Ce to lend troops and prepare to avenge his humiliation. However, Sun Ce immediately refused and said: "How dare you rely on my jade seal and not return it?" Proclaiming himself emperor and betraying the Han Dynasty is really treasonous! I am about to attack you, how can I lend troops to you, a traitor?" So he wrote a letter, which was full of ridicule and abuse, and he refused.
After Yuan Shu read the reply, he cursed angrily and said: "The Huangkou boy is so rude, I should go and attack him first!"
General Yang, the chief strategist, came out to dissuade him and said, "We have just been defeated now. Sun Ce has the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, so we can't go."
After hearing this, Yuan Shu's anger subsided a lot, and then he gave up the idea.
Sun Ce knew that his reply would definitely arouse Yuan Shu's anger, so he deployed heavy troops at the mouth of the river to guard against Yuan Shu.
Suddenly someone reported that Cao Cao's envoy had arrived. He read out the emperor's edict, worshiped Sun Ce as the prefect of Kuaiji, and ordered him to raise troops to attack Yuan Shu.
Although Sun Ce wrote in the letter that he was going to attack Yuan Shu, he had no real intention to go. Now that the imperial edict required him to send troops, the situation became complicated, so he gathered everyone to discuss and felt that the meaning of the imperial edict could not be violated, so he prepared to raise troops.
Zhang Zhaodao, the chief historian, said: "Although Yuan Shu failed, there are many soldiers and abundant food in Huainan, so we cannot underestimate the enemy. Why don't we write a letter to Cao Cao and persuade him to march south. Then, as internal agents, we can help each other to rescue Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu will be defeated. It’s foolproof, and I also hope Cao Cao can rescue me.”
Sun Ce followed this suggestion and sent someone to find Cao Cao to explain the situation.
The tragic defeat in Wancheng still left a deep impression on Cao Cao, especially the loss of his beloved general Dian Wei. He specially set up a memorial tablet in Xudu for everyone to worship together. He named his son Dianman the Zhonglang and adopted him in his mansion. .
Suddenly someone came to report that he had received a letter from Sun Ce, so Cao Cao opened it and read it. Another person came to report that Yuan Shu was short of food and wanted to rob Chen Liu's food and take advantage of it.
Cao Cao originally didn't want to wade into troubled waters, but Yuan Shu took the initiative to come to him, so he had no choice but to send troops. So he prepared for the southern expedition and sent Cao Ren to guard Xudu. The others followed him, and there were a total of 170,000 horse infantry, food supplies, and heavy equipment. More than a thousand cars were taken.
On the one hand, he sent a letter to Sun Ce, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu, and brought his troops to the border of Yuzhou.
After Yuan Shu's defeat, Liu Bei had been paying attention to the developments in Huainan. He knew that Yu Yi had brought news that Yuan Shu was short of food and was going to plunder Chenliu. Only then did he confirm that Cao Cao was finally going to launch an army himself, so he arrived at the border early. Go up to meet Cao Cao.
After greeting each other, Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei to take two heads. Cao Cao was very surprised and said, "Whose head did you bring up?"
Liu Bei said: "Are these the heads of Han Xian and Yang Feng?"
Cao Cao asked: "How did you chop it down?"
Liu Bei explained: "Lü Bu sent these two men to live in Yidu and Langya counties. I didn't expect that they would lead soldiers and horses everywhere to plunder the people. Everyone reviled them, so I invited them to a banquet and lied that they wanted to discuss something. While drinking, he threw down a lamp as a signal, and asked Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to come out and kill them, then surrendered his old troops, and now he comes here specifically to plead guilty to the Prime Minister!"
After Cao Cao understood what happened, he smiled and said: "You are doing harm to the country. You have done great service. How can you be said to be guilty?"
So he rewarded Liu Bei and joined forces with Liu Bei to reach the territory of Xuzhou.
Lu Bu came out to greet him. Cao Cao appeased him, named him General Zuo, and promised on the spot that he would give him the seal and ribbon after returning to Xudu. Lu Bu originally wanted these reputations and was very happy after hearing this. So Cao Cao assigned one unit to Lu Bu and another to Liu Bei. He commanded the central army himself and ordered Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin to be the vanguard.
Yuan Shu knew that Cao Cao was coming with troops, so he ordered General Qiao Rui to lead 50,000 soldiers and horses as the vanguard to meet near the Shouchun border. Qiao Rui was the first to attack, and Xiahou Dun came to fight, but he was stabbed to death within three rounds. Yuan Shu's troops were defeated and they all fled into the city.
