The Huainan Army in Ku County originally had more than 120,000 troops, with sufficient supplies of food and grass, and inexhaustible supplies of baggage. It was difficult to say that they could overthrow Cao Cao, but Zhang Xun was very confident.
As a result, the Heavenly Punishment incident occurred, and seventeen formations were defeated in a row, and nearly half of the troops and horses were lost.
Misfortunes never come singly, Shouchun's home was stolen, and the information that Yuan Shu was defeated and fled to Anfeng was transmitted to the front line. The originally precarious morale of the army suddenly collapsed, and deserters were counted according to the camp every day.
Then Cao Cao launched an all-out general attack, which was as easy as rolling thunder striking rotten trees and leaves. Zhang Xun and his remaining troops fled to Anfeng to join Yuan Shu.
After this battle, Cao Cao also captured more than 20,000 Huainan troops, as well as countless grain, grass and baggage.
Logically speaking, it was a great harvest, and at least 70% to 80% of the losses during this expedition were replenished. However, Cao Cao couldn't be happy, and he felt an unknown fire when he thought of Jiujiang.
Perhaps because of this unknown fire, or perhaps because Cao Cao was paranoid again, he was somewhat hesitant about his original plan to pursue Yuan Shu and annex the three counties of Anfeng, Geyang and Nanyang as soon as possible.
"Sikong wanted to use his plan to leave Yuan Shu behind and let him and Lu Bu form a stalemate in the Huainan area, so that Lu Bu's troops could be dispersed when taking Xuzhou in the future."
Cao Cao stood on the hill with his head held high, behind him were Wang Yue holding the Yitian Sword in both hands and Guo Jia holding the red wine gourd in his hand.
"I can't hide it from you."
Cao Cao sighed, "Right now Yuan Shu is at the end of his rope. If I pursue him for a long distance, I'm worried that he will be defeated. Even if he wins in the end, the damage will be huge."
Yuan Shu had a high self-esteem and was narrow-minded. He would definitely blame Lu Bu for this defeat. After taking a break, he would not let it go and would attack Lu Bu. "
I have to say that Cao Cao's strategic vision is very long-term, and Guo Jia admires this.
At present, Yuan Shu and Lu Bu are bound to be at loggerheads. If Yuan Shu is left unkilled, a battle between the two is inevitable. If the time comes, they will most likely be captured in one fell swoop.
"What do you think?" Cao Cao couldn't help but ask when Guo Jia didn't speak for a long time.
"Maybe give it a try."
After pondering for a moment, Guo Jia tied the wine gourd back to his waist and said in a deep voice: "But Nanyang still got it back. It is the gate of Jingxiang and the throat that isolates the intruders from Guanzhong. It must be held in Sikong's hands."
"That's natural."
Cao Cao looked far into the distance towards Huainan and was very worried about his failure this time. "What a wonderful mountain and river."
After a while, Cao Cao finally said: "Please send an order to the squadron. Send another fast horse to report to the emperor that General Lu Bu has done great work in destroying Yuan. He is specially designated as General Zuo."
"Here." The person holding the pen not far away responded and left in a hurry.
Lu Bu's title is Marquis Wen, but his official position is General Fenwei. He is just a miscellaneous general. Now he mentioned General Zuo in one breath, which can be said to have been promoted to three levels in a row.
Among the generals in the four directions, General Zuo ranks second after the former general. He has the gold seal and purple ribbon and is ranked higher than the minister.
Of course, Cao Cao did this just to make Yuan Shu completely angry at Lu Bu.
In Cao Jun's camp, the sergeants were busy packing their bags. The advance marching army was already one step ahead under the protection of the cavalry as food and fodder.
Liu Bei sat alone on his knees in the camp, his eyes blank, not at all in the mood to end the war.
In fact, judging from the current situation, it is still on Liu Bei's expected route.
He hoped to make some achievements by attacking Yuan Li this time, and after gaining Cao Cao's trust, he would find a suitable opportunity to lead his troops out of his control.
After this battle, it can be said that Cao Cao's trust in him has indeed increased. The price is that the 10,000 soldiers and horses he brought from Pei State were defeated and only more than 4,000 people were left.
Although there are sacrifices, it is worth it, so Liu Bei feels that he should be happy, because he has taken a crucial step towards his great cause of supporting Han.
But after learning the news that Lu Bu had defeated Shouchun and that Jiujiang's strength had greatly increased, he found that he couldn't be happy anymore.
Although he repeatedly comforted himself that this was a good thing, Lu Bu had killed the national traitor Dong Zhuo after all, and he was a Han official, while Cao Cao was a Han traitor. The one was declining and the other was increasing, which was a good sign for saving the Han Dynasty.
In fact, when he was in Pei State, he hated Lu Bu for taking Xuzhou from him but was still willing to join forces with him. This was also what he valued. Although this man was capricious, he would not kill innocent people indiscriminately and could be an ally against Cao Cao.
So Liu Bei himself didn't understand why he felt depressed.
It's just this era. If Liu Bei traveled to a world two thousand years ago, he would know that this is a common mentality.
I'm afraid of my brother's hardship, and I'm also afraid of my brother driving a Land Rover.
While your own failure is terrible, your friend's success is even more heart-wrenching.
What's more, deep down in his heart, Liu Bei, like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, despises Lu Bu. Now he not only owns Xuzhou, but also extends his hand to Huainan.
Blue and thin.
"Brother, why did Cao Cao not take down Yuan Shu in one go, but instead chose a class teacher after a great victory." Guan Yu, who was kneeling opposite Liu Bei, thought about it for a long time without thinking about it.
"Cao Cao often deploys troops unexpectedly. Perhaps he is worried that his army will be exhausted after fighting for several months, so he wants to rest first." This was the only reasonable explanation Liu Bei could think of.
"If the false emperor is not eliminated, how can we speak of our master?" Guan Yu sighed, stroking his two-foot-long beard.
Zhang Fei snorted coldly, "That guy didn't want to kill the thief. Seeing that the slaves of the three surnames took over Jiujiang and Yuan Shu lost all his money and food, he didn't think about it anymore."
"Third brother!" Liu Bei immediately gouged him out to remind him. Zhang Fei had no choice but to give up and drink wine in depression.
"Then, brother, should we go back to Peiguo or go back to Xuchang with Cao Cao?" In this place, you have to be careful what you say. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei don't like it here either. If you ask this, you naturally want to go back to Peiguo.
In fact, Liu Bei's contribution this time was not small. In addition to defeating Li Feng in the first battle, Liu Bei participated in a total of twelve battles in the seventeen-game winning streak. He can be regarded as a model pacesetter.
He knew that if he spoke, Cao Cao would most likely be willing to let him go. After all, he still needed someone on the front line to block Lu Bu's attack.
But when I think that after working hard for half a year, I got nothing and lost more than 5,000 soldiers and horses, it's not worth it no matter how I calculate it.
The most important thing is that returning to Pei State will once again find him in a situation of trying to survive. How can the Han Dynasty be revived in this way?
"Go back to Xuchang and wait for the opportunity." After a long time, Liu Bei made his decision.
"Brother, why should we follow Cao Cao's back and suffer?"
"I have my own plan. Third brother, please be more patient."
Seeing that Liu Bei had made up his mind, Guan Yu also spoke to comfort him: "Brother, bear the humiliation and bear the burden. We brothers should share the worries of eldest brother. Don't bother eldest brother anymore."
"Go, I didn't say not to go." Zhang Fei shrugged.
Liu Bei's strategy is not as good as Cao Cao's, and his command of the army is not as good as Lu Bu's, but his tenacity, even if they are tied together, they may not be able to match him.
After clearing up his messy thoughts, Liu Bei stood up, took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to the military camp, and helped the soldiers pack their bags.
At this time, besides drawing closer to the soldiers, he didn't know what else he could do.
