In Xiangxian City, in the General's Mansion, Cao Cao sat cross-legged on the couch, wrapped in a large cloak, his hands empty on top of the brazier in front of him to warm himself, his face looked ugly.
Two days ago, he was still looking forward to a better future in Xiaoguan City, the choke point of Xuzhou. Who knows, the situation will take a turn for the worse in one day.
After setting up the game for so long, Xiao Guan, who finally got it, changed hands just like this.
Surprisingly, he was not too unwilling. After calming down, Cao Cao was convinced of his defeat to Lin Mo this time.
A secret passage that should not have appeared was prepared in advance, and a Jinfan thief full of banditry was used by him half a year in advance. Who can withstand this?
After thinking about Lin Mo for some time, Cao Cao discovered that the biggest difference between him and ordinary counselors was that he was like a chess player, counting twenty in one move, and was used to taking into account all the unknowns.
To deal with such people, you must win by surprise, you must break away from the established thinking and march in an unexpected way.
Guo Jia is the best at this. Unfortunately, he is ill at this moment.
There was a sound of footsteps, and Xia Houyuan walked in. He looked haggard and clasped his fists and said: "Sikong, the defeated troops from all sides are returning to camp one after another. There are a total of 8,700 people. In addition to the leopard cavalry that protects Sikong, the formation is complete, and all three battalions of cavalry are there. Damage, remaining one thousand one hundred.
According to the defeated soldiers who returned to the camp, Wen Qian and Mancheng were killed in battle. "
Cao Cao froze, and his face instantly darkened.
For two days, neither of them returned to camp before Cao Cao guessed that something had happened. However, after waiting for the exact news, boundless sorrow still beat in his heart like a stormy sea.
The army was reduced by two-thirds, and the cavalry was reduced by one-third. He was not uncomfortable, but when Le Jin and Li Dian died, his heart was bleeding.
Starting from the ambush outside Peicheng, to the battle of Anfeng, and now to the battle of Xiaoguan.
Cao Xiu, Cao Chun, Li Tong, Yue Jin, Li Dian, plus Yu Jin whose whereabouts are unknown, unknowingly, I lost so many powerful generals.
Some things cannot be studied deeply or recalled. After just a simple calculation, Cao Cao closed his eyes with heartache.
He knew very well that these people were either generals in the army or wizards in military training, and some were even good enough to stand alone. However, after three fights, the other party only lost Hao Meng.
Cao Cao could clearly hear his heart bleeding. It was easy to get an army, but it was hard to find a general.
"Miaocai, sit down." Cao Cao nuzzled towards the small bench beside him.
Xia Houyuan was a little confused. After sitting down, he said puzzledly: "The eldest brother is upset. Do you need to invite Mr. Xun over? He is unparalleled in resourcefulness and may be able to relieve the eldest brother's worries."
Cao Cao just shook his head.
It is difficult for outsiders to sympathize with the mood at this moment. Xun You is still loyal to him, but after all, he is from the Yingchuan family, and there is a gap between him.
Compared to the Xiahou family who spent all their wealth to join the army, their own family members can do whatever they want.
"Brother, Yuan Rang should arrive with his troops before tomorrow evening. If you are angry, why not attack Xiao Pass and make Lu Bu pay the price!" Bai Di General Xia Hou Yuan's record is worse than Xia Hou Dun's.
In terms of personality, like Zhang Fei, he has a fiery temper and likes to get into fights whenever he disagrees.
But in the later period, Zhang Fei began to slowly become enlightened, and learned to use his brain whether doing things or fighting, but this Xia Houyuan, on the other hand, mainly played a reckless role.
"We can't fight anymore."
Cao Cao moved his buttocks, changed his posture, and said feebly: "If we continue the fight, either Lu Bu and I will suffer losses and be overtaken by Yuan Shao, or"
He no longer wanted to talk about the rest.
After hearing that this was a helpless move, Xia Houyuan asked again: "Then, should we send a horse to inform Yuan Rang so that his troops no longer have to rush to Xiangxian County and slowly return to Xuchang?"
"Just go back like this?"
Cao Cao sneered, as if mocking himself, and murmured: "People in the world will say that Cao Cao has hundreds of thousands of people, but he can't defeat Lu Bu's tens of thousands of troops. He is really a mediocre leader."
Ah this
This doesn't work, that doesn't work either. Xia Houyuan said that he was confused, "What do you want, brother?"
"It would be best if Lu Bu can take the initiative to ask for peace, or please make peace. If I retreat, I will have an explanation both inside and outside the court."
We have suffered a huge defeat! My eldest brother, Lu Bu will come to ask for peace?
Xia Houyuan thought about it and shook his head. He wouldn't be able to do it anyway. However, he didn't ask any more questions. He felt that it was wrong to ask anything.
Seeing Xia Houyuan's little thoughts, Cao Cao chuckled, "If Guangling or Lujiang are suddenly attacked, what do you think Lu Bu will do?"
"Brother, what information did you receive?" Xia Houyuan stood up suddenly. If something happened behind Lu Bu, then he would not beg for peace, but for mercy.
"No."
Under Xia Houyuan's surprised gaze, Cao Cao pressed his hand to signal him to sit down, and then said with sincerity: "A great talent, a general should not only make clear rewards and punishments, and run the army in a strict manner, but also learn to look up to the world.
Although I didn't get any information, I could smell it with my nose. In Danyang, more than 800 miles away, Sun Ce was preparing to attack Huainan or Guangling. "
Jiangdong Sun Ce?
Xia Houyuan sat down slowly again, and after roving his eyes twice, he suddenly remembered that more than half a year ago, Wu Jing, the prefect of Guangling, invited Sun Ce to settle in.
At that time, hundreds of horsemen robbed the camp. Didn't that bastard Gan Ning suffer a big loss?
Later, Sun Ce was defeated and defeated Zhou Tai and Huang Gai. Now that I think about it, he will definitely not give up. He must be waiting for the two sides to fight fiercely before suddenly launching a surprise attack on Guangling or Huainan.
Yes, that must be the case!
Having figured it out, Xia Houyuan swept away his gloom and grinned, "I understand, eldest brother can't retreat now. We have to wait for Yuan Rang to lead his troops and form a confrontation with Lu Bu. In fact, he is encouraging Sun Ce to launch a sneak attack.
As long as Sun Ce succeeds and Lu Bu's backyard is on fire, he will either sue for peace with us or "
Xia Houyuan's squinting eyes reflected the gloomy cold air, and he made a gesture of raising a knife and dropping it.
He was excited, but Cao Cao was still troubled.
This feeling of leaving the future to others to decide is what he dislikes the most.
What's more, victory is victory, and defeat is defeat. This time, we really lost, and we lost so completely.
Now, I just hope that Sun Ce will not let him down, not to mention causing trouble for Lu Bu, but at least force him to return reinforcements so that Lu Bu will have to sue for peace with him, so that they can have a step down.
After all, at this moment, the morale of this team has been greatly reduced and they can no longer fight.
Cao Cao let out a long sigh and lay down on the couch. He said feebly: "Go down, I'm tired."
"Here." Xia Houyuan knew that he was just chatting with him. Even he couldn't guess what he was thinking.
However, what he said just now gave Xia Houyuan some confidence, and he was ready to rectify the defeated soldiers who had gathered together, and at least boost their morale.
"By the way, let's find more useful generals in the army. We can also recruit according to their talents at the border between the two states." Cao Cao, who was lying on the couch, looked at the dome and said with empty eyes.
"Here." Xia Houyuan responded again before retreating completely.
In Xiaoguan City, the first thing Lin Mo did when he arrived was to block the tunnel.
Doing some things once is enough. After the war spreads, this tunnel will only become a hidden danger threatening Xiaoguan, and it will be detrimental to it.
Seeing the tunnel that had only been used once and then was filled up, Lin Mo didn't feel too distressed at all. He just thought it was like spending 20,000 gold to buy Xiao Guan back. It was a good deal.
"What are you going to do with those prisoners?" Lu Bu asked casually after coming out of the abandoned treasury.
"Let them repair the damaged city defenses and private houses first. It's almost time to return them to Cao Cao." Lin Mo patted the dirt on his hands.
Lu Bu was dumbfounded when he heard this, and he stood still, "Give it back to Cao Cao? You are such a good man, did our people die in vain?"
Lin Mo smiled slightly and made an invitation gesture, signaling his old father-in-law to continue walking, "Master-in-law, didn't the scout just say that Xiahou Dun's 100,000-strong army forward has entered Xiangxian County, do you know what the purpose of this move is?"
"Xiao Guan was defeated. Cao Cao was unwilling to accept the defeat. He wanted to join the army and wait for an opportunity to counterattack!" Lu Bu turned to look at Lin Mo. Isn't this an obvious thing.
"No, he is waiting for his father-in-law to give him what he wants before he can lead his army to leave, or in other words, he can lead his army to leave."
Only able to lead the army to leave and capable of leading the army to leave are two different terms. The more Lu Bu listened, the more confused he became. After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure out what he could give him. He could only look at Lin Mo with questioning eyes, looking forward to it. The son-in-law solved the problem.
"Please give me a book."
Lin Mo curled his lips and said: "Master Yue-Zhang, the poem in this poetry meeting shocked the families behind Cao Cao. It even caused a certain amount of turmoil in the imperial court. Cao Cao used his trick to cheat, and then attacked Xiaoguan. This does seem extremely clever.
But it's easy to say that he won, because he could use this to stabilize his rear and the anti-war forces in the court. The problem is that he lost, and he won first and then lost. In this way, the rear would fall into chaos.
The only way to stabilize this chaotic situation is to return to Xuchang with our letter of invitation and tell the people in the world, well, they have made peace and are still the pillars of the imperial court, so I will not conquer them. "
Lu Bu had a look of astonishment on his face, it turns out it can be like this, it turns out it can still be like this.
Sure, if my son-in-law hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known there were these secrets inside.
"I say so. Xiao Guan was defeated, Yue Jin and Li Dian were killed, and the three armies were in turmoil. How could he fight back? It turned out that he was waiting for me to ask for peace with him."
"If you ask for peace, you have to pay tribute. The more than 8,000 prisoners are the best tribute."
Lin Mo really didn't make this decision on the spur of the moment.
In fact, Chen Gong and that old bastard Jia Xu both participated in the discussion about this matter, and the three of them agreed that the person could be returned to Cao Cao.
First, if these eight thousand people waved the butcher's knife, it would be difficult to send away Cao Cao, the god of plague. If they come with great fanfare, they must give enough reasons to leave willingly.
Second, the combat strength of these 8,000 troops is very ordinary. They were just field soldiers before and could not make any waves.
Third, and the most critical point, the next step is the battle with Yuan Shao. Once the situation of joining forces with Cao Cao to resist Yuan Shao is formed, from the perspective of allies, everyone hopes that Cao Cao can compete with him for a longer period of time.
Only when Cao Cao becomes stronger will Yuan Shao allocate more troops to deal with him, and the pressure on his own side will be reduced accordingly.
"You are still thoughtful. If it weren't for you, I would probably be confused about these things again."
Lu Bu was in a good mood. With Lin Mo here, he didn't need to think about many things.
In fact, he knew clearly in his heart that even without Lin Mo, Chen Gong and the others would still give their opinions on these matters. The problem was that only Lin Mo said what he said just now, and he was willing to believe it from the bottom of his heart and implement it.
If it were Chen Gong, there would inevitably be some suspicions about whether he was hiding something, let alone Chen Deng and Jia Xu.
There was no way, everyone was selfish. Except for Lin Mo and his son-in-law, no one could give him such a sense of security.
"Oh right."
While the two were chatting, they walked back to the general's mansion. After sitting down by the stone platform under the eaves of the pavilion, Lu Bu suddenly remembered something and said casually: "You and Ling'er's wedding is scheduled to be in Taoyue. I People have seen that the best day of the year is the seventh day of March. By then, Cao Cao must have retreated."
As he said this, Lu Bu let out a long sigh of relief, "With this matter accomplished, Ling'er and I have finally fulfilled our wish."
"It's all up to my father-in-law to make the decision." Lin Mo cupped his hands and said.
In fact, I was really excited inside. The wedding date had been discussed for a year and delayed for half a year, but it was finally finalized.
Ling'er is also a person who doesn't keep his words. They have gone through life and death together, and she still keeps her integrity. Now that the wedding date has been settled, the stone in her heart has finally fallen to the ground.
It would be too boring to just watch and not eat all day long.
"There is one more thing. I have wanted to tell you for a long time, but Cao Cao accidentally attacked Xiaoguan again, and it has been delayed until now."
Lu Bu picked up the tea that his servant had just made and took a sip. "The spies in Jingzhou reported back. Liu Bei really went to Jingzhou, but he didn't seem to be well received. He sent Liu Biao to Xinye City and paid him a monthly salary." forage."
Newfield
Is this history's self-repair?
The thought just passed by in a flash. Lin Mo knew that he actually had no way to go to Jingzhou. After the battle with Anfeng, he had killed him, so it was naturally impossible for him to defect.
With Sun Ce on the other side of the river, there was no other way to go except to Jingzhou in the west.
But ah.
He couldn't go anywhere, so why did he go to Xinye?
According to history, he was stationed in Xinye for seven or eight years, then met Xu Shu, and finally introduced Zhuge Liang, and he embarked on the road to prosperity.
In seven or eight years, I didn’t know what the situation would be like. Now history has completely changed. God knows whether I can withstand Yuan Shao’s Northern Army. Even if I can, it is still unclear who will win the battle with Cao Cao in the future.
Moreover, Zhuge Liang at this period was only eighteen or nineteen years old, about the same age as himself. Should he directly kill Yongjie Liang, or write a few letters to him as if he moved Zhao Yun?
Lin Mo felt that it was a bit whimsical to recruit such an amazing genius like Zhuge Liang by writing letters.
Liu Bei still had to visit the thatched cottage three times.
After thinking about it again and again, Lin Mo still thought that he should slow down the matter. Zhuge Liang, even if Liu Bei is ignored, he will not come out until seven or eight years later. Who knows what will happen by then. If he really has the upper hand, he will send someone around soon. Just do it.
If the worst happens, there is no need to embarrass Zhuge Wuhou.
But there is one person who might be safer if he dies first.
"My father-in-law, let Jingzhou's Anzi kill someone."
"Killing? Who?" Lu Bu was a little curious. This was the first time he heard such a request from Lin Moti. This kid was not a killer.
"Xu Shu."
As long as he is killed, Liu Bei will have no support, and it is very likely that he will not know Zhuge Liang's existence.
Before Lu Bu could nod in agreement, Lin Mo quickly added: "His name is also Shan Fu, so let Anzi find out more about it."
Lu Bu scratched his head, frowned and murmured: "Shan Fu?"
"Any questions?"
"Why do I seem to have heard someone mention this name? Where did I hear it?"
Lu Bu scratched his head a little. It was obviously familiar, but he just couldn't remember it.
Lin Mo was even more surprised. There was no reason. Xu Shu became a ranger after killing people and always used a pseudonym. During that time, it was unlikely that his father-in-law would have met him. "My father-in-law, think more clearly. Maybe they have the same name." .”
The next breath, Lu Bu's eyes lit up, he patted Shitai and raised his eyebrows and said, "I remembered it. I heard from Gongtai that there was a man named Shan Fu in Pengcheng. He passed the test on his military tactics and tactics, and even Gongtai praised him. If you don’t stop talking, that’s right, it’s him.”
Xu Shu came to Xuzhou? Lin Mo's heart beat a little faster, and he frowned and said, "Where is he?"
"It's at your Ziyang Academy."
You can't find anything even if you wear iron shoes, so it doesn't take much effort to get it, right?
Interesting, interesting.
Lin Mo didn't expect that this worldly talent would come to his door automatically. The person who could make Chen Gongdu full of praise must be Xu Shu.
"Then still kill?"
Lin Mo shook his head repeatedly, "How can we kill him? From now on, he will be our right-hand man, Mr. Yue-Zhang. This man's attainments in military strategy are probably not inferior to those of Jia Xu."
Xu Shu said that Zhuge Liang was ten times more talented than him. That was bragging. Zhang Fei was right. These rotten scholars have been studying for several years. When they are humble, they are extremely humble, and when they are crazy, they are extremely crazy.
You know, in the Battle of Chibi, the only person who saw the serial plan was Xu Yuanzhi.
Lu Bu didn't know how powerful Jia Xu was, and naturally he didn't know what Xu Shu was capable of, but I'm afraid it's not easy for someone to make his son-in-law so excited.
"Well, when I get back, I'll go and invite him in person."
(End of chapter)
