The river water is clear and flows slowly.

Cao Mengde stood by the river, looking at the soldiers rushing to the river to drink water, and suddenly let out a low roar.

"hateful."

During the battle last night, Cao Mengde and his people finally escaped and ran for dozens of miles. Everyone was really thirsty and couldn't stand it anymore, so they stopped to rest.

Just when Cao Mengde was furious, the generals also rushed over from a distance.

Xiahou Dun stepped forward and handed over his hand, "My Lord, the general has already counted the number of people, so there are about 10,000 people who escaped together."

Hearing this number, Cao Mengde was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses came here, but in a short period of time, most of them were lost. It is really shameful!

Le Jin hurriedly said, "Lord, calm down. Although our army is defeated this time, we can come back and take revenge as long as we go back and regroup."

Although Le Jin was somewhat resourceful, his defeat was so disastrous that he could no longer compete with Lu Bu's army and could only choose to retreat. There was no other way.

After hearing this, everyone hurriedly raised their heads to look at Cao Mengde, their eyes full of inquiries.

The current strength is not as good as Lu Bu. Everyone knows this and knows that retreating is the best way, but this order can only be given by Cao Mengde.

When Cao Mengde heard what Le Jin said, he punched the tree next to him and gritted his teeth and said, "If you retreat, you will really be unwilling to do so!"

After losing so much troops and going back in such a dejected manner, how can I have the dignity to meet everyone?

Xiahou Dun sighed and said, "My lord, it's better to retreat. Our army is now not as strong as Lu Bu's army."

Having said this, Xiahou Dun's tone paused, a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes, then he gritted his teeth, raised his hands and said.

"Lord, the most important thing is that we have been driven out of the camp and have no food left. There is no food for the next meal."

When everyone heard this, their expressions suddenly changed and they hurriedly lowered their heads.

The reason for the defeat this time was all because of food!

Everyone present was the core figure of Cao Jun, but in order to keep this matter confidential, Cao Mengde did not tell them what they were eating.

Although everyone had guesses in their minds, since Cao Mengde didn't say anything, they certainly didn't dare to ask. This matter was not trivial. Once Cao Mengde was offended, no one would get any good results.

The most important reason is that they are all senior generals of Cao's army. As long as they have a piece of food, they must share it with them. Therefore, although everyone is in Cao's camp, they do not eat that item, but eat real food.

And everyone also knows that one more thing is worse than one less thing, especially this matter, so even if they know it, they don't dare to think too much in their hearts, for fear of causing trouble.

But I never expected that the entire camp, with such superior strength, would be defeated so easily by Lu Bu's army.

No!

It should be said that eating this item made all Cao's soldiers angry and he collapsed.

Now that everyone knows, who dares to mention this matter.

At this moment, Cheng Yu and Han Meng were hiding far away, for fear that others would discover the secrets in their hearts.

When Cao Mengde saw the expressions on everyone's faces, he sighed secretly and said slowly.

"Generals, since everyone already knows, I won't hide it from you. It is true, but there is nothing we can do about it. I don't have food, so I can only use this method.

If Lu Bu hadn't discovered us this time, we would have been able to defeat him successfully. Although we have done this, as long as we can defeat Lu Bu, I think it is still worth it."

Hearing this, everyone raised their hands and said, "You will finally understand."

Cao Mengde waved his hand, "Although our army failed this time, as long as you are by my side, our army can still defeat Lu Bu."

At this point, Cao Mengde's tone paused, but then he continued without waiting for others to answer his words.

"Generals, if you don't retreat, can you find a way to defeat the enemy?"

Hearing this, everyone smiled bitterly and shook their heads.

"My lord, our army is not as strong as Lu Bu now, and this thing happened again. How easy is it to defeat Lu Bu?"

Everyone in Cao's army is also a famous general with great abilities. If they were just defeated, everyone would not be so decadent and would definitely find a way to fight again.

However, since everyone knew what the army ate, they knew that morale was irreparable and it was almost impossible to fight again.

When the morale of the soldiers is low, there is no need to talk about combat effectiveness. Even if they try reluctantly, the final result will be to be repulsed by the enemy. There is absolutely no second possibility.

It was precisely for this reason that everyone wanted to persuade Cao Mengde to retreat.

As long as everyone returns to Puyang, they can regroup and restore their morale. When the morale of the soldiers is high, they can go out to fight again. At that time, the chance of winning will be greater.

Xiahou Dun coughed slightly, cupped his hands and said, "My lord, the matter has come to this and I'm afraid it's irreversible, so we'd better retreat."

Cao Hong sighed, "The morale in the army is too low now. Not to mention the war, there are already a lot of complaints. If we go to fight Lu Bu's army again, I'm worried they will...?"

Before he finished speaking, he sighed again and did not continue.

However, even though he had not finished speaking, everyone understood the meaning of his words.

The soldiers knew what they were eating, and if they went to fight Lu Bu again, they might switch sides in the middle of the battle, which would be even more dangerous.

This must not be a fluke. The living example is here. Everyone saw it during the battle yesterday. Almost countless Cao Jun soldiers kept shouting and fighting at their companions.

These people were so angry that they had already surrendered before the fighting started. If they attacked again now, would they not follow in their footsteps?

If that is the case, I am afraid that the main force of Cao's army will be completely wiped out this time, and there will be no hope anymore.

When Cao Mengde heard what the two said, of course he knew that what they said was right, but was he just going to retreat like this?

He is very aware of the current situation in Yanzhou. After a long war, most of the food has been consumed. Even if he retreats, is there anything he can do?

Recruiting troops is easy to say, but it requires the support of food!

If the only food available is used to recruit troops, what will happen to the military rations during the war?

In other words, even if we go back to reorganize our troops now, we will not be able to come to attack Lu Bu at least this year, and we will have to wait until next year at the earliest before we can come back again.

And what will happen in this year's time?
Chapter completed!