Cao Cao's army soon rushed from Xuchang to Huaibei.

The distance from Xuchang to Huaibei is not too far. There are no mountain roads in between. Most of it is just a plain and open land. Even if Cao Cao's army does not need to march in a hurry, half a month is enough.

In fact, Cao Jun did not need to go directly to Huaibei, but took a detour to Huainan and went straight to Yuan Shu's lair.

But if he did this, Yuan Shu would definitely abandon Huaibei and directly order the armies stationed nearby to return to aid Shouchun. Although Cao Cao dared to challenge Yuan Shu, he did not want to compete with Yuan Shu on his own.

What he wants is just to use other surrounding princes to consume Yuan Shu's strength, and then slowly annex Yuan Shu.

Therefore, it is better to lead the army to attack Huaibei directly than to directly lead troops and horses to attack Shouchun.

The defenders in Huaibei have been severely defeated by Lu Bu and have lost confidence. When Cao Cao's army comes, they will be unable to resist and will be defeated by Cao Cao's army in a short time.

Cao Cao could easily take the huge territory of Huaibei into his hands without even paying much price.

More importantly, Huaibei's territory is connected to the Xuzhou area.

Once Cao Cao occupied Huaibei, there were many things he wanted to do.

You can attack Yuan Shu in the south, and encircle Lu Bu in the east.

No matter what, this place is a battleground for him, so instead of attacking Shouchun, it is better to capture Huaibei first.

A certain county in Ruyin.

Yuan Yao and Qiao Rui led their troops to station here.

A few days ago, Cao Cao's Qin Wang Order had not yet been sent out.

Yuan Yao had already learned that Cao Cao was about to use troops against Yuan Shu.

Because Yuan Yao had already dispatched his men to the vicinity of Xuchang, although Cao Cao had not yet mobilized troops and horses, some cartmen transporting grain and grass had already appeared in the direction from Xuchang to Huaibei.

Some truckers transporting grain are actually inconspicuous. On weekdays, there are also some transport teams transporting grain and grass to the front line, but the amount of grain and grass transported by these truckers has increased significantly.

The number of troops stationed by Cao Cao on the front line was not large, and many cities were basically self-sufficient in their food and grass supplies. The sudden increase in cart drivers meant something was definitely wrong.

Yuan Yao concluded that within half a month, Cao Cao would definitely send troops to Huaibei just through the grain and grass transported by these cartmen.

He can even roughly guess the exact location.

"Zhu County should be the first county that Cao Jun attacked."

"So awesome? I don't believe it, sir. You can guess that Cao Cao will use troops against us. It's not difficult. After all, we are indeed at a disadvantage now. It is not impossible for Cao Cao to take the opportunity to bite us."

"But if you still know which county Cao Cao attacked first, then I really don't believe it."

"Is it possible that your spies are more powerful than Zhang Xun's spies?"

"Zhang Xun doesn't even know when Cao Cao will attack, but you can actually know which county Cao Cao attacked first."

Qiao Rui has become quite familiar with Yuan Yao in recent days. When she talked about Cao Jun with Yuan Yao in the military camp, she couldn't help but talk about these things with Yuan Yao.

The two had made a bet before. Yuan Yao bet that Cao Cao would use troops against Ruyin at this time. Qiao Rui didn't believe it because Cao Cao was newly defeated and lost his troops in Wancheng. He should rest and recuperate at this moment.

But Yuan Yao bet him that Cao Cao would definitely use troops against Huaibei within half a month.

Qiao Rui naturally didn't believe it, so he bet a pot of good wine on whether Cao Cao would use troops in Huaibei within half a month. The bet between the two was huge, and Qiao Rui was naturally very concerned about this matter.

No, for several days, people were sent to Yuzhou to find out the news.

However, a few days passed without any movement in Xuchang. Qiao Rui thought that her bet was about to win.

But the time had just reached the tenth day when King Qin Ling came out.

Immediately afterwards, Cao Jun in Xuchang also quickly organized his troops and headed straight for Ruyin. He also wanted to detour from Ruyin to Huaibei and attack Huaibei first.

After this news reached Ruyin, Qiaorui was shocked. He never thought that he would lose. Cao Cao did not recharge his batteries in Xuchang. Instead, he took a wrong approach and led an army of 30,000 people directly to Ruyin.

Coming from Yin.

This made Qiao Rui look shocked and hurriedly came to Yuan Yao.

At this moment, Qiao Rui no longer cares about his gambling, but is more concerned about his own life.

After all, once Cao Cao really attacked, the few troops they stationed in Zhu County would not be able to withstand Cao Cao's army.

It is estimated that even a wave of Cao Jun's charges cannot be stopped.

Because of this, Qiao Rui came to Yuan Yao to discuss countermeasures.

But after Qiao Rui came to see Yuan Yao, Yuan Yao not only told him that Cao Jun would attack, but also that the first one to attack would be the county where they were stationed, which made Qiao Rui a little unbelievable.

"General Qiao, it's not that I'm awesome or that I have more spies than Zhang Xun, but there are some things that require some thinking."

"The main reason why I know that Cao Cao will send troops within half a month is because I have detected the transportation status of Cao Cao's army's grain, grass and baggage in advance."

"As the saying goes, before the three armies move, food and grass go first. Cao Jun has been transporting food and grass to us. If you say that he won't send troops and horses to attack us, I don't believe it."

"As for why I know that the first city Cao Jun attacked was not somewhere else, but Zhu County where we were stationed. It is not difficult to guess that the place he was going to was Huaibei, and Zhu County where we were stationed was Tong

The only way to Huaibei."

"It is useless to capture the county towns in other places, and they also need to divide their troops to garrison them, which is not conducive to their attack on Huaibei."

"Only Zhu County is Cao Jun's first target. If you don't believe it, you will be able to see Cao Jun in a few days."

Yuan Yao briefly explained a few words to Qiao Rui, which made Qiao Rui's face darken and she immediately panicked.

"Ah? Master, what should we do?"

"We can't wait here for Cao Jun to attack us."

Although Qiao Rui is a veteran, he still feels a little guilty when faced with this situation.

Instead, he came to ask about the young man Yuan Yao. Mainly because of getting along with Yuan Yao these days, Qiao Rui already understood that the young man in front of him was unusual.

What he knows is not much worse than that of veterans like them, but there are many things they can't think of that can provide him with a lot of valuable information.

Yuan Yao looked at Qiao Rui's nervous expression and immediately comforted him.
Chapter completed!