Xu Shu continued: "Before, Xia Houyuan was not there, and only Zhong Yao and several non-relative generals of Cao Cao were there to support him. After living there for a few years, Zhong Yao took over the government well, and Cao Cao was worried that he would establish an independent kingdom there, so he sent him there.

Xia Houyuan sent him over.

Xia Houyuan was in charge of military affairs, and Zhong Yao was in charge of governance. This combination of civil and military affairs turned out to be a rare good partnership in the world, and they managed a place in Guanzhong.

Liu Cong interrupted him and said: "Well, I know that Zhong Yao is really a politician with both political integrity and talent. It is said that Cao Cao has Zhong Yao and Wang Lang, who else? Yes! Liu Ye, maybe

Yes, he is exaggerated to be called the Three Heroes of the Wei Kingdom."

When Liu Cong said this, he shook his head and said: "Unfortunately, Zhong Yao took the wrong path. Why did he follow Cao Cao?"

Xu Shu then said: "My lord, if Cao Cao mobilizes hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers from Xiahou Yuan in Guanzhong, he will be a formidable enemy!" [

When Liu Cong heard this, he just sneered and did not respond. When Xu Shu saw it, he stopped talking.

Liu Cong urged: "Mr. Xu, if you have any other insights, please tell me. I'm listening."

As he spoke, he looked at everyone, then turned back and nodded to Xu Shu.

Xu Shu said: "Cao Cao is guarding Xinye City here, and immediately sends people to Chang'an to issue military orders to mobilize troops, and then sends people to Youzhou to mobilize Cao Zhang's 100,000 troops. Cao Zhang also has hundreds of thousands of elite troops. These two groups of troops come from the north.

Come and kill

Lord, we must treat this with caution."

After hearing this, Liu Cong sneered and said: "The military advisor is right, this is Cao Cao's family fortune. Also, Cao Bing's local troops in various places in Jizhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou and Yecheng totaled hundreds of thousands of troops. We have

Yes, deal with it carefully.

Adding to the 60,000 Cao soldiers here, we are facing 400,000 Cao soldiers.

I know this, and I just want to hear your estimates. Everyone can estimate whether Cao Cao will resolutely defend Xinye City next, or if he has other plans."

Xu Shu replied: "My lord, I feel that Cao Cao will definitely stick to Xinye and wait for foreign aid."

"Don't you think Cao Cao will escape?"

"I have thought about it, but Cao Cao has no way to escape now. The two roads in Deng County and Mushroom Ridge are blocked by our army. To the south is the Yangtze River and to the west is the Han River. Needless to say, Cao Cao does not have naval ships, but he has to cross the river.

Cao's soldiers crossed the river and entered our territory. They fell into a trap. This is one of them.

Secondly, Cao Cao has always cherished his army. There are 60,000 troops here. It is unrealistic to bring these 60,000 troops. In addition, judging from Cao Cao's character, he is absolutely reluctant to abandon these 60,000 troops here.

.

Therefore, I think Cao Cao must defend Xinye and wait for foreign aid."

Liu Cong listened and said with a smile: "The military advisor misjudged the wrong person this time. Cao Cao is not a fool. Although he loves his soldiers as much as his life, when the critical moment comes, he knows that his life is much more important than the army.

Haha, Cao Cao is a man who can take things up and let them go. Well, as for Cao Cao's next move, we won't discuss it anymore.

Let's do this, rest early after dinner, and march to Xinye early tomorrow morning."

In the evening of the next day, Liu Cong led his soldiers and horses to ten miles outside Xinye City, ordered the soldiers to set up camp, and brought Wei Yan and Deng Bao over to check on the visit to Xinye City. In the dusk, he saw that the gate of Xinye City was tightly closed.

Closed, there are Cao soldiers patrolling the city, although there are many people stuck on the wall

There were several flags, but the corners of the flags were drooping. Liu Cong felt the state of Cao's soldiers in the city. He turned to Wei Yan and said, "Let's go back. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, yes, within three days, only five will be sent every day."

A hundred men and horses come here to feint attack, and the rest rest here."

Wei Yan asked doubtfully: "Can five hundred men and horses do it?" At this point, he understood and said: "Oh, it's a feint. Got it."

So Liu Cong led his people back to the military camp and told Liang Zhuer: "Tomorrow, you will take a few plainclothes scouts and detour to Xinye City to investigate the Xishan Road. Along the way, ask the mountain people whether there is a group of people wearing Jingzhou soldier uniforms going to the Qinba Mountain area.

Already."[

Early the next morning, Wei Yan led 500 men and horses to pretend to attack Xinye City. He came back when it was dark. After returning, he hurriedly reported to Liu Cong: "My Lord, I feel something strange."

Liu Cong smiled gently and asked why it was so strange.

Wei Yan said: "My lord sent his last general with 500 troops to pretend to attack Xinye City. Once outside the city, he attacked several times from the north gate. Although he encountered obstacles from the top of the city wall, including cannons, rocks and rocks, he still felt that

The attack was not intense, as if it was just for socializing. Arrows were also fired sparsely downwards.

Our army of 500 troops attacked the North Gate of Xinye several times, but not once did we encounter serious resistance.

Well, I don’t know what happened in Xinye City.

Logically speaking, if Cao Cao personally led his troops to garrison here, there would not be such a fighting scene, but this kind of fighting scene is really strange."

Liu Cong laughed and said, "Chang Wen, since you feel like this, why don't you guess what's the reason?"

"My lord, is Cao Bing preparing to escape? It feels to me that there is no general in charge in Xinye City. The soldiers defending the city are all attending to official business, as if they are waiting for an opportunity."

Liu Cong exaggerated: "Wei Wenchang is indeed a famous general of our time, he can always see the way to everything.

Haha. I guess Liang Zhuer will be back soon, so just wait here. After Liang Zhuer comes back, we will listen to Liang Zhuer's report and see if your observation makes sense."

While he was talking, Liang Zhuer came back after a long journey. When he entered the door, he reported in a low voice: "Second Master, Second Master. Cao Cao may have really disguised himself as a Jingzhou soldier and escaped."

"Why do you say that?" Liu Cong asked.

"I led two scouts around Xinye City to investigate in the northwest direction. After walking a hundred miles, I came to a village. I saw a few old farmers talking, so I went over to ask for directions. I learned from them that the night before yesterday

, after the third watch, a group of people passed by here, causing the dogs in the whole village to bark.

One of the old men said that even though he closed the firewood door tightly, there were soldiers who came to ask for directions and forced him to light a torch to lead them."

"Where did this army go?" Liu Cong asked.

"The old man first said that he didn't know where this army was going. He just said that it was midnight and there must be something urgent with so many people marching all night.

Later, under my questioning, the old man told me that the night army had ordered him not to talk nonsense, and if he leaked the information, he would never forgive him after he came back.

The old man finally said that the officials in this team were quietly asking about the mountain trails to Luoyang. The mountains were high and the roads were far away. The old man didn't want to show them the way, so he said he didn't know.

Fortunately, they came to another village, and the team went into the village to grab a guide and lead the way. Seeing that the old man was of no use, they released the old man back."

"Well, it's already obvious that Cao Cao led his troops to escape, took the mountain path, and fled to Luoyang.

Well, at this time, Luoyang had neither a city nor troops, it was just a ruin. The purpose of Cao Cao's trip was definitely not to enter Luoyang, but to escape to the north or northwest through Luoyang."

After Liu Cong said this, he thought for a while, raised his head and said: "Flee to the northwest to Chang'an. There is a direct official road and the road is close. Chang'an has a good geographical location. It leads to Bashu in the south, the Grand Canyon in the west leads directly to the Western Regions, and there is the Mongolian Plateau in the north.

Relying on it, heading east is Tongguan Locked Gate.[

Guanzhong is 800 miles away from Qinchuan, with fertile land and hard-working people. The Qin and Han dynasties basically relied on this special geographical location in Guanzhong to lay the foundation for unifying the world.

Now that Cao Cao is newly defeated, he must have this plan in mind.

Haha, so I said, Cao Cao must have fled northwest towards Chang'an.

As long as he arrived in Chang'an, Cao Cao commanded hundreds of thousands of elite troops led by Xia Houyuan, which matched Cao Zhang's hundreds of thousands of troops in Youzhou and Bingzhou, and his strength was still unmatched.

Haha, besides, the vast area north of the Yellow River and east of Huashan is still under Cao Cao's rule."

After Wei Yan heard this, he said anxiously: "My lord, I am willing to lead my troops and pursue Cao Cao immediately. I want to capture Cao Cao alive."

Liu Cong sneered and said: "Let him go. I am about to recover Chang'an." He smiled and said with a cold face: "In less than three months, I, Liu Cong, will definitely recover Chang'an!"

After Liu Cong said this, he sat down to think about it and told Wei Yan: "Cao Cao has escaped. Cao Cao's soldiers in Xinye City still don't know the details and will still resist our attack.

Well, in this way, Wei Wenchang and Deng Bao will each lead a thousand cavalry and go outside Xinye City early tomorrow morning. After they arrive, don't attack the city, just station outside the city. By noon, Cao's troops in the direction of Mushroom Ridge and Deng County will surely

We will flee to Xinye City. When we arrive, don't ask any questions and lead troops to fight in. We must kill these two deserters and disperse them. They are not allowed to surrender, and they are not allowed to enter Xinye City to join Cao's soldiers in the city."

Wei Yan and Deng Bao agreed.

Liu Cong then ordered Ma Yunshan: "This place is more than ten miles away from Xinye City. Tomorrow evening, you will take one thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry with me to attack the city. We must capture Xinye City after dinner." Ma Yunshan agreed.

With.

After breakfast the next day, Wei Yan and Deng Bao led their men and horses to march outside Xinye City. When they arrived outside Xinye City, they stationed themselves outside the east and west gates. They did not attack the city or make any noise. The two teams of Jingzhou cavalry

They were about a mile apart and looked at each other.

Except for the sentries and patrols sent far away, the rest of the soldiers dismounted and sat on the grass chatting, looking relaxed and leisurely. Some of the cavalry even took off their boots to expose their feet to get some fresh air.

Cao's soldiers on the city didn't know what it meant, so they all crouched on the battlements and looked down.

Wei Yan and Deng Bao ordered the soldiers to talk to them across the moat.
Chapter completed!