Xu Chu pressed the knife and looked at Liu Xie fiercely, showing a look of eagerness to try. However, after a while, Cao Cao had no instructions for the next step. So Xu Chu stepped back and stood on the edge of the battle building like a statue, without saying a word.

Cao Cao didn't know what to say. He described his resoluteness, without seeing a trace of emotion, and still maintained a leisurely attitude that everything was under control, but in fact he was very confused.

Since Cao Cao arrived in Jingxiang, he seemed to be very confident and had a strong momentum. The powerful soldiers and generals who followed him were even more powerful. However, since the war began for several months, these troops suffered several losses in actual combat development.

Whether Cao Xiu was around Lumen Mountain, Le Jin, Man Chong in Xiangyang, or Cao Zhen in Fangling, and Cao Zhang who led his troops to attack south, they all suffered losses and failed to achieve their initial strategic goals. Considering the integration progress of the Hanzhong King in Liangzhou, when the autumn was high and the horse was fat, the entire battle situation seemed to be in a balanced state, but in fact, Cao's army was about to fall and was completely passive.

Over the years, the Cao regime has tried its best to maintain its huge military household system and tried to fight against the powerful enemy with mobilization power far superior to the enemy.

However, the mobilization of tens of thousands of troops only seems unstoppable on the map. In the war, the army was subject to numerous restrictions on the terrain and road conditions, and could not achieve the expected effect. On the contrary, Liu Bei's side faced the enemy with a small but well-trained elite troops, and won many battles.

Such a situation was something Cao Cao had not expected in advance.

Cao Cao had already felt that many civil and military officials who accompanied Nanyang were very cautious about this situation.

Deep down in their hearts, many people do not hope that this battle will start. What they hope is that Cao Cao can send troops to shock Liu Bei, then ascend the throne safely and steadily, return to Yecheng to be appointed as officials, and everyone will serve the new dynasty and live a safe life for a few years.

But Cao Cao was determined to advance the war, no matter how difficult it was, he would never waver.

Outsiders think that this battle was the Hanzhong king's regime's response to the intention of King Wei, and Cao Cao himself knew that it was not Liu Bei who was eager to fight the decisive battle, but himself. This battle was initiated by himself, and the so-called dynasty transformation was just a bait he took out.

The battle in Guanzhong three years ago was the battle of Cao and Liu again launched a frontal army battle after many years. After the war, both Cao and Liu were both injured. It was because Liu Bei's army's logistics could not support it and had to retreat on their own initiative, which made Cao Cao declare his victory to the world.

But Cao Cao was very clear about the actual situation.

During that battle, Liu Bei's army showed extraordinary tenacity and strength. They were only one step away from overwhelming Cao's army and killing Cao Cao himself.

The situation where Zhao Yun came alone on that day, still often repeats itself in Cao Cao's nightmare; and countless generals from Cao's camp were killed in this battle, which further damaged the vitality of the Cao regime.

Sometimes Cao Cao felt that he was like an anvil and a hammer, while Liu Bei seemed like steel that he had been repeatedly forged. Year after year, Liu Bei became stronger and stronger, and he became stronger, but he, who was wielding the hammer, gradually grew old and weak.

Cao Cao believed that this was because he had been involved in a lot of his energy in the past years. Because of this Han court, Cao Cao rarely could do a drastic move to promote military and political affairs and completely build a regime according to his own wishes.

He is always testing, alert, compromise, and game, so that he has thousands of means, but nothing can be promoted; he has tens of strength and can use it, but it seems that what he can use is less than 10%.

Especially in the past two years, Cao Cao has obviously aged and his energy is not as good as before, so he has to allocate many authority to his subordinates. As a result, the Cao military and political system, which was originally full of vitality and fighting spirit, has become increasingly exhausted, and the subordinates have promoted their moral character and used their position to destiny to be virtuous, and have increasingly hijacked the power of the Wei Kingdom.

How can this continue?

Cao Cao himself is still there, and the power accumulated over the past few decades is enough to intimidate the thieves of the outside world. But once Cao Cao dies, can his successor really control the situation? Can he really unite the eight states and fight against powerful enemies?

Cao Pi certainly had his own ideas about this. Just look at who is surrounded by him and you will understand.

Cao Cao did not agree with this idea, but he did not intend to stop it.

It's useless to block it.

So he held a stronger motivation to advance the war. He made up his mind to defeat Liu Bei while he had the spare energy and the hundreds of thousands of troops accumulated by one soldier were still there, and lay an unshakable advantage for his successors!

This battle must be fought! It must be won!

But……

In the past two months, many battles in Jingxiang have proved that Liu Bei's army's strength is far stronger than Cao Cao imagined.

This kind of power is not only reflected in the bravery of the generals and the soldiers' death, but also in various aspects such as military equipment, material logistics, quality of backbone officers, tactical minds, etc. Cao Cao thought about it for a long time but couldn't understand how they did it.

Only one thing is clearer.

In recent years, many nobles in the Central Plains of Hebei have enjoyed the brocade from Shu and the pearls from Jiaozhou. Each family is squeezing the blood of the Cao regime and using it to replenish Liu Bei's vitality!

Cao Cao himself also likes luxury and enjoyment, so although he knows this, he has turned a blind eye to it before and does not pay much attention to it. Until now, he has watched the Jingzhou Army, which is equipped with a huge amount of iron armor and a variety of specifications of strong bows and crossbows... How did Jingzhou and Jiaozhou make these weapons?

It depends on money!

Where does the money come from?

All of them came from the eight prefectures in the Central Plains, Hebei, and the money from the hands of 100 million yuan of people! It was earned by Liu Bei, and he built weapons and weapons to fight!

That's too much!

Just last month, Cao Cao specially sent his confidant Ding Fei, the captain of Dianjun, to investigate the northward flow channels of these materials in detail. However, the center end could not find out the details; in the Jingxiang area, many clues pointed to Wenpin, the prefect of Jiangxia.

Wenpin is just a local tycoon, so how can he have the courage? Even if he has the courage, he does not have the ability to sell goods to go north! Didn’t he hear the ancients say, “Wolves are in power, how can you ask the fox?

Cao Cao sneered at Ding Fei's exploration results. As a result, before Cao Cao could give his next instructions, Ding Fei suddenly became seriously ill and bedridden. In just one or two days, he reached the point where he could not speak and wait for death. Cao Cao could only let Xiahou Shang, who was stationed in Sui County, be careful to prevent changes in Jiangxia.

He can do nothing else.

In the past years, outsiders thought that Cao Gong was dedicated to punishment and killing, and was ruthless to those who disobeyed. In fact, killing was for shock, for revenge, and the ultimate goal, or for cooperation. In this world, countless high-ranking clans and local tyrants formed the foundation of the regime. Cao Cao only wanted to manipulate them, but did not want to, and could not be enemies with them.

Since this is the case, Cao Cao actually has very few choices.

When he was in Yanzhou, he was able to use his wisdom and means without any scruples and stood out from among the heroes. But now, when his status from Prime Minister to Duke Wei, Duke Wei and King Wei seems to be in great power, but in fact he is subject to more and more constraints.

Sometimes Cao Cao even felt that the regime he established was clearly at its peak, and it was already a scent of being in a state of decline and being terminally ill.

What Cao Cao did was to force the situation and to carry the emperor to the front line to fight with all his might.

The crushing of Jingzhou and the people of Jiaozhou, taking advantage of the situation, not only could the shattering half of Liu Bei's country, but also gain huge benefits for the Cao regime. With the power to divide the interests, Cao Cao and his successors could forever surpass many nobles, thus protecting the interests of the Cao family.

Therefore, Cao Cao spared no expense and was determined to win!

Liu Bei's army gained power for a moment and scattered its forces everywhere in order to kill and hurt them. But their troops were too few after all. How to resist the strong attack? Cao Cao's elite main force in Yecheng was still there. At this time, tens of thousands of people gathered to move south and attacked him from returning lazy. It was like a clenched heavy punch, which was absolutely unstoppable!
Chapter completed!