Xiahou Dun only had 20,000 men under his command, and his biggest role was actually to contain Ji Ling and Chen Ji who were stationed in Xiaopei.
But Xiahou Dun obviously doesn't feel that he is just an assistant or a tool.
His ambition drives him. He wants to win Xiaopei and further win the first prize in this battle in Xuzhou!
Xun You opposed taking the initiative to attack. They only needed to wait for Cao Cao to defeat Cao Bao and another Yuan Shu army to attack Xiapi, and then they could form a pincer attack on Xiaopei.
If you take the initiative to attack, your own troops are weak, and the opponent has cities and camps to rely on, so the risk is too great.
Xiahou Dun did not have Cao Ren. Cao Hong's previous contribution to welcoming the emperor made him and Xiahou Yuan's official positions weaker than those of the Cao brothers.
Xiahou Dun, who was eager to make meritorious deeds, finally did not listen to Xun You's dissuasion and sent troops to Chen Ji's camp outside Xiaopei City, preparing to encircle it for reinforcements.
But what Xiahou Dun didn't expect was that Zhang Xun was surrounded by Lu Yan and Guo Jia for reinforcements, and he was ambushed three times in one day.
This caused Zhang Xun to have a heavy psychological shadow. After returning home, he did countless research and drills specifically for this situation...
Xiahou Dun was in a terrible situation, he hit the muzzle of the gun...
Cao Cao wrote the letter before dawn in the morning. He called one of his personal guards and asked him to deliver the letter to Xiahou Dun as quickly as possible.
However, when this personal guard had just reached the gate of the mansion where Cao Cao lived, an orderly soldier carrying the news of Xiahou Dun's defeat also arrived at the gate!
The two met each other, and Cao Cao's bodyguard even nodded and said hello.
But the other party clearly glanced at him, but completely ignored his good intentions, which made Cao Cao's personal guards feel a little dissatisfied.
The messenger, led by the rest of Cao Cao's personal guards, arrived at the door of Cao Cao's bedroom.
Cao Cao had just finished dressing up when a voice came from the door, "Lieutenant! I have something important to report!"
After the maid opened the door and left, Cao Cao took the letter from the messenger.
After opening the letter, Cao Cao felt a thump in his heart, "Xiahou Dun underestimated the enemy and rushed in. He was attacked by Ji Ling and Chen Ji from both sides and was defeated. More than half of his troops and horses were lost. Now he has retreated to his hometown in Qiao County."
Fortunately, Xiahou Dun only diverted his troops along the way, and Cao Cao quickly calmed down. After taking a deep breath, he sighed: "Yuan Rang was defeated... Mr. Lu was actually right!"
The matter was so serious that Cao Cao quickly summoned his generals and counselors to join the army. Even Liu Bei's three brothers were called over.
In the meeting hall of the Sheriff's Mansion,
Cao Cao asked his civil and military officials with a serious face, "I just received news that Xiahou Dun underestimated the enemy and rushed into Xiaopei and was defeated. Now that there is no containment, Ji Ling will probably divide his troops to support Qiao Rui."
Hearing this, Cheng Yu glanced at Jia Xu, who was there, and saw that he seemed to have no desire to speak, so he could only stand up and answer: "Lord, we must defeat Qiao Rui as soon as possible, otherwise he and Ji Ling will join forces.
I'm in danger."
Cao Cao has long seen his crisis, but is Qiao Rui really that easy to defeat?
But for now, Cao Cao and others had no better way, so they ordered: "Xu Chu, I order you to lead your troops to fight outside Qiao Rui Camp. I will lead the army to hold the battle for you!"
Xu Chu got the first start, and he immediately stood excitedly in the middle of the hall, clasping his fists and loudly saying, "Here! Xu Chu takes the order!"
As for Taishi Ci, Dian Wei, and Cao Cao, they were not assigned any special tasks, and even reminded them not to expose their positions in the major military branches.
There was no way, the psychological shadow left by carrying the Wei army on Qiao Rui's army was too heavy, and Cao Cao was afraid that their appearance would make Qiao Rui lose the idea of leaving the camp to fight.
Cao Cao turned to the three Liu Bei brothers and said: "Xuande, there are still 50,000 Qiao and Rui's troops left. After our army assigned the soldiers to stay behind, there are only more than 10,000 left. I would like to trouble you to lead your troops and go with me."
.”
When Liu Bei was called, he knew that Cao Cao might let him go into battle. Now after receiving Cao Cao's invitation, he came to the center of the hall without any hesitation and clasped his fists and said: "Let the captain do what he wants!"
"Okay!" Cao Cao was very satisfied with Liu Bei's attitude.
After the soldiers buried pots to make rice and had a full meal, Cao Cao led the army out of Xiapi City.
Although Cao Bao and his soldiers all left the city and went to Qiaorui, Cao Cao still did not dare to be careless.
After leaving nearly 8,000 soldiers behind and guarding Xiapi City with 2,000 surrendered soldiers, Cao Cao called Liu Bei and together they arrived outside the Qiaorui camp.
In any case, Qiao Rui, the roadblock, must be eliminated first. If he blocks the road in the middle, Cao Cao will not be able to advance westward.
Cao Cao and his entourage arrived outside the Qiaorui camp, but the opponent held on to the danger and closed the camp gate tightly, refusing to fight.
Xu Chu led more than 4,000 Tiger Guards under his command and scolded him for a whole morning, but the opponent did not move at all, as steady as an old dog.
Cao Cao, who was deep in the Chinese army, knew that Qiao Rui was deliberately delaying time.
Cheng Yu looked at the camp wall after Qiao Rui's army had been reinforced several times, and said: "This Qiao Rui is seeing his lord's desire for a quick battle and is deliberately stalling for time."
"Qiao Rui is Yuan Shu's most capable general. I still have this in my mind." Cao Cao nodded and replied.
"Then what should we do? The longer it takes, the worse the situation will be for us!"
At this time, Jia Xu, who had always behaved like an outsider, finally spoke, "My lord, if we hurry up and deliver the letter to Chenliu, how long will it take?"
Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this, wondering why Jia Xu suddenly mentioned Chen Liu?
"Sending the letter to Chenliu, I'm afraid it will take at least ten days if we work hard." Cao Cao replied, and then asked: "Who does Wen He want to send the letter to?"
Jia Xu grinned and replied with a smile: "Of course it's Lu Qiaoqi!"
"Lu Changsheng?" Cheng Yu was stunned at this moment, and replied subconsciously: "Let's not talk about the actual time required to deliver the letter. Even if Changsheng is willing to lead the army on an expedition, by the time he leads the army to Xiaopei, I am afraid that even the day lily will be gone.
It’s cold!”
"No!" Jia Xu shook his head and continued to smile: "What Xu means is to dispatch General Hussar to Qiao County to take over the army from General Xiahou!"
"Let Mr. Lu take over Yuan Rang's army?" Cao Cao thought it was feasible, but this would greatly undermine Xiahou Dun's confidence.
Jia Xu seemed to have read Cao Cao's thoughts, so he spoke again: "My lord, General Xiahou was defeated and should be punished... Only when rewards and punishments are clear can the three armies be killed!"
"This is a reminder to me, don't let Xiahou Dun off easily just because he is my brother..." Cao Cao thought with some disdain in his heart: "Am I, Cao Cao, such a fool who favors his tribesmen with unclear rewards and punishments?"
Cao Cao once again looked at the motionless Qiaorui camp, and finally made up his mind and said: "I will go back to the camp for a while, and I will personally write three...no, five letters to the soldiers and hand them over to Lu Yan as soon as possible.
"
"My lord is wise!" Jia Xu nodded and continued to relax with his eyes slightly closed.