"My lord is mighty!" Guo Tu rode on his horse and bowed deeply to Yuan Shao.
At this time, Xu You also came up and said: "Lord, my army is divided into three groups, forming a trap for Cao Cao. As long as the main force of our army can attack Guandu in one go, and then defeat Chenliu, Cao Cao has
Even if you have the power to reach heaven, you will eventually be unable to save yourself!"
Yuan Shao felt very comfortable being flattered by several counselors in turn. With a smile on his face, he couldn't help but caress his beard with his right hand.
At this moment, many figures suddenly appeared in front of him.
Gao Lan, who was leading the army at the front, stared into the distance with half-squinted eyes.
I saw, vaguely in the distance, many soldiers stumbling and running towards me...
These are... Gao Lan looked at the direction in which the defeated army was coming, and a bad premonition arose in his heart, "Look in that direction... Could it be that General Wen Chou was defeated?"
"What's going on in the front?" Yuan Shao, who was behind, also noticed the defeated troops, so he stood up from his chariot and looked into the distance.
When the figure got closer, Gao Lan finally confirmed that it was indeed a soldier from Wen Chou's command!
The defeated army who fled back in panic immediately burst into tears when they saw their main force, "General! General Wen Chou died so miserably!"
"General Wen Chou has led us to break through Cao Jun's camp! Cao Jun abandoned his helmets and armor, and food was thrown everywhere..."
"We were ambushed by Cao's army and were defeated. General Wen Chou was beheaded by a red-faced general of Cao's army!"
"The enemy was cunning and used food, grass, baggage and soldiers as bait. Our army was careless and accidentally ambush the enemy... Our army was defeated, General!"
Gao Lan, who along with Yan Liang and Wen Chou was also known as one of the Four Court Pillars of Hebei Province, had to capture several soldiers before he could find out the reason for the defeat.
When he learned that Wen Chou's army of 100,000 men was defeated again due to underestimating the enemy's aggressive advance, and he himself was beheaded by the enemy... Gao Lan was shocked and hurriedly came to Yuan Shao to report.
"Lord, it's not good!"
Gao Lan galloped to Yuan Shao's chariot and reported: "General Wen Chou was ambushed by Cao's army, and his army of 100,000 returned with a disastrous defeat. He himself was beheaded by General Cao!"
Yuan Shao was shocked. He subconsciously shook his right hand and pulled out a few beards on his lower jaw. The pain immediately made him grimace...
But he didn't have time to care about the pain in his jaw now, because the heartache was even more intense.
"Gao Lan, what did you say!!!"
"My lord, the vanguard was defeated miserably, and General Wen Chou died in battle, my lord!" Gao Lan shouted in pain.
"Ah! Wen Chou mistook me! Wen Chou mistook me!" Yuan Shao looked up to the sky and sighed.
At this time, Xu You quickly said: "My lord, although Wen Chou is dead, we still have Zhang He and Gao Lan, two generals who are both civil and military. Our top priority is to stabilize the morale of the army. My lord, we must not get distracted first!"
After Xu You spoke, Guo Tu, Shen Pei and others also consoled him, "Lord, our main force is still there, so it won't be a big deal if the vanguard loses a few people. Please don't get hurt because of your anger. We will wait for the army to be reorganized."
That’s the fight!”
After everyone's persuasion, Yuan Shao finally calmed down.
But first there was Yan Liang and then there was Wen Chou, whose leader's head became someone else's meritorious service, and an army of 200,000 was defeated one after another.
How could Yuan Shao endure this tone?
Seeing the morale of the soldiers plummeting, at the critical moment, Yuan Shao's small universe broke out again, "Send the order! Let me, Yuan Shao, be the vanguard and lead the troops south to capture Cao Cao!"
Yuan Shao made a decisive decision, set an example by himself, and immediately reversed his decline!
The extremely noble Yuan Shao, the pillar of the three armies, was willing to be the vanguard! His move not only quickly stabilized the morale of the army, but also brought the already low morale back to its peak.
Gao Lan was infected by his lord's arrogance, and immediately roared at the top of his lungs:
"My lord is mighty!"
The soldiers also shouted:
"The general is mighty!"
"The general is mighty!"
Xu You looked at Yuan Shao, who was shining with golden light like a god at this moment, and couldn't help but admired in his heart: "This is the wise lord I follow!"
...
Cao Ying, in the Chinese army's tent.
"Yuan Shao learned that Wen Chou was defeated, so he declared himself a vanguard and led his army southward... Everyone, how do you think we should respond?"
At this time, Xun Yu stood up first and said: "My lord, Yuan Shao himself was in danger, but it also played a great encouraging role. Yuan's army is now at its peak. I think we should let General Xiahou retreat while fighting, and not fight with him."
Yuan Jun's edge is on the front."
Xi Zhicai also stood up and said: "My lord, my subordinates agree with Wen Ruo's words. General Xiahou can fight and retreat at the same time, trading strategic depth for time and draining the morale of Yuan's army."
Cao Cao had not yet made up his mind, so he looked at Guo Jia and asked, "What do you think of being a filial piety?"
Guo Jia stepped out of the queue, held up his hands and replied: "Back to my lord, my subordinates also believe that we should avoid his sharp edge. Moreover, after Yuan Shao's front is lengthened, it will also be good for us."
"Tell me about it!"
"As Yuan Shao goes deep into our hinterland, the supply line will inevitably become long and fragile. Our army can use mobile troops to attack the rear of Yuan's army's food routes... Once we can destroy his food shipments once or twice, Yuan Shao's 400,000-strong army will definitely suffer miserably.
, morale plummeted.”
"To attack the enemy's grain road, one must be brave, careful, wise and brave... It's a pity that Wen Chang has to deal with the Runan Yellow Turban, otherwise sending him there would be the best choice.
Cao Cao was a little regretful. Wei Yan had done this kind of thing before, but Wei Yan was far away in Runan and there was no time to dispatch him.
How did Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao and others feel affected by Cao Cao's words?
But before Zhao Yun and others could stand up, Guo Jia suddenly said to Cao Cao: "My lord, I do have a very suitable candidate, but..."
Cao Cao was a little anxious and said: "What time has it been? Fengxiao, you should say it directly if you have something to say!"
"But this person is still working as a shadow guard and has no specific official position. He may have difficulty convincing the public..."
Only then did the generals realize that Guo Jia was going to recommend new people.
"Who is it? If he really has such ability, it doesn't matter if I promote him to general now!"
Lu Yan already knew who Guo Jia was talking about, and he thought with some humor in his heart: "Gan Ning, Gan Ning, you still can't be the flower protector after all."
Sure enough, Guo Jia opened his mouth and said: "This man's surname is Gan Ning and his given name is Xingba. He helped Liu Ziyang and Qiang Yue defeat Sun Ce when they were in Lujiang!"
"Gan Ning???" Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this, and muttered to himself: "Why do I feel that this name is so familiar?"
After thinking for a moment, Cao Cao suddenly remembered something, then looked at Lu Yan and asked: "Sir, is this Gan Ning one of the four generals you sent people to find?"
Lu Yan grinned, cupped his hands and said, "Back to Mr. Cao, this is the man!"
"Ha!" Cao Cao was immediately overjoyed, but then complained: "Oh! Mr. Lu, how could you and Guo Fengxiao leave such a talent in the shadows? Isn't this overkill!"
Lu Yan said with a bit of laughter and tears: "There is actually a story here... But it's a long story, and we'll talk about it in detail later. In short, Gan Ning voluntarily stayed in the Shadow Guard, and I wanted him to be a general.
, he also refused..."
"Then...will he help us this time?"
"Then it depends on Duke Cao's sincerity!" Guo Jia chuckled and continued: "Gan Ning is in the camp now. My lord, you can convince him later."
It's been a long time since Cao Cao experienced this kind of moment of courtesy to a virtuous corporal. Now he felt a long-lost excitement in his heart.
"Okay, I will go find Gan Ning later, and I must persuade him to become an official and take over this important task!"