At the beginning, Guo Jia predicted that Liu Bei would never want to live under others for a long time and advised Cao Cao to get rid of him as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Cao Cao was deceived by Liu Bei's lack of ambition. Coupled with Liu Bei's status as a clan member, Cao Cao relaxed his guard against Liu Bei.
Retribution came very quickly, Liu Bei asked for orders to intercept Yuan Shu, but when he arrived in Xuzhou, he supported his own troops and openly fought against Cao Cao.
In order not to be attacked on both sides, Cao Cao personally led a large army to conquer Liu Bei. Liu Bei lost consecutive battles, and Cao Cao quickly regained Xuzhou.
Unfortunately, he failed to capture Liu Bei and let him escape to Jizhou.
Although Cao Cao won in the end, Liu Bei's rebellion greatly consumed Cao Cao's food and grass.
When Cao Cao returned to Guanjundu, the problem of insufficient food and grass immediately arose.
Fifty thousand troops were dispatched to conquer Xuzhou, but when heading to Guandu, Cao Cao only brought more than 20,000 troops.
If Liu Bei hadn't suddenly rebelled, Cao Cao would have led at least 50,000 troops to defend against the enemy.
Relying on Guo Jia's ingenious strategies, Cao Cao frequently took the lead in the early stages and gained a huge advantage.
But in the end, there is an insurmountable gap between more than 20,000 people and 100,000 people.
This also made Cao Cao almost hate Guandu.
Fortunately, with Xu You's rebellion, Cao Cao successfully attacked Wuchao and won the final victory.
It's a pity that Liu Bei is like a loach, leaving Cao Cao completely helpless.
Cao Cao could defeat Yuan Shao and annihilate 100,000 Yuan troops, but he could not capture Liu Bei.
If he had known that today's situation would happen, Cao Cao would never have held back at that time!
"Feng Xiao, it's all my fault for being careless and not listening to your advice..."
Guo Jia looked sideways, but he didn't expect that Cao Cao would take the initiative to admit his mistake.
This was the first time since he joined Cao Cao that he had seen him take the initiative to admit his mistakes.
"My lord, you must not say that! Liu Bei is no more than a clown, and his army will definitely be defeated when the day comes!"
Guo Jia valued Liu Bei very much, otherwise he would not have persuaded Cao Cao to get rid of him as soon as possible.
However, if it were a duel with Liu Bei on the battlefield, Guo Jia really wouldn't take him seriously.
Cao Cao nodded tiredly. In fact, he didn't take Liu Bei seriously, but he was a little discouraged by the bad news.
"Fengxiao, Liu Bei is just suffering from scabies, so there is nothing to worry about! But if Yuan Shao and Xianbei attack at the same time, Liu Bei will become a serious problem for us!"
Whether it is Yuan Shao or the Xianbei people, their attack location will be in Yanzhou, and Cao Cao can lead his army to keep them out of Yingchuan.
But Runan County cannot. Liu Bei of Runan County can lead his army to attack Xuchang directly.
Cao Cao had just killed Dong Cheng and Dong Guiren last year, and many senior officials of the Han Dynasty hated him!
If someone in Xuchang City cooperates with Liu Bei inside and outside, the emperor will definitely be kidnapped by Liu Bei!
Once the emperor is lost, Cao Cao will immediately lose his righteousness.
By then, Cao Cao's power will surely fall apart.
"Don't be anxious, my lord, please give me time to think about it."
Guo Jia ignored the wailing Cao Cao and began to pace around the room, thinking about how to deal with this matter.
"Why..."
Cao Cao said nothing more. Now he could only place all his hopes on Guo Jia.
Xun Yu also frowned and was helping Cao Cao think about countermeasures in his mind.
Cao Cao is related to Xun Yu's great cause of revitalizing the Han Dynasty, and now he is in a situation where both are prosperous and both suffer losses.
If there was even a slight chance, Xun Yu would not let Cao Cao fall.
However, Xun Yu was better at handling political affairs and planning strategies. This kind of dealing with enemies was really not his strong suit.
"Hey, it would be great if Gongda was here, he would definitely be able to get rid of this difficulty for my lord..."
Xun Yu sighed and couldn't help but miss his nephew who was older than him.
Xun You was good at military strategy, and Xun Yu was good at domestic affairs. They, Xun's uncle and nephew, were the best partners.
It's a pity that Xun You followed Liu Zhang to Shu a long time ago and is now Liu Zhang's chief adviser.
"Wen Ruo, the Xun family is based in Yingchuan. Can you write a letter to recall Gongda?"
"I can guarantee that whatever Liu Zhang can give him, I will give him double!"
Cao Cao was very aware of Xun You's talents.
Especially after receiving Xun Yu's allegiance, he often lamented that he had not received Xun You.
Xun Yu shook his head without hesitation, not even bothering to think.
"My lord, Gongda's heart is as strong as iron. Liu Zhang's kindness to him cannot be shaken by words!"
"The sea may dry up, the rocks may crumble, but the spirit of publicity will never be shaken!"
In Xun Yu's view, the difficulty of recruiting Xun You to surrender was no less difficult than ascending to the sky.
When Xun You left, he took his mother away, which completely cut off his retreat.
Unless Liu Zhang takes the initiative to drive Xun You away, Xun You will stay in Yizhou and continue to assist Liu Zhang's son even if Liu Zhang dies.
"Damn Liu Zhang, he went to Yizhou and took Gongda away!"
"Damn it, hate it, hate it, what a pity!"
Cao Cao had a look of regret on his face. He could not let go of losing such a talent.
Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Tai Shi Ci, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, which one is not the current tiger general?
But all of them, who were from humble backgrounds, were taken away by Liu Zhang in advance!
Cao Cao once asked Wei Ji about Xu Huang, but Wei Ji's answer surprised Cao Cao.
Liu Zhang seemed to have opened his eyes. Without any understanding at all, he was sure that Xu Huang was a talented general!
The only thing Cao Cao was lucky about was that Liu Zhang did not develop in the Central Plains. Otherwise, all the talents in the Central Plains would have been emptied by Liu Zhang!
"My lord, there is no need to be angry. Yizhou and Liangzhou are bitter and cold places on the frontier after all, and cannot be compared with the Central Plains at all!"
"As long as we can defeat Yuan Shao and occupy Hebei in the Central Plains, we will not be afraid of Liu Zhang."
Although Yizhou is large, it is still sparsely populated, let alone Yongzhou and Liangzhou. The two states put together are not as good as Yizhou alone.
If you can occupy Hebei in the Central Plains, you can occupy the eight states of Ji, Bing, You, Qing, Yan, Yu, Xu, and Si!
Even in terms of population alone, Liu Zhang could be completely suppressed.
Even if Cao Cao now occupies Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Sizhou, part of Qingzhou, and part of Yangzhou, the population and talents are definitely not comparable to that of Liu Zhang who only occupied Yizhou.
There are many aristocratic families in the Central Plains, and their help to Cao Cao is definitely not comparable to that of the Yizhou family!
It's a pity that Xun Yu's heroic words did not touch Cao Cao at all, and even made him more sad.
Not to mention defeating Yuan Shao and annexing Hebei, now even the Central Plains cannot be saved!
Cao Cao even thought that it would be better to let the Xianbei people return to the desert, so that he could threaten Yuan Shao and prevent him from sending troops unscrupulously!
But can everything go as he wishes?
Liu Zhang is so treacherous. Since he is ready to drive away tigers and devour wolves, how can he easily let the Xianbei people go back?
I am afraid that Liu Zhang gave the Xianbei people a way to advance eastward, but did not leave them the opportunity to retreat northward.
Cao Cao turned to look at Guo Jia, who was pacing. All his hopes now rested on him!