Gong Du, this guy, nominally serves Yuan Shao as his master, but in fact, he just wants to use Yuan Shao's name to openly benefit himself.
What's the point of leaving such a stumbling block that hinders one's great cause!
Yan Liang had the intention to kill and was ready to draw his sword and kill on the spot.
At this time, Xu You who was standing next to him quietly shook his head at him, hinting that he should not take action.
Yan Liang knew that he was very resourceful. Since he indicated that he would not kill Gong Du, he must have a reason.
With murderous thoughts in his heart, Yan Liang's cold expression suddenly faded, and he smiled boldly: "I guess General Gong, you also want to personally lead the troops to serve Yuan Gong better, so I will allow you to not recruit your troops.
But in this case, it seems a bit unfair to General Liu..."
Before he finished speaking, Liu Pi hurriedly said: "The general is determined to submit to the general. If the general wants to reorganize the general's troops, he can just do it. The general will not complain at all."
Liu Pi was very cooperative and active. Yan Liang nodded secretly, feeling that this person could be used.
At that time, Yan Liang followed Xu You's wishes and reorganized Liu Pi's 4,000-capable Yellow Turban Army. As for the more than 3,000 soldiers and horses in Gongdu, although they belonged to Yan Liang in name, they were actually still under his command.
"Mr. Ziyuan, just now I wanted to kill that disobedient guy in Gongdu. Why did you stop me?"
After sending the two men away, Yan Liang turned to Xu You.
Xu You stroked his beard and said with a smile: "The guy named Gong is dissatisfied, so he should be killed. However, if the general wants to kill him, he has a thousand ways to kill him, so why bother doing it yourself and colding the hearts of these yellow turbans?"
Xu You smiled mysteriously.
Yan Liang saw through his mind. He wanted to show off his methods in front of him, which is called "showing off his skills" as the saying goes.
The corners of his mouth raised slightly, "It seems that Mr. Ziyuan has another clever plan, and Yan is willing to listen."
"How can I be so clever? I can come up with a great idea in just a moment. Please be patient, General, and let me think about it carefully." Xu You shrugged.
Very good, then I will give you time to see what you are capable of.
##########
Ten days later, north of Anseong.
The dust filled the sky, and a group of cavalry marched slowly towards Ancheng.
This infantry and cavalry team has about 10,000 people, including 2,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry.
At the front of the team, more than 2,000 infantry troops escorted more than 100 baggage vehicles. Two or three miles away was a mixed infantry and cavalry regiment of 8,000 people.
In the middle of the brigade, a large flag with the Chinese character "Cao" written on it was fluttering in the wind. In front of the large flag, a middle-aged general wearing black armor with a Chinese character face was staring deeply ahead.
The middle-aged general was none other than Cao Ren, the general of Cao's army.
The other general accompanying him was Man Chong, the newly appointed governor of Runan.
News of the rebellion of the Yellow Turban Army in Runan had already reached the Guandu front line. At first, Cao Cao did not pay much attention to this small group of Yellow Turban rebels. However, when he heard that Yuan Shao sent Yan Liang to lead his light cavalry to Runan to command Runan.
When fighting against the Southern Yellow Turban Army, he realized the seriousness of the situation.
During the Battle of White Horse, Yan Liang had left a deep impression on Cao Cao. After Yan Liang arrived in Runan, he would definitely pose a considerable threat to Xu Du.
Cao Cao did not dare to look down upon him, so he immediately ordered his kinsman general Cao Ren to lead two thousand elite cavalry to withdraw from the main battlefield of Guandu and go south, together with Li Tong and Man Chong who were stationed in Runan, to deal with Yan Liang.
Cao Ren is the top general of the Cao clan, and he leads an elite cavalry force. This shows that Cao Cao attaches great importance to Yan Liang.
From the rear of the brigade, two cavalrymen came, none other than General Pi Li Tong.
"General Cao, as the army moves forward, take the food, grass and baggage first. If the enemy surprises you, all the food and grass will fall into the enemy's hands." Li Tong gasped, with a worried look on his face.
"You don't have to worry about this matter. The general has his own opinion." Cao Ren was calm and calm, without any warning at all.
Li Tong's eyes became more and more worried, and he couldn't help but persuade again: "General Cao, the Prime Minister has told us that Yan Liang should not be underestimated. Isn't it a bit..."
Li Tong did not dare to say the word "careless".
Cao Ren smiled lightly: "You want to say that I will be careless. Yes, I will be careless."
Li Tong's face showed confusion.
"General Li, the baggage goes first. This is General Cao's trick to lure the enemy. Haven't you seen it yet?" Man Chong said with a smile.
Li Tong was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized something.
The gang of rebels in Runan were mostly composed of the Yellow Turban Army. The disparity in military discipline of the Yellow Turban Army was widely recognized by the world. What was they best at? Isn't it robbery?
"Not long after Yan Liang first arrived in Runan, it was naturally difficult to subdue these Yellow Turban troops in a short period of time. When the time comes, the thousands of Yellow Turban troops will definitely forget about Yan Liang's military orders and rush forward to snatch them away.
At that time, we will take advantage of the situation to cover up...hehe~~"
A sneer appeared on Man Chong's lips.
Li Tong finally understood, a look of admiration appeared on his face, and he cupped his hands to Cao Ren and said: "The general is stupid, I didn't expect that General Cao had already laid out such a clever plan."
Cao Ren snorted coldly, looked far away in the direction of Ancheng, and said in a cold voice: "This time, I will avenge the defeat of the White Horse Battle for the Prime Minister, so that Yan Liang will die without a burial place!"
##########
At the north gate of Ancheng, more than 10,000 soldiers and horses left the city one after another and marched along the avenue in the direction of Cao's army.
As early as a few days ago, Xu You's detailed work all over the world brought back information about Cao Ren's march south, allowing Yan Liang to make preparations in advance.
Yan Liang knew very well how strong the Cao family's number one general was.
In Cao Ren's life, except for his failure in the last battle in his later years and the expedition to Ruxukou, he almost never suffered a defeat.
In the past, Liu Bei came to Runan on the orders of Yuan Shao to lead the Yellow Turban army, but he was also defeated by Cao Ren.
Yan Liang would never dare to look down upon such a famous general with an almost perfect record.
In fact, Yan Liang did not intend to fight to the death with Cao Jun. He originally wanted to expand the number of troops and horses, so he avoided the enemy's edge and went directly from Runan to Jingzhou. He followed Zhang Xiu's example and formed a temporary alliance with Liu Biao and stationed in Jingzhou.
After establishing a firm foothold, they can then seize the opportunity to seize Liu Biao's foundation.
However, Yan Liang thought that if he went to Jingzhou like this, Liu Biao would think that he was afraid of Cao Jun and fled to Jingzhou to seek his protection, and would despise him.
So Yan Liang decided to win a good battle before leaving, using a victory to show his strength so that Liu Biao would not dare to underestimate him.
A scout came flying from the north, interrupting Yan Liang's train of thought.
"Report to the general, Cao Jun has been spotted fifteen miles ahead."
Yan Liang's nerves suddenly became tense, "How many troops and horses have the enemy come and how to deploy them?"
"Cao's army has about 10,000 infantry and cavalry, 2,000 people escorting the baggage team marching in front, and 8,000 infantry and cavalry following closely behind." The scout said.
"Report again and explore again." Yan Liang waved his hand and dismissed the scouts.
The baggage team is in front? Aren't you afraid that I will take the opportunity to steal his food and grass?
Cao Ren was familiar with the art of war, how could he make such a mistake?
A series of questions quickly appeared in Yan Liang's mind.
Xu You next to you was squinting and sneering.
"Mr. Ziyuan, Cao Ren's march here is a bit unusual. What do you think?" Yan Liang asked.
Xu You stroked his beard with a strange look in his eyes: "Didn't the general ask me before if I had any clever plan to deal with the man named Gong? Now you have a plan to kill two birds with one stone."
“Killing two birds with one stone?”
Yan Liang was shocked, and looking at Xu You's expression, he seemed to have planned a plan, and he looked very proud.
"This old cunning guy really has something up his sleeve. Looking at his proud look, he is probably just waiting for me to ask him for advice..."
After seeing through Xu You's thoughts, Yan Liang did not rush to ask him for advice.
Kill two birds with one stone, kill two birds with one stone...
Yan Liangming murmured these four words repeatedly in his mind, squinting at Xu You's mysterious expression, wondering what the hell he was thinking.
Just as he was thinking about it, Gong Du came on horseback and shouted excitedly: "General Yan, I heard that the scouts discovered Cao Jun's baggage train. What are we waiting for? The general quickly ordered us to rob it."
When Gong Du shouted like this, Yan Liang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he suddenly understood what Xu You meant by killing two birds with one stone.
Cao Ren was familiar with the art of war, so how could he make the mistake of exposing the baggage train in front of the battle? He clearly did this on purpose, just to lure his army to rob.
At that time, if the formation is in chaos, Cao Ren can take advantage of the chaos and use his troops to cover up the enemy and win a big victory.
Xu You's plan to kill two birds with one stone was to have Gong Du attack Cao Jun's bait and use Cao Ren's help to take the opportunity to get rid of the disobedient Yellow Turban thief.
When Cao Ren is fighting with Gong Du, he can lead his main force of light cavalry to bypass the enemy's rear and defeat Cao Ren's army in one fell swoop. This is two birds.
"Well, Xu You, you are really full of bad ideas and have very sinister plans. It's a pity that it's not that easy for me to ask you for help."
Yan Liang understood Xu You's plan, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he pretended to be excited and said: "General Gong's words are reasonable. I will order you to lead the troops and attack immediately to rob Cao's army's supplies of food and grass."
"The general will obey his orders."
Gong Du was overjoyed and rode away excitedly, thinking that he had gotten a good job. He would take all the more than a hundred carts of grain and grass into his pocket and not give a grain of rice to anyone else.
Looking at Gong Du's back as he walked away excitedly, Yan Liang sneered.
