"The army has suffered defeats in a row, so what can I do...... What can I do? ”

Late at night--Wancheng Taishou Mansion, Cao Cao, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye, Mao Jue, Hua Xin...... A total of more than 10 people sat around and discussed the military plane, and the atmosphere at the scene was very gloomy, and everyone looked sad and even nervous!

Cao Ying's family has a big business, a few defeats and the loss of tens of thousands of horses are nothing, what really worries everyone is Liu Beijun's tactics - abandoning the city, moving the people, and burning the rice in the fields, this is a typical 'strong wall and clear wilderness'!

Cao's army marched south on a large scale, and had two fatal weaknesses, one was that it was not suitable for water and soil and was not good at water warfare; The second is the lack of grain and grass and the difficulty of transportation, the former has not yet been reflected, but the latter is in front of us!

Xiao Yi sat in the rear and changed the land transportation to water transportation, constantly transporting grain, grass, ordnance, and medicinal materials...... It can be regarded as a solution to the urgent need, but hundreds of thousands of troops - people eat horses and feed them, and the consumption is huge, and the rear inventory will soon bottom out!

I thought that Jingzhou was rich, rich in rice, and had a large population, and after the Cao army was killed, he could collect grain, recruit troops, and pull people to make up for the losses in the war.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei's group was so interested, and implemented the plan of clearing the wilderness, so that Cao Jun could not get a grain of grain, a single person, or a livestock, and even the wells in the city were filled, and the soldiers of Cao Jun boiled water to cook rice, so they could only go to the moat to carry water!

At this point, Cao's army will continue to pursue southward, the supply line will continue to lengthen, and the logistics supply will become more and more difficult.

"Today's plan is only to fight quickly, once Liu Beijun retreats across the Han River, or even retreats to the south bank of the Yangtze River, our army will be beyond the reach of the whip!"

"It's easy to say, but it's really hard to do, the big-eared thief is extremely cunning, the use of troops is erratic, we have failed several pursuits, how can we fight a decisive battle with it?"

"If you want to catch the cunning rabbit, you need to use the greedy wolf, and there is no other way!"

…………………………………

The strategists, you say a word, I say a word, analyze the battle situation in front of you, and the meaning of the words is to euphemistically persuade Cao Cao, and immediately use Xiao Yi to command the army, in order to save the unfavorable situation!

Xiao Yi is like a god with soldiers, 30,000 Xuanjia iron cavalry under his command, hundreds of miles in one day and night, the best at long-distance running, surprise attack the enemy, if he let him lead the troops into battle, he will definitely be able to catch up with Liu Beijun, and then defeat the enemy!

However, everyone also understands that the prime minister has concerns and does not dare to let Xiao Yi command the army anymore, because if he commands the army, he will make meritorious service, and meritorious service will be rewarded, and Xiao Yi really has no reward!

On official positions: Xiao Yi is the Great Sima, one of the three dukes of the Han Dynasty, and he is already a very popular minister, and he can't be promoted anymore, unless he is made the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, or a general!

On the title: Xiao Yi is the marquis of Wuwu County, the land of the three counties of Shiyi, the crown of the civil and military ministers, and if he is crowned with the title, he can only be a duke, on an equal footing with Cao Cao!

In terms of real power, Xiao Yi is in charge of more than 100,000 elites, and he also leads Youzhou Mu, which also has a huge impact on Bingzhou, Liangzhou, Xuzhou, Guanzhong, and Huainan, and the generals with different surnames are even more promising!

Such a rebellious general, who dares to let him be rewarded for his meritorious service, he can no longer lead Jingzhou Mu, this is a large state with thousands of miles of land and a population of more than two million, once it falls into the hands of Xiao Yi, it is enough to compete with Cao Cao!

But if you don't use Xiao Yi, who can deal with Liu Bei, Xu Shu, and Kong Ming, if the battle of the Southern Expedition fails, the great cause of unifying the world will probably be abandoned halfway!

"Prime Minister Qiqi, when the soldiers searched the mansion, they found this thing in the secret room behind!"

Halfway through the meeting, Xu Chu suddenly walked in, holding a wooden box in his hand with a few words on it - please open it in person, Prime Minister!

"Bring it to me quickly...... What does this mean, isn't it playing with the old man? ”

Cao Cao took the box in his hand, and hurriedly opened it to watch, and there was a small note inside--"Cao Apu, you have been fooled again!" ”

Handwriting, tone, content...... It is almost exactly the same as Lao Junfeng's time, is this deliberately ridiculing Cao Cao, or is there another hint?

Cao Cao was also a resourceful person, and immediately had a premonition that something was wrong, but in a hurry, he didn't think that the problem was there, and the strategists passed it on to each other, and they fell into contemplation...... What did the prime minister fall for again?

"It's on fire - Xicheng is on fire, everyone hurry up and put out the fire!"

"Oh no, the North City is on fire too - the East City is also on fire!"

……………………

At the time of the third watch, there was a shouting outside, and there was a flickering fire, and everyone didn't care at first, thinking that the soldiers were careless, and overturned the candle flame and caused the disaster of Zhurong, as long as it was extinguished with water!

But after a while, the fire not only did not go out, but grew bigger and bigger, and fires were ignited in several places, obviously not unintentionally, but deliberately set on fire!

"Order the officers and soldiers of all departments - don't panic, get water to extinguish the fire!"

"This is a trick of the enemy, intending to set fire to the city, let's get out quickly!"

Everyone finally couldn't sit still, and walked out of the lobby with Cao Cao in their arms, and was suddenly startled by the scene, only to see the smoke billowing out, the fire snake scurrying around, and the city was full of firelight, illuminating the entire sky!

In the middle of the night, Cao Jun was asleep, he didn't expect a sudden fire, he couldn't take care of his clothes and armor, and he ran desperately outward, and the burned ghosts cried wolf howls and rolls all over the ground......

There were also generals who reacted quickly and wanted to call their subordinates to extinguish the fire, but all the wells in Wancheng were filled by Liu Beijun, and water was available there, so the fire could not be extinguished, but more people were burned!

It turned out that when Liu Bei retreated, he left more than 100 dead soldiers, constantly beating drums and blowing trumpets in the city, so as to confuse the sight of the Cao army, thinking that there were countless soldiers and horses in ambush in the city, so that the Cao army did not dare to attack easily!

After the Cao army entered the city, the dead soldiers hid in the tunnel, and waited until the third watch in the middle of the night, and then came out to kill people and set fires......

God is also very helpful, tonight is a windy weather, the wind borrows the fire, the fire helps the wind, Wancheng soon became a sea of fire, the smoke is billowing, the fire snake is jumping around, and the screams are coming and going......

"Protect the Prime Minister! --Protect the Prime Minister! ”

"Get out of the way! --Get out of the way! ”

Seeing that the situation was not good, everyone helped Cao Cao on his horse and prepared to go out of the city to hide, and the rebels were chased by the flames, and they also rushed towards the outside of the city, but the flow of people was too much and too chaotic, and several cities were blocked!

At the moment of life and death, everyone is in danger, who cares about the noble and lowly, they are desperately fighting for the road, squeezing the city gate into human porridge, and the soldiers are desperately shouting and impacting, but they can't open the way out of the city, and the flames spread quickly, and they are burning to their side......

"Death to those who stand in my way, get out of the way - kill!"

At the critical moment, the tiger idiot-Xu Chu rushed over, waved the sawtooth knife in his hand, and slashed the chaotic soldiers blocking the city gate.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the soldiers protected Cao Cao and finally rushed out of the city gate, although a few strands of hair were burned, but it did not endanger his life, which was a blessing in misfortune!

The Cao soldiers in the city were unlucky, some were burned to charcoal under the scorching flames, and some were choked to death by the smoke...... Corpses all over the ground, miserable!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

The fire burned for two days and two nights, and was finally extinguished by a heavy rain, Wancheng turned into a ruin, and the results of the statistics afterwards showed that the Cao soldiers who died in the fire amounted to more than 10,000 people, and countless materials were burned, which can be described as a heavy loss!

And the dead soldiers left by Liu Bei, after lighting the fire, sneaked out of the city along the tunnel dug earlier, and lost no one!

"The last generals are defeated and returned, please punish the Prime Minister!"

"The enemy is extremely cunning, and our army has suffered heavy casualties!"

Cao Cao fled out of the city in embarrassment, and before he could ease his spirits, he saw Xu Huang and Yu Ban running back in embarrassment, and of the 20,000 soldiers and horses they took away, less than 1,000 people came back!

It turned out that the two generals were ordered to go south, all the way to Xinye City, only to see the city gate closed, no one in sight, according to the two experiences of Laojun Peak and Wancheng, thought it was an empty city again, so he swaggered in, hoping to loot some grain and grass, property......

That knows, Cao Jun had just entered Xinye City, and suddenly ambushed soldiers in all directions, and arrows were fired together, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun each led a team of men and horses, and they rushed and killed them!

Cao Jun was not prepared at all, and suddenly suffered a big loss, with countless dead and many descendants...... Xu Huang and Yu Ban rushed desperately to the death before they ran out of the encirclement, but the people and horses were completely damaged!

This is Xu Shu's plan again, the virtual is real, the real is virtual, after two fake ambushes, suddenly a real surround came, and Cao Jun was in the pit!

"The old man has been fighting for most of his life, when has he been humiliated like this, won't the world laugh off his big teeth...... What a big-eared thief! ”

"Mao Jue obeyed the order, immediately went to the rear army, took over the transportation of grain and grass, and then ordered Xiao Lang to mobilize troops and horses, pursue Liu Bei, and definitely cut off his head!"

Cao Cao was so anxious and angry that he almost lost his breath, and after a long time of relieving, he finally decided to send Xiao Yi into battle, and if he didn't use this greedy wolf, the southern expedition plan would be ruined!

(End of chapter)