Chapter 9 The 62nd section of the Central Plains was empty, and a faint smell of wine filled the sultry air.

In the place where the table was originally placed, there was a pool of dried and eye-catching blood. Cao Cao stared blankly at the pool of blood, a faint tingling pain in his heart, and a little guilty, but thinking of the bits and pieces of his past interactions with Xu You, he had a feeling of relief.

You despise me and sneer at me all my life, you admire Yuan Shao and follow him all your life, but what is the final result?

For the sake of peace within the coalition, you betrayed him once with good intentions, but you brought yourself a murderous disaster.

You are a clever man who claims to be a superhuman in intelligence, but you have made a childish mistake in the matter of loyalty.

I don't want to hurt you, I want to kill your nine clans, I just want to take revenge on your hatred and mockery of me for so many years.

Although I didn't want to keep you by my side, I didn't want you to return to Yuan Shao's side, so I ran to Yuan Shao and said a few words, which made me very chilled.

Over the years, you have been loyal to Yuan Shao, helped Yuan Shao conquer the world, and laid a solid foundation for Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao treated you too thinly.

Ignoring your friendship for more than 30 years, he immediately ordered the killing of your nine clans and the eradication of your protégés and former officials through my words.

Ten years ago, Yuan Kui and Yuan Shao joined forces to kill the entire family of the former Sikong Xu Xiang on the occasion of the Luoyang Rebellion, and almost uprooted the Xu valve forces in Kyoto.

Today, he repeated his old trick and once again raised the butcher's knife to kill the Xu Lord's forces. I don't know why Yuan Shao became so ruthless, he was not such a person in the past, he has always been very loyal, and he has always flaunted himself as a benevolent and righteous gentleman, why is he so ruthless and unrighteous to you?

Could it be because of the generational power struggle between your Yuan Valve and Xu Valve in Runan that made him kill?

Could it be that he is so old and confused that he can't wait to usurp the Han and stand on his own, completely ignoring the overall situation, and killing his old subordinates who are busy opposing him one by one?

Cao Cao walked to the pool of blood and slowly squatted down, as if looking at Xu Yu lying dead on the ground, his expression was sad, and tears gradually welled up in his eyes.

Yuan Shao is going to kill you, and he wants to punish you, an old friend who betrayed him, but you are still so persistent, you are still so loyal to Yuan Shao, and you still insist on going to Hebei to carry out a counter-plot for him regardless of life and death.

Actually, even if you don't go, I won't turn against Yuan Shao before the end of the war. Don't you know who I am?

Since I was a child, although the good things that increase the face are all Yuan Shao's heads, and the bad things that damage my reputation are all on my shoulder, when have I ever suffered a loss?

Even if my father was beaten to death after stealing something from Zhang Rang's house, I didn't tell you about watching the wind outside the house.

Even though we stole someone's bride together, I ended up being the one who was responsible for the crime, and I was punished.

In major matters, I am measured, and I will not openly confront Yuan Shao until Li Hong's threat is lifted, and before my biggest existential threat is lifted.

Over the years, I have repeatedly had disputes with Yuan Shao, but when did I break with Yuan Shao? You've been righteous for decades.

Although you hate and even hate me, at the critical moment, you still treat me as a friend and stand up and run to save me.

However, it is your temper that hurts you. In the past few years, don't you know what Yuan Shao wants to do?

Why did he drive away Fu Zhi, detain Tian Feng, and fight the forces in Jizhou, why was he unwilling to keep you by his side?

Why does he want to kill me again and again? It's all for this piece of society, this country. His mind has moved, ** is irrepressible, whoever stands in his way is his enemy.

He wants to usurp the world, but we people don't want him to get his wish, and we try to stop him from usurping.

I know that if you want to stop Yuan Shao, you must pick up a sword and fight with them like you did with Dong Zhuo and Li Hong, but you don't think so, you are the same as Fu Zhu and Tian Feng, thinking that with your own intelligence and the complicated situation in the world, you can successfully contain Yuan Shao's **.

At the end of the day, you still see him as your friend, not your enemy, and you want to turn things around on your own.

You're so confident, almost insanely confident. Yuan Shao is going to kill you, you even went to Hebei to carry out a counter-plot, do you really think you can turn things around?

When you come back from Hebei, you see the face you are familiar with, and you see the kind of contemptuous gaze and contemptuous sneer you are familiar with, do you know how happy I am?

If you live, you will reduce the guilt in my heart. I hope you can live, have a few more children, and be able to re-support your Xu family, but you still die, and inevitably go to ruin.

Your counter-strategy succeeded, and you used your betrayal to leave me on the battlefield of Guandu, temporarily alleviating the fierce conflict between me and Yuan Shao, and allowing the coalition forces to work together for the time being.

After you returned from Hebei, you gave us the news that we burned the grain and grass of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and your intention to fight a decisive battle with the Northern Xinjiang Army before the coalition collapsed due to internal strife was also realized.

The decisive battle can inflict heavy losses on the Northern Xinjiang Army, allow Yuan Shao to take the Central Plains, allow me to take the opportunity to go south to capture Xu Yang, and realize the three-legged support of Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and me south of the Yellow River, which can form a check and balance and completely dispel Yuan Shao's attempt to usurp the Han Dynasty.

However, what you probably never expected was that when we burned the grain and grass of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and burned the possibility of the Northern Xinjiang Army defeating us, we also burned Yuan Shao's determination, and he saw the hope of victory without a fight from the raging fire over Wuchao and the old city, and the hope of taking the Central Plains without much effort to establish his own hegemony.

So he gave up the decisive battle and did not hesitate to give up the decisive battle. Yuan Shao raised the war knife on my head again, he wanted to kill me, but he needed to find a perfect irrefutable reason to kill me now.

Otherwise, when I had just led the army to burn the grain and grass of the Northern Xinjiang Army, he would be blamed by all sides of the coalition army for killing me, and he might anger some people in the coalition army, and he might bring unnecessary trouble to his own hegemony.

So he thought of you again. If you kill you, you'll have a reason to kill me. All your hard work, your ingenuity, your Nine Clans' lives, everything you have given have been destroyed in this moment by your blind loyalty and trust in your old friend.

You died at your own hands, on your almost insane self-confidence. So, you chose to commit suicide, what were you thinking when you cut your throat with the long sword in front of Feng Ji?

Are you angry? Angry Yuan Shao's ruthlessness. Are you in pain? The dream that I had fought for all my life was finally shattered.

After all, he couldn't save the Han Society. Perhaps, you died peacefully, because you know that your death can tell many people Yuan Shao's true face.

Cao Cao stretched out his hand and gently stroked the blood on the ground, as if caressing Xu You's face.

"You go, I will fulfill your wish. Whether it's for you or for myself, I will force Yuan Shao into the battlefield of the decisive battle. As soon as Liu Biao walked into Junyi City, Cao Cao chased after him.

"Do you know what the safe withdrawal of the Northern Xinjiang Army to Hebei means to the Han Dynasty? It's defeat, complete defeat. Cao Cao waved his arms and yelled at Liu Biao, who had a sad face,

"You're old, don't you even have the ambition to save the community?" Cao Cao spread out the map on the desk, and slammed his fist on the map again and again.

The bamboo slips on the desk jumped violently a few times, and then fell to the ground. Kuai Yue, Deng Yi, Wen Ping, Pang Ji and others stood around, all with cold expressions and without saying a word.

"The Northern Xinjiang Army withdrew to Hebei without any losses, as long as they recuperated for two or three years, they would be able to make a comeback immediately. Yuan Shao occupied the Central Plains, and soon swept Qing and Xu, including Xiliang Hanqian and Yizhou Liu Zhang, all of whom would take refuge in Yuan Shao. But what about us, look at our ......" Cao Cao's hand slammed into the center of the map,

"Except for your Jingzhou, I already have no strength, and Liu Bei's troops are limited, with Yuan Shao and Zang Ba in the front, and Jiangdong Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in the back, how many days can he hold out? What other forces do we have to fight against Yuan Shao? If Yuan Shao attacked from Nanyang and Yuzhou, Liu Zhang from Yizhou, and Sun Ce and Zhou Yu from Jiangdong, would you still be able to hold Jingzhou? Jingzhou is gone, can we still keep the Dahan Society? ”

"Three years later, when Li Hong was ready to go south to the Central Plains again, Yuan Shao had already controlled all the counties south of the Yellow River, and the situation in the world had completely changed." Cao Cao glared at Liu Biao and shouted hoarsely,

"Brother Jingsheng, open your eyes and see, can Li Hong still sweep the Central Plains like today at that time? No, he can't do it, he not only wants to stabilize the vast northern Xinjiang, but also to resist Yuan Shao's attack in Hedong and Jizhou at the same time, with his small Hebei three states, how many years can he support? ”

"Hebei is defeated, whose world is this?" Cao Cao raised his fists and smashed them on the desk with all his strength,

"Think about it with your brain, think about it, whose world is it?" Liu Biao endured the spittle in his face, his face was expressionless and motionless.

"I never believe in any prophecy, but today my confidence has been shaken, after the Central Plains War, the Yuan dynasty will be an indisputable fact." Cao Cao looked up to the sky and laughed miserably,

"Haha...... I'm going to die soon, you and Xuande are still useful to him for the time being, and they can survive for a few days for the time being. When he stabilizes the Central Plains, whether it is Xuande or you, you will soon be in a different place. You will be treated as a rebel after death, and you will be buried in mass graves, leaving behind infamy for generations. Liu Biao's eyes showed murderous intent and coldly

"Snorted", still did not speak.

"Xu You? Didn't he flee to Hebei? Kuai Yue asked in surprise.

"He's back. He defected to Hebei in order to implement a counter-plot for Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao was too ruthless, first killing his nine clans after Xu You defected, in order to deceive Li Hong's trust in Xu You. After Xu You returned today, he was killed by Yuan Shao as soon as he told the location of the grain of the Northern Xinjiang Army. Liu Biao, Kuai Yue and others were shocked.

"Could it be that Yuan Shao is an immortal? Just pinch your fingers and calculate, you can know the location of the Northern Xinjiang Army's grain cantonment? Cao Cao then told Xu Yu from beginning to end,

"Fu Zhu, Tian Feng, Xu You, Guo Tu and others are loyal to the Han Dynasty, oppose Yuan Shao's usurpation, and have been trying to prevent Yuan Shao from taking the road of usurping the country. But today you saw that Xu Yu died, Tian Feng was imprisoned, Fu Zhu was driven to Nanyang with the Son of Heaven, and Guo Tu was driven to Chang'an. Now if Yuan Shao wants to usurp the position, how much resistance is there? ”

"Meng De, these are all your speculations, we can't say that he has the intention of usurping before he made an abnormal move in the beginning." Kuai Yue saw Liu Biao's face uncertain, and hurriedly dissuaded.

"Really? Then do we have to wait until Yuan Shao kills the monarch like Li Hong, and then we say that Yuan Shao does have the intention of usurping? Was it too late? Cao Cao glared at Kuai Yue and asked angrily,

"Your Kuai family is a famous family in Jingzhou, a high-ranking family, even if Brother Jingsheng is killed, you can still serve under Yuan Shao, and even enjoy greater merits, so you don't care about the survival of the Han Dynasty, you don't care about the life and death of Brother Jingsheng, don't you?"

"Cao Mengde, don't talk nonsense here." Kuaiyue's thick eyebrows are tightly locked, and his face is like frost,

"I see that you were beaten by the Northern Xinjiang Army and lost Yanzhou, and you have been carried away by hatred and are delirious."

"Am I delirious?" Cao Cao pointed to his nose and laughed loudly,

"Haha...... Am I delirious? I'm too sane, I've seen through you guys. Then he pointed to the west and shouted,

"You idiots turn your head and look, where is the Son of Heaven? The Northern Xinjiang Army has been killed in Xuchang, and Yuan Shao still refuses to move the Son of Heaven to Luoyang, why? If this incident can't brighten your blinded eyes a little, and make your mind cleared up a little by Yuan Shao's prestige and lies, then you can wait for the society to fall. Kuai Yue was furious, and just wanted to refute, but was dragged by Deng Yi beside him,

"Don't fall for Cao Cao, see what he wants to say." The lobby fell silent, and only Cao Cao's violent gasps echoed in everyone's ears.

Liu Biao picked up his sleeve and wiped his face, then looked at Cao Cao who was standing opposite, and said calmly: "If we take the lead in entering the battlefield and start a decisive battle with the Northern Xinjiang Army, Yuan Shao is worried that he will lose his credit, and he will inevitably raise a large army and then kill." But the question is, if we defeat the Northern Frontier Army, will Yuan Shao be unable to occupy Yanzhou because of the great loss of strength? With your current strength, can you still occupy Yanzhou and confront Yuan Shao? ”

"The purpose of my decisive battle is not to recapture Yanzhou, but to save Sheji, which is about to collapse." When Cao Cao heard Liu Biao's words, he was overjoyed, knowing that Liu Biao was already moved, and hurriedly explained,

"After the decisive battle, the Northern Xinjiang Army suffered heavy losses, and it was not expected to recover within three or five years. In the same way, Yuan Shao's and ours losses were very large, so that Yuan Shao's strategy of taking the Central Plains in a short period of time, sweeping the Qing and Xu prefectures, and then going south to seize Jingzhou, would not be implemented, and his vain attempt to usurp Han and establish himself would be greatly delayed. ”

"Yuan Shao's heavy losses will also bring him continuous wars. Han Sui of Xiliang had long wanted to take the opportunity to seize Guanzhong, and after this battle, Li Hong and Yuan Shao were scarred, and it was the best time for him to seize Guanzhong. If Guanzhong is lost, Li Hong and Yuan Shao will throw their limited troops and financial resources into the battlefield of Guanzhong for their own safety. Yuan Shao could not take care of us if he could take care of Guanzhong, and we used this precious time to quickly restore our respective strengths, join forces again, form an alliance, and form a confrontation with Yuan Shao. In this way, even if Yuan Shao gets Yanzhou, he will not be able to take advantage of the opportunity of our great loss of strength after the Great War to break them all, and the situation in the southern part of the Yellow River will once again return to the situation before the Great War. Cao Cao looked up at Liu Biao, who was listening intently, and barely squeezed out a smile on his face,

"Hebei is Li Hong, the Central Plains is Yuan Shao, and the banks of the Yangtze River are us. The three confront each other and contain each other. ”

"Yuan Shao is in the Central Plains between Hebei and us, and if he blocks Li Hong in Hebei for us, we can develop rapidly on both sides of the Yangtze River. When Hebei threatens Yuan Shao's survival, we unite with Yuan Shao. When Yuan Shao threatened our survival, we used Hebei to contain him and immobilize him. A few years later, when we have accumulated enough strength to threaten Yuan Shao's survival, Yuan Shao, for the sake of his own security and development, and in order to fight us, will definitely use the name of the Son of Heaven to form an alliance to attack Hebei again, which will be the best opportunity for us to return to the Central Plains, pacify the world, and rejuvenate the community. Liu Biao, Kuai Yue and the others were silent, bowing their heads one by one in contemplation.

"If after the Central Plains War, the situation develops as you say, where will you go?" Liu Biao asked suddenly.

"I'll go to Yangzhou." Cao Cao said without hesitation,

"When I arrive in Yangzhou, I can attack Jiangdong with you and Xuande, and completely destroy Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, so as not to let them always fight behind our backs. These two people are not very old, but their scheming is deep, and even people like Yuan Shu died at their hands. Of course, if they are willing to respect the Son of Heaven, release their past suspicions with us, and work together to save the community, then they can't ask for it. After all, the fewer battles we fight, the faster our strength can grow. ”

"What about the Son of Heaven?" Liu Biao asked again.

"It's better for the Son of Heaven to stay in Nanyang." Cao Cao said,

"Bringing the Son of Heaven to Xiangyang, although it can greatly increase your prestige and authority, it also liberates Yuan Shao. Now that the Northern Xinjiang Army has reached Henan and is approaching Luoyang, he has no choice but to respect the Son of Heaven and form an alliance with us. But once the Northern Frontier Army withdrew, his true nature would definitely be exposed again. ”

"Leaving the Son of Heaven in Nanyang can restrain him so that he does not dare to usurp the Han and stand on his own feet casually. There is Li Hong of Hebei in the north, we in the south, and there is a son of heaven in the middle. If Han Sui is not old and can still take advantage of the situation to occupy Guanzhong, then he will be completely trapped in the Central Plains. Cao Cao smirked,

"In the past few years, he has been thinking about taking all the Central Plains and establishing his own hegemony. Well, this time we got his wish and saw if he could show his ambitions. Liu Biao squinted his eyes, stared at Cao Cao for a long time, and finally nodded,

"Okay, attack, start attacking immediately." Under August, Yangwu. Zhang Yan sat behind the desk and looked at the map, the beads of sweat on her face kept flowing down, and the fan in her hand

"Hulahula" shaking, fidgety. After the rebels burned the grain and grass in the old city and Wuchao, they suddenly withdrew from the battlefield and stopped fighting, which made Zhang Yan anxious.

The rebels' intentions are very clear, and now they are waiting for the Northern Frontier Army to retreat, wanting to get something for nothing.

"Retreat. It seems that if you don't withdraw from Guandu, it will be difficult to lure the rebels out. Jia Xu drank a few sips of cold water, looking very helpless.

"Retreat and deception are two different things." Sima Yi sat next to him, fanning Jia Xu while saying,

"Yuan Shao's determination to fight a decisive battle is not very good, he can win without a fight, of course, there is no need to fight with us. As for others, such as Liu Biao and Cao Cao, of course, they are even more reluctant to fight. The harder they fought, the greater their losses, and the more benefits Yuan Shao would get after the war, who would want to do such a stupid thing? He frowned, leaned closer to Jia Xu, and asked in a low voice,

"Are we fooled by Xu You?"

"The question is not whether or not you are fooled, but how to lure the rebels out for a decisive battle." Jia Xu smiled,

"The rebels burned down only two empty camps, and if we persisted, the rebels knew they had been tricked. But we don't want to lose such a good opportunity to lure the enemy. Now that Xu Yu has returned, it will be difficult for us to find such an opportunity. ”

"Retreat to lure the enemy out?" Wei Yan sat opposite Zhang Yan and asked hesitantly.

"It's hard." Zhang Yan threw the pu fan on the desk and reached out to wipe the sweat on his face.

"Yuan Shao's decision is clear, it is to delay, no matter how favorable the situation is to him, he is to delay, what can you do to him?"

"First let Yan Liang withdraw the army, withdraw to the north bank of the Jishui River, strengthen the defense of Fengqiu, Wuchao, Suozao, and Yanjin, and make a gesture that the army is about to retreat." Zhang Yan pointed at Wei Yan and motioned for him to immediately write an order,

"The book told Lu Yi and Lu Bu to withdraw from the north bank of the chasm water, gradually move closer to the Jishui River, and prepare to retreat to Yuanwu and Yangwu."

"Tell the general that if after three days, Yuan Shao has not yet commanded the army to launch a decisive battle, then don't expect him to make a move in the near future. We can only count on a quick breakthrough on the battlefields of Guanzhong and Xuzhou in order to change the situation on the battlefields of the Central Plains. After Zhang Yan finished speaking, he stood up and walked slowly two steps,

"Look, did you send an iron cavalry to cross the Pushui River and immediately rush to the area of Dongdui and Jiyang to stand by?"

"Since the Lord wants to make a breakthrough from the battlefield on both flanks, it is really necessary for us to take countermeasures in advance." Jia Xu nodded and said,

"Don't worry about the Guanzhong battlefield, I believe that Lord Taiwei (Xu Rong) will make troop adjustments in time. The troops on the battlefield in Xuzhou should be enough after Zang Ba solved Chen Deng. At that time, Chen Gong and Wu Dun of Yanzhou Rencheng led their troops south to Pengcheng and Xiapi, and Zang Ba and Sun Guan of Qingzhou directly killed Langya and Donghai, and the war should be very smooth, but the only thing that makes people feel uneasy is the defense of the southern counties of Yanzhou. After Chen Gong and Wu Dun go south, we should send an iron cavalry over. ”

"Then let Yan Rou, Jiang Wu, Wei Jun, and Yang Ming lead the army to cross the Pushui River and rush to the area of Dongdui and Jiyang." Zhang Yan waved his hand and said,

"If Yuan Shao wants to storm Fengqiu and cut off our retreat, we will let them frequently attack the front line of Junyi and Chenliu to threaten the rear of the rebels. If Yuan Shao wants to fight a decisive battle, we will let them rush into the line of Junyi, Zhongmu, Chenliu and Kaifeng after the rebels have crossed the line of Suozao and Yanjin on all fronts, and cut off the enemy's retreat route to the south. If we and Yuan Shao have been in a stalemate and want to make a breakthrough from the battlefield on both flanks, then after Chen Guan and Zang Ba attack Xuzhou on both sides, let them rush to the Xuzhou battlefield to support. ”

"Okay, this deployment is foolproof." Jia Xu smiled,

"After sending Lord Yan Rou's iron cavalry to Yanzhou, we will have ample means to deal with all kinds of mutations on the battlefield."

"Give the order." Zhang Yan waved his hand,

"Let Lord Yan Rou not delay and leave quickly." In August, Qingzhou Plains County, Gaotang City. Chen Deng sat behind the desk with the wine lord, looking indifferently at the guards who rushed into the lobby.

Zang Ba stood at the top of the lobby and stared murderously at several disarmed Xuzhou army generals on the left seat.

Several guards with spears and crossbows were aimed at Chen Deng, and two other guards came over with a bundle of ropes, intending to tie him up.

"Slow, slow ......" Zang Hong and You Heng appeared in the lobby at the right time, and when they saw that a guard wanted to tie up Chen Deng, Zang Hong hurriedly raised his hand to stop it,

"You all go down, it's all fine here." Zang Ba waved at the guards, signaling them to escort a few generals of the Xuzhou Army to retreat immediately.

The lobby fell silent.

"Yuanlong, don't come unharmed." You Heng threw his hand at Chen Deng again and again, laughing and leaning back and forth,

"I didn't expect that you are such a smart person, and you also have a day of calculation, haha......" Chen Deng is about thirty years old, white and clean, elegant temperament, and a pair of eyes are very godly.

At this moment, he had a mocking look on his face and sneered,

"Brother Zhengping, did you do this?"

"yes." You Heng instinctively wanted to show off and humiliate Chen Deng, and suddenly thought that if he wanted to work with this kid in the future, he would inevitably be personally enmitigated by this kid, so he immediately changed his words, and said with his fingers standing aside and laughing,

"This is all Brother Ziyuan's idea, Xuan Gao and I are just acting on orders, acting on orders, hehe......"

"Hmph...... Looking at your thief-eyed look, you can't convince Xuan Gao, let alone come up with such a clever strategy. Chen Deng raised his head and drank the wine, and sneered coldly.

"That's, that's ......" You Heng hurriedly took two steps, picked up the long spoon in the wine bottle, and carefully filled Chen Deng's name,

"Yuanlong, it's not easy for us to trick you to the edge of the Yellow River." Chen Deng ignored him and looked at Zang Hong coldly,

"Brother Ziyuan, what are you going to do with my men?"

"All you need is a word." Zang Hong smiled,

Of course, don't be in a hurry to say that. No matter how we force you now, you won't say anything, and after the Central Plains War is over, you can make a decision. ”

"Li Hong killed the king, brutal and bloody, how can you help the gang to abuse and destroy the society?" Chen Deng suddenly slapped the case and shouted.

"I remember you knew Master Hua Tuo." Zang Hong said slowly,

"You won't believe what I say now, so we won't talk about this matter, and when you meet Master Huatuo in the future, you can ask him."

"Master Huatuo? How did he know about Li Hong's murder of the king? ”

"At that time, Master Huatuo was in Jinyang." Zang Hong said with great certainty,

"He knows it best. Don't listen to rumors and take things that don't really happen. ”

"Don't talk about these things, don't talk about them......" You Heng laughed,

"Yuanlong, we haven't seen each other for many years, let's sing and chat. Ha ha...... I'm so happy to be able to catch you, relieved, happy. "Jump to