Xiancheng was captured by Gao Shun, and Cao Cao, who was far away in Puyang, was clear in his heart.

Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong suggested sending troops to seize Xiancheng, but Cao Cao refused.

In Cao Cao's opinion, Gao Shun actually dared to lead more than 1,000 people to attack Xiancheng and spread wilderness under his nose, there must be someone behind him.

The person standing behind Gao Shun is only Zhang Yan.

Cao Cao had just led his army back from Dingtao, but he didn't expect that only one day later, Gao Shun captured Xiancheng. This also means that Zhang Yan is likely to be overwhelmed by large soldiers.

For this reason, Cao Cao specially sent more than a dozen scouts to inquire about the news.

In the evening, the scouts came to report that Yu Ban led 10,000 soldiers and horses to Xiancheng, and Zhang Yanqin led an army of 15,000 people from Dingtao, and it was expected to arrive in Xiancheng tonight.

After hearing this news, Cao Cao's mood fell into extreme depression, and Zhang Yan mobilized more than 20,000 troops to rush to Puyang, definitely trying to eliminate him.

Those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come.

In the entire Puyang City, there were only more than 7,000 soldiers left in Cao's army, of which more than 1,000 were still wounded soldiers with various injuries, and the strength was less than half of Zhang Yan's. Moreover, Puyang City has experienced several wars, the city wall is broken, the buildings in the city are seriously damaged, the people in order to avoid the war, or north to Jizhou, or south to Jingzhou, Yangzhou area, the city ten rooms and nine empty.

However, the geographical location of Puyang is very important, it is a place where soldiers must fight, and it is also one of the few big cities in Yanzhou, and because it is backed by Hebei and close to Yuan Shao, it has become Cao Cao's preferred place to garrison.

However, Zhang Yan's gathering of troops this time was eyeing Cao Cao, which inevitably made Cao Cao a little worried. Worried about whether this ruined Puyang City can withstand Zhang Yan's army?

Cao Cao, who had a sad face, immediately called his generals and immediately ordered them to actively prepare for war in order to deal with the upcoming war.

At the same time, Cao Cao also specially wrote a letter and sent someone to Yuan Shao stationed in Yecheng, hoping that Yuan Shao could send troops to help.

This matter is very important, whether Yuan Shao can send troops to help is directly related to Cao Cao's survival, so Cao Cao sent Mao Jue to govern the middle of the country, with his personal soldiers' letters, and went to Yecheng in the starry night.

Mao Jue received the order and immediately went to Yecheng. Subsequently, Cao Cao sent people to Dunqiu and asked Yuan Shao to appoint Dunqiu to order Zhu Ling to come to help.

Dunqiu and Puyang are only separated by a Yellow River, and the envoy crossed the Yellow River overnight with Cao Cao's letter and went to the county seat of Dunqiu.

When the envoy arrived in Dunqiu County, he did not see Zhu Ling, but learned from the mouth of the county lieutenant that Yuan Shao's general Zang Hong occupied Dongwuyang and gathered a crowd to rebel, and Zhu Ling was ordered to lead troops to crusade against Zang Hong.

This Zang Hong is a native of Sheyang, Guangling, the source of the word, and was born in the family of Jiangmen. His father's name is Zang Min, who has successively served as the general of the Xiongnu Zhonglang, the Taishou of Zhongshan, the Taishou of Taiyuan, and the rebellion of the demon thief Xu Zhao, and is a famous minister of the late Han Dynasty.

When Zang Hong was fifteen years old, he was worshipped as a boy because of his father's merits and was able to enter Taixue to study. At the age of twenty, he was elected as filial piety and officially entered the official career, and was elected as the county magistrate with Liu Miao, Wang Lang and others.

Later, Zang Hong resigned and returned home due to the loss of his father. At that time, Zhang Miao's younger brother Zhang Chao was the Taishou of Guangling, and often visited Zang Hong's house as a guest, and he and Zang Hong hit it off at first sight and gradually became a confidant. When Zang Hong's filial piety for his father expired, Zhang Chao asked Zang Hong to do his gongcao, and has been following Zhang Chao since then.

When Tao Qian presided over Xuzhou, Zhang Chao was forced to leave Xuzhou because of discord with Tao Qian, and went to his brother Chen Liutai to guard Zhang Miao, and Zang Hong also followed Zhang Chao to Chenliu.

Later, Zhang Chao sent Zang Hong to Youzhou to contact Liu Yu, Zang Hong traveled to the way, and met Yuan Shao's Gongsun Zhan fighting, and he was unable to pass for a while, and it happened that Yuan Shao was very fond of Zang Hong's talent, so he forcibly left Zang Hong in Jizhou.

Later, Xiahou Tang and Xiahou Yuan soldiers surrounded Yongqiu and killed Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao and other families, Zang Hong was overwhelmed with grief and vowed to avenge Zhang Chao. So, Zang Hong went to persuade Yuan Shao to take advantage of this opportunity to attack Cao Cao and march into Yanzhou, so that he could win the Central Plains.

Although Zang Hong's suggestion was good, Yuan Shao was bent on unifying Hebei, and he was a confidant with Cao Cao, so he rejected Zang Hong's suggestion.

It happened that Yuan Shao took over from Cao Cao the seven counties of Dongjun located north of the Yellow River, and there was a lack of a person who could govern the place.

Therefore, Yuan Shao appointed Zang Hong as the Taishou of Dongjun to govern Wuyang in the east, and allocated 3,000 soldiers and horses to Zang Hong to govern these seven counties. Who knows, as soon as Zang Hong arrived in office, he gathered troops, opened warehouses to release grain, and relieved the poor people, while recruiting soldiers, distributing weapons, training soldiers, and preparing to cross the Yellow River south to attack Cao Cao.

When Yuan Shao learned of Zang Hong's actions, he was furious and immediately sent someone to send a letter, asking Zang Hong to go to Yecheng to confess his guilt.

Who knows, after Zang Hong received Yuan Shao's letter, he burned it in public, officially announced his departure from Yuan Shao, and no longer accepted Yuan Shao's dispatch.

Yuan Shao was furious, so he ordered Zhu Ling, who was stationed in Dunqiu, Jiang Yiqu, who was stationed in Qinghe, and Yuan Tan, who was stationed in the plain, to attack Dongwuyang, where Zang Hong was located.

Cao Cao's envoy learned the inside story and felt that it would be difficult for Zhu Ling to send reinforcements under such circumstances, so he only left a letter for the county lieutenant to pass on to Zhu Ling, and he rushed back to Puyang overnight.

In peacetime, the envoy returned to Puyang and informed Cao Cao of what happened in Hebei.

At the same time, Zhang Yan led the arrival and arrived in Xiancheng, and became one with Gao Shun, Yu Ban and others, but Zhang Yan did not take action immediately, but first rested in Xiancheng, on the one hand, to recuperate, and on the other hand, to wait for Bao Shao to transport the grain, grass, and baggage from Changyi.

But Zhang Yan did not sit idle, but first sent scouts around to find out the news, and what made him most concerned was Yuan Shao from Hebei.

For this reason, when Zhang Yan arrived in Xiancheng, he sent Mi Fang to garrison Baima with 2,000 men to prevent Yuan Shao's army from crossing north from Liyang.

Within a day, both inside and outside Puyang City, there was nothing to do.

……

Jizhou, Yecheng.

Since Mao Jue received the order last night, he crossed the Yellow River in the starry night, rode a war horse, and galloped towards Yecheng non-stop along the way.

On the way, Mao Jue was also captured several times by Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses, and after learning that it was a messenger sent by Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses released Mao Jue.

Mao Jue was worried that he would be caught along the way, so he found Yuan Shaojun's clothes, draped them directly outside, and never slept endlessly.

At this time, Yuan Shao was sitting in the governor's mansion in Yecheng, and there was an urgent report spread out in front of him, and after he hurriedly read this urgent report, his face became extremely gloomy, and under his anger, he slapped several cases in front of him, and the things on the case were shaken to pieces.

"What do Zhang He and Gao Ran eat? How have you lost the battle in the past two days? When did Gongsun Chan become so powerful? Yuan Shao was angry, and couldn't help shouting, and he didn't get angry.

Xu You stood in the hall, and when he heard Yuan Shao being so angry, he arched his hand and said: "Lord Qiqi, as far as I know, the reason why Zhang He and Gao Ran have suffered defeats one after another in the past two days is entirely because one of Gongsun Zhan's subordinates is a general......

"A general? Zhang He and Gao Ran are the generals of our army, how can they not even be able to resist a partial general? Yuan Shao asked again.

Xu Yu said: "The lord doesn't know, this partial general, brave and abnormal, and often gallops into our army single-handedly, our soldiers can't resist it, and the general is like entering a no-man's land, and he is more and more brave." Moreover, even Zhang He and Gao Ran are not the opponents of that partial general. After Gongsun Chan discovered the bravery of this partial general, he handed over all the elite Bai Ma Yi under his account to the leader of the partial general, and Bai Ma Yi Cong, under the leadership of that partial general, seemed to have become a terrified army of our army......

After hearing Xu You's words, Yuan Shao immediately came to his senses and hurriedly asked, "Can Gongsun Chan have such a general?" What is this person's last name? ”

"This person's surname is Zhao Mingyun, the word Zilong, and he is a person who is a true person in Changshan." Xu You said, "If our army can use a little trick to separate Gongsun Chan and Zhao Yun, once Zhao Yun loses Gongsun Chan's trust, it will be much easier for our army to deal with Gongsun Chan again." ”

"This kind of brave general is exactly what our army lacks. Ziyuan, you can go to Hejian to help Zhang He and Gao Ran defend against Gongsun Zhan, and I will lead the army, and then I will arrive. ”

Xu You said: "Lord, that Zhang He and Gao Ran are both generals in the army, I went like this, how can they listen to me?" ”

Yuan Shao thought about it, immediately untied his saber, handed it to Xu You, and said to Xu You: "You take my saber, whoever dares to disobey, you will kill whom!" ”

After Xu You heard this, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said "snort", turned around and left.

At this time, the judge came from outside with Mao Jue, saw Xu You with a smug look, and carried Yuan Shao's sword, and when he passed by Xu You, Xu You's eyes showed a trace of contempt, as if he was laughing at him.

Although he didn't like it in his heart, he hurriedly walked into the hall with the distinguished guests behind him, hugged his fists towards Yuan Shao and said: "Lord Qiqi, the envoy sent by Cao Yuanjun is here, saying that there is something important to see the lord." ”

Yuan Shao glanced at Mao Jue, who was standing beside him, and saw that Mao Jue was still wearing Yuan Jun's clothes, and his eyes revealed a trace of disdain, and he asked arrogantly: "Why did Cao Cao send you here?" ”

Mao Jue immediately took out a letter from his arms, hugged his fists and said: "General Yuan, this is a letter written by my lord to the general, please read it to the general." ”