The situation of the war was far beyond Zhang Yan's expectations, although Zhang Yan could speculate that Yuan Shao's army would make big moves in the near future, but he would never have imagined that the war would come without any warning.

Cao Cao led the army to break through the Tianjing Pass, and in front of Cao's army was the plain of a flat river, and there were no high mountains or dangerous passes to block it, and the 70,000 army was like a fierce flood, directly rushing to the defenseless Hanoi County.

As soon as he entered Hanoi County, Cao Cao sent Cao Xiu with 10,000 soldiers and horses to capture Kei Pass and block the road from Hedong to Hanoi. Then, Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to Heyang, seize the Yellow River crossing, take advantage of the situation to cross the Yellow River, and the troops reached Henan City on the south bank of the Yellow River.

Later, he sent Xiahou Yuan to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses as the vanguard, directly attacked Pinggao, and occupied the crossing of the Yellow River, and went down the river by boat to attack Zhang Yan's grain hoarding base in Aocang.

Cao Cao personally led an army of 30,000 troops, closely followed behind Xiahou Yuan's army, and left 10,000 soldiers and horses to deliver to Xiahoudun, so that Xiahoudun swept through the counties of Hanoi and captured Huai County, the county town of Hanoi.

Cao Cao led his army south, and 70,000 troops entered Hanoi County, and the army quickly swept through Hanoi County, and all parts of the country surrendered without a fight. When the news reached the ears of the Hanoi Tai Shou Qi who was in Huai County, Wei Qi was taken aback, Tai Shi Ci had just led the army to aid Hedong, and Cao Cao led the army into Hanoi here, how could there be such a coincidence in the world?

Wei Qi hadn't thought of a countermeasure yet, and another news came from there, Xiahoudun led the army straight to Huaicheng, which was less than ten miles away.

In addition, the news that Cao Xiu occupied Keiguan, Cao Hong occupied Ha Duong, and Xiahou Yuan occupied Pingao came one after another, and the entire Hanoi County was filled with Cao soldiers. And has always been attached to Zhang Yan. The Montenegrin army in the eastern part of Hanoi County in the area of Chaoge and Dangyin. There has been no action for several days.

Wei Qi is a smart man. Immediately thought of something, he thought, did this inaction of the Montenegrin Army have proved their rebellion and defection?

Although the scouts heard the news that Cao Cao had bribed the leader in charge of guarding the Tianjing Pass with a lot of money, he managed to open the gate and lead the army commander to drive in. But Wei Qi never believed it, because the leader in charge of guarding Tianjing Pass was the confidant of Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army, called Sun Qing.

In recent years, Wei Qi served as the Taishou of Hanoi. Many people deal with the Montenegrin Army, so they know the leaders of the Montenegrin Army very well, they are all loyal to Zhang Yan, and they will definitely not betray because of some gold stones, otherwise, Zhang Yan would have died I don't know how many times.

Cao Cao was not only able to pass through the Tianjing Pass smoothly, but also accurately knew the emptiness in Hanoi County, coupled with the inaction of the Montenegrin Army this time, all signs have shown that the Montenegrin Army has betrayed Zhang Yan. secretly attached to Yuan Shao.

Aside from this plausible explanation, Wei Qi could no longer think of any other reason. It can be closely linked to these kinds of coincidences.

It's too late to say anything now, it's just strange, they trust the Montenegrin Army too much, and they are too indulgent, if the Montenegrin Army can be reorganized at that time, let them be incorporated into the military and accept the strict management of the imperial court, maybe there will be no more current end.

But then again, with Zhang Yan's strength at that time, it was only a little stronger than the Montenegrin Army, and the reason why the Montenegrin Army chose to be attached was out of political considerations, and it didn't want to be a thief anymore, so it had to rely on Zhang Yan, who was politically stronger.

However, it turns out that Zhang Yan is a wall-to-wall grass, nominally attached to Zhang Yan, but secretly he is also in constant contact with Yuan Shao, and his Black Mountain Army is just sandwiched between the two shili, and if he offends either side, he will suffer a catastrophe, and it seems that his only choice is to be left and right.

Besides, Zhang Yan has no acquaintances on Zhang Yan's side, why should they work hard for him, they are thieves in the first place, and they have a thief in their bones, but they are afraid that it will be difficult to change in this life.

Wei Qi paced in the hall, just for a while, he had thought a lot in his mind, and now in front of him was the question of life and death.

Or, he led the army and civilians in the city to resist Xiahoudun's army. However, what else can you do but die? It can't stop Cao Jun's footsteps from occupying Huaicheng at all, it's just to add some more souls under the sword.

Or, he took his whole family and fled quickly, as long as he crossed the Yellow River, he would be safe. However, the fact is that Cao Jun is everywhere, even if he wants to escape, if he encounters Cao Jun again along the way, without saying a word, he will directly cut them down, and then the lives of his family will be over.

Or, he is a handsome man who knows the times, takes the initiative to open the city gate, and surrenders without a fight, which can not only protect the people in the city, but also save the lives of the whole family......

Wei Qi thought about it, but he still felt that Zuihou was the safest way, and surrendering was perhaps his most hode choice at the moment.

However, before surrendering, he still had one more thing to do, that is, to write a letter about Cao's army's invasion of Hanoi and his own speculation that the Montenegrin army had defected to Yuan Shao, and give it to the scouts, and find a way to cross the Yellow River and send the letter to the south bank of the Yellow River before Cao's army occupied the whole territory of Hanoi, so that Zhang Yan, who was in Pengcheng, would know this important news.

So, Wei Qi immediately wrote a letter, in addition to informing Hanoi of the situation, but also wrote in the letter that he was forced to surrender, hoping that the general would not blame him for his disloyalty.

After writing this letter, Wei Qi forwarded the letter to the scout, instructing him to cross the Yellow River and deliver the letter to the south bank of the Yellow River.

The scout took the letter with him, left the city quickly, mounted a fast horse, and galloped away.

Wei Qi gathered his officials, explained the current situation to him, and planned to surrender, if anyone is willing to surrender, he will surrender with him, if he is not willing to surrender, he can leave Huaicheng quickly, he will try to persuade Xiahoudun not to send troops to pursue.

The officials are all pulled up by Wei Qi, most of them are locals, and some are outsiders, but after being an official here for five years, they have already regarded Huaicheng as their home, and the family is here, even if they want to escape, they will drag their families with them, in case Xiahoudun does not listen to Wei Qi's persuasion and sends troops to pursue, then the whole family will be finished.

After some whispering from the officials. zuihou are unanimously decided. Stay in Huaicheng. Surrender to Xiahoudun with Wei Qi.

There is another important reason why Wei Qi chose to surrender, he once held an official position in Pengcheng, and Zhang Yan often met, knowing that Zhang Yan's personality is the kind that absolutely refuses to suffer, although the situation in Hanoi is critical, but he firmly believes. One day, Zhang Yan will personally lead a large army to recover the lost territory. He was going to wait here, waiting for the day when Zhang Yan defeated Cao Cao and regained the lost territory.

A quarter of an hour later, the gate of Huaicheng was opened, and the Hanoi Taishou Qian led the county officials to the gate of the city, quietly waiting for the arrival of Xiahoudun's army.

About a moment after the incense stick, there was the rumbling sound of horses' hooves on the official road, and Xiahou was wearing a helmet and holding an iron spear. With a squad of cavalry charging ahead, behind him was a black torrent like a long dragon. Mighty and majestic towards Huaicheng.

Xiahoudun rode on horseback, and saw the situation at the gate of Huaicheng from afar, this situation was not the first time he had seen it, the army swept through the counties of Hanoi, but everywhere he passed, the counties surrendered without a fight, and the county ordered the surrender of the city, which was similar to this time. The only difference is that there are more subordinate officials who are too guarded than those who are prefectural.

Soon, Xiahoudun rode his horse to the bottom of Huaicheng, he reined in his horse, and docked outside the city, some distance from the city wall, which was just outside the range of the bow and arrow, since he lost an eye, he became much more cautious, always taking into account many aspects, and taking precautions in all aspects.

Xiahoudun raised his hand and signaled all the cavalry behind him to stop, while he sent a cavalryman to come forward to ask questions.

When he learned that Wei Qi led the county officials to surrender here, Xiahoudun asked Wei Qi to come over alone and present a letter of surrender.

Wei Qi didn't worry about anything, took the book of surrender, held the seal ribbon of Taishou, and walked towards Xiahoudun.

After a while, Wei Qi came to Xiahou Dun's face, and said respectfully: "Hanoi is too guarded by Wei Qi, leading a total of 236 large and small officials in the county, presenting a letter of surrender, and inviting General Xiahou to take a look!" ”

Xiahoudun took the surrender letter, did not open it, and saw that Wei Qi was really going to surrender, so he turned over and jumped off the horse, and said happily: "The name of Wei Taishou has already heard of it, but when I saw it today, it was really extraordinary." I took this letter, but this Hanoi Taishou seal, and asked Wei Taishou to keep it himself, my lord has already instructed, if Wei Taishou is willing to surrender, he will still be Hanoi Taishou, and the officials in the county are also the same as their original positions. ”

The lord mentioned by Xiahoudun refers to Cao Cao, not Yuan Shao.

This time, Cao Cao led his army to the south, learned the lesson of attacking Xuzhou that year, changed the bad habit of slaughtering the city in the past, and instead adopted the technique of Huairou appeasement. Therefore, before Cao Cao set out on the expedition, he gathered all the generals to confess, but all the officials who surrendered would not change their official positions, and let the army and Minqiu have no offenses, and they should not harass the people at will.

There is only one purpose for this kind of practice, which is to buy people's hearts.

Therefore, the Cao army invaded Hanoi, since it did not encounter any resistance, it was equivalent to not killing a person, the Cao army killed like a wind, it seems that it is not fighting, but passing through this place, except for a few important cities and passes, the Cao army does not enter the city, nor does it leave troops to garrison.

In this way, the people of Hanoi did not suffer from the scourge of war at all, and as for who ruled, they did not care much, as long as they could live and work in peace and contentment, no matter who ruled here, for them, they were all the same, eating, drinking, sleeping, or living.

The occupation of the counties of Hanoi County, Xiahoudun progressed very smoothly, without spending a single soldier, and all parts of the country heard the news and surrendered.

However, Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan, who had already crossed the Yellow River, did not go so smoothly.

Cao Hong crossed the river from Heyang, occupied Mengjindu with lightning speed, and then drove his troops straight to Henan City.

Although Henan Yin Zhanghong had more than 1,000 troops, it was a little difficult to deal with Cao Hong. So, Zhang Hong abandoned the city and fled, led the only more than 1,000 troops, and fled all the way to Hangu Pass, because there were still 3,000 soldiers in Hangu Pass, and the guard general Wei Xu was also a useful general.

And the most unsuccessful is Xiahou Yuan, his army, has always been known as the "Divine Marching Army", but all the generals and soldiers in the army are known for running fast, and he himself is like a vanguard, coming and going like the wind, very good at long-distance running.

Xiahou Yuan occupied Pinggao early in the morning, but unfortunately the soldiers guarding the river bank burned all the dozens of ferries docked on the bank, so that there was no longer a single boat on the bank of the Yellow River within a radius of dozens of miles from Pinggao County.

Although Xiahou Yuan was angry, he couldn't find anyone, and those soldiers ran away by boat before Xiahou Yuan led the army and ran to the south bank.

Now it is freezing again, and the water in the Yellow River is not fast, and it is also frozen. But the ice was not so thick that a man could not walk on the ice, so he could not cross the river.

Therefore, Xiahou Yuan ordered people to cut down trees and make wooden rows by himself, hoping to cross the Yellow River as soon as possible, take Aocang directly, and complete Cao Cao's deployment. (To be continued......)