There was a gap between the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, and Yuan Tan, Guo Tu and others fled Yecheng, and Cao Cao, who was about to arrive in Yecheng, also ordered the army to be difficult to withdraw.

Led the army across the Yellow River, not far from Xudu, and was marching, a fast horse galloped towards Cao Cao from the front.

When the knight on horseback arrived more than ten steps away from Cao Cao, he restrained his horse, turned over and jumped down, ran to Cao Cao's side quickly, bowed down with his fists and half-knelt on the ground and said to him: "Qi Cao Gong, our army scouts have met General Cao Zhen in front!" ”

"Cao Zhen?" Hearing that the scout had met Cao Zhen, Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked the soldier who reported the news, "How many men did Cao Zhen bring?" How's it going? ”

"General Cao Zhen only brought more than ten horsemen, and he looked very tired, as if he had just gone through a big battle!" Maintaining a half-kneeling posture with fists clenched, the cavalry described Cao Zhen's situation to Cao Cao.

Knowing that Cao Zhen had been found in front of him, Cao Cao's heart was already tight.

Before the expedition, he ordered Cao Zhen to guard Xudu, considering that those officials in Xudu were all grass, and once the Qin army came to the city, it was likely that there would be a surrender of Kaicheng.

Cao Zhen, who was supposed to be guarding Xu Du, came here, and he was still very tired, and he only brought more than ten horses, which already made Cao Cao think that Xu Du might be lost!

"Quickly attract Cao Zhen!" Furrowing his brows, Cao Cao gave an order to the cavalryman.

"No!" With a fist and a bow, the cavalry who reported the news stood up, ran back to the side of the horse, turned over and jumped on the horse, shook the reins, and rode the horse in the direction where Cao Zhen and the others were found.

Reining in the war horse, Cao Cao's brows were tightly locked, and he raised an arm.

Seeing him raise his arm, the soldiers of the Cao Army who followed him stopped their march one after another.

"Cao Gong, it seems that Xu is lost!" As soon as the team stopped, Guo Jia, who had already heard the cavalry report clearly, came to Cao Cao's side and whispered: "I'm afraid our army can't move forward anymore!" ”

Cao Cao nodded, his brows tightened more and more, and asked Guo Jia in the same low voice: "If Xu Du is lost, where should I go?" ”

"United with Yuan Tan and attack Yuan Shang!" Almost without thinking about it, Guo Jia said to Cao Cao: "Then Yuan Tan escaped from Yecheng, he must have to prepare troops and horses and fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shang." Cao Gong only needs to repair the book to show favor to Yuan Tan, why should Yecheng not be able to get Cao Gong's hands? ”

Turning his head to look at Guo Jia, Cao Cao's best pulled him slightly, and finally showed a smile.

Before the army set out, he had already settled his family properly, and the women had moved elsewhere, and most of the adult sons were with the army, and only the minor heirs were with the women.

Xu Du is too close to Luoyang, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei are different.

Liu Bei always abandons his family whenever he encounters danger, while Cao Cao is a hero, sometimes he is as fine as a family man.

But when there is no matter how big or small things are in the family, as long as he has time, he will always ask some questions.

The army went out to fight, and the Qin army was eyeing Xudu, and with Cao Cao's temperament, he would definitely not leave his family in Xudu City, and wait until the city was broken, and let the Qin army capture it.

Therefore, when Guo Jia said the words of giving up Xu Du, Cao Cao was not bored at all, but quickly calmed down.

Not long after the knight left, Cao Cao saw a fast horse galloping towards him.

It was none other than Cao Zhen, who led the army to guard Xudu.

Before Cao Zhen arrived, Cao Cao could already see that his clothes and armor were torn and covered in dirt, and it was obvious that he had suffered a lot in the past few days.

Riding a horse and rushing to a place not far from Cao Cao, Cao Zhen turned over and jumped off the horse, ran quickly to Cao Cao's war horse, bent his legs, knelt on the ground, and cried to Cao Cao: "Cao Gong! The last general is incompetent, and he will lose all promises! ”

The army that followed behind Cao Cao didn't know the news that Xu Du had been lost, and when they heard Cao Zhen's shout, the soldiers were all stunned for a moment, looking at each other one by one, and some of them had already put their heads together and whispered.

Most of the soldiers of the Cao army stayed in Xudu with their families.

Xu Du was lost, and their families were also fallen into the Qin army's occupied area, how could the soldiers not worry?

Hearing Cao Zhen's shout, Cao Cao knew that the news of the fall of Xu Du could not be hidden in the army.

Glancing back at the army following behind him, Cao Cao raised his hand to Cao Zhenxu indifferently and said, "And tell Yu how Xu Du was lost!" ”

The loss of Xu Du was caused by Cao Zhen who fell for the Qin army, and it was really a bit of a nest to say it.

But in the face of Cao Cao, Cao Zhen didn't dare to lie, so he had to clench his fists and say: "Back to Cao Gong, it was the Qin military that used a plan to make the last general fall for their conspiracy, so that he lost Xu Du!" ”

Cao Zhen told Cao Cao about the process of losing Xu Du, and all of the 1510 told Cao Cao.

Listening to Cao Zhen's story, Cao Cao's brows tightened.

The Qin army is not just a bitter plan, but also mixed with a series of schemes, although Cao Zhen is a little wise, but with him, it is impossible to see through it at a glance.

The situation was urgent, and there was nothing wrong with Cao Zhen making such a decision at that time.

Looking down at Cao Zhen kneeling in front of the horse, Cao Cao raised his hand to him and said, "Get up, Xu is lost, and I will take it back in the future!" ”

I thought that Cao Cao would at least reprimand him, but I didn't expect that when it came, it was just such an understatement, Cao Zhen was stunned for a moment, raised his face and looked at Cao Cao, his mouth was slightly open, and he didn't come back to his senses for a while.

Cao Cao also ignored him anymore, put the war horse in his pocket, turned the horse's head, and shouted to the Cao army soldiers who followed him: "You have also heard that Xu Du has been broken by the Qin army!" ”

Knowing that Xu was broken by the Qin army, the soldiers of the Cao army, whose families were all in Xu Du, were already confused, and when Cao Cao shouted to them, they all turned their eyes to Cao Cao.

"I also know that the families of the soldiers are all in Xudu!" His eyes were fixed in front of Cao's army, and Cao Cao raised his voice and shouted, "Do you want to recapture Xudu?" ”

"Yes!" When Cao Cao asked them if they wanted to recapture Xudu, all the Cao soldiers raised their swords in their hands and responded in unison.

The shouts of the soldiers of the Cao army were neat and loud, and tens of thousands of people shouted together, which shocked Cao Cao's ears and buzzed a little.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and Cao Cao shouted to the soldiers: "King Qin has always flaunted benevolence and righteousness, and now that he has broken through Xudu, he will definitely not exploit the people in the city too much, but after a long time, it is a little difficult to say!" ”

From Cao Cao's mouth, he heard that the King of Qin would not be too exploitative of the people in the city, and the expressions of all the Cao soldiers eased slightly.

After many years of fighting with Cao Cao, the soldiers of the Cao army had an almost superstitious trust in him.

He said that the king of Qin would not embarrass the people in the city too much, and the soldiers of the Cao army thought so.

But then Cao Cao said another sentence, which would be difficult to say in the future, and suddenly pulled the hearts of the soldiers again.

A pair of eyes stared at Cao Cao, and all the soldiers of the Cao army tightened the blades in their hands.

"We will definitely take Xu Du back!" Looking at the soldiers of the Cao army, Cao Cao shouted to them: "It's just that right now, our army is inferior in numbers to the Qin army, its combat strength is not as good as the Qin army, and even the weapons are inferior to the Qin army. ”

The soldiers of the Cao Army, whose families were all in Xudu, thought that Cao Cao would take them back to Xudu, but they didn't expect that he would say such a thing, and all of them showed a look of disgruntle.

"Cao Gong!" An officer of the Cao army stepped out of the queue, clasped his fists and bowed to Cao Cao and said: "At the beginning, Yuan Shao's army was 300,000, and our army was only 70,000. In the first battle of Cangting, the Yuan army was 70,000, and our army was only 30,000 or 40,000, and the Yuan army was killed without leaving a piece of armor! Cao Gong said that our army is not as good as the Qin army, and the villain really doesn't understand! ”

After saying this, the officer hugged Quan, lowered his head, tilted his head to the side, and the resentment on his face was a little heavier than before.

After staring at the officer for a while, Cao Cao did not answer his question, but turned his head to look at Guo Jia on the side.

Seeing Cao Cao looking at him, Guo Jia hurriedly stepped forward and shouted to the soldiers of the Cao army: "Soldiers, there are many differences between the Qin army and the Yuan army, and Cao Gong is also waiting for you!" ”

As soon as Guo Jia's words were shouted, the soldiers of the Cao Army showed indignant expressions one by one, and when they looked at him, many people's eyes showed a fierce light.

Seeing this scene, Guo Jia turned his head to look at Cao Cao, and then retreated.

After making eye contact with Guo Jia, Cao Cao shouted to the soldiers of the Cao army: "Okay, since the soldiers want to fight back to Xudu, they will lead you to wait to kill back!" ”

"Cao Gong is mighty!" The soldiers of the Cao army, who already thought that it was impossible for Cao Cao to take them back to Xudu, heard him say this, and raised their swords in their hands one after another, and someone was already shouting loudly.

promised the soldiers of the Cao army to recapture Xudu, but Cao Cao did not have that plan in his heart.

The Qin army has already occupied Xudu, and the number of Qin troops in the city is almost the same as theirs, and it is impossible to succeed in storming the city, even if the soldiers are all high-spirited.

The reason why he sang and made peace with Guo Jia and stimulated the fighting spirit of the soldiers, Cao Cao had only one plan, that is, he was about to arrive in Xudu, if the army retreated rashly, once the Qin army chased after him, the Cao army, which had no will to fight, was likely to face the annihilation of the entire army.

If he wanted to retain more strength to capture Yecheng in the future and use Yecheng as a foundation to grow his power, Cao Cao's only choice was to fight with the Qin army around Xudu for a few days.

When the soldiers of the Cao army knew that there was no hope of victory, and then led the army to withdraw, it would be impossible for the Qin army to pursue it on a large scale.

Even if the Qin army pursues, the fighting spirit of the soldiers will be much easier to mobilize than to withdraw directly!

"March to Xudu!" Having already inspired the fighting spirit of the soldiers, Cao Cao turned his horse, raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Xu Du, and gave the order to march.