In the backyard of Ancheng County Government, Cao Cao was practicing swordsmanship. Although his swordsmanship was not excellent, he was also both offensive and defensive. A blue light sword danced and was airtight.

Xi Zhong walked in and watched for a while. After Cao Cao finished dancing, he stroked his hands and cheered.

"Okay! The lord's swordsmanship is getting better and better."

Cao Cao put the green light sword in the scabbard and glanced at him: "There is no need to mock me in Zhicai. I know my own martial arts."

"Haha, lord is too humble. Although lord's martial arts are not as good as Xiahou, Dian, Xu, Huang and other generals, there are only a few people in our army with such martial arts. In short, lord's martial arts are also among the top ten in the army, which is rare."

"Hahaha..." Cao Cao was a little helpful to this: "You, you, only you can say such words to coax me. Say, what's the matter?"

He came to a pavilion and signaled Xi Zhong to sit down and talk.

"Thank you lord."

Xi Zhong sat upright and then said, "Yesterday General Xiahou Yuan ambushed Zhang Yong, but the enemy seemed to have been wary of it. Although he was ambushed, he was not in chaos. General Xiahou fought with him until late at night and was difficult to win. Both sides retreated and camped on both sides of the river."

After hearing this battle report, Cao Cao's expression did not change at all.

"This is also expected. Zhang Yong and Gao Shun are both known for their strict military discipline and good military training. Naturally, they will not be easily defeated by an ambush. I didn't expect to use this to eliminate him. I have other ways to deal with them."

"The lord is wise."

Although Xi Zhong didn't know what other methods Cao Cao said were, he did not ask too much, but instead took out the second battle report.

"General Wei Yan set up an ambush in Xingu, using our army's food and grass as bait to attract Gao Shun to come and rob the grain. Gao Shun did lead the army to come."

"Oh? Gao Shun fell into the trap?" Cao Cao showed joy.

Xi Zhong shook his head awkwardly: "Not only did not fall into the trap, Gao Shun used the trap, and instead ordered a young general to dress up as he was, and led the ambush. Then he personally led the troops from the rear to cover the killing. General Wei Yan was defeated and only led thousands of soldiers to escape in a hurry."

"Bang..." Before Cao Cao could pour out a drop of water, he missed and fell to the ground.

"Can Gao Shun see through my strategy to lure the enemy into the deep?"

Xi Zhong said: "According to the reward, Xun You followed him in Gaoshun's army and listened to him. The lord's plan was probably destroyed by this person."

"Hmph..." Cao Cao snorted softly: "It seems that I still underestimated this Xun Gongda. The army is focused on food and grass. I deliberately used Liu He's intelligence spy to pass on the Xinmiao Valley incident to Liu He. It was originally foolproof. After thinking about it, even if I change my place, I would be ecstatic and hurried to send troops. On that day, Xun You used the guise of going home to visit his newborn young son to lead me to send troops and defeat our army. That was because he had the intention to make a mistake. This time, he had the intention to make a mistake, but he was also seen through it. He should be more cautious in the future."

After saying that, he asked again: "Where is Wei Yan? Where is he now? Have he returned to Ancheng?"

"No." Xi Zhong said: "According to the scouts he sent back, General Wei Yan was defeated in Japan and led the remaining troops to Xincai City."

Cao Cao was a little surprised at first, then smiled: "Wei Yan is indeed a bit talented. In this way, even if Gao Shun and Xun You lead troops to attack Ancheng, they can be safe from danger with this force. I send an urgent report to the guardian of Xincai City, telling him that all military affairs in the city will be temporarily taken over by Wei Yan."

"This..." Xi Zhong hesitated a little: "Wei Yanxin's defeated general is a surrendered general in Jingzhou. After the great defeat, he was promoted in this way. I am afraid... I am afraid that the soldiers of Yan and Yu in the army will be dissatisfied."

Cao Cao didn't care: "I promoted this exceptionally, because I was interested in Wei Yan's talent, and secondly, I wanted to calm the hearts of the people of Jingzhou. When our army faced Liu He, more defeats were more than defeated, and the soldiers of Jingzhou had few opportunities to fight and make meritorious contributions. If this continues, people's hearts will inevitably be dispersed. If the other generals have any objections, they will ask them to come to me."

"Here."

"Cai Mao's army, where is now?" Cao Cao asked.

"The lord, Cai Mao, and Wenpeng, commanded the army. They have been stationed in Nanyang County. They can only wait for the city of Shenyang to enter Runan at any time and join our army."

After hearing this, Cao Cao waved his hand: "Tell Cai Mao that he would not have to wait for the news. He would go directly from Nanyang to Wuyin County, go around Zhang Yong's rear, and head straight to his base camp. First destroy Zhang Yong, then take Shen Yang, and finally take two-pronged approaches to attack Gao Shun."

Xi Zhong's eyes lit up: "The lord is a wonderful plan. Zhang Yong's most elite main force has been brought to help Cheng Liang by him. Now he is trapped by General Xiahou Yuan. General Cai Mao has a 150,000 army of troops, and will definitely win in one battle."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Xi Zhong's brow suddenly frowned again: "But... Cai Mao has always been a big name, but he doesn't know how capable it is. Last time he fought with Zhou Yu, a son under Sun Jian, and was defeated. After that, he was ridiculed by several generals who had followed his lord for many years, saying that he was known as the first general of the water battle in Jingzhou, but he could not fight a child who was still young. It would be better to go home and farm. Cai Mao was resentful and had complained in secret that this time the lord asked him to lead the army alone, but did not send his generals to control it. His original intention was to show the generals of Jingzhou to value it. Although he was good at it, he was afraid..."

Cao Cao knew what he was going to say, so he waved his hand and said, "I have a sense of my own in this matter. Cai Mao is a man with a deep root in Jingzhou and is the leader of various wealthy families. If we want to be in charge of Jingzhou, we must assist him. The so-called 'do not doubt people, and no doubt people', I am not Liu Biao, I wish Cai Mao had no courage to turn against me."

Seeing that Cao Cao had made up his mind, Xi Zhong stopped talking, stood up and bowed and retreated.

A day later, in Xincai City, Zhu Ye received a military order from Cao Cao to the Cao army guard here, and couldn't help but laugh happily.

"Hahaha... Cao Cao is really stupid. I took this city and sent someone to disguise himself as a messenger in the city to deliver a message to him, but he had no doubts. He still thinks that Xincai City is still under his control."

A Confucian scholar with swords came over, but it was Xu Shu.

"Haha, the five generals are extremely courageous. They enter the city alone, kill the enemy generals, and deceive the city gates, so that our army can do nothing but use one soldier. In a moment, they occupy the Xincai City. None of the soldiers in the city escaped, so Cao Cao naturally had no way to know."

"It's so satisfying, it's so satisfying. This feeling of making fun of people behind your back...hey, it's even more enjoyable than fighting on the battlefield." Zhu Ye seemed a little excited.

Xu Shu smiled and said, "Your Majesty often says that the general is a blessing general, and it has come true repeatedly. In this battle for Yuzhou, General Zhu's achievements will make me win after being able to penetrate deep behind the enemy."

"Hehe, Yuan Zhi has won the prize."

Zhu Ye was very happy: "Hey, by the way, then Wei Yan is still in prison?"

"This is natural. He came to join the city last night and was captured after entering the city. Now he is in prison. Why did the general ask about this person?"

Zhu Ye grinned: "It's nothing, I just heard that this person is so brave in Jingzhou. I'm worried that no one will practice. Hehe, I'll go to the prison for a walk..."

After saying that, Zhu Ye stood up and ran out like a gust of wind, leaving Xu Shu with a helpless look on his face.
Chapter completed!