Xiahou Yuan wanted to argue, but Xu Huang stopped him again and whispered: "Since Guan Yu has returned to Xi'e, there is really no need to lie to us. Zhang Lu's affairs are extraordinary. We should return to Duyang as soon as possible to report."

"It makes sense."

Xiahou Yuan nodded: "Since Gongming and Guan Yu have a friendship, you will leave it to you to cut off the rear. I will lead the army to open the way."

"Oh OK."

Xu Huang responded helplessly. Although he and Guan Yu were both fellow Hedong hometowns, they only lived together for a short time on the White Horse.

In terms of friendship, he is neither comparable to Zhang Liao nor may he be as good as Xiahou Yuan.

Seeing Xiahou Yuan turn around and withdraw his troops, Guan Yu showed a teaching-worthy smile.

When Xu Huang turned around and held his fists and resigned, Guan Yu turned back to his previous aloof look.

Xu Huang covered the soldiers of the two battalions to withdraw, but Guan Yu did not send a single army to chase him.

The actual situation was that conditions did not allow it. The soldiers of the battalion he brought back ran forth and consumed their energy in the battle last night. At this moment, the few soldiers were exhausted and could not continue to pursue.

On the way back to Bowang, Xiahou Yuan sent a scout to inform Cao Ren, and they gave up the empty city Bowang and went straight to Duyang.

The news from Wancheng and Xiue is like a few big, dry cakes.

The news about the unknown military advisor Xu Shu was choked in Cao Cao's mouth, and Xiahou Yuan presented a conversation with Guan Yu, which directly turned Cao Cao's face into a pig's liver color.

Seeing that Cao Cao's expression was wrong, Xiahou Yuan hurriedly added: "This is all Guan Yu's one-sided statement, and someone may need to be sent to verify it."

"Send someone to verify? Will Chief Yun lie?"

Cao Cao answered without thinking. Seeing that he looked angry, Guo Jia quickly bowed and advised: "What General Miaocai said is not unreasonable. In theory, the Qinba Mountains are extremely dangerous. There is a terrain that a man is a pass and ten thousand men cannot open. As long as the main force in Hanzhong is not lured to the Nanyang Plain, it will be very difficult for Zhang Lu to lose, not to mention that I have also advised Jiang Ziyi."

"The question is that Zhang Lu has already lost. Is Zhang Lu too incompetent or is Jiang Gan not reminding him in place?"

Cao Cao sighed after speaking and slapped his forehead with his palm. Although he agreed with what Guo Jia said, he had to face the reality.

After hearing this, Guo Jia continued to add: "So you need to find out before making a decision. After all, Zhuge Liang and Liu Ye are all around Liu Bei. Even if Zhuge Liang is not worthy of his reputation, Liu Ziyang is full of wisdom and tricks. I am worried that Zhang Lu will fall into the trap."

"That's over"

Cao Cao looked up and sighed, thinking that Zhang Lu's tricks were fine, and he would have no problem deceiving ordinary people, but he would not be able to fight back when facing wise men.

When Jia Xu offered his advice to pull Zhang Lu into the water, he saw Guo Jia smoothing out the situation for him, Jia Xu immediately stood up and saluted.

The words said: "It is true that General Xiahou and Guo Fengxiao said that it is too early for Gong Ming to be troubled at this time. It is better to wait for the news to be sure. Guan Yu has returned to Wancheng and found an unknown military advisor Xu Shu. We should find a way to deal with it, otherwise it will affect the plan to conquer Hebei."

Cao Cao nodded slightly: "What are Wenhe's great ideas?"

Jia Xu replied: "Guan Yu is brave and Xu Shu is resourceful. Liu Bei asked these two men to guard Wancheng. People must be kept in the southwest of Yingchuan, otherwise they will threaten Xu Du. In addition, we can check Xu Shu in detail. If there is any weakness, it is better to use it than launch an offensive from the front."

"Have you heard of Xu Shu?"

Cao Cao agreed deeply and immediately asked everyone, but saw that they were shaking their heads, so he couldn't help but frown.

Jia Xu reminded: "Liu Bei can hand over Wancheng to Xu Shu with confidence, which proves that this person has been under his command for a long time. I guess it should be before Zhuge Liang, and it is more likely that he was obtained in Jingzhou."

"How can I see it?" Cao Cao frowned and asked.

Jia Xu explained: "When Liu Bei was in Runan, he reused Liu Ye, but when he arrived in Jingzhou, he was restricted by Liu Biao, so he recruited talents in Jingzhou. Xu Shu was so talented and was buried. I don't know if Liu Biao knew the reason. Why don't Ming Gong beg him? "

"Um?"

Jia Xu's words inspired Cao Cao. He thought that Liu Biao was always wary of Liu Bei, so he must not know that in addition to Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei also became a talented Xu Shu as his military advisor. What should he think about this? Moreover, Xu Shu was discovered in Jingzhou, and the people in Jingzhou may know his name.

Cao Cao thought of Cai Mao again at this time, and he had not communicated with him for a long time.

It seems that the separation between Liu Bei and Xu Shu must be based on their old friends.

Guan Yu and Xu Shu blocked the way. Cao Cao's troops in Nanyang were insufficient, so it was meaningless to stay in the empty city and block the empty city. So he decisively led his troops out of Nanyang.

When he reached Kunyang's territory, good news suddenly came from Guandu front line that a large number of ships gathered on the north bank of the Yellow River. It should be that Yuan Shao was planning to cross the river.

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, so he left Cao Ren to station in Kunyang to resist Guan Yu. He secretly returned to Xudu with all the generals. He was going to give Yuan Shao a fatal blow this autumn.

As for Zhang Lu's defeat and Liu Bei's bad things such as the assistance of talented people, it is different from the priority of defeating Yuan Shao to pacify Hebei.

When he returned to Xudu during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Yellow River front line was in full swing. Hebei soldiers were in Yanjin and white horses landed in many places, and it seemed that he was not in a hurry to start an attack.

After two years of rest and recuperation in Hebei, Yuan Shao brought out another team of 100,000 people. After crossing the river, he did not directly take troops to Xudu, but tended to attack Yanzhou.

Cao Cao finally waited for this opportunity, and he planned to suffer the people and defenders of Yanzhou. Not only did he not send troops to reinforce the counties in time, but he also deliberately spread rumors of hard fighting in Jingzhou.

Only by letting Hebei people taste the sweetness can they be blinded by victory and tripped up, and Cao Cao will seize the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Only a small number of senior officials in Yanzhou knew the details of the plan to lure the enemy through Cao Cao and Xun You, so the military and civilians of each county showed real panic.

In late August, the weather turns colder.

Many places in Dongjun and Jiyin were captured by Yuan Shao, and only the big cities such as Puyang and Dingtao were still standing. Cao Cao saw that the time was ripe and prepared to start a counterattack.

Before leaving, Cao Cao summoned Xun Yu and Xiahou Dun to Sikong Mansion, intending to instruct food, grass, military and political affairs and other matters.

Xiahou Dun chatted with Cao Cao for a long time before seeing Xun Yu step into the hall gate with a serious face.

Seeing this, Cao Cao reached out and joked: "What's the reason for Xun Lingjun today? You were always the first to come before. The government affairs of the Shangshutai were too busy?"

"Ming Gong."

Xun Yu bowed and bowed, but did not respond to Cao Cao's jokes, but still maintained a solemn expression. He stood up and said seriously: "Shangshutai just received Liu Qi's report, which is not very wonderful."

"Liu Qi?"

Cao Cao was stunned at first and immediately reacted: "Oh yes, is it Zhang Lu's business that he is now the prefect of Hanzhong?"

"It is related to Zhang Lu." Xun Yu nodded slightly: "The coalition of Liu Qi and Liu Bei defeated Zhang Wei in Xian County at the end of July. Now he has controlled the four counties in the east of Han. Liu Qi moved the Hanzhong Prefecture to Xicheng and became the veritable prefect of Hanzhong."

"What?"

Cao Cao slapped the table and then sat down heavily, his eyes as if he could kill people. After a while, he spit out a few words from his mouth: "What a Hanzhong prefect."
Chapter completed!