Chapter 58 My Han Xin
Shanyang County, the state capital of Yanzhou is Changyi.
The afterglow on the horizon shines on the wide road, and a black torrent slowly appears on the horizon under the sunset. As time passes, it keeps surging, and in an instant, a black iron cavalry slowly comes riding over.
A vast cavalry marched in an orderly manner on the main road of Shanyang County, with row upon row of horse arrays showing no signs of fatigue, but rather a seemingly endless procession from start to finish. Every advance seemed to have a mountain-shaking and earth-splitting feeling.
Of course, this army was not all cavalry, except for the nearly 10,000 cavalry in the front row, the rest were all infantry. From Yanzhou to Xuzhou, and then from Xuzhou back to Yanzhou, this nearly 100,000-strong army got nothing, and returned without achieving anything.
"Wen Ze is with Anger Town, guarding the Shanyang County, shouldn't there be any problem?" The front of the team, a middle-aged man with a majestic and stern face looked at the front of the road, his narrowed eyes piercingly gazing at the distant city that was faintly visible, couldn't help but sigh.
"Don't worry, Your Excellency... *cough*... What we should be most concerned about now is... *cough*... the loss of Dong Prefecture. If Dong Prefecture falls... *cough*... it will be troublesome." A young scholar with a pale complexion and weak voice said while coughing on horseback.
Looking at him, "Filial piety...... These days of traveling have been really hard on you..."
At this moment, these two men were Cao Cao and his chief advisor, Guo Jia.
At this moment, Cao Cao saw the latter's repeated painful coughing appearance, and he was still a bit worried.
"Hehe... Don't worry, Master, cough... Jia is fine."
"What do you think, has Dongguo already been lost?" Cao Cao asked anxiously.
"Cough, cough, cough... I'm afraid... Cough, Ji is worried that not only Dongjun has lost at this moment, but also... Cough, cough... even places outside of Shanyang have fallen into... Cough, Lü Bu's hands. The military strength of Yanzhou is empty, and Lü Bu's Pingzhou iron cavalry is famous throughout the world... Cough, I'm afraid that half of the local generals will defect to Lü Bu's side... If so... Cough, then Lü Bu will be unstoppable... Which general in Yanzhou can resist him? Cough, cough, cough..."
"All right, Filial Piety, you'd better lie down in the carriage behind first and don't say anything more." Sighing, Cao Cao saw that the other person's cough was getting worse with each word, so he hastily stopped him.
"It doesn't matter, Master, you don't have to worry. Occasionally riding a horse is also good for Jia's body... Cough cough."
"My lord—!" "Father—!!"
Suddenly at this moment, a large group of people had just set out, but not far away came two loud shouts.
"Cough, cough... It's General Yu Jin and the Crown Prince..." Guo Jia's weak eyes simultaneously saw the troops coming out of the city to welcome them in the distance, but he was the first to see two riders, and a hint of light appeared on his face.
At the same time, Cao Cao also reflected on it and looked at the two who came quickly on horseback. They were his son Cao Ang and Yu Jin. He then signaled for the troops to stop advancing.
"I will see the lord!!" As soon as he dismounted his horse and arrived in front of Cao Cao, a leader who was about thirty years old, quite capable, knelt down and said.
"Father, I have been waiting for a long time." At this moment, Cao Ang also arrived at Yu Jin's side.
"Hmm... then let's dispense with formalities! You've been working hard defending the city recently, I'll make sure to reward you handsomely!" Cao Cao said with a smile.
At this time, as if unexpectedly, Cao Ang and Yu Jin suddenly looked at each other, seemingly puzzled by Cao Cao's meaning for a moment. Yu Jin was the first to ask in doubt: "Your Excellency... but I don't know... what merits do we have?"
"Hmm? Of course it's a credit to our defensive efforts." Cao Cao said calmly.
At this time, Guo Jia noticed the strange expressions on Cao Ang's face and couldn't help but say: "Could it be... Lü Bu's... ahem... great army hasn't arrived at Shanyang County yet?"
However, as soon as this was said, Cao Ang and Yan Jin were at a loss for words, but Cao Ang immediately smiled wryly: "It's not just that he didn't come to attack Mount Tai County, Lü Bu couldn't even take Dong Commandery..."
"What!?" Cao Cao's face suddenly showed a look of surprise, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, with an expression of utter disbelief. "How is this possible? With less than 20,000 troops in Yan Province, all of whom are new recruits, can they really withstand Lü Bu's Pingzhou Wolf Cavalry?"
It's not that Cao Cao is being underestimated, but this is indeed the fact. Originally, Lü Bu should have been able to easily take down half of Yan Province with Chen Gong's help, and even reached the outskirts of Changyi City, yet unexpectedly, he couldn't even capture Puyang, the gateway to Yan Province... Is this a dream? Or did some pie fall from the sky?
Of course, Cao Cao would never believe in anything like manna from heaven.
"What's going on?" A look of surprise flashed across his face, Cao Cao asked: "Is it Xun Yu's credit?"
Cao Ang and Yu Jin were both on their knees at this time, but when they heard these words, for a moment they didn't know where to start, and for the time being, they just shook their heads.
"That's it, then... It was Xiahou Dun's achievement after all..." Cao Cao suddenly realized.
Cao Ang shook his head again, and a hint of reverence appeared on his face.
Suddenly seeing this scene, not only Cao Cao but also Guo Jia were somewhat curious. However, at this time Cao Cao hurriedly asked: "Cheng Yu? Li Dian? Yue Jin?......"
"None of them..." Cao Ang shook his head again.
At this moment, Cao Cao felt a bit strange. If it wasn't any of the above people, could it be that Lü Bu was the one who leaked the information? How is that possible?
However, just then, Cao Ang asked the former: "Father, do you still remember that An Min burned the tax register of Yan State not long ago?"
He didn't understand Cao Ang's meaning at once. Cao Cao nodded unconsciously and said displeasedly: "Of course, I remember..."
"A few days ago, a war report was sent from the front line, which mentioned that Lü Bu added local taxes when he first arrived in Chenliu County..."
"What!?" Cao Cao and Guo Jia were as if struck by a stick on the head, and Cao Cao suddenly burst out laughing, "I said it before! Lü Bu is just a foolish child, haha, this is truly digging his own grave..."
Suddenly, the conversation came to an abrupt halt. Cao Cao said halfway but suddenly realized something and looked at Guo Jia beside him. Seeing that the other was lowering his head and thinking deeply about something, a hint of horror slowly appeared on Cao Cao's face as he looked at Cao Ang in front of him and couldn't help but probe: "Could it be...Cao Xin?"
Suddenly, Cao Ang's expression turned solemn and stern. He adjusted his clothes, faced the large army behind Cao Cao and Guo Jia, and shouted loudly:
"Returning to the father, according to the previous rapid report, Cao Xin surrendered Zhang Miao's 2,000 rebel troops, led the team to launch a surprise attack on Chenliu County, first ambushing Lv Bu's general Hou Cheng's 5,000 wolf riders, and then blasting open the city of Chenliu County, killing the rebel general Zhang Miao! In a few days, they captured Rencheng and Yangyi County under Lv Bu's control, beheading Song Xian and capturing Wei Xu, killing more than 10,000 enemies!"
The sound had not stopped, and Cao Cao's face gradually showed an unbelievable expression, his eyes widening more and more, while Guo Jia, on the other hand, was also getting more and more surprised as he listened, and the soldiers behind him were all with extremely colorful faces.
"That... is to say... Cao Xin didn't surrender to Lü Bu?"
However, just as Cao Cao was about to speak, Yu Jin preempted him and said: "Xing Gongzi not only did not surrender to Lü Bu. According to the report I received earlier, Zhang Liao, who had taken over Wucheng, was deceived by Xing Gongzi's plan and led his troops out of the city to confront our army. As a result, Zhang Liao fell into another trap, and Xing Gongzi released the 3,000 Pingzhou soldiers he had captured earlier back to Zhang Liao's camp. Unexpectedly, Zhang Liao's 5,000-strong army was thrown into chaos, and in the end, only 100 cavalrymen were left after being killed by Xing Gongzi's 1,000 cavalrymen. At this moment, Wucheng has also been retaken by our lord. Xing Gongzi has turned the tide of battle and killed 15,000 of Lü Bu's soldiers in just over a dozen days. Now Lü Bu only has his original 10,000 elite troops and Gao Shun's 5,000 men... I'm afraid the situation is already hopeless..."
Every sentence, like thunder and lightning, shook Cao Cao's heart. Listening to Cao Xin's fact that he defeated the enemy with less than one-fifth of the enemy's number, Cao Cao finally showed a hint of relief that was hard to conceal.
Suddenly closed his eyes...
"Comfort the people, I am... Han Xin..."
One sentence, stunning everyone...
The first reward for this book was seen, thank you brother ytoi for the reward!!
