Chapter 37 The Death of Yuan Shao

It was said that Ma Dai felt a chill in his heart, and if something happened to Mr. Xu Shu, he, the general, would be blamed.

Ma Dai hurriedly asked, "Is there any news from Mr. Xu Shu now?"

That Xia Houhui is also a person who doesn't ask about everything, and can't remember when he is nervous. He scratched his ears and scratched his cheeks, sweating on his face: "Right! It seems that there was a riot by the Yellow River in Luoyang City the day before yesterday. It is rumored that a fallen army official was arrested, but it seems that he was not caught."

Did not catch! Ma Dai was overjoyed. "How do you know you didn't catch it?" Ma Dai still wanted to confirm.

"General Li Dian, who was in charge of the border defense and supervision of the Yellow River, led the light cavalry to the south at a high speed the day before yesterday. I heard that the fallen army officer fled south." Xia Houhui said.

South? Ma Dai walked frantically around the room, pacing non-stop. To the south is to enter the hinterland of Cao's army. Mr. Xu Shu is likely to be surrounded on all sides, and he has no choice but to run to the south where the enemy is unprepared. He couldn't think about it anymore, and looked out the window, the sky was already white, and it was about to dawn. Maybe the news of Mianchi's occupation has already spread to all the surrounding cities. If you don't leave now, it will be annoying to be surrounded by enemy troops. And if you go one step earlier, Mr. Xu Shu is safer... Ma Dai did not hesitate, and immediately ordered: "The whole army is set out, search for the south!"

It was obviously inconvenient to take the prisoners, so Ma Dai had to release all the Cao troops who had surrendered, and only tied Xia Houhui with him. Qingqi went to the south of Mianchi in a fan shape, with two wings spread out, to conduct a large-scale search.

But he said that Luochen was here, and Luochen was inspecting Chang'an Academy. Chang'an Academy is a comprehensive institution of higher learning, which teaches many subjects such as classics, history, physics (physics, chemistry), astronomy, and mathematics. This institution naturally invites contemporary scholars to teach, such as classics, history, etc. There are also specialists in astronomy and mathematics to teach. It is only physical chemistry, and only Zhang Heng leads the students to study and study. Their main task is to develop gunpowder. Zhang Heng formed a team of 100 people with himself as the core, together with physical chemistry students, mathematics experts, and various craftsmen. They researched day and night, and soon made a big breakthrough, and Luochen was quite satisfied.

Luochen was listening to Zhang Heng's introduction of the research progress, when Yan Qing hurriedly came in from the door and whispered in his ear: "General Ma Dai urgently asks for help, the messenger is waiting outside." What an accident. He hurried out: "What's the matter? Is there any difficulty for General Ma Dai?"

"Report to the lord, General Ma Dai did not search for Mr. Xu Shu in the west of Mianchi, and has decided to force the army to pass through Mianchi and Luoyang, and find Mr. Xu Shu at all costs! Request the lord's support!" Luo Chen's brows furrowed, but he did not meet Xu Shu, Something is wrong. Now Ma Dai may also be in danger, because Luoyang and Mianchi are surrounded by Cao Cao's heavy troops.

There are not many generals around Luochen now. Lv Bu and Huang Zhong are in Yizhou, and Xiahou Yuan is in Hanzhong. Ma Chao is the only one who can fight. Luochen decided to go on a personal expedition again, leaving Xu Da to be stationed in Tongguan, and Zhuge Liang to supervise the country. There were only two generals beside him, Ma Chao, Yan Qing, and his advisor, Fa Zheng. Luochen immediately led 150,000 horses out of Tongguan, heading towards Mianchi and Luoyang. The purpose of this investigation is three: the most important is to cooperate with the search for Mr. Xu Shu. Furthermore, they attacked the defenders of Luoyang and Mianchi, lest Ma Dai's light cavalry be in trouble. The third is to give Cao Cao some color to see. Cao Cao killed his ally. If Luo Chen didn't react, it seemed unreasonable.

The day before yesterday, Cao Cao attacked from eight directions and severely damaged Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao all returned to Hebei, and he summoned troops from the three provinces of Hebei to recover and fight again. Because of Guo Jia and others' plan to hide from all sides, Yuan Shao was defeated again, and the situation was terrible. Yuan Shao suffered a severe blow, and soon died of depression. Correspondingly, Luochen summoned Xu Shu to go back to Guanzhong, and ordered Ma Dai to lead a light cavalry to support him to ensure Xu Shu's safety.

The news of Yuan Shao's death in depression has attracted the attention of the whole country, which indicates that Yuan Shao's group has been completely defeated by Cao Cao's group, and Cao Cao's unification of the north west of Tongguan is just around the corner. For a time there were mocking, mocking, and mourners, all of which had mixed reactions. Jiang Gan, a famous scholar of Jianghuai, gave a lecture in Jingzhou and mocked Yuan Shao. Jiang intervened in saying that Cao Cao would win, and he guessed it right, and his reputation grew. But Liu Biao expressed kind-hearted regret over Yuan Shao's death, felt Jiang Gan was mean, and expelled him from Jingzhou. Jiang Gan was quite annoyed, and he wrote poems and articles and cursed for several days. In addition, Jiangdong celebrities Lu Su, Zhang Zhao and others also said that Cao Cao would win. It is said that the famous Mr. Fengchu was giving lectures in Jiangdong.

In Guanzhong and its west, Yizhou and other dust control areas, people are generally not very concerned. Luochen expressed his sorrow for Yuan Shao's death, and expressed his deep condolences by the emperor's will, and added the title of Marquis of Wanhu. At the same time, he severely condemned Cao Cao's behavior of hurting the imperial court Sima.

Cao Cao naturally did not care about these views. Now Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are fighting each other, and the army of the three provinces in Hebei is unstable and weak. The only time he was distracted was when Xu You suggested that he pay attention to killing Xu Shu. He asked Li Dian to set up a card along the Yellow River in Luoyang to pay attention according to Xu You's request. This matter did not make him particularly concerned. But just as everyone was talking about it, when Cao Cao was preparing to take the three provinces of Hebei in one go, the often defeated general, Liu Bei, suddenly turned out and led tens of thousands of horses to attack Xuchang. Liu Bei seemed to have swept away the bad luck this time. Xuchang was indeed not many people. Cao Jun had suffered a few defeats and stayed in the city, and urgently asked Cao Cao to return.

Cao Cao turned pale in shock, and was annoyed repeatedly. That Cheng Yu felt strange: ".'Why is the lord so upset? Then Liu Bei's military force does not pose a real threat to Xuchang. As long as the lord immediately raises troops to return to the rescue, he can quickly defeat Liu Bei. This matter is easy... "No, no," Cao Cao shook his head again and again, "I don't regret this, I regret fighting every year, but forgot to completely destroy Liu Bei. Now he dares to fight Xuchang, and he is surrounded by fierce generals. It can be said that he is quite winged. It will be difficult to beat him in the future!"

Cao Cao asked Guo Jia again: "What about the three provinces of Hebei when we return to aid now?" Guo Jia smiled: "It is suitable to return to aid now, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are fighting each other. Unite. On the other hand, if you return to Xuchang, the two will have no direct external troubles, and they will inevitably have internal strife. The lord can solve Liu Bei first, and then the two Yuan fight, and the lord can easily take Hebei. "

Cao Cao was overjoyed, applauded again and again without hesitation, and rushed back to Xuchang with an army of 200,000 people.

Chapter 38 twists and turns

Liu Bei's surprise attack on Xuchang has already been made clear in the Three Kingdoms. Cao Cao used the trick of suspicious soldiers, and Liu Bei attacked Cao's camp at night and was ambushed. He hurried back and found that his Dazhai had been robbed. Liu Bei was worthy of being a perpetually defeated general, but he failed again bravely.

Then Cao Cao easily defeated Liu Bei, satisfied, and led the army lazily back to the front line in Hebei. According to reports, Xu Shu escaped from the siege, and Li Dian is now chasing after him, which slightly affected Cao Cao's good mood. He said rather unhappily: "What did Li Dian do! This trivial matter can't be done well! A scholar, several guards, and tens of thousands of defenders just let them run away! It's really useless!" He strictly ordered Li Dian as soon as possible. He chased Xu Shu back, but since the area under his control was large to the south, Xu Shu seemed to be unable to escape, so Cao Cao was actually not worried at all.

The army moved slowly and camped at night. In the middle of the night, Cao Cao was studying in the account, when the Meteor Horse suddenly reported urgently. Dian Wei led the sergeant into the large tent, and the sergeant said in a panic, "Report! Tens of thousands of cavalrymen attacked Mianchi at night. 160 Xia Houhui will be captured." Cao Cao was shocked, stood up in a panic, and in a hurry knocked down the candle lights on the several cases. "How many enemies are there?!" Cao Cao asked. What he was most worried about was that Luo Chen might attack across the board and attack Xuchang. Luochen is not as easy to deal with as Liu Bei, and his plan to quickly take down the three provinces in Hebei and the Wuhuan in the northeastern part of the Central Plains will be delayed indefinitely. "Also, hurry up and call Mr. Guo Jia over here!" A sergeant hurriedly called out.

"It seems that there are 20,000 or 30,000 people, all of them light cavalry, and the leader seems to be Ma Dai, the general of the enemy army."

Ma Dai? How many thousands? Light ride? Cao Cao was a little confused, he paced back and forth. If the entire army is to attack, the vanguard should obviously be fierce generals such as Lu Bu and Ma Chao, and the number should be larger.

"Is the enemy in Tongguan active?" Guo Jia, who had just arrived, asked.

"I haven't received any news of the enemy's movement yet," the sergeant said.

"Immediately ask Cao Hong of Luoyang to take full command of all the surrounding troops! Do your best to contain Ma Dai's army and annihilate them under Mianchi City!" Cao Cao ordered angrily. He said to Guo Jia again: "Should the army set off and return to the division? If Luo Chen's entire army came over, the consequences would be unimaginable."

There was silence in the big tent. After a long time, Guo Jia slowly said: "Maybe the lord is too worried. According to the current news, the fallen army did not make a large-scale attack. Ma Dai passed Hongnong and other places to keep himself from being discovered. It wasn't until Mianchi that he appeared, indicating that he was probably carrying out some special mission, and he didn't look like the vanguard of the fallen army." Cao Cao didn't answer, but only paced the tent, and then Guo Jia thought for a while: "I speculate. He may have come to meet Xu Shu."

"It sounds reasonable..." Cao Cao said. The sky seemed to be about to dawn, Cao Cao did not send the order to go out, but waited for the news in place. Not long after that, Dian Wei came in again and reported, "Mianchi sent a message to the soldiers to ask for an interview." "Tell him to come in." Cao Cao said immediately.

The messenger was panting and said slowly, "Then Ma Dai's army left Mianchi early this morning, as if they were heading south, and General Cao Hong is mobilizing a large army to pursue it."

"Going south?" Cao Cao frowned, but he seemed relieved, "I remember there was a report last time that Xu Shu fled south?"

"That's right," Guo Jia said, "Obviously Ma Dai is looking for Xu Shu."

Cao Cao nodded and said to the messenger: "Tell Cao Hong, he can handle it himself, but he still has to pay attention to the fallen troops in the west, and then take care of this Ma Dai under the condition of ensuring the safety of the west." of a state of laziness. "Order (babh) to order Xiahou Dun to divide 50,000 cavalry troops to assist Li Dian in capturing Xu Shu and attack Ma Dai's cavalry. The other men and horses, immediately set off to attack Hebei!" It seems that Cao Cao did not take Ma Dai seriously and attacked Hebei. Obviously something bigger.

Cao Cao's army set off again.

Cao Cao was riding on a horse and watching the scenery along the way. He was now smug, the most difficult time had passed, and the victory of the Battle of Guandu was decisive. He was imagining the unification of the country. Suddenly, a meteor horse shouted hoarsely: "Report! General Cao Hong urgently report!"

"What's the matter?" Cao Cao asked hurriedly. The messenger was sweating profusely and panting, and he stammered: "The battle report in front, this morning... The fallen troops crossed Tongguan and went straight to Luoyang and Xuchang. Now they have conquered Hongnong and Caoyang in a row. , Hong... Hongnong defender Liu Fang died in battle, and now General Cao Hong is relying on Mianchi and Luoyang to resist, please come back quickly!"

When Cao Cao heard the first sentence, he felt like the world was spinning, damn, play me! He sent Ma Dai over to find Xu Shu, and then he came over by himself!

"How many troops are there for the enemy? Who is the commander? Is it Xu Da?" Cao Cao asked.

"There are many enemy troops, there should be about 200,000! The enemy army is led by Luo Chen himself! Please return to help quickly!" Every word the soldier said ended with "Please return to help quickly". It may have something to do with Cao Hong telling him to cut him if he couldn't call back reinforcements.

Now the situation is very clear, the Luochen brigade attacked Luoyang and Xuchang, it was nothing more than taking advantage of the virtual attack to attack the rear. Luoyang and Xuchang are Cao Cao's hometowns and must not be lost. In a sense, if Luochen insists on fighting, Cao Cao will use all his human and financial resources to fight to the death. The advantage of Cao Cao is that it is quite realistic. Even if the situation he least wants to see is likely to occur, he quickly calms down. This time, he did not discuss with Guo Jia, but ordered unmistakably: "Order the army to return to the division immediately, order the 200,000 horses stationed on the front line in Hebei to return to the division immediately, and all assembled to Xuchang, Luoyang and other places to prepare for a decisive battle. !"

That is to say, on the small plot of land centered on Xuchang and Luoyang, there will be a group of more than 500,000 heavy troops from Cao Jun! It can be said that this is almost all of Cao Cao's possessions, and it is no wonder that if Cao's army threatens Chang'an, Luo Chen will also use all his forces to prepare for a decisive battle.

But he said Xu Shu was here. Xu Shu was lucky to be able to escape. It stands to reason that everyone is a scholar, each has its own master, and has nothing to do with each other. I didn't expect this Xu You to be quite sinister, and it can be regarded as despised by people... Xu Shu observed that Cao Jun's original post was only enough for a dozen people, but now each post has increased to more than 100, and each sergeant is alert. As if he was looking for someone, Xu Shu immediately felt extremely abnormal, a little bad. .

Chapter thirty-ninth encounter

The first master of the cow, Shaogu, worked with the mother seller on weaving mats. On the fence at the southeast corner of the house, there is a mulberry tree that grows more than five feet high. When looking at the children from a distance, they look like the cover of a small car. People who come and go all blame this tree for its extraordinaryness, or that it is a noble person. When the First Sovereign was young, he played with the children of the sect under the tree and said, "I will take this chariot covered with feathers."

——"Three Kingdoms: Biography of the First Sovereign"

But he said that Xu Shu found something wrong, and he looked at Tian Feng behind him. Tian Feng was rescued by Luo Chen from the chaotic army. Luochen saw that Yuan Shao was defeated and might kill Tian Feng, so he reminded Xu Shu. Xu Shu ordered people to quietly take Tian Feng out of prison and hide in his residence. Yuan Shao's Wuchao was defeated and the army disintegrated. Xu Shu Tianfeng led his entourage to retreat with Yuan's army. It is a pity that Mr. Ju Shou was killed in the chaotic army. Soon Yuan Shao was defeated again, and Xu Shu received the order of Luo Chen and came to Guanzhong with Tian Feng and several followers.

That Tian Feng also felt something was wrong, nodded, Xu Shu immediately took his entourage to the south where there were fewer sentries, planning to bypass here and make another plan. Unexpectedly, he soon caught a glimpse of his portraits posted everywhere on the city wall of Luoyang. A soldier recognized him and shouted: "Look! Xu Shu! Fallen army - high official Xu Shu!"

Xu Shu scolded Cao Nima in his heart, and he didn't hide it. He immediately rushed to the south and ran away. There were loud shouts from behind, and even arrows were shot. He ran wild for a while, and the sound seemed to be far away. When he looked back, he found that a general led a large group of cavalry to outflank on both sides. Xu Shu scolded helplessly again, there is no other way, escape! Even if he devises a strategy, he is a genius of strategy, in this case, a genius can't do it! Can only be foolishly running wildly.

"Whoosh" with a sound of arrows, the entourage behind him fell to the ground. Xu Shu whipped again, but the horse's speed had reached its limit. Xu Shu watched the enemy approach slowly, his horse was extremely tired, panting, and could fall down at any time. The enemy general shouted proudly, "Catch the one alive! Don't hurt him! His horse can't run! All his followers are shot dead!" With the sound of arrows, Xu Shu's followers fell to the ground one after another.

Suddenly, a white-robed general shot out from the side. He held a spear in his hand and rushed over without shouting. Xu Shu was taken aback, and the horse was also very frightened. With such a fright, the horse suddenly fell to the ground, knocking Xu Shu to the ground. Tian Feng's horse was also startled, and after a while, it stopped not far away.

That general of Cao's army was Li Dian. Li Dian saw that General Bai Pao was coming, he quickly blocked the gun, the gun came quite heavy, Li Dian was staggered, and the fast-forwarding horse also stopped. Then Li Dian was surprised, and secretly screamed badly. He met a master. How could this guy be so powerful. Li Diannai asked, "Who's here! Sign up!"

The white-robed general sneered and shouted, "Changshan Zhao Zilong!" That Li Dian is a smart man. If he can't beat him, why should he die? Seeing that Zhao Yun is aggressive, he doesn't lower his gear. He turns his horse's head and runs faster than a rabbit. The subordinates around Li Dian hadn't reacted, until Zhao Yun picked and killed several people, and they woke up like a dream, and they turned their horses and ran away.

Xu Shu fell on the ground and was slightly injured. Seeing that General Baipao killed Cao's army, he reluctantly stood up, gave a deep bow, and thanked him: "Thank you General for helping, and I will never forget the life-saving grace. Zhao Yun." The white-robed general bowed humbly and said, "Exactly, under Zhao Yun, the character Zilong, is now serving under the account of Liu Huangshu Liu Bei."

"Oh," Xu Shu was quite interested, "I heard along the way that your lord led an army to attack Xuchang, forcing Cao Cao to personally lead the army back to help? How is the situation now?"

Then Zhao Yun sighed: "Cao Thief is cunning and powerful, my lord is too weak to resist." Xu Shu nodded sympathetically: "Uncle Liu is a hero in the world, this strategy is also appropriate, but unfortunately I have been unlucky..." That Zhao Yun Said: "My lord is nearby... I also ran into you by accident. I know that general of Cao Jun, and when I saw you were in trouble, I came to help."

It turned out that Liu Bei was beaten by Cao's army and fled in embarrassment. When he arrived here, Fang slowly gathered his generals and advisors to pack up. Only a few thousand remnants were left, barely stationed here to rest. That Zhao Yun came out by accident, but saved the lives of Xu Shu and Tian Feng.

Xu Shu said: "Thank you for your help, General. Xu Shu and Xu Yuanzhi are the deputy military advisors under the account of Prime Minister Luo Chen. This is Tian Feng, an important advisor under Yuan Shao's account. The general can show us Uncle Liu."