Cao Cao thought about it, but it was hard to make a decision. The current situation was changing rapidly, but the first task was to get rid of Lu Bu and recapture Yanzhou. After another careful discussion, everyone quickly organized their troops and marched towards Dongjun. At the same time, Man Chong was ordered to stay behind to recruit troops and collect food. Lu Bu was victorious first and then defeated. After many twists and turns, he finally rushed back to Dongjun City. As soon as he entered the city, he learned from Zhang Yang that Zhen City had been captured by Qu Yi. The defender Xue Lan was killed by an arrow and the Jiyin defender Li Feng saw the enemy. The situation was overwhelming and there were no reinforcements, so the news came that the city had surrendered. After hearing this, Lu Bu, who had just been defeated, couldn't help but became furious and shouted: "Li Feng, my general has always treated you well, but now he surrenders without a fight. This is extremely hateful!" After that, he turned around and shouted: "Come on. People! Quickly lead a team of soldiers to kill Li Feng's family in Dongjun!" Zhang Yang quickly advised: "Lord, calm down! Li Feng's family has been controlled by the general for a long time. However, Li Feng will have no choice but to surrender. If you kill his family, Li Feng will follow Chunyu Qiong wholeheartedly. It is better to keep his family first, maybe it can be used in the future!" Lu Bu said angrily: "It is obvious to all that Li Feng has surrendered to the enemy. If this general does not uphold military law, it is better to keep his family. Why do you want to establish your authority? Don't mention this again, quickly behead Li Feng's family in public!" Chen Gong and Zhang Yang tried to persuade him, but when they saw Lu Bu's anger, they just sighed secretly. Under Lu Bu's personal supervision, more than a dozen members of Li Feng's family were beheaded in public, and more than a dozen heads were hung outside the camp gate. It was extremely bloody. Lu Bu's anger calmed down a little, and he summoned all the confidant generals in the city to discuss matters. He frowned and said, "Yanzhou has fallen, Yuan Shao's army is pressing down on the border, and Cao's thieves are stalking them again. We are attacked in front and behind, and our army is disorganized. Do you have any clever plans to retreat from the enemy?" " Chen Gong said: "Yanzhou is sandwiched between Ma Chao and Yuan Shao. It is a war-torn place! The Lord is unwilling to cooperate with Yuan Shao and is unwilling to commit himself to Ma Chao. Now he can only act in an unconventional way and ride on the tiger to swallow the wolf? " Lu Bu said: "Please make it clear to me!" Chen Gong said: "A few days ago, Ma Chao mobilized troops and deployed heavy troops in the Wuchao, Yanjin, and Baima areas, nominally to guard against Yuan Shao. But there is no shortage of troops to use against the lord. "What do you mean?" Lu Bu said angrily: "If the little thief dares to invade Yanzhou, I will cooperate with Yuan Shao to attack Jizhou." Chen Gong shook his head and sighed: "I was planning to sit down. The situation is becoming more and more fierce, and Yuan Shao and Ma Chao can't stand to watch. Now, the situation is getting worse for us! If we want to survive, we can only choose one side to join forces! It's extremely difficult to deal with just one Cao thief! "Zhang Yang also said: "Gongtai's words are reasonable! The only way to have a chance to rise is to preserve your strength? Ma Chao is the overlord of the south. There are still Cao thieves in Yanzhou, and in this situation, the Lord's fight against the three armies is like throwing an egg at a stone!" Lu Bu sighed and said, "Yuan Shao is too bullying, and Ma Chao is not a good person! Jiang went to Xianbei at the age of seventeen and has dominated the world for nearly twenty years. Although he is in a desperate situation, he would rather die than take refuge in these two people! Don't mention this again, let's think of another clever plan! Seeing that Lu Bu was deeply opposed to Yuan Shao and Ma Chao, he felt quite helpless. After pondering for a moment, Chen Gong said: "In this case, we can only repair it with Ma Chao before he falls out. Yanzhou is adjacent to Jizhou to the north and Yu and Yangzhou to the south. You can directly attack Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass to the west. Qingzhou and Xuzhou are adjacent to the east. The strategic location is extremely important. Because of this, Ma Chao will never watch Yuan Shao destroy his lord and take control of Yanzhou! " Lu Bu nodded and said: "Although his words are good, the little thief Ma Chao tried to give my beloved daughter to the puppet emperor as a concubine. It is really hateful!" Chen Gong said: "Ma Chao's move is just to win over the lord. All the lord needs is this Ma Chao must We will send all our troops to attack Yuan Shao! At that time, all we have to do is deal with Cao Cao!" Lu Bu looked in disbelief when he heard this and asked, "Is it that simple?" Chen Gonggu nodded confusely and said confidently: "This move is in line with my lord. They have their own interests with Ma Chao. Ma Chao is not a fool and will never do stupid things!" Three days later, Cao Cao sent 40,000 troops to the east county city. Qu Yi and Chunyu Qiong deployed their troops to guard Ma Chao across the river. He divided his forces and besieged Dongjun, trying to completely annihilate Lu Bu. Although Lu Bu was brave, he could not withstand Yuan Cao's hundreds of thousands of coalition troops, so he could only defend the city. Fortunately, Dongjun City is the seat of Yanzhou. The city is strong, has sufficient food and grass, and is guarded by nearly 50,000 soldiers and horses. It cannot be captured in a short time. But it was said that Ma Chao was ready in Wuchao, and was planning to send troops to Yanzhou to attack Lu Bu unexpectedly. Yuan Shao unexpectedly attacked him first, so he simply sat on the mountain and watched the fight between tigers and tigers. During this period, Ma Chao was not idle either. He transferred the idle Shenpei and Gao Shun to Wuchao, and ordered Jushou to collect grain and grass, prepare all weapons, and prepare for an all-out war with Yuan Shao's 200,000 troops in Yanzhou.On this day, Ma Chao was discussing matters with Xun You, Shen Pei, Gao Shun, Cao Xing and others. Suddenly, soldiers came to report that Qin Yi, Guo Jia and Du Xi wanted to see him. Ma Chao was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed and went out to greet him personally. Now that the decisive battle is imminent, there is a lack of military wizards like Guo Jia to make suggestions. Part of the reason why he plans to attack Lu Bu with all his strength is to rescue Guo Jia. When I went out, I saw Qin Yi leading two young scribes to bow to him and respectfully said: "Qin Yi (Guo Jia) (Du Xi) pays homage to the lord!" They were held hostage, and the general failed to rescue them, but the three of them were wronged!" The two of them shouted that they didn't dare. Guo Jia and Du Xi took the time to look at Ma Chao. It was not until today that they saw this world-famous champion for the first time. Ma Chao is not like this. Guo Jia is of medium build, about 23 or 24 years old, fair-faced, beardless, energetic, bright-eyed, rosy-faced, and speaks with a strong voice. How can he be a little bit sick? Du Xi is about twenty-seven or eighty years old, with a short beard, a delicate face, and equally bright eyes! Ma Chao remembers that Guo Jia was born in 170 and died of illness in 207. Now he is only 193. According to the original history, he still has more than ten years to live, enough to last until he dominates the world. Guo Jia was a bohemian prodigal. Although he was highly intelligent, he was addicted to wine and sex, which was one of the main culprits of his short life. After the ceremony, Ma Chao was busy and ordered people to prepare a banquet for the three of them. During this period, Ma Chao inquired with Qin Yi alone and learned that Chen Gong personally escorted Yuan and Cao's coalition forces out of the city before they besieged the city. He said nothing except apologies. While they were imprisoned in Dongjun, they were only under house arrest. In addition to not having personal freedom, they had good food and drink, and they also had women to sleep with. Ma Chao was convinced, knowing that it must be Chen Gong's arrangement, and leaving a way out for himself. This move was just to get back on good terms with him, so as to use his power to fight against Yuan Shao. I didn't say anything at the moment. It didn't matter if I was overtaken by Yuan Shao this time. As long as he wasn't given time to manage, Yanzhou could be taken back at any time. As for how to treat Lu Bu, I had to think carefully about it. That night, Ma Chao held a banquet in his mansion, except for Qin Yi, Guo Jia, Du Xi and Xun You. Shen Pei, Gao Shun, Cao Xing and others were also present. After drinking for three rounds, Ma Chao put down his glass and said: "L¨¹ Bu is unjust. I wanted to support him, but I didn't know that he was an ambitious man. Now the city is being besieged by Yuan and Cao's coalition forces and is in a desperate situation. Sooner or later, the city will be destroyed and people will die." The situation!" Everyone had different expressions when they heard this. Gao Shun, Cao Xing and Qin Yi came out of Bingzhou with Lu Bu, and they couldn't help but feel unbearable. Xun You and Shen Pei had no expression on their faces, waiting for what was going to happen next. Guo Jia and Du Xi had worked with Lu Bu for nearly a year. Although they had always been distrusted and even rejected, they knew the situation in Yanzhou very well. They couldn't help but frown slightly when they heard Ma Chao's words. After pondering for a moment, Guo Jia suddenly clasped his fists and said, "Jia has something to say, I don't know if I should say it or not?" Ma Chao smiled and said, "I will listen to what Gongda once said: Guo was born to be a filial piety, and a hero ranks among the best. He has scriptures and history in his belly, and a hidden armored soldier in his chest. . I am very happy to see you today. I have something to say, but it¡¯s okay to say it!¡± Guo Jia glanced at his old friend Xun You gratefully and said that he did not dare. He stood up and said: "L¨¹ Bu took advantage of the lord's power to occupy Yanzhou, and the lord's purpose is nothing more than to use Lu Bu to check the ambitious Cao Cao! This plan is very clever. Cao Cao had a tendency to rise since he defeated the Yellow Turbans and took over Yanzhou as a herdsman. However, because his lord supported Lu Bu, Cao Cao lost most of Yanzhou and became a bereaved dog. " He paused and then said: "But now that Cao Cao is not destroyed, Lu Bu will. It has the value of existence. We must not just watch Yuan Cao's coalition forces destroy Lu Bu and stabilize the situation in Yanzhou!" Ma Chao nodded and said: "Feng Xian's words are very reasonable, but Lu Bu is a man who is unjust and ambitious. It is almost impossible to completely conquer this person. Both Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo were very kind to Lu Bu, but they were both criticized by Lu Bu. I have also vigorously supported Lu Bu in the past two years, but the results have been thankless, which is really disappointing! Everyone nodded in unison, and Guo Jia said: "My lord, if you want to achieve great things, you must endure what ordinary people cannot bear. Even though Lu Bu is not good at all, he still has value that cannot be ignored! Now that the decisive battle between my lord and Yuan Shao is imminent, everything may become a problem." The key to victory or defeat, considering the current situation, it is beneficial for the lord to keep Lu Bu. Otherwise, if he is forced to do anything, Lu Bu will definitely surrender to Yuan Shao! Then the lord will have another enemy! " Ma Chao nodded, thinking! Knowing that what Guo Jia said was true, he immediately said: "According to Fengxiao, how should I face Yuan Shao? What are the chances of winning?" Guo Jia said: "It took only two years for Yuan Shao to conquer Yu and Yangzhou. Only with the support of the family can we have the strength to fight against the lord. The lord has been running the merger and acquisition of Jizhou for several years. He has supported the poor people, suppressed the local tyrants, opened farms to save the people, and pioneered the three-point grain system. Various measures have won the hearts of the people.We attach great importance to the development of the military, with sophisticated ordnance, rigorous military system, and abundant talents. If the lord is given another ten years to develop, it will be easy to pacify the world! Although the world is in chaos right now, the overall situation is still in the hands of the Lord! If the Lord does not make a fatal mistake, defeating Yuan Shao and pacifying the world's princes will be the inevitable trend, and no one can reverse it! "(To be continued)