"Hold on for three more days, and hold on for the last three days! If Yuan Jun doesn't retreat, we will retreat!" Cao Cao, with Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Xun You, Liu Ye and other counselors, looked at the empty new granary and took pictures Forehead, the final decision was made. The facts turned out to be as Yuan Mai expected. Although the burning of Wuchao was successful this time, Cao's army's losses were not much better than those of Yuan's army. The six armies all suffered different losses. The worst thing happened to Xiahou Dun, who was severely damaged by Zhang Liao's tiger cavalry at Chishui Beach. He lost 5,000 of his 6,000 infantry, and almost the entire army was wiped out, and he reluctantly returned to the camp. Next was Li Tong's men. Wang Shuang shot and killed nearly three thousand of Li Tong's men in Yanwei Gorge, and lost one thousand five hundred men in hand-to-hand combat at Wuchao. Only one thousand five hundred men were left when they returned. The losses of these two groups alone amounted to nearly 10,000 yuan. The other forces were relatively better. Le Jin's troops were attacked from behind by Yuan Mai and lost 3,000 men. Xu Huang had a hand-to-hand battle with Yuan Shang, with 6,000 men resisting 20,000 men. Although he killed 5,000 enemies, he still lost 3,000 men. He also lost 2,500 men; Cao Chun and Cao Xiu's heavy armored tiger and leopard cavalry lost 1,000 men in the melee. The main force led by Cao Cao personally engaged in a melee with Zhang Liao's reinforcements south of Wuchao, and was later attacked by Wen Chou and Yuan Mai, resulting in more than 2,500 casualties. The casualties of the garrison team led by Cao Ren were better, but they still resisted Zhang He and Gao Lan's 30,000 troops for most of the night, and more than 3,000 people were killed. According to the final count, Cao Cao's armies suffered a total loss of more than 23,000 people. Such losses were really unexpected and even unbearable for Cao Cao. Therefore, although the food burning was successful, Cao Cao did not even have the slightest joy of victory! This is not the most important thing. Just when Cao Ren was fighting with the invading Zhang He and Gao Lan, a ranger appeared from nowhere behind the camp. A barrage of rockets was fired around the camp, setting many tents on fire. An accidental collision even burned down the tent where Cao's army was storing food. Cao's army had less than 20,000 shi of food left, which could barely sustain supply and demand for half a month. After being burned by the fire, Xun You and some of his soldiers risked their lives to save it, but only managed to plunder less than 20,000 shi. Five thousand shi of food can only sustain the team for four days at most. For Cao Cao. This is the most deadly! Food and grass are in short supply. Cao Cao had to consider retreating. But compared to Yuan Shaolai, Cao Cao's strong judgment ability in adversity is fully revealed. Although all the counselors urged to retreat to Zhongmu County now to avoid Yuan Jun's attack, they sent people to Xuchang to urge grain. Then he tried to make good plans, but Cao Cao remained unmoved and insisted on what he had seen. Even Guo Jia and Jia Xu agreed with this approach. Almost all counselors believed that it would be useless to fight for another three or four days. It was better to retreat to Zhongmou and make plans again. This would avoid the morale of the army to collapse due to lack of food. But Cao Cao was unexpectedly stubborn this time and insisted on holding his troops until Yuan Shao retreated. Cao Cao believed that whoever retreats first will send a signal to the other party that the army is out of strength. This will cause panic among our military. This in turn leads to changes in public sentiment. It¡¯s hard to predict what kind of consequences it will have in the end! "I have made up my mind. Please stop trying to persuade me. I believe Yuan Shao will retreat within three days. Please trust my judgment!" Cao Cao stroked his beard. He categorically announced his decision to the many staff behind him. Xun You looked solemn and said: "We understand your lord's concerns, but we are afraid that if Yuan Jun persists in retreating, our army will run out of food and launch a strong attack when our soldiers are hungry and tired. Then the losses will be heavy." " "Don't Yuan Shao's nearly 100,000 troops want to eat food?" Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and asked. Xun You argued: "But according to the reports of soldiers from all walks of life, Yuan Jun snatched at least about 150,000 shi of food from the fire in Wuchao. This was enough to sustain Yuan Jun's rations for nearly two months, while our army only only There are only five thousand shi of food left. If the confrontation continues, our army will be in a dangerous situation. Once the food is exhausted, the morale of the army will be shattered." Cao Cao closed his eyes slightly and said like a gambler: "I don't care, I will definitely. Let's take a chance and give it a try! If we break camp and retreat to Zhongmou now, Yuan Shao will definitely guess that our army is running out of food and grass, and may send troops to pursue and surround the county. By then, Xuchang will be cut off from the outside world, and we will have no choice but to send food and grass in. Waiting for death. On the contrary, if our army stands still, Yuan Shao will not be able to figure out our true strength and will inevitably retreat within three days. After all, Yuan's army will suffer much more losses than us!" After hearing Cao Cao's analysis, Guo Jia nodded in agreement: "What Mr. Cao said makes sense, why don't we give it a try?" Cao Cao slapped his forehead and said boldly: "Bet on his mother, how can you survive if you don't put yourself in a desperate situation? This time, as long as you can successfully pretend to be a pig and eat it, Hu, I guarantee that he, Yuan Shao, will not dare to covet the Central Plains again for a year, so we willNow you can free up your hands to deal with Liu Bei, the big-eared thief! "Whenever Liu Bei was mentioned, Cao Cao felt itchy with hatred. "I think back when I was in Xuchang, I tried to win over this guy and recommended him to the high position of Yuzhou Governor and General Zuo. In terms of heroes, he and himself were ranked as heroes of the world. Who knew that this guy had a darker heart than himself. In a blink of an eye, he deceived tens of thousands of people into coming to Yangzhou to seek independence. That was all. At the most critical moment, he was with Yuan. The fight was so fierce that this big-eared thief stabbed him in the back and attacked Runan secretly. Who can tolerate it? "I am unwilling to destroy Liu Bei!" " Cao Cao muttered bitterly to himself in his heart, rolled up his sleeves, and walked towards his handsome tent. Jia Xu walked a few steps quickly, chased after Cao Cao, put it close to his ear, and whispered: "Mr. Cao, this time Wuchao is burning food. Is Xu You's identity somewhat suspicious? " Cao Cao nodded slightly, his eyes were shining brightly, and he muttered: "I am also suspicious of this matter. I think Xu You came to pretend to surrender. After all, the plan to burn food was successful; I saw with my own eyes that Yuan Jun Wu Countless grains of food were burned by the fire in the nest camp. But if Xu You came to seek refuge sincerely, how can we explain why Yuan Jun laid a heavy ambush on the way to Wuchao, causing heavy losses to our army? " "What Mr. Cao said is absolutely true! " Jia Xu nodded in agreement: "According to the statements of Xiahou Yuanrang and Li Tong, Yuan Jun's ambush at Chishuitan and Yanwei Gorge seemed to have been well prepared, and it was by no means a temporary ambush. After Xu You entered our camp and offered fire to Wuchao, the lord quickly sent out troops and entered the camp through Xu You. It was only half a day before we sent out troops. Even if Yuan Shao's counselors could guess that Xu You would propose a plan to burn Wuchao and set up an ambush halfway, it would be too late; even if they could arrive, they would not be so calm. This matter deserves careful consideration! " Cao Cao's eyes kept flashing. After a moment, he made up his mind and whispered to Jia Xu: "Xu You claimed that he came to surrender this time because his family was sentenced to prison. Coming out of desperation. You secretly send a few scouts to sneak into Yecheng. Let¡¯s find out if what Xu You said is true? " "No! " Jia Xu cupped his hands and accepted the order in a low voice. On the bank of the Yellow River, flags were flying. Brothers Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang were ordered to lead 10,000 horses to the grain storage place on the bank to receive grain. Then they transported it to part of the camp to supply daily needs. Before withdrawing the troops, both men and horses needed to eat. In addition to transporting some of the food and grass to the Guandu camp, the rest was transported to Liyang City on the bank of the Yellow River, where Yuan Shao decided to attack Cao. The 100,000 shi of grain was temporarily stored in Liyang. As for the 100,000 shi that Yuan Mai redeemed from Zhang He, he asked to be sent to Yecheng. Accompanied by Zhang He and Zhang Liao, Yuan Mai inspected the grain transport team along the way and said to the Lu brothers with a smile. : "If I hadn't led my troops to Wuchao, I'm afraid your Jizhou Army would have been hungry! " "haha, yes. Talk about it. This time the soldiers of Jizhou have to thank the Fourth Young Master for his timely appearance, otherwise they would have been out of food in the past few days! Lu Kuang cupped his hands and smiled and said flatteringly. Lu Xiang took off his helmet and cursed angrily: "It's all the fault of this bitch Xu You. I can't bear to eat this guy's flesh and blood." Burning the Wuchao, such a vicious idea, why did he come up with it? This is planning to starve to death hundreds of thousands of soldiers! " "Xu You? " Xu You suddenly appeared in front of Yuan Mai's eyes. He usually looks like a good old man. When his eyes are narrowed, he radiates greedy eyes. This man knows a lot about the defense arrangements in various places in Hebei. It will be a disaster to keep him. Is it right? Can you think of a way to get rid of him? After thinking hard, Yuan Mai's eyes shone brightly, he patted his thigh and said with joy, "Haha I have it!" " "What's there? "The generals asked in surprise. Yuan Mai didn't bother to answer, and ordered: "Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Guo Huai continue to station troops on the bank of the Yellow River. Wang Shuang, led by Bai Yuqi, will follow me to the Guandu camp! " Bai Yu's horse neighed, the sound of horse hooves was loud, and smoke was rolled up all the way. In less than an hour, Yuan Mai rushed to Yuan Shao's camp forty miles away. Without even bothering to let the guards report, Yuan Mai went straight into Yuan Shao's camp. Daying, whispered in Yuan Shao's ear. Yuan Shao was confused at first, but then his eyes brightened, and he nodded frequently. He then sent someone to write a letter as quickly as possible and sent it to Yecheng for review. After the judge saw it, he immediately ordered the release of all Xu You's family members, and then personally apologized to Xu Ning: "Haha Dear nephew, it was Uncle Shen who wrongly blamed you, and I apologize to you here. All the confiscated fields and property of the Xu family will be returned together. From now on, I will promote you to be Jizhou's grain minister! ¡± After being saved from a desperate situation, Xu Ning burst into tears of gratitude. He thought that the friendship between his father and Yuan Shao had played a role in saving the day. He excitedly led people to move all the confiscated property back to the Xu family, and ordered people to put up lanterns and colors to celebrate. Fan. Soon, the Xu family members were released, and news of their promotions and fortunes spread like wildfire in Yecheng, making it known to everyone in the streets and alleys. ps (the following is free): There was a troll just trolling in the book review area, so I will tell you here. First of all, let¡¯s talk about Xu Shu¡¯s life experience. Do you think I don¡¯t know more about it than you do? Do you mean that the author doesn¡¯t know anything, even basic knowledge, and yet he has the nerve to write a book? Xu Shu's life experience is recorded in Cao Wei's orthodox "Wei Lue": Xu Shu, whose real name is Fu, was born as a son of the Shan family. This has led to the ambiguity of Xu Shu's life experience. It is still unclear whether his surname is Xingdan or Xu. There are various opinions. But what is certain is that you can say that Shan Fu is Xu Shu¡¯s real name, or you can say that Xu Fu is Xu Shu¡¯s real name. The only thing that is certain is that Xu Shu is a pseudonym. According to this troll, Xu Shu is the real name, and I don¡¯t even know the basics! The last thing I want to say is that this is a novel after all. The author finally calls him Xu Shu according to common sense and habits, but it does not mean that the author has not verified it. If you want to spray it in the future, please verify it first before spraying it, okay? ??Finally, let¡¯s talk about Chen Gong throwing fire. Please go back and re-read the original chapter. If you start complaining if you don¡¯t understand it clearly, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s boring?