Amidst the pleadings of dozens of officials, Cao Cao's anger subsided a little, and he glared at Yang Xiu and shouted: "You are interceding for your mercy, so I will absolve you of the serious crime you committed this time. However, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime is It's hard to forgive! I ordered Yang Xiu to be demoted to one rank and given twenty punishments as a warning! If anyone dares to retreat in the future, he will be punished without mercy." Yang Xiu looked at Cao Cao intently, and then knelt down and saluted Cao Cao for a long time. : "My lord thank you for not killing me." Then, two Tiger Guards stepped forward, picked up Yang Xiu, took him to the open space of the military academy, and beat him hard with twenty boards. Yang Xiu was originally a scholar. How had he ever received such a heavy responsibility? Before he was hit with ten sticks, he fainted from the pain. By the time the twenty sticks were finished, Yang Xiu's back was already torn and bloody, and then he was taken back by the Tiger Guards like a dog was dragged to death. into the tent where he lived. In fact, this was Yang Xiu's own fault. He usually relied on his own cleverness and always loved to guess Cao Cao's thoughts, and often made Cao Cao's inner thoughts public in public. Over time, Yang Xiu's actions aroused Cao Cao's thoughts. dissatisfaction. On the surface, Cao Cao has been praising Yang Xiu for his talent and intelligence, but in fact, Cao Cao has long disliked Yang Xiu. Cao Cao has a changeable and suspicious personality. As a superior, what he dislikes most is that his subordinates can spy on his thoughts. If Yang Xiu can be like Guo Jia, after spying on Cao Cao's thoughts, he can solve Cao Cao's problems and help Cao Cao. If he arranges things that are difficult for him to show up for, or blocks things for him that he verbally agrees to but doesn't actually want to do, then Cao Cao might think highly of Yang Xiu; but Yang Xiu doesn't. In doing so, while guessing Cao Cao's thoughts, he did not know how to adapt, and he did not actually make any suggestive plans for Cao Cao. Instead, he was complacent, repeatedly showed off in front of others, and explained Cao Cao's thoughts in a straightforward manner. Speak your mind. With his ability to guess Cao Cao's thoughts, and Guo Jia being in the same heaven and earth, it is not surprising that Cao Cao took the opportunity to kill Yang Xiu. That night, several officials who had good personal relationships with Yang Xiu came to visit Yang Xiu in his tent. One of them accidentally mentioned that the code word for the patrol officers tonight was "tasteless". After hearing this, Yang Xiu couldn't help laughing. Then he said: "Let me tell you, I understand the king's thoughts best. How could I guess wrong? The king has actually decided to withdraw the army in his heart. It's just that he was embarrassed to give the order directly during the day because it was in front of everyone. How could he guess wrong? You can pack your luggage after you return. Your Majesty will retreat soon, so pack your luggage as soon as possible to avoid panic. " After hearing Yang Xiu's words, one of them quickly covered Yang Xiu's mouth and whispered: " During the day, you suggested withdrawing the army, and the king almost killed you. You don't know how to repent, but you make such nonsense again!" Yang Xiu slapped the hand covering his mouth away and said with a smile, "That's a tasteless thing. It's a pity to abandon it when it's boring to eat. The king used chicken ribs as a code word for patrolling the soldiers. He must have clearly seen the current situation of our army. Our army is really in a dilemma. The king is just worried that retreating will cause trouble in the army. It¡¯s just a loss of morale. But don¡¯t worry, the king will definitely order the withdrawal within three days!¡± Yang Xiu¡¯s explanation. This made several other people suddenly realize, so after comforting Yang Xiu for a few more words, they left in a hurry, returned to their own tents, and began to pack their luggage and prepare for the retreat. Cao Ren, who was in charge of the inspection, couldn't help but feel doubtful after seeing these civil servants packing their luggage. After careful questioning, he found out what Cao Cao meant by using "tasteless" as a code word, and he quickly started to pack his bags and be ready to withdraw at any time. But it was said that Cao Cao couldn't sleep at night because of the tragic defeat during the day. He lay on the bed for a long time and couldn't fall asleep. He simply put on some clothes and walked out of the Chinese army's tent and began to patrol around the camp. Unexpectedly, he found that almost Half of the soldiers were packing their bags, as if Cao Cao had given an order to withdraw. Frightened and angry, Cao Cao called Cao Ren over and scolded him severely. Cao Ren did not dare to hide it, so he relayed Yang Xiu's words to Cao Cao. After hearing this, Cao Cao was furious. He pulled out the Yitian Sword and cut off the table. He said angrily: "Have you ever said anything about retreating?! Yang Dezu has no repentance and has repeatedly disturbed the morale of our army. He must not be spared this time! Cao Ren! You immediately Lead the Tiger Guards to capture Yang Xiu and kill him immediately. "Cao Ren has been following Cao Cao for more than 20 years. He knows that Cao Cao is really angry. He also knows that when Cao Cao is angry, no one can persuade him. He had no choice but to give a military salute to Cao Cao, then turned around and walked out of Cao Cao's Chinese army tent. He led thirty Tiger Guards straight to Yang Xiu's tent, dragged Yang Xiu, who was instructing the book boys to pack their bags, to the military academy ground, and then called him The Tiger Guards cut off Yang Xiu's head with one blow, put it on a tray and sent it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao pointed at Yang Xiu's head and cursed for a long time, and then finally relieved his anger, and ordered Yang Xiu's head to be buried separately from the body, leaving Yang Xiu with a miserable end without a complete body. Although Yang Xiu was killed,The difficult situation Cao Cao is facing now has not improved. The next day, Ao Lie ordered another 800,000 elite soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty. The entire army rose up from the stronghold, marched five miles forward again, and set up camp less than ten miles away from the Wei army's stronghold. They continued to boil frogs in warm water. To exert pressure on the Wei army officers and soldiers. In this regard, Cao Cao was helpless and could only order more guards to patrol the camp within five miles day and night to prevent Ao Lie from launching a surprise attack. As long as the morale of both sides cannot return to the same starting line, Cao Cao will never launch a counterattack rashly, because he knows that when the morale of the enemy and ours is very different, he can only stand firm and never engage in battle with the enemy. What Cao Cao was thinking was exactly what Ao Lie was thinking. It's just that the two have different perspectives on the problem. Cao Cao wanted to revive the morale of the army in the short term and try to close the gap with the Northern Han soldiers; while Ao Lie wanted to maintain the suppression of the morale of the Wei army, keeping them at a low point and unable to launch a counterattack. Therefore, on the third day of the confrontation between the two armies, Ao Lie once again ordered to advance five miles to the Wei army's stronghold to set up camp. The two strongholds were only three miles apart, and each other could even clearly see the other's camp. every move. The distance of three miles has already entered the range of the red ballistae. The hundreds of red ballistae displayed in the Han camp have already been loaded with powerful crossbows, and they are scattering frightening missiles in the direction of the Wei camp. Cold light. However, Ao Lie did not give the order to activate the red ballistae. His purpose of putting the red ballistae out was not to cause damage to the Wei army, but to further undermine the will of the Wei army officers to fight. Let me ask, who in the world can sleep peacefully surrounded by red ballistas? The soldiers in the front camp of the Wei army spent a day in fear and fear, but they did not receive Cao Cao's order to withdraw. When night came, they all looked grim and did not even dare to get into their tents to sleep. He was afraid that in his sleep, his life would be taken away by the powerful red crossbow shot from the sky. As a result, in the direction of the Wei Army camp closest to the Northern Han Dynasty, a rare sight appeared in a hundred years. Groups of Wei Army soldiers gathered in groups of three and five, erecting structures five feet above the ground. They built several layers of thick wooden boards, and placed seven or eight shields upside down on the wooden boards. Then they crowded together and sat together, staring at the dark night sky with wide eyes. However, inside the tent that was meant for them to rest, It's empty. At the same time, Ao Lie was also looking up at the night sky. Ao Lie raised his head and looked at the night sky intently, as if there was something special in the night sky attracting him. Zhuge Liang, who was standing next to him, also looked up at the night sky several times, but saw nothing. There was not even a single star in the dark night sky. Zhuge Liang, who was best at observing stars at night, felt that the night sky tonight was really boring. He I really don't understand what Ao Lie is looking at, so lost in thought. After a long time, Ao Lie withdrew his gaze towards the night sky and said slowly: "Kong Ming, are you wondering what exactly So-and-so is looking at?" Zhuge Liang answered honestly: "Yes." Ao Lie turned around to look. Xiang Zhuge Liang smiled, showing two rows of neat white teeth, and said mysteriously: "Actually, I wasn't looking at anything. I was just thinking whether Cao Cao would be standing in the same night sky as us. Next, he also looked up at the night sky. If he was looking, then guess what he would see from the night sky." Before Zhuge Liang could answer, Ao Lie seemed to be asking, but also seemed to be talking to himself. He said softly: "The night sky is as dark as ink, without even a single star. This may make Cao Cao feel a little lonely, right?" After a pause, Ao Lie's tone suddenly changed to affirmative, and he said seriously: "Guandu It's a good place. When Cao Cao was in the north and they jointly attacked Yuan Shao, he defeated Yuan Shao's southward troops in Guandu, thus establishing his position as the overlord of the Central Plains. Now, it's time for Guandu to become a new witness to history. " Zhuge Liang listened to Ao Lie's words word for word. After thinking for a moment, he handed over to Ao Lie and said, "Brother, please rest assured. Liang will definitely try to force Cao Cao to Guandu. Let¡¯s start a decisive battle with him there. Guandu will definitely become the main battlefield for another battle. This time, it will be us who decide the world in the battle in Guandu!¡± Ao Lie smiled, with endless confidence in his smile: "The victory in the first battle of Guandu belonged to Cao Cao. He defeated the greater number with less and fought the most beautiful battle in his life. Now, someone is going to completely defeat him in the place where he became famous! Guandu, This is the best place to bury his bones! This is his fateful reincarnation, and it is also the end of our world together!¡± (To be continued)