Rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 382 The Regret That Cannot Be Filled

It was Yin Li who was about to flee. Seeing Cao Cao coming, he yelled and turned around with his saber to parry, but unexpectedly, the green sword cut iron like mud and was cut off by his blade. Breaking through the door, he screamed and fell to the ground dead.

When Cao Cao saw a fire in the distance, he knew that Jiang Qin had succeeded and sent an order: "Whoever surrenders will avoid death!"

During this period of time, too many troops were lost, and the Battle of Fuling Lake also made Cao Cao realize the weakness of the navy. He had long intended to train the navy. Zhishui army came out to guard Huainan.

The thieves were terrified of being killed. At first, they thought Cao Jun would slaughter them all like they did to Quexuan, so they had to dive into the water to escape. When they heard the order, they all knelt down and begged to surrender, even those who climbed into the boat turned back and surrendered.

Cao Cao ordered Cao Hong to take the prisoners, and Cao Chun led his troops to the bandit army's lair to fight the fire, at least to transport out the money, food and materials in the village, and this place can also be used as a naval stronghold.

He also ordered Zhou Tai and Zang Ba to continue chasing Chang Xi with their troops. At this time, the rebel army was defeated, and it was time to wipe them out in one fell swoop. They will never do evil in Fuling Lake again.

Seeing that Cao Jun was in a hurry to catch up, Chang Xi urged the soldiers to drive the boat quickly. He was on a big boat with a water tanker.

With a bang, the big boat had no time to slow down and land, and bumped into the railing of the water village. The hull shook, and Chang Xi jumped out of the boat and fled to the village.

I saw that the guards in front were all officers and soldiers, each with neat armor and bright swords and guns, obviously they were not Chen Yu's subordinates.

"Hahaha, good time!" Just as he was in a daze, he heard a voice laughing and said: "Chang Xi, you have thrown yourself into a trap this time, let me see where else you can escape!"

A person flashed out from behind the village gate, it was Cao Ang. Chang Xi was so shocked that he stepped back a few steps and pointed at Cao Bing: "You... how could you... where is Chen Yu?"

Hearing him mention Chen Yu, the smile on Cao Ang's face disappeared, and he sighed: "I don't know why, Chen Yu refused to surrender after all. Seeing the fire in the village, he ran away by himself. It's a pity for a young hero."

When Chang Xi heard that Chen Yu had escaped, he was startled and angry, turned and fled outwards, just in time to meet Zang Ba, who was standing on the port with Heng Dao, blocking his way.

Chang Xi gritted his teeth for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Zang Xuangao, I never imagined that we were congenial in the past, but now we meet each other with swords, and we will die in your hands!"

Zang Ba took a deep breath and said slowly: "Third brother, you surrender now, I will take you to see General Cao, intercede for you, or have a chance to survive."

"Hahaha, what a joke!" Chang Xi looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, roaring angrily, "Zang Xuangao, I will fight with you!"

Seeing him coming to kill with a saber, Zang Ba couldn't bear to strike after all, and moved aside, with Zhou Tai guarding behind him, he stepped forward with a deep shout, and knocked Chang Xi's weapon into the air with a single slash, a gorgeous saber The light rolls over.

"Stop..." Zang Ba didn't expect Zhou Tai to be so powerful and wanted to stop him, but it was too late.

A big head flew up and fell into the water with a thud. Half of Chang Xi's body also fell down and fell into the lake.

Zhou Tai said calmly: "If you have different paths, don't conspire with each other. If you continue to break up, you will suffer chaos!"

Zang Ba sighed softly and without saying anything else, he lowered his head and walked into the stronghold to see Cao Ang.

The bandit army at Fuling Lake had been completely wiped out. Cao Cao was determined, knowing that Sun Jian had led the army northward, so he rushed back to Xuyi immediately to discuss countermeasures with Chen Jiao and Xue Li.

Chen Jiao said: "Sun Jian was a hero at that time, and his ambition was to be in the east of the Yangtze River. At this time, Kuaiji and Yuzhang had not yet returned to his hometown. He did not want to stay in the north of the Yangtze River for a long time, so we could use tricks to make him retreat."

Cao Cao frowned and said, "Let's report carefully. Tao Qian once sent someone to contact Sun Jian, intending to hand over Yangzhou Shepherd to Sun Jian. This person has come north to fetch Shouchun, and I'm afraid he won't retreat easily."

Chen Jiaoyan said: "Now that Yangzhou Muyinshou is in the hands of the lord, you can issue an official document to appoint Sun Jian's younger brother Sun Jing as the prefect of Yuzhang. Sun Jian sees that the lord intends to show his favor. This person has clear grievances and grievances in doing things, and he will definitely not continue. Enter the army."

Cao Cao nodded slightly, stroked his beard and said, "Sun Jian raised his troops here. If he stationed troops in the north of the Yangtze River, it would be a serious disaster after all. We must let him retreat to the south of the Yangtze River."

Xue Li said from the side: "My lord, there is a handsome man named Yan Baihu in Wu County. He was originally a bandit and was very dissatisfied with Sun Jian. Why don't you secretly issue another document to make Yan Baihu the prefect of Kuaiji? If we want to take Yuzhang and pacify Kuaiji, we have to retreat!"

"Hahaha, this plan is brilliant!" Cao Cao's eyes lit up, he clapped his palms and laughed loudly, "Even though Sun Wentai is known as the Jiangdong Tiger, there are many evil wolves around, so he must be in a hurry."

Chen Jiaoyan said: "Recently, I reported in detail that Yuan Shu secretly dispatched troops in Runan to move eastward, fearing that he intends to attack Pengcheng and cut off my way back. My lord has to guard against it."

Cao Cao said in a deep voice: "Yuan Gonggong has great ambition and few talents, but he has no foresight, but when he sees others gaining benefits, he will feel jealous and hate him. This time, he must be jealous when he sees me taking Shouchun. "

Chen Jiao said: "Now that Lu Bu is in charge of Yanzhou, there will be great chaos in the Central Plains. My lord will take Shouchun to settle in Huainan. If you go south again, you will not be able to cross the river without an army of [-] sailors. It is the best policy to return to the Central Plains."

The battle for nearly a month made Cao Cao deeply aware of the weakness of the navy. Even thieves like Chang Xi were almost helpless, and there was no chance of winning against Sun Jian.

Thinking of this, he sighed: "Both Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin are talented generals. I want to worship them as generals of the navy. I will train the navy in Fuling Lake and Guangling. For future use.”

Chen Jiao nodded and said: "My lord has far-sighted considerations. With this navy, Jiangbei can be safe."

Xue Li said helplessly: "Lu Kang, the prefect of Lujiang, is a loyal and upright person, how should he be dealt with?"

Cao Cao pondered for a while, and said: "Lu Kang is nearly seventy years old, and he should have retired to the old age. You can issue an official document asking him to recommend another Lujiang prefect, which can be regarded as his wish."

Chen Jiao immediately ordered people to write official documents and distribute them everywhere when they were ready. Cao Cao ordered Xue Li to be the prefect of Xiapi, transferred Cao Xiu to Shouchun to guard Huainan, and Xiahou Dun followed the army north to Pengcheng.

So far, Huainan has been completely pacified. By avenging his father, he successfully obtained the land in Jiangbei, eradicated Ruo Rong to get his money and food, and wiped out the Fuling Lake water thief. Xuzhou was completely pacified.

Everything went well, but when he was done, Cao Cao didn't have much joy in his heart. Instead, there was a lingering guilt deep in his heart, which made him feel uncomfortable all day long.

At this time Cao Cao suddenly realized that even if he got the whole of Yangzhou, he might not be able to make up for the pain of designing Cao Song. This kind of regret cannot be made up at any price.

On the way back, Cao Cao was in a trance on the horse, sometimes happy and sometimes worried. He couldn't help thinking of Liu Helai who had almost pacified Hebei, and Gongsun Zan was like a candle in the wind.

The autumn was refreshing, Cao Cao looked up to the north, and murmured, "Liu Boxing, deep down in your heart, do you have secrets that cannot be revealed to outsiders, even close relatives?"

(End of this chapter)