Xiaoqi

The siege and defense of Tancheng lasted for five days, and the gloomy weather every day seemed to indicate that the sky was very displeased with the battle under his nose, and his face was full of gloom.

"Kill, bang bang bang!"

By noon, the fifth day of the city's offensive and defensive battle was still going on. The two sides repeatedly fought for the top of the city, and the fierce battle was in full swing.

"Boom"

Suddenly, a muffled thunder sounded in the sky, coming from far and near, which made people feel melancholy.

However, the soldiers of both sides, who were fiercely fighting for the top of the city, turned a deaf ear to this and continued to fight bloodily.The sounds of weapons slamming, flying stones and rolling logs falling to the ground, arrows piercing through the air, crackling of earthen pots, and the screams of the soldiers of the two armies when they were dying, all these sounds were mixed together, loud and loud, far overshadowing the muffled thunder in the sky.

The soldiers couldn't hear it, but the three brothers Tao Qian, Liu Guan and Zhang who were supervising the battle on the tower could hear it. In addition, Cao Cao who reined in his horse and stopped on the north bank of the moat river could also hear the muffled thunder.

"In summer, Xuzhou is very rainy. It rains at this time, and the situation is not good for us!" Cao Cao looked up at the sky above his head with a slight frown, and said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, all the generals who reined in their horses and stood behind Cao Cao looked up at the sky, and their expressions became gloomy.Then the generals looked melancholy at the siege situation ahead, and their eyes became more eager, wishing they could go into battle and seize the top of the city in person.

At this time, Cao Hong, who was standing behind Cao Cao, said confidently: "Meng De need not worry, the weather changes beyond human control, it is useless to think about it. We will attack Tancheng for five consecutive days, and the Xuzhou army will suffer thousands of casualties every day. If the battle continues, there must be another three days, Tao Qian will not be able to hold on anymore, and Tancheng will be destroyed without attacking!"

Among the many generals under Cao Cao's command, not many people dared to call Cao Cao's name in public, even the relatives of the Cao family were no exception, but Cao Hong was not among them.In the battle of Xingyang in the past, if he hadn't stepped forward to block Lv Bu with all his might, and donated his horse to cover Cao Cao's escape, Cao Cao would have died a long time ago.For this reason, from then on, although Cao Hong's military strategy was not as good as Cao Ren's, Cao Cao relied heavily on him and trusted him, and allowed him to call him by his first name without too much taboo.

After Cao Hong finished speaking, Cao Cao turned his head to look at the generals behind him, grinned, and said indifferently: "Zi Lian's remarks are biased. After repeated battles, our army and Tao Qian's troops suffered similar casualties. It also suffered thousands of casualties more than the Xuzhou Army. Such reckless battles can be done occasionally, but in the long run, our army may return without success again.

What's more, this is the lair of Tao Qian's old thief after all, he is short of troops, he can recruit strong men to defend the city at any time, and he doesn't have to worry about running out of food and grass.As long as the city is still in his hands, he can keep fighting with us until we wear down and withdraw our troops.

This is the second time we have sent troops to Xuzhou. If we can't capture Xuzhou this time and kill the old thief Tao Qian, I am afraid that all the princes in the Central Plains will look at me as a joke about Cao Cao.Leaving others aside, Yuan Shao of Jizhou and Yuan Shu of Yangzhou will definitely despise me and laugh at the incompetence of my Yanzhou soldiers. Even Tao Qian, an old man who is dying, can't deal with it. How can it be a big deal! "

"Your Majesty, worry too much." Before Cao Cao finished speaking, Xia Houyuan, who was standing side by side with Cao Hong, said, "According to detailed reports, Yuan Benchu's dispatch of troops to wipe out the Hei Shan bandits did not go well. They have been stalemate with the Hei Shan bandits for more than two months, big and small. However, there were victories and defeats for each other, and the Heishan bandits could not be completely wiped out. Jiujiang Yuan Shu was even more unbearable. He wrote a letter to the imperial court to recommend Jin Shang as the governor of Yanzhou, and secretly colluded with the Southern Huns Yu Fuluo and the Heishan bandit Suigu to try to seize our Yanzhou. In the end, this gang of mobs were vulnerable, and within a few months they were defeated by the lord and fled. Now Yuan Shu fled to Jiujiang, trying to separate Yangzhou. Right now, he is attacking the city everywhere. Laugh at me and wait!"

Extra thank you words: "Thank you Junzibai book friends for their monthly support, thank you book friends cljsscg and robysad79 for your monthly support, every time Xiaoqi makes progress, there is a mark of support from book friends, Zhong Lang will always remember it in his heart. Thank you!"

Chapter 476 The Heart of a Hero is Unfathomable

Chapter 476 The Heart of a Hero is Unfathomable

Cao Cao nodded slightly, and pondered thoughtfully: "Yuan Shu has more than [-] troops, and his strength should not be underestimated. It will be a matter of time to occupy Yangzhou. However, Yangzhou is located in a corner, and there is more than enough self-preservation and no aggressiveness. It is by no means a place to achieve hegemony. .So he wants to occupy Yangzhou. No one from the princes of the Central Plains will rob him. Let him take it. It may not be easy for him to return to the Central Plains in the future.”

"Boom!"

Just as Cao Cao was speaking, there was another thunderclap in his ears, and then a strong wind suddenly picked up, whistling, and the battle flag was raised and roared.

Facing the direction of the wind, Cao Cao could feel the moisture in the wind, and it was obvious that it was going to rain soon.

Immediately, Cao Cao raised his hand to signal to Cao Hong and others not to say more, but the brows that had been frowned just now relaxed, and there was still a relaxed smile on his face.He smiled and said: "The heavens are beautiful. Knowing that our army has been fighting for a month and needs to rest urgently, so it rained just in time. This is also good. The whole army takes advantage of the rainy day to rest for two days. Tao Qian will fight to the death!"

After a pause, Cao Cao ordered in a deep voice: "Cao Hong, order the Chinese army to retreat slowly to the camp! Order Cao Ren to withdraw troops, stop here for today, and fight again in another day. The whole army withdraws!"

"Promise!" Cao Hong immediately surrendered his command and rushed to the central army, commanding the rear of the army to change to the front and withdraw to the camp.

"Ding Ding Ding"

A burst of clear and crisp golden sounds suddenly spread, and spread quickly with the strong wind, spreading to the ears of everyone in Tancheng.

"Report" Just as Cao Cao reined in his horse and was about to return to the camp with the Chinese army, a fast horse came galloping from the direction of the camp.

Before reaching him, the sentry cavalry flew off his horse, and ran to Cao Cao's war horse in three steps at a time: "My lord, I just received two urgent letters from Liushou Mansion in Dongjun and Yuan Shao in Jizhou!"

While speaking, the scout took out two brocade bags from his arms.He got up and handed it to Cao Cao.

"Oh?" Cao Cao looked slightly startled, leaned over to take the brocade bag, and unwrapped the secret letter sent by Yuan Shao, while muttering in a low voice: "Yuan Benchu ​​knew that I was leading the army to attack Xuzhou but sent the secret letter, I think there must be something important! It’s just that Yuan Rang, Wen Ruo and others stayed in the county mansion, so what’s the matter this time?”

"Ah!" Cao Cao, who was muttering to himself, had just finished speaking, and before he had time to shut up, he exclaimed in surprise, because at this time the first line of words in Yuan Shao's letter came into view: "Meng De, how you met: 20 days ago , Li Li from Xiliang escaped from Jizhou"

After reading the letter quickly.Cao Cao frowned, his expression was solemn, and his eyes showed great regret.Then he picked up the letter again and read it again, but this time he examined it carefully and in detail.For fear of missing a word.

After a while, Cao Cao rolled up the letter and stuffed it into his arms.Put it away carefully.He sighed with regret in his tone: "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it just slipped away! Yuan Benchu, Yuan Benchu, you can't kill Li Wenchang this time, I'm afraid you won't have a chance in this life, maybe you will die in the future." In his hands!"

After speaking, Cao Cao seemed to be still angry.He whispered: "Yuan Benchu, you are such an idiot! Watching Li thief abduct the most wealthy businessman in the Central Plains, but you are still kept in the dark! You didn't realize it until Li thief was gone. Now He even urged me to make a quick decision, and the Queen of Autumn jointly sent troops to attack Li Bandit! Hey, the opportunity is not lost, and the time will never come again, and I will never find such a good opportunity in the future!"

While speaking, the expression on Cao Cao's face was extremely complex, sometimes angry, sometimes regretful, sometimes gnashing his teeth, sometimes lonely and sad.

When Xia Houyuan urged him that the Chinese army had already withdrawn, Cao Cao suddenly woke up, forcibly calmed down, and rode his horse straight to the camp.

After a long while, Cao Cao, who had already returned to the central army tent, still did not recover and was still immersed in the secret letter sent by Yuan Shao.He didn't completely calm down until the wind lanterns were lit in the big tent and night had fallen.

At this time, there was the sound of rain falling outside the tent, and the sky and night were getting darker, and it was three o'clock in Xu o'clock.

Seeing that the soldiers brought the dinner, Cao Cao suddenly remembered that there was a letter in his arms, which was an urgent letter from Xiahou Dun.

"Ah!" The moment Cao Cao unfolded the letter, Cao Cao exclaimed again, and suddenly got up from behind the handsome table, his expression of surprise was still higher than Yuan Shao's letter.

Perhaps Cao Cao himself didn't realize that after receiving these two secret letters, he lost his composure twice and exclaimed aloud.

This kind of thing was hard to see in his Cao Cao in the past, and there were very few things that could make him lose his composure.Two years ago, Wang Yun and Lu Bu conspired to kill Dong Zhuo, and he was not surprised when he received the news; then Li Jue and Guo Si captured Chang'an and forced Lv Bu to leave, and beheaded Wang Yun, he was not surprised either, because these things happened as early as his As expected.However, Li Jue and Guo Si were then annexed by Wuwei Li Li, which was beyond his expectation and really surprised him.

Today's two secret letters made Cao Cao exclaim twice because of Li Li, because the contents of these two volumes of letters are all related to Li Li.

In his letter, Yuan Shao briefly described how Li Li secretly sneaked into Jizhou to persuade the Zhen family in Zhongshan to relocate. Li Li missed each other and did not meet, and did not know Li Li's true identity until after the event.Therefore, Yuan Shao was worried that Li Li would have the strength to march into the Central Plains with the support of the Zhen family consortium. It would not be long before the Xiliang army would change.

In addition, Yuan Shao also suspected that Li Li had long had ambitions to plot the Central Plains, and that he sneaked into Jizhou before was to personally find out the truth.In view of this, Yuan Shao planned to act first and united with the princes of the towns in the Central Plains to raise troops to conquer Lili in Xiliang.And the first time he sent a letter to Cao Cao, he wanted to get Cao Cao to contact the princes of the towns together, just like the alliance of princes defeated Dong Zhuo back then, and jointly deal with Li Li.

The secret letter sent by Xiahou Dun, the governor of the East County, is also related to Li Li in Xiliang.There were not many words on the letter, but the content in it surprised Cao Cao. He was very upset and worried, and he was even more worried about Xiahou Dun's safety.

Xiahou Dun said in the letter that he received a secret report from Yuan Shao's envoy half a month ago, saying that Li Li from Xiliang was in Hanoi County, and he immediately rushed to Hanoi County with [-] dead Xiahou family members overnight.It's a pity that Xiahou Dun and his party came one step late after all. Li Li and others did stay in Hanoi for one night, but when he arrived with his people.Li Li has left Hanoi County and returned to Anyi Camp.

However, Xiahou Dun did not give up. He led people to sneak into Sili secretly, lurking in Hedong County, keeping a close eye on the guards, always paying attention to the movement of the Anyi camp, trying to find opportunities to get rid of Li Li.Moreover, he also clearly told Cao Cao in the letter that as long as he found Li Li's whereabouts, he would lead people to follow him.If you don't kill Li Li, you will never stop!

After reading Xiahoudun's secret letter, Cao Cao was both happy, angry and worried. It can be said that he had mixed feelings and mixed feelings.What he likes is that Xiahou Dun is so courageous.He is brave and good at fighting, this time he has the courage to sneak around Anyi.Waiting for the opportunity to assassinate Li Li; only with this courage and courage.Let Cao Cao look at him with admiration.What made Cao Cao angry was that Xiahou Dun was the general he stayed in Dongjun to guard his lair, but now Xiahou Dun suddenly left Yanzhou and brought his family's dead men to chase and kill Li Li. Wouldn't it be dangerous if his lair was attacked by other princes!

Cao Cao knew why Xiahou Dun hated Li Li so much.He must be killed.Because Xiahou Dun had a long-standing hatred for Li Li, for more than three years, he almost always wanted to kill Li Li for revenge.

Three years ago, it was also March in Yangchun.Xiahou Dun was ordered to lead 3000 pieces to Chenliu City to help Zhang Miao defend the city. Li Dian was the deputy general and went with him.Later, due to wrong information, Xia Houdun and Li Dian were lured to lead [-] soldiers to attack Li Jue's camp. As a result, they fell into the trap set by Li Li in advance. None of the [-] soldiers escaped, they were killed or captured alive. He was caught by Li Li.After the war, Li Dian, the deputy general, was captured and then joined Li Li; nearly [-] soldiers were recruited by Li Li, and all the others were killed and their bodies were thrown into the wilderness.

Xiahou Dun himself fell into the trap. Fortunately, the horse was under him, so he didn't die on the spot. However, he was seriously injured by the soldiers and horses crushed on him, and passed out.Afterwards, he was mixed with the corpses of more than 1000 soldiers who were murdered, dragged to a mass grave by Xiliang soldiers, and dumped in the wilderness.Fortunately, the Xiliang soldiers did not check the corpses one by one, so that Xiahoudun survived the serious injury, and then took advantage of the night to rush on the road and fled back to Dongjun.

Afterwards, Xiahou Dun recuperated for four months before recovering from his injuries.Since then, he has never eaten meat again, and every night he would dream of himself struggling desperately in the pit, and he often woke up in the middle of the night with nightmares.Therefore, he kept this hatred in his heart all the time, thinking about revenge on Li Li day and night.Up to now, this hatred has been accumulated in his heart for three years, tormenting him all the time, making him restless and having nightmares.

Cao Cao had no objection to Xiahou Dun killing Li Li for revenge, but what he was most worried about was that it would not be easy to kill Li Li.

Leaving aside the fact that Li Li has many powerful generals under his command, Li Li himself is a battle-tested, ruthless character who kills people like hemp.Judging from the Xiliang information collected by Xizuo, when Li Li went to Wuwei County to take office, he repeatedly charged forward, beheading generals and killing countless enemies; Become the overlord of Xiliang.

The most eye-catching thing is that Li Li beheaded Cheng Yin with a single knife while being wounded, defeated the leader of the Pegasus Pirates Huan Fei with three hundred swords in half an hour, beheaded Zhang Xiu in three rounds in the Chang'an Battle, and so on. .This series of achievements shows that Li Li himself is a strong man with extremely high martial arts skills.

Since then, if Xiahou Dun wanted to assassinate Li Li, he could just pay back with one hit; if he missed one hit, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although Cao Cao believed in the martial arts of his elder brother Xiahou Dun, he believed that even though his martial arts was not as good as Lu Bu, he could be compared with the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang.However, when Cao Cao thought of the Northern Spear King Zhang Xiu losing to Li Li for three rounds, he would naturally think that Li Li was able to slash three hundred knives in half an hour. Such a fierce person is really rare in the world. Unheard of.If the information is true, then Xiliang Li Lizhi's bravery is not inferior to Wen Hou Lu Bu, even though the two have never formally fought against each other.

Because of this, Cao Cao was very worried that Xiahou Dun would not be able to take revenge, but would be beheaded by Li Li instead.If this is the case, he, Cao Cao, not only lost one of the warriors on the battlefield and his trusted brothers, but also forged a big enmity with Li Li from Xiliang, and he was in the same position as fire and water.