Chapter 441 Volume Meeting on a narrow road!
As a member of Cao Cao’s family, Cao Xiu also went on this expedition and served as Cao Cao’s vanguard.

Cao Xiu first arrived at Shangqiu and captured the city without much effort. He then began to send scouts towards Chenliu.

The purpose of Cao Cao’s Central Plains War this time was to use the armies of Xiahou Yuan and Man Chong to attract Guan Yu’s troops, while he himself would go to Chenliu, and then seize Xu County and retake Henan before Guan Yu and the imperial army in Qingzhou could react.

Sending scouts towards Chenliu now is to explore the military strength of Chenliu and see who Guan Yu has deployed to defend Chenliu.

“General!”

A scout returned to Shangqiu with a panicked look on his face.

“Why are you in such a panic? Could it be that Guan Yu is staying in Chenliu?”

“it’s not true!”

Cao Xiu breathed a sigh of relief: “Who is defending Chenliu?”

“He is a newly promoted general in Guan Yu’s army, named Wei Yan.”

“A nameless person is not worth mentioning!”

When Cao Xiu heard that it was a name he had never heard of before, he immediately became eager to capture Chenliu first and make the first contribution for Cao Cao!
But Cao’s scouts were obviously extremely frightened.

“We didn’t see Guan Yu’s flag, but we heard from the northeast that a cavalry unit was approaching quickly!”

cavalry?

Cao Xiu didn’t care at all. He picked up the pottery cup and drank water to moisten his throat. “What banner is that cavalry flying?”

“It’s Lu Bu!”

Bang!

The ceramic cup in Cao Xiu’s hand fell to the ground, replaced by a look of horror on his face.

He grabbed the man’s shoulder and said, “Did you see clearly? Is it really Lu Bu?”

“It’s really Lu Bu! There’s no doubt about it!”

“Why is Lu Bu here?”

Scout: …

If he could answer that, he would not have been a scout long ago.

But Cao Xiu was extremely confused at this moment!

How come Lu Bu suddenly appeared here?

Shouldn’t he join the emperor in encircling and suppressing Yuan Tan in Qingzhou?

Is it…

Cao Xiu was immediately horrified: “Pass the order! Change the flag of Shangqiu to the flag of the Han army!”

“Quickly send a message to the rear that Lu Bu is here! There must be no mistakes!”

That’s Lu Bu!
Cao Xiu’s scalp suddenly felt numb!

At this time, he would even rather that the enemy general facing him was Guan Yu!
Compared to Guan Yu, Lu Bu’s reputation is obviously more terrifying!
Just the fact that he was conferred the title of General of Cavalry and Marquis of Champion, and his achievements of conquering the Wolf’s Lair and drinking from the vast sea in the north, is a monument that countless people can only dream of!
The God of War of the time! Unrivaled in the world!
No matter how conceited Cao Xiu was, he did not think he could compete with Lu Bu.

So the only way now is –

Play dead!

Cao Xiu could only pray that Lu Bu failed to notice the abnormality in Shangqiu during the rapid march and let him go!
Otherwise, once discovered by Lu Bu, Cao Xiu’s vanguard army would have only one outcome, and that would be complete annihilation!
……

Cao Cao and Guo Jia in the rear felt even worse after receiving Cao Xiu’s military intelligence letter.

“Why is Lu Bu here?”

Guo Jia was shocked at first, then he realized something and looked towards the north with mixed feelings.

“Mingsir, I am afraid I have misjudged your position in the heart of the emperor.”

“Even though you only have Huainan and Xuzhou left, the emperor still regards you as a serious threat. Even when he has an absolute advantage, he still plans to attack Xuzhou first!”

When Guo Jia heard that Lu Bu appeared here, even if the guess was impossible, he had no choice but to believe it.

The emperor really planned carefully and deceived Cao Cao into thinking that the court would send troops only next year.

The emperor was able to let go of Yuan Tan’s offense to the entire Han Dynasty. He unexpectedly gave up attacking Qingzhou and chose to attack Xuzhou first.

In order to deal with Cao Cao, the emperor even used Zhang Fei and Xu Huang, two pillars of the country, and even his own dragon banner to cover Lu Bu’s thundering attack!
All of this was done to kill Cao Cao with one sword, so that he could never jump up again!

At this moment, Guo Jia really wanted to ask Liu Xie on behalf of Cao Cao –

As for?
As for?
Is it necessary to use such a formation to deal with a defeated general?

Speaking of grudges, Yuan Tan, as Yuan Shao’s eldest son and the first to become king, is much more hateful than Cao Cao!

In terms of power, Sun Ce, who occupied Jiangdong and had the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, was much stronger than Cao Cao, who only had half of Huainan and Xuzhou left!

But why, why did the emperor put so much effort into dealing with Cao Cao?
Could it be that the emperor really thinks that Cao Cao’s threat is greater than that of Yuan Tan and Sun Ce combined?
Guo Jia thought of the time when he was in Luoyang, when he was captured by the emperor just for giving his name…

The emperor’s intuition in some aspects is a little too terrifying!
Just when Guo Jia was becoming flustered by Lu Bu’s appearance, a heavy hand suddenly rested on Guo Jia’s shoulder.

Looking back, it was Cao Cao.

But it was different from Guo Jia’s fear of being targeted by the emperor.

At this moment, Cao Cao was full of fighting spirit and high spirits.

A few strands of silver hair ravaged by time were combed into the temples, shining brightly in the sun.

“Looking around the world, how many people can be used by the emperor in such a way?”

“The emperor values ​​me, Cao Mengde, so much. Shouldn’t I feel lucky?”

Lu Bu’s appearance is indeed frustrating.

But that is only for ordinary people… After a brief moment of surprise, Cao Cao was delighted!

Extremely happy!

Among all the people the emperor has dealt with over the years, has there ever been anyone who could have been treated like Cao Cao?
Then there is Yuan Shao, the overlord of Hebei.

So is Ke Bineng, the proud hero of the grassland.

Who else could be treated with such care by the emperor?
And not just this time.

Even in the Battle of Hebei, the emperor chose to attack Henan first, and his plan to defeat Cao Cao in one fell swoop was actually a deliberate targeting!
During the Battle of Yingshui, the sudden appearance of Pang De and Pang Tong’s troops was also a special troop arranged by the emperor to head towards Xuchang. If there had not been that troop, the outcome of the Battle of Yingshui would have been rewritten long ago!

Just as Cao Cao said, who else in this world could be targeted by the emperor at such great pains?
“In that case, it would be rude not to reciprocate!”

At this moment, Cao Cao was not frightened by the sudden appearance of Lu Bu. Instead, he was eager to try!

Different from Cao Xiu.

A strong man only swings his sword at those who are even stronger than him!

Cao Cao wanted to see whether Lu Fengxian, the unrivaled one in the world, was really invincible!
Faced with Cao Cao’s sudden rise, Guo Jia was first stunned, then surprised, and then smiled with relief.

Obviously, Cao Cao once again proved to Guo Jia that Guo Jia’s choice was not wrong!

“Mingsir, Lu Bu’s cavalry went ahead, it must be a surprise attack.”

“Qiao County and Huainan are both deep in our army’s heartland. The emperor is a man who knows military affairs. It is obvious that he would not allow Lu Bu to go deep into the enemy’s territory alone.”

“Therefore, Lu Bu is most likely going to Pengcheng to seize Xuzhou and cut off Yuan Tan’s contact with us.”

Guo Jia closed his eyes, and the entire terrain and cities of the Central Plains appeared in his mind like a sand table.

“Fortunately, Wenlie (Cao Xiu’s courtesy name) did a good job and changed the flags on the wall of Shangqiu… and Lu Bu was on the march and probably didn’t notice that Shangqiu had changed hands.”

“In that case…”

Guo Jia said sorry to Lu Bu in his heart.

“We can send a detachment from Shangqiu to cut off Lü Bu’s retreat.”

“But the premise is that Pengcheng must be defended first, and Lu Bu must not be allowed to break through!”

Cao Cao expressed his approval of Guo Jia’s strategy.

Cao Cao’s biggest advantage now is that Lu Bu doesn’t even know that Cao Cao is heading north.

Moreover, Cao Xiu’s quick response did not reveal the whereabouts of Cao’s army.

According to Guo Jia’s analysis, it is indeed possible to cut off Lu Bu’s retreat and surround Lu Bu!

“besides……”

Cao Cao added: “The emperor is probably still in Qingzhou waiting for the good news that Lü Bu has conquered Pengcheng. The dragon banner will not turn around easily.”

“But the soldiers in Chenliu may be able to rush to support and rescue Lu Bu.”

“So we must be on guard against the defenders of Chenliu!”

Chen Liu?

Guo Jia thought about it and shook his head with a smile.

“Guan Yu’s main force is not there. Wen Lie said it was just a young general named Wei Yan. You don’t have to worry about it!”

But Cao Cao did not listen to Guo Jia’s advice.

“How does Fengxiao know that a nobody today won’t become famous in the world one day?”

“In the past, Liu Bei was just a mat weaver and shoe seller, but now he is a pillar of the state, the governor of Beiting Protectorate, ruling over the three tribes of barbarians and protecting the border… When he fled from the plains that day, who could have guessed that he would have such a great reputation today?”

Guo Jia glanced at Cao Cao carefully.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Guo Jia seems to be able to hear a hint of envy for Liu Bei from Cao Cao’s tone…

“In that case, leave some troops behind to contain Wei Yan in Chenliu.”

Cao Cao asked again: “Who is defending Pengcheng now?”

“It is General Che Zhou, and Mi Fang is appointed as the garrison commander of Pengcheng.”

When Cao Cao heard Che Zhou’s name, he felt relieved.

But when I heard Mi Fang’s name, my heart skipped a beat for no reason…

Since Cao Cao took control of Xuzhou, countless wealthy families in Xuzhou have defected to Cao Cao, including the Mi family, a wealthy merchant family in Xuzhou.

After Cao Cao was defeated at the Yingshui River, he needed the support of the Mi family even more, so he promised Mi Zhu and Mi Fang high positions and generous salaries.

But in the end, only his younger brother Mi Fang accepted the position of Prime Minister of Pengcheng. As for Mi Zhu, he used the excuse of being ill and refused to accept the official position from Cao Cao.

But some people also say that Mi Zhu refused to accept Cao Cao’s official position because he was attached to the Han Dynasty…

Cao Cao didn’t care about these rumors at first.

After all, what he wanted was the Mi family’s money, not their hearts. So what if Mi Zhu was obsessed with the Han Dynasty?
But we cannot ignore these potential risks now.

“Transfer Mi Fang to be the governor of Guangling and have him take up the post immediately!”

“Here!”

Someone immediately wrote Cao Cao’s words into an order and sent it towards Pengcheng.

Although Guo Jia felt that Cao Cao’s approach was a bit too simple and crude, when he thought that it was wartime, there was nothing wrong with being simple and crude.

“As long as General Che Zhou can hold Lu Bu back for a few days, our army will be able to cut off Lu Bu’s retreat and make him return in defeat!”

(End of this chapter)