Chapter 369 Anyi Turmoil

Outside Anyi City, the two Cao armies, one in front and one behind, had joined forces.

Inside Cao's army tent, Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan knelt on one knee on the ground with a look of shame on their faces, not daring to raise their heads.

The person sitting at the top was actually Cao Cao!

No one expected that he would personally take risks and lead his troops to travel hundreds of miles from Yanzhou to Hedong, just to take charge of the situation personally!

Behind Cao Cao, one on the left and one on the right, stood two young men.

Eldest son Cao Ang, nephew Cao Anmin.

These are the two most respected people among the younger generation of the Cao family. In order to train them, Cao Cao has brought them with him whenever there was a war in the past few years and taught them carefully.

The next in line were Xun You and other generals from Cao's camp. Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan wanted to plead guilty as soon as they met up with Cao Cao because they had not taken Huaicheng.

Cao Cao was still brooding over the fact that he had not taken Huaicheng, as this cut off his retreat. Even if he captured the emperor, if someone tried to stop him, he would be in a dilemma.

But he knew that this was not the time to pursue the matter. The most important thing at the moment was to welcome the emperor, so he waved his hand and said, "Forget it, it was an accident, not the fault of the war, you can get up first."

After hearing this, Xiahou Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up. However, Cao Ren keenly noticed the word "first" in the words and thought to himself that Mingshou is still brooding over it.

Come to think of it, without taking Huaicheng, we are already isolated. Even if we welcome the emperor, we have to fight for a way back, and this road is not easy.

With Li Jue and Guo Si to the west, Yuan Shu to the south, the Black Mountain Army to the north, and Lu Bu to the east, it seems that the country is surrounded by heavy enemies.

He didn't dare to speak, so he lowered his head and stepped aside with Xiahou Yuan.

Cao Ren guessed correctly. Although Cao Cao pretended to be calm on the surface, he was actually feeling extremely aggrieved.

It's not that he didn't leave himself a way out, the Montenegrin Army was just a hidden move.

Even if Cao Ren failed to capture Huaicheng, if Cao's army captured the emperor, they could go north and enter from the Black Mountain Army's territory, then go out of Jizhou and go south, and then return to Yanzhou, thus avoiding Yuan Shu and Lu Bu in the south.

Although the Black Mountain Army was fighting with Yuan Shang, they were concentrated at the central pass of Black Mountain in Zhao County. The southern pass in Wei County was still passable.

But the bad thing was that the Youzhou army sent two armies south in succession, one of which was led by Zhao Yun and Ju Su, and they destroyed Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan's plan to seize Huaicheng.

The other army was actually led by the fierce tiger of the Yuan family, who happened to block the South Pass. Moreover, news came that the fierce tiger actually killed Yang Chou, the hidden chess piece he had planted!

Yang Chou is actually very important to Cao Cao. He is not only a subordinate of Zhang Yang, but also has close ties with the Black Mountain Army. As long as he is alive, he can tip off the Black Mountain Army and even be used to alienate the relationship between Zhang Yang and Lu Bu.

As long as the rumor spreads that Zhang Yang was doing something pretentious, Lu Bu, who is suspicious, will definitely become suspicious of Zhang Yang. Once Huaicheng is in chaos, Cao's army will have an opportunity to take advantage.

But after killing Yang Chou, the ferocious tiger actually joined forces with Lu Bu, sat in Huaicheng, and repelled the Black Mountain army at the southern pass of Black Mountain. This made things very troublesome!

Cao Cao felt that he could not see through this ferocious tiger from the Yuan family. Was it intentional or just a coincidence that the other party blocked his path?

Could it be that the other party had been prepared for what he had done?

Thinking about what this ferocious tiger had done in the past two years, which had secretly restrained his plans and caused him to fail several times, Cao Cao was horrified when he thought about it.

Could it be true, as Cao Chun said, that there was a traitor among his subordinates?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

He slowly scanned the crowd, as if trying to find someone with an unnatural expression.

When everyone saw that Cao Cao had a sullen face and didn't speak, they didn't dare to breathe and lowered their heads.

Cao Cao looked at the generals under his command: Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Le Jin and Yu Jin. Most of the generals under his command were present.

Then there was the big man standing at the door of the tent.

He has a broad back, strong muscles, is eight feet tall and weighs more than two hundred pounds, like an iron tower. The two short spears in his hands, although made of ordinary iron, have a special feature.

Heavy!

The double halberds weigh a total of 80 kilograms, 39 kilograms for the left hand and 41 kilograms for the right hand. There are almost no people who can use such heavy weapons in combat on foot or even on horseback!

You know, if a weapon weighs more than 20 kilograms, it will have almost no practical value because the swinging speed will be greatly reduced.

The weight of these two halberds is almost the same as the stone locks used by generals in martial arts training. They can be used to build strength, but how can they be used to chop people?

The double short spears used by Lu Lingqi weighed no more than ten pounds in total. She also tried to make the weapons heavier, but found that they were inconvenient to swing. Although the lethality was higher, the swinging speed was greatly reduced. If she couldn't hit anyone, it was useless.

Now, Dian Wei held this 40-jin short spear in his hand and shook it gently, as if he was holding a very light toy.

He also constantly used double halberds to increase the strength of his arms. He was indeed a famous martial arts fanatic in Cao's camp!

Cao Cao retracted his gaze. It was unlikely that these people present would betray him. Even if there was a traitor, would he just stop doing anything?

Moreover, Cao Cao was certain that among his subordinates, there were definitely spies from Yuan Shao, regardless of whether there were any spies like Xiong Hu. However, it was better to guard against the open ones than the secret ones, so in the end it all depended on strength.

The reason why Yuan Shao left him alone was because he felt that his strength was still weak. Otherwise, how could he have the chance to welcome the emperor?

Cao Cao felt that although his expansion of power in the past two years was not as good as expected, he had accumulated a lot of trump cards, and the next two years would be his best opportunity.

After Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, although it seemed like a great victory, Gongsun Zan was no mediocre person. The last battle had actually caused Yuan Shao a lot of damage, not to mention the deaths of many elite soldiers, but also the emptying of Jizhou's granary. The food obtained from Yijing was far from enough to make up for the deficit.

Xun You, Cheng Yu and others estimated that it would take at least two to three years for Jizhou to fully recover.

This is also the reason why Jizhou was hesitant when planning to send troops to Montenegro. It was because they were afraid that it would be dragged into a war of attrition and Jizhou would not be able to support it.

Compared to Yuan Shao, what gave Cao Cao more of a headache was the ferocious tiger from the Yuan family!

He seems to be warmongering and has been fighting non-stop in the past two years, but in fact the number of troops he mobilizes is not large. Most of the time, the number of troops is suppressed to several thousand, and he often uses city sieges to reduce losses.

In several major battles fought by the Youzhou army under his command, from the Battle of Qingzhou to the Battle of Yijing, and then to the Battle of Xuzhou, he used others as the main force, but the Youzhou army itself did not suffer much losses. Step by step, its power gradually grew quietly.

This time, Youzhou also made use of Yuan Shang's army and Lu Bu's army!

Thinking of this, Cao Cao became more alert. This guy was too troublesome. If possible, it would be best to get rid of him as soon as possible!

He looked around at everyone and said, "The emperor is now in Anyi City, and the city is controlled by the Baibo Army."

"A few dozen miles west of Anyi is the Liangzhou Army led by Li Jue and Guo Si, and possibly Zhang Ji."

"Yuan Shu's army is coming from Luoyang in the south."

"In a few days to the east, Lu Bu and the Youzhou army will arrive."

"We haven't received the emperor's order yet, so we didn't enter the city just now in order to let the Baibo bandits in the city relax their vigilance, but we can't keep doing this."

"We have to find a way to enter the city, and I want to hear your opinions."

"War or peace?"

"Who to fight and who to make peace with?"

After hearing this, all the generals began to discuss the matter. They all felt that the Baibo bandits were not as good as Cao's army, but if the Baibo bandits refused to defend the city of Anyi, Cao's army would suffer heavy losses if they attacked the city.

At this time, Xun You said slowly: "You has something to say."

"Most of the Baibo bandits are mountain peasant bandits, their military discipline is lax and they are vulnerable to attack."

"But if he threatens the emperor and makes us afraid to act rashly, it will be difficult to deal with."

"Even if we can defeat them, we won't be able to retain enough strength to deal with the other enemies."

"But we can't delay any longer. We must fight quickly and decisively, otherwise our food and fodder will become a problem."

Cao Chun said, "I want to break into the city at night and kill all the Baibo bandits!"

Cao Ren objected, "The Baibo bandits are not stupid. They were able to repel Li Jue and Guo Si. They won't be easily stolen."

Cao Chun had nothing to say, but he always felt that what Cao Ren said seemed strange?

Xun You said: "Now is the time to use strategy."

"If we can cause the White Wave bandits to revolt among themselves, or attack others, and thus weaken them both, our chances of success will greatly increase."

"And we must have a legitimate reason to fight and obtain the emperor's edict to quell the rebellion, so that the world can be convinced."

Cao Cao listened and nodded, saying, "Gongda's words are very much in line with my opinion!"

He waved his hand to let everyone leave, and asked Xun You to stay, and asked: "Who is the best person to fight against?"

Xun Yu smiled and said, "Of course it's the largest one around the emperor."

"The emperor is already wary of him. If he gets desperate, he will definitely ask for help from us who are closest to him. All we need now is a push."

So that day several secret letters were sent from Cao's camp, brought into the city by spies, and handed over to several people.

That night, rumors began to spread among the ministers and even the common people in Anyi City that Dong Cheng was secretly colluding with others to kill Yang Feng and Han Xian!

The news soon reached Yang Feng and Han Xian, and they immediately became restless. Dong Cheng was the most powerful person around Emperor Liu Xie. Not only did he have the support of many ministers, he also had his own personal soldiers. If he had the intention to kill the Baibo bandits, they would be in danger!

It's better to strike first!

As for whether this rumor is true or not, they did not bother to verify it. So what if it is false?

The Baibo bandits will break with Dong Cheng sooner or later, and now they just need an excuse!

I'm really dozing off, someone bring me a pillow!

Yang Feng and Han Xian immediately mobilized the Baibo bandits in the city to attack Dong Cheng's camp. Dong Cheng was caught off guard and suffered heavy losses. While struggling to resist, he ran to Liu Xie and cried.

He still has some soldiers now, but they were dispersed in a short time and could not launch an effective counterattack. He could only pin his hopes on Liu Xie.

He knelt on the ground, crying and saying, "Your Majesty! Please save my life!"

Liu Xie looked at Dong Cheng lying on the ground and felt somewhat pleased. You have come to this day?

But Liu Xie understood that Dong Cheng could not die, otherwise there would be no one around him who could fight against the Baibo bandits, and he would completely become a puppet at the mercy of others.

Liu Xie immediately said, "Don't worry, I will mediate for you."

Liu Xie asked the palace maids to convey a message to the Baibo bandits to mediate, but the response from the maids was that Dong Cheng had deceived the emperor and deserved to be put to death, so the Baibo bandits only killed him.

After hearing this, Dong Cheng's face turned pale and he kowtowed desperately. When Dong Guiren, who was standing nearby, saw this, she also knelt down and burst into tears.

Liu Xie thought to himself, I don't have a single soldier now, what else can I do?

At this time, a man walked out and said, "Your Majesty, the Baibo bandits are becoming more and more reckless. If they continue like this, they will cause trouble sooner or later. We should eradicate them as soon as possible."

Liu Xie took a quick look and saw that it was Zhong Yao who spoke.