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Cao Bao and Chen Deng actually returned at the same time, which was much better than Tao Qianzhi's expectations.

"Oh! It seems that it was a failure!" Tao Qian sighed in his heart. It was indeed unexpected for the two of them to return at the same time, but the situation of the battle was clear at a glance. How could Tao Qian not see it?

"What is the situation of the battle ahead?" With Pang Ji, an outsider, Tao Qian could only ask in a pretended way.

"This..." Cao Bao stammered and couldn't say it.

"Lord!" Chen Deng knew that he could not escape, so he knelt down and apologized: "Deng has lost his trust in the lord, not only will he lose his troops and generals, but he will also lose Xuyi City. Please give up the lord!"

Tao Qian had already expected the two of them to be defeated, so he didn't care. Instead, he comforted him: "Yuanlong doesn't have to care! I think that Yuan Shu is scattered south, and there is no one to defeat Yuanlong. The defeat of Yuanlong is understandable."

Chen Deng felt extremely embarrassed when he heard this. He understood that Tao Qian didn't know that they had lost a total of 40,000 troops, otherwise there would never be a word of comfort.

Cao Bao didn't understand why, and when he saw that Tao Qian did not blame him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then said first: "Lord! Yuan Jun is unimaginable. The battle of Xuyi has lost a total of 40,000 troops! If it weren't for the last general..."

"What?" Before Cao Bao finished speaking, Tao Qian glared and shouted: "Forty thousand soldiers have been lost?!"

Everyone in the venue was also full of horror. What Cao Bao said was too incredible.

"That's right." Seeing Tao Qian's face was not kind, Cao Bao suddenly lost his heart and replied weakly.

Tao Qian's face was horrified and surprised.

At this time, Chen Gui suddenly asked, "There is only 20,000 troops in Xuyi City, how can it be a loss of 40,000?"

Cao Bao glanced at Chen Gui, and a sneer flashed across his face.

"The lord doesn't know that Yuan's army attacked Xuyi City, and the defenders in the city could not resist the enemy, so Yuanlong sent an urgent document to Jiangdu. The last general was worried about the safety of Xuyi, and was afraid that Yuanlong would be harmed by Yuan's army, so he sent 30,000 troops to rescue him. Unexpectedly, he was ambushed by Yuan's army and almost wiped out the entire army." Cao Bao ignored Chen Gui and told Tao Qian the whole story with added fuel to the fire.

"Thirty thousand troops, the entire army was wiped out?" Tao Qian couldn't believe it.

Chen Gui looked very bad and looked at Chen Deng.

Chen Deng knew what Chen Gui meant, sighed and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Chen Gui's heart sank slightly, and his face instantly became extremely gloomy. However, Chen Gui is worthy of being an old fox and quickly recovers with a weak expression, as if he doesn't take these things to heart.

"Where is ten thousand left?" Pang Ji asked blankly. After hearing the bad news, Pang Ji almost lost the ability to think and his expression was dull and unconscious.

"When Yuan's army attacked the city, Xuyi City lost 10,000 defenders." Cao Bao said in pain, his eyes faintly swept over Chen Deng and his son, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Hiss!" Pang Ji took a deep breath. As the defender of the city, he actually lost 10,000 troops. You can imagine how powerful Yuan's army is.

Tao Qian's face turned pale. He was not only for Cao Bao and Chen Deng, but also made him lose face in front of outsiders. At the same time, he was also heartbroken that the loss of 40,000 troops.

"What is the current situation of the war?" Tao Qian asked in a deep voice.

"The last time I will listen to Yuan Long's words, retreat to Huaiyin, and prevent Yuan's army from crossing the river and heading north." Cao Bao simply pushed the matter directly on Chen Deng. He listened to Chen Deng's words and actions. Even if Tao Qian wanted to blame him, the target would be Chen Deng.

"Huaiyin? So, a large area of ​​land on the south bank of the Huai River has been occupied by the Yuan army?" Tao Qian felt very angry. Although the land in southern Xuzhou is not very rich, it has a vast territory and is a deep area of ​​Xuzhou. If you lose the land in the south and have no danger to rely on in the north, Xuzhou will face a huge threat.

"That's right!" Cao Bao replied.

"Do you think Yuan Jun will cross the river north?" His voice trembled slightly. Under great fear, Tao Qian finally revealed his true nature, his face full of fear, showing his true nature.

Compared to Liu Biao, the rabbit, Tao Qian was even worse. Liu Biao was able to make up his mind to compete with Yuan Shu. On the other hand, Tao Qian avoided it. If it weren't for Chen Deng and his son's persuasion, Tao Qian would not dare to provoke Yuan Shu with his own temperament.

"Don't panic, lord, I believe that Yuan's army will definitely not go north! Now under Yuan Shu's rule, the official system is being changed, and there are mountains and rivers in Jiangdong will cause disaster. Before the rear is stable, Yuan Shu will never attack rashly." Chen Deng said lightly.

"That's good!" Tao Qian breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Yuan Jun did not go north, he would be relieved.

When Cao Bao heard this, he frowned slightly. Chen Deng had never told him about these things, and he couldn't help but curse in his heart.

"Okay, Chen Deng, you've actually hidden one hand." Cao Bao glared at Chen Deng fiercely.

At this time, Pang Ji shouted pitifully: "Duke Tao!"

The meaning is obvious.

Seeing this, a hint of helplessness flashed across Tao Qian's face and said apologetically: "Mr. Pang also knows that my Xuzhou has lost a total of 40,000 troops and is really unable to help Jingzhou."

Pang Ji was speechless. Although Xuzhou claimed to have more than 200,000 troops, it was located on the plain and had no danger to defend. The defenders in various places accounted for most of them, and it was almost the limit to be able to dispatch 50,000 troops.

Now that the 40,000 army is lost, only 10,000 troops are left, it is probably not enough to plug the gap between Yuan's army.

"Oh!" sighed, and Pang Ji resigned: "I hope Mr. Tao is forgiven. Pang Ji plans to return to Jingzhou immediately and report this to the lord."

"Mr. Pang will do it!" Tao Qian felt a little guilty and ordered someone to arrange a carriage and horse, give more gold and silver, and send Pang Ji out of the city.

After Pang Ji left, the atmosphere in the lobby suddenly became extremely solemn.

Tao Qian's face was gloomy and glared at Chen Deng and Cao Bao, cursing: "How do you two command? It's simply outrageous that he lost 40,000 troops!"

"Lord, forgive me!" Chen Deng and Cao Bao knelt on the ground one after another.

Cao Bao's eyes rolled, a smirk appeared on his face, and said with a righteous saying: "Lord! The last general said earlier that Yuan Shu was powerful and unmatched, and it was unwise to form an alliance with Jingzhou. But some people were slandering and instigating the lord to establish a strong enemy, which was actually ulterior motives."

Tao Qian frowned slightly, glanced at Chen Deng and his son with a strange look, not knowing what he thought.

Seeing this, Chen Deng hurriedly said, "Lord! This great defeat is not a battle. Yuan's army has a powerful weapon to attack the city, which can launch huge rocks that are big millstones and bombard the city. Every day, countless huge rocks pour down like raindrops. The defenders are panicked. How can they defend the city?"

"I don't expect Yuan Jun to have such a powerful weapon." Tao Qian said hatefully.

"Yuan Long's words are different!" If Chen Deng's words are confirmed, then his guilt can be reduced or even exempted. Cao Bao naturally does not want to let Chen Deng go.

"I have never seen any sharp weapon for throwing stones. Even so, the 30,000 army was almost wiped out. It can be seen that the Yuan army was not rampant with sharp weapons, but its combat power was also strong. It can be seen that this attack on Yuan Shu was an unwise move." Cao Bao was determined to ask Chen Deng and his son to bear the blame for the defeat of this battle, so he turned the topic back to the starting point. After all, it was Chen Deng and his son who persuaded Tao Qian to form an alliance with Jingzhou.

"You!" Chen Deng was speechless. This was the first time he was speechless by Cao Bao.

As Cao Bao said, Yuan's army had strong combat power and did not rely on sharp weapons. For example, when the first siege, although Yuan's army also used a catapult cart, the Xuzhou army was also too strong and far beyond ordinary. This time, it was a duel between the two sides and head-on, and both lost 5,000 troops, and none of them got a good deal.

However, the Xuzhou army occupied geography and had cities as their support. Under such circumstances, the losses were comparable to those of the Yuan army, which was tantamount to a great defeat.

It can be seen that the combat power of the Xuzhou army was far inferior to that of Yuan army, and Tao Qian quickly figured it out.

"This statement makes sense! But it is my fault. I shouldn't provoke Yuan Shu." Tao Qian was quite kind and did not say that he believed in slander, which gave Chen Deng and his son enough face.

After pausing, Tao Qian asked everyone: "Now that he offended Yuan Shu, what should we do?"

"Lord, don't worry! Deng had said before that Yuan Shu would not be able to go north in the short term." Chen Deng said hurriedly.

Tao Qian listened and felt a little relieved.

"Yuan Long said that Yuan army was unable to go north in the short term, but he didn't know what would happen in the long term?" Seeing that Tao Qian did not punish Chen Deng, Cao Bao was very dissatisfied, so as soon as Chen Deng finished speaking, he immediately refuted.

What Cao Bao said was quite reasonable, and Tao Qian's heart was raised again.

Chen Deng was also angry by Cao Bao and said angrily: "Why don't General Cao think we should do?"

...
Chapter completed!