In 195, the second year of Xingping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, in February of the spring.

Under the city of Guangling, Xuzhou, Cao's army camp.

In the central army's tent, Cao Mengde sat upright on his head.

"Guangling City has high walls, with Lu Bu and Liu Bei inside, Sun Ce and Ji Ling outside, and horns inside and outside, watching over each other, and it is difficult to attack. Do you guys have a plan to defeat the enemy?"

"Master!"

A general under the hall clasped his fists and said, "The last general only needs 20,000 troops, and he will be able to defeat the enemy in three days. He will offer the enemy general's head to the lord's tent!"

Cao Mengde smiled when he heard this: "Don't be anxious."

It turned out to be General Xu Huang and Xu Gongming.

Xu Gongming, newly joined Cao Mengde's tent, was eager to make contributions, so he took the initiative to ask for battle.

This is a long story. Cao Mengde was in Yanzhou the previous year, and at the end of the year he sent someone to Langya, Xuzhou to ask his father Cao Song. Unexpectedly, Cao Song was killed on the road. Cao Mengde was so sad that he was angry, so he set up a large army to attack Xuzhou.

The result of this matter is exactly the same as what Zhao Yu and Cao Mengde discussed at the time, but the process was a mistake. Zhao Yu and Cao Mengde originally planned to escape, make Cao Song fake death, and then rely on Tao Gongzu of Xuzhou to attack Xuzhou on this ground and take Xuzhou into his pocket.

However, before Cao Mengde's plan to escape from the shell was implemented, Cao Song was killed.

This matter is very important. In addition to Cao Mengde himself and Tao Qian, there is another black hand. It was this black hand that launched in advance, disrupting Cao Mengde's plan and causing him to lose his father.

The ending may be what Cao Mengde expected, but the process made Cao Mengde feel in pain.

In anger, Cao Mengde set up all his troops to attack Xuzhou. Within a month, he went to the East China Sea, dozens of counties in Pengcheng, and surrounded Xia Pi. Tao Gongzu had a large army of 100,000, but he could not do it. At the critical moment, he could only ask for help. Liu Bei and Yuan Shu were all here.

Just when Cao Mengde was planning to attack Xia Pi and kill Tao Qian, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others formed Lu Bu outside and attacked Yanzhou, causing a fire in the backyard.

Cao Mengde then returned to Yanzhou. As early as Cao Mengde's plan, although Lu Bu had the help of Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, he actually fell into Cao Mengde's trap. Once he entered Yanzhou, he was trapped in the quagmire. He was attacked by Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren who had been waiting for a long time, and it was difficult for him to protect himself, let alone occupy Yanzhou!

Only then did Chen Gong realize that the rebellion had been discovered by Cao Mengde. In an anxious mood, he sent someone to contact Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong. However, Li Jue and Guo Si were in conflict at this time, and it was just in internal conflict. Lu Bu Chen Gong had to send people to join Yuan Shu, while sending people to Hanoi to invite Baibo thieves Yang Feng and others to attack Yanzhou together.

Just as Cao Mengde returned to his army, a great battle, Lu Bu lost consecutively and fled in panic. Yuan Shu sent the general Ji Ling north, but was blocked by Cao Ren and could not enter outside Yingchuan. The Baibo thief Yang Feng led his army to cross the river, but was beheaded by Xiahou Yuan in Luoyang and surrendered to his crowd. Xu Huang was under Yang Feng's hands at that time. After surrendering, he was appreciated by Xiahou Yuan, so he recommended it to Cao Mengde.

After the war, Cao Mengde calmed the people and cleaned up the rebels in Yanzhou. He was almost too much, and many powerful families were uprooted. At the same time, he dispatched troops and ordered Cao Ren to be the governor of the Southern Army, heading south to Yuzhou, attacking Yuan Shu, to avenge Yuan Shu's aid to the revenge of Yuan Shu's support for Lu Bu and attacking Yanzhou. Xiahou Dun was appointed as the governor of the Eastern Army, and led his army to pursue the remaining troops of Lu Bu, and chased into Xuzhou all the way, and fought against Xiapi City.

It was 194, the autumn of the first year of Xingping when Cao Mengde completed the internal cleaning and reconciled the people's hearts.

After the internal stability, Cao Mengde started another war and sent Yu Jin. Li Dian led 20,000 troops to Cao Ren's troops, and ordered Cao Ren to attack Yuan Shu on a large scale. Cao Mengde himself led a large army to Xuzhou and joined forces with Xiahou Dun at the city of Xia Pi.

Under Cao Mengde's rule, the farming was prosperous, the grain was high, the soldiers were good, and there was enough food, and they were not afraid of attacks. Since the autumn of the first year of Xingping, wars have continued. Until now, Cao Ren's troops have driven all Yuan Shu's forces out of Yuzhou, destroyed Shouchun, occupied Jiujiang, and advanced to Yangzhou Jiangbei County.

Yuan Shu fled to Jiangdong like a broken dog. Now he is fighting with Liu Yao while resisting Cao Mengde's offensive.

After all, Yuan Shu had a deep foundation and had tens of thousands of troops under his command. He was also good at plundering and was rich in money and food. He fled to Jiangdong to compete with Liu Yao for Yangzhou counties, but ordered the general Ji Ling to resist Cao Ren in Jiangbei, and ordered Sun Ce to lead his troops to Xuzhou to support Tao Qian and resist Cao Mengde's army.

However, Cao Mengde's army was in full swing, and Cao Ren's side fought against Ji Ling was defeated one after another, retreating one after another. Cao Mengde's troops on the east side were even more powerful and won consecutive battles. Even with the support of Tao Qian, Liu Bu, and Sun Ce, could not defeat Cao Mengde's army. By the time the two years of Xingping were intermittent, there was only one Guangling left in Xuzhou. Moreover, he took advantage of the geographical advantage of Guangling's water network to barely block the Cao army's offensive.

The current situation is great for Cao Mengde. However, because the military situation is too smooth, many problems have arisen. At least in terms of people's livelihood governance, it is difficult to keep up for the time being.

Cao Mengde's basic foundation is only Yanzhou, and at most it is Yingchuan, Nanyang and his hometown Peiguo. However, with one state, it engulfed the entire territory of Yuzhou in one battle. Xuzhou has some indigestion in the entire territory of Guangling.

The most important thing is that the battle must be concluded as soon as possible. First, the Jiangbei springboard cannot be left for Yuan Shu, and the Jiangbei Lujiang County of Yangzhou and Guangling of Xuzhou must be taken down. Second, the general trend of the world has undergone tremendous changes in the battle, and Cao Mengde cannot stand it.

So at this time, countermeasures were discussed in the central army tent outside Guangling City.

The Cao army and Tao Qian's coalition had been in Guangling for half a month. Tao Qian now only had one Guangling left, and he had tried his best to strengthen Guangling City. Except for the size of the city that could not catch up with a giant city like Luoyang and Chang'an, the height, thickness and defense methods of the city wall made Cao Mengde feel difficult.

After comforting Xu Huang, Cao Mengde's eyes fell on Cheng Yu and Xi Zhicai.

Cheng Yu had to think about it, and after a moment, he said, "What the lord wants to attack Guangling at the lowest cost. However, there are still 50,000 or 60,000 troops in Guangling City at this time, and Sun Ce also has 30,000 troops outside the city. If he attacks for a strong force, it will definitely be a big loss."

Xi Zhicai on the side nodded slightly: "And because the lord's attack shocked the world, Yuan Shao, Hebei, had already shown signs of being unable to sit still. A strong attack is not advisable, and there are too many losses here. If Yuan Shao forced his army to go south, it would be difficult to resist."

Why did Cao Mengde end this battle as soon as possible? The movements of Yuan Shao from Hebei are important reasons.

Yuan Shao has been fighting hard with Gongsun Zan in the past one or two years, but Cao Mengde's military attack scared Yuan Shao. It may not be that he would not temporarily withdraw his troops from Youzhou and go south to attack Yanzhou. After all, Cao Mengde's military power over the past six months has been too strong and fierce, which will definitely make Yuan Shao feel like he is on his back.
Chapter completed!