Although Cao Cao's army of 500,000 developed over the years is not an elite army, under the current circumstances, compared with the troops in the hands of other princes, he is indeed an elite general; but in the blink of an eye, 200,000 troops were lost, which makes it difficult for anyone to accept such a reality, let alone a hero like Cao Cao!

Mao Jie thought about it and said carefully: "Lord, Tian Chou's army is advancing towards Zhuyang, and there is not much resistance in Zhuyang City. Once the Lu Ning army in Guandu comes and Tian Chou's army cuts off the back road again, then it will be troublesome!"

Cao Cao said: "Xiaoxian, if you have any solutions, just say it directly. Don't worry about anything at this time?"

Mao Jie said: "Lord, you should go back to Xuchang immediately to take charge of the overall situation. The situation is a bit bad now. If something goes wrong with Xuchang, it will be out of control."

Cao Cao knew in his heart that Guandu was defeated and lost 200,000 troops, Puyang also lost 50,000 troops, and half of his subordinates were wiped out. If someone was in trouble at this time, it would be a big trouble. Especially the former court ministers who followed the little emperor to Xuchang had long wanted to pull Lao Cao off and let power return to the emperor.

Of course, the ministers in the court also wanted to have power and did not want to continue to be suppressed by Cao Cao; in fact, Lao Cao was quite good to the young emperor and important officials in the court. At least the salary was paid, and life was not a problem. To put it bluntly, it was Lao Cao who paid money to support this wave of people, and this wave of people would only cause trouble to Lao Cao, and they might not have done anything good, nor would they help Lao Cao.

If it were Lu Ning, he would definitely not be willing to do such thankless things. He would serve the little emperor like his ancestors, but he would not please him, but instead he would be made into small moves. Of course, Lao Cao also has benefits, at least he could use the reputation of the little emperor to do something.

Cao Cao said: "I will return to Xuchang tomorrow, so please Xiaoxian here."

Mao Jie said: "Lord, this is my duty, and I will do my best to protect Chenliu."

Mao Jie also knew in his heart that Guandu was defeated and Puyang City was broken, and Chenliu immediately became an isolated city. Facing the counterattack of Lu Ning's two armies, it was more difficult to defend the lonely city than climbing to the sky. He could only express his determination to the superpower Cao. As for the result, only God knows.

Cheng Yu said: "My lord, we still have to mobilize troops to reinforce Zhiyang. We cannot turn Chenliu into an isolated city. This will be more convenient for the next step of regaining Dingtao, Juancheng, Jiyin and Puyang. If Zhiyang is really lost, it will be difficult for Chenliu to defend. Moreover, Xuchang is directly facing the advance of Guo Jia's army. If Taishici of Xingyang sends troops to respond, Xuchang will be in danger."

Cao Cao said: "What is the news about the Taishi Ci army in Xingyang? This is not like Guo Jia's style. During the decisive battle of Guandu, Taishi Ci army will definitely be allowed to advance into Xuchang to echo. Why is there no news?"

Cheng Yu said: "The information from Xingyang City a few days ago showed that Taishi Ci's army was preparing for troops. There should be news, but the blockade of Lu Ning's army was too strict, so the information was not easy to send out."

Cao Cao said: "What I worry most at this time is that Xuchang was led by Taishi Ci from Xingyang. Although the troops in Taishi Ci's hands could not capture Xuchang, it had a great impact, which could cause chaos in Xuchang city and even cause big trouble, especially the important officials in the court would have ideas."

Cheng Yu said: "Don't worry, lord! Xuchang has Wen Ruo sitting in the formation, so there will be no problems. With Wen Ruo's ability, any problems can be solved smoothly."

Cao Cao nodded after hearing this, but he was indeed not the case. Since Xun Yu was sent to Lu Ning, Jinyang for the second time, Xun Yu has changed a lot; especially Lu Ning, Guo Jia and others have given Xun Yu a lot of gifts, which made Cao Cao even more suspicious. In addition, Cao Cao was already suspicious, so he began to supervise Xun Yu's every move.

Cao Cao thought this in his heart, but he still said, "If Xuchang has literature, I don't worry! There will definitely be no problem."

Early the next morning, Le Jin, Qin Qi, Meng Tan and other generals also collected thousands of defeated soldiers and rushed to Chenliu one after another. Countless soldiers rushed into Chenliu, allowing Cao Cao to collect nearly 20,000 troops.

When Cao Cao saw Le Jin, Qin Qi, Meng Tan and others, he didn't have much to say, so he could only comfort him that it was not their fault that he was defeated, but that he really fell into the trap set by Lu Ning; for the general who obeyed Cao Cao, he was completely executing Cao Cao's instructions. It was Lao Cao who thought the problem a little simpler and did not think deeply about it.

When Cao Cao was about to lead his troops to leave Chenliu, he quickly came to report: "Lord, Lord Xun has a letter."

The letter sent by Xun Yu asked Kuaima to come to Guandu, but Kuaima knew that Guandu was defeated halfway, so he returned to Chenliu to look for Cao Cao, which made Cao Cao a whole day late before receiving the letter.

Cao Cao took the letter and looked even more gloomy after reading it.

Cheng Yu said carefully: "Lord, what happened?"

Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said, "Taishi Ci led 30,000 troops to Xuchang. He was only a hundred miles away from Xuchang two days ago. Now he should have arrived in Xuchang. In addition, Zhiyang has been captured by Tianchou's army and will advance to Chenliu soon."

Taishici's army has been holding its troops unmoved, not because it does not want to move, but cooperates with the battle of Guandu. If Taishici's army advances to Xuchang too early, Cao Cao in Guandu will be panicked and may retreat. In that way, it will not be able to eliminate the vitality of Cao's army. This makes Taishici's army delayed the issuance of troops, in order to create an illusion for Cao's army.

Cheng Yu said: "Lord, Chen Liu only has two soldiers and cannot stop the attack of Guo Jia and Tian Chou's two armies!"

Cao Cao thought for a while and said, "Leave the 20,000 soldiers we collected! We still have 100,000 soldiers and horses in Xuchang. We will not suffer any losses in terms of military strength and will be able to bear the challenge of Taishi Ci's army."

Mao Jie said: "Lord, please come back to Xuchang quickly! You need to sit in the formation there."

After hearing this, Cao Cao nodded and immediately led his subordinates to run towards Xuchang.

When approaching Xuchang, Cao Cao Xiao went out to find a horse and reported that Taishi Ci's army arrived at the outskirts of Xuchang yesterday, but the troops were still in motion, as if they were monitoring the movements in Xuchang City.

Cheng Yu said: "Lord, it seems that Taishici has limited troops and horses. How can he attack Xuchang with only 30,000 troops? Xuchang has an army of 100,000, and has Wen Ruo and a talented person in the formation. One is scheming and the other is a long-standing battlefield."

Cao Cao said: "Zhongde, if Taishi Ci's army is waiting for Guo Jia and Tian Chou's two armies to meet. I am still worried that it will be difficult for Chen Liu's Mao Jie to defend it! After all, facing Tian Chou and Guo Jia's two armies to attack, there is a big gap in military strength."

Cheng Yu said: "Lord, if you only stick to Chenliu City, Mao Jie's 40,000 troops in his hand should be enough. But the soldiers' morale is now low, which is the biggest problem.

Cao Cao knew in his heart that the soldiers needed a small victory to boost morale after the defeat; but how could Chen Liu dare to go out of the city to fight! Faced with the crushing of the Lu Ning army's cavalry in the field, the possibility of victory is extremely small, so maybe I could get bitten!

Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that he can only find a way to win in Xuchang."
Chapter completed!