Chapter 245 Is there no one to control Liu Bei? Is this the realm of a sage? Cao Cao: Oh my goodness~~
"Impossible, this is impossible!"

Chen Gong's face also changed color with horror, and he instantly lost the composure of a strategist. He jumped up and rushed forward, snatching the secret report from the hands of the two guards.

His hands were shaking and he was so impatient to watch.

These two urgent reports are too sensational.

Cao Cao clearly had no troops to mobilize, so how could he summon an army to launch a surprise attack on Yangquan?
The key point is that there was no sign of large-scale withdrawal of Liu's troops besieging Shouchun, which proves that Liu Bei did not send reinforcements to Yangquan.

How did the defenders of Yangquan defeat Cao's sneak attack?

Even beheaded Cao Cao's eldest son?
There is also Xiaxiang City.

Yuan’s army has more than 10,000 troops!

How did Liu Bei defeat Yuan's army, which was several times larger than his own, so easily with only a few thousand soldiers?

And captured Yuan Shao's nephew alive?
All of this was so unbelievable and unreasonable that Chen Gong couldn't believe its authenticity.

Until he unfolded the intelligence and saw the entire process of the two battles recorded in black and white.

Chen Gong's body gradually froze, he sucked in a breath of cold air, his eyes widened to a huge size, and his face twisted into one of astonishment.

"We used the hills on the west bank of the Yingshui River as beacon towers to detect in advance that Cao's army was coming, disguised as merchants, and set up an ambush at the ferry to attack them halfway across the river..."

"Pretending that our army was escorting the imperial seal, we tricked Gao Gan into coming out in person, captured him alive, and broke into the city in one fell swoop..."

"Pang Tong, Lu Xun... Besides Xiao Fang, Liu Bei has so many other talented people under his command?"

"This this…"

Chen Gong's face turned as pale as paper, his eyes gradually turned desperate, he froze in place in a daze, and the two silk books in his hands fell to the ground.

With the two routes of external aid cut off, Shouchun City was completely surrounded and turned into a desperate situation.

Not only Xiao Fang, but also Pang Tong, Lu Xun, or any other counselor Liu Bei picked out, their wisdom and strategies were all superior to his.

At this moment, Chen Gong was completely plunged into despair and powerlessness.

"why?"

"It's fine that Cao Cao was defeated by the big-eared thief, but how could Yuan Shao, the strongest man in the world, be defeated by that big-eared thief?"

"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"

Lu Bu forcibly pulled his shattered soul back into his body, roared hysterically, rushed forward a few steps, and picked up the information that Chen Gong had dropped on the ground.

After reading the cruel facts written in black and white, he, like Chen Gong, staggered back half a step, his face twisted into one of despair and shock.

"Defeated? Cao Cao and Yuan Shao also lost to the big-eared thief?"

"Can any of Liu Bei's advisers or generals kill Cao Cao's son and capture Yuan Shao's nephew alive?"

"Is there really no way to stop the big-eared thief?"

"Does this Marquis really want to be trapped and die in Shouchun, and really die at the hands of those weavers and shoe sellers?"

Lu Bu's voice trembled, he muttered to himself, and fell down on his butt.

Endless despair and grief have enveloped his body and mind.

Inside the government hall, Cao Xing and other generals of the Lu family were all in a state of panic and chaos.

...

Guandu, the fortress of Cao’s army.

More than a hundred catapults were firing, throwing countless stone bombs into the sky and bombarding the earthen hills outside the barrier.

Cao Cao stroked his thin beard, with a sarcastic sneer on his face, admiring the grand spectacle of Yuan army's earth hill collapsing and the soldiers screaming in panic.

The earthen hill that had suppressed him for many days and caused him and his soldiers a lot of trouble was finally broken today.

Cao Cao couldn't help laughing, and turned his approving eyes to the counselor beside him:
"Liu Ziyang, the Thunderbolt Chariot you presented is truly a divine weapon!"

"If we can defend Guandu and defeat Yuan Shao this time, you will have made an invaluable contribution!"

Cao Cao praised Liu Ye highly, and there was even a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

Originally, he and his soldiers were suppressed by Yuan Shao's earth hill strategy to the point that they were helpless and their morale was low.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Liu Ye offered the idea of ​​Thunderbolt Chariot.

The hit rate and power of this improved trebuchet are far superior to ordinary trebuchets.

It was precisely with the help of this new type of catapult that Cao Cao was able to destroy Yuan Shao's earthen hill and save the morale of the army that was about to collapse.

"It is Ye's fortune to be able to share Sikong's worries."

Liu Ye was modest for a moment, then bowed and reminded:
"We can still hold out against Yuan Shao for now, but Ye came from Huainan and learned that Shouchun City has less than two months of food stored. Even if Lu Bu has extraordinary abilities, he can only hold out for two months at most."

"Ye thinks that the Minister of Works must do something and must not allow Liu Bei to besiege Shouchun and occupy Huainan!"

After hearing Liu Ye's reminder, Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other, stroked their beards and laughed.

Liu Ye looked confused, not knowing why Cao Cao suddenly laughed.

As a strategist who had just defected to Cao Cao, he obviously had not yet entered the core circle of Cao's camp, and naturally did not know about Guo Jia's plan to attack Yangquan.

"Zi Xiu should have taken over Yangquan City by now. Zi Yang is one of us. Feng Xiao, it's okay to tell him."

Cao Cao stopped laughing and waved his hand towards Guo Jia.

Guo Jia then stopped laughing and slowly told Cao Cao about his plan to transfer Ma Teng's Western Liang troops out of Tongguan, to meet up with the 3,000 garrison troops in Xudu, led by Cao Ang, and disguise themselves as merchant ships to sail south along the Ying River to attack Yangquan.

Liu Ye suddenly realized, and the worry in his eyes turned into admiration.

"It turns out that Ye was worrying too much. Sikong had already planned this surprise attack to save Lu Bu from danger."

"Guo Jijiu's move was indeed brilliant. Liu Bei thought that Sikong had no more troops to mobilize, but he never expected that Sikong could mobilize the Xiliang Army to go out of the pass and disguise it as a merchant ship to attack Yangquan."

"As Master Guo said, the eldest son should have already captured Yangquan, and the victory report may already be on the way to Guandu."

Liu Ye's surprise was beyond words, and he showed great respect to Cao Cao. Cao Cao laughed again and looked at Guo Jia with approval:
"If it is true as Feng Xiao said, I have broken Yuan Shao's Tushan and resolved Lu Bu's danger, then I can rest easy..."

Cao Cao's proud words had not yet come out.

Yu Jin came hurriedly, his face solemn, and said:

"Sikong, Dian Wei, Ma Dai and the others are back. They just left the camp from the south. It looks like something went wrong."

The smile on Cao Cao's face suddenly disappeared.

Guo Jia's expression changed.

All the counselors and generals in Cao's camp were shocked. They all heard an ominous premonition from Yu Jin's report.

Dian Wei, Ma Dai and others followed Cao Ang to launch a surprise attack on Yangquan.

If we succeed, we should continue to guard Yangquan and send a messenger to report the victory. Why would we need to return in person?

unless…

Everyone shuddered and dared not think about it any further.

Cao Cao's face changed, and he turned around and strode towards the South Camp Gate at a pace almost like a jog.

Guo Jia and others also looked panicked and followed.

At the Nanying Gate.

Less than 3,000 defeated Cao troops had just entered the camp and were telling their Cao comrades in the Guandu fort about the disastrous defeat in Yangquan.

Dian Wei and Ma Dai had gloomy expressions, half-kneeling on the ground, as if they had committed some serious crime, waiting for Cao Cao to come.

In Ma Dai's hand, he was holding a wooden box, the walls of which were stained with blood.

Cao Cao, who was striding over, stopped suddenly when he saw the two of them like this, and the back of his neck suddenly felt cold as ice.

"You two, you..."

Cao Cao's brows were furrowed, his fists were clenched, and his voice was slightly trembling.

Ma Dai didn't dare to say a word and could only glance at Dian Wei.

"My lord, Wei has betrayed your trust in me. I am guilty!"

Dian Wei's forehead hit the ground with a bang, and he was too ashamed to face Cao Cao.

Cao Cao panicked and asked anxiously:
"What did you fail me in? What happened? Tell me now!"

Dian Wei was in tears, and he just kept kowtowing as if he was mutilating himself. He kept saying that he was guilty, but he never said what his guilt was.

Cao Cao had no choice but to shout at Ma Dai:
"What happened? Did your sneak attack on Yangquan fail?"

"Where is Zixiu? Why doesn't he come and report to me in person?"

Cao Cao had already discovered that Cao Ang was missing, and the panic and anxiety on his face could no longer be concealed.

"Sikong, we've fallen into a trap."

"Xiao Fang had already anticipated that we would launch a surprise attack on Yangquan, and had already ordered Guan Ping..."

Seeing that Dian Wei remained silent, Ma Dai dared not hide the truth and had to tell Dian Wei the truth about the defeat in Yangquan.

From Xiao Fang's suggestion to Lu Xun to use the hills on the west bank of the Yingshui River as a natural beacon tower, to Guan Ping setting up an ambush at the ferry and attacking them halfway across the river, severely damaging their landing and attacking troops, to his own defeat and capture...

He dared not hide anything and reported it truthfully to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao took a deep breath, turned around in shock, and looked at Guo Jia tremblingly.

Guo Jia's forehead was covered in cold sweat, his face was as pale as paper, and his eyes were filled with the same shock and horror as Cao Cao's.

"With such a brilliant plan and insight, is this the realm of a sage of strategy?"

"Who in the world can be a match for a person like this..."

Guo Jia murmured to himself, as if his innate self-confidence had been ruthlessly destroyed at this moment.

Everyone in Cao's camp was shocked and confused.

Only Liu Ye calmed down first and asked anxiously:
"General Ma, since you were captured by Liu Bei, why were you able to return with General Dian?"

"And what about the eldest son? Why doesn't he go back with you?"

Cao Cao shuddered, suddenly raised his head, and stared at Ma Dai with his ferocious eyes.

Ma Dai had no choice but to swallow his saliva and pushed the wooden box in his hand towards Cao Cao tremblingly.

"It was only after Dai was captured that he learned from Liu Bei that the eldest son was killed by the enemy general Guan Ping in the chaos!"

"The reason Liu Bei let me go back is because he wanted me to send the eldest son's head back to Sikong, and to persuade Sikong to give up interfering in the war in Huainan, otherwise he would lead his troops north to take Xudu!"

"After I cross the Huai River, I will meet General Dian, and then we will return together to report to the Minister of Works!"

Ma Dai told the bad news in a trembling voice.

Then, with trembling hands, he carefully opened the wooden box.

A bloody head appeared in front of everyone.

There was deathly silence all around, and everyone's face was frozen in shock.

Cao Cao's expression changed from ferocious to shocked, and then from shocked to endless grief and indignation.

When he looked towards the wooden box with a glimmer of hope, the familiar face of his son suddenly caught his eyes.

"Ang'er——"

Cao Cao let out a cry of grief and anger towards the sky, his body swayed, and he fell to the ground with a bang.

(End of this chapter)