My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 76 Xiao Xiao and Xiao He are here! Cao Cao: Am I born with the crow mouth?

The east bank of the Yu River.

The ship slowly approached the shore and sailed into the Liangying ferry.

Before Xiao Heren got off the boat, he saw Guan Ping and a group of remaining generals waiting on the shore from afar.

"General Tanzhi, capturing the granary is a great achievement. I congratulate you."

Xiao He jumped off the boat and congratulated with a smile.

Guan Ping took a few steps forward and hurriedly helped Xiao He up.

Then he tidied his clothes and bowed deeply to Xiao He solemnly:
"If Bowen hadn't devised this brilliant plan, Ping would never have had the chance to accomplish this feat!"

"If Bowen hadn't followed this plan, how could my uncle have defeated Cao Cao and wiped out the previous shame? How could we, the rest of us, have held our heads high and felt proud?"

"This great victory is all thanks to Bo Wen, the Concierge. On behalf of my uncle and father, I would like to thank Bo Wen, the Concierge!"

The generals behind him followed suit and bowed in thanks.

Xiao He smiled bitterly to himself.

From the South Bank to the North Bank, from Guan Yinping to Guan Ping, everyone who saw him expressed gratitude and thanks.

When he woke up, he felt like he had become a savior and was worshipped by everyone.

But this is not surprising. From Liu Bei to Guan Ping, they fought with Cao Cao for more than ten years since Xuzhou, and were defeated repeatedly until they were driven from the north to the south.

Everyone was feeling humiliated and hoped that one day they could wash away their past shame.

In a sense, this plan of his did help everyone vent the anger they had felt for more than ten years, so it was no surprise that everyone was grateful to him.

"General Tanzhi, your words are too serious. You are the ones who fought the battles and shed the blood. I, Xiao He, was just talking. I cannot accept your respect."

"Come on, come on, everyone, stop bowing and get up quickly."

Xiao He hurriedly supported Guan Ping, and naturally he had to be humble.

Guan Ping then stood up straight.

The next step is to explain Liu Bei’s arrangements.

According to pre-war calculations, Cai Mao in the south would be greatly frightened upon learning the news of Cao Cao's defeat and escape to the north, and would immediately lead his troops to retreat south if nothing unexpected happened.

By then, the threat from the south will be lifted, and Liu Bei will transfer Zhuge Liang back to Xiangyang to take charge of the overall situation in the rear and reorganize the surrendered soldiers of Cao's army.

Guan Ping led his own 3,000 troops and joined forces with Huo Jun's Fancheng troops, totaling 7,000 troops, to escort Xiao He north to meet up at Xinye.

Finally, according to the original strategy, they gathered 30,000 people and took Xinye City in one go.

After hearing this, Xiao He nodded and said:

"My Lord, your arrangements are very thorough and prudent. I have no objections."

Guan Ping then pointed to a place not far away and said:

"In that case, I have already arranged a carriage for Bowen. Let's set off as soon as possible to catch up with my uncle and his family."

Xiao He glanced at the carriage and realized that Guan Ping was planning to go north by land.

Instead of taking the water route, you take the land route. Isn't that asking for trouble?

"General Tanzhi, I see our warships are still docked at the ferry. Why don't we take the waterway north?"

Xiao He pointed at the warship behind him:
"Cao Cao fled north, and he must have gone north along the west bank of the Yu River, first passing Chaoyang and then heading to Xinye."

"Our boat is definitely faster than his two legs. Besides, the wind is from the south today, which is a tailwind."

"Let's sail north along the Yu River and head straight for Chaoyang. Perhaps we can intercept Cao Cao before the lord and his men."

"By then, even if we can't capture and kill Cao Cao alive, General Tanzhi, you will still have achieved great success."

A word of advice!
Guan Ping's eyes lit up and he slapped his thigh:

"Yes, how could I have forgotten that the Yu River leads directly to Xinye? Cao Cao has long lost his navy. We can easily intercept him by heading north by water!"

Now all the troops are chasing Cao Cao, and all the generals have gained a lot of credit.

Guan Ping had to stay in Fancheng temporarily because he had to pick up Xiao He and go north, and he was already very anxious.

Now that Xiao He's reminder had allowed Guan Ping to gain the credit, how could he not be overjoyed?

"Thank you, Bowen, for reminding me and giving me another credit!"

Guan Ping bowed to Xiao He again and thanked him, then shouted:

"You've heard what Bowen said. What are we waiting for? Quickly gather the soldiers and board the ship!"

"If we had been half a day later, Cao Cao would have escaped to Xinye and we wouldn't have had any of the credit!"

The generals were immediately excited. When they heard that there was credit to be won, everyone was as excited as if their blood had been injected into chickens.

So more than 7,000 soldiers quickly boarded the ship, hoisted the sails, and took advantage of the southeast wind to rush north along the Yu River.

...

The sun is setting in the west.

Ten miles south of Chaoyang, on the main road on the west bank of the Yu River.

Five thousand exhausted and frightened Cao's soldiers were running silently, panting.

Cao Cao on his horse looked around at the soldiers and sighed bitterly.

After abandoning the camp and retreating northward, Cao's army was disrupted, the various units lost contact, and tens of thousands of people became scattered soldiers and fled northward.

When Cao Cao fled here, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses that had originally been there were scattered or left behind, leaving only these 5,000 Tiger Guards.

How can one word describe how miserable it is...

"As long as the Prime Minister is safe and sound, once we reach Xinye and raise our arms to call for help, the scattered soldiers will naturally gather on their own."

"In this battle, we will lose at most 50,000 to 60,000 men, not enough to cause any serious damage."

Cheng Yu, who was standing beside Cao Cao, saw Cao Cao's melancholy and tried to comfort him with an optimistic attitude.

Cao Cao felt a little better, so he snorted disapprovingly:
"I control the entire North. What if we lose all 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers?"

"With a flick of my finger, I can recruit another million soldiers!"

A barely perceptible hint of helplessness flashed across Cheng Yu's smile.

Originally, he just wanted to comfort Cao Cao with a few words, but he didn't expect Cao Cao to turn around and brag and fire blanks.

It seems this crushing defeat still hasn't cured Cao Cao of the arrogance he'd contracted since pacifying Hebei... "Father, Chaoyang City is only another seven or eight miles ahead. I see Liu Bei's pursuers have been left at least twenty miles behind us. They won't be able to catch up anytime soon."

"The soldiers have been fleeing for a whole day and night, and many of the horses have died of exhaustion. They are extremely tired. Why not stop and rest for a while?"

Cao Pi, who was exhausted and sweating, saw that Cao Cao's mood had improved, so he took the opportunity to offer some advice.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone nodded in agreement.

Only Man Chong objected sternly:

"Prime Minister, Liu Bei's pursuers are still behind us, and we are not out of danger yet. Chong believes that we must not slack off even a little. We should continue north and not enter Chaoyang. Only by retreating directly to Xinye can we be safe."

Cao Cao frowned slightly.

Intellectually, he naturally agreed with what Man Chong said, but his mental and physical strength could not support him to continue fleeing. After all, time is unforgiving.

"We are far from Fancheng now. The big-eared thief wouldn't dare pursue us this far. Our soldiers are exhausted and can't go any further. Let's stop and rest for an hour."

Cao Cao still chose to listen to his son's advice.

Man Chong looked worried and wanted to persuade him again.

Cao Cao interrupted him with a whip and said:
"Bo Ning, you don't have to be so frightened that you lose your composure."

"Instead of wasting your breath here, you should quickly go and repel more marquises and patrol as far south as possible. If we find the big-eared thief, we can retreat north in time."

Man Chong's words of advice were suppressed, and he had no choice but to obey the order.

As soon as the order was given, the five thousand Cao soldiers collapsed to the ground in groups as if they had been pardoned.

Cao Cao also dismounted with trembling legs, and with the help of his son, he sat cross-legged in the shade of a tree beside the road.

Xu Chu asked the tiger guards to bring out the dry food they had with them and distribute it to Cao Cao and everyone else.

Cao Cao didn't care about his majestic image. He grabbed the Hu Bing with his dirty hands and started to gobble it up.

Cheng Yu, Liu Ye and other counselors also did not care about their decency and started to nibble on the dried meat in the Hu Bing.

After eating a few Hu pancakes, Cao Cao burped and his face finally regained some vitality.

Looking around, the soldiers were all terrified and dejected.

All the generals and counselors were also depressed and their morale was low.

Obviously, they have not yet come out of the shadow of yesterday's defeat.

In this situation, we have to say something to boost people's morale.

Cao Cao's eyes turned secretly, and he suddenly raised his head and burst into laughter.

Everyone raised their heads involuntarily, and their eyes of surprise and confusion were all focused on the laughing Cao Cao.

The big guys looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

An army of over one hundred thousand was defeated, and countless generals were killed. Not only did you have two front teeth shot out, but you were also chased by Liu Bei to the point where you had to abandon your robe and cut off your beard, losing face!
You're in such a mess, and you still have the nerve to laugh?

Why is he laughing so exaggeratedly?

"Could it be that the Prime Minister has been mentally stimulated by this disastrous defeat, causing his words and actions to become abnormal?"

Everyone looked at each other, with the same speculation and worry in their hearts.

Cao Cao laughed loudly, subconsciously supporting himself with one hand and trying to stroke his beard with the other.

He touched it, but found nothing.

Cao Cao suddenly remembered that he had cut off his long beard, which he had kept for decades, with his own hands last night.

Then I thought about how two of my front teeth were shot off, and I didn't know how ugly I would look if I grinned like that.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao had to stop laughing, shook his hands lightly, and coughed a few times to cover up his embarrassment.

"You must be wondering why I am laughing so suddenly."

Cao Cao raised his hand and pointed towards the Yu River in the east, saying sarcastically:
"I am laughing at Liu Bei's short-sightedness, content only with defeating my army at Fancheng. I am also laughing at Xiao He's limited wisdom, far inferior to my filial piety."

"If Fengxiao were Xiao He, he would surely advise Liu Bei to send a detachment of soldiers northward by boat up the Yu River, deep into the Chaoyang area, and set up an ambush."

"Just think about it, when we retreated here, we were already extremely exhausted mentally and physically. The soldiers could barely even lift their weapons."

"If Liu Bei were to station troops here to intercept us, wouldn't we be like fish on the chopping board, at his mercy?"

Everyone suddenly understood why Cao Cao was laughing.

Cao Pi was the first to react, and he complimented with admiration:
"Father, you are wise. I also think that the rumors about Xiao He's wisdom are indeed exaggerated."

"How can a country bumpkin be compared to the cunning and calculating Guo Fengxiao?"

"If this man is as cunning and as foresighted as Xu Gongming claims, and as everyone speculates, how could he not have thought of having Liu Bei set an ambush to intercept us?"

Cao Pi understood Cao Cao's thoughts and took the opportunity to join in the disparagement of Xiao He, while also praising Cao Cao's favorite Guo Jia.

Cao Cao nodded slightly in satisfaction, then smiled proudly:
"So, don't be discouraged, and don't let this defeat make you like a frightened bird, frightened by Liu Bei."

"I just don't believe that a mere Xiao He can really transform Liu Bei. You guys can't believe it either."

"Everyone, cheer up! We will temporarily retreat to the north to regroup, and then march south to attack Liu Bei again next year!"

"When the time comes, we'll destroy Liu Bei and capture Xiao He alive. I'll want to see if he really has three heads and six arms!"

Cao Cao's unparalleled dominance and bold words were like a shot of adrenaline to everyone, and finally rekindled their confidence.

For a moment, the dejected atmosphere in Cao's army was swept away and the morale was greatly boosted.

Seeing that the soldiers had rested enough and their morale was high, Cao Cao mounted his horse, whipped it, and said with a smile:
"Cheer up, everyone. Follow me to Chaoyang. I'll provide you with wine and meat tonight—"

As soon as the word "eat" came out.

A horn suddenly sounded from the direction of the Yu River.

Countless soldiers of Liu's army rushed out from the reeds on the shore like divine troops descending from the sky.

A battle flag with the word "Guan" on it caught the eye under the dim setting sun.

A young general with a face as red as a date rushed forward with a long sword in hand, shouting:

"Cao thief, I have been waiting for you in Chaoyang for a long time on the orders of my uncle Wen!"

"Today is the day you die!"

Cao Cao's body shook violently, and the domineering confidence on his face instantly turned into endless horror.

He was so startled that the whip in his hand slipped out of his hand!
(End of this chapter)