Your Majesty, please spare Diao Chan; your yang energy is too strong.

Seeing that Yuan Shao was about to deal with Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan, Cao Cao dared not stop.

They launched another siege against Yuan Shu.

After all, if we don't take advantage of Yuan Shao's preoccupation with other matters to deal with Yuan Shu, we'll be in trouble.

Once the other side has completely stabilized the situation in the north.

At that time, we will send troops south.

Then he'll be caught in a pincer movement.

This is definitely not what he wanted to see.

Therefore... Cao Cao had to eliminate Yuan Shu during this period.

Only then will it be possible to contend with Yuan Shao in the future.

Why did Cao Cao choose to attack Yuan Shu instead of Yuan Shao during this period?

Cao Cao naturally had his own considerations.

The first issue is the name.

Yuan Shu's declaration of himself as emperor made him a traitor to the land, so it was perfectly justifiable to send troops to attack him at this time.

Yuan Shao, though a regional warlord, had not offended him.

The previous incident was also a misunderstanding.

The problem has been solved.

Sending troops to attack the other side now would be illegitimate and unjustifiable.

second.

Although Yuan Shao is powerful, he has not yet defeated Gongsun Zan.

They are still some distance from Yuan Shu.

If we don't take down your strongest one first...

The opponent will only get stronger.

If someone has the title of emperor, and as the legitimate ruler of the Han Dynasty, he doesn't accomplish anything, what are people supposed to think?

Is the Han Dynasty nearing its end?

third.

If the other side declares itself emperor, even those of you who hold the emperor's power will not want to eliminate it.

What will the world think then?

His attempt to control the emperor and command the feudal lords has become a joke.

That emperor will be of no use to him.

This is not what he wants to see.

Especially with the recent withdrawal of troops, the feudal lords and even the common people have begun to deeply question his legitimacy as the ruler of the Han Dynasty.

If at this time, we had chosen to attack Yuan Shao instead of Yuan Shu.

That really made a joke.

Therefore, no matter what choice Cao Cao made, his first choice would inevitably be Yuan Shu.

In addition, the timing is also very good.

If we were to say that we attacked Yuan Shu before...

If Cao Cao only had three allies: Liu Bei, Lü Bu, and Sun Ce.

The victory was only a 60/40 chance.

Now we see the fate of Liu Biao.

He has at least an 80% chance of winning.

You're not going to bother with something that's a sure thing.

Instead, you chose to play Yuan Shao, whose win rate isn't particularly high.

what is this?

Cao Cao was not stupid; in fact, one could say he was very clever.

It's impossible not to see the flaws here.

Therefore, after failing to stop Zhou Heng in Yanzhou.

He immediately recalled Liu Bei.

This marked the beginning of the second campaign to eliminate Yuan Shu.

They issued another proclamation to suppress the bandits.

Although Cao Cao had lost the trust of the people because of his past actions.

But Liu Biao intervened.

Cao Cao also adopted a stance of fighting to the death.

In addition, Cao Cao had given Liu Bei and Lü Bu advance notice because of what had happened before.

Therefore, no questions were raised about the other party.

Quite a few people responded.

In just six months, the army has made remarkable progress.

Troops were dispatched from Yuzhou.

After defeating Yuan Shu's Chen and Pei kingdoms, the army advanced directly towards the Jianghuai region.

Liu Biao was also very helpful.

With Zhang Xiu as the vanguard and Cai Mao as the general, they decisively defeated Ji Ling at Nanyang.

Sun Ce once again demonstrated his traitorous nature.

Originally, they were fighting against Huang Zu in Jiangdong.

In the blink of an eye, they switched sides again.

Starting from Yuzhang, they decisively defeated Yuan Shu at Kuaiji and advanced directly towards both banks of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers.

Lü Bu and Liu Bei advanced their troops from Xuzhou.

He decisively defeated Yuan Shu at Guangling.

In a short time, the armies of the five major lords besieged the city.

Yuan Shu turned pale.

Of his 600,000-strong army, more than half have been lost.

Left with no other choice, they could only beg Zhou Heng for help.

Zhou Heng had been waiting for a long time.

These six months.

With Zhou Heng's letter, Yuan Shao had no choice but to open a door, no matter how unwilling he was.

This allowed Zhang Yan to successfully withdraw from Jizhou.

They entered Xuzhou from Qingzhou.

At this point, Zhou Heng had gained a million-strong Black Mountain army.

After the previous battles, the million-strong Black Mountain army had suffered heavy losses, leaving less than 120,000 soldiers.

But even so.

With the addition of Zhou Heng's original 90,000 elite troops, the army suddenly reached a size of nearly 200,000.

Of the 200,000 troops, nearly 30,000 were left to garrison Xuzhou.

An army of 170,000 men set out from Guangling, causing a stir throughout the land.

..............

Within Lü Bu's camp.

"Damn it, damn it! That scoundrel Zhou Heng is rashly sending out troops now. Doesn't he fear being despised by the whole world?"

"Isn't he afraid of ending up like Yuan Shu, being killed by all the warlords in the land?"

"To rescue Yuan Shu now would be tantamount to courting death!"

"And where did he get 170,000 troops? 170,000!"

Lu Bu was so frustrated he almost vomited blood.

With Yuan Shu's defeat imminent, he could then follow Chen Gong's plan.

Leveraging the strength of both sides of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, they rapidly expanded their influence.

We'll defeat Zhou Hen then and avenge our previous humiliation.

And then you tell me that at this most critical moment, Zhou Heng actually sent troops to rescue Yuan Shu.

Providing assistance is one thing.

The other side was originally a rebel, and it's not uncommon for two rebels to be mixed together.

Moreover, they have relatives by marriage.

With the pillow talk, sending troops to rescue them would be a matter of course.

But the question is, where did you get 170,000 troops?

Even now, in the past six months, he has managed to gather a considerable number of remnants of his defeated army.

He only had 30,000 troops under his command.

Compared to Zhou Heng, they are worlds apart.

How could he not be both shocked and furious?

What's astonishing is Zhou Heng's strength; why did he unleash such rapid growth in such a short time?

In that case, when will I be able to take revenge?

When will I be able to win back my daughter, my Diao Chan, and my Xuzhou?

What angered them was that Zhou Heng was Zhou Heng again.

He had previously thwarted his plan to seize Xuzhou.

Now, his plan to seize control of Jianghuai is within reach.

With Yuan Shao holding him back, Cao Cao certainly wouldn't dare linger in the Jianghuai region. Liu Biao, lacking ambition, wouldn't want to offend the warlords at this time if faced with significant resistance.

Therefore, his only rivals were Liu Bei, who was by his side, and Sun Ce of Jiangdong.

At this moment, Zhou Heng intervened again, ruining his plan.

How could this not make him so frustrated he wanted to vomit blood?

“Fengxian, Zhou Heng and Yuan Shu were both rebels and were related by marriage, so it is only natural for them to take action now.”

"As for his troops, with the support of two of the four wealthiest families in the world, it is not impossible for them to break out in a short period of time."

"What we should be thinking about now is not why he has so many troops, nor why he dares to make a move at this time."

"But rather, what role did he play in this matter?"