"Retreat too quickly, retreat too strangely..."

Cao Xiu tried hard to recall Jia Xu's words, but he still couldn't understand it.

Man Chong, wearing armor and holding a sharp edge, hurriedly walked up to the city tower, sweating all over his cheeks, and his expression was tired, no longer as elegant as before.

Although he did not charge in person, Man Chong had been supervising the battle outside the city before, which greatly encouraged the morale of the soldiers.

After retracting the sword from the sheath, Man Chong bowed and bowed to Cao Cao, and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Prime Minister, something seems to be wrong..."

"Boning also saw it..." Cao Cao turned around slowly and said in a deep thought.

"Although the Jingzhou Army was attacked from both sides, they seemed to have a lot of troops not invested in. This battle is so important, Chong really couldn't think of any reason for Zhang Fei to preserve his strength..." Man Chong nodded and said, "In addition, the retreat of the Jingzhou Army was scattered and not chaotic, and it did not seem like he was unable to fight again.

”

In fact, until the Jingzhou army retreated, the Cao army in Wancheng had not yet taken over the opponent in a real sense.

Nearly an hour, more than 7,000 infantrymen of Cao's army were always trying to break through the obstacles of traps, trenches, and arrows, and seeking the opportunity to get close to the enemy.

After finally narrowly filling the abominable trench, Man Chong was about to launch a final attack on the army, but he didn't expect his opponent to retreat.

But it is precisely because of the lack of close combat that Man Chong can observe the abnormalities of the battle situation more calmly.

Cao Cao nodded slightly, then asked Jia Xu: "Wenhe, what do you think?"

"Prime Minister, although it's a bit unlucky..." Jia Xu frowned and said, "But Xu still doubted. Zhang Fei may have other tricks..."

"What trick?" Cao Xiu asked in surprise.

"..." Jia Xu turned his head and looked at the Cao Hong army who was constantly approaching outside the city, and did not directly answer Cao Xiu's inquiry. "Xu felt this vaguely---While the Jingzhou army was fighting to block the troops in our city from breaking through, the blocking force of General Zi Lian seemed to be much smaller..."

Before the others understood Jia Xu's meaning, Cao Cao was already feeling it and said in a deep voice: "Wenhe means that Zhang Fei deliberately let Zi Lian in and meet me?"

"I'm afraid as the Prime Minister said..." Jia Xu nodded slightly.

"What is Zhang Fei's intention in this move? After joining General Cao Hong's troops, the Prime Minister had at least 50,000 troops in his hands.

Zhang Fei could not swallow so many troops no matter what...ah..." Man Chong analyzed in confusion, but suddenly, his expression suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but sigh and said in an inconclusive tone, "It's hard... Could it be... Zhang Fei really wants to swallow the troops of my Wancheng garrison and General Cao Hong in one bite?"

"What? How is this possible?" Cao Xiu shouted in surprise.

Cao Cao said with a complicated expression, "Zhang Fei has always been bold, and he is likely to retreat to advance. He plays a trick of playing hard to get. He first let Zi Lian meet me, and then leads his army to surround my army in order to seek annihilation..."

"Why is he trying to annihilate our army?" Cao Xiu still disbelief and said in confusion, "After meeting with Uncle Hong, our army is not much less than Zhang Fei, and it is not without the strength to fight..."

"Food and grass!" Jia Xu said lightly, "Our army has shortage of food and grass, and Zhang Fei has abundant food and grass. This is his greatest advantage. He does not need to fight our army to death at all. As long as we siege our army again, it is very likely to drag down our army..."

"He is a delusion..." Cao Xiu said dissatisfiedly, "If our army traps Wancheng, his tricks may be achieved. If our army breaks through the entire army, how can he stop our army..."

"Even if our entire army breaks through, as long as Zhang Fei is willing to stop it, it is not impossible to stop it..." Jia Xu said in a shocking voice. "He doesn't need to fight our army to death at all, he just needs to delay our army's actions with real and false attacks.

If our army's speed is limited, it is likely that it will be defeated due to lack of food before it escapes.

The key point is that when General Zi Lian's army was also surrounded by Zhang Fei, our army could not mobilize any troops to reinforce in the surrounding prefectures and counties.

One of the important reasons why Zhang Fei dared not attack Wancheng before was that General Zi Lian's army was threatening him. However, once General Zi Lian was surrounded, the situation would be very bad!"

Cao Xiu's expression was a little bit of delay in surprise, and it was obvious that he was impressed by Jia Xu's analysis. He became deeply worried.

"Prime Minister, leave the city immediately and retreat north. Perhaps there is still time to get rid of Zhang Fei's siege..." Man Chong advised anxiously.

.

At this time, Cao Hong, Cao Zhang and more than 200 tiger and leopard cavalry, left the group of people and rushed into Wancheng first.

"Is the Prime Minister okay?" After turning over and dismounting, Cao Hong looked around and shouted with great anxiety.

Cao Zhen came forward and saluted and replied: "Uncle Hong, the Prime Minister is on the city tower!"

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister..." Leading Cao Zhang, Cao Hong strode up to the city tower. After seeing Cao Cao, he lifted his robe and knelt on one knee, and said excitedly, "Hong is late, Prime Minister Lao is frightened. It's really a matter of no way to refuse!"

"I have seen my father!" Cao Zhang knelt on his knees and leaned deeply on the bluestone slab.

"Zi Lian, Zi Wen, get up!" Seeing the relatives and beloved son appearing in front of him, Cao Cao didn't know whether he should be happy or sad, so he stepped forward and helped the two of them up, sighed and said.

"Thank you Prime Minister (father's prime minister)!"

After the two stood up, Cao Cao noticed Cao Zhang's embarrassing look with a disheveled hair, and asked with a slightly moving look: "Ziwen, have you ever been injured?"

"Thank you for your concern, I'm not seriously injured!"

Cao Hong was surprised to see that everyone, including Cao Cao, had serious expressions on his face, and seemed to have no joy to get rid of the enemy's trap. He couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Prime Minister, why are you so depressed?"

"Wenhe, you will briefly explain the situation you analyzed before to Zilian!" Cao Zhang patted his son's shoulder lightly, turned his head to Jia Xu and said.

"Yes!" Jia Xu nodded. "General Cao, this is the thing..."

"What, Zhang Fei pretended to retreat?" Cao Hong was reluctant to believe this conclusion. In his opinion, it was his soldiers who had fought hard to repel their strong enemies. "Prime Minister, is it wrong..."

"General Cao, the key point at the moment is not whether this guess is wrong. But how to ensure that the Prime Minister and the tens of thousands of troops exit Wancheng safely..." Jia Xu said patiently, "There should not be any gap during the retreat.

Therefore, it is better to trust this matter than to trust this without..."

Cao Hong was stunned and had to nod and agree with Jia Xu's words: "What should I do? It's not a solution to stay in Wancheng, so it's better to retreat north as soon as possible?"

"Uncle Hong is right, so let's retreat north as soon as possible..." Cao Xiu nodded and agreed.

Regarding Cao Hong and Cao Xiu's proposal. Cao Cao did not make any comments, but turned around and looked at the west sky.

At this moment, the sunset had disappeared, and even the last trace of blood-red afterglow had dissipated, and the sky was quickly darkening. The evening breeze with a strong bloody smell slowly brushed across the plains and cities.

"It's night, it's not good!" After a moment, Cao Cao said something inexplicably.

In addition to Jia Xu being able to truly understand Cao Cao's meaning, only Man Chong vaguely guessed something. The other Cao Hong, Cao Zhang, and Cao Xiu were completely confused——

Retreat at night was a choice Cao Cao himself made.

According to the initial plan, as long as Cao Hongli cooperated with him to break through the siege, Cao Cao could use the night as a cover to quickly lead the army to retreat north. The Jingzhou army's encirclement was broken and he might not dare to pursue it in a hurry.

And even if you chase after me, you can use suspicious tactics to intercept them. When dawn, maybe Cao's army will be able to separate from Jingzhou army.

However, the development of reality has broken the planned arrangements. Faced with the Jingzhou army, which is likely to deliberately cancel the siege, the darkness cannot be used as a cover, but may instead provide the opponent with the convenience of sneak attacks.

If Jia Xu's analysis is indeed correct, then Zhang Fei may have made arrangements such as ambushing troops and waited for Cao's army to retreat.

The night is also the best cover for the raid.

After Jia Xu explained, the generals came over to look at each other in an understanding manner. He didn't know what to do.

"Prime Minister. Time is urgent, and the more you drag it, the more it will be unfavorable to our army. You need to make a decision early..." Seeing that the soldiers on the city had already started to raise torches, Man Chong advised urgently.

Jia Xu thought for a moment and suggested cautiously: "Xu has a plan, please ask the Prime Minister and the ministers to find out!"

"Please speak with Mr. Jia!"

"Xu thought that the most urgent task of our army was not anything else, but just to ensure that the Prime Minister retreated safely. If the Prime Minister could return to Xuchang, he could take charge of the overall situation.

"Jia Xu said in an orderly manner, "As for the current situation, if the Prime Minister retreats with the army, one is too big, and the other is time-consuming.

Instead of doing so, it is better to use the tiger and leopard cavalry to escort the prime minister to withdraw first, and the army followed and marched steadily.

Even if Zhang Fei surrounded him again, he could at most be able to surround the army, and the chances of intercepting the prime minister were slim. As long as the army did not advance, it would be difficult for Zhang Fei to swallow it in one bite. If he could last for a few days, the prime minister might be able to mobilize troops to aid.

In this way, both worlds can be beautiful!”

"This plan is wonderful!" After thinking for a while, Cao Hong was the first to express his opinion and said in agreement, "Ziwen and Zhongkang defended the Prime Minister first, and Wen Lie and Zidan's cavalry also guarded the Prime Minister together.

Wen Qian and I stayed to lead the army and entangle Zhang Fei that bastard."

"The Wenhe Di plan is very reasonable, and the Prime Minister should adopt it!" Man Chong and others agreed one after another, "Please give the overall situation the most important thing..."

"Okay..." After frowning and thinking for a while, Cao Cao sighed and nodded slightly...

.

After two cups of tea, Cao Cao, Jia Xu, Man Chong and others led hundreds of tiger and leopard cavalry out of Wancheng under the escort of Xu Chu and Cao Zhang and disappeared into the night.

Shortly after Cao Cao left, Cao Hong and Le Jin immediately rectified the army, brought all the food and grass that had been plundered, and began to slowly turn around to prepare for retreating north.
Chapter completed!