Vol 2 Chapter 2852: Cao Cao urgently retreated eastward, and Bai Qi attacked Dingtao from afar.

Vol 2 Chapter 2852: Cao Cao urgently retreated eastward, and Bai Qi attacked Dingtao from afar.

Chapter 2852 Cao Cao made an emergency retreat eastward, and Bai Qi attacked Dingtao.

Chapter 2848: Cao Cao urgently retreats eastward, Bai Qi attacks Dingtao

As the Governor of Yingchuan in Cao Wei, whoever can get Cao Bin's head will undoubtedly gain the greatest credit in this battle.

Now Cao Bin fell into the hands of Ma Chao and Xu Chu at the same time, and neither of them obviously wanted to let go of this first attack, so they both stared at each other and refused to give in.

"Ma Chao, if I hadn't clamped the blade first, Cao Bin would be dead now, so I was the one who took the lead." Xu Chu shouted.

Ma Chao sneered and said: "So what? Since there is no stipulation of life and death, then the credit belongs to whoever is in the hands of Cao Bin. Look at whose hands Cao Bin is now."

Ma Chaoshan also contributed to capturing Cao Bin alive, but if he had to share the credit with Xu Chu, he would rather strangle Cao Bin to death and monopolize the credit of killing Cao Bin. Who would make Xu Chu laugh at him if he had nothing to do?

"I...you little pretty boy actually did this to me. Do you believe that I will let him go now and let Cao Bin commit suicide? I will also chop off your hand."

Xu Chu was a little angry, but Ma Chao looked disdainful and said calmly: "Let it go, let it go."

Ma Chao said this, but Xu Chu was in trouble. Not to mention that the living Cao Bin was more valuable. Cao Bin's strength alone may not be able to break through Ma Chao's inner Qi gauze. But once he lets go, the credit will be huge. It has nothing to do with him.

 “Wow, you’re looking for trouble on purpose, right?”

Xu Chu pretended to be fierce, but there was no way he could scare Ma Chao.

Seeing two generals Xu Chu and Ma Chao quarreling for credit, Cao Bin, who was captured alive, was extremely speechless. He then provoked a discord and said, "Why don't you two have a fight? Whoever wins will get the credit for capturing me alive." That’s who it is…”

Before Cao Bin finished speaking, Ma Chao and Xu Chu yelled in unison: "Shut up."

Ma Chao and Xu Chu are not stupid. Although there is some disagreement between the two, they are not at the point of taking action. How could they start a fight just because of Cao Bin's few words.

Soon, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong also arrived at Prince Wei's Mansion. Looking at the two people who refused to let anyone go, both of them looked helpless.

"Okay, don't argue anymore. News came from the rear just now, saying that Cao Bin is the only one who cannot kill him and must be captured alive, so the credit for capturing Cao Bin alive should be shared equally between you two."

Hearing Zhao Yun's words, Xu Chu was overjoyed. Although Ma Chao was a little unhappy, he was glad that he did not strangle Cao Bin to death.

The order from the rear stated that Cao Bin must be captured alive, which would definitely be of great use. If he killed Cao Bin without knowing it, although it would not be considered a fault, the credit would definitely be lost.

"Zilong, I didn't say who I couldn't kill before, so why did I get such an order just before the inner city was breached?" Huang Zhongli asked in confusion.

"this…"

Zhao Yun also looked puzzled and said, "Perhaps Your Majesty and the military advisor have other considerations. Well, the top priority is to organize a cavalry pursuit as soon as possible."

For Zhao Yun, although the number of Cao Jun's remnants who escaped from Xuchang was not large, Zhang Guifang and Zhu Hai were among them. If they were left alone, he was worried that it would cause disaster.

In addition, now that the inner city has been destroyed, the entire Xuchang has fallen into the hands of the Qin army, so the battlefield must be cleaned up and the whole city must be cleaned up as soon as possible before His Majesty can be welcomed into the city.

Zhao Yun was preparing to lead three thousand light cavalry in pursuit, leaving Huang Zhong behind to clean up the city, but at this time two imperial edicts from Ying Hao came.

 The first step was to order Ma Chao and Xu Chu to lead a thousand light cavalry and pretend to be five thousand cavalry to pursue them but not attack.

The imperial edict's words of "catching up but not catching up" made Zhao Yun and other generals present stunned. Although they didn't quite understand why they did this, it was obvious that His Majesty and the military advisor had other plans.

As for the second line, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong led 20,000 infantry and cavalry and immediately marched north to capture the last city in Yingchuan, Yanling, and the two cities of Weishi and Fugou in the south of Chenliu, in order to encircle the Wei army in Chenliu later. And prepare.

 In terms of geographical location, Xuchang, located in the northeast corner of Yingchuan, is actually not suitable as the administrative seat of Yingchuan. After all, there are only three cities in the northeastern region: Xuchang, Yanling, and Xinji.

 So relatively speaking, Yangzhai, located in the very center of Yingchuan, is naturally more suitable as a city for governance.

However, although Xuchang is not suitable to be the seat of Yingchuan, it is precisely because it is located in the northeast corner of Yingchuan and has a wider radiation range to the Central Plains, so it is suitable to be the capital of Wei.

Now that Xuchang has been captured by the Qin army, only Yanling and Xinji are left in Yingchuan, so the next goal of the Qin army is naturally to capture these two cities.

Zhao Yun also knew that the next main attack direction of the Qin army would be to attack Yanling to the north, then attack Chenliu, and besiege Cao Cao. However, he did not expect that they would conquer Xuchang so quickly. They had not even cleared the battlefield yet, so they continued to advance. It's true that I'm a little anxious.

However, since it is an imperial edict, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong can only abide by it.

In this way, the five tigers of the Qin Dynasty, who had finally gathered together, with Dian Wei injured, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong went north, Ma Chao and Xu Chu went east, and the five went their separate ways again.

Of course, Dian Wei's injury was not serious, it was just a superficial wound, and it would not take long for him to recover.

After Zhao Yun and other generals led their troops to leave Xuchang, the task of cleaning the battlefield fell on Jiang Juan. After a day and night of cleaning, the preliminary results of the battle were finally calculated.

Bai Qi took only ten days to conquer Puyang, while Ying Hao took six days to conquer Xuchang.

In the offensive and defensive battle of Xuchang, the Qin army dispatched 130,000 troops to attack the city, while the Cao army defended the city with 55,000 troops.

 After six days of brutal fighting, the Qin army's cumulative casualties reached 7,000, of which 6,000 casualties were in the first five days. On the contrary, the final casualties were very small, only more than a thousand.

Comparing the casualties of 7,000, the Qin army killed 23,000 Cao soldiers and captured 22,000 prisoners.

Killed more than 20 generals of Cao's army, including: Xue Ju, Qiu Yin, Zhang Shan, Yin Pobai, Yin Chengxiu, Han Rong, Han Sheng, Han Bian, Lin Shan, Lei Kai, Cao Rong, Cao Ding, Cao Chi, Cao Yu waits.

 Thirteen generals of Cao Wei were captured, including: Cao Bin, the governor of Yingchuan, as well as E Chongyu, E Shun, etc.

After this battle, except for the 8,000 remnant troops led by Cao Wei who escaped, the rest of Cao Wei's Yingchuan Army had been completely annihilated by the Qin army. There was no more troops left in the area south of Chenliu in Wei State.

Outside Xuchang City, inside the Qin Army’s camp, Ying Hao and Guo Jia were discussing the issue of the Yingchuan clan.

The Yingchuan family was the foundation of Cao Cao's fortune. All the major families in the Central Plains suffered heavy losses. Only the Yingchuan family made a lot of money by supporting Cao Cao. Not only did it recover, but it also became more prosperous than before.

 This is also the main reason why most Yingchuan clans are unwilling to join Da Qin.

Although the Qin Dynasty's attitude towards aristocratic families was not as harsh as that of the Ming and Sui Dynasties, it was far less favorable than the preferential treatment of the Wei and Song Dynasties. There were basically not many privileges at all.

The Yingchuan family, who were used to enjoying their time in Wei, naturally did not want to lose their privileges and become a wealthy commoner in Da Qin.

After Guo Jia turned over the letter in his hand, he smiled lightly and said: "My lord, the four major families of Yingchuan, headed by the Xun family, and the thirty-six clans of Yingchuan, have jointly requested Your Majesty to inspect Xuchang and voluntarily donate 100 yuan." Reward the army with ten thousand liang.”

After the city of Xuchang was captured, the major Yingchuan families in the city were in panic. They thought that the Qin-Wei war had nothing to do with them, but they didn't expect that in order to defend Xuchang, Cao Bin went so crazy and forcibly recruited soldiers from all ethnic groups to defend the city. Therefore, they were naturally worried that Da Qin would settle the scores in the future, so they all approached the four major families with the strongest relations to intercede.

The four major families in Yingchuan are: the Yingyin Xun family represented by Xun Yu, Xun You, and Xun Kan; the Xuchang Chen family represented by Chen Shi, Chen Qun, and Chen Tai; and the Xuchang Chen family represented by Zhong Hao, Zhong Yao, and Zhong Hui. The Zhong family of Changshe was represented, and the Han family of Wuyang County was represented by Han Shao and Han Fu.

Among the four major families in Yingchuan, many people have served as officials in Daqin, such as Xun Yu, Xun Kan, Zhong Yao, Han Xin, etc. Therefore, the major families in Yingchuan feel that Da Qin will definitely not liquidate these four families.

 But what they don’t know is that the four major families in Yingchuan are also suffering, especially the Xun family, the head of the four major families.

Because Xun You was determined to follow Cao Cao all the way, most of the powerful factions in the Xun family also turned to Xun You.

Because of Xun Yu and Xun Kan, Da Qin may not be angry with the Xun family, but it may not be angry with people like them who are in power.

 If that happens, the Xun family will naturally still be the Xun family, but it will not be their Xun family.

In order to protect themselves, the Xun family had contacted Xun Yu a long time ago, but they did not expect that in order to avoid danger, Xun Yu would not even see the Xun family members. Xun Kan even hid when he saw the Xun family members, so the Xun family could only He set his sights on Xun Kuang.

Xun Kuang, as the Supreme Elder of Confucianism, was at the juncture of breaking through to the semi-mysterious realm, so naturally he had no time to pay attention to the Xun family.

Xun Yu ignored him and Xun Kuang didn't care. This made everyone in the Xun family feel numb, but there was nothing they could do about it. The level of these two people had long surpassed that of the family itself. Moreover, they didn't listen to these two people in the first place.

The Yingchuan family wants to ask the Xun family to come forward to sue for peace, but the Xun family is now in trouble, so how can they care about other families?

After the city of Xuchang was destroyed, the old housekeeper of the Xun family took out a letter written by Xun Yu three months ago, saying that it must be taken out after the city of Xuchang was destroyed.

This letter was also regarded as hope by the Xun family, but they did not expect that the content written in it was for the Xun family to persuade the Yingchuan family to honestly kneel down and admit punishment to the Qin army, and voluntarily hand over 90% of the land and 50% of the assets. .

After some discussion, the Xun family decided to do what Xun Yu said. Under the influence of coercion and coercion, the major families in Yingchuan also decided to bow their heads and accept the punishment. After all, if they don't bow their heads, they will not lose money, but money. It was their order to invite Ying Hao to Xuchang for inspection and to reward the troops.

Ying Hao glanced at the Yingchuan Family's "Notification Certificate" and immediately couldn't help but show satisfaction. He had to say that the Yingchuan Family was very knowledgeable.

“Cao Cao did everything he could to get money and food, and even took risks to plot against the Demon Sect, but he didn’t know that he was raising fatter pigs around him.” Ying Hao couldn’t help laughing.

"Of course Cao Cao knew, but he didn't dare to attack the Yingchuan family. Otherwise, the Wei army would be alienated from him. The price would be much higher than offending the Demon Sect." Guo Jiadao.

So Cao Cao is still smart. He would rather offend the Momen than the Yingchuan family, just to maintain Cao Wei's already fragile centripetal force.

“My lord, the Yingchuan family has shown sincerity, will you enter the city?” Guo Jia asked.

Ying Hao didn't enter the city before. He could use the reason that after conquering Xuchang, the city was in chaos and it was not safe.

But now the city has been cleaned up, and the public order has not only returned to before the war, but it is also relatively stable.

Ying Hao has not yet entered the city at this time, which makes it difficult for the Yingchuan family not to think about whether Ying Hao is still dissatisfied with them and wants to attack them.

Ying Hao originally planned to kill some people to scare the monkeys. After all, these aristocratic families are all cheap. It is useless for you to reason with them. They will never know the pain without using the knife.

It's just that Ying Hao didn't expect that the Yingchuan family would be so understanding. They even slapped him when they knelt down. The Yingchuan family put their faces in front of him and let him slap them. Afterwards, they even said that he hit him right, which made him embarrassed. The fight went down.

“That’s all, since the Yingchuan family is so understanding, let me go into the city to see their sincerity.”

Ying Hao smiled lightly, but now he was a little curious. What would Cao Cao's expression be like when he learned that as soon as Xuchang City was breached, the Yingchuan family turned against each other collectively.

 It must be very exciting.

Looking back to Chen Liu's Cao Cao

The north of Daxing City was captured by Li Jing, and the news that the Sui Kingdom was about to fall was sent back to Chenliu. Not long after, Cao Cao received news of the fall of Puyang.

This was a big blow to Cao Cao. After all, the fall of Puyang meant that Cao Wei's northern defense line was completely lost. Except for the 20,000 troops in Yanxian County, Cao Wei no longer had any troops in Dongjun, but the Qin army could always Go south and attack Cao Jun's rear.

 In addition, the fall of Puyang City also caused Cao Wei to lose a large number of generals.

Le Yi, the governor, will not go into details. He was the only general in Cao Wei besides Cao Cao who could fight in vain. However, he committed suicide after the city was broken. The general of the bodyguard was evil. He was the third most powerful general in Cao Wei after Yin Shou and Tantai Yu. He was also the most trusted and close general to Cao Cao. He also died in the hands of Li Cunxiao. his death in battle

 Coupled with generals such as Yu Rongwang and Le Jin...

 The thought of losing so many beloved generals at the same time made Cao Cao heartbroken. Before he could recover, worse news followed.

Puyang, which had 45,000 defenders, was conquered by Bai Qi in only ten days. After all, it was not beyond redemption.

But Xuchang City, which had 55,000 defenders, was captured by Qin again. This was quite fatal to Cao Jun. After Cao Cao learned about it, he was so angry that he vomited blood and fainted.

Cao Cao's fainting made Fan Li, Xia Houyuan and other senior officials of Cao Wei panic. After all, in this critical moment of life and death, if Cao Cao was unconscious for a few days, their retreat would probably be completely cut off by the Qin army.

But except for Cao Cao, no one present could do it, not even Fan Li and Xia Houyuan, so Cao Cao had to be revived, at least not until the order to withdraw the troops was issued before he fainted.

Cao Cao did not faint for long. Less than half an hour later, he was revived by Wu Kui, the imperial physician of the Song Dynasty.

 Wu Kui (tao sounds) was a figure in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was famous for his superb medical skills and noble medical ethics. He wrote the book "Wu Kui's Materia Medica".

Wu Kuo was a good doctor who helped the world during his lifetime, and countless people benefited from him. The people called him Wu Zhenren. Villagers built temples to worship him as a "miraculous doctor". After his death, he was posthumously named Daozhendao and Baosheng Emperor by the court, and he was also a deity. A powerful person.

 Cao Cao suffered from head wind but it has been difficult to cure. The root cause was overwork. In order to prevent the disease from occurring during the war, Cao Cao borrowed Wu Kui from Zhao Kuangyin.

Although Cao Cao woke up, he would rather not wake up, because when he wakes up, he will have to face the predicament in front of him, but this cannot be solved by human power at all.

The Xuchang battle report that Cao Cao received was sent by Cao Wei before he broke out. It only stated that the inner city was about to be defeated, and that Xue Ju, Qiu Yin, Yin Pobai and other generals were killed in the battle. Cao Bin personally stayed behind to buy time, while he would He led eight thousand elites and Zhang Guifang, Zhu Hai and other generals to break through the encirclement.

Cao Cao didn't know that Cao Bin had been captured alive, but since Cao Bin stayed behind in person, it was conceivable how dangerous the situation in Xuchang was. He could only pray that Cao Wei could successfully break out and retain some vitality for Cao's army. At the same time, he thought about How to turn danger into safety.

Cao Wei's western front had only 300,000 troops at its peak. In the first month of fierce fighting, it lost nearly 100,000 troops. However, it was replenished several times from county soldiers and strong men, plus the addition of Wei and Song Dynasties. The reinforcements were consumed while fighting. Although the total strength did not exceed 300,000, they could barely maintain the situation of heading west.

Before Puyang and Xuchang were conquered, not counting the reinforcements from Wei and Song, Cao Wei still had nearly 220,000 troops on the western front.

In other words, as long as the hundreds of thousands of Momen rebels in the rear and the newly recruited Cao Wei army in the east form an army, the pressure on the front line can be greatly relieved, and at least the war of attrition with the Qin army can be continued for a while.

What Cao Cao lacks most now is no longer soldiers, money and food, but time, but time is not on Cao Cao's side.

Although Cao Jun's losses were heavy before, they were accumulated in the past two months. Now, in just two days, Puyang and Xuchang fell successively, causing Cao Jun to lose not only the two famous names Leyi and Cao Bin. Shuai, the five war gods E Lai, Yu Rongwang, Xue Ju, Qiu Yin, and Zhang Shan, and there must not be many left of the 100,000 defenders in the two cities.

Regardless of how many troops the two cities can break out, even if there are, they will definitely not be many. Without the 100,000 troops in Puyang and Xuchang, Cao Wei's total troops on the western front are only 120,000, and they are still being attacked from three sides.

If Cao Cao makes one wrong move at this time, Cao Cao's army will be completely wiped out.

 The best thing about the misfortune is the last resort, which is Jiyin County to govern Dingtao County, which is still in the hands of Cao Wei.

If Dingtao also falls, the remaining 120,000 Cao troops will have their retreat route cut off and face encirclement from three sides. The only outcome is that the entire army will be annihilated.

 “The order is passed down, all the frontline cities are abandoned, and the entire army withdraws to Jiyin County.”

Not long after he woke up, Cao Cao issued an order to withdraw his troops, and this was the only correct method. After all, it would be too late if he didn't run away.

Fan Li said with a serious face after hearing this: "My lord, we can't retreat like this. Zhang Liao is still staring at us. If we retreat without preparation, once Zhang Liao's army catches up, we will cause the whole army to retreat." A defeated situation.”

After Li Cunxiao was transferred away by Bai Qi, although Cao Cao faced much less pressure, he still had to directly face Zhang Liao's hundreds of thousands of Qin troops.

Intelligence between the Qin armies must be exchanged. If Zhang Liao knew the news of the fall of Puyang, he would naturally not let Cao Cao and his army retreat easily.

 So, for Cao Cao, the difficulty was not how to withdraw his troops, but how to get rid of Zhang Liao's pursuit.

Hearing Fan Li's words, Cao Cao also reacted, sweating so anxiously that he paced back and forth: "What should we do?

After Bai Qi conquers Puyang, he will definitely capture Dingtao at any cost. Although Chen Liu is closer to Dingtao, with Zhang Liao around, it will be difficult for our army to withdraw in a short time.

In addition, Dingtao has neither a strong army nor a strong general, and our army has no time to support it. The Dingtao defenders alone will definitely not be able to stop Bai Qi..."

The more he analyzes Cao Cao, the more desperate he becomes. This is simply a situation of death and no life. Now he wishes he didn't wake up, because there doesn't seem to be much difference between waking up and not waking up.

At the critical moment, Fan Li was the most reliable and offered his advice: "My lord, we can first dispatch all the cavalry to support, but if we want to stop Bai Qi's army with high morale, I'm afraid my lord will need you to personally lead the army and supplement it with strong generals." ”

“But if we transfer all the cavalry, can Chen Liu’s army still be able to withdraw?”

 Cao Cao asked the key to the problem. After all, without these 120,000 troops, the eastern counties with only new soldiers and county soldiers would naturally be unable to stop the Qin army. So what's the point of continuing to struggle? It would be better to surrender directly.

Fan Li knew that it was impossible for Cao Cao to surrender. The reason why he asked this question was because he was sick and rushed to seek medical treatment. It was also possible that he was testing his intentions.

Fan Li hesitated for a moment and then said: "As long as Bai Qi can reach Dingtao first and persist until the frontline troops withdraw, Bai Qi will naturally withdraw his troops.

 As for how to get rid of Zhang Liao and withdraw his troops? Li has a plan. If it goes well, he may be able to deceive Jia Xu, but he will have to pay a certain price. "

 Cao Cao was immediately overjoyed. With the situation Cao's army was facing now, it was impossible to withdraw completely. The only difference was how high the cost was.

Compared with the danger of annihilation of the entire army, it is not unacceptable to pay a certain price to escape.

"Can you really hide it from Jia Xu? That old guy is not easy to deceive."

Cao Cao was also afraid of Jia Xu's plot and did not even want to mention his name, and he also knew that the biggest obstacle to the withdrawal was not Zhang Liao, but Jia Xu.

Although the leader of the Qin army was Zhang Liao, Zhang Liao listened to Jia Xu, and with Jia Xu's strategy, it was almost impossible to hide ordinary strategies from him.

"My lord, although Jia Xu is scary, he is also a human being, and he will make mistakes as a human being."

After saying this, Fan Li leaned into Cao Cao's ear and whispered his plan to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao's face became more and more ugly.

Not to mention, if Fan Li's plan is followed, there is indeed a high probability of deceiving Jia Xu. However, although the price is within the tolerance of Cao Jun, it is emotionally difficult for Cao Cao to accept.

Seeing Cao Cao's hesitant and embarrassed look, Fan Li couldn't help but smile bitterly and persuade him: "My lord, every time you hesitate now, Bai Qi will get closer to Dingtao. There is no time to continue to hesitate."

Cao Cao was shocked when he heard this, and then gritted his teeth and said: "Follow the military advisor's plan and immediately dispatch cavalry to support Dingtao."

“My lord, just dispatching cavalry to support may not be able to defend Dingtao. After all, Li Cunxiao is in Bai Qi’s army.

Li suggested that the lord lead the army in person this time, and take the three generals Tantaiyu, Cao Ning, and Xiahouyuan with him. In addition, he ordered General Yin Shou of Yan County to come with all the cavalry to support him. "

Fan Li did not know that Li Cunxiao led his army alone to pursue Lan Yu, and then fought a battle with Niu Kuiyuan and Jiuling, and was not in Bai Qi's army now.

Of course, even if he knew that Li Cunxiao was not here, he would still make the same suggestion, because he could see much further than Cao Cao.

In such a dangerous situation, Cao Cao's priority was still how to protect the 120,000 troops on the western front.

Although Fan Li understands that this is not impossible, the possibility is very low unless every next step is calculated by himself, but will that old fox Jia Xu really be so obedient?

Fan Li was not sure, but he couldn't bring it up face to face, so he told Cao Cao with reservations. The priority was actually to save Cao Cao's life first and preserve as much vitality as possible, not to save everything as Cao Cao thought. Army.

Cao Cao may not be able to see Fan Li's ideas at all. Maybe there is no better way, or he can't be the bad guy, so he can't put it forward, and it's just right to let Fan Li be the bad guy, so he Tacit understanding.

Of course, Cao Cao still hopes that Fan Li's plan will go smoothly, and only in this way can he have the confidence to continue to fight.

Under Fan Li's plan, Cao Cao personally led Chenliu's 5,000 tiger and leopard cavalry, and dispatched 3,000 Suizao cavalry, 4,000 Fengqiu cavalry, and 3,000 Yanxian cavalry, a total of 15,000 cavalry, to rush to support Dingtao.

These four cavalry groups came from four cities, with different distances and distances. Therefore, Cao Cao did not wait for the armies to arrive before setting off. Instead, he took Chen Liu's 5,000 cavalry to Dingtao overnight.

Cao Cao was afraid that Bai Qi would reach Dingtao before him, and he was even more afraid that Dingtao guard Liu Tichun would not be able to withstand the pressure, so he surrendered to Bai Qi out of fear.

Cao Cao's worries are actually not unreasonable. Liu Tichun was a surrendered general that Cao Cao subdued when he quelled the Yellow Turbans in Mount Tai. At that time, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Liu Tiren, Li Chixin, Ma Shouying and other generals also surrendered.

After Liu Tichun surrendered, although he has always been loyal to Cao Cao, no one can guarantee that he will not betray under such a dangerous situation.

 So before setting off, Cao Cao specifically asked Cao Ning to bring the military talisman and ride to Dingtao alone as quickly as possible to take over the military power from Liu Tichun.

If Liu Tichun agrees, that's it. If he doesn't agree, Cao Ning will kill him and take away the military power by force.

 While Cao Cao was rushing to rescue Dingtao at full speed, Bai Qi was also rushing to Dingtao at full speed.

After Bai Qi conquered Puyang, he did not even enter the city or make any stops. He directly led his army south to attack the counties of Jiyin in an attempt to cut off Cao's army's retreat. In only half a day, he reached the northernmost part of Jiyin County. Lihu County.

It was already dark when Bai Qi arrived in Lihu County. Marching at night was actually very dangerous, but in order to race against time, Bai Qi chose to march all night.

Lihu Guards General Ma Shouying was about to sleep, but when he was told that a large number of Qin troops appeared outside the city, he was frightened and rolled out of bed. After much hesitation, he finally decided to open the city and surrender. After all, with his hundreds of county soldiers, he could not It is impossible to defend Lihu County.

Ma Shouying's knowledge also saved Bai Qi a lot of effort. He spent the night repairing in Lihu County, and after leaving three thousand defenders the next day, he took the remaining troops to Dingtao.

"General Ma, are you an old acquaintance with Dingtao Guard General Liu Tichun? Are you sure you can convince Liu Tichun to abandon the dark side and surrender to the Qin Dynasty?" Bai Qi looked at Ma Shouying and asked.

Ma Shouying said decisively without even thinking about it: "General Qi, Liu Tichun and the last general were both attacked by the Yellow Turbans and belonged to General Li Zicheng. Later, they were forced to surrender to Cao Cao. If the last general goes to lobby, he will definitely be able to persuade Liu Tichun to surrender." The city surrendered."

“Okay, if you can persuade Liu Tichun to surrender, I will declare you as the Commander-in-Chief of Jiyin to His Majesty.”

 The captain of a county is just a colonel in the Qin army system, but Ma Shouying did not know this. When he heard Bai Qi do this, he was overjoyed and quickly thanked him: "Thank you, captain."

Looking at the background of Ma Shouying's departure, Bai Qi smiled and nodded. If this trip goes well, Ma Shouying will bring back more than one city, as well as Cao Wei's 120,000 main army.

Of course, Bai Qi will not put all his hopes on Ma Shouying. Even if Ma Shouying fails, he will forcefully attack Ding Tao to cut off Cao Cao's retreat.