Chapter 66 Chapter 8 Expansion of the Territory: Tu Xuzhou's backyard is on fire and fights against Puyang (10)

When Cao Cao returned to the base camp, the soldiers knew that Cao Cao was injured, and they all came to greet him and plead guilty.Cao Cao didn't blame anyone, instead he looked up and laughed.When he was happy, he liked to clap his hands and stomp his feet, but this time when he was about to clap his hands, he immediately withdrew his left hand, because his left hand was burned too much and had been bandaged up, so how dare he do it.So he only touched the short half of his beard with his left hand, and said to the soldiers: "It's only because I was too impatient that I fell for Chen Gong's trap. Alright! Once you suffer a loss, you gain wisdom. Now, I know how to avenge this..."

Seeing that Cao Cao was so happy and did not look depressed at all, the soldiers felt relieved, and their morale quickly returned to the original level. Cao Cao said to the soldiers who followed: "Let's go to the camps to condolences to the soldiers and tell them that we have a solution, and we must take down Puyang!" Therefore, Cao Cao did not rest, and immediately led the team, went to each battalion to condolences to the retreating troops, and encouraged and comforted them.At the same time, tell everyone that starting tomorrow, we will start manufacturing siege weapons. Three days later, Cao Jun built the ladder to attack the city, and then led the army to attack the city of Puyang again, assuming a posture of preparing to attack the city.

A flying horse came to report to Lu Bu, saying that Cao Cao was about to attack the city. Lu Bu, who was immersed in the joy of victory, could hardly believe his ears, and asked Tan Ma to report again. Tan Ma said again: "Cao's army has deployed under the city and is about to attack the city." Lu Bu pushed away the maid beside him, stood up and kept shaking his head, and said, "How is this possible? How is it possible? This Cao Cao is simply crazy, doesn't he care about anything?" Lu Bu walked back and forth with his hands behind his back, feeling an inexplicable sense of emptiness in his heart.After almost defeating Cao Jun twice in a row, he was like a war horse, rolling on the ground and recovering from fatigue.It's not just that, he seems to have eaten the rejuvenation grass for the troops, always recovering again and again, and going into battle with stronger fighting spirit.In this way, every time he defeated Cao Jun with great effort, it seemed that he was the one who was defeated in the end.

Cao Cao's siege again made Chen Gong stupid for a while. He could no longer estimate Cao Cao's actual combat capabilities.Although he knows Cao Cao very well, he knows that he is good at using troops, has many strategies and is very resilient.However, the spirit and momentum of repeated defeats like the present one is unbelievable anyway.But it is also a living fact that Cao Jun, who was defeated three days ago, is waiting for the Chen Bing in Puyang City, and may launch a fierce offensive at any time. Now I have to admit that the initiative has been completely controlled by Cao Jun.Although Lu Bu's army had won consecutive victories, as far as Chen Gong knew, the soldiers were still exhausted and eager to rest.As the commander, Lu Bu and him are also preparing to take a good rest of the troops before they can restore their strong combat effectiveness.However, everything has not had time to proceed.The soldiers didn't rest, and the rest was still in the process of planning, but Cao Jun seemed to have taken a elixir, and everyone was alive and kicking, soaring and jumping, and assembled at the city of Puyang.

Chen Gong stood on the top of the city and carefully observed Cao Jun. There was no sign of artificiality or camouflage at all. The patrols and drills of the troops were all in order.Moreover, he did see the brand new cloud ladder placed next to the military tent.It took only three days to complete the construction. This speed itself is enough to explain the problem, so what is there to doubt? Therefore, it can be said that Cao Jun was not defeated, but only temporarily dispersed in form. The morale and fighting spirit throughout the army were not harmed at all.And this is where the real combat effectiveness of the army lies.Chen Gong deeply understood this point.Therefore, Chen Gong said solemnly to Lu Bu:

"Judging from the current situation, the only way is to stick to the city. Our army dare not fight Cao Jun below. I wonder if the general feels the same?" Lu Bu was silent, but his heart was full of anger.From his personal emotions, he couldn't swallow this breath anyway.Judging from his personal martial arts, Lu Bu has never met a real opponent, so he has always been high-spirited and doesn't take people seriously.Listening to Chen Gong's words now, it is too embarrassing, so he scolded angrily: "If he, Cao Cao, is a hero, he will go out to compete with me. His generals, including Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin, Li Dian, and Le Jin, will all come out to fight with me. If I lose, I will send Puyang to kneel and kowtow The three ringers left alone... You send a message to tell them to go out. If you are a hero, come!"

Chen Gong shook his head and said, "Of course Cao Cao won't do what you say. The general's understanding of heroes should not be too narrow. A general's high martial arts is certainly a hero's talent. But a real hero can stretch and bend, can attack and defend The defeat in the first battle does not diminish the heroic appearance. He who has been defeated and fought repeatedly without being subdued, and finally wins the hearts of the people and the world, is a hero! Therefore, the talent of a hero is not only martial arts, but also strategy. The general trend does not care about the smallness of the moment. Now Cao Cao is fighting my tired army with a mighty force. If the general treats my army with good defense, once the morale of our army is boosted and the opponent's spirit is gradually weakened, he will be defeated again. Army, this is what a true hero does. General Wanwang controls his emotions and focuses on big things."

Although Lu Bu was still aggrieved, he had difficulty responding to Chen Gong's words.However, he always felt that what Chen Gong said today was not that popular, so he felt a little disgusted in his heart. However, Lü Bu finally accepted Chen Gong's words and stood firm on the city, never to fight.Cao Cao could only stand under the city of Puyang and stare at it.Although the ladder had been made, Cao Cao didn't use it easily, because the main force of Lv Bu's army was waiting on the city, and it was extremely difficult to attack the city in this situation. In this way, the two sides were at a stalemate, and the delay lasted for more than a hundred days.At this time, a plague of locusts suddenly occurred.The locust plague was more severe than the military disaster, covering the sky and covering the land, pressing down on the land like dark clouds, and one after another, the seedlings were eaten up.The crops were damaged, the people famined, and the government warehouses were naturally empty.Lü Bu's army ran out of rations and could not get any supplements, so he had to withdraw from Puyang voluntarily.

Puyang was empty, but Cao Cao was unwilling to go in. The pests in Puyang were so serious that it was impossible to garrison them.Therefore, Cao Cao decided to lead the army back to Zhencheng.Before leaving, Cao Cao looked at Puyang in the distance and couldn't help laughing. A thought entered his mind: If there is no food and no people, what's the use of a big city? It turns out that the ultimate goal of people's competition for cities and land is for food And man!I couldn't help feeling sad, and wanted to write poetry again, but this time Cao Cao suppressed the poetry, because the troops were already ready to go, and he was just waiting for him to give orders.He reined in his horse's head, waved his whip and shouted: "Step by step, go to Zhencheng!"

After Lu Bu left Puyang, he was attacked by the Jinan army led by Li Jin. Due to the lack of food and grass, Lu Bu's army did not dare to fight, so he had to retreat eastward and stationed in Shanyang.