Chapter 114 Chapter Fifteen

Xu You suggested to Yuan Shao: "Now Cao Cao has few troops, but he is stalemate with us at Guandu with all his troops. Obviously, Xudu has not many troops left. If he sends troops to bypass Guandu and attack Xudu, Xudu will definitely find it difficult to hold on. If Xudu falls, we can welcome the Son of Heaven to attack Cao Cao, and with such a flanking attack, wouldn’t Cao Cao become a bereaved dog exhausted?” Although Xu You was quite resourceful, but he was a big talker, and he had an old friend with Cao Cao, so Yuan Shao had scruples about him, and Xu You's status can be imagined because of the rejection of the judge.

Yuan Shao said angrily, "Isn't this a plan to slow down the troops for Cao?" Coincidentally, the trial dispatcher sent a secret letter from Yecheng, saying that Xu You's family had violated the law, and Xu You might be involved in the case.After such a contact, Yuan Shao even suspected Xu You was suspected of defecting, and ordered his left and right to pull Xu You down to behead him. After everyone tried to persuade him, Yuan Shao said: "I will spare you the death penalty, and you will not speak in front of me in the future." After much deliberation, Xu You decided to join Cao Mengde.

Xu You and Cao Cao had been friends since they were young. When Wang Fen, the governor of Jizhou, rebelled against him, Xu You proposed to win over Cao Cao, but Cao Cao sternly refused, and the two sides cut off contact. When Cao Mengde heard that Xu You had come to seek refuge, he was so happy that he didn't have time to put on his shoes. He ran out of the bedroom barefoot, held Xu You's hand affectionately, and shouted loudly, "If you come to me, it's a big deal!" After the two sat down, Xu You asked Cao Mengde: "Yuan Jun has an overwhelming advantage in momentum, how do you plan to deal with them? How much food is left in your army?"

Cao Mengde was taken aback, could it be a false surrender? "I'm always ready to have more than one year's worth of grain!" Cao Mengde said solemnly. Seeing that Cao Mengde was suspicious, Xu You smiled and said, "Impossible! Please tell me the real quantity." Cao Mengde relaxed his vigilance a little when he saw that Xu You's words and deeds did not look like a false surrender.However, he still said with reservations: "However... it can only be supported for half a year now." Xu You laughed loudly and said, "Aren't you trying to defeat Yuan Shao? Why don't you tell me the truth?"

Cao Mengde thought, Xu You has always been a person who likes to talk big and show off, everyone is open and honest, so I have nothing to hide, don't be like Yuan Shao, he needs people and is suspicious. Cao Mengde had no choice but to tell the truth. "I was just joking with you just now. It seems that you are also discerning in your heart. Our army has only one month of food left at most, and I don't know what to do?" Seeing Cao Mengde's frank confession of military secrets, Xu You was deeply moved, so he said seriously: "Mr. Cao is guarding Guandu alone, with no reinforcements outside, and food shortage inside, but it is really not easy to hold on like this! Now let me provide you with an important piece of information that is enough to win! Yuan Shao currently has ten thousand trucks full of grain and fodder in Wuchao, and Chunyuqiong's army is responsible for the defense."

"Then who is Chunyu Qiong?" Cao Mengde had developed such a habit of not asking the enemy's strength first, but first asking who the general or person in charge is. "Chunyu Qiong is Yuan Shao's confidant, and he has the courage of an ordinary man, but he is addicted to alcohol, confused, and the defense line is too long, the army is scattered, and Wuchao's guards must be incomplete. As long as there is a light cavalry unit that is good at fighting, it will You can take advantage of his unpreparedness and burn his food, and within three days, the Yuan family will be defeated without a fight."

For such a major issue, Cao Mengde still avoided Xu You and called several counselors to study the grain robbery plan. Xun You said: "The plan is very good, but if this is a trap, Yuan Jun will set up an ambush in Wuchao. In this way, we will be divided and wiped out by the enemy in Wuchao and Guandu." Guo Jia said: "The way to test the reliability of this information is very simple." After finishing speaking, he whispered in Cao Mengde's ear. That night, Cao Mengde left Xu You to drink under the tent. After a few glasses of wine, Cao Mengde said he couldn't drink any more, so he lay on the bed under the mosquito net and watched Xu You drink by himself.Cao Mengde lay down and touched for about an hour, then eavesdropped on Xu You while pretending to be snoring.Na Xuyou drank and ate vegetables with great taste.After a while, Cao Mengde's delirium sounded again from the mosquito net: "Tomorrow, tomorrow, Wu, Wuchao..."

On the second afternoon, Guo Jia said happily: "The grain robbery plan is feasible!" "Why?" Cao Mengde only snored and talked in his sleep according to Guo Jia's instructions, and the rest is unknown for the time being. Guo Jia said: "I secretly sent people to spy on Yuan Shao and Chun Yuqiong's movements, and there was no sign of an ambush." Cao Mengde exclaimed ecstatically: "Feng Xiao is young and promising, and the old man feels ashamed." The bet is on Wuchao! Cao Mengde mobilized all the generals, leaving only Xun You and Cao Hong to guard Guandu, and divided the 5,000-strong elite mixed army of horses and infantry into several groups, under his unified command. All the flags were changed into Yuan Jun's costume, and every soldier had chopsticks in his mouth.All horses also wear masks.In order to avoid the suspicion of Yuan Jun who was guarding, the number of each team was small, and they joined Wuchao by different routes.

The night is quiet.Only the harvested fields sounded like frogs singing one after another.In order to hide the truth from Yuan Jun who was guarding the post, these commandos each held a bunch of dry firewood. When they were interrogated, they said: "General Yuan is worried about Cao Jun's sneak attack, so he sent us here to support." Since the leaders are all experienced generals, With a calm expression, the guards at the sentry post did not become suspicious. At dawn, the sky is bright, and the sky and the earth are chaotic, and Cao Jun arrives at the destination from all directions.Cao Mengde ordered to surround Wuchao's grain camp under the cover of blurred vision.

The food protection area in Wuchao is also the headquarters of the commander of Yuan Shao's rear army, so Chunyu Qiong is in charge of it himself.Chunyu Qiong was brave and fierce, and he was one of the commanders of the new Eighth Army in Beijing along with Cao Mengde.It's just that after Han Meng served as Commander Yuan Junqin, there were too many places to defend. The always proud and confident veteran deliberately reduced the military strength of the troops directly under him to show his skill and boldness. At this moment, veteran Chunyuqiong was still snoring, presumably because he drank a few more glasses last night.

Because Cao's army was operating in groups, Chunyu Qiong was awakened by the soldiers from his deep sleep, and went out of the camp in armor. He only saw a small group of Cao's troops robbing food and didn't care much. He didn't inform his other troops, so he led a small number of garrison troops out of the camp to fight.However, Cao's army was increasing in number, and Cao Mengde personally commanded it, so the offensive was very urgent.Seeing that the general situation was not good, Chunyu Qiong immediately sent someone to inform Yuan Shao, and the whole army retreated into the camp.At this time, Cao Jun had surrounded the Wuchao camp. Yuan Shao received a message from the flying horse at the Guandu base camp, and immediately summoned civil servants and generals to discuss countermeasures. Yuan Tan, who had just arrived from Qingzhou to study the military situation, advocated the strategy of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao". He said: "We should directly attack Cao Cao's base camp, so that Cao's army who robbed food has nowhere to rely." Zhang He objected, saying: "If Chunyu Qiong's grain guards are captured, all of us will be doomed. Why don't we save Wuchao first!" Guo Tu basically leaned towards Yuan Tan's suggestion. He said: "Chunyu Qiong's strength will definitely be able to defend Wuchao. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack Cao Cao's Guandu camp." Zhang He retorted: "Cao Cao dares to attack Wuchao, and the camp must be fully prepared. If the attack fails, Chunyuqiong's grain area will be captured instead, and we will be captured." Yuan Shao's camp is always so lively when it comes to major events.Therefore, Yuan Shao made a compromise again.He decided: Zhang He, Gao Lan and other troops would attack the main camp of the Guandu army, and send a thousand Qingqi to support Chunyuqiong. At this moment, Wuchao is fighting fiercely. Yuan Shao Qingqi arrived soon, and several generals advocated dividing their troops to fight against the enemy, so as not to be flanked by Yuan Jun.Cao Mengde categorically refused. He ran to the front line and shouted with red eyes: "The bandit soldiers have arrived behind, and the only way to survive is to rush into the camp with all their might!" Chunyu Qiong's position was loosened, and Cao Jun rushed into the camp. "Set fire!" Cao Mengde shook his horsewhip, and the fire blazed into the sky for a while. Even Yuan Jun Qingqi, who was rescued, panicked. Chunyu Qiong could no longer control the scene.