After destroying Yuan Tan completely eliminated the hidden dangers in Jidong, Cao Cao was very concerned about the war in Yuyang. For this reason, he specially sent Cao Pi to supervise 5,000 troops and horses to Dongpingshu to meet with Zhang Xiu, and assisted Zhang Xiu to gather the fleeing soldiers.

After Cao Pi led his army to Dongpingshu, Zhang Xiu, who learned the news, was waiting for him ten miles outside the south gate very early.

Cao Pi, who was walking in the forefront of the team, saw Zhang Xiu's figure from afar, which aroused his hidden pain for many years.

After the two sides officially met, Zhang Xiu and his deputy general Hu Cheer bent down to bow to him:

"The last thing will be to pay homage to the young master."

Cao Pi, who was sitting on the horse's back, looked down at the two people who bowed their heads to salute him with expressionless eyes. He slowly let go of the reins in his hand, stepped off the horse and walked in front of them, and said in a cold tone:

"I led my army to escort food and grass here on my father's order, and assisted the general in reorganizing Dongpingshu's defense."

Unwilling to give up the defeat, Zhang Xiu seemed to realize that Cao Pi had no good feelings for him. For this reason, he quickly knelt on one knee to apologize to Cao Pi for the defeat in Quanzhou: "The last general will not be able to go to the army, which will damage the majesty of the court and Lord Sikong. I would like to ask the young master to sue him!"

Cao Pi, who was about to turn around and be about to leave, looked at Zhang Xiu kneeling on the ground. He seemed to recall the last time he saw Cao Ang, the elder brother he had seen during the Wancheng mutiny, who had been taking care of him and protecting him...

He clenched his fists tightly and still restrained his emotions. He let go of his fists and walked to Zhang Xiu and stretched out his hand to help Zhang Xiu up:

"The general has indeed dereliction of duty this time, but it is not so. I hope you will learn from it in the future and make meritorious service."

After saying that, he turned around and stepped onto the horse's back and led the soldiers behind him to the south gate of Dongpingshu. When he missed Zhang Xiu, he deliberately paid attention to Hu Cheer standing beside Zhang Xiu, and seemed to have some idea in his heart...

After entering Dongpingshu, Cao Pi immediately replied to Cao Cao, who was still in Nanpi, informed Cao Cao of the news that Xian Yufu had already led a county in Yuyang to surrender, and requested an order for Jiao Chu, who had been lurking beside Yuan Xi, and Zhang Nan and the others were ready to support the action at any time.

After reading the letter, Cao Cao thought that this was a good opportunity to quickly eliminate Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang and seize Youzhou. He praised Cao Pi's statement in his heart and gave it to Xun You and others:

"My son has grown up and knows how to depend on the situation..."

However, considering that the war in Youzhou begins, it is very likely that foreign ethnic forces such as Wuhuan entrenched in the central part of Youzhou will be alarmed. They have always had good friends with the Yuan clan. When the war is in a state of anxiety, it is very likely that high officials will take advantage of loopholes in the rear.

For this reason, Cao Cao sent the letter to Guo Jia, who was recovering from illness in Guangzong, and attached a letter to ask him for advice.

Guo Jia, who was lying on the sickbed, read Cao Pi's letter and said with a smile:

"This Cao Zihuan is really not simple. He has a little bit of his father's demeanor at a young age."

After saying that, he handed the letter in his hand to the middle-aged man sitting next to the bed: "It seems that it's time for you to go to Yecheng."

The middle-aged man looked gentle and elegant, with a literary style. After receiving the letter, he looked roughly, nodded randomly and said, "What Zhong Yu said is basically the same as you expected. If you really do this, I will say that..."

Guo Jia, whose lips and face were basically pale, barely supported his body and leaned against the back of the bed:

"So, at present, the only one who can deal with Mr. Xun Chen is probably your brother, Mr. Xun Yan. Next, I will write a letter to Cao Cao to recommend you as the military inspector, responsible for defending Yecheng when he went north to attack Youzhou."

"Isn't that young man you care about in Youzhou too? You also said that he should be able to see Cao Pi's plan."

Faced with Xun Yan's concerns, Guo Jia still maintained a calm smile: "His potential will definitely surpass me in the future, but he is still a little tender now. Then again, maybe there will be no chance in the future. This time I am also very interested in fighting with him..."

Xun Yan put down his letter and stood up and said to Guo Jia:

"Since this is the case, it's not too late. I'll arrive in Yecheng as soon as possible to meet Kongming and make the next plan."

At this moment, Guo Jia suddenly reached out and covered his chest tightly, leaned on the edge of the bed and vomited blood. Xun Yan was very worried about his body and quickly stepped forward to support him and persuaded:

"I heard from Zhong Yu that you set up this bureau because of her, but your own body has become like this. Wouldn't it worse if you work too much? Why don't you let it go and leave it to Zhong Yu and the others."

Guo Jia tried his best to adjust his breathing, but he still waved his hand in a state of inactivity:

"No, I won't ask anyone for her business..."

In his reply to Cao Cao, Guo Jia expressed his agreement with Cao Pi's suggestion and explained that the talent of the high-ranking officials was not enough to pose a threat to Yecheng. He also recommended Xun Chen, Xun Yu's brother, that is, Xun Yan, a famous celebrity in Yingchuan who had long retired, as the military captain of Yecheng, to deal with the small actions of the high-ranking officials.

Cao Cao has always attached great importance to Xun's talents, but Xun Yu had previously said that Xun Yan had no intention of being an official, otherwise Cao Cao would definitely get a great help. Now Xun Yan is willing to come out to help, which is naturally the best thing for Cao Cao.

So Cao Cao immediately entrusted all the defenses in Yecheng to Xun Yan, and kept them strictly confidential according to Guo Jia's requirements.

Almost at the same time, the senior officials in Bingzhou finally began to take action with the help of Xun Chen's planning.

Dangyin, who had been bewitched by Xun Chen, was secretly plotting to rebel against Cao Cao in accordance with Xun Chen's orders. Xun Yan, who was granted full power by Cao Cao, also arrived in Yecheng. He secretly contacted Zhang He and Zhang Liao and deployed a response plan.

Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, who were in Jicheng, did not know that there were already many crises around them.

Yuan Xi was very worried that the military conflict between Xian Yufu and Zhang Xiu would cause Cao Cao to start a war against himself in advance on this grounds. In addition, from the urgent reports from Dongpingshu, Cao Pi had led his army to meet with Zhang Xiu. Although Cao Pi did not bring many troops, it was a very bad signal. For this reason, he rushed to strengthen the defense of various cities in Youzhou and was ready to deal with the arrival of the war at any time.

On the other hand, Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan, who received the secret order from Cao Pi, also began to secretly instigate Yuan Xi's army.

During the military convening, Sima Yi emphasized the possibility of Cao Cao's attack on Fanyang County head-on, and suggested that Yuan Xi send generals who can fight tough battles to station in Beixincheng, Rongcheng and Fangcheng, to support each other.

Jiao Chu felt very nervous about this because the secret order issued by Cao Pi was to let Jiao Chu guide Yuan Xi to place his army on the front line of Quanzhou where the two sides had previously had fierce conflicts. At that time, Cao Cao's army would take advantage of the emptiness of Fan Yang's move from Beixincheng to attack. At the same time, Xian Yufu would also support Yuyang County and attack left and right.

But Sima Yi's plan now has utterly caused huge resistance to Cao Pi's plan.

For this reason, Jiao Chu quickly stood up and expressed his objection: "Although Cao Cao was defeated in Quanzhou before, he was familiar with the route along the way. With Cao Cao's deceitful military strategy, he would definitely think that we would not set up defenses in Quanzhou. If he took advantage of the situation from Quanzhou, directly attacking Jicheng would be a smooth road."

Sima Yi looked up at Jiao Tu. After his long-term eyes were facing Jiao Tu, he couldn't help feeling guilty, but he still said with a thorn in his mouth: "Cao Cao's chance of free Fan Yang attacking us is very low. After passing Beixincheng, there are Yishui, Juma River and Holy Water as natural barriers. In this way, Cao Cao's offensive, which wants to fight quickly, will inevitably slow down, which is very unfavorable to him."

Jiao Tu's words made everyone present nod their heads frequently. Sima Yi stood in front of the map hanging on the wall, looked at Jiao Tu and suddenly smiled for some reason for a brief moment, and slowly stretched out his hand to Jiao Tu:

"General, please continue speaking. Sima Yi is willing to listen carefully."

Although he realized that Sima Yi's smile was strange, he couldn't control so much, so he had to continue according to what Cao Pi taught him: "What's more, Cao Cao has always been worried that the senior officials of Bingzhou have ulterior motives and will definitely not mobilize troops west of Jizhou to attack rashly."

Because the words were too coherent and smooth, Jiao Tu himself was a little uncomfortable after he finished speaking.

Based on the actual situation, what Cao Pi taught him did resonate with many people present. Even Yuan Xi secretly agreed with his statement and couldn't help but turn his attention to Sima Yi.

Sima Yi, who had been staring at Jiao Tu for a long time, finally moved his gaze away from Jiao Tu's body and turned to Yuan Xi:

"General Jiao Chu's analysis of the overall situation is very good. Sima Yi is convinced. Please ask Mr. Yuan Xi to make any decisions about everything."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sima Yi stopped saying anything, turned around and left the conference hall calmly.

Afterwards, Yuan Xi made a special trip to Sima Yi and asked him why he suddenly left.

Sima Yi smiled and said, "Jiao Chu has always been under the general's command. I think you must have some understanding of him, right?"

Yuan Xi nodded after recalling Jiao Chu's usual performance:

"Short after I became the governor of Youzhou, he came to my command. He was very brave in war and often led by the army. He had a high prestige among the soldiers. What, is there anything wrong?"

Looking up at the magpies chirping in the bird cage hanging high in the courtyard, Sima Yi asked Yuan Xi again:

"So is he as erect as he is today?"

After Sima Yi mentioned this, Yuan Xi also felt a little strange: "He doesn't have so many words in his usual manner."

"A brave man who is usually silent suddenly becomes so eloquent. And when you just mentioned defending Youzhou, it seems like you have prepared one set of things in advance. Things are probably not that simple..."

Sima Yi made a very obvious judgment on Jiao Tu and made targeted suggestions to Yuan Xi to be wary of. As a result, the cloud haze that he could never get rid of seemed to be blown away by the wind.

But for some reason, he was not as completely at ease as he expected...

When the military convened again, Yuan Xi agreed to Jiao Chu's proposal to lead 2,000 people (known as 20,000 to the public) to Anci with great fanfare. If Cao Cao really wanted to attack Quanzhou again in order to connect directly to Jicheng, then Ancicheng was the fastest necessary route from Quanzhou to Jicheng. On the surface, Yuan Xi seemed to agree with Jiao Chu's Yuyang defense proposal.

However, Yuan Xi left Yuan Shang to guard Jicheng, and led 15,000 elite troops to Gu'an to station. He also sent Zhang Nan to lead 10,000 troops to Beixin City, causing false military actions on the front.

Coincidentally, under Cao Cao's direct order, Cao Pi and Zhang Xiu ordered their troops to prepare for war and prepared for the hatred of Quanzhou at any time. However, at the same time, Wang Ling, who ordered Gao Yang, secretly transferred the army to Tang County to station. In addition, Cao Cao subsequently replenished his troops, a total of about 18,000 people. Both sides intend to disrupt each other's sight and attack the west.

As Sima Yi expected, when both sides were carrying out military feints on the Quanzhou front line with great fanfare, the troops led by Wang Ling suddenly attacked Beixincheng by lightning, and Zhang Nan was in a hurry.

Yuan Xi in the military tent looked at Sima Yi beside him: "You really got it right. Fortunately, we were prepared in Beixincheng, otherwise if I focused all my attention in Quanzhou, Cao's army would have advanced from behind me."

Although everything that happened in front of him was noticed by Sima Yi, he always felt very strange:

"Zhang Nan of Beixin City has about 10,000 people, and Wang Ling's total strength is only more than 10,000. Besides, we have consolidated the city defense of Beixin City in advance. Since ancient times, under the equality of troops, the defenders are always favorable to the siege. According to the principle, Zhang Nan should be more than enough to respond at this time, and he will not show any decline so soon."

No matter what the facts are, Yuan Xi cannot sit idly by and watch the crisis in Beixincheng continue, so he planned to immediately order troops to rush to Beixincheng to help Sima Yi, and he was blocked by Sima Yi: "The general is not suitable for rescue at present, so he should wait and see what happens."

Yuan Xi didn't care about so much: "Wait? What sir means is to wait until the Beixincheng and the 10,000 defenders were wiped out by Wang Ling, and then Cao's army used this gap to pour into Youzhou and threaten Jicheng?"

Zhang Chunhua, who had just walked outside the tent with his refreshments, heard Sima Yi and Yuan Xi in the tent arguing, and quickly entered the tent to smooth things over:

"Why are you two quarreling again?"

Zhang Chunhua came in to disrupt the atmosphere of debate. Yuan Xi sat down reluctantly. Sima Yi was not good to talk about it when he saw this. The quiet atmosphere looked a little subtle.

Shortly after giving the order to ask Wang Ling to attack Beixincheng, Cao Pi also secretly ordered Xian Yufu from Yuyang to take the opportunity to attack Jixian County and attack Yuan Xi's back.

After receiving the order, Xian Yufu and Tianyu were preparing to prepare for the uprising. However, when they were planning to go south to Changping to take Jixian directly, they suddenly received unexpected news:

Tadun ordered the Wuhuan troops of the three counties to be deployed on the border between Youbeiping County and Yuyang County, with unknown intentions.

Such news made Tian Yu feel suspicious, but he quickly reacted and said to Xian Yufu:

"We cannot act rashly, otherwise it is not Yuan Xi who is attacked, but us!"

Yuan Xi and Sima Yi, who were sitting in the tent, ignored each other. Zhang Chunhua felt very embarrassed when he was caught among them. He glanced at the two who were fighting each other, and sighed helplessly:

"You can't solve the problem if you stare like this. You'd better discuss how to deal with it."

At this moment, an emergency report from the sentry came from outside the tent:

"Report to the general, Youbeiping County has sent emergency military information!"

When they heard such news, Yuan Xi and Sima Yi, who were sitting still, stood up together. This scene made Zhang Chunhua feel very funny. The brief embarrassment could not stop the two of them from wanting to learn about the news in Yuyang.

After receiving the secret letter from the sentry, Yuan Xi quickly opened it and watched with Sima Yi.

After they finished reading it, their originally serious expressions slowly unfolded, and Yuan Xi once again had a sharp political sense of Sima Yi.

He felt admiration, and put down the letter in his hand and patted Sima Yi on the shoulder with a slightly guilty tone:

"Yu Fu really defected to Cao Cao without your expectations, intending to do small moves behind me. Fortunately, you discovered it in advance and asked me to contact Tadun in secret, otherwise there would be absolutely no way to deal with it with Yuan Shang's ability."
To be continued...