Can I get to the other side?

Puyang City, official warehouse.

"This damn Cao thief! Not only did he take the people away, he didn't even leave a grain of rice for this general!"

Lv Bu ordered people to open the door of the official warehouse. Looking at the empty granary without even a grain of rice left, he couldn't help kicking over the grain bucket next to him and standing there cursing.

They entered Puyang City without any obstacles.

Just as the village chief of Huangniu Village said, there was not even a single garrison in the city, and the army successfully occupied the entire Puyang City.

But this was a completely empty city!

Just like Huangniu Village, most of the people in Puyang City were taken away by Cao's army, and only some old people and disabled people were left.

Not only that, even the food and supplies were no exception. They did not get any benefit from occupying this city, and they had to take care of the old and weak in the city.

Therefore, although he took the city without any injury, Lu Bu did not feel very happy. Instead, he was depressed and full of evil fire.

Because what he wanted was a victory, a big victory!

It is the honor of a general to defeat the enemy head-on and win the victory, not to capture a city inexplicably without even seeing the shadow of the enemy from crossing the river to now.

The land was recovered, but the thief was not seen.

More importantly, he represented the face of the court, and he had to take care of the old and weak in the city.

How can he make merit? How can he make progress?

"Not only Puyang, I am afraid that the troops, supplies and people of the entire Dongjun and even the entire Yanzhou have been taken away by Cao thieves."

A voice came faintly from behind Lu Bu.

It was Sima Yi.

Although the successive misjudgments caused him a great blow, he had adjusted his state at this time and calmly analyzed and judged the current situation.

"I thought Cao would defend Yanzhou to the death, but I was wrong. He had no such idea at all."

"I just went to ask the people in the city. Half a month ago, Cao's army began to transfer food and supplies and began to plunder people everywhere."

"He couldn't do this only in Puyang."

"Puyang is the seat of Dongjun. Giving up this place is equivalent to giving up Dongjun; and if Cao intends to defend Yanzhou to the death, he will never give up Dongjun."

"In my opinion, Cao must be planning to give up Yanzhou."

Sima Yi said in a deep voice. He had misjudged the situation and overestimated Cao Cao's determination to resist. This was the fundamental reason for his misjudgment.

But now he understands Cao Cao's intention, but he really can't think of a reason for Cao Cao to retreat like this.

"Give up Yanzhou?"

After hearing this, Lu Bu was shocked, and then looked at Sima Yi with some suspicion and said, "Are you... sure?"

Feeling the doubt and disbelief in Lu Bu's eyes, Sima Yi's eyes twitched, and a great sense of shame emerged in his heart.

As a counselor, he was questioned by Lu Bu, a stubborn man who could only lead troops to fight, but he had no way to refute anything.

Who made him make wrong judgments several times before.

If he had crossed the Yellow River and entered Dongjun earlier as Lu Bu said, he might have caught up with the evacuating Cao army.

Sima Yi took a deep breath, suppressed the frustration in his heart, and said: "Wen Gong, trust me again, this time it is absolutely right."

"Cao thieves want to evacuate so many people, supplies and troops, and their actions will definitely not be fast. We should go straight to Guandu and chase the enemy now!"

"If we can take Guandu, Yuzhou will be in Wen Gong's hands!"

If we continue to occupy the counties of Yanzhou one by one, it will undoubtedly be a waste of time and give the enemy a chance to retreat.

The best way is to lead the troops to chase them immediately!

After hearing Sima Yi's firm words, Lu Bu thought for a while and finally agreed, saying in a fierce voice: "Then chase!"

At present, the enemy's location cannot be found. Instead of wandering around Yanzhou like a headless fly, it is better to go straight to Guandu.

If it happens to catch up with the retreating enemy, it would be the best. If it can't catch up, it can also confirm the enemy's situation. Cao thieves can't let go of Guandu, a key place.

He is not afraid that the enemy will ambush him.

He is afraid that the enemy will not fight him!

After deciding to adopt Sima Yi's suggestion, Lu Bu immediately ordered the infantry to recapture the major cities in Yanzhou, and he himself gathered 5,000 Bingzhou cavalry and went straight to Guandu.

...

Just as Sima Yi expected.

Cao Cao did not have the idea of ​​​​holding Yanzhou.

Before learning the news of the imperial army's departure, he had already ordered Cao Ren stationed in Yanzhou to start evacuating the population, supplies and a few soldiers and horses from various counties in Yanzhou to Yuzhou.

All that was left were empty cities.

The reason for the slow evacuation was that they had to pretend to be on the surface before, so as not to be noticed by Sun Quan and others.

However, now that the imperial army has moved south, Sun Quan also needs to start dealing with the enemy and has no time to spare, so there is no need to worry about increasing the speed of retreat at this time.

The mobilization of troops has been completed long ago, and now the main thing to withdraw is the population and supplies of Yanzhou.

As a place in the Central Plains, Yanzhou is not only populous, but also rich in products. If it is given away for nothing, it will undoubtedly strengthen the strength of the enemy.

Taking everything away is the best choice.

Guandu.

A series of floating bridges are across the water, and the people are lined up in a long line to cross the river under the supervision and drive of the soldiers. In addition, there are also carriages and ox carts loaded with food and supplies.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!"

"One by one, dawdle!"

"If you don't hurry up, I'll whip you!"

Cao's soldiers held whips and scolded the people fiercely, urging them to cross the river. Those who walked a little slower would be whipped down.

Although the people crossing the river were full of resentment, they did not dare to resist when facing the armed soldiers of Cao Cao, so they could only choose to swallow their anger.

After all, this is Cao Cao's army, which once slaughtered Xuzhou's army three times!

The shore not far away.

Cao Ren looked at the mighty people crossing the river, turned to an unusually young general beside him and asked, "Zidan, where are the soldiers and horses from the imperial court now?"

Cao Zhen thought for a while and answered truthfully: "According to the news from the day before yesterday, Lu Bu has crossed the Yellow River into Dongjun and captured Puyang City."

"We don't have much time." Cao Ren couldn't help but frown deeply when he heard this, and said solemnly: "They have entered Dongjun. It won't be long before they find out that we have withdrawn from Yanzhou."

"We must speed up our retreat."

Cao Zhen sighed: "General, it's not that I don't want to speed up, it's just that I really can't speed up."

It is not an easy task to evacuate so many people together. After all, the people are not an army, and it is extremely troublesome to manage.

Even though they had withdrawn several days in advance, nearly half of them still had not yet withdrawn, and it would take quite a while to do so.

"Work harder." Although Cao Ren knew that the task was arduous, he had to urge him, "Zhang Liao has led his troops into Xuzhou and will confront Sun Quan soon."

"When the two sides are fighting fiercely, it will be a great opportunity for the lord to lead the army directly to Jiangdong. Before that, we must guard Guandu well. We must not let Lu Bu enter Yuzhou before the lord sends troops to Jiangdong, thereby missing the lord's attack. Big plan!”

If so many people do not evacuate, when Lu Bu leads his troops to kill them, the impact will be unimaginable.

But if he gave up on the people, Cao Cao would be reluctant to do so.

Cao Zhen gritted his teeth and said, "No!"

Cao Ren nodded. Just when he was about to give some instructions, a soldier flew up to him and reported to him anxiously: "General, Lu Bu led five thousand cavalry and came straight to Guandu. We have arrived now." Wuchao!”

"What?!"

Cao Ren's expression suddenly changed when he heard this.

I was shocked.

Although he expected that the enemy troops would attack Guandu, he still did not expect such a fast movement.

They captured Dongjun just the day before yesterday, and they reached Wuchao today. This shows that the opponent did not lead the entire army to attack Jiyin County and Shanyang County after entering Dongjun.

Heading directly towards Guandu, it was obvious that they had noticed their intention to retreat.

Why is Lu Bu so insightful?

Cao Zhen reacted immediately and immediately clasped his fists at Cao Ren and said solemnly: "General, I will lead the tiger and leopard cavalry to intercept the enemy!"

Guandu is the top priority.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were also deployed here.

But when Cao Ren heard this, he refused without hesitation, shook his head and said: "No! According to reliable information, Lu Bu's Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry is no less than the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. You are no match for Lu Bu. If you leave, you will definitely die."

"You continue to stay and evacuate the people and supplies, and I will lead the troops to stop Lu Bu!"

He had fought against Lu Bu, and he knew very well how terrifying this guy was. Even with a tiger and leopard riding on his hands, he would still be unable to resist.

"General, how can this be done?"

Cao Zhen's expression changed and he said urgently: "The garrison in Guandu only has 10,000 infantry. How can it withstand Lu Bu's 5,000 elite cavalry?"

Lu Bu's bravery is unparalleled in the world. Back then he was able to defeat Sun Ce with a thousand cavalry and kill him, let alone now he has five thousand cavalry!

It should be noted that foot versus horse is inherently disadvantageous!

Cao Ren did not explain, but said calmly: "Don't worry, I have a way to stop Lu Bu, and I will mobilize troops immediately."

"Lu Bu... hmph, we must make sure there is no way for him to come back this time!"

Hearing Cao Ren's confident words, Cao Zhen was slightly shocked. Although he couldn't guess what Cao Ren was thinking, he still followed the order and went down to assemble the army.

…

Wuchao.

Lu Bu had already led his troops to this place. He led five thousand cavalry to pursue them all the way from Dongjun. As expected, he found clues and traces of Cao's army's retreat.

"General, according to the reports from the scouts we sent out, Cao Jun is currently evacuating the people and supplies of food and grass in Guandu. Everything is just as the military advisor said!"

Gao Shun truthfully reported the news discovered by the scouts.

Lu Bu cheered up, gave Sima Yi a thumbs-up sign of approval, and praised: "The military advisor is really good at predicting events. I knew I was right to listen to the military advisor!"

When Sima Yi heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, nothing went wrong. Everything was as he expected. Cao Jun gave up Yanzhou and withdrew his troops to stay in Yuzhou.

Otherwise, you will really lose your face.

After calming down, Sima Yi continued: "Mr. Wen, we must hurry up and kill them now. We must not let Cao's army evacuate all the people so easily."

"Moreover, Cao Jun is organizing the people to cross the river. If we suddenly kill them, they will be unable to organize a defense in a short time. This is a great opportunity for us to capture Guandu!"

If we don’t attack now, when will we wait?

It's about to kill the enemy troops by surprise!

"Don't worry, leave it to me!"

Lu Bu had been looking forward to fighting the enemy for a long time. Hearing this, his eyes were filled with fighting spirit, and he immediately agreed and ordered the army to continue to attack Guandu.

But not long after, the army stopped advancing.

Because there was a large army blocking them.

It was Cao's army!

Seeing the enemy army coming to fight, Lu Bu was extremely excited and laughed: "Come well, this general is itching to fight!"

"Since you dare to send it, then this first victory dedicated to your majesty, this general will accept it with joy!"

This Cao army in front of him not only did not flee in the face of him, but also dared to fight his five thousand elite cavalry with infantry. It seems that his reputation is really underestimated!

Lu Bu was about to lead his troops to charge.

"Wen Gong, wait!"

Sima Yi's face changed, and he stretched out his hand to stop Lu Bu. He stared at the Cao army not far away with great vigilance and said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid there is a trick!"

Hearing these familiar words, Lu Bu's face suddenly fell, and the little good impression he had finally developed towards Sima Yi disappeared again.

He said impatiently: "What kind of trick is this? It's just 10,000 infantrymen. What can he use to resist my 5,000 elite cavalry?"

"Watch me break through their army formation!"

It would have been fine if he had listened to Sima Yi before, but now the enemy is right in front of him, Sima Yi still stopped him and said there was a trick. Isn't this a joke to him?

Sima Yi shook his head and said: "Mr. Wen, it's not that I'm suspicious, but since the other party knows Mr. Wen's name, they dare to come to stop us with 10,000 infantrymen, which is obviously full of confidence."

"Besides, this formation on the opposite side...I've never seen it before."

Sima Yi looked at the strange formation of the enemy not far away, and always felt that he seemed to have seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember it.

But his intuition told him that this formation was very strange.

"Bullshit formation!" Lu Bu snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "I have elite cavalry in my hands. Any formation will collapse in front of my iron hoof! Just break the military formation, and they will be lambs to be slaughtered!"

After that, Lu Bu no longer listened to Sima Yi's dissuasion, left a thousand soldiers outside to support, and then led 4,000 cavalry alone to kill the enemy formation!

The momentum was like thunder rolling on the ground, extremely terrifying!

Sima Yi felt a headache when he saw this.

The way of military tactics is divided into three types: military yin and yang, military power and tactics, and military situation. He learned military power and tactics, and the formation belongs to the way of military yin and yang.

The military situation is the simplest, one man guards the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it, the enemy is numerous and we are few, and the weak defeats the strong. In history, such as the Overlord Xiang Yu and the Champion Marquis Huo Qubing, they are all in this category.

Lu Bu is also a leader in the school of military situation.

But the Yin-Yang of the military is complicated. If it is false, it is real, and if it is real, it is false. The famous Huaiyin Marquis Han Xin, the founder of the military strategist Jiang Shang, and the military saint Sun Wu all follow this path.

The Yin-Yang of the military is naturally restrained by the military situation.

Lu Bu is brave, but if he meets a master of the Yin-Yang of the military, he will definitely not be his opponent. Otherwise, how could Xiang Yu lose to Han Xin?

The formation in front of him is very complicated. He can't understand it. Lu Bu rushes in rashly and is likely to suffer a big loss.

But Lu Bu doesn't listen to his advice now, and he has no choice but to hope that his intuition is wrong and that Lu Bu can defeat this Cao army in one go.

In the Cao army, on the Longyan stage.

Cao Ren looked at Lu Bu who was coming aggressively, and couldn't help but smile coldly, waved his hand and ordered: "How can a man know the art of war? Today I will show you my Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation!"