There was a pyroporous sound from the charcoal brazier in the tent from time to time, and a dull sound came from outside the tent. From the gap in the curtain of the tent, waves of colorful light penetrated from there.

Cao Cao brought the tea bowl in his hand to his lips and took a sip, pursed his lips, reached out to wipe the tea stained on his beard, raised his head and let out a breath, rubbed his eyes and looked at Xi Zhicai, who was sitting opposite him, holding the tea bowl sipped. Cao Cao raised his ear and listened for a while, and asked in confusion.

"Zhicai, what's the sound outside?"

"It's the strange people setting off fireworks."

"Fireworks? Oh, Yiren is really interested. Before he knew it, it's another New Year. The sky has grown by one year. People have grown by one year. The chaos in the Central Plains has not stopped, and the road is long. I don't know if I can see the great man reunite in his lifetime. Whenever I think of this, I feel urgently that I can't wait!"

Xi Zhicai smiled with a pursed lips. He rarely saw Cao Cao so emotional: "My lord, my subordinates don't know how to answer this question, but things are always done step by step, and the road is also taken step by step. As long as the direction is correct, you will always arrive."

"Well said!"

Cao Cao smiled, looked down at the map on the desk, smacked his lips and said, "Zhicai, do you think our army is in the right direction?"

"This should be correct!"

"But why is the situation of the battle always unsatisfactory?"

"Maybe Yuan Shao's ability is really worrying. Does the lord feel this way?"

"Yes, how could it not be? I am worried about him! I was so passive when I was beaten by Han Sui. I was so passive when I was beaten so passively. I would only become more and more passive, and the situation would become worse and worse. In this way, it was completely different from our original idea, so I would doubt whether we were taking the wrong path!"

Xi Zhicai shook his head silently and said, "Lord, is Yuan Shao really that bad? If so, how did he defeat Han Fu and how did he drive Zhang Jiao away? It seems that anyone can see this truth, but Yuan Shao can't see it!"

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Zhicai said, is it Yuan Benchu ​​who deliberately played such a clumsy way of playing?"

"Why can't it be intentional? He's just learning from us!"

Cao Cao stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, squinted his eyes and a cold light flashed: "Haha, Benchu, Benchu, I really can't bear to see you. But you think you can force me to fight Lu Bu in a tough battle, but even so, you are raising a tiger yourself, and maybe you will be bitten to death by Han Sui, the tiger!"

Xi Zhicai nodded: "If Yuan Shao made up his mind to force our army to fight Lu Bu, then he would further show weakness. Han Sui would not want to defeat Yuan Shao for a while, but Han Sui took the opportunity to compete for a living space for himself. Yuan Shao would be quite passive in Henan in the future. If he gave up Henan, Han Sui would be supported by Lu Bu. He would be even more confident. The one who destroyed Yuan Shao in the future must be Han Sui!"

"The premise is that Lu Bu can still become Han Sui's pillar. If Lu Bu is destroyed during this period, everything will be false!"

Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Cao who was full of confidence and had already smelled the fighting spirit that penetrated Cao Cao. It seemed that Cao Cao could not hold back anymore. Yuan Shao insisted on cheating, but Cao Cao could not follow him to compete with him for who is more slutty. Once Lu Bu and Han Sui captured Lu County, Jibei County, the northern line would be completely stabilized. Lu Bu would draw Ju Zu's army to attack him south. At that time, it would be too late for Cao Cao to move again.

"What the lord said is very true. Yuan Shao can avoid our army but not. The battle with Lu Bu is necessary. Even if it is a deadlock, Lu Bu must be extinguished."

Cao Cao glanced at Xi Zhicai. At this time, the cold water poured by Xi Zhicai made Cao Cao feel uncomfortable, but the lessons of the past were not far away, and Cao Cao did not dare to pat his chest and say that he would win this time, but in his heart, Cao Cao had already made a ruthless move and must take down Liang Kingdom and teach Lu Bu a harsh lesson.

"Zhicai, look," Cao Cao knocked on the map: "From Chenliu to Pei State, the front line between our army and Lu Bu is nearly a thousand miles long. Look at the configuration of Lu Bu's troops in Feng State, Jushu, Dang County, Xiayi, Xiayi are Lu Bu and Pang Yuan, and then towards Xizhe County, Jiwu, and Yuan County Liu Xun's defenders are relatively weak. On the other hand, our army, Yuan Rang is in Peng State, and Zilian (Cao Hong) is in Wuping. If Zhongkang is ordered to attack from Wuping and Fule to Zhe County and Jiwu, he will be able to mobilize Lu Bu's troops, and I will attack Dang County with all my strength and force Lu Bu to fight to the decisive battle. At that time, Lu Bu will definitely be in a difficult position and cannot take into account both."

Xi Zhicai stared at the map, and his eyes were soon attracted by Jiwu. It seems that Cao Cao's purpose is here. Once Jiwu falls into Liang Kingdom and the flanks of Yongyang are exposed, Lu Bu's retreat will be cut off at any time. Cao Cao's purpose is to force Lu Bu to choose between giving up Liang Kingdom and fighting with Cao Cao.

"Lord, if the Western Front Battle begins, all the situation will be broken now. Although Lu Bu will be in a difficult position, he will also bet on everything. When both sides are difficult to take into account, Lu Bu will definitely choose to attack all the way. Judging from Lu Bu's usual behavior, he is a person who likes adventure and self-control."

Cao Cao nodded solemnly: "Yes, choose to fight with me in Dang County, and decide the outcome in one battle? Or give up Dang County and attack Zhongkang and Zilian?"

"It would be fine if Lu Bu chose to fight our army in Dang County. The two armies had similar strengths, but our army had more potential and had a slightly greater chance of victory. If Lu Bu chose to advance westward"

"If Lu Bu chooses to take the Western Front first, then I will take Dang County in one fell swoop and then head straight to Yongyang, forcing Lu Bu to continue the decisive battle."

Xi Zhicai thought carefully. Now Cao Cao suddenly turned his strategy in a direction, from delay to quick battle. This change is very abrupt, but it is reasonable to think about it carefully. After wasting half a year in Dang County, Cao Cao chose to fight quickly, in order to give the battle situation in the Central Plains a clearer development in the spring. He hopes that Liu Bei and Yuan Shao can attack Lu Bu more hard, forcing even if they cannot completely defeat Lu Bu, they will completely destroy Lu Bu's production plan next year and lay the foundation for the complete destruction of Lu Bu next year.

"Lord, what if Lu Bu defeated Zi Lian and Zhongkang, he would choose to go south to Qiao County without paying attention to Yongyang?"

"I can't ask for it. Could it be that this official is a dog like Yuan Shao who defends the family? If Lu Bu dares to attack with attack, then our army will march straight into and continue to attack Chenliu, and attack Chen Gong with Liu Bei. Even if Lu Bu captures Qiao County, so what if Lu Bu attacks Huainan! However, Lu Bu is not that stupid."

Xi Zhicai let out a sigh, straightened his waist and looked at the entire Central Plains battle. Cao Cao's current choice seems to be the best way. After all, others are still unreliable. In the end, they have to take action personally to break the situation!

In Pang Yuan's command center, which is not far from Cao Cao's camp, Lu Bu was standing in front of an open window and looking up at the beautiful flowers blooming in the night sky. Although the dazzling flowers are short, the beauty will remain in people's hearts for a long time.

"Fuqing, you strange people are so relaxed. At the moment of the war, you are still in the mood to set off fireworks!"

"Haha, after all, there is no worries of life and death, and the mood must be different."

Lu Bu thought for a while and smiled: "It's like scratching the itch through the shoe!"

"Uh hehe, the general is free and easy. Is it really that fascinating to experience life and death?"

"Why not? When someone chooses to become a military general, he already regards life and death as a common thing, and the feeling of wandering between life and death is really charming."

"Haha, Yi Ren's relatively relaxed mentality is also a way of living!"

"Forget it, I don't understand, let's not talk about this anymore. The war in the north went quite smoothly. Yuan Shao, a fool, lost one after another, and fell into a very passive situation. We just need to continue to maintain it, right?"

Lu Bu was very optimistic, but Pang Yuan shook his head and said solemnly: "When we feel comfortable, the enemy will feel uncomfortable. If we feel uncomfortable, we will naturally seek change! Besides, Yuan Shao is definitely not a fool. He just doesn't want to be a leader, so he deliberately shows weakness. But he really underestimated Han Sui. Han Sui can fight in Xiliang for more than ten years, and his subordinates are full of arrogant soldiers and will sooner or later be bitten by him if he raises Han Sui."

"The implication of Fuqing is that Yuan Shao is giving in to Han Sui, but why is that?"

"In order to force Cao Cao to take action, Cao Cao was struggling in the city of Dang County for more than half a year, and there was no decent battle. It was obvious that he wanted Yuan Shao and Liu Bei to fight to the death and to pick up the bargain by himself. Originally, Cao Cao hoped that Yuan Shao could defeat Ju Su on the northern front and forced the general to go north to fight with Yuan Shao, and then Cao Cao could easily pick up Liang State, Shanyang, and even Jiyin. However, Han Sui's appearance and Yuan Shao's showing of weakness made the situation change. The general said just now that as long as we maintain the status quo, the situation will be beneficial to our army and the one who is most dissatisfied is naturally Cao Cao!"

"Why isn't Yuan Shao the most dissatisfied?"

Pang Yuan moved aside, allowing Lu Bu to see the map behind him, pointing to the map and said, "Yuan Shao is worry-free. Even if he loses the boundary of Henan, he can still stand across the river and have the opportunity to cross the river and get back to Henan. Looking at Cao Cao, Cao Cao is surrounded by enemies. If you accidentally, the scene of siegeing our army today will appear on Cao Cao again tomorrow. Therefore, Cao Cao must break the deadlock, and the key to breaking the deadlock is our army. Only by defeating our army or even destroying our army will Cao Cao's development space and unfavorable situation be improved. Therefore, the most anxious thing is Cao Cao, not Yuan Shao!"

Lu Bu nodded suddenly: "So that's it. So Fuqing wants to say that Cao Cao is ready to take action?"

"Yes, Cao Cao is going to take action. The front line between our army and Cao Cao is so long, and there are many places to take action, so Cao Cao has always had the initiative to take action. Next, it depends on how we choose. I invite the general to come today to discuss this matter."

Lu Bu rubbed his hands, straightened his waist, grinned excitedly, and inadvertently filled with a high-spirited fighting spirit: "Okay! So Fuqing thinks how Cao Cao will fight, how should our army fight? After staying for more than half a year, the body of a certain family is about to die! Haha" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!