Cao Cao finally returned to Zhuqiu, but he only returned after being stripped of a layer of skin. More than 200,000 troops were thrown on the road for more than 30,000. This did not count other losses. Anyway, the battle was awkward.

Back to Zhuqiu, there were plenty of guards in the city, and Fang Zhiwen and Yan Liang were together. It was not realistic to take Zhuqiu in a short time. By then, Cao Cao was not worried about this. He was worried that Fang Zhiwen would split his troops again. Moreover, Huang Xu in Fu Li was also heading towards Xiang County. Xiahou Dun had already rushed to Xiang County to defend. Cao Cao was worried that Fang Zhiwen would go south again and join Huang Xu to attack the relatively weak Xiang County.

There is also Xu Huang, he is moving towards Huaiyuan, and it is still a question whether Cao Ren can block Xu Huang. There is also Yongqiu... and Chen County... The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more headache he felt, and he couldn't help but pinch his forehead and moan.

"Lord, are you... Do you want to pass on the doctor?"

"Uh, no, by the way..." Cao Cao pondered for a moment, and finally continued: "You go and invite Zhicai to come!"

"promise!"

When Xi Zhicai came in, Cao Cao was lying on the shore and writing something. When he heard footsteps, Cao Cao raised his head. Xi Zhicai bowed and bowed: "Lord, what's wrong with summoning his subordinates?"

"Sit." Cao Cao looked calm, put down the pen in his hand, frowned and thought for a while, "I have carefully considered what you said last time. Doing that is also very risky, and it is hard to say whether it can completely change the current situation..."

"Lord, there is no risk in anything. Remember you said that the way to reduce risks is to eliminate risks. Right?"

"Well..."

"Compared with Yuan Shao and Fang Zhiwen's coalition, Liu Bei's army gave our army greater risks? Are they more invincible? My subordinates think it is not. More importantly, this is the only solution to the current death!"

"This... can really solve the current death situation?"

"Lord, why did the coalition forces of Fang Zhiwen and Yuan Shao appear? They didn't join forces long ago or later, and it happened to be the time when the coalition forces were? The purpose is very simple, because they are worried that the lord will grow bigger!"

"This is indeed the case!"

"So, there is no need to say about Yuan Shao. The key is Fang Zhiwen. Fang Zhiwen doesn't want his lord to become bigger. Do you want Yuan Shao to become bigger? It's rumored that Fang Zhiwen is taking over Jizhou, which shows that Fang Zhiwen is actually guarding against Yuan Shao while choosing Yuan Shao. Moreover, no matter how you look at it, Yuan Shao's ability is still different from that of the lord. Therefore, raising a relatively low-risk Yuan Shao would be a good choice. However, this does not mean that Fang Zhiwen is completely relieved of Yuan Shao. Therefore, as long as the lord leaves the Central Plains, Fang Zhiwen and Yuan Shao's coalition will end immediately. Maybe he will in turn support the lord to continue to fight against Yuan Shao. The lord takes down Jingzhou and weakens Liu Bei, who has just obtained Yizhou as the foundation. This matter is a good thing for Fang Zhiwen to kill two birds with one stone. Therefore, as long as our army takes the initiative to give up the Central Plains, the dead end will be solved."

Xi Zhicai talked confidently, but this topic was not a pleasant topic. On the contrary, Cao Cao felt that he was thrusting in his heart, giving up the Central Plains?! That was a hard work he worked hard with one sword and one shot! It was not so easy to give up when he said he would give up! However, the dead situation in front of him...

"Lord, I think when my subordinates met him in Yingchuan, he had no place in size, but he was full of passion and ambition to soar to the sky. Now he is rich in the Central Plains, but he is shrugged. These things have become burdens for the lord? Do you want to be a prince who governs the Central Plains or a strong man to pacify the world?"

Cao Cao sighed with a sigh when he heard this: "It's not that Zhicai's words are not that he doesn't understand the truth, but it's difficult to do it! Let the original image think about it, think about it!"

"Lord, Liu Bei is now unable to escape from Yizhou for a while. Once Liu Bei pacified Yizhou, he would turn his energy back to the Central Plains of Jingzhou. At that time, our army would be even more difficult to seize Jingzhou, and he would even be forced to death by the three parties in the Central Plains. Does the lord want this ending?"

Cao Cao frowned tightly. Of course, this ending was not something I wanted, but giving up the Central Plains was really a very difficult choice. Not everyone has the courage to start over. Cao Cao also has hesitation and greed.

"Zhicai, are you sure that doing so will relieve the dead end we are facing now?"

"It is certainly possible, and now the time is fleeting. If you cannot seize this opportunity, once Liu Bei withdraws from Yizhou, our army's last opportunity will be lost."

Xi Zhicai said with a serious expression, this is not a joke. If you miss this last opportunity, Cao Cao might really face this catastrophe.

Cao Cao's face also became heavy. If Xi Zhicai's analysis was correct, he was now facing a situation where he would step into the abyss in one step. This was obviously even more terrifying than giving up the Central Plains.

"This... Zhicai, if the original minister decides to take Jingzhou west, what will happen, and how will it change in the future?"

"Lord, if you have made up your mind, then immediately draw the most elite combat power, attack Jingzhou from two groups at the same time, set out from Runan, attack Jingzhou, mobilize Liu Bei's troops to defend Jingzhou and then find an opportunity to annihilate it. The other group enters Nanyang County from Yingchuan, and then attack Shangyong. As long as the mobile combat forces in Jingzhou are annihilated, Liu Bei is far away in Yizhou and is beyond reach, he will be able to capture the northern part of Jingzhou in one fell swoop. As for the mountains and narrow areas in the southern part of Jingzhou, he must slowly plan it."

"So how does the Central Plains deal with it."

"As soon as the battle in Jingzhou began, my subordinates believed that Fang Zhiwen would immediately delay the war. He would not be able to see the intentions of our army, nor would he be able to see the benefits of our army's choice. At that time, our army would slowly retreat while relocating to Runan, and then decide whether to give up Runan and Yingchuan depending on the situation."

“As the case?”

"Yes, it depends on whether Fang Zhiwen is willing to let us occupy these two places. After all, what Fang Zhiwen is thinking, and his subordinates can only guess."

Cao Cao nodded without comment, silently stroked his beard for a while, and then slowly asked, "What about the subsequent changes?"

Xi Zhicai licked his dry lips and said confidently: "The subsequent change is that the Central Plains will return to peace, and our army can also get rid of the danger of being controlled by Fang Zhiwen. Next, the lord must continue to advance towards the Central Plains, and more importantly, seek Yizhou to the west. Only by obtaining Yizhou can he finally get rid of Fang Zhiwen's deterrence, relying on Yizhou, the Central Plains in the east, and the Sanfu Liangzhou, Jingzhou, the world must be fought!"

Cao Cao pondered, and the light cast from the window slowly moved on the ground. The sound of huge rocks bombarded near the city wall in the distance came, like muffled thunder.

Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Cao silently. Although his face was very calm, he was actually very nervous. Cao Cao's decision would decide whether to go to the abyss or to the smooth road. Although Xi Zhicai knew Cao Cao very well and was quite confident in him, he would also be worried about gains and losses at this moment.

Finally, Cao Cao raised his head and looked at Xi Zhicai with a bright look: "Zhicai, my prime minister has decided to conquer Jingzhou with all his strength and immediately call the generals to meet. After that, Zhicai and I returned to Qiao County and arranged everything. Now it's not time to go!"

"The lord is wise!"

....................................

Fang Zhiwen quickly discovered the changes in Cao's army. If Cao's army had been quite active in defending, now it is completely defending, and the movements of the troops and people in various places are also quite interesting.

It should not be surprising that the people of Qiao County and Huainan evacuated westward. What's strange is that they evacuated very simply and went to Runan. They ran a little far. Although it can be understood as trying to stay away from the war as much as possible, it can also be understood as something else. With the power of Miyun's intelligence system, more signs were soon noticed, and all these clues indicate that Cao Cao was dispatching troops and preparing to attack Jingzhou.

After receiving this news, Fang Zhiwen certainly would not tell others, including Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, and Fang Zhiwen was very happy about Cao Cao's automatic and conscious spirit. He was worthy of being Cao Cao, and finally made the right choice. Fang Zhiwen was naturally happy to see what happened, so how could he destroy it!

If possible, Fang Zhiwen was willing to provide some necessary help to Cao Cao, so Fang Zhiwen's offensive stopped unconsciously. The statement to Yuan Shao was that because Cao Cao's solid walls and cleared the fields, the pace of attack had to slow down after the logistics channel was lengthened. This reason was reasonable. Although some smart people thought something was wrong, they just thought that Fang Zhiwen was dissatisfied with the success of the war some time ago, and he still needed Yuan Shao to pay more.

Fang Zhiwen's approach undoubtedly confirmed Xi Zhicai's accurate judgment again. Cao Cao was more confident in the decision to capture Jingzhou. He even pulled Xu Chu and Cao Ren out, and he quietly arrived in Runan City. In addition, Cao Cao retreated Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan's brothers from the battlefield and ordered Li Feng to go to Chen County to assist Cao Hong, form an attacking group with Xun You and Xiahou brothers, and draw Ji Ling out, and join Xun You's northern attack group, allowing Li Dian to defend Yingchuan alone.

The entire war was prepared to go on quickly under unknown circumstances, but on the surface, Cao Cao was retreating step by step, Zhuqiu lost, Le Jin and Yan Xing retreated to Dang County, but Xiang County was miraculously not defeated by Huang Xu, while Xu Huang had already penetrated deep into Xiquyang, not far from Shouchun.

The Yongyang War in Liang County was in full swing, and Yuan Shao made a desperate attack here, but Ju Su was not Yi and he was too busy to entangle Yuan Shao's main force. Lu Bu was like the wind, from Dang County to Chen County, and even appeared in front of the fortress north of Qiao County, causing a mess of the logistics line of the Cao army's northern line.

Just when everyone thought Cao Cao had retreated to the edge of the cliff and seemed to have no power to turn over, Cao Cao finally launched a blow, which surprised the world. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!