C179

Usually, when Cao Cao Cao gathered a large group of people to discuss important matters, he would first listen to Xun Yu's and Xun You's opinions, and then ask for the opinions of others, and only make a decision after careful deliberation. Thus, when they heard Cao Cao's question, the others turned to look at Xun Yu and Xun You.

Xun Yu nodded to Xun You, indicating him to talk first.

"My army's goal of entering the Jizhou has been fulfilled. Now that the casualties are not small, and our morale is not very high, there's no need to continue fighting Gongsun Xu!"

Xun You's explanation was short, but everyone understood the meaning behind it--Cao Cao's goal for going to the Jizhou was to save Yuan Shao, and to gain more fame. Now it seemed that they could no longer go to rescue Yuan Shao, and if they were to continue fighting with him, there would be no harm in it. The citizens of the city saw with their own eyes that the Envoy Cao's benevolence and righteousness spread across the entire city, Cao Cao Cao had already obtained the reputation that he wanted, if they were to continue fighting with Gongsun Xu, even if the city were to be breached, they would not be able to escape.

Furthermore, Xun You's words of 'the morale is not very high' were purely intended to give the Cao Army face. After the news of the tiger leopard riding's demise spread, the morale of the Cao Army suffered a huge blow. Yesterday, the Cao Army suffered heavy casualties under Gongsun Xu's fierce attacks, and their morale had reached the extreme. There were already rumors of war being spread amongst the army, and because of that, Xiahou Yuan had beheaded quite a few people to stabilize his morale. If Gongsun Xu were to continue his fierce attacks, no one knew how long Cao Army would be able to hold on regardless of death or injuries.

When Cao Cao Cao had just led his huge army out of Yanzhou, he was still thinking of joining forces with Yuan Shao as soon as possible so that he could reap a large amount of benefits from defeating Gongsun Zan. Now that he had obtained large amounts of wealth from Gao Gang when he reached Henei County, he was no longer so enthusiastic about going to Qinghe County to rescue Yuan Shao. After waiting for the tiger leopard riding to be completely wiped out and Gongsun Xu's army to surround them, Cao Cao Cao finally gave up on the idea of going to rescue Yuan Shao. He had already thought of retreating, but in order to gain his reputation, he decided to rely on the city for a period of time before deciding.

In his heart, Cao Cao Cao was still somewhat satisfied with his decision to stay in Henei County. No matter the reason behind Gongsun Xu's weak offense, he had already obtained the reputation he wanted, as well as the actual benefits such as money, food, weapons, etc. He was even more determined to stay in City and wait patiently for the changes in the situation in Qinghe County. Who knew that yesterday, Gongsun Xu would suddenly attack ferociously, in just a day, Cao Army had lost more than 2000 people, Cao Cao Cao was surprised and angry, if this continued, how many days would his 20 thousand men and horses be able to hold on?

After discussing with Xiahou Yuan last night, Cao Cao Cao had the thought of withdrawing his troops as soon as possible. Now that he heard Xun You's words, he was even more determined to withdraw, but he still asked for Xun Yu's suggestion out of habit.

Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "This subordinate approves of Gong Da's words, but this subordinate thinks that we should immediately retreat into the river and find out why Gongsun Xu suddenly attacked the city like crazy. In other words, figure out what exactly happened at Qinghe County's side? Is that good or bad for us? Will it affect the direction of this battle? "

Cao Cao Cao stroked his beard and thought for a while, then slowly nodded: "What Wen Ruo said is extremely true, there must have been some huge change on Qinghe County, if not Gongsun Xu would not have acted so strangely! It's just that the city is surrounded by Gongsun Xu so not even a drop of water can leak out.

Xun Yu said solemnly: "Master, this is a serious matter! If the change in Qinghe County was beneficial to Yuan Shijun, not only would the lord's sudden retreat cause ridicule from others, he would also lose many things that he should have! I should still try to find out more information, and if the situation does not turn out well for Yuan Shijun, it will not be too late for us to break out of the encirclement and return to the Yanzhou. "

"If you leave the city too many people, it will definitely attract Gongsun Xu's attention, and only by letting a small group leave will have the chance," Cao Cao Cao muttered to himself, then turned his head to Dian Wei and said: "Academy Officer Dian, I'll give you a hundred elite cavalry s, will you be able to rush to the Qinghe County to ask for news?"

Dian Wei cupped his fists, and said in a low voice: "I hope that Master will be at ease, Dian Wei will definitely find out the news and come back in time!"

"Good!" "Tonight, you will …"

"Brother, please wait!" Cao Chun, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, suddenly shouted and stopped Cao Cao's second half of his sentence.

Cao Cao slightly frowned and asked in a displeased tone, "Zi He, what do you want to say?"

Cao Chun stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to brother, little brother might know what is happening in Qinghe County!"

"Oh?" Cao Cao was a bit surprised, but then he curiously asked, "Knowing means knowing. Why do you have to say the word 'possible'?"

Cao Chun's face looked a little ashamed, and said softly: "I heard from the people of the White Horse Camp about one thing, but I didn't know if it was true or not, so I didn't dare make a decision!"

"What is it?" Not only Cao Cao urgently wanted to know what was happening in Qinghe County, the others also stared at Cao Chun, waiting for him to say a piece of good news.

Cao Chun saw everyone's expression and sighed in his heart. He said in a muffled voice: "When Gongsun Zan ordered someone to cut off the moat of the Qinghe County, he actually discovered one of the nine prefectures' cauldrons, the Jizhou Cauldron!"

As Cao Chun finished speaking, it immediately elicited an intense reaction from the crowd.

"What?" Nine Prefectures Cauldron? This was impossible! It must be fake! "

"Yeah, how is that possible? The Nine Region Cauldron only exists within the descriptions in the books, no one has ever seen it before, it must be a fake made by Gongsun Zan himself! "

"The Nine Prefectures Cauldron disappeared without a trace from the Shang Dynasty, how could it coincidentally land in Gongsun Zan's hands? It must be because Gongsun Zan has been attacking the Qing He City for too long, hence he has no choice but to use this kind of despicable tactic! "

Cao Cao didn't say anything, but he looked worried. In fact, he knew that whether the Jizhou Cauldron was real or fake wasn't important, what was important was whether or not the citizens of the Qing He City believed that the Nine Prefectures Cauldron was real. In other words, if Yuan Shao was still able to completely control the Qinghe County City, it would not affect the morale of the people. However, Cao Cao Cao didn't hold much hope that Gongsun Xu could suddenly launch a fierce attack on them. It was clear that Gongsun Zan had made great progress on the side of the Qinghe County, to the point where Gongsun Xu didn't care about the losses at all.

Xun Yu also did not say anything, he frowned as he listened to the crowd's discussion, his eyes filled with worry. He could imagine what Cao Cao Cao was thinking, and it was even more profound than Cao Cao Cao's thoughts — Xun Yu felt that Gongsun Zan did not need to use a fake Jizhou Cauldron to suppress the morale of the troops, and his position in the Jizhou Cauldron was extremely important, even if Gongsun Zan used a fake one to suppress the morale of Yuan Shao's army, others would despise and mock him. From this, it could be seen that the Jizhou Cauldron was real. With the Jizhou Cauldron, Gongsun Zan's strength was clearly much more terrifying than before, even if they could successfully kill their way back to the Yanzhou, once Gongsun Zan led his army to attack, would the Yanzhou be able to hold on?

At this time, Cao Cao lightly coughed and everyone quickly quieted down as they looked at him.

Cao Cao Cao did not comment on the crowd's discussion, but asked Xun Yu: "Wen Ruo, why didn't you express your opinion just now?"

Xun Yu laughed bitterly: "This subordinate has thought of it, and Master has probably thought of it as well. Whether or not the Jizhou Cauldron is real is not important, what this subordinate is worried about is whether or not Yuan Benchu can persevere on! Once Yuan Benchu is defeated, even if we return to the Yanzhou, what can we use in the future to stop Gongsun Zan's huge army of hundreds of thousands? "

Cao Cao Cao sighed softly, and said in a helpless tone: ", what do you think we should do?"

Xun Yu said solemnly: "Master, the only thing to do now is to put your life on the line and live on the line!"

Cao Cao's eyebrows relaxed a little and said seriously, "I am willing to listen to the details!"

Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "If it was before the appearance of the Jizhou Cauldron, this subordinate was still somewhat confident in Yuan Benchu, but at the very least, this subordinate should be able to hold on for three to five months. Therefore, this subordinate suggests for Master to slaughter his way out of the Henei County as soon as possible and return to the Yanzhou. Then, this subordinate will temporarily put aside his personal grudge and send people over to the Xuzhou and the Liu Bei Alliance to rescue Yuan Benchu.

"Alliance with Liu Bei?" Cao Cao Cao was startled, his face showed no fear, he had always believed that the death of Cao Song was caused by Tao Qian, hence he hated the people of Xuzhou. Ever since Liu Bei had inherited Xuzhou Mu, he had never written a letter to Liu Bei. But now, he suddenly had to lower his stature and send someone to ally with Liu Bei, and the goal was to rescue Yuan Shao as well. No matter how he thought about it, he felt his heart extremely unhappy.

Xu You bowed and said, "Master, this subordinate approves of uncle's words. As the saying goes, ten years is not too late for a gentleman's revenge. Only by defeating Gongsun Zan will I have the chance to avenge the old lady in the future! "

Xiahou Yuan also sternly advised: "Meng De, what Wen Ruo said is very reasonable, now no matter if it's us or Liu Bei, or the Jingzhou, none of us have the power to fight Gongsun Zan alone! Li Que might be able to stop Gongsun Zan, but he was too far away and couldn't quench his thirst. Furthermore, those two people's reputation was too bad, if they were to ally with each other, not only would their reputation be affected, they might even lure the wolves in! Amongst the numerous dukes in the world, Liu Bei was indeed the one who was most likely to be an ally! As long as Liu Bei agrees to join the Alliance to fight against Gongsun Zan, Lv Bu would definitely follow along with his troops. Lv Bu has the courage of ten thousand men, with him, it would be a huge boost to our morale. One of us alone would be able to fight against ten thousand elite soldiers.

Cao Cao Cao rubbed his forehead and asked coldly: "Does this mean that everyone agreed to fight their way back to the Yanzhou and Liu Bei's side as soon as possible?"

Xun Yu cupped his hands and said: "Master, please focus on the big picture!"

"My lord, please focus on the overall situation!" The others also stood up.

Sima Yi echoed him with his mouth, but the expression in his eyes kept changing. He was afraid that someone would notice his intentions, so he hurriedly lowered his head.