C184

In order to prevent Cao Cao from leading the troops to break through the encirclement, Gongsun Xu sent ten over fifty scouts to patrol around the city at any time. As a result, as soon as the fire in the north started, people would rush to the big tent to report it.

"What?" A fire was ignited in the north of the city? Was it suddenly ignited? " Gongsun Xu was preparing to go with Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, Xu You and Zhang He to hear Cao Cao Cao's answer, but was immediately stunned by the news.

After the reform of the White Horse Camp's military system, it was no longer used to describe the contributions as the head. Instead, it was used to calculate the contributions from the perspective of the overall battle situation. Gongsun Xu implemented a system that was more like the Qin Dynasty's military merits award system, but he did not bestow the title of nobility, but rather, he bestowed them money and food and land at Tianjin's side. All the people in White Horse Camp wanted to gain merits, not to mention that if they died in battle, their families would receive good care of them, so their morale had been high ever since the reform of the military system.

"Here!" "Thank you, General!" The scout who reported the news cupped his fists in thanks and happily left.

Gongsun Xu looked at Guo Jia and asked, "Feng Xiao, do you think this sudden big fire was caused by Bing Mei?"

"This possibility isn't very high!" Guo Jia shook his head and explained: "Mo Niangzi is a person who thinks carefully. Since we have agreed to raise fire at night, we definitely won't set it ablaze in the city! We already know that the northern part of the city is an important part of the granary. A fire suddenly started there, and the fire quickly spread. Mo Niangzi's goal in entering the city is to open the city gate and welcome the army in, not to burn down the city's grains, that would be a waste, she would not act so recklessly, furthermore if we were to attack the city, all of the grains would be ours, she would definitely understand this point! "

Gongsun Xu nodded his head, and asked in confusion: "Feng Xiao's meaning is that the people in the city set the fire themselves? "Strange, what is the purpose of the man who set the fire?"

Guo Jia laughed, and then answered very confidently: "If I'm not mistaken, it should be against Cao Cao Cao and Gao Gang's stubborn resistance, and wants to rely on us! The ones most likely to do this are the aristocratic families in the city. They have always been like fence-sitters, perhaps because they saw that Cao Cao's defeat was already set in stone, they wanted to take it out and ask us for credit. "

Gongsun Xu replied, looking around and asked: "Do you guys think that's the case?"

Xu You answered first: "Officer Guo is right, and this subordinate also thinks that it is the doing of those aristocratic families! After Yuan Shao took over the Jizhou, and suppressed the local Wealthy Class families, the Liu family had even planted their trusted aides and plundered them, which had already caused a lot of people to be unhappy, but they just did not dare say anything. Today, Cao Cao, as an outsider with average strength, was actually able to control the power of the Henei County. How could the aristocratic families and families in the city possibly submit to him? Furthermore, throughout the entire city, only they have the ability and boldness to do such a thing at this critical juncture. "

Gongsun Xu laughed, "Mister Zi Yuan also thinks the same. It was close to 90%! Zi Long! "

Zhao Yun stood up and cupped his fists: "I am here!"

"Hurry up and mobilize the troops. If Cao Cao rejects my request, you can lead some men to attack from the gap in the city wall to prevent Cao from getting suspicious!"

"Here!" Zhao Yun excitedly agreed, and turned to leave with big strides.

"Jun Yi!"

Zhang He was startled, he never thought that Gongsun Xu would call his name, and immediately stood up, cupping his fists as he replied: "This general is here!"

Gongsun Xu pointed to the pen, ink and paper in front of him. "Go and write a letter to General Gao Lan to persuade him.

Zhang He excitedly replied and immediately went over to write a letter. He had a good relationship with Gao Lan and naturally did not wish for Gao Lan to die together with Cao Cao Cao and Gao Gang. In fact, Zhang He's worries were completely unnecessary. Not long after Gao Lan entered the city, the military power in his hands was taken away by Gao Gang, and he was only a loner who was not trusted by Cao Cao Cao and Gao Gang. He did not even have the chance to help Cao Cao Cao.

"Jun Yi, you slowly write." Gongsun Xu laughed and patted Zhang He's shoulder, then waved his hand: "Come, let's go take a look at this big fire and listen to Cao Mengde's reply!"

Xu You and Guo Jia smiled as they agreed. After following Gongsun Xu out of the camp, they could see from afar how the flames in the north of the city were rising towards the sky with thick smoke billowing out to dozens of meters high.

Gongsun Xu sighed: "Ah, this fire is not small, I wonder how much food it will burn! I hope they can put out the fire in time! "

Xu You laughed: "Master, why bother about such a small matter? Cao Mengde is very difficult to deal with. As long as we can keep him in the Henei County, even if we burn all the food, it would still be worth it! "

Gongsun Xu frowned slightly. Although Xu You's words were a bit cold-blooded, but it was the truth. No one in this world knew Cao Cao Cao's ability better than him. This time, Cao Cao Cao was besieged by the White Horse Camp army in Henei County, but it was not because the opponent was weak, it was because the difference in strength between the two sides was too great. Furthermore, tiger leopard riding was almost completely annihilated from the very start, completely destroying Cao Cao Cao's most powerful mobile force. Even if Gongsun Xu was in his current position, if he did not know that the Jizhou's Cauldron was unearthed, the only thing he could do was to stick to it in the city and wait for the situation of the Qinghe County to change before making any plans.

Gongsun Xu stared at the fire in the city and asked solemnly, "Mister Zi Yuan is extremely knowledgeable about Cao Mengde, what do you think he will do when he finds out about the Jizhou Cauldron?"

Xu You thought for a while, then sneered: "Cao Mengde should have chosen to break through! This person has a cold nature and is selfish. He would definitely not put up a fight under the situation where Yuan Shao's loss is already decided! "

As Gongsun Xu walked towards his warhorse, he chuckled: "Maybe he won't have a chance to break out of the siege anymore! Let's go to the north side of the city! "

Shan Meng and Gongsun Yi brought over a thousand of their cavalrymen to protect Gongsun Xu and the others, waving the big flag of the White Horse Camp, they rushed towards the north side of the city.

On the east side of the city, Cao Cao Cao had been keeping an eye on the movements of the White Horse Camp's camp. The first thing he did was to discover the banner of the White Horse Camp, and then he saw Gongsun Xu and his men. He immediately turned around to look at the blazing flames in the northern part of the city. With a frown, he asked, "Who's going to ask Sima Yi what exactly happened?!"

"This lowly general will go!" Cao Chun quickly stood up. Gongsun Xu would definitely come to talk to Cao Cao later on, he did not want to meet Cao Cao so quickly.

"Zi He is willing to go? "Then go!" Without hesitation, Cao Cao Cao agreed. After thinking for a moment, he called out to Cao Chun and instructed him in a low voice, "I'll give you five hundred elite soldiers. Pay more attention to Sima Yi!"

Cao Chun's pupils constricted, he nodded his head thoughtfully, then summoned his five hundred elite soldiers and rushed to the north of the city.

Just then, Gongsun Xu had already run up to him. Just as Cao Cao Cao was about to shout, he suddenly realized had only glanced at the top of the city, and did not stop at all as he went around to the north of the city. Cao Cao Cao was startled, then a burst of anger rose up, Thief Gongsun is going too far, to not take me, Cao Mengde, seriously! Gritting his teeth, he watched as Gongsun Xu got further and further away, before fiercely smashing his fist onto the city wall.

Xun You advised: "Master, please calm your anger! Gongsun kid is extremely arrogant, this is our chance! The more he underestimates us, the greater the chances of us successfully breaking through! As long as we return back to the Yanzhou, this subordinate will persuade Liu Bei and the Master Alliance even if his head was covered in sweat. As long as we join forces to defeat Gongsun Zan's main force, Gongsun Xu's path of retreat will be cut off. At that time, he will have no one to support him, and returning to the Youzhou might not be an easy task! "Calm down, my lord. Breaking out of this encirclement is the most urgent matter at hand!"

Cao Cao Cao's anger quickly calmed down, Xun You's consolation for him was not easy to achieve, but Xun You's last sentence was not wrong, only by calming down can he settle the matter of breaking out of the encirclement.

Cao Cao Cao took a deep breath, turned his head and commanded Dian Wei: "Go and ask General Gao Gang to come over!"

Dian Wei nodded silently and quickly ran down the city wall.

Cao Cao frowned as he looked at the smoke and the fire. He muttered to himself, "This fire shouldn't affect our plans, right?"

Xun Yu and Xun You looked at each other, they could see the deep worry in each other's eyes. Just as Cao Cao Cao decided to break through the encirclement, there was a huge fire, so it was obvious that someone was doing it on purpose. Furthermore, the person who set the fire must have known that Cao Cao was about to break through. What if this news reached Gongsun Xu's ears? With Cao Cao's power, it was possible for him to break out, but if Gongsun Xu made preparations in advance, how many out of the twenty thousand soldiers of the Cao Army could successfully return to the Yanzhou?

Gongsun Xu and the rest quickly reached the north side of the city. From here, they could see that the fire was fiercer, the guards at the top of the city walls were in a panic, the noise was loud and rowdy.

When the White Horse Camp soldiers surrounding the city from the north saw Gongsun Xu's arrival, they immediately sent a group of cavalry to support him.

Gongsun Xu asked briefly, and the answer he got was almost the same as the scout from before. As a result, he had no interest in asking further, and urged his horse to move closer to the city wall. Just then, the people on top of the city wall noticed Gongsun Xu's group and immediately shouted out. In a moment, hundreds of strong bows were aimed at them.

The place they were standing right now was at least two hundred steps away from the city wall. Unless it was a strong bow that was around four or five stones, it was impossible for it to pose a threat to them. Even if someone could use a strong bow and a strong crossbow, they would not be able to penetrate through the armor at such a distance.

The guards at the top of the city wall realized that Gongsun Xu intended to continue approaching him, so they could only put down their bows and arrows and vigilantly watch his every move.

Gongsun Xu did not care about the defending army above the city. He kept staring at the direction of the fire, hoping that it would be extinguished as soon as possible. At this moment, he had already treated the food in the city as his spoils of war. Wouldn't it be a pity if he burned too much?