Cao's army crossed the river north and went smoothly.

The army in Hebei was either taken to Yijing by Yuan Shao, rushing to Taiyuan, Shangdang and other places, or gathering Chaoge to attack Hanoi. It was a rare period of weak defense, and all of this gave Cao's army great convenience to go north.

The unscrupulous Cao army defeated several small Hebei troops along the way and intercepted a large number of food and supplies transported to Chaoge, which made the morale of the army even more high, and the soldiers couldn't wait to invade Yecheng as soon as possible.

Cao Cao's goal is very clear. His goal to go north this time is Yecheng, the heart of Hebei.

Yecheng is the official office of the General's Office, and it is also the residence of Yuan Shao and his family and his civil and military families. The granaries and arsenals in the city store a large amount of food, grass and weapons. As long as the Cao army can successfully capture Yecheng, it will instantly disintegrate half of Yuan Shao's power in Hebei.

Therefore, Cao Cao was unwilling to waste time on the cities along the way. He used harsh military laws to restrain his soldiers and strictly prohibited his generals from indulging his soldiers to leave the army and privately plunder the towns and gather in the countryside, so as not to delay the speed of the entire army. He also issued a military order to march quickly, ordering the vanguards of the army to arrive at the city of Yecheng on the second day.

Unfortunately, things were far from as smooth as Cao Jun thought.

···

South of the Huan River, within the territory of Wei County.

The Cao army brigade, who was heading towards Yecheng, was rushing toward the road, but the vanguard Le Jin and the scout sent back by Shi Huan brought a horrifying news, so that the central army had to rush to rush to slogans and send orders to send orders from front and back, causing the entire army that was rushing to pause temporarily.

"The vanguard came to report that a large number of Yuan troops appeared north of the Huanshui River, including Yuan Shao's own big crow."

Next to the official road, Cao Cao's face was gloomy and said to the relatives such as Guo Jia and Dong Zhao, the advisers of the army, and Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Cao Chun who rushed to the army to discuss.

"this--"

When they heard the traces of the Hebei army appearing north of the Huanshui River, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong and others' faces changed color. They were originally immersed in the huge longing for rushing to Yecheng and taking advantage of the opportunity to break the city. Now, when they suddenly heard the appearance of Yuan Shao and his army, they couldn't help but feel shocked. In their buzzing heads, they said horrifying words such as "conspiracy", "ambush", and "tempting the enemy to go deeper".

"Ming Gong, is it possible that it was a suspicious soldier deployed by the reinforcements of Wei County?"

Cao Chun, who has a steady personality, recovered first. He looked at Cao Cao and asked carefully.

Cao Cao shook his head, "Dong Liu personally led the elite cavalry to cross the bridge and stumbled on the whistle to attack the enemy soldiers he encountered, killed two halberd soldiers, three enemy cavalry, and lost two followers. It has been confirmed that the enemy on the other side is the elite soldiers under Yuan Shao's command."

"Can Yecheng be prepared for a long time? This is Yuan Shao's plan to lure our army into the deeper?"

Cao Hong muttered a few times in his heart, and finally couldn't help but say it.

Cao Cao glared at Cao Hong when he heard this, his eyes became more and more sharp. Cao Hong's words were undoubtedly what Cao Cao was worried about now. As soon as he said his words, they cast a layer of haze on everyone's hearts.

Seeing this, Xiahou Yuan quickly spoke out and broke the atmosphere. He said excitedly:

"No matter whether Yecheng was prepared or not, whether the elite troops led by Yuan Shao personally came, since our army had arrived here, we would definitely not be afraid of the soldiers and horses in Hebei. Ming Gong, whether to fight or defend, and ask for instructions, our troops are willing to resist for the army!"

"Yes." Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction. He glanced at Guo Jia, Dong Zhao, and then said:

"Miaocai's courage is commendable! Gu had just discussed with Jijiu and others. The enemy was strange and the situation was not clear. Gu General personally led his troops to the front to meet with Le. The second captain of Shi and took the opportunity to invite Yuan Shao to go out to test the situation of Yuan's army. The troops in the army will be led by Miaocai and Zi Lian, and will be on standby on site and rest for the preparation of the war."

"Zihe, you will go with the solitary people with the cavalry, guards, Jijiu and others."

"promise!!!"

As the war approached, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong and others, as military generals, quickly agreed to the promise and took their own orders to act.

After a moment, Cao Chun, Wen Ji and other generals also ordered their troops. As Cao Cao's leading command, they jointly protected Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Dong Zhao and others with Xu Chu, Ding Fei and other personal guards, and rode their horses to the head of the Huanshui Bridge.

···

North of the Huan River, in the Yuan army formation.

Yuan Shao, who had a haggard face and thin cheeks, looked at the loud shouting Cao Jun knight on the bridge, with deep eyes pressing Sizhao sword at his waist, silent.

Five days ago, when Xu You led the surrendered soldiers of Cao's army to the Yuan army camp under Yijing City, bringing Yuan Shao information that Cao Cao conspired to attack Yecheng, it immediately caused an uproar among the senior officials of the Yuan army.

After repeatedly confirming the authenticity of the information, the senior civil and military officials of Yuan Jun suddenly became ants on the hot pan, each of whom was unhappy and even divided into two factions that were controversial and war-torn.

One faction was mainly based on Tian Feng, who was cautious and conservative, and advocated leaving only a small number of troops to confuse Gongsun Zan. Yuan Shao immediately led the army south to protect the safety of Yecheng. The other faction was mainly based on Fengji, who was aggressive in seeking victory, and tried to persuade Yuan Shao not to fail. The Hebei army had been besieging him for many years, and finally forced the Gongsun family of Yijing to death step by step. Now it was the last time to close the net. How could he make a mistake in making a tiger because of a piece of information?

Yuan Shao hesitated about this, and finally Xu You, who came to Yijing, analyzed it to everyone.

On the west side, Yan Zhanjun attacked Bingzhou fiercely, restraining a large number of Hebei soldiers and horses. Shen Pei and others who were left in Yecheng were deceived by Cao Cao's trick of attacking the east and west, which caused the empty defense of Wei County and gave the Cao army a chance to invade a large amount.

At present, the most urgent thing for us is time. As the lord of Hebei, Yuan Shao must rush back to Yecheng with his elite troops before Cao's army attacks Yecheng and causes the hearts of Hebei to shake. Only by stabilizing people's hearts can he rely on the strong high walls of Yecheng to resist Cao's army's sneak attacks and invasions.

The Hebei army besieged Gongsun family for years, and the horses gathered, and the food, grass and supplies were piled up. Even if the troops were withdrawn in large quantities, they would not be able to return to Yecheng in a hurry. Instead, the time for Yuan Shao to return to Yecheng was extended because of the speed of the army's march.

Therefore, it is better to leave good ministers and generals to continue besieging Yi Jing. Yuan Shao rushed back to Yecheng with his elite troops. I believe that with Yuan Shao's arrival, the Cao army who originally took advantage of the situation and plotted to attack Yecheng would be frightened. In addition, the strong city defense fortifications in Yecheng would definitely allow the invading Cao army to retreat.

Even if Cao's army was really determined to fight against Yuan's army, Yecheng would be prepared and rely on the city defense fortifications to persevere until the days when the Hebei army returned to aid.

At the critical moment, Yuan Shao had no time to hesitate any more. He immediately followed Xu You's advice, who sent important information in time, and left Ju Su, Feng Ji, Guo Tu, Yan Liang, Wen Chou and many other civil and military officials to lead a large army to continue to siege Yi Jing. He led Tian Feng, Xu You, Zhang He, Gao Lan and other civil and military officials and five thousand elite cavalry to the south that night, crossing the county and returning to Yecheng urgently, and did not dare to stay for a moment.

Although he finally intercepted Cao's troops who were intending to attack Yecheng in time at the Huanshui Bridge, his cavalry were running around for days and were all tired. Once the Cao army was exposed by the fierce attack, he would probably not be able to withstand the attack and had to leave the bridgehead and retreat to Yecheng's defense in a mess.

This is why Yuan Shao chose to make a big arrangement north of the Huanshui River to prepare for war, but did not ambush the Cao army across the bridge, nor did he demolish the bridge.

Originally, Yuan Jun planned to scare Cao's army away, but unexpectedly, although Cao's army stopped advancing, they did not retreat immediately. Instead, they prepared for war on the spot and sent an envoy to loudly invite Yuan Shao to come out to meet Cao Cao's bridge.

"Sikong has an order, please go to General Yuan for a while!"

The loud voice of the Cao army knights came from afar, and it fell into Yuan Shao and others' ears, which was so harsh.

When, Cao Aman, a clown who had repeatedly needed his troops to send his troops to help, could also run to the land of Hebei to play wild.

Tian Feng rode his horse and slowly came to Yuan Shao. He drove around these days. His thighs were already covered in blood. However, as a person who was paying attention to others, he could only endure the pain in his lower body and advise Yuan Shao:

"Ming Gong, our army is coming and running, and all the people are exhausted. If we can use this suspicious plan, it is naturally good to scare the Cao army away. If we cannot deceive Cao Cao, then there is still room for recovery to retreat to Yecheng. Never take risks. We must go to the dangerous situation and meet the cunning and changeable Cao Cao on the bridge. If a crazy man secretly attacks his body and hurts his body, it will be too late to regret it!"

Xu You, who was also tired from work, didn't think much. He glanced at Tian Feng, snorted coldly, and said to Yuan Shao:

"Ming Gong, Cao Cao is a man, and he knows a lot. He is cunning, but he is also suspicious. He went north and wanted to attack Yecheng, but suddenly encountered our army here. He must have been extremely frightened. The so-called invitation to the bridge is just a dilemma, a test of luck."

"Since we have decided not to enter Yecheng first and give up gathering people outside the city, but come to the north of the Huan River to wait and force Cao's army to retreat. How could we go to the bridge to retreat? When we see Cao Cao, we will be righteous and sternly incite him to betray the alliance and launch a slight war. We will never be scared back to Yecheng by Cao Cao's trick."

"Ziyuan, you are lucky. This is to put Ming Gong in danger! Ming Gong, the son of a thousand gold medal, cannot sit in the hall, so how can you be in danger? Send an envoy to reject Cao Cao."

When Tian Feng saw Xu You repeatedly encouraged Yuan Shao to go to the bridge and Cao Cao for a while, he was so angry that he stared at him with wide eyes and a white beard trembling. He pointed at Xu You and scolded him, and then turned to persuade Yuan Shao.

Xu You smiled and retorted.

"If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you get a tiger's son? Since ancient times, those who have helped the dangers and accomplished great things can be cherished at the battle. Although You are a clerk, you also admire the courage of Ban Dingyuan to attack and kill the Xiongnu envoys and are willing to go with Ming Gong. As for the wedding, haha, just learn from Guo Xun, cherish your life and enjoy success!"

"Xu You, you—"

"Enough!"

Tian Feng glared at Xu You, but Yuan Shao was already impatient with the arguments of his staff. He interrupted the quarrel between them, looked at Tian Feng, and said slowly:

"I have won the kindness of my heart. Cao Aman is a former friend of Luoyang. Today I invite you. If I am afraid, I will let Cao's army see through the reality of our army, and I will also let Cao Aman laugh and be afraid of him."
Chapter completed!