Chapter 459

"My lord!"

Thinking of this, Xu You immediately took out a map from his robes with a solemn expression and presented it to Cao Cao, saying: "This records the detailed troop deployments of Lord Yuan Shao's main camp, as well as the locations of his grain and fodder stockpiles and the troop dispositions over there!"

"It is hard to say regarding the main camp, as Lord Yuan Shao will certainly make adjustments after my departure!"

"But as for the grain and fodder camp, Lord Yuan Shao surely has not yet had time to make adjustments there!"

"If my lord trusts me, you must send troops with the greatest speed to Wuchao, where Lord Yuan Shao's grain and fodder are stockpiled;"

"As long as you can burn the grain at Wuchao in one go, Lord Yuan Shao will have no grain or fodder to supply his army for a short time!"

"By then, as long as you delay for a few days, Lord Yuan Shao's army, lacking grain and fodder, will inevitably collapse without a fight!"

"That will be the best opportunity for my lord to defeat Lord Yuan Shao and annihilate his main force!"

"I beg my lord to discern the truth!"

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao opened a map to check the situation, and while doing so, he could not help but look at Xu You with a face full of pleasant surprise and ask: "Lord Yuan Shao's grain supply camp is actually set up at Wuchao? The garrison there is only ten thousand strong? And the commanding general is Chunyu Qiong?"

"Are you certain?"

He understood Chunyu Qiong quite well.

This man had some ability, but not much.

Back in the day, Chunyu Qiong had been one of the Eight Colonels of the West Garden alongside him.

This man could be considered one of the protégés and former subordinates of the Lord Yuan clan.

Yet, with this man's status and seniority, he was actually sent by Lord Yuan Shao to guard the grain supply camp.

Clearly, this man was not highly valued by Lord Yuan Shao!

Of course, Cao Cao felt that the grain supply camp was an extremely important position.

Anyone who could obtain the position of commander of the grain supply camp must be someone who could be completely trusted.

But he knew Chunyu Qiong very well; this man would certainly not think so.

In Chunyu Qiong's view, Lord Yuan Shao letting him guard the grain supply camp was a sign that he was not valued.

More importantly, this man loved wine; he was a drunkard.

The more unhappy he felt, the more he liked to drink to excess.

It was easy to imagine that since this man had been sent by Lord Yuan Shao to guard the grain supply camp, he would surely be drunk every single day.

This was his, Cao Cao's, opportunity!

As long as he burned Lord Yuan Shao's grain supply camp with a single fire, the subsequent battle would be much easier.

Lord Yuan Shao would also undoubtedly be defeated.

Although he believed that Xu You would not lie to him at this moment, and that Xu You even hoped for him to defeat Lord Yuan Shao more than he did himself,

the suspicious Cao Cao still could not help but confirm it one more time.

Xu You understood Cao Cao's suspicious nature, and since he had just arrived and had not yet gained Cao Cao's complete trust, it was normal. He immediately nodded affirmatively and said: "My lord, rest assured, this news is absolutely true! If my lord does not believe it, you may first send someone to verify it!"

"However, my lord must be quick! Otherwise, if time is delayed and Lord Yuan Shao reacts and makes adjustments, the best opportunity will be missed!"

"No need to verify!"

Cao Cao heard this, waved his hand directly, and said decisively: "I believe you, Xu Ziyuan, will not lie to me!"

"The matter of raiding Lord Yuan Shao's grain supply camp is of great importance. This time, I will personally lead the army to raid the camp. Xu Ziyuan, would you be willing to accompany me to see the scene of Lord Yuan Shao's grain supply camp turning into ashes?"

Xu You was moved upon hearing this and immediately bowed with a smile: "How could I refuse?"

"Good!"

Cao Cao clapped his hands and decided immediately: "Time waits for no one! I shall assemble the army and depart at once!"

Saying this, Cao Cao took Xu You out of the commander's tent and ordered Cao Hong and Xia Xia Houyuan to immediately mobilize all 10,000 Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to set out with him, rushing toward Wuchao under the cover of night.

Several hours later,

at Lord Yuan Shao's camp,

they saw from afar that the sky in the direction of Wuchao was filled with flames, almost dyeing the entire eastern sky red.

Ju Shou and the others were immediately shocked and terrified. They went straight to Lord Yuan Shao and reported in a panic: "My lord! The sky in the direction of Wuchao to the east is filled with flames. I fear something has happened to the Wuchao grain supply camp!"

"What?"

Lord Yuan Shao's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He rushed out of the commander's tent like a madman and looked toward the east in the direction of Wuchao.

Instantly, he also saw the sky dyed red. He was so angry that his face turned purple, and he said hatefully: "Cao Mengde! You deserve to die!"

"My lord! This must be the work of Xu You. It was he who tipped off Cao Cao and brought the news! I fear the reinforcements we sent did not arrive in time!"

Guo Tu could not help but speak up at this moment.

"Xu You! Xu Xu Ziyuan! How dare you deceive me like this?"

Lord Yuan Shao was also extremely furious upon hearing this. He shouted Xu You's name with a hideous expression, then looked at Guo Tu and said word by word: "Guo Tu! Pass on my order to immediately arrest Xu You's family and relatives, and then behead them all to serve as a warning to others."

Originally, he had intended to spare the lives of Xu You's relatives and only kill Xu You's own household.

Now he had changed his mind; he wanted the lives of Xu You's entire clan.

"Understood!"

Guo Tu immediately bowed to accept the order.

At this moment, he was overjoyed in his heart.

"Xu You, oh Xu You! You ultimately lost to me! Even if you defected to Cao Cao, so what? With your entire clan gone, what else do you have left?"

As for whether Lord Yuan Shao would be defeated by Cao Cao later now that he had lost his grain?

Guo Tu did not consider this for the moment, or perhaps he felt it would not happen.

Instead, Ju Shou, with a grave expression, bowed to Lord Yuan Shao: "My lord! Now that our army has lost the grain at Wuchao, the grain here at the Guandu camp is estimated to last only ten days!"

"If we want to transport grain from Jizhou again, there is no longer enough time!"

"We cannot continue to delay. Next, we must engage in a decisive battle with Cao Cao ahead of schedule. Only by seeking a quick victory can we salvage the situation and completely defeat Cao Cao!"

"Otherwise, if we continue to delay, our army will surely collapse without a fight once we run out of grain!"

"Indeed!"

Guo Tu also quickly added: "My lord! Even if we could wait for grain to be transported from Jizhou, I fear Cao Cao will not give us that opportunity!"

"He will certainly take the opportunity to disrupt our army's morale, which is disadvantageous to us!"

"It is better to have a quick battle to resolve this!"

"Although our army has lost most of its grain, in terms of the number of troops, we still hold an absolute advantage;"

"As long as we fight head-on, Cao Cao will certainly not be a match for our army!"

"Once we defeat Cao Cao, we won't have to worry about the grain problem!"

"Because Cao Cao's camp must have enough grain to supply us until the subsequent shipments arrive from Jizhou!"

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