Chapter 161

Xun Yu cared for the people and was not suitable to follow the army on this expedition.

“Understood! Please set out on the expedition with peace of mind, My Lord.”

Xun Yu cupped his hands again.

“My Lord, there is no need to worry about the other warlords. Ding Yuan Shao might even help us, but Liu Bei needs to be noted.”

“Liu Bei?”

Cao Cao frowned. He had considered this problem long ago, so he had to quickly crush the Taking Xuzhou defenders and make the occupation of Taking Xuzhou a settled fact; then it would be useless even if Liu Bei came.

“No matter, it will take a long time for Liu Bei to organize his army and come from Taiyuan.”

Outside Yecheng,

Ding Yuan Shao was somewhat troubled.

“Meng De’s father was killed; it wouldn’t be good if I didn’t help.”

Xu You stepped out of the ranks.

“My Lord, although Cao Cao has a father’s vendetta, his goal this time is to take Taking Xuzhou!”

“Taking Xuzhou is prosperous, and under Tao Tao Qian’s management, there is plenty of grain and wealth. If it is taken by Cao Cao, it will be like a tiger gaining wings; we must be on guard!”

Ding Yuan Shao frowned; this was indeed a problem!

Tian Feng stepped out of the ranks.

“My Lord, our army’s main task now is to eliminate Brother Gongsun Zan; it is not easy to participate too much in these matters.”

Guo Tu cupped his hands.

“My Lord, Tao Tao Qian has managed Taking Xuzhou for a long time, and the Danyang soldiers are also elite. It will be difficult for Cao Cao to take Taking Xuzhou; My Lord need not worry.”

“My Lord can send a secondary general to lead a few battalions of troops to assist Cao Cao.”

Ding Yuan Shao’s eyes lit up. Yes, just do that; Cao Cao would have nothing to say!

“Good, just do that!”

Xu You’s mouth twitched wildly.

“My Lord, Cao Cao has great ambition. Taking Taking Xuzhou poses a great threat to our army. It would be better to send someone to mediate and let Tao Tao Qian hand over the murderer and compensate for the losses.”

Ding Yuan Shao waved his hand.

“No need. We will focus on dealing with Brother Gongsun Zan. As for the Taking Xuzhou matter, just do as Guo Tu said!”

“Zhu Ling, you take three battalions of troops to go and assist Cao Cao!”

Guo Tu was exceptionally proud.

Xu You almost burst into curses! Short-sighted, short-sighted!

“Cao Cao doesn’t want My Lord to send troops at all; he just wants My Lord to stay out of it!”

Taking Xuzhou,

Tao Tao Qian was greatly alarmed.

“It is I who have harmed the people of Taking Xuzhou!”

“Cao Cao’s army of 100,000 is attacking; how can I block it?”

Chen Deng cupped his hands.

“My Lord, Cao Cao is good at fighting, and his subordinates are numerous and strong. Our army cannot resist him by force; it would be better to ask for help.”

“Ask for help?”

Tao Tao Qian shook his head.

“Brother Gongsun Zan has just been defeated by Ding Yuan Shao, Ding Yuan Shu is watching from the sidelines, and Kong Rong is weak. Who can I look for?”

Chen Deng said in a deep voice,

“My Lord, Lord Liu Xuande is known for his benevolence throughout the world. Last time he helped Kong Rong out of righteousness, and you are on good terms with Lord Liu Xuande. I think Lord Liu Xuande will certainly not sit idly by and watch the people of Taking Xuzhou be slaughtered by Cao Cao!”

Tao Tao Qian’s eyes lit up; Liu Bei was indeed a good candidate.

“It’s just that Lord Liu Xuande is too far away; I hope we can hold on.”

“Send someone to invite Lord Liu Xuande quickly!”

That month, Taking Xuzhou was in great chaos.

Cao Cao raised an army to crusade against Tao Tao Qian on the grounds of avenging his father.

The clouds of war shrouded the entire Taking Xuzhou; the mountains and rivers were broken, and the first to suffer were the common people.

Cao Cao’s army divided into several routes and successively captured more than ten cities in Taking Xuzhou.

Cao Cao’s great general Yu Jin captured Guangwei (near Peixian) and marched along the Si River.

Cao Cao’s vanguard general Cao Ren quickly led his army to defeat Tao Tao Qian’s subordinate general Lu You.

Cao Cao personally led an army of 50,000 to march toward Pengcheng, and after the three armies converged, they would attack Pengcheng!

Tao Tao Qian saw that Cao Cao had few troops and wanted to take the opportunity to defeat Cao Cao.

However, his own strength was really too poor, and he was defeated by Cao Cao.

Before the three teams could surround him, Tao Tao Qian had already been defeated at Pengcheng, and the routed troops retreated to defend the Taking Xuzhou administrative center, Donghai Tancheng!

Seeing this, Cao Cao ordered Yu Jin to attack Fei, Hua, Jimo, and Kaiyang to the northeast.

He and Yu Jin joined forces, intending to break Tancheng and completely wipe out Tao Tao Qian!

In just half a month, one-third of Taking Xuzhou’s territory was occupied.

Tao Tao Qian could only hide in Tancheng and tremble.

In the fourth year of Chuping, Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian... and captured Qu, Jiling, and Xiaqiu, slaughtering them all.

In total, hundreds of thousands of men and women were killed, not even chickens or dogs remained, and the Si River ceased to flow because of it. Since then, the five county cities were protected, and no traces of life remained.

This shows the sins committed by the Cao army this time.

Liu Bei arrived early enough, but by this time, 60,000 to 70,000 people had already been killed.

“The Cao army is shameless!”

“The Cao army actually dares to be so brutal!”

Xun You cursed loudly!

Liu Bei led 20,000 cavalry to travel day and night, and finally entered Taking Xuzhou from Peixian today.

The first stop was Guangwei.

The entire county was slaughtered by the Cao army, leaving not even chickens or dogs; the city was destroyed, with broken walls and ruins.

Only charred black wooden pillars remained.

Large swathes of land were stained red with blood.

Thousands of corpses were already stinking by the Si River.

All this indicated that Cao Cao had started slaughtering cities from the very first county he entered in Taking Xuzhou!

Guan Yu’s eyes opened wide, emitting a stunning light!

Zhang Fei cursed loudly,

“Damn the Cao army, they aren’t acting like humans!”

Taishi Ci and Zhang Zhang Liao both clenched their hands, obviously very angry!

Liu Bei’s heart was also burning with rage; seeing so many innocent people killed with his own eyes, how could he not be angry!

Guo Jia cupped his hands.

“My Lord, the Cao army is currently besieging Tancheng, and Yu Jin is attacking Fei, Hua, and other places; they are not far from us.”

Liu Bei let out a breath.

“Tancheng is not so easy to break; let’s go and wipe out Yu Jin who is slaughtering the city first!”

“Understood!”

This time, Liu Bei led 20,000 cavalry to eliminate Yu Jin first, and then march on Tancheng!

Walking along the way, everyone became more and more angry; several counties in northern Taking Xuzhou had already become scorched earth.

Very few surviving people remained.

The killing intent in everyone’s hearts was infinitely magnified!

Liu Bei sighed long and thought to himself,