Chapter 386

Gu Yi directly signaled Zhang He to backhand Qu Yi with a heavy slap.

"You want private soldiers, do you?"

"In that case, this Prime Minister will execute you immediately, and fulfilling that wish of yours is no trouble at all."

Who was Gu Yi?

Naturally, he wouldn't indulge Qu Yi.

Besides.

With the number of talented people under Gu Yi's command.

Having one more Qu Yi or one less Qu Yi actually had no major impact.

After being slapped by Zhang He, Qu Yi instantly became much more docile.

He suddenly realized.

The Gu Yi standing before him was definitely not someone to be trifled with!

Such a person was not someone he could try to manipulate.

Why had Yuan Shao always indulged Qu Yi?

Wasn't it because he needed Qu Yi's Vanguard Death Soldiers to help him deal with cavalry units?

But for Gu Yi.

The Vanguard Death Soldiers were, at most, just the icing on the cake.

One must know.

Apart from the already destroyed White Horse Yicong and the yet-to-emerge Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

The two most elite cavalry forces in the world, the Bingzhou Wolf Riders and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, were all in Gu Yi's hands.

Under such circumstances.

If they encountered a cavalry showdown.

Gu Yi could simply order the more powerful Bingzhou Wolf Riders and Xiliang Iron Cavalry to charge.

Why would he need to rack his brains to send out Vanguard Death Soldiers to snipe at enemy cavalry?

After thinking this through.

Qu Yi panicked.

He discovered that his value, placed here with Gu Yi, would be severely devalued.

And... he seemed to have absolutely no qualifications to negotiate with Gu Yi.

In the end.

Qu Yi sheepishly chose to surrender to Gu Yi to save his life.

As for the newly trained Vanguard Death Soldiers in the future, Gu Yi would hand them over to other generals to lead.

And Qu Yi, in Gu Yi's eyes, was merely a person to train troops for free.

Yanzhou

Chen Liu City

Inside the study of the Xun residence.

Seeing Xun Yu, wearing a cyan robe, sat at his seat with furrowed brows, processing various government affairs within the province.

As the chief steward of the Cao camp, Seeing Xun Yu's daily tasks were extremely busy.

Especially during Cao Cao's military campaigns.

Affairs, both large and small, were generally handled by Xia Hou Dun and Seeing Xun Yu on his behalf.

But Xia Hou Dun's significance was more as a representative of the clan generals.

To a certain extent, he served as a mascot and a stabilizer for morale.

And the person who truly came out to handle matters still had to be Seeing Xun Yu.

At this moment.

The study was incredibly quiet, with only the sound of Seeing Xun Yu reviewing government documents.

Suddenly.

The steward pushed open the door of the study in a great hurry, and said to Seeing Xun Yu in a rushed tone:

"Master, something has happened!"

Upon hearing this, Seeing Xun Yu wore a look of confusion.

The next moment.

Two scouts walked in from behind the steward.

They informed Seeing Xun Yu of the news that Yuzhou had fallen, Xia Houyuan had surrendered, and Yuan Tan had been defeated and captured.

"What!?"

"General Miaocai actually chose to surrender?"

Even with Seeing Xun Yu's composure, upon learning the news, he couldn't help but be fiercely shocked.

Xia Houyuan surrendered to the enemy?

This...

If the news were true.

The shock it brought to Seeing Xun Yu.

Was no different from a comet hitting the earth.

As for Yuzhou falling and Yuan Tan being defeated and captured, these two pieces of news were naturally also extremely bad for the situation of the Cao camp.

But they were far from matching the immense shock brought by the news of Xia Houyuan's surrender!

"I fear... if Gu Linzhi seizes the opportunity to move north, our Yanzhou is in danger."

Seeing Xun Yu wiped the cold sweat that had broken out on his forehead and muttered to himself.

The matter was of great importance.

Seeing Xun Yu, as the chief steward of the Cao camp, did not dare to make a decision on his own.

He immediately sent someone to find Xia Hou Dun to discuss countermeasures together.

Before long.

Xia Hou Dun arrived at Seeing Xun Yu's residence.

Regarding the matter of Xia Houyuan's surrender, Xia Hou Dun did not believe it one million percent.

But whether he believed it or not was not important.

What was important was that this news would likely soon sweep through the entire Yanzhou like a storm.

By then.

When the soldiers and civilians of Yanzhou learned the news of Xia Houyuan's surrender, what would they think?

After entering the Xun residence, Xia Hou Dun immediately spoke up:

"Mr. Wenruo, it is absolutely impossible for Miaocai to surrender to Gu Linzhi."

"This matter must be a treacherous plot by Gu Linzhi!"

Regarding what Xia Hou Dun said, Seeing Xun Yu nodded slightly, expressing agreement.

But immediately after, he saw his brows furrowed as he said:

"The news of General Miaocai's surrender and the defeat at the front has already been transmitted."

"Whether it is true or false is not important."

"What is important is that the entire Yanzhou will likely know this news soon."

"At this time, even if we send people to block this news, it will be of no avail."

"Moreover, the current situation, for our army."

"Is no longer a question of recovering Yuzhou or capturing Yuzhou."

"But rather... a question of whether we can hold onto Yanzhou!"

Yanzhou was Cao Cao's old nest and the place where he started his rise.

But at this moment.

Because of the military campaign to attack Xuzhou.

There were less than 20,000 troops left in Yanzhou.

Relying on such a small number of troops, it seemed they simply couldn't stop Gu Yi's 100,000-strong army.