Chapter 498 Yuan Shao's Defeat
The two fires in Qingzhou are burning very fiercely.
One fire burned out the last hope of Jiangdong, and one fire burned out the last hope of the princes in the Central Plains.
Cao Cao fled out of the sea of fire in a panic with only a few thousand remaining cavalrymen.
In the night wind, his face flickered in the light of the fire, and his eyes were full of unwillingness and despair.
He knew that the last hope was gone.
The loss of more than 20,000 cavalry not only meant that they could no longer do anything to the Qi cavalry in Qingzhou.
The news of this fire will spread throughout Qingzhou very quickly. It won't be long before the defenders, who are already on the verge of collapse, get wind of the news and will soon be unable to hold on any longer.
Such a heavy loss could not be concealed even if they wanted to.
"If fields are born, how can Cao be born?"
Cao Cao looked at the defeated soldiers around him who had lost their armor and weapons and looked exhausted. The anger in his heart was like a surging tide that was difficult to suppress. He could not help but sigh to the sky.
In this battle, he was not defeated because of his tactics, but because of his foundation and strategy.
The resistance and reaction of the camp defenders could not be faked, and the enemy obviously did not realize that they would launch a surprise attack at this time.
But the other side had already prepared for a surprise attack and was ready to perish together with them.
You can't win no matter how you fight!
This made Cao Cao feel deeply powerless, as if no matter how he planned or arranged his plans, they were all so pale and powerless in front of the opponent's powerful and comprehensive defense system.
The gap was so huge that even if his strategy was correct and the enemy had been hit, his casual counterattack would wipe out all his efforts.
But Cao Cao is Cao Cao after all. At this critical moment of life and death, he suppressed his inner pain and despair, knowing that this was not the time to be dejected.
The huge fire rising into the sky will inevitably attract the rapid pursuit of the Qi cavalry.
He gritted his teeth, waved his hand violently, and shouted in a hoarse but firm voice: "Go!"
Thousands of defeated soldiers heard the order and followed Cao Cao with heavy steps, retreating hastily in the direction of Yuan Shao's army.
One day later, with the last thousand or so cavalrymen, Cao Cao escaped the encirclement after many hardships and finally found Yuan Shao's army.
At this time, Yuan Shao had just arrived near Yingling and found that the Qi cavalry were retreating. He was overjoyed.
However, after only half a day's rapid march, they saw Cao Cao's thousand-plus cavalrymen covered in dust.
The originally high-spirited smile on Yuan Shao's face froze in an instant. He felt a black screen in front of his eyes, his blood rushing up, and he almost fell off the car.
Ju Su was quick to move forward and supported Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao came to his senses, pushed Ju Su away, stared at Cao Cao with determination in his eyes.
Cao Cao forced himself to get off his horse despite his exhausted body, and walked slowly to Yuan Shao with steps as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
He staggered and sat on the ground, his head lowered and his voice hoarse.
"Benchu, we lost!"
Yuan Shao looked gloomy. He naturally understood the heavy meaning behind Cao Cao's words.
This defeat was not just a defeat in the immediate battle, but a defeat in the entire Qingzhou, and even the entire Central Plains.
Most of their elite cavalry, which were already few in number, were lost. Now they no longer had the capital to turn the situation around, and defeat was inevitable.
Yuan Shao slowly bent down and dusted off Cao Cao's body. He also sat on the ground, forced a smile, and said, "It's okay if I lose. I have already made preparations for this."
Although he was unwilling to accept defeat, the successive defeats in the battles with Tian Ze had already made Yuan Shao, no matter how confident he was, begin to doubt whether he could win, but he just didn't want to believe it.
Starting from Jizhou, he had been defeated all the way, again and again. Now in this situation, he has gradually become accustomed to the taste of failure.
Hearing the defeated tone in Yuan Shao's words, Cao Cao couldn't help but look up and stare at Yuan Shao with his eyes full of unyielding determination: "No, we haven't lost yet! I still want to fight this last battle!"
Looking at Cao Cao's determined eyes, Yuan Shao was slightly startled, then the corner of his mouth raised, revealing a faint smile, he slowly stood up, stretched out his hand to help Cao Cao up: "Then let's fight." Although this battle was a failure due to Cao Cao's advice.
But Yuan Shao knew that Cao Cao could not be blamed. He had tried his best and he had done nothing wrong.
Cao Cao's actions completely confirmed what he was thinking.
Yuan Shao is now prepared for failure.
The loss of Qingzhou was inevitable. With only half of Xuzhou left, he had no power to turn the tide.
Unless God opens his eyes and a meteorite falls from the sky and kills Tian Ze directly, there is no possibility at all.
Now, he has begun to think about what path to take in the future. Perhaps, he will also usher in a new beginning like Lu Bu, Gongsun Zan and others.
But Cao Cao still wants to fight, so let’s fight.
He owed it to Cao Cao, and he also wanted to see if Cao Cao could create a miracle.
What he can do now is extremely limited, but he is still crucial to Cao Cao.
Because that is the difference between no hope and little hope. Without his restraint, Cao Cao would have no chance at all.
The allied forces of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao withdrew.
Yuan Shao decisively abandoned the entire Qingzhou, retreated to Xuzhou, and re-established the defense line with the southern part of Langya as the boundary.
Yuan Shu also retreated to a relatively independent mountain range at the southernmost end of the Taishan Mountains and continued to maintain his defense.
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's navy came with the momentum of burning their boats and crossing the river, but returned to Jiangdong with nothing.
Cao Cao also led his troops back to Yanzhou.
Under Zhao Yun's fierce attack, Xun Yu could no longer hold on.
Dongjun and Jibei were completely lost, most of Dongping County was lost, and the territory of two more counties was lost.
After Cao Cao rushed back, Zhao Yun decisively stopped the attack and chose to stay on the spot.
Guan Yu, Xu Huang, Zang Ba and Gan Ning took the opportunity to completely occupy Qingzhou, and many troops were released.
Together with Zhao Yun, there were nearly 600,000 soldiers and horses, which made Yuan Shao and Cao Cao dare not even think of taking the initiative to attack.
The Battle of Qingzhou ended just like that.
Guan Yu quickly and carefully recorded the battle and sent it to Chang'an.
After seeing Guan Yu's battle report, Tian Ze smiled as expected.
The battle in the Central Plains, just as Cheng Yu and Xun You had originally planned, started off well but ended terribly, and it was almost inevitable that it would end with a relatively hasty result.
Both sides mobilized a large number of troops, but not many actually participated in the battle.
Cao Cao and Yuan Shao could not afford or dare to fight, and Tian Ze was unwilling to fight because there was no need.
"Your Majesty is wise! In this way, Yuan Benchu is no longer a concern. We only need to wait for Cao Mengde to launch a final counterattack, and then we can directly take over the Central Plains peacefully." Chen Gong said respectfully.
He was involved in the formulation of the strategy for the Central Plains War. He approved of the plan but felt it was too hasty.
But since Tian Ze has figured out a way to expand the treasury, there is no problem with this plan.
"Attacking the city is inferior, attacking the heart is superior." Tian Ze murmured.
"Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times, so I can be considered to have defeated Cao and Yuan for the fifth time!"
"Although it took a little more effort, it saved me a lot of trouble, so it's not a loss at all."
(End of this chapter)
