When King Yilou rushed out of his tent, he saw the towering flames inside the camp and the Han soldiers charging around him. In his panic, he knew that the situation was hopeless, so he hurriedly led his men to flee to the rear of the camp.

"Haha~, King Yilou, where are you going?"

Upon hearing the sound, the King of Yilou looked over and saw a group of Han soldiers charging towards him, led by none other than Cao Cao.

"Run!!"

Upon seeing this, the King of Yilou was greatly alarmed. He then sped up and ran out of the camp, his speed surpassing even that of Cao Cao.

"Kill!"

King Yilou, who had just run out of the camp and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath, heard shouts of battle coming from ahead.

Looking up, he saw a Han general leading a group of ragged soldiers charging towards him.

The visitor was none other than Yuan Shao.

Seeing the massive crowd before him and hearing the shouts of battle behind him, King Yilou was terrified and hurriedly turned and fled westward.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao hurriedly led their men to give chase.

King Yilou also exerted all his strength to flee.

After running for nearly half an hour, and hearing the sounds behind him growing fainter and fainter, King Yilou finally stopped and turned around. He saw that the number of soldiers following him had dwindled to less than a hundred.

"Boom!"

Just as King Yilou was feeling deeply saddened, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves.

"The Great Han Army Commander Sun Wentai has arrived! Where can the Prince of Yilou escape to!"

With a loud roar, King Yilou looked up and saw a troop of cavalrymen carrying torches galloping toward him.

At the same time, faint shouts of battle could be heard from behind.

Seeing that there was no way out, King Yilou was filled with despair.

In the blink of an eye, Sun Jian's cavalry had already rushed close, and then with a swift stroke of his sword, he seized the head of the King of Yilou.

Before long, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao also caught up with their troops.

"You damn Sun Wentai, why did you have to come now? We were almost catching up, and then you showed up. Tell me, did you come here on purpose to steal our kills?"

Seeing the severed head Sun Jian was carrying, Cao Cao stepped forward with a frustrated expression and questioned him.

Seeing Cao Cao's exasperated appearance, Sun Jian's lips twitched: "I have been waiting here for a long time. It is because you are not good enough to catch up with him. This is not my fault."

"Pah!"

Cao Cao spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground: "Otherwise, if we had set fire to the rear, how would you have had the chance to kill the bandit leader? I don't care, I must get half the credit!"

"Alright, Mengde, as long as the Prince of Yilou didn't escape, that's good. As for the merits, His Majesty will decide!"

Let's hurry back and help Xuande!

Seeing Cao Cao acting like a rogue towards Sun Jian, Yuan Shao quickly stepped forward to dissuade him.

"Alright, let's go!"

Since his friend had spoken, Cao Cao didn't press the matter further.

Then, the three of them hurried towards Yilou Camp.

After Sun Jian brought back the head of the Yilou King, the Yilou soldiers finally gave up resisting and, led by the officials who advocated surrender, threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender.

The next morning, after a headcount, it was determined that in this great battle, 20,000 enemy soldiers were killed and 40,000 were captured, while the Han army suffered only 500 casualties, making it a complete victory.

After the meal, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Yuan Shao, and Sun Jian gathered together again.

Yuan Shao spoke first, saying, "Gentlemen, our army has won a great victory. I think we can leave some soldiers to escort the prisoners back to Liaozhou, while the rest of the army should head to Wuhuan as soon as possible."

As for the territory within Yilou, it can be handed over to those laborers to take over!

“Benchu’s words are very good!” Liu Bei agreed.

Although Sun Jian did not speak, he nodded in agreement.

What does Mengde think?

Seeing that Cao Cao remained silent, Liu Bei couldn't help but ask a question, and Yuan Shao and Sun Jian also looked at Cao Cao.

Meeting the gazes of the three men, Cao Cao said, word by word, "These Yilou prisoners cannot be allowed to live!"

What does Mengde mean by this?

Yuan Shao's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition immediately rose in his heart.

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly: "These Yilou people are fond of banditry, fear power but not morality, and are extremely difficult to tame. If we bring them back, there is no guarantee that they will not cause trouble in the future!"

I believe they should all be executed to prevent future troubles!

"What.....?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao was greatly shocked: "Mengde, have you gone mad? Those are 40,000 men, how can you just kill them like that?"

"If we don't kill them today, they will kill our children and grandchildren in the future!" Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao with a resolute expression.

"Our great Han Dynasty reigns supreme over the four seas; who dares to disobey? Furthermore, killing prisoners is considered unlucky; I do not agree!"

Yuan Shao, his face flushed, glared angrily at Cao Cao.

The two had their first disagreement.

"Wentai, Xuande, what do you two think?"

Seeing that he could not persuade Yuan Shao, Cao Cao could only turn his gaze to Sun Jian and Liu Bei.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I agree with what Mengde said. Every time our army came before, we did not harm their people in the slightest, and we even left them a lot of food to live on. However, we were still often attacked by them and lost many soldiers."

It seems some people are simply beyond redemption!

Sun Jian: "I think so too!"

"You should have known that killing 50,000 prisoners would bring you infamy!"

Seeing that all three agreed, Yuan Shao still persisted in trying to persuade them.

"For the sake of future generations, what is there to fear in the name of a butcher?"

Cao Cao stood up and stared intently at Yuan Shao.

"Benchu, as your friend, I have to remind you that kindness must be applied appropriately. Blind kindness will only harm both yourself and others. If you cannot change, you will pay the price for it sooner or later!"

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