The World of Yellow Sky

Chapter 685
In the fourth year of Chuping (193), February [-]th.

Although it has entered spring, the weather is still a bit cold, and even the ice and snow in some places have not melted.

Wudu County, Ju County.

This is the city on the southeastern border of Wudu County, and the only city in the southeastern part of Wudu County.

Ju County is the gateway to the southeast of Wudu County, and only a hundred and fifty miles east of Ju County is the seat of Nanzheng, the seat of Hanzhong County.

However, this one hundred and fifty miles is of course not the distance between the official roads between the two cities, but the straight-line distance on the map.

The camp of the Yellow Turban Army for the Southern Expedition was set up in the south of Ju County.

More than [-] soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army gathered here.

The soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army who fought this time are all elite soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army.

Yizhou has many mountains and hills, and the cavalry is greatly restricted, making it difficult to deploy and play a role.

Therefore, Xu An only brought more than [-] carefully selected cavalry troops from the Bingzhou Camp.

The soldiers of the Bingzhou Camp were tribal people selected from the Southern Huns tribe. Of course, the name Xiongnu has already been removed, and all the Huns have been included in the Taiping Road.

Now there are six cavalry battalions in the Yellow Turban Army. These six cavalry battalions are Xiaoqi, Wuxiang, Bingzhou, Shanggu, Duliao, and Xiliang.

In terms of combat power, the cavalry of Xiaoqi and Wuxiang are mostly veterans of the Yellow Turban cavalry, as well as elite cavalry of the Bingzhou and Hanoi Han troops. They are equipped with the best armor and wear the best Weapons and combat power are in the upper reaches of the Sixth Battalion, so it is also called the Upper Battalion.

Du Liao and Xiliang are in the middle of the sixth battalion.

Most of the soldiers in the Duliao battalion were veterans of the Han army in Xihe County. Later, they selected a large number of equestrians from Bingzhou. The equipment is second only to the Xiaoqi and Wuxiang battalions. Li De is in charge, and there are more than [-] cavalry soldiers.

Different from Xiaoqi and Wuxiang with outstanding military exploits, the only battle that the Duliao battalion participated in was when Xu An led the army to attack the Huns in the north. In the battle of Shuofang, Duliao battalion and Xiaoqi battalion jointly attacked and defeated the Xiongnu army.

Afterwards, the Liaoying camp was left in Meiji, the former seat of the Xiongnu royal court, to guard the northern border.

After all, in Mobei, there is another behemoth - Xianbei.

According to the latest information received, the war between the central Xianbei and the eastern Xianbei seems to be coming to an end.

After the death of Xianbei Shanyu Tanshihuai, his son Helian succeeded him. Helian had no talent, but was greedy and lustful.

He Lian was shot and killed during the attack on Beidi County, and Xianbei gradually moved towards a split. Cracks appeared inside Xianbei, which was once Nuoda.

At that time, his son Qianman was young, and his elder brother Kuitou stood on his behalf.

After Qianman grew up, the internal rift in Xianbei also became bigger and bigger.

Yigan and even the remaining veterans chose to support Qianman, while the other party supported their leader all the time.

In this way, Xianbei went to split, and eventually evolved into three Xianbei.

Although they all call themselves Xianbei, outsiders generally refer to them as Western, Central, and Eastern Xianbei based on their locations.

The western Xianbei was independent from it, and did not participate in the disputes between the central Xianbei and the eastern Xianbei.

When Xu An attacked Liangzhou earlier, he attacked the royal court of Xianbei in the west, beheaded [-] people below the famous king, and captured more than [-] raw horses, cattle, sheep, and camels.

The western Xianbei was facing the invasion of the northern tribes at that time, and it was somewhat powerless. Xu An beheaded the western Xianbei Shanyu and occupied the rear of the western Xianbei, which also caused the western Xianbei to collapse. defeat.

The remaining Xianbei in the west had nowhere to go, and in the end they could only defect to Xianbei in the central region, and defected to Qianman's command.

The wings of the butterfly fluttered gently. Although the remaining western Xianbei had suffered a great loss of power, their joining broke the fragile balance between the eastern Xianbei and the central Xianbei.

At the time of the disputes in the Central Plains, Qianman issued a military order and summoned almost all the troops that could be mobilized in the western Xianbei and central Xianbei to the royal court.

When the leader heard the news, he immediately summoned all the troops he could muster to gather towards the border.

With the gradual increase of soldiers, the friction has also intensified.

The two sides continued to confront each other on the border, and the casualties in just one month exceeded the casualties in the previous six months.

All Xianbei people know that the moment to determine the fate of Xianbei is coming.

The cold winter came, and the wind and rain blocked the continuation of the war, but everyone knew that once the spring came and the ice and snow melted, the grassland in Mobei would be stained scarlet with blood.

Xu An still doesn't know anything about what happened on the grassland.

The wind and snow not only prevented the outbreak of the war, but also prevented the Mobei Eagle Wolf Guard from passing the news of Mobei to Bingzhou.

But even knowing that a war is about to break out in Mobei, and that this war will change the current situation of Xianbei's division, it will actually have no effect.

The bitter cold land in Mobei is really beyond reach.

Now Xu An does not intend to have a head-on confrontation with the Xianbei in Mobei, but Xu An is not afraid of the Xianbei tribes in Mobei now.

Although Xianbei claims to have millions of people who control the strings, the first is the title, and the second is the control of the strings, not the soldiers.

Many people who control the strings on the grassland are actually ordinary herdsmen, and almost all the people of the Xianbei tribes are soldiers.

If it is a man who controls strings, Xu An can even call up an army of hundreds of thousands of cavalry from Wuhuan in Shanggu, the tribes of the former Southern Xiongnu, and the tribes of Qiang and Hu in Liangzhou.

But these are not necessary.

Soldiers are fine, not many.

In the past, the total number of cavalry troops under the command of Han Sui and Ma Teng in Liangzhou was as high as [-].

Taipingdao entered Liangzhou. Although Gao Pingchuan defeated the Liangzhou coalition forces in the first battle, the actual damage was not too much.

Many people were captured by the Liangzhou coalition forces, but the actual casualties were not large.

Now the total strength of Taiping Road in Liangzhou has just exceeded [-], which is less than a quarter of what it used to be.

The reasons for this are more complicated, but mainly because of two reasons.

The first reason is that Xu An has been promoting better troops and simpler administration since the Taihang Mountains. After Xu An liberated Liangzhou, he eliminated a large number of soldiers who returned to Liangzhou, recruited only the elite, and organized the rest of the unqualified soldiers into garrison fields. soldier.

In the strategy formulated by Xu An, the soldiers in the field are not included in the statistics of the combat troops at ordinary times, and are only used as reserves.

The most elite tribes of the Yellow Turban Army were all concentrated under Xu An's command, and entered the military pawn battalion and sharp warrior battalion, or the cavalry army of the sixth battalion.

Soldiers with the lowest combat power were assigned to various places as garrison troops, and those who were weaker were served as militiamen and reserve soldiers, that is, field soldiers.

The second reason is that maintaining a large army requires a lot of money, food and materials.

Han Sui and Ma Teng were able to maintain such a large cavalry army because of the wealth accumulated in Liangzhou over the years, plus the property they seized from his family when they eliminated dissidents.

There is also looting. Every once in a while, Han Sui and Ma Teng will lead a large number of cavalry troops south to plunder. One is to train troops, and the other is to seize supplies, money and food to maintain the army.

It is naturally impossible for Xu An to use such a method, so Xu An has no way to maintain such a large-scale army, so Xu An cut down a large number of soldiers, and selected the elite among them to form a new army , belonging to the direct jurisdiction.

"call--"

Xu An let out a breath of white air.

It's clearly spring, but you can still see the white air when you breathe out.

The worse weather year after year reminded Xu An of the solar eclipse that appeared during the first lunar month.

He remembers the memory of this era very clearly, but the previous memory inevitably faded somewhat, after all, nine years have passed.

"In the fourth year of spring, the first month of Jiayin, there is an eclipse..."

Xu An stood outside the big tent, looking up at the dim sky.

"Ding Mao, amnesty for the world. In March, Yuan Shu killed Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, according to Huainan..."

In the original time and space, the current Central Plains is still in a state of separatism, attacking each other, Yuan Shu is not as respectful as the current Yuan Shu.

Xu An frowned, he couldn't remember what he said later.

He just instinctively felt that it mattered.

"Why didn't Duke Ming stop?"

Xu Huang, who was following Xu An, saw Xu An stopped in front of the big tent. He didn't hear all of Xu An's whispers, so he hesitated for a moment, but still asked questions.

"I suddenly thought of an important thing, but I only remembered half of it..."

"Wenhe."

Xu An turned his head and looked at Jia Xu who was beside him.

"If there is a famine in the grain and grass stored in various places of our army, can ordinary people be taken care of while ensuring the needs of the army?"

Jia Xu was a little puzzled why Xu An suddenly asked this question at this time. All the generals in the big tent were waiting for Xu An to preside over the military meeting.

Zhang Lu chose to surrender, and Hanzhong also fell under the rule of Taipingdao.

Now they are preparing for the next step of the plan.

Jia Xu's eyes moved slightly. He had heard that Xu An had the ability to predict the future.

But in Jia Xu's view, this is just an accurate inference based on the information he has, which makes people feel that he has the ability to predict the future.

"Nowadays, the grain and grass reserves are barely enough to supply the army's southern expedition. Bingzhou is rich and has a lot of surplus grain, but Guanzhong Xinding, if there is a famine, I'm afraid..."

Jia Xu frowned slightly. The Yellow Turban Army implemented the garrison system, which indeed increased the grain production a lot, and businesses in various places also prospered a lot because of Xu An's encouragement. .

However, the soldiers and horses did not move, and the food and grass went first. The Yellow Turban Army's repeated campaigns consumed a lot of food. Although the loss on the way of transshipment was much less than that of the four-wheeled carriage with a larger load, it was still a huge waste. .

In addition, Xu An's requirements for the Yellow Turban Army's soldiers to fight can be said to be the highest standard among all the parts.

Now the soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army have a lot of dried meat in their meals, and of course corn is indispensable.

After the Western Xianbei, Southern Huns, and Shanggu Wuhuan territories were incorporated into the territory of the Taiping Road, there was no shortage of meat and leather among the Yellow Turban Army, which made the business of Liang and Bing a lot more prosperous.

Jia Xu's face was a bit hesitant, he heard the meaning in Xu An's words, Xu An seemed to predict that some kind of disaster would happen soon...

Speaking of the one hundred years from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms, apart from the cloud-like generals and those wise advisers, the most impressive thing is the frequent natural disasters.

Xu An's eyes narrowed slightly. Even if Liangzhou and Bingzhou suffered famines, it didn't matter. He remembered that many famines in the late Eastern Han Dynasty were caused by drought and locust plagues.

In Xu An's memory, the drought did not affect the Liangzhou area, and Liangzhou area is mostly nomadic, so the locust plague is naturally impossible to talk about.

The land of Bingzhou was the base of the Yellow Turban Army a long time ago, and all the basic settings are also the most perfect, and many wells are deep wells.

Even if there is a plague of locusts, there is still a lot of food stored.

Those grains were stored in some hidden forts. When Bingzhou was newly established, Xu An didn't have much confidence in whether he could live in Bingzhou for a long time, so he built secret granaries in various places. Later, these granaries were called storage warehouses. location.

Although Taiping Road later built granaries in other places in Bingzhou, those hidden granaries were not abandoned.

The biggest problem now is Guanzhong Xinding, a large amount of food and grass were destroyed in the flames of war.

Dong Zhuo didn't leave much for Xu An and Taipingdao.

"Send a letter to Xu You to ask him to recruit some more peasants to build granaries in some important hubs of Zhongzhou to prepare for the famine."

Xu An exhaled white air again.

The current Yellow Turban Army needs a big victory to boost morale and a big victory to restore confidence.

And most importantly, he couldn't stop at this moment.

Now that the North and South Courts are divided into two courts, the South Court will definitely try to get more support in the face of the powerful North Court.

And Yizhou must be an important area for them to fight for.

In the original time and space, Liu Yan had always had the ambition to become emperor. In the second year of Chuping (191), Liu Yan built more than a thousand rides and vehicles according to the emperor's specifications, and wanted to become emperor.

At that time, Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, spoke to the court, saying that Liu Yan "had the theory that Zixia doubted the saint in Xihe" and pointed out that his plot was wrong.

But the original time and space and the current situation are already very different.

Once Liu Yan falls to Nanting, the power of Nanting will go deep into Yizhou...

Xu An's eyes regained clarity. Even if those famines came, they would be in the future, not now.

Now Yizhou knows nothing about Zhang Lu's surrender.

This is a fantastic opportunity...

The name of Hanzhong comes from the meaning of Hanshui.

Hanzhong County is surrounded by mountains, with the fertile Hanzhong Basin in the center.

In 206 BC, Liu Bang was granted the title of King of Han, Wangba, Shu, and Hanzhong. The location of his capital is Nanzheng in Hanzhong County today.

Later, Liu Bang darkened Chencang, sent troops out of Hanzhong, and put down the Three Qin Dynasty.

Four years later, the country was unified and the Han Dynasty was established, using the Chinese character "Han" as the name of the country.

In fact, if you want to go to Nanzheng from Ju County, you have to travel more than two hundred miles and experience countless twists and turns.

And among these countless twists and turns, there is also a very dangerous pass - Yangping Pass.

Hanzhong's terrain is dangerous, and its geographical location is even more important.

In Hanzhong, the high and steep Qinling Mountains lie on the north, and the thick and long Bashan Mountains lie on the south.

The Qinling Mountains reach Longshan Mountain in the west and Xionger Mountain and Funiu Mountain in the east.

Daba Mountain stretches along the borders of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei, and is connected with Wudang Mountain, Jingshan Mountain, Wushan Mountain and other mountains.

Therefore, the topography of Hanzhong is narrow from north to south and long from east to west, like a corridor running from east to west.

Hanzhong is the throat of Qin and Shu, the natural gateway and buffer zone shared by Guanzhong and Bashu, and an important hub connecting the north and the south.

Since ancient times, Hanzhong has been known as "the throat of Qinba, and the belt of Shu".

The gains and losses of Hanzhong had a great impact on the separation of the north and the south.If you win Hanzhong, the north and the south will be integrated; if you lose Hanzhong, the north and the south will confront each other.

Usually, when Hanzhong is controlled by the southern regime, the two sides often use the Qinling Mountains as a boundary for offensive and defensive natural danger; when Hanzhong is controlled by the northern regime, the south can only rely on Daba Mountain for defense.

Needless to say, the strategic value of Hanzhong to Yizhou.

Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou. As long as Hanzhong is occupied, Liangzhou can be harassed to the west, Chang'an can be attacked to the north, and Xiangfan can be attacked to the east.

Hanzhong has a humid climate and rich products, which can provide sufficient manpower and logistics resources for the war.

There are two crops of rice and wheat in the territory, there are many rivers and lakes, and the water source is sufficient.

Han Dynasty borders Nanjun in the east, Guanghan in the south, Longba and Yinping in the west, and Qinchuan in the north.

Jue soil is fertile and beautiful, and it comes from the tribute, which is slightly three Shu.

Even if there is a famine in Guanzhong, the land of Hanzhong can increase a lot of food for the army.

Occupying Hanzhong, Yizhou can expand outward.

Lost in Hanzhong, Yizhou can only sit and wait to die.

---Dividing line---

The following historical materials are not included in the word count, and there is no charge.

From the first year of Xingping (194) to the second year of Jian'an (197), there were four consecutive years of locust plagues.

In 193, in the 4th year of Guiyou Chuping, in the fourth year of spring, Jiayinshuo of the first month, there was an eclipse of the sun.

In summer and May, Guiyou, there is no cloud and thunder.In June, Fufeng is windy, rainy and hail.Huashan collapsed.rainwater.In June Xinchou, the Tengu travels northwest.In winter and October, Xinchou, the capital suffered an earthquake.There are stars in the sky market.

In the summer and June of 194, there was an earthquake.big locust.The locusts rose, and the people were starved ("Three Kingdoms·Wu Di Ji").

The dry locusts have few grains, and the people eat each other ("Three Kingdoms: Lu Bu Biography").

There was a severe drought in Sanfu in July, from April to this month.At that time, there were [-] grains per dendrobium, and [-] dendrobes per dendrobium. People ate each other, and the bones accumulated ("History of the Later Han·Xian Di Ji").

In April 195, there was another severe drought.Xia, Taizu Juncheng's family, a great hunger, people eat each other ("Three Kingdoms · Emperor Wu Ji").

It was a time when locusts swelled up, and there was no grain in the year of drought, and jujube vegetables were eaten in the harem ("Hou Han Ji").

In 196, it was the time when dry locusts and valleys were expensive, and the people ate each other ("Book of the Later Han·Gongsun Zan Biography").

In 197, summer and May, locusts.In autumn and September, the Han River overflows. "It's the hunger of the year, and the people in the Jianghuai area eat each other." ("Book of the Later Han Dynasty Xiandi Ji").

In addition to the drought and famine, the scholars and the people were froze and starved, and the rivers and Huaihe Rivers were devastated. ("Han Shu Biography of Yuan Shu").

(End of this chapter)