Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 330: When the Stars Shine in the Late Han Dynasty
Sun Quan held a meeting in the rear and completely exposed his purpose to the Jiangdong gentry. Of course, he did not want to rely on his own strength.

He wanted to unite the entire Jiangdong aristocratic family and send troops together to invade Jingzhou.

Liu Bei suppressed the big family in Jingyi, which seriously damaged the interests of the big family in Jiangdong, so that the big family in Jiangdong did not dare to take refuge in Liu Bei, and they were also afraid that Liu Bei would annex Jiangdong.

Sun Quan took advantage of this to induce the Jiangdong gentry to contribute money, people, labor and food, forming an interest group to resist Liu Bei's army.

So after deciding to send troops, Jiangdong quickly began to actively prepare, the soldiers and horses did not move, and the food and grass went first.

As a result, the major aristocratic families in Jiangdong massacred blood, and sent out their private armed forces, led by the family generals, to transport grain, grass and supplies to Ruxukou.

In history, Sun Quan and Guan Yu ruled across the river, and the main strategic location was in Lukou, that is, the Chibi area.

But now he stretched out his claws several times to try to plot Jingzhou, but Shen Chen cut off his claws, and even lost the strategic area of ​​Lujiang County in Jiangbei, so now there are only two defensive points for him.

One is at Ruxukou, mainly to guard against Cao Jun in Huainan.

The other is in Chaisang, where the Jiangxia navy and the Xiling Zhao Yun army in Jiangbei are on guard.

After Lu Su's death, he sternly refused to take over as the governor, so Sun Quan took Lu Meng as the governor and stationed in Chaisang, across the river from Zhao Yunjun stationed in Xunyang.

After Lu Meng took office, he immediately sent letters to Huang She and Zhao Yun with a humble attitude, expressing his willingness to make friends, and from time to time, he often went to Xunyang and Xiakou on the grounds that Liu Bei and Sun Quan were relatives and the two families had a good relationship. Visit Zhao Yun and Huang She.

His ostensible purpose was to visit and make friends forever, but his actual purpose might not be to personally investigate the deployment of Huang She and Zhao Yunjun.

So now he has figured out the true arrangement of the Jiangxia navy and the Xiling defenders.

In addition to Ruxukou and Chaisang, Sun Quan also sent Bu Zhi as the governor of Jiaozhou, and Sun Jiao as the prefect of Guiyang. In name, he was stationed in Guiyang of Jiaozhou to ensure his rule in Jiaozhou, but in fact he was spying on Jingnan. To take Jingzhou.

After Sun Quan arrived at Ruxukou, he sat in the rear and continued to dispatch troops. With Pan Zhang, Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai, Ding Feng, Zhu Ran and others as generals, he crossed the southeast hills by land to increase troops in Chai Sang.

At the same time, Xu Shengyu was ordered to lead [-] soldiers from Yuzhang to the south to reinforce Guiyang, so that the total strength of Guiyang reached [-], so that he could take advantage of the trend to annex Jingnan.

All his schemes dare not act on the Yangtze River.

Because the Xiling County occupied by Liu Bei is just north of the Yangtze River, all their actions on the Yangtze River will be noticed by Liu Bei's army on the north bank, so he can only transport troops and food from the hills and mountains in the southeast, such as Yixian County, where the Jiangdong Army was flooded by Shen Chen.

All this is done in secret.

However, due to the inability to use the Yangtze River to transport grain, his mobilization of grain, grass and soldiers was relatively slow. It took several months to barely hoard some grain and grass, and there was still a large amount of military equipment that needed to be deployed.

Of course, ancient wars were not accomplished overnight. In order to defeat the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han relied on the 40 years of Wenjing's rule and his accumulation of the previous 20 years.

In order to defeat Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao relied on Wang Fen, Han Fu and Yuan Shao's efforts to develop for more than ten years.

In addition to their own foundation accumulation, it took them a year or even several years to store up just mobilizing soldiers and horses, transporting food and grass, raising supplies, etc.

Now it is also a battle of national destiny for Jiangdong.

If he wins, he can annex Jingzhou, like Cao Cao's Wei Wang, Liu Bei's Hanzhong King, and establish his own kingdom.

If you lose, send it.

Therefore, Sun Quan had to be very careful, and he had to prepare for a long time in the early stage of preparation.

And taking advantage of the preparation stage, he has not been idle, and has been doing intelligence work.

Now Sun Quan has planted a large number of internal agents in Jing Yi, there are countless spies at the bottom who pretend to be ordinary people, and there is even Sun Shangxiang, the concubine of the Han Dynasty who is forced to obey Liu Bei in everything and pretends to be a virtuous and virtuous person at the top.

The queens of the princes of the Eastern Han Dynasty are the concubines, but Liu Bei is called the king according to the Western Han standards. The ancients paid attention to the right marriage. Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi could not be queens because of their status issues, so Liu Bei married the daughter of the Wu family from Yizhou as the queen, and the princess was Sun Shangxiang , second only to the queen.

This also means that only in terms of identity and status, Sun Shangxiang is the number three figure in the entire Liu Bei Group, only lower than Liu Bei and Queen Wu. One can imagine how important the information that can be stolen is.

For example, the real situation of Liu Bei's several troop transfers is the news delivered by her, although Liu Bei "accidentally" gave her false news...

However, Liu Bei's several deployments of troops in Jingzhou were false and concealed. From the outside, it seemed that there were at least 2 guards in Nanjun and Jingnan, but in fact they were all transferred away. Seeing it as an illusion, what Sun Shangxiang detected was the truth.

It wasn't until October of the 23rd year of Jian'an, after the Huangmen soldiers and Xiliang cavalry returned to the army, that Shen Chen slowly withdrew his troops to Ye County and set up camp outside Ye County, forming a confrontation with Cao Hongjun on the opposite side.

Cao Hong didn't dare to chase, so he could only choose to continue camping in Taiting.Moreover, after Shen Chen withdrew his troops, he breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly prepared food and grass to send to the front line again.

In November of the 23rd year of Jian'an, Cao Cao took the initiative to attack Guanzhong and personally led the army to Mei County.

Guan Yu withdrew his troops and returned to the Bao ramp.

In December, Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin to continue stationing at Wuzhangyuan, leaving Dong Zhao as his military adviser, while he himself took the main force and took Zhang Yun as the vanguard to attack Xiliang.

When Liu Bei moved the Xiliang people to Hanzhong, in fact, only the Han people were moved, and a large number of Qiang people still lived in Liangzhou.

This was too fatal for Cao Cao.

Because of Ma Chao's relationship, the Qiang people in Liangzhou basically supported Liu Bei, and it was easy for Liu Bei to get war horses from them.

Once Liu Bei is allowed to train a large number of cavalry who can come and go freely, the Guanzhong Basin will be greatly threatened.

Although the main force of Cao Cao's army is still mainly infantry, the number of cavalry is also very large.

Like his son Huang Xuer, Cao Zhang, who is 30 years old this year, is now General Xiaoqi, with tens of thousands of elite cavalry under his command, and once conquered the rebellious Wuhuan and Xianbei.

The Guanzhong Plain is unobstructed, and the mobility of the cavalry is particularly important.Now Cao Cao regards Zuo Fengyi and Hedong County as the rear grain and grass base.

If Liu Bei is equipped with cavalry, attack Zuo Fengyi from Xiaoguan Road and harass the rear.

Then Cao Cao would lose an important source of food and grass, and be forced to transport food from the Kanto. This is obviously a fatal thing, and he may lose Guanzhong if he is not careful.

Therefore, Cao Cao must take Xiliang back and completely cut off Liu Bei's source of horses.

At the beginning of the 24th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao, who was 65 years old, marched to Jieting. From Jieting to Tianshui, Longxian County, Lueyang, Xianqin, Jixian County, Wangyuan and other places along the line were led by Wu Lan, Yang Huai, Gao Pei, Deng Xian , Leng Bao, Zhang Ren, Liu Gui, Fu Jin, Xiang Cun and other Liu Bei troops will be stationed.

Cao Cao dispatched Zhang He as the vanguard, defeated all the generals and beheaded several Liu Bei's generals, and shocked Xiliang, and his troops came to Tianshui City.

Liu Bei was still in Hanzhong at the time, and when he heard the news, he immediately went to see him personally.

Under the siege of Cao Jun, the Tianshui defenders had to retreat to Lucheng, and formed a stronghold in Lucheng and the surrounding forests to defend themselves.

Liu Bei led three generals, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, and Wei Yan. Dozens of generals, including Yang Ang, and [-] troops went to Lucheng to confront Cao Jun.

At this time, the lineup of both sides can be described as very luxurious, with famous players gathered.

Among the five tiger generals on Liu Bei's side, apart from Zhao Yun in Xiling and Huang Zhong in Bodao, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Ma Chao all participated in the war caused by Cao Cao's fight for Xiliang.

In terms of counselors, in addition to Zhuge Liang who was sitting in Jiangzhou to deliver food and grass to the front line, Prime Minister Pang Tong, Prime Minister Fazheng, Prime Minister Xu Shu, Prime Minister Jia Xu, Minister Yang Yi and Deng Zhi, Minister Ma Liang, Xingye General Li Yan, All are already in the army.

For example, Zuo Prime Minister Xu Shu is currently following Guan Yu in a stalemate with Xiahou Dun in Xieyuguan, Pang Tong and Li Yan are in charge of food and grass in Hanzhong, and Fazheng Jia Xu and others are gathered around Liu Bei as front-line military staff.

In terms of the number of soldiers and horses, plus the soldiers and horses who retreated from the front line and Guan Yu's army, the total strength of Liu Bei's army is about 12.

Cao Cao didn't give way too much.

The eight tiger cavalry of the clan, the one-eyed general Xiahou Dun, the tiger-buguanyou Xiahouyuan, the famous anti-Shu general Cao Zhen, the thousand-mile horse Cao Xiu, and Xiahoushang, who was a confidant and a minion, were here.

Among the five tiger generals, Yu Jin, Zhang He, and Xu Huang all participated in this battle.

The rest include Huang Xuer Cao Zhang, tiger idiot Xu Chu, governor Guo Huai in the late Cao Wei Dynasty, Yizhou governor Zhao Yong, Southern Xiongnu Shanyu Huchuquan and so on.

On the civil servant side, there are Zhong Yao, Dong Zhao, Sima Yi, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye, Du Xi, Yang Fu and others.

There are about 17 soldiers and horses in the main force of Cao's army, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses attached to Xiliang led by Xiliang Yanxing Yang Fu, some Karasuma Xianbei Huqi brought from the north, and Guanzhong generals who defected to Cao Cao, a total of [-] troops many.

In terms of food and grass, Cao Cao actually wants to take advantage of it.

Because since he moved a large number of people from Liangzhou to Guanzhong, Zuo Fengyi and Hedong County have become his rear granaries, and he can grow grain on the spot.

The harvested grain and grass were sent to Chang'an, and Zhong Yao, the captain of the Sili school in Chang'an, sent people to transport the grain and grass to the front line.

On the other hand, Liu Bei could only transport food from the rear because the Hanzhong Basin could not afford to support so many people.

However, the condition of the grain and grass transportation lines in the rear is long and poor. It needs to be sent from Jinniu Road and Miicang Road to Hanzhong from Jiangzhou, Chengdu and other places, and then sent from Hanzhong to the front line of Wudu County. The loss is much greater than that of Cao Cao.

Therefore, when fighting in Guanzhong and Xiliang, Cao Cao had an advantage over Liu Bei.

Soon Cao Jun attacked to Lucheng.

The northwest wind blows violently, and the mountains on both sides are densely forested. It is the beginning of spring, and the mountains are full of verdant green.

Liangzhou in the Han Dynasty was not as pale and yellow as the later Gansu Loess Plateau. The miracle of life bloomed here. There are undulating hills and vast grasslands here, which have raised countless Han and Qiang children.

In the afternoon of January 24, [-]th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao was riding on his horse, looking at the endless hills in the distance.

What he saw was that the mountains and mountains seemed to be endless, and the vegetation all over the mountains and plains swayed with the wind, and the mountains and forests were carved with knives and axes, just like the uncanny workmanship of nature, revealing a kind of rough beauty everywhere.

This is a natural miracle that Mimi Jiangnan does not have.

Cao Cao looked around, looked at the vast mountains and forests in the distance, and asked to the left and right: "Where is this place?"

Joining the army Yang Fu was his guide and said, "King Wei, this is Mount Rongqiu."

Rongqiu Mountain is south of Lucheng.

After all, Lu City was only a small city and could not accommodate tens of thousands of troops, so Liu Bei only deployed a few thousand troops in the city, and the main force was deployed in the mountains behind, and the camp stretched for more than ten miles.

And Cao Jun occupied the entire Qishan Road north of Lucheng, and a large number of Cao Wei soldiers were looking for a place to set up camp in the rear.

As a vanguard general, Zhang Yun had already reached the outside of Lucheng City, and stationed in a plain in the north of the city.

At this time, seeing Cao Cao coming in person, he hurriedly came to see him.

"King Wei."

Zhang He galloped over and knelt down on one knee in front of Cao Cao.

The army behind Cao Cao was still walking on the road, and the densely packed army began to seize the mountains and flat land on his side according to the deployment.

And they were able to arrive here so smoothly, Zhang Xi's contribution can be said to be very great.

Cao Cao said with a smile: "Junyi get up, is there a high place here?"

Zhang He got up, pointed to a mountain in the east and said, "That mountain is quite high, and you can see some of Liu Bei's army's deployment on the mountain behind."

"Let the widow go and have a look."

Cao Cao reined in his horse.

The next group of people went up the mountain.

When we got to the mountain, we looked down from a high place, and our vision suddenly became clear.

In the far south, there are many hills, and a large number of camps have been built. The banners cover the sky and the sun, and the flags of Liu, Zhang, Ma, and Wei are flying.

And in a farther place, Cao Cao also saw someone on the cliff on the top of the mountain, and there were countless people and horses behind him, holding umbrellas, and their status seemed to be extremely dignified.

"That must be selling shoes!"

Cao Cao said to the left and right: "This guy is just a grassroots family, and he dares to claim the number of days!"

Zhang He pointed to the distance and said, "King Wei, that is Qi Shan."

Qishan is a mountain range and a high mountain.

It is located in the north of Qishan Road, geographically closer to Tianshui County.

So every time Zhuge Liang left Qishan, he passed by here to attack Caowei Xiliang Tianshui.

Cao Cao looked and saw that the mountain was towering, much higher than the one he occupied, but Liu Bei seemed to be looking down on him from that mountain, which made him very unhappy.

But standing on the top of the mountain and looking at the situation down the mountain, it is indeed very clear.

At this time, Zhang He's vanguard army was stationed outside Lucheng, and Cao Cao's main force had also arrived, with Xu Chu and Cao Zhang behind him.

Below Xiahouyuan, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Xiahoushang arrived with their soldiers and set up several camps.

As a result, the entire mountains and main roads around Lucheng, including the city of Lucheng, were divided up by Liu Bei and Cao Cao's army.

The famous generals are like clouds, occupying some hilltops respectively, forming a pattern of confrontation between the north and the south.

If you add Guan Yu, Xu Shu, Guan Ping, Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin and others who are facing each other in the Wuzhangyuan area at the exit of Baoxie Road.

Most of the first-class generals of Cao Wei and Shu Han gathered here.

For a time, when the stars in the late Han Dynasty were shining brightly.

(End of this chapter)