At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 397 Intimidation

"Report, Gao Gan has led the soldiers and horses in the city to escape from the south gate!"

Xia Houyuan, who was charging in the city, heard the report from his subordinates. He immediately turned to look at Wang Ling and said: "The high officials abandoned the city and left, Jinyang is within easy reach. However, he still has many soldiers and horses under his command. If he is allowed to leave safely, If you go, you will definitely occupy the remaining dangerous areas to defend our army."

"Mr. is a son of a noble family and is quite familiar with Jinyang. I left three thousand troops and horses under my command to clear out the remnants of Yuan's army and appease people's hearts. I led my own cavalry out of the city to hunt down high-ranking officials. I don't know if Mister can Are you willing to take on this important responsibility?”

Wang Ling couldn't help but be moved when he heard this. He bowed deeply to Xia Houyuan and said, "Thanks to the general's trust, Ling dares to die if he doesn't serve?"

In this way, Xia Houyuan left three thousand troops and horses in the hands of Wang Ling, and led the tiger and leopard cavalry to hunt down the high officials.

Xia Houyuan was good at running attacks, and the predecessor of his Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. They were elite cavalry, and they came and went like the wind, extremely fast.

After breaking through the siege, the senior officials never expected that Xia Houyuan was not in a hurry to occupy Jinyang and stabilize people's hearts, but directly led his troops to pursue him.

The ill-prepared senior officials were suddenly attacked by Xia Houyuan and were immediately defeated.

Xia Houyuan ignored Yuan's defeated troops and continued to pursue them for more than thirty miles throughout the night. In the end, he beheaded Gao Rou, captured high officials alive, and obtained all his seals, ribbons, and flags.

The messenger said breathlessly: "Bingzhou is a great victory. General Xiahou has conquered Jinyang. He killed Gao Rou and captured Gao Gan alive. Bingzhou is at your fingertips!"

When Cao Cao heard this, he frowned and said unwillingly. After a long time, he said unwillingly: "I don't know how the battle in Bingzhou will go. If Miao Miaocai can seize Bingzhou as soon as possible, Gu Yi doesn't have to fight on two fronts. Even if he evacuates temporarily, once he has Bingzhou, he can fight at any time." He attacked You and Ji from Bingzhou."

In this way, with Wang Ling's help, Xia Houyuan actually occupied the entire Taiyuan County in a very short period of time.

After Taiyuan County was conquered, the rest of the counties were determined by propaganda. The entire Bingzhou changed their flags in a short time. After integrating the captured Yuan army in Bingzhou, Cao Cao's strength increased significantly.

But when things really came to pass, Cao Cao still couldn't hide the anger in his heart.

On the front line of Guandu, Cao Jun camped.

Cheng Yu read the letter sent by Zhou Qi and said: "Zhou Ziyi's words are quite harsh, and according to the reports from the scouts, the Chu State has begun to mobilize troops and sent envoys to Nanyang. If Duke Ming insists and refuses, If we withdraw our troops, Zhou Ziyi will definitely send troops to attack our retreat via Nanyang."

Now is when Yuan Shao is at his weakest. Although Cao Cao is fighting on two fronts, he still has some advantages. If Xia Houyuan can open up the situation in Bingzhou, Cao Cao may not be able to use his small gain to devour Yuan Shao.

It's a pity that Zhou Qi is not Liu Biao in history. He will not sit back and watch Cao and Yuan fight without being indifferent. He will never allow Cao Cao to swallow Yuan Shao and ignore it.

When he learned that Gao Gan and Gao Rou planned to have Wang Ling surrender and lure Xia Houyuan to seize the city at night, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

"At that time, we were fighting on two fronts, and the Yanzhou battlefield was attacked from both sides, and the situation was worrying."

Therefore, in the face of Wang Ling's lobbying, everyone did not choose to be loyal to the Yuan family, but instead surrendered without a fight.

Cao Cao hurriedly summoned the messenger and asked, "How is the war in Bingzhou going?"

Xia Houyuan returned with a great victory. Wang Ling took the opportunity to recommend himself and went around with the captured high official's seal and ribbon to lobby.

Cao Cao, Cheng Yu and others were shocked at first, and then they were all overjoyed and hurriedly asked about the details of the war.

Cao Cao couldn't help but look livid when he looked at the letter sent by Zhou Qi.

Although he had long expected that after Zhou Qi's second son married Yuan Shu's daughter, Chu State would inevitably intervene in the war between himself and Yuan Shao.

When this messenger set off, Wang Ling had not yet gone to persuade the officials of various counties and counties in Taiyuan to open the city to surrender, so he did not know the latest battle report in Bingzhou.

As soon as Cheng Yu finished speaking, he suddenly heard the guards coming to report: "Urgent report from Bingzhou!"

The Wang family was already a prominent family in Taiyuan, and was blessed by Wang Yun's halo. In addition, Yuan Shao was defeated in Guangling first, and now Gao Gan was captured alive by Xia Houyuan. Many people thought that the Yuan family was doomed.

Cheng Yu smiled bitterly and said: "The senior cadres have been running Bingzhou for a long time. They have a good reputation and defend the city. All they have to do is defend the city and delay the intervention of the Chu State. Miaocai wants to take Bingzhou in a short time. I'm afraid he won't be able to do so. Very possible."

It has to be said that Gao Rou had calculated that Xia Houyuan was eager for success, so he used inducements to lure him. The success rate of his strategy was extremely high.

Once this plan is successful, not only Cao's army in Bingzhou will be defeated, but even general Xia Houyuan will also be defeated in Jinyang City with a high probability.

Fortunately, Wang Ling abandoned the secret and surrendered at the last moment, and changed the false surrender into a real surrender, thus reversing the situation in one fell swoop.

I have to say that this can be regarded as a kind of reincarnation.

Historically, it was Gao Rou who secretly reported the news of Wang Ling's intention to rebel to Sima Yi, which caused Wang Ling's plan to seize military power in Yangzhou to fail, and the three clans were eventually destroyed. This time and space can be said to be against Tiangang. Because Wang Ling truly surrendered to Cao Jun, Gao Rou was killed by Xia Houyuan in the formation, and even Gao Gan was captured alive.

Knowing that the situation in Bingzhou was excellent, Cheng Yu immediately advised Cao Cao: "Ming Gong can write a letter to deal with Zhou Ziyi, and at the same time hold back Yuan Benchu's main force, and then send someone to urge Miaocai to quickly seize the entire territory of Bingzhou."

"As long as Miaocai can occupy Bingzhou, even if the war with Yuan Benchu ​​ends, the initiative will still be in the hands of Duke Ming!"

Following his words, Cao Cao immediately wrote two letters and sent them to Xiangyang and Jinyang respectively.

Zhou Qi received Cao Cao's letter and knew that he intended to withdraw his troops. However, Yuan Shao's expedition had consumed a lot of money and food, and he was unwilling to return empty-handed. As long as Yuan Shao was willing to compensate Cao Cao for the money and food he had spent on this expedition, Cao Cao would withdraw his troops immediately.

After reading the content of the letter, Zhou Qi couldn't help but said with some doubts: "With Yuan Benchu's character, how can he compensate Cao Mengde for the money and food he consumed? What's more, after the Battle of Guangling, the Zhao State's vitality was seriously damaged, and I am afraid that it will not be able to compensate Cao Mengde. Require."

Jia Xu turned over the letter and read it several times before saying, "If what I expected is correct, this is Cao Mengde's plan to delay the attack."

Zhou Qi frowned and said: "Cao Mengde is not an unintelligent person. He must also know that this letter can't delay much time, so why do he still do this?"

Jia Xu pointed his finger to the north and said, "I'm afraid there is a change in the war in Bingzhou."

Zhou Qi frowned again when he heard this.

It is very inconvenient to transmit information in this era, especially the Chu State, which is now located in the south. Even though Zhou Qi had asked Chen Wen to dispatch detailed operations a long time ago, his ability to obtain information was also very weak.

It's not that Chen Wen's men are incompetent, but because of the long distance, even if they obtain the information, it will be very difficult to pass it back to Xiangyang in other countries.

For example, Xia Houyuan could ask his sergeant Ba Baili to rush to deliver the battle report to Cao Cao, but Chen Wen's messenger could not do the same.

Otherwise, regardless of the fact that there is no station to change horses, if the message is delivered with such a big fanfare, I am afraid that the person who sent the message will have been arrested and interrogated before the message is sent back.

Zhou Qi looked at Jia Xu and asked, "In Wen He's opinion, how should I deal with this?"

Jia Xu said: "Continue to mobilize troops and horses, and make a gesture of going north to intervene in the war between the two sides at any time, and then remain unchanged in response to any changes."

Even if the war in Bingzhou really changes, Zhou Qi is now beyond his reach.

Moreover, the Chu State is now in a stage of recuperation and is absolutely unwilling to use weapons again unless it is absolutely necessary.

Maintaining a strong deterrent against Cao Cao is the limit of what Zhou Qi can do at present.

As expected by Jia Xu, some time passed, and the secret agent sent by the Chu State to Bingzhou finally passed on the battle report there.

When Zhou Qi read the battle report, his expression changed drastically.

He did not expect that Xia Houyuan could capture the entire Bingzhou so quickly.

Zhou Qi urgently summoned his subordinates to discuss matters, and told everyone: "Xiahou Yuan has conquered the state. If he continues to attack Jizhou or Youzhou, Yuan Benchu ​​will be in danger."

"I finally defeated Yuan Benchu, how could I let Cao Mengde pick the peach?"

"I want to raise 30,000 elite troops to go north to force Cao Mengde to withdraw his troops. What do you think?"

Xu Shu stepped forward and said: "Given the current situation in Chu, it may be difficult to support 30,000 elite troops in long-distance cross-border operations."

"My lord, you might as well select only 10,000 elite troops, put up more flags, falsely call them 30,000, and then ask Liu Xuande to send troops to help. Cao Mengde must be afraid in his heart, so why not withdraw his troops?"

Xu Shu's worries were not wrong.

To dispatch 30,000 elite soldiers, at least 100,000 baggage and auxiliary troops are needed, and in total, at least enough food and fodder for 130,000 troops are needed.

Based on the current situation of Chu State, it is indeed difficult to support such a large-scale operation.

Zhou Qi pondered for a moment, and immediately adopted Xu Shu's suggestion, raising 10,000 troops, pretending to be 30,000, and asked Liu Bei to send 10,000 troops to assist, and went straight to Yanzhou.

When Cao Cao learned that Chu's army was approaching, he was worried about being attacked from both sides and did not dare to delay any longer, so he hurriedly withdrew from Sili.

The Battle of Guandu has come to an end.

(End of this chapter)