Three Kingdoms: Heir of Wolong, my father-in-law is Guan Gong

November, the seventh year of Zhangwu.

Winter is coming in the north.

The summer heat in the south is gone.

For the North, this is not a suitable season for military operations.

For the South, although the shallowing of rivers would affect the navigation of warships, it also reduced the risk of breeding plague.

Zhuge Qiao gathered 100,000 soldiers and civilians and established military farms on the northeastern shore of Chaohu Lake.

There are fertile fields on the northeast shore of Chaohu Lake, and Cao Cao once ordered Xiahou Dun and Zhang Liao to cultivate land there.

Although Zhuge Qiao had released the news two months ago, with an arrogant attitude of not returning until Hefei was captured; but after Cao Rui mobilized the Yanyu army to guard the north of the Yangtze River, Zhuge Qiao became "humble".

Occasionally, scouts and spies from Hefei were captured. Zhuge Qiao would treat them to a big meal and then release them with courtesy.

Zhuge Qiao also established a "hunting army". If the "hunting army" crossed the border while hunting, they would send people to deliver silk to the city of Hefei as compensation for the prey.

Zhuge Qiao would occasionally send people to the city of Hefei to deliver a declaration of war.

The declaration of war stipulates the time, place, military strength, formation, etc., and neither side can take advantage of the other.

It directly replicates the Spring and Autumn Battle method.

At first Man Chong didn't want to pay attention.

Zhuge Qiao has a reputation for being "cunning", and I believe that Zhuge Qiao will use his troops in an upright manner, unless Man Chong is stupid.

however.

Zhuge Qiao acted on his own and issued a challenge every day.

The generals in Hefei were very angry.

Man Chong had no choice but to let his deputy general lead a thousand soldiers to symbolically go out of the city to fight Zhuge Qiao.

Zhuge Qiao also asked his deputy general to lead a thousand soldiers to challenge Man Chong to a duel. The location of each duel was at Xiaoyaojin to show that there were no ambushes.

In order to make Man Chong continue to challenge, Zhuge Qiao released all the captives of Wei army after defeating the Wei army in the first challenge, and even threatened to "keep fighting and come again if you are not convinced."

This made the generals in Hefei very angry!
At first, they would fight every few days, and gradually it became every day.

The two sides reached a tacit understanding.

Only one thousand people will be sent out each time and they will not be killed if they surrender. All prisoners will be released after the war.

Man Chong originally wanted to end this boring duel, but unexpectedly Zhuge Qiao asked the deputy general who had challenged him to deliberately ask the deputy general of the Pseudo-Wei whether he would be promoted if he won the duel.

Upon learning that the other party had not been promoted, Zhuge Qiao's deputy general deliberately showed off his military achievements.

Seeing the generals on Zhuge Qiao's side being promoted one by one, the generals in Hefei were extremely envious.

Man Chong was helpless.

Only temporary regulations on military merit rewards could be formulated.

As soon as this regulation came out, all the generals in Hefei could no longer sit still.

Military merit should be shared by everyone, no one can monopolize the benefits!
Good guy.

It was originally just a battle plan, but it turned into a battle between the Han and Wei soldiers to show off their military merits to each other.

It was not until the winning rate of the Hefei soldiers increased that Man Chong finally realized the problem.

"I fell into Zhuge Qiao's trap."

"They are using the soldiers from Hefei to train their troops!"

Zhuge Qiao recruited a large number of new soldiers in Jiangdong, but the combat effectiveness of these new soldiers was very poor.

At the beginning, Zhuge Qiao mainly used elite soldiers and added a small number of new recruits to fight, and he almost always won.

After arousing the competitive spirit of the Wei soldiers, the proportion of new recruits was gradually increased to make the victory and defeat equal.

Later on, Zhuge Qiao used only new soldiers and was almost always defeated.

It’s just that Man Chong realized it too late.

By the time Man Chong ordered his generals not to leave the city to fight again, Zhuge Qiao's newly trained soldiers had almost all gained a lot of battlefield experience.

What made Man Chong even more upset was.

When Zhuge Qiao saw that Man Chong no longer challenged him to a fight, he gathered tens of thousands of soldiers and horses and came to the city, denouncing Man Chong for being unfaithful.

Then they used catapults to throw stones at Hefei city for three days to express their dissatisfaction with Man Chong's lack of trust.

He even threatened that it was Man Chong who broke the rules of rewarding military merits for both sides, and that there would be no need to talk about fairness in the future.

Man Chong's strict military discipline had already caused resentment among the officers and soldiers.

Zhuge Qiao's fanning of the flames made even more soldiers feel resentful.

Seeing that the army's morale was wavering, Man Chong executed several generals who were leading the riot that day, shocking the soldiers in the city.

At the same time, he sent fast horses to report military intelligence to Sima Yi in Shouchun.

"He actually used Man Chong to train troops. This kid Zhuge Qiao is as treacherous as ever!" Sima Yi couldn't help but sigh.

Wang Ji, the confidant, said: "General, Zhuge Qiao used the former general to train his troops. Does this mean that Zhuge Qiao was just a figurehead in Chaohu?"

"Why not send troops to Chaohu Lake and seize Zhuge Qiao's soldiers and civilians who are farming on the northeastern shore of Chaohu Lake? If we are lucky, we might even be able to capture Zhuge Qiao alive!"

"If we can capture Zhuge Qiao alive, we can avenge the Right General."

Wang Ji was once a general under Xu Huang. He was defeated by Zhuge Qiao in Nanxiang and had a great hatred for Zhuge Qiao.

Hearing that Zhuge Qiao actually used Man Chong to train his troops, he was certain that Zhuge Qiao's presence in Chaohu was just a facade.

Sima Yi shook his head slightly: "Zhuge Qiao is full of tricks and is best at the art of falsehood and reality."

"What Zhuge Qiao lets you see is often what he lets you see on purpose!"

"If you want to judge Zhuge Qiao's military strength in Chaohu, you can't just look at the surface, but you have to speculate on Zhuge Qiao's purpose."

"Bo Yu, do you know why Zhuge Qiao wants to personally take charge of Yangzhou?"

Wang Ji pondered for a moment and said, "The Pseudo-Han wants to attack the Great Wei, and currently there are only three fronts."

"One is to send troops from Luoyang. There is the governor of Henei (Deng Ai) in Henei and the general of the left (Zhang He) at Hulao Pass. This route is not feasible for the Pseudo-Han."

"One is to send troops from Wancheng. Xiangcheng has the General of the Southern Expedition (Cao Xiu), who was previously stationed in Chen County and can mobilize a large force to respond in a short period of time. This route is also not feasible."

"Zhuge Qiao only has one last option left, which is to resume Sun Quan's northward march strategy and take Xiyang, Lu'an, Hefei and other places."

"Taking this battle line can disperse our military forces to the greatest extent."

"This is also the reason why the general wants to be in Shouchun personally."

Sima Yi nodded and said: "If I were Zhuge Qiao, I would also use Sun Quan's strategy of marching north. As long as we take Hefei and Shouchun, Xiyang and Lu'an will fall without a fight."

"Zhuge Qiao can also use Shouchun as a springboard to take Xuzhou in the east."

"It makes our army exhausted."

"Therefore, Hefei cannot be lost, and Shouchun cannot be lost either."

"But Hefei and Shouchun are strong cities. Even Zhuge Qiao can't take them easily."

"Then the most effective way is to lure the troops from Hefei and Shouchun out of the city and annihilate them."

"If our army does not leave the city, Hefei and Shouchun will be safe. If our army leaves the city, Hefei and Shouchun may be captured."

"If that's the case, why take the risk of attacking Chaohu?"

Wang Ji bowed in submission.

Sima Yi added: "You said a little less just now."

"Although Guan Ping is in charge of Jingcheng, he has to obey Zhuge Qiao's military orders."

"Zhuge Qiao went to Yangzhou to dispatch troops, so it is impossible for Guan Ping of Jingzhou to remain silent."

"I expect Guan Ping of Jingzhou will send troops north to create momentum, divide my troops, and help Zhuge Qiao seize Hefei."

While talking.

Someone reported to Xiangcheng that Cao Xiu had sent an envoy.

Sima Yi laughed and said, "This must be Guan Ping from Jingzhou sending out troops."

Not long after.

The envoy arrived and reported that Guan Ping had gathered 100,000 troops in Wancheng and vowed to march north.

Wang Ji sneered: "Another hundred thousand. This Zhuge Qiao really likes to bluff."

"If Jingzhou and Yangzhou really had 200,000 soldiers and horses, they would have headed north long ago."

Sima Yi smiled and said, "For a good general, bluffing is the basic principle. I also claim to have more than 500,000 troops in Yuzhou."

"Guan Ping's reaction was within my expectations. Only a military commander would deliberately let everyone know about it, as if he was afraid that I wouldn't know he would send troops."

"I'm not Lu Xun!"

Wang Ji admired and said: "How can the general's strategy be compared with Lu Xun's?"

"Zhuge Qiao is indeed extremely treacherous. If the general attacks Chaohu, he will surely fall into Zhuge Qiao's trap of showing weakness."

Sima Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Pass my order on Cao Xiu to guard the city carefully and not to engage in battle with Guan Ping."

"Although Guan Ping is a small army, if the small army achieves extraordinary feats, it will also affect the entire battle situation."

"We must learn from the defeat in Guanzhong!"

Sima Yi's order soon reached Cao Xiu in Xiangcheng.

When Cao Xiu saw the general's order, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

When fighting Wang Ping last year, Cao Xiu already had the "turtle shell" tactical style.

It is better to do nothing than to make a mistake.

As long as we defend the city, it will be a great achievement.

On the contrary, Cao Xiu was afraid that Sima Yi would issue an order to take the initiative to attack.

Wancheng.

The generals stood solemnly, their faces showing excitement.

Liu Feng and Guan Ping stood in the first positions on the left and right.

In the handsome position.

Guan Yu, with his hair and beard all white, was wearing armor and helmet, and he looked intimidating without even being angry.

Guan Yu, who was guarding Liu Bei's tomb in Chang'an, suddenly appeared in the army, surprising all the generals.

The generals were surprised and excited.

Guan Yu’s quiet appearance in the army means that the soldiers in Wancheng are about to fight a big battle!

The Han Dynasty was at its peak. Last year, it destroyed most of the Wu army, and at the beginning of the year, it seized the Jiangdong area.

In today's world, the only one that can be the enemy of the Han Dynasty is the pseudo-Wei that occupies half of the country.

Despite years of war, the generals showed no signs of fatigue or boredom.

Becoming a marquis is just around the corner, who would be willing to miss this opportunity?
Even if we cannot have a painting hung on a building like the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai, we must still leave our names in history.

"Everyone."

"I won't say anything more."

"Just remember this in this battle: Anyone who reveals my identity will have their entire clan exterminated and will be considered a traitor to the Han Dynasty!"

Guan Yu was usually very caring towards his soldiers and had never punished them so harshly.

But today.

However, Guan Yu openly told all his generals that the punishment would be "extermination of three clans and treatment as traitors to the Han Dynasty."

Not only will the three clans die, but they will also be infamous for eternity.

This punishment has little restraining effect on ordinary soldiers, but it has a very strong restraining effect on generals.

Not every ordinary soldier has the idea of ​​ennobling his wife and children, most of them just want to "survive".

The generals were different.

Now that they have been promoted to generals, who wouldn’t want to ennoble his wife and children and bring honor to his family?
If we let negligence lead to the annihilation of all three clans and their eternal infamy, we would be truly stupid.

"We will follow the general's orders!" All the generals responded solemnly.

Guan Yu called Guan Ping forward and said, "Tanzhi, you still act as the commander-in-chief of the army. I have written down all the orders on the silk book."

"Now, it's up to you to issue the combat orders!"

The purpose of revealing his identity was to boost the morale of the troops and prevent the generals from lacking trust in Guan Ping and causing irreversible disasters in the war.

Letting Guan Ping issue combat orders was a reflection of Guan Yu's recognition and trust in Guan Ping, and also a way of testing Guan Ping's achievements over the years.

Guan Ping glanced at the contents of the silk book and was surprised. He could not help but whispered, "General, if we go directly to Xuchang, Cao Xiu in Xiangcheng will surely come to cut off our food supply."

One of Guan Yu's combat tactics was to attack Xuchang directly in front of Cao Xiu in Xiangcheng.

The army's food and fodder had to be transported to the front line via Luyang, and Xiangcheng was between Luyang and Xuchang.

Even if they really wanted to attack Xuchang, they would surround Xiangcheng before attacking Xuchang.

However, Guan Yu did not even surround the city, but attacked Xuchang right in front of Cao Xiu. This showed that he simply ignored Cao Xiu!
"Tanzhi, you need to figure it out yourself." Guan Yu did not explain to Guan Ping why he did this.

Guan Ping gritted his teeth and issued the military order in the silk book to all the generals.

Like Guan Ping, the other generals also couldn't understand Guan Yu's intention.

Seeing that Guan Yu had closed his eyes to rest, the generals did not ask any more questions.

After a brief reorganization of the army, Guan Xing, Fu Rong, Fu Kuang and Zong Yu led 5,000 troops as the vanguard and headed straight for Yingchuan.

Wang Ping, Deng Zhi, Su Fei, Liao Hua and other generals will lead the main force in the rear, while Ma Zhong will lead the chariot soldiers to supervise the transportation of military equipment and food.

The army claimed to have 100,000 soldiers, but actually had more than 50,000. They used Luyang as a place to store food and fodder, and marched towards Yuzhou in a mighty force.

Guan Xing's four generals arrived first. After organizing their troops and resting for two hours at the foot of Xiangcheng, they bypassed Xiangcheng and headed directly to Xuchang.

This strange action completely confused Cao Xiu in Xiangcheng.

"what's the situation?"

"do not fight?"

Cao Xiu rode his horse to the north tower of the city and looked at the Han soldiers heading straight towards Xuchang, puzzled by their intention.

Is this because you see that I can't defeat you in Xiangcheng, so you go to attack Xuchang?

Just this few people?

Do you look down on me?
I have 20,000 soldiers in Xuchang!

Cao Xiu cursed and rejected his deputy general's suggestion of "attack from both sides and eat up the Han army's vanguard" and adopted the "turtle shell" tactic.

No matter how strange the Han soldiers' actions were.

As long as you don't leave the city, you won't lose it.

a few days later.

The main force of the Han army arrived.

Just as Cao Xiu was actively preparing for war, the main force of the Han army bypassed Xiangcheng and headed directly towards Xuchang.

Looking at the Han soldiers outside the city that were like long snakes, Cao Xiu felt extremely humiliated.

Can’t you see such a huge Xiangcheng?
Can’t you see the 30,000 soldiers and horses in Xiangcheng?
"General, are we leaving the city?" the deputy general asked cautiously.

Cao Xiu slapped the city wall and said, "Don't come out! This must be a trick of the Han dogs! Do you think you can lure me out of the city with this trick?"

a few days later.

Ma Zhong appeared outside Xiangcheng while escorting grain and fodder, and exactly ignored Cao Xiu in Xiangcheng.

"General, if we cut off the Han army's food supply, the Han troops going to Xuchang will be trapped." The deputy general proposed again.

Cao Xiu stared at the Han soldiers transporting grain outside the city and said in a serious tone, "No! Those are the Cang Yi Army of the Han dogs. The carts that look like they are transporting grain are actually chariots that can charge into battle."

"I saw the power of this chariot last year, and this year I sent a large number of spies to learn about the Blue Wing Army."

"The commander of the Cang Yi Army is Ma Zhong, a close confidant of Zhuge Qiao."

"This must be a trick to lure me out of the city!"

"Humph! How could I be fooled?"

The deputy general was puzzled: "But the general of the Fujun Army said that the Jingzhou side is just a small army."

"The Cang Yi Army is Zhuge Qiao's direct army. Why don't they attack Hefei but come to Yingchuan instead?"

Cao Xiu snorted and said, "What use are chariots in Yangzhou's terrain?"

"Zhuge Qiao must have wanted us to mistakenly believe that the main force was in Yingchuan by letting the Cang Yi Army appear in Yingchuan."

"Don't worry, this must be a trick by the Han dogs to confuse the enemy."

"If they were really the main force, the Han dogs would have fought with the defenders of Xuchang in the past few days."

"But up to now, the Han dogs in Xuchang have only persuaded them to surrender, and at most they have attacked the surrounding small cities."

"Guard the city carefully, ignore it."

Outside Xuchang City.

Ma Zhong was in charge of transporting military equipment and food supplies.

"Cao Xiu actually turned a deaf ear to this. He is really patient."

"The front army, the middle army, and the rear army, all three armies passed through Xiangcheng one after another, but Cao Xiu didn't even dare to leave the gate. The general of the Southern Expedition of the Pseudo-Wei was like a turtle."

"The Han army is passing through, who in the Pseudo-Wei dares not to be a turtle?"

"The pseudo-Wei only dares to defend but not attack. What else can it do?"

"Destroy Xuchang, and the Han and the thieves will not coexist!"

"."

The generals were excited.

Guan Ping also looked at Guan Yu with admiration, and Guan Yu just nodded slightly.

After receiving Guan Yu's affirmation, Guan Ping said proudly: "Now that we are all here, let's attack the city."

An army of 50,000 attacked Xuchang and stunned the defending general Xiahou Ba.

"Is this just bravado?"

"Is this called bluffing?"

"Sima Yi misled me!"

Xiahou Ba looked at the Han soldiers under the city angrily.

Although there is not the claimed 100,000 troops, it is definitely not a small force of only 10,000 or 20,000!
"Quick, quickly gather the warriors to break out and go to Xiangcheng for help!"

"Send another envoy to Shouchun. Xuchang has the main force of Han dogs!"

While Xiahou Ba was defending Xuchang to the death, he sent people to ask for help and report the news.

Although Cao Rui mobilized troops from Yanzhou and Yuzhou, most of them were used to guard against Zhuge Qiao in Jiangdong. He only deployed 50,000 troops in Yingchuan to guard against the troops from Jingzhou.

Although there seem to be a lot of soldiers, in fact, there are very few water in these 50,000 troops.

Most of the elite veterans that Cao Cao left to Cao Pi were killed by Cao Pi.

Therefore, Cao Rui adopted a method of garrisoning troops in which the quality was insufficient but the quantity was sufficient, and recruited a large number of young and strong men in the country as soldiers.

Among them, the majority were farmers.

This is why, even though Xiahou Ba had 20,000 soldiers in Xuchang, he still did not have the confidence to resist the 50,000 Han soldiers outside the city.

This is also the reason why Cao Xiu would rather defend the city like a turtle than go out to fight.

Let’s look at the Han soldiers.

Since Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he has never lost.

After fighting their way through, the new recruits became veterans with extremely strong combat effectiveness.

Ma Jun was also awarded a title of nobility for leading the improvement of a large number of military and civilian equipment, and the treatment of craftsmen in the Han Dynasty was significantly improved.

The improvement of the status of craftsmen has benefited military and civilian equipment.

In short: the soldiers of the Han Dynasty are braver than those of the Pseudo-Wei, their armor is stronger than that of the Pseudo-Wei, and their swords and arrows are sharper than those of the Pseudo-Wei.

The only weakness is that the Han army is outnumbered by the Pseudo-Wei army.

During the period when Guan Ping led his troops to attack Xuchang.

A troop of soldiers came from Luoyang, went south along the Ru River and arrived at Liang County, northwest of Xiangcheng.

Look at its flag.

They turned out to be the four generals of the Han Dynasty, namely the front general Wu Yi, the left general Wu Ban, the right general Huang Quan and the rear general Wei Yan.

As well as General Ma Chao and General Zhao Yun!

Most of the troops stationed in Luoyang have arrived in Liang County!
After arriving at Liang County, the generals did not advance further because Jiang Wei had instructed them when he sent them south to wait for a very important person in Liang County.

Moreover, this army will be led by a man from Liang County.

In this regard.

The generals were quite dissatisfied.

This army includes the General of Cavalry, the General of Guards, and four generals in front, behind, left and right. Who can be their chief general?
If Jiang Wei had not been ordered to lead the troops in Luoyang, none of the generals would have been able to be subordinate to Jiang Wei.

"This guy from Liang County is so arrogant that he even made us wait until dark." Wu Yi was dissatisfied.

Wu Ban glanced at the sky and said, "It's getting dark, it won't hurt to wait a little longer."

"He can only be seen after dark. Either this person is arrogant or his identity is special and cannot be easily revealed to others."

Ma Chao stood aside, holding his spear, and chatted with Zhao Yun: "Brother Zilong, your daughter is very virtuous. I happen to have a son, so how about our two families becoming relatives?"

Ma Chao's youngest daughter Lingli is married to Liu Bei's son Liu Li, but his youngest son Ma Cheng has no marriage contract yet.

With Ma Chao's eyes, he naturally looked down on the daughters of ordinary families.

When Ma Chao accidentally heard Zhao Yun mention that his daughter liked martial arts, his eyes suddenly lit up and he kept asking Zhao Yun in a roundabout way.

I finally said it today.

Zhao Yun had seen through Ma Chao's thoughts and said, "Mengqi, my daughter is young and has not learned etiquette. She can only wield a spear and a stick. She is not worthy of the word 'virtuous'."

Ma Chao smiled and said, "You can learn this etiquette when you grow up. I think the sword and stick dance is pretty good."

"As long as I don't mind, and my son doesn't mind, even if your daughter doesn't learn etiquette, who can bully her?"

Zhao Yun did not answer immediately.

Compared to Ma Chao's straightforwardness, Zhao Yun thinks more.

The marriage between the General of Cavalry and the General of Guards would cause criticism.

Zhao Yun did not want to offend Ma Chao, so he said, "After this battle is over, I will go back and ask His Majesty for instructions."

Ma Chao said happily: "As long as you agree, I will go to ask for instructions in front of His Majesty."

While talking.

Three men in black appeared in front of the military camp.

Seeing the badge handed over by the man in black in the front, the soldier guarding the gate hurriedly saluted.

"I greet the General of Chariots and Cavalry!"

"Don't make any noise, take me to the commander's tent quickly."

The soldiers did not dare to delay and opened the gate to let Zhang Fei and his two companions in.

Arrived at the general's tent.

The generals were surprised.

"The commander Jiang Wei was talking about is the General of Chariots and Cavalry? But aren't you, General of Chariots and Cavalry, guarding the tomb of the late emperor in Chang'an?" Wu Yi was surprised.

If the main general coming was Zhang Fei, Wu Yi would naturally be convinced.

Regardless of qualifications or status, Zhang Fei is qualified to be the chief general!
Zhang Fei shook his head and said directly: "Zilong, no one is allowed to stay within a hundred steps of the general's tent. You must lead the troops to surround it quickly. Mengqi, summon the senior generals in the army to come to the general's tent to discuss matters."

Done.

Zhang Fei bowed to the man in black behind him and let him sit in the commander's seat.

The generals were shocked.

Zhang Fei is not the main general?

Who is this man in black?

Why was Zhang Fei so respectful?

Could it be the great general Guan Yu?

soon.

The generals denied this speculation again.

If it were Guan Yu, why would he cover his head in front of others?

Especially when the other man in black lifted his hat, the generals were even more shocked!

Shizhong, Fa Zheng!
Zhang Fei on the left and Fa Zheng on the right, who is qualified?

Vaguely, General Wei Yan thought of a possibility, but hesitated to speak, trying to suppress his excitement.

Not long after.

There was no one within a hundred steps of the general's tent.

Senior generals in the army also arrived one after another. These were all trustworthy veterans in the army!

Seeing the man in black sitting at the commander's seat, as well as Zhang Fei standing on the left and Fa Zheng standing on the right, the generals were also horrified.

Just as the generals were guessing the identity of the man in black, Liu Bei pulled off his black clothes, revealing his true appearance:

"Everyone, how are you?" (End of this chapter)