People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 353 Shocking Change
The vast land seemed to have no boundaries, and a slowly moving black curtain began to cover the vast land. This was actually an army of tens of thousands of people. In front of them were neatly arrayed soldiers, and in the back was a huge baggage train.

The wind blew up dust, the soldiers' orderly footsteps and shouts between actions resounded through heaven and earth, and a majestic momentum emanated.

A large yellow flag was erected high, with the words "Xuan Xia" fluttering in the wind, attracting attention from afar.

This is the appearance of the Yellow Turbans in Jizhou gathering, and the direction they are heading now is towards Yanzhou. Their goal is directly at Yanzhou, which is the place where Cao Cao started his career. They want to turn into sword tips pointing directly at the center of the enemy.

At the same time, Lu Ping, the governor of Qingzhou, Xuanxia, ​​also led tens of thousands of troops to Xuzhou.

The governor of Bingzhou, Wuli, also led tens of thousands of troops. His goal was to advance further into the border areas of Yuzhou by passing through Henei.

For a time, the situation was turbulent. The world, which had been quiet for three years, was about to be hit by a storm again, and this time, it was like a violent storm. Xuanxia advanced on three fronts with great momentum, and huge pressure poured out to the south all at once.

The one who bore this pressure was Cao Cao, the most powerful and newly emerged warlord of the Han Dynasty.

"Lord Cao, Xuanxia is advancing on three fronts, two of which are attacking our territory. If we cannot repel the enemy in this battle, then the whole thing will be over. I think we should quickly ask Liu Bei and Sun Quan for help!"

Several people came in a hurry, and as soon as they entered Cao's mansion, they were invited in by the servants. As soon as they came in, they saw Cao Cao staring at the map with a frown.

When they received the notice, they naturally knew what it was. The situation was critical and Xun Yu was not in the mood to be polite, let alone analyze it in detail. After coming in, he immediately presented the countermeasures.

Cao Cao nodded and said in a deep voice, "Wen Ruo, please rest assured. As soon as the intelligence came in, I sent an envoy to ask for help. The enemy army has just set out, so there is still time for us to react."

Although Cao Cao remained calm on the surface, he was still feeling bitter in his heart.

Although the southern states and counties alliance now shared the same hatred of the enemy, he was the most uncomfortable among the princes, because it happened that his Yanzhou and Xuzhou were at the forefront of the struggle between the north and the south. As long as Xuanxia went south, he would be the first to bear the brunt.

Whether he likes it or not, he has become a de facto barrier to the other princes.

However, no matter how uncomfortable it was, he had to endure it. Since he had acted as a barrier, the other princes could not be stingy in contributing their efforts. At this critical juncture, they had to send troops and food to support him. Cao Cao naturally understood this matter and did not need anyone to remind him.

Hearing that Cao Cao had already made arrangements, Xun Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Without reinforcements, Cao Cao would definitely not be able to withstand Xuan Xia's offensive if he relied on himself.

"We need to dispatch a large army to meet the enemy troops in Yanzhou and Xuzhou as soon as possible. In the early stages of the battle, we will definitely not be able to defeat them with our own strength. Therefore, we don't need to dream of repelling the enemy. We should first stabilize the situation and slow down the enemy's offensive, and then wait for reinforcements. Only in this way will we have a chance to deal with the Yellow Turbans."

Xun Yu pondered for a while and soon figured out a strategy to deal with the enemy. After he said this, Cao Cao and the others nodded in agreement.

Each of them was well aware of the strength of the Yellow Turbans. After all, they had all suffered at the hands of the Yellow Turbans. In terms of hard power, Cao's army would certainly not be able to confront the Yellow Turbans head-on with equal forces. Although Xun Yu's strategy was a bit aggrieved, it was the only choice.

Cao Cao quickly made arrangements and immediately ordered Xiahou Dun to lead a large army to Xuzhou to resist Lu Ping's Yellow Turban army, while he personally stayed in Yanzhou to fight against Wang Dang.

"Yuzhou happens to have Zhou Yu leading the troops to suppress the bandits. He can go ahead and fight against Wuli first."

At this time, a scholar in his thirties stepped forward, looked at Yuzhou on the map, and said with a flicker in his eyes: "Zhou Yu has made considerable progress in Yuzhou, but the enemy army attacked at this critical moment. I'm afraid they are planning to support Lu Meng in Runan."

This man was named Guo Jia, who was recommended by Xun Yu to work under Cao Cao and was also quite trusted by Cao Cao. At this time, when Guo Jia spoke, everyone nodded immediately.

At first they were so shocked by Xuan Xia's offensive that they had no time to think about it carefully. Now that they were reminded of this, they also found that the timing of Xuan Xia's attack was too clever.

An attack of this scale must not have been a spur-of-the-moment idea but must have been planned in advance. And just when Zhou Yu was about to make progress, Xuan Xia launched the attack, which left them no choice but to think about it.

"The timing is just too coincidental. If I say they don't have this intention, no one will believe it. But now that they are here, we really have no choice but to respond. When Wuli's troops invade Yuzhou, Zhou Yu will be forced to turn his spearhead and meet the enemy first, and the attack on Lu will come to an end."

Xun Yu sighed, feeling quite helpless and unwilling.

Keeping Lu Meng as a thorn in Runan would obviously make them uncomfortable, and it would definitely be a hidden danger in the future.

Seeing that the annihilation of Lu Meng was imminent, but it was ruined at the critical moment. How could one not feel uncomfortable?

Cao Cao's face was gloomy, and he snorted coldly: "There are many ways to deal with Lu Meng, the little thief. For now, we should focus on the overall situation. I will write to Zhou Yu later and ask him to postpone the suppression of the thieves and mobilize troops to resist Xuan Xia's offensive first."

Upon hearing this, Xun Yu and Guo Jia both praised Cao Gong for his wisdom.

All we can do in this situation is to face the enemy head-on. Strength is the only thing that matters, and there is no room for any strategy.

After some discussion, Cao Cao quickly began to mobilize troops and food supplies, and prepared for the battle as quickly as possible.

The defense of the entire Yanzhou, especially Xuchang, suddenly became tense.

Xuan Xia's actions made the entire Cao Cao camp feel tremendous pressure, and Cao Cao himself was the first to bear the brunt. These days, he was busy with military and political affairs every moment.

However, Xuan Xia arrived even faster than he had imagined. In just about ten days, the Yellow Turban Army had entered Yanzhou.

Fortunately, Cao Cao had made sufficient preparations at this time. The cities on the front line of Yanzhou were all heavily guarded, and it was not so easy for the Yellow Turbans to advance quickly. However, he did not have more time to waste, so he gathered his troops and hurriedly led them to meet the enemy.

At the same time, Lu Ping's Yellow Turban army also entered the territory of Xuzhou and met Xiahou Dun's army head-on. The two sides began a brutal offensive and defensive battle around the city of Xuzhou.

Wu Li on the other side made even faster progress.

Henei was under the jurisdiction of the Inspector General of the Imperial Capital, and after the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, it had become a scorched earth.

Originally, this was the place where Cao Cao and Wang Dang had wrestled with each other, but now Cao Cao was unable to take care of it, which made it easier for Wu Li to move forward. He encountered basically no obstacles on his way south, and he advanced rapidly all the way to the border of Yuzhou.

Soon, Zhou Yu, who was suppressing bandits in Yuzhou, received news of Xuan Xia's invasion, and along with this news came a letter from Cao Cao.

(End of this chapter)