People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 418 Strong walls and clear fields
An army of 50,000 marched in the wilderness. Due to their formation and the long line of supplies behind them, the entire team stretched for several miles. If viewed from the sky, the army looked like a long marching team of ants.

It is difficult for such a large army to march quickly, but the pace of this army was not slow at all.

"In a few days, we will be able to enter Taiyuan County." At the front of the team, Ju Shou was riding a horse while holding a map. After finding the location of his army, he calculated the time.

"I have ordered Taishi Ci to lead the light troops ahead. They should have arrived by now. I just don't know what the current situation in Bingzhou is like." Wang Dang, who was also riding a horse, nodded and spoke solemnly: "The enemy is attacking in three directions. All three directions have great strength. This battle will not be easy for the brothers in Bingzhou. I hope we can arrive in time."

Ju Su nodded upon hearing this. This war came too suddenly. Taking into account the time the messenger asking for help spent on the road, Jizhou had to mobilize troops, manpower and materials to provide support. The current speed was already fast enough.

It can only be said that Wei's rapid attack was so fast that even the Yellow Turbans suffered a setback.

Of course, even though the situation in Bingzhou was unfavorable, the Xuanxia court did not panic after learning of the war. After all, the enemy's intentions in this battle were too obvious, and their target was only Bingzhou. Even if Bingzhou was really lost, Xuanxia would not be seriously hurt, and could just take it back later.

Cao Cao was so deliberate in uniting his allies to seize a mere Bingzhou, but given Bingzhou's own strength, it had to suffer some grievances first.

Ju Su put away the map and looked forward. "According to the Bingzhou military reports we received during the march, our army is in a very unfavorable situation. Ma Teng and Cao Cao's armies are advancing rapidly and have now pushed into the heart of Bingzhou. Even if Taishi Ci arrives now, I'm afraid he will still be facing their strong defense. After all, we have to wait for the arrival of our rear army before we can plan for the rest of the situation."

When he heard this, Wang Dang remembered the letter that Wu Li had sent him, which also explained Bingzhou's battle plan.

After a moment's silence, Wang Dang said, "Wuli wanted to join forces to cut off the finger. Although it is not clear how well he executed this plan, our army could only hear Ma Teng and Cao Cao's marching movements. This in itself is enough to explain the problem. I think he should have made some gains."

Ju Su nodded in agreement: "General Wuli's plan is very feasible. Considering the deep contradictions between Ma Teng and Han Sui, as long as Wuli and Zhang Baiqi advance steadily, even if they cannot really annihilate Han Sui, they can at least cripple him."

"If we can really inflict heavy damage on Han Sui, the subsequent battles will be much easier to fight." Wang Dang responded in a deep voice.

Ju Su added: "Although the enemy has occupied a large area of ​​Bingzhou and can recruit people and food on the spot, it is not so easy for them to hold the city and fight a protracted war with our army. Zhao Yun's troops in Shangdang are still intact and can completely clamp down on Cao's rear. Unless they really repel our counterattack, they will be trapped in an isolated area."

Having said this, Wang Dang turned around and glanced at Ju Su.

After hesitating for a while, he asked, "This battle looks a little dangerous, but it is not difficult to repel the enemy. It just takes a little more time. I still don't understand why the leader sent you here in a hurry. You are not needed here at all. What are you here for?"

Ju Su was stunned. Although Wang Dang's words were a little rude, he didn't care much.

He just stroked his beard with a smile and said: "The leader sent me for a reason. General, do you really want to know?"

Wang Dang frowned, but said, "If there is a need to keep it secret, then you don't have to say it."

Ju Su shook his head and said, "There is nothing that cannot be said. In this battle, the general only needs to fight his own army. The lord has appointed me here for only one thing, which is to help the general judge the situation. According to the situation of this battle, once the conditions are favorable, the general can counterattack and conquer Wei. At that time, the lord will also mobilize troops in the rear to support you."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Dang was shocked all over. He immediately understood that Ju Shou was actually acting as the mouthpiece.

In other words, the leader wants to swallow up the entire Wei Kingdom in one breath!

This also made Wang Dang's expression solemn. To achieve this, there must be a prerequisite first, that is, he must gain a big enough advantage over Cao Cao in the current battle, but this may not be so easy.

The Wei army and Ma Teng's Western Liang army have already occupied enough real estate in Bingzhou. Now they must be preparing supplies and building high city walls, waiting for the Yellow Turbans to attack. Even if he leads his army to support Bingzhou, his military strength is still inferior to that of the enemy. It is not just talk to counterattack and repel the enemy.

Wang Dang was certainly confident that he could successfully fight back, but he anticipated that the process would not be easy and would definitely take a long time.

He also had no way to deploy more troops. Jizhou needed to maintain garrison, otherwise even Jizhou would be taken over by Wei State, unless Xuan Xia planned to expand the scale of the war and send more troops from Youzhou. However, in this case, Wu State and Han State would definitely join in the fight, and then they would be heading for a decisive battle again.

Xuanxia had already made a plan for how to unify China, which was to nibble away at the enemy step by step. As the party with the advantage, there was no need to add uncontrollable risks to themselves. Now that the process of unifying the world was halfway completed, as long as they honestly defeated Wei, the balance would be completely tilted and there would be no more accidents. The rest of Liu Bei and Sun Quan would just be things to be dealt with later.

Ju Su did not keep the secret any longer and laughed, "Since Cao Cao can play a quick attack, why can't I, Xuan Xia? Right now, Wei seems to be gaining the upper hand, but this is also an opportunity to paralyze Liu Bei and Sun Quan. What the lord wants is to accumulate strength and launch a quick attack at the right time to push back and end everything before Han and Wu can react. Once Wei dies, no matter how Han and Wu struggle in the future, they will not be able to reverse the situation."

"I see."

Wang Dang's heart skipped a beat. The key to this matter was that once the Yellow Turbans gained the upper hand in the war with the Wei army, they had to end the war cleanly and efficiently with lightning speed, leaving no chance for Liu Bei and Sun Quan to intervene.

This is indeed difficult, but exciting enough.

If successful, Xuan Xia would have completely caught the deer that the big man had lost. If the Wei Kingdom was destroyed, not to mention that the fantasy of the southern countries to march north would be completely shattered, even the confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties would no longer be sustainable. What awaited them was only a slow death.

Is it over? It's time to drink and declare victory.
"The leader is still as risk-averse as ever, yet decisive and bold. After the situation is reversed, as long as our army moves quickly, there is indeed a chance to eliminate the State of Wei without a full-scale war. I will do my best to create favorable conditions for this goal."

As he spoke, Wang Dang narrowed his eyes slightly and looked into the distance, with deep expectation in his eyes.

The Jizhou army advanced at a steady pace, and it would take several days to reach the battlefield area. By this time, Taishi Ci, who had already advanced early, had actually arrived at the city of Jinyang. Their arrival announced that the joint offensive momentum of Wei and Xiliang had ended, and the next round would be the Yellow Turbans' counterattack.

However, the Wei State and Ma Teng's quick attack in the first round had already gained a big enough advantage. After occupying a large area of ​​territory, they also had the capital to slowly deal with the Yellow Turbans.

Cao Cao's expected war goal had been achieved. From then on, he no longer thought about defeating the Yellow Turbans. As long as he could hold on to the occupied areas and force the Yellow Turbans to retreat through a long-term defense battle, that would be enough.

And now, Cao Cao and Ma Teng are obviously ready, which can be seen from what Taishi Ci has seen along the way.

After entering Taiyuan County in the heart of Bingzhou, all the cities and villages that Taishi Ci passed by along the way were looted by the Wei army. The cruelty of the Wei army made Taishi Ci so angry that his eyes turned red.

Almost all the young and strong people and food supplies that could be taken away from Taiyuan County were looted by the Wei army. Even for the things that could not be taken away, the Wei army would burn mountains, destroy fields, and demolish houses. What was seen along the way was like a doomsday scene.
As Taishi Ci walked along the way, he saw the people of Taiyuan crying all the way.

This kind of behavior is more ferocious than that of bandits and more cruel than that of thieves. It doesn't seem like a civil war in Chinese civilization at all, but more like a foreign invasion that wipes out a whole family.

In fact, from the perspective of an old warlord like Cao Cao, this really cannot be called a civil war.

The premise of a civil war is that both sides form a common system, and the civilian population is the most important resource. Once occupied, it can be used directly by themselves. In this way, the civilians will not be treated too cruelly during the war.

But now the people of Xuanxia are obviously no longer someone that Cao Cao and his men can convert, so they can do whatever they want without any scruples.

After Cao's army's scorched earth and cleared the countryside, all that was left in Taiyuan County for the Yellow Turbans were a large number of women, children, the elderly and the young who were abandoned by Cao's army. Of course, Cao's army kept these people not out of mercy, but simply because they wanted to use them to increase the burden on the Yellow Turbans.

This strategy was obvious and shameless, but it was indeed useful. At least the Yellow Turbans could not ignore these tens of thousands of civilians.

As a result, Taishi Ci, who arrived in Taiyuan first, did not join the battle at the first thing he did, but began to find a way to resettle these people. All the people along the way were taken in by Taishi Ci, and then he sent troops to move the people to the rear.

It took Taishi Ci two days to resettle the people in this way. Moreover, transferring them to the rear was only the beginning of the work. The subsequent need for survival supplies for such a large number of people would also increase the logistical burden of the Yellow Turbans.

This time, the attack of the Wei army did bring severe disaster to Bingzhou. The Yellow Turbans already felt uncomfortable before the formal counterattack began, which also made Taishi Ci hate the Wei army with a vengeance.

What made him feel helpless was that he arrived a little late. Cao's army had already cleared the countryside, and now in front of him were several large cities occupied by Cao's army, which were obviously not so easy to conquer.

(End of this chapter)