Soldiers come to the world

On the surface of the outer river in Yidu County, [-] warships are densely laid out on the surface of the river, just like crucian carp crossing the river, with a huge scale.

This is the [-] Jingzhou army that is about to march west to Bashu. They have assembled on the river outside Yidu City for two days, waiting for the final departure order.

The so-called Battle of Jingnan is just an excuse for their army to gather. Jingzhou has made full preparations for several months, including 30 shi of grain, several military supplies, more than 1 mules, horses and livestock, and mobilized [-] boatmen and three Wan logistics civilian husband.

Jingzhou put almost all the spoils of the Chibi War into this war.

The [-] troops were divided into two groups. On one side, the veteran Huang Zhong was the main general, and Liao Hua was the deputy general, leading an army of [-] to go by land. On the other side, Liu Jing led an army of [-] to go by water.

On the pier, Liu Jing was mobilizing hundreds of generals above the military ranks for the final mobilization before the expedition.

"Generals, Liu Zhang of Yizhou passed away not long ago, and a civil war broke out between his two sons for the succession. In Badong County, a war broke out between the army of Dongzhou soldiers and the local army of Bashu. This is our opportunity, the banner of the Jingzhou Army will fly over Bashu from now on.”

Speaking of this, Liu Jing slowly glanced at the crowd, and saw that the faces of the crowd were solemn, and their eyes were full of tension, as if they were about to participate in a bloody battle. He smiled and said: "You generals, don't be too nervous. , to seize Bashu, our strength has an absolute advantage, Liu Zhang is newly dead, people's hearts are confused, and tens of thousands of troops are still trapped in Hanzhong. As long as we don't take risks and make foolish moves in this battle, within two months at most, we will definitely win. If you can win Bashu, all the soldiers who participated in the battle will be rewarded!"

The last sentence caused the officers to rejoice, and the atmosphere on the pier suddenly became lively. Liu Jing waved his hand again, and the officers on the pier became quiet again. Liu Jing then ordered: "Depart in an hour, and now go back to prepare !” [

The officers dispersed one after another. At this time, Sima Yi hurried up with a messenger soldier and said, "Zhou Mu, there is news from Wucheng just now."

The messenger soldier stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, holding up a letter high up, "This is a request for help from my prefect to Zhou Mu!"

Liu Jing quickly accepted the letter, and a trace of inexplicable worry arose in his heart. Before he left for the expedition, he actually received a letter asking for help from Pang Xi, which gave Liu Jing an ominous premonition.

He read the letter, it was Pang Xi who was defeated by Yan Yan, and now his troops are weak, hiding in Wucheng County, begging Jingzhou to send troops to help.

"Was it the defeat of Badong, or the defeat of the Wucheng army?" Pang Xi didn't write clearly in the letter, and Liu Jing asked the soldier who reported the letter.

"Qizhou Mu, first Badong was defeated and General Pang Jun was killed. Yan Yan's army chased and killed the remnant soldiers all the way to Wucheng. return."

"Then how many troops are there in Wucheng now?" Liu Jing asked again.

"Prefect Pang has already transferred the Zigui County defenders to Wucheng, and the strength is less than [-]."

"I see!"

Liu Jing asked his own soldiers to take the reporter down. At this moment, Sima Yi smiled slightly and said, "It seems that this Yan Yan is also quite cunning, and will be a stumbling block for us to go west."

"Military commander, don't worry too much. Although Yan Yan is a bit strategic, he can't stop the car with his arms. If our army marches westward, it will crush his [-] troops to pieces!"

Liu Jing stared at a piece of green farmland in the distance, he couldn't help sighing softly, "It's my sin to go out in spring!"

After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the big ship, ordering around, "Ready to go!"

An hour later, with the beating of huge war drums, [-] warships hoisted their sails, and the sails were like clouds, which was very spectacular. The curtain of Jingzhou's westward expansion.

[

In Yedu, under the night, a carriage slowly stopped in front of the prime minister's mansion. With the support of a family boy, Xun You got out of the carriage. On the steps of the mansion gate, more than a dozen people carried lanterns, illuminating the mansion gate as if it were daytime , Cao Zhi, who was waiting in front of the steps, rushed forward, bowed and said: "Father is waiting for Shibo in the study, sir, please come with me!"

Xun You nodded and smiled, "What happened, your father is so eager to find me?"

"I don't know the specific nephew, it seems to be related to Yizhou."

"Oh! Is there any news from Yizhou?" Xun You asked, scratching his beard.

"Just now, there was an express letter from Yizhou, and my father seemed shocked. The news is probably not good."

The bad news from Yizhou was expected by Xun You. At the beginning of the month, he told the Prime Minister that Liu Jing gathered an army in Jiangling, in name to attack Jingnan, but in fact he was preparing to use troops against Bashu. Three suggestions are put forward. One is to let the emperor issue an edict to clarify the sphere of influence of each prince, and not give Liu Jing an excuse to cross the border to attack Yizhou.

Secondly, it is recommended that Cao Jun increase his troops in Runan and put pressure on Anlu County so that Liu Jing would not dare to act rashly.

The third suggestion was to remind Liu Zhang to increase troops in Badong County and strengthen Yizhou's own defense, but for some reason, the prime minister did not adopt the first two suggestions, nor did he explain the reason to him, but Xun You could guess one or two, the key is The prime minister's mentality is not the same as before. Since the Chibi fiasco, the prime minister has obviously shifted from offense to defense, and his focus has also shifted from military to politics, losing his previous vigor.

Of course, Xun You can also understand that the Red Cliff War caused too much material and financial losses in the Central Plains, and it has not recovered so far. It is obviously unrealistic to think about sending troops on a large scale. Pay more attention to their status in the Han Dynasty.

On the contrary, Liu Jing is young and vigorous, full of vigor, with elite troops and the people, and with the assistance of top talents like Jia Xu and Sima Yi, it is reasonable that the expansion of the business is on the rise.

Frankly speaking, Xun You didn't have a good strategy to restrain Liu Jing's westward expansion, unless it caused civil strife in Jingzhou, but it seemed unlikely, and Jiangdong was not a threat. After much deliberation, there was only one way to intervene.

Xun You followed Cao Zhi quickly to the inner hall, where Cao Cao called his confidantes to discuss military and state affairs, and saw the prime minister pacing back and forth in the hall alone, looking very worried, which made Xun You feel inexplicable sad.

In the past, among the five great counselors, Guo Jia died of illness, Jia Xu surrendered to Liu Jing, his uncle turned to government affairs and no longer advised the prime minister, and after the defeat of Chibi, Cheng Yu felt guilty and kept claiming that he would not be sick. Now the prime minister is left alone Alone.

Xun You walked quickly to the hall, bowed and said: "I see the prime minister!"

"Gongda came just in time, please come in quickly!"

Cao Cao was anxious, and he talked with Xun You about the family life. When the two sat down, he cut to the chase and said, "I just got the news that Liu Zhang passed away unexpectedly."

This news surprised Xun You, "How did you die?"

"I heard that he died suddenly on the way of inspection. The cause of death is unknown, and it is very likely that he died of poisoning."

Cao Cao sighed and said again: "Now Liu Zhang's two sons accuse each other of poisoning each other, and each leads an army to conquer. The civil war is fierce, and fierce fighting broke out between the Dongzhou soldiers and the Bashu faction in the south. Yizhou is now It's a mess."

Xun You snorted slightly and said, "Liu Zhang died suddenly, who else could it be except Liu Jing? It's a pity that Liu Zhang and two idiots are fighting for their own interests, but they don't care about the enemy."

Cao Cao nodded, "It is obvious that Liu Jing is the biggest beneficiary of Liu Zhang's death. As long as Liu Zhang is removed, Yizhou will become the master's land, and Liu Jing can rush to appoint Xinzhou to the imperial court. Before Mu, he seized Bashu in the euphemistic name of quelling the "rebellion" in Bashu and protecting the people, and he stood up morally, then he would "force" me to admit his control of Bashu."

Speaking of this, Cao Cao's eyes showed a kind of unconcealable worry, and said to Xun You: "Liu Jing occupies Jingzhou and seizes Bashu, the second richest place in the world, and Bashu is even more advantageous. If his Shangyong If the strategy is successful, the Bashu Han will be in a pot, and then the soldiers will point to Guanzhong, and they will occupy half of the Han, Gongda, what should we do now?"

Xun You secretly sighed in his heart, Liu Zhang died suddenly, and Liu Jing's capture of Yizhou has been accomplished, what else can be done to stop him, but he must share Cao Cao's worries, pondered for a while, Xun You said slowly: " I have three strategies, which may be able to slow down Liu Jing's westward march."

Of course Cao Cao also knew that this matter was extremely difficult. If it was easy, he could decide by himself. It was precisely because of the available plans that he invited Xun You. As expected, Xun You did not disappoint him and proposed three strategies. He smiled and said, "Gongda, please tell me!"

"The first plan can be called an urgent plan, and it must be done immediately. The court must immediately recognize Liu Xun or Liu Wei as the governor of Yizhou, and then send people to Yizhou to persuade their brothers to stop their internal strife and make them unanimous. Liu Jing is morally untenable, and at the same time, he also suggested that he immediately station troops in Nanyang or Runan, taking advantage of Liu Jing's westward advance and Jingzhou's emptiness, to overwhelm Jingzhou and "force" Liu Jing to retreat."

Cao Cao nodded silently. He can admit that Liu Wei is the shepherd of Yizhou, and he can let Huang Quan reconcile the civil war. This is no problem, but he thinks it is inappropriate to attack Jingzhou. Last time Xun You proposed this plan, and he did not adoption.

It's not because he and Liu Jing signed a mutual non-aggression contract. That kind of contract is meaningless to him. The key is that there are Han River and Yangtze River blocking, and Jiangxia has a strong navy. His attack on Jingzhou is not effective, but tore up Breaking the contract gave Liu Jing the opportunity to attack Nanyang, so Cao Cao weighed it again and again, and did not adopt the plan of stationing troops in Runan.

But Cao Cao didn't want to explain too much, so he asked: "Gongda, please tell me the second plan!"

Xun You felt that Cao Cao was not very surprised. He probably would not accept the idea of ​​forcing Jingzhou by soldiers. However, he had to say again: "If Liu Jing occupies Bashu, the prime minister can secretly support Bashu native faction, and at the same time dispatch The contradiction between Bashu local faction and Dongzhou scholars made it difficult for Liu Jing to gain a foothold in Yizhou, and he was forced to abandon Yizhou in the end. This plan will take a certain amount of time, but the effect will be very good, so it is also called delay plan.”

"That's right!" Cao Cao praised: "This is a plan to draw salary from the bottom of the pot. Without the support of Bashu people, Liu Jing would not be able to swallow Bashu even if he swallowed it. More importantly, it can buy me time. I have adopted one plan, and I will ask Gongda for the third plan."

Xun You thought for a while and said: "The third strategy, let's call it a make-up strategy. What Weichen means is that we did not seize the opportunity in Bashu and Hanzhong, and today's passiveness has formed, so our next step is to seize the opportunity in Liu Before Jing, block his next step."

"Gongda refers to Guanzhong?" Cao Cao asked.

Xun You nodded, "It's Guanzhong!"

Cao Cao paced slowly with his hands behind his back. He understood what Xun You meant. The key to Guanzhong was Ma Chao. If Ma Chao was not eliminated, Liu Jing would most likely take advantage of his alliance with Ma Chao to seek Guanzhong.

For Ma Chao, once Liu Jing entered Guanzhong, it meant that he had complete control over Longyou, and he no longer had to worry about Cao Jun's support for Han Sui in Guanzhong, and would even ask Liu Jing to help him destroy Han Sui.

However, for Liu Jing, if he captures Guanzhong, he will form a trend of encircling the Central Plains in the south and west, forming a strategic encirclement of himself, making him lose sight of the other, and will inevitably be eaten away by Liu Jing step by step. Only he can take control of Guanzhong first. Killing Ma Chao and blocking Liu Jing in Hanzhong is the correct strategy.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao turned around and asked, "If we want to destroy Ma Chao, what should we do?"

Xun You stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Ma Chao has the advantages of cavalry, and most of the generals in the army are Qiang people. Longyou is his foundation. If it is more difficult to destroy him in Longyou, it is better to lure him to Guanzhong and destroy him in Guanzhong. "

Cao Cao was overjoyed, and quickly asked: "Is the general going to come out?"

Xun You whispered a few words to Cao Cao, Cao Cao nodded repeatedly, gave a thumbs up and said in praise: "Gongda's strategy is brilliant!"

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