Soldiers come to the world

<>

"What Zhong De means is that Liu Jing wants to unify the south first?" Cao Cao understood what Cheng Yu meant.

Cheng Yu nodded, "It must be so. It is not difficult for Liu Jing to destroy Jiangdong, but he is very afraid that Cao Jun will support Jiangdong on the front line of Jingzhou. Once Sun Cao joins forces and the Han army attacks Jiangdong, Cao Jun will attack Jingzhou in a large scale, and the Han army will have no choice but to attack Jiangdong." If we don’t return troops to rescue Jingzhou, but if the Han army wins the strategic fulcrum of Hefei, we will be forced to deploy a large number of troops on the front line of Qiaojun and Xuzhou, so that we can no longer attack Jingzhou, and the Han army can calmly march into Jiangdong and unify the south. gone."

Cao Cao had a sudden realization that he himself was also a man of great talent and boldness. It was only because he was troubled by the establishment of a son recently and his energy was distracted that he could not see through it. Cheng Yu pointed him out at the key point. Only then did Cao Cao's lost path suddenly become clear.

In fact, after Liu Jing captured Chang'an, he took a defensive position in the north, including forming an alliance with him to fight against the Huns, and willing to marry him, and constantly showing goodwill. All this shows that Liu Jing is no longer willing to start a war in the north. Destroy the already fragile northern economy.

It's a pity that Cao Cao didn't see through this point. When he was still worried about Liu Jing's attack on Luoyang, Liu Jing's strategy had quietly moved south to Hefei. Xun You also saw this, so he wrote "Hefei "Vertical and horizontal, three points in the world" is actually reminding Cao Cao of the importance of keeping Jiangdong.

Once Liu Jing destroys Jiangdong and Jiaozhou and unifies the south, he will have no worries. He will strategically encircle Wei from the west and south. It is not impossible to destroy Wei and unify the world.

Figured this out, Cao Cao sighed: "It seems that the battle of Hefei is definitely not a war between Cao and Liu."

Cheng Yu smiled and said: "Since Duke Wei also understands this, we need to bring in Sun Quan as well, and continue to negotiate and complete the covenant that was not completed last year. If Duke Wei does not object, I am willing to go to Jiangdong on behalf of Duke Wei." .”

Cao Cao pondered for a while and said, "The reason why the covenant was not concluded last year is that Sun Quan was afraid of Liu Jing and had no confidence in us. We must let Sun Quan have confidence in us. Otherwise, even if I go to Jiangdong again, the negotiation may not be successful."

Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "At this moment, at that moment, if Sun Quan knows that Liu Jing is going to destroy Jiangdong first, I'm afraid he will be more active than Duke Wei. If Duke Wei is really worried, I have a plan. Confidence, and finally contributed to the alliance between Wei and Wu."

After that, Cheng Yu whispered something to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao nodded, "Soochow's strategy is not a big problem, the key is Lujiang, will we have a chance?"

"Wei Chen believes that Yuan will never let Duke Wei down."

Cao Cao pondered for a long time, and finally made up his mind. Now that he has decided to fight the Han army, he can no longer be timid, "Okay! I will give Yuan an order."

.........

Cao Cao deployed [-] troops on the front line of Hefei, mainly distributed in the two cities of Hefei and Shouchun. Among them, Shouchun was assisted, and the deputy general Man ** led [-] troops to guard Hefei. The coach Zhang Liao personally led [-] troops to guard .

In terms of generals, in addition to the lieutenant general Man Jing who guarded Shouchun, Cao Cao appointed two lieutenants Zang Ba and Yu Jin, as well as counselors Xin Pi and Sima Jiang Ji, to Zhang Liao.

Although Cao Cao's inspection of Hefei had just ended, and everyone should have breathed a sigh of relief, a military order sent by Cao Cao immediately made everyone nervous again.

In the lobby, Zhang Liao said slowly to the crowd: "Duke Wei has decided to form an alliance with Sun Quan and join hands with the Han army to fight Hefei. Invading Wuhu, let's discuss, how should we fight this battle?"

There was silence in the lobby. The news came so suddenly that everyone was unprepared and speechless for a while. Zhang Liao also understood this, and smiled at everyone: "I know everyone is not prepared, but I have an idea. I have been considering the plan for the past three months, but without Wei Gong’s order, I dare not implement it, and now I may have a chance to cooperate with Wei Gong’s request.”

Counselor Simpi nodded, "I would like to listen to the long-term strategy."

Zhang Liao ordered someone to hang up a large map with a length of one foot and a width of one foot. He pointed to the red circles on the map with a wooden pole and said, "These red circles are currently the garrison points of the Han army, and three of them are in Wankou. There are 150 troops and 4 warships in Ruxukou, led by General Lou Fa; Likou Town on the other side of Wuhu has [-] troops and [-] warships. There are still [-] garrisons in Nanling County between Xukou, with a total strength of about [-], while we have [-] troops, far superior in strength to the opponent, but it is a pity that the navy is insufficient."

"Do you want to compete with the Han army?" Yu Jin couldn't help interrupting Zhang Liao's introduction.

Zhang Liao shook his head, "I just want to introduce each other's troops. I need ships not for water battles with the Han army, but for preparations for the battle. Now a large amount of food and supplies are hoarded in Shouchun. Although the river has been dredged, our cargo ships are not enough. Fifty ships, less than ten ships with a thousand stone or more, and they are very dilapidated. It is almost impossible to complete the battle preparation with this kind of ships. I wanted to buy civilian ships from Jiangdong, but the Yangtze River was blocked by the Han army, and the ships could not pass. Wuhu alone The warships of the Han army can wipe out us completely, which is also the main reason why the Han army has no fear, so the key to accomplishing Duke Wei's task of preparing for war is to get ships."

Everyone was deep in thought, but no one understood Zhang Liao's intention. At this moment, Zhang Liao saw that Jiang Jiruo had realized something, and said with a smile, "Did Jiang Sima think about it?"

Jiang Ji was the prefect of Yangzhou Biejia and Danyang. He has been an official in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, and he knows the situation along the Yangtze River like the palm of his hand. When Zhang Liao mentioned the need for ships, he suddenly thought of a place. idea?"

Zhang Liao laughed, "Jiang Sima is worthy of Jiangnan Tong, he hit the nail on the head with one sentence, yes, my plan is to seize the Jingzhou civilian ships."

Zhang Liao pointed at Liyang in the east, and said to everyone: "Liyang is a high-quality iron ore producing area. In the past, the Tao family bought three large iron mines in Liyang, and then handed them over to the Jingzhou government. A large amount of iron ore was transported away. I sent people to investigate. There are nearly [-] ore-carrying ships moored in Liyang, all of which are large ships with a thousand stone or more. We can seize these civilian ships, and then use manpower to pull the fleet south and return to Hefei."

Xin Pi, a counselor next to him, laughed and said, "If this is the case, I'm afraid we'll have to send out a large number of troops to smack our mouths."

"Sir, you're right! If you don't capture Ruxukou, the mining ship will not be able to sail back to Feifei, but if you send troops to Ruxukou and attack Liyangshi, you will be able to fulfill Wei Gong's great trust."

At this time, Zang Ba said, who had been silent all the time: "Our Hefei city has not yet been built. If we send out such a large number of troops, will the Battle of Hefei be triggered in advance? Has the governor considered this danger?"

"Of course I have."

Zhang Liao glanced at Zang Ba and saw that there was worry in his eyes, so he smiled and explained: "Only in terms of the Battle of Hefei, our move to send troops to the mouth may be meaningless, and it will only be found by the Han army." It is an excuse to launch the Battle of Hefei, but will Huang Zhong launch the Battle of Hefei from this? I don’t think so. As the first general of the Han Army, Huang Zhong, how can he not know Liu Jing’s strategic intentions, how can he not know how to launch Hefei The importance of the battle?

Under such circumstances, if he rushes to the battle, it will destroy Liu Jing's campaign deployment and have an incalculable impact on the Hefei battle. Therefore, with Huang Zhong's prudence, he will inevitably shrink his troops first to reduce losses. Report to Liu Jing that this trip will take at least a month, and what Duke Wei wants is time and the retreat of the Han army. "

Both Yu Jin and Zang Ba nodded, approving Zhang Liao's analysis, and Simpi sighed, "I'm far-sighted and far-sighted, even I, a counselor, feel ashamed."

Seeing that there was no objection from the crowd, Zhang Liao immediately said: "Since there is no objection, we will follow this strategy!"

..........

The distance between Hefei and Liyang is about [-] miles. The landforms are mainly plains, which are mixed with hills and mountains. The mountains are generally not high and covered by large forests. The famous mountains such as Baochan Mountain and Han Mountain are famous. The pass is like Zhaoguan, where Wu Zixu's hair became white, and Zhaoguan is also the boundary pass between Wei Guo and Soochow.

Zang Ba led [-] elite soldiers and marched towards Zhaoguan all the way day and night. He was not worried about a fierce battle with the Jiangdong Army. A hundred mining ships fled into the Yangtze River, and all their previous efforts were wasted.

Therefore, capturing Zhaoguan became the key to the whole operation. Once Zhaoguan was captured, they could bypass other beacon towers and go straight to Liyang County, but Zhaoguan was the first hurdle they could not bypass.

Of course, Zhaoguan cannot be taken by force, but can only be taken by strategy. Fortunately, Cao Jun is confronting the Han army in the Hefei area, and Jiangdong's army never dreamed that Cao Jun would raid Zhaoguan, so they seized the most favorable place in Zhaoguan.

At dusk, a caravan was hurrying towards Zhaoguan. This small caravan consisted of dozens of mules carrying [-] halite on their backs. There were only seven or eight people, led by a middle-aged man. It was getting dark. , they were obviously afraid of missing Sutou, so they hurried to Zhaoguan.

At this time, Zhaoguan had not yet closed, and more than a dozen soldiers of the Jiangdong Army were checking passers-by and merchants before closing the gate. When the mule team drove to close the gate, they were immediately stopped by the soldiers, "Stop!"

A Shichang stepped forward, looked at the mule team and asked, "Where did they come from, and what kind of goods are they transporting?"

"We are coming from Shouchun, transporting some salt, a small business, please let me go."

Then, the middle-aged man took out an official guide and handed it to Shi Chang. This was issued by the Shouchun government to prove that the salt they trafficked was legal official salt. After getting the official introduction, you can go through the formal pass, and you will be less troubled.

Although Chief Shi was not very literate, he recognized the official seal stamped on the back. He nodded, "Since there is an official quotation, then the toll will be reduced and you will pay fifty dollars."

Caravans have to pay to pass the customs, the rules of the world, Zhaoguan is no exception, the middle-aged man obviously knows it, he immediately took out a handful of money, counted sixty and handed it to Shichang, Shichang saw that he was very upset. Jiang Xiaqian, who knows the rules and is very tough, suddenly laughed, and waved his hand, "Let go!"

The caravan quickly entered Zhaoguan, but did not leave in a hurry, but found a hotel in Zhaoguan. It was getting dark soon, and they had to spend the night in Zhaoguan.

Everyone unloaded the goods, and the man took the mules to feed them. The middle-aged man walked into a room and immediately tore off his fake beard and eyebrows, revealing a murderous face. The middle-aged man was being dressed up by Zang Ba.