The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 298 Chapter 297
salty city.

For several days in a row, Yuan Jun outside the city did not move. Yuan Jun's deep trenches and high fortifications not only made Zhang Yan's cavalry with iron chains useless, but even the infantry might not be able to get their wish if they wanted to sneak attack at night.

The war between Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao has been going on for more than a month. At the beginning of the war, Yuan Shao's three-way army basically rushed towards Zhang Yan's territory like a tiger descending the mountain. People in the Central Plains were panicked.

However, with Zhang Yan's step-by-step response and the fact that various armies went to the front line to guard the dangerous places, Yuan Shao's army would not be able to drive straight in.

In the past two days, battle reports have also been sent to Xiancheng.

For Yongzhou: Niu Jin, the general of Xiaoqi, led the army to defend Chencang. Ma Teng and Han Sui's army could not attack for a long time, but lost troops and lost generals.Zhong Yao, the governor of Yongzhou, saw the right time, and went to the enemy camp alone. With emotion and reason, he succeeded in persuading Ma Teng and Han Sui to retreat voluntarily.

Along with the battle report from Yongzhou, there was also a private letter from Zhong Yao. In the letter, Zhong Yao mentioned that he hoped that Ma Teng and Han Sui could be made marquises for peace of mind, and that Zhang Yan would not fight for the sake of the war. Worry about the Northwest, he will properly handle all this.

After Zhang Yan read it, he responded immediately, planning to make Ma Teng the Marquis of Wugong County, Han Sui the Marquis of Meiyang County, and the city of Shiyi as one thousand households.

Both Wugong County and Meiyang County are in Yongzhou, but Ma Teng and Han Sui are in Liangzhou. Zhang Yan's award actually has a deep meaning.Although the marquis was rewarded, if Ma Teng and Han Sui went to take office, they had to enter Yongzhou and be restrained by Zhong Yao, the governor of Yongzhou.

In addition, Zhang Yan specially asked Zhong Yao to hold the festival and entrusted him with all the affairs of the northwest, while he concentrated on dealing with Yuan Shao.

Qingzhou: Zang Ba's troops were defeated and retreated to Mount Tai. Yuan Tan led an army to massacre tens of thousands of people in Licheng, and sent troops to attack Qijun, Beihai, and Donglai.However, the battle report also clearly stated that because of Yuan Tan's massacre of the city, the people of Qingzhou hated everyone, fearing that they would suffer the same fate, the people spontaneously organized to resist Yuan Jun's entry into Qingzhou, and the flames of uprising spread all over Qingzhou.Kong Rong, the prefect of Beihai, Wang Xiu of Biejia of Qingzhou, Bu Zhi, the prefect of Donglai, and Yan Yan, the prefect of Qijun, all closely united. Ba and Ba cooperated with each other to attack Yuan Jun together.

For a while, Yuan Jun became a rat crossing the street, everyone shouted and beat him, he couldn't eat well, he couldn't sleep well, even if he was well-equipped and well-trained, he couldn't stand the toss of days and nights, instead he was filled with righteous indignation and defended his family and country. Many Qingzhou people rushed to the Gaotang area.

Yuan Tan led the army into Jizhou, but the soldiers and horses left behind were not enough to deal with the flames of the Qingzhou Uprising. Yuan Jun could only hide in the Gaotang area, waiting for reinforcements.

On the other hand, Zhao Yun's solitary army went deep into Jizhou, swept across the entire Jizhou in just ten days, and turned Jizhou upside down.Not only that, but also attracted half of Yuan Tan's soldiers and horses to return to aid, and Yuan Xi in Youzhou also sent troops to support him. However, when Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi's two armies rushed towards Jizhou one after another, Zhao Yun suddenly rushed out again. After arriving in Jizhou, he resolutely crossed the Yellow River south, entered Cangting, and headed towards Xiancheng.

After reading the battle reports just delivered, Zhang Yan suddenly felt that the burden on his shoulders was much easier.

In fact, at the beginning of the war, when he learned that Yuan Shao's troops were divided into three groups to attack the Central Plains, Zhang Yan, who had been worried all the time, breathed a sigh of relief.

In Zhang Yan's view, what he was most worried about was Yuan Shao's 35-strong army, concentrating on attacking at one point.Because his strength is not as many as Yuan Shao's, and this means that there is a big decisive battle between the main forces.

But Yuan Shao chose to divide his troops, which is undoubtedly a favor from heaven for him.

Yuan Shao divided his troops into three routes, seemingly stabbing directly with three sharp knives, but as long as one sharp knife can't play its due role, it will affect the other two armies.Not only that, but the supply of food and grass will also become a huge problem.

In fact, Zhang Yan has been paying close attention to the entire war situation.Throughout the war, Cao Cao's actions have always puzzled him.

Zhang Yan had fought against Cao Cao before, and he knew how powerful Cao Cao was. He was very good at using troops, and he held a heavy army. Why was he so mediocre in this battle?
When Zhang Yan learned that Cao Cao led an army of [-] into Hanoi, Zhang Yan's adrenaline surged. For him, Cao Cao was far more terrifying than Yuan Shao.

In Zhang Yan's entire defense system, the defense on the western front is not considered weak, but Gao Gan entered Hedong first, attracting Tai Shici to rescue him, but Xu Huang who rushed to the rescue had not yet arrived. Cao Cao just took advantage of this vacancy and led his army to break through. Defense, entered the unguarded Hanoi, drove straight in, and crossed the Yellow River southward with lightning speed, entered the border of Henan, drove away Zhang Hong, and occupied the area around the old capital Luoyang.

Even if Xu Huang reacted quickly and occupied Hulao Pass, with Cao Cao's current strength, Xu Huang may not be able to defend if he wants to break through Hulao Pass.Once Hulao Pass is lost, Aocang will be directly exposed to Cao Cao's military front. Aocang is in danger, Xingyang is in critical condition, and even Chenliu, Yingchuan and other places will be directly exposed to Cao Cao's military front.

However, the development of things was beyond Zhang Yan's expectation. Instead of attacking, Cao Cao stood still.

Because of this subtle detail, Zhang Yan seemed to be able to guess what was the reason why Cao Cao stayed still?
Even until now, Zhang Yan has not been able to figure out what role Cao Cao played in this war.
In Hanoi, the army he led was defeated by Tai Shici one after another, and even when Cao Hong was driven away by Tai Shici, Cao Cao still stood still.

Is Cao Cao sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight?

Zhang Yan couldn't figure it out, and couldn't figure it out.

"My lord, someone shot an arrow book on the tower!" Jia Xu, the military strategist, came to the hall with an arrow tied with a letter, and bowed to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan took the arrow book, opened it, and read it hastily. After reading it, his brows were immediately wrinkled, and his eyes were full of doubts.

Jia Xu observed Zhang Yan's every move, and hurriedly asked, "My lord, did something happen?"

"Look for yourself!" Zhang Yan handed the letter to Jia Xu.

After Jia Xu read it once, he closed the letter expressionlessly, and said slowly: "There is no inscription, the origin of this letter is unknown, my lord, please don't trust me, my subordinates are worried that this is the enemy's trick to lure the enemy in."

After Zhang Yan heard this, he didn't make any statement. Instead, he shouted to the people around him: "Bring the map!"

The soldiers handed over the map and spread it out on the cases in front of Zhang Yan. The map of Yanzhou area was clear at a glance.

Zhang Yan pointed to the map one by one, and then asked: "Military division, Yuan Shao led the army to go south. If you want to transport grain and grass from Jizhou, you have to cross the Yellow River in the middle. It will take time and effort. If you are a grain guard, what would you do?" Transporting food and grass?"

When Jia Xu heard this, he already knew that Zhang Yan began to believe what was written in the letter.He glanced at the map and said slowly: "I will transport all the food and grass to the south bank of the Yellow River at one time, and then store them secretly in one place. Once the army is short of food, it can be replenished quickly."

Zhang Yan asked again: "Before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first. Therefore, the grain and grass must be stored in a very secret place. At least, most people will not realize that this place is a place to store grain and grass. Military division, if you are Yuan Shao, Where will you store your food and grass?"

Jia Xu glanced at the map again, and finally settled his eyes on Baimajin, a very inconspicuous place, and said to Zhang Yan, "There is no other place but Baimajin."

Zhang Yan smiled and said to Jia Xu: "I have the same opinion as you. If I were Yuan Shao, I would store food and grass in Baimajin. This shows that the content of this letter is true. "

Jia Xu said: "Soldiers never tire of deceit. Even if it proves that what is written in this letter is true, Baimajin is really a place for Yuan Shao's army to stockpile food, how would my lord know if this is Yuan Shao's intentional trick to lure the enemy into deep?"

"The military division is right to be worried. Naturally, I will not lead the army there lightly. Before going to Baimajin, I will definitely send out scouts to investigate." Zhang Yan said.

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Yan called a Jinyiwei and asked him to take five elite scouts to Baimajin to investigate and see if Yuan Jun's grain and grass were really stored there.

Baimajin is in Baima County, only ten miles away from the ancient ferry in Baima County. The terrain in this area is high and uplifted. Although it is on the bank of the Yellow River, there is no low-lying wetland, and the terrain is flat. Five miles north of Baimajin, There is still a river protection embankment, and the terrain of Baimajin is much higher than that of the river protection embankment. Even if the Yellow River bursts and floods, Baimajin will never be flooded.

Perhaps it was the advantages of this area that Yuan Shao chose as a place to store food.

Jin Yiwei left with the scouts, while Zhang Yan waited quietly in Xiancheng, but he didn't know who sent the letter.

However, in order to verify the authenticity of the letter and whether there is an ambush by Yuan Shaojun around, Zhang Yan has to be more cautious. As long as he makes a wrong step, what awaits him ahead may be an abyss.

As soon as Jin Yiwei left here, another scout arrived over there. As soon as he entered the hall, he immediately reported: "My lord, General Huwei Zhao Yun has led the army to Xiancheng. General Zhao Yun sent someone to ask the lord, what will the army do?" Placement?"

Zhao Yun's return is undoubtedly good news for Zhang Yan.He immediately walked out of the hall, and said to Jia Xu: "Come on, let's go together to welcome our hero's triumphant return!"

(End of this chapter)