Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 425 Competing in the Central Plains ([-])
"My lord, uh..."

Liu Ye entered the big tent, but saw that Cao Cao was surrounded by people. Everyone's expressions were not quite right, and they were a little confused. They didn't know what happened, and quickly swallowed back what they were about to say.

"No defense!"

Cao Cao waved his hands, sat up straight, ordered everyone to go back to their seats, and let Liu Ye take his seat, then asked, "How is Ziyang's trip to Huainan? Will Sun Ce agree to temporarily borrow Huainan and Lujiang County Yugu?"

Liu Ye suppressed the question in his heart, cupped his hands and replied, "The king of Wu has promised to lend the two counties of Huainan and Lujiang to my lord!"

"Okay, great!"

Cao Cao applauded furiously. There have been bad news in the past few days, and finally he heard a piece of good news.

Smiles also appeared on the faces of all civil and military personnel. Sun Ce was willing to give up Jianghuainan and Lujiang counties. This is definitely good news for the countless people in Cao Cao's military group and the tens of thousands of troops who are now settled down.

Although it was said to be a temporary loan, everyone tacitly understood what was going on.

Although there is no allusion from Jingzhou, everyone understands it in their hearts.

When Cao Cao borrowed Huainan, he definitely borrowed money but never repaid it.

After discussing various matters for a while, Cao Cao immediately decided that tomorrow he would send troops across the Huai River to the south, and negotiate with the officials sent by Sun Ce on the specific matters of receiving Huainan and Lujiang, so as to appease the people as soon as possible and arrange defenses to prevent the army from going south.

Liu Ye looked at Cao Cao's face, but still asked the question in his heart, "My lord, what happened?"

Cao Cao sighed, his face darkened and he didn't speak.

Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao's face and told about Xiahou Dun's death in battle.

After hearing this, Liu Ye couldn't help weeping, the joy and excitement just now were gone.

As the chief general of the Cao army, Xiahou Dun was also the most powerful arm of Cao Cao, but now he died on the battlefield. Not to mention the blow to the morale of the army is very fatal, even Liu Ye and Cheng Yu, who have followed Cao Cao for a long time, are kind of sad. Feel.

Naturally, everyone was a little more pessimistic about the future.

This is the consequence of Xiahou Dun's death in battle, and this impact will not be transferred by human will.

The next day, Cao Cao immediately led his army across the Huaihe River, entered Huainan, and handed over everything to the officials sent by Sun Ce.

Half a day later, Gao Shun personally led [-] former troops to catch up, but it was too late.

Cao Cao is cunning and wise. Although he was defeated by Gao Shun in the decisive battle between the two armies and suffered a small loss, if he wanted to run away with all his heart, Gao Shun would not be able to stay. Failed to hold Cao Cao.

If Fazheng hadn't seen through Cao Cao's tricks several times, Gao Shun might have been tricked to death by Cao Cao.

After all, a head-on confrontation to win the battlefield is different from a pursuit battle.

In a decisive battle head-on, there is no way to hide the conspiracy and tricks, relying on the commanding ability of the commanding general and the overall combat effectiveness of the army. In this regard, Gao Shun is absolutely excellent, and the soldiers he brought out are also among the best in the world.

But the pursuit battle is different, all kinds of tricks and maneuvers can exert the greatest lethality.

Gao Shun is not good at this, but Cao Cao is good at it.

Dig a trap at will, Gao Shun may step into it if he is not paying attention.

Fortunately, Luo Zheng had been prepared for a long time, so that Fazheng came to the army to use his schemes, so that he would not be killed by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao had already escaped across the Huai River and was too late to catch up. After discussing with Fazheng, Gao Shun ordered the army to camp on the spot.

Two days later, the rear army arrived and set up camp in front of Xuyi, waiting for Luo Zheng's army to arrive.

Luo Zheng's army arrived very quickly. It took less than ten days for [-] cavalry. On the seventh day after Cao Cao fled to Huainan, they rushed all the way to the Xuyi camp. Gao Shun and Fazheng set up camp early. Ten thousand cavalry directly stationed in the camp on the left.

Chinese army tent.

Luo Zhengzheng didn't take off his clothes, so he called all the generals above the school lieutenant to discuss military affairs.

At a glance, there are no fewer than 40 people under the tent.

Luo Zheng, the captain of many military commanders, can only be called by name, but he is not familiar with them at all.

Luo Zheng said in a deep voice: "Are you sure, Sun Ce really gave up Huainan and Lujiang counties to Cao Cao?"

Fazheng nodded and said, "It's confirmed, it's true!"

Luo Zheng frowned suddenly, and said after a long while: "Sun Ce is not simple, Cao Aman is certainly a scheming man, Sun Ce is not a simple person, he can be so decisive, give up the rich Huainan and Lujiang to Cao Aman, and have to let the lonely and widowed look at each other look."

Jia Xu caressed his beard and said: "Sun Ce also has the appearance of a hero, not inferior to his father Sun Jian. I have heard that the Eastern Wu navy is good at fighting. If we don't try to lift the blockade of the Jiangdong navy, our army may not be able to cross the Huai River."

Fazheng said: "It's a pity that General Gan Ning's navy is still in a stalemate with Yuan Shang in the river. Otherwise, if there is a navy to respond, our army can take advantage of the situation and cross the Huai River to the south, defeat Cao Cao in one fell swoop, and drive Sun Ce back to Jiangdong."

Luo Zheng frowned and said nothing, even if the Gan Ning navy came, it might not be the opponent of the Soochow navy.

It has nothing to do with the ability and level of the generals of the navy, it is really due to the characteristics of the region.

People who grew up on horseback are undoubtedly more suitable to become cavalrymen.

Southerners who live by the water are naturally more accustomed to water warfare than northerners.Although the river is rich, it is far less than the river.However, the people in the south mostly depend on the river water for their livelihood. They have been fishing in the water since they were young, and it has become an instinct to be proficient in water.

In this regard, the northerners cannot compare.

The northerners are more accustomed to riding horses, are stronger than the southerners, and are more suitable for serving as soldiers, which is also inferior to the southerners.

As far as the navy is concerned, Gan Ning's navy is indeed inferior to the Soochow and Jingzhou navy's proficiency in water warfare.

But when it comes to cavalry and infantry, no matter the Jingzhou army or the Jiangdong army, they are not as strong and good at fighting as the dry army.

"That's it!"

Luo Zheng thought for a while, then waved his hand, and said: "Wait for the follow-up army to arrive, and then care about it!"

"My lord is wise!"

All the civil and military officials praised, and then discussed other military affairs.

Five days later, the [-] troops stationed at Lingbi rushed to Xuyi to assemble.

In mid-July, another [-] troops rushed to Xuyi.

When Cao Cao gave up Xuzhou, he had lost the hearts of the people. Xuzhou's gentry were used to playing with the wind. Seeing that Cao Cao had given up Xuzhou and ran away, who would continue to fight against the Gan army? They immediately turned against each other, and the Qian army quickly captured The whole territory of Xuzhou.

However, Xuzhou is new, and the hearts of the people are still uncertain. Luo Zheng still left [-] troops stationed in various places.

So far, Luo Zheng has assembled more than [-] troops in Xuyi and Anfengjin.

Luo Zheng adopted Jia Xu's suggestion, made Chen Deng the governor of Xuzhou, and used the Xuzhou scholars who took the lead to serve. He stabilized the situation in a very short period of time, and then discussed the strategy of marching into Huainan with his confidants.

When the news reached Huainan, Cao Cao and Sun Ce were also actively preparing for the battle, preparing to join forces to reject the army going south.

For a while, the land of Huainan was covered with clouds of war, and the situation was unprecedentedly tense.

(End of this chapter)