Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 439 Going South to Jingxiang
Nanyang, Wancheng.

"General!"

The adjutant hurried into the inner hall and bowed his hands to Zhao Yun.

"Free gift!"

Zhao Yun waved it around and asked, "Is there something important?"

The adjutant said: "I just received the military order from my lord, I want to attack Jingzhou first, and then go down to Huainan."

Zhao Yun's eyes were fixed, and he said in a deep voice, "Why did you change the plan temporarily?"

The adjutant said: "The last general doesn't know, he only received the military order from the lord, and the [-] western troops have already rushed to Wancheng in batches."

"Western Army?"

Zhao Yun's eyes were fixed again. The Hundred Thousand Western Army is the most elite army in the dry army. It is called the Western Army because it is stationed in the Xixiao Camp in Chang'an. Both in terms of equipment and training, it is better than the field soldiers. professional army.

The purpose of transferring the Western Army to attack Jingzhou is self-evident.

Zhao Yun soon understood that this was to drive Liu Qi to the south of the river in one fell swoop!
"My lord, what other military orders do you have?"

Zhao Yun collected himself and asked the adjutant again.

The adjutant hurriedly took out a letter and handed it to Zhao Yun, saying: "Here is the letter from the lord!"

Zhao Yun took it, took it apart, scanned the ten lines at a glance, and then ordered the adjutant, "Quickly call all the generals to discuss the matter!"

"As ordered!"

The adjutant agreed and ran out immediately.

After a quiet winter, the situation in the Jianghuai land became tense again.

The 60 cadres stationed north of the Huaihe River began to mobilize frequently from the beginning of the first month, and soldiers from all walks of life began to gather in the direction of Shouchun. By the beginning of February, no less than 40 troops had been assembled ten miles north of Shouchun.

The coalition of large armies spans hundreds of miles. Looking from a height, the north of Shouchun is densely packed with military camps, and you can't see the edge at a glance.

At the same time, Sun and Cao's coalition forces were also mobilizing very frequently, and they were actively preparing for battle.

A large-scale battle with more than 50 troops is not like three to five thousand soldiers, just come up and do it directly.

Such a large-scale battle is rare even in history. Whether it is the transportation and deployment of food, supplies, or the high ground where the army camps, all aspects must be considered thoroughly, otherwise a slight omission will be a catastrophe.

Headed by Jia Xu and Fazheng, they are in charge of the overall situation, are responsible for making suggestions, formulating strategies, and Luo Zheng folds the board to make the final decision.

The generals of the various ministries led their own troops, and marched in order according to the set strategy, in an orderly manner.

Shouchun, Cao Cao's official residence.

"Lord!"

Cheng Yu hurried into the inner hall, and said to Cao Cao, "Something is wrong!"

Cao Cao said, "What's the problem?"

Cheng Yu said: "The dry army is well prepared. If we want to attack Shouchun, even if it takes time to mobilize the 60 troops, we should reach the outside of Shouchun within half a month at the most. But right now the dry army is still being mobilized, which is really strange."

Cao Cao said: "I also feel that something is wrong, but I don't know what's tricky in it. What's Zhong De's opinion?"

Cheng Yu shook his head and said, "I never imagined that Luo Zheng's 60 troops have been stationed north of the Huai River for a whole winter, which shows Luo Zheng's determination to pacify Huainan and the two counties of Lujiang, and not drive our army and Sun Ce to the south of the river. Never give up, even if our army and Sun Ce's combined forces are only in the early 60s, they can't stop Luo Zheng's [-] troops anyway, so it's time to prepare!"

"Not bad!"

Cao Cao nodded, remained silent for a while, and began to sigh: "The 60 troops of the Gan army are spending the winter in Huaibei, and they consume tens of thousands of military supplies, food and fodder every day. Such a huge consumption cannot last even when the former Han Dynasty was strong, but Xigan can. It can be seen how amazing the money, food and materials Xigan has accumulated over the years, otherwise 60 troops can spend the winter in Huaibei."

Cheng Yu said solemnly: "Xigan has the benefits of golden rice. Before that, Luo Zheng's biggest shortcoming was the lack of population. Now Luo Zheng has occupied twelve states, and the population under his rule may not be less than tens of millions. As long as there are no natural disasters, one Years of cultivation can support millions of troops a year, and Luo Zheng is a looting man. He has robbed many cattle and sheep from the Western Regions and Mobei over the years, and encourages the people under his rule to graze cattle and horses. Livestock, I heard that the soldiers of the Qianjun can now eat meat every day."

Cao Cao said with emotion: "If you put aside your prejudices, Luo Zheng can be regarded as a great talent. Although he is ferocious, he kills most of the alien Hulu, and he is still very good to the Han people. Now that Xigan is at its peak, I'm afraid It is already ahead of the time when the Han Dynasty was strong and prosperous. But until the end, Gu will never give up lightly. Zhongde needs to worry a lot about how to retreat!"

"Don't worry, my lord, I will not disgrace my life!"

Cheng Yuqiang clapped his hands in response, and said again: "Where is King Wu..."

Cao Cao said: "The king of Wu has his own solitary to tell the story. I think the king of Wu will not be offended!"

From the end of the first month to the end of February, the Qian army assembled for a whole month, and the attack on Shouchun had not yet begun.

Just when Cao Cao and Sun Ce were preparing their army for war, but they were already planning to retreat in secret, amazing news came from Jingzhou, which surprised Cao Cao and Sun Ce.

At the beginning of February, Luo Zheng mobilized 20 troops out of Wancheng and went south to Xiangyang in order to wipe out Jingzhou.

After the news spread, Jingxiang was shaken, and Liu Qi, Liu Bei and all the Jingzhou nobles were all shocked.

No one thought in advance that hundreds of thousands of troops gathered in Shouchun, and a great war broke out soon, but Luo Zheng secretly came to Jingzhou, and all the troops went south to Jingxiang, how could it not be shocking.

Liu Bei didn't expect it, even Xu Shu and Pang Tong didn't expect it.

This change of plan to attack Jingxiang first was purely a temporary idea, but it coincided with the surprise of the art of war.

It's not that Pang Tong and Xu Shu are inferior, it's that the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops can't be completed overnight, and it's impossible to hide their tracks, and the gathering of hundreds of thousands of troops in Shouchun has firmly attracted everyone's attention.

Even let the [-] Western troops pretend to be food transport teams and assemble in Wancheng in batches.

It wasn't until Luo Zheng raised his troops to go south that Liu Bei and others realized it, but it was too late.

Liu Bei stationed only [-] soldiers and horses in Xinye to prevent the [-] soldiers from Nanyang from going south.

In normal times, [-] soldiers and horses are enough to deal with small-scale friction.When Luo Zheng did not decide to go south to Jingxiang, Zhao Yun would not launch a large-scale war. Several armies went south, and Liu Bei had enough time to mobilize troops.

However, this unexpected and sudden dispatch of troops this time really caught Liu Bei by surprise.

When Liu Bei learned that Luo Zheng had arrived at Wancheng and personally led the army to the south, it was too late to ask Sun Ce for help. In fact, even if there was enough time, hundreds of thousands of cadres gathered in Shouchun, Sun Ce and Cao Cao could not separate their troops to rescue them. Jingzhou.

There are only 20 troops in Xiangyang, even if they all go north to Xinye, it will not be able to stop the [-] troops from going south.

If Liu Bei is given enough time, he can withdraw the main force to Jingnan and preserve his strength as much as possible.

But now, it's too late to say anything.

(End of this chapter)