Great Han Empire

Chapter 754: A Storm of Troubled Heroes

In June, Qin Pavilion.

Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Yuan Shu and Liu Chong gathered to discuss matters.

The situation in the three battlefields seems to have basically achieved the initial attack goals.Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the middle road have successfully attacked the front lines of Fagan, Leping, and Liaocheng, which are still 150 miles away from Ganling Kingdom.Tian Kai on the East Road used 2 horses to pin down the Northern Frontier Army, which was more than double his own number. Only Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, and Zhang Yang on the West Road were blocked from attacking, and they have not achieved good results so far.However, it was precisely because they successfully contained the most powerful main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army that the Yanzhou Army and Xuzhou Army were able to attack in the middle.

"The next attack strategy is to contain the two wings and attack in the middle." Cao Cao said excitedly, "After more than ten days of fierce fighting, our deployment of troops has been fully exposed. Very passive, in order to change this passive situation, Li Hong will immediately adjust his troops, deploying troops from the battlefields on the east and west wings to support the center, and prevent us from attacking Ganling Kingdom."

In order to quickly win the Ganling Kingdom and attract more Northern Xinjiang troops to support the middle road, so as to help the troops on the east and west wings to reach Yecheng and Nanpi smoothly, and prepare for the next step where the three armies join forces in Xindu City in the middle of Jizhou. To prepare, Cao Cao suggested to immediately transfer troops from the West Road battlefield to strengthen the strength of the Central Army.

Liu Biao's Jingzhou Army and Ma Teng's cavalry will turn to the middle battlefield, join the Yanzhou Army and Xuzhou Army, and attack Ganling Kingdom with more than 8 troops.This was originally agreed upon, and Liu Biao and Ma Teng agreed immediately without any objection.

=

If the army in the middle can quickly capture Ganling City and force Xindu, the northern army will deploy more troops to support the middle. In this way, Yuan Shao on the battlefield in the west will soon be able to break the current stalemate and quickly advance to Ye City, and Cao Cao can also take the opportunity to divide his troops to support Tian Kai, helping Tian Kai quickly kill Nanpi.In this way, the mid-term attack goals of the Northern Expedition Army were all achieved.

Cao Cao looked up at Yuan Shao and said with a smile, "Brother Benchu, whether I can capture Ganling Kingdom as quickly as possible depends on whether you can launch a more violent attack on the West Road battlefield."

Yuan Shao smiled relaxedly, "I immediately ordered Zhang Yang and Han Hao to join forces and take down Neihuang first. After defeating Neihuang, the northern army's rear route will be cut off, and the supply of food, grass and supplies will not be available. Zhang Yan will have to withdraw if he does not withdraw."

Cao Cao nodded happily, then turned to look at Yuan Shu, "Gaolu, no matter what, you must ensure that the food, grass, and supplies are continuously transported to Hebei. This matter is no joke."

Yuan Shu chuckled, "If you are worried, Prime Minister, you stay in Yanzhou, and I will go to the front to command the army."

Cao Cao stroked his beard and laughed.Yuan Shu looked unhappy.

=

The locust plague broke out in the Central Plains in May, and about a dozen counties in Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Qingzhou, and Jizhou were ravaged by the locust plague.Xuzhou and Qingzhou were lightly affected, while Jizhou and Yanzhou were seriously affected.In the face of the raging war in Jizhou, in order to prevent the locust plague from spreading to the inner counties and harming Hebei, they simply burned the crops on the ground that were too late to harvest, and evacuated nearly one million people to the inner counties.Yanzhou was not so lucky. The locust disaster that lasted for more than a month and the drought that lasted for half a year caused nearly a million victims in Yanzhou. But the great luck among the misfortunes is that at this time, the Great Northern Expedition started, and all the victims were recruited as civilian husbands. The elderly, weak, women and children were concentrated in several grain and grass transfer camps to do what they could.

The war temporarily freed these victims from the threat of starvation and death, and also temporarily freed Yanzhou from the danger of collapse. However, the Yellow Turban Army, which was active in Mount Tai and other places, was unable to rise again and resume its sweep of the Central Plains due to the lack of these victims. momentum.

When Cao Cao was at the worst locust plague in the Central Plains, he couldn't wait to launch the Northern Expedition. Now it seems that he did the right thing.He successfully used the reconstruction of the imperial system to expand the strength of Yanzhou, and used war to disperse and avoid the crisis Yanzhou was facing. At the same time, he also gained great prestige among the officials of various states and counties, which was probably unexpected by Cao Cao .

In the past, Yuan Shao was the main force in the military councils, and Yuan Shao said nothing, but this time, Cao Cao's prestige completely overwhelmed Yuan Shao in the Qin Ting military council.

This time Cao Cao not only successfully resolved the threat of the disaster victims and the Yellow Turban Army to the Central Plains, but also took the lead in capturing several cities in Hebei, completing the goals set before the war.

=

Currently the greatest impact on the war is the ongoing drought.

Although the terrible locust plague is coming to an end, the drought is still continuing. No one knows when it will rain, and more and more counties are suffering from drought from north to south.The drought caused the crops in the fields to wither, and the land of the Central Plains was full of hunger.On the contrary, except for some counties and counties along the Yellow River in Hebei, other northern counties and counties have not been affected by the disaster. As long as Hebei lasts until the autumn harvest and autumn planting, the grain will be harvested, and they can drag this war on forever, even until next year , but the Northern Expedition Army could not afford it.

With the continuation of the war time and the gradual elongation of the various fronts, the consumption of food, grass and armaments will increase.Once the drought lasts until October, that is, when the affected counties and counties in the Central Plains cannot even complete the autumn planting, this war will have to face a cruel reality. It may fail. Return without success.

Therefore, before the end of September, whether the northern border army can be severely damaged and Xindu City can be occupied becomes the key to determining the outcome of this great battle.

After capturing Xindu City, the army advanced across the board to the south of the Zhangshui River, equivalent to occupying half of Jizhou. This dealt a great blow to Hebei.After winning Jizhou, no matter how long the drought in the Central Plains lasts, the Northern Expedition Army can solve the money and food on the spot, so that the rebellion can be extinguished, and the world is just around the corner.

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Long before the attack, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others discussed this issue. At that time, Yuan Shao's opinion was that if the drought continued until September and the Northern Expeditionary Army failed to wipe out the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, they would retreat across the board to preserve their strength. Xu Tu Attack again.After all, after Hebei suffered such a heavy blow, it will not be able to recover its strength in a short period of time, and it is even more impossible to attack southward.

Now, Cao Cao postponed this time until the end of October.Cao Cao believed that it would be too difficult to defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army within four months, and that retreating before the autumn harvest and planting in Hebei would give the Northern Xinjiang Army time to restore its strength as soon as possible, so no matter what, the battle should be delayed until the end of October. It is necessary to make it impossible for counties and counties in the south of Jizhou to harvest and plant in autumn, and to make Hebei bear a heavy burden of victims.There are many disaster victims in Hebei, and they have suffered heavy losses, and the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army has been greatly damaged. As a result, riots may break out in Jizhou.When Hebei is in chaos, Li Hong is too busy to take care of himself, and his strength will be weakened even more, so we will have the opportunity to capture Jizhou again.

In addition, when Li Hong sees that we are going to drag the war until October, he will be very anxious. For the safety of Hebei, he will definitely fight us, and what we need is this decisive battle.As long as we severely damage the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, Jizhou can go down.Even if we were tied with the Beijiang Army, the Northern Xinjiang Army lost the time to harvest and plant in autumn, and its strength was greatly damaged, and Hebei would inevitably fall into chaos.

Cao Cao's proposal passed smoothly, and Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Liu Biao had no objections.Everyone happily bid farewell and went to the battlefield.

=

Yuan Shu returned to Changyi and urgently summoned Li Ye and Yang Hong to discuss matters.

"Cao Cao was in a daze, thinking that he would be invincible after winning a few battles and occupying a few cities. It's ridiculous." Yuan Shu then elaborated on the situation of the Qin Ting's military conference, "Cao Cao dragged the battle to October's intentions are obvious. He wants to take a gamble, and wants to drive Li Hong away and monopolize Jizhou. It seems that this little black-skinned dwarf has a lot of ambitions. In addition, the troops from all walks of life will stay on the battlefield in Hebei for an extra month. The consumption is staggering. Once you lose the battle, it will be difficult for everyone to recover in a short period of time after they return, but this is of great benefit to Cao Cao's dominance of the Central Plains. He now has nothing but tens of thousands of horses. He is shameless The bachelor, he should have the least loss and the most advantage when he fights back and forth. This kid is very cunning."

"Since everyone knows Cao Cao's intentions in their hearts, this battle may not be able to be dragged on until the end of October as he wished." Li Ye looked at Yuan Shu and asked after pondering for a while, "Cao Cao suddenly made this suggestion, is there any other reason? Purpose?"

"Other purposes?" Yuan Shu waved his hand disdainfully, "Whatever his purpose is, he will do his work, and we will do ours. Send someone to go south to Yangzhou immediately, and tell Qiao Rui, Zhang Xun, Sun Ce and others to do it in July." Prepare to attack Xuzhou, and launch the attack as soon as my order arrives."

"My lord, wait a little longer, don't rush to mobilize the army, and expose our intentions in advance." Yang Hong dissuaded, "If Cao Cao and Liu Bei cannot reach Ganling in July, they can return to the Central Plains and northern Xinjiang at any time. The army may not be able to stop their retreat."

"If it's July and Cao Cao hasn't reached Ganling City, he can die. What is he still doing?" Yuan Shu said with a smile, "Cao Cao wants to delay until October, but Li Hong doesn't want to. If we want to fight him in advance, Cao Heipi will be dead this time."

"What about here?" Li Ye asked

"There's no rush here..." Yuan Shu said calmly, "This guy Xun Yu is smarter than a ghost. I'll find a way to drive him out of Changyi first."

=

Yuan Shao returned to Puyang and urgently summoned Tian Feng, Guo Tu, Feng Ji and others to inform Qin Ting of the details of the military discussion.

"Cao Cao fell for it so easily?" Tian Feng thought with a nudge.

"We fought to the death in Liyang, Changshoujin, and Puyangjin, and were defeated in Neihuang and Pengting. These are all bloody facts. Why can't Cao Cao be fooled?" Yuan Shao said with a smile, "If it were me, I also believe that the other party has The sincerity of attacking the rebels and attacking Jizhou."

"What should we do now?" Feng Ji asked, "Liu Biao and Ma Teng have left, and our troops have been reduced. If we continue to attack, our losses will be even greater."

"Yes, if we can't approach Yecheng quickly, even if Cao Cao reaches Ganling, he will not fight alone, and continue to lead his army to kill Qinghe and attack Xindu City." Xin Ping pointed to the map and said, "Cao Cao can't stay away from Yanzhou , Yuan Shu would not dare to act, and if Yuan Shu does not act, we will have no chance."

"Even if Yuan Shu makes a move, if Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao don't suffer heavy losses, we still have no chance. We can't get the Central Plains, and neither can Jingzhou." Guo Tu shook his head and said, "Don't forget, our army is also here now. Jizhou, and the opponent is still Zhang Yan, the most powerful elite of the Northern Frontier Army."

"The key for us is how to successfully reach Yecheng while avoiding losses, and at the same time make Cao Cao's army in the middle route wiped out or suffered heavy losses and collapsed." Yuan Shao tapped the table with his middle finger and said thoughtfully , "Do you adults have a clever plan?"

"To achieve this goal, Li Hong must send heavy troops from the West Road Battlefield to participate in the decisive battle in the Middle Road Battlefield. In this way, the Northern Army's strength on the West Road Battlefield will be reduced. They have to withdraw to Ye City and stand firm, and we can kill them immediately. In Yecheng, the promise to Cao Cao has been fulfilled, and the strength of the Northern Frontier Army on the middle battlefield has greatly increased. Even if Cao Cao has 5000 troops, he cannot defeat Li Hong." Feng Ji said with a smile, "It's just that even if the adults tell you in person Li Hong, I will help you fight Cao Cao, and Li Hong will never believe that there are such good things in this world."

There was laughter in the big tent.

"What method can Li Hong use to draw troops from the West Road battlefield?" Yuan Shao asked with a smile.

Everyone was helpless.

Yuan Shao put the [-] army here, Li Hong is an idiot, he will not rashly draw troops from the West Road battlefield.Only by blocking Yuan Shao can the northern army be assured of a decisive battle with Cao Cao.After the decisive battle, even if the northern army wins, it will still be scarred. At this time, the first task of the northern army is to increase troops on the west road battlefield, in case Yuan Shao takes the opportunity to attack Jizhou, so there is nothing to do here.

=

"Look, are we taking advantage of Zhang Yang?" Yuan Shao asked.

Tian Feng and the others looked at each other, but no one spoke.

"Don't get me wrong." Yuan Shao shook his hand, "Although Zhang Yang and Lu Bu met, it doesn't affect my trust in Zhang Yang. I know Zhang Yang's character, and you all know his personality. He has the grace to save my life, and he will never betray me, I still have confidence in this."

Yuan Shao picked up a roll of bamboo slips from the case table, "This is a letter from Zhang Yang to me. He has already told me about his meeting with Lu Bu, and begged me to send someone to Huanshui River to replace him in command of the army. I am willing to return to Hanoi to supervise the transportation of grain and grass."

"This false surrender plan may not work." Guo Tu thought for a while and said, "Although Lu Bu is from northern Xinjiang, he has little influence in Hebei, and Li Hong will not trust him. This kind of event that is related to the survival of Hebei, Li Hong will definitely Be careful, and don't believe Zhang Yang's words easily."

"But Li Hong has always taken risks in his troops. In order to quickly defeat Cao Cao, he may take risks." Xin Ping said, "If he retreats to Yecheng and defends it with 2 people, we will definitely not be able to win it in a short time. This is There is no way to fail, why doesn't he dare to take risks?"

"The retreat from Yecheng will have too much impact on Hebei, and it will make the people of Hebei panic." Tian Feng pondered for a long time, and said slowly, "Unless it is absolutely necessary, or Li Hong has absolute certainty of victory, otherwise he will not retreat. Yecheng." He looked at Yuan Shao, "If you want to do it, you have to be thorough and force Zhang Yang to rebel."

"Forcing Zhang Yang?" Yuan Shao looked at Tian Feng in surprise, "This won't work."

"The plan of false surrender has too many loopholes. Once it is discovered by others, it will be counterproductive. Only by forcing Zhang Yang to win Li Hong's trust." Tian Feng said resolutely, "After Zhang Yang's false surrender, can my lord still trust him like before? My lord will still Entrust all of Hanoi to him? I'm afraid my lord wouldn't dare?"

A hint of anger suddenly appeared in Yuan Shao's eyes.

"My lord, I think Mr. Tian's plan is foolproof." Xin Ping cupped his hands to persuade him, "Compared with your master's dominance, what is Zhang Yang? People like Zhang Yang can be found everywhere in your lord's account. Just find one They are better than Zhang Yang. To be honest, Zhang Yang is too cowardly and difficult to deal with big things. Sooner or later, he will bring trouble to the adults. It is better to take this opportunity to drive him to Hebei, which can be regarded as saving the adults from a disaster. .”

Yuan Shao was so angry that he slapped the table with his palm, his lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't curse out after all, "You can handle this matter."

=

In June, Jinyang.

General Li Hong reported the latest battle situation and the strategy of retreating the enemy to the court.

The Eldest Princess summoned five ministers, Taifu Cai Yong, Da Situ Cui Lie, Da Sikong Liu He, former general acting chief Sima Shixian Yufu, and Shang Shuling Zhang Fan for an emergency discussion.

Shangshu ordered Zhang Fan to arrive first and presented a secret letter.After the eldest princess finished reading, her face showed hesitation, "Since the general has denied this plan, we..."

"The general has the general's idea, he didn't adopt this plan because the general was aboveboard and he didn't want to do such trivial things, but this plan is obviously beneficial to the general to defeat the rebels, so I think His Highness should adopt this plan. What the general does not want to do, the minister can do."

"You?" The eldest princess smiled coquettishly, "You won't do it. Are you going to find Huangfu Li?"

Zhang Fan was a little surprised, "Your Highness didn't say anything, I really didn't think about it. This person is very suitable. The death of Master Huangfusong is directly related to Ma Teng. Huangfu Li must want revenge. Let Huangfu Li write a letter to the Guanzhong people to spread the news." Rumors can definitely kill Ma Teng."

"His three-year mourning period has not yet expired, isn't it good for you to disturb him?" The eldest princess frowned slightly, and said worriedly, "Also, if the general finds out about this, he might be unhappy, Let the adults discuss it later." Then she looked at the secret letter in her hand, "Fu Gan is eager for revenge, and he doesn't think carefully about what he does. It's too reckless. Don't spread this matter, lest the general blame Fu Gan in the future. Later, when the general asked about it, he pushed it away."

=

In June, Guanzhong, Fufeng County, Chencang.

General Zhenxi and Muhan Sui of Liangzhou led [-] elite cavalry to enter Guanzhong suddenly.

Ma Chao, the son of Ma Teng and the captain of Fufeng County, was caught off guard and hurriedly led his troops to block the attack.The two sides met in Chencang.

Ma Chao rode out of the city alone, and ordered his disciples to pay homage to Han Sui.Han Sui sat on the horse and accepted it calmly, because Ma Chao was indeed his disciple.

"Sir, before my father left, there was a letter to Mr. Mr. who wrote back that you and my brother will never kill each other. Today..." Ma Chao was frightened, and walked up to Han Suima and asked, "Why is Mr. today?" ..."

"Meng Qi, you misunderstood me. I didn't come to attack Guanzhong, let alone kill your father and brother." Han Sui dismounted slowly, and patted him on the shoulder kindly, "The imperial court has ordered me to send troops In Guanzhong, restrain Yuan Shao's forces and help the general defeat the rebellion."

When Ma Chao heard the word "rebellious", his face showed annoyance, but he still bowed his head respectfully and remained silent.

Han Sui smiled slightly, "Although there is a little misunderstanding between your father and I, we are brothers after all. I will not fight with him, but I can't resist the order, so I brought troops here, but I also It’s over here, there’s no going any further.”

Ma Chao raised his head in surprise, and shouted gratefully, "Sir..."

Han Sui waved his hand and said with a smile, "Although I can't go one step further, you can. This is your place."

"Sir, go live in the city." Ma Chao saluted respectfully, "I haven't seen you for almost two years, and I have many things to ask you."

"I can't go, it's not good for you." Han Sui shook his head, "I heard you have a child?"

Ma Chao blushed and smiled shyly.

"I'm going to stay here for a while." Han Sui pointed to the camp behind him by the Weishui River, and smiled kindly, "If you have time, show me the child."

Ma Chao nodded happily, "Sir, can I visit you often?"

Han Sui touched his head affectionately, "Of course."

=

In June, Chang'an.

After more than a year of restoration in Chang'an City, except for the burnt Weiyang Palace that has not been rebuilt, other government offices and residential buildings have been rebuilt, and the number of residents in the city has gradually increased, but it is the same as when Dong Zhuo moved his capital to Chang'an. However, the city is still very deserted.

The population of Sanfu was about 50 during the time of Emperor Xiaoling. After several years of wars and continuous disasters, the population dropped sharply. 8 to [-] people, including some of the troops stationed in Guanzhong.In order to restore the prosperity of Guanzhong, it is impossible without more than ten years.

The original government office of Jing Zhaoyin is now Yuan Tan's official office.

Yuan Tan sat in the study, flipping through the urgent reports sent from various places, and at the same time leaning over his desk to carefully look at the map.

Since Han Sui sent troops to Guanzhong and confronted Ma Chao with Chen Cang, the situation in Guanzhong suddenly became tense.

First, Hebei Titan Pang De led his army out of Liupan Mountain and captured Linjing City within a day.The guard of Linjing City said that Pang De led an army of tens of thousands, covering the sky and covering the earth, unable to stop him, so he had to abandon the city and leave.Yuan Tan thought this man was lying, purely looking for excuses for his cowardice.According to his information, there are at most 1 iron cavalry in the Xiaoguan and Chaona areas north of Liupan Mountain. Even if Pang De brought the Huren cavalry south from the desert, his total strength would not exceed [-].

At present, several cities south of Anding County are all lost, but they were not brought down by Pound, but were given to him by his subordinates.Thinking of these cowardly subordinates made him angry.When you return to Chang'an City, I will chop you into minced meat.However, this kind of bloody punishment is just thinking about it in my heart. I will not kill them anyway, and I have to rely on them to gain a firm foothold in Guanzhong and create a foundation.

The latest news sent showed that the world-famous Northern Xinjiang warrior had entered Guanzhong and was approaching Qi County.

Before Han Sui and Pang De could find a solution, Xu Rong from the east of the river began preparations for crossing the river again.The warships of the Northern Xinjiang Navy have frequently appeared in the Weishui River in recent days, apparently to investigate the military situation.

Now Han Sui is coming from the west, Pang De is coming from the north, Xu Rong is about to cross the river from the east, and Guanzhong is being attacked from three sides. I feel a headache when I think about it.Is Hebei's strength strong enough to fight on two battlefields at the same time?Since Hebei can fight on two battlefields, why didn't Li Hong devote all his strength to the battlefield of Jizhou, but instead let the crusade army enter Jizhou?
The three-way attack here in Guanzhong must be Hebei's strategy of feigning an attack to force the father to withdraw his troops and force the father to give up this crusade.Hebei did not have the strength to take down Guanzhong.

=

Chang Shi Liu Xian hurried into the study.

Yuan Tan hurriedly got up to greet him, with a rather humble expression, "What news is there from Ximian?"

"Han Sui has only 3000 people."

Yuan Tan's face changed, and he sat down slowly, "Really? Reliable?"

Liu Xian nodded, "Ma Chao said that Han Sui brought 3000 troops to Chencang, but in fact Han Sui only brought [-] people. Ma Chao said that he fought fiercely with Han Sui day and night in Chencang, but I got information that Ma Chao and Han Sui fought fiercely day and night in Chencang. Han Sui has not fought a single battle so far, and the two have been in close contact, and it is said that Ma Chao brought his wife and children to visit Han Sui a few days ago."

Yuan Tan pondered and remained silent, with a suspicious look on his face.He has a good relationship with Ma Chao, and the two get along very well, and they are called brothers.

"Ma Chao is deceiving Your Excellency." Liu Xian said nervously, "Why is he deceiving Your Excellency? There is a lot of tricks in it."

Yuan Tan thought about it carefully, and waved his hand, "Don't think too much. Ma Chao is Han Sui's disciple, and it's normal for the two to get closer. Han Sui doesn't attack, and Ma Chao doesn't fight. There's nothing wrong with such a tacit understanding." Good? Very good."

Liu Xian wanted to explain a little more clearly, but was interrupted by Yuan Tan, "Since the west is safe, what about the north? How many cavalry did Pang De bring?"

"It's hard to find out clearly." Liu Xian sighed, "They are like horse thieves, they come and go like flying, from east to west, maybe they will kill the city of Chang'an tomorrow morning."

Yuan Tan laughed, "So, Pang De's purpose is to scare me? Then leave him alone. What about the east side? Is there any movement from Xu Rong's army?"

"So far there is no sign of crossing the river to attack." Liu Xian said, "Just now I heard from the judge that he plans to go to Hedong to see for himself."

Yuan Tan was taken aback, "Looking for death? No way."

=

(End of this chapter)