Great Han Empire

Chapter 817 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
"How is the battle going on in Xuzhou?" Zhang Yan shifted the files piled up on the case table, and turned his gaze to Xuzhou on the map. "Do you have the latest battle reports from the two masters, Gao Shun and Zang Ba?"

"Master Gao Shun said in his letter that because Guan Yu stationed a heavy army on the front line of Ju (ju), the attack of the army was blocked, and the two armies are currently in a state of confrontation."

"Confrontation?" Zhang Yan repeated in a low voice, "Confrontation?" He frowned, and said after a little thought, "If the battle situation in Xuzhou falls into a confrontation, Gao Shun will lose the initiative on the battlefield and be led by Guan Yu. It is very likely to repeat the mistakes of Guan Cheng and Wu Ba."

"On the Xuzhou battlefield, Guan Yu has [-] troops, and Lord Gao Shun has [-] troops. They don't have any advantages in terms of strength." Fu Gan said, "If you want to open a gap from the front, it may be very small."

"You may have to try even if you are very young. The army can't stand helplessly under the city of Jucheng." Zhang Yan looked up at Fu Gan, "Let Gao Shun and Zang Ba ask them to do their best to make progress on the Xuzhou battlefield. In order to contain Xuzhou's troops, buy time for the main force to conquer Dingtao and Changyi."

"In addition, you specifically explained in the book that after Cao Cao and Liu Bei received the news of our attack on the Central Plains, if they withdrew their troops as quickly as possible and returned to the Central Plains, they should return to the Central Plains in ten to twelve days." Added on the side, "If the two masters Gao Shun and Zang Ba can defeat Guan Yu in the near future, enter the East China Sea, and threaten Pengcheng, Liu Bei will definitely divide his troops to support Xuzhou, then the number of people who will rush to Dingtao and Changyi to stop our main force It will be reduced, which is very beneficial for us to quickly capture the two cities of Dingtao and Changyi."

Fu Gan nodded, "I will write to them immediately and ask the Eight Hundred Li Kuaiqi to send it overnight. If there is no accident, Mr. Gao Shun will receive our order in two days."

"Have Yang Qi, Yang Yi, Cui Jun, Jin Shang and other adults arrived in Dongwuyang?" Zhang Yan turned to look at Wang Chang (chang).

"It's already here." Wang Chang bowed and said, "My lords will cross the river tomorrow and go to the counties and counties in the Central Plains to appease the people."

"To ensure their safety, there must be no accidents." Zhang Yan said, "Tomorrow, you will supervise the governor, Mr. Guo, and ask him to send the officials at all levels recruited by your lords from the Handan University Hall across the Yellow River to help your lords rebuild the land at all levels. Fuya, stabilize the counties and counties in the Central Plains as soon as possible."

Wang Chang hastily agreed.

"Lord Jia, I am planning to write a memorial to report today's events to the court." Zhang Yan stretched out her hand and spread out the blank letter on the table, "I will personally write the urgent report to the general."

=

In April, Henan Yin, ten miles east of Bianqu, Dingting.

Yuan Shao was dumbfounded.

The main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army suddenly went south to the Central Plains, and it was overwhelming.Unfortunately, what Tian Feng said was right.Hebei deliberately designed a scam, and the target was the Central Plains.Now Cao Cao and Liu Bei are in Jianghuai, and they are being dragged in Henan by the Northern Army.The loss of the Central Plains is a foregone conclusion.When the Central Plains was lost, Luoyang was the first to bear the brunt and became Li Hong's only target.

"I'm so pissed off..." Yuan Shao became more and more angry, stood up abruptly, and overturned the case with all his strength.

Xu You, Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Yuan Zhong, Xin Pi and others stood around Yuan Shao anxiously, at a loss for what to do.

"My lord, the most urgent task is to immediately ask the emperor to spread the word to the world, and tell the officials of all states and counties that the coalition forces will attack Hebei." Xu You looked at Yuan Shao who was furious, and said anxiously, "With the strength of us, Cao Cao and Liu Bei, we are not enough to defeat Yuan Shao. Li Hong, drive the Northern Frontier Army back to Hebei and take back the Central Plains."

"The book played to the emperor of Xuchang, spread it to the world immediately, and crusade against Li Hong." Yuan Shao waved his hand without hesitation, and shouted loudly, "Send [-] miles of fast riding, and write to Liu Biao, asking him to rush to the Central Plains, and the coalition forces will attack Li Hong .”

"Urgently tell Cao Cao and Liu Bei to withdraw their troops quickly. The Jianghuai war can no longer be fought. It is better to drive Li Hong out of the Central Plains first."

"My lord, the battle on the Henan side..." Feng Ji asked cautiously with Xia Houyuan's request letter in his hand, "Should we send troops to support Xia Houyuan?"

"It's too late." Yuan Shao sighed angrily, "Even if our entire army rushes to the battlefield in the Central Plains, we can't stop the sharpness of the northern army. The high-ranking officials in Baima and Puyang were ordered to rush to Juan (juan) City, Lin ( lin) Qiu area to meet Xia Houyuan, slow down the speed of the Northern Army going south, and do everything possible to block the Northern Army on the line between Dingtao and Changyi."

"Now it depends on whether Cao Cao and Liu Bei are fast enough." Simpi bent down and picked up the map on the ground, and put it on the table that had been neatly rearranged by the guards. The army rushed back to the Central Plains before capturing Dingtao and Changyi, and stabilized the battle line on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi, and we still have a chance to defeat Li Hong." Simpi pointed to Xingyang on the map, "As long as we take the tens of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield in Henan All the frontier troops were slaughtered, and Li Hong would not be able to gain a foothold in the Central Plains in the shortest possible time without the strength to restrain us, and his defeat and flight to Hebei would be the inevitable outcome."

"In that case, our losses will be staggering." Xin Ping glanced at his younger brother, shook his head and said, "At this moment, the intention of the Northern Army to attack Henan has been exposed. When Cao Cao and Liu Bei's army blocks the main force of the Northern Army, we must concentrate When Yan Liang is besieged and wiped out, will he continue to stay in Henan and fight a meaningless decisive battle with us?"

"If Yan Liang withdraws from Henan prematurely, our main force can immediately go to the Central Plains battlefield. If the main force of the northern army fails to occupy Dingtao and Changyi, it will be more difficult to seize the Central Plains." Simpi immediately retorted, "I can Certainly, if the Northern Army hadn't captured Dingtao and Changyi, Yan Liang's army would not have withdrawn from Henan, and we have enough time to defeat Yan Liang and completely annihilate the Northern Army."

"Even if we have plenty of time, can we afford the consequences of annihilating the [-] Northern Frontier Army?" Feng Ji looked at the confident Simpi, and immediately questioned him.

"There are [-] troops of Yan Liang on the battlefield in Henan, and [-] troops of Wen Chou and Zhang Liao in Hanoi to support him. In addition, Yang Feng and Hua Xiong in Hedong are attacking Kansai to support Yan Liang's army. In this case , It is very difficult for us to encircle and annihilate the northern border army." Feng Ji pointed to the map and said, "Even if Master Chun Yuqiong blocked Yang Feng and Hua Xiong's attack in the direction of Kansai, Gao Rou and Zhu Ling won the attack in the direction of Hanoi. But if we want to completely annihilate the [-] Northern Army defending the city, especially the Northern Army led by Yan Liang, the most powerful general in Northern Xinjiang, I am afraid it will not be you All I can imagine."

"We wiped out the Northern Army on the Henan battlefield, and then went to the Central Plains, joined forces with Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei to attack the Northern Army on the Central Plains battlefield. After repeated fierce battles, we took the Central Plains back from Li Hong, but we At that time, with the loss of soldiers and generals, can we still occupy the Central Plains? Can we still hold on to Guanzhong and Guanxi? Can we still ensure the safety of Luoyang?"

"We almost won this battle by ourselves, but the fruits of this battle were handed over to future opponents like Cao Cao and Liu Bei. So, what have we gained from this battle? Obviously , After the great loss of strength, our days in Guan and Luo are numbered." Feng Ji stared at Simpi and asked excitedly, "Is this the result you want to see?"

Simpi was reprimanded in public, feeling a little annoyed, just about to refute, but was patted on the back by his elder brother.Simpi snorted angrily, swallowed his breath and did not speak.

"Brother George's suggestion makes sense." Xu You said, "If the northern army occupies the Central Plains and has a firm foothold in the Central Plains, they will attack Luoyang next. I would like to ask Yuan Tu (Feng Ji) if The frontier army attacked Luoyang from the three directions of Guanzhong, Kanxi, Hanoi, and Central Plains at the same time. How much will our loss be? Are our days in Guan and Luo numbered? On the contrary, if we try our best to unite with Cao Cao this time And others defeated Li Hong, although our losses were astonishing, but what about Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao? Didn’t they lose? This time we and Cao Cao and others worked together to defeat Li Hong. In the future, when Li Hong attacks Guan and Luo Sometimes, they will help us."

"Today, facing the bloody leopard Li Hong in Hebei, whether it is us, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, or even Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in Jiangdong, all will feel fear. If we want to revive the country and completely eradicate Li Hong as a traitor, we must There is only one way, and that is for everyone to temporarily abandon all prejudices, treat each other honestly, and unite as one, otherwise, whether it is the Great Han Society or us, sooner or later they will be a delicacy in the mouth of leopards."

What Xu You said was hard to hear.

Yuan Shao's face was as frosty, and the muscles on his face twitched involuntarily.

Feng Ji smiled angrily, "Brother Ziyuan, you and Cao Cao have known each other since childhood. Don't you know who Cao Cao is? Be honest with each other? , as long as we lose troops and lose generals, after Cao Cao re-consolidates the Central Plains, he will immediately launch an attack when the northern army threatens Guan and Luo, and Henan and Yuzhou will gradually become Cao Cao's possessions like Jianghuai." Feng Jimi He squinted his eyes, looked Xu You up and down a few times, and asked mockingly, "Brother Ziyuan is going to join Mingzhu again at that time?"

Xu You froze for a moment, looked at Yuan Shao who was expressionless, smiled wryly and shook his head, "Yuan Tu, when is this, do you still care about me?" Big account.

=

The discussion broke up unhappy.

Yuan Shao paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back.

Three things are currently difficult to determine.

First, is Hebei fighting on two fronts this year?News from Jinyang, Youzhou, and Jizhou confirmed that there were indeed wars in the desert area of ​​northern Xinjiang this year.If Hebei is fighting on two fronts this year, it will be very difficult for the Northern Xinjiang Army to go south to the Central Plains to fight.Li Hong may have the idea that it is better to base himself in the Central Plains, and if he cannot gain a foothold in the Central Plains, he will return to Hebei.Only he dared to do such a thing.For more than ten years, his luck has been very good. If he were himself, he would dare to take a gamble.If this is the case, then there is no need for me to spend all my money to encircle and wipe out the Northern Frontier Army in Henan.

Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei blocked Li Hong under the cities of Dingtao and Changyi. After a long time, the Northern Xinjiang Army fought on two fronts. The supply of food, grass and supplies was insufficient, and they could not gain a foothold in the Central Plains. They had to retreat to Hebei.

At that time, my strength was preserved, but Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei suffered heavy losses in Dingtao and Changyi. In this way, not only could I easily win the Central Plains, but I was more likely to control Xu and Yang.In the case of Liu Biao's lack of strength, he had no choice but to bow his head and surrender.

The second is whether Cao Cao and Liu Bei can stop Li Hong on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi?With Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren and Gao Gan's [-] troops, although they couldn't stop Li Hong from going south, they could definitely delay Li Hong's attack on Dingtao and Changyi, and he was sure to wait until Cao Cao and Liu Bei's troops returned.This time Cao Cao led an army of [-], and Liu Bei led an army of [-] to attack Jianghuai. After the [-] army came back to help, there were [-] troops on the line between Dingtao and Changyi to block Li Hong, and they should be able to defend.

The problem is, if Li Hong goes south to the Central Plains, Zang Ba and Guan Hai in Qingzhou will definitely attack Xuzhou.Regardless of whether Zang Ba and Guan Hai have close contacts with Hebei, they will not miss this opportunity to expand their power and revenge, and Hebei will spare no effort to give help and support, and use their power to contain Xuzhou's troops.Hebei won, and Zang Ba and Guan Hai could defect to Hebei.Hebei lost, and Zang Ba and Guan Hai's strength increased greatly, and they could dominate one side.

Zang Ba and Guan Hai attacked Xuzhou, Xuzhou was in a hurry, what choice would Liu Bei make?In the past two years, because of the common enemy, the covenant relationship between Cao Cao and Liu Bei has been very strong, but in today's time of survival, can the covenant relationship between the two continue to be maintained?Will Liu Bei give up the covenant with Cao Cao because he wants to keep his Xuzhou?After all, Li Hong is now fighting the Central Plains and Cao Cao, not Xuzhou and Liu Bei.Although everyone understands the truth of death, how many people will consider such long-term considerations and give up their own interests without hesitation when it comes to the choice of interests?

Once Liu Bei uses Zang Ba and Guan Hai to attack Xuzhou as an excuse and refuses to go north to the Central Plains and join forces with Cao Cao to defend against the enemy, Dingtao and Changyi may fall.At that time, I will face Li Hong directly, and it will be too late to encircle and wipe out the Northern Xinjiang Army in Henan, and the serious consequences it will cause are self-evident.

The third is the issue that worries me the most.If Cao Cao and Liu Bei blocked Li Hong's fierce attack before Liu Biao's reinforcements arrived in the Central Plains, and he was unwilling to encircle and wipe out the Northern Frontier Army in Henan, causing Cao Cao and Liu Bei to lose troops and lose the Central Plains, the two would not If you don't stop doing it, and simply submit to Hebei and settle the matter, then you will be completely finished.

Hebei is very tolerant of the rebellion of sincere surrender.For example, Gongsun Zan was General Zhengbei before his death.For example, Han Sui, who is now General Zhenxi, and Zhang Yang, who is now the prefect of Yanmen.Liu Bei was originally from Youzhou, and had a deep relationship with Li Hong.In the past, Li Hong wrote a letter to the late emperor to intercede for Liu Bei's murder of Zhongshan Duyou.As long as Liu Bei surrenders, it will definitely not be a problem to become an official.Although Cao Cao once slaughtered the city in Xuzhou and dug dikes on the Yellow River, he knew that Li Hong and Cao Cao had a very good relationship during that time in Luoyang.If Cao Cao really wanted to submit to Hebei, with his grandfather and father's deep connections in the court, he would be able to save his life and become a wealthy prince.

Once Cao Cao and Liu Bei surrendered to Hebei, with their current strength, they would not be able to stop Li Hong at all, but because of this possibility, he dared not go all out to encircle and annihilate the northern border army, and put himself in a situation where he would never recover.

Yuan Shao will never let go.Do you want to surround and wipe out Yan Liang at all costs?

"My lord, when will we attack Aocang?" Feng Ji stood beside Yuan Shao and asked uneasily.

"Urgently write to Yuan Wei, Shen Pei, and reinforce Hanoi." Yuan Shao decided to wait and see how the situation develops, "Let Gao Rou and Zhu Ling take Pinggao and Huaicheng first, and encircle the northern Xinjiang army around Xingyang. "

"Good plan." Feng Ji immediately understood Yuan Shao's thoughts, and smiled happily, "The northern army in Hanoi has only 1 people. After surrounding Yan Liang with the lowest cost, the Lord can attack and retreat, and completely control the initiative on the battlefield. Good plan."

Yuan Shao frowned, and sighed softly, "Urgently write to Master Xu Qiu (Qiu) of Runan, please come to Xiangyang to ask Liu Biao for help. If Liu Biao doesn't come this time, we want to defeat Li Hong and take back the Central Plains. what……"

=

In April, Jiujiang County, Yangzhou, by the Huaishui River.

Liu Bei rushed into the Yanzhou army camp on horseback.

After Cao Cao welcomed Liu Bei into the big tent, he passed Xia Houyuan's urgent report to Liu Bei without saying anything.

After reading it, Liu Bei was horrified and sat on the table for a long time.

"Brother Xuande, what countermeasures do you have?" Cao Cao asked with a wry smile, "This leopard is too cunning, we are doomed." Cao Cao looked at the blue sky outside the tent and sighed sadly, "For the sake of the great man, We have fought bloody battles for ten years, but in the end, the sky has not fulfilled our wishes, and the day of the country's overthrow is inevitable."

Liu Bei felt a pain in his heart and bowed his head in silence.

"I think back then, when Li Hong was in charge of the northern border, across the desert, he made great achievements. The whole court exclaimed, saying that he would bring disaster to the country. It turned out that it was not Li Hong who ruined the country, but Dong Zhuo. The warriors have ruined the country, and today it is the turn of the northern Xinjiang warriors to overthrow the country." Cao Cao suddenly burst into tears, choked up and said, "The 400-year-old foundation of the Han Dynasty has been buried in the hands of us incompetent descendants today. It is a great shame. It will come to the Nine Springs , with what face do we go to meet our ancestors? What face do we have to go to see Gaozu and Shizu?"

Liu Bei's eyes were red, and tears fell quietly.

"I have decided to withdraw the troops today." Cao Cao wiped away his tears, picked up the saber on the table and stood up, "I will fight Li Hong to the death until the death. In this way, when I see the ancestors Zong, when I met Gaozu and Shizu, I have a clear conscience."

"I live for a big man, and I die for a big man."

Cao Cao put on his battle helmet and strode out.

All of a sudden, the sound of war drums shook heaven and earth, and rushed straight to Xiaohan.

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(End of this chapter)