Great Han Empire

Chapter 874 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
In mid-September, Cao Cao led his army day and night, from Chenliu County in Yanzhou to the south, passing through Liangguo and Peiguo in Yuzhou to Pengcheng in Xuzhou.

Ren Jun, who was stationed in Pengcheng, came out of the city to greet him. He was stunned and horrified when he learned that the coalition forces were defeated in the Central Plains and 10 horses were lost in the battle of Pingyang Pavilion.

"How is the situation in Xuzhou? Is there any sign of an attack by the Northern Army?" Cao Cao didn't want to mention the sad things in the Central Plains, so he immediately asked about Xuzhou's recent situation.

"The northern border army has already begun to attack." Ren Jun managed to calm down, and reported to Cao Cao that the Chen Gong and Zang Ba armies attacked Xuzhou together, "Now Zihe (Cao Chun) and Bo Ning (Man Chong) ) was staying in the city to stop Chen Gong, Zhongquan (Xiahouba) and Zitai (Liu Xun) led their troops to Tan (tan) city in the East China Sea, intending to block Zang Ba's army in the area of ​​​​Jiqiu."

"Zang Ba reached Kaiyang so quickly?" Cao Cao turned his head to look at Xun Yu and the others in surprise, "Does he fly with wings? According to time calculation, if he crossed the river with Chen Deng and fought to Ganling Kingdom in Jizhou, now At most, we just received the news of our defeat in the Central Plains. Could it be..." Cao Cao suddenly thought of something, and hesitated for a moment, "Did he not go to fight Jizhou, but stayed in Beihai?"

"He must have been in Beihai all the time, and never went to fight Jizhou. We were deceived." Xun Yu said without thinking, "Chen Deng either fell into the trap and died, or was arrested by Zang Ba."

"My lord, send troops to the East China Sea immediately. It's too late." Guo Jia also said eagerly, "Zang Ba has long been prepared to attack Xuzhou, Xia Houba and Liu Xun may not be able to stop it. We just captured Pengcheng and Xiapi, and the others The counties don't know that Xuzhou has changed hands, once the Xuzhou army in Donghai and Langya Kingdom know the truth and turn against each other, Zang Ba may go straight in and kill Pengcheng."

Cao Cao thought for a while, and instead of ordering the army to support Donghai immediately, Cao Hong led a large group of troops to rush to Liucheng.Chen Gong's army is more than 100 miles away, so he must be dealt with first no matter what.

After Cao Cao entered the city, he sent someone to invite Guan Yu into the government office.When Guan Yu arrived in Pengcheng, he found that something was wrong. Neither Jian Yong nor the officials of Xuzhou Mansion saw it. It was Ren Jun who came out of the city to meet Cao Cao. Obviously Xuzhou had been controlled by Cao Cao's people.It seems that Cao Cao was ready to seize Xuzhou long before the decisive battle in the Central Plains.Guan Yu was alone and weak at the moment, so he could only hold back his anger and remained silent.

In front of Guan Yu, Cao Cao spoke bluntly and explained the conflict between himself and Yuan Shao, "In order to survive, I decided to take the opportunity to take Xuzhou. My purpose of doing this is not to occupy Xuzhou, and to separate Xuande from you. Drive away, but want to prevent Yuan Shao from annexing Xuzhou. Once the Allied Forces win the Central Plains War, Yuan Shao’s strength will double, and I, Xuande, and Jingzhou Liu Biao will all be annexed by him sooner or later. Xuande and I will bear the brunt, and the war will end I will be the target of Yuan Shao's killing immediately. However, if I take Xuzhou first, Yuan Shao will not be able to sweep Jianghuai in the near future, and he will not dare to kill Xuande. On the contrary, he will help Xuande attack me and regain Xuzhou .”

"As long as Xuande returns to Xuzhou, I will return Xuzhou to him, and then I will go to Jiujiang and Yangzhou to find a place to live. Yan Xiang in Yangzhou is now Yuan Shao's man. I will defeat Yan Xiang and seize Jiujiang and Lujiang counties In the end, not only can we attack Yuan Shao's strength, but we can also build three more alliances with Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Xuande's younger brother to compete with Yuan Shao in order to prevent him from usurping the Han Dynasty." Cao Cao persuaded Liu Biao to send troops to attack northern Xinjiang in Junyi City that day. Jun's words were repeated again.

"Boss Liu Biao and the envoy (Liu Bei) know about this?" Guan Yu was dizzy from Cao Cao's words, especially since this matter involved Yuan Shao's possible usurpation of the Great Han Society, which made him feel even more complicated.

"I know." Cao Cao nodded vigorously, and said very calmly, "If Yun Chang has any doubts, he can urgently write to Master Liu Biao and Brother Xuande for confirmation."

"However, now that the Central Plains War has failed, Yuan Shao has been hit hard just like us. We need to build a stronger alliance to fight against Hebei, so the previous strategy can no longer be used. Although Cao Chun and others still follow the original strategy I won Xuzhou, but Xuzhou still belongs to brother Xuande. As long as brother Xuande comes back and Xuzhou is safe and sound, I will take the army to Jiujiang. I will never break my oath, provoke internal strife, and overthrow the country. Please rest assured, Yunchang."

Guan Yu was skeptical.These things were too complicated, and it was the first time he had heard of some inside stories about the court, so he couldn't be sure whether Cao Cao's words were true or not.When Guan Yu was in a trance, Cao Cao stated his purpose, "Zang Ba lied to us, Chen Deng is in danger, and the situation in Langya is extremely critical. I need Yun Chang to rush to the East China Sea and Langya immediately. Reorganize the Xuzhou army in the country, and beat Zang Ba out of Xuzhou together with Liu Xun and Xiahouba."

This request is acceptable to Guan Yu.Now the common enemy of both sides is Hebei and the northern border army. No matter whether Cao Cao intends to occupy Xuzhou or not, under the current situation, the first task of both sides is to work together to defend Xuzhou, otherwise everyone will die together.

"I want to see Xianhe (Jian Yong) first." Guan Yu said, "If you want to defend Xuzhou, you can't rely on the army alone."

Seeing that Guan Yu agreed, Cao Cao was very happy, "Okay, I will go with you to see Xianhe."

People under the eaves have to bow their heads, especially the failure of the Central Plains War. All parties are facing survival difficulties and the country is also in jeopardy. .Jian Yong is a sensible person, so after he received Cao Cao's oath, he believed in Cao Cao, and immediately came forward to summon the subordinates at all levels of Xuzhou Prefecture. Leading Xuzhou's military administration, the two sides worked together to defend Xuzhou.

Cao Cao asked Xun Yu, Jian Yong, and Xiahou Dun, who was gradually recovering from his injuries, to stay in Pengcheng, and Cheng Yu and Xia Houyuan rushed to Xiapi with 3000 troops to station troops in Huaishui.Let Mao Jie rush to Shouchun with the letter and ask for food and grass from Yan Xiang, the governor of Yangzhou. If Yan Xiang refuses to give it, then he will have an excuse to attack Jiujiang.Cao Cao's deployment also won the trust of Jian Yong and Guan Yu to a certain extent.

After making arrangements for Pengcheng, Cao Cao went to Liucheng in person.Guan Yu took five thousand recruits and rushed to the East China Sea to join Cao Bao to reorganize the Xuzhou army.

When Chen Gong saw Cao Cao committing suicide, he withdrew his troops hastily.I don't have enough troops to beat Cao Cao at all, so I can only give up the strategy of attacking Xuzhou.Chen Gong urgently told General Li Hong to ask for reinforcements in case Cao Cao took the opportunity to counterattack Yanzhou.

At the end of the ninth month, Zang Ba's attack on the East China Sea was blocked, and he retreated to Kaiyang in Langya.Guan Yu and Liu Xun did not continue to attack because of food and grass. Instead, they stationed troops in Jiqiu to confront the Qingzhou army.

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In September, Henan.

In order to let Hu Qi return to the desert as soon as possible, the northern army's infantry army advanced very fast, but then the fighting on various battlefields gradually stopped.

After Liu Biao led the army to Yuzhou, Yuan Shao could only order more than 3 people to stand on the front lines of Guancheng, Xingyang and Aocang due to limited troops and low morale.

Facing the fortified city, the exhausted divisions of the northern border army had neither sufficient physical strength, sufficient food, grass, ordnance, nor an absolute superior force, so they could only give up the attack.Soon, Yan Liang led his army to retreat to Yuanwu and Yangwu.Lu Bu retreated to defend Zhongmu and Junyi.

After reuniting with Yan Rou, Qu Yi led his army all the way southwards, conquering Kaifeng, Chenliu, and Yongqiu, and then went south along the Langtang Canal to kill Xuchang.

At this moment, Liu Biao and Xun Chen had already met in Xuchang. The two gathered about 3 people and stationed troops in Yan (yan) Lingcheng on the north bank of the Wei (wei) River.

Qu Yi hesitated for a long time, but finally decided to give up the attack and led his army back to Chenliu.

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In September, Dingtao.

After the general Xingyuan moved to Dingtao, Li Hong immediately brought the officials of the two governments to Xingyuan.

At the first military meeting in Dingtao Xingyuan, Jia Xu analyzed and summarized the successes and failures of the Central Plains War, in which he mentioned a thing that made everyone feel very lucky.

During his escape, General Liu Pan of Jingzhou was captured by Gongsun Xu's men. During his conversation with Jia Xu, he talked about General Yan Rou's iron cavalry attacking Xuchang.That sneak attack on the northern Xinjiang cavalry burned down the food and grass camp in Xuchang, putting the coalition forces in a food and grass crisis.Although Yuan Shao and Liu Biao concealed this matter, Liu Biao was worried that the entire army would be defeated, so uncharacteristically, he actively sought a decisive battle.In other words, even if we did not trick the coalition forces into burning the food and grass in Gushi and Wuchao, the coalition forces would launch a decisive battle.

The Central Plains War completed the planned goal. During the seven-month battle, the Northern Xinjiang Army successively invested 1 soldiers from the North and South Armies, 11 infantry from the Seventh Battalion of Jizhou (of which 27 were new soldiers used to supplement the army), two Wan Qingzhou Army, 5 Han Hu cavalry, a total of 20 troops.To this day, about 5000 infantry and cavalry soldiers have been killed, about [-] enemies have been wiped out, and [-] of them have been captured.

For this war, the imperial court recruited about 180 million people, more than 7 supply vehicles, more than 3000 ships, and the consumption of various materials such as food, grass, livestock, and military equipment was even greater.

Fu Gan then reported the deployment of troops on each battlefield and the battle situation.

After the 12 cavalry returned to the desert and the frontier fortress, only [-] cavalry remained on the battlefield in the Central Plains.

Now there is an army of 5000 cavalry from Qu Yi, Lu Bu, Yan Rou, Yan Liang, Zhao Yun, and Jiang Wu on the battlefield in Henan.On the Hanoi battlefield, there were [-] cavalry troops of Wen Chou, Wang Dang, Zhang Liao, Zhang Xiu, Peng Lie, and Mustafa.There are [-] troops from Gaoshun, Xuhuang, Guanhai, Changxi, and Wudun in the southern counties of Yanzhou.

On the battlefield in Henan, as both sides were exhausted, the fighting had basically stopped.

On the Hanoi battlefield, the army commanded by Wen Chou and Wang Dang is attacking, and Huaicheng has been conquered. However, in the process of attacking Pinggao, due to the constraints of various reasons such as military strength and food, the army was seriously hindered. It is impossible to take all of Hanoi before the beginning of October.

On the Xuzhou battlefield, our two attacking armies were all blocked.Cao Cao withdrew to Xuzhou very quickly, far exceeding our expectations.In mid-September, Chen Gong and Wu Dun withdrew to Rencheng.At the end of the ninth month, Zang Ba's attack on the East China Sea was blocked, and he had to retreat to Langya.

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"Does Zijun (Wen Chou) have the latest battle report?" Li Hong asked immediately after hearing Fu Gan's report.

"Master Wen asks for reinforcements." Fu Qian glanced at Li Hong, and saw that there was no anger on his face, so he explained the situation on the Hanoi battlefield, "There are Liu Bei's Xuzhou army on the Hanoi battlefield, and there are high-ranking officials. The Yuzhou Army, as well as the Hanoi Army of Gao Ruan and Zhu Ling, the three armies together have at least 2 people, and we have no advantage in military strength. Although we won the Central Plains War, the morale of the coalition forces was low, but Hanoi was lost. It means that Luoyang is under our attack. Whether it is Yuan Shao or other generals of the rebel army, they all know that Hanoi cannot be lost at this moment, so after Liu Bei retreats to Pinggao, with the support of the rebels on the other side of the Yellow River, he will hold on to the city, which is very difficult. hit."

Li Hong turned his head to look at Yushi, "When will the [-] captives be available?"

After the battle at Pingyang Pavilion, Yushi began to organize the prisoners.He shook his head, "For safety's sake, it's better not to use these captives for now."

Li Hong frowned, "No matter what, Hanoi must be captured before winter. What are the countermeasures, my lords?"

"Now Yuan Shao is sticking to Henan, Liu Biao is sticking to Yuzhou, and Cao Cao is sticking to Xuzhou. The rebel forces are scattered and the food and grass are insufficient, so they can no longer pose a threat to us." Zhang Yan said after a little pondering, "Deploy troops from the Henan battlefield to support Hanoi. .”

Li Hong thought for a moment, then nodded, "Then let Zishan (Yan Liang) go." Then he pointed at Yushi and said, "How many soldiers from Yanzhou are there among the prisoners?"

"There are about 7000 people." Yushi asked worriedly, "The general wants to send them to the battlefield in Hanoi?"

"Don't be afraid, use it boldly." Li Hong said with a smile, "Yanzhou is in our hands now, you don't have to worry about them defecting and running to Luoyang. In addition, ask He Yi to take five thousand and nine river troops with him."

"Then I will personally lead the army to Hanoi."

"No, you still stay in Dingtao with Wen Chang (Wei Yan) to train soldiers, and go to Hanoi to fight, I see..." Li Hong smiled and looked at Sima Yi who was sitting on the side, "Zhongda, the 1 How about entrusting two thousand people to you?"

Sima Yi froze there, almost unable to believe his ears, "General, are you... accusing me?"

Everyone in the tent turned their attention to the young Sima Yi, with approval, suspicion, and envy.In the Northern Xinjiang Army, apart from Zhao Yun in his youth, the only one who can command an army of ten thousand at the young age of 20 is Sima Yi today.

"You go to command the army, don't stay by my side." Li Hong waved his hand at the excited Sima Yi, "On the battlefield in Hanoi, all the adults, including Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Wang Dang, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Zhang Liao, Zhang Xiu, etc. Fighting titans, follow them and learn hard, you will benefit from it forever."

Sima Yi turned over and fell to his knees, wanting to say a few words of gratitude for his loyalty, but because he was too excited, his mind went blank and he forgot what he wanted to say.

"Get up, get up..." Li Hong waved his hands, "Let's set off tomorrow. When you arrive in Hanoi, lead the army and fight well, and think carefully about everything. Your every move now directly affects the lives of 1 soldiers, so you must not No matter how willful it is.”

Sima Yi worshiped again to be taught.

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After the military discussion, Dong Zhao, Tian Chou and other court ministers and Yang Qi, Chen Gong, Zhang Chao and other Yanzhou officials gathered in the big tent to discuss matters related to pacifying and stabilizing Yanzhou counties.

"Tomorrow, Feiyan, Fengxian (Lu Bu), Ziyu (Yan Rou), Wenhe (Jia Xu), Gongren (Dong Zhao), and Zitai (Tian Chou) will return to Jinyang to report to the emperor and the court. Relevant matters related to the Central Plains War." Li Hong said to Yang Qi, "If the adults have submitted the memorial to the court, let Feiyan and the others take it back together."

Yang Qi looked at Zhang Yan and the others in surprise.

Dong Zhao and Tian Chou are important ministers of Shangshutai. After the decisive battle in the Central Plains, the two of them will of course return to Jinyang.Zhang Yan and Lu Bu are ministers of the Jiuqing, one is Guang Luxun and the other is Weiwei.Yan Rou is General Zhenbei.If these three people also return to the court after the war, it means that the Central Plains War is over and there will be no more fights.

"General, are you not going to fight Luoyang this year?"

"If you can raise enough food and grass for an army of [-] for half a year after the autumn harvest in October, I will launch a big attack on Luoyang at the end of October." Li Hong said with a smile, "My lord, can you help me do it?" ?”

Yang Qi laughed, "General, if Yanzhou can be self-sufficient this year and don't need the court to allocate relief, I will have made a great contribution. Where can I have food for you?" Then his face changed, and he said solemnly, "Hebei We all know that wealth is exhausted, but if the army cannot take advantage of the victory to attack Luoyang and let Yuan Shao breathe, it will be very difficult to fight in the future. After all, Luoyang is the capital of the Han Dynasty, and there are eight dangerous passes, not dozens The army of ten thousand cannot enter. Yuan Shao led an army of more than 20 to attack Dong Zhuo and attack Luoyang, but he failed to enter for more than a year. If you hadn’t sent troops to Guanxi to threaten Luoyang, Dong Zhuo would never have retreated to Guanzhong.” Yang Qi sighed In one breath, "General, if you don't fight now, wait until next year, and things will be troublesome."

Li Hong smiled helplessly, "What do you want me to do? There is not enough food and weapons, and I am helpless. If I can fight, will I stop outside Hulao Pass?"

"What about Guanzhong? How is the situation in Guanzhong?" Yang Qi said casually, "If we can conquer Guanzhong before winter comes, then Yuan Shao won't have time to breathe."

"There is a problem in the customs clearance." Li Hong said lightly, "We must first discuss it with Han Sui, otherwise..."

"What is there to discuss?" Yang Qi's white eyebrows suddenly raised, "If he wants to pass the pass, shall we give him the pass? He has been in the west for more than ten years, and he is an old rebel. You can satisfy him desire?"

Li Hong remained silent, his heart like a heavy lead.

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Under September, Luoyang.

Yuan Shao returned to Luoyang, feeling sad, angry and depressed, lying on the couch for three days without getting up.

On the third night, Yuan Wei ran to Yuan Shao's mansion with a panicked expression, "At the beginning, the big thing was not good. Han Sui and Ma Chao suddenly sent troops to Guanzhong and captured Chang'an."

Yuan Shao was shocked, he jumped up from the couch, and just about to speak, he felt the stars flying in front of his eyes, his head was dizzy, his body shook twice, and he fell to the ground.

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(End of this chapter)