Great Han Empire

Chapter 929 Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Wins Central Plains
In this Luoyang battle, there are four main battlefields and two containment battlefields. The total number of troops invested is about 34, and about 300 million civilians are recruited. The estimated attack time is more than half a year.According to the court's estimate, if the army fails to capture Luoyang by the end of next year, the war will stop, and the court will have to raise food and grass to prepare for another battle next year.Once the war is delayed to the next year, not only will the cost be astonishing, but the development of the world situation will also be unpredictable. Therefore, the emperor, the eldest princess and the court all hope that the army can conquer Luoyang before the end of next year, so as to firmly lay the foundation for the great cause of ZTE.

The four main battlefields for attacking Luoyang were Kansai, Hanoi, Henan and Yingchuan.

On the Kansai battlefield, the imperial court decided to invest 2 troops.Qu Yi, the general of the left guard, was the commander-in-chief of the army, and Yang Feng, the general of the right, was his deputy.Zhang Baiqi, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Sun Qin, and Liang Baiwu each led an army of [-] men each.Louchuan Zhonglang Yang Hua's Hedong navy was restrained by Qu Yi during the attack.

On the Yingchuan battlefield, the imperial court also invested 2 troops.Left General Yan Liang was the commander-in-chief of the army, and Wuwei General Wen Chou was his deputy.Wang Dang, Zhang Xiu, Xu Huang, Wu Xiong, and Ji Ling each led an army of [-] soldiers each.

On the Henan battlefield, the imperial court invested [-] troops from the north and the south.General Longxiang Zhao Yun is the commander in chief of the army, and General Yu Du is the deputy.

On the battlefield in Hanoi, the imperial court invested the least troops, only [-] troops. Huwei Zhonglang General Sima Yi was the commander, and Huya Zhonglang General Wei Yan was his deputy.Dang Kou Zhonglang led the Jizhou navy under the command of Ju Hu to be controlled by Sima Yi during the attack.

Among the four main battlefields, the Hanoi battlefield was the closest to Luoyang and received the most resistance. It was very difficult to conquer Mengjin and Xiaopingjin in a short period of time. In order to reduce losses, only auxiliary attacks were used to contain the enemy's forces.The battle in the Yingchuan battlefield is the most intense. In order to attack Luoyang, we must quickly take down Luyang, and the rebels must hold on to Luyang in order to ensure the connection with Luoyang. They will attack the northern border from three directions: Runan, Nanyang, and Luoyang. Army, Yingchuan battlefield will have a series of bloody battles.Therefore, the Kanxi battlefield and the Henan battlefield are the main attack directions of the army. As long as either of these two battlefields takes the lead in conquering Hulao Pass or Hangu Pass, Luoyang's outer defense line will be broken through, and the rebels can only abandon the "eight passes." ", withdrew from Luoyang City across the board.

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The two containment battlefields are in Guanzhong and Qingyan.

There are threats from Xijiang and Hanzhong in the direction of Guanzhong, and threats from Cao Cao and Yuan Tan in Qingyan and Yanzhou.When we put all the main force on the Luoyang battlefield, as long as any of the two wings of the battlefield is under strong attack and the defense line is broken by the enemy, then the Luoyang battle is very likely to fail.

The situation in Jianghuai has changed a lot since September.After the Jiangdong army captured Jiangxia, the fighting on the north and south sides of the Yangtze River quickly subsided, but after that we found that the main force of the Jingzhou army went north one after another, so we have to consider that Sun Quan might be like Cao Cao, riding two boats, and Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu It was expressed that some kind of agreement was reached, otherwise the main force of the Jingzhou army would not go north to Nanyang without any scruples.If the facts are almost the same as our estimate, then when we attacked Luoyang, Cao Cao and Yuan Tan might jointly attack Qingyan and Yanzhou, but Sun Quan might turn a deaf ear to our request and refuse to send troops to threaten Jiangbei.

The wars in western Xinjiang gradually ceased with the advent of winter, but this was not directly related to the cold weather, but to the implementation of Master Jia Xu's strategy of "using the Qiang to control the Qiang, and the barbarians to control the barbarians".This strategy is currently being rolled out gradually.Ma Chao was ordered to appease the Baima Qiang and Shenlang Qiang, and Pang De helped Nie Xiao put down the Qiang rebellion in Huangzhong and Huanghan. After the situation in Longxi stabilized, Ma Chao and Pang De would unite Baima, Shenlang, and Huang Various Qiang people of the middle class attacked Shaodang Qiang in the West Sea.At the same time, Lei Zi was also discussing the attack on Hexi with the kings of Xianbei tribes such as Huding, Qichen, Budugeng, Xiguini, Mutao, and Muli on the desert.If General Lei Zi can successfully persuade the tribal kings and form a coalition force to enter Hexi, then although the situation in Western Xinjiang will still be chaotic next year, it will not pose a serious threat to Guanzhong.

The internal strife in Yizhou is very serious. Liu Zhang is fighting with Zhao Wei of Bajun and Zhang Lu of Hanzhong. Logically, they will not pose a threat to us, but according to the information we have received, Zhao Wei and Liu Biao have an alliance relationship. Yuan Shao has a marriage relationship, so we have to treat it with caution.

Under the current situation, if Yuan Shao wants to turn things around and turn defeat into victory, it is obviously not enough to rely on the support of Liu Biao and Liu Bei to stick to Luoyang. He must find another way to break our siege of Luoyang and let us attack Luoyang. He wins breathing time.Inferred from common sense, Yuan Shao came up with nothing more than to open up two wings of battlefields in the east and west of Luoyang, relying on the breakthrough of the rebels on the two wings of battlefields to destroy our intention to conquer Luoyang.This approach is indeed good.But now Cao Cao's strength is limited, and Sun Quan and Zhou Yu are capricious. It is difficult to pose a threat to us on the east road battlefield, and it is too difficult to open up the west road battlefield. Unless there is a miracle, the rebels will not be able to pose a threat before we conquer Luoyang Guan Zhong's strength.

Whether the rebels will create miracles, we don't know, but we must plan for the rainy day, occupy Hanzhong as soon as possible, and occupy the advantage of calming the world as quickly as possible.

The benefits of occupying Hanzhong are self-evident. After conquering Luoyang, we can start from Hanzhong and quickly go south to Chengdu, and then occupy the entire Yizhou. Then we attack Jingzhou from the Central Plains and Bashu.With Jingzhou in hand, the great cause of ZTE will be at your fingertips.At this time, if Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu stubbornly resist and refuse to surrender, we will divide our troops into two groups, send troops to the Jianghuai River along the Yangtze River, and attack Jiangdong along the Yangtze River all the way, so the world can be settled.

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Before Zhang Liao could finish speaking, the generals in the lobby began to discuss in low voices.The distant and mysterious Bashu and Hanzhong are very strange to these generals who have been fighting in the frontiers, Hebei, and the Central Plains all year round.

"Next year, shall we play Hanzhong?" He Feng asked excitedly.His army was stationed in Guanzhong and could not participate in the Luoyang battle, which kept him depressed.

"This..." Zhang Liao hesitated for a moment, then said with a frown, "This is a strategy drawn up by the imperial court to calm down the world as soon as possible. The main reason is that many factors have been considered comprehensively, but Hanzhong may not be attacked immediately. Next year, the main force of the army will be concentrated in Luoyang , we must first clear the periphery of Luoyang and enter the eight passes, and then start to attack. We know the strength of Luoyang. The reason why the imperial court assembled an army of 28 to attack Luoyang is to consider the difficulty of its attack. In this way, We have very few troops to contain the battlefield. Now that the situation in western Xinjiang is chaotic, the troops in Guanzhong are mainly to ensure the safety of Chang'an, so the time to attack Hanzhong should be after the capture of Luoyang."

"After defeating Luoyang, the army should follow the trend and attack Jingzhou and Jianghuai." Wang Dang asked coldly, "Why did they suddenly divide their troops to attack Hanzhong? Could it be that the rebels abandoned Jingzhou and Jianghuai and fled to the deep mountains and old forests of Bashu went?"

There was a burst of laughter in the lobby.

Xian Yufu stood up with a stern expression, his eyes slowly swept across his face one by one.There was an instant silence in the lobby.

"Wen Yuan, explain to them." Xu Rong waved at Zhang Liao, "The issue of attacking Hanzhong involves the imperial court's counter-insurgency strategy, so it should be explained clearly so that everyone can have a comprehensive understanding of the imperial court's entire counter-insurgency deployment."

Zhang Liao nodded and walked to the huge map hanging on the side of the lobby.

"My lords..." Zhang Liao pointed to Taiwei Yang Biao, General Xian Yufu of the Left Chariot, General Xu Rong of the Right Chariot, Qu Yi of the Left Guard, General Zhang Yan of the Right Guard, and others, and said loudly, "We are discussing When planning the counter-insurgency strategy, Chang’an’s safety was first considered. Chang’an will soon become the capital of the great Han, and the emperor, princess and court may enter the capital next fall.”

"But Chang'an is not safe at the moment." Zhang Liao pointed to the map, "Everyone knows the situation in Western Xinjiang, so I won't talk about it anymore. Since the death of Yizhou Mu Liu Yan, the situation in Yizhou is no longer stable. This is a problem for Yuan Shao and Liu Biao. Seizing Yizhou created an opportunity. Judging from the fact that Yuan Shao took the initiative to marry Zhang Lu, Yuan Shao obviously saw the important role of capturing Yizhou in fighting us after his failure in the Central Plains War. After Yuan Shao was defeated in Luoyang, if he fled into Yizhou , will cause great harm to the great cause of ZTE. Taking a step back, even if Yuan Shao is defeated in Luoyang, what about Liu Biao and Liu Bei? They can still flee to Yizhou and cause the same harm to the great cause of ZTE.”

"Everyone knows that when Emperor Guangwu rejuvenated Sheji, Gongsun Shu separatist in Yizhou and proclaimed himself emperor. Gongsun Shu only served as emperor for 12 years, but Emperor Guangwu beat him for a full ten years. Obviously, Gongsun Shu dominated Yizhou It greatly hindered Emperor Guangwu's great cause of Zhongxing, and its most direct impact was that the time for Emperor Guangwu to pacify Western Xinjiang was greatly prolonged, and Guanzhong was devastated."

"We can assume that if the Yizhou rebels repeatedly go north and attack Guanzhong and Xiliang, how will Western Xinjiang be stable? Western Xinjiang cannot be stable, and the Qiang people will in turn threaten the security of Guanzhong, which will make Yizhou rebels more frequent In such a vicious cycle, how can the safety of Chang'an be guaranteed? Chang'an is unstable, and the main force of the army will march westward and southward to attack Yizhou, so how can the imperial court have the wealth to support Jingzhou and the Jianghuai battlefield?" Zhang Liao paused for a while. , looked at the generals in the hall, and continued, "So, once the emperor announces that Chang'an will be the capital, our counter-insurgency strategy will have to be greatly adjusted. After Luoyang is captured, the main target of the army will be Xijiang, which is Yizhou. "

The generals in northern Xinjiang listened attentively, each one lost in thought.

"The purpose of setting the capital in Chang'an is to ensure the stability of the western and northern borders. With the stability of the western and northern borders, we have no worries before we can move south. The capital Luoyang makes us too far away from the western and northern borders, and it is easy to lose our understanding of the west and the north." Control of Xinjiang and Northern Xinjiang. When Western Xinjiang and Northern Xinjiang are in chaos, one can imagine how difficult it is to suppress the rebellion. If both Xinjiang is in chaos, and the army fails to fight the Yangtze River, the matter of suppressing the rebellion will be delayed again and again. , the imperial court is very likely to be dragged down. At that time, not only will ZTE’s great cause be ruined, but the Han Dynasty is more likely to face a confrontation between the North and the South.” Zhang Liao said, “Now we are about to set up Chang’an as our capital, but Han Sui’s death will make Xi The situation in Xinjiang changed suddenly, and stabilizing western Xinjiang to ensure the safety of Kyoto immediately became the most urgent goal of the imperial court."

"After we beat Luoyang, we will fight Xijiang, so Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and others will have a breathing time. With breathing time, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao will naturally turn their attention to Yizhou. Use Yizhou to attack Guanzhong and Xijiang, thereby dragging us in Guanzhong and Xijiang, and creating opportunities for them to reverse the unfavorable situation and turn defeat into victory."

Zhang Liao raised his hand and slapped it hard on the map, "This is a very contradictory matter. We can't ignore the safety of the capital, but we can't let the rebellion come back, so the only way is to attack Yizhou immediately."

"Xijiang or Yizhou, which one is the most beneficial to the security of Chang'an and the great cause of ZTE? This is the second question that several adults considered when discussing counter-insurgency strategies."

"Judging from the current situation, it is most beneficial to attack Yizhou first." Zhang Liao pointed to Yizhou on the map and said, "Whether we go south from the Central Plains to attack Jingzhou, Jianghuai, or Jiangdong, we will eventually face the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. Yizhou will help us gain control of the Yangtze River. Once the Yangtze River is under control, the rebel army will lose its greatest support. Under our two-way attack, the rebel army will surely rush and be wiped out. This kind of attack strategy is obviously better than It is better for us to attack the Yangtze River from the direction of the Central Plains."

"Let's assume again that if we capture Yizhou quickly and quickly, then we will have less worries when we attack Xijiang, and Xijiang can be quickly pacified. At the same time, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and other rebels are Under the strong deterrence of our two-pronged attack, they have completely lost their resistance. Due to the fact that they are defeated, they may raise their hands and surrender. This will allow the court to stabilize in the shortest time at the smallest cost. Of course, this is only It's the imperial court's wishful thinking, but no matter what, as long as we gain such an absolute advantage in military matters, even if Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others get a chance to breathe, they will not have the strength to fight against the imperial court. It doesn't matter if we fight or not Either way, what awaits them is the fate of defeat."

The generals in northern Xinjiang suddenly realized, and the discussion sounded again.

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Facing the generals, Zhang Liao raised his hands and pressed a few times in the air forcefully, signaling the generals not to speak.

"Because the imperial court decided to make Chang'an the capital, the counter-insurgency strategy has changed, but the change in the counter-insurgency strategy is based on the capture of Luoyang. If Luoyang cannot be conquered, it will be difficult to implement the counter-insurgency strategy set by the imperial court."

"Therefore, our containment of the battlefield is very important to ensure that the main force of the army conquers Luoyang. Please contain the generals on the battlefield to focus on the great cause of rejuvenation and obey the imperial court's orders."

On the containment battlefield of Qingyan and Yanzhou, there were four generals, Gao Shun, Zang Ba, Peng Lie, and Wei Xu, with a total of 4 horses.The army was commanded by the former general Lu Bu, with General Zhechong Gao Shun and Weilu General Zang Ba as his deputy.General Lu Bu's Chinese army camp was located in Rencheng, directly threatening Xuzhou.

The containment battlefield in Guanzhong was commanded by General Zhenghuai Hua Xiong, General Wei Jun of Xiangwu, General He Feng of Li Wei, Deputy Generals Yang Chun, Li Yun, and Zi led a total of [-] cavalry troops stationed in Chang'an and Dasan. Guan, Wuguan, Tongguan, Xiaoguan and other city passes.

The entire Central Plains battlefield was commanded by General Li Hong, who was in charge of Chen Liu.Later general Yushi sat on the front line of Luoyang.General Ningshuo Fan Li was stationed in Yecheng, Jizhou, and was responsible for allocating food, grass and supplies to the Central Plains army.

The entire Guanzhong and Kanxi battlefields were commanded by the right chariot general Xu Rong from Chang'an, and personally supervised the transportation of grain and supplies.

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After Zhang Liao finished speaking, Huangfu Li, who had been promoted to General of the Bandits, stood up.He is now concurrently in charge of the Sima of the Da Sima Mansion.He gave a detailed description of the organizational system of each army, and announced the reappointment of officers above the Sima level of each army.Due to the sudden increase in the number of the army by [-], officers at all levels in the original army were promoted, and those with more meritorious service even went up to the third rank.It is the happiest thing to be promoted.These generals of the army were very excited, and they gathered together to compare each other to see whose subordinates had the most promotions.

After Huangfu Li finished reading, General Li Wei He Feng immediately stood up, bowed respectfully and deeply to Xian Yufu, and was about to open his mouth to speak, but Xian Yufu stopped him with a wave of his hand, "There are not many troops in Guanzhong, we can't do it for now." Attack Hanzhong."

"Why?" He Feng said with wide-eyed eyes, "What if Yuan Shao and Liu Biao send troops to Hanzhong first?"

"We are also worried about this situation." Xu Rong, who was sitting next to Xian Yufu, said, "The imperial court has issued an order to appease Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, and we want to test Zhang Lu's reaction. If he accepts the appeasement, we will immediately send troops into Hanzhong If he refuses to appease, we will plan to attack again. Hanzhong is difficult to fight, and we must make sufficient preparations before attacking, and we cannot act hastily."

He Feng asked strangely: "Is it difficult to fight in Hanzhong?"

"Do you know where Emperor Guangwu came from when he attacked Yizhou?" Xian Yufu asked with a smile.

Without even thinking about it, He Feng opened his mouth and said, "It was driven in from Jingzhou. At that time, General Cen Peng first broke through Jiangguan (that is, Qutang Pass near Fengjie, also known as Han Pass) from the direction of Yiling, and opened the road leading directly to Bachu. Throat, but he was assassinated immediately. In the second year, Da Sima Wu Han led an army to Chengdu and defeated Gongsun Shu."

"Before the great general Cen Peng attacked Bashu, the former general Li Tong, the traitorous general Hou Jin, and the captive general Wang Ba had conquered Hanzhong, but why didn't they go directly from Hanzhong to Chengdu?" Xian Yufu asked again.

He Feng was stunned for a moment, "Probably because the plank road from Hanzhong to Chengdu was burned by Gongsun Shu, and there is no way to go?"

"We also have the same worry." Xian Yufu sighed, "From Guanzhong to Hanzhong, we need to cross the Qinling Mountains, but since ancient times there has been no road, only plank roads. Thousands of miles away, you will be discovered by the enemy at any time." Xian Yufu sighed, "There are four plank roads from Guanzhong to Hanzhong, namely the Chencang Old Road going south from Dasan Pass, the Baoxie Road going south from Meicheng, and the southeast going south from Wugong City. Dangluo Road, Ziwu Road going south from Rushui River in the south of Chang'an City. No matter which plank road we take, as long as we are set on fire by them, we will have to turn around. Therefore, we must make sufficient preparations before attacking Hanzhong. Otherwise, you will be looking for your own death.”

"How about a surprise attack from the direction of the western border?" He Feng still did not give up, and asked.

"From Longnan in western Xinjiang to Hanzhong and Guanghan in Yizhou, there are four plank roads, namely Jialing Road, Qishan Road, Tazhong Yinping Road and Taomin Road." Xian Yufu explained patiently, "Zhuoyan, even if You have traveled thousands of miles and brought the army there after untold hardships, but what about the food and grass? What about the ordnance? Taking a step back, even if you barely managed to reach the Hanzhong territory, there is still a Yangping pass before entering the hinterland of Hanzhong. That pass is famous all over the world, how do you, a tired army, fight it?"

He Feng snorted angrily, and cursed viciously, "Since there is no way to fight, then simply burn down all the plank roads, so that they can't fight Chang'an either."

Yang Biao, Xian Yufu, Xu Rong, Zhang Yan and others burst out laughing.

Qu Yi casually picked up a roll of bamboo slips on the desk and smashed it over his face, "You are already a general, and you are so brainless. You have completely lost my face."

He Feng shrank his head in fright, and turned his body to avoid the bamboo slips.

"The plank road is burned, can't they re-pave it? The most trees on the Qinling Mountains." Xu Rong waved his hand at Qu Yi, signaling him to pay attention to the situation and not to beat people randomly. "It is not difficult for the army to pass the plank road. If a section of the plank road is burned, we can also take the craftsmen to pave it all the way. For us, the most difficult thing is the transportation of grain, grass and luggage. Whether it is fighting Hanzhong or Chengdu, there are many passes along the way, and the army needs a lot of time. The battle time is long, so the transportation of food and supplies is the most important thing to ensure that the army can continue to fight."

"The reason why the former general Li Tong failed to continue to attack Chengdu in the south was because Hanzhong was completely destroyed by the Qiang people and could not recover in a short period of time. The army could not get food support and had to withdraw to Guanzhong. Later, Emperor Guangwu chose to attack from the east of Yizhou. The attack was launched because the Yangtze River waterway can be used to transport food and military equipment." Xu Rong walked to the huge map, pointed to Hanzhong on the map and said, "At present, the imperial court's counter-insurgency strategy is very clear. After Luoyang is captured, Hanzhong will be attacked immediately. How many troops Hanzhong needs, how many civilians need to be recruited, how much food, grass and weapons are needed, we must carefully calculate to ensure that the army can win the first battle."

"So..." Xu Rong turned around and looked at the disappointed He Feng and said, "It is indeed too difficult to attack Hanzhong this year. Not only are there not enough troops, but there is also a shortage of civilians, and there is no guarantee of food, grass and ordnance."

"Zhuoyan, after spending the Chinese New Year with your mother, you should go back to Guanzhong and train the army honestly for me, don't let your imagination run wild." Xian Yufu said with a smile, "In the future when we fight Hanzhong, I will let you go south first."

He Feng let out a listless "hmm" and sat down dejectedly.

When the military discussion was coming to an end, Xian Yufu gave some solemn instructions to the generals, and finally said: "My lords, go to the battlefield as soon as the Chinese New Year is over. I hope that in the New Year next year, we can celebrate the recovery of Luoyang in Chang'an City."

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(End of this chapter)