Chen Bin easily defeated the horse thieves occupying Jixian County, and there was almost no suspense in the whole battle.
Horse thieves originally have no sense of order and honor, and they all fly away when disaster strikes.
Cao Chun was greatly surprised when he heard the soldiers reported that they had reoccupied Ji County. He originally just asked Chen Bin to check the truth, but he didn't expect that the Changping guard seemed to have two tricks?
But after Cao Chun and his people rushed to Jixian in great excitement, they were only left with anger and disappointment.
Angry because the city defenses outside Ji County and the fortifications on the city walls are all intact!
There is no need to say more about what this means...
The disappointment is that there is nothing left in Jixian.
When Xia Houheng left, he scraped a batch and burned a batch. After Xia Houheng left, local wealthy people also took advantage of the chaos to rob a batch and took away a batch. Then horse thieves came and destroyed the whole batch.
One last thing...
Nowadays, Jixian County is in a mess, but there are not many supplies.
Cao Chun asked his soldiers to collect as much supplies as possible.
As for how to collect it and where to collect it, Cao Chun didn't care about it.
After all, there is an old saying in Shandong, "Those who achieve great things do not stick to trivial matters."
This is what Lao Cao did, and the generals of the Cao family and the Xiahou family naturally followed suit.
Cao Chun boarded the city gate tower and looked to the north. He knew that although it seemed calm now, the Hussar's pursuers would arrive here soon. Zhao Yun definitely needed to appease the people around Yuyang and gather and place Cao's troops under guard.
Prisoners, all this will take time, but it won't take too long, and it will even be faster than Cao Chun personally estimated.
The fierce offensive of the Hussar Northern Territory Army made Cao Chun and other Youzhou soldiers miserable.
Gubeikou was lost.
Yuyang was lost.
Jixian escaped.
Most people in Luxian County also escaped...
According to Chen Bin, Juyong was also attacked and may not be safe now.
Youzhou, which I have worked so hard to manage!
This feeling is like a stone blocking the chest, making even breathing painful.
Before starting the war, I had prepared so many things and prepared so many plans, one by one, one by one, but now, few of them have been successfully implemented.
Just like the fortifications currently placed on the walls of Jixian County, they have become mere artifacts...
Cao Chun sighed, and suddenly his heart moved.
If you say...
"Come here! Go and ask Captain Chen to come!"
Cao Chun suddenly had a new plan.
Chen Bin came, a little nervous.
His instinct seemed to be that something was not good, but he had no good solution. Chen Bin's premonition came true.
Cao Chun felt that the defenses in Ji County were wasted here, so they might as well use them as much as possible!
"Let's burn Jixian!" Cao Chun said with some excitement, even gritting his teeth, "We are in Jixian. We set up more kerosene secretly at the four doors of the house, and then dug holes to hide soldiers. At night,
Set fire to the city! I’m sure you can give the hussars a good drink!』
Setting fire to Ji County would make Cao Chun heartbroken, but it was better than giving it to the Hussars in vain.
This plan sounds good, just like Chen Bin, whose parents gave him the name "Bin", hoping that he would be both civilized and military, but in the end he was unable to succeed in both civil and military affairs. The wishes of the elders are just wishes, and it depends on the individual's efforts.
Now Cao Chun's wish seems to be just a wish...
Chen Bin swallowed and asked nervously: "General... then, who, who stayed in the city to light the fire?"
Cao Chun seemed surprised that Chen Bin would ask this question. He stared at Chen Bin and asked after a moment: "Why, you don't want to?"
Cao Chun frowned, "Don't you think that war is just about getting into battle easily, waving your sword and gun, and then you can win any victory... No?"
Chen Bin was speechless.
…
…
Just when Cao Chun said "No way", Liu Ye had almost arrived in Yi Jing.
For some reason, the closer he got to Yi Jing, the more uneasy Liu Ye felt. Looking at the long road ahead, he suddenly stopped the convoy.
This is a relatively rare behavior of Liu Ye, because he came all the way, and most of the time he was shouting to go faster, go faster...
"Sir, what's wrong?" The deputy came up from behind and asked, "But what's wrong?"
Liu Ye was silent for a while and suddenly said: "We can't go to Yi Jing."
The deputy was a little strange, "Why?"
"We met some refugees in the past two days..." Liu Ye said, his voice low.
The deputy nodded.
Youzhou is now in the middle of a war, and the war is in chaos. Those who could have some ability to escape have already escaped. Most of the remaining refugees have no choice but to be afraid of being caught in the war, so they fled to Jizhou with their families.
.
Not to mention those "strong walls and clear fields"...
Mainly other refugees who have fled.
Liu Ye went all the way north and met many such refugees.
"Yesterday, some refugees said that Yi Jing was occupied by the Hussars..." Liu Ye said, "So we can't go to Yi Jing."
"No..." The deputy couldn't understand.
Isn't it better if Yi Jing is occupied by the Hussar? It saves them from having to go further to Yuyang? It's the Hussar anyway. When they arrive, they will give the edict and it will be over.
But Liu Ye had different ideas from his deputy.
As a counselor who is at least a second-rate level, Liu Ye has his own understanding and analysis of the war situation in Youzhou.
Cao Jun obviously couldn't hold on any longer.
The loss of Youzhou is a surprising, but it seems to be an inevitable result.
Now that Yi Jing is being attacked by the Hussar, if the news is true, then the Hussar's control of Youzhou and their pre-war plans will far exceed everyone's expectations in Shandong.
So since the Hussars have made such a far-reaching plan, will they give up the entire plan just because of a mere edict?
Liu Ye thought it was impossible, especially the middle and lower-level generals of the Hussars. They were completely different from the generals of the Shandong faction.
The king of hell is easy to meet, but the devil is difficult to deal with.
Although this sentence was not summarized and popular in the Han Dynasty, it did not prevent Liu Ye from understanding that the edict must be submitted to the top brass of the Hussar in order to achieve the greatest and best effect.
In particular, this edict was originally intended to target the Hussar Northern Territory Army and Zhao Yun...
If it falls into the hands of others, even if it is finally handed over to Zhao Yun, it may even not pass through Zhao Yun's hands at all, but directly handed over to the hands of General Fei Qian, then wouldn't the plan fail again?
Already?
Therefore, Liu Ye felt that if he arrived in Yijing, he would be giving all the initiative to the hussar generals in Yijing. Even if he noticed something was wrong, he would not be able to make any changes.
"We can't go to Yi Jing." Liu Ye glanced at his deputy, "But that doesn't mean we won't all go... You take half of the people and walk slowly to Yi Jing. I will take the other half and find another way...
』
"Ah?" The deputy's eyes widened in surprise, "I...I'm going to Yi Jing?"
"Otherwise?" Liu Ye asked.
…
…
Late at night, Zhongtiao Mountain Camp.
Cao Cao strode into the Chinese army's tent.
All the generals stood up to greet him.
"How is the offensive of the Tongguan Hussars today?" When Cao Cao faced the generals and counselors, his smile remained unchanged. He asked the three of them to sit down and asked with a smile, "How are the casualties of our army?"
"Today, debris is still being cleared on land at Tongguan, but the navy is still attacking once a day." Lu Chang reported, "At Tongguan, there doesn't seem to be too much of a rush to attack. They probably want to wait until we cross the river and are in the Weihan area.
Let’s attack with all our strength again.』
Tongguan Ban Road is only a small part of Weihan Zhigu.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, countless soldiers died here.
Cao Cao nodded slightly.
"There have not been many casualties in the past two days... However, as supplies have not been replenished, the food shortage situation in various ministries has become increasingly serious." Dong Zhao said from the side, "Although there are not many ships in the Guanzhong naval force now, for us
The military crossing the river is a great threat... breaking the pontoon bridge is fine, but if it threatens Shaanxi and Tianjin..."
After hearing this, Cao Cao nodded slightly.
The other generals and counselors recounted their stories one by one, and Cao Cao did not interrupt them midway.
After they all finished speaking, Cao Cao ordered the guards to hang up the map, and also asked the guards to make some food and drink. After all, it was late at night and everyone was somewhat hungry.
Lu Chang and Dong Zhao were in Zhongtiao Mountain. After the meeting, they went back to their tents to rest. However, the lieutenants of the Tongguan camp had to rush back overnight, so they also needed to eat more. They couldn't go on an empty stomach, in case they were halfway there.
If you run out of energy and fall into the river, you are so unlucky.
"We have reinforcements and supplies," Cao Cao said with a smile, "They are all here."
Cao Cao pointed to a location on the map.
Everyone stretched their necks to look at it, and then they also saw some joy among each other.
"However, these reinforcements will not come here..." Cao Cao waited for everyone to digest the news, and then slowly said, "When I was studying military books in the early years, I often lamented the method of the Spring and Autumn Period, and lamented that the six countries could not be united.
...Now we know that the defeat of the Six Kingdoms will last for a long time...Qi Huan, Jin Wen, Qin Mu, Song Xiang, and Chuzhuang are the five hegemons. In terms of quantity, Shandong is half of them, and Qin is only one. Why?
To unify the six countries? Just one order."
"Now, in the land of Shandong, what order is there?"
Cao Cao looked at everyone and smiled. He didn't know whether he was laughing at himself or some other person or thing.
"With an order from the King of Qin, you can regulate fish and rice in Sichuan and Sichuan, drive out the Western Rong and Hu cavalry, and control the Qiang slaves in the Northern Desert. The soldiers and the people can unite their orders and actions. Now let's look at Shandong today. Can the emperor's order be sent to the counties?"
Everyone was speechless.
"Therefore, if there is a defeat now, Shandong can be one, and Shandong will eventually win. If there is a victory now, but Shandong is not the same, it will be a temporary victory, and it will be defeated by Qin in the end."
Although Shandong is not as scattered as it was during Dong Zhuo's time, with the so-called eighteen princes, in fact, for Shandong, the superficial unity does not really form a joint force.
Cao's army has now withdrawn from the Heluo area. As one goes and the other increases, the Hussars will enter the Heluo area. Although they can occupy Luoyang, on the surface they can march to threaten Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Jizhou and other places, but in fact they will be the same as before.
Like Dong Zhuo, once a lone army goes deep, it will be attacked from multiple places...
Of course, the premise is that Shandong must move in unison and form a unified understanding again.
This is very important.
Although Shandong's strength will be greatly weakened after this defeat, it also weakens the difficulty for Cao Cao to unify various places!
Foreign enemies are tyrannical, danger is approaching, and the land of Shandong is facing the greatest crisis!
If they cannot be unified together, Feiqian will sweep across the prefectures and counties, and the country will be overturned.
Just like the Qin Dynasty back then.
These things were all considered by Cao Cao in detail before the war, but he could not talk about them in advance. After all, at that time, most Shandong people were very proud. They felt that Shandong was a big country with a vast land, rich products, outstanding people and so on...
After Fei Qian occupied Guanzhong, his power expanded rapidly. Cao Cao could no longer hold off and had to fight, but he had made two preparations. If he won, everything would be fine, but if he lost, he still had the final trump card.
This is one of them...
The difficulty is, of course, very great.
The human heart is difficult to control, desires are like an abyss.
If Shandong cannot be united, then Cao Cao will give birth to three heads and six arms, but it will not help.
Therefore, winning is not necessarily a good thing, and losing is not necessarily a bad thing.
It's just that neither Lao Cao nor Guo Xun and others expected that the Cao family and Xiahou family would suffer so many losses in this battle...
If Sheji is to be saved, the Shandong collective under Cao Cao must be strong enough.
If the Shandong collective wants to become strong, it is not enough to just rely on the taxes of Yuzhou and the strength of Qingzhou soldiers. It must also try every means to weaken its opponents.
If the forces of the Northern Territory Army, Guanzhong gentry and other states and counties can be restrained under the rule of Hussar, or even fight, it is of course the best and most labor-saving way.
Cao Cao defeated the two Yuans, occupied Jizhou, Youzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou and other places, and later incorporated Jingzhou. He was secretly criticized, slandered, and reviled by many people, including his childhood, his friends, and his relatives...
…
But what now?
What will happen if Feiqian occupies more space?
Cao Cao conquered Jizhou and Yuzhou by force, and climbed up by stepping on the bones of two Yuans. Then the people of Shandong thought that Cao Cao's position was unfair!
Because according to Shandong's rules, it is "recommended"!
I recommend this thing. After all, it has been three or four hundred years. Even the monster has become a spirit. It is parasitic in the body of a big man. If you tear it, it will hurt.
Yuan Shao complied with Shandong's procedures and was recommended, but Cao Cao was not!
If you think about it, Cao Cao should actually be regarded as "the lower one overcomes the upper one"!
Therefore, if the Hussar General also used force to conquer the lands in Shandong, what would be the result? How would the people of the world view the Hussar General? Will the Hussar General be accused by the people of the world of being a traitor to the Han Dynasty?
, becoming the second Dong Zhuo of the Han Dynasty? If everyone in the world thinks that the Hussar's capture of Heluo and their march into Youzhou is the beginning of the Han Dynasty's demise, then will the various forces of the Han Dynasty join forces to deal with Fei Qian?
Of course, Cao Cao cannot predict what the future will be like, but he will work hard to spread this kind of thinking and let Fei Qian follow Dong Zhuo's path. At the same time, he will try his best to get rid of his position from the role of occupier and become a substitute.
Yuan Shao's "recommendation" to the world!
To make Cao Cao the world's best, well, mainly in the hearts of Shandong people, he is the only force that can "save" the country!
Only then will it be possible for the counties and counties that were originally against Cao Cao and acted in secret to gather under Cao Cao's banner, hold high the banner of challenging Dong...oh, and challenge King Feiqin, and continuously launch counterattacks into Guanzhong.
, and finally achieved a decisive victory!
We must let the world know that there is only Prime Minister Cao in the world, and only Cao Jun is still tenacious and unyielding in protecting the emperor and saving the country!
Then the reason why Cao Cao wanted to occupy Jizhou and monopolize power was because he wanted to challenge King Feiqin!
It's a forced and helpless move!
Now that Cao Jun was defeated from Hedong and withdrew from Heluo, it was not just because of the strength of the Hussars, but because of the rebellion within Shandong!
Cao Cao's army is already at the end of its rope and unable to support it. The fault is not with Cao Cao, but with those Shandong rebels!
Of course, in this strategy, Xun Yu and Guo Jia also had some hidden ideas...
Cao Cao guessed something.
He was unhappy at first, but now...
I still feel bad, but not as strong.
After Cao Cao finished explaining these plans to the generals, he looked around and checked everyone's expressions.
Everyone in the big tent was silent, carefully chewing on the meaning behind Cao Cao's words.
War is a continuation of politics.
Cao Jun, Cao Cao, Fei Jun, Fei Qian, the two armies are fighting here not only for the blood and casualties of the fight, but also for the future route of the world and the ownership of authority.
If Cao Cao wants to show his loyalty to the Han Dynasty and the emperor to the people of Shandong, he cannot easily leave the battlefield and evacuate Heluo, but he will be beaten back!
The more intact Cao's army is, the less nervous the people in Shandong will be. On the contrary, if Cao's army is defeated, they will be beaten out and rushed back, bleeding and wounded, crying to the world, "It's not the Cao family and the Xiahou family."
Saving the country does not protect the emperor, but the traitors in Shandong are causing trouble and holding back! Nowadays, except for Prime Minister Cao, there are rebels and national thieves everywhere in the world!"
Under such circumstances, Cao Cao can kill those guys who jump out and flirt with Qiaoqi without much hidden danger...
Taking the fat accumulated by these guys, it is said that it can not only make up for Cao Cao's losses, but also make the Shandong court rich!
Cao Cao looked around and said again: "Now that the emperor has issued an edict to mediate... Calculating the time, it should be almost here... And if at this moment, we are defeated by the Hussars... then how will the people of the world view Hussars?"
ride?"
Cao Cao didn't expect any edicts at all.
That thing, to be honest, people who care about the emperor will respect the emperor without edicts. If you don't respect the emperor, what's the use of more edicts?
Will Feiqian respect the emperor?
Maybe, but his generals...
Therefore, contradictions will inevitably arise!
The hardships and sins Cao Cao endured back then are now more or less Fei Qian's turn to suffer!
Cao Cao smiled slightly and seemed confident.
Everyone looked at each other, "Lord, what do you mean...we are ready to retreat?"
Cao Cao nodded slowly, "Starting tonight, we will implement the strategy of increasing the number of troops and reducing the number of troops! Start retreating!"
As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, he heard urgent footsteps coming from outside the tent.
"Prime Minister! Suoyang Pass is lost!"
Cao Cao's heart skipped a beat and his color changed slightly, but it quickly returned to normal.
