In terms of the intensity of the fire alone, the fire in Xindu can be said to be the worst in a century. Because the fire broke out in the granary and there was no one in the city to put out the fire, the flames raged among millions of rice noodles, almost like starting a prairie fire on autumn grass. In a very short period of time,
Within a short time, it turned into flames that burned the city. Most of the citizens were trying to escape from the city and were still packing their belongings at home. Unexpectedly, they suddenly felt a heat wave and were engulfed in flames in an instant, without even having time to cry out.
When the people in the rest of the city saw this purgatory-like scene, they were all horrified and crowded towards the city gate like a swarm. However, the city gate was narrow and half of it was impassable due to the fire, so tens of thousands of people had to crowd into several streets.
They pushed and cursed in disorder. In addition, the rebels tried to kill people to clear the way, which soon led to stampedes and vendettas. The entire Eastern Dynasty seemed to be submerged and swallowed up by a curse. On the first day of the fire, there were about 100 people inside and outside Xindu.
Tens of thousands of innocent lives were lost.
By the time the Western Army arrived belatedly after clearing the battlefield, the situation in Xindu was already appalling. In this capital of Guandong, which is known as "the rich and boastful Guandong and the majestic Hebei", corpses resting on pillows outside the city and refugees scattered everywhere can be seen.
Common people holding corpses or severed limbs and crying in the countryside. There may be many scholars among them. In the past, the Easterners used the Western Dynasties to mostly use barbarians, and mocked the Western Dynasties as "Western Barbarians", comparing themselves to "China's well-dressed and well-dressed people".
But at this time, their hair was disheveled and their clothes were in rags. They looked like zombies, and they could no longer see their "model-dressed" demeanor.
Upon seeing this, Liu Bei went to Xindu City and asked him to bring the masses to appease the people. At the same time, he ordered Yuan Tan to organize people to put out the fire and provide disaster relief. He himself observed the city of Xindu at a close distance. However, the fire was not extinguished at this time, and it was only a few dozen steps away from the city.
Forced by the heat wave to move even further, what he smelled in his nose was a burning smell. Liu Bei looked at the smoke marks on the city wall and couldn't help cursing Cao Cao in his heart, but there was nothing he could do. He knew in his heart that there would be a great famine in Hebei in the coming year.
It is unavoidable.
As for Cao Cao, he gathered 2,000 men and horses in the east of the city and ran eastward along the Jiangshui River at starry night. When he arrived at Xiuxian County late at night, he heard the sound of several rivers converging in front of him, so he planned to cross the river here. He did not dare to light a fire and
The casual riders were sent out to search for boats along the coast, but only eight or nine fishing boats were found. They could only get people on board in batches, hold the reins and let the horses swim with the boats. By noon the next day, all the people and horses had arrived at the south bank of Jiangshui River. Seeing that the Western Army did not continue to pursue him, he guessed that his plan had succeeded, so he left some people on the north bank to help the defeated soldiers who followed scattered across the river. Within about three or four days, Tian Feng, Lu Zhao, Li Tong and others all
After crossing the river, some scattered soldiers were collected one after another. There were more than 18,000 soldiers on foot and horse. They did not dare to stay for a long time, so they burned the boats and wandered southward.
Along the way, food was exhausted, it was raining and snowing, and people were cold and hungry, so they looted some villages randomly. Qingzhou had just received the news of the defeat of the imperial army, and when they saw people coming, they killed and robbed. They thought it was the Westerners who came to take revenge.
They were so frightened that they fled in all directions.
After a few days, I got the news. It turned out that these people were the remnants of the Eastern Army, and they were supposed to come here to take refuge. However, every city was afraid that the Western Army would take advantage of the situation to attack, and they didn't know how long Cao Cao could hold out, so they didn't dare to open the city.
Accept.
It was Zhang He, the governor of Qingzhou, who learned about it and led the crowd to greet him, and then managed to calm the crowd. But how long the Eastern Army could hold on at this time, no one dared to say. However, the plains were too close to the Western Army, so it was definitely
Can't stay any longer.
After discussing with the people accompanying him, Cao Cao decided to temporarily transfer to Linzi first. First, Linzi was the old capital of Gengcang, with strong fortifications and sufficient food and grass, which was enough to hold on. Secondly, most of the people around Linzi were Taiping Taoists, and they had a fight with Liu Bei.
For decades, it can be said that we are at odds with the Western Dynasty, and there will be no more mutiny in Xindu.
Just entering Linzi again, Cao Cao was full of emotions. The last time he came to this city was the scene of the Seven Years of Yanxing. At that time, Cao Cao defeated Liu Bei in Bohai and defeated 300,000 with 60,000. An unprecedented victory. This battle laid the foundation for the victory.
The foundation of the Eastern Dynasty lasted for more than ten years. At that time, he was based in Linzi, marched in three directions, captured more than ten counties in one year, marched across Henan, and marched to Hulao. How high-spirited he was? But now, he was defeated with only a handful of remnants of the army.
, hoping to survive here. As soon as Cao Cao thought of this, he couldn't help but feel despair and endless melancholy.
But he quickly got excited again, thinking that although the situation seemed to be favorable to the Western Army, it was not completely without opportunities for the Eastern Dynasty. The key point was the change in the people's hearts in Hebei. After Cao Cao's grain conscription, the food shortage in Hebei had become extremely serious.
, and the Westerners mobilized nearly 200,000 troops to march eastward, they would be unable to deal with it, and it would lead to a large-scale civil uprising in the coming year. As long as they wait for the opportunity in Linzi, wait for the change, and wait for the Western Dynasty to be exhausted in Hebei and wait for an opportunity to counterattack
, it is possible to recapture Hebei.
For this reason, Cao Cao made a lot of preparations to hold on.
The first is to order Xia Houyuan and Cao Zhen to lead their troops to Donglai. After all, Donglai has sea routes to communicate with Liaodong, and can transport the Pingzhou army and food and baggage. And if the Eastern Army cannot resist the Westerners, Cao Cao can also rush to Donglai from then on.
, the floating boat escaped back to Liaodong. As long as Donglai is stabilized, the Donglai people can advance and retreat with a basis.
The second was to write a letter to Sun Quan asking for help. Cao Cao talked about the truth of the death of lips and teeth in the letter. He hoped that Sun Quan could send an army to Xuzhou for reinforcements and help Cao Cao involve the Western Army. If that failed, he could also send troops out of Huaibei and take the opportunity to capture Yuzhou. However,
You must not sit back and watch success or failure, otherwise if the skin is gone, how will the hair be attached?
After Sun Quan received the letter, he also knew that the matter was of great importance. After a discussion in court, he decided to make Lü Meng the chief general, with Zhu Ran and Cheng Pu as deputy generals, and lead 20,000 troops to immediately cross the Huaihe River to assist Cao Cao. Before leaving, Sun Quan and Lü Meng made plans.
He said that the situation is complicated and difficult to understand. Even if reinforcements are sent, they must not act rashly. If Cao Cao can fight, he will fight. If Cao Cao cannot fight, he will bluff. After Lu Meng sends troops, the state government will continue to recruit large armies in the Shouchun area, taking advantage of the emptiness of the Central Plains.
, taking advantage of the situation, troops left Yuzhou.
Let’s talk about Liu Bei’s side. Seeing that Hebei was in a mess, Liu Bei hesitated for a moment. After the follow-up Fa Zheng and most of his troops arrived, he held a military meeting with everyone to discuss follow-up strategic issues. He said: “Cao’s thieves are so cruel that
The people in Hebei are in dire straits, with corpses scattered all over the fields. The winter is unbearable now, and Xindu has saved less than ten grains. I am afraid that next year in Hebei will be very difficult, and I feel uneasy about it. But now the Cao thieves have been defeated, and the army should have taken advantage of the victory to pursue them.
Time, whether to pursue or to keep, you can tell me."
At this time, the generals had received the news that Cao Cao had fled to Linzi, and they mostly stayed and watched Hebei. For example, Yuan Tan had been stationed in the plains and was familiar with the situation around Qingzhou, so he persuaded Liu Bei: "Your Majesty fought with Cao Cao before, but he won a great victory.
, but field battles are ultimately disadvantageous, not to mention that Linzi is a strong city in the world with a dense network of rivers, making it difficult to attack. Now that Hebei has been captured, Cao Cao is completely defeated. It is better to consolidate Hebei as the foundation first, and then plan for it slowly." The other generals also agreed.
.
But when Liu Bei saw this situation, he still hesitated and said that he would postpone the matter for later discussion. Fazheng saw that something was wrong, so he met with Liu Bei privately and said: "The generals have been fighting hard for several months and are already a little tired. I don't want to
It is also human nature to chase after someone in the winter. But Your Majesty must be cautious and don’t miss important events because of a woman’s kindness!”
He analyzed Liu Bei in detail: "Now it seems that Hebei has been pacified, but in fact what we have gained is just some grass and trees on the wall. Seeing that Cao Cao's power is weak, he switched to the imperial court, but in fact, the nobles of Hebei have settled in Wubao, and Baili is king.
, I have been a traitor to the East for decades, how can I be sincere in taking refuge? They are all disloyal people! I am afraid that when Cao Cao leads his troops next year, when the food shortage comes, all the counties will rebel! By then, our army will be deep in the quagmire
, there are enemies on all sides, and there is not enough food and grass. Although there are hundreds of thousands of troops or millions of troops, what is the use?"
After discussing the unreliability of Hebei, Fazheng analyzed the need for the Eastern Expedition for Liu Bei: "Now Cao Cao's thieves have suffered a sudden defeat, with only 30,000 soldiers. Our army is at the end of the war, and he is just a ball of sand. All we can hope for is
People in Hebei are just changing their minds. But this is a big mistake! Qingzhou and Liaodong are far apart from the Bohai Sea. A trip often takes less than a month. As long as our army ignores Hebei, it can be easily blocked. As long as your Majesty surrounds Linzi and divides his troops.
Occupying Donglai, Cao Cao was just a bird in a cage, a fish in a net, waiting to die in the city! Seeing that His Majesty's troops were so powerful in Wubao, Hebei Province, Cao Cao naturally stopped thinking about it as he sat guarding Chou City. He could do it later.
Slowly conquer."
Liu Bei pondered for a long time, raised his eyes and said to Fazheng: "It's just that if the country sends a large number of troops to Qingzhou, it will be unable to provide relief to Hebei. Countless people will die in the coming year. Isn't it my fault? I'm afraid the elders of Jizhou want to kill me!"<
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Fazheng said categorically: "Your Majesty, the Han family system is the way of kings and dominators, not the way of benevolence. Since ancient times, the winner has always been the king and the loser. If we cannot take advantage of the situation to wipe out the Cao thieves today, there will be another ten years of hard fighting and waste.
Countless, isn't it owed to the whole world? How can the suffering of one state be compared to the suffering of nine states? Didn't Emperor Gaozu break the agreement and attack and kill him when he negotiated peace with Xiang Yu? It is a matter of family, country and country, so your majesty, please think carefully about it!"
When Liu Bei heard this, he lingered for a long time, unable to make up his mind. In his anxiety, he drew his sword and looked around. He accidentally saw the white hair on his temples reflected on the sword's edge, and was shocked all over. This finally prompted him to decide to pursue. p>
The next day, Liu Bei sent an order to Zhang Fei, ordering him to lead the Beifu army south to the vicinity of Xindu and prepare to put down the rebellion at any time. Liu Bei notified the entire army and decided to continue chasing Cao Cao eastward, violating military law. Then he personally led 20,000 cavalry to
He crossed the Jiangshui River with lightning speed and appeared in the plains. The counties in the plains had no more troops to detect the enemy's situation. They only knew that a large army was coming from far away, so they continued to hold on. As a result, Liu Bei did not attack, and went straight across the Yellow River and arrived at
We crossed Jishui the next day and arrived at Linzi City that night.
At dawn, the people from the East looked around the city and were surprised to find a red flag fluttering in the wind on a high ground in the north of Linzi City, while countless Han soldiers were walking back and forth, setting up camp and cooking. Behind them,
It was the iron armor that was unloaded on the ground, and the contrasting brilliance was just like the ripples of light in midsummer, which made them squint their eyes.
Liu Bei has made up his mind to fight his final battle with Cao Cao under this city.