Chen Cheng gave Zhao Yun and the generals who had returned from the expedition ten more days to rest, and then summoned generals at all levels in the army and relevant personnel from the three provinces and six ministries to discuss the march to Guanzhong.
At the very beginning, that is, at the end of the first year of Chuping, in order to defeat Huangfu Song's army in Fufeng in one fell swoop, Chen Cheng made a plan of one year to rest and recuperate, one year to train officers, and only in the third year could he use his troops.
In the original plan, the Ya soldiers were to be expanded to 20,000, and together with the soldiers from various counties and Yi Cong of Qiang and Hu, there would be a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses.
The plan was to advance to Chencang City according to the past route, and then engage in a decisive battle with the Huangfu Song-Ding Yuan coalition. In order to annihilate the main force of the Guanzhong Army, the staff made a detailed sand table, marking the mountains, roads, rivers, bridges and villages near Chencang.
, garrisoning and other situations, and calculated the required supplies, planned the march route, and formulated more than ten sets of plans to deal with different situations.
After the staff department made the plan, the Yabing and the Ministry of War trained officers and soldiers according to the plan, expanding the force again and again. The Ministry of Industry also worked overtime to produce the required weapons and armor, and also purchased a lot of military supplies from the private sector.
.
As a result, before the Liangzhou Army could complete combat preparations as planned, Ding Yuan died, Huangfu Song was placed under house arrest in Luoyang, and then Gai Xun also died of illness, and Sanfu fell into turmoil and civil war. Originally regarded as
The Guanzhong Army, which was a formidable enemy, collapsed on its own, which made many people in the staff rejoice and rejoice, but they couldn't help but curse.
If I had known that you would be doomed by yourself, why would you still make so many plans?
The original plan was to use troops around this year's autumn harvest, but now Guanzhong has been reduced to a pot of porridge, and the strong enemies that need to be dealt with in the plan no longer exist, so naturally we have to adapt to the changes and change, and there is no need to follow the previous steps.
"The Ministry of War thinks that now Lu Bu's main force is attacking Dong Zhuo and has no ability to care about other things. We can launch an attack on Fufeng County before the summer harvest." Yang Qiu took the lead and said: "Right now, Duan Xuan only has 40,000 people in his hands. Although
There are many of Huangfu Song's old troops, but the discipline in the army is loose and the combat effectiveness is completely incomparable to before. We only need 30,000 elite troops to destroy them!"
"If General Zhao Yun hadn't led his troops outside last year, we would have been able to launch an attack. Now half of Duan Yan's troops are guarding Zhang Liao in Chang'an. If we launch a surprise attack on Fufeng, we only need ten thousand tooth soldiers to defeat them!
"
.............
The discussion was very lively, but also seemed very relaxed. As long as no big mistakes were made, with Liangzhou's current military force, defeating Fufeng's Duan Yanjun was a sure thing. The only question was how many people could be won and how many people would be lost.
Chen Cheng and others discussed for a while, and said with some dissatisfaction: "We are sending troops this time not just to capture Fufeng, but to defeat Guanzhong in one fell swoop. Therefore, our enemies are not only Duan Xuan, but also Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo, as well as related people."
All the powerful people in the country, as well as the hungry people and bandits who don’t have enough to eat!”
He snorted and said to Jia Xu: "Wen He, tell me!"
Jia Xu said: "This time, we are no longer bandits invading China, but the army of kings who defy the people and obey the people! The Lord will go to the court and state that the troops are sent to defeat the rebellious Lu Bu.
If Duan Xuan is on the side of the imperial court, he should join us in sending troops to attack Lu Bu. If he refuses to join us in sending troops, then he is the enemy of the imperial court and should be eradicated!"
After he finished speaking, Chen Cheng stood up and said loudly: "Now, I am announcing the order!"
Everyone, including generals and civil servants, stood up together. Only Jia Xu sat on a chair, spread out rice paper, and prepared to write military orders.
"The date for dispatching troops is set for April 10th!"
"With Zhao Yun as the former general, he will command the Ya soldiers and the "Shangfan" troops of various counties; with Yang Qiu as the left general, he will command the soldiers of Jiuquan, Wuwei, Zhangye, Anding, Beidi, Wudu, Jincheng, Longxi and Hanyang.
A total of 40,000 people; the two armies should gather together in Hanyang before April 15th to attack the key points!"
"Take Xu Rong as the right general and command all the Hu and Han troops in Shuofang, Wuyuan and Shangjun, from north to south, to attack Feng Yi or Yanmen, depending on the situation, as a countermeasure!"
Jia Xu wrote quickly, and after a while he finished writing all the general orders. Chen Cheng took it and took a look at it, then took the state animal seal from the guards and stamped it on it. Yan Zhong, Jia Xu, and Yang Qiu also
Then they stamped their seal on it.
In this way, the military order has gone through all the procedures of the Prefectural Mufu, Zhongshu Province, Shangshu Province, and Menxia Province, and can be issued directly.
Chen Cheng grabbed the rolled-up military order and looked towards the lobby. He saw that everyone was in high spirits. Even Xu Chao, who had always opposed outward expansion, was very excited. He was quite satisfied and said loudly: "Now
Let’s not talk about the chaos in Guanzhong. Even if there is no chaos, we still have to send troops! We have been preparing for so long, isn’t it just for this day? Post the notice in every county to let everyone in Liangzhou know: This time,
We must penetrate Sanfu and seize the entire Guanzhong!"
"promise!"
With the issuance of military orders, the entire Liangzhou began to move. Countless supplies flowed to the warehouses in Shanggui and Long counties, and soldiers and horses also began to gather. In the past few years, Liangzhou has hoarded countless money and grain, and now it is like
It was spent like running water.
With such a large-scale use of troops after spring plowing, Liangzhou's harvest this year will definitely be reduced a lot. Fighting is not only a matter of soldiers, but many civilians are also recruited from various places to transport grain and grass. Even if the Xiliang army is mostly cavalry, it can be used
Horses eat grass, but if they just eat grass, the horses will soon become thin and weak.
In fact, horses have to eat more than people, and sometimes even better. In addition to eating roughage such as grass, hay, and straw, horses also need to be fed wheat, soybeans, wheat bran, etc. Many times,
When the soldiers were hungry, they would take a handful of the feed for the horses and put it in their mouths to chew.
Now that spring plowing has just ended, there will not be much problem in recruiting civilians, but will the war end before the summer harvest? The answer is no. Even if Fufeng County is captured, Lu Bu's army and Dong Zhuo's army may still have to be faced later.
We have to continue until winter. The summer harvest is estimated to be reduced by 20 to 30%, and the autumn harvest will only be reduced even more.
This is just the harvest in Liangzhou. The army is marching back and forth across the territory of Guanzhong. It is God’s blessing that Guanzhong’s harvest can be half this year. There were originally 330,000 households in Guanzhong, and now there are about 200,000 registered households.
If there is not enough food, many people will starve to death in winter.
There have been constant fights between Liangzhou and Guanzhong, but business travel has never been banned. Most of those who dared to trade at this time have powerful and official backgrounds. Such a large-scale mobilization and assembly of troops in Liangzhou cannot fail to attract the attention of Guanzhong
.Not to mention that Chen Cheng has posted notices about the use of troops in Guanzhong everywhere, even if he wants to pretend not to see them.
Therefore, the news of the mobilization in Guanzhong quickly spread to Fufeng through business travelers.
After Duan Yan, who was sticking to Fufeng, received the news from Liangzhou, although he remained calm on the outside, he was already in panic inside. He was able to defend Chencang before, let's just count the last time, because of the reason behind his back.
There are Huangfu Song's 40,000 elite troops because they have the entire Guanzhong to rely on.
Now that Huangfu Song is gone, Guanzhong is caught in the flames of war again. So this time, can he continue to defend Chencang City? After just thinking for a few seconds, Duan Xuan found in despair that he could not find anything that could be defended.
reason.
The book of war says: War is nothing more than the right time, the right location, and the right people. Now that the spring plowing has just ended, Fufeng can mobilize 50,000 to 60,000 rural soldiers, and Chencang also has the right location, but all these combined are not as good as Xiliang
The army’s powerful combat effectiveness!
The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the people. The Fufeng people don't want the Xiliang people to attack, but how can their own people and people compare with the Xiliang army's strong soldiers and horses?
Duan Xuan had heard of Xiliang's military reforms. He also wanted to train an elite army, but he took over Fufeng County for too short a time. As soon as he sorted out the relationship between the county and the county, the Xiliang people had already come over.
.
Damn it! Duan Xuan's face was as dark as water, but his heart had already begun to roar.
If I were given another year, with Fufeng's population and output, I would definitely not be afraid of the Xiliang thieves!
Well, Duan Xuan thought with frustration: Even if he was given a few more years, he probably wouldn't be able to defeat the Xiliang people.
Previously, with all the power in Guanzhong, there was nothing that could be done against the Xiliang people. Now that only one-third of the power is left, could it become even more powerful? It is impossible even if you think about it!
After several urgent discussions with his generals, Duan Yan kept writing letters to the big shots in Liangzhou, imploring them not to go against the grain and not to use troops at this time. Fufeng had 100,000 bayonets...
He was moved with emotion, reasoned with reason, and threatened with threats, which made him almost burst into tears.
On the other hand, he also wrote a letter to Lu Bu asking for help. The letter was written very sincerely, pointing out that if Fufeng was not protected, the Xiliang Army's cavalry would pour into Guanzhong like a tide. The Xiliang Army's soldiers were said to be one hundred thousand.
But if you really count, even 200,000 cavalry can be pulled out.
Those Qiang tribes have been poor for a long time. If there is a chance to enter Guanzhong and rob, why not move the entire tribe here? But this is just Duan Xuan's unfounded worries. Although Chen Cheng recruited some Qiang light cavalry, but
The quantity was not large, and he did not intend to rob it and leave.
On the contrary, there are a large number of Qiang people among the soldiers of the counties and states across Liangzhou. Those Qiang cavalry are brave in fighting, and the most important thing is that they are cheap. Whether it is Han Sui in the past, or Cheng Yi, Ma Teng and others now, they are all
I especially like to use these tribal warriors who have the same history as the Han people.
Only Zhang Heng, who was in Wudu County, had no Qiang tribe in the county, so he recruited some southern barbarian warriors to add to his black-armored army. There were many mountainous areas in Wudu County, and the barbarians were used to it.
Although he is not a very good cavalry in this kind of terrain, he can gallop like flying in the mountains and is deeply loved by Zhang Heng.
