In the middle of late summer and June, when the heat is still lingering, the stalemate battle situation in Xuzhou has ushered in a decisive change!
Four months ago, Ji Ling claimed to have 200,000 soldiers, but in fact there were 50,000 veterans from Jiujiang. He raised more than 20,000 new soldiers along the way. Now it is considered a huge army. It came out of Runan in a mighty way, captured Xiaopei, and pointed its sword at it.
Xuzhou.
Facing the menacing Yuan Shu, Cao Cao temporarily made peace with Liu Bei - after all, Yuan Shu not only had a dispute with Liu Bei over Xuzhou, but also had a dispute with Cao Cao over Yuzhou.
If Xiaopei is captured, not only will the territory of Xuzhou be flat, but Yuan Shu will definitely take advantage of the situation to take Pei County and enter Yingchuan!
"Xu" means "Shu" - originally, the territory of Xuzhou was mostly composed of plains, with no danger to defend. It can be said to be a place of four battles that is easy to attack but difficult to defend.
During the Tao Qian period, the seemingly honest old Tao Qian captured Xiaopei as the west gate of Xuzhou, which gave Xuzhou a glimmer of hope.
Therefore, Cao Cao's initial strategic policy has always been to capture Donghai County, Pengcheng County, and Langye County, that is, to divide Xuzhou with Yuan Shu using the Huaihe River as the boundary, and then have a showdown with Yuan Shu.
However, now Lu Bu's troops have actually cooperated with Liu Bei to survive in Xuzhou. At this time, facing Yuan Shu's move north, Cao Cao can only choose to cooperate.
Especially at this time, all parties in the world are not at peace. As Dong Zhuo's old subordinates, who once held the emperor hostage, the four generals Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji who are currently in Guanzhong are no longer enough because of the disaster in Guanzhong.
In order to support their Liangzhou elite, they turned against each other.
Fan Chou was killed by Li Jue, while Zhang Ji left Guanzhong to "get" grain from Nanyang.
This forced Liu Biao to accept Yuan Shu's overtures three months ago and the two sides temporarily stopped fighting. This not only allowed Yuan Shu to concentrate on dealing with Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the north, but Liu Biao also violently killed Zhang.
Economic!
You must know that although these Xiliang generals are not as famous as the fierce generals under the various princes, most of their subordinates are soldiers who have been baptized by the Xiongnu and Qiang in hundreds of battles. Not only are the army elite, but the grassroots officers are also very skilled in fighting.
, the generals also have the most basic military literacy, which is far beyond what ordinary armies can match.
However, by such a coincidence, Zhang Ji was defeated by the Jingzhou army in Rangcheng, and even Zhang Ji himself was killed!
Afterwards, Liu Biao also took the initiative to pay condolences to Zhang Ji, expressing his understanding of the Xiliang army's behavior of "taking" food when they had no choice but to express his deep regret for Zhang Ji's unexpected death...
At the same time, Zhang Xiu, the nephew who inherited Zhang Ji's army, was lured to surrender. Zhang Xiu was impressed by Liu Biao's sincerity. Secondly, and more importantly, he had nowhere to go. Although the Xiliang army was strong, it still had to eat!
There is no way to go back from Guanzhong, and now almost all places are occupied by these princes. It is no longer the time when there was only some regular defense. If we attack by force, we are worried that we will not be able to capture the city before the army rations are exhausted.
If this continues, the army will disperse little by little without fighting, and even the Xiliang army, which has always had poor military discipline, may mutiny!
Therefore, Zhang Xiu accepted Liu Biao's proposal and settled in Wancheng at the northern end of Nanyang County - the northern gate of Jingzhou facing the Central Plains.
Nanyang County is located in the north of Jingzhou. It is one of the most prosperous counties in the world. Like Runan County, its population exceeds two million, which is equivalent to half the state.
Moreover, the terrain conditions are superior. It is blocked from the Central Plains by Funiu Mountain. As its name suggests, the mountain looks like a lying cow. There are only two roads between it and the Central Plains that can use troops.
One starts from Wancheng, passes through Luyang, and reaches Hulao Pass from Ruzhou. After passing the pass, it reaches Luoyang. When the heroes attacked Dong, Nanyang County was occupied by Yuan Shu. At that time, Yuan Shu and Sun Jian who had taken refuge with him took this road.
Going north.
The other one also starts from Wancheng, passing through Bowang, Fangcheng, Ye County, and reaches Xudu - this is the road Cao Cao will take when he goes south in the future.
Once Wancheng is lost, Jingzhou soldiers can only retreat south to Xinye and give up the northern part of Nanyang. On the contrary, as long as Wancheng is not lost, it will be difficult for the Central Plains soldiers to advance into Nanyang. If they do not enter Nanyang, they will naturally not be able to threaten Jingzhou.
This also shows how important the topography of Wancheng is to Jingzhou.
As for Zhang Xiu's garrison in Wancheng, he was just like Huang Zu to Liu Biao, who "listened to the tune but not the propaganda". Anyway, Liu Biao provided food, and he was here to "watch the gate".
However, when Zhang Xiu came, Cao Cao felt uncomfortable.
Liu Biao's previous arrangements in Nanyang County had always been weak, and nominally he and Cao Cao were in alliance to fight against Yuan Shu, so Cao Cao didn't feel anything.
But now that Zhang Xiu is in Wancheng, Cao Cao always feels that there is a knife aimed at his chrysanthemum...
Under this situation, Cao Cao could only make a truce with Liu Bei first, while fighting Yuan Shu in Yingchuan, while Zhang Xiu had to divert a lot of energy.
Even so, Liu Bei and Zhang Liao did not have an easy time in Xuzhou.
Fortunately, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were both powerful generals, and Zhang Liao was even more courageous, resourceful, and shunned in the Eight Hundred Formation, which was known as the invincible formation.
The two sides joined forces and fought fiercely with the Huainan Army led by Ji Ling for several months in the Xiaopei and Pengcheng areas. Each side had its own victory or defeat.
It is now June, and the weather is still hot. Xuzhou is still reluctant to defend, but unable to defeat the enemy, it can only wait for Ji Ling to run out of food and retreat.
However, after the fall of Shucheng, Lujiang County completely fell into the hands of Yuan Shu. The grain road in the rear was much smoother, and Shucheng's grain reserves were obtained. A month ago, Zhang Fei led his men to intercept the grain road and failed, resulting in a small defeat. Although Huainan
Food is tight, but looking at it now, Ji Ling will not be short of food before winter!
At this moment, Pengcheng and Xiaopeizhong were brewing changes that could determine the outcome of the war...
On this day, the Cheng and Xu clans of the Xuzhou gentry donated a batch of beef and wine to reward the army. Liu Bei was very happy and told Zhang Fei not to drink too much, and the army officers were not allowed to drink more than one liter (approximately 1 liter).
Together with future generations 250ml), at the same time, naturally Xiaopei’s allies cannot be forgotten.
Taking advantage of the truce, Cheng Jie and Xu Tong led people to bring cattle and wine to Xiaopei, and Wei Xu welcomed them as a representative.
Under the persuasion of Xu Tong and Cheng Jie, Wei Xu got drunk, and Xu Tong secretly sent word to Wei Xu, offering him the title of a marquis and alienating Lu Bu on the grounds that he would go south - several of Lu Bu's generals in Xiaopei
Xu Tong had also investigated their temperament before, and when he saw that it was Wei Xushi who greeted them, he had already begun to celebrate in his heart.
As expected, Wei Xu was secretly moved. Although Xu Tong did not admit his guilt after sobering up, after returning to the city, Wei Xu was criticized by Zhang Liao for drinking, which made him even more dissatisfied.
Zhang Liao and Gao Shun have always been Lu Bu's confidants, but in terms of qualifications, when they were under Ding Yuan, Wei Xu and others were above them.
Before Lu Bu left, he handed over Xiaopei to Zhang Liao, which already made Wei Xu and others dissatisfied. However... some were convinced after seeing the abilities of Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, while others were always grudges. Wei Xu was undoubtedly the
the latter.
So he began to take the initiative to contact the Xu family secretly, and the Xu family and the Cheng family had already secretly colluded with Yuan Shu...