Hearing Chen Mu's reminder, Tian Feng Jushou also frowned.
The two of them were not ordinary people, so it was easy to understand the meaning of Chen Mu's words.
Obviously Tao Qian did not want to obey Liu Bei's mercy at all, and had no intention of forming an alliance with Liu Bei.
Because Tao Qian himself knew very well that as a warlord caught between various forces, if he did nothing, there would only be one outcome - being annexed.
So he wants to develop and grow, and he doesn't want to become food in other people's mouths.
So where is the direction of development?
The geographical location of Xuzhou can be said to be the place of the Four Wars. To the north is Qingzhou and Jizhou, to the west is Yanzhou and Yuzhou, to the south is Yangzhou, and only to the east is the sea.
Among these places, Runan County is the richest, most populous, and largest in Yuzhou.
The other five counties combined are not as big as Runan County.
But Runan County is the territory of the Yuan family. Regardless of what the people want, Yuan Shu is powerful and borders Xuzhou, so Tao Qian dare not take action against Yuzhou.
I won’t say much about Yangzhou. Now the governor of Yangzhou, Chen Wen, was defeated by Yuan Shu and lost several counties in Yuzhang, Lujiang, and Jiujiang. Yangzhou has obviously become Yuan Shu’s bag, and Tao Qian did not dare to go against Yuan Shu.
As for Qingzhou and Jizhou, Wang Fen and Liu Bei are even less courageous.
Therefore, the only direction is to Yanzhou, which is extremely weak.
Considering the history that Tao Qian, together with Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan and others, took the lead in attacking Yanzhou and later occupied Taishan County, I am afraid he was thinking the same way at the time.
But now is different from history. Attacking Yanzhou now may anger Liu Bei.
What to do?
Of course it was to drag Wang Fen into the water.
Wang Fen really couldn't defeat Liu Bei because he had too few generals at his disposal and his ability to lead troops was relatively poor.
But I can't stand it. Jizhou has a strong foundation.
There are too many soldiers but too little food and fodder to pile up like mountains. This is the current situation in Jizhou.
There is a very convenient route to attack Xuzhou from Qingzhou, which is to attack Langya State directly from Qi State or Beihai State.
This area is the northeastern part of Yimeng Mountain in later generations. It is roughly located in Yishui County, Ju County, and Wulian County, and is within the jurisdiction of Linyi City and Rizhao City.
Attacking from here, you can directly enter Xiapi State, Donghai County, the hinterland of Xuzhou, and threaten Tao Qian's hometown.
So how does Tao Qian respond?
What he chose was to use the most powerful Wang Fen as a containment.
The attack on Jibei Kingdom is located at the junction of Yanzhou, Jizhou and Qingzhou. If your main troops in Qingzhou are transferred to the rear and attack Xuzhou from the south of Beihai Kingdom, then your front line will be empty.
When Jizhou has more troops than Qingzhou, if you divide your troops, you are seeking death. As long as Wang Fen is not stupid, he will not miss this opportunity.
It would be better if you send troops from Pingyuan Kingdom to intervene in the war in Dongjun. Wang Fen will directly join the war and fight with you.
As a result, there was a melee from all sides, and a big fight broke out in places such as Leping and Fagan in Liaocheng.
However, if you compare it, you will find that Liu Bei has fewer soldiers, but more generals and talents. Wang Fen has more soldiers, but has fewer generals. There is a high probability that the two sides will fight equally, with no distinction between superior and inferior.
And Cao Cao only had a piece of land in Dongjun, how could he fight against Tao Qian's army who owned the entire Xuzhou?
Therefore, there is a high probability that Tao Qian will defeat Cao Cao and annex the entire Yanzhou.
What is this strategy?
Some are like three countries. Two of them are very powerful and regardless of their level, then the third country is the target of their wooing.
But this person didn't want to be won over by them, so he tried to exploit both sides, repeatedly jumped around, and secretly annexed other weaker countries to strengthen himself and try to become as powerful as the other two countries.
Tao Qian is an old-hearted person and has many ideas.
Chen Mu sighed.
However, Tao Qian must have never dreamed of it. He did this in history, using Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu's group to contain Yuan Shao, and he and Yuan Shu attacked Cao Cao together.
As a result, one state could not defeat Cao Cao and one county.
Including Yuan Shu, both of them were punished by Cao Cao. They were beaten until their noses were bruised, their faces were swollen, and their heads were covered with bruises. They were so embarrassed that they were sent to their grandma's house.
If Tao Qian knew this reality, he would probably be angry to death.
"Indeed, the attack on Jibei Kingdom is really powerful. It will kill our army."
Jushou sighed.
Tian Feng nodded in agreement: "Now our Qingzhou troops are mainly concentrated in Pingyuan Country. Pingyuan Country is one of the two main grain-producing areas in Qingzhou. Tao Qian knows that we must not withdraw our main force to attack him from Beihai Country, so that's why we do this
Unscrupulous.”
"Um."
Chen Mu deeply thought so.
The two main grain-producing areas in Qingzhou are Pingyuan State, Jinan State, Qi State and Le'an State. In later generations, they were Dezhou City, Leling City, Liaocheng City, Jinan City, Zibo City, Binzhou City and Dongying City in Shandong Province.
These places add up.
This area is part of the North China Plain, known as the Northwest Shandong Plain in later generations. It is the largest grain-producing area in Qingzhou, with a total cultivated area of more than 20 million acres. The entire Qingzhou relies on grain production here.
Another grain-producing area is the Beihai Kingdom, which later became Weifang City, Zhucheng, Gaomi, Pingdu, Laixi and other places. It is called the Jiao Lai Plain Area, with an area of more than 10 million acres of cultivated land, making it the second largest in Qingzhou.
Grain-producing areas.
Donglai County is all covered with mountains and hills, and there is very little arable area. Therefore, except for the grain production in the Jiaozhou Bay area and Chen Mu's large-scale sea salt production there, it does not produce much grain.
Now Wang Fen has led the war to the junction of Yanzhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou, so he wants to trap the main force of Liu Bei's army here.
Because once the main force of Liu Bei's army moves south, the grain-producing areas in the Lubei Plain will be in danger of being attacked by Wang Fen. This is a loss that the Qingzhou Group cannot tolerate.
Therefore, it was calculated that Liu Bei's army did not dare to go south from the North Sea to attack the East China Sea, and could only intervene in the war between Tao Qian and Cao Cao from Pingyuan Kingdom and Jinan Kingdom.
"The timing is also well chosen. It will be the time for wheat planting soon. He has predicted that we will not dare to fight."
Looking at the strategic plan on the map, Jushou Tianfeng was also filled with admiration.
Chen Mu was thinking, he didn't expect Yuan Shu and Tao Qian to dare to play such a big chess game. Even on the surface, it was very possible to achieve their strategic intentions, which was really unexpected.
"What do you think we should do to counter it?"
Jushou looked at Chen Mu Tianfeng.
Although Yuan Shu and Tao Qian's intentions were seen through by them, it was not easy to crack this method.
Because this is a conspiracy, and it is also a general strategy.
If you don't understand strategy and conspiracy very well, for example, the actual operation of the Great Man's four crossings of Chishui was tactics. Then the Great Man's purpose was to complete the transfer, join forces with other legions, and find a base. This is a strategy.
Whether the strategy can be achieved depends on actual tactical operations. Simply put, tactics are practical operations to achieve the strategy. In these two aspects, strategy is always more important than tactics.
Tao Qian and Yuan Shu's strategy is to carve up Yuzhou and Yanzhou, so what Chen Mu and the others have to do is not to let them succeed.
Tian Feng pondered and said: "We can send an envoy to deliver a message to Gongsun Zan and ask him to help contain Wang Fen."
"And Liu Biao."
Chen Mu thought: "Liu Biao is not stupid. If Yuan Shu annexes Yuzhou and Yangzhou, how can he compete with Jingbei? He will definitely choose to ally with us."
"Then looking at it this way, it is our alliance between Qingzhou and Cao Cao, Liu Biao Gongsun Zan, against Wang Feng, Tao Qian and Yuan Shu."
Jushou analyzed: "Based on the comparison of strength, it may not be easy to win."
"But no matter what, we can't let them succeed. We must find a way to stop them. I will go back to Qi State to report this matter to my elder brother and ask him to write to Liu Biao Gongsun Zan and Cao Cao to become allies with them and let them
Send troops to help."
Chen Mu stood up.
Now Luoyang is actually still in a state of recovery, with only 30,000 to 40,000 elite troops remaining in the more than 100,000-strong White Wave Army. The rest of the soldiers are led by Han Hao, who has launched a vigorous farming policy.
Even if we add in some of the old subordinates recruited by Zhu Jun, Zhao Yun, and Wu Anguo, the total number should be only fifty or sixty thousand, all stationed at the Hanoi border.
Therefore, Luoyang's situation is that it has more than enough defense but not enough offense, so it cannot provide much help.
However, the strategic significance of Guan Yu's side has been achieved.
If you annex 50,000 to 60,000 people in Luoyang, you Jizhou should have at least 70,000 to 80,000 people to defend it.
You must know that Hanoi County is only a stone's throw away from Yecheng, and the Luoyang army can arrive within a day. It is like a nail embedded near Wang Fen's heart, making him feel like he is facing a formidable enemy. He is already considering moving the capital to Zhao next year.
Handan.
Therefore, strategically speaking, Luoyang has actually achieved the purpose that Chen Mu originally envisioned, which was to threaten the center of Jizhou and force them to send a large number of soldiers to defend it.
In this way, at least in terms of military strength, Qingzhou will not be at a disadvantage.
no way.
This can be considered a helpless move.
Jizhou only provided food and grass but did not send troops to fight against Dong Zhuo. In addition, after seven or eight years of rest and recuperation, the population returned to five to six million. Therefore, Jizhou's military strength was extremely sufficient, and it could easily raise an army of 200,000.
Qingzhou not only contributed manpower, but was also the main force in the battle. The elite troops suffered heavy losses and were all exhausted. The total number of troops in Qingzhou now only amounts to 50,000 to 60,000 veterans.
Even if we include Luoyang's 50,000 to 60,000 men, and even Gongsun Zan's tens of thousands of Youzhou cavalry and infantry, the total strength is only comparable to that of Jizhou.
Therefore, the comparison of the strength of the two sides is almost equivalent to that of the three states. Sili, Qingzhou, and Youzhou combined are as numerous as Wang Fen's Jizhou Army. This shows how powerful Wang Fen is.
However, Chen Mu is not worried that Wang Fen will choose to defeat them one by one, because Jizhou's territory is too large to be defended. If you take the initiative to attack, flaws will be exposed elsewhere.
It's like a big buffalo, very powerful, but surrounded by three hyenas. No matter which hyena attacks, the other two hyenas will steal its butt.
Therefore, the two sides can maintain an evenly matched situation at most, and no one can directly eliminate the other.
Even after the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao actually only resisted Yuan Shao's attack, and had no spare power to capture Jizhou.
The reason why he was the winner in the end was because Yuan Shao died of illness, and the family property was divided between Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and Yuan Xi, and they were defeated by each of them. If Yuan Shao did not die, let him learn the lessons of the Battle of Guandu, and with Jizhou's foundation,
It’s not certain who laughs in the end.
Therefore, from this point of view, it is still very difficult for the Qingzhou Army to defeat the Jizhou Army, and it is very difficult to maintain such an evenly matched situation.
It's just that this evenly matched situation is about to be broken, and Chen Mu has to prepare as soon as possible.
At that moment, after discussing with Jushou Tianfeng and others, they immediately rushed to Qi State.
One day later, Linzi City.
The news that Chen Mu had already set off from Dongpingling and would reach Linzi in one day came to Liu Bei's desk.
"Come on, come on, fourth brother is back."
After reading the letter, Liu Bei turned to Dian Wei and said, "Liang Bi, how are you preparing for the things you have been told?"
Dian Wei chuckled: "It's already been prepared."
"good."
Liu Bei stood up and looked at the Qingzhou civil and military officials such as Dian Wei, Hua Xin, Jian Yong, Sun Qianshi, Yi Sun Shao and other officials in the hall. He looked around and said happily: "How is it over there at the city gate?"
"The troops have been ambushed!"
Sun Qian, who is now the governor of the state, returns.
"Where's the mansion?"
"People have also been arranged."
"How are the preparations for the banquet going?"
"I'm just waiting for Mr. Ming to say something."
"Should we do it at the city gate, or at the banquet in the mansion?"
"Let's have a party. Zi Gui has always been cunning. If he has any doubts outside the city gate, he may run away immediately."
"Okay, that's the arrangement."
Liu Bei slapped the table and said: "According to the original plan, when he enters the mansion and the banquet begins, he must be arrested!"
"only!"
Everyone stood up and shouted, the sound was like thunder.
Liu Bei watched everyone respond in unison, with a strange light in his eyes.