Chapter 50 Strategic Objective: Cao Caos Defense War
On the 18th day of the 10th month of the third year of Chuping, the day of Renshenhai month was fixed, and it snowed lightly.
The next day, the snowflakes began to fall, and the weather became colder and colder, but the joy of Linzi City did not diminish by half.
The former Prime Minister of Qi, the current Dr. Guanglu, and the sworn brother of Liu Bei, the shepherd of Qingzhou, Chen Mu, had a great wedding. It could be said that the whole city celebrated together, and every household received a reward.
Weddings were called dusk ceremonies in ancient times.
Dusk of dusk.
According to etiquette, when the new husband goes to welcome the bride, it must be at dusk, that is, at seven o'clock in the evening.
But that doesn't mean a day of nothingness.
Before this, there are many rituals, sacrifices, drinks, and food that need to be prepared.
As soon as it dawned, the Chen family's servants had already begun to prepare for the evening ceremony.
When pigs and sheep are slaughtered, the whole house is filled with joy.
And Chen’s mother, Fang, is already busy.
She placed three cauldrons on the east side of the bedroom door, facing north, with north as the top. The objects in the cauldrons were: a piglet, with its hoofs removed, and its left and right bodies put together in the cauldron.
Lift the lung ridges, sacrifice one pair each of the lungs, fourteen fish tails, and a pair of dried rabbits with the tail bones removed.
The tripod is equipped with a carrying handle and a lid, and the washbasin is placed on the southeast side of the stairs. The food provided in the room includes two beans with fermented sauce, four beans with meat sauce, and six beans covered with a towel.
All have lids.
Boil the gravy and simmer it on the fire. The wine statue is placed under the north wall of the room. There is a ban on the wine statue.
In the south, there is a wine statue on the east side of the door in the hall, without Xuanjiu. The basket is on the south side of the wine statue, with four Jiujue and Hexin inside.
These are all the items that need to be prepared on the day of the wedding. Chen Mu himself put on a brand new groom's suit. This suit is called "Jue Ben Xuan Duan". The upper body is black, and the right hem, cuffs, and collar are red.
Wearing a white belt around the waist and red lower body.
Some are similar to the imperial robes worn by the emperor, but the clothing is somewhat similar, but Jue Benxuan Duan does not have many patterns representing the emperor, just an ordinary black top, red skirt, and white skirt.
After the clothes were neatly dressed, a jade belt, a sachet, and a sword were tied around the waist. With sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, the whole person looked majestic and majestic. When he walked out of the door, his robes rustled in the wind, making him majestic.
When all the servants saw him, they all moved out of the way and bowed their hands in salute.
After leaving the mansion, we came to the Prefectural Shepherd's Mansion.
Today is the day of the wedding, but it is in the evening, so except for the bride and groom’s family who have to prepare various things during the day, there is nothing else for anyone else to do.
Liu Bei had just gotten up and was about to order the kitchen to prepare breakfast. When he heard Chen Mu coming, he summoned him to the side hall for a meeting.
"Fourth brother is not waiting to be welcomed at the mansion today, so why are you here with me?"
Liu Bei smiled when he saw his appearance.
The fourth brother has always been handsome, and now after washing himself and putting on the brand new groom's clothes, he looks even more beautiful.
After Chen Mu sat down, he smiled bitterly and said, "There is something important. I wanted to explain it to my elder brother the day before yesterday, but instead, he was arrested by me to get married, which delayed the important matter."
Liu Bei said displeasedly: "If you are asked to marry early, have children, start a family and start a business, isn't it still my eldest brother's responsibility?"
"That's not true."
Chen Mu smiled: "Anyway, I have nothing to do today. The wedding is going to be in the evening, so I just happened to have a chat with my eldest brother."
"What's the matter?"
Liu Bei saw that he was so impatient and knew that it might be a big deal, so he listened patiently.
Chen Mu said: "Yuan Shu wants to take Yuzhou, and Tao Qian wants to take Yanzhou."
"What?"
Liu Bei frowned and asked, "Is the news true?"
"It's just a judgment made by myself and Duke Tian Yuanhao after analyzing Tao Qian's recent actions."
Chen Mu said: "Tao Qian accused Cao Cao of attacking him first, so he was forced to fight back and conquered Jibei Kingdom in one battle. However, Jibei Kingdom was separated from Xuzhou by Taishan County and Lu State, but he crossed the Lu State directly.
Attacking Jibei shows that he had a premeditated plan, and it was undoubtedly Cao Cao who was attacked first. This move was intended to annex Yanzhou."
Liu Bei's frown deepened and he said, "Isn't he afraid that I will send troops to attack him?"
"Wang Fen!"
Chen Mu only said one person's name.
Liu Bei nodded and understood why Tao Qian did this.
Again, it’s just like what happened to the flower gardener’s rabbit during the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The furry bear and the eagle sauce compete for supremacy, and the rabbit is caught in the middle, and both sides are offended.
Especially when the rabbit and the bear were at odds, the two sides were at war with each other and almost started a fight.
Then why didn't they fight in the end?
Because the great man only did one thing, and that was to issue an order. Once the bear dared to throw mushroom eggs at the rabbit, the rabbit would throw its own mushroom eggs to Yingjiang's overseas base, dragging Yingjiang into trouble.
This is exactly the same as when the rabbit fought against Yingjiang, when there were no mushroom eggs, Yingjiang considered using mushroom eggs to perform surgery on the rabbit, but was worried about the furry bear next to him.
The bear was worried about Yingjiang, so he didn't dare to fight the rabbit. And the same was true for Yingjiang back then. He was worried about the bear, and he didn't dare to continue fighting the rabbit.
Both sides put a trap on the rat, but instead allowed the rabbit to develop secretly, and finally stood on top of the world.
Tao Qian is doing the same thing now.
From a strength perspective, Tao Qian's annexation of Yanzhou would not benefit him at all, because if he did not annex Yanzhou, he would only have to face the threat of Liu Bei, and once he annexed Yanzhou, he would have to face the threat of Wang Fing and Liu Bei.
common threats.
However, because Wang Fen and Liu Bei were mortal enemies, he was able to take advantage of the hostile relationship between the two parties to secretly develop his own strength. It must be said that Tao Qian was indeed very good at planning.
Liu Bei was awakened by Chen Mu and knew Tao Qian's thoughts, and immediately sighed: "Tao Gongzu really chose a good time."
"really."
Chen Mu said: "If my eldest brother and I were in Tao Qian's position, I'm afraid this would be the best plan."
Liu Bei thought: "Then it seems that Cao Mengde is in danger? It seems that I have to write a letter to my second brother, asking him to keep an eye on the situation in Yanzhou in Hanoi. If something goes wrong, he must support Cao Mengde."
"no."
Chen Mu objected: "The soldiers and horses in Luoyang are very important. Firstly, they must contain Wang Fen and not allow him to withdraw his troops in the southwest. Secondly, they must protect the Luoyang court. Wang Fen thinks that the emperor he has established is the emperor."
Orthodoxy, I am afraid that compared to us, he hopes to eliminate the imperial court in Luoyang so that the whole world will recognize the false emperor of Jizhou."
Wang Fen's troops in Jizhou are mainly scattered on two sides. One side is in the southwest, which is the junction area between Wei County and Hanoi County, to guard against Luoyang's troops. Moreover, the troops here are very large, reaching 100,000, because Wei County is not only with
Adjacent to Hanoi, it was also the capital of the puppet emperor of Jizhou.
The other side is in Qinghe State, the area bordering Pingyuan State, which belongs to the eastern battlefield. There are as many as 80,000 troops here, confronting Qingzhou's 50,000 to 60,000 troops. In addition, Yuan Shao's Bohai County also has tens of thousands
People were deployed at the border of the Bohai Sea.
In addition, there are more than 200,000 soldiers and horses in the Hejian Kingdom and Zhongshan Kingdom bordering Youzhou to guard against Gongsun Zan in the north. This is the entire family wealth of Jizhou now, and they are facing off against Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Gongsun Zan and others.
It was almost one versus three, and the situation was evenly matched, which shows how strong the Jizhou family is.
no way.
Jizhou is already the most populous and the richest state. Yuan Shao had 120,000 elite soldiers during the Battle of Guandu. Even after the Battle of Guandu, his family's wealth was not damaged, and it allowed Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi and others to separate their families.
The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses made Cao Cao very afraid, and it took him four or five years to pacify them. This shows how rich Jizhou is.
However, these more than 200,000 troops and horses are already the limit of Jizhou, and although the troops are large, the generals who command the troops are not high-level, and there are only a few talented people. Therefore, if Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Gongsun Zan really start the war at the same time, it is probably a
If three or seven open, it will definitely be destroyed by three parties attacking at the same time.
In fact, Liu Bei originally planned to wait for another year or two, and after the veterans brought back from Guanzhong had recuperated, he would immediately launch a decisive battle with Jizhou and eliminate the false emperor in Jizhou. Who would have thought that Tao Qian would pop up at this time to cause trouble?
, disrupted his plan.
Hearing Chen Mu's words, Liu Bei said sadly: "Are we just going to sit back and watch Mengde be annexed by Tao Qian? Once Yanzhou falls into Tao Qian's hands, I'm afraid our contact with Luoyang will be cut off in the future. Second Brother
You will also be isolated and helpless.”
"That's not necessarily the case."
Chen Mu immediately said: "Brother, don't think that Cao Cao is too weak. It's not that simple for Tao Qian to annex Yanzhou. In my opinion, by the end of this year, I'm afraid Yuan Shu will go north to attack Sun Jian, and Tao Qian will attack Dongjun from Jibei."
, we are restrained by Wang Fen, and although we cannot take action, we cannot fail to do something. We can divide our troops into five thousand and go south from Beihai to attack Langya Kingdom."
"Um."
Liu Bei listened to his opinion and asked: "Is there any more?"
"Join Liu Biao to attack Yuan Shu."
"Then what?"
"Then it was gone."
Chen Mu spread his hands, and the two of them stared at each other.
That's it?
They are about to annex Cao Cao, so you come up with this little trick?
Liu Bei said speechlessly: "Then what's the difference between us and doing nothing?"
"Didn't they send troops to attack Langya Kingdom?"
"But what big things can be accomplished with this small amount of troops? It can only attract some of Tao Qian's troops."
"This is the limit of what we can do."
Chen Mu shrugged and expressed helplessness and said: "The relationship between us and Wang Fen can affect the whole body. If we send out troops on a large scale, it will cause a full-scale rebound from Wang Fen and a decisive battle between the two sides. Now our troops have just experienced Dong Zhuo's experience."
The Battle of Guanzhong is exhausting both physically and mentally. I am afraid it will be difficult to win Jizhou, and both sides will suffer."
Now compared with the coalition forces of Liu Bei, Gongsun Zan, and Liu Bei, both sides in Jizhou are actually more defensive than offensive. Therefore, both sides are very cautious and need to recuperate. What's more, Gongsun Zan also has to pacify the entire Youzhou, and Gongsun Du and some rebellious foreign forces are still fighting.
In struggle.
Therefore, the Qingzhou Army seems to have the initiative and can attack at any time from three directions. But in fact, the force is far from being as strong as imagined. It can only maintain a half-match with Wang Fen, which is somewhat similar to the relationship between the Mao Xiong and Ying Jiang during the Cold War.
.
Precisely because both sides maintained restraint, the second-tier princes like Tao Qian and Yuan Shu found the opportunity to annex territory and strengthen themselves. Wang Fen and Liu Bei instead tried to avoid it and could only watch.
"It seems like we have no other choice?"
Liu Bei was worried.
Chen Mu was not worried at all, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, brother, Cao Mengde is by no means an easy person to deal with. Tao Gongzu wants to make it even more difficult for Yanzhou. Moreover, the war situation is changing rapidly, and no one knows what will happen in the end. We
The strategies you make now may not be useful in the future, so it’s better to observe the situation first and then wait for opportunities.”
"Um."
Liu Bei nodded: "My father-in-law and Yuan Hao will be back today. I will discuss it with them then. You should take care of your own marriage first."
"Then I'll leave first."
Chen Mu stood up, held his hands in his hands, and slowly retreated.
Liu Bei watched him leave, standing with his hands behind his hands, frowning slightly.
He spent a lot of money to win over Cao Cao, not because of his good relationship with Cao Cao, but because he took a fancy to the territory of Dongjun.
The farthest northeast of Dongjun connects Pingyuan Country and borders Qingzhou. The farthest southwest connects Hanoi County and connects with Luoyang. It is the only way to travel between Qingzhou and Luoyang.
Chen Mu established the imperial court in Luoyang because he believed that Luoyang could be attacked, retreated and defended. It was a place with an excellent geographical location, comparable to Jingzhou during the Three Kingdoms period.
If Luoyang and Qingzhou can be connected, grain and grass can be continuously supplied to Guan Yu. Even if Wang Fen launches a large-scale attack and loses the important grain-producing land of Hanoi County, Guan Yu can still rely on the eight passes of Luoyang to resist Jizhou's attack.
And Qingzhou can take advantage of Wang Fen's attack and join forces with Gongsun Zan to steal Wang Fen's ass.
The same principle applies to Youzhou and Qingzhou. No matter whether Wang Fen launches a large-scale attack on either side, the other two sides can steal it. This is a very good strategy.
But once Cao Cao is gone and Tao Qian takes Yanzhou, this situation may be broken, because Luoyang does not have much grain reserves and needs to rely on Qingzhou's continuous blood transfusion. Without the road to transport grain, Luoyang will not last long.
Therefore, Cao Cao's Yanzhou is the key to whether Qingzhou can defeat Jizhou.
Cao Cao must be saved.
Liu Bei thought to himself.
This can be regarded as the strategic goal that must be achieved in this battle.
If Liu Bei were to know that he was a natural enemy of Cao Cao in history, but now he wanted to protect him desperately, I don't know what he would think.
Anyway, Cao Cao would probably be very happy and moved by the help of Liu Bei, a good brother, and then accept all the benefits without hesitation.