The cold Siberian wind in early spring came from the north, blew across the desolate land of Youzhou, flew across the vast Jizhou Plain, and arrived at Puyang County, Yanzhou.
The big trees in Cao Cao's courtyard were shaken by the spring breeze, but last year's withered and yellow leaves had already taken root and sprouted. In just a few days, the originally dry branches were covered with new leaves, full of vitality.
Full of vitality.
At this time, in Yanzhou, just as the cold wind was constantly disturbing the big trees, causing them to sway and causing leaves to fall in the courtyard, Yuan Shu and Tao Qian's coalition forces also posed a great threat to Yanzhou.
Although Dongjun is the most populous and affluent place in Yanzhou, the impact of the wars in the past few years is still there. It has been recuperating for less than a year and has not yet fully recovered its strength.
Even if Liu Bei supported Cao Cao twice in order to maintain the road from Qingzhou to Luoyang, it only allowed Cao Cao to stabilize his territory and settle down.
In history, after Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao welcomed Lu Bu, almost the entire Yanzhou responded instantly and betrayed Cao Cao.
It can be seen that in real history, Cao Cao at this time only had the title of Yanzhou Mu.
The county guards from all over the country did not take him seriously at all. Cao Cao's initial starting point was just Dongjun. At this time, he was not thinking about expansion at all, but was thinking about how to combine Jiyin and Jiyin within this year.
Chenliu County was captured.
One of the governors of these two places was Zhang Miao and the other was Wu Zi. Their relationship with Cao Cao was superficially polite, but they did not obey his orders at all, which made Cao Cao think about annexing them all the time.
The most important thing is that Chenliu and Jiyin are only slightly worse than Dongjun. Together, these three counties account for more than 70% of the population of Yanzhou.
Therefore, for Cao Cao, controlling these two places is called controlling the entire Yanzhou.
But the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind was not stopping. Cao Cao originally wanted to consider using political means to slowly infiltrate the two places, sideline Zhang Miao and Wu Zi, and finally remove them from their posts as governors in the name of Yanzhou Mu Daiyi. However,
The enemy doesn't give you that much time to operate.
Cao Cao stood in the courtyard, watching the big tree trembling in the wind, and sighed: "The storm is coming."
Guo Jia on the side didn't understand what he was worried about. He put his hands in his sleeves and said with a slight smile: "Don't panic, Ming Gong. Don't we already know what Tao Qian and Yuan Shu are thinking? I believe that Qingzhou man
I will never sit idly by and ignore it."
Chen Gong frowned and said: "I'm afraid that the help Qingzhou can give us is extremely limited. If they send troops, how could Jizhou let go of Qingzhou's empty opportunity?"
"So we can't place all our hopes on Liu Bei. If we really want to get through this difficulty, we have to rely on ourselves."
Cao Cao turned to look at Xiahou Dun and asked, "How are the troops and horses prepared?"
Xiahou Dun replied: "It has been assembled and ready."
Cao Cao then said: "This battle involves the life and death of Yanzhou. I will personally lead the army to attack Yuan Shu Tao Qian."
Cheng Yu said: "Now we have to wait for Sun Jian's troops."
Xi Xian said: "If we don't want to lure the enemy deep, we can send people to contact Sun Wentai and ask him to send troops to attack Pei and Lu to cut off the food routes of Tao Qian and Yuan Shu. At the same time, we can lure them to attack Puyang and wait until they run out of food.
Annihilate the invading enemy in one fell swoop."
"Um."
Cao Cao stroked his beard and thought this strategy was good.
At this moment, a servant suddenly walked in quickly from outside and said loudly: "Da Lang, a messenger from Qingzhou is coming outside."
"oh?"
Cao Cao hurriedly said: "Please come in quickly."
"only."
The servant immediately went to call someone in.
Cao Cao led Guo Jia, Chen Gong, Cheng Yu, Xi Xian, Xia Hou Dun, Xia Hou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and other closest civil and military officials back to the hall to wait.
After a while, a guard from the Military Intelligence Department came in, raised his hands and saluted: "Mr. Cao!"
Cao Cao thought it was Liu Bei who had brought him good news, so he smiled and said, "Xuande asked you to come over. What's the matter?"
Si Wei said: "My Ming Gong said that Yuan Shu and Tao Qian suddenly attacked Yanzhou, occupied Gucheng, Linyi and other places, and pointed their troops directly at Puyang. They must have wanted to get involved in Yanzhou, so I was asked to inform Duke Cao that he decided to join forces.
Sun Jian will attack Runan County together."
"What?"
Cao Cao was shocked and said: "Attack Runan County? Won't Xuande come to save my Dong County?"
Not only did he not come to rescue Dongjun, he also took Sun Jian away. Now he only has 20,000 men, while Tao Qian and Yuan Shu's coalition forces have 70,000 to 80,000 men. Originally, Cao Cao wanted to unite with Sun Jian, so the strength should be 30,000 to 40,000 men.
, has the strength to fight. Now without Sun Jian, his situation will be extremely bad.
Si Wei explained: "Ming Gong said that this is to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao. Now we cannot move the soldiers and horses of Pingyuan State. Otherwise, Jizhou will definitely attack Qingzhou, so we can only let Luoyang send a small number of soldiers and horses to attack Yingchuan.
Attacking Runan."
"Well...I know."
Cao Cao nodded solemnly, waved his hand and said, "You go first."
"Our fourth general asked me to give a message to Duke Cao in the end. He said that the situation in Qingzhou is not very good now, and this is the limit of how much they can help Duke Cao."
Si Wei bowed his hands and slowly exited.
Has it helped me to the limit?
Cao Cao almost rolled his eyes after hearing this.
Originally, his troops and horses plus Sun Jian's troops and horses were not without the strength to fight.
Now that Sun Jian's soldiers and horses have been transferred away, he is left alone and unable to support himself. How can he fight?
After the messenger left, Guo Jiacai said: "This strategy of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao is quite clever."
"But this is a bet on our Dong County."
Cheng Yu frowned: "Tao Qian and Yuan Shu's coalition forces are powerful, and our army is small. If the enemy attacks in a large scale, it will be difficult for us to stop them. If they are a step late and fail to force Yuan Shu back, then Dongjun will be in danger."
"But if you think about it carefully, this may be the only way to defeat them."
Xi Xian thought deeply: "Because Sun Jian's troops are not large, someone has to stay in Chen Guoliang. If you are not careful, you may be taken away from your hometown. With his help, it is unlikely to repel the enemy. It is better to take the initiative.
, attack Runan and force Yuan Shu's army to return to defense."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Now Yuan Shu has a large territory and a lot of troops. But his defensive pressure is also great. Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Yuzhou all need troops to defend. Can he
The number of troops squeezed out to attack Cao Cao was only about 30,000, so the main force of the attack was Tao Qian. Tao Qian sent 40,000 and close to 50,000 troops.
Sun Jian's military strength was even less. He only occupied two counties. He started with 5,000 Danyang soldiers and appointments from the court. He had been working hard in Chen and Liang for only half a year, and his total military strength was only 30,000.
It's just that we can barely hold on to the two counties, and we have no energy left to attack.
In fact, Sun Jian was able to have 30,000 troops because of the help of Chen Guoxiang Luo Jun and Chen Wang Liu Chong. Luo Jun was appreciated by Liu Hong, Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty in his early years, and was promoted to Chen Guoxiang. He governed Chen Guo together with Chen Wang and allowed Chen Guo to prosper.
Prosperous, farmers and merchants are prosperous.
After Sun Jian arrived in Chen State, he was appointed as the shepherd of Yuzhou by imperial edict. Luo Jun and Liu Chong were both loyal to the court, so they accepted his rule. With the help of the two, Sun Jian gained a firm foothold and began to gradually develop military force.
.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Chen State had more than 100,000 troops at its peak. However, it was a special period and there was no way. Now that the Yellow Turban Rebellion has subsided, it cannot afford to raise so many troops, so it can only disband and continue to cultivate the land.
Therefore, the current Chen State only has 20,000 soldiers and horses. In addition, Sun Jian's 5,000 Danyang soldiers suppressed the unrest in Liang State within half a year and recruited some one after another. Thirty thousand people are Sun Jian's current total soldiers and horses.
Moreover, if he takes the initiative to attack, he will have to leave troops and horses in the country, and the number of troops that can be dispatched is no more than 10,000.
Xi Zhicai believed that even if Sun Jian sent troops and horses to assist them, it would be of little practical significance. It would be better to let Sun Jian attack the nearby Runan County, force Yuan Shu's army to return to defense, and turn the 80,000 coalition troops into 50,000, reducing their number.
Three-eighths of the positive pressure is much more effective.
Guo Jia smiled coldly and said: "They say we are surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao. In fact, that's because the place where the war happened is not just in their Qingzhou. Even if we can win in the end, I'm afraid we will only win miserably and lose a lot of strength."
Xi Zhicai smiled and said: "Fengxiao, don't speculate on Liu Bei so maliciously. Liu Xuande can do this, which can be regarded as the most benevolent and righteous. After all, he has no obligation to save Duke Ming."
To win the favor of rice is to win the hatred of rice.
Liu Bei has already aided Cao Cao twice. If you are an ordinary person, you are used to this kind of aid that is plundered by big families. Now that you heard that Liu Bei did not directly send troops to help him, you would probably have resentment in your heart.
But these are not ordinary people, but people with advanced minds. Naturally, they will not have such emotions for no reason to influence their brains.
Cao Cao nodded: "Well, Liu Bei has helped me a lot, and Jizhou is involving him, so there is really nothing we can do now. It seems that without Sun Jian's help, we can only rely on ourselves."
Chen Gong was more late-minded, but he still thought clearly about the problem and said: "Qingzhou said that they wanted to attack Runan County, but they were beyond their reach, so they must send troops from Luoyang, and from Luoyang, they have to pass through Yingchuan.
Yingchuan is now occupied by the puppet governor of Yuzhou, Zhao Zhe, who was sent by the puppet emperor of Jizhou. It seems that the next step for Qingzhou is to attack Yingchuan."
"Yes, Yuan Shu's enemies in Runan are mainly Sun Jian and Liu Biao. He will definitely not be prepared for enemies coming from the direction of Yingchuan. As long as Luoyang moves faster and captures Yingchuan as soon as possible, Runan will be attacked in an instant.
The enemy attacks from three directions: Sun Jian, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao."
Cao Cao listened to the analysis of many counselors and narrowed his eyes: "At that time, Yuan Shu will be shocked and will either mobilize troops from Yangzhou or withdraw his troops from the front line. Yuan Rang, I remember that you are good friends with that Chen Wen?"
Xiahou Dun said: "Exactly, Yuan Ti is an old acquaintance of mine when I was young. When Meng De launched an army to attack Dong Zhuo, the more than a thousand troops and horses I brought with me were borrowed from Yuan Ti in Yangzhou."
"good."
Cao Cao said happily: "Everyone in the world knows that Yuan Shu has invaded the three states of Jing, Yang and Henan. We should invite Chen Wen to attack Runan and jointly attack Yuan Shu."
Xiahou Dun said: "Then I will write a letter of resignation, clarify the key points, and ask Yuan Ti to send troops and horses to assist."
Nowadays, the relationship between various princes in the Central Plains is complicated, but because Yuan Shu wants to annex the three states, and Tao Qian wants to annex Yanzhou, Liu Biao, Chen Wen, Sun Jian, and Cao Cao all have a common enemy, while Liu Bei is unwilling to have people around him.
Two great princes developed, so everyone had related interests and linked together to fight against Tao Qian and Yuan Shu.
In fact, in this battle, the protagonists are no longer Liu Bei, but Cao Cao and Sun Jian.
After all, the enemy wants to destroy them, and it is a matter of life and death. It is now a last-ditch battle, and we must attack with all our strength.
Cao Cao was also a decisive person and immediately said: "If this is the case, then our original plan of waiting for Sun Jian and joining forces to fight Tao Qian and Yuan Shu in a decisive battle will have to be shelved. Now that we are relying on our own strength, it is difficult to compete, so we must change our plan.
"
Guo Jiacheng, Yu, Chen Gong and Xi Xian all nodded in agreement. After a moment, Xi Xian said: "It turns out that our plan is to lure the enemy deep and defeat them in one battle. Now we just need to delay the time and clear the wall and hold on."
"The enemy came from Jibei of Lu State and was blocked by Ohnoze. If they wanted to attack Puyang, they had no choice but to attack from both sides of the river. The north bank of the river was along Yangping, Dongwu, Dunqiu, Weiguo, and finally to Puyang
Come here. I am not worried about this road. We can guard it according to the river. I am afraid that they will go to Dong'a, Fan County, Cunqiu and Zhencheng on the south bank of the river."
"So our main defensive force should also be in the east. In my opinion, it is better to recall all the troops from the north and send a small number of soldiers to station in the Dunqiu Weiguo area, while the main force of our army is deployed along the line in Dong'a.
Fan County, Qiuqiu, and Zhencheng area, hold on to the city along the way to delay."
"And Wu Zi, although he doesn't quite obey Ming Gong's call, but the enemies have already reached his door, I don't believe that he won't send troops. Ming Gong can send people to ask him to send troops to stop him. If he doesn't want to, the disaster will be diverted to the east.
, introducing the flames of war into his Jiyin County."
Four counselors, you say something, and I will give you an idea.
Why did the coalition forces of Yuan Shu and Tao Qian have to take the route of Lu State and Ji Bei State to attack Puyang from the east?
In addition to the convenience for two people to join forces, the biggest reason is Ohnozawa.
Dayezawa was a very large lake in the Han Dynasty. The only remnant of it in later generations is Dongping Lake in the Liangshan area, which is not as good as one-tenth of its current size.
The eight hundred miles of water in Liangshan in "Water Margin" actually refers to the vast water lake area from Onezawa to Dongping Lake.
Therefore, if Yuan Shu and Tao Qian's coalition wanted to attack Yanzhou, they would either bypass and attack Dongjun from the east, north of Onezawa, or attack Chenliu from the west, south of Onezawa. Otherwise, unless they have ships, it will be difficult to cross the natural barrier.
Historically, they chose to attack from the north of Onezawa. However, at that time, Cao Cao had the support of Yuan Shao and defeated the coalition forces of Yuan Shu and Tao Qian in the Fagan County area north of Dongjun.
But now without Yuan Shao's support, Wang Fen and Liu Bei are confronting each other, leaving him isolated and helpless, and he can only choose to defend passively.
Many counselors gave him suggestions to set up defenses along the way in Dong'a, Fan County, Cunqiu, and Zhencheng areas to help Liu Bei, Sun Jian, and Liu Biao delay their attack on Runan.
This is actually a strategy of echelon configuration and staged blocking.
After hearing this, Cao Cao immediately said: "Okay, if that's the case, then I will personally lead the army to meet the enemy."
Now, the second day.
Cao Cao ordered Chen Gong to stay in Puyang, lead the army personally, and go north to prepare to fight against the coalition forces of Tao Qian and Yuan Shu.