Upon hearing this sudden news, Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other with shocked expressions.
This was completely beyond their expectations.
Logically speaking, Yuan Shu has already made enemies on all sides and is surrounded by enemies. Wouldn't it be crazy to provoke Cao Cao at this time?
"Could it be that Lu Bu colluded with Yuan Shu and prepared to deal with Duke Ming together?"
Guo Jia's mind was spinning fast and he thought of this immediately. Only in this way could he explain why Yuan Shu suddenly came to beat Cao Cao.
Cao Cao said with a solemn expression: "It is very possible that we must return to Pengcheng immediately and send a letter to Sun Jian at the same time, asking him to send troops."
"clear."
Guo Jia nodded. If Lu Bu and Yuan Shu were in alliance, then Sun Jian, Liu Biao, and Liu Yao would definitely agree to Cao Cao's joining.
With common enemies and common interests, no one would reject like-minded friends. What's more, Cao Cao and Sun Jian were originally members of Liu Bei's group.
At that moment, the two of them no longer hesitated, leaving behind the farmland that was only a month away from being harvested. They mounted their horses and hurried to the county seat, gathered their men and horses, and quickly headed north to prepare to return to Pengcheng to lead the war.
In fact, Cao Cao did not abandon Champa rice. He chose to plant it in Gaoyou County, Guangling County, which is located in the south of Xuzhou and the north of Yangzhou. It is separated from Wu County and Danyang County in Yangzhou by the entire Yangtze River, almost across the river.
Yuan Shu's territory was Jiujiang, Lujiang, Yuzhang and other places, which belonged to the west of Yangzhou. The north was not Guangling, but Peiguo in Yuzhou and Xiapi in Xuzhou.
Among them, Huailing County is located in the south of Xiapi.
From a military perspective, if Yuan Shu wants to attack Gaoyou, he will have to travel nearly a thousand miles, which does not have much practical significance. However, Xiapi and Peiguo are close at hand, and Cao Cao's rear base is in Pengcheng, which is of greater significance.
So Guangling should be very safe.
However, Cao Cao still left Xiahou Dun as the prefect of Guangling, leading five thousand troops, and assisted by Cheng Yu to stay in the rear.
The purpose of this is to attract surprise troops. Once things change and they are attacked by Lu Bu and Yuan Shu from both sides, if an opportunity can be found, these 5,000 people can make full use of it, whether they suddenly appear for reinforcements or surround Wei to rescue Zhao and go south to attack Yuan Shu's hometown.
Works wonders.
The weather in the summer of the late Han Dynasty was fickle, with periods of drought and little rain, and sometimes heavy rains and floods. By mid-May, heavy rains began to fall in the south, and the water system of the Huaihe and Yangtze Rivers surged. Although it had not yet reached the point of flooding, it still rained continuously.
As expected, Lu Bu once again launched a fierce attack on Shanyang County. Cao Cao led his troops northward. While resisting Lu Bu, he sent people to contact Sun Jian. At the same time, he sent troops southward, ready to deal with Yuan Shu who was heading north.
At this moment, Sun Jian of Runan quickly received a letter from Cao Cao. He was shocked to learn that Yuan Shu had actually joined forces with Lu Bu to attack Cao Cao, and quickly led troops to rescue him.
Since Cao Cao assigned some troops to Guangling and another part to defend Yuan Shu, his troops were already stretched thin and it was difficult to compete with him head-on. So after thinking about it, he decided to adopt the strategy of playing Zhicai, showing the enemy weakness first and pretending to be defeated.
Then lead troops to set up an ambush.
In Dongmin (min) County, after Cao Cao was defeated and retreated to Shanyang, the front line was placed in Changyi County and Dongmin County, and the rear was placed in Pengcheng. This line of defense played a great role in resisting Lu Bu, because this was the southern part of Weishan in later generations.
Four lakes.
Nansi Lake is a large lake that was formed later. It slowly took shape during the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. But before that, due to its low-lying terrain and numerous water systems, it had long been a swamp wetland with clusters of small lakes.
The cavalry was useless here. Lu Bu once wanted to send his cavalry to bypass the front line of Dongmin in Changyi and surprise Cao Cao's rear, but they were blocked by the wetland spanning hundreds of miles and could not advance.
Including the historical battle between Cao Cao and Lu Bu, when they recaptured Yanzhou, the two fought a decisive battle in Juye County, north of Dongmin County. Now that the two have reversed, Cao Cao has no choice but to withdraw his troops from Dongmin, unable to unite the two.
Twenty thousand troops evacuated Shanyang and headed south to Pei State.
When Lu Bu heard the news, he judged that Yuan Shu's attack in the south must have been effective, and there was a crisis in Xiapi, Cao Cao's hometown of Pengcheng. Overjoyed, he immediately led his troops to pursue him.
The two arrived at Peiguofeng County one after another. Lu Bu's cavalry was approaching and was about to be overtaken. Cao Cao stationed himself at Liu Bang's hometown, Tongyu Pavilion, and set up a camp to prevent him from being killed by Lu Bu's cavalry if he continued to march.
Chase and kill, losing troops and horses.
But if you do this, Lu Bu's infantry will arrive soon.
Two days later, Lu Bu arrived with his army.
Heavy rains have continued in the Jiangdong area of Huainan, and the rivers have surged. Yanzhou, which is more than a thousand miles away from Yangzhou, is relatively peaceful. However, the weather has been changing with dark clouds recently, and it seems like it will rain anytime and anywhere.
During the Little Ice Age at the end of the Han Dynasty, June in Henan was either the rainy season or drought, and there were very few good weather conditions.
However, in history, in 196 AD, Cao Cao defeated the Runan Yellow Turban, harvested population and grain, and immediately harvested millions of dendrobium grains from farming in Xudu, which was then immediately extended to the entire Yanzhou, which greatly alleviated the food crisis.
From this point of view, the Henan region will definitely have good weather this year. If severe droughts and floods occur, farming will not be so successful.
Therefore, heavy rain in the south will not affect the war in the north.
Lu Bu was stationed less than five kilometers away from Tangyu Pavilion, north of Feng County.
The mighty Baoshui River flows through the south of the county, branching out into several small gurgling rivers. Mountains and islands stand on both sides of the river, and there are dense forests. The sounds of apes and jackals are endless, and birds leap from time to time in the forest.
Follow a branch of the water-filled stream southward for several miles, and you can see Tongyu Pavilion in the distance.
In ancient times, a pavilion governed the surrounding ten miles of countryside. The pavilion was equivalent to a small town. In addition to being responsible for the security of the pavilion, the pavilion chief was also responsible for commercial management. Therefore, the pavilion could also be regarded as a commercial distribution center in the nearby villages, where villagers came and went.
People come to the pavilion when they go to the market.
The result of Tongyu Pavilion is just a small street. It is located on the east bank of the river. There is a row of houses with a pavilion in the center. It probably does not take more than a hundred meters to walk from the street to the end of the street. Now that the world is in chaos, the pavilion has long been dilapidated.
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This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! According to records such as "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, killed the White Snake Uprising in Daze to the west of Feng County, while Touyu Pavilion was established in Feng County.
To the north, the two are not far apart.
Lu Bu led his troops out to watch, and saw that Cao Cao had built a low wall for the city on the basis of the original Pavilion Street, protected by wooden fences. Groups of soldiers stood guard on the low wall, and on the other side
There are still a large number of soldiers ambushing beside the camp on the side.
"Cao Cao is cunning and has set up an ambush here. We cannot fall into an ambush."
Li Su looked at the formation and persuaded Lu Bu.
Lu Bu nodded: "Yes, Cao Cao is very cunning. I'm afraid we won't be able to gain any favor if we fight now. We should hold them back."
"Cao Cao only wants to evacuate. I am afraid that Yuan Shu from Huainan has threatened Pengcheng. As long as we drag his main army here and wait for Yuan Shu to go north and occupy Cao Cao's rear, and attack from both front and rear, Cao Cao's army will be defeated."
His general, Hao Meng, also spoke up.
In history, Li Su was beheaded by Lü Bu because of his defeat. But this time he fled from Chang'an with Lü Bu and had never led an army to defeat alone. Therefore, because of his hometown status, he became the second-ranking figure in Lü Bu's army and served as a school captain.
Wei Yue and Cheng Lian were the first people to follow Lu Bu, so they are now army commanders. Others, such as Hao Meng, Wei Xu, Song Xian, Hou Cheng, Cao Xing and others, have different official positions and are middle-level generals.
After Lu Bu captured Yanzhou, Zhang Yang and Wei Jian became the number two and number three figures. Now they are leading the army on the expedition, but they stayed in Chenliu Jiyin, which is not where they are now.
With Lu Bu serving as the governor of Yizhou, the generals under his command have risen. Li Su has been promoted to Zhonglang General, Wei Yue has become the Cavalry Commander, and Hao Meng, Wei Xu, Song Xian, Hou Cheng, Cao Xing and others may also join the army.
Sima is either a partial general or a supporting general, and each has its own promotion.
Following Lu Bu this time, in addition to Li Su and Hao Meng, there was also the Cavalry Commander Cheng Lian.
Cheng Lian looked around and suddenly saw something strange in the forest on the other side of the river in the distance. He quickly pointed there and said, "General, look."
Lu Bu quickly looked around and saw a bird startling out of the forest, suspecting an ambush. He couldn't help laughing and said: "Cao Cao really wants to ambush me. Let's not be fooled. Give me my order to retreat to the camp. As soon as Cao Cao leaves, we will be there."
attack."
"only!"
Everyone was ordered to withdraw their troops.
However, Lu Bu miscalculated this time. The birds in the forest were not Cao Cao's. It was already very difficult for Cao Cao to defend the camp with only a few men, let alone set up an ambush.
At this moment, in the forest in the distance, there were more than ten people crouching in the grass and watching. While they were reading, they were writing something.
In the vast land of Henan, the forces of the Military Intelligence Department are infiltrating everywhere. As a modern man who seizes massive amounts of information through the Internet, Chen Mu has established an extremely complete intelligence system. Many counties and counties have branches of the Military Intelligence Department, secretly infiltrating local areas, and using large sums of money to
Spending money, secretly recruiting dead soldiers to serve, and even many powerful local families follow Qingzhou's lead.
Chen Mu was very concerned about the southern battlefield, so even though he himself did not appear here, he still ordered the guards to pay attention to the changes in the battle situation at all times and send the intelligence to the plains as soon as possible.
After the spies of the Military Intelligence Department recorded the actions of Cao Jun and Lu Jun today, they left the jungle from the west and sent fast horses to gallop north. They constantly changed men and horses at various strongholds, relayed them, and traveled day and night. They could guarantee that they would march three times a day.
Hundreds of miles away, within two or three days, the battle report from Feng County can reach the plains seven hundred miles away.
Cao Cao stood on the low wall, watching Lu Bu's troops withdraw like a tide outside the stronghold, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Guo Jia came closer and said softly: "Ming Gong, the situation in the south has changed."
"Where did Yuan Shu hit?"
Cao Cao frowned. He only had more than 20,000 troops. He left 5,000 in Guangling. In order to deal with Lu Bu, there were 15,000 by his side. There were also 5,000 or 6,000 who arranged for Cao Renchen's palace to defend Xiapi and other places.
Yuan Shu.
After Lu Bu captured Yanzhou, he recruited a large number of troops. The number of troops had reached 30,000. His own troops were stretched thin. If Cao Ren could not resist Yuan Shu, the consequences would be disastrous.
However, what Cao Cao didn't expect was that Guo Jia shook his head: "Yuan Shu is still in Huailing."
"Still in Huailing?"
Cao Cao was surprised and happy: "Is it because of the recent heavy rain in the south that he can't go north?"
Guo Jiadao: "Although there is heavy rain in the south, it has little impact on Xiapi. If Yuan Shu wants to go north, it cannot be stopped."
As we all know, June is the rainy season in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. In places like Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other places in later generations, the plum rain season begins in May and June.
Although Xiapi also belongs to Anhui and the Huaihe River system, it is already in the Huaibei region. There are continuous heavy rains in the south. It has only been light rain recently in Xiapi, which will not delay the march.
Therefore, it is a bit strange to hear that the heavy rain did not prevent Yuan Shu from going north, but Yuan Shu still stayed in Huailing.
However, since Yuan Shu did not go north, it was also a good thing for Cao Cao, so he immediately thought about whether to transfer Cao Ren back to the front line to resist Lu Bu's pressure.
However, before Cao Cao could come up with this idea, Xi Zhicai hurried over not far away and said to Cao Cao: "Ming Gong, good news."
"What's wrong?"
Cao Cao turned around and asked.
Xi Zhicai stood under the low wall and raised his head and said to him: "Sun Jian sent a letter saying that he has arrived in Xiayi."
Xiayi is located in the Liang Kingdom and is a prefecture of Yuzhou. Sun Jian originally came from the Chen and Liang Kingdoms to defeat Yuan Shu and occupy Runan.
The state of Liang is right next to the state of Pei, and Xiayi and Fengxian are also close at hand, less than a hundred miles away and can be reached within two days.
After hearing the good news, Cao Cao said happily: "This way we can unite with Sun Jian and attack Lu Bu together."
Guo Jia touched his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm not allowed to do this."
"Why?"
Cao Cao was puzzled.
Guo Jia said: "Lü Bu has many soldiers and horses. The reason why he did not rush to launch an attack is that he was afraid that our army would set up an ambush, and he thought that Yuan Shu was in the south and was attacking from the north. Therefore, he must be waiting for Yuan Shu's army to attack us from the north and the south."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded.
Guo Jia continued: "But Yuan Shu suddenly stopped for some reason. I thought he might have deceived Lu Bu. He didn't even think about helping Lu Bu defeat us, but used Lu Bu to contain Sun Jian. At this time, the only ones in Huailing must be
With a small force, his main army is either attacking Jiangdong to defeat Liu Yao, or heading north to attack Runan in secret."
As the person who was best at controlling people's hearts in the late Han Dynasty, Guo Jia quickly judged Yuan Shu's intentions from Yuan Shu's actions.
Yuan Shu didn't even think about joining forces with Lu Bu to get rid of Cao Cao first. Instead, he only thought about his own three-quarters of an acre of land. He sent a group of troops to pretend to be the main force heading north, causing Cao Cao to panic and immediately wrote to Sun Jian, saying that Lu Bu and Yuan Shu
Unite and ask him to come together to fight together.
Sun Jian and Yuan Shu are already mortal enemies, and they will definitely come to help. In this way, Yuan Shu's front line will no longer have the pressure of Sun Jian, and only Liu Biao will be left alone. Then he can take the opportunity to do other things and consolidate his territory.
Hearing Guo Jia's analysis, Cao Cao was stunned for a while. After a while, he said: "This Yuan Gongli is really short-sighted."
"yes."
Guo Jia pondered: "Liu Biao is in the remote Jingzhou area. It is too far for his troops to go north, so even if we have reinforcements, we only have Sun Jian. With our strength, even with Sun Jian, it will be difficult to resist.
At that time, Yuan Shu and Lu Bu divided the territory of Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yangzhou, and then combined their forces to attack Yuzhou. Sun Jian could only be defeated, but Yuan Shu only focused on Liu Yao, who was very close at hand. He was really a frog in the well."
"So what should we do now?"
Cao Cao asked.
Guo Jia's eyes flashed with a strange light and he whispered: "Of course we will use Sun Jian to defeat Lu Bu. If our army joins forces with them and attacks forcefully, we may not be able to defeat Lu Bu immediately. But if we pretend to continue to retreat,
Pretending that Yuan Shu is heading north and getting closer to us, Lu Bu will definitely be overjoyed and lead his troops to pursue him. At this time, let Sun Jian set up an ambush, and we will fight out together, and we will definitely defeat Lu Bu!"
"good!"
There was also a strange light in Cao Cao's eyes. He and Guo Jia had the same opinion. If he and Sun Jian join forces, it will easily lead to a confrontation. If it lasts for a long time, Lu Bu may return to Yanzhou.
But if an ambush is set up, Lu Bu can be defeated in the pursuit battle, and then the entire Yanzhou can be taken back.
By then, Cao Cao will be able to regain his lost territory and regain his strength.
"It's a pity that after this battle, Yuan Shu took a breather."
Guo Jia felt a little regretful.
Cao Cao smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, Yuan Jiujiu is so short-sighted that he is like a withered bone in a grave. When I defeat Lu Bu, I will capture him sooner or later."
The two looked at each other and smiled, and they made a tacit agreement not to mention Sun Jian, and everything was kept in silence.
If you look at the map, you will know that Liu Biao's Jingzhou is Xiangfan City in later generations, and Jiangxia County is Wuhan City. It seems very close to Yuzhou, but there are thousands of miles of Dabie Mountains. If you want to march north, you can only take Nanyang and enter Runan.
But from Xiangyang to Fengxian, there is a detour, which is a full two thousand miles, and it is difficult for Liu Biao's men to reach it even with their iron legs.
Therefore, it is impossible for Liu Biao to participate in this northern battle. Cao Cao's only ally is Sun Jian.
The reason why Yuan Shu was trapped in Huainan was because he was surrounded by Liu Biao to the west, Sun Jian to the northwest, and Liu Yao to the east. So he was attacked from three sides. No matter which side he attacked, the other two sides would harass him, especially where Liu Biao was.
Jiangxia County can reach Yuzhang County through the Yangtze River, and surprise attacks on Yuan Shu's rear made him extremely annoyed.
But it would be different if Yuan Shu went north to attack Cao Cao. Even if Yuan Shu's rear was empty at this time and Liu Biao captured Yuzhang County, it wouldn't matter, because from a strategic point of view, Yuan Shu escaped from this trapped place, went north to enter Xuzhou, and attacked and destroyed
After Cao Cao, he and Lu Bu could destroy Sun Jian.
In this way, we can easily break through the encirclement by attacking them one by one, and then move from north to south, first destroying Sun Jian, then returning to Yangzhou, destroying Liu Yao, and finally using the land of Yuzhou and Yangzhou to surround Liu Biao.
The foundation can be built and great things can be expected!
This strategy is a bit like Zhu Yuanzhang's replica of how he destroyed Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng in the late Yuan Dynasty. It is just the reverse operation, first north then south. Zhu Yuanzhang's first was south then north. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang had no enemies to the northwest.
It's a pity that Yuan Shu's strategic level is hard to bear to look at. He is like a frog in a well. He only cares about immediate interests and does not have much strategic vision.
After learning that Yuan Shu had no intention of going north at all, Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief.
Normally, he should notify Sun Jian at this time, inform Sun Jian of Yuan Shu's intentions, and ask Sun Jian to immediately go south to defend.
But neither Cao Cao nor Guo Jia mentioned this.
It's one thing to see through Yuan Shu's intentions, but it's another thing not to tell Sun Jian.
He deliberately pretended not to know and used Sun Jian to defeat Lu Bu.
When Yuan Shu defeated Liu Yao and turned around to attack Runan, they pretended to have fallen into the trap. By then Lu Bu would have been defeated and he would take Yanzhou back.
Whether Sun Jian will lose Yuzhou or not is none of their business.