Chapter 47 The second step is to conquer Cao Cao personally
Of course, war is not about hundreds of thousands of troops rushing forward in a swarm.
Even in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's tactics were already very rough, but he still sent troops and horses to attack Henan from Hanoi and Qingzhou.
However, Cao Cao took countermeasures and sent Yu Jin and Zang Ba to guard Yanjin and Qingzhou areas in Hanoi.
Therefore, both sides of the war must take it seriously, consider possible situations, and respond accordingly.
Now the first question is easy to solve, which is what excuse to use to start the war.
After forcing Cao Cao to rebel, the war was naturally ready to begin.
So what about the second step?
How does the army advance, how does it prepare for possible enemy reinforcements, and how can it annihilate the enemy's main force and achieve the goal of defeating the enemy?
After everyone thought for a moment, someone said: "Now that we are strong and the enemy is weak, why not attack Dingtao with a large army?"
Chen Mu looked over and saw that it was the Zuo successor who was currently serving as Dahonglucheng, and said with a smile: "Have Honglucheng considered the marching route, whether he would be ambushed, how to transport food and grass, and where the main force of the army would gather?
Go to Luoyang and attack again, or gather from other places?"
Zuo Ji hesitated and said: "These are all details after the strategy is determined. After choosing the army to attack the border, we can study it in detail."
Chen Mu nodded: "These are indeed the details after finalization, but if you haven't thought about the details yet, you will choose a strategy rashly. After research, you will find that this plan is not feasible, and you will have to tear it down and start over. Wouldn't it be a waste?
Time? More importantly, if the main force of the army is assembled, many places will be empty. What if the enemy attacks?"
"Forehead......."
Zuo Ji said nothing.
Another person said: "You can divide your troops to harass, and march together from Hanoi, Henan, Yingchuan, Weijun, Qinghe, Jinan, Donghai and other counties to make Cao Cao busy."
"This is a good idea, and if we do it this way, it will be much easier to transport grain and grass. There are not many people in each department, and they will carry less grain and grass materials, so there will not be a large-scale hoarding of grain and grass, which may cause a sneak attack by the enemy."
"I don't think it's good. The troops are too scattered and it's difficult to form a large scale. We can send troops and horses to Yuzhou to force Cao Cao's main force to fight decisively. At this time, if our army goes south again, it will be attacked from the north and south, and it will be eradicated."
"In a war, the most important purpose is to eliminate the enemy's main force and complete the goal of occupying the area. Cao Cao's main force is now in Jiyin, so it would be better to raid Jiyin directly and be surrounded on all sides."
"You make it easy, but it's not that simple..."
Everyone was talking and everyone had their own opinions.
After waiting for a while, seeing that no one seemed to have any good ideas, Chen Mu lightly knocked on the table and said, "Everyone, please be quiet for a moment."
After saying that, his eyes wandered among the people in the audience. Suddenly he saw a person and laughed immediately: "Shang Shuling, why don't you tell me?"
Jia Xu was put on the fire and roasted. He stood up reluctantly and said, "Return to the Prime Minister, I don't have any good ideas."
Chen Mu said displeasedly: "I know that Shangshu Ling is humble, but since Shangshu Ling returned to the court, he has not made any achievements, and many colleagues have criticized him. Now is an opportunity."
Jia Xu knew that he could no longer keep a low profile, so he had to say: "I think that although the first step in a war is to determine how to start the war, before that, we still have to analyze the specific strength of the enemy and ourselves and understand how many troops we can use.
It’s more important than materials.”
Xun You nodded slightly, but one of the people hit the point and said: "Now the total number of troops left behind in various parts of the imperial court is more than 250,000, including 30,000 in Luoyang, 50,000 in Yingchuan, 50,000 in Jizhou, and 50,000 in Qingzhou.
, 20,000 in Xuzhou, 10,000 in Hanoi, 20,000 in Nanyang, and some troops in Henan and other places."
"If we leave aside the remaining troops, the number of soldiers and horses that the imperial court can use should be more than 100,000."
Jia Xu said.
Chen Mu then said: "Your Majesty has already determined the specific number of troops to be used in this battle."
Liu Bei said in a deep voice: "I want to personally conquer Cao Cao. The northern and southern armies, plus the troops from Jizhou and Qingzhou, a total of 180,000 troops can be mobilized."
"Won't Sili stay behind?"
"It's enough to bring back the garrison in Hanoi and leave 10,000 or 20,000 people."
Facing Jia Xu's question, Chen Mu gave the answer.
"Your Majesty, I believe that we should advance in three directions. The first route should be from Jinan to pretend to attack Dongjun. In fact, Qingzhou troops will go south to Xuzhou and attack Shanyang all the way from Xuzhou."
Knowing this, Jia Xu thought about it and said after a moment: "The second route starts from Liyang, Weijun, along Yanjin and Baima, and goes south to take Dongjun, threatening Jiyin. The third route starts from Yingchuan, Henan, and takes
Chen Liu eventually trapped the main force of Cao's army in Jiyin, and it was best to force them to flee south to Yuzhou."
"Oh? Why is this?"
Chen Mu asked with great interest: "Previously, the right eunuch of Tingwei said that he would take Yuzhou first, and then attack from the north and the south. Why does Shangshu Ling seem to want to abandon Yuzhou?"
Jia Xu said in a deep voice: "We should really give up on Yuzhou."
"Why?"
"It's very simple. If our army takes Yuzhou, it will have to withstand attacks from three sides. Liu Biao and Sun Ce can send troops to Yuzhou to fight us, and then we will have to deal with three enemies at the same time."
"You mean if we send troops to Yuzhou, Liu Biao and Sun Ce can also send troops nearby to help, right?"
Chen Mu expressed doubts and said: "But even if they don't go to Yuzhou, they will come to help."
Jia Xu smiled and said: "The way we come to help is very different. If we occupy Yuzhou to attack Cao Cao, Sun Ce's main force is in Yuzhang, Jiujiang and other places. We can come to help nearby. This will not delay him from taking Jiangdong, and may be used by him."
Sun's business in Yuzhou for more than ten years has benefited from the favorable location."
"And if the battlefield is placed in Chenliu, Dongjun, Shanyang and other places, which are far away from Jingzhou and Yangzhou, Liu Biao and Sun Ce's supply lines will be extremely long, which is not conducive to their large-scale march. At the same time, the most important thing is
Even Sun Ce is still attacking Jiangdong. If he is too far away, it will be very detrimental to his plan to seize Jiangdong as soon as possible, and the force coming to help will be much smaller."
The level of transportation in the Han Dynasty was many times worse than that of later generations. The transportation of materials was often based on the principle of proximity. For example, when Cao Cao conquered Tongguan, he used Luoyang as a transit station for grain and grass. When he conquered Hanzhong, the source of grain and grass was obtained from Guanzhong nearby.
During the Battle of Chibi, a canal was dug from the Nanyang Basin directly to Jingzhou.
At that time, large-scale grain and grass transportation basically relied on water transportation. Therefore, we can draw an interesting conclusion by observing history, that is, there are only two situations when all large-scale wars occur. One is the principle of proximity, and the two sides are close to each other.
This is the principle of water transportation, and canals must be dug.
The only surprise was the Battle of Bailang Mountain, but it was a very dangerous surprise attack. Cao Jun abandoned a large amount of military supplies, spent a month crossing the Yanshan Mountains, raided Liucheng, and caught Tadun off guard before taking the victory.
won.
It can be said that if Tadun did not choose to engage in a decisive battle with Cao Jun at that time, but immediately chose to order the withdrawal of troops and use the cavalry advantage with Cao Jun to fight guerrillas, Cao Cao would definitely die in the end, and there would be no second result.
There are cases of failure in history, such as the Tang army's attack on North Korea, which failed because the supply line was too long. Later, the expedition to the Western Regions also encountered supply line problems, and returned with a major defeat in the Battle of Talas.
Therefore, supply lines are particularly important and critical to an army.
Jia Xu's tactics were very smart. He believed that the battlefield should be arranged in Chenliu, Dongjun and Shanyang areas.
These places are hundreds of kilometers away from Jingzhou and Yangzhou. The closest ones are from Shanyang to Jiujiang, that is, from Jining City in Shandong Province to Huainan City in Anhui Province in later generations. The straight-line distance is 400 kilometers, and the actual distance is more than 500 kilometers.
Liu Biao is further away. If calculated based on the Chenliu battlefield, the straight-line distance from Xiangyang to Kaifeng in later generations is also more than 400 kilometers. But this is coming from the Nanyang Basin, and the Nanyang Basin is occupied by the imperial court. If you take a detour
Dabie Mountain requires more than a thousand kilometers of walking.
Traveling such a long distance will stretch the supply line very long. The imperial soldiers and horses do not have to do anything. Once their supply lines are cut off, Liu Biao and Sun Ce will have to stare at it. Therefore, the imperial court can attack Cao Cao nearby, but Liu Biao and Sun Ce are far away.
It is impossible to come to aid on a large scale.
When Chen Mu heard Jia Xu's suggestion, he appreciated it very much and said with a smile: "Yes, this is the geographical advantage. Yuzhou is relatively close to Jingzhou and Yangzhou. The battlefield is placed here, which is suitable for Liu Biao and Sun Ce to come to help. The battlefield is placed on the south bank of the river, and they have to work hard for the expedition."
, must be tired.”
"good!"
Liu Bei thought for a while and understood the crux of the problem. He nodded and said, "This is a wonderful strategy. It just follows what the minister ordered."
Jia Xu said quickly: "Actually, I came up with this method after the ministers here reminded me of it. In my opinion, the prime minister and the deputy prime minister may have already made a decision."
Chen Mu and Xun You looked at each other and smiled.
They really thought so, and they had already planned to let Xun Yu return to the center and take charge of the rear, because Liu Bei was on his own expedition, and unless Chen Mu was stationed in Luoyang, someone would need to stay in the rear to coordinate the overall situation.
But Chen Mu naturally wanted to join Liu Bei to conquer Cao Cao personally, so Xun Yu had to come back. If Xun Yu came back, Jizhou would lack a military advisor to coordinate various departments.
Xun You can go, but the attack on Luoyang will be from Henan and Yingchuan counties at the same time, and someone on both sides will need to make tactical arrangements.
When Liu Bei and Chen Mu attacked Chenliu from Henan, Xun You and Zhao Yun had to attack from Yingchuan, so Xun You couldn't leave.
The purpose of this court meeting is naturally to find a tactical strategist who can take on a big responsibility.
Zhuge Liang may be qualified for the job. As Chen Mu's most outstanding disciple, he already has a good foundation. However, he is too young and cannot suppress the veterans in Jizhou.
Therefore, we need to find a candidate with relatively high prestige and qualifications.
Of course Jia Xu can't do it. He is old enough but not prestigious enough, so the rest will be relatively simple.
Chen Mu personally went to Yingchuan, Xun You went to Jizhou to coordinate the four great tiger generals Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Huang Zhong, and Xu Rong, and Zhong Yao was in Qingzhou to arrange Zang Ba, Taishi Ci, Cai Yang and others.
In this way, Liu Bei only needs to leave an outstanding military counselor next to him. Now it is time to test everyone's level. At present, among the more than 20 second-class counselor doctors, Jia Xu is the only first-class counselor with an intelligence of 96 or above.
.
Dong Zhao and Mao Jie are in the next level, between 90 and 95, first-class counselors. The rest, Wang Xiu, Bing Yuan, Sun Shao, Cui Yan, Guoyuan, Gongsun Fang, Wang Lang, Zuo Ji, Liu Qian and others are worse.
, mostly below 90.
Therefore, when the time comes, Liu Bei will bring Jia Xu, Dong Zhao, Mao Jie and some of the scribes accompanying the army, and Chen Mu will bring Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Pang Tong and others to serve as middle and lower-level staff officers. This should be foolproof.
After determining the tactical arrangement, we will make detailed plans next, such as what the first strategy is. First, take Chenliu, seize Cao Cao's western gateway, then cross the river from Yanjin, capture Baima and take the east county.
Finally, attack Cao Cao's rear from Shanyang. This three-sided attack will shrink the battlefield to the north of Yanzhou, increase the enemy's reinforcement supply line, and delay the enemy's reinforcements. This way, Cao Cao can be strategically squeezed in the Jiyin area.
Forced him to flee south.
Chen Mu is not worried about Cao Cao fleeing south yet. If he goes to Yuzhou, he will still be squeezed out of his living space. Henan does not have any dangerous terrain. He will not be able to last long in Runan, and Jiangdong and Jingzhou are unlikely to accept him. In the end, he will
Cannot escape destruction.
The cabinet meeting lasted from afternoon to evening, and many details were finalized. A series of arrangements were made. The court has begun mobilizing for war, and the preliminary preparations can basically be completed within this month.
The next step is to act according to the plan.
A few days later, the imperial court spread the news and decided to send a new Yuzhou shepherd to Yuzhou.
This is undoubtedly a very desperate thing for Cao Cao.
He is now hesitant about Sun Ce leaving. Once Sun Ce leaves, he will face the pressure of the court alone, so he is naturally panicked.
But everyone has left, what should I do?
The whole mess is left to him, and whether he can take over or not is a big question.
Take it over and break up with the imperial court.
If you don't take over, your Yanzhou will be completely surrounded by the imperial power and it will be difficult to fly.
Now the imperial court plans to send people to take over Yuzhou. If he doesn't take action, in two or three months, when the imperial army moves into Yuzhou and stabilizes it, he will not be able to survive at all.
Therefore, he had no choice but to announce an alliance with Sun Ce and Liu Biao, and at the same time send troops to occupy Yuzhou, officially breaking away from the imperial court.
Here we actually need to emphasize why the imperial court must choose to force Cao Cao to rebel before sending troops.
Very simple.
Because the imperial court and Cao Cao have not yet completely broken apart.
From the beginning of the Five Emperors of the World until Liu Yu ascended the throne, Cao Cao always maintained the imperial court on the surface.
In return, Liu Yu also appointed him as the shepherd of Yanzhou, which gave him a solid foundation.
Therefore, Cao Cao and Liu Bei have always been allies.
Just like before the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were allies, and Yuan Shu and Gongsun Zan were enemies.
But now history has changed. Due to the emergence of Liu Bei, a powerful enemy, the situation of fighting between the two Yuan Dynasties no longer exists, and the two Yuan Dynasties have become an alliance.
Although this alliance is purely superficial brothers, the two Yuans intrigued and betrayed each other, and the alliance was not strong, but it also indirectly contributed to the alliance between Liu Bei, Sun Jian, and Cao Cao.
This made it difficult for the court to take action against Sun Jian and Cao Cao without a reasonable excuse.
And now, the excuse is available.
By the end of June of the third year of Zhangwu, Xun Yu was transferred back to the central government as deputy prime minister.
In early July, Liu Bei officially prepared to conquer Cao Cao personally!