Since the beginning of July, the atmosphere in Henan has been very serious. Cao Cao suddenly announced that he would become an enemy of the imperial court and marched into Yuzhou.
At this point in time, competing with the imperial court for territory was undoubtedly a provocation to the majesty of the Han Empire.
Therefore, the imperial court responded quickly and divided the army into three groups to attack Yanzhou.
It is said to be three routes, or it can be said to be four routes, because the route in the direction of Luoyang is attacking one place - Chenliu County from two directions.
Cao Cao never expected that the imperial court would send troops so quickly, without even giving him time to prepare. This shows one thing from the side, that is, Liu Bei had already planned and prepared months in advance.
Fortunately, Cao Cao was not an ordinary person. Liu Bei was prepared in advance and could attack Yanzhou at any time. He was also prepared to resist the imperial court at any time, and it lasted much longer than Liu Bei.
After all, there is a tiger next to you that may bite you at any time. Even though you have lived in peace for many years, no matter how stupid you are, you should be vigilant. How could you be unprepared?
Therefore, after confirming that the two sides would definitely go to war, Cao Cao immediately started an action plan, and the fortress stations previously built in various places came in handy.
Guandu is a very important strategic location, and Cao Cao naturally built a camp, so the army set off and settled directly.
The junction of Chenliu and Henan is at the alternation of summer and autumn. The weather in the north is extremely hot. There are dozens of miles of deserted wilderness. Not to mention villages and towns along the way, there are not even a few solitary graves. There are forests, hills and mountains everywhere.
plain.
This place is northwest of Junyi County, where Kaifeng City later became. There was originally Junyi County, but after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Dong Zhuo's Rebellion, the entire city became desolate, and the surrounding area was deserted for dozens of miles.
More than ten years have passed, and the people have been walking and dying. Even those who survived have tried their best to migrate to Jizhou, Jingzhou or Yingchuan in Henan, which are relatively stable.
In the hot summer, the soldiers were hungry and thirsty. The nearest river was not far away. It was Honggou Water, about a few miles away to the north.
However, Cao Jun was going west. If he went north, he would be heading in the wrong direction, and taking a detour would waste time.
"How far is it from Guandu?"
Cao Cao asked the military lord.
The military lord replied: "There are still more than twenty miles. If everything goes well, we can arrive before dark."
Xiahou Dun came over and said: "Mengde, the weather is too hot, and the soldiers are very tired. If we continue to march, I am afraid they will be burned by the heat, and it will be difficult to deal with it then."
Cao Cao pondered: "Liu Bei's action speed is beyond my imagination. We must go to Guandu today and immediately build the defenses near the camp. If we delay or rest in place, it will take another day."
Guandu is a strategic location, but he only built some simple forts and did not have complete fortifications.
Historically, his camp was indestructible. Zhang He and Gao Lan fought for a month but were unable to capture it. That was because Yuan Shao was dilly-dallying about whether to attack or not, which gave Cao Cao ample time to prepare.
The most outrageous thing about this incident is that Yuan Shao wanted to attack Cao Cao, but he had made harsh words eight months ago. In June of the fourth year of Jian'an, he began to make preparations and spread the news, threatening to attack Xudu and welcome him.
Returned to the Han Dynasty to present Emperor Liu Xie.
This sleight of hand operation is really confusing.
It's like two people are enemies of life and death. No one knows when the other is going to kill them, but one of them calls and tells the other that I plan to visit you soon and scatter your ashes within three days.
You raise your voice, then pick up the knife and go out to kill someone.
At this time, if the other person doesn't lay a lot of traps at home and prepare a watermelon knife to meet the enemy, then the ghost will come. Every fool knows that the enemy is coming to kill him, so even if he doesn't run away, he should be prepared to fight back.
From this point of view, we know how stupid Yuan Shao is.
This is what Cao Cao did. After learning that Yuan Shao was coming to attack him, he immediately began to make arrangements.
From June of the fourth year of Jian'an to February of the fifth year of Jian'an, there was a full eight months between Yuan Shao's harsh words and Yuan Jun's official dispatch of troops.
These eight months gave Cao Cao sufficient preparation time to build a camp, make defensive arrangements, improve various fortifications, build a large number of equipment, and even have free time to recruit Zhang Xiu and defeat Liu Bei who had accepted the clothing and belt edict.
Then Yuan Shao came over with a large army in a fierce manner, and was finally attacked head-on by Cao Cao who was well-prepared in Guandu. He was defeated and returned home.
Now Chen Mu learned from Yuan Shao's procrastination and started preparations half a year in advance. He completed the army restructuring at the beginning of the year and made arrangements for a large amount of grain and army mobilization.
At the same time, he also knew that these movements could not satisfy Cao Cao, who was very close at hand, so he spread the word that he was going to attack Hanzhong without any intention of targeting Henan.
Cao Cao may not be fooled and is secretly making preparations, but Chen Mu will never be as procrastinating as Yuan Shao.
He sent troops as soon as he said he would send troops, catching Cao Cao off guard.
The only good news is that Cao Cao is facing the enemy at his doorstep, so after learning that Liu Bei has sent troops, he can barely make arrangements quickly. It will take some time for the imperial army to come over, but at least it can prevent him from being beaten home without any preparation.
Come to the door.
Now both sides are scrambling for time. The imperial army needs to quickly attack Yanzhou to eliminate Cao Cao's main force and bring the entire Henan into his own territory. Cao Cao also needs to resist and cannot waste a little time.
Therefore, even though he knew that the soldiers were hungry and thirsty, he had to make them endure.
However, this kind of ninja technique is prone to problems and may cause large-scale heatstroke among the soldiers. Xiahou Dun advised: "Mengde, I'm afraid that the soldiers will get sick. Even if they arrive at Guandu, they won't have the strength to resist the enemy. Once the imperial court attacks, I'm afraid
It’s hard to resist.”
Cao Cao, who had led troops for many years, was naturally aware of this problem. He turned to the military commander who was familiar with the nearby terrain and asked: "Which is the nearest river here?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "The Honggou Water in the north is about seven or eight miles away from here."
Junhou pointed to the north.
Cao Cao shook his head: "No, isn't this a detour to the north? Is there no river in the west? A small river will do. Let the soldiers rest and drink water."
The Marquis replied: "It turns out that there are some small rivers near here, but haven't there been droughts in recent years? After the chaos in the world, all the people ran away and no one dredged the canals. The water level of the river dropped. The original canals may have flowed out of the mountains.
The river has basically dried up.”
"The weather has indeed become more and more weird in the past few years. Summers are hotter and winters are colder. Every summer and winter, countless people die from heat and freezing. Meng De, it happens to be the turn of summer and autumn. I am worried that there will be
Soldiers died of fever."
Xiahou Dun wiped the sweat from his forehead. He didn't know that the Little Ice Age was affecting the weather changes. He only knew that the world was getting harder and harder. As a prefect, he also knew that people everywhere were in great hardship.
Cao Cao pondered for a moment, looked around, and saw from a distance dense woods on the left and right of the official road, and lush green hills with undulating hills. His mind was spinning rapidly, and he pointed to the front and said: "Tell the soldiers, there is no water source around here, but there is no water source around here.
There is a plum grove in front of you, so you can pick plums and drink the juice when the time comes."
"Plum juice?"
Xiahou Dun couldn't help but swallow his saliva. Just imagining the sour taste of plum juice made his mouth water.
"Send the order, Ming Gong said that there is a plum forest ahead, you can pick the plum trees and drink their juice!"
Groups of messengers set off immediately.
When the soldiers heard that there was a plum forest ahead and they could eat plums, their mouths watered when they thought of the sour taste of plums, and they suddenly felt their mouths were no longer dry.
So the army advanced smoothly and settled on the bank of Guandu River before dark, where it began to repair fortifications and prepare for battle.
Liu Bei's army arrived at Guandu several days later. After all, it was more than two to three hundred kilometers from Luoyang to Guandu, while it was only a hundred kilometers from Cao Cao to Guandu. The distance between the two was naturally closer to Cao Cao.
After arriving, Liu Bei arranged for people to build the camp and prepare the fortifications. At the same time, he met with some cabinet ministers such as Jia Xu, Dong Zhao, Mao Jie, Wang Xiu, Bing Yuan, Sun Shao, Cui Yan, Wang Lang, and Guoyuan, as well as Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, and Pang Tong.
Wait for the mid-level and low-level staff officers to come to the front line and wait and see.
On the other side of the river, I saw Cao Jun's flags fluttering, camps lined up, and a large number of soldiers digging ditches and building fortifications. The terrain on both sides of the river was very unfavorable to Liu Bei's offensive, because it was made of soft soil and sand, and horses' hooves could easily be submerged in it.
Further away, there are dense forests, undulating mountains, and some lakes and swamps. The surrounding water and grass are very lush, and several rivers crisscross each other. The river channels are very wide, and it is not easy for the army to cross the rivers.
"Your Majesty, the Guandu River is a tributary of Honggou Water. In addition to this river, there are also Yingou Water, Pu River, Jishui, Langdang Canal and other rivers nearby. The terrain is complex and there are many swamps and lakes, which is not conducive to marching. Cao Cao chose this place to block
Our army probably took a fancy to the complicated situation here."
Mao Jie is from Pingqiu in Chenliu. Pingqiu is just east of Fengqiu, only a hundred miles away. He is familiar with the surrounding terrain and knows that the surrounding terrain is very complicated. Cao Jun blocked them on the other side of the river to take advantage of the siltation here.
Sediment is intercepted.
Liu Bei looked around with a telescope and said, "Is there any way to get around this place?"
Mao Jie pointed to the southeast and said: "Follow the Guandu River to the southeast, you can reach the Langdang Canal. It was a canal built by the Wei State during the Warring States Period. It was built as a canal for transporting grain in Daliang. There is no sediment there like
There are so many Guandu rivers, but the river is wider. If you want to cross the river, you will probably need a big boat."
"Send people to look around along the river to see if there are any ferries or bridges."
Liu Bei issued the order.
The Guandu River was unknown at this time, but the fact that it later became the river course after the Yellow River was diverted shows that its geographical situation is very special.
In fact, it is an oblique river, flowing from northwest to southeast. Historically, during the Battle of Guandu, Cao's army was in the southwest, and Yuan Shao's army was in the northeast.
This is because Cao's army was heading north from Xudu at that time, so its location must be in the south instead of the north.
At this moment, Liu Bei's army was in the southwest, and Cao's army was in the northeast.
This is because Cao Cao's position is Jiyin in the east, and Liu Bei attacks from the west to the east. The positions of both sides are naturally easy to change between offense and defense.
However, the difference is not big. The Guandu River is a barren hill. There is a lot of sand and silt on both sides of the river. From the Warring States Period, there was Daliang, the capital of the Wei State, nearby, which resulted in serious soil erosion and loose soil structure on both sides of the river.
According to the records of "Three Kingdoms", in history, Yuan Shao gathered in the sand to form a stronghold, and the camp was vast and vast for dozens of miles. Although Cao's army was small and could cross the river to attack, Cao's army occupied a favorable terrain and could not attack for a long time.
The current situation is much better for Liu Bei. After all, Cao Cao was not given so much time to prepare. The camp must not be as strong as it was in history, and it should be possible to fight.
After Liu Bei arrived in Guandu, he quickly ordered his soldiers to set up camp as well. In fact, he did not have as many troops as he imagined, only 40,000 people. Some of them were the Northern Army and the other part were the Southern Army. In addition to the 10,000 soldiers left behind, the remaining 30,000 were left behind.
The Wan Nan Army was led by Chen Mu and attacked Chen Liu from Yingchuan.
certainly.
Cao Cao had even fewer troops. He only had 50,000 or 60,000 troops in total. Before he captured Xuzhou, Cao Cao's army only had 20,000 to 30,000 troops. After years of management, and the fact that Huaibei Zhancheng rice had been promoted for more than ten years, Yanzhou and
The population of Huaibei gradually recovered, and he only expanded his army until now.
With the arrival of Liu Bei's army, Cao Cao also made arrangements. There were almost 60,000 people, and he only brought 30,000 to Guandu. The remaining 30,000 were distributed on the northern defense line to resist the imperial troops coming from Jizhou.
So the current situation is that Liu Bei's main force is 40,000, and Cao's main force is 30,000. At the same time, Chen Mu has troops in the south and marches north, which should be 70,000 in total.
In order to prevent the army from being empty after the Southern and Northern armies were mobilized, Liu Bei transferred 10,000 troops from Hanoi to garrison.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In this way, Sili will stay with 20,000 people, and Qingzhou and Xuzhou will combine 70,000 troops, leaving 30,000 people to defend against possible Jiangdong attacks.
Thousands of people attacked Shanyang from Xuzhou.
The total force garrisoned in Jizhou is 50,000, and there are some county soldiers in the rear, leaving 20,000 to defend the line along the river. Zhang Liao's victory army of more than 10,000, Gao Shun's 5,000 enemy troops, and Huang Zhong and Xu Rong each have 10,000.
A total of nearly 40,000 men and horses headed south.
In this case, the three-pronged army sent 70,000 troops to Luoyang, 40,000 to Qingxu, and less than 40,000 to Jizhou. The total strength of the attack on Yanzhou was close to 150,000, and Liu Bei's court was almost in full force.
After all, the current military strength of the imperial court in the entire Guandong region is basically maintained at around 240,000, which includes the 20,000 Zhangxiu soldiers in Nanyang and the 20,000 to 30,000 local county soldiers.
This means that the total number of troops left behind in Luoyang, Jizhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou is only 80,000, and the rear is relatively empty.
But it was different from the Battle of Guandu in history.
In the Battle of Guandu, the total strength of Cao Cao's army actually exceeded 100,000, but Cao Cao could only bring 30,000 to 40,000 to the north to meet the enemy. This was because Liu Biao and Sun Ce were causing trouble in the rear and threatening Xu Du. At the same time, Yuan Shao's troops were divided into three groups, from Sili and
Qingzhou's east-west attack.
Cao Cao had no choice but to deploy troops to the south to defend Liu Biao and Sun Ce, and to prevent Yuan Shao from attacking his troops from the east and west. Therefore, he could only bring one-third of his troops northward.
But now no one threatens Liu Bei's rear. Youzhou is pacified, Guan Yu is in Guanzhong, Liu Biao is stuck by Zhang Xiu's neck, and Sun Ce is far away.
The only person who might threaten him was Lu Bu in Bingzhou, who was also guarded by Zhang Fei in Hedong, so there was no need to worry about the rear.
In this case, Liu Bei could naturally choose to march south with his army.
Just like after Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, there were no forces in the north that could threaten his rear, so he was able to lead an army of more than 100,000, almost half of which was to fight Cao Cao head-on.
When both sides arrived in Guandu, neither side started fighting immediately. Instead, they repaired their camps and prepared fortifications.