Although Guan Yu won victory in Guanzhong, he did not send his troops out of Xiliang.
The reason is that the situation in Xiliang is relatively complicated. There are many ethnic minorities and the conflicts are sharp. They are local snakes and it is not easy to sweep Xiliang.
Therefore, firmly occupying Guanzhong and preventing surrounding warlords from spying on the 800-mile Qinchuan River became the top priority.
After fully controlling Guanzhong, Guan Yu will start construction, encourage population, pay attention to farming and mulberry cultivation, and carry out commerce. Even if the nomads from Xiliang want to come over for business, they will not stop it.
The imperial court currently has the strength to subdue them. After all, the cotton industry in the Western Regions is in full swing. Stopping Xiliang's business will also stop its own source of cotton, which is not worth the gain.
It's just that these are follow-up constructions. The Xiliang army has just been driven back. There is still a long way to go before they can meet the requirements given to them by Chen Mu.
In fact, in addition to the Battle of Henan and the Battle of Guanzhong, there were actually some sporadic small-scale wars going on in the areas controlled by the imperial court.
For example, Gongsun Zan launched a crusade against the central Xianbei in Youzhou, Lu Bu defeated the Huns in Bingzhou, and the southern Huns Chanyu Huchuquan and Zuoxian King Liu Bao were beaten until they ran away with their heads in their hands and decided to surrender to the Han.
Historically, the two of them surrendered to Cao Cao. Huchuquan surrendered several times and rebelled several times. Finally, he was tricked by Cao Cao and imprisoned in Yecheng. Only then did the entire southern Huns come under complete control of the imperial court.
The residence of the Southern Huns was Shangjun and Xihejun in the central part of Bingzhou, which later became the Luliang and Yulin areas of Shanxi and the Ordos area of Inner Mongolia.
In later generations, these places were basically desertified, but it was not that serious in the Han Dynasty. According to historical records, these places would not begin to desert until the end of the Tang Dynasty. At this time, they were full of life and full of pastures.
The Han Dynasty had been stationed in Bingzhou very early. Lu Bu himself was from Jiuyuan, and it is known that that place was later called Baotou. At that time, Baotou was rich in water and grass. After the Han Dynasty took the leadership, it was occupied by the Xianbei people.
At this moment, Lu Bu made a comeback, and after seizing Shangdang, he spent half a year training, then went north to sweep away the old high-ranking cadres, captured Taiyuan, drove the Xianbei people to Yanmen County, and began to threaten Yanmen again.
To the north of Taiyuan County is Yanmen County, and to the west are Xihe County and Shang County. These places are the territory of the Huns. Lu Bu also beat the southern Huns half to death.
Hu Chuquan and Liu Bao couldn't stand it anymore, so they sent people to Hedong County, found the magistrate of Beiqu County, and demanded to surrender to the imperial court and join the Han Dynasty.
The magistrate of Beiqu County did not dare to neglect the news and quickly sent people to Anyi, the seat of Hedong County, to inform him of the situation.
Zhang Fei had been unhappy in Hedong for the past two years. He felt that he had been cheated.
When Chen Mu asked him to come, he swore that he wanted to defend Lu Bu. He also said that Lu Bu was brave and good at fighting. Only the courage of his third brother could defeat Lu Bu. He was so excited that he was willing to go.
As a result, I waited in Hedong for two or three years. In these two or three years, except for occasionally going to Chang'an to see my second brother, or returning to Luoyang to see my eldest brother and my fourth brother, I basically had nothing else to do.
Tian Feng was in charge of the governance of Hedong, and Lu Bu stayed well in Taiyuan without sending troops to attack him, which caused him to fall ill quickly.
Now when he suddenly heard that the Huns were about to surrender, he immediately shouted that he would not agree and would send troops to kill all the Huns.
The Han Dynasty and the Huns were feuding, so it was reasonable for Zhang Fei to think so.
Fortunately, Tian Feng was not as reckless as him. After a little analysis, he knew that Lu Bu had not surrendered to the imperial court, but was still occupying the princes of Bingzhou. It would be bad if he sent troops to the Huns and forced them to surrender to Lu Bu.
And if the Huns surrender is accepted, then if Lu Bu refuses to give up and continues to attack the Huns tribe, they will have an excuse to send troops to merge with the state, and there will still be a war, so why not?
After telling Zhang Fei this idea, although he was a little regretful that he could not fight the Huns, when he heard that he could deal with Lu Bu, he immediately became energetic and agreed to the request.
However, Tian Feng did not dare to decide on such a strategic national policy alone, so he immediately sent people to Chang'an to find Jushou. At the same time, he sent an official letter to Luoyang, asking the imperial court to make an idea.
It is not a matter of agreeing to surrender to the Southern Xiongnu.
At this time, Liu Bei was still in Henan and was launching a war to eliminate Cao Cao. After a brief discussion with the cabinet ministers around him, he wrote back and said that Tian Feng and Ju Su should just make a decision and give them authority. Don't have any scruples and go ahead and do it boldly.
With the imperial court's endorsement, Tian Feng was emboldened, so at the end of July or early August, he accepted the proposal of the Southern Huns to surrender. At the same time, Zhang Fei led his troops north to Xihe County and stationed in Lishi County.
Lu Bu was still in Yanmen at that time. During the Battle of Taiyuan, he had already wiped out the high officials. At that time, the Xianbei people were also driven out of Taiyuan by him and settled in the Yanmen County area.
By last year, Lu Bu had already begun to march north, and almost half of Yanmen County was captured by him. At the same time, Kou Luo moved west of the river and threatened Shan Yuting in the south.
The Southern Huns participated in the civil strife of the Han Dynasty several times and were already in decline. When Lu Bu came again, they were naturally no match for them and were beaten in a very embarrassed manner.
This time the Huns went south to join the imperial court, and Zhang Fei went north to settle in Xihe County. Lu Bu was furious. He had already regarded Bingzhou as a forbidden area. At this time, the imperial court reached out, which naturally made him very dissatisfied, so he sent troops to pacify Zhou.
As a result, Zhang Fei was repulsed.
Although this battle was only a small-scale war, since the two sides had provoked trouble, Zhang Fei had an excuse to deal with him. So he personally led his troops eastward to Luliang Mountain and forced Zishi County in Taiyuan County in an attempt to force Lu Bu to fight.
.
After Lu Bu learned about this, he became even more angry and planned to return to Taiyuan to fight Zhang Fei to the death.
Fortunately, Wei Jian, Zhang Yang and the rest of their subordinates all believed that the imperial court was now powerful and had hundreds of thousands of supporters, so it was not appropriate to have a conflict with the imperial court, so they had to give in for the time being and take Yanmen first to persuade him not to be impulsive.
Finally, after everyone's persuasion, Lu Bu had to write a letter saying that everything was a misunderstanding, and deployed heavy troops at various passes in Luliang Mountain before giving up.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In fact, Zhang Fei definitely doesn't want it to end so soon. He wants to fight Lu Bu on the battlefield, have a showdown, and have a good time.
But there is no way, people don't fight him.
Later, Luliang Mountain divided Shanxi and Shaanxi. Although they were both Bingzhou at that time, Xihe County and Taiyuan County were separated by Luliang Mountain. There were only a few roads passable in the vast mountains, and the roads were difficult and dangerous. There were also Lu Bu's troops stationed in the mountains.
Unable to attack by force, we had to give up.
There was nothing Lu Bu could do about it. Although he was angry at Zhang Fei for being aggressive, what his generals said was also true.
Nowadays, Lu Bu's territory only covers the two counties of Shangdang and Taiyuan, and the population under his control is only three to four hundred thousand. Even after the army is expanded, the number of soldiers and horses is only more than 20,000. Compared with the strength of the imperial court, there is a huge difference.
Therefore, in desperation, he had to tolerate it temporarily and did not dare to fall out with Zhang Fei directly.
At the same time, in addition to the turmoil in these places, the war situation in Henan has obviously entered a white-hot stage. After the defeat of Guandu, Cao Cao retreated to Fengqiu. However, he never thought that there was already a court army waiting for Jujube in the northwest of Fengqiu.
Hold him.
Liu Bei crossed the Honggou Water to the north and stationed on the west bank of the Yingou Water. On the other side of the river is Fengqiu. To the north is the Pu River, which crosses the Yingou Water. Fengqiu is in the lower right corner, Liu Bei's army is in the lower left corner, and Ziziphus jujube is in the upper left corner.
This means that the imperial army can cross the Yingou River to attack Fengqiu, while Xun You can cross the Pu River to attack Fengqiu, one from the west to attack the east, and the other from the north to attack the south.
The two imperial armies combined totaled 60,000 to 70,000, and Cao Cao had just experienced the disastrous defeat at Guandu. Less than 2,000 of the 8,000 men he sent to ambush escaped, resulting in heavy losses in military strength. Currently, there are only more than 20,000 men stationed in Fengqiu, and
Morale is low and there is a serious lack of defensive strength.
When Liu Bei had just arrived at the west bank of the Yingou River, Xun You's official document had already been sent over. The camp was still under construction. The emperor's tent was set up immediately. He summoned many advisers to come to discuss matters, and everyone gathered in the tent.
"Before, I sent someone to ask Gongda to intercept Cao Cao halfway. On the way here, I didn't hear any news about Gongda sending troops. Now a message came from Gongda, telling me the reason why he didn't intercept."
Liu Bei raised the official document in his hand and said: "He said that if Cao Cao is intercepted, Cao Cao will definitely flee to Dingtao. Dingtao is Cao Cao's old nest. It has been in business for many years. The city has high walls and thick walls. It is not suitable to attack by force. Even if it is trapped, it may be trapped for a long time.
.At this time, the Prime Minister is on his way to Dingtao. Cao Cao doesn’t know about this yet. If Cao Cao’s army is trapped in Fengqiu, the Prime Minister can cut off his retreat and surround him on three sides. Do you think this strategy is feasible?”
Among the ministers around Liu Bei at this time, in terms of seniority, none of the close advisors who had followed him for many years were present.
Chen Mu was on his way to Dingtao, Jushou was in Guanzhong, Tian Feng was in Hedong, Xun Yu was at the rear of the court in Luoyang, and Xun You, who was slightly less qualified, was in Suanzao in the north.
The only people who could speak were Wang Xiu, Bing Yuan, Sun Shao, Cui Yan, Wang Lang and Guoyuan.
These people also joined very early. Basically, Liu Bei joined when he was the shepherd of Qingzhou, and even Chen Mu joined when he was the governor of Qingzhou. Therefore, based on their seniority, they usually speak first.
Someone said: "I think this strategy is feasible."
"It is indeed feasible. To destroy Cao Cao, we need to annihilate them all in one battle, and we must not let him escape."
"Yes, if he runs back to Jiyin and cannot be attacked, he may run to Huaibei or even the south in the future, causing endless trouble."
"I agree."
"I also agree."
In fact, most of these people are good at internal affairs and not very good at military strategy, but they still understand some superficial principles.
You may be able to defeat Cao Cao by intercepting him on the way, but it is more difficult to completely annihilate him.
If Cao Cao was allowed to escape, he would have to be chased all the way, which would be very troublesome.
Now trapping Cao Cao in Fengqiu County, a city with low walls and thin walls, is obviously a better thing than letting him escape back to his hometown.
So they all agreed.
Dong Zhao expressed a different opinion and said: "There is really no big problem with the deputy prime minister's plan, but I am worried that if Cao Cao's retreat to Dingtao is cut off, I am afraid that he will go north to join Xiahou Yuan and go to Huainan to defect to Sun Ce."
"Are you going to Huainan to join Sun Ce?"
Liu Bei pondered.
"Well, what the Shaofu Cheng said seems to make sense."
"Yes, we only have the Prime Minister in our army in the south now. If the Prime Minister comes to besiege Cao Cao, Cao Cao only needs to go northeast to Jiyin first, join Xiahou Yuan, pass from Shanyang to Pei State, and then he can directly
Running to Huainan is indeed a problem."
"The deputy prime minister seems to have thought a little poorly."
"You can't say that. Isn't the Prime Minister behind them now? If the Prime Minister comes, hundreds of thousands of troops will directly surround Fengqiu. Cao Cao will be unable to fly around him no matter how powerful he is."
"But now that the Prime Minister is going east, if he sends someone to tell him to come back, I'm afraid Cao Cao will have already been convinced and left long ago."
When several people heard Dong Zhao's analysis, they realized that it was indeed reasonable and couldn't help but start discussing.
The Fugou area is actually not very far from Guandu, about 120 kilometers away. With the relatively flat roads in Henan, it can be reached in three days' march at most. Moreover, the quality of the imperial army is extremely high. If it were a forced march, it would take one and a half days.
Left and right is enough.
At that time, Chen Mu defeated Wenpin in Fugou, and cleaning the battlefield was delayed for a day. On the same night, Liu Bei also launched an attack on Junyi, and Cao Cao suffered heavy losses.
Judging from the timeline, Chen Mu had just left for a day at this time. The next day, Cao Cao began to prepare to retreat towards Fengqiu. At that time, Chen Mu's position was heading northeast into Xiangyi, about seven or eight meters away from Guandu.
ten kilometers.
If someone had sent a message to Chen Mu immediately to ask him to come over, it might have been possible to besiege Cao Cao in Fengqiu.
But a few days have passed now. It is estimated that Chen Mu has arrived in Dingtao. It is already too late to send a message at this time, because Cao Cao has probably received the news that Liu Biao's army was defeated in Fugou and Chen Mu's army appeared in
News from Jiyin.
Cao Cao had a small army and few generals, and not much food and grass. When he suddenly heard the news, he probably realized that Fengqiu was in a dead end. At this time, he had two choices.
One is to flee south, from Chenliu to Chen State, and then to Runan, to Jingzhou.
The second is to go northeast, avoid Liu Bei, Xun You and Chen Mu's troops, and go straight to Zhencheng. Whether it is to relieve the siege of Xiahou Yuan, or to join them and then go south, they can enter Huainan from Huaibei and run to Sun Ce's Jiangdong.
go.
No matter which one of these two choices, there is a problem, that is, the imperial army is large in number and the troops are bloated. It is not that easy to pursue Cao's army as soon as possible, who is bent on escaping.
And Chen Mu was far away, so it was definitely too late to notify him as soon as possible. For a while, everyone felt that there seemed to be something wrong with Xun You's plan.
But while everyone was thinking, Mao Jie suddenly looked at Jia Xu and said with a smile: "What is Shangshu Ling's opinion?"
Because Jia Xu saw through Chen Gong's ambush plan, his status in the army rose sharply. In the past, he could only speak when asked by Liu Bei, but now many people want to listen to his opinion.
As for whether he really wants to know good advice or just wants to see his jokes, that's not clear.
Jia Xu also knew that the beauty of a tree would be destroyed by Lin Feng, so he quickly said in a low-key voice: "I actually don't have a clue, but I've been thinking about a question."
Liu Bei asked: "What's the problem?"
Jia Xu said: "I am thinking that Vice Prime Minister Xiao Xun has never been an aimless person. He must have his reasons for doing this. And although people make mistakes, the Prime Minister rarely makes mistakes. Your Majesty cannot trust the Vice Prime Minister.
Don’t you still trust the Prime Minister? This strategy must require the Prime Minister’s cooperation to be completed, maybe the Prime Minister already knows it in his heart.”
After Chen Mu reformed the official system, the cabinet system tended to be the system of group prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty. The first assistant was the prime minister, and the other first-class ministers of affairs were all secondary prime ministers. In other words, there was a combination of one prime minister and multiple deputy prime ministers, and Xun Yu, Xun You, uncles and nephews were all deputy prime ministers.
Although Xun You was much older, Xun Yu was his uncle and Xun You was his nephew. The ancients paid great attention to ethics, so in private the courtiers called Xun Yu Da Xun and Xun You Xiao Xun.
After listening to Jia Xu's opinion, Liu Bei felt that it made sense, so he nodded and said: "Yes, the fourth brother may have already had countermeasures, and I will just change it!"
What no one knew was that Chen Mu, who was far away in Jiyin at this time, immediately laughed when he saw the document Xun You sent him.