In late July of the third year of Zhangwu, Chen Mu arrived in Zhencheng.
Everyone thought he went to Dingtao.
But in fact, he just walked past Dingtao City and headed straight for Zhencheng.
In Dingtao County, Xi Zhicai witnessed his departure with his own eyes.
The two of them were still looking at each other from a distance on the city and below, and said hello.
Moreover, Chen Mu also wrote a letter to the city, asking Xi Zhicai to leave the city for a talk, saying that he would never hurt him on his personal guarantee.
But Xi Zhicai is not stupid, how could he believe Chen Mu's lies and leave the city?
I only promised not to hurt him, but I didn't say I wouldn't promise not to kidnap him.
Chen Mu’s mouth is a liar.
After all, to put it bluntly, Xi Zhicai still owes Qingzhou his life.
At first, he was seriously ill and almost died. Cao Cao sent him to Qingzhou, where he was cured by the medical school.
If Chen Mu catches him on the spot after he leaves the city and says that your life should be returned to Qingzhou, I'm afraid he won't have anything to say.
So he could only watch as Chen Mu's army majestically passed outside Dingtao County and headed northeast.
There was no way, Chen Mu had brought 30,000 troops, and there were only 4,000 to 5,000 men left in the city of Xi Zhicai. This battle was impossible to fight.
After Chen Mu left, he immediately sent a letter to inform Cao Cao of the incident.
The fact that Chen Mu can appear here can only mean one thing - Liu Biao's army has been defeated by him, and there was no delay at all.
And just when the letter was sent to Cao Ying, Chen Mu remembered the official document that Xun You had sent to him before.
There is only one sentence written on it - it is better to open up than to block.
Since everyone is smart and thinks the same way, there is no need to say anything else. The entire Liu Bei Army's senior advisers almost all have the same opinion.
The current situation is that Cao Cao's army is attacked from two sides in Fengqiu. There is almost no defense in the south. If Cao Cao wants to escape, it will be very easy.
But Chen Mu didn't seem to be worried about Cao Cao's escape at all, and just headed north in a swaggering way, heading straight for Zhencheng and Qianqiu.
On the way to Zhencheng, Chen Mu and Zhao Yun were riding leisurely on horseback, with an army stretching for miles behind them, and a convoy of supplies that was more than ten miles long, fully demonstrating what it means to be arrogant and domineering.
The two of them were so arrogant, not afraid that an army would suddenly attack them at this time, as if they were not in the enemy's hinterland, but in their own back garden.
Zhao Yun saw that the team was so loose, completely in a marching state, and without any precautions. He was a little worried and said: "Prime Minister, are we too showy?"
"Fashionable?"
Chen Mu wondered: "It's not like millions of cavalry are conquering the whole world. How can they be so public?"
Zhao Yun said: "But the army was marching normally along the way. There were no cavalry guards on the left and right, and there were not a lot of guards around. Rangers and scouts went to investigate the situation, in case the enemy set up an ambush..."
Chen Mu immediately laughed: "Zilong, I want to ask you a question."
"Prime Minister, please speak."
"If you were Cao Cao and heard that I brought tens of thousands of troops out and wandered freely in his hinterland without any warning around the army, would you dare to attack me?"
"this......"
Zhao Yun was immediately stopped by the question. He subconsciously wanted to answer "Dare", but if he thought about it carefully, if the enemy was an unknown soldier or an ordinary general, he would definitely have dared to come. But facing the world-famous Chen Zigui, did he suspect that there was fraud?
Of course I will be suspicious.
Therefore, one must not dare to act rashly before fully investigating whether Chen Mu has set up an ambush.
And they are in the process of marching, let alone whether your army can catch up. Even if you can catch up, you still have to conduct reconnaissance for a long time. After the reconnaissance, whether they are still there or not is a question.
Therefore, sometimes it seems to be a complicated problem, but it is actually very simple. All aspects must be considered. Instead, people do not follow the routine and do nothing. They just march all the way. If you cannot catch up with them, they will dump you early.
Arrived at the back.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yun was convinced and said: "As expected of the Prime Minister, this is the art of war, which means that the virtual should be used for the real, and the real should be used for the virtual."
Chen Mu smiled and said: "I know very well that Cao Cao is a very suspicious person. If it were his third brother Liangbi and the others, I would definitely not be like this. And the most important thing is that now Cao Cao has no troops to send. How can he have troops?"
Come and attack me."
Zhao Yun then said: "I don't understand one thing. Why did the Prime Minister abandon Dingtao and go straight to Zhencheng? Dingtao is Cao Cao's lair, and he has a lot of food and supplies, so why not attack the city?"
Chen Mu said: "There is a saying that if you save people and lose land, you will save both people and land. If you save land and lose people, you will lose both people and land. Zilong, you have to understand that the meaning of war is not to seize much territory, but to destroy the enemy as quickly as possible.
In order to achieve your desired strategic goals, just grabbing territory sometimes doesn’t work.”
"Yeah?"
Zhao Yun was confused when he heard this: "Isn't the ultimate goal of regaining lost territory just to seize territory?"
Chen Mu said with a smile: "That's what I said, but when Le Yi conquered Qi, almost the entire Qi State was almost destroyed. Only Juyi and Jimo were left. Seeing that the Qi State was about to be destroyed. As a result, in the battle of Jimo, Tian Dan
We defeated Qi Jie and recovered the entire Qi Kingdom in the blink of an eye. If territory is useful, why can the land of two cities win over the two countries?"
"Forehead."
Zhao Yun seemed to understand but not quite.
"Territory is important, but people's hearts are more important. The reason why Qi State has only two cities left and can restore the whole territory is because the people of Qi State are attracted to Qi State and do not accept the rule of Yan State. King Qin Fen Sixth Generation and the remaining heroes finally conquered Liu Dynasty
The country unified the world, but it conquered the country but did not know how to govern it. In the end, the war spread and the country was destroyed."
Chen Mu continued: "It is easy to gain territory, but it is too difficult to appease people's hearts. After the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, Emperor Gaozu unified the world, relaxed the legal system, reduced taxes, and it took Wenjing's rule for more than seventy years to calm people's hearts. So we fought
It's easy to change a country, but it's hard to defend it, that's the truth."
Zhao Yun understood immediately, nodded and said: "I understand, the prime minister wants to tell me that the people in Henan are still undecided, and it is useless to just seize the territory. We should first eliminate Cao Cao's troops and then slowly manage it. Is this what you mean?"
"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Chen Mu replied: "No."
Zhao Yun: "???"
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Since the Six Kingdoms, the Han people have long unified their logos. If the people's hearts are against them, they are naturally willing to join the Han people. What do I want the people's hearts to do?"
"That is?"
Zhao Yun couldn't understand it even more.
Since people's hearts are stable, why bother?
Chen Mu explained: "I just plan to dismember the strength of Cao Cao's army and push Cao Cao to a dead end."
"not understand."
Zhao Yun shook his head, it was difficult for him to understand these things.
Chen Mu smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, you just need to know that Cao Cao's strength is getting smaller and smaller, and he will be forced to surrender to us."
Zhao Yun looked at his enigmatic appearance and didn't quite understand, but he vaguely felt that maybe it was because of this that he was the prime minister and he was just a general on the battlefield.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and the weather is still hot. The sun is shining brightly, and in the evening, the autumn breeze blows slowly, smoothing the turbulent waves of the river, blowing through the vast forests, drifting through the endless wheat fields, and finally galloping away into the distance.
.
Cao Cao stood on the top of Fengqiu City. It was already evening. The night was drooping. The sun was setting in the west. The gorgeous fire clouds on the horizon dyed half of the sky red. The whirling dusk crows squeaked and gathered in a group to fall in the forest outside the city.
inside.
The evening breeze blew through his temples and brushed the white hair on his forehead. Guo Jia, Cao Hong and others around him looked at him with worried eyes.
These days, Cao Cao's hair is visibly turning white.
Outside Fengqiu City, Liu Bei's army crossed the river yesterday and set up camp about four miles away from the west city. The camps stretched for several miles and were so majestic that they seemed to be trying to level Fengqiu.
If this is the case, Cao Cao is not necessarily afraid. He is not afraid of camping in the wild. If he is defending in the city, is he still afraid that Liu Bei's army will not attack the city?
But what is frightening is that the scouts came to report and found troops under the banner of Zhang Liao and Gaoshun on the north bank of Pu River.
The intelligence sent by Xiahou Dun showed that it was Huang Zhong and Xu Zhengbu who besieged Zhencheng and Cunqiu.
This shows that reinforcements from Hebei have arrived, putting greater pressure on them.
"Wen Qian, Man Cheng, and Wen Ze, what's going on there? Have the troops and horses to guard the city been arranged tonight?"
Cao Cao suddenly asked.
Cao Hong replied: "They have all decided to keep vigil in person every day. The Military Intelligence Department is secretly all over the world. Everyone is worried that our army has internal elements, so they dare not relax."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded: "Wen Qian, Mancheng, and Wen Ze are all mature and prudent people. I feel confident about them."
In addition to the closest people of the Xiahou and Cao clans, Yue Jin, Li Dian and Yu Jin were second only to their most trusted generals, and the task of guarding the city gate was also given to them.
Cao Hong said: "Brother, it's going to be night soon. I will be on duty in Xicheng. You should go back and rest first."
Cao Cao looked sad and murmured to himself: "I don't know how Zixiao is doing now."
At this time, a fast horse suddenly galloped along the streets in the city, quickly came to the foot of the Xicheng City, climbed up the steps, and shouted loudly: "Ming Gong, something happened, Ming Gong."
The three of them turned around and saw that it was Yu Jin who was guarding the East City. They saw that his face was sad, and they rushed over and knelt down on one knee and said, "Ming Gong, something serious has happened."
"Speak slowly and don't panic."
Cao Cao noticed that the soldiers around him were looking at him one after another, and quickly reminded Yu Jin to pay attention to the impact.
Yu Jin was sweating profusely. He came closer and whispered: "Just now, a messenger sent a letter from Dingtao. Military advisor Xi said that Chen Mu personally led the army and went north to Zhencheng."
"What?"
Cao Cao's expression suddenly changed, and he immediately realized a problem.
Chen Mu appeared in Dingtao and was not held back at all, so wouldn't Liu Biao's army in the south be held back?
Guo Jia also thought of this and frowned: "Either Liu Biao has retreated, or the troops he sent have been defeated by Chen Mu."
"Um."
Cao Cao pondered: "When I sent people to ask for help from Liu Biao, although he complained that I had betrayed my alliance once, he also knew the meaning of death. He sent 30,000 civilians to go north to garrison in Fugou. I saw them coming from afar.
, it was difficult to transport grain and grass supplies, so we sent them a batch of grain and grass. Now it seems that Wenpin's army has been completely wiped out."
Cao Hong was surprised and said: "This is too exaggerated. I remember that Yingchuan sent only 20,000 to 30,000 troops. No matter how strong Chen Zigui was, it was not a matter of strategy to confront him head-on. How could the Jingzhou army be defeated so quickly? Is it possible?
Is there something hidden in the meeting? Then Wenpin was afraid and withdrew his troops?"
"It's unlikely. Liu Biao has offended Liu Bei to death, so there's no way he won't help in this matter. If Wenpin escapes, Liu Biao will not tolerate it."
Guo Jia sighed and said to Cao Cao: "Ming Gong, it seems that we still underestimated the strength of the imperial army and the impact of the twenty-level military merit and title system. If I am not wrong, I am afraid that Wenpin was in the wild.
, was defeated head-on by Chen Mu."
"I want to hear your analysis."
Cao Cao said.
Guo Jiadao: "Liu Biao's Jingzhou Army is good at navy, but the army has been neglected for a long time, and its elite level is no better than that of the northern troops. Moreover, the Qingzhou Army is one of the most powerful troops in the world. It fought Yuan Shao to the death with Hebei's elite troops, and finally defeated Yuan Shao.
, most of the soldiers Liu Bei has are the best in the world. Coupled with the twenty-level military merit and title system, why is Wenpin undefeated?"
Cao Cao closed his eyes and sighed.
In fact, Guo Jia's guess is correct. Compared with the princes of the Central Plains, Liu Biao's infantry can be regarded as third-rate at most, not even second-rate. Because his troops are mainly powerful naval forces, infantry is rarely used in the Huguang area, and
More importantly, Jingzhou has not launched a large-scale war for many years.
In the Central Plains, wars were fought every day. From the time when Liu Bei's army conquered Dong, to when they defeated Wang Fen and destroyed Yuan Shao, the war never stopped for ten years. Both officers and soldiers were veterans of hundreds of battles, the best among the best.
Coupled with the temptation of the twenty-level military merit title system, this is a powerful soldier who is second to none in the world. If he cannot defeat a group of third-rate troops head-on, it will be a ghost.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After a long time, Cao Cao said: "Why did Chen Zigui go to Zhencheng? Isn't this unnecessary?"
"There must be a reason, there must be a reason!"
Guo Jia was so anxious that he almost sweated. He had actually been thinking about this issue.
Since Chen Mu has defeated Wenpin, why should he go to Zhencheng? Can't he come directly to Guandu or go north to Fengqiu?
Even if you want to defeat them one by one, first defeat Zhencheng, then Dingtao, and finally attack Cao Cao, then Zhang Liao and Gao Shun's troops are obviously closer, so why did you choose to go far away and transfer Zhang Liao and Gao Shun from Hebei to Cao Cao's side, and he ran there himself?
What about Zhencheng?
This is not common sense.
"Could it be that they want to transfer Zhang Liao and Gao Shun first, so that Miaocai Zhongde can relax their vigilance, and then suddenly attack him by surprise?"
Cao Cao guessed.
Guo Jia shook his head: "If that were the case, he wouldn't have walked through Dingtao so arrogantly. He would have followed Emperor Gaozu's example of building a plank road to infiltrate Chencang secretly."
"That is......."
Cao Cao couldn't figure out why even if he thought about it.
Guo Jia thought: "Ming Gong, if Zhen City is destroyed, does it mean that our north is completely lost, and the entire north is covered by the imperial army?"
"nature."
Cao Cao nodded, is there any need to think about it?
Guo Jia looked deeply and sighed, "I understand, Chen Zigui... wants to push us south."
"Going south?"
Cao Cao didn't know why.
"good."
Guo Jia said calmly: "The imperial court besieged us on three sides. It was a trap from the beginning. The purpose was to make us think that we could defeat them one by one and trap us in Guandu or Fengqiu to prevent us from gathering strength and choosing to attack north to disrupt their efforts.
In the hinterland of Jizhou that has stabilized, Ming Gong thinks about it, what would happen to us if they gathered a large army from the beginning and attacked from Luoyang and Hebei?"
Cao Cao thought: "Liu Bei's main force is attacking from Luoyang. If they only have two lines and no third line from Yingchuan to harass our rear, and there are no worries, because the enemy in the north will be weaker, I may choose to gather forces
, using the river as a defensive point, first defeat the enemies in Hebei, and then block Liu Bei's main force."
"Exactly, maybe we can't defeat the enemies in Hebei so quickly, but the battlefield situation is changing rapidly. Chen Zigui doesn't want to gamble, so he comes from Yingchuan and sends Qingzhou to attack from Xuzhou. In fact, it's not a detour to threaten Jiyin at all.
, but to contain us and prevent us from going north."
Guo Jia said: "Once they only choose to march in two ways, our plan must be to do the easy thing first and then the difficult thing. If we are lucky enough to defeat the Hebei army, we will send a small force to harass Hebei. He is not at peace internally. That's why we choose to divide our troops.
, making it difficult for us to organize our forces."
The imperial court said it was a three-pronged army, but strictly speaking it was a four-pronged army, because the Luoyang direction was divided into two groups. One group attacked from Henan County, and the other group attacked from Yingchuan County. One threatened the front, and the other attacked the base in the rear in a roundabout way.
Cao Cao also knew that Liu Biao and Sun Ce were unreliable, so it was impossible for him to put all his treasure on them. Therefore, facing multiple attacks from the imperial court, he certainly could not muster his strength to defeat them one by one.
After all, once he chooses to gather his forces to attack, if there is a problem with Sun Ce and Liu Biao, Chen Mu and Xuzhou's troops can immediately dispatch to destroy his lair.
Chen Mu obviously guessed what he was thinking, so he deliberately planned this, but in fact he went to the north to lay a trap.
But what Cao Cao couldn't figure out was why he did this? To push himself south?
So Cao Cao asked: "Isn't Chen Zigui afraid that I will flee south?"
Guo Jia sneered and said: "What is he afraid of? He probably wants us to go south. Think about it, Ming Gong, who can tolerate us, Sun Ce or Liu Biao? Going south is asking for death!"
After hearing this, Cao Cao suddenly felt cold sweat breaking out, and a cold air rose from the soles of his feet.