In the post house where Liu Biao stayed, Liu Biao and Liu Xian, Gongcao Han Song and others also discussed the current situation many times.

The Coalition's strategy of indefinitely prolonging the war can only lead to two consequences. First, the contradiction between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao is becoming more and more intense, and will directly affect the victory or defeat of the war. Under the current situation that the Northern Xinjiang Army is unable to break through Guandu, Yuan Shao can completely rely on his own military superiority and take the lead in solving Cao Cao on the spot. Of course, Cao Cao will not be tied, he is very likely to ignore the danger of Sheji, resolutely escape from the battlefield, find another way to survive, and even more likely to turn against him and throw himself into the arms of Hebei. After this violent and bloody eunuch, there is nothing commendable in his conduct, and he has repeatedly done deviant and shocking things, which is not trustworthy at all. Once Yuan Shao and Cao Cao broke openly, the consequences were self-evident. The coalition army was disheartened, collapse was imminent, and the defeat of the Central Plains War was inevitable.

The second consequence is that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao both put the overall situation first, properly resolved the contradictions between each other, and continued to join forces to fight Hebei. Yuan Shao commanded the coalition forces to successfully drag the war until the winter, to the point that the Northern Xinjiang Army collapsed without a fight. But in the end, regardless of whether the Northern Xinjiang Army safely withdrew to the north bank of the Yellow River, one thing is certain, that is, Yuan Shao, whose strength was well preserved, would definitely take advantage of the favorable situation after the war to find a way to solve Cao Cao and Liu Bei in order to take the Central Plains completely.

Liu Biao could not accept these two consequences, so he always relied on his superiority in strength to restrain all sides, strive to maintain unity among the various departments of the coalition army, and beware of an irretrievable collapse of the coalition army. At the same time, he secretly teamed up with Cao Cao and Liu Bei, intending to free the Son of Heaven from Yuan Shao's hostage. When the coalition forces defeated Hebei and Yuan Shaoquan took the Central Plains, Liu Biao and others could rely on the Son of Heaven in their hands to restrain and confront Yuan Shao, and prevent him from usurping the Han Dynasty and becoming self-reliant.

However, Xu You's defection completely changed the situation on the battlefield. As a result, the tide of the war suddenly reversed, and many of the advantages of the coalition forces were suddenly lost, which forced the coalition forces to take the initiative to seek a decisive battle for the Northern Frontier Army when secrets were leaked, morale was greatly damaged, and the army was in danger. With the current strength of the coalition forces, there is no absolute chance of winning the decisive battle, and the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry has lost their confidence like a nightmare, and they decide to continue to wait, waiting for a better opportunity to attack, and this opportunity comes from Xu You, who defected to Hebei.

The contradiction between Xu You and Yuan Shao has long been heard of by Liu Biao. This time, the two broke up completely and had a direct relationship with Cao Cao. Yuan Shao, who was furious, lost his mind and killed all the nine clans of Xu You, directly pushing Xu You to the side of Cao Cao or Li Hong. With Xu You's character, of course he would not defect to the rebellious Li Hongzhu to beg for abuse, and his last choice could only be to help Cao Cao, who had always respected the Son of Heaven. Now that Xu You has a new place to stay, the purpose of his escape to Hebei to carry out the anti-intermediary plan is very clear. He obviously wanted to use this great battle to drain the power of Yuan Shao and Li Hong, so as to give Cao Cao a chance to make a comeback, and then contend with Yuan Shao and stop Yuan Shao's growing ambitions.

Because of this hope, Liu Biao did not accept Yuan Shao's suggestion.

Yuan Shao said in his letter that he intended to command the army to immediately launch an attack from both flanks of the Guandu battlefield in order to contain the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army and buy time for the coalition forces to readjust their deployment. Yuan Shao's forces this time were partly Liu Bei's army, he and Gao Gan attacked Hanoi on the left battlefield, and partly the troops of Jingzhou Kuaiyue and Wenpin, who were ordered to attack the Junyi and Kaifeng lines, trying to make a breakthrough from the right battlefield. Liu Biao was not happy when he saw Yuan Shao's arrangement, and took the Jingzhou Army and the Xuzhou Army to consume, but left his own army in Guandu to confront the Northern Xinjiang Army, is there such an arrangement? The Northern Xinjiang Army is now fighting Henan, threatening Luoyang, and the enemy has reached the doorstep, and he is still so blatantly preserving his strength to consume other people's troops. Liu Biao was so angry that he could only shake his head again and again, and he had nothing to say.

Liu Biao's hesitation did not last for a few days, and the news from Jingzhou made him unable to sit still.

Jingzhou sent three messages. One is the news about the southern counties of Jingzhou. As the war in the Central Plains lasted longer and longer, and there was no specific end time, all the prefectures and counties were ordered to increase the collection of taxes, and many suzerains in the four counties of Changsha, Wuling, Lingling, and Guiyang could not bear it and gathered to make trouble. However, Zhang Xian, the Taishou of Changsha, not only did not make efforts to appease, but together with the Taishou of Lingling and Guiyang counties, secretly added fuel to the fire, instigated and connived at the people's refusal to pay taxes, and openly disobeyed the imperial decree. As a result, the troublemakers and the people had no fear, and some even began to use force, and the matter immediately got out of control and gradually got out of control.

Cai Mao, who stayed in Jingzhou, had no choice but to send people to persuade Zhang Xian and other county officials to focus on the overall situation and maintain the stability of Jingzhou as much as possible. At the same time, Kuai Liang, Song Zhong, Gan Ning and others were dispatched to lead the army south to Changsha, suppress the troublemakers by force, and forcibly collect taxes.

But in this way, another major event was delayed, which was the second news sent by Jingzhou.

Yizhou Zhao Wei, with our support, really betrayed Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang's Dongzhou soldiers relied on their power, wantonly harmed the local people, snatched by skill, and embezzled a large amount of land, and the people's anger grew. Zhao Wei took the opportunity to start an incident and focused on tens of thousands of troops in a short period of time. Liu Zhang was caught off guard, lost several battles in a row, fled back to Chengdu in embarrassment, and defended the city. After hearing the news, Pang Yi, the Taishou of Ba County, Zhang Ren, the governor of Guangyang County, and others sent troops to rescue them.

According to the agreement, at this time, Kuai Liang should lead his army up the river, attack Ba County, kill Jiangzhou directly, and contain the army of Pang Yi who is too shou of Ba County, so as to help Zhao Wei capture Chengdu. However, due to Kuai Liang's army going south to Changsha, he was unable to attack Ba County as agreed, resulting in many plans in Jingzhou in the early stage. This matter is not only suspected of treachery, but will also directly lead to Zhao Wei's failure. Zhao Wei was defeated, and Liu Zhang was bound to take revenge on Jingzhou. If Zhao Wei had been defeated too quickly, or if the entire army had been wiped out and died under the city of Chengdu, Liu Zhang would most likely have led his army down the river to kill Jingzhou this autumn. If the Central Plains War had not ended at this moment, the Jingzhou army that stayed behind might not be able to stop Liu Zhang in anger for a while. Taking a step back, even if the Central Plains War is over, or Liu Zhang will attack Jingzhou next year, Jingzhou will be in crisis. Because Jingzhou urgently needs time to recover after the Central Plains War, and more importantly, there is still an enemy in the east of Jingzhou.

The third piece of news sent from V Jingzhou was about Jiangdong. After Yuan Shu's death in June, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu began to move their troops frequently, and their sailors successively assembled in Chaisang and Pengze in Yuzhang County. It is estimated that after the end of the Central Plains War, regardless of whether the coalition forces won or lost, the two would take advantage of Jingzhou's panting and launch a fierce attack without hesitation. Huang Zu has been waiting in Jiangxia and is always on guard.

Cai Mao wrote at the end of the letter that this year, Sima Hui, Pang Degong, Handan Chun and other great Confucian scholars unanimously recommended Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong in the annual evaluation of Da Xian Mountain. One of these two people is the nephew of Zhuge Xuan, the former Taishou of Yuzhou County, and is known as Wolong. One is a child of the Pang family in Xiangyang, known as a phoenix. According to your instructions, I have invited them to Xiangyang to enter the palace.

Liu Biao was shocked by the crisis situation in Jingzhou, and hurriedly wrote to Yuan Shao, agreeing with his attack strategy, and at the same time wrote to Kuai Yue and Wen Ping, follow Yuan Shao's instructions, break the deadlock at all costs, form a favorable situation on the battlefield of Guandu as soon as possible, and quickly fight a decisive battle. Liu Biao then wrote to Cao Cao and Liu Bei that the current situation is becoming more and more unfavorable to the coalition forces, and it seems that they can't drag it out.

End of July, Hanoi.

Liu Bei and Gao Gan were ordered to cross the river from the direction of Ao Cang and enter Hanoi. At the same time, Gao Rou and Zhu Ling led the army to attack and advance from Pinggao City to Huaicheng.

At this moment, Liu Bei no longer hid the traces of the army, and commanded 20,000 troops to cross the river quickly.

The two armies joined forces and slaughtered towards Huaicheng with great momentum. The order given to them by Yuan Shao was to conquer Huaicheng in the shortest possible time at all costs, and then to kill Huojia and Jixian with lightning speed, and the forward army pointed directly at Chaogecheng and completely controlled Yanjindu and Qingshuikou, so that the coalition forces could threaten the front line of Yanjin and Yancheng from the direction of Yanjindu and Qingshuikou.

The grain route of the Northern Xinjiang Army is now sent to Guandu by land and water. Once the coalition forces took control of the Qingshui River and Yanjindu, Hebei could only abandon the waterway for the safety of grain and grass, and instead transported grain and grass to the Guandu battlefield along the Chi Road along the Yancheng and Yanjin lines. Changing from two grain routes to one grain road will slow down the accumulation of grain and grass on the Guandu battlefield. In addition, due to the loss of Huojia and Ji County, the rear road of the Northern Xinjiang Army was in danger of being cut off by the coalition forces, and in order to prevent the coalition forces from crossing the river to attack Yancheng and Yanjin, the Northern Xinjiang Army had to draw troops from the Guandu battlefield to reinforce and garrison heavy troops on the front line of Yancheng and Yanjin to ensure the smooth and safe passage of their own rear roads.

In the face of the attack of the coalition army, Peng Lie led 5,000 troops to defend the city, and at the same time asked for help from Handan and Yangwu.

At the end of July, Guandu.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao gathered about 60,000 troops and launched an attack on the Northern Frontier Army on the other side of the chasm, intending to contain the main force of the Northern Frontier Army on the frontal battlefield, so as to successfully achieve the attack target of the coalition forces on the two flanks of the battlefield.

At the end of July, twenty miles east of Zhongmu City, Qu met and gathered.

Kuai Yue and Wen Ping were ordered to command an army of 50,000 to launch an attack on the Northern Xinjiang Army on both sides of the Vortex River, intending to recapture the first line of Junyi and Kaifeng, and divide the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army on the Guandu battlefield with the Northern Xinjiang Army on the front line of Chen Liu and Yongqiu, so that the coalition forces could form a front and rear attack on Chen Liu, force Yan Rou and Gao Shun away, and thus stabilize their rear.

The armies of Xu Xuan, Cao Hong, Guan Yu, and Sun Fu on the southern battlefield were thus able to advance north to the front line of Chenliu and Junyi, so that the coalition forces not only had an absolute superiority in strength on the frontal battlefield, but could also cooperate with the Hanoi battlefield to attack the left and right flanks of the Guandu battlefield. The Northern Xinjiang Army will not only have to block the coalition forces from attacking its two flanks, but also have to fight a decisive battle with the coalition forces on the Guandu battlefield, and the disadvantage in strength will be even more serious, and the battlefield situation will be reversed again.

Lü Bu and Fan Li, who were stationed in Quyuju, led 17,000 southern troops to rise up to block the attack, because the gap between the two sides in terms of strength was too large, the soldiers of the southern army could not resist, and hurriedly asked for help from Koji Yi on the Guandu battlefield.

At the end of July, Henan, Yangwu City.

The fast horse shot into the city gate like a long arrow from a string.

Fast horses roared through the wide streets, and the sound of their hooves resounded through the city like a raging storm.

The galloping war horse suddenly stopped its huge body in front of the mansion gate, and its front legs stood up high, letting out a long neigh.

The messenger roared, leapt up the stone steps, and swept into the palace like the wind amid the exclamations of the guards.

"Urgent...... The rebels fought back, the rebels fought back......"

Zhang Yan held the battle report in her hand, and she couldn't help but tremble all over her body.

"God pity the big man, the rebels have finally been dispatched, they are finally here." Zhang Yan was so excited that she slammed the bamboo slip in her hand to the ground, and smashed her fists on the desk like a drum, "They came out, they came out......

Jia Xu, Sima Yi, Wei Yan and others stood around, looking at Zhang Yan, who looked like crazy, surprised and delighted.

"Urgently tell Lu Yi and Yan Liang to immediately launch an attack in Guandu, an overwhelming attack, an overwhelming attack. Keep fighting, beating hard. Zhang Yan jumped up, pointed at Sima Yi and said, "Tell them that the harder we fight, the more Yuan Shao can feel our fear." Don't be saddened by the casualties of your soldiers, and don't worry about the lack of armament. Just fight, all the way through the chasm, and give me the counterattack of the coalition forces. ”

"Urgently tell Peng Lie, retreat immediately, leave all the baggage, and lead the army to retreat to Huojia and Ji counties for more than 200 miles in one go." Zhang Yan pointed at Wei Yan again, "Tell Peng Lie not to hesitate and resolutely withdraw it." After Liu Bei and Gao Gan hit Huojia and Jixian, they immediately gave up Yanjindu and withdrew directly to Chaoge City. We must be fast, we must be fast, we must let Liu Bei's vanguard army quickly occupy Qingshuikou, let the rebels quickly form a threat to the front line of Yancheng and Yanjin, and let them quickly cut off our grain routes for water transportation. ”

"When will the Iron Rider cross the river?" Wei Yan asked as he sat down to write orders.

"Order the captain of the Hu cavalry battalion, Sai Feng, and the captain of the Changshui battalion, Mustafa, to immediately lead the iron cavalry along the line of Suozao, Yanjin, and Yancheng, and gallop back and forth along the embankment of the Yellow River, so that the rebels can see our iron cavalry, and make a gesture to prevent them from crossing the river. Then tell Zhao Yun and ask him to immediately follow the predetermined plan, and Liu Bao, the king of Youxian, and Liu Ming, the king of Youxian, led 20,000 Huns to cross the river from Qishuikou, and stationed troops on the line of Montenegro and Chaogecheng to block the rebels' attack on Wei County. Zhang Yan turned his head to look at Wei Yan and said with a smile, "Tell Zhao Yun not to take the initiative to attack the rebels for the time being, just let a small group of iron cavalry take turns to attack and prevent the rebels from crossing the river to attack." ”

"Before leaving, the general was very worried about the 20,000 Huns, and now let Zhao Yun take it to the Black Mountain area, the general should rest assured." Jia Xu sat down behind the desk and took a slow sip of water, "Do you want Lord Lu Bu to cross the chasm water immediately and make way for the rebels to attack Junyi?" After a long time, I am afraid that the casualties of the Southern army will be too great. ”

"We must first tell Yan Rou and Gao Shun about the situation on the Guandu battlefield, and let them immediately retreat to the front line of Chenliu." Zhang Yan said, "If you give up Junyi and Kaifeng too early, Lord Gao Shun may be caught off guard." ”

"Two days, give them two days." Jia Xu stretched out two fingers and shook them, "Let Junyi and Kaifeng's defenders hold on a little longer." ”

"Okay, urgently tell the two adults, Lu Bu and Fan Li, immediately cross the chasm water, withdraw to the east bank of the chasm water, join the army of Liyi and Yan Liang, and attack Yuan Shao from the front of the Guandu battlefield." Zhang Yan waved his hand and said, "Urgently tell the defenders of Junyi and Kaifeng to delay the time of abandoning the city as much as possible, so as to buy a little more time for Yan Rou and Gao Shun to retreat." The defenders in Junyi City withdrew directly to the Guandu battlefield, and the defenders in Kaifeng City withdrew to Chenliu to meet Lord Gaoshun. ”

"The book told Lord Gao Shun that the rebels had counterattacked on all fronts, and the moment of decisive battle was approaching. In order to attract more rebels to the Guandu battlefield for a decisive battle, we decided to abandon the line of Xiangyi and Yongqiu, and retreat all the infantry and cavalry troops to Chenliu, so as to make a situation of being divided and surrounded by the rebels, so as to induce the rebels on the southern battlefield to move north at full speed. ”

"Order the two adults, Wei Jun and Yang Ming, to lead the iron cavalry to stick to both sides of Suishui and Bishui to ensure the safety of the retreat of the army."

"Tell Yan Rou and Jiang Wu to lead five thousand iron cavalry to secretly rush to the west bank of the Langtang Canal to hide, and after the rebels' army on the southern battlefield is all attracted to Chenliu, they will immediately attack Xuchang for a long distance, and stab the rebels in the back, forcing Yuan Shao to immediately move his little emperor to Luoyang, forcing Liu Biao to lead the army north to Guandu to participate in the battle. We need to get more rebels to rush to the Guandu battlefield to fight a decisive battle. ”

"It would be nice if we could catch the little emperor of Xuchang." Sima Yi said happily.

"How can there be such a good thing? There are a lot of garrisons around Xuchang, and they are also very strong, so we just went to sneak attack. Jia Xu said with a smile, "The main purpose of our sneak attack on Xuchang is to force Yuan Shao to move the little emperor to Luoyang. Once the coalition army is defeated and the whole line retreats, Liu Biao is very likely to take advantage of Yuan Shao's self-care to kidnap the little emperor to Jingzhou. In the past few years, we need to recover our strength, we need to do our best to take Guan and Luoquan to take the Central Plains, and there is no time to attack Liu Biao in the south. And Liu Biao can use the time of the past few years, with the help of the little emperor to order the world, restore and enhance his own strength, and unite other states and counties to compete with us. When we stabilize the Central Plains in the future, it will be very difficult to calm the world in one go. ”

"Your Excellency, are you sure that Yuan Shao will take the little emperor to Luoyang?" Wei Yan asked worriedly.

"We can't be sure either." Jia Xu looked at Zhang Yan and shook his head, not confident at all, "Although Fu Zhu is in Xuchang now, and Liu Biao does not dare to break with Yuan Shao for the time being, but Yuan Shao is very difficult to figure out, who knows if he will think about usurping the Han Dynasty and becoming self-reliant when the situation on the Guandu battlefield is very good, and he is unwilling to move the little emperor to Luoyang." ”

"In the past few years, we have to fight Guan and Luo, if the little emperor is in Luoyang, we can solve it by taking advantage of the situation." Zhang Yan said, "Without the little emperor, it will be a big blow to Liu Biao and Liu Bei." In the future, when the situation is more and more favorable to us, they may give up on establishing another imperial system, and instead be appeased and return to the imperial court, so that we will have much less time to calm the world, otherwise it will ......"

"Unless they're dead, don't even think about it." Jia Xu sneered, "If these people were willing to respect the imperial court, how could there be a crusade against Dong Zhuo and the chaos of the society back then?" If these people are not killed, the world will never be at peace. ”

Zhang Yan looked at Jia Xu with an angry face, thinking of the plight of Dong Zhuo and them in Xiliang back then, and sighed secretly. It is a fact that Dong Zhuo has a monopoly on power, and it is also a fact that Yuan Shao formed an alliance to fight against Dong, whether it was Dong Zhuo's monopoly on power that caused chaos in the society, or Yuan Shao's alliance against Dong and caused chaos in the society, who can say?

Sima Yi looked at Jia Xu in surprise. Jia Xu has always been very gentle, just like a kind elder who has no temper, and he gritted his teeth and spoke murderously like today, and it was the first time he had seen it.

"My lord, when are we going to give up on Chen Liu?" Wei Yan asked suddenly.

"Wait for the iron cavalry that rushed to Xuchang to return to the west bank of the Suishui River." Zhang Yan said, "Evacuating too early will put the iron cavalry attacking Xuchang in danger, and I don't want to make the slightest mistake at this time." ”

"In addition, tell Lord Tian Chou of Changyi City and Lord Chen Gong of Rencheng that the decisive battle is taking shape, and ask them to be careful to guard against the Xuzhou army in the south, and not to have an accident at this critical time."

"Okay, the decisive battle has begun, and the moment of the great Han Zhongxing has come......" Zhang Yan suddenly opened his arms and roared, "Come on, fight, raise our war knives, kill ......"

At the beginning of August, all the battlefields were in full swing, and the fighting was extremely fierce.

On the battlefield of Guandu, the two sides fought back and forth on both sides of the chasm water, and the chasm water was full of floating corpses, and blood stained the river red.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao went to the front line to supervise the battle. At present, every effort must be made to contain the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army in the chasm, otherwise the attacks on the eastern and western flanks may fall short.

Lu Yi, Yan Liang, Yushi, and Wen Chou also stood on the front line of the chasm and commanded the soldiers to fight a fierce battle. Wen Chou even disregarded the dissuasion, and personally worked with Zhang Liao to forcibly break through the chasm with 3,000 soldiers and kill the enemy directly.

On the battlefield of Hanoi, Peng Lie held on to Huaicheng for two days and quickly retreated two hundred miles. Gao Gan and Zhu Ling took the lead and led the army to chase wildly. Peng Lie's subordinates were all new soldiers who had just been recruited, and after two days of bloody fierce fighting, they were already exhausted, and their bodies and minds were on the verge of collapse. Under the frantic pursuit of the rebels, many soldiers could not hold on and fell behind, and were brutally killed by the rebels.

Peng Lie was angry and scolded non-stop. He didn't scold the rebels, but Zhang Yan. In the past, when I was in Taihang Mountain, I followed Zhang Yan to fight a lot of defeats, and I was used to it, but now that more than ten years have passed, how could I have fought such a wretched battle? The Guandu battlefield is only more than 200 miles away from Yanjindu, and the river is full of large ships transporting grain, and a random iron cavalry to support Hanoi has also arrived, so as not to make himself so embarrassed, let alone let many innocent soldiers lose their lives in vain.

As soon as he arrived at Houjia, Gao Gan arrived with hundreds of cavalry. Since the Northern Xinjiang Army began to attack Henan, Gao Gan has suffered repeated setbacks. Puyang, Baima, Pingyang, and Yancheng have been defeated in successive battles, and 10,000 people have been fighting until now. Gao Gan gritted his teeth with hatred for the Northern Xinjiang Army, and this time he finally seized the opportunity, how could he let it go?

Peng Lie stood on the city tower and scolded the eight generations of Gaogan's ancestors, and then shouted helplessly in a hoarse voice, "Withdraw ......" He can't even see the shadow of reinforcements, what if he doesn't withdraw?

Peng Lie and his men ran for more than 300 miles in a row, and finally retreated into Chaoge City.

After Liu Bei entered Ji County, he stopped. He ordered Gao Gan to continue the pursuit with 5,000 men and march to the city of Song. He ordered Gao Rou, Zhu Ling, and Chen soldiers to Yanjindu, make a gesture of crossing the river, and force the Northern Xinjiang Army on the Guandu battlefield to return to help. He rushed to Qingshuikou with 5,000 people. Standing on the ferry, looking at the surging Yellow River, Liu Bei couldn't help but look up to the sky and howl, sweeping away the depression and pain of the past few months.

"As long as we reach the other side, we can cut off the retreat of the Northern Xinjiang Army and encircle them in the area of the Gulf Water and the Jishui River." Sun Qian's finger on the other side of the bank, also in high spirits, "We only took five days to recover Hanoi. It seems that the Northern Frontier Army is tired of fighting, and it doesn't even want its own flanks. ”

"Urgently tell Lord Yuan, ask him to write to Luoyang, and immediately transfer ships to Yanjindu and Qingshuikou line, we will cross the Yellow River." Liu Bei raised his horsewhip and shouted loudly.

At this moment, a puff of smoke and dust suddenly rolled up from the sky, and then the thunderous sound of horses' hooves jumped over the Yellow River with the wind and rushed straight to it. An iron cavalry descended from the sky like a divine soldier, and Huo Ran appeared in front of Liu Bei's eyes.

"Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry ......," the soldiers on the embankment exclaimed.

"They're finally here." Liu Bei pulled out a volley and shouted excitedly, "They have finally left the Guandu battlefield." ”

At Qishuikou, 20,000 Hun iron horsemen were crossing the Yellow River.

Liu Bao's face was gloomy. After receiving Zhang Yan's order, he was in a very bad mood. At this time, at the moment of the fierce war, Zhang Yan not only did not let him enter the Guandu battlefield, but ordered him to lead the army to leave the Central Plains and cross the river to return to Hebei, which made him very angry, and he had a feeling of being despised and insulted. Except for the generals, the generals of the Northern Xinjiang Army did not trust themselves, as if their stay in the Central Plains would bring them bad luck.

Zhao Yun saw that he was in a bad mood, and comforted him with kind words, "It is the general's order to let Da Danyu return to Hebei." Don't blame Lord Zhang Yan, he also acted on orders. ”

"It's also hard for me to understand why we should stay away from the battlefield at this time." Liu Ming said with a smile, "It can't be that Kirby Bear has entered the desert, and the general wants us to return to Yinshan, right?" ”

Zhao Yun laughed, suddenly raised the spear in his hand, and stabbed Liu Ming more than a dozen times at an unbelievable speed. Liu Ming screamed in surprise, and used all his strength to resist left and right, "Zilong, don't be joking, I can't do it." As if he hadn't heard it, the spear in his hand roared, stabbing Liu Ming's chest like lightning. Liu Ming was shocked, roared loudly, his tall body suddenly rose from the horse's back, and at the same time, his right fist smashed into the handle of the gun, and the war knife in his left hand thundered down, slashing Zhao Yun's spear with a knife.

The spear bounced in the air, Liu Ming fell off his horse, raised his hand and roared, "Zilong......"

"Good knife...... Zhao Yun shouted, and the spear suddenly stopped in his hand. Liu Ming just wanted to catch his breath, and suddenly felt a chill coming from his throat, he lowered his head slightly, and saw a cold sharp spear tip against his throat.

"Do you understand now?" Zhao Yun looked at Liu Bao, who had a shocked face, and asked with a smile, "Although Qiansi's knife is indestructible, the fatal blow is precisely when he thinks he has already won the battle. ”

Liu Bao somewhat understood.

"Where are we going now?"

"Go to Montenegro." Zhao Yun slowly withdrew his spear and smiled at the angry Liu Ming, "It's too hot, I invite Da Dan Yu to go to Montenegro to take refuge in the summer." ”

On the battlefield of Qu Yuju, Kuai Yue and Wen Ping commanded the army to attack continuously, and the Jingzhou army was too numerous for the Northern Xinjiang Army to resist at all, so it could only retreat to the chasm.

Kuai Yue didn't want the Northern Xinjiang Army to cross the river comfortably, so he supervised the siege from all directions, and ordered Wen Ping and Huang Zhong to personally lead the elite to break through the battle formation of the Northern Xinjiang Army at all costs, tear apart the defense line of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and divide and encircle the Northern Xinjiang Army and annihilate it on the west bank of the chasm.

In the fierce battle, Fan Li was wounded, and Lu Bu was furious and asked him to command in the center. He led a team of guards to ride, like a tiger out of the cage, roaring all the way, invincible, and killed the Chinese army of the Jingzhou army.

At this moment, Lei Chong and Qin Yi, under the cover of the officers and soldiers of the Southern Army, crossed the chasm and suddenly killed from both flanks of the battlefield.

Lu Bu was brave, and when the war horse died, he still led his men to fight fiercely, beheaded the generals and captured the flag, fought bloodily, swore not to retreat, and rushed the Chinese army of the Jingzhou Army into chaos. The command of the Jingzhou army fell into chaos for a while, and at this moment, the advance of the two elite soldiers of Lei Chong and Qin Yi made it even worse, giving the Jingzhou army a heavy blow.

Seeing that the tide of the battle was reversed, Kuai Yue hurriedly ordered Mingjin to retreat, and watched the Northern Frontier Army withdraw across the chasm.

"Lu Bu is too powerful." After the retreat of the Northern Xinjiang Army, Kuai Yue said to the generals with trepidation, "In the Chinese army of the Northern Xinjiang Army, there are many fierce generals like Lu Bu. When these people arrived on the battlefield, all of them were stubborn, taking the lead, and they were not afraid of death. Today, if we use 50,000 men to fight him, or let him withdraw calmly, can you imagine how many troops will be needed to encircle and annihilate the Northern Frontier Army when we have a decisive battle? ”

"You can't encircle and annihilate it, at least you can hit it hard." Wen Ping waved his hand angrily, "Everyone is desperate, who is afraid of whom." ”

After the Jingzhou army reorganized its army a little, it marched eastward along the Chi Road under the command of Kuai Yue and killed Junyi City. Kuai Yue did not divide his troops to attack Kaifeng, but gathered all his forces to prepare to take Junyi first.

The defenders of Junyi City received an order to hold out for two days. Lü Bu blocked the attack in Quyuju for more than a day, and by the time Kuai Yue led his army to Junyi, it was already two days later. The defenders of the city immediately abandoned the city, and the Jingzhou army took Junyi City without much effort. Originally, Kuai Yue thought that there was a tragic bloody battle in Junyi City, but who knew that the facts in front of him surprised him. After receiving the news that the Northern Xinjiang Army had abandoned the city and left, he was stunned on horseback. No, this situation is so abnormal that it is completely unconscionable.

It is understandable that the Northern Xinjiang Army gave up Qu Yuju, the attack launched by the coalition forces was very sudden, and Lu Bu's troops were insufficient, so it was the safest way to retreat to the chasm by surprise. But Lu Bu fought desperately in Quyuju for more than a day, and the Northern Xinjiang Army could have requisitioned reinforcements to defend Junyi. With the loss of Junyi, the coalition forces can directly attack the flank of the Northern Xinjiang Army on the Guandu battlefield, cut off the connection between the Guandu battlefield and the Chenliu battlefield, and trap the Northern Xinjiang army on the southern battlefield in the area of Chenliu and Yongqiu. Now it is inconceivable that the Northern Xinjiang Army has disregarded the safety of the flanks of the Guandu battlefield and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield who have left Chen on the battlefield so easily.

Liu Pan, Deng Yi, Pang Ji, Wen Ping, Huang Zhong, Liu Hu and others stood behind Kuai Yue, looking at the city gate wide open in the distance, and they were also shocked and uncertain.

"What does the Northern Frontier Army want to do?" Kuai Yue turned his head, looked at the generals and asked with a wry smile, "In just a few days, they have buried all the advantages on the battlefield in the Central Plains, do they want to retreat?" ”

"Is there such a possibility?" Pang Ji kept turning the delicate horsewhip in his hand, and said thoughtfully, "There is a crisis in the grain and grass of the Northern Xinjiang army, and they are eager to fight a decisive battle with us, so they deliberately abandon the city to show weakness, and deliberately give away the advantages in their hands. ”

"It's possible." Huang Zhong wiped the sweat from his face, and immediately said: "The strongest force of the Northern Frontier Army is their iron cavalry, and the terrain of the Guandu battlefield is very unsuitable for them to exert the power of the iron cavalry, so they plan to show weakness to lure the enemy, and then deceive the enemy, and then attract us to the plains to inflict heavy losses." He looked at Kuai Yue, frowned, and said, "I think it is more likely to show weakness and deceive defeat, because since the Northern Frontier Army dares to attack the Central Plains, it must have accumulated enough grain and grass for them to support until after October." After the autumn harvest in October, Hebei's grain was put into storage, and the shortage of grain and grass in the Northern Xinjiang Army could be alleviated immediately, which means that the time for the crisis of grain and grass in the Northern Xinjiang Army should be in September. It is only early August now, and there should be no grain and grass crisis in the Northern Xinjiang Army. ”

Kuai Yue nodded, "Han Sheng's guess is reasonable. Let's do it......" He pointed to Junyi City in front of him and waved the horsewhip in his hand vigorously, "Let's take Junyi first, and then force Xiaohuangcheng to gather the main force to open the seal and beat Chen Liu." Let's first surround the Northern Xinjiang Army on the battlefield of Chenliu and see how the Northern Xinjiang Army responds. ”

The generals agreed.

Liu Pan led the army into Junyi. Huang Zhong led his army to approach Xiaohuangcheng, sixty miles east of Junyi City, and completely cut off the connection between the Guandu battlefield and the Chenliu battlefield.

Kuai Yue, Deng Yi, Wen Ping, Liu Hu and others led a large army to vent down, and advanced rapidly along the east and west banks of the Langtang Canal, directly attacking the two cities of Chenliu and Kaifeng, which were hundreds of miles away.

The defenders of Kaifeng City saw that the Jingzhou army was slaughtering, and immediately abandoned the city, crossed the Langtang Canal, and withdrew into Chenliu.

On the battlefield in the south of the Central Plains, Xu Xuan, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ji Ling, Sun Fu, and Lu Su led an army of 50,000 from Ningling in Liang State, and marched north along the Suishui River to attack Xiangyi City. At the same time, Cao Hong, Li Dian, Yu Ban, and Yang Ping led more than 13,000 people to set out from Yangxia in Chen State, and went north along the Langtang Canal, killing Gaoyangting and Yongqiu, and approaching Chen Liucheng.

Xu Xuan and Cao Hong marched hand in hand, one on the left and one on the right, supporting each other, and were extremely careful along the way, lest they be attacked by the iron cavalry of the northern frontier. But what surprised them was that they didn't even see the shadow of a northern frontier iron cavalry along the way.

Yan Rou, Jiang Wu, Wei Jun, and Yang Ming retreated without a fight, and led the iron cavalry to abandon Jiwu, Xiangyi, and Yuancheng in succession, and the speed was extremely fast.

Xu Xuan and Cao Hong were worried about the plan and hesitated.

Xuchang continued to urge, asking them to speed up the speed and contain the troops of the Northern Xinjiang Army on the Chenliu battlefield, so as not to let Yan Rou, Gao Shun and others support the Guandu battlefield and cause the failure of the counteroffensive.

Xu Xuan and Cao Hong immediately met in Chengkuangcheng, and the two armies merged into one, first conquering Gaoyang, and then taking Yongqiu, which was very smooth.

On August, Yanzhou Chenliu County, Chen Liucheng.

Kuai Yue, Xu Xuan, Cao Hong, Guan Yu, Sun Fu, Lu Su and other six-way armies gathered under Chen Liucheng, and nearly 90,000 troops surrounded Chen Liu's regiment from the south, north and west.

At this moment, Gao Shun, Wu Xiong, Guan Hai, and Chang Xuan led about 20,000 foot soldiers to hold the city, and Wei Jun and Yang Ming led 10,000 iron cavalry to be stationed on the east bank of the Suishui River to ensure the retreat of the army in the city.

The battle clouds were dense over Chen Liucheng, and a big battle was about to break out.

On August, Henan, Zhongmu City.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Kuai Yue, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Feng Ji, Xin Ping and others gathered together to discuss the battle situation.

From the end of July to the present, in the past 10 days, the coalition forces have relied on their obvious superiority in strength to completely reverse the previous unfavorable situation in several battlefields after repeated hard battles, eliminated all the unfavorable factors caused by Xu You's defection, and regained control of the initiative in the Central Plains battlefield. But the atmosphere at the military meeting was very depressing, and everyone looked solemn without the slightest hint of joy.

Feng Ji stood in front of the huge map and explained to everyone the latest battle situation and the deployment of troops on each battlefield.

"Our continuous attacks on the frontal battlefield of Guandu firmly contained the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, thus helping Liu Bei, Kuai Yue, Xu Xuan and other adults to successfully complete the intended attack objectives on the flank of the Hanoi battlefield and the Chenliu battlefield, but ......" Feng Ji paused for a moment and said worriedly, "In addition to launching a fierce attack with us on the Guandu battlefield, the Northern Xinjiang Army went against the norm on the Hanoi and Chenliu battlefields and took a big step back strategy. did not fight with us, nor did he defend the city, and even took the initiative to give up Junyi, a key city, and allowed us to cut off the connection between the Guandu battlefield and the Chenliu battlefield, and completely surrendered the battlefield to the south of the Central Plains. ”

"In the past ten days of fierce fighting, the Northern Xinjiang Army has not suffered any losses except on the Guandu battlefield." Xun Yu stood up, walked to the map, pointed to Guandu on the map and said, "Have you noticed that now except for Yan Rou and Gao Shun left by Chen, the rest of the Northern Xinjiang Army has all gathered on the Guandu battlefield. He drew his hand around Chen Liucheng on the map, "If nothing else, Yan Rou and Gao Shun will also withdraw from Chen Liucheng in the near future, and they may go north to cross the Jishui River and enter the Guandu battlefield from the direction of Fengqiu." ”

"The Northern Frontier Army is gathering forces and preparing for a decisive battle with us." Feng Ji drew his hand along the cities of Chenliu and Guandu on the map to Hanoi, "On this line, we have nearly 200,000 troops, and the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army is about 130,000 to 140,000. If we fall into the trap of the Northern Xinjiang Army and take the initiative to cross the chasm and fight a decisive battle, the losses will be very large. He looked up at the crowd and shook his head resolutely, "You can't fight a decisive battle now, you have to continue to wait for a better time." ”

Xin Ping also agreed with Feng Ji's opinion, "The Northern Xinjiang Army still has a huge army of foot soldiers, and tens of thousands of iron cavalry, although now some of the iron cavalry have crossed the river and returned to Jizhou, some have gone to Yancheng and Yanjin to garrison on the front line, and some are on the battlefield of Chenliu, but once we have killed the chasm water, their infantry army can be defeated immediately, and they can lead us to the area of Yancheng and let their iron cavalry attack us." Thinking of the battlefield of Pingyang Pavilion, the 10,000-strong army was swallowed up by the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry in a blink of an eye, Xin Ping felt a chill in his heart.

"I think it's time for a decisive battle." Cao Cao stood up and strode to the map, "It has been five months since the Northern Xinjiang Army began to attack in mid-March, whether the Northern Xinjiang Army is showing weakness to lure the enemy, or whether the food and grass are indeed insufficient and unable to fight again, one thing is certain, that is, Hebei's financial endowment is becoming more and more difficult, and the Northern Xinjiang Army is in a hurry to fight a decisive battle with us." ”

"The Northern Xinjiang Army is anxious for a decisive battle, and their strength is strong enough, which will make them overconfident and impatient, and will make them make mistakes in many things, I think it is an irreparable mistake for them to take the initiative to abandon the two battlefields of Hanoi and Tranliu this time." Cao Cao raised his fists, "My left hand is the Hanoi battlefield, my right hand is the Chenliu battlefield, and my head is the Guandu battlefield." I smashed my fists into the Northern Frontier Army, and gave it another head blow, how long can it hold up? ”

"My suggestion is to launch an attack on Chenliu immediately, whether Yan Rou and Gao Shun withdraw to the front line of Dingtao and Changyi, or rush to the Guandu battlefield, we don't care, we just need to pull all the troops on the Chenliu battlefield to the front line of the chasm in the shortest possible time."

Cao Cao pushed Feng Ji, who was standing beside him, "Stand to the side, don't stand in my way." Feng Ji glared at him with disdain, turned around and walked behind Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao smashed his fist into Hanoi County on the map, "After all the troops on the battlefield of Chenliu entered the attack position, Liu Bei of Hanoi first sent troops to the Song to attract the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry stationed in the direction of Jizhou, and at the same time forcibly crossed the river from Yanjindu and Qingshuikou to contain the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry on the Yancheng and Yanjin lines. Then Cao Cao smashed another punch on the Fengqiu and Sanling Pavilion lines on the map, "At the same time, Brother Xenodu led the army to attack the flank of the Northern Frontier Army from the direction of Junyi, forcing the Northern Frontier Army to draw troops from the main battlefield to block it. ”

"The rest of the army crossed the chasm." Cao Cao slapped himself on the head vigorously and shouted, "Use our heads, use all our strength, hit it hard, at all costs." As long as the Northern Xinjiang Army loosens its position, we will win this battle. No matter what kind of trick the Northern Frontier Army has, we should ignore it. Our battlefield is in the narrow cone of the chasm water, the grough water, and the gutter water, and we will fight them here. We rushed in, dragged them, pulled them, and we fought to the death, and we fought to the death, and we didn't stop fighting......"

Kuai Yue hurried back from Kaifeng, very tired, with his head on his hand, half leaning on the desk and drowsy, suddenly Cao Cao's hoarse roar woke him up like thunder, Kuai Yue was very unhappy, and blurted out and scolded, "Mengde, are you crazy?" What to fight? The Northern Frontier Army is waiting for you, a madman, to throw yourself into the net? You want to die and you go by yourself, I don't want to die, I don't go. ”

"Brother Xenodu, the morale of the army is high at the moment, and the battlefield situation is very favorable to us, why don't you fight? There are only 100,000 people in the Northern Xinjiang Army, and even if we fight one by one, we can beat the Northern Xinjiang Army half to death. Cao Cao glared at Xiao Yanqing, his little black face turned red, and he was a little annoyed and angry, "I see that you are very old, and you are afraid of death, so go home and hug your grandson." ”

Kuai Yue was dizzy, and when he heard this, he was furious, and slapped his palm on the desk, "Cao Mengde, do you think you are not afraid of death?" If you have the ability, you will fight one by one with Li Hong in Dingtao and block the Northern Xinjiang Army in Dingtao? What are you doing when you fled to Henan? You are now a beggar with a big knife, you don't want to die, you are not afraid of death, that's your business, don't play music with me here. Without your tens of thousands of people on the battlefield in the Central Plains, we will be able to win the Northern Frontier Army. It's okay to stay and don't bite like a mad dog here. ”

"Kuai Xenodu, do you dare to curse?" Cao Cao's eyes were about to split, and he roared.

"How about I scold you? What are you, the prime minister? If you want soldiers or not, if you want money or not, what will you do but kill people and set fires? finally grabbed a piece of land and gave it to Li Hong. What are you doing with your life? Wipe your neck with a knife. Let me tell you, this is Yuan Benchu's final say, and it is not your turn to speak, so I will stand on my side. ”

Kuai Yue is the oldest and the oldest in this big tent, and when his temper is out, no one dares to talk nonsense anymore.

Cao Cao lost face, jumped like thunder, pointed at Kuai Yue and scolded, Cheng Yu, Xiahou Yuan and others hurriedly put him out.

When the battle was won, the people became more panicked and uneasy, and their tempers grew stronger and greater.

Yuan Shao comforted everyone a few words. He believed that the time was not ripe for a decisive battle at present, and he had to wait a little longer, and instructed the generals not to be in a hurry, and not to fall for the Northern Xinjiang Army's plan to lure the enemy.

Now on the battlefield of Guanzhong, Yuan Tan has begun to attack Hedong. On the battlefield in Xuzhou, Jian Yong, Chen Deng, Cao Chun and others are also working hard. If these two flank battlefields can make a breakthrough, it will help the decisive battle of the Central Plains battlefield. Yuan Shao said calmly: "At present, we have achieved more advantages on the battlefield of the Central Plains, but we have not achieved an absolute advantage in victory. Don't worry, wait, there will be more good news, and we will definitely be able to defeat the Northern Frontier Army. ”

At this moment, Yuan Zhongfei rushed into the big tent with an extremely panicked expression, "My lord, Xuchang is in a hurry." ”