Chapter 8 Arrow on the String Section 16 December down, Jinyang, heavy snowfall. The Spring Festival is approaching, and the city of Jinyang is filled with a peaceful atmosphere, and every household is busy sweeping the house.

On the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, dust and sweep the house. According to the records of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Lü Family, this kind of dust-sweeping custom existed in the Yaoshun era.

Sweeping dust is called in the north

"Sweeping", in the south called

"Dusting".

"Dust" with

"Chen" homonym, the New Year sweeping means: "in addition to the old cloth new", entrusting people's desire to break the old and establish the new and the prayer to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, hoping to sweep away all the poor luck and bad luck.

While people were busy cleaning the courtyard of Liulu, dusting off the dust and cobwebs, and preparing for the New Year, the ministers of the court gathered in the palace and debated fiercely about whether to support the attack on Guanzhong in the western Xinjiang.

The Zhongshu Supervisor is located in the Phoenix Pool in the palace, only a few dozen steps away from the forbidden middle, which is very convenient for the eldest princess to enter and exit.

Because the battle situation in Guanzhong directly affected the future Central Plains War, the eldest princess arrived at the Phoenix Pool early in the morning and summoned Prime Minister Cai Yong, Taiwei Xu Rong, Imperial Historian Liu He, Shangshu Ling Li Wei, Zhongshu Supervisor Ling Xun You and other ministers to discuss countermeasures.

It had been a few days since Han Sui's recital had been sent, and the ministers had their own opinions and were very divided, but the opinions against aiding Han Sui clearly prevailed.

Maybe the ministers have been tired of arguing in the court these days, but now everyone is sitting in the spacious hall, looking at the beautiful snow scene outside the house, and whispering and laughing leisurely with the delicate small stove, and the atmosphere is very relaxed.

The eldest princess was on the throne, and Prime Minister Cai Yong and Taichang Cui Lie were talking about Tian Chou's marriage after the New Year.

Tian Chou stood behind the eldest princess, with a smile on his face, listening quietly, intoxicated with his own happiness.

"General Long Xiang, Lord Zhao of Jinwu is ......here" With the shout of the eunuch on duty at the door, Zhao Yun strode in with snowflakes all over his body.

He now commands the Northern Army and is stationed at the Yongsan Camp. After receiving the edict of the eldest princess, she galloped forty miles to Jinyang to participate in the political discussion.

The eldest princess waved her hand and invited Zhao Yun after the salute to sit on the table.

"Today, I ask you to stop arguing. Everyone made their reasons clear, don't attack each other, and don't insult Sven to open his mouth and insult him, otherwise, I will drive him out of the Phoenix Pool. "Although the support for Western Xinjiang is mainly based on money and food, it mainly involves military affairs.

Therefore, under the gaze of the eldest princess, Taiwei Xu Rong first expounded the opinion of the Taiwei Mansion. Xu Rong became a lieutenant and was unanimously recognized by the court.

Xu Rong and Xian Yufu are both from Youzhou, both of them are from a certain prestige in the local area, they are both meritorious generals in Northern Xinjiang, and they are also very stable and cautious.

But there is a fundamental difference between the two, that is, Xian Yufu has the blood of the Hu people flowing in his body, which is the main reason why many officials in the Jinyang court cannot accept Xian Yufu.

Secondly, compared with Xu Rong, Xian Yufu is more upright and loyal in character, and the disadvantage of this kind of person is that it is not easy to be flexible, which can be seen from the completely different attitudes adopted by the two when the eldest princess implemented the policy of breaking the earth.

Xian Yufu is very wise, he knows that his background and personality are not suitable for the court. Northern Xinjiang in the past and Hebei today are fundamentally different things, so he left without hesitation.

He felt that his world was the northern frontier, and only there could he regain his dignity and self-confidence.

The eldest princess and the court worshipped him as the general of the left guard and sat in Youzhou, which can be regarded as a comfort to him for choosing to leave the court.

Xu Rong insisted on aiding Western Xinjiang and helping Western Xinjiang to conquer Guanzhong. The outbreak of a major war in Guanzhong has many benefits for Hebei.

The Battle of Guanzhong will contain Yuan Shao's main forces on the battlefield in Guanzhong. Yuan Shao's forces were insufficient to concentrate on attacking Hanoi, which helped Zhang Liao to hold Hanoi and gain a foothold in Hanoi, threatening Luoyang.

As the Guanzhong War continued, Yuan Shao's influence on the Central Plains would also decrease sharply. Cao Cao and Liu Bei will inevitably take the opportunity to attack Yuan Shu, and the conquest between the parties in the Central Plains will be more intense, which will help us to take the Central Plains in the next few years.

Regardless of the outcome of the Battle of Guanzhong, Yuan Shao's losses will be very staggering, which will seriously deal a blow to Yuan Shao's strength.

Yuan Shao's strength is not good, and the benefits to Hebei are obvious.

"The focus of your debate is not the benefits of the Guanzhong War to Hebei, but the harm of the Guanzhong War to Hebei." Xu Rong then changed the conversation and explained the reasons why the ministers opposed the support of Western Xinjiang in the past few days.

In the Battle of Guanzhong, it was not only Yuan Shao who was damaged, but also Hebei. Hebei has to pay a heavy price for this, first, because of the shortage of financial endowments, the time to attack the Central Plains will definitely be postponed, and the time to pacify the world will naturally be postponed, and second, once Han Sui occupies Guanzhong, the strength of Western Xinjiang will swell suddenly, which will inevitably fuel Han Sui's ambitions.

In the case of the strength of all parties, he is very likely to betray the imperial court and take advantage of the benefits of Guanzhong to cut off the power.

This move is purely for the sake of raising tigers.

"Your lordship's concerns are valid, but I ask you to look backwards. Xu Rong looked solemn and waved his hand. Is the reason why Dahan has come to this day just because of the chaos of the ** eunuchs, Dong Zhuo and others? Is it just because of the Yellow Turbans' successive rebellions? Some people may say that the peril of Sheji is related to the accumulation of disadvantages and weakness of the Han Dynasty, the disasters of the displaced people in the Han Dynasty for decades, and the natural disasters of the Han Dynasty for decades, but why don't you say that the rebellion in Western Xinjiang, which lasted for more than a hundred years, is also one of the important reasons why the Han Dynasty has changed from prosperity to decline? In order to quell the rebellion in Western Xinjiang, the imperial court invested hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of billions of financial endowments, exhausting the national strength of the Han Dynasty. In the face of the empty treasury, several emperors of this dynasty had no choice but to increase taxes, sell official titles, and even sell their crimes. There is a great reason why the Han Dynasty has come to this crumbling predicament today, and the imperial court has resolutely advocated sending troops to suppress the rebellion in Western Xinjiang for nearly a hundred years. Why did the imperial court try to maintain stability in the western frontier? Because Western Xinjiang is the gateway to Guanzhong and the gateway to Gyeonggi, Western Xinjiang is unstable, and the iron cavalry of the Qiang people will take advantage of the weakness to enter. Once the western frontier becomes the pasture of the Qiang people, Guan and Luo will become battlefields, and the Central Plains will directly face the attack of the Hu people. When the general agreed to Han Sui without hesitation and was willing to provide relief for the western Xinjiang, many officials in Hebei did not understand, and the general also summoned the officials for this purpose and made a special explanation. Although Han Sui is the leader of the rebels in Western Xinjiang, he is a Han Chinese, whether he is sincerely appeased or not, he is a Han Chinese. He is still the general of Zhenxi in the Han court, and he has to fight to protect the western frontier. Looking back at what Han Sui has done in Western Xinjiang in the past ten years, we have to admit that it was Han Sui's efforts that allowed the Han Dynasty to keep the land of Western Xinjiang. What are our goals today? It is a Zhongxing man, not to dominate the world, let alone to lay a foundation for himself. Western Xinjiang is the territory of the Han Dynasty. In order to protect the territory of the Han Dynasty, in order to defeat the Hu tribe who invaded the Han Dynasty, even if Han Sui was a rebel, we had to support him, because at that time Han Sui and our goals were the same. He is fighting for the Great Han, fighting for every inch of the Great Han. In the future, when we stand on that blood-stained land, when we see the bones of those who we once regarded as rebellious, do you still think they are rebellious? No, they are the heroes of the Han Dynasty, and they are the heroes who defend every inch of land for the Han Dynasty. As long as the Han is there, the West Xinjiang will be there, and the West will always be a part of the Han Dynasty. We must not lose the western frontier, and we must not allow the western frontier to be ravaged under the iron hooves of the Hu people. That's why we helped Han Sui.

"What is the situation in Western Xinjiang today, I believe you are not very clear." Xu Rong stabilized his slightly excited emotions and continued,

"Please set your eyes on today's Western Xinjiang." Although the Dongqiang in the western Xinjiang has been submitted to the imperial court, there are still Western Qiangs in the western Xinjiang, including dozens of large and small tribes such as the Baima Qiang, the Shenwolf Qiang in the south, and the Shaodangqiang near the Xihe River (now Qinghai), as well as the Xianbei people west of Zhuoyi Mountain, as well as the countries of the Western Regions.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the Han war, the Baimaqiang, the Shenwolf Qiang, the Yaodangqiang and other tribes continued to attack Jincheng, Longxi, and Wudu, threatening the hinterland of Liangzhou and containing most of the troops in Western Xinjiang.

At the same time, some tribes of Burning Dangqiang crossed the Qilian Mountain and attacked Hexi to the north, while the Xianbei people west of Zhuoyi Mountain and the Cheshi, Shanshan and other countries in the Western Regions also took the opportunity to send troops to invade.

Han Sui's strength was not good, and it was difficult to take care of both the beginning and the end, and he was gradually driven out of Hexi. Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Zhangye and Zhangye Juyan in Hexi in Western Xinjiang were thus lost.

These five counties include three of the four counties of Hexi. These places are the territories that Emperor Xiaowu, the great general Wei Qing, the hussar general Huo Quai, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers have worked hard for decades.

This is the shame of the Han Dynasty, and it is also the shame of those of us who are descendants of the Han Dynasty. However, the predicament of Western Xinjiang is far from that.

In order to defend the western frontier, Han Sui has frequently used troops in recent years, and at the same time stationed heavy troops in the south, north, and west directions of Liangzhou.

The financial resources of Western Xinjiang are limited, and Han Sui has to find ways to feed the people of Western Xinjiang, and he has to do his best to defend the border fortress, where did he get so much money and food?

The barren people of Western Xinjiang are known to be much poorer than those in Northern Xinjiang. In addition, it has gone through more than a hundred years of war, and the rule of the officials has once reached the extreme, this kind of place where you can't find money and food for three feet of land, how long can you support it by relying on his own strength?

Therefore, the land of Guanzhong has become the dream of the people of Western Xinjiang, whether it is the border chapter in the past, the kingdom, or today's Han Sui, they all regard the occupation of Guanzhong as their first priority.

The land of Guanzhong has become a lifesaver for the people of Western Xinjiang.

"Han Sui attacked Guanzhong at this time, and the opportunity was indeed well grasped, but Yuan Shao's strength is very clear to everyone, and if Han Sui wants to defeat Yuan Shao and occupy Guanzhong, it may be very small." Xu Rong sighed and said helplessly,

"Ladies and gentlemen, once Han Sui is defeated, it will not be a big loss for Hebei. But for Dahan, the losses were staggering. Han Sui's defeat may not be able to keep the western frontier. The loss of Western Xinjiang not only means the loss of territory, but also a symptom of the defeat of the community. ”

"Your Excellency may think I'm alarmist......" Xu Rong smiled bitterly,

"If the Western Xinjiang is lost, I don't know how long it will take us in the future, how much money it will cost, and how many troops will be consumed to regain it. But I can say with certainty that the price we will pay in the future will be countless times greater than the price we now pay for helping Han Sui capture Guanzhong. And what is especially important is that we, as the imperial court, knew that Han Sui's defeat would lead to the loss of Western Xinjiang, and we obviously had the ability to help Han Sui but ignored it, at this time we gave up not only Han Sui and tens of thousands of Western Xinjiang iron horsemen, but also the dignity of the Son of Heaven and the prestige of the imperial court. Xu Rong went on to refute the two reasons in the court that there was no need to support Western Xinjiang.

One opinion is that Han Sui may have withdrawn his troops back to the western frontier after learning that the imperial court had rejected his request.

This time, Han Sui gathered all the requisitionable troops in Western Xinjiang, and the total number of troops was estimated to be about 50,000. Han Sui gathered such a large army, which shows that his determination to attack Guanzhong is very great, and it is also a threat to the imperial court.

If I am defeated, the Western Frontier will not be saved. The court rejected his request, which gave him a reason to betray, and then he had to talk to Yuan Shao.

And this is precisely the second opinion of the court. If Yuan Shao and Han Sui fight in Guanzhong, both sides are bound to suffer heavy losses, one is equivalent to giving the western Xinjiang to the Hu people, and the other is equivalent to sending Guanzhong to Hebei, so the purpose of Han Sui's troops in Guanzhong is likely not to defeat Guanzhong, but to force Yuan Shao to divide Guanzhong equally with him.

In order to stabilize Guanzhong and recover his vitality as soon as possible, Yuan Shao is also very likely to agree to Han Sui's request. In this way, half of the Guanzhong was obtained, and the predicament of Western Xinjiang was slightly relieved.

One not only got Han Sui's backup, but also got a respite. But this is the last thing the court wants to see.

Han Sui and Yuan Shao joined forces, and Guanzhong was temporarily stabilized. Yuan Shao could concentrate on attacking Hanoi and plotting against the Central Plains, which would greatly increase the difficulty of the imperial court to pacify the Central Plains.

Supporting Western Xinjiang and helping Han Sui occupy the Central Plains is currently the best and most conducive strategy to stabilize the world as soon as possible.

Xu Rong's words made the ministers fall into deep thought. Western Xinjiang is the western gate of the Han Dynasty and the gateway to protect the prosperity of the Han Dynasty.

Once this portal is lost, if the Han wants to prosper quickly, it is undoubtedly a fool's dream. Compared with the prosperity of the Han Dynasty, the revitalization of the community, and the people living and working in peace and contentment, even if they help Han Sui occupy Guanzhong now, even if they raise tigers, it is worth it.

Han Sui is still the general of Zhenxi of the Han Dynasty and the feudal official of the imperial court, who can conclude that he will definitely cause trouble like Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in the future?

In fact, as long as the Son of Heaven and the imperial court are majestic, the Han army has strong strength, and the world is stable and the people are healthy, how could Han Sui betray?

If everything is according to Xu Rong's assumption, and Northern Xinjiang uses financial endowment to support Han Sui to take Guanzhong this time, which is equivalent to easily getting both Western Xinjiang and Guanzhong, then as long as the army goes south to pacify the Central Plains and capture Luoyang, the period of the revival of the Han Dynasty is just around the corner.

Han Sui, who was once the leader of the rebels in Western Xinjiang, will be loyal to the Han? Will it be forced to succumb to the imperial court due to the might of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and give up Guanzhong and Western Xinjiang?

Will there be such a good thing in the world? Cui Lie coughed. All the ministers looked up at Cui Lie, thinking that he was going to make a big deal out again.

The eldest princess gave him a nervous look. As soon as this old man speaks, the ministers are bound to make a big noise. The eldest princess quickly raised her jade hand,

"Boss, are you not in good health and are infected with wind and cold?" Cui Lie's face turned cold, and he said quite unhappily: "Your Highness, it is very unlucky to say this for the New Year. I'm fine, I'm in good health. The eldest princess smiled slightly,

"Lord Xu has said a lot, is the boss still insisting on his own opinion and refusing to support Western Xinjiang?"

"After listening to Lord Xu's words, the minister's opinion changed." Cui Lie coughed a few more times,

"Han Sui, this old boy, is old, but his energy is very strong, he will cause trouble for the court if he has nothing to do, I think he will be bled out." The eldest princess glanced at Cui Lie in surprise,

"What advice does the Boss have?"

"The minister hasn't thought about it yet." Cui Lie replied,

"The minister wants to ask Lord Xu, is there a way to force Han Sui to withdraw his troops and continue to defend the western frontier, so that the imperial court can concentrate on preparing for the Central Plains War?"

"Forcing Han Sui to withdraw his troops?" Xu Rong and Zhang Yan, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun and others sitting next to him looked at each other, and they understood what Cui Lie meant.

"According to Lord Xu, the imperial court will support Han Sui no matter what. However, if the Guanzhong War lasts too long, Hebei's financial endowment will be difficult to support. Cui Lie said,

"The result of this war, if Han Sui wins, it will be too much trouble for us, but he can't lose, so in order to avoid Hebei being dragged down by Han Sui, for the safety of Western Xinjiang, and also for us to conquer the Central Plains as soon as possible, we still want to find a way to let Han Sui lose a few small battles, forcing him to go back to Western Xinjiang as soon as possible." The eldest princess and many ministers nodded one after another.

Cui Lie's suggestion is a different way, if he can force Han Sui to withdraw his troops, anything can be solved.

"Your Excellency, who has a plan?" The eldest princess asked with a smile,

"We'll help Yuan Shao this time, how about it?"

"Your Highness, Han Sui's excuse for sending troops this time is to avenge Ma Teng." Shang Shu ordered Li Wei to stand up, bowed down and played,

"The reason why many generals in Western Xinjiang are willing to send troops this time is also because the relationship with Ma Teng is extraordinary, and everyone has to come out to denounce it. If it is really a matter of life and death, I believe that they will definitely have reservations for the sake of their lives and the future, and it is better to preserve their strength. ”

"So ......" Li Wei said in a long tone and expressionlessly,

"As long as we find a way to make Ma Chao and Han Sui infighting, this big war will be over."

"Han Sui is a talented person with great wisdom and great ambition, he has been operating in Western Xinjiang for more than ten years, and his roots are very deep, and he will definitely be our trouble in the future." Li Wei continued,

"After Ma Chao and Han Sui withdrew to the Western Frontier, we supported Ma Chao on the condition of helping him take revenge, inducing him to attack Han Sui and completely muddy the waters of the Western Frontier. In this way, Han Sui's strength will be greatly reduced, and it will be easy for us to recover Western Xinjiang in the future. ”

"Okay, great idea." Cui Lie patted the case and praised loudly,

"It's still Master Li who has a good trick." Li Wei smiled modestly,

"Although we promised to give Han Sui money and grain, because of the heavy snowfall, the road was difficult to travel, and the Yellow River was frozen, and the grain, grass and ordnance could not be transported to Guanzhong until the Yellow River thawed. Han Sui's army stayed in Chang'an City for several months, which would definitely anger Ma Chao, who was eager for revenge, and the contradiction between the two would become bigger and bigger. At this time, if someone is fanning the flames, it can be done. Xu Rong's brows immediately furrowed, his face was like frost, obviously very dissatisfied with Li Wei's strategy.

"Western Xinjiang needs Han Sui, the security of Western Xinjiang is very important, and Ma Chao cannot enter Western Xinjiang again." Xu Rong stood up and waved his hand vigorously, his tone was very stern.

Xu Rong and Ma Teng were both fierce generals in the Western Frontier in the past, and they had a deep friendship with each other, so of course he would not watch Ma Teng's son die.

In Western Xinjiang, no one can regret Han Sui's status, and Ma Chao, who is weak and weak, is not Han Sui's opponent.

"If you want Ma Chao and Han Sui to fight among themselves, you only need to give an order to Pang De and ask him to withdraw his troops as soon as possible." Zhang Yan saw that Xu Rong was angry, and hurriedly stood up to play a round.

"Withdrawing troops as soon as possible is not the same as withdrawing troops immediately. Let's explain the meaning to Pound as soon as possible, and he will naturally know how to do it. Pang De is leaving, of course Ma Chao will be very anxious, and he will keep urging Han Sui to attack. Han Sui did not dare to rush into the army without sufficient grain and grass as a guarantee, so the contradiction between the two was inevitable. As for letting Pang De withdraw his troops, Han Sui should be able to understand. We have promised to give him money and food, and there is no reason to send troops to help, and we also need troops to defend the two counties of Northland and Anding. Zhang Yan looked at Li Wei and said with a smile: "Don't do anything to fan the flames, so as not to show too much traces and anger Han Sui, which is counterproductive." Li Wei smiled embarrassedly, arched his hand at Xu Rong, and sat down peacefully.

"In addition, tell Pang De that if something happens in Guanzhong, he must bring Ma Chao back to Northern Xinjiang." Xu Rong shook his head, added, and sat down exhausted.

For the sake of the affairs of the Western Xinjiang, I tried my best to think about it, but in the end, it was such a result, I really didn't expect it.

If Han Sui could not occupy Guanzhong and barely survive on the relief of northern Xinjiang, it would be difficult for him to defeat the invading Hu people and recapture several counties in Hexi.

In the future, the imperial court will have to pay a heavy price for today's decisions. The first month of the second year of the establishment of the Han Kingdom (198 AD).

On the first month, Yangzhou, Shouchun. Yuan Shu's army and Sun Ce's army fought fiercely on both sides of the Huaishui River.

Xia Cai (now Fengtai, Anhui) and Dangtu were lost successively, and Yuan Shu commanded the army to approach Shouchun. Sun Ce always thought that Cao Cao and Liu Bei would take advantage of this opportunity to attack Yuan Shu on three sides, but then the news came to him and gave him a big mockery.

Cao Cao or Liu Bei didn't take him seriously at all, they had already withdrawn their troops and gone home, and they didn't even say hello.

Sun Ce is certainly not an idiot. He finished the army, and in the end, Cao Cao and Liu Bei were all right, so he didn't do it.

Sun Ce decisively ordered the whole line to retreat to the front line of Hefei and Liyang, and withdraw to Jiangdong at any time. In the middle of the first month, Yuan Shu walked into Shouchun.

Sun Ce was not bad, leaving Yuan Shu and his family behind. But all the money and food were removed, and even the furniture in the house was emptied.

Faced with the empty house and the frightened relatives who were crying and crying excessively, Yuan Shu could no longer control the anger in his heart, and was so angry that he vomited blood on the spot and fainted to the ground.

Although Yuan Shu lay down, Li Ye, Yang Hong, Ji Ling and others could not be idle. Li Ye hurriedly went to Luoyang and asked Yuan Shao for help.

At this time, even if you whisper and suffer all the white eyes, you have to admit it, and you can't go hungry for the winter. Yang Hong hurriedly went to Runan to ask Xu Xuan for help.

Ji Ling and Qiao Rui each led a large army, and the soldiers were divided into two routes. All the way to Liyang, all the way to Hefei. Sun Ce was in Liyang, and when he heard that Qiao Rui's army had arrived, he didn't say a word and left.

Before leaving, he also took all Yuan Shu's warships and sailors with him. Without warships, even if Yuan Shu wanted to attack Jiangdong, he would have to wait until he had enough warships.

But with Yuan Shu's current financial resources, there is no money left to build a warship. Zhou Yu was in Hefei, and he did not fight with Ji Ling, and led the army to retreat to Lujiang.

Ji Ling's army lacked enough food and grass to carry the baggage, and it was a harsh winter at this time, so it was inconvenient to fight, so he had to give up the pursuit.

Under the first month, Yuan Yao, Xun Zheng, and Liu Ye, who had been hiding on the Yangtze River for more than two months, returned to Shouchun. They brought Li Hong's letter, which made Yuan Shu breathe a sigh of relief.

After the Jizhou War, Qingzhou fell into the hands of an unknown Yellow Turban general, which was really a big accident.

Although Li Hong calculated that Yuan Shu would withdraw from Yangzhou in the end, he did not expect Yuan Shu to fall into such a miserable situation.

Now with Li Hong's strategy of attacking north and south, Yuan Shu knew that he was worry-free for the time being. If Cao Cao and Liu Bei called, Zang Ba in the direction of Qingzhou would contain him, which would give him plenty of time to recover.

Thinking that Zang Ba got the entire Qingzhou without much effort, Yuan Shu's heart was extremely unbalanced. Why am I so unlucky?

I was full of ambition to fight the Central Plains, but in the end I ended up miserable, leaving only three counties.

Why did God treat me so thinly? What kind of bullshit is this? In early February, news from Guanzhong made Yuan Shao restless.

After killing Ma Teng and Ma Chao's whole family, not only did it not achieve the expected effect, but it aroused the anger of the people of Western Xinjiang and attracted tens of thousands of Western Xinjiang troops.

Guanzhong is in jeopardy. Yuan Shao regretted it at this time, he knew that things were going in a worse direction, so it was better to spend a few dollars to buy Han Sui and kill Ma Chao.

After all, at some point a few years ago, he had a good relationship with Han Sui and provided him with a lot of money and food.

At this time, Yuan Shu had driven away Sun Ce and recaptured Jiujiang County, although the loss of money was great, and Lujiang County had not yet been recaptured, but Yuan Shu still controlled the three counties of Peiguo, Xiapi and Jiujiang, and there were still tens of thousands of troops in his hands.

Hanoi's Northern Frontier Army showed no signs of continuing its attack. Reinforcements from Yuan Zhong and Xia Zhao had already arrived in Pinggao to join Guo Tu and Han Qiong to prepare for a counteroffensive in March.

Yuan Shao arranged the affairs of the Central Plains, and then requisitioned the Yuzhou army to rush to Guanzhong, and he took Tian Feng, Feng Ji, Xin Ping and others to Chang'an day and night to meet the army of Western Xinjiang.

In early March, the situation in Guanzhong became more and more tense as the forces of both sides gradually increased. Ma Chao kept urging Han Sui to attack Changshi, but Han Sui refused to fight for various reasons.

First, there was not enough army, not enough siege equipment, then it was snowing, and the snow had not yet melted, and then there was a shortage of grain and grass, and the grain and grass that Hebei promised to allocate could not be transported until the Yellow River thawed.

At this time, Pound continued to receive holy decrees and letters ordering him to withdraw his troops as soon as possible. Although the imperial court did not stipulate the time for the withdrawal of his troops, it clearly did not want him to participate in the battle against Chang'an.

Pang De's departure is not only related to the lack of 5,000 iron cavalry in the siege army, but also related to whether the grain and grass in Hebei can be transported on time.

Ma Chao was almost crazy, he was unkempt, his beard was long, his eyes were deep, like a tiger trapped in a cage, with a gloomy face all day long, murderously going back and forth between Han Sui and Pang De's camp, anxiously waiting for the moment of siege.

In March, the Yellow River thawed, and the first batch of grain and grass from Hebei was transported to Guanzhong, and Pang De had to leave.

If he delays any longer, I am afraid that the next decree will remove him from his ministry and cut off his head. Ma Chao was in a hurry and yelled at Han Sui.

Han Sui still had no intention of attacking, and he refused to answer Ma Chao's question. Ma Chao was finally completely enraged.

Ma Chao pulled out his war knife and threatened Han Sui on his neck, forcing him to give the order to attack. Han Sui was indifferent and undaunted.

Yang Qiu, Ma Play and others rushed up and almost cut Ma Chao. Fortunately, Pound arrived in time and pulled Ma Chao out of the camp.

Yan Xing didn't understand it very much, and asked Han Sui,

"Why are you reluctant to attack?"

"Because the time hasn't come yet." Han Sui sighed and said slowly,

"When the Hanoi battlefield started, the Northern Xinjiang Army in Hedong was going to attack Guanxi in order to deal with the Hanoi battlefield, and at this time, the grain and grass supplied to Yuan Shao's army did not dare to go from Guanxi, but came from the direction of Nanyang. Our chance has come. ”

"Your Excellency wants to cut off Yuan Shao's grain route?"

"It's not." Han Sui explained,

"The reason why I am reluctant to attack is that I hope that Yuan Shao will recruit more troops into Guanzhong, so that a grain route threatened by us will not be able to support the needs of Yuan Shao's tens of thousands of troops for a long time. At the same time, since Yuan Shao's main forces were all on the battlefield in Guanzhong, this was an excellent opportunity for Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the Central Plains to attack Yuan Shu and attack the strength of Yuan Valve. When Yuan Shu's defeat was imminent, it was the day when Yuan Shao withdrew from Guanzhong. ”

"In a few months, I can take Guanzhong at the lowest cost, and Hebei will suffer heavy losses because he has to provide me with money and food, and Yuan Shao will suffer heavy losses because he has to give up Guanzhong." Han Ju looked at Yan Xing and said with a grim expression,

"Only by preserving enough strength can I ensure that I can occupy Guanzhong and gain a firm foothold in Guanzhong in the shortest possible time." Yan Xing understood,

"When are you going to go to war?"

"By the fall, I think it's about the same." Jump to