Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains Section 78

In February, Luoyang.

In the past four months or so, the Northern Xinjiang Army, under the command of the left guard general Lu Yi and the right general Yang Feng, has basically completed all preparations for the storming of Luoyang.

The moat on the battlefield of Xicheng has been cut off, and there is no water in the ten-mile-long river. The three-mile stretch of river between Shangximen, Yongmen and Guangyangmen has been filled in.

After the general Li Hong returned to Xingyuan, the first thing he did was to accompany the Son of Heaven to inspect the battlefield. More than 100,000 soldiers and strong men in northern Xinjiang are busy on the battlefield. The rebels on the city walls were on standby and did not fire at the dense indignation and repair of the oars on the river.

Yang Feng introduced to the general that after the army cut off the moat and drained the water in the river, it began to fill in the moat from the river in front of Yongmen. At first, the rebels in the city shot wildly, but due to our large number of covering equipment, hundreds of thousands of people took turns to bury them from dozens of directions at the same time, and the rebels were overwhelmed, so the weapons in the city were consumed too much, and they gradually stopped shooting for several days, and could only watch us fill the moat. The rate of landfilling has accelerated, and the channels that have been filled in are getting longer and longer, so far exceeding the prescribed length. If the time is extended for another month or two, we can even fill in the moats in front of the Upper West Gate and Guangyang Gate on the north and south sides of Yongmen.

The direction of our main attack is very clear, that is, Yongmen and this three-mile-long city wall, so the rebels have not been idle during this time, and have concentrated their efforts to strengthen the city defense of Yongmen and this section of the city wall.

"How many stone cannons are you going to deploy on this three-mile-long battlefield?" Li Hong asked.

"According to the most dense arrangement, place one every fifty feet (about 12 meters), a row of 180 units." Yang Feng said, "A total of five platoons, 500 heavy stone cannons, and 400 medium stone cannons. Then he pointed to the north and south ends of the battlefield, "On both sides of the main battlefield, six hundred stone cannons will be placed on each side." On the entire battlefield of Xicheng, we will deploy 20 stone cannons and 8,000 ballistas. ”

"What about the other battlefields?"

"Eight hundred stone cannons were deployed on the battlefields of the north and south cities. 1,300 stone cannons were deployed on the Dongcheng battlefield. Yang Feng said with a smile, "The four walls of Luoyang City add up to about forty miles, and if five thousand stone cannons are arranged in sequence, there will be about two stone cannons within every fifty feet." Under such a dense attack, what else could be left on the walls of Luoyang? ”

"Have you gathered 5,000 stone cannons?"

"There are still more than 500 units left, and they are on their way to Luoyang City." "There are still more than 2,000 ballistas missing. Half a month later, all the ordnance will be ready. ”

"Where's Minfu?" Li Hong asked, "Half a month later, can two million people gather on the battlefield?" With so many heavy equipment being used at the same time, the number of people cannot be less in any case. ”

"If nothing else, in mid-March, people from all over the country will be able to rush to the battlefield."

Li Hong was very satisfied, and then went to inspect the baggage camp. All kinds of ordnance were piled up in the baggage camp. Grain hoards, arrow hoards, stone hoards, piles of piles, like rolling hills, with no end in sight.

"Is there enough food?" Li Hong is most concerned about this issue. If there is a full-scale war in mid-March, there will be about 2.5 million people on the battlefield who need to eat, which is too much.

Zhong Yuan said in his letter that the current grain stock can last for two months on the battlefield in Luoyang, and after the spring harvest in May is over, it can continue to last for another month. If Luoyang has not been conquered by the end of June, the army will have to cease fighting, and the people will have to be sent home. Lu Yi scolded in a low voice, obviously very dissatisfied with Li Wei, "Will it take three months to beat Luoyang?" Lao Tzu took Luoyang for him in a month. ”

"Don't be careless. If Yuan Shao was in charge of the city, this battle might not have been as smooth as we imagined. Li Hong stretched out his hand and patted Ko Yi, and then asked, "How long can the stone bullet guarantee the continuous attack of the army?" ”

"Twenty days." Yang Feng said, "These stone shells can allow 5,000 stone cannons to attack day and night for twenty days. The rebels in the city have plenty of supplies, a lot of people, and a strong ability to repair, so we must attack day and night, and never give the rebels the slightest time to repair. ”

"Day and night attacks?" Zhang Yan was quite surprised, "Can the soldiers and the people bear it?" Don't they rest? ”

"During this time, we ordered the officers and men of each unit to take turns to train in the tank battalion, so that they could quickly master the use of stone cannons and ballistas." "After the start of the war, the soldiers of each unit take turns to go into battle, and it is necessary to ensure continuous attacks without stopping for a moment. After the start of the war, the Minfu mainly carried ordnance to the front-line army, and the two million people could take turns to rest without physical exhaustion. ”

In the afternoon, the Son of Heaven and his entourage rushed to the craftsman camp. The artisan battalion occupies a huge area, with army patrols on all sides, and is heavily defended. In the open space in the camp, tens of thousands of craftsmen are making the final improvements to some heavy equipment such as stone cannons, wells, temporary vehicles, and repair oars.

Yin Si and Liu Ye, who were in charge of manufacturing ordnance, led everyone to the place where the well was placed. The Son of Heaven, Li Hong, and a group of civil and military ministers were all surprised when they saw Jing Yan. It was so large that it was about 110 feet (about 26 meters in today's history) in height and in the shape of a tower, and its base was 40 feet long and 40 feet wide (about 9 meters today) in order to maintain its center of gravity. Now it's lying on the ground, and if it is upright, the height will be staggering.

"Master Jia, you can talk casually about building 500 wells, and there are still twenty soldiers in the shack of the wells, but do you know how difficult it is to build this thing?" Yin Si lost a lot of weight and complained to Jia Xu.

Jia Xu smiled: "There is no difficulty for you to build this thing, the difficulty is how to push it to the city." ”

"A few years ago, you went to the imperial court, saying that the well was too big and extremely time-consuming to manufacture, and asked for a reduction of 300 units, and the imperial court agreed." Li Hong asked, "Are the two hundred wells done now?" ”

"We have completed the manufacture of 200 well blocks, and according to the requirements of the general, two shacks have been installed on the top of the well blocks, which can carry fifty soldiers at a time." Liu Ye bowed to the side and said, "It's just that in this way, once the well is hit by the enemy, our losses will be very large." ”

"The well is so large and the bottom is extremely stable, even if it is hit by the enemy's stone cannons, it will be difficult to collapse for a while, but the soldiers still have plenty of time to evacuate the hut and escape to the ground down the roundabout ladder." Li Hong pointed to the well and said to the little emperor, "The two adults are very thoughtful and the design is very ingenious, and Your Majesty should reward them heavily." ”

Xiao Tianzi nodded again and again. Then he asked curiously: "Two Aiqing, the well is huge, and there are no wheels, how can they push it to the city to fight?" ”

"The shaft is too big and too heavy, and the requirements for axles and wheels are extremely high, and if it is pushed by wheels, it will seriously delay the manufacturing time." Yin Si turned and pointed to the logs stacked on the other side, "So we finally gave up the wheels and replaced them with logs, and used them instead of wheels, pushing them towards the city wall. ”

"If you push the well in this way, there will be a lot of casualties among the soldiers who lay logs in front of the well." Zhang Yan said.

"Time is too tight, and the well is too big, we don't have a better way." Liu Ye smiled bitterly, "At present, the moat has been filled up for three miles, and we can put in one hundred to one hundred and twenty wells at a time to carry out operations in the city." With 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers attacking the tower at the same time, it should be possible to achieve effective results. ”

"After 6,000 soldiers attack the tower, our follow-up army can quickly ascend the city from the spiral ladder of the well, and we will send 10,000 soldiers to the tower in the shortest possible time." Li Hong waved his hand vigorously, "Ascending to the city to fight, one success, no second time." ”

February, Yizhou, Hanzhong.

At the end of last year, Liu Biao, in the name of the Son of Heaven, issued an order to reward Liu Zhang, the pastor of Yizhou, Yang Song, the Taishou of Hanzhong, and other Bashu officials, and urged them to put the community first and do their best to help the Northern Expeditionary Army to go north.

Liu Zhang and Yang Song were grateful for the gift of the Son of Heaven, and spared no effort in terms of money, food, troops, and people's recruitment. Yang Song also took the initiative to send Yang Ren and Yang Ang to join the Northern Expeditionary Army with 10,000 horses, which brought the strength of the Northern Expeditionary Army to 70,000.

In February, the grain, grass, ordnance and nearly 200,000 people from all over Yizhou who had been provided to the Northern Expeditionary Army were successively assembled in the areas of Nanzheng and Chuyang (now Mian County) in Hanzhong County.

Liu Bei, the general of the chariot cavalry, was depressed and uneasy. At present, the number of grain, grass, ordnance and people can not meet the needs of the Northern Expeditionary Army, after the 70,000 troops crossed the Qinling Mountains and entered Guanzhong, they had to attack the city all the way, and there must be a sufficient and continuous supply of grain, grass and ordnance, but now Yizhou cannot meet all this. The purpose of the Northern Expedition is to save Sheji, to save Luoyang and rescue Yuan Shao, and to help Liu Bei capture Guanzhong. In addition to saving Sheji, the other two visible and tangible purposes have nothing to do with Yizhou. In this case, Liu Zhang and Yang Song were able to provide the Northern Expeditionary Army with food, grass, ordnance, troops, and people, which was already the greatest responsibility of the Han courtiers, and it was obviously impossible to ask them to smash the pot and sell iron, and put their net worth and lives into it.

Spring has long arrived, the snow is melting, and the northern expedition is imminent, but Liu Bei still has no specific attack strategy. For this reason, he had to convene Kuai Liang, Jian Yong, Guan Yu, Zhang Song, Yang Song and other civil and military officials to discuss day and night.

After Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he and Kuai Liang and others formulated a strategy to attack Guanzhong, but Liu Bei and Kuai Liang and others were not from Yizhou, they were very unfamiliar with Bashu, and they knew very little about the terrain of this area, and their strategy was resolutely denied by Zhang Song, Yang Song and other Yizhou officials.

In that year, Emperor Gaozu took the pass, repaired the plank road in the Ming Dynasty, secretly crossed the Chen Cang, and went down in one fell swoop. The plank road of Chencang Road is very wide and strong, which can not only parallel carriages, but also carry heavy loads, and is the main road connecting Guanzhong and Hanzhong. Attacking Hanzhong from this plank road, the problem of transporting grain and grass can be basically solved. The transportation of grain and grass was guaranteed, and the army could launch continuous attacks. Therefore, Liu Bei planned to follow the example of Emperor Gaozu, and also come to Ming to repair the plank road and secretly cross Chencang.

However, Zhang Song, Yang Song and other Yizhou officials told Liu Bei that after Emperor Gaozu obtained Guanzhong and established the Han Dynasty, in order to ensure the safety of Guanzhong, he established a strong defense line on the front line of Dasanguan and Chencang. At this moment, the Hebei people take Chang'an as the capital, of course, they will be heavily stationed on the front line of Dasanguan and Chencang, and it is difficult to succeed in forcibly attacking Chencang. Once the Northern Expeditionary Army is blocked by the Northern Xinjiang Army on the front line of Dasanguan and Chencang, the intention of attacking Guanzhong will be immediately exposed, and the Northern Xinjiang Army in Luoyang will rush back to help, and the strategy of the Northern Expedition to Guanzhong will inevitably fail.

Zhang Song and Yang Song then came up with a strategy that Liu Bei had never thought of.

West into Longnan, transferred to the Western Xinjiang, and then occupied the Western Xinjiang, directly killing Guanzhong. If this strategy wins, it will be in hand and Luoyang will be safe. The failure of this strategy will occupy the western frontier and form a lasting threat to Guanzhong, which will then force the northern Xinjiang army to abandon its southward march and attack the western frontier with all its might. In this way, the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army could be delayed, and Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Cao Cao and others could gain respite, so as to quickly form a situation of confrontation between the north and the south.

The first feeling that this strategy gave Liu Bei was that the people of Yizhou were too cunning. The second feeling is that the people of Yizhou do not have the confidence to capture Guanzhong. The third feeling is that the people of Yizhou can't wait to kick themselves out of Yizhou.

Obviously, the key to this strategy is to occupy the western frontier. After occupying the western frontier, even if he did not conquer Guanzhong, he could still retreat to the western frontier and continue to compete with the northern Xinjiang army. In this way, his army will not withdraw into Yizhou, will not bring danger to Yizhou, and will not bring continuous consumption of financial and material resources and troops to Yizhou. And more importantly, because he threatened Guanzhong in the west and dragged the Northern Xinjiang Army, he could not only alleviate the threat of Guanzhong to Yizhou, but also help Yizhou hold Longnan and make Yizhou safer.

Liu Bei looked at the two smiling faces of Zhang Song and Yang Song, and couldn't wait for one of them to give them a punch.

However, what Yang Song said next made Liu Bei fall into deep thought.

The purpose of the adult's attack on Guanzhong this time was to rescue Luoyang, but Luoyang was saved, what about Guanzhong? Is the Northern Frontier Army willing to lose Guanzhong? If the Northern Xinjiang Army lost Guanzhong, it lost the opportunity to attack Luoyang again and the opportunity to take the Central Plains. Therefore, after Li Hong withdrew from Luoyang, he would attack Guanzhong with an army of more than 100,000 troops, and the defeat of the adults was a matter of time.

Guanzhong was recaptured by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and Luoyang was about to be besieged again, so repeatedly, how to rescue Luoyang? And how do you see the hope of reviving the community?

But if you seize the western frontier, the situation will change completely.

Since ancient times, Guanzhong has a high-rise trend in the Central Plains, and Longxi has a high-rise trend in Guanzhong. If Longxi is lost, the western Xinjiang will not be protected, and the Guanzhong will be dangerous, and this is also an important reason why this dynasty has exhausted its strength to defend the western Xinjiang in the past hundred years. In addition, Longxi not only has the upstream of Guanzhong, but also has the upstream trend of Hanzhong and Bashu. The Weishui River in Guanzhong, the Western Han River in Bashu, the Western Han River in Hanzhong, and the Chushui River all originate in Longxi. Weishui flows eastward into the Yellow River and passes through Guanzhong. The Western Han River flows southward through Bashu, while the Chushui flows through Hanzhong (the Han River that finally flows into Jingxiang), and these three rivers cross the mountains and mountains, providing a passage between Longxi and Guanzhong, Hanzhong, and Bashu. Longxi is the upstream of these three places, and the terrain is significantly higher than that of the three places, so if Guanzhong, Hanzhong, and Bashu want to attack Longxi, it will be difficult to do so, but it is very easy to attack Guanzhong, Hanzhong and Bashu from Longxi.

If the adults occupy the western frontier and become one with the Bashu and Hanzhong Unions, they can attack the key points and retreat to defend Longxi, which is foolproof.

At this time, if the Northern Xinjiang Army attacks Luoyang again, you can join forces with us, and the two roads will be caught in the middle of the attack, and the danger of Luoyang will be solved. If the Northern Xinjiang Army attacks the western Xinjiang, it will be our delaying plan. With our support, the adults and the Northern Xinjiang Army were maneuvering in the western Xinjiang, while Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and other adults took the opportunity to recuperate and recover their vitality, and strive to form a situation of confrontation between the north and the south in the shortest possible time.

Once the situation of confrontation between the north and the south was formed, the northern Xinjiang army was constrained by the situation in the world and had to postpone its attack on the western frontier. In this way, adults can win time, run the western Xinjiang, and fight for the future with Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and other adults, and resonate with the society.

Yang Song said a lot, with good reasons and good prospects. Before Liu Bei could figure it out, Zhang Song then said something more.

Zhang Song said that instead of fighting for a short day in the north and south of the Qinling Mountains and in the northern Xinjiang army, and there is no basis for advancing and retreating, it is better to take a long side, advance westward to occupy Longxi, and take the lead in gaining the advantage of a commanding height. In this way, you can take the world, and if you retreat, you can protect half of the Han Dynasty, and you will have no worries about advancing and retreating.

Since Han Sui's death, Western Xinjiang has been in chaos, and the Northern Xinjiang Army is busy attacking Luoyang and is unable to take care of Western Xinjiang.

There are many roads leading to Huanan from Hanzhong and Bashu. Longnan is the Wudu County of Liangzhou, because of the Qiang ** chaos in the western Xinjiang, Hebei has lost control of the Liangzhou County, and Wudu County is now in charge of itself. There are two roads to Longnan that are easier to walk, one is to go west along the Jialing Road in the West Han River Valley to Hechi (now Hui County), this road is relatively flat and easy to walk. One road is Chencang Road, Chencang Road is about 700 miles long, of which about 300 miles in Hanzhong, from Hanzhong's South Zheng, Chuyang (now Mian County) to the north, through the East Wolf Valley, from the direction of Fengting (now Fengxian) out of Chencang Road to kill the river pool.

After taking Longnan, continue to the west is Longxi County. If you advance to the northwest, it will be Hanyang County, and you can flank the Northern Frontier Army on the line of Yicheng and Shangtai (today's Shui) to open the way to Guanzhong.

Zhang Song and Yang Song finished talking about the strategy of the northern expedition, and the two Yizhou generals Zhang Ren and Yang Ren then explained the attack strategy to Liu Bei in detail from the military affairs.

If the adults accept this strategy of the northern expedition, then the strategy of attack is divided into two parts. Part of it is in Guanzhong, and some of it is in Longnan and Longxi.

The army marched north from Chencang Road, and then attacked Hechi and Xiabi (Wudu County), all of which took Longnan, and then divided into three. One took Longxi, one took Shangtai, and one attacked and dispersed Guan and Chen Cang to contain it.

The purpose of taking Longxi was to occupy the western frontier, so as to gain the advantage of being from a high vantage point and completely control the situation in the northwest.

The purpose of taking Shangqi and Sanguan was to attack from two sides, open the gate of Guanzhong, thereby threatening Chang'an and forcing the Northern Xinjiang Army to return to Guanzhong to relieve the danger of Luoyang.

If the northern expedition strategy of the Yizhou people is followed, then the main target of the Northern Expeditionary Army is not Guanzhong, but Western Xinjiang. To put it bluntly, it is to protect Yizhou. In this way, even if the Northern Expeditionary Army failed to capture Guanzhong and allowed the Northern Xinjiang Army to conquer Luoyang, there would be no loss to Yizhou.

At the same time, the Northern Expeditionary Army was divided into three, and the army in Yizhou was able to use the excuse of being familiar with the terrain of Longnan and Longxi, having all kinds of combat experience with the Qiang people, and having various relations with the leaders of the Qiang tribes as an excuse to turn around and attack the front line of Longxi, thus avoiding the possibility of losing troops on the battlefield in Guanzhong. Yizhou's army was preserved, and Longnan was occupied again, so that the people of Yizhou could block Liu Bei's retreat to Hanzhong and Bashu after Liu Bei's army was defeated, and ensure the safety of Yizhou.

The northern expedition strategy of the Yizhou people took into account the interests of the imperial court, Liu Bei and Yizhou, and Liu Bei could not find any excuse to refute it, and Jian Yong, Sun Qian, Guan Yu and others could accept it.

This strategy is actually the most beneficial to Liu Bei. Liu Bei's current situation is very difficult, and it can be said that he has reached a desperate situation of death and no life. Yang Song has already said in his analysis that even if Liu Bei takes Chang'an, he will not be able to occupy Guanzhong for a long time. Imagine that with the combined forces of Yuan Shao and Han Sui, Li Hong defeated the whole army, how could Liu Bei hold Guanzhong? Liu Bei was beaten to the ground, and his fate can be imagined.

Taking a step back, even if Liu Bei escaped back to Hanzhong, what else could he do? Could he still kill Yang Song to seize Hanzhong, and then kill Liu Zhang to seize Bashu? It is estimated that as soon as he walked into Hanzhong with his front foot, Yang Song led someone to cut off his head. No one is going to take in a desperate hero, it's just digging his own grave. Yang Song and Liu Zhang are not idiots, they will take advantage of Liu Bei's moaning while he is still holding his wound and moaning, and stab him in the back.

Liu Bei also knew his situation, he had been trying to find a foolproof strategy, so he had not come up with a commendable strategy for the northern expedition, and he didn't know what to do after his northern expedition failed.

The people of Yizhou had no confidence in the capture of Guanzhong, which can be seen from the amount of grain, grass, baggage and people they provided to the Northern Expeditionary Army. Two months of food, 200,000 people, that is, enough for the Northern Expeditionary Army to fight a month's battle, and another month, the Northern Expeditionary Army will spend hundreds of miles on the plank road.

For Liu Bei, this battle is winning, and going north is a dead end.

Liu Bei had no choice, he could only accept the advice of the people of Yizhou, but the people of Jingzhou were unwilling.

It is clear that the goal of the Yizhou people and Liu Bei was Western Xinjiang, not Guanzhong, that is, this strategy was at the expense of Luoyang and Jingzhou, which seriously damaged the interests of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao.

If the Northern Expeditionary Army cannot conquer Chang'an and hold back the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army in Guanzhong, Luoyang will be lost. Luoyang was lost, and Jingzhou became a battlefield for head-on confrontation with the Northern Xinjiang Army, and Jingzhou was in danger. Of course, if Liu Bei can occupy the western frontier, gain a foothold in the western frontier, and join forces with the Yizhou people to drag the northern Xinjiang army in the western frontier, then it is indeed possible for the world to form a situation of confrontation between the north and the south, but how likely is this possibility?

Kuailiang resolutely opposed. Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Yi Yuan, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and other Jingzhou civil and military officials also echoed the voice in order to protect the interests of Jingzhou people.

The strategy of the Northern Expedition was unresolved in the insistence of the Yizhou people, the opposition of the Jingzhou people, and Liu Bei's vacillation.

In this way, the time slowly came to the early spring.

Now the people of Yizhou have made their attitude clear. Liu Zhang and Yang Song's attitude is very resolute, the Northern Expeditionary Army has so much food, grass and ordnance, if you don't follow the Northern Expedition strategy of the Yizhou people, you will die.

Liu Pan and Kuai Liang's attitude is also very clear, if they want to fight, they will fight Guanzhong. And changed the attack strategy, changing "Ming Xiu plank road, secretly crossing Chen Cang" to "Ming attacking Chen Cang, secretly walking the plank road". Chencang Road can meet the army's grain and grass transportation, and this road must be taken. With the main force, take the Chencang Road, forcibly attack the Guanzhong, contain the troops in the Guanzhong, and at the same time send another army to attack from the Meridian Road and kill Chang'an. If Chang'an is lost, the hinterland of Guanzhong will be in chaos, and how long can the Northern Xinjiang Army hold out in Chencang?

Liu Bei was at a loss. He was willing to accept the northern expedition strategy of the Yizhou people, but he was worried about losing the support of the Jingzhou people. Without the restraint of the Jingzhou people on the Yizhou people, the Yizhou people are very likely to draw their salaries from the bottom of the kettle and let their entire army be wiped out in Guanzhong. Now Liu Zhang, Yang Song and others are trying their best to win over Pang Yi and Yan Yan. After all, Pang Yi, Yan Yan and their subordinates are all from Yizhou, and they have nothing to do with themselves, so they will defect when they say that they will defect.

Liu Bei hesitated, but the people of Yizhou were very simple.

In the course of the argument, one day Kuailiang didn't know what he had eaten, got food poisoning, and fell unconscious. Jingzhou was so angry that he ran in, and Gan Ning ran in and out with a knife, shouting and shouting to kill. Gan Ning and Kuai Liang have always had a good relationship, and he took refuge in Jingzhou thanks to Kuai Liang's help. Kuai Liang fell, and the commander of the Jingzhou army was Huang Zhong. Huang Zhong was very calm, and he asked Gan Ning to take a hundred soldiers to escort Kuai Liang to Chengdu for treatment.

Huang Zhong walked to Liu Bei's big tent and said to Liu Bei, my lord, let's make a decision as soon as possible, if the trouble continues, the Northern Expeditionary Army will fall apart. The Jingzhou army is the only one who looks forward to it, and there is no other word.

Liu Bei no longer hesitated, and immediately decided to accept the northern expedition strategy of the Yizhou people, but at the same time, he also accepted Kuai Liang's suggestion, divided his troops on the meridian road, and attacked Chang'an City.

In mid-February, Liu Bei swore in the northern expedition in Chuyang.

The Northern Expeditionary Army was divided into two routes, east and west.

The eastern route was Zhang Fei as the commander, Huang Zhong was the deputy, Yan Yan and Yang Ang were the generals, leading an army of 10,000 and attacking Chang'an from the Meridian Road.

Liu Bei led the army on the West Road and entered Longnan through Chencang.

After the army occupied Longnan, Zhang Ren was the commander and Yang was the deputy, leading 10,000 people to attack and kill Shangqi in Hanyang County. One was led by Guan Yu as the commander and Pang Yi as the deputy, leading 20,000 troops to attack and kill Longxi. Liu Bei himself led 20,000 troops to sit in Longnan and attack the first line of Sanguan and Chencang to contain the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army in Guanzhong.

At the same time, Liu Bei wrote to Liu Biao of Jingzhou, asking him to send an army to attack Wuguan from the direction of Nanyang in early March to help the Northern Expeditionary Army contain part of the Guanzhong forces.

After the army set off, Liu Bei met with Yang Song, the Taishou of Hanzhong, again and asked him to consider whether to appropriately increase the supply of grain, grass and baggage for the Northern Expeditionary Army. Whether it is fighting Guanzhong or Longxi, the current amount of grain and grass is far from enough.

Yang Song readily agreed, as long as he could help the adults to capture the western frontier, Hanzhong was willing to do everything he could. Yang Song also promised that he would personally rush to Chengdu to meet Liu Zhang and Liu Pan and discuss with them the continuous supply of grain and grass to the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Liu Bei was greatly grateful, and led the army to kill Longnan quickly.

February, Jingzhou.

In late February, Liu Biao personally rushed to Wancheng and commanded the counteroffensive on the middle battlefield.

The scouts who spies on the military situation in Luoyang brought the latest news, the Son of Heaven and the general Li Hong of Hebei rushed to the city of Luoyang again, and a new round of attacks by the Northern Frontier Army was about to begin. The Jingzhou people had been climbing over Qinglong Mountain from the direction of Yiyang, and then quietly lurking outside Luoyang along the Luoshui River to inquire about the news, but this time the scout replied that an army of the Northern Xinjiang Army had occupied Yiyang City, and the connection between Luoyang and the outside world had been completely cut off.

At the military meeting, Kuai Yue explained in detail the attack strategy of launching a counteroffensive on the eastern, central, and western routes at the same time.

"Our purpose is to rescue Luoyang, force the Northern Xinjiang Army to withdraw from the Kanto, and stabilize the front in the Central Plains, so as to quickly form a situation of confrontation between the north and the south, give the imperial court time to recover, and lay the foundation for the future Northern Expedition to Hebei." Kuai Yue said solemnly, "We can't expect both the eastern and western battlefields to achieve the expected goals. Starting from our Jingzhou itself, the top priority at the moment is to recapture Luyang, open up the connection with Luoyang, and attract as many northern Xinjiang troops as possible to the Yingchuan battlefield. In this way, we can help Yuan Shao hold Luoyang and help the Eastern Route Coalition Army to enter the periphery of Luoyang. ”

Kuai Yue then deployed in detail the direction of attack of each department.

General Xu Xuan, who was stationed in the north of Nanyang, led his army to attack Wuguan from the line of the Danshui River, and did his best to attract the northern Xinjiang army in Guanzhong, so as to prepare Liu Bei on the battlefield on the west road to attack Chang'an.

Since no news has been received from Liu Bei yet, Jingzhou does not know when Liu Bei's Northern Expeditionary Army will attack Chang'an, so Liu Biao asked Xu Xuan not to think too much, let go of the attack, and fight as fiercely as possible.

Kuai Yue, Yuan Xi, and Wen Ping led an army to attack Luyang and confronted Yan Liang head-on.

Deng Yi and Pang Ji led their troops through Bowangpo, attacked Duyang and Yecheng, killed Kunyang, approached the Rushui River, and threatened Yan Liang from the rear of Luyang.

"On the first day of the first month of March, all battlefields started fighting at the same time."

February, Yuzhou.

In late February, Cao Cao, Cao Hong, Li Dian, Yu Ban, Wang Zhong, Cai Yang, Liu Xun and others led an army of 30,000 to Xiao County.

Almost at the same time, Sun Ben, Cheng Pu, and Sun Fu led an army of 10,000 to the county of Peiguo.

A few days later, the two armies met in Dangcheng, and Yuan Tan rushed to meet them.

Yuan Tan had 20,000 main forces stationed in Suiyang, and after the three armies converged, the strength of the coalition forces on the battlefield on the east road reached 60,000.

"According to the scout's investigation, there are only 10,000 troops of Peng Lie in the area of Xiangyi and Huating. The troops in the Yongqiu and Chenliu areas are even weaker, and it seems that there is only Lu Bu's personal guard song. Yuan Tan pointed to the map and said, "Changyi still has Sun Luan's 5,000 men and horses, but they are more than 400 miles away from Chen Liu, and even if they want to support, it will be too late in time." ”

"Zihe (Cao Chun)'s army is in Xiaopei, and Sun Luan of Changyi and Wei Xu of Rencheng dare not move." Cao Cao sneered, "There is Zixiao (Cao Ren) in Langya County, and Wenruo (Xun Yu) in Pengcheng, whether it is Gao Shun of Lu State or Zang Ba of Beihai, in the absence of absolute superiority in troops, they dare not rush into Xuzhou." This time, Lu Bu was dead. ”

"Lu Bu can retreat to Kaifeng, Zhongmu, or even Xingyang." Sun Ben shook his head and said, "If we enter Henan, we can only cut off a grain route for the Northern Xinjiang Army." As long as the Northern Xinjiang Army has the Yellow River, the grain route will not be broken, so I think it is better for the army to stop at Chenliu, so that we can throw the main force into the Yingchuan battlefield, and the Jingzhou Army will attack from the east and west, drive the Northern Xinjiang Army out of Yingchuan, and then try our best to open up the connection with Luoyang and help Lord Yuan to hold Luoyang City. ”

"And then?" Cao Cao asked, "If Liu Bei on the battlefield on the West Road is blocked outside Sanguan and Chencang, and we are blocked by the Northern Xinjiang Army outside the southern pass of Luoyang, the Northern Xinjiang Army can still continue to attack Luoyang City, so your method will not help to rescue Luoyang." Cao Cao pointed to Yanzhou on the map and drew a circle vigorously, "Only by attacking Yanzhou can we achieve the goal of rescuing Luoyang." In the chaos of Yanzhou, the Northern Xinjiang Army is bound to divide troops to support, so the danger of Luoyang can be solved. ”

After defeating Chenliu and cutting off the grain route of the Northern Xinjiang Army, Cao Cao and Sun Quan had a big disagreement on whether the coalition army entered the Yingchuan battlefield or entered Yanzhou. In order to open up the battlefield on the East Road as soon as possible, Yuan Tan tried his best to stop the quarrel between the two, saying that he would talk about Chen Liu, and the matter would be discussed later.

The purpose of opening up the battlefield on the eastern route was ultimately to defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army and form a situation of confrontation between the north and the south, that is to say, the Eastern Route Coalition Army took advantage of the weakness of Yanzhou's forces to enter Yanzhou and recapture Yanzhou, which was the most conducive strategy to promote the development of the war situation. But defeating Yanzhou is equivalent to cheapening Cao Cao, Yuan Tan and Sun Quan don't say it in their mouths, but they don't want to do it in their hearts. The two of them clung to Luoyang City, and they had to turn around and fight Yingchuan, solve the danger of Luoyang first, and then consider whether to take advantage of the victory to attack Yanzhou.

Cao Cao was annoyed and had words of suffering. The Northern Xinjiang Army withdrew from Luoyang, and the army returned to defend Yanzhou, how could Yanzhou still fight? And at that time, it was no longer a question of whether the coalition forces would fight Yanzhou, but whether the Northern Xinjiang Army would immediately retaliate against Xuzhou.

Yuan Tan saw that Cao Cao was arguing with Sun Ben about whether to fight Yanzhou again, and immediately stood up and became a peacemaker. The top priority at the moment is to fight Chenliu, only by defeating Chenliu can the coalition forces encircle the Yingchuan battlefield, cut off the land grain route between Yanzhou and Luoyang, and threaten Henan, Yingchuan and other Luoyang peripheral battlefields, otherwise it is useless to say anything.

At the end of February, the three armies converged at Suiyang and actively prepared to attack north.

At the end of February, Yingchuan, Xuchang.

Guo Tu and Liu Xun led an army of 10,000 to attack Xuchang, and the first battle in early spring quietly began.

Song Xian urgently reported to General Luoyang, Luyang Yanliang, and Chen Liulu Bu to report the military situation.

The rebels began a counteroffensive.

In the sixth year of the Han Dynasty (202 AD), March.

At the beginning of March, Deng Yi and Pang Ji of the Jingzhou Army led their troops to attack the front line of Duyang and Yecheng, and Jiang Wu and Xiao Lei led the army to block the attack.

At the beginning of March, Kuai Yue, Yuan Xi, and Wen Ping led an army to attack Luyang, and Yan Liang led an army to meet it.

In early March, Lü Bu received news that the rebels had assembled a large army in Suiyang and were preparing to move north along Suishui River to attack Chenliu. While urgently reporting to the general of Luoyang, Lü Bu ordered Peng Lie to lead the army to retreat to Yongqiu and Chenliu in a hurry, and urgently dispatched the people to strengthen the city defense.

In early March, Li Yun, a general of Wuya stationed at Wuguan, urgently reported to Xu Rong of Chang'an, and Xu Xuan of Nanyang led his army to attack Wuguan. Xu Rong immediately wrote to Chen Cang Hao Zhao, asking him to be careful, and once he found that the rebels were knocking, he would ask Pang De and Huaxiong on the front line of Yicheng and Shangtai for help. Jump to