Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains 57th Festival in July, Langya County, Xuzhou, Kaiyang City. The stalemate on the battlefield in the Central Plains made Zang Ba more and more uneasy, especially after the meeting between Jiqiu and Chen Deng a few days ago, after Chen Deng's analysis and speculation of the current situation, Zang Ba had a feeling of fear.

If it weren't for his strong admiration and trust in the general's bravery, he would probably have expressed the fear in his heart on the spot.

After Chen Deng succeeded Guan Yu to the East China Sea, Zang Ba's Qingzhou army had withdrawn from Tancheng and was stationed on the Kaiyang line in Langya County.

Relying on his relationship with Zang Ba in the past, Chen Deng repeatedly wrote to Zang Ba, persuading him to take advantage of the situation to return to the Xuchang court, turn against him, and help the coalition army defeat Hebei.

At that time, the Northern Xinjiang Army was like a bamboo, and Zang Ba received the latest battle situation sent by Handan from time to time, and of course he was not impressed by Chen Deng's persuasion, but as the Northern Xinjiang Army stopped at the chasm and fell into a protracted stalemate, Zang Ba's mentality gradually changed.

At this time, Chen Deng once again invited him to meet in Jiqiu. Chen Deng said, since I came to Guangling to serve as Taishou, we have not seen each other, don't Brother Xuan Gao want to get together with old friends and catch up with old friends?

Zang Ba thought about it for a long time, so he decided to go to Jiqiu. Chen Deng was born in a high-ranking family in Xuzhou, knowledgeable and resourceful, but he was unruly and unruly, and was known as a madman in Xuzhou.

Because of this character, he has never been given the opportunity to be filial piety. Chen Deng felt that he had not met his talents, he was depressed, and his behavior was even more wild, and this situation continued until he was twenty-five years old when Tao Qian came to Xuzhou, and he got the opportunity to stand out.

Chen Deng was first promoted to filial piety, then appointed magistrate of Dongyang (present-day west of Jinhu County, Jiangsu Province), and soon appointed by Tao Qian as the lieutenant of the Diannong School.

He implemented a series of agricultural and water conservancy measures in Xuzhou, so that Xuzhou's financial wealth was greatly restored in just a few years.

Chen Deng and Zang Ba are both people that Tao Qian values very much, and Zang Ba is very respectful to Chen Deng, and he never cares about Chen Deng's cynicism, and the relationship between the two gradually improves and becomes friends.

In the Xuzhou Gaomen, there is only one Chen Deng who has a close relationship with a martial artist like Zang Ba who was born in the Yellow Turban.

After Chen Deng met Zang Ba, he made a thorough analysis of the current situation, and finally his conclusion was that as long as Yuan Shao adhered to the established strategy of defending Guandu and dragged out the war until after the Yellow River froze this winter, the Northern Xinjiang Army would be defeated.

Zang Ba suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem. Last month, the imperial court issued an order to send Zang Hong, a native of Guangling, to Qingzhou to serve as the assassin, and appointed three Taishou at the same time, so that only two of the six counties in Qingzhou were still their subordinates, and the other counties were controlled by Hebei.

If the Northern Xinjiang Army is defeated and retreats to the north bank of the Yellow River, then it will bear the brunt of the attack of the coalition forces.

As Chen Deng said, should take precautions as soon as possible, lest he end up working hard in vain and burying his life and that of tens of thousands of brothers in vain?

But now that Zang Hong and the three Taishou have taken office, even if he wants to go back on his word and drive Zang Hong and others out of Xuzhou, he will have no time to separate.

Unless Chen Deng was promised to defect and lead the army to retreat to Qingzhou from the battlefield in Xuzhou, but in this way, Guan Hai, Wu Dun and more than 10,000 Qingzhou soldiers on the battlefield in the Central Plains would not want to come back alive.

Thinking of Hebei's unsparing help to Qingzhou over the past year, thinking of the high hopes placed on him by the general Li Hong and General Zuo Zhang Yan who came to Qingzhou successively, thinking of Cao Cao's hatred for the massacre of Xuzhou and Tao Qian's death, and thinking of Liu Bei's exclusion and suppression of himself, Zang Ba's heart fell into a fierce struggle.

How to choose? Just when Zang Ba was very hesitant, the letter from Handan made him keenly smell a hint of crisis.

Handan wrote that if the rebels attacked too fiercely on the battlefield in Xuzhou, Zang Ba could lead the army to abandon Langya County and stick to Qingzhou.

Handan's offensive and defensive strategy on the battlefield in Xuzhou is so negative, does it mean that the Central Plains war situation is also heading for the abyss of defeat?

Zang Ba locked himself in his study, thinking about the battle situation day and night, carefully weighing the pros and cons. At this time, he was a little bad, but there was no place to bury him.

Sun Guan and Yin Li saw that Zang Ba was getting more and more haggard, silent all day long, and they didn't understand it, but they didn't know what Zang Ba was thinking, and they couldn't persuade him.

At this time, Zang Hong, the Thorn of Qingzhou, and Youheng, the Taishou of Pingyuan County, personally escorted the grain and grass to Kaiyang. Zang Ba was very surprised when he heard the news.

Could it be that Hebei heard something? Zang Ba went out of the city to greet him nervously. Zang Hong is very famous in Xuzhou, although he went to the Central Plains to crusade against Dong Zhuo with Zhang Chao, the former Taishou of Guangling County, in his early years, and has not come back since, but the Zang family is a high-ranking family in Guangling County, Xuzhou, and his people are the people of the main alliance when they are in the Sour Jujube Alliance, and the name has long spread all over the world.

Zang Ba has been famous for a long time, and when he saw him at this time, he saw his heroic appearance and dignified appearance, and he was even more admired.

After the three of them exchanged pleasantries, You Heng stared at Zang Ba's eyes and asked with a smile, "Lord Zang, are you surprised that the two of us have traveled thousands of miles to Kaiyang?" Zang Ba kept the smile on his face, unfazed, and looked calm.

He was well acquainted with Youheng, he had been taught this person's arrogance for more than a year, and the best way to deal with such a person was silence and a respectful expression.

No matter how wildly he sprays, you will always listen to you and never say a word. After a long time, he repeatedly found himself bored, and his wild spirit naturally subsided a lot.

You Heng is also very aggrieved in Qingzhou, one Gao Shun, one Zang Ba, both of them are calm and few words, often You Heng spit and splash stars, his voice is dumb, and he can't hear the two of them reply a word.

Wu Xiong was still working with him at first, but he was scolded by him every time, and then Wu Xiong learned well, and when he saw You Heng, he ran far away, and he couldn't hide if he couldn't provoke him.

But hate it, and several people still admire You Heng's talent. You Heng is not only proficient in the scriptures, but also a must in his rhetoric, and he has many tricks in handling government affairs, and Qingzhou was able to smoothly implement the new field system and the new tax system in a very short period of time, largely thanks to his many implementation strategies.

"We were worried that Chen Yuanlong (Chen Deng) was going to drive a wedge between you and Hebei, so we hurried to see you." You Heng did not shy away from it, and directly said what he meant.

Zang Ba was shocked, but the smile on his face did not change in the slightest.

"We are very familiar with Yuanlong." Zang Hong said with a smile on the side,

"He, like Zhengping (You Heng), has had a bad temper since he was a child, but his intelligence is too outstanding. You got along well with him when he was in Xuzhou. And the reason why you get along well with him is because of your down-to-earth character. Yuanlong knows you very well, and he will definitely not miss this opportunity to use your personality to turn against you. Zang Ba was taken aback again, Huo Ran woke up, and a trace of coolness couldn't help but pass through the vest.

Zang Ba's face did not change, but his eyes changed, and You Heng, who had been staring at him, immediately found out.

"Did he look for you?" Zang Ba hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"You met him?" Your Heng's face suddenly sank,

"No wonder I don't think you look right. I haven't been fighting for more than two months, you should have raised it, why are you so haggard, it turned out that you fell into Yuanlong's discord plan. ”

"Fluke." Zang Hong stretched out his hand to pat Zang Ba and comforted,

"It's a good thing we came quickly, otherwise you would have seen him a few more times and things would have been out of control." Zang Ba's smile faded away, and his face became ugly.

"Tell you something." Zang Hong approached Zang Ba and whispered,

"The eldest princess has gone north to the desert to recruit Hu Qi. At that time, the general of the left guard, Xian Yufu, the Mobei capital to protect Yan Wudaunt, the Liaodong capital to protect Yu Peng, and the kings of the Hu nationality will lead about 100,000 iron horsemen to the south of the Central Plains. Zang Ba's thick eyebrows were furrowed, and he was shocked,

"Hu Qi? His Royal Highness wants to lead Hu Qi to the south? ”

"Isn't it crazy?" You Heng raised his horsewhip, pointed to the north, and said with a triumphant smile,

"Today, in terms of courage and courage, who can compare to our eldest princess?"

"How is this possible? How could the Hu people be allowed to go to the Central Plains to participate in the war? Zang Ba's blood surged, and a wave of anger rushed straight to his head,

"How can you let the Hu people slaughter my Han people?" Zang Hong smiled bitterly,

"This is the will of the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, to put it bluntly, it is the decision of the eldest princess, I heard that the ministers of Jinyang expressed their opposition in unison, but the eldest princess did not give in, and simply went to the desert in person."

"What's wrong with the Hu people? Those Hu people are also the people of my Han now, why can't your brain turn around? You Heng patted Zang Ba's arm with the horsewhip in his hand,

"The general led 200,000 troops into the desert that year, why? Is it to get millions of livestock back? The desert is now the desert of the Han Dynasty, the territory of the Han Dynasty, and everything in that territory, including those Hu people, is the property of my Han Dynasty, why can't we use it? "Zang Ba

"Snorted", extremely dissatisfied in his heart,

"How can you let the Hu people go south?"

"This dynasty since the Guangwu Emperor Zhongxing, first there are the Southern Xiongnu called the vassals as vassals, and then there are Qiang tribes, Karasuma tribes have belonged one after another, in order to defend the border fortress, this dynasty has also repeatedly recruited Hu cavalry to conquer the Quartet. At this time, at the moment when Sheji was in danger, it was understandable that the imperial court ordered Hu Qi to go south to quell the rebellion. Although Zang Hong also had his own resistance feelings, in the face of Zang Ba's dissatisfaction, he had to defend the court's decision.

"That's a strategy to control Hu with Hu, and it's a strategy to fight the border, not a counterinsurgency strategy. During the Yellow Turban Uprising, how could the imperial court recruit Hu Qi to go south to quell the rebellion? Zang Ba said angrily,

"Although this move can determine the outcome of the Central Plains War, I can't accept it."

"If you can't accept it, you can accept it after you figure it out, if you really can't figure it out, you can play the impeachment of the eldest princess, I support you." You Heng waved his hand vigorously,

"The reason why we are telling you this is to strengthen your faith. In the Central Plains War, we have won. ”

"This matter has nothing to do with the Xuzhou battlefield, don't think about it for the time being, solve the matter on the Xuzhou battlefield first." Zang Hong persuaded,

"We didn't have the right to know about this matter, but the general took into account the safety of the Xuzhou battlefield, so he specially told us and asked us to rush to Kaiyang to tell you. Please be sure to understand the general's painstaking efforts. Zang Ba lowered his head and thought for a while, then let out a long sigh,

"Yuan Long told me that Yuan Shao had made up his mind to hold on to the Guandu battlefield until winter came. At that time, the Yellow River was frozen, the transportation of grain and grass was difficult, and Hebei's financial endowment was also on the verge of exhaustion. Do you want the Hu people to abandon their war horses and attack the city? ”

"Why not?" You Heng smiled indifferently,

"The more Hu people die, the safer the northern Xinjiang will be, and the safer the northern Xinjiang, the more we will have no worries, and the pace of pacifying the world will be faster. Can't you even think of that? Do you think that the imperial court requisitioned Hu Qi to travel thousands of miles to the south, and did he really have any good intentions? Zang Ba and Zang Hong looked at You Heng thoughtfully.

"That's why I said you're stupid, you can't think of such a simple thing." You Heng raised his whip very wildly and knocked on Zang Ba's helmet,

"Chen Yuanlong thinks he is smart, trick you, I'll give you an idea, you will do what you want, trick him once. When the time comes, if you take the army unprepared, eat him in one bite, and then kill Xuzhou directly, you will definitely make him so angry that he vomits blood and dies, haha......"

"Will it be calculated?"

"Yes. You took the initiative to contact Chen Deng and made a painful appearance, Chen Deng saw that the plan succeeded, and he would definitely coerce and lure. You take the opportunity to blackmail him, and you can extort as much money as you can, and then you pretend to be persuaded by him, hand over a plea form to Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, express your willingness to respond internally, lead the army back to Qingzhou, and join forces with Chen Deng to attack Jizhou. ”

"Attack Jizhou?" Zang Ba's eyes lit up,

"Trick Chen Deng to Qingzhou, and then ......"

"Then it's the general's business." You Heng smiled,

"The general can use this to make all kinds of gestures to lure the enemy. In short, as long as you use the Xuzhou battlefield to deceive Yuan Shao into a mess, thinking that you have the chance to win, and are willing to wave the army to fight a decisive battle, it will be a great achievement. "You Hengkou is like a river, and when it comes to excitement, you raise your horsewhip and beat Zang Ba again.

Zang Ba was furious, snatched the horsewhip from Youheng, and sneered at him,

"If you hit me in the head again, I'll break your legs." You Heng was startled, and hurriedly retreated: "Hey, my temper has changed today, and I will get angry." ”

"Okay, okay......" Zang Hong grabbed Zang Ba,

"Let's go back to the city to talk in detail, this time we will definitely make Chen Yuanlong sick, and then take the opportunity to pull him to Hebei."

"Yuanlong's illness has not been cured, and from time to time he has chest tightness and can't breathe, and the three of us lied to him together, which may really make him angry to death." Zang Ba said worriedly.

"He's not going to die." You Heng smiled,

"I remember one year when Master Huatuo came to Xuzhou, he saw him and left a few prescriptions. He later boasted everywhere that Master Hua Tuo had said that he could live to be at least eighty years old. You Heng thought that Chen Deng was about to be deflated, and he was so unhappy that he smiled so much that his mouth was grinning.

"Is it so fun to lie to people?" Zang Ba glared at him dissatisfied.

"What do you know?" You Heng waved his hand disdainfully at him,

"When I was with him in the past, he couldn't talk about me, and every time I was speechless, he tried to play me and make me ugly."

"Really?"

"Yes." Zang Hong pointed at You Heng with a hateful look and laughed,

"One year, the son of Lord Fu Fu married his wife, and the scholars of Qing, Xu, and Yan gathered in Dongwu. At that time, everyone was young, and it was very comfortable to scold Fang Xuan and point out the country together. Drinking inevitably has to bet on wine, gambling on alcohol has to bet, Yuan Long's words were amazing, saying that whoever loses the bet will be naked in the lobby, beating drums and singing. Results ......"

"You're going to die if you don't speak?" You Heng glared at Zang Hong, who couldn't help laughing, and scolded viciously.

"And then? Later, you fell for Yuanlong, beating the drum and singing naked? Zang Ba asked curiously.

"Of course...... Ha ha...... Then...... At that time, there were many female dependents in the lobby, and when they saw Zhengping singing with their heads raised and singing there naked, they were so frightened that they dispersed, the scene was very funny, haha...... "Zang Hong's face was red, his stomach was holding his stomach and laughing wildly, and tears came out.

Zang Ba looked at You Heng in disbelief, and finally couldn't help laughing wildly, he was worried that You Heng would take the opportunity to go crazy, so he ran away with his head in his hands,

"Haha...... You're still so embarrassed, haha......"

"Ziyuan (Zang Hong) ......" You Heng roared angrily and drew his sword,

"I'm going to kill you......" Zang Hong followed Zang Ba and ran away. In July, Xiaopei (Pei Guopei County, Yuzhou, now Pei County, Jiangsu).

After Cao Chun was ordered to rush to Peixian, he originally intended to attack Rencheng along the Surabaya River north, but because he was bringing cavalry, and Xuzhou was supplying him with grain and grass according to the number of foot soldiers, the result was that the army was seriously short of food and grass, and had to stay in the camp outside the city.

Soon, he received a secret letter from Cao Cao. Cao Cao told him to preserve his strength, even if he had to go north to attack Yanzhou, he should try his best to make a false encounter with the Northern Frontier Army.

This secret letter came at the right time, and although Xu Chang repeatedly urged him to attack north, Cao Chun replied in a very innocent tone.

Grain and grass, you have to give me five thousand horsemen so that I can have the strength to fight." At that time, the battle of Guandu was in full swing, but Cao Chun and the soldiers of the tiger and leopard cavalry could only lie on the river embankment to bask in the sun, bathe the war horses, and be bored.

At this time, Ren Jun came in a hurry. Ren Jun and Cao Cao are relatives and always participate in major decisions. He suddenly arrived at Xiaopei when the Guandu battlefield was extremely tense, which surprised Cao Chun very much.

After Ren Jun explained Cao Cao's strategy in detail, Cao Chun was dumbfounded, even if he had ten heads, he couldn't imagine that the Central Plains War would evolve into today's situation.

"You let Xu Chu take three thousand tigers and leopards to ride back to Guandu immediately." Ren Jun said,

"Whether the Prime Minister can escape from the Guandu battlefield depends on these three thousand iron horsemen."

"So what do we do?" Cao Chun asked suspiciously,

"We only have 2,000 people. Do you want to occupy Xuzhou with 2,000 people? ”

"Zhongquan (Xiahou Ba) has secretly returned to his hometown in Qian County to gather people. It is estimated that there will be 2,000 people temporarily. ”

"That's only four thousand." Cao Chun exclaimed,

"Brother Boda, you won't let me attack Xuzhou with 4,000 people, right?"

"There's still a lot of people to come." Ren Jun smiled and shook his head,

"Boning (full of pets) has been ordered to go south to Lujiang County, Yangzhou, day and night, to meet Liu Xun."

"Liu Xun, Liu Zitai?"

"Liu Xun first betrayed Yuan Shao, and then betrayed Yuan Shu, who would dare to take him in? This time, Yuan Shao repeatedly ordered him to lead his army north to the Central Plains, but he just didn't go. Does he dare to go? To go is to die. Ren Jun sneered,

"When we attacked Yangzhou last year, Liu Xun was the first to surrender. It was precisely because of his surrender that Li Ye, Qiao Rui, Zhang Xun and others died in Qicheng, so he couldn't even stay in Yangzhou now, so he could only hide in Anfeng and Anfeng like a lost dog. ”

"The Prime Minister said that Liu Xun surrendered to us because he believed in us, and we couldn't just abandon him. In addition, he still has more than 10,000 people, and I heard that he has recently incorporated a lot of remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in the Dabie Mountain area, so we can't abandon him now. If Liu Xun is willing to go north to join us, will our army to attack Xuzhou be enough? Cao Yu nodded,

"Liu Xun is cornered, except to go north to attack Xuzhou with us, does he still have a way to live?" Ren Jun smiled, reached out and patted Cao Chun's shoulder,

"Look, are we going to Pengcheng now?"

"Do you want to go now?" Cao Chun hesitated,

"Didn't you just say that we can't do it until Xu You's counter-plan succeeds and Guandu starts a decisive battle?"

"We don't have enough food and grass, so we can only go to Pengcheng first." Ren Jun smiled mysteriously,

"You say, when we arrive in Pengcheng, will Jian Yong welcome us?" Cao Chun smiled and said nothing. In July, Yingchuan, Yuzhou, Xuchang.

Xu You's defection caused Xu Chang to panic, after all, Xu You had almost all the secrets of the coalition army, which was too big a blow to the morale of the coalition army.

Although Yuan Shao repeatedly explained in his letters to Liu Biao and Fu Zhu, it could not change the fact that the coalition forces had to change their established strategy and actively seek a decisive battle.

At this moment, even if the coalition forces continue to implement the delaying strategy, they must launch a counterattack in the near future, so as to contain the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, make up for the many problems caused by Xu You's defection, and buy time for the coalition forces to readjust their deployment.

His mood was very low for a while, perhaps because of the sympathy for the same illness, he did not express any opinion on Xu You's defection, and his enthusiasm for the big war disappeared all at once, and he often sat alone by the map in a daze.

Liu Biao often comforted him for this. Although delaying without war is also a way, but if the war drags on for too long and the variables are too great, who knows what accidents will happen to us?

Yuan Shao wanted to kill Cao Cao this time, wasn't it an accident? This kind of accident may cause the coalition to collapse instantly, so it is better to actively seek opportunities for a decisive battle.

"There are a lot of things that people can't figure out about this counter-plan." Fu Zhu once said to Liu Biao,

"Is this Yuan Shao's counter-plot, or Cao Cao's counter-plot, or the coalition army's counter-plot? Yuan Shao killed Xu You's nine clans, is it possible for Xu You to continue to carry out counter-plots for Yuan Shao? If this is Cao Cao's counter-plan, what does Cao Cao want to do? If this is a counter-strategy of the coalition forces, then where will Xu Yu go after the end of the war? Liu Biao's expression was solemn, and a trace of panic flashed in his eyes.

Frustrated Professor kept staring at Liu Biao, he noticed the change in Liu Biao's eyes, and his heart moved. Jump to