Chapter 9: The Central Plains, Section 14

"How is the battle progressing in Xuzhou?" Zhang Yan moved the documents piled up on the desk and looked at Xuzhou on the map.

"Gao Shun and Zang Ba, do you have the latest battle report?"

"Lord Gao Shun said in his letter that due to Guan Yutun's heavy troops on the front line of Jucheng, the attack of the army was blocked, and the two armies are currently in a state of confrontation."

"Confrontation?" Zhang Yan repeated in a low voice,

"Confrontation?" His eyebrows tightened, and after a moment's thought, he said,

"If the battle situation in Xuzhou falls into a confrontation, Gao Shun will lose the initiative on the battlefield, will be led by Guan Yu, and it is very likely to repeat the mistakes of Guan Cheng and Wu Ba."

"On the battlefield of Xuzhou, Guan Yu has an army of 20,000, and Lord Gao Shun has an army of 30,000, and he does not have any advantage in terms of strength." Fu Gan said,

"If you want to open the gap from the front, it can be small."

"Maybe it's very small, but you have to try, the army can't stand under Jucheng City." Zhang Yan looked up at Fu Gan,

"The letter told Gao Shun and Zang Ba to do their best to make progress on the battlefield in Xuzhou, so as to contain the forces of Xuzhou and buy time for the main army to conquer Dingtao and Changyi."

"In addition, you specifically explained in the book that after Cao Cao and Liu Bei received the news of our attack on the Central Plains, if they withdrew their troops as quickly as possible, they should rush back to the Central Plains after ten to twelve days." Jia Xu added on the side,

"If Gao Shun and Zang Ba can defeat Guan Yu in the near future, enter the East China Sea, and threaten Pengcheng, Liu Bei will definitely divide his troops to support Xuzhou, then the number of people who rush to the front line of Dingtao and Changyi to block our main army will be reduced, which is very beneficial to our rapid capture of Dingtao and Changyi." Fu Gan nodded,

"I immediately wrote to them and asked the 800-mile fast ride to send it overnight. If nothing else, in two days, Lord Gao Shun will be able to receive our orders. ”

"Have Yang Qi, Yang Yi, Cui Jun, Jin Shang and other adults already arrived in Dongwuyang?" Zhang Yan turned his head to look at Wang Chang.

"It's already here." Wang Chang bowed down and said,

"Your Excellency will cross the river tomorrow and go to the counties and counties of the Central Plains to pacify the people."

"Keep them safe and don't have an accident." Zhang Yan said,

"Tomorrow, you will supervise Lord Shi Guo and ask him to send the officials at all levels recruited by you from Handan University Hall across the Yellow River to help you rebuild the government offices at all levels and stabilize the counties and counties in the Central Plains as soon as possible." Wang Chang hurriedly agreed.

"Lord Jia, I plan to write a chapter and urgently play today's affairs to the court." Zhang Yan stretched out her hand to spread out the blank book on the desk,

"I'll write an urgent report to the general myself." On April, Henan Yin, Bianqu East Ten Miles, Dingting.

Yuan Shao was dumbfounded. The main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army suddenly moved south to the Central Plains and burst down with a thunderous momentum, which was overwhelming.

Tian Feng's words were unfortunately true. Hebei has carefully designed a hoax, and the target is the Central Plains.

Now Cao Cao and Liu Bei are in Jianghuai, and they are dragged in Henan by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and the Central Plains are empty, and they can't stop the footsteps of the Northern Xinjiang Army going south, and the loss of the Central Plains is a foregone conclusion.

As soon as the Central Plains was lost, Luoyang bore the brunt and became Li Hong's only target.

"I'm so angry...... Yuan Shao became more and more angry the more he thought about it, he stood up suddenly, and overturned the case table with all his strength.

Xu You, Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Yuan Zhong, Xin Bi and others stood around Yuan Shao in panic, hesitating for a while.

"My lord, the top priority is to immediately ask the Son of Heaven to spread the word to the world, tell the officials of all states and counties, and join forces to attack Hebei." Xu You looked at Yuan Shao, who was angry, and said urgently,

"With our strength and that of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, it is not enough to defeat Li Hong, drive the Northern Xinjiang Army back to Hebei, and recapture the Central Plains."

"The book plays the son of Xuchang, and immediately spread it to the world and crusade against Li Hong." Yuan Shao waved his hand without thinking and shouted,

"Urgently send an 800-mile fast horseman, write to Liu Biao, and ask him to rush to the Central Plains to attack Li Hong together."

"Urgently tell Cao Cao and Liu Bei, withdraw the troops quickly, the battle of Jianghuai can no longer be fought, it is better to drive Li Hong out of the Central Plains first."

"My lord, the battle ...... here in Henan" Feng Ji held Xiahou Yuan's letter asking for help in his hand, and asked cautiously,

"Shall we divide our troops to support Xiahou Yuan?"

"It's too late." Yuan Shao sighed angrily,

"Even if our whole army rushes to the Central Plains battlefield now, we can't stop the sharpness of the Northern Frontier Army. The high-ranking cadres of Baima and Puyang were ordered to rush the army to Juancheng and Xiaqiu to meet Xiahou Yuan, delay the speed of the northern Xinjiang army moving south, and do their best to block the northern Xinjiang army on the line of Dingtao and Changyi. ”

"Now it depends on whether Cao Cao and Liu Bei's speed is fast enough." Simbi bent down to pick up the map on the ground and put it on the desk that had been rearranged by the guards.

"If Cao Cao and Liu Bei can rush back to the Central Plains before the Northern Xinjiang Army captures Dingtao and Changyi, and stabilize the battle line at Dingtao and Changyi, we still have a chance to defeat Li Hong." Xingyang on the map of Simbi's fingers,

"As long as we kill all the tens of thousands of northern Xinjiang troops on the battlefield in Henan, and Li Hong has no forces to contain us, he will not be able to gain a foothold in the Central Plains in the shortest possible time, and the defeat and escape from Hebei will be an inevitable outcome."

"In that case, our losses would be staggering." Xin Ping glanced at his younger brother, shook his head and said,

"At this moment, the intention of the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack Henan has been exposed, when the army of Cao Cao and Liu Bei blocks the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and we concentrate on encircling and annihilating Yan Liang, will he continue to stay in Henan and fight a meaningless decisive battle with us?"

"If Yan Liang withdraws from Henan too early, our main force can immediately go to the Central Plains battlefield, and if the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army fails to occupy Dingtao and Changyi, it will be much more difficult to seize the Central Plains." Simbi immediately retorted,

"I am sure that if the Northern Xinjiang Army does not take Dingtao and Changyi, Yan Liang's army will not withdraw from Henan, and we have enough time to defeat Yan Liang and annihilate the Northern Xinjiang Army."

"Even if we have enough time, can we afford to annihilate the 40,000 Northern Frontier Army?" Feng Ji looked at Xin Bi, who was full of confidence, and immediately asked.

"There are Yan Liang's 40,000 troops on the battlefield in Henan, and there are 10,000 troops of Wen Chou and Zhang Liao in Hanoi to support him, and Yang Feng and Hua Xiong in Hedong are attacking Guanxi to respond to Yan Liang's army. Under such circumstances, it will be very difficult for us to encircle and annihilate the Northern Frontier Army. Feng Ji pointed to the map and said,

"Even if Lord Chun Yuqiong blocked the attack of Yang Feng and Hua Xiong in the western direction of Kansai, the two adults Gao Rou and Zhu Ling made a breakthrough in the direction of Hanoi and surrounded the Northern Xinjiang Army in Henan. But if we want to completely annihilate the 40,000 Northern Xinjiang Army that is holding the city, especially the Northern Xinjiang Army led by Yan Liang, the first fierce general in Northern Xinjiang, the losses will be so great that I am afraid that you and I can not imagine. ”

"We completely annihilated the Northern Xinjiang Army on the battlefield in Henan, and then rushed to the Central Plains to unite Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei to attack the Northern Xinjiang Army on the Central Plains battlefield. After a series of fierce battles, we took back the Central Plains from Li Hong, but we lost our troops at that time, can we still occupy the Central Plains? Can you still hold on to Kanchu and Kansai? Can you still ensure the safety of Luoyang? ”

"We almost single-handedly won the victory of this war, but the results of this war were given to future opponents such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei, so what did we get from this war? Obviously, after the great loss of strength, our days in Guan and Luo are numbered. Feng Ji glared at Xin Bi and asked excitedly,

"Is this what you'd like to see?" Xin Bi was reprimanded in public, and he was a little annoyed in his heart, and just wanted to refute it, but was gently patted on the back by his brother.

Xin Bi snorted angrily, swallowed his anger and did not speak.

"Brother George's suggestion makes sense." Xu Yu spoke,

"If the Northern Xinjiang Army occupies the Central Plains and gains a firm foothold in the Central Plains, they will attack Luoyang next. I would like to ask Yuantu (Fengji), if the Northern Xinjiang Army attacks Luoyang from the three directions of Guanzhong, Guanxi, Hanoi, and the Central Plains at the same time, how big will our losses be? Are our days in Guan and Luo numbered? On the contrary, if we do our best to unite with Cao Cao and others to defeat Li Hong this time, although our losses are staggering, what about Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao? Don't they have anything to lose? This time, we worked together with Cao Cao and others to defeat Li Hong, and in the future, when Li Hong attacked Guan and Luo, they would also help us. ”

"Today, in the face of the bloody leopard Li Hong in Hebei, whether it is us, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, or even Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in Jiangdong, we will feel fear. If we want to revive the society and completely eradicate Li Hong's rebellion, we have only one way, that is, everyone temporarily abandons all prejudices, treats each other frankly, and unites as one. Otherwise, whether it is the Dahan Sheji or us, sooner or later it will be a delicacy in the mouth of the leopard. Xu You's words were hard to hear.

Yuan Shao's face was like frost, and the muscles on his face twitched a few times involuntarily. Feng Ji laughed angrily,

"Brother Ziyuan, you and Cao Cao have known each other since childhood, don't you know who Cao Cao is? Be honest with each other? When did Cao Apu be honest with you? I can say with certainty that in this Central Plains War, as long as we lose our troops and lose our generals, Cao Cao will immediately take advantage of the threat of the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack Guan and Luo after reconsolidating the Central Plains, and Henan and Yuzhou will gradually become Cao Cao's bag like Jianghuai. Feng Ji squinted, looked Xu You up and down a few times, and asked mockingly,

"At that time, is Brother Ziyuan going to vote for another master?" Xu You was stunned for a moment, looked at Yuan Shao, who was expressionless, and shook his head with a wry smile,

"Yuantu, when has this been, do you still have the leisure to care about me?" Xu You threw his hand at Feng Ji again and again, sighed to himself, turned around and walked out of the big tent.

The discussion broke up unhappily. Yuan Shao paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back. There are three things that are difficult to know for sure.

First, is Hebei fighting on two fronts this year? News from Jinyang, Youzhou, and Jizhou confirmed that there was indeed a war in the desert area of northern Xinjiang this year.

If Hebei fights on two fronts this year, it will be very difficult for the Northern Xinjiang Army to go south to fight in the Central Plains. Li Hong may have the idea that it is better to base himself on the Central Plains, and if he can't base himself on the Central Plains, he will retreat to Hebei.

Only he dares to do such a thing. For more than ten years, he has been very lucky, and if he were himself, he would dare to gamble.

If this is the case, then there is no need for him to spend money to encircle and annihilate the Northern Xinjiang Army in Henan.

He dragged Yan Liang's tens of thousands of troops, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei blocked Li Hong under the cities of Dingtao and Changyi, and after a long time, the Northern Xinjiang Army fought on two fronts, and the supply of grain and grass could not be supplied, so it could not gain a foothold in the Central Plains, so it had to withdraw to Hebei.

At that time, his own strength was preserved, but Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei suffered heavy losses on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi.

In this way, he can not only easily take the Central Plains, but also control Xu and Yang. Liu Biao is not strong enough, and he can only bow down.

Second, can Cao Cao and Liu Bei block Li Hong on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi? With the 30,000 troops of Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren and Gao Gan, although they could not stop Li Hong's footsteps in the south, they could completely delay Li Hong's attack on Dingtao and Changyi, and they were completely sure to wait for Cao Cao and Liu Bei's army to return to help.

This time, Cao Cao brought 40,000 troops, Liu Bei led 30,000 troops to attack Jianghuai, and after the 70,000 troops returned to help, there were 100,000 troops on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi to block Li Hong, which should be able to hold it.

The problem is that if Li Hong goes south to the Central Plains, Zang Ba and Guan Hai in Qingzhou will definitely attack Xuzhou. Regardless of whether Zang Ba and Guan Hai have close contacts with Hebei, they will not miss this opportunity to expand their forces to take revenge, and Hebei will spare no effort to help and support, and use their strength to contain Xuzhou's forces.

Hebei won, and Zang Ba and Guan Hai can defect to Hebei. Hebei lost, Zang Ba and Guan Hai increased their strength and could dominate one side.

Zang Ba and Guan Hai attacked Xuzhou, Xuzhou was in an emergency, what choice would Liu Bei make? In the past two years, because of the common enemy, the alliance between Cao Cao and Liu Bei has been very strong, but in today's time of facing existential danger, can the alliance between the two continue to be maintained?

Will Liu Bei give up his alliance with Cao Cao because he wants to keep his Xuzhou? After all, Li Hong is now fighting the Central Plains and Cao Cao, not Xuzhou and Liu Bei.

Although everyone understands the truth of cold lips and teeth, when it comes to choosing interests, how many people will think about it so long-term and give up their interests without hesitation?

Once Liu Bei used Zang Ba and Guan Hai to attack Xuzhou as an excuse and refused to go north to the Central Plains and Cao Cao to join forces to defend against the enemy, Dingtao and Changyi might be lost.

At that time, he would directly face Li Hong, and it would be too late to encircle and annihilate the Northern Xinjiang Army in Henan, and the serious consequences would be self-evident.

The third is the problem that I am most worried about. If Cao Cao and Liu Bei blocked Li Hong's fierce attack before Liu Biao's reinforcements failed to arrive in the Central Plains, and his reluctance to encircle and annihilate the Northern Xinjiang Army in Henan led to Cao Cao and Liu Bei's loss of troops and the loss of the Central Plains.

Hebei is very tolerant of rebellion that is sincere and obedient. For example, Gongsun Zhan was a general of Zhengbei before his death. For example, Han Sui, now the general of Zhenxi, such as Zhang Yang, is now the Taishou of Yanmen.

Liu Bei was originally from Youzhou and had a deep relationship with Li Hong. In the past, Li Hong once wrote to the first emperor to intercede for Liu Bei's killing of Zhongshan Governor.

As long as Liu Bei is obedient, it will definitely not be a problem to increase the rank of official and knight. Although Cao Cao once slaughtered the city in Xuzhou and dug embankments in the Yellow River, he knew that Li Hong and Cao Cao had a very good relationship during the time in Luoyang.

If Cao Cao really wants to return to Hebei, with his grandfather and father's deep connections in the court, he will have no problem saving his life and being a rich and noble marquis.

Once Cao Cao and Liu Bei returned to Hebei, with their current strength, they would not be able to stop Li Hong at all, but because of this possibility, they did not dare to encircle and annihilate the Northern Xinjiang Army with all their might, and trapped themselves in a place of no return.

Yuan Shaowei will never go down, do you want to encircle and annihilate Yan Liang at any cost?

"My lord, when will you attack Okura?" Feng Ji stood beside Yuan Shao and asked uneasily.

"Urgent letter Yuan Wei, trial matching, reinforcements to Hanoi." Yuan Shao decided to wait and see how the situation develops.

"Let Gao Rou and Zhu Ling take Pinggao and Huaicheng first, and surround the Northern Xinjiang Army in the Xingyang area."

"Good plan." Feng Ji immediately understood Yuan Shao's thoughts, and smiled happily,

"Hanoi's Northern Frontier Army only had 10,000 men, and after the adults surrounded Yan Liang at the minimum cost, they could attack and retreat, and completely controlled the initiative on the battlefield. What a plan. Yuan Shao frowned and sighed softly,

"Urgently write to Lord Xu Xuan of Runan, and ask him to rush to Xiangyang in person to ask Liu Biao for help. If Liu Biao doesn't come this time, we want to defeat Li Hong and regain the Central Plains, it's difficult...... "In April, Jiujiang County, Yangzhou, on the banks of the Huaishui River.

Liu Bei was in the dust, and rushed into the Yanzhou army camp with a horse. After Cao Cao welcomed Liu Bei into the big tent, he didn't say anything, and first handed Xiahou Yuan's urgent report to Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei read it, he was shocked and sat on the seat for a long time.

"Brother Xuande, what is your countermeasure?" Cao Cao asked with a wry smile,

"This leopard is too cunning, we can't escape." Cao Cao looked at the blue sky outside the tent and sighed sadly,

"For the sake of the Han Dynasty, we have fought bloodily for ten years, but in the end, the heavens will not fulfill people's wishes, and the day of the collapse of the society will inevitably come." Liu Bei felt a pain in his heart and hung his head silently.

"I think that back then, Li Hong sat in the northern Xinjiang, crisscrossing the desert, and his merits were brilliant, and the court was full of exclamations, saying that he would cause chaos in the community, but the result was unbelievable that it was not Li Hong who caused the trouble, but Dong Zhuo. The Western Xinjiang Martial Arts have messed up Sheji, and today it is the turn of the Northern Xinjiang Warriors to overthrow Sheji. Cao Cao suddenly burst into tears, choked up and said,

"The 400-year-old foundation of the Han Dynasty is buried in the hands of our incompetent descendants today, which is a great shame. In the future, when we come to the Nine Springs, what faces will we have to meet our ancestors and ancestors? What is the face of going to see Gao Zu, Shi Zu? Liu Bei's eyes were red, and tears quietly fell.

"I've decided, I'll withdraw today." Cao Cao wiped away his tears, picked up the war knife on the desk and stood up,

"I want to fight Li Hong to the death until I die. In this way, when I see the ancestors and ancestors, the ancestors and the ancestors, I have a clear conscience. ”

"I was born for the Great Han, and I died for the Great Han." Cao Cao put on his battle helmet and strode out. Suddenly, the sound of war drums was earth-shattering, and it went straight to the sky.

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