Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains Section 57 In this battle of Luoyang, there were four main battlefields, two containment battlefields, the total number of troops invested was about 340,000, and the number of people recruited was about 3 million, and the estimated attack time was more than half a year.

According to the imperial court's estimate, if the army fails to conquer Luoyang by the end of next year, then the war will stop, and the imperial court will have to reraise grain and grass to prepare for another war next year.

Once the war drags on until the year after next, not only will the cost be staggering, but the development of the situation in the world will also be difficult to predict. Therefore, the Son of Heaven, the eldest princess, and the imperial court all hoped that the army would conquer Luoyang by the end of next year, so as to firmly lay the foundation for the great cause of Zhongxing.

The four main battlefields for attacking Luoyang were Kansai, Hanoi, Henan, and Yingchuan. On the Kansai battlefield, the imperial court decided to commit 100,000 troops.

The left guard general Lu Yi is the commander of the army, and the right general Yang Feng is the deputy. Zhang Baiqi, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Sun Qin, and Liang Baiwu each led an army, each with 20,000 troops.

Lou Chuan Zhonglang put Yang Hua's Hedong Sailor Division under the control of Koji Yi during the attack. On the battlefield of Yingchuan, the imperial court also invested 100,000 troops.

The left general Yan Liang was the commander of the army, and the general of Wuwei Wen Chou was the deputy. Wang Dang, Zhang Xiu, Xu Huang, Wu Xiong, and Ji Ling each led an army, with 20,000 men each.

On the battlefield of Henan, the imperial court invested 60,000 troops in the north and south. Long Xiang's general Zhao Yun was the commander of the army, and the middle base general Yu Poison was the vice-president.

On the battlefield of Hanoi, the imperial court invested the least number of troops, only 20,000 troops, with Huwei Zhonglang as the commander Sima Yi as the commander and Huya Zhonglang as Wei Yan's deputy.

The Jizhou sailors under the command of the general of Dangkou Zhonglang were restrained by Sima Yi during the attack. Among the four main battlefields, the Hanoi battlefield is the closest to Luoyang, and the resistance is also the largest, and it is very difficult to conquer the two passes of Mengjin and Xiaopingjin in a short time.

In order to reduce losses, only auxiliary attacks are used to contain the enemy's forces. The battle on the Yingchuan battlefield was the fiercest.

In order to attack Luoyang, we must quickly take Luyang, and the rebels must hold Luyang to the death in order to ensure the connection with Luoyang, they will flank the Northern Xinjiang Army from the three directions of Runan, Nanyang, and Luoyang, and there will be a series of bloody battles on the Yingchuan battlefield.

Therefore, the Kansai Battlefield and the Henan Battlefield were the main offensive directions of the army, as long as either of these two battlefields took the lead in conquering the Tiger Prison Pass or the Hangu Pass, Luoyang's outer defense line would be broken through, and the rebels could only give up

"Eight passes", the whole line retreated to Luoyang City. The two diversion battlefields are in Guanzhong and Qingyan Prefectures. There was a threat from Western Xinjiang and Hanzhong in Guanzhong, and a threat from Cao Cao and Yuan Tan in Qingyan Prefecture.

When we threw all the main forces into the Luoyang battlefield, as long as any of the two flanks of the battlefield was attacked by a strong attack and the defense line was broken through by the enemy, then the Luoyang battle was very likely to fail.

The situation in Jianghuai has changed a lot since September. After the Jiangdong Army captured Jiangxia, the fighting on the north and south banks of the Yangtze River quickly subsided.

But after this, we found that the main force of the Jingzhou army was going north one after another, so we had to consider that Sun Quan might be the same as Cao Cao, stepping on two boats, and forming some kind of agreement with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Liu Yan, otherwise the main force of the Jingzhou army would not go north to Nanyang without scruples.

If the facts are not much different from our estimates, then it is possible that Cao Cao and Yuan Tan will join forces to attack the two states of Qingyan when we attack Luoyang, while Sun Quan may turn a deaf ear to our demands and refuse to send troops to threaten Jiangbei.

The war in Western Xinjiang gradually stopped with the advent of winter, but this was not directly related to the cold weather, but to Lord Jia Xu

The implementation of the strategy of "using Qiang to control Qiang, and razing to control raze" is related. This strategy is currently being rolled out gradually. Ma Chao was ordered to appease Baimaqiang and Shenwolfqiang, and Pang De helped Nie Xiao to pacify the Qiang rebellion in Huangzhong and Caohan.

As long as the situation in Longxi is stabilized, Ma Chao and Pang De will unite with Baima, Shenwolf, Huang and other Qiang people to attack the Burning Qiang in the West Sea.

At the same time, Lei Zi was also discussing the attack on Hexi with the Xianbei tribal kings such as Arc Ding, Qi Shen, Bu Du Geng, Chu Gui Ni, Mu Tao, and Mu Li on the desert.

If General Lei Zi can successfully persuade the tribal kings and form a coalition army to fight in Hexi, then the situation in Western Xinjiang next year will still be chaotic, but it will not pose a serious threat to Guanzhong.

The infighting in Yizhou was very serious, and Liu Zhang, Zhao Wei of Ba County, and Zhang Lu of Hanzhong were at war. It stands to reason that they will not pose a threat to us, but according to the information we have received, Zhao Wei and Liu Biao have an alliance relationship, and Zhang Lu and Yuan Shao have a marriage relationship, so we have to be cautious.

In the current situation, if Yuan Shao wants to turn the tide and turn defeat into victory, it is obviously not possible to rely only on the support of Liu Biao and Liu Bei to stick to Luoyang, he must find another way to break our siege of Luoyang, let us attack Luoyang and fail, and give him time to breathe.

Extrapolating from common sense, the method that Yuan Shao came up with was nothing more than to open up two wings of the battlefield in the east and west of Luoyang, and rely on the breakthrough of the rebels in the two wings of the battlefield to destroy our intention to conquer Luoyang.

That's a good idea. However, now that Cao Cao's strength is limited, and Sun Quan and Zhou Yu are capricious, it is difficult for the Eastern Road battlefield to pose a threat to us.

And the opening of the battlefield on the western road is too difficult, unless there is a miracle, it is impossible for the rebels to form a force to threaten Guanzhong before we conquer Luoyang.

Whether the rebels will create a miracle or not, we don't know, but we must take precautions, occupy Hanzhong as soon as possible, and occupy the advantage of pacifying the world as quickly as possible.

The benefits of occupying Hanzhong are self-evident, after conquering Luoyang, we can start from Hanzhong and quickly move south to Chengdu, and then occupy the whole of Yizhou.

Then we attack Jingzhou from the two directions of the Central Plains and Bashu, and Jingzhou can be taken overnight. Jingzhou gets it, and the great cause of ZTE is at your fingertips.

At this time, if Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu stubbornly resist and refuse to surrender, our troops will be divided into two routes, all the way to Jianghuai, and all the way down the Yangtze River to attack Jiangdong, so that the world can be determined.

Before Zhang Liao's words were finished, the generals in the hall began to talk in a whisper. The distant and mysterious Bashu and Hanzhong feel very strange to these generals who have been fighting in the frontier, Hebei, and the Central Plains all year round.

"Next year, will we fight Hanzhong?" He Feng asked excitedly. His army was stationed in Guanzhong and could not participate in the Battle of Luoyang, which made him depressed all the time.

"This ......" Zhang Liao hesitated for a moment, frowned and said,

This is a strategy formulated by the imperial court to pacify the world as soon as possible, mainly considering many factors, but it may not be possible to fight Hanzhong immediately. Next year, the main force of the army will all be concentrated in Luoyang, and we must first clear the periphery of Luoyang and enter the eight passes, and then start the attack. We know the solidarity of Luoyang, and the reason why the imperial court gathered 280,000 troops to attack Luoyang was to take into account the difficulty of its attack. As a result, we have very few troops on the battlefield to contain them. Now that the situation in Western Xinjiang is chaotic, the troops in Guanzhong are mainly to ensure the safety of Chang'an, so the time to fight Hanzhong should be after the capture of Luoyang. ”

"After taking Luoyang, the army should take advantage of the situation and fight Jingzhou and Jianghuai." Wang Dang asked coldly,

"Why do you suddenly divide your troops to fight Hanzhong? Could it be that the rebels abandoned Jingzhou and Jianghuai and fled to the deep mountains and forests of Bashu? There was laughter in the lobby.

Xian Yufu stood up, his expression was grim, and his eyes slowly swept over his face one by one. The lobby fell silent for a moment.

"Wen Yuan, explain it to them." Xu Rong waved at Zhang Liao,

"The problem of fighting Hanzhong involves the counterinsurgency strategy of the imperial court, and it should be explained clearly, so that everyone can have a comprehensive understanding of the entire counterinsurgency deployment of the imperial court." Zhang Liao nodded and walked to the huge map hanging on the side of the lobby.

"A few adults...... Zhang Liao pointed to the Tai Lieutenant Yang Biao, the left cavalry general Xian Yufu, the right chariot cavalry general Xu Rong, the left guard general Lu Yi, the right guard general Zhang Yan and others, and said loudly,

"When discussing counterinsurgency strategies, the safety of Chang'an was first taken into account. Chang'an is about to become the capital of the Han Dynasty, and it is possible that the Son of Heaven, the eldest princess, and the imperial court will enter Kyoto next fall. ”

"But Chang'an is not safe at the moment." Zhang Liao's finger map,

"Everyone knows the situation in Western Xinjiang, so I won't talk about it anymore. Since the death of Yizhou Mu Liu Yan, the situation in Yizhou has no longer been stable, which created an opportunity for Yuan Shao and Liu Biao to seize Yizhou. Judging from the fact that Yuan Shao took the initiative to marry Zhang Lu, after Yuan Shao lost the Central Plains War, he obviously saw the important role of seizing Yizhou to fight us. After Yuan Shao was defeated and left Luoyang, if he fled into Yizhou, it would cause great harm to the great cause of Zhongxing. Taking a step back, even if Yuan Shao was defeated in Luoyang, what about Liu Biao and Liu Bei? They can still flee into Yizhou and cause the same harm to the great cause of ZTE. ”

"Everyone knows that when Emperor Guangwu was in charge of Zhongxing Sheji, Gongsun Shu was the emperor in Yizhou. Gongsun Shu only served as emperor for twelve years, but Emperor Guangwu beat him for ten years. Obviously, Gongsun Shu's domination of Yizhou greatly hindered Emperor Guangwu's great cause of Zhongxing, and its most direct impact was that Emperor Guangwu's pacification of Western Xinjiang was greatly extended, and Guanzhong was devastated.

"We can assume that if the Yizhou rebels repeatedly go north and constantly attack Guanzhong and Xiliang, how will Western Xinjiang be stable? The instability of the western frontier and the Qiang people, in turn, threatened the security of Guanzhong, which would make the Yizhou rebels march north more frequently. With such a vicious circle, how can the safety of Chang'an be guaranteed? Chang'an is unstable, the main force of the army is about to march west, and it is going south to fight Yizhou, so where does the imperial court still have the wealth to support Jingzhou and Jianghuai battlefields? Zhang Liao paused, looked at the generals in the hall, and continued,

"Therefore, once the Son of Heaven declares Chang'an, the capital, our counterinsurgency strategy will have to be greatly adjusted. After the capture of Luoyang, the main target of the army will be Western Xinjiang, which is Yizhou. The generals of Northern Xinjiang listened attentively and fell into deep thought one by one.

"The purpose of establishing the capital of Chang'an is to ensure the stability of western and northern Xinjiang. When the western and northern Xinjiang are stabilized, we have no worries about the future, and we can move south. The capital of Luoyang makes us too far away from the western and northern frontiers, and it is easy to lose control of the western and northern frontiers. There is chaos in the western and northern Xinjiang, and the difficulty of quelling the rebellion can be imagined. If both frontiers are in chaos, and the army fails to cross the Yangtze River, the matter of counterinsurgency is delayed again and again, and the imperial court is very likely to be dragged down. At that time, not only will the great cause of Zhongxing be ruined, but the Han Dynasty will more likely have a confrontation between the north and the south. Zhang Liao said,

"Now we are about to set the capital of Chang'an, but Han Sui's death has changed the situation in Western Xinjiang abruptly, and stabilizing Western Xinjiang and ensuring the safety of Kyoto has immediately become the most urgent goal of the imperial court."

"After we finish fighting Luoyang, we will fight the western frontier, so Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and others will be able to get respite. With a respite, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao will naturally set their sights on Yizhou and use Yizhou to attack Guanzhong and Western Xinjiang, thus dragging us in Guanzhong and Western Xinjiang and creating opportunities for them to reverse the unfavorable situation and turn defeat into victory. Zhang Liao raised his hand and slapped it on the map hard,

"It's a paradox. We can't ignore the safety of Kyoto, but we can't let the rebellion come back, so the only way is to attack Ikshu immediately. ”

"Xijiang and Yizhou, which one is the most beneficial to the security of Chang'an and the great cause of Zhongxing? This was the second question that several adults considered when discussing counterinsurgency strategies. ”

"Judging from the current situation, it is most advantageous to hit Yizhou first." Zhang Liao pointed to Yizhou on the map and said,

"When we go south from the Central Plains, whether we fight Jingzhou, Jianghuai, Jiangdong, we will finally face the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. The capture of Yizhou will help us gain control of the Yangtze River. With control of the Yangtze River, the rebels lost their greatest reliance. Under our two-pronged attack, the rebels will surely rush to ashes. This kind of attack strategy is obviously better than our strong attack on the Yangtze River from the direction of the Central Plains. ”

"Let's assume again that if we seize Yizhou with lightning speed, then when we attack the western frontier, we will have less worries, and the western frontier can be quickly pacified. At the same time, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and other rebels completely lost their resistance under the strong deterrence of our two-way attack, and they were forced to surrender by the fact that they were defeated, which allowed the imperial court to stabilize in the shortest possible time at the lowest cost. Of course, this is just wishful thinking on the part of the imperial court. But in any case, as long as we achieve this absolute superiority in military affairs, even if Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others get a chance to breathe, they will not have the strength to confront the imperial court. Whether they fight or not, what awaits them is the fate of defeat. The generals of Northern Xinjiang suddenly realized, and the discussion sounded again.

Zhang Liao faced the generals, raised his hands and pressed them in the air a few times, signaling the generals not to speak.

"Since the imperial court decided to make Chang'an the capital, the counterinsurgency strategy changed. But the change in counterinsurgency strategy was based on the capture of Luoyang. If Luoyang cannot be conquered, it will be difficult to implement the counterinsurgency strategy set by the imperial court. ”

"Therefore, it is very important for us to contain the battlefield to ensure that the main force of the army conquers Luoyang, please contain the generals on the battlefield to focus on the great cause of Zhongxing, and be sure to obey the orders of the imperial court." On the containment battlefield of the two prefectures of Qingyan, there were four generals, Gao Shun, Zang Ba, Peng Lie, and Wei Xu, with a total of 40,000 horses.

The army was commanded by the former general Lu Bu, and the general Gao Shun and the Weilu general Zang Ba were deputies. General Lü Bu's Chinese army battalion was located in Rencheng and directly threatened Xuzhou.

The containment battlefield in Guanzhong was commanded by the general Hua Xiong, the general Wei Jun of Xiangwu, the general He Feng of Li Wei was the deputy, and the generals Yang Chun, Li Yun, Zi Shu and other generals led a total of 30,000 cavalry troops to garrison Chang'an, Dasanguan, Wuguan, Tongguan, Xiaoguan and other city passes.

The entire Central Plains battlefield was commanded by the great general Li Hong and Chen Liu, and the later general Yu Shi was in the Luoyang front.

Ning Shuo's general Fan Liang sat in Yecheng, Jizhou, and was responsible for allocating grain and grass to the Central Plains army. The entire Guanzhong and Guanxi battlefields were commanded by Xu Rong, the general of the right chariot cavalry, in Chang'an, and personally supervised the transportation of grain and grass.

After Zhang Liao finished speaking, Huangfu Li, who had been promoted to General Dangkou, stood up. He is now also the Sima of the Great Sima Mansion.

He gave a detailed account of the structure of the various ministries and armies, and read out the reappointments of officers at and above the rank of military officer in the various ministries and armies.

Due to the sudden increase in the number of troops by 100,000, officers at all levels in the original army were promoted, and those with more meritorious services were even promoted by three ranks.

It is the happiest thing to be promoted to the knighthood. These generals were very excited, and they got together to compare with each other to see who had the most promotions.

After Huangfu Li finished reading, Li Wei General He Feng immediately stood up, bowed respectfully and deeply at Xian Yufu, and was about to open his mouth to speak, Xian Yufu waved his hand to stop him,

"There are not many troops in Guanzhong, so they can't attack Hanzhong for the time being."

"Why?" He Feng said with wide eyes,

"What if Yuan Shao and Liu Biao send troops into Hanzhong first?"

"We're also worried about that." Xu Rong, who was sitting next to Xian Yufu, said,

"The imperial court has issued an order to appease Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, and wants to test Zhang Lu's reaction. If he accepts the appeasement, we will immediately send troops into Hanzhong, and if he refuses to be appeased, we will plan to attack again. Hanzhong is difficult to fight, and you must make adequate preparations before attacking, and you can't act in a hurry. He Feng asked strangely: "Is it difficult to fight in Hanzhong?" ”

"Do you know where Emperor Guangwu fought Yizhou back then?" Xian Yufu asked with a smile.

He Feng didn't think about it, he opened his mouth and said, "I entered from Jingzhou." At that time, the general Cen Peng first broke through the Jiangguan Pass (that is, the Zhaitang Pass near present-day Fengjie, also known as the Hanguan) from the direction of Yiling, and opened the throat leading directly to Bachu, but he was immediately assassinated. In the second year, the Great Sima Wu Han led his army to Chengdu and defeated Gongsun Shu. ”

"Before the great general Cen Peng attacked Bashu, the former general Li Tong, the broken ** general Hou Jin, and the captured general Wang Ba had already conquered Hanzhong, but why didn't they kill directly from Hanzhong to Chengdu?" Xian Yufu asked again.

He Feng was stunned for a moment,

"Probably because the plank road from Hanzhong to Chengdu has been burned by Gongsun Shu, and there is no way out, right?"

"We share the same concerns." Xian Yufu sighed,

"From Guanzhong to Hanzhong, you need to cross the Qinling Mountains, but since ancient times there has been no road, only plank road. The plank road is difficult to walk, the road is full of passes, we have to walk hundreds or even thousands of miles, and we will be discovered by the enemy at any time. Xian Yufu sighed,

"There are four plank roads from Guanzhong to Hanzhong, which are the Chencang Ancient Road from the south of Dasanguan, the Baochuan Road from the south of Yicheng, the Dangluo Road from the southeast of Wugong City, and the Meridian Road from the south of Chang'an City to the south of the Weishui River. No matter which plank road we take, as long as they find it and set it on fire, we have to turn around, so before fighting Hanzhong, we must be fully prepared, otherwise we will kill ourselves. ”

"What about a surprise attack from the direction of the Western Frontier?" He Feng still didn't give up and asked.

"There are four plank roads in Hanzhong and Guanghan from Longnan in Western Xinjiang to Yizhou, namely Jialing Road, Qishan Road, Yinping Road and Taomin Road." Xian Yufu patiently explained,

"Humble words, even if you have traveled thousands of miles and brought the army over after a lot of hardships, what about the grain and grass? What to do with ordnance? Take a step back and say, even if you barely support and rush to the Hanzhong realm, but before entering the hinterland of Hanzhong, there is still a Yangping Pass, which is famous all over the world, how can you fight this tired army? He Feng snorted angrily and scolded viciously,

"Since there is no way to fight, then simply burn all the plank roads with one fire, so that they can't fight Chang'an." Yang Biao, Xian Yufu, Xu Rong, Zhang Yan and others laughed silently.

Ko Yi casually picked up a roll of bamboo slips on the desk and smashed it with his head and face,

"You're a general, and you're still so brainless. I've lost all my face to you. He Feng shrank his head in fright and tilted his body to avoid the bamboo slips.

"If the plank road burns, can't they repave it? The most on the Qinling Mountains are trees. Xu Rong waved his hand at Lu Yi, signaling him to pay attention to the occasion and not to beat people indiscriminately.

"It is not difficult for the army to pass through the plank road, and even if the enemy burns the plank road, we can take the craftsmen all the way through. For us, the most difficult thing is the transportation of grain and grass. Whether it is fighting in Hanzhong or Chengdu, there are many passes along the way, and the army needs a long time to fight, so the transportation of grain and grass is the top priority to ensure that the army can continue to fight. ”

"The reason why the former general Li Tong failed to continue to attack Chengdu in the south was because Hanzhong was completely destroyed by the Qiang people and could not be recovered in the short term, and the army could not get food support, so it had to withdraw to Guanzhong. Later, Emperor Guangwu chose to attack from the east of Yizhou because he could use the Yangtze River waterway to transport grain and ordnance. Xu Rong walked to the huge map, pointed to Hanzhong on the map and said,

"At present, the counterinsurgency strategy of the imperial court is very clear, and immediately after taking Luoyang, Hanzhong will be attacked. We must carefully calculate how many troops are needed to fight the Han Dynasty, how many civilians need to be requisitioned, and how much grain, grass, and ordnance are needed to ensure that the army can succeed in the first battle. ”

"So......" Xu Rong turned to look at He Feng with a disappointed face and said,

"This year's fight against Hanzhong is indeed too difficult, not only is there a shortage of troops, there are not enough people, and there is no guarantee of food, grass and ordnance."

"Humble words, after accompanying your mother for the New Year, you will go back to Guanzhong and train the army honestly for me, don't think nonsense." Xian Yufu said with a smile,

"In the future, I will let you be the first to go south. He Feng listlessly

"Hmm" and sat down dejectedly. When the military discussion was about to end, Xian Yufu solemnly instructed the generals about some things, and finally said: "Your Excellency will go to the battlefield immediately after the New Year. I hope that next New Year, we can celebrate the recovery of Luoyang in Chang'an City. "Jump to