Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains 60th Festival New Year, Yangzhou, Jiujiang County, Hefei. At the end of last year, Yuan Shao, in the name of the Son of Heaven, issued an edict inviting Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu to discuss the opening of the Eastern Road battlefield, and entrusted Yuan Tan with full responsibility.

After the New Year, Yuan Tan wrote to Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu to meet with each envoy to meet in Hefei for talks.

In the middle of the first month, Yuan Tan's envoys Guo Tu and Liu Xian, Cao Cao's envoys Cheng Yu and Guo Jia, and Sun Quan's envoys Zhang Hong and Lu Su rushed to Hefei successively.

The six people carefully analyzed and predicted the situation, and unanimously agreed that opening up the eastern battlefield could ensure the safety of Luoyang and block the northern Xinjiang army from the Central Plains, but there were too many differences and fierce debates on key issues such as when to open the eastern battlefield, the attack strategy of the eastern battlefield, and how to resist the counteroffensive of the northern Xinjiang army on the eastern battlefield after keeping Luoyang.

Guo Tu said, the six of us can't be the master, so let's stop arguing and report back the results of the negotiation quickly.

We are short on time and cannot afford to delay. After Yuan Tan read Guo Tu's letter, his head was a little dizzy. Cao Cao's current situation is very bad, opening up the battlefield on the east road is obviously an opportunity, if the timing of the attack is chosen, it can make Xuzhou more stable, but once the choice is not good, Xuzhou may be overturned overnight, so Cao Cao must first consider his own interests.

In view of this, Guo Jia proposed solutions to several key issues during the talks. He believed that the opening time of the Eastern Road Battlefield should be chosen in the first month of next year, that is, when the Northern Xinjiang Army was already exhausted in Luoyang.

The attack strategy of the Eastern Battlefield should not be containment, but the main attack. If the coalition forces want to reverse the current unfavorable situation, they must change from passive defense to active defense, replace defense with offense, and take the initiative to attack.

Stick to Luoyang, the two wings are contained, and in the final analysis, it is still defense, and it cannot deal a fatal blow to the Northern Xinjiang Army.

Therefore, if the battlefield on the eastern road does not move, it will hit its vital point with the force of thunder, in order to quickly reverse the situation.

After the defensive battle of Luoyang is fought in the first month of next year, Liu Bei on the battlefield on the west road should also be almost prepared.

The primary purpose of him and Liu Pan entering Yizhou was to open up the battlefield on the western road, so as long as they properly handled the relationship with the Yizhou officials, and helped Zhao Wei, Pang Yi and others solve Liu Zhang first and stabilize Yizhou, the time would be ripe to attack Guanzhong.

At that time, Liu Bei and Liu Pan's armies were fighting in Guanzhong, Yuan Shao was in Luoyang to contain the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and we went north to Yanzhou.

The Northern Xinjiang Army has been exhausted from fighting for a long time and is bound to collapse for thousands of miles. After the Battle of Luoyang, the Northern Xinjiang Army had to stop to recover its strength because the annual expeditions had reached its limit, and we needed more recovery time, so at this moment the strategy of the coalition forces had to be significantly adjusted.

First of all, we must take advantage of the great victory in Luoyang and the great increase in the prestige of the Son of Heaven and the imperial court to control Yizhou in a timely manner, so as to quickly form an offensive and defensive pattern of three ways to resist Hebei on the left, the center and the right.

Second, we need to hold talks with Hebei so that a situation of confrontation between the north and the south can be formed in the shortest possible time. Once the situation of confrontation between the north and the south is formed, the situation in the world will immediately change drastically.

Hebei was originally Li Hong's world, and the reason why he held a little emperor hostage was nothing more than to pretend to be a façade for himself and deceive and win over the Hebei scholars to work hard for him.

After the confrontation between the north and the south, the Hebei scholars could immediately see Li Hong's rebellious face, and they were bound to attack him in groups.

Li Hong is a martial artist, full of violence and bloodshed in his bones. He is the same as Dong Zhuo back then, with the mark of despicability of brute beard, greed and cruelty are his nature, when reality cannot satisfy his **, he will lose control, Hebei will immediately fall into chaos, and then will inevitably go to defeat.

Yuan Tan urgently told Yuan Shao in Luoyang, and on the other hand, he personally rushed to Hefei and invited Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu to participate in the talks to solve the matter of opening up the battlefield on the East Road as soon as possible.

In mid-February, Yuan Tan arrived in Hefei and had in-depth discussions with Guo Tu, Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Zhang Hong and others. In late February, Cao Cao replied and sent his son Cao Pi to Hefei on the grounds that he was unwell.

Sun Quan also did not come, Zhou Yu did not come in Chaisang, and the plenipotentiary representative of Jiangdong was Sun Ben. Yuan Tan understood their hardships and knew that they were afraid of offending Hebei and wanted to leave a way back, so he didn't care.

Because Guo Jia's proposal is in the interests of all parties, the talks are progressing quickly. At the end of February, Yuan Tan hurriedly returned to Yuzhou with the agreement of the three parties.

In February, Yanzhou, Chen Liu, and the general Xingyuan Li Hong received a letter from Sima Yi, and after learning that the trial and others rushed to Chenliu with Yuan Shao's reply and asked for another negotiation, he hurriedly interrupted his inspection of Qingzhou and hurriedly returned to Xingyuan.

Yuan Shao's reply made Li Hong completely give up hope. At this moment, the adjustment of the strength of the various departments in the Central Plains is nearing the end, although the large number of new soldiers pouring into the army has reduced the combat effectiveness, Sima Yi and others think that it will take a period of time to retrain, but Li Hong can't wait.

Li Hong met with Shen Pei, Xin Ping, Chen Lin and others, and made it clear that the imperial court would not make any compromises on the terms of the peace talks, and if Yuan Shao was still unwilling to be appeased in early March, the Northern Xinjiang army would attack.

The judges and others were secretly surprised. They always thought that the attack time of the Northern Xinjiang Army should be after the spring ploughing, but who knew that Li Hong couldn't wait to launch the attack before the spring ploughing.

A large number of people were requisitioned and transferred to the battlefield, and spring plowing would be seriously delayed, which would have an impact on the grain and grass raising of the Northern Xinjiang Army in the second half of the year.

Li Hong was furious. The judge and the others got up and said goodbye. Li Hong graciously retained,

"After this battle, we may not see each other again. Everyone is an old friend, before leaving, let me do a little bit of the friendship of the landlord, send you off. At the banquet, the judge and Li Hong only talked about the past, recalled more than ten years of conquest, and thought of the dead Guo Dian, Feng Yi, Fu Zhu, Tian Feng and other deceased, and the two were quite emotional.

During the banquet, Xin Ping was invited to the partial account by Dong Wan. Dong Wan had two letters from Xin Bi in his hand, and he never had a chance to hand them to Xin Ping.

Xin Bi reported his peace to his brother and detailed what he had seen and heard in Jinyang. Now Xinbi is worshiped as the great order of the Great Honglu Mansion, and he is full of hope for the prosperity of the community.

He asked his brother to think carefully and make a new choice if the time was right. Xin Ping was surprised and delighted, he was surprised that his younger brother had surrendered to Hebei, and he was happy that his younger brother had finally survived.

Although surrendering Hebei is tantamount to betraying Yuan Shao, in the face of Luoyang's crisis today, Xin Bi's choice is beyond reproach, and he may be expected to protect the Xin clan in the future.

Xin Ping burned the letter in front of Dong Wan, didn't say a word, and returned to the big tent. The next day, Li Hong sent them all the way to Langtangqu.

The trial and Li Hong parted.

"Brother Zhengnan, take care." Li Hong looked at the deep wrinkles on the judge's face, the little white hair on his sideburns, and suddenly his heart ached, tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, and he choked up,

"When I led the army west into Liangzhou, Brother Zhengnan had many instructions, and today I don't know if Brother Zhengnan ......" Seeing the tears in Li Hong's eyes, he smiled miserably, and reached out to hold Li Hong's hands,

"If you win, please be kind to the people of the world, and the Han will prosper." Li Hong nodded solemnly and asked sadly, "Do we have a goodbye period?" "The judge sighed gloomily,

"A farewell here should be a permanent secret." After speaking, he took a few steps back and gave a deep salute,

"You saved my life, but I have never been able to repay it, if there is an afterlife, I will swear to repay it. Please take care of your people. "The cold wind is howling, and the flag is trombone.

Li Hong stood by the river, silently looking at the back of the judge, his heart aching. In late February, former general Lu Bu, later general Yushi, left general Yan Liang, Long Xiang general Zhao Yun, general Shi Fugan, and other civil and military officials returned to the Central Plains.

Fu Gan reported to the general Li Hongyu about the specific attack strategy of the imperial court about the Battle of Luoyang.

"Both His Highness and Lord Xianyu hope that the Great General will reply immediately, so that the imperial court can immediately order an attack on all battlefields."

"Echo Your Highness, agree with the imperial court's attack strategy." Li Hong pointed to Bo Jiang Ji and said,

"Zitong, write a letter to Lord Xun You, the general of the left chariot cavalry, and the general of the right guard, Lord Zhang Yan, telling them that during the Luoyang War, they should not ask for instructions on everything, and all military matters will be decided by the three adults after consultation, and then immediately give the decree of His Royal Highness. Before clearing the periphery of Luoyang and conquering the eight passes of Luoyang, I was in charge of the battlefield east of Luoyang, and General Xu Rong was in charge of the battlefield in the west of Luoyang, and both of us had to obey the will of the imperial court. ”

"Hasn't the general changed?" Sima Wang Ling reminded,

"Didn't the general deliberately bring forward the attack to March?"

"The attack time of the two main offensive battlefields of Kansai and Henan remains unchanged." Li Hong looked at Sima Yi and said with a smile,

"Zhongda, Hanoi is a containment battlefield, after you return to Hanoi, discuss with Wei Yan and Fu Hu, and take the lead in attacking in March to deter Luoyang and force them to shrink their forces to Gyeonggi Baguan as soon as possible."

"What about Lu Yang? When are we going to hit Luyang? Wen Chou asked eagerly. He was seriously wounded on the battlefield of Yingchuan, and he has only recovered so far, and he is holding back the fire in his belly.

"You get back as soon as possible." Li Hong raised his finger and pointed at Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Xu Huang, Wang Dang, Zhang Xiu, and Ji Ling and said,

"I have declared war on Yuan Shao, as long as Zhongda's army gathers on the Yellow River, Luoyang's army will attack Yangcheng, and the armies of Jingzhou and Yuzhou will also launch a counteroffensive in the direction of Rushui River, Linying, and Xinji. Now there is only Wu Xiong alone on the Yingchuan battlefield, and there are many new soldiers in the army, so it must be very difficult to command. After you go back, attack Luyang with your main forces and cut off the connection between Luoyang and Jing and Henan as soon as possible. Yan Liang and the others bowed down and agreed.

"Remember......" Li Hong looked at Yan Liang and said,

"You have an army of 100,000 in your hands, but this 100,000 army is not the main force to fight Luoyang, but the main force to sweep away the periphery of Luoyang. It is important to remember this and not to make a mistake in the deployment of troops, let alone a decisive battle with the rebels that will result in heavy casualties among the army. Yan Liang frowned, slightly puzzled.

"I don't have enough people for you now, because spring ploughing is going to be done in April, including all counties in Yingchuan, and I can't give you enough people until May. So until May, your main task is to hold Yingchuan and not let the rebels kill you. Li Hong explained: "Luoyang Eight Passes is a defensive whole, as long as you break through a little and conquer one of the passes, the defense of the Eight Passes will be lost, and the rebels will retreat to Luoyang City on all fronts, so you only need to cut off the connection between Luoyang and Jing and Henan in Yingchuan at the beginning, and you don't necessarily have to conquer Luyang City." ”

"After the main army breaks through Hangu Pass or Tiger Prison Pass, your army can smoothly move north to Guangyang Pass, Dagu Pass, Yique Pass and Yuyuan Pass. At this time, your main force will participate in the battle against Luoyang City, and the troops remaining in Yingchuan will have no advantage, and it is very likely that they will retreat to the line of Yique Pass, Dagu Pass and Yuyu Pass, but I will not allow you to take a step back, and I will not allow you to lose Yingchuan. ”

"Yingchuan is very important to us, it can not only protect Luoyang, but also the rear of our southern attack on Jing and Henan after we stabilize Luoyang. In order to ensure that Yingchuan is held, you have to take advantage of the opportunity of the rebels to defend Luyang and rush to counterattack, take advantage of the fact that the rebels do not know that we have deployed 100,000 troops in Yingchuan, and do everything possible to mobilize the main force of the rebels, severely damage the main force of the rebels, and win the advantage in strength for the later army to hold Yingchuan and block the rebels to support Luoyang. Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Wang Dang and others suddenly realized and nodded again and again.

Li Hong turned his head to look at Sima Yi again,

"Zhongda, you also have to remember that your army is to contain the troops, don't be hot-headed and force the pass to cause heavy losses. We need troops to attack Luoyang, and we can't consume our limited forces on the periphery of Luoyang. Sima Yi hesitated for a moment, and then stopped.

Li Hong knew his thoughts, waved his hand and smiled: "Okay, I agree with you to seize Xiaopingjin and Mengjin Pass, but there is a premise. ”

"Don't worry, general, I will definitely seize the pass at the lowest cost." Sima Yi jumped up excitedly, bowed down and said,

"The lower officials will never live up to the trust of the general."

"What's the minimum cost?" Li Hong asked. Sima Yi was stunned for a moment and hesitated.

"How about three thousand?" Li Hong stretched out three fingers,

"If the loss exceeds 3,000 people, you should not lead troops from now on, and go to Xingyuan to be my pawn."

"Zhongda, have confidence in yourself." Zhao Yun said suddenly,

"Back then, when the general came out of Lulongsai, there were only two thousand iron horsemen, but how many battles did he win?" Sima Yi glanced at Zhao Yun gratefully, straightened his waist suddenly, and said loudly: "General, I will fight if I have the opportunity, and I will give up if I don't have the opportunity, I promise not to let the army suffer heavy losses." Hiroshi nodded appreciatively,

"Take the opportunity and don't force it." Then he took out a scroll of documents from the desk and handed it to Lu Bu, who was sitting beside him,

"Fengxian, after you arrive in Rencheng, go to Xuzhou and ask for the money and grain that Cao Cao promised to hand over. Let you face Cao Cao face-to-face, just to force him to show his original form. If he dares to wield a knife and a gun in my back, you are not polite and chop him up. Lu Bu laughed,

"Cao Agui, this person is soft and hard, it's better for me to deal with him."

"General, you are deliberately forcing Cao Cao to rebel." Jade smiled,

"At present, Cao Cao will not go against us, but Jiangdong should pay attention."

"I'll send someone to Koto right away." Li Hong was dissatisfied

"Snort",

"Sun Quan was unwilling to hand over money and grain, so he wanted to replace it with a warship. This kind of person does not put a knife on his neck and bleed him, and he does not know who his ancestors are. "Jump to