Half a month has passed since Chen Xu entered Dongjun.

In half a month, Chen Xu completely stabilized the situation in the entire East County, and began to eyeing the rest of the counties again.

However, after the fall of the eastern county, the officials of the other counties began to shrink their forces and put on a posture of strict defense.

Although Chen Xu led his troops to several cities, it still took a lot of time after all, and at this time, Yuan Tan had already led the army to the north bank of the Yellow River.

In the battle of Guandu in history, Cao Cao broke Yuan Shao here, but when Chen Xu began to confront Yuan Tan, he found that the battle situation was not as easy as he thought.

Yuan Tan listened to Xu You's suggestion and did not fight a decisive battle with the Guanzhong army at all, but spread his troops on the front line of the Yellow River, using the Yellow River to block the advance of the Guanzhong army.

Chen Xu led the crowd to cross the river and was defeated repeatedly, so he had no choice but to think of another way.

Tian Feng said to Chen Xu: "Although the Yellow River is steep, it can't protect the entire Yanzhou, since Yuan Tan is defending the Yellow River, why don't the lords directly attack the rest of the counties in Yanzhou?" ”

After Chen Xu took Dongjun, although he also sent troops to attack the rest of Yanzhou's counties, he did not do his best.

Chen Xu knew that Yanzhou was the land of four wars.

Even if it were to be attacked, it would not do much good except to lengthen the defensive line and suffer from the enemy on the back.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Chen Xu was ready to attack Jizhou, not the entire Yanzhou.

However, Yuan Tan's occupation of the Yellow River made it impossible for the Guanzhong army to advance an inch, and Tian Feng's suggestion made Chen Xu hesitate.

After thinking for a while, Chen Xu said: "The special geographical location of Yanzhou, Yuan Hao is not unaware, even if he can defeat it, I am afraid it will be difficult to hold." ”

"If you can't hold Yanzhou, and you spend manpower and material resources to fight, wouldn't it be a waste of work?"

Tian Feng said with a smile: "The lord is a blind eye, I don't see Mount Tai, compared to the vast land of Yanzhou, the population and wealth in its territory are more attractive." ”

"As long as the lord can capture Yanzhou, and then move the population to Guanzhong, and plunder all the counties and counties, wouldn't he have broken Yuan Tan's arm?"

Chen Xu couldn't help but be happy when he heard this, he really only thought about how to occupy the territory, but forgot the fine traditions of the Guanzhong Army.

The Guanzhong army had been at war with the enemy before, and if it could not hold the city, it would take the lead in relocating the people to enrich the population of Guanzhong.

If Chen Xu can take all the population of Yanzhou away this time, even if there is no other gain in the end, after several years of cultivation and recuperation, it will definitely increase Guanzhong's strength greatly.

This increase in strength is even comparable to the capture of a state.

After all, Chen Xu now occupies the land of Sizhou, and although there are many people in the territory, it still seems a little vast and sparsely populated compared to the vast land.

In addition to Yizhou, Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and Bingzhou were able to relocate many people.

It's just that the migration of people in this era is not a trivial matter, if the population is migrated to the distant Liangzhou, just the grain and grass spent on the migration are an astronomical amount.

After pondering for a long time, Chen Xu finally decided to adopt Tian Feng's strategy.

Even if the cost of migrating the population is very large, in the long run, it can expand the war potential of Guanzhong, which is very helpful for fighting a protracted war.

Moreover, as long as he can snatch the vast majority of Yanzhou's population, even if Yuan Tan recaptures it again in the future, all he will get is a barren state city.

As soon as the day came, although the Yuan clan still nominally occupied the land of Sanzhou, it was robbed by Yuan Shang of one, and one was abolished by Chen Xu, and only Jizhou was really controlled by Yuan Tan.

"My lord, in fact, after plundering the people, they have a good place to go."

At this moment, Jia Xu suddenly spoke.

Chen Xu perked up when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Please also ask Wenhe to teach me." ”

Jia Xu stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Have you forgotten that Hanoi County and Henan Yin have already become deserted after several migrations and wars. ”

"In the past, these two counties belonged to the borderless land, and no prince was willing to occupy them, but the lord sent troops to sweep the two counties this time, and the bandits in the territory surrendered."

"Rao is like this, these two counties that lack population, it is impossible to develop."

"However, as long as the lord can rob a large number of people this time, he can completely resettle them in the nearest two county towns."

"In this way, it will not only reduce the cost of long-distance migration, but also make the two county towns prosperous, so why not?"

Hearing this, Chen Xu couldn't help but pat his forehead, and his face showed joy.

Hanoi County and Henan Yin, which used to be the center of the Han Dynasty, were also very prosperous and populous.

It's just that these two counties have been fighting for a long time, which has led to the withering of people's livelihood and thousands of miles of uninhabited.

Chen Xu was hindered by the alliance of princes in the past, and in order to defend the pass according to the danger and gain time to attack Yizhou, he gave up the two county towns.

Later, because the two counties were too withered, Chen Xu simply ignored the land of the two counties.

But now the situation has changed dramatically, and Chen Xu's strength is much stronger than before.

Moreover, the alliance of princes was broken, and Chen Xu was completely able to free up his forces and take an offensive posture.

Therefore, Hangu Pass and Kei Pass will play a much smaller role in Guanzhong, but Hanoi County and Henan Yin will become the forefront of the war in the future.

Moreover, both counties are located in the easternmost part of Guan, and Hanoi County even borders Yanzhou.

Such a short distance, even if the people are migrated, it will save a lot of time, and it will consume a lot of manpower and material resources.

"Haha, due to the influence of my previous thinking, I didn't think of it here."

Chen Xu laughed a few times, not hiding the joy in his heart.

With a plan in his heart, Chen Xu immediately said: "Without further ado, we will do our best to attack the rest of the counties in Yanzhou, and strive to plunder enough population before Cao Mengde sends troops." ”

The issuance of this order could not help but make Yanzhou turbulent again, and it can be expected that many people will cry sadly and leave their hometowns.

However, the war is like this, although Chen Xu feels that it is very unfair to the people of Yanzhou to do so.

But in troubled times, where can there be fairness?

Even if in the process of plundering the population and moving them to Guanzhong, many people will die because of it.

After the order was issued, the Guanzhong army changed its usual demeanor and began to launch a fierce attack on Dongping Kingdom in the eastern part of Dongjun.

Although the prime minister of Dongping defended the city, he was finally conquered by the Guanzhong army, and the prime minister of Dongping and the generals of the Yuan army who resisted were all beheaded.

After this news spread, it immediately made the guards of several nearby counties feel a lot of pressure.

Dongping Kingdom is actually a very small county, and after taking this county, Chen Xu began to send people to forcibly relocate the people.

The Han people have a very strong sense of locality, and many people are reluctant to leave their hometowns, but under the compulsion of the Guanzhong army, although they are unwilling in their hearts, they can only compromise and seek perfection.

Compared with before, after experiencing Chen Jing's death, Chen Xu has changed a lot.

At the very least, now he can give orders to forcibly relocate the people without hesitation, and if someone insists on not leaving, he doesn't mind wielding a butcher's knife and killing chickens and monkeys.

After Dongping Kingdom was conquered, Chen Xu immediately asked Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, and Pang De to lead an army each and go to attack the nearby counties.

Lu Bu relied on his prestige, supplemented by the general trend of Guanzhong, to force the Taishou of Jiyin County to surrender without a fight.

Zhao Yun bought the big clans in the city, and the inside and outside should join forces to take another county.

As for Pound, after receiving the military order, he asked the adjutant general to stay still, but he was disguised and personally led more than 100 warriors into the city.

When the army pressed the border, Pang De led a hundred warriors to attack the city gate, killed the defenders with a sword, and the city was broken.

I have to say that compared with Guanzhong and Yizhou, although Yanzhou is extremely prosperous, the scale of the city in the territory is not grand.

Because Yanzhou is located in the hinterland of the Han Dynasty, it has rarely experienced wars before, and it is a plain area, so there is no danger to defend except for the Yellow River.

Lu Bu and the others were able to break the city so easily, and there was no reason for this.

Of course, if it weren't for Yuan Tantun's troops on the north bank of the Yellow River, they wouldn't have dared to go south to fight Chen Xu, and the Guanzhong army would not have been so unscrupulous.

The momentum of the Guanzhong army is like a rainbow, since the army was sent to Yanzhou, except for being blocked by the Yellow River for a while, no one can stop it at all, and it didn't take long to connect the five counties.

There are only seven counties in the entire Yanzhou, and even Chen Xu felt incredible that the Guanzhong army could take five counties so easily.

After Chen Xu heard the news, he couldn't help laughing and said, "Except for Taishan County, only Chen Liu, which was occupied by Cao Cao, was not taken. ”

Dian Wei heard the word Chen Liu, but his eyes showed a look of expectation.

He stepped forward and said, "If the lord wants to capture Chen Liu, he is willing to be the vanguard. ”

Chen Liunai is Dian Wei's hometown, since he followed Chen Xu to raise troops, he has never returned to his hometown, and the longing in his heart has long been irrepressible.

That's why he rashly asked for war.

Chen Xu understood Dian Wei's mood, and after a long silence, he said: "Chen Liunai is Cao Mengde's territory, and it is not yet time to fight with him at this time. ”

Although Dian Wei was a little prepared, after being rejected, his heart was still a little gloomy.

Seeing this situation, Chen Xu felt a little unbearable.

He comforted him: "Brother, don't worry, Guanzhong will fight Cao Mengde to the death sooner or later, and we will definitely be able to recapture Chen Liu in our lifetime." “

Dian Wei smiled reluctantly and said, "Yes, Chen Liu will definitely be captured." ”

At this moment, Xu Xian, who had not spoken, spoke: "Lord, although there are five counties in Lianke now, you can't take it lightly. ”

"According to my suggestion, it is better to stick to the city and then move the people to the Guanzhong."

Looking at his son-in-law, Chen Xu couldn't help but smile on his face.

The meaning of Xu Xian's words, how could Chen Xu not know?

He was worried that he would get carried away by the victory and forget the original strategic goal.

Chen Xu nodded and said, "What Bird said is good, pass on my military order, let Wen Hou, Zilong, and Ling Ming defend the city, and then send people to move the people." ”