Under the city of Fengqiu, the camp of the Cao army. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Because they were worried that their losses would be too large, the coalition forces were unwilling to continue to follow Cao Cao's orders and forcibly attack the Fengqiu and Wuchao lines, resulting in Cao Cao's strategy to break through the Jishui River to capture Yanjin and Suozao, and encircle the Northern Xinjiang Army to achieve a heavy blow to the Northern Xinjiang Army.

Cao Cao was worried.

The failure of this plan meant that a tragic battle would not break out between the two sides, the Northern Xinjiang Army could smoothly withdraw to the banks of the Yellow River, and Yuan Shao's army would not incur too serious losses.

Yuan Shao will inevitably easily win the Central Plains War if his own strength has not suffered a great loss, and he will become the biggest beneficiary of the Central Plains War, not only with a great reputation, but also to achieve his goal. And if he doesn't get out of the battlefield in time, he may become the first target to be eliminated by Yuan Shao. After all, Yuan Shao's purpose was to get Yanzhou, and he, the former lord of Yanzhou, became an obstacle to his justifiable seizure of Yanzhou.

From today's quarrel in the military meeting, it can be seen that his current position in the coalition army is no longer a figure of a down-and-out man who has lost his territory.

After the end of the Central Plains War, Yuan Shao's prestige is skyrocketing, as long as he aims the contradictions at himself, Ji Ling, Zhu Ling, and Zhou Cang will not hesitate to rush forward, and the new and old hatreds will be liquidated together.

Cao Cao, Cheng Yu and others urgently discussed countermeasures.

"Yangwu, Yuanwu, Suozao, Yanjin and other places are only more than a hundred miles away from Wuchao and Fengqiu, and reinforcements from the Northern Xinjiang Army can arrive within a day." Cheng Yu sighed and said helplessly, "Today, we have a one-day truce, which is equivalent to missing the opportunity to break through the defense line of the Northern Xinjiang Army in vain." By tomorrow, things will be very different. ”

"Maybe tomorrow the Northern Xinjiang Army will retreat, and there may not be bloody battles in the area of Fengqiu and Wuchao." Xi Zhicai pointed to the map on the desk and said approvingly, "But one thing we can be sure of is that after the Northern Xinjiang Army withdraws to the front line of Yancheng and Baima, it will definitely defend the city in this area." ”

"The Northern Xinjiang Army went south to the Central Plains to fight for half a year, and of course it didn't want to return empty-handed. In order to pacify the world in the future, they are bound to do everything they can to occupy Yanzhou. Although Zang Ba of Qingzhou has taken refuge in us again, and the Northern Xinjiang Army is under the enemy's back, and it is difficult to occupy Yanzhou, but Zang Ba is not trustworthy, and he may betray us again at any time to join Hebei, so as long as the Northern Xinjiang Army firmly occupies Baima and Puyang and poses a threat to Henan and the western counties of Yanzhou, then it is impossible for Yuan Shao to occupy the entire territory of Yanzhou in the short term. ”

"The retreat of the Northern Xinjiang Army this time is directly related to the burning of grain and grass in Wuchao and the old city. Originally, they transported grain and grass by land and water, but because Liu Bei, Gao Gan and others took the opportunity to send troops to recover most of Hanoi and occupy Yanjindu and Qingshuikou, two important ferries on the Yellow River, the waterway and grain channel were cut off. ”

"The Northern Xinjiang Army has more than 200,000 troops on the Guandu battlefield, and it is obviously overstretched to transport grain and grass by land alone, so after the grain and grass accumulated in Wuchao and Gushi were burned, the Northern Xinjiang Army immediately could not support it. And our timely counteroffensive clearly exposed our intention to block them on the line of Yanjin and Suozao to encircle and annihilate them, and in this unfavorable situation, the Northern Xinjiang Army had no choice but to retreat. ”

"However, the retreat of the Northern Frontier Army at this moment does not mean that they have completely lost the initiative on the battlefield, on the contrary, their retreat is precisely to reverse the current unfavorable situation on the battlefield in order to regain the initiative on the battlefield."

"Although the grain and grass baggage in Wuchao and Gushi have been burned, there is still grain and grass in Jizhou, Baima and Puyang, Dingtao and Changyi, as long as the Northern Xinjiang Army withdraws to the line of Baima and Yancheng, the army of more than 200,000 foot cavalry can be replenished in time."

"In the past, we have said that the most difficult time for the grain and grass of the Northern Xinjiang Army should be September, and after the autumn harvest in October, their shortage of grain and grass will be alleviated to a certain extent, so it is very wise for the Northern Xinjiang Army to take the initiative to withdraw more than 100,000 troops at this moment."

"In this way, they retreated hundreds of miles, close to the Yellow River, which can not only save the people's food consumption in long-distance transportation, but also make the army in a safer place where they can withdraw to Jizhou at any time, and at the same time, they can quickly regain the initiative on the battlefield and confront us again on the front line of Baima and Yancheng."

"If nothing else, the Northern Frontier cavalry will soon appear on the Hanoi and Yanzhou battlefields in order to attack our two flanks, delay our attack, strike at our grain routes, and prepare for a counterattack after October."

Xi Zhicai raised his two hands, his right hand on the line of Dingtao, Jiyang and Dongdu, and his left hand on the line of Jixian, Huojia and Huaicheng, and said to everyone: "Have you seen it? ”

Xi Zhicai looked at the generals under Cao Cao's command who were surrounded around, drew two traces on the map with both hands, and said loudly to everyone: "When the Northern Xinjiang Army attracts our forces to the front line of Yanjin, Suozao and Yancheng, then their cavalry will definitely take advantage of the emptiness of our rear forces to decisively attack from both flanks of the battlefield and threaten the hinterland of Henan." ”

Xi Zhicai looked at Cheng Yu and asked softly, "At this time, what should Yuan Shao do?" ”

"Divide the troops back to defend Henan Yin and stop the attack of the cavalry from the north on both flanks of the battlefield." Cheng Yu said with surprise and joy, "Our opportunity has arrived." ”

"Yes, our chance has come." Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Hong and Xu Chu and said with a smile, "The two generals had a good fight today." Without today's fight, the contradictions in the coalition forces would not have erupted, and we would not have become the target of public criticism. Now that we are not popular with the coalition forces, and the lord has been deprived of the command of the battlefield, is it necessary for us to fight bravely at the forefront of the battlefield? ”

"After the Northern Frontier Army withdraws from the Fengqiu and Wuchao lines, the coalition forces will follow in pursuit, and we will naturally stay at the rear."

Xi Zhicai patted the two cities of Jiyang and Dongdui on the map vigorously, and said very happily: "Now we are eagerly looking forward to the appearance of the cavalry in the northern frontier. As long as they call and start attacking Junyi and Zhongmu, our army left behind will be ordered to go south to block it. ”

"We will be out of the battlefield, and we can fly south to attack Xuzhou." Cao Cao was very excited, and smashed his fist on the case, "When Zhicai said this, the originally chaotic situation became cheerful." Zhicai, you are still sober-minded. ”

Xi Zhicai smiled faintly, shook his hand at Cao Cao and said, "Lord, let's not rush south, don't." ”

Cao Cao and the generals all looked at Xi Zhicai in confusion, not understanding why they couldn't go south under such a good opportunity. You know, now is a godsend, and if you miss it, it will be difficult to come back to it.

Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Cao and the generals who were puzzled, and said eloquently: "After the cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army came out of the battlefield on both wings, Yuan Shao could clearly see the intention of the Northern Xinjiang Army, that is, the Northern Xinjiang Army had no intention of retreating to Hebei, and Li Yi was even more unwilling to give up Yanzhou, and they still had to confront and fight a decisive battle with the coalition army. ”

"And Yuan Shao saw that the cavalry of Northern Xinjiang appeared on the battlefield on both flanks, and the strong enemy in Northern Xinjiang that he feared the most in his heart was no longer on the frontal battlefield, how could he not fight a decisive battle?"

"For him, at this moment, if he wants to take all the Central Plains and achieve his own hegemony, there is only one way, that is, to defeat the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army and drive Li Yi to the north bank of the Yellow River."

"As soon as the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army was defeated, its two flanks in Hanoi and Yanzhou immediately lost its effectiveness, and the Northern Xinjiang cavalry could only quickly retreat, and the other armies of the Northern Xinjiang Army stationed in the northeastern counties of Yanzhou would also retreat to Jizhou one after another under Yuan Shao's advance, so Yuan Shao would fight to the death no matter what."

"If we want Yuan Shao to make up his mind to fight a decisive battle with the Northern Xinjiang Army, we must give him to defend Junyi and Zhongmu, so that he has no worries and let him go to the decisive battle wholeheartedly. Regardless of the outcome of the decisive battle, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and the rest of the coalition army will suffer heavy losses, and we ......"

Xi Zhicai pointed to the people around and said: "Except for the 15,000 men and horses of General Miaocai, the 20,000 people here will be unscathed, and we can take the grain and grass of the coalition army and swagger south to Xuzhou." At this time, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others were scarred and too busy to take care of themselves, where did they still have the strength to chase and kill us? ”

Cao Cao laughed, slapped Zhicai's emaciated shoulders hard, and said with great satisfaction: "Everything is under Zhicai's control." Okay, let's do what Zhicai said. Urgently told Xiahou Yuan to obey Yuan Shao's orders and do his best to fight a decisive battle. As for our ......"

He pointed to the generals around him and said with a smile: "After Liu Biao arrives tomorrow, everyone will behave badly, and they will do everything against him, forcing him to leave us behind the army." ”

"My lord, although we are temporarily staying in the Central Plains battlefield, Xuzhou must be taken immediately." After Xi Zhicai waited for the generals to agree, he suggested again, "Now that Chen Deng is in Qingzhou, it is estimated that he is crossing the river with Zang Ba to attack Ganling Kingdom, in order to force the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army to come back to help, and Jian Yong does not have many men and horses, and Pengcheng is even more useless, it is the best time for us to seize Xuzhou." ”

Cao Cao did not hesitate at all, and immediately sent people south overnight, urgently telling Cao Chun and Ren Jun to join Liu Xun and Xiahou Ba as soon as possible, and seize the counties of Xuzhou at the same speed.

………………

The time shifted to September of the fourth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

On the first day of the ninth month, Li Yi led the Hu cavalry to Liyang, where he received an urgent letter from Xu Maogong through carrier pigeons.

Xu Maogong said in the letter: "Our army has withdrawn to the front line of Yanjin and Suojube. Yuan Shao's pursuit was very fast, biting Guan Yu's army, but what was surprising was that the coalition forces on the front line of Fengqiu and Wuchao suddenly stopped after two days of fierce attack. In order to attract the coalition forces on the front line of Fengqiu and Wuchao to Yanjin as soon as possible, we need more time. ”

Li Yi agreed very much with Xu Maogong's opinion, so he immediately ordered the Hu cavalry army to rest for a day and not cross the river for the time being. (To be continued.) )