"If we want to break the attack strategy of the Northern Xinjiang Army, we can only abandon Changyi, quickly march north with a large army, and block the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry from the city. The rest of the army www.biquge.info pen ~ fun ~ pavilion quickly detoured through Liang State and inserted Dingtao from the west side of Chengwu City. Holding Dingtao is equivalent to delaying the attack speed of the Northern Frontier Army, delaying the cone-shaped formation of the Northern Frontier Army, and delaying the time for the decisive battle between the Northern Frontier Army and us. ”

"However, when Puyang and Changyi are lost, and the left and right flanks of the army are completely exposed, it is very unrealistic for us to rely on our own strength to defend Dingtao."

Xi Zhicai's hand swept down from the Dingtao and Chengwu cities on the map, and continued to talk eloquently: "Even after Liu Biao's Jingzhou army arrives, it will be difficult for us to hold this defensive line, because the Northern Xinjiang Army will not give us so much time. If it wants to fight us in a decisive battle, it must quickly take down Dingtao and become a martial force, so that it can use the sturdy cone-shaped formation to form a strong and continuous attack force. ”

"Therefore, we must take advantage of the time of holding Dingtao to quickly unite with Yuan Shao and form a second arc defense line on the line of Baima, Yanxian, Fengqiu, Chenliu, and Xiangyi to block the second round of attacks by the Northern Xinjiang Army. Whether or not this line of defense can be held has a direct bearing on whether or not we can hold back the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army, whether we can win enough time for the allied forces to resist Hebei, and whether we can completely reverse the current battlefield situation that is extremely unfavorable to us. ”

"However, the Northern Frontier Army had already taken into account the huge obstacle of this defense line to their capture of the Central Plains, so they sent troops south to cross the Yellow River to attack Henan as early as mid-March." Xi Zhicai shook his head and said helplessly, "Only today can we see the great role played by the Northern Xinjiang Army in attacking Henan on the battlefield in the Central Plains. ”

"The Northern Xinjiang Army attacked Henan, firstly, it deceived us and shifted our attention from the Central Plains to Henan, so that we completely ignored the possibility of them attacking the Central Plains, and secondly, it restrained our troops, Yuan Shao's main army was all dragged to the Henan battlefield by them, and we couldn't wait to launch the Jianghuai War. As Yuan Shao's main army returned to Henan, the Northern Xinjiang Army then completed their third goal of attacking Henan, that is, to capture Puyang and cover the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack Dingtao and Changyi. Now we see that the fourth goal of their attack on Henan is to prevent us from establishing a second line of defense to block the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army from capturing the Central Plains in the shortest possible time. ”

Zhang Fei, the general of the Northern Xinjiang Army, led an army of 64,000 to attack Henan, and in a very short period of time, he relied on the powerful terrain of Chenggao, Xingyang, and Aocang to complete the cone-shaped formation. Although Yuan Shao's speed of reinforcement was very fast, due to the rapid southward movement of the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army to the Central Plains, Yuan Shao, like us, did not want to wear out his forces prematurely. There are many reasons why Yuan Shao is reluctant to lose troops, but for now, it seems that his choice is completely correct. If he and Zhang Fei fight to the death, not only will the alliance and coalition to fight against Hebei not succeed, but even if the alliance succeeds, we will lose our absolute superiority in troops. ”

"Everyone, please take a look at the deployment of troops on both sides in front of you." Xi Zhicai pointed to the map and said, "Yuan Shao and Yan Zhangfei are facing each other in Henan. Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and the main forces of the Northern Xinjiang Army confronted each other in Dingtao and Changyi. Our army is still on its way back to Yanzhou. ”

"At this time, Yuan Shao's army can't eat Zhang Fei, his main army is on the Henan battlefield, and if we want to establish a second line of defense in the near future, Yuan Shao must withdraw his troops from the Henan battlefield to help Yanzhou, but he can't withdraw. Yuan Shao couldn't withdraw, and he couldn't defeat Zhang Fei of the Northern Xinjiang Army alone, and it was difficult for us to stop the Northern Xinjiang Army from continuing to attack on the front line of Dingtao and Chengwu, so the result of the Central Plains War was self-evident. ”

Xi Zhicai looked at Cao Cao, Liu Bei and the generals in the tent, and said with a serious expression: "Judging from the Jizhou War the year before last to the beginning of the Central Plains War this year, Li Yi's use of troops has reached an unbelievable level. If we want to defeat him, in addition to holding on to Dingtao and quickly establishing a second line of defense, we must defeat Zhang Fei as soon as possible and build a third line of defense. ”

"Build a third line of defense?" Cao Cao asked in surprise, "If Liu Biao's Jingzhou army can quickly rush to the front line of Chenliu and Xiangyi, the second line of defense should be able to stop the Northern Xinjiang army." ”

"Without the help of Yuan Shao's army, the first-line troops of Baima, Fengqiu, and Chenliu in the north of the second line of defense are very weak, and they can't stop the Northern Xinjiang Army at all. This is also one of the purposes of the Northern Xinjiang Army to open up the Henan battlefield. Xi Zhicai said undoubtedly, "The Jingzhou army has traveled thousands of miles and needs time to rest and recuperate, so it cannot be put into the battlefield immediately, and our hundreds of thousands of troops are all concentrated in the Central Plains, and the supply of grain and grass will definitely not be able to be supplied in the short term." ”

"It is inevitable and necessary to continue to retreat."

Cao Cao waved his hand angrily and scolded hatefully. At this moment, he couldn't wait to eat Li Yi alive.

"After Liu Biao's Jingzhou army arrived at Yingchuan, he could enter Henan nearby and attack Yan Liang from the direction of Zhongmu and Guancheng. Zhang Fei was attacked in front and back, and faced the danger of annihilation of the whole army at any time, so he could only choose to retreat. Xi Zhicai pointed to Xingyang and said to everyone, "After Zhang Fei withdrew from Henan, we immediately established a third line of defense along the line of Chengxingyang, Guancheng, Zhongmu, and Kaifeng. ”

Xi Zhicai frowned and thought for a moment, then smashed his fist into Zhongmu City on the map, and said affirmatively: "The decisive battle is very likely to be in the Zhongmu area." ”

Because he had to hurry the next morning, Cao Cao made a decision and accepted Xi Zhicai's suggestion. He exchanged views with Liu Bei, and then decided that Liu Bei would lead the army to Chengwu in a hurry to contain the iron cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army. Liu Bei also fought against the iron cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army with Gongsun Zhan a few years ago, and has rich combat experience in dealing with the iron cavalry.

Cao Cao himself led the army to make a detour through the Liang State and kill Dingtao from the west side of Chengwu. Cao Cao personally wrote a letter to Cheng Yu and Li Tong, asking them to give up Changyi at the right time.

The generals were then ordered to go out of the account. Cao Cao and Liu Bei left Man Chong, Xi Zhicai, and Sun Gan behind, and the four of them discussed the book to the imperial court together, and gave detailed explanations and explanations of the analysis and countermeasures related to the Central Plains War.

In addition, Cao Cao personally wrote a letter to Yuan Shao, explaining the reason why he and Liu Bei could not rush to Xuchang in person.

"Berning, you and Gongyou will travel early tomorrow morning, day and night, to Xuchang." Cao Cao handed the letter to Man Chong and Sun Qian, and solemnly instructed, "This battle is related to the survival of the Han Dynasty, and we must work together to defeat Li Yi, so no matter how Yuan Shao and Liu Biao arrange, you must support me and Liu Yuanjun on your behalf, and there will be no obstacles." ”

Man Pet and Sun Qian bowed down to receive the order. Liu Bei sat on the side and stopped talking.

"Xuande, what do you want to say?" Cao Cao asked strangely, "Is there anything else you and my brother can't say?" ”

Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said in a low voice: "Yuan Shao asked the Son of Heaven to pardon Yuan Shu's subordinates, but he did not pardon Yuan Shu, and his intentions are unknown. He wanted to take this opportunity to win over Yuan Shu and his men and take Jiujiang County for himself. We fought for a long time, and finally forced Yuan Shu to a dead end, but in the end, we had to give up Jianghuai because the Northern Xinjiang Army attacked the Central Plains. Yuan Shao was so blatant in taking advantage of the fire to rob, it was too much. If Yuan Shu does not die, the southern part of Xuzhou will not be at peace, and the Central Plains War is more likely to have unexpected changes because of this. Could it be that Brother Meng De turned a blind eye to this matter? ”

Cao Cao pondered for a long time, and then turned his eyes to look at Man Pet and Xi Zhicai. I really didn't want to offend Yuan Shao in this matter. The Northern Xinjiang Army is fighting Yanzhou, and he is about to be homeless. In the current situation, if he wants to recapture Yanzhou, he depends on Yuan Shao's help. gave such a dozen to the Northern Xinjiang Army, and he was extremely discouraged, and his mood was extremely low, and he even had the idea of bowing his head and obeying Yuan Shao.

Looking back on the ups and downs of the past ten years, and the countless harsh lives and deaths I have experienced, in the end it was a failure, which is really frustrating. I have repeatedly struggled in adversity, and the enthusiasm of the year has long since cooled, and all I have returned is endless sadness and disappointment. The distance between reality and dreams is too far, and his ambition has long been sunken, leaving only a trace of survival instinct.

Full of favor comprehended, and said to Liu Bei very cautiously: "Yuan Shao has Yuan Shao's strategy, and we have our countermeasures." Surrender Jianghuai to Yuan Shao, not to mention that the envoy is unwilling, even the more than 200,000 soldiers of the Yanzhou army and the Xuzhou army are unwilling. ”

Liu Bei asked, "What countermeasures does Zhongde Boning have?" ”

"Because of the Great War in the Central Plains, we had to withdraw our troops and return, but Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are still there. At this time, Yuan Shao issued an order in the name of the Son of Heaven to pardon Yuan Shu's subordinates, precisely to prevent Sun Ce and Zhou Yu from continuing to attack Yuan Shu with troops and occupy Jianghuai. Yuan Shao does not want to see Sun Ce and Zhou Yu occupy Jianghuai, and we do not want to see that on this point, we are consistent with Yuan Shao. ”

Man Chong paused, looked at Liu Bei's face, and continued: "It is precisely because we have the same thing with Yuan Shao that we should support Yuan Shao's decision and let Sun Ce and Zhou Yu withdraw to Jiangdong first. With Yuan Shao and us agreeing on the same opinion, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were forced to withdraw their troops for the time being. ”

"During the Jianghuai War, Yuan Shu's men were very divided. Liu Xun surrendered to the imperial court and took refuge with the prime minister. There was a close relationship between Ji Ling and the envoy. Li Shu and Zhou Yu walked very closely. The relationship between Yuan Yin, Zhang Jiong and Sun Ce is also very ambiguous. At present, the only people who have been following Yuan Shu are Yan Xiang, Yang Hong and Liu Fu. Man Chong waved his hand, his face showed disdain, and said, "After we withdraw our troops from Jianghuai with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, Jiujiang County will be lively. Yuan Shu had learned from the past, once he got a chance to breathe, the first thing he did was to eradicate the rebellion. All we have to do is to help Jiujiang County get into chaos and let Yuan Shu and his own men eat dogs. Regardless of whether Yuan Shu put down the rebellion in the end, or Liu Xun and Li Shu killed Yuan Shu, there is no strength in the Jianghuai region that can compete with us. When the dust settles on the Central Plains War, the ownership of Jiujiang County is estimated to be clear. ”

Liu Bei suddenly realized, nodded at Man Chong, and said, "Berning is reasonable. There is a way to surrender without a fight, so why bother to fight again. Teachable and teachable. (To be continued.) )