In early May of the fourth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Li E, Lu Bu, Gao Shun, Lu Wenlong, Yuwen Chengdu and others, Chen Bing, Bocheng.

The rebels' successful attack on Changyi made the Northern Frontier Army lose face, and Li E and the generals were deeply humiliated, and vowed to kill Zhou Cang and inflict heavy losses on Xu Liu Beijun, so the battle against Bocheng was extremely fierce.

Gao Shun, Wei Yan, and Guan Hai personally came to the city to supervise the battle, and Li E, Lu Wenlong, and Yuwen Chengdu personally led the cavalry to intersperse between Bocheng, Kaocheng, Jishi City and the Bishui River, frequently blocking the rebels who went north to rescue.

Bocheng was soon lost, and Cheng Yu, Zhou Cang and others led their troops to retreat to Kaocheng.

Li E consulted with the generals, believing that the rebels were stationed in Kaocheng and had sufficient strength, and that the forced attack would not only be too long, but also too much troop consumption, and that it was necessary to change the attack strategy in order to quickly move closer to the main army in the center.

At this time, Xingyuan's letter also came, urging them to attack and advance as soon as possible, seize Yongqiu and Xiangyi, protect the flank of the main army, and threaten Yuzhou.

Starting from the requirements of Xingyuan, Li E and others immediately decided to use a cavalry to contain the rebels in Kaocheng and drag them in the area of Kaocheng, while a cavalry army under the leadership of Gao Shun and Xun Di crossed the Bishui and Suishui rivers, and went straight to the line of Huating and Gaoyangting to cut off the connection between Yongqiu and Xiangyi, and then joined forces with the main army to surround Yongqiu, gather heavy troops to fight Xiangyi in the south, and force the rebels in the area of Kaocheng and Xiangyi to retreat south to the territory of Liang State, so as to win time for the main army to stabilize the battle line on the line of Junyi and Kaifeng.

After agreeing on the strategy of attack, Gao Shun, Lu Wenlong, and Yuwen Chengdu immediately led their troops to the north, joined forces with foot and cavalry, cooperated with tacit understanding, and captured the first line of Huating and Gaoyang Pavilion with lightning speed.

At this moment, Yan Rou had led his army to surround Yongqiu and trap the few defenders in the city. Gao Shun had no worries, so he led the army south and killed Xiangyi City.

As soon as Xu Xuan led Yuan Shao's army in Yuzhou to enter Xiangyi, he was attacked by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and he was caught off guard for a while and was dizzy. Xu Xuan didn't know how many Northern Xinjiang troops were besieging the city, and in a panic, he had the intention of withdrawing and retreating into Chen State.

But he was also worried that after he withdrew, Cheng Yu's army would be surrounded by the Northern Xinjiang Army on the north bank of the Bishui River. So while defending the city, he sent someone to fly to Cheng Yu in Kaocheng, asking him to retreat across the Bishui River and retreat into the territory of Liang State.

Cheng Yu was shocked when he heard the news, he didn't expect that the Northern Frontier Army would be able to maintain such a strong attack power and incredible attack speed after leaping thousands of miles and fighting continuously for more than a month.

Now that Yongqiu is besieged and Xiangyi is attacked, he is trapped on the north bank of the Bishui River, and he can no longer stop the Northern Xinjiang Army from moving closer to Chenliu. The only thing that can be done now is to take advantage of the fact that Xu Xuan is still defending Xiangyi, immediately retreat to the south bank of the Bishui River, and retreat to Liangguo County to govern Suiyang, in order to preserve his strength.

Cheng Yu and Zhou Cang abandoned Kaocheng overnight, traveled 80 miles south to cross the Bishui River, and entered Gexiang.

Cheng Yu is safe, but Xu Xuan in Xiangyi City is in a predicament. Under the command of Gao Shun, the Northern Xinjiang Army surrounded the city with cavalry and stormed the northern city gate with foot soldiers. Xu Xuan couldn't advance or retreat, so he had to ask Cheng Yu for help.

A hundred miles west of Gexiang is Xiangyi City. Cheng Yu got the news and urgently sent Cao Chun to lead the tiger and leopard to the rescue.

As soon as the tiger and leopard cavalry crossed the Suishui River, they were besieged by the cavalry of the northern frontier. Lu Wenlong and Yuwen Chengdu commanded the cavalry to roar up, and the two sides fought fiercely. Xu Xuan in the city took the opportunity to break through, and Gao Shun then pursued. The two sides were entangled one after the other, killing flesh and blood.

At this time, Cheng Yu and Zhou Cang led the army to cross the Suishui River from the direction of Ningling and killed them head-on. Gao Shun promptly called Jin and ordered the army to stop the pursuit. The rebels then withdrew into the city.

That night, Cheng Yu, Xu Xuan, Zhou Cang, Cao Chun and others discussed whether to abandon the battlefield on the southern front and retreat to Yuzhou.

Now that Yongqiu and Xiangyi are lost, although the existing strength of the army cannot be recaptured, it can launch a counteroffensive to contain the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army, reduce the burden on the coalition forces on the central battlefield, and win time to consolidate the defensive line.

However, in the past month, Liu Beijun has almost poured out of the nest, and the supply of grain and grass is very tight. The armies of Zhu Ling and Ji Ling were stranded in Pei County because of the poor turnover of grain and grass, and they could not come to meet for the time being.

Most of the grain and grass in Yuzhou had to be provided to the main battlefield in the Central Plains, and without Yuan Shao's consent, it was difficult to allocate it to the armies of the southern front for the time being.

In addition, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's army has not heard from them for a long time, and they don't know when they will be able to go north.

Now that there is no superiority in troops, there is a shortage of food and grass, and the difficulty of the counteroffensive is too great, and the generals do not want to continue to stay on the battlefield on the southern front.

Considering that abandoning the battlefield on the southern front without authorization would have a great impact on the battlefield on the middle route, Cheng Yu, Xu Xuan and others had to carefully analyze the situation and weigh the pros and cons.

At present, the Northern Xinjiang Army has advanced to the hinterland of the Central Plains on all fronts, occupying the entire territory of Yanzhou, and its morale is like a rainbow. It is simply impossible for the coalition forces to gain the advantage of a counteroffensive in the short term, or to start a counteroffensive.

However, after more than a month of bloody battles, the soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army were exhausted, and at this moment they were unable to attack again in the face of the opponents who had been stuck in the second line of defense such as Fengqiu, Junyi, and Kaifeng, and the two sides were about to enter a stalemate stage.

Cheng Yu felt that retreating to Yuzhou at this moment still had more advantages than disadvantages.

After retreating to Yuzhou, the grain and grass of the army can be replenished by Xu and Henan nearby, and the soldiers can also get enough time to rest and recuperate, and they can also gather troops and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

Zhou Cang, Cao Chun and others saw that the army was at a disadvantage and had no intention of fighting again. They were very worried about the safety of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. In the absence of news from the White Horse Battlefield, preserving strength as much as possible has become the only way to help the two.

With the resolute support of Zhou Cang and Cao Chun, the generals followed Cheng Yu's advice and quickly withdrew south to Yuzhou.

At this point, the rebels' resistance on the southern front battlefield was completely defeated.

………………

It was fast to mid-May.

The successive defeats on the battlefields of the north and south flanks made Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others anxious, and they were eager to lead the army to kill them in person.

When the news of Cheng Yu and Xu Xuan's withdrawal of troops into Yuzhou reached Xuchang, Yuan Shao couldn't help but sigh. The opportunity to launch a counteroffensive while the Northern Frontier Army was exhausted was lost in vain. In the past month or so, it was Cao Cao and Liu Bei's men and horses who blocked the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army on the main battlefield of Yanzhou, and they suffered heavy losses.

Yuan Shao and his ministers discussed countermeasures day and night.

With the retreat of the army on the battlefields of the north and south flanks, the left, center and right armies of the Northern Xinjiang Army have formed a situation of advancing in parallel and advancing in unison, and they can support and protect each other. The strength of the three armies was combined into one, and the strength was multiplied. This plunged the coalition forces stationed in Junyi and Kaifeng into an unprecedented crisis.

He believes that the Northern Frontier Army has completed its initial attack objectives through continuous fighting, and is trying its best to promote the formation of a decisive battle situation.

The decisive battle between the two sides required the accumulation of troops, money, food and materials, and the coalition army was not ready, and the Northern Xinjiang Army was also not ready. Therefore, he suggested that the method of negotiating peace should be used to stop and delay the attack of the Northern Frontier Army, so as to gain time for his own side to accumulate forces and adjust the deployment to launch a counteroffensive.

This suggestion was unanimously endorsed by Yuan Shao and others.

Xu You volunteered and was willing to go to the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army as a peace envoy.

Xu You and Yuan Sheng were recalled to Xuchang by Yuan Shao after Yuan Xi led his army to retreat to Junyi and Kaifeng. Yuan Shao was furious at the loss of Chen Liu, but considering that it was the time to employ people at this moment, he did not punish them immediately, but let them stay in the mansion and continue to serve in order to atone for their crimes.

Xu You's talent and courage are obvious to all, and he can take the initiative to come forward to negotiate peace with the Northern Xinjiang Army camp, which is exactly what Yuan Shao wants. Yuan Shao immediately asked him to carry a heavy gift and rushed to the camp of the Chen Liubei Army.

………………

Late at night, the Great General's Camp.

The big tent was brightly lit. Li Yi, Guan Yu, Zhang Yan, Xu Huang, Bian Xi, Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang, Zhai Ya, Baliyan and others sat around and discussed the strategy of attacking.

At present, the left, center, and right armies of the Northern Xinjiang Army are advancing in unison, all of which are advancing to the line of Yingou Water and Langtang Canal.

The gutter water, the chasm water, the Langtang canal, and the Bishui River meet in Junyi City. The water of the ditch flows down from the north and flows into Junyi, the place where the four rivers intersect, and the intersection continues south to Yuzhou is the Langtang Canal.

The chasm water flows into the intersection from the southeast, and the Bishui River continues to flow to Huai and Si along the southeast.

The main army of the middle road is now stationed in the upper reaches of the Langtang Canal, and the 100,000 army is confronting the rebels under the city of Junyi and Kaifeng, and is pointing straight at Henan.

The army on the left was interrupted at the Langtang Canal, threatening Yingchuan, Chen, and Liang in Yuzhou from Xiangyi, Jiwu, and Yucheng to protect the main battlefield of Yanzhou.

The army on the right was stationed in the lower reaches of the Yin Gou River, stationed in the areas of Yanjin, Suozao, and Wuchao, and confronted the rebels in the two cities of Yuanwu and Yangwu on the other side of the Yin Gou Water.

Military advisor Zhuge Liang briefed everyone on the current situation. He said to the generals: "Two days ago, the army of Li Jing and Tian Kai attacked Fengqiu, but the rebels could not resist it, and then withdrew across the ditch water. Our army then pursued, intending to kill the chasm water and threaten Zhongmu. The rebels fought back desperately and fought fiercely with us in the area of Sanling Pavilion. Due to the very tenacious resistance of the rebels, our army suffered heavy losses, so we had to retreat to the east bank of the ditch water, and stationed troops on the line of Fengqiu and Junyi, and confronted the rebels across the river. ”

Zhuge Liang pointed to Zhongmu City on the map, drew a circle around it, and continued: "Now the rebels are all gathered within one hundred and fifty miles of Zhongmu City, where there are many rivers, dense ditches, and extremely stable defense lines, plus this is very close to Luoyang and Yuzhou, their troops and grain and grass can be quickly replenished. ”

Zhuge Liang looked at everyone, shook his head and said: "At this point in the battle, our advantage is not much left, but the advantage of the rebels is surpassing us little by little, which is the same as we expected at the beginning, we can't move." (To be continued.) )