After the execution of the Yang Song brothers, Hanzhong affairs were obviously at an end for Zhang Fei and others. They only had to wait for Jushuo to send someone to take over, and then they could lead the army to Xishu. However, under Fazheng's suggestion, although the entire army could not be mobilized, it was still necessary to take the lead in dispatching one soldier and horse to capture Brazil, and this task fell into the hands of Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun led his troops to go south first. Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others were also busy and sent envoys to various counties in Hanzhong to achieve the goal of taking Hanzhong. Since Zhang Lu was defeated, the county magistrates in various places had little power and no soldiers and horses, so they naturally accepted the order happily. For them, it's just a matter of changing the flag at the top of the city. It's very simple.
It was the summer solstice, and the battle report of Hanzhong finally came from Yizhou. Zhen Yao was very happy. His generals lived up to his expectations. Although Hanzhong was difficult to conquer, they could not stop them.
Some rewards are indispensable, but now that the army is out on the battlefield, there is still one Xishu that cannot be solved. Zhen Yao can only suppress this matter and only wait for the end of the war in Xishu before making large-scale rewards.
The soldiers under his command had just entered Shu, and Zhen Yao was already thinking about how to reward his men. It must be said that Zhen Yao was a little arrogant. And once you become arrogant, problems of this kind or that will always arise. At this moment, in Changyi City, Yanzhou, Cao Cao was plotting with his subordinate Wen Wu.
"It has been reported that Zhen Yao's general Xu Huang and others have captured Nanzheng and all Hanzhong." Cao Cao said every word with a sullen face. He had enough reasons to feel bad.
Once Zhen Yao captured Hanzhong and Shuzhong, with the wealth of Yizhou and Jizhou, the iron cavalry of Youzhou, and the power of Qing, Xu, Si, and the four states, most of the Han Dynasty was in his hands. Not to mention fighting against it, even trying to protect yourself is not easy.
Cao Cao just told the results of the war in Hanzhong and kept silent. However, none of the civil and military personnel under his command was a momentary hero, so they naturally heard what his lord meant. After thinking for a while, Xun You stepped out and said: "My lord, if we lead an army of cavalry and surprise troops at this time, sneak attack on Si River, and take Chang'an directly, there may be something to be gained."
"Yu also has this thought," Cheng Yu said shortly afterwards: "If we can capture Luoyang with a surprise force and separate Zhen Yao's east and west wings so that his head and tail cannot see each other, it will not be difficult for my lord to win. My lord can divide his troops into two groups, one on each side. The suspected soldiers left Wancheng, crossed Yiyang, crossed Luoshui, and forced into Luoyang. Along the way, we can send generals to sneak attack Sishui. If we can defeat them in one battle, the situation will turn around now."
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that compared to heading north to Luoyang from Nanyang, it is very difficult to go westward via Si River. But knowing this, Cheng Yu still came up with this plan. If he were an ordinary person, he might not be able to see his plan.
But Cao Cao is obviously not an ordinary person. Although he has lost more than he has won in many years of battles, most of his failures were due to no fault of his own, and were actually due to bad luck. Now that I heard it, I understood. He looked at his generals calmly, and after a moment he said, "Wen Ruo, Zhongde, who do you think should be the general to attack Luoyang?"
Xun Yu's overall view was the best in the late Han Dynasty. Although he did not come up with this surprise attack strategy, he had already analyzed the key to the success or failure of this kind of military operation after thinking for a while. He immediately bowed and said: "My lord, Nanyang's suspected soldiers must be led by Wuji." The most important general to lead must be General Zixiao. As for surprise attacks, under the lord's command, the first one to be chosen is the talented one."
"Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan." These two are the top figures of the Cao family, and they were trained by Cao Cao with great efforts. And it is not an exaggeration to say that the current strategy of attacking Luoyang is Cao Cao's only chance to make a comeback. In such an urgent war, Cao Cao would not leave it to a foreigner to take command. It can be said that Xun Yu's suggestion is both reasonable and in line with Cao Cao's wishes.
Basically, no one in Cao Ying would oppose Xun Yu's recommendation. Even though many generals felt it was a pity, they all stood peacefully among the generals. The hall was extremely quiet at this moment, everyone was waiting for Cao Cao's order.
"Where are Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan!" With an order, the two brave generals of the Cao family marched out with clasped fists. Cao Ren was originally assigned to command the rear in Yuzhou, but after the capture of Nanyang, Cao Cao called him back in order to prepare for future wars. .
Needless to say, Xia Houyuan always followed Cao Cao closely, taking the lead, and he was always among the vanguard generals in major and minor wars. Although he lost more than he won, his ability to lead troops could not be eliminated after all.
Cao Cao looked at these two talented men, nodded and said: "Order Cao Ren to go to Nanyang, command Nanyang's troops and horses, and approach Luoyang. Mobile novel site Le Jin and Liu Ye will be assisted, and Wan Shier and the other three will discuss it together!"
"Xia Houyuan, Cao and your eight thousand soldiers will wait for the battle in Luoyang to start, and surprise troops will attack Sishui. Furthermore, Cao Chun, you will lead the tiger and leopard cavalry with you, and you will follow Miao Cai's military orders!"
The tiger and leopard cavalry were all mobilized by Cao Cao. This was the only elite cavalry under Cao Cao's account. The number was only two thousand, but every soldier and every horse was piled with gold. Xia Houyuan was very moved when he heard this.
¡°The general has received the order and will not give up until the Sishui is captured!¡±Xia Houyuan gritted his teeth, thinking that even if he gave up his life, he would still give his eldest brother a chance to live.
"My lord, this alone is not enough." After Cao Cao's order was over, Cheng Yu spoke again: "My lord, we should quickly ally with Sun Quan and send troops to Xuzhou to contain the troops of Qingxu and Xuzhou. And my lord should personally lead Yan The soldiers and horses of Henan will fight again in Jizhou, not to conquer the provinces and counties, but just to make Zhen Yao tired of dealing with them and unable to distract others."
After saying this, Cheng Yu was actually not very relieved, but that was all he could do, and it would be superfluous to make any more plans. What's more, there is no guarantee of victory in worldly strategies. Everything depends on the actual battle.
After this discussion was over, Cao Cao's men, who were second only to Zhen Yao, began to arrange the war in full swing. Although Cao Cao had been strictly ordered to act in secret, how could such a big move be concealed? Within ten months, Li Li, who was guarding Yecheng, received information about the unusual movements in Yanzhou. At this moment, Cao Ren had just reached a strategic consensus with Liu Ye and others who were guarding Nanyang.
"Cao Mengde's plan, do you think you can hide it from me?" Today, Li Li is no longer in his early thirties. He is approaching the age of destiny. After listening to the report of his subordinates, he shook his head and smiled at the people around him. Said: "What can Bo Dian see?"
Bo Dian, that is, Min Chun who had been guarding the Bohai Sea, listened to Li Li's question and thought for a moment before replying: "Sir, could it be that Cao Cao intends to provoke a war at this time? While the lord's troops are out on the battlefield, he and I Jizhou fights?"
"It is inevitable that Cao Mengde will fight with the lord, but it is not at this time." Li Li stroked his short beard, shook his head and said: "If what I expected is true, Cao Cao must be paying attention to Sishui Pass. This pass cannot be used , Cao Cao feels uneasy!"
Min Chunneng appointed an important governor under Zhen Yao, who was full of talents, and he was certainly not lacking in intelligence. After hearing this, he suddenly realized, and then felt scared. If Cao Cao is really what Li Li thought, he must not be allowed to succeed. . Otherwise, thinking of this, Min Chun shook his head decisively, and it would be better to think less about unlucky things.
Looking at Li Li who was still smiling, Min Chun said hesitantly: "Sir, sir, asked the lord to invite Tiaochun to come to Yecheng. Could it be that he had already thought of this?"
Li Li shook his head again. He was not good at calculations, so how could he know Cao Cao's plan a month ago.
At that time, I asked Min Chun to be transferred, but with his sophisticated insight and foresight, he expected that the capture of Shu would not be so smooth. Because nowadays, there are too many people in the Han Dynasty who don¡¯t want their lord¡¯s power to expand. For this reason, they will work together to destroy it.
Half a day later, two fast horses set off from Yecheng, one galloping towards Sili and the other heading north to Wuji. In Ye City, Li Li also began to arrange Wei Jun's protection. Wei Jun was under considerable pressure this time.
The young Sun Quan finally stabilized several counties in Jiangdong with the help of Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao and other veterans. Although he was the youngest among the Han lords, he seemed confident when facing the envoys sent by Cao Cao: "Go back and tell your lord that I will not form an alliance with him, but Xuzhou, I, Jiangdong, have decided to take it." !¡±
Jia Kui, who was arranged by Cao Cao to come to Jiangdong, did not change his expression, but smiled helplessly in his heart. The change in Chang'an made all the princes misbehave with their lord. But who can blame this? After all, the emperor didn't just give up just because he said he wanted to.
After Jia Kui left, Sun Quan recruited Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, Lu Meng, Gan Ning and other Jiangdong generals, and told the news brought by Cao Cao's envoy. After hearing this, several people also greatly appreciated Sun Quan's handling attitude. Xuzhou must be captured, but Cao Cao cannot easily form an alliance with him.
The opinions were unified, and the next thing was to discuss who should lead the troops to attack Xuzhou. Gan Ning could be ruled out first. Although he was not bad at leading troops on land, the navy was obviously more suitable for him. In the battle with Xuzhou, there were not many waterways.
At this time, Jiangdong had not yet seen overseas battlefields, and was still entrenched in the struggle between counties in Dahan Province. After half a day of brief and fierce debate, the troops and horses were finally decided. The veteran general Cheng Pu was the leader, Zhou Yu was the military advisor, and Ling Tong and Ding Feng were the assistants. They led 50,000 troops to capture Xuzhou by force.
When Jiangdong was ready to send troops, Li Li's letter had been circulated to Zhen Yao among his advisers. The hall was full of scribes from Wuji who admired Li Li. Even Guo Jia and Jia Xu looked at Li Li sideways.
Chen Lin complained secretly in her heart that she had finally managed to squeeze out enough military rations for Zhen Yao to go to Yizhou, and now the war in the Central Plains came again. However, the one who was coming could not hide, so he immediately came out and said: "My lord, if this is the case, make plans for reinforcements as soon as possible. Although Bo Zhi expected the enemy to be ahead of him, there are only 20,000 soldiers in Yecheng, and most of them are newcomers, so they may not be able to compete with Cao Cao. contend."
Chen Deng also echoed: "The soldiers and horses in this battle are second best, but the lord must personally lead the troops south. In this way, we can order the soldiers to use their lives to block Cao Cao from Wei County."
Zhen Yao nodded, he saw LiThe first thought that came to the letter from the Institute of History was that I might have to go on a personal expedition again this time. This is also a helpless matter. Zhang Fei, Xu Huang, Zhang Jia and other generals are not in the city. Although Yan Rou is there, she is not as calm as Xu Huang and others, and his prestige among the Wuji generals is not high. After all, he still has to Do it on your own.
Thinking like this, Zhen Yao nodded and said: "Kong Zhang has prepared food, grass and baggage, and is on standby at any time."
"No." Chen Lin bowed and agreed. There was no one else but him to do this kind of tiring work.
Let¡¯s not mention the upcoming war in the Central Plains of the Han Dynasty. Let¡¯s talk about the Yizhou war. Zhao Yun has led eight thousand soldiers and horses straight into Brazil. Although Zhang Xiu left a small number of troops to garrison after attacking Brazil, But how could these soldiers, who had no generals to command them and could only stand at the top of the city and stroll around, stop Zhao Yun? Within a few days, Brazil and Xichong fell one after another.
And in Yanting, Guanghan, Zhang Xiu also paid the price for his light advancement. Without Yan Rou, a wise man, to help him strategically, Zhang Xiu was just a brave general on the battlefield. Compared to senior brother Zhang Ren, he is still a little behind.
Seizing Zhang Xiu¡¯s eagerness to fight, Zhang Ren severely attacked his junior brother. The terrain of Yanting is rugged, and Zhang Xiu, who was not familiar with the terrain, violated a military taboo and how could he escape the defeat.
A fire covered most of the salt pavilion. If Zhang Xiu had not been brave enough, it would have been difficult for him to escape. Zhang Xiu was lucky enough to escape, but his troops were not so lucky. Tens of thousands of troops and horses were all burned to the ground.
The defeat of the war also allowed Zhang Xiu to temporarily calm down. The Yanting that was destroyed by fire became a place of confrontation between two brothers with the same surname. Zhang Ren also knew that this victory was rare, so he quickly sent messengers to deliver the good news to Chengdu.
After Zhao Yun captured Brazil, he stationed himself on the edge of Guanghan County. Even though he learned that Zhang Xiu was defeated, he did not attack rashly. He just stationed himself safely behind Zhang Xiu and waited for Xu Huang to lead his troops.
"Reporting to my lord, there is good news from General Zhang." In order to send back the news of victory as soon as possible, Zhang Ren mobilized the fastest horses among the generals. Within three days, news of the Yanting victory reached Chengdu.
"Congratulations, lord, congratulations, lord, General Zhang has won a great victory, and the enemy troops in Hanzhong are no longer able to threaten Chengdu." Strangely, in the prefect's mansion, the first one to congratulate was Zhang Song.
What Zhang Song said made many people confused. It stands to reason that Zhang Song was the one who asked for help. Now that Zhang Ren alone can secure Guanghan, Zhang Song's suggestions are useless. At this time, he should be the most It's not happy. Huang Quan and Wang Lei were thinking silently in their hearts, had they thought wrong before? Is Zhang Song really single-minded?
Liu Zhang could not guess what Huang Quan and others were thinking, but he now had enough reasons to celebrate. Zhang Ren had won a great victory, and Zhang Xiu could no longer threaten his position. His position as Yizhou Shepherd was saved. He immediately said with a satisfied smile: "Yongnian is right. Zhang Ren deserves to be Zhang Ren's arm. He has lived up to my expectations and deserves a heavy reward."
"My lord, the war in Guanghan has not yet ended. It is better to wait for General Zhang to come back to discuss the reward." Seeing Liu Zhang's look of "he has healed his scars and forgotten the pain," Huang Quan had to go out and say: "There is a spy horse coming to report, Hanzhong Zhang Lu has been defeated, and Zhen Yao's generals are leading their troops towards Shu. Lord, we must guard against this."
Liu Zhang just smiled a little when he was splashed with cold water by Huang Quan. He frowned and asked, "What do you think we should do?"
"Lord, Yi Songzhan can persuade him to retreat with good words, as long as we don't take back Hanzhong from Yizhou." Zhang Song seemed to be uncharacteristically uncharacteristic today and no longer supported Wuji's troops. He spoke very loyally: "That day The reason for asking for help is because Zhang Lu is worried about adding more troops. Now that Zhang Xiu has suffered a heavy defeat, his energy has been depleted and he has little ambition to make progress, so he doesn¡¯t need to worry about Changan¡¯s troops for the rest of the war."
"Is this possible?" If he could really persuade Zhen Yao's soldiers to retreat, Liu Zhang would naturally be eager to do so. As for Hanzhong, anyway, it was Zhang Luzhan or Zhen Yao who he sent out at that time. He was not Very concerned.
It is too late to ask if it is feasible at this time. Even if it is not feasible, is there any other way to make Xu Huang and Zhang Fei retreat obediently? Smiling bitterly in their hearts, Wang Lei and Huang Quan acquiesced to Zhang Song's proposal, although they both knew that the feasibility of this proposal was almost zero.
It¡¯s not that Wang Lei and others haven¡¯t thought about forming an alliance with Zhang Xiu and then working together to resist the generals of the Zhen family. This idea only made a slight ripple in their minds and was ruthlessly suppressed. Two soldiers and horses who were fighting to the death a day ago should immediately form an alliance. This is really the most ridiculous thing in the world.
Wang Lei believed that he wanted to choose a clan to form an alliance with Shu, but Zhang Xiu was more willing to sit on the sidelines and wait for the Zhen family's soldiers and horses to fight to the death with the soldiers and horses of Shu, and then come out to clean up the mess. In this case, it is useless to say anything more. It is better to go back and write a private letter to Guanghan, asking Zhang Ren to be careful about Zhang Xiu and communicate with him.The Zhen family soldiers and horses behind him.
Originally, Zhang Song was usually responsible for such diplomatic matters, but this time Zhang Song took the initiative to recommend others: "My lord, Song recommends Li Yan and Li Zhengfang as envoys. Zhengfang has few talents and is also proficient in discrimination. Go It would be best to persuade the Zhen family generals to withdraw their troops."
Li Yan was the lone and important minister of Liu Bei of the Shu Han Dynasty in history, but now he is obviously still a newbie. Just half a year ago, he was just a government official in Shuzhong. Even if he is now qualified to set foot in Liu Zhang's council chamber, he has no right to speak. Therefore, Li Yan's expression was full of astonishment when he heard that Zhang Song recommended him.
There were many elderly people in the hall, and there was no shortage of resourceful people. However, Zhang Song did not recommend anyone, but he mentioned the name Li Yan, which surprised everyone present, including Liu Zhang.
Liu Zhang was not familiar with Li Yan, because Li Yan had not received his attention before. He only made practical achievements in subordinate counties and cities, and was promoted to Chengdu Prefecture after being recommended by Zhang Song and Dong He.
Therefore, when he first heard this name, Liu Zhang was very embarrassed to give Xiao Li Yan face. He looked at his head in confusion, as if he wanted to find the right person with the number, but after scanning everyone, he had no impression. He had no choice but to say: "Where is the square?"
"Yan, please see my lord." Li Yan was promoted to Chengdu Prefecture and has been working with Dong He. Dong He's status under Liu Zhang is not bad, but he can only stand at the bottom. Hearing his lord's summons, he quickly stepped forward and saluted.
"Yeah." Liu Zhang nodded slightly, indicating to Li Yan that he knew there was such a number one person like you. After Li Yan stood up, he asked: "Can Zhengfang be sure of what Yongnian just said?"
Although he is young, Li Yan is one of the few highly intelligent talents in Sichuan. How could he not see that there is almost no possibility of completing this matter. But these words can only be suppressed in the bottom of my heart, and I just say in a deep voice: "Yan, follow the orders of the Lord."
"Neither humble nor arrogant, he is suitable to be my envoy to Yizhou." Liu Zhang praised him with both salt and water, and formally handed the matter over to Li Yan, asking him to negotiate with Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and other important generals.