Lu Lingqi originally wanted to work hard, thinking that Lu Bu was of high status, and if he could really accept Mrs. Du and become a family, it would be a good thing for Mrs. Du to have someone to protect her, but this proposal was rejected by Yan. Definitely.
Lu Lingqi wanted to talk more, so Yan asked her to go back to the house, obviously not wanting to talk about this matter anymore.
Lu Lingqi was depressed, but since Mrs. Yan wouldn't open her mouth, she could only find another way.
When Chen Gui was on his mission to Hanoi, not many people in the world paid attention to Montenegro. The princes were still competing for territory with each other to expand their power.
Only one place turned its attention to Hedong County where the emperor Liu Xie was located.
Yanzhou.
Cao Cao frowned and said to everyone sitting down: "Chenliu County hasn't been captured yet?"
Xun Yu spoke up and said: "The city of Puyang is thick and it is difficult to siege the city. But if this continues, Zhang Miao will be out of food in another month."
Cao Jun attacked Chenliu County, and Zhang Miao brothers led troops to defend Puyang, where Chen Liuzhi was located. The city was strong and walled, and Cao Jun attacked the city several times but returned without success.
Cao Cao stared at the vacant seat opposite, feeling quite uncomfortable because Xi Zhicai finally fell ill and passed away a few days ago.
The position of counselor is vacant, and Cao Cao's counselors are all ready to compete for this position, but for now, no one has opened up the gap with others.
Only by making suggestions and making great achievements can we take the position of mastermind, right?
Xun Yu knew that he was good at government affairs but not very good at planning strategies, so he set his sights on the opposite side.
The person sitting on his knees over there was a scribe who was a few years older than Xun Yu. He looked about forty years old, but in terms of seniority, he was Xun Yu's nephew.
Xun You.
After Xi Zhicai's death, Xun Yu recommended Xun You, and Cao Cao personally wrote a letter inviting Xun You to come to Yanzhou. After the two met, they had a very happy conversation, and Xun You became Cao Cao's adviser.
At this time, Xun You looked calm and said: "If we want to conquer Puyang in advance, there may not be any way."
Cao Cao was overjoyed and asked, "What's Gongda's advice?"
Xun You said: "Puyang is south of the Yellow River and north of the Pu River. It is quite troublesome to transport troops or grain."
"But the terrain is not very high. If we can dig one of the two rivers and pour water into the city, we can break it."
The Yellow River near Puyang is notoriously winding and can easily burst when the water floods.
Volume 24 of "Shui Jing Zhu" says: The Huzi River comes out of Beihe, Puyang County, Dongjun.
During the Western Han Dynasty, the Huzi River burst. After that, the Han court sent people to control it. It took more than 20 years to block the breach.
Volume 24 of "Shui Jing Zhu" says: The Pushui Branch Canal runs to the northeast of Xiaochengyang in Juyang County, to the east of Chuiting, to the west, and to the north of the Hu River.
The branch of Pu River flows east to north into the Huzi River, which is branched from the Yellow River. The Huzi River is to the south of the Yellow River, so the water system surrounding Puyang City is extremely developed. Therefore, the vicinity of Puyang has always been the key to controlling floods in the Yellow River.
After hearing this, Xun Yu's expression changed.
Without him, Cao Cao's advisers and subordinates all knew the water system situation around Puyang City, but not many dared to directly attack the city with water.
Because the water attack is too sensitive.
The first person to propose water attack was Sun Tzu's Art of War, "Fire Attack Chapter" of "Sun Tzu's Art of War": "Therefore, the one who attacks with fire is wise, and the one who attacks with water is strong. Water can be eliminated, but cannot be captured."
He believed that the effect of fire attack was obvious, but the effect of water attack was powerful. However, water attack could cut off the enemy's retreat, but it could not capture his ambition.
Because once the fire attack is launched, if the enemy cannot extinguish the fire, they can just open the city, flee, or surrender.
But the water attack was different. The flood poured into the city, and the people and soldiers suffered the disaster together. They were soaked in the water for a long time and couldn't escape even if they wanted to, so they could only fight to the death, so that the water attack had a counterproductive effect.
Moreover, the water attack was extremely damaging to Yin De, and floods poured in. After that, the whole city was affected, and it was difficult to eat. A large number of people died in a short period of time, and the first to bear the brunt were the old, young, women, and children in the city.
And the aftermath was extremely troublesome. After the flood, the city was littered with corpses, and people's homes were destroyed. Even if the water receded later, it might take several years or more for the city to return to a habitable state. Compared with the tragedy of the city massacre, it was even worse. Nothing less.
Therefore, when generals lead troops to fight, few people use water attacks.
Of course, water attack also has its advantages. Blocking the river upstream, waiting for the water to rise, and taking the opportunity to dig out, can then pour water into the city and watch the people in the city die. This eliminates the need for soldiers to attack the city and eliminates casualties.
Xun Yu murmured in his heart, Xun You had just defected to Cao Cao, and he came up with such a vicious plan. Was he a little impatient?
After hearing this, Cao Cao laughed and said, "Gongda's words are exactly what I want!"
After hearing this, Xun Yu sighed secretly in his heart.
It would not be surprising if Yuan Xi was present, because Cao Cao really liked water attacks.
When later generations attacked Yuan Shu in Yanzhou, the water in the canal was cut, flooding Taishou and defeating Yuan Shu's army. The situation was so miserable that Yuan Shu never dared to invade Yanzhou again.
When attacking Lu Bu's Xiapi, they also used the same tactics. "Three Kingdoms" says: "Then they led the cities of Yi and Siguan. The city collapsed and Bu was captured alive."
When attacking Yecheng, they used a water siege strategy, dug trenches, broke through the Zhang River, and surrounded Yecheng for more than 40 miles. The city held on for seven months, and more than half of the soldiers and civilians died of starvation.
Although the direct cause of the fall of Yecheng was that Shenpei's nephew Shenrong left the city and surrendered, in fact Yecheng was already at the end of its strength at that time, and even if it did not surrender, it would not be able to hold on for long.
Cao Cao was very decisive in using troops and did not think much about the consequences, especially when fighting Yuan Shu for Yanzhou. When the water flooded Taishou, all the people in Yanzhou drowned, which laid a hidden danger for him to be betrayed by the Yanzhou nobles in the future.
Seeing that Cao Cao had made up his mind, Xun Yu could not speak. At this time, Cheng Yu stood up and said: "Zang Hong, the governor of Dongjun, shows signs of instability."
"He has now left Dongwuyang, the seat of Dongjun, and gone to Yecheng. According to the news from the spies, he wants to request Yuan Shao to send troops to Chenliu to rescue Zhang Miao brothers."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. This is not good news!
If Yuan Shao intervenes in the war in Chenliu County and sends his troops less than 200 miles from Yecheng and arrives in a few days, the situation will be chaotic!
What's even more troublesome is that if Yuan Shao intervenes, can Cao Cao openly fall out with him?
After hearing this, Cao Cao sneered: "He is so bold!"
Zang Hong, courtesy name Ziyuan, was born in Sheyang, Guangling. He was a man of great integrity and was once the leader of the anti-Dong coalition in Guandong.
After Dong Zhuo killed the young emperor Liu Bian, he found Zhang Chao, the then governor of Guangling, and persuaded him and Zhang Miao to join forces to rebel against Dong. This led to the formation of the Suanzao Alliance to form the Kwantung Allied Forces. It can be said that the anti-Dong Alliance was the earliest It was Zang Hong who started it.
At that time, Zang Hong was just a meritorious officer under Zhang Chao, and his influence among the princes of the Kwantung Allied Forces was not high at all. Even so, he finally took on the title of leader of the alliance and took the blame, which shows that this person is still very loyal.
Later, Zhang Chao sent Zang Hong to contact Liu Yu. When he traveled to the Hejian Kingdom, he met Yuan Shao, who valued him and appointed him as the governor of Qingzhou. In the next two years, he achieved great results. Bandits fled to the mountains to hide, causing Taishan to be infested with bandits.
But at this time, Yuan Shao moved Zang Hong to be the prefect of Dongjun, with his seat in Dongwuyang.
The governor became the county governor, which was obviously a surrender, but Zang Hong didn't say anything and took office.
Zhang Chao can be regarded as the leader of Zang Hong. Now that Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao brothers are trapped in Puyang, it is reasonable for Zang Hong to go to Yecheng to seek help from Yuan Shao. However, this move is a setback for Cao Cao. No small trouble.
Cao Caocao looked a little gloomy as he thought about it.
If the operation in Jizhou goes smoothly, it is unlikely that troops will be sent to rescue Chen Liu.
Because it stands to reason that Jizhou should concentrate its efforts on attacking Heishan at this time and will not interfere with Chen Liu's matter.
But things are not afraid of 10,000, just in case. Moreover, it is very important for Cao Cao to capture Chenliu, otherwise it will block his westward march to Sili Hedong, and it will be difficult for him to implement his next plan.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao said to everyone: "I have my own arrangements for this matter. You just need to focus on Puyang!"
Everyone took orders.
Cao Cao spoke out: "Now the emperor is returning to Luoyang, but he is stranded in Hedong. Li Jue and Guo Si are pursuing him urgently, but the emperor is held hostage by Bai Bo's army and Zhang Yang, the prefect of Hanoi."
"What do you guys think about this?"
After Xun Yu heard this, he immediately said: "Please Ming Gong, please repel the thieves who are holding the emperor hostage as soon as possible, and welcome the emperor's chariot!"
"Dong Wen of Jin welcomed King Xiang of Zhou back and the princes obeyed. Emperor Gaozu of Han conquered Xiang Yu in the east. He wore plain clothes to mourn for the Righteous Emperor and the whole country returned to its heart."
"At this time, serving the Lord to obey people's expectations is a great act of obedience; being loyal to the public and obeying heroes is a rough strategy; supporting righteousness to be handsome and virtuous. Although there are rebellions in the world, they cannot be burdened. It is clear. If not If we strengthen the imperial court in time, the world will feel rebellious, and even if we consider this matter in the future, it will be too late!"
A large part of the reason why Xun Yu did not object to flooding Puyang just now was that only by capturing Chenliu could Cao Cao open up the route to Luoyang.
If Chen Liu is not captured, even if we can take a detour to Luoyang, we cannot guarantee the follow-up logistics of food and grass. How will we be able to drive away the forces of Li Jue, Guo Si and Bai Bo's army and welcome the Emperor's chariot?
Not long ago, Cao's army failed to attack Xuzhou three times and decisively withdrew its troops, which was also supported by Xun Yu. After all, in Xun Yu's view, Xuzhou was far less important than pleasing the emperor.
Xun Yu took the lead to speak out, and everyone started talking. Xun Yu was impassioned and refuted the opponents point by point. In the end, all the counselors were persuaded by Xun Yu and sided with Xun Yu.
When Cao Cao saw this, he said decisively: "In that case, after Chen Liu is captured, I will personally lead the army to Luoyang to meet him!"
All the plans were decided. When everyone retreated, Cao Cao left Cheng Yu alone and said, "Send a letter to Yecheng and find a way to stop Zang Hong."
Cheng Yu hesitated for a moment and then said, "After much thought, Yu decided that it would be safest for that person to take action."
After hearing this, Cao Cao said: "Send over the newly made five-stone powder."
"If they still have requests, try to satisfy them."
Cheng Yu heard this and immediately accepted the order.
When he was about to get up and leave, Cao Cao stopped him and said, "Zhongde, you are tired."
"You have done a lot of shameful things for me and suffered a lot of injustice. I will never forget it."
After hearing this, Cheng Yu burst into tears and said, "Dare to die for Duke Ming!"
At this time, Cao Cao was thinking that several of his internal agents around Liu Xie were fully prepared, and they were just waiting for him to make the final decision!
(End of chapter)
