After Guo Jia, Zhang Liao and others left the tent, Cao Cao's expression turned cold. After all, the outsiders were gone and he no longer had to pretend to be a good gentleman.
The Xiahou brothers and other generals also went down to mobilize their troops and prepare for the war. It was too early to win or not, everything was in progress.
Xi Zhong saw that Cao Cao had a bad look on his face, so he asked, "My lord, do you think there are a lot of variables in this battle?"
"Yes, our army has just fought twice with the Yellow Turbans and Tao Qian of Xuzhou. The soldiers are very tired. If the ambush and surprise attack fail, another battle with the Yellow Turbans will be protracted." Cao Cao sighed. After all, his family wealth is not good. A family like Yuan Shao's has a big business and can't help but wander.
"I wonder if Yuan Xi's Jizhou Army is reliable?" Cheng Yu suddenly asked.
When everyone heard this, they were all a little surprised and looked at him in astonishment.
"What does Zhongde mean by this?" Xun Yu also asked aloud.
Cheng Yu smiled and said with relief, "I don't mean anything else. I just feel that although Yuan Xi is young, he is a master who is not afraid of trouble. His achievements are probably higher than those of his father. How can I repay him this favor in the future?"
"Now that the two families have formed an alliance, we have just helped Yuan Shao break the siege of Gongsun Zan and Tao Qian. They should send troops to help us wipe out the Yellow Turban bandits. Isn't Shen Pei the one who came up with this idea?" Mao Jie said.
"Who can say accurately what will happen in the future? Do you remember one thing my lord said?" Xi Zhong said.
Naturally, everyone didn't know what he was going to say, so they waited quietly for Xi Zhong's words.
Xi Zhong continued: "When the princes attacked Dong, Yuan Benchu got a jade seal and raised his arm to signal to his lord."
"Yuan Shao refuses to recognize the current emperor, and he also relies on the so-called title of the Fourth Generation and the Three Dukes to recruit heroes. Once he gains power, he will be the second Dong Zhuo, and his ambitions must be guarded against." Xun You continued to analyze Xi Zhong's meaning. .
As Cao Cao's counselor analyzed, there was no difference between Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo at this time, and Er Zhurong in the late Northern Wei Dynasty. They were both warlord leaders of that era, but Yuan Shao was more prominent than their family background.
Cao Cao did not express his position, but since the disbandment of the Kwantung Allied Forces, he has seen through the nature of Yuan Shao, the so-called leader of the alliance. But now that Cao Cao has just established his foothold in Yanzhou, he has to use each other with Yuan Shao and rely on the reputation of the Yuan family. After all, Cao Cao is his ancestor. .
South of Sishui, Lu County, on the high ground next to a section of official road.
After three days of rapid march, Cao Cao's soldiers were lying in a mess all over the place. Their physical strength was so exhausted that they could no longer use any strength. War is not a computer game, it is all living people, they have it. . . . . .
Even if a few uncles and hundreds of generals whipped them with horse whips, the soldiers could not get up because they were exhausted. Soldiers in this era were almost like slaves. They did not have their own relative independence like in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Because the land in this era was basically monopolized by aristocratic families, ordinary people had no so-called independent personality.
Xia Houyuan frowned and said, "It's still half a day's journey from the valley that the scouts are investigating. In this situation, even if the Yellow Turban thieves are ambushed, they won't be able to fight."
"What can be done about this? Meng De ordered us to march desperately. We just hope that the yellow scarf thieves will come later and let us take a rest."
Le Jin and Yu Jin, who were in the other camp, also rode their horses and came to the side of the Xiahou brothers.
Le Jin dismounted, cupped his hands to the Xiahou brothers and said, "Two generals, according to the scouts sent out, the vanguard of the Yellow Turbans is less than ten miles away from here, and the condition of our soldiers..."
Xia Houyuan clenched his hands and said sternly, "No, we have to let the soldiers recover before we can start the battle. Otherwise, in this situation, there is no chance of winning."
Therefore, a plan is always a plan, and the actual situation on the battlefield is another situation, so the general must judge the situation.
"Where are the lord and the Jizhou Army cavalry?" Yu Jin asked.
"Mengde's Chinese army and Jizhou army are still more than ten miles behind." Xia Houyuan replied.
Xiahou Dun slammed the tip of his spear into the ground and said angrily, "Damn it, how can we fight this battle!"
"It's too late for you, so you should ask for help from the lord and send out cavalry to slow down the yellow turban thieves for a while. After we have repaired and entered the valley in front, we can lure them in." Yu Jin suggested.
Several people looked at each other, and there was really no other way, so they nodded in agreement.
At this time, Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun's 3,000 cavalry, and Cao Cao's 2,000 cavalry led by Cao Chun, were also guarding Cao Cao's marching army.
Cao Cao, Cao Chun and others took this opportunity to carefully watch the Jizhou cavalry not far away. After all, if you know your enemy and your ally, you will be able to fight a hundred battles, maybe in the future. . .
"Sure enough, the cavalry from Hebei are comparable to those elite cavalry from the north. What a pity..." Cao Cao said with envy.
Cao Chun disagreed and said, "They have a lot of food and wealth, and they are close to the north. It is convenient to buy horses. If you give me so much money and food for horses, I will definitely be able to train a powerful elite horseman for my lord." .”
Cao Cao had no choice but to sell a horse to the Central Plains, and the cost could be doubled or tripled, and he also bought extra horses.
After all, Yanzhou and Xuzhou, which are located in the Central Plains, cannot form cavalry on a large scale with the financial resources of one state. The same situation faced Zhu Wen, Taizu of Liang Dynasty in the fifth generation.
Zhu Wen dominated the Central Plains, while Li Ke in Hebei used Li Cunxu and his son to control the north, and most of the war horses were in the hands of the Li family and his sons, so whenever the main force fought in a decisive battle, Zhu Wen always suffered. .
"Soldiers need to be good, not large. I can only give you so many troops. Zihe, you can only think of other ways. I will add more to you when I have a way in the future." Cao Cao said helplessly.
"Lord, now that our army has good relations with Yuan Shaojun, can we use his relationship to purchase a group of horses from the north?" Cheng Yu suggested.
Xun You immediately shook his head and said, "Jizhou cannot produce horses on a large scale. Most of its horses are purchased from Youzhou, Bingzhou, or Wuhuan, Xianbei. Now that the Jizhou army is at war with Gongsun Zan, the channels for purchasing horses have been cut off."
Cao Cao shook his head and said seriously, "Now we can only form elite infantry to make up for the lack of cavalry, so this battle is of great significance."
On the other hand, Guo Jia called Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun. He also felt that the opportunity to fight had arrived and it was time to do something. If he didn't add some sand to Cao Cao's army, how could he be worthy of the respect of his lord Yuan Xi.
Because it was a temporary camp, Zhang Liao and others did not set up camp. Xu Chu asked a group of tiger guards to guard the surroundings, and he always protected Guo Jia personally. He knew the importance of Guo Jia to the lord Yuan Xi, although he also expressed his concern for Guo Jia's prodigal son. The mentality is quite critical, and the Tao is also clear about priorities.
"The war is about to begin. I wonder what the military advisor's plans are? Please tell me clearly so that I can cooperate with you." Zhang Liao asked carefully.
Guo Jia spread out the marching map drawn on the silk cloth, pointed at it and said, "The yellow scarf thieves in front cannot capture the cities such as Zouxian County, but they are attacking Xuexian County and Yongxian County. It is obvious that they are going to flee." When we go to Xuzhou, even after Cao Cao's army succeeds in ambush, they still cannot defeat the numerous Yellow Turban thieves in one fell swoop, so there must be many more battles."
Zhang Liao understood and said: "The military advisor means that when we pursue the Yellow Turban bandits, we should rush towards Qingzhou."
Guo Jia nodded approvingly and continued, "Specifically, we are rushing to Jibei. As soon as we reach Jibei, we will try to force them to Pingyuan and Jinan. At that time, the lord's ambush will force the panicked Yellow Turban thieves to land. I The waiting task is completed.”
Guo Jia stared at the two men closely and said: "Two generals, please pay attention. Our army not only wants the soldiers of the Yellow Turbans, but their millions of family members are also our necessary targets. No matter what methods you use, you will not be able to let them go." Cao Cao's army pursues them, and if necessary... my master will not hesitate to fall out with Cao Cao's army."
When Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun accepted the order, they were also secretly surprised. They did not expect that their lord, Yuan Xi, was so courageous and valued the Qingzhou Yellow Turban more than maintaining relations with Cao Cao's army.
At this time, Cao Cao came towards Guo Jia and others with a group of civil and military personnel.
Cao Cao looked worried and said helplessly, "Mr. Guo, according to the information obtained by Miaocai and others, the Yellow Turbans' forward is not far from the ambush site, but they haven't gotten there yet, and the soldiers are too tired to fight."
"Does Mr. Cao want us to send troops to slow down the Yellow Turbans' offensive?" Guo Jia immediately asked with understanding.
"I wonder if your subordinates, sir, would like to accept the order?" Cao Cao's eyes lit up. It would save his worries to talk to smart people, so he asked happily.
"Haha, this matter is not difficult, but how do we lure our troops into an ambush after they attack?" Guo Jia asked cautiously.
"In order to make the Yellow Turban thieves not suspicious, we can only send out a small group of elite cavalry to harass, so I thought of honoring you, the elite Jizhou cavalry." Xun You said aloud.
"I just don't know how to completely eliminate the Yellow Turban thieves after defeating them?" Guo Jia asked again. He was deliberately obtaining more valuable information as a reference for the next action.
"Wen Ruo and others are also recruiting Xiang Yong. After our army wins the ambush, we will surround the Yellow Turban bandits with your Jizhou cavalry and drive them to Dongping Kingdom. Wen Ruo and the others will set up an ambush there and wait." Cao Cao said without hiding it. .
Guo Jia nodded in agreement and asked Zhao Yun to lead a thousand garrison cavalry to block the Yellow Turban vanguard in a guerrilla manner.
Qingzhou, one of the nine states, is roughly equivalent to the boundary of Shandong today, and its administrative seat is Linzi.
It has jurisdiction over six counties, including Pingyuan County, Donglai County, Jinan Kingdom, Le'an Kingdom, Beihai Kingdom, Qi Kingdom, and sixty-five counties.
Since the Yellow Turban Uprising, this place has become the paradise of the Yellow Turbans, which is also the grave of the people. The yellow turban is shaking, thieves are rising in droves, and this place has truly become a land of no one. Only a few counties were still under the control of the imperial court, and the others were threatened by the Yellow Turbans and should not be said to be ruled.
The most important one among them is the Qingzhou Yellow Turban headed by Guan Hai. Like Zhang Yan of Heishan, he relied on the mountains and took advantage of the turmoil in the court to survive.
Due to the large number of people, probably millions of people, there was not enough food and grass. Usually when there is a shortage of food, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans will bring the people together and go out together to attack relatively wealthy cities, such as Pingyuan County, Donglai County, Beihai Kingdom, etc.
The Yellow Turbans are powerful, coupled with the corruption of local officials in Qingzhou, so they can succeed almost as soon as they go out. This gives them a taste of the sweetness, thinking that the court is nothing more than this, and we can gallop in Qingzhou.
Therefore, after Guan Hai of Qingzhou defeated Donglai County and obtained enough food and grass, instead of returning to his army, he took one hundred thousand Qingzhou Yellow Turbans all the way south and continued to attack until the border of Qingxuchong.
Zhou Cang was riding a big black horse and looked at the dense soldiers behind him. He felt a little proud. In peacetime, he might have been a serf working for a wealthy family for the rest of his life. Although his sword licks blood now, But comfortable.
This time he took the initiative to volunteer and lead 100,000 people as pioneers. Although they were a loose group of rabble, he was still very happy to lead the army alone.
Along the way, because they were afraid of being robbed of their benefits by other Yellow Turban troops, they chose to stay far away from the main force, the Chinese Army and the Family Camp.
Guan Hai told them that they did not need to attack the city hard, but only needed to clear the way, so after making a tentative attack on the county seat, they continued to advance rapidly, and the road went smoothly all the way.
Preparing to capture the city in one fell swoop, after replenishing the city's food supply, they pushed all the way south. After capturing Jinan Kingdom and Pingyuan County, the Yellow Turbans could dominate Qingxuzhou. Wouldn’t it be great to establish the Yellow Turban’s ideal kingdom in Qingzhou and Xuzhou?
Thinking this way, Zhou Cang became more energetic. After explaining his thoughts to his men, they were also very motivated. They all clamored to pacify Qingzhou and let Qu Shuai become a general, so as to inherit the unfinished business of General Tiangong.
Zhou Cang was so pleased with this that he surrounded the city with an army of 100,000. He came with a courtesy first and then soldiers, and sent his men to recruit surrender, preparing to wait for the city to collapse without attack. He has done this before, and he likes to do it. It can be said that it has been tried and tested repeatedly.
This group of hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban troops are really like locusts. No matter they are powerful landowners or ordinary wealthy people, they will not let go and will kill any resistance at all.
Just when Zhou Cang felt bored and tired, hundreds of riders came running from a distance.
The soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army immediately became vigilant. They gathered loosely into a square formation to guard against the attack of the official cavalry.
Let’s talk about Sun Jian and Sun Ce’s father and son in Jiangdong at this time. It is said that since Sun Jian was injured and retreated to the second line, and asked Sun Ce to exchange the national jade seal for some soldiers and horses, Sun Ce began his magnificent life, and eventually became Yuan Xi’s most important person in the south. A powerful opponent.
Looking at history from the perspective of future generations, Sun Ce is obviously an ambitious person who is unwilling to rely on others. He found that it was difficult for the Central Plains to have new development space under the influence of Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others, so after discussing with his father Sun Jian, he set his sights on his hometown, the Jiangdong region, which was both stable and without powerful forces.
At the same time, Sun Jian's old subordinates also advised Sun Ce to develop towards Jiangdong. Therefore, he asked Yuan Shu for orders to lead an army to attack Liu Yao in the name of helping Yuan Shu develop his strength. Yuan Shu accepted his request and appointed Sun Ce as the captain of Zhechong, and also as the general to kill the invaders, and led Sun Jian's old troops to march to Jiangdong.
At this time, Yuan Shu's power was still very large. Although the Sun family and his son had the desire to be independent, at present, they did not have the strength to break away from Yuan Shu, so they could only belong to Yuan Shu in name for the time being, and make plans when the time is right.
At this time, there were five main forces in Jiangdong, namely Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou; Xue Li, the prime minister of Pengcheng, and Shengrong, the prime minister of Xiapi; Wang Lang, the prefect of Kuaiji, and Yan Baihu, the local tycoon; Xu Gong, the prefect of Wujun, and Shan Yue.
Just as Yuan Xi went to Qingzhou, Sun Ce, who was of similar age, also began his prelude to the expedition. The two young men were destined to be the ones in charge of the ups and downs of this era.
While Yuan Xi was recruiting talents for the eastward expedition, Sun Ce was not idle. Sun Ce led Sun Jian's old generals and more than a thousand soldiers from Shouchun to the east, and sent people to Danyang to contact Zhou Yu.
After Zhou Yu learned about it, he immediately led some Danyang soldiers and grain and grass supplies to join Sun Ce. Because the Sun family had a certain influence in Jiangdong, people heard that Sun Jian's son was coming and were willing to join the army. When Sun Ce arrived at Liyang, his troops had expanded to five or six thousand people.
In fact, Yuan Xi still envies Sun Ce for having a sworn brother like Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu is not an ordinary person. He is an all-round talent at the same level as Zhuge Liang and Sima Yitong. He cannot be compared with a single talent like Guo Jia, and they all have super powers. Except for the older generation Huangfu Song and the uncle-level Cao Cao, he has high commanding ability.
Zhou Yu is the only one of the younger generation who has super high commanding ability. At present, even if Yuan Xi is conceited, he dare not say that he is better than Zhou Yu. Moreover, it may be slightly worse. Of course, this was recorded by Emperor Xuanwu of Emperor Taizong of the Jin Dynasty. When future generations read this, they feel that Yuan Xi is embellishing his own face.
Sun Ce attacked Jiangdong, but many forces in Jiangdong and even Yuan Shu did not take him seriously. Because Yu Liu Yao's defenders were not well guarded, Sun Ce quickly defeated Fan Neng, Yu Mi and Zhang Ying, broke through Hengjiang, quickly crossed the river to the east bank, and occupied Niuzhu Mountain.
Taking advantage of the victory, he attacked and defeated the opposing army of Zuo Rong, beheading more than 500 people. Zuo Rong retreated to the camp and could not hold on, so Sun Ce went north to attack Moling. After learning the news, Xue Li, the defender of Moling, was afraid of Sun Ce's bravery. He abandoned the city and fled.
The two young people are each engaged in their own struggle for hegemony in the north and the south. And Yuan Xi and Sun Ce are also destined to step onto the stage of history, and are pushed by the torrent of history to engage in a decisive battle. The younger generation of the two heroes from the north and the south, although they rely on their family background and the reputation of their fathers, they also fight with their own swords and guns. The foundation that comes out. He really deserves to be called Yuan Xi in the north and Sun Ce in the south.
