Xuchang, the residence of Prime Minister Cao Cao.
At the same time that the imperial court appointed Yuan Xi as a general, in order to balance the situation in the world, Emperor Xian of the Jin Dynasty appointed Sikong Cao Cao as the prime minister.
After Cao Cao received the memorial, he gasped and looked back at Cheng Yu: "Yuan Xi has already matured, what can he do?"
Cheng Yu reported back: "Yuan Xian, a great hero in the world, has won the position of his elder brother today. He has gathered talents in Guangzhou, Jizhou. He has gathered strong support from outside, built farmhouses, hoarded grain and grass, and trained troops and horses. Now he comes to the original to try to win the hearts of the people. , this is unreasonable. This person will definitely have great ambitions in the future, and it will not be easy to do so. Unfortunately, our army had no food a few days ago, so our army was unable to use troops. Now that the spring grain harvest is harvested, wheat is sown, and production has resumed, it is time to plan to use troops as soon as possible. Eradicate Yuan Xi."
Cheng Yu still remembers his personal hatred, and Yuan Xi will not forget this old guy. They are destined to only live one.
Cao Cao shook his head, handed him a memorial, and said, "This is written by Zao Zhi, take a look."
Zao Zhi was the chief agricultural officer in charge of farming. In his memorial, he described the disasters in Yuzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou under Cao Cao's command, as well as the recovery work after the severe drought.
Generally speaking, due to adequate preparation in advance and appropriate post-disaster measures, Cao Cao's territory suffered much lighter losses than Jizhou. However, Yanzhou has always been loved by the Yellow Turban thieves. When the famine was about to pass, another uprising broke out. This kind of uprising was put down by Cao Cao without much effort and it was not a disaster.
The problem is that sowing has been delayed. One-fifth of the land in the three states is on the ground, so the opportunity to return to the sun has been missed. Cao Cao was not a reckless man and would not fight a battle without logistical support. He looked at Cheng Yu and said solemnly: "The people's livelihood is in decline and it is not suitable to use troops. It is better to recover."
Cheng Yu replied: "The Prime Minister does not have to waste his own troops and food, he can still deal with the Yuan family."
Cao Cao said happily: "Oh? Zhongde has any good ideas? Tell me quickly!"
Cheng Yu said: "The current situation is that the Prime Minister is strong, but the Yuan family is weak. Everyone in the world knows that the Yuan family is no longer what it used to be. It is at the end of its power and exists in name only. If the Prime Minister has something to do with someone, who would dare not to go?"
Cao Cao sounded interesting. He twirled his beard that reached his chest and paced: "Go on."
Cheng Yu hurriedly followed up: "Prime Minister, why don't you send Chen Gong, the prefect of Chang'an, to continue to lobby Ma Teng, the general who conquered the west, to go to Hedong to attack Anyi, and to join Shangdang to attack Pingyang, threaten Bingzhou, and use his strength to fight and consume Yuan. The power of family.”
Cao Cao thought to himself, do you think Ma Teng is an idiot? If you tell him to go, he will go, so obedient.
"We lobbied for it last time, but we didn't grant him a title. Why is he still willing to send troops this time?" Cao Cao said uncertainly.
Cheng Yu said with a smile: "Ma Teng is a loyal minister. He thinks about the Han Dynasty and is always ready to die for his majesty. The prime minister can issue an imperial edict to him, ordering him to attack Bingzhou, and also make him Huailihou, a former general. He will definitely leave Tongguan immediately."
Cao Cao asked; "Is Zhongde so sure?"
Cheng Yu said: "Wei Duan, the governor of Sizhou, once helped Ma Teng attack Han Sui to avenge the murder of his wife. Although he failed in the end, Ma Teng was always grateful to him and vowed to repay him. The prime minister can make Wei Duan and Chen Gong work together. Go and deliver the message, I am compiling a letter and give it to Ma Teng’s chief adviser Li Ru, asking him to help, is there any reason for this to happen?”
Cao Cao smiled sinisterly and said: "Han Sui and Ma Teng will be a serious enemy sooner or later. It's good that Ma Teng and Yuan Xi are at odds with each other, which will save me the trouble of dealing with them one by one. By the way, what's going on with Han Sui recently?" "
Cheng Yu shook his head and said: "This man is ruthless in his tactics. He killed Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou one after another. He also trapped and killed Liangzhou Governor Geng Bi and Hanyang Prefect Fu Bian. He and Ma Teng had a good time in Meicheng. On that day, they fought again, killed Ma Teng's wife, and returned to Xiliang."
Had it not been for Wei Duan and others to mediate and marry Han Sui's sister to Ma Teng, the two would have almost become mortal enemies. Being so cruel and narrow-minded, it will be a disaster sooner or later.
Huaili City in Guanzhong, northwest.
Among the various princes in Guanzhong, Ma Teng, the Marquis of Huaili, is located in the north of Sanfu. He is the leader of the many princes in Guanzhong!
Ma Teng finally put down the bamboo slip in his hand and sighed loudly: "This is the third letter this month urging me to help Cao Cao attack Yuan Dynasty. What do you think I should do?"
A middle-aged scribe nodded gently and said: "First, Xu Du issued a decree, and then Chen Gong, Zhang Ji, and Fu Qian sent persuasive letters. It seems that Cao Cao is determined to get us this time." It’s gone down the drain!”
Ma Teng said meaningfully: "Two heroes are at odds with each other and cannot coexist. It's hard for me and others to live in the middle."
The middle-aged scribe nodded and said: "The battle between Yuan and Cao is related to the unification of the north and the earth. The leader of this team must be cautious!"
Ma Teng turned to look at the middle-aged scribe and said, "Wen You, in your opinion, at the end of the battle between Yuan and Cao, who has a greater chance of winning?"
The middle-aged scribe had a fair face, but there was a bit of unnoticeable sinisterness in his brows. He was none other than Li Ru, who disappeared after the Battle of Luoyang!
During the Battle of Luoyang, Guo Si and Li Que were shot dead by Yuan Xi's army, and Jia Xu who was accompanying the army was also captured by Yuan Xi. At that time, Li Ru escaped from the chaos. Li Ru then tried to escape westward back to Liangzhou, but he collapsed on the road from exhaustion before he could escape Fufeng. Fortunately, Ma Chao and his army passed by and saved Li Ru's life.
Li Ru saw that Ma Teng was also a Xiliang warlord and a fellow villager, and he was desperate, so out of consideration for repaying his kindness and finding a way out, he took refuge with Ma Teng.
Li Ru was silent for a moment and then said: "Let me judge it. While Yuan Shao is still here, Hebei has a greater chance of defeating the Central Plains. Now that Yuan Shao has passed away, who else in the world can be Cao Cao's opponent? Besides, this time with all the people in Guanzhong Forming an alliance to attack Hedong also has some benefits for us. Firstly, we can expand our power, secondly, we can take the opportunity to make good friends with the court, and thirdly, we can take the opportunity to win over the various princes in Guanzhong for future use."
"Yuan Shao is not here, who is Cao Cao's opponent?" Ma Teng couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing this: "Yes, when the eighteen princes came together to challenge Dong Zhuo, the formation was so huge and powerful! Now only one of the eighteen is left. He has beaten me and Cao Cao several times. He is sitting in the court and occupying the time and people! Looking at the world, who can be his opponent? Haha now is not the time to offend him. It seems that in the battle of Hedong, we will not send troops. No more."
Having said this, Ma Teng asked Li Ru again: "In your opinion, Wen You, Chen Gong and others are joining forces to attack Hedong. Should I go there myself, or should I choose another good general to go?"
Li Ru shook his head when he heard this: "Although the Hedong guard Guo Yuan is a confidant of the Yuan family, he is of little use. Your Excellency, you can send Meng Qi and Ling Ming to lead the troops to join forces with Chen Gong and all the princes in Guanzhong. A battle can determine the outcome!" The lord only needs to sit in front of the central army."
Just when everything was settled, two major news came from Bingzhou and Liyang at the same time! First, Cao Cao in the Central Plains prepared his troops and horses, mobilized good generals, and sent troops to the north bank. The front of the troops was pointed directly at Hebei. He seemed to be plotting against Li Yang.
Second, Chen Gong in Guanzhong united with several princes in Guanzhong and sent troops northward, heading straight to the east of the river where Guo Yuan was guarding. Their momentum was quite large and their ambitions were not small. Gaorou sent 600 Li to rush to Yecheng to request reinforcements.
These two places move. It was no small matter, and it immediately attracted the attention of Yuan Jun's base camp in Yecheng. Yuan Xi made a prompt decision and summoned all his ministers to hold a court meeting. Discuss strategies to retreat from the enemy.
In the hall, six counselors, mainly Jusue, Jia Xu, Tian Feng, Guo Jia, Liu Ye, and Zhong Yao, were displayed on both sides of the hall, making plans for Yuan Xi. After explaining the current situation between Cao Cao and Guanzhong, After the situation of sending troops, everyone's hearts couldn't help but be greatly touched!
Cao Cao is worthy of being a traitor in the world. His plans, strategies, and methods are all interlocking and methodical, making it difficult for Hebei to resist. The first was to deny Yuan Xi a title, making him virtually unknown in Hebei, and the second was to make Yuan Tan the shepherd of Jizhou, in order to turn his brothers against him and divide Hebei. Now both of these plans were nipped in the cradle by Yuan Xi, and he used Guanzhong as his As a side branch, sending troops in two directions will add problems to Yuan Xiping. Each move is more vicious than the last.
Yuan Xi sat on the main seat, knocking on the table, and murmured with emotion: "Cao Mengde is really a hero in troubled times, what can you teach me?"
Jushou thought for a long time and went out to remonstrate: "Cao Cao made a surprise plan to embarrass us. Although it is troublesome, it also proves that our decision to recuperate is correct! Cao Cao is afraid. He is afraid that in three or two years, we in Hebei will really recover." , go south to fight for the world, making it impossible for him to resolve!"
"That's right!" Tian Feng also went out and said: "So no matter how Cao Cao moves, we must stop quietly! No matter how difficult or dangerous it is, we must keep Cao Cao and the Guanzhong Army out of the border and prevent them from entering. Cao Cao repeatedly raised troops to disrupt the situation in Hebei. On the surface, he was taking the initiative, but in fact, he was just wasting his military strength. After a few years, his strength will be exhausted. When the strength of our Hebei army greatly increases, it will be the time for Cao Cao to take the lead!"
Yuan Xi waved his hand and said: "What you are talking about is all nonsense. I just want to ask, now that the Central Plains and Guanzhong are both at the same time, and the Liyang and Hedong roads, how should we retreat from the enemy? I can't split the envoy in two by myself, how can I follow the enemy at the same time? Cao Cao fights the Guanzhong Army?"
Zhong Yao cleared his throat and came out: "My lord is the stone pillar of Hebei. You can't resist Cao Cao unless you personally take action. On the east side of Hedong, the Guanzhong Army is also quite strong. With Gao Rou's ability, although it is capable, it may not be able to do so." If we can defend it, we might as well summon Zhang He from Youzhou and ask him to organize elite troops and generals to go to Bingzhou and fight back the enemy with Gao Rou!"
Yuan Xi nodded and thought deeply when he heard this, and said: "It is indeed a way to let Junyi and Wen Hui join forces to fight the Guanzhong Army, and I will retreat to Cao Cao."
"Lord, although Yuan Chang's method is in line with the current situation, it may not be a complete strategy. I have a method that can quickly retreat the enemy troops! This battle will not affect my roots in Hebei and preserve my strength." Guo Jia smiled and said, " My lord, you might as well ask Zhang He to lead Youzhou troops here to meet with us and block Cao Cao. We don’t seek merit, but we seek delay without fault. My lord, on the other hand, leaves his own flag behind. I think it’s a false and true plan, and I He personally led an elite group and went to Bingzhou to meet with Gaorou. He quickly defeated the Guanzhong army and defeated Cao Cao's two-pronged attack. In this way, the Central Plains army would definitely be unable to sustain itself in Hebei. If Zhang He was ordered to lead troops to Bingzhou and Hedong, If he is not good at using strategy, he is afraid that he may not be able to win quickly. If he delays it like this, he will waste money and food. On the contrary, it is unwise and sincerely undesirable. "
Yuan Xi was stunned when he heard this and said: "Fengxiao, what you mean is that Zhang He and you will block Cao Cao for me. And I will go to Bingzhou to quickly defeat Chen Gong and others, and then come back to join us?"
"Exactly! When it comes to using strange methods, we are not as good as the master. The current plan is to retreat quickly in two directions without this method!" Jia Xu said.
Yuan Xi was stunned when he heard this, nodded and murmured: "This is a good way, but if I can't win, or if I don't break through quickly and the Chinese army comes back to join you, what will happen to our army? ?”
Jia Xu was indifferent and silent. Yuan Xi understood that there was no way out. Then let’s fight.
Therefore, Yuan Xi decided to send his fifth brother Yuan Mai to pretend to be himself and plant the flag in Liyang. He also sent Zhang He and Guo Huai to Liyang to join Yuan Mai, and sent Ju Yi and Han Meng to go north to Yanmen to assist Qianzhao in defending against the Xiongnu. Li Yang's general Gao Lan, Zhang Xiu directly obeyed Yuan Mai and Zhang He.
Jia Xu, Ju Sue, and Guo Jia followed Yuan Mai south to Liyang, while Tian Feng, Feng Ji, Liu Ye, and Zhong Yao stayed behind to stay in Yecheng, while their cousin Gao Gan took over the defense of Yecheng. Yan Liang and Wen Chou randomly sent reinforcements.
The personnel in Qingzhou direction remained unchanged, with Guoyuan in charge and Xu Huang in charge of the army. Chen Deng assisted Guoyuan and Xu Huang in handling military affairs. Hao Zhao assisted Zang Ba in guarding Taishan County and supported Liu Bei.
Ma Teng's 20,000 Liangzhou cavalry crossed the Yellow River in one day and night and approached Anyi.
Guo Yuan is now the governor of Shangdang. Gao Rou is in Taiyuan. The two of them had just sent troops to attack Anyi in Hedong a few days ago and wiped out Wang Yi. Then, he planned to deal with Gao Rou's mortal enemy Hanoi Cao Hong. Unexpectedly, he crossed the river by himself before he could go.
The Xiliang cavalry's lightning march gave Guo Yuan no chance to block the river and cross the river halfway to carry out a strike. Anyi was five hundred miles away from Pingyang, and it was too late to send troops to ask for help. He immediately wrote a letter to the guard Xia Zhao, ordering him to hold on to the city for ten days. He had nothing to do with losing Anyi after ten days. If he lost it within ten days, Yes, he will be beheaded without mercy.
Ma Teng and his son led troops to surround Anyi City on all sides. Ma Chao and Pang De brought out all the five generations of the Yuan family and greeted them more than a dozen times. They also scolded Gao Rou, but they also scolded them all. Xia Zhao had few soldiers in the city, probably less than 20,000, and they knew Ma Chao was brave, so they allowed him to insult him but ignored him. The two guys shouted until their voices were hoarse. Seeing that he had no intention of leaving the city for a decisive battle, they screamed angrily.
After scolding for three days, the soldiers in the city just watched the fun and made no movement at all. Li Ru said to Ma Teng: "This won't work. Reinforcements from Guo Yuan and Gao Rou are about to arrive, and it's too late to attack the city. We have to devise a plan to lure the enemy-"
On the fourth and fifth days, Xiliang soldiers took turns cursing day and night, but there was no response from the city. Xia Zhao thought proudly, could it be possible that you could bring this city tower down?
When we woke up on the morning of the sixth day, the fog was heavy, dew covered the city, and the humidity was thick. Xia Zhao got up early and looked down from the top of the city. Xiliang soldiers were all dismounted and sitting on the grass below the city. Some were sleeping and some were taking naps, arrogantly tense. Xia Zhao was happy in his heart. He would be a fool to lose such a good opportunity. Immediately he ordered five thousand soldiers and horses, opened the city gates, and fought out of the city.
The Xiliang soldiers completely lost their formation, got up from the ground in a panic, and fled towards the main road. Xia Zhao got carried away and took the lead in the pursuit. As the main battle began, two groups of cavalry suddenly ran out from the left and right, with Ma Chao on the left and Pound on the right. The menacing Xiliang cavalry numbered about 20,000 to 30,000. They took Xia Zhao's 5,000 frightened birds seriously and strangled them, killing more than 3,000.
Xia Zhao barely managed to save his life and wanted to escape back to the city. When the soldiers on the city saw that the general was defeated, they opened the city gate to respond. Ma Teng had already sent Ma Dai to ambush on the right side of the city wall. When he saw the city gate opened, he rushed ahead of Xia Zhao and led his troops into the city. When Xia Zhao saw that the city had been breached, he did not enter the city and fled directly from the path toward Shangdang Pingyang.
Guo Yuan's reinforcements were already on the road at this time. The vanguards Deng Sheng and He Qun saw a group of cavalry running towards him from a distance. There was no flag and they could not see who was coming. He ordered the soldiers to prepare for fighting, and shouted sternly: "Who is coming in front of you, please name it quickly, otherwise I will not be polite."
Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng were old acquaintances. He had long seen Deng Sheng's flag and shouted at the top of his voice: "Old Deng, it's me, don't shoot." It was you who lured Cao Cao to the village! ! !
Deng Sheng took a closer look and saw that there were three hundred troops running or crawling from a distance. Their helmets were crooked and their armor was slanted. The arrow had not yet been pulled out. Xia Zhao's horse foamed at the mouth as soon as it came near, collapsed on the ground and died.
Deng Sheng hurriedly dismounted and helped Xia Zhao up: "Old Xia, what on earth is going on? Have you lost Anyi?" ?”
Deng Sheng sighed inwardly: "I asked you to guard it for ten days, but you lost the city on the sixth day. Can you still survive when he comes?"
Xia Zhao said with hatred: "It's all my fault for disobeying the general's orders, coveting small profits and neglecting important matters. Damn it, damn it."
Guo Yuan was still pressing grain in the rear army at this time. When he heard the news, he hurriedly caught up with the front army. Xia Zhao limped forward to pay his respects. Guo Yuan rode on his horse and shouted: "What happened to you? You lost the city in six days. Do you still remember the military order?"
Xia Zhao was already prepared. He took out a white seven or eight-inch long dagger from his arms and inserted it into his heart. Guo Yuan held a riding whip in his hand. He rolled the tip of the whip and struck Xia Zhao's right hand with a whoosh sound. The dagger was struck by the riding whip and fell to the ground.
Guo Yuan shouted; "There is no point in dying. Hurry up and follow the team, go back and take back the city, and fight to the death with the Ma Teng dog thief."
Xia Zhao burst into tears: "Thank you, general, for not killing me."
