To Cao Cao's expectation, Yuan Xi's troops captured seventeen counties in Hedong like a whirlwind. It took only a few days and gave no chance for Cao's army to reinforce.
Moreover, according to intelligence analysis fed back by all parties, Yuan Xi had invested at least two troops in crossing the river to attack Hedong this time. And they continued to harass the south bank of the Yellow River.
"Hiss... is the intelligence wrong, or is Yuan Xi all out?" Cao Lao said to himself while holding his chin.
Dong Zhao advanced and said: "Even if Yuan Xi does not come out in full force, there are not many troops in Hanoi. Please ask Duke Cao to immediately dispatch a force to march to Hanoi to surround Wei and rescue Zhao. Yuan Xi's army will retreat!"
Following Dong Zhao's advice, Cao Cao immediately ordered Yu Jin, who was stationed in Yanjin, to lead his 10,000 troops to march toward Hanoi, taking advantage of Yuan Xi's empty rear defense to launch a surprise attack.
At the same time, two generals, Lu Zhao and Shi Huan, were dispatched to march towards Luoyang, collecting the remaining defeated soldiers scattered throughout Luoyang and counterattacking the lost territory.
Xun You also suggested: "Today, our army competes with Yuan Xi in three aspects. One is the main battlefield of Liyang. Both Yuan and Cao suffered heavy losses and maintained a draw. In the east, Xu Huang, Zang Ba, Chen Deng, Hao Zhao and others also confronted Cao Ren and captured the Langya Kingdom. The lord's army was confronting Liu Bei, and the only one who suffered was the west. Yuan Xi had Qu Yi, Xu Sheng, Guo Yuan and others assisting him, so he should not be underestimated. , must be restrained in order to avoid being stretched by him and affecting the frontal battlefield."
"What Gongda said is absolutely true. Now it seems that Yuan Shao, the second son, is the most talented among his sons. He was underestimated before!" Cao Fuxu agreed with Xun You and continued, " However, our army has almost all moved out to attack Liu Bei, and for a while we can no longer spare any other troops to attack Bingzhou. How can we restrain Yuan Xi?"
Xun You smiled slightly and said: "Has my lord forgotten Zhang Yan on the Taihang Mountains? There are hundreds of thousands of black mountain bandits under his command. Although they are just a mob, they can attack the Yuan family's rear!"
Only then did Cao Cao suddenly realize: "Yes, if it weren't for Gongda's reminder, I had almost forgotten about the Black Mountain bandits. Yuan's Bingzhou Army almost attacked in full force, and the rear defense was empty. This is an opportunity for the Black Mountain Army!"
Cheng Yu also stood up and spoke: "In addition to the Black Mountain Army, there are also the Xiongnu who are entrenched in the Xihe River. My lord can ask people to prepare generous gifts and go to the two places, making heavy promises to induce the Black Mountain bandits and the Xiongnu to come out together. , attacking all parts of Bingzhou, so Yuan Xi will be too busy to take care of himself, and naturally he will not have the energy to threaten Henan anymore!"
After the plan was made, Cao Cao immediately wrote a letter and asked Xun Yu of Xudu to confer Zhang Yan the title of General Zhaolie in the name of the emperor, and also carved a seal and ribbon as a gift. Then he sent an eloquent man with his entourage and generous gifts to quietly sneak to the Taihang Mountains to find Zhang Yan and ask him to send troops to attack Bingzhou from behind and suppress Yuan Xi.
After sending an envoy to the Taihang Mountains, Cao Cao selected another person and ordered him to carry gold, silver and jewelry to the residence of Huchuquan, the Xiongnu Chanyu, in Xihe County to hand over his letter, officially recognizing Huchuquan in the name of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. identity, and asked him to send troops to attack Taiyuan, the seat of Jinyang, to create trouble for Yuan Xi.
After dispatching reinforcements and sending envoys, Cao Cao felt at ease and focused his attention on Liu Bei in Xuzhou again. For Cao Cao, Yuan Xi is the real opponent, and Liu Bei is just an interlude. Therefore, he only needs to defeat Liu Bei quickly to eliminate the troubles at his elbows and armpits, and then he can fight Yuan Xi decisively. As long as he defeats Yuan Xi, the other princes will not be in trouble!
Just when Yu Jin was marching towards Hanoi, Lu Zhao and Shi Huan also passed through Hulao Pass, collected more than 3,000 defeated soldiers in the Jingxian area, and marched towards Xingyang. Xiahou Dun, the general guarding Hongnong in the west, heard that the south bank of the Yellow River was lost, so he left Ren Jun to guard Hongnong and personally led an elite soldier through Tongguan and marched towards Luoyang, preparing to conquer the lost land.
Cao's army came from the east and west, attacking from both sides with great momentum. It would take about two or three days to reach Luoyang City.
Just when Cao Jun was dispatching his troops, Yuan Xi had already grasped Cao Jun's movements by relying on Zhang Hong's excellent secret guard system and Liu Ye's shadow guard system, so he summoned Jia Xu, Guo Jia, Sima Yi, and Liu Ye Others discuss countermeasures.
Liu Ye added: "The city wall of Luoyang is low and easy to attack but difficult to defend. However, the two east and west checkpoints, Hulao Pass and Hangu Pass, are controlled by Cao's army, so Luoyang cannot be defended. Besides, our army crossed the river to attack Luoyang. It was not originally In order to seize land,
It was just to contain Cao Cao and divide his forces. Now that the goal has been achieved, the order should be sent immediately, asking Ju Yi and Xu Sheng to lead their troops to retreat across the Yellow River and defend the river.
If Cao's army withdraws, our army will cross the river again and attack Luoyang. This will happen over and over again. When the enemy advances, we retreat, and when the enemy retreats, we advance. Cao Cao had no peace and could only leave Luoyang heavily guarded. In this way, the purpose of dividing Cao Cao's forces can be achieved, and the pressure on Liyang can be greatly reduced! "
"Master Liu said the same thing as Zhongda. I also think that Luoyang cannot be defended, but there is one more thing I should say or not." As soon as Liu Ye finished speaking, Sima Yi stood up and reported loudly.
Hearing that Sima Yi had something to say, Yuan Xi nodded slightly: "Zhongda has something to say, but there's no harm in saying it!"
Sima Yi first saluted Yuan Xi, then saluted Jia Xu and Guo Jia, and then spoke eloquently: "As Mr. Ziyang said, Luoyang is surrounded by enemies on three sides and is easy to attack and difficult to defend. If we cannot win, The two natural dangers of Hulao Pass in the east and Hangu Pass in the west are like a wide open door, and Cao's army can invade at any time. Since Cao's army is launching a large-scale attack, it is best for our army to retreat and withdraw across the Yellow River.
However, in Zhongda's opinion, Generals Ju Yi and Xu Sheng should be ordered to move all the people in the counties they occupied to the north bank of the Yellow River when they retreat. In this way, even if Cao Jun recaptures Henan, he will not be able to do so for a while. What's the difference between restoring Henan's productivity and losing Henan? And with the hundreds of thousands of people in Henan, we can not only reclaim wasteland, but also have sufficient military resources, which has hundreds of benefits and no harm. Although we have not won Henan, it is no different from winning Henan! "
"Zhongda's method is feasible. It leaves Cao Cao with an empty Henan, which also weakens Cao Cao's strength!" Jia Xu Fuxu agreed.
Yuan Xi thought for a while, but finally shook his head and rejected Sima Yi's suggestion: "Although Zhongda's method has small benefits, it will damage our reputation in Hebei in the long run. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Henan, blocked by the Yellow River, and they migrate in large numbers. Is this an easy thing? When Cao Jun is chasing after him and wars are everywhere, many innocent people will surely die in the fighting or drown in the river."
It's not that Yuan Xi is so kind, but because his status is different, what he wants is different. He used to be the governor of Qingzhou, but now he is the general and the Marquis of Linzi, so some strategies have to be weighed again and again, because the times are different.
What's more, it's already July and the sun is scorching hot. Where can we find so many houses for people to live in all of a sudden? In the scorching heat, innocent people will die on the streets.
In the past, Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang and moved the people, resulting in a lifetime of infamy. I must not ruin my reputation for the sake of immediate benefits. You know, Yuan Xi’s goal is the whole world, not the land of Henan!
Yuan Xi's idea is very simple. It is easy to move people, but during the migration process, a large number of deaths are inevitable. Moreover, with so many people moved, resettlement and food are also problems. If they are not handled well, their reputation will be bad. .
It will be even more difficult to win the support of people in other places in the future! This is completely opposite to his own practice of forcibly relocating people from Qingzhou, but it does not conflict. With Yuan Xi's current status, Yuan Xi considers politics rather than the purely military considerations before. Just like Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, before and after becoming emperor Finally, many policies are different.
After listening to Yuan Xi's analysis, Sima Yi felt sweat on his forehead and said with fear: "What the lord said is absolutely true. After weighing the balance, the lord has more far-term vision, but Zhongda only cares about immediate interests and is short-sighted!"
"Haha... Zhongda doesn't need to blame himself. Your suggestion is also to weaken Cao Cao's strength. There is nothing wrong with it. If you have any suggestions in the future, it's okay to just say it. Don't be rigid." Yuan Xi smiled and reassured Sima Yi.
After the plan was made, Yuan Xi immediately sent an order to Ju Yi and Xu Sheng to pack up the captured baggage and grain and retreat to the north of the Yellow River; at the same time, they built a strong wall and cleared the fields to wait for Cao Jun.
In addition, Yu Jin's 10,000 troops in the east were marching towards Hanoi and needed to be on guard, so he ordered Guo Yuan to lead his troops to the east to fight, holding back Yu Jin's troops and waiting for reinforcements from troops returning from the battlefield in Henan.
When Ju Yi learned that Cao Jun was attacking from two directions, he had already taken countermeasures in advance. He sent soldiers to load all the grain, gold and silver obtained in each county and sent them to the other side of Mengjin, and then transported them across the Yellow River by ships on the opposite side. Finally sent to Huai County.
After a search, the granaries and warehouses in various counties in Henan were wiped out. Yuan Jun obtained a total of 110,000 shi of grain and 100,000 shi of grain.
Twenty thousand stones of fodder, a dozen cartloads of gold and silver coins, and thousands of weapons and armors, it was a great harvest.
When Yuan Xi's order to retreat reached Luoyang and Xingyang, Yuan Jun had already transported all the supplies to the bank of the Yellow River and immediately retreated north. Before Cao Jun could catch up, he retreated across the Yellow River unscathed. The Battle of Henan was a complete victory.
Ju Yi is indeed a talented general, not inferior to Zhang He and Xu Huang, and is even slightly better at controlling fighter planes.
After Yu Jin led his troops into Hanoi, they were stubbornly blocked by Guo Yuan near Chaoge County, and it was difficult to break through the defense line for a while.
A day later, Ju Yi led 10,000 troops to come to support. Yu Jin thought that it would be difficult to win, so he led his troops to retreat towards Changyuan, while sending someone to ask Cao Cao for instructions.
Xiahou Dun saw that Yuan's army had voluntarily withdrawn from Henan. He was afraid that Hongnong would suffer losses and did not dare to cross the river to trouble Yuan Xi. He traveled under starry night and led his troops back to Hongnong.
With this lesson learned, Cao Cao no longer dared to underestimate Yuan Xi, let alone withdraw his troops from Henan; if Yuan Xi made a comeback and captured Henan again, he could threaten Xuchang. It is necessary to station heavy troops to defend against Yuan Xi's Bingzhou Army on the opposite side in order to bring peace to Xuchang.
In fact, if Yuan Xi is more courageous this time, he can order Ju Yi and Xu Sheng to march directly to Xuchang City without retreating, to intimidate Cao Jun. At that time, Cao Cao will definitely return to Xuchang for rescue, causing chaos.
Of course, there are risks in doing this. If Ju Yi and Xu Sheng go deep alone and subsequent reinforcements cannot keep up, this team is likely to be trapped in a tight siege, and the final outcome is unpredictable!
Just like Xue Andu's northern expedition to Chang'an during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, although he conquered Tongguan with great momentum, Liu Song had no choice but to withdraw his troops because of insufficient backup, and the occupied areas were reoccupied by the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The battlefield is like a chess game. No one dares to say the outcome before making a move!
After discussing with other think tanks, Cao Cao, in addition to leaving two generals, Lu Zhao and Shi Huan, to lead 10,000 horses to garrison in various places in Henan, he also sent Yu Jin to lead his troops to Luoyang to governor the military affairs in various parts of Henan and the people on the other side of the Yellow River. Yuan Xi resisted and prevented Henan from falling again.
After Cao Jun divided his troops, the pressure on Zhang He, Guo Huai and others in the middle was immediately relieved a lot.
Jiujiang County, Shouchun.
Shouchun is one of the important towns in Jiujiang. It faces Shaopi and has fertile water on its back. It is surrounded by a natural moat, but the prerequisite is that it has enough ability to control the waterway.
If you ask the local villagers in Shouchun which ancient person they admire the most, they will definitely say Sun Shuao, the Prime Minister of the State of Chu. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Shuao's Shaopi was able to irrigate more than 10,000 hectares of fertile farmland, turning the land of Huaihe River into a granary no less than that of Guanzhong and Shuzhong. After the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, it still played a very important role in flood control and irrigation.
Shaopi is somewhat different from Zhengguo Canal and Dujiangyan. It can be regarded as a semi-artificial large lake. It connects several water systems such as Huai River and Feishui River, and it also plays a role in water transportation in normal times.
The rainy season in the south often lasts for more than ten days. The heavy rain has slowed down to a continuous drizzle, but the sky is still dark. A fleet was sailing from Feishui River to the outside of Shouchun City in the rain. The flag embroidered with the character "Yuan" on this fleet was wetted by the rain and drooped, but the garrison on Shouchun City was still far away. Found them.
"Hurry and report to General Lei that the fleets from Chengde and Hefei are coming!" A uncle from the city guard ordered his soldiers.
"Oh! It's raining so heavily and they are still going back and forth. They don't mind it, but we are still being tortured." The chief next to him complained.
The uncle put away his bamboo hat and said, "I heard that the war between Liyang and Lujiang is tense. Maybe he came back to get arrows, food and grass."
The chief showed a thankful expression, "Fortunately, we were not transferred to Liyang and Lujiang. Otherwise, we would have to fight with the Jiangdong people on such a rainy day, and we don't know whether we could come back alive!"
"If the front line is defeated, we will not be stable here. You should let God bless them to win!" The uncle shook his head.
"At least this place is far away from Jiang Dongbing, so it's very safe." Shi Chang said.
"Gather together, gather together!" shouted a general behind the city gate.
After a sound of gongs, the soldiers on the city wall and in the barracks behind the city gate reluctantly lined up on guard. On such a rainy day, you will get soaked immediately, and the wind will make you feel uncomfortable all over. If you are unlucky, you may even catch a cold.
Lei Bo also has a heart
Unhappy, no one wants to be caught in the rain at this time, "Let them hang up the documents!"
There were hundreds of boats outside the city, and nearly a thousand soldiers landed ashore one after another, and came to line up in Shouchun City. The first two generals put documents and military symbols into the basket. The guards on the city wall quickly obtained the military talismans.
