Let's talk about the layout of the Western Dynasty. After setting up the camp in Pingcheng, the Western Army began to challenge the formation in front of the Dongying.
At first, there were fifteen people, all of whom were armored knights. They rushed to the Eastern Army camp on the Xiaodong Sea, shouted loudly, and fired resounding arrows into the Eastern Army camp unscrupulously. Seeing this, the Eastern Army felt that they had been humiliated by the Western Army, so they also sent fifteen riders out to shoot loud arrows in front of the Western Army's camp. Then the Western Army sent out fifty cavalry to fire arrows, and the Eastern Army sent out another fifty cavalry; then it sent out a hundred cavalry, and the Eastern Army responded with a hundred cavalry.
This went back and forth for six rounds. When the Eastern Army sent knights to shoot arrows, the number had reached a thousand. At this time, the knights of the Western Army no longer waited for them to withdraw, but suddenly opened the camp gate and rode horses to fight. Unexpectedly, as soon as they made contact, the Eastern Army turned their horses eastward regardless of their formation. Even though many people were caught up by the Westerners, He has no intention of fighting. Soon, the Western Army killed dozens of people and captured dozens more.
After this incident, the Western Army repeated its old tricks for several days, but no matter how provocative they fired arrows in front of Dongying, no one responded.
After interrogating the prisoners, Liu Bei came to Chen Chong for private discussion. He complained directly: "Cao Cao came all the way, could not attack the city, and lost Juyang. It can be said that he has lost his chance of fighting. But he neither withdrew his troops nor returned. They don’t want to leave the camp to fight with me, but instead fight with me to waste food and fodder. Is there any reason in the world to lead a large army out and still have deep trenches and high fortresses? It’s really weird.”
At this time, Chen Chong was looking through the military documents of various counties in Bingzhou. He listened to Liu Bei for a moment, and then asked: "Is there anything to gain from taking prisoners?"
"Nothing was found." Liu Bei shook his head slightly and sighed: "Cao Cao is suspicious by nature and keeps secrets in the army. He never tells the sergeants. Well, I didn't have much hope at all. It's just that something is wrong if something goes wrong. I'm afraid he has something secret again. What kind of plan?"
Chen Chong heard the anxiety in his words and couldn't help but put down the document in his hand and smiled at Liu Bei: "Xuande, why worry so much? "Sun Tzu's Art of War" said: 'The invincible lies with oneself, the victorious lies with the enemy'." Wu "The Art of War" also said: "In military affairs, governance is the most important thing", which means that victory or defeat is more important than one's own. If our army's governance is comparable to Zhou Yafu's, and the public's popularity exceeds Tian Heng's, Bu Xinyi is better than Wu Qi, and Cao Cao is No matter how you plan, there is nothing to fear.”
Liu Bei heard Chen Chong's sonorous tone and knew that he was confident, so the impetuousness in his chest gradually dissipated. He also joked leisurely: "It seems that after Ting Jian's restructuring, his confidence has doubled! Don't make a mistake this time and lose the victorious power of every battle." reputation."
Chen Chong smiled and then analyzed seriously: "After Cao Cao lost his elite troops last time, he spent the past two years recruiting troops non-stop to build the army he has today. It seems that he is just trying to win with quantity. How can he have so many elite troops? Now there is no such thing. Joining forces with you and me to fight shows that he has no bottom in his heart! If he wants to make a plan, he must be trying to stir up dissension in Bingzhou to see if he can produce a few more unjust ones."
Liu Bei was shocked when he heard this, and immediately stood up and asked: "I heard that you were reorganizing the system in Xijing, which angered some people. For example, Sanlang of the Wen family, Silang of the Wang family, Sanlang of the Guo family, and a few others have all become officials. When we return home, will there be chaos at this time?"
Chen Chong smiled and handed the Chinese document to Liu Bei. When Liu Bei looked at it, he said, "How could I not know? When I came here, I already knew Shen Tuzhen of the Shangdang and asked him to secretly monitor these people. If there is any abnormal movement, we will catch them all in one fell swoop and there will be no chaos. What you are holding in your hand is Shen Tu Zhen’s document."
When Liu Bei saw that the report in the letter was detailed and there were no omissions, he couldn't help but feel relieved. He returned the document to Chen Chong and said with emotion: "Ting Jian is thoughtful and thoughtful, which I can't do!" Then he looked solemn and spoke out what was in his heart. He said doubtfully: "But now Cao Cao can't hold on and will never accept the fight. How should we retreat from the enemy?"
This is indeed a difficult problem. Chen Chong considered it and said: "There are only three strategies at the moment: the best strategy is to attack the camp at night and complete the victory in one battle; the middle strategy is to send troops to attack and harass the rear, making Cao Cao unbearable; the worst strategy is to wait for Cao Cao to make a surprise , we strike later, what do you think?"
Liu Bei crossed his hands and leaned back slightly, with a struggling look on his face. It was obvious that he was tempted by both strategies, but he finally chose the more conservative one and said: "It will definitely not work to make a bad move, but a hard attack will also work." This is not the best strategy. Even if we defeat the east side, our army will definitely suffer heavy casualties. How is this cost-effective? It is still a middle strategy, but now that Cao Cao has blocked the east route, it will be very difficult to divide his troops to surround him. What do you mean? Are you following Bo Gui's example? He sent troops from Qiangyin to attack Juyongguan again."
Chen Chong shook his head slowly and said: "After Gongsun Bogui passed Danhan Mountain last time to attack, the Eastern Army has been prepared. There must be guards in Juyong Pass. This approach is indeed difficult to achieve results."
Liu Bei nodded silently after hearing this and waited for Chen Chong to continue.
Chen Chong took a sip of water and said slowly: "What I mean is that Cao Cao's strict new system has made the people dissatisfied and bandits are rampant. When I came, I sent a message to Yuan Tan, asking him to attack Puyang from the east of Xingyang. The decisive battle situation will involve the troops of Yan and Xuzhou. Hebei will definitely be empty at this time! Xuande, as long as you send people to spread the seal widely and instigate the bandits, Cao Cao will be unable to defend himself and lead his troops to withdraw."
Liu Bei applauded repeatedly, but he also asked: "Conquering the enemy without fighting is the best policy. Why is it called the middle policy?"
Chen Chong sighed and replied: "Xuande, as a commander, when considering military affairs, the most important thing is to take the initiative. This is what is called controlling people but not controlling them. Cao Cao led the army first and has already taken the advantage. Our army If this strategy is implemented, I am afraid it will take more than a month to be effective. By then, it is hard to say whether the war will be beneficial to our side."
When Liu Bei heard this, he put his hand on his chin and thought for a long time.
Speaking of which, Liu Bei actually had quite a few connections among the Hebei Rangers. Most of the wealthy Hebei businessmen Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang he met back then have passed away, but his sons and nephews still have secret connections with them. In the past few years, they often traveled over the mountains to trade with each other and pass on news. When Guan Yu was imprisoned in Handan, he also made many righteous men from Hebei, such as Feng Youjie of Julu, Zhao Zikai of Yiyang, and Li Boqin of Quliang, all of whom could help him. When Liu Bei thought about it, he was only 70 to 80 percent sure of success, so he chose the middle strategy after all.
The best candidate to implement this strategy is also clear at a glance. Only the current general is suitable. He was originally from Hebei, and he knew a lot of knights, and he was a good choice for his courage and bravery. Liu Bei immediately called him to talk to each other, and also called a large number of seals from the cavalry captains and military commanders, and handed them all to Qianzhao, so that he could adapt to the situation in Hebei and do his own thing.
After the plan was completed, the eastern and western armies began a formal confrontation. During this period, there were also frictions between the two armies. For example, Liu Bei tried to send Wei Yan across Cetian Lake to explore the enemy's food and grass, but was forced to retreat by Zhao Yan. The Eastern Army also sent Xia Houyuan to the north of Pingcheng, pretending to attack Zicheng, but actually setting up an ambush in Zicheng. Zhao Yun could see through it halfway. Incidents like this are not uncommon, but since both sides are more cautious, they have no intention of expanding the war. Therefore, even when there were hand-to-hand encounters, the two sides were only separated at the first touch, and there was no war worth writing about in one month.
】
When the time came in early July, a message came from Shen Tuzhen of the Shangdang Party, saying that dozens of Dongren had secretly sneaked into the county, trying to collude with the Wen family, Wang family and others in the county to stir up rebellion, but nothing happened. After the incident, Shen Tuzhen led 300 officials and disciples to suddenly attack and captured them all. All the causes and consequences of the matter were recorded in writing and handed over to the Pingcheng military tent.
Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard about this, and then smiled at Chen Chong and said: "If Cao Cao relies on such tricks, then he is at his wits end. In another twenty days, I will tell him to be miserable and mediocre!"
"That's not right." Chen Chong looked at the letter at this time, but frowned. He first whispered to himself, and then said to Liu Bei very quickly: "It's too rough. Although Cao Cao said it was easy to use danger, there are always five things in doing things. He did it because he had a chance of winning. This time he sent people to slap him, and he didn’t even send a high-ranking official worth two thousand dan, and he didn’t even send out a few seals. It’s just child’s play!”
When Liu Bei heard this, he took the letter and read it. He felt something strange and asked, "You mean, Cao Cao's thief has another agenda?"
Chen Chong nodded slightly. He asked someone to unfold the map and read the intelligence from the counties bordering Bingzhou, trying to think about the real possible movements of the Eastern Army, but in the end he still found nothing. He thought to himself: Could it be that he is too worried?
But he quickly denied it and immediately summoned the generals in the army to the tent to discuss the matter together. The generals and leftists were extremely surprised and thought that Chen Chong was overthinking, but at his insistence, they still considered possible attack locations for the Eastern Army's division.
From a strategic perspective, there are three locations most likely to be attacked: Jiling, Lucheng, and Shanwu. If Jiling falls, the Eastern Army can go south to the bend of the river and cut off the connection between the Southern Huns and the Bafu; if Lucheng is lost, the Eastern Army can copy their own back roads, plunder grain and grass and fall directly into Jinyang; if Shan does not fall into the city, the Eastern Army can The army can occupy Guanchuan Mountain and attack the Western Army from both sides.
However, Chen Chong had already been prepared for this. There were many police posts and secret talks in these three places. Once the Eastern Army made any move, they would be able to detect it immediately. Today's intelligence indicates that these three places are quiet as usual, and no movement of the Eastern Army has been detected.
Everyone in the tent fell into silence. At this time, Zhuge Liang stood up and said to Chen Chong: "Teacher, since Cao Cao is so surprising, it is natural that we cannot use common sense to speculate. The so-called surprise is also dangerous. It is better to think about it carefully. The road is the most dangerous, and the thieves in the East are the least likely to take it, but maybe they will gain something."
Liu Bao has been on the front line for a long time, listening to Zhuge Liang's questions. He immediately replied: "The most dangerous thing in the surrounding area is naturally the sand plug. But the sand plug turns into hills with quicksand, horses stumble, and vehicles have no wheels. An ordinary person can only walk ten miles in a day. Could it be that the thieves from the East can get through it..." He wanted to say "It's impossible to fly here." But before he finished speaking, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he immediately said to Liu Bei: "General, is it possible that the East Thief wants to cross Huze?"
Chen Chong raised his eyebrows and immediately marked Hu Ze from the map. He estimated the Eastern Army's march time and combat intentions, and soon realized the key point. He quickly asked Liu Bao: "How many people are left in Meiji City?"
Liu Bao lowered his head and replied: "There are thirty thousand Xiongnu light cavalry."
Chen Chong asked again: "Who will be stationed?"
Liu Bao replied: "Julong King Liu Weichun."
Chen Chong suddenly felt cold in his heart. Liu Weichun was slow and greedy for merit and was not a suitable candidate. But it was too late to replace the candidate at this time, and all he could do was make up for it: "Immediately send a message to King Julong. Once he encounters the East bandit, let him sit in the city and not leave. During the period, the country will definitely compensate him for any losses. Be concerned!”
After Liu Bao left the camp, Chen Chong wandered around the camp for a while, and couldn't help but ask himself, is it still too late to make amends this time?
