Late March of 197 AD.
Cao Cao invited Zhang Xiu, Liu Bei, Lu Bu and Sun Ce to attack Yuan Shu together in mid-April.
Beat drums to gather generals.
In the large tent of the military camp, Zhang Xiu sat in the middle, with military generals and military staff sitting on both sides below.
Perhaps because he had been in a high position for a long time, Zhang Xiu sat there with an expressionless expression, and the invisible pressure dissipated downwards, making the generals below him both respectful and afraid.
Zhang Xiu glanced at the generals below and said calmly: "The eastward expedition against Yuan Shu was unplanned and disrupted our original plan of marching westward to capture Yongzhou. However, the strategic goal of the westward march remains unchanged. Don't worry. Military merit can be achieved; I cannot let everyone go in this eastward expedition against Yuan Shu, everyone should know it."
Having said this, the generals immediately became anxious and stared at Zhang Xiu, waiting for his military orders.
Zhang Xiu puffed up his chest and his eyes became sharp: "I ordered the Qinglong Cavalry Battalion to follow me eastward and the Suzaku Cavalry Battalion to guard Duyang City."
Wei Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Li Tong glanced at Wei Yan enviously, but he knew that his task was also very difficult, which offset a lot of his unhappy emotions.
"Order Gan Wu Camp to bring 10,000 infantry to join Liu Biao's army, go down the Han River, and sit down with... Hu Wu Camp! Join forces with Sun Ce to threaten the Lu River."
Gan Ning stood up excitedly and shouted loudly: "I will obey your order!"
When Hu Che'er heard that it was Gan Ning who was going eastward instead of him, he stood up impatiently and was ordered to go down again. Seeing that Zhang Xiu had finished speaking, he stood up anxiously again: "Lord, let me go eastward." , can we let Ganwu camp stay in Nanyang?"
Zhang Xiu stared at him with cold eyebrows: "Hu Che'er, do you dare to resist military orders?"
Hu Che'er swallowed, his Adam's apple rolled, and he looked at Zhang Xiu aggrievedly.
Zhang Xiu softened his expression and said semi-consolingly: "This time, you and the military advisor are ordered to defend Nanyang. When we advance westward, you will be the first to attack Wuguan. If you cannot defeat it, I will pull you out and behead you first."
Being able to be the first to attack the city, Hu Che'er immediately felt more balanced and said with a smile: "Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely be able to capture Wuguan and dedicate it to you."
Zhang Xiu looked at Deng Zhi and said, "Bo Miao, you and Ganwu camp will go with the army in this eastern expedition."
Deng Zhi stood up and bowed: "I obey the Lord's order."
Three days later, Gan Ning led 10,000 infantrymen southward and met Wenpin's troops at the Han River; Zhang Xiu led 8,000 cavalrymen from the direction of Biyang City, at the foot of Tongbai Mountain, and marched into Yingshang City.
At the same time, Cao Cao raised 50,000 troops, Lu Bu raised 30,000 troops, and Liu Bei raised 10,000 troops to go south.
In order to prevent Cao Cao from setting up an ambush in advance on his way to advance, Zhang Xiu quickly marched eastward along the Huaihe River. Xiliang horses were considered high-quality horses in the Han Dynasty. They marched fifty kilometers a day. After five or six days of running, Zhang Xiu reached Ying Uptown.
After arriving at Yingshang City, Zhang Xiu played his own tooth flag, with a large Chinese character Zhang embroidered on a red background and yellow characters, and the words "General Zhendong" embroidered on the top; Wei Yan played his own general flag in front, with a red background and yellow characters. The word Wei was embroidered on it; at the same time, a large blue dragon flag was erected in the camp.
The troops marched toward Yingshang City with great fanfare.
Bu Ding, the magistrate of Yingshang County, saw Zhang Xiu's banner and had to go out of the city to greet him and sent him food and grass.
Having reached Shouchun Realm, it was too late for Cao Cao to do anything.
He didn't dare to take action anymore. After all, Liu Bei and Lu Bu were also in the coalition. If Cao Cao dared to take action against Zhang Xiu, both Liu Bei and Lu Bu would be afraid, and the consequences would naturally be serious.
Cao Cao alone could not defeat the attacks of Zhang Xiu, Liu Bei and Lu Bu.
After Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu met at the border of Xuzhou, he immediately learned the news from Yingshang City: Nanyang Prefect, General Zhendong, and Xuanwei Marquis Zhang Xiu led 10,000 cavalry to arrive at Yingshang City and stationed there.
When the news came, Liu Bei and Lu Bu were both in the tent.
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind was racing with lightning, and he immediately smiled generously: "Xuanhou is really eager to please thieves. Before we arrived, he had already led an army of 10,000 to Yingshang. It seems that we have to speed up. "
When he heard that Zhang Xiu had led 10,000 cavalry to Yingshang, Liu Bei's face did not change at all, but envy appeared in his heart. This kind of envy was like a piece of wood in water, sinking and rising again.
He is thirty-six years old this year, but he only lives in a small town in Peixian County. Zhang Xiu, who is fourteen years younger than him, is already the governor of Nanyang, the general of Zhendong, and the marquis of Xuanwei, with a third-rank official position.
Starting from the fourth year of Xiping (175), he studied under Lu Zhi and became a classmate with Gongsun Zan. In the first year of Zhongping (184), he conquered the Yellow Turbans and established his achievements. He has conquered the south and the north until now, and has made a lot of achievements, but he has not received any recognition. Reward.
I have great ambitions in my heart, but no room to display my ambitions.
Thinking of this, he felt that his eyes were a little moist.
well! Comparing people to each other is so annoying!
Liu Bei sighed secretly.
What made him even more hateful was that he had already obtained Xuzhou, but he didn't expect that Lu Bu, who was like a lost dog, came to him and took him in out of pity. Unexpectedly, Lu Bu was so eager to occupy the magpie's nest that he shamelessly captured the city of Xuzhou while he was conquering Yuan Shu in the south.
Making myself feel a little wronged again.
Involuntarily, his eyes glanced at Lu Bu opposite him without leaving any trace.
When Lu Bu heard that Zhang Xiu was coming, he immediately became interested. Zhang Xiu had defeated Cao Cao and glanced at Cao Cao secretly, wanting to know what he was thinking. After all, he himself had also attacked Cao Cao's Yanzhou.
Will this guy take this opportunity to kill him and Zhang Xiu together?
When he saw Cao Cao's magnanimous smile, he nodded in relief and said, "Bo Yuan is really a loyal minister. We'd better go quickly. Don't let Boyuan wait in a hurry."
Cao Cao smiled and nodded.
After Liu Bei and Lu Bu returned, Cao Cao's face darkened. He originally thought that Zhang Xiu would go south to Lujiang to join forces with Sun Ce, but he didn't expect that he would sneak up and escape his eyes and run to Yingshang.
Guo Jia smiled and said, "Don't worry, my lord. Since Zhang Xiu came out, he will definitely go back. But if General Xu Huang leads an army to ambush in Tongbai Mountain, he will never come back."
Cao Cao calmed down and said: "I didn't expect Zhang Xiu to have the courage to come out. Let's let him live for two more days. After Yuan Shu is eliminated, we can go back and deal with him."
Then he said: "There is also Lu Bu. If you have the chance, you can clean up."
Guo Jia immediately advised: "My lord, we allied forces to attack Yuan and kill Zhang Xiu because this man was ambitious and a great threat to us, so we had to take this step to destroy him. However, Lu Bu was brave but unintelligent and had no ambitions. When the coalition forces join forces, they are absolutely invulnerable.”
Cao Cao nodded: "Why don't I know? Lu Bu's occupation of Xuzhou will be a problem in the future!"
Guo Jia immediately said: "When Yuan Shu is wiped out, Zhang Xiu is intercepted and killed, and Liu Bei joins forces to attack Lu Bu, then Lu Bu can't support himself alone, so why worry about not being destroyed?"
Cao Cao laughed, "Feng Xiao is really my Zhang Liang."
Three days later, Cao Jun's joint camp was stationed on the east bank of Yingshui River and sent someone to invite Zhang Xiu to the military tent to discuss matters.
Zhang Xiu led Wei Yan and a hundred soldiers to Cao Ying.
This was the first meeting between Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao.
