Chapter 568 Butterfly Effect
It is said that after Zhao Yun broke through Hefei City, he unexpectedly gained two important hostages. One of them was Xiahou Ba, the second son of Xiahou Yuan, and the other turned out to be Cao Ang, the eldest son of Wei Dynasty.
Although Cao Cao was a master of war, he also liked to take risks. After studying his past battles, he fought brilliantly in winning battles, but also lost in losing battles. He was obviously better at tactics than strategy. Now he left his favorite prince Cao Ang behind in Hefei City where he thought he was the safest, but he was finally captured by Zhao Yun, the Tiger of the World.
The Qinglong Army's occupation of this city is like blocking the vital eye of Cao's army. The more Cao's army is blocked between Hefei and Lujiang, the faster the food and grass will be consumed. I am afraid that within two days, Cao Cao's army who had a chance to escape from the periphery would spread the news of the fall of Hefei to Cao Cao's army on the five routes around Lujiang. As for when it would reach Cao Cao's ears in Jiangxia, in that era of limited news, it would take at least five more years. to ten days.
The butterfly in front of you flaps its wings, but it will set off a storm on the other side of the world. Once the news of the fall of Hefei City spreads, it will definitely have a huge blow to the morale of Cao's army. The trapped beasts are still fighting. So many Cao's troops must fill their stomachs. They will try their best to break through from both ends.
The time to capture Hefei City is within Zhuge Liang's budget, and Zhao Yun also released flying pigeons as soon as possible. The Jiangdong Army in Lujiang and the Qinglong Army in Jiangxia will definitely get the news soon. Once Cao Jun makes any changes, a pursuit battle will quickly begin.
Zhao Yun's mission is to hold on to Hefei as much as possible and completely cut off Cao's army's food and grass passage. Once the food and grass were cut off, Cao's army surrounded the Lujiang River must be in panic. In front of them were the Yangtze River and Lujiang River, Zhou Yu's heavy troops, to the east was the Dabie Mountains where thousands of birds could fly, and to the west was the muddy and difficult-to-walk Chaohu swamp wetland. They could only speed up There are two options: taking Lujiang City and turning around to break through Hefei City. Otherwise, once the food and grass are exhausted, people will only eat people.
North of Hefei City, the nearest military strongholds of Cao Jun are Xiapi City and Xuzhou City. Both cities had just been conquered by Cao Cao when he went south. People's hearts were already unstable, and the old forces were still ready to move. More food and grass were raised from the rear of Qing Yanzhou. The advantage of a large army is to fight quickly. Once a stalemate occurs, they have no choice but to find a way to retreat as soon as possible.
Strategically, the moment Zhao Yun captured Hefei City, Cao Cao's military expedition south was already doomed to fail. Zhao Yun ordered people to put Cao Ang and Xiahou Ba under house arrest in a small courtyard on the side of the city lord's palace, and strictly guarded them but treated them well. The remaining troops completely suppressed the remaining resistance in Hefei City and posted notices to calm the people. Only then did the people know that the Qinglong Army was entering the city.
Chen Long's benevolent government in the Lingling area has long been famous throughout the world. The people immediately organized themselves to welcome the Qinglong Army. Zhao Yun took the opportunity to mobilize the masses, organized reserve militia, issued bows and arrows, and immediately deployed city defense. The most dangerous city gate is the east gate near the source of Fei River where the general leads. Zhao Yun has deployed heavy troops here.
The day's fierce fighting finally ended, and peace returned to Hefei City. The two generals Gao Shun and Gao Lan reported back that Cao's troops in the East Camp had been completely annihilated and nearly a thousand Cao troops were captured. Zhao Yun was having a headache when facing so many surrendering troops. He wanted to say that those who surrendered would be spared death and those who did not surrender would be killed. However, he remembered that his lord Chen Long never killed prisoners. He always gave them travel expenses and let them go if they did not surrender. As the saying goes, God With a good life, Zhao Yun ordered the prisoners in the city to be sent to Dongda camp for centralized defense.
Gao Shun was responsible for defending the north gate, and still set up observation posts in the east and west camps to prevent Cao's troops from the north from raiding the city gate. Zhao Yun inspected the city's defenses non-stop, thinking endlessly about Jushou, the military advisor who stayed behind in Wancheng. Jushou was very resourceful but not good at riding long distances. He did not follow Zhao Yun this time. Zhao Yun could only rely on his own wisdom to do his best to protect Hefei City.
After three consecutive days of no sleep, even Zhao Yun felt a little tired and ordered a rest order, and all soldiers and civilians formed three defensive shifts. Among Cao Jun's surrendered generals, there was an official named Su Lin who was in charge of the grain depot. He was responsible for receiving the grain and grass shipped throughout the process and rationally distributing it to the five groups of Cao Jun who surrounded Lujiang. Su Lin was a well-educated civil servant under Cao Cao. He had a very high rank and was able to gain Cao Cao's trust to play such an important role. Unfortunately, he still chose to surrender at the time of life and death.
The most important thing in Hefei City is the grain depot. Zhao Yun led a hundred guards and ordered Su Lin to lead them straight to the grain depot in the north of the city. Su Lin took out a bunch of keys from his side and opened several major grain depots. As expected, the military rations were piled up like mountains. They were all military rations transferred from Xiapi. The latest batch had not yet been sent out. After Zhao Yun's inspection, Su Lin was still responsible for guarding the granary. Seeing that Zhao Yun was trustworthy, Su Lin burst into tears and said to Zhao Yun with tears: "General Zilong, although I have surrendered, my family and two children are still in Xuzhou. If unfortunately he is The thought of Cao Cao’s massacre makes one’s heart aching.”
Zhao Yun's heart moved, remembering that his lord implemented benevolent policies and cared about people's hearts. Seeing no one around, he immediately said: "Xueshi Su, not many people know about your surrender. They are all my confidants."
"I want to find out the news from the north, and no one can do it for me, but you are the best person."
Su Lin's eyes widened, as if he had predicted Zhao Yun's thoughts. Sure enough, Zhao Yun said: "You can choose to go back to Xuzhou to pick up your family members secretly, and only tell the public that you are escaping from Hefei. After solving the family matter, I want to You go north again to find any of the troops of Guan Yu, Taishi Ci, Yan Liang, Zhou Buyi, and Guo Jia who have crossed the Yellow River to harass Cao Cao's rear, and lure them south to harass Xuzhou and even rush to the aid of Hefei. You are familiar with the road and see Zhou No doubt there may be one of Guo Jia’s military advisors, they will make a plan on their own.”
As he spoke, Zhao Yun took out a small jade token from his waist, stuffed it into Su Lin's hand and said, "This is my personal token. The two military advisors naturally know each other." Su Lin took out the jade token and received the Qinglong Army's release order arrow. , I’m going to make arrangements to go north without mentioning it.
Qinglong Army reconnaissance cavalry have been released on all sides outside the city, and secret sentries have been set up on the main roads. Everything has finally been arranged. It is dark in Hefei City and the lights are on. There were still many people gathered in the City Lord's Mansion, cheering and celebrating in the lobby. As soon as Zhao Yung entered the City Lord's Mansion, many people came over to offer a toast.
Zhao Yun took a glass of water and drank it down in one gulp, then sat down in the main seat in the lobby. His fatigue suddenly surged up like a wave. He remembered that the reputation of the Qinglong Army's virtues and policies were spread all over the world, and the people yearned for happiness and contentment. Only the people were here. There was singing and dancing here, and I spontaneously offered myself this glass of wine. I couldn't help but smile on my face. I felt so happy to benefit the people, so I just sat in the Taishi chair and fell asleep.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
