The princes of the world will arrange their own spies in various states and counties. If there is an emergency, they will notify the owner with a quick message.
However, how many spies can be deployed, how fast the horse is, and whether the sources of information are accurate all depend on the strength of the princes.
For example, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Lu Bu had the financial resources to place spies in every state and county in the Central Plains, and could send battle reports back in the shortest possible time.
But Sun Ce couldn't do it, because the cultivation of eye spies and the transmission of information required a lot of financial resources, so he could only place his own spies in Xuzhou.
Therefore, if there is an emergency in Xuzhou, he can receive the battle report as soon as possible. If it is in the Central Plains and Northern China, he will have to rely on word of mouth or even paperwork and espionage, and the lag will be very serious.
Sun Ce didn't have much to worry about. He arranged his few scouts and informants in Xuzhou. After all, the only one who could really pose a threat to him was Lu Bu.
In other words, he wanted to take over the Central Plains, and Lu Bu became the threshold that he had to cross.
To this end, he activated land and air amphibious express reports. In addition to horse reports, flying pigeons also sent messages, so that on the third day of the Xiaoguan battle, he received military reports from the front line.
In terms of speed, Yuan Shao might have gotten the news before even seeing this battle report.
It is worth mentioning that Feige is actually the fastest in delivering messages, but its practicality is not that high.
First of all, homing pigeons are expensive and difficult to raise. Secondly, they have no navigation system, so they don’t know where to fly just by throwing them away like in the TV series.
The correct operation is to raise it in Danyang since childhood, and then be taken away from Danyang by scouts to Xuzhou. When it is necessary to deliver an urgent message, tie the content to the leg and release it, and the homing pigeon will fly back to Danyang.
However, this kind of operation is extremely risky. During the flight, the homing pigeons not only have to face attacks from natural enemies, but also hunters’ bows and arrows. Often, only one out of five released can fly back to Danyang safely.
In addition, the content to be transmitted is extremely limited, and due to many restrictions, this transmission channel is not used by the authorities, at least not as a mainstream method.
"Cao Cao is really awesome. This time he battled wits and courage with Lin Mo and became the final winner." Zhou Yu couldn't help but sigh after receiving the battle report from Sun Ce.
In the eyes of Zhou Gongjin who had an overview of the overall situation, the sneak attack on Xiaoguan was not a sudden strategy, but a shocking plan that had been planned since the poetry meeting.
I originally thought that Lin Mo would use the poetry meeting to gain all the opportunities to defeat Cao, but I didn't expect that he would use this poetry meeting to fake illness and use this poetry meeting in turn.
The battle of wits between these two people is really exciting.
"Xiao Pass is where Cao Cao captured Xuzhou's grain route. After Xiao Pass changes its owner, he can march directly with hundreds of thousands of troops. Xuzhou is in danger, and it's our turn to take action!"
Sun Ce was not so happy to capture Shaxian, defeat Huang Zu, and obtain huge amounts of food, grass, money, and weapons. "This time, I must avenge my shame and recapture Guangling!"
"Bo Fu."
Zhou Yu gathered the bamboo slips and said with a solemn expression: "The man stationed in Guangling is Lu Bu's number one general Zhang Liao. I heard that this man is brave and unstoppable in battle. Although he only has 6000 soldiers and horses, he does not dare to look down upon him.
It would be better to start from Lujiang and then go to Jiujiang. It took some time, but in the end, whether it was Cao Cao or Lu Bu, we formed a two-line pincer attack on Guangling, and we made every effort to attack and defend. "
"No"
Sun Ce shook his head and decisively rejected Zhou Yu's proposal, "Guangling is the forerunner of Danyang. Only if it is in our hands can it further grow and take over the Central Plains.
What's more, Guangling is ours. We should take justice as our priority, please the people's will as the middle, and avenge our private interests as the bottom. "
Looking at the overall situation, both of them are right, because there are also six to seven thousand people staying in Lujiang, but Zhou Yu's choice is more secure. After all, the corner of Huainan is too far away from Xuzhou, so rescue is not easy.
Furthermore, the battle situation between Cao and Lu can be further stalemate, or the winner can be determined before weighing.
Sun Ce's choice was to pursue success in one step. Judging from the geographical conditions of Jiangdong, even Lujiang and Jiujiang were not as important as Guangling.
"But."
Before Zhou Yu could finish speaking, Sun Ce, who had his back turned to him, had already raised his right hand.
After a while, Sun Ce turned around and looked at him, his eyes like a pool of stagnant water, "Gong Jin, after coming back from Guangling, every night, I can see Uncle Huang, Youping and Ma Zhong kneeling in front of me crying, and I can hear them. Jiangdong Erlang, who died tragically, is asking me for help.
I feel uneasy if I cannot recapture Guangling."
Zhou Yu took two steps back, his face suddenly changed, and his heart was full of mixed feelings.
He knew that Sun Ce, who had never lost a single defeat, was still worried about the loss he suffered in Guangling. He only thought that things would gradually get better with the passage of time, but he could clearly hear the shadow in his words just now. Whether he was a general or a master, this was not the case. It's an extremely scary thing.
If this is the case, then just take Guangling. What really worries Zhou Yu is that he is afraid that Sun Ce will not cast a shadow in Guangling, but cast a shadow on Lu Bu.
Sun Ce, who is known as the little overlord and has the courage of Xiang Yu, has never been defeated in dozens of battles since arriving in Jiangdong. However, in the battle at Guangling, he was defeated so easily by Lu Bu. He is like a cloud and mud, and he is too proud. Just like the bright sun in the sky, there is no cloud or mist.
"Then let Lu Fan take these captures back to Yuzhang, and my lord will lead the soldiers to march eastward."
Sun Ce nodded, then looked at Taishi Ci, "Immediately send the fast boat down the river to Danyang to report the news. Send Zhongmou to lead 30,000 troops to cross the river and set up camp first. Tell him that Zhang Liao must be careful not to attack. As for the attack on the city, we will wait for it." Let’s talk about it when we arrive.”
"Here!"
Zhou Yu had no objection to this, but he was just arriving at the base as an advance unit so that he could directly command them after they arrived.
Moreover, at this stage, Sun Quan had already experienced several decent wars, and even commanded the battle against Huang Zu alone. In the battle against Yan Baihu, Sun Quan also led troops to support Cheng Pu, so presumably there would be no problems.
On the contrary, Zhou Yu was thinking about how to fight this battle after Guangling to reduce casualties as much as possible.
The overall situation must be one of our own, not to mention the crushing of troops. Cao Cao has already captured Xiao Pass, and what he will face next is the siege of Xuzhou. Immediately, the three armies of Lu Army are in turmoil, and the morale of Guangling in the rear is also low. .
If you don't want to attack the city, you may have to attack the heart.
Sun Ce, who had a strong obsession with Guangling, didn't think so much. He didn't believe that Lu Bu could defeat six thousand if he didn't have an army of 30,000.
Therefore, at this moment, his complacent and dark heart finally saw a ray of sunshine.
In Xiaoguan City, Cao Cao, wearing a large fur cloak, stood in the middle of the government hall, with red coals burning under his feet, his hands raised flat to keep warm, his face as sinking as water.
"So, you think there is no better way." Cao Cao turned his hands to drive away the cold.
"The time is too hasty, and Xiaoguan is a choke point. It should not be used to take risks." Xun You, with a white beard, shook his head and objected.
Four days have passed since the discovery of the secret passage. Even Xun You couldn't come up with a good idea to invite you to enter the urn.
The key to the problem is the time difference.
You don't know when Lu Jun will lurk into the city through the secret passage. You can send people to guard around the abandoned warehouse. If someone comes in, they will be discovered, but it takes time for the army to set up an ambush.
Not only does it take time, but it takes at least half a day.
The soldiers should ambush around the houses, the crossbowmen should enter the designated places, and the cavalry should prepare for battle.
Obviously, it is impossible to prepare all this in advance, because a strong and determined ambush is very energy-consuming, and the soldiers are mentally tense. After a long time, they will inevitably fall into a state of exhaustion.
This means that one vigorous effort will lead to failure, and three times it will be exhausted.
In fact, many of the ingenious schemes are just the benefits of time difference. Xun You has thought carefully and it is indeed unlikely that he will invite you into the urn. He can only console him: "Sikong, in fact, the food channel has been opened. Next, We just need to surround Pengcheng with troops.
If Lu Bu can't retreat, he can take advantage of the situation to regain Langya, Xiapi and other counties. If he leaves the city, he can attack head-on. "
Now that Xiao Guan is in hand, the chance of winning is really great, but Cao Cao still hopes to further expand the victory to achieve the effect of attacking the heart first and then the city.
He and Xun You didn't come up with a good solution for four full days. Even though they were unwilling to do anything, they had no choice but to wave their hands and said: "Then let them block the tunnel."
"Here."
Just when Xun You was about to walk out of the council hall, Le Jin ran in and clasped his fists and bowed: "Sikong, there is a Lu general under the city gate who calls himself Gan Ning. He has come to join Sikong and said he has a great gift for him. Does Sikong accept it?"
Cao Cao and Xun You looked at each other, but they didn't have much trouble with each other.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Lu Bu is in a worrying situation now, and it is just a matter of the tree falling and the hozen scattering.
"Is he the only one?" Cao Cao raised his eyes and asked.
"Yes, ride alone to visit the customs." Le Jin replied.
Big gift
Cao Cao sneered, raised his forehead and said, "Bring him in."
"Here!"
After Le Jin left, Cao Cao sat on the handsome chair, with Dian Wei and Xu Chu standing in front of him to guard him.
After all, the person coming was General Lu. When it was time to be on guard, these two people were absolutely unambiguous.
Not long after, a crisp ringing of bells came, and Le Jin led a young man in who was covered with bells and holding a pair of halberds.
Gan Ning walked to the door of the council hall, handed the two halberds to the sergeant sensibly, and then walked in.
"Greetings to Cao Sikong." The gesture of clasping fists and bowing can also cause bells to jingle.
Even Cao Cao in Xuchang had heard of the Jinfan Thief, but in his eyes, Gan Ning Zhang Po Tian was just a water bandit.
He looked Gan Ning up and down for a while, hummed, and raised his hand in the distance, "Since you are General Lu Bu, why are you here?"
Gan Ning raised his head with a pained expression and choked with sobs: "Sikong, Lu Bu can't get along with each other. Now there is even more chaos in Pengcheng. I have to surrender. If it's too late, I'll risk my life!"
Is the city in chaos?
Cao Cao turned sideways and leaned on the handsome chair, unmoved. He glanced at Gan Ning and asked, "How come you can't protect yourself because of the chaos in the city."
"Sikong doesn't know anything."
Gan Ning took a deep breath and said with heartache: "After the defeat of Xiaoguan, many people in the city wanted to ask the court for peace to protect Xuzhou, but Lu Bu and Lin Mo were unwilling.
The last general only said a few words of agreement, and the common man Lu Bu said that I had grown up with someone else's ambition and had destroyed his own prestige, so he wanted to give me his military staff. Fortunately, Chen Deng asked for mercy and was spared the physical pain. "
Gan Ning's words were conclusive. Dian Wei and Xu Chu looked at each other from time to time, unable to hide the excitement on their faces. However, from the beginning to the end, Cao Cao's face was as if it were a flat lake and an ancient well without ripples. "So, the city is in chaos?"
"Indeed."
Gan Ning nodded repeatedly, "The Chen family, the Lu family, the Zhang family and other scholars all proposed peace. Even many people in the army wanted to stop the war, but Lu Bu and Lin Mo wanted to resort to violence. For this reason, they almost got into trouble. It became a mutiny.”
"Hahaha"
Cao Cao raised his head and laughed, and Gan Ning asked nonchalantly: "Why is Sikong laughing?"
"I laughed at that Lin Mo Wumou! How can you hide this false surrender plan from me? Do you want me to lead troops to surprise Pengcheng, and then you will deal with it internally? In fact, there are soldiers and horses ambushed in the city, waiting for our army Well, this is what you call a big gift, what a big gift!"
Before Gan Ning could react, Cao Cao waved his hand and said sternly: "Left and right, drag him out and kill him!"
"Here!"
Two sergeants rushed in, dragging Gan Ning one to the left and the other to pull him out for execution.
This move really startled Gan Ning. He quickly broke free from the restraints and knelt down with a thud. "The general didn't say that. The big gift he mentioned was that there was a secret secret left by Lin Mo in Xiaoguan City. Dao, he wants to sneak attack Xiao Guan and Sikong from this secret passage!"
After saying that, he kowtowed repeatedly, and the tassel and helmet banged against the floor.
The two sergeants wanted to pull, but Cao Cao raised his hand to stop him.
He frowned at first, then looked at Xun You, only to find that the latter also had a look of astonishment.
This news is not surprising. He had kept the news of his discovery of the secret passage secret. Obviously Lin Mo didn't know about it, but Gan Ning directly told him about the secret passage. There is no doubt that his defection was sincere and not a false surrender.
It seems that I am really paranoid.
Cao Cao immediately sat up and waved his hand towards Gan Ning who was still kowtowing, "Get up!"
"Sikong."
Gan Ning had a look of fear on his face and said with palpitations, "Sikong Bu killed the guilty general?"
"Hahaha, I just blackmailed you."
Cao Cao laughed proudly, but did not approach him easily. He just raised his hand repeatedly to ask him to stand up, "A soldier never tires of deceit, so don't blame him."
"The criminal will not dare!" Gan Ning stood up staggeringly, not forgetting to thank him repeatedly.
"Where is the secret passage you mentioned earlier? Can you lead me to see it?" Cao Cao needed to confirm whether there was only one secret passage in the city, so he calmly asked Gan Ning to lead the way.
"General Gui has seen the map, and I am willing to serve him with merit!" Gan Ning made a gesture of invitation.
As expected, he brought Cao Cao and his party to the abandoned warehouse, but he didn't know where the exit was, so he rummaged around in the room.
It took a while to finally find the passage under the bed that was blocked by a partition.
At this point, Cao Cao had completely cleared up his doubts about Gan Ning.
More than just clearing up doubts.
He even saw the dawn of defeating Lu in the first battle in Gan Ning, so he immediately approached Gan Ning and patted him heavily on the shoulder twice.
"Xingba, if we can destroy Lu Bu this time, you should be the first to do so."
The light in Cao Cao's eyes flashed, and he could not hide his excitement, "When the time comes, I will personally ask for merit from Your Majesty and worship you as the General-in-Chief!"
For Gan Ning, who served as the Cavalry Commander in Lu Bu's camp, he jumped to the position of General of the Quartet in one go, which was like being promoted seven or eight levels in a row. He was about to kowtow again but was stopped by Cao Cao.
"Sikong has given me the gift of reincarnation, and I will definitely repay Sikong with all my heart from now on!"
Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction, then raised his hand and said: "Let's go back to the council hall and explain Lin Mo's plan in detail."
"Here!"
(End of chapter)
