Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 191 Yuan Cao Kuang City Confrontation
In June of the ninth year of Jian'an, when Liu Biao launched an offensive and sent Shen Chen and Liu Bei to attack Liu Zhang, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had already begun pre-war preparations.

A large number of various weapons and equipment were moved out of the warehouses of various military camps and maintained again.

Countless grains, supplies, and tents were sent to Yecheng and Chendu.

In July, after nearly half a year of preparation, Yuan Shao's army moved first. He sent Jiang Yiqu as the vanguard, and his third son Yuan Shang as the commander of the former army. About [-] troops were stationed in Liyang.

This time Yuan Shao's total force was still 15, but with the addition of auxiliary soldiers, civilian husbands, and craftsmen, the total number reached 20, claiming [-], and marched towards Yanzhou.

In addition, the eldest son Yuan Tan, the governor of Qingzhou, led an army of [-], marched south from Pingyuan Kingdom, entered Jibei Kingdom and Dongping Kingdom, and threatened Cao Cao's right wing.

And his nephew Gao Gan borrowed soldiers and horses from the Southern Huns in Bingzhou, invaded Koulue River East, and then attacked Sili Hanoi.

Cao Cao also made timely deployments. If including Zang Ba's troops, his total strength is now as many as 11, but there are still some left-behind troops after excluding the rear, and about [-] people can be used.

And this number is not unchanged, because the southern princes are fighting, Liu Biao and Liu Zhang and Sun Quan are at war at the same time, and even Liu Beijun has been transferred, so Cao Cao does not need to consider rear defense. Then Ma Teng.

So he let Zang Ba march from Xuzhou, from the southeast to the north, and stationed in Taishan County, Lu State and other places. He also sent Cheng Yu as the governor and led 5000 people to garrison Juancheng.Shi Huan was the leader of the Central Committee, leading 3000 people in Jinxiang, supporting Zang Ba to contain Yuan Tan.

There are about 1 troops in the east, and much more troops in the west.Because Yuan Shao invited foreign aid, Han Suimateng rebelled, and Hu Chuquan and Guo Yuan drove Zhong Yao away and occupied Guanzhong.

Now all the generals in Guanzhong unite together, responding to Yuan Shao's call, assembled an army of [-] to [-], and marched towards Hongnong in a mighty manner, and began to threaten Duan Yan of Huayin.

Duan Yan's army strength was only about 8000, and Cao Cao ordered him to retreat to Shan County, which is later known as Sanmenxia City.

At that time, the terrain to the south of the Yellow River was narrow, with the dense Qinling Mountains in the south and the mighty Yellow River in the north.It can be said that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack if you enter Guanzhong from Guandong, but it is also not easy to attack Kanto from Guanzhong.

There are actually many ideal defense points like Tongguan, which is backed by the Qinling Plateau and bordered by the Yellow River to the north.

It's just that the construction of Tongguan lies in the entrance from Kanto to Guanzhong, which can provide defense and at the same time allow large troops to enter Guanzhong at any time, which has strategic significance for offense.

The same is true at Hangu Pass.

The roads between Tongguan and Hanguguan belong to the dangerous place with the Qinling Mountains in the south and the Yellow River in the north, but Tongguan is at the entrance of Guanzhong, which is convenient for the Kanto to attack Guanzhong.Hangu Pass is at the entrance of Kanto, which is convenient for Guanzhong to attack Kanto.

It's just that Hangu Pass in the Han Dynasty lost its strategic significance due to the changes of the Yellow River. Cao Cao considered that he could not attack Guanzhong for the time being, so he focused his defense on the Kanto region.

In this way, even if Han Suimateng and other generals in Guanzhong attack together, the supply line on the south bank of the Yellow River, which is more than 200 kilometers long, will seriously delay their offensive.

Cao Cao deployed about 2 troops near Chendu, and more than 1 on the eastern front. He personally led an army of [-] to go north to meet Yuan Shao.

At the same time, Yu Jin led more than 2 people to be stationed in the Yin area of ​​​​Henan Province to protect the safety of Cao Jun's western front.

In this way, the deployment of both parties is completed.

Yuan Shao's main force, about 8 people, marched south from Yecheng, continued to cross the river from Liyang, and entered Dongjun to attack Chenliu.

The right-wing Yuan Tan has about 2 people, and there are thousands of harassing troops scattered around.

The left-wing Han Suimateng coalition forces are tens of thousands, plus Huchuquan, Guo Yuan and other ministries in Bingzhou, the total number is more than 5.

In addition, he sent his nephew Gaogan and Jianyi Zhonglang general Tao Sheng to lead more than 2 people to detour through Hanoi County and attack Luoyang from the north to meet Han Suimateng and other coalition forces and attack Yanzhou together.

Not counting foreign aid, the total number of troops Yuan Shao mobilized this time was about 12.Counting foreign aid, it is about [-] to [-].

The situation on Cao Cao's side is relatively poor. The left wing is about seven or eight thousand for Duan Yao, plus twenty thousand for Yu Jin, against the fifty thousand or sixty thousand for the Shangguan Central Allied Forces and the twenty thousand for Gao Gan Tao Sheng.The right wing consisted of thousands of Zang Ba and 8000 people from Cheng Yu and Shi Huan, and more than 2 people from Yuan Tan.

His own main force was [-] against Yuan Shao's [-]. Overall, it was a little better than the battle of Guandu. At least this time, he didn't have to worry about Xu Du being attacked by Shen Chen, but it wasn't much better.

In September, Yuan Shang's main force began to cross the river at Liyang.But this time Cao Cao couldn't do the same thing as last time, and broke Yuan Shang first.

Because Yuan Shao learned the lesson of Yan Liang and Wen Chou's vanguard crossing the river in the battle of Guandu, but was beaten head-on and defeated by Cao Cao.While letting Yuan Shang cross the river, he himself led the army from Yanjin Ferry in Hanoi County.

In this way, no matter which direction Cao Cao attacked, Yuan Jun from the other direction would cross the river smoothly, and then attack Cao Jun's main force from both sides, putting Cao Cao in the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

Therefore, Cao Cao's choice was to station troops along the lines of Xuncheng, Yanxian, Wating, and Weixiang, and deploy defenses around them.The main force was stationed in Kuangcheng on the south bank of Pu River.

In October, when Yuan Shao's army crossed the Yellow River, Jiang Yiqu led 8000 men to attack Xuncheng, but was repelled by the defender Xu Huang.In mid-October, when Yuan Shang came to attack, Xu Huang was defeated and retreated to Suanzao Fengqiu area, and Yuan Shang settled in Xuncheng.

More than a month later, Yuan Shao's main force had all crossed the Yellow River. Cao Jun's defense lines in Yanxian, Wating, and Weixiang fell one after another, and began to retreat to Pucheng and Changyuan to defend the front line of Kuangcheng.

However, this winter God still favored Cao Cao very much. After entering the first ten days of November, there was heavy snow in the north and the weather turned sharply, which caused Yuan Jun's offensive to gradually slow down.

The two sides confronted each other in the Kuangcheng area. The extremely bad weather during the Little Ice Age made both sides' desire to attack extremely low, and they fell into a peaceful state.

To the next spring.

In February of the tenth year of Jian'an, after more than three months of confrontation, Yuan Shao finally launched a tentative attack.

He sent people to detour to Jiyin and go south to Qingqi to take Chendu.

However, the advantage of Chendu's topography is that there are too many rivers around, and it is located at the angle between the sewer water and the Sui River.

Cao Hong, Xia Houyuan, Xun Yu and others who stayed in the rear arranged tactics, using multiple rivers to defend along the line, and repelled the cavalry who would attack in the future.

After this plan failed, Yuan Shao personally led the army again in March and formally launched an all-round attack on Cao's army in Kuangcheng.

It's just that Ju Shou once said that Cao Cao's army is more elite than Yuan Jun. The main force of the two sides seems to be [-] to [-], but in fact the combat effectiveness of the two is not much different.

In the Battle of Guandu in history, it was not that Cao Cao was weaker than Yuan Shao, but that he had too many directions to guard against, and Liu Biao and Sun Ce restrained a part of his troops.

Yuan Shao attacked for more than ten days, lost troops and lost generals, and had to retreat back to Yan County.

At least for now, Cao Jun is not necessarily inferior to Yuan Jun even if it is a confrontation in the wild, let alone Yuan Jun is still attacking Cao Ying?
In early April of the tenth year of Jian'an.

At this time, Liu Biao in the south had just defeated Liu Zhang's army, and Huang Zu in the east towards Yuzhang was still entrenched in the area of ​​Peng Lize, dealing with Sun Quan's troops.

The war in the south is almost coming to an end, Liu Biao is now building momentum for proclaiming himself emperor, but the war in the north has just begun.

Inside Cao Ying, counselors such as Xun You, Guo Jia, and Dong Zhao Mao Jie were all there. Cao Cao looked at the official document in his hand, and the seriousness on his face showed his extremely restless heart.

The content of this official document is not a report that Liu Biao is seeking political independence and proclaiming himself emperor in the south after defeating Liu Zhang and Sun Quan.

It's a letter that the situation on the Western Front is corrupt and on the verge of collapse.

After Duan Yan retreated to Shan County, after the winter, the Guanzhong Allied Forces began to storm Shan County.

Shan County has an extremely superior defensive advantage. To the south is the Qinling Plateau, which has a large altitude difference. To the east is the transition zone between the Qinling Mountains and the Taihang Mountains, which is the Daimeishan mountainous area.

But it also has a disadvantage, that is, if you want to defend here, you must have enough troops stationed in Dayang County on the north of the Yellow River to block Zhongtiao Mountain and prevent the enemy from crossing the river from the north of the Yellow River to the rear of Shan County to attack.

Due to the lack of manpower of Duan Yan, the Huchuquan and Guo Yuanbu of the Guanzhong Allied Army went directly from Zhongtiao Mountain to Dayang County, which is later known as Pinglu County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. Simmer at the same time from the west and north.

Under such circumstances, Duan Yao barely persisted for several months, but the huge gap in troops led to Duan Yan's final defeat, and the remnants retreated to Xin'an County, probably located in the Yima City area to the east of Mianchi County in later generations.

After passing through Xin'an County, you will arrive at Luoyang. From the Luoyang Basin, you can go to Yingchuan in the south and Henan County in the east. At that time, you will be able to see the plain area, which will seriously threaten Cao Cao's western defense line and southwest defense line. major blow.

Therefore, Luoyang must not fall, at least to ensure that the Kwantung Allied Forces are kept out of Hangu Pass!
"Duan Yan was defeated, and Luoyang is already in danger."

Cao Cao passed the official document in his hand to many counselors, and after they had read it all, he said, "What do you think about this matter?"

Mao Jie is a strategic talent, and he immediately realized that this matter was a great threat to Cao Jun in the strategic sense, so he immediately said: "Ming Gong, Luoyang must not be lost. Once Luoyang is lost, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from the pass will rush in, and There are many cavalry, and they may attack Yingchuan Chenliu!"

"Yes."

Cao Cao sighed, nodded and said, "Gu also thinks like this, but although Gu doesn't have to worry about Liu Biao and Sun Quan in the south, there are so many soldiers in the north that Gu can't afford to go to Henan."

Now he is not short of food, but short of troops.

After cooperating with the Yanzhou family, the grain and grass piled up like a mountain, and the grain accumulated by exploiting the people in the past few years was enough for him and Yuan Shao to confront each other for four or five years.

The problem is that Henan is very dilapidated, the population loss is serious, there is enough food and grass, but there is a lack of young and strong soldiers, so that there is not enough soldiers and horses.

Therefore, in the face of Yuan Shao's army pressing down on the situation, Cao Cao basically could only defend, and could not attack.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao formed an alliance with Han Suimateng and others, and borrowed soldiers and horses from the Southern Huns. Even Wuhuan Tadun in the north supported the Yuan family and sent some cavalry to join the battle, which made Cao Cao's troops stretched.

Xun You said: "Yu Jin still has more than [-] troops in Henan. If Gao Gan and Tao Sheng's troops can be defeated, these people can go to support Duan Yao."

"However, Gao Gan and Tao Sheng did not take the initiative to attack, but stationed troops in Wude, Huai County and other places. It is extremely difficult to break through."

Cao Cao pondered, and suddenly noticed an imperceptible smile on Guo Jia's face, and asked, "Does Feng Xiao have a plan?"

"There's no plan."

Guo Jia said with a smile: "It's just that there are some old friends in Yingchuan in Yuan Ying. When they wrote to each other, they told me that Yuan Shao's health was very bad. He fell ill last winter. I don't think he will survive this year. Therefore, Ming Gong is a great cause. It will be done, I am happy in my heart."

"Ha ha."

Cao Cao forced a smile, shook his head and said, "Even if Yuan Shao dies this year, Han Suimateng and others can invade Luoyang at any time, and Gu will die within a month, which is not something to be happy about. "

Guo Jia thought for a while and said, "Ming Gong, I remember that in the official document sent by Captain Sili, Han Sui and Ma Teng attacked each other, and Han Sui also killed Ma Teng's wife. If they don't agree, the generals in Guanzhong originally formed an alliance for a short time because of Yuan Shao's power, or they can use countermeasures."

"what do you mean?"

Cao Cao stroked his beard. He was envious of Guan Yu's long beard, but his own was not that long.

Guo Jia said with a smile: "Han Sui killed Ma Teng's wife, Ma Teng must hate her deeply, but because of insufficient troops, he could not defeat Han Sui, so he had to make peace first. If he can persuade Ma Teng and other generals, then Han Sui will be able to Break it."

"Well."

Cao Cao nodded, unless Ma Teng was a ruthless person who would not even avenge his wife and children, then he would admire him.

Dong Zhao said: "However, even if this plan can be achieved, it is necessary to defeat Tao Sheng first."

"That's true."

Cao Cao pondered: "Who do you think can go to Henan and defeat Tao Sheng?"

"Forehead"

Everyone looked at each other and hesitated for a moment.

Among the Cao army, Cao Ren is naturally the most powerful in terms of military capabilities of the four major clans.

But Cao Ren died.

The other three can also be alone, but they are no different from Yu Jin.

If you can't even break the ban, who can break it?

Among the generals with foreign surnames, Le Jin is also dead, Xu Chu is just a rushing general, Xu Huang and Li Dian cannot be alone.

Zhang Liao is somewhat handsome, but he is a general in the first place, and in fact he is no match for the ban.

In history, he was the head of the five good generals, but that was because of the taint of Yu Jin's surrender.

Without this stain, Zhang Liaoyuan could not be compared with Yu Jin.

So if you want to be able to lead [-] troops, you can defeat more troops than Cao Jun, and Tao Sheng, a high-ranking cadre who does not actively attack and passively defend, can't find anyone except Cao Cao.

"Go alone."

Seeing everyone like this, Cao Cao also knew the situation, so he said in a deep voice: "I will take a thousand cavalry to Henan, Gongda will go with me, and you will assist Yuanrang to guard the camp. If you can't hold on, is it possible?"

"only."

Everyone bowed their hands and should be.

Although it is very risky to let Xiahou Dun be the coach.

But at this time, there is no other way, only this.

At that moment, Cao Cao summoned Xiahou Dun and ordered him to obey Guo Jia, Dong Zhao, Mao Jie and others, stick to the camp and leave, while he rushed to Luoyang overnight.

　Some friends said that the protagonist group has few appearances, and the protagonist Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang don't have many roles.But everyone should consider that this is the Three Kingdoms, group portraits.You can't just write about the protagonist group.In the age of stars, everyone is a hero, Cao Cao's great talent and strategy, Yuan Shao's unwillingness to fail, Sun Quan's courage (doubtful), Liu Biao's ambition, Liu Zhang's ideas, and heroes from all walks of life, including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. It’s not easy to arrange, so when it comes to character creation, I tend to be more comprehensive. The protagonists such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei have more roles, and other people will also arrange it. This is something that cannot be helped.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)