Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 192

In mid-April, Cao Cao arrived in Luoyang.

At this time, Zhong Yao, Zhang Ji, Pei Mao, Wei Ji and others had been driven from Guanzhong to Luoyang.

Luoyang is now dilapidated, but in the early years Liu Biao sent people to the north to repair the palace a little bit. At this moment, in the original palace of Luoyang, among the ruins, Cao Cao summoned everyone.

When Cao Ying was in Kuangcheng, Mao Jie tended to take the initiative strategically to defeat the Kwantung Allied Forces and prevent the Kwantung Allied Forces from threatening Cao Cao's left wing on the western front.

However, Dong Zhao believed that the key to defeating the Kwantung coalition forces was to defeat Tao Sheng, a senior cadre, and prevent them from cooperating internally and externally.

Guo Jia guessed the psychology of the Kwantung Allied Forces and believed that they could use countermeasures to disintegrate their alliance.

Although Xun You didn't make a plan, but following Cao Cao, he wanted to find a way to defeat Gao Gan Tao Sheng tactically, and then continue to follow the ideas of Mao Jie, Dong Zhao, Guo Jia and the others.

This is another joint plan by Cao Cao's advisers.

Dong Zhao and Mao Jie are responsible for the strategic direction, Guo Jia is responsible for guessing the enemy's psychology, and Xun You is responsible for the implementation of specific plans. This perfect cooperation is the team of advisers that Yuan Shao can't envy, and it is also the key to Cao Cao's ability to defeat Yuan Shao every time.

So at least in terms of strategy and tactics, Cao Cao still found the initiative.

After he arrived in Luoyang, he told everyone the strategy discussed by Cao Ying's many counselors. Zhong Yao and others thought it was reasonable, so they made suggestions one after another to perfect the details of the strategy.

Zhang Ji, Pei Mao, Wei Ji and others all volunteered to lobby the generals in the Kwantung region, while Zhong Yao and Xunyou helped Cao Cao plan to defeat the high-ranking officer Tao Sheng.

The specific strategy is also very simple.

Since the enemy is not moving, they will take the initiative to attack and lure the enemy to attack. In this way, they will turn passive into active, and turn the static battle of the two sides into a mobile battle, and they will always find the enemy's flaws.

Cao Cao felt that it made sense, so in late April, he sent 5000 men from Yujinling to cross the Yellow River from Juan County. Instead of taking charge of Yuan Jun in Wudehuai County, he went straight to the north and attacked Xiuwu, Huojia, and Ji counties. Waiting for a place, pretending to surprise Yecheng.

Of course, Gao Gan and Tao Sheng would not be so stupid as to think that Cao Jun would really rush to Yecheng, but their food roads were in the rear, and Cao Jun used to like to cut off people's food roads. Repel this Cao army.

But Cao Cao personally led the army across the river, and met Gao Gan Tao Sheng in the field in the Xiaoxiuwu area. The two didn't know that Cao Cao had arrived in person, and thought it was just a prisoner, so they took the initiative to attack.

Clinker Cao Cao commanded well, the central army was as solid as a rock, and the left and right wings suddenly outflanked. When the number of people was not much different, Gao Gan and Tao Sheng were directly fought out in an annihilation battle.

In this battle, Xu Chu, the leader of Cao Cao's personal guards, beheaded Tao Sheng, and the senior officials fled in panic. The army collapsed immediately, and countless people were killed and captured.

At the beginning of May, Cao Cao personally led the army to Xin'an.

In fact, the Kwantung Allied Forces did not attack at this time because their food and grass were insufficient.

Guandong was already very dilapidated. According to Wei Ke’s later letter to Xun Yu, there were more than [-] households fleeing to Jingzhou in Guanzhong at that time, and tens of thousands of households fled to Hanzhong. .

Basically, even if there is a population, it is occupied by the generals in Guanzhong, that is, Han Sui, Ma Teng, Hou Xuan, Yang Qiu, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Ma Wan, Liang Xing, Cheng Yin and others.

These people have a certain number of people under their rule, and each has tens of thousands to thousands of soldiers. It is only by relying on these people to farm the land that they can barely survive.

But they can still use the little population and food in their own territory. If they travel long distances to the Kanto, the supply line of food and grass will be extremely long. 6 to [-] people plus auxiliary soldiers, civilian husbands, craftsmen and horses, the daily food and grass consumption is several In terms of tens of thousands of stones, there is naturally not enough food and grass.

So while stationing troops in Shan County, waiting for the follow-up food and grass to arrive, they sent people to urge Gao Gan and Tao Sheng to send food from Zhiguanxing to Yucheng through Wangwu Mountain, and then send food from Yucheng to Dayang County Come.

As a result, the people sent reported that Cao Cao personally arrived in Luoyang, led his troops to defeat Gao Gan and Tao Sheng, and then led the army to Xin'an, attacking them.

All of a sudden, the Kwantung Allied Forces had different thoughts and ghosts.

In mid-May, after a period of investigation, Cao Cao sent Zhang Ji, Pei Mao, Wei Kai and others to the camps of Ma Teng, Yang Qiu, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Liang Xing and others in a targeted manner.

The reason for this arrangement is that Ma Teng and Han Sui have a grudge against each other and can split.

The rest of Hou Xuan, Li Kan, Ma Wan, Cheng Yin and others are from Hedong. They are from the local powerful families in Hedong. They are all stationed in Dayang County, so they can transport food nearby, so they don't have to worry about food.

However, Yang Qiu, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Liang Xing and others are from Xiliang, and the territory they occupy in Guanzhong is not in Hedong County, and the transportation of grain and grass is very far away, so the grain and grass have bottomed out at this time.

Zhong Yao and others analyzed that the coalition forces from all walks of life are not of one mind, and others may not give them food, so Yang Qiu and others must be shaken in their hearts, and they are targets that can be won.

Cao Cao approved of their suggestion, so he sent people to lobby against them.

Two days later, Zhang Ji arrived at Ma Teng's military camp.

Ma Teng is also in a bad mood at the moment, because he actually doesn't have much food.

He agreed to Yuan Shao, first of all because Yuan Shao has great power and high prestige.Secondly, Yuan Shao promised to give him food and grass support, so he came here.

Gao Gan and Tao Sheng's tasks in Hanoi were to contain Cao Cao's western front, and to deliver food and grass to the generals of the Guanzhong Allied Forces.

As a result, the first batch of food and grass was delivered, which helped them defeat Duan Yan. Before the second batch of food and grass arrived, Gao Gan and Tao Sheng had already been wiped out. In the blink of an eye, they were alone.

You must know that this is not fighting in Guanzhong. Soldiers need to cross the Qinling Mountains to leave Hangu Pass. The straight-line distance along the line is more than 200 kilometers. very difficult.

Without Yuan Shao's support, they will have to run out of food and grass in two months, so Ma Teng is very worried now.

Hearing that Zhang Ji, the envoy of Cao Jun, was coming, he sent people to his tent.

"General."

After Zhang Ji came in, he smiled and bowed to Ma Teng. He had been the county magistrate of Xinfeng for several years and knew all these Guanzhong princes.

When Ma Teng saw him coming, he laughed pretending to be an old friend and said, "So it's De Rong. It's been a long time since you abandoned your official position and left. Where can I get high?"

Zhang Ji said with a smile: "I hope the general will miss you. I went back to Chendu last year and paid homage to Your Majesty. I was appointed as the prefect of Hongnong by the imperial court."

"Oh."

Ma Teng nodded and asked, "In that case, why did De Rong come to my camp?"

Zhang Ji said, "I want to ask the general, how much food is there?"

Ma Teng raised his eyebrows and said, "Could it be that De Rong came to our army as an intermediary?"

"Of course not."

Zhang Ji talked eloquently: "The general has come from a long way, and he must rely on Yuan Shao for food and grass, but Yuan Shao's troops in Hanoi have been defeated by Cao Gong, and the food cannot be supplied. How long can the stalemate continue?"

Ma Teng remained silent. He was indeed running out of food, and he didn't know how long it would take for the next batch of food to arrive. Once there was no new food in another month, he had no choice but to retreat.

Seeing his appearance, Zhang knew what was going on, so he immediately said, "The general has a grudge against Han Sui. Is the general planning to let it go?"

Ma Teng looked at him and said, "De Rong wants to instigate me to turn against Han Sui?"

Zhang Ji shook his head and said: "That's not the case. I want to remind the general that this battle is ultimately between Yuan Shao and Cao Gong. The general puts the enemies around him on guard, but comes to attack Cao Gong from afar. What's the reason?"

"Right now, the general is short of food, so it would be easy for Duke Cao to defeat you. But the general is an enemy of Duke Cao, and the benefit is Yuan Shao's. What can the general gain?"

"So it's better to form an alliance with us and defeat Han Sui together. The general can take revenge and get the whole of Guanzhong and Xiliang, and the court is willing to reward the general. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

Alliance with Cao Cao?
Ma Teng hesitated, lost in thought.

His current predicament is insufficient food and grass, and Zhang is right.

It is also easy for Cao Cao to eliminate them, as long as he waits patiently for more than a month, when they run out of food and retreat, he will easily defeat them.

At that time, even if Yuan Shao defeated Cao Jun while Cao Cao was not on the front line, what would they gain?
I suffered a big loss, but Yuan Shao took all the benefits, why?
So to a certain extent, this is equivalent to working for Yuan Shaobai, and it is not worth the risk of losing troops or even being wiped out.

only.

It's just that Ma Teng was also very hesitant.

In fact, he couldn't beat Han Sui. His total strength was only more than 1, while Han Sui had [-] to [-].

Before, Zhong Yao and others were in the middle to mediate, so Han Sui managed to avoid being wiped out.

Later, Han Sui forced him to agree to form an alliance with Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao was really strong and could be attached to, so he formed an alliance with the generals in Guanzhong to attack.

If he rebelled now, he was mainly afraid that he would not be able to defeat Han Sui. If he did not eliminate Han Sui and let him escape back to Guanzhong, he would encounter it.

So Ma Teng hesitated for a while.

Zhang Ji looked at him looking forward and backward, and asked, "What else is there to worry about, General?"

Ma Teng smiled wryly, "I don't have enough troops for Han Sui, I'm afraid I won't be able to defeat him."

Zhang Ji said with a smile: "With Mr. Cao here, why should the general have to worry about this? The general only needs to send his proton to Chendu to join us in destroying Han Sui. The entire pass is owned by the general!"

"Ah."

Ma Teng finally made a decision, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I will agree to form an alliance with Duke Cao."

Zhang Ji bowed his hands in great joy and said, "The general is wise."

He immediately went back to report.

And the same statement also appeared in the tents of Yang Qiu, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Liang Xing and others.

Many envoys sent by Cao Cao analyzed the pros and cons to them, explained the predicament they are currently facing and the danger of continuing to fight against Cao Cao.

Everyone was not of one mind. After being analyzed by Yitong, they were persuaded and agreed to form an alliance with Cao Cao.

At this time, one-third of the Kwantung Allied Forces were won over by Cao Cao with countermeasures.

On the night of May 21, Cao Cao agreed with them to use fire as a sign to attack Han Sui's camp together, and wiped Han Sui in Shan County!
　One more chapter later

　　
　
(End of this chapter)