Overlord!

Chapter 251
Although the attack range of Yu Jin and Zhu Ling's partial division was not large, its strategic significance was still considerable.

As a partial division, its purpose is to contain the garrison in Huaiyin.

If there were not this partial division to contain the threat on the flanks, and all the Huaiyin garrison rushed to Huai'an under the command of He Qi, then Cao Cao would not have to fight in the middle.

He Qi and Xu Kun's coalition forces guarded Huai'an County with nearly [-] people, and it was impossible for Cao Cao's [-] troops to capture it.

As Yu Jin invaded Yandu, the Jiangdong defenders on the Huaiyin front line were unable to dispatch at all and had to guard the Hangou water transport.If Hangou was cut off by Yu Jin, Jiangdong would have to take nearly a thousand miles of sea route to transport food to the front line or mobilize troops.

The transportation of grain and grass will take half a decade longer, and the consumption will be particularly serious.

But the implications are so great, and the risks that come with it are equally alarming.

After Yu Jin captured Yandu, he continued to march toward Sheyang according to military orders. After capturing Sheyang, there is Hangou. To the north, he can attack Huaiyin, the military town in Huainan, and to the south, he can attack Ping'an County. The direct stage is Hangou. water transport.

As soon as the army marched into Sheyang, Yu Jin carefully garrisoned the troops in the northeastern area of ​​Sheyang County, doubled his spies to detect the enemy's situation, and at the same time built deep ditches and fortifications to build camps.

The reason that made him so cautious was the dangerous geographical situation of Sheyang.

From Sheyang to the east, there is only one Yandu County along the Yangtze River. The main reason is that this area is surrounded by large areas of Zeguo swamp, and large areas of land are covered by swamps.

The only areas with flat terrain and fertile land are along the Hangou line to the west of Sheyang and the Yandu line on the east coast.

Therefore, in Guangling County, the Zeguo swamp in Sheyang is surrounded by two plains on the east and west.

There is no doubt about this kind of terrain. Once you enter Sheyang, you will be trapped in a desperate situation.

Yu Jin had to be extra cautious to avoid being trapped in a desperate situation and being surrounded by Jiangdong troops.

But stationing Cao Jun here like this is not a long-term solution.The next day after setting up camp, Zhu Ling frowned and found Yu Jin.

"Yu Xiaowei, we and the three armies have signed up and are not going forward. There is a material discussion in the army. If we are not going to advance, why do we have to dig a trench and camp here?"

Although Yu Jin commanded a partial division, his position was indeed not high, he was only a Pinglu captain.

Among Cao's troops, there were only two generals. One was General Zhenwei Cheng Yu. He led the prefect of Jiyin, supervised the affairs of Yanzhou, and was responsible for the defense along the Yellow River against Yuan Shao.

The three princes, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce, all faced similar situations. These three princes themselves were only state pastors, so it was unlikely that they would appoint their subordinates to serve as state pastors in another state.

Therefore, a capable minister is selected to supervise the affairs of a state.For example, Sun Ce used General Fenwei Zhang Zhao to lead the military government, and Yu Fan and Pang Tong supervised affairs in Yangzhou and Jingzhou respectively.

Yuan Shao used Fenwu General Jushou to supervise the internal and external affairs, which shocked the three armies. Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Gao Gan and other children were appointed governors of various states.

Cao Cao's response was to use Xun Yu to oversee the military and political affairs, and to use Fu Bo's general Xiahou Dun as the prefect of Yingchuan to oversee the affairs of Yuzhou.

Under Xiahou Dun were the generals of the clan such as Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Ren Jun.

Further down is Yu Jin's captain.

In peacetime, Yu Jin did not have much military power, and only commanded several hundred Qingzhou troops.
In this battle, Cao Cao needed Yu Jin's ability to command troops, so he sent 2000 infantry to Yu Jin to take command.

On the contrary, there were three battalions of Jizhou soldiers commanded by his deputy general Zhu Ling, with more than [-] people, including [-] horses.

To command five thousand soldiers like this is to say that the soldiers do not know the generals, and the generals do not know the soldiers.And Linjiangdong's elite division.

Yu Jin is naturally very cautious.

Of course he knew the content of the material discussions in the military.

Since crossing the Huaihe River, the soldiers of the three armies have made great gains in Guangling.

Under the rule of Marquis Wu, Huainan became astonishingly wealthy.

The soldiers could plunder a large amount of supplies from any village. After conquering only Yandu County, the three armies harvested at least [-] pieces of cloth, more than [-] stones of salt, in addition to porcelain, gold, silver, and jade. There are countless others, and the total amount of grain, grass, cattle and sheep exceeds [-].

There were even hundreds of various baggage carts, filled with the soldiers' plundering harvest.

The soldiers were eager to rush into Sheyang County and plunder.As long as two or three more counties are plundered, all the soldiers on this expedition will be able to return with a full load!
Therefore, the officers and soldiers of the army were naturally very resentful towards the three armies who were encamped here in Sheyang and refused to advance.

But in the current situation, how can the army plunder at will?
Facing Zhu Ling's inquiry, Yu Jin looked solemn and said: "Now we are entering the Guangling coast with a lone army. We have no strong support from the outside to rely on, and there is no strong city barrier inside to rely on. But the powerful enemy is on the side and can arrive day and night. . If we rush into Sheyang rashly, we will be in danger. If the enemy suddenly encircles us, the three armies will be incompetent."

After all, Yu Jin knew very well that he was playing a diversionary role along the way.

If he could capture Yandu, he would already have outstanding achievements.

If he can draw the Huaiyin defenders to fight again and defeat thousands of Huaiyin defenders in one battle, he will be even more powerful in Jianghuai.This greatly increases our own advantage in this battle!
By then, the entire Huai'an and the northern line of Guangling along the Huaihe River may be occupied by our side, and two counties will be expanded and more than ten new counties will be acquired in one battle.In essence, he still plays a diversionary role, focusing on defeating the enemy first and attacking the city secondarily.So he is extra cautious now, even if he doesn't seek merit, he still seeks no fault.

As long as he can lead this army to persist until the end of the war, even if he does not conquer another city, it will be a great achievement.

The Art of War says: "Save people and lose land, and everyone and land will be saved; save land and lose people, and everyone and land will be lost."

This is common to both parties.Therefore, the tactics of both sides are to defeat the enemy army and destroy the enemy soldiers, regardless of the gains and losses of one city or one pool.

Zhu Ling was not a reckless general. Hearing Yu Jin's words, he frowned and asked, "Yu Xiaowei thinks that these soldiers are so fierce and dangerous that our army will not be able to win a big victory, and may even be in danger of destruction?"

Yu Jin sighed deeply and said: "The one who conquers first has military power, and the one who builds the foundation advocates virtue. General Cao is dominating the Central Plains, caressing the land and leads the land. If Sui uses civility and virtue, and waits for it to change, Huainan can be expected."

"However, the east of the Yangtze River is blocked by mountains and rivers. Sun Ce has a great talent that can conquer thousands of miles. Zhang Zhao is good at governing the country. Jia Xu knows the truth and the truth. Zhou Yu sees the strength of the army and takes a dangerous position to defend the stronghold. It is really difficult for the soldiers to plan."

"The way of using military force is to win first and then fight. Measure the enemy and judge the generals, so you can make every strategy. If you use your talents to judge yourself, can you possibly defeat Sun Lang's heroic figure?"

"Although we are approaching Huainan with a sudden attack, the enemy and the people have their hearts set on them. The soldiers are brave and good at fighting, but we do not have a perfect situation."

Even a warrior like Yu Jin could see that this attack on Huainan did not have a chance of victory.

It stands to reason that Cao Jun is dominating the Central Plains, with rich figures and outstanding people. As long as he rests and recuperates, builds his foundation and strengthens his power, he will surely gain the upper hand over Hebei and Huainan.

After all, Yuzhou had a population of more than five million at its peak, and the combined population of Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou was tens of millions!
With this as the foundation, we can conquer the south and the north, and we will be invincible.

Even if the enemy comes to attack, the [-] to [-] troops from the Central Plains fighting on the basis of the city can easily repel the Northern Expedition in the south.

But the problem is that Cao's army killed too many people before, which aroused the anger of heaven and the people. The soldiers were angry and endured shame, waiting for the situation to change.

If the enemy attacks, Cao's army may still be holding on at the front, but rebellion will break out in the rear.

Yuan Shao connects Runan and Yingchuan, and Sun Ce connects Dongjun and Pengcheng, which will make the local powerful rise up to avenge the anger of their father and brother and avenge the shame of their relatives.

Gai Yifu raised his arms, and the whole state raised his voice in unison.

Therefore, this nominally best strategy, to recuperate and build the foundation, cannot be adopted by Cao Jun.

Therefore, Cao's army could only send troops to attack Huainan before it was completely intact. If the battle could be won, the situation in the Central Plains would be greatly improved.

Cao Jun will gather his troops calmly and compete with Yuan Shao to decide who belongs to the north.

If they are defeated, they can only hold on to the strong city walls, make a desperate move, recruit troops on a large scale, and make a desperate attempt.

At that time, the Central Plains, which has finally been recuperating and recuperating, and the people's hearts, which have been somewhat stable, will once again be filled with resentment.

After talking about the general situation, Yu Jin continued: "Besides, Sun Ce has the advantage of rafting. We are waiting to cross the Huaihe River south. If we are not careful, we will be trapped here and we will be captured."

Zhu Ling didn't care about this and said: "It's as vast as the Huaihe River, stretching for hundreds of miles. The Jiangdong Navy can patrol for dozens of miles and is doing its best. We will choose an unguarded place and cross it overnight, waiting for our three armies. Returning to the north, he was also neglectful and did not notice."

The breakthrough into Huainan was so smooth that Zhu Ling really underestimated the Jiangdong Navy.

Regarding Zhu Lingzhi's words, Yu Jin didn't know whether it was acceptable or not. At the moment, he was more concerned about the movements of Jiangdong's cavalry. He said: "If we can defeat the main force of Jiangdong's division, the navy will not have anything to worry about. However, this is what I worry about, and the enemy has no time to deal with it." Waiting for it, we haven’t seen them rush to Huai’an so far. If the people in the east of the Yangtze River don’t help Huai’an, but attack the left and right separately, then our troops on both sides will be at a disadvantage, and I may not be able to take the lead!"

"If we attack the city again at this time, we will fall into the desperate situation of Sheyang. The way back is cut off by the enemy. To the south is the Zeguo Pond and to the north are the enemy's three armies. We are in a dilemma. How can we be safe?"

Yu Jin's best plan is to wait for work here, detect the reinforcements from Jiangdong, and then cover up the enemy's surprise. He will defeat the enemy in one battle and behead thousands of people. The situation in Huainan will be mostly determined.

If things don't work out, they can fight and lead off. Although the soldiers will be killed or injured, they will not be defeated. Then they will slowly reorganize their troops, return with the sound of drums, and calmly return to Huaibei.

But things often backfire!
While Yu Jin was planning, the five thousand cavalry commanded by Zhang Liao had already marched northward at night, at a speed that Yu Jin had not expected.

As Jiangdong's elite armored cavalry, with one person and two horses, they are already armed to the extreme today!
Zhang Liao commanded the cavalry. When they set out from Jiankang, he immediately ordered the three armies to carry no baggage or carts. Everyone carried [-] days of food. He doubled the amount of light troops and marched more than a hundred miles in one day.

This mobility advantage is completely unmatched by infantry.

In just three days, thousands of cavalry crossed Yandu County and arrived near Sheyang.

In defensive battles, the mobility advantage of cavalry is infinitely magnified!Elite cavalry can obtain supplies in various cities without having to use carts to drag hay and grain around.The speed is as fast as the wind in an absolute sense.

While Yu Jin was still thinking about how to deal with Jiangdong's army, he didn't know that Jiangdong's cavalry had already circled behind him like magic soldiers descending from the sky, completely cutting off his retreat.

(End of this chapter)