Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1014: A thousand miles away

Outside Fancheng, Zhang Xiuzheng led troops to patrol along the Han River.

Separated from the Han River is Xiangyang guarded by Liu Bei. Of course, Zhang Xiu has no mission to attack Xiangyang now. All he has to do is to ensure that Liu Bei's army is forced into the city.

Although this is indeed a bit stressful for Zhang Xiu, because all the main forces of Cao's army have been transferred to Jianghuai and Yuzhou. If Liu Bei uses all his strength to send Guan, Zhang and others out to fight Zhang Xiu, Zhang Xiu will have to temporarily avoid the edge. .

Fortunately, the probability of this happening is not high. After all, in Zhang Xiu's view, now is a golden opportunity for Liu Bei. What he should do is take the opportunity to encroach on the already chaotic Jingzhou territory, and even destroy it. Reaching out to places outside Jingzhou is currently the most beneficial approach.

This idea was also the idea of ​​Cao Cao and Cao's camp counselors, so Cao Jun temporarily gave up attacking Xiangyang. What's more, the Han River was already occupied by Cao Jun. If Liu Beijun wanted to cross the river to attack Fancheng, he must first control the Han River, but now the Han River Where can Liu Bei's navy be found on the water?
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiu felt extremely relieved. With the main force of Cao's army brought by Cao Cao this time, there are now 200,000 people on the Jianghuai side. The winner will definitely be decided before the year. By then, the fierce tiger will be destroyed, and Liu Bei will Destruction is just around the corner, and this time I bet on the right one.

While he was thinking about it, a spy came to report that Liu Bei's army had come out of Xiangyang City and was crossing the Han River!

Zhang Xiu was shocked after hearing this, and quickly led his troops towards the Han River. Fancheng and Xiangyang faced each other across the river, with only a few dozen miles between them, so Zhang Xiu quickly arrived at the shore.

He took a brief look, and then felt relieved, because Liu Bei's army came out with only a thousand people, and they were still cutting wood on the shore to make boats. Such boats were extremely crude, and it was not an exaggeration to call them rafts, and they could barely carry soldiers across the river.

But now there are Cao Cao's naval forces on the upper and lower reaches of the Han River. How could we just watch them come?
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiu made up his mind and sent people to notify Cao Cao's navy upstream and downstream.

Half a day later, more than a dozen boats from Cao Cao's navy came upstream and blocked the Xiangyang Pier. They shot arrows and laughed at Liu Bei's army on the shore.

Zhang Xiu saw this and knew that Liu Bei's army could not make any big waves. He left his lieutenant and two thousand soldiers to station on the shore to prevent Liu Bei's army from landing.

He originally planned to return to Fancheng first, but suddenly found that Cao Cao's navy had not arrived downstream. Just when he was wondering, the spy who went downstream fled back in embarrassment with a few arrows stuck in his body. He galloped to Zhang Xiu. , shouted: "General, no good, there are enemies coming from the Han River!"

Zhang Xiu was surprised, downstream? How can it be?

He asked aloud: "Is it a land route or a water route?"

The spy hissed: "It's a waterway, they are all enemy ships, they are all warships!"

The lower reaches are already controlled by Cao's army, and below that is Xiakou controlled by Jiangdong's army. Could it be that Jiangdong's army rebelled?
Before he could be questioned, the spy had already fallen off his horse and died. Zhang Xiu felt something bad in his heart and quickly sent someone to notify Cao Cao's navy.

As a result, after a while, there were many shadows downstream, and dense shadows of sails appeared. Zhang Xiu quickly took a look, and cried in his heart, isn't this the flag of Liu Beijun?
He suddenly panicked and rowed upstream from the downstream. It was actually quite laborious and took several times longer than traveling downriver. However, he had never found any clues, which meant that the place where it appeared was quite far away. In this way, the other party was At least some action was taken more than ten days ago!
Seeing Liu Bei's navy arriving and launching an attack on Cao Cao's navy, Zhang Xiu knew that if this continued, the Han River ferry would most likely be lost, and he would be unable to do anything to help.

He quickly led his troops to Fancheng. The top priority now was to defend Fancheng. Liu Bei's army would definitely have to cross the river. As long as he occupied Fancheng, he could buy time and wait for reinforcements to arrive!

As a result, when he was halfway there, a trumpet sounded in front of him, and an army rushed out of the diagonal stab, shouting: "Zhang Xiu, Fancheng has been captured by me, dismount immediately and accept the surrender!"

Zhang Xiu took a closer look and secretly cried out in his heart, who is this if not Guan Yu?

He didn't believe that Guan Yu could capture Fancheng so quickly, but from the perspective of the navy, the opponent must have set a trap for him, and Guan Yu clearly blocked his way back to Fancheng because he didn't want him to enter the city. His plan was so Zhou Zhou, the other party must have figured out the means he wanted to deal with!
The only way at the moment is to confront Guan Yu head-on. If he can be defeated, there is still a glimmer of hope to return to Fancheng!
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiu yelled, "Guan Yu, today you and I will see something real under our hands!"

Seeing Zhang Xiu rushing towards him, Guan Yu laughed and said, "The capricious rats, in Guan's eyes, are just like inserting labels to sell their heads!"

With a swing of his sword, he rushed towards Zhang Xiu, and the two sides collided hard.

After praying, Zhang Xiu finally became timid and gradually lost his strength. Hearing the shouts of killing coming from behind, he knew that Liu Bei's navy had defeated Cao Cao's navy, occupied the Han River ferry, and was crossing the river to outflank his retreat.

He panicked, and his marksmanship became even more scattered. Guan Yu saw an opportunity and slashed his shoulder with a knife. Zhang Xiu felt pain and turned his horse's head to run away. Guan Yu took advantage of the situation and rushed to kill Sergeant Zhang Xiu, leaving his helmet and armor behind.

Zhang Xiu looked back while escaping. These soldiers were all his direct descendants. Now that almost all of them were wiped out, it naturally made him extremely heartbroken. However, he had no time to take care of himself, and the only priority was to escape for the moment. Zhang Xiu ran away all the way, watching Guan Yu's army gradually dwindle behind him, but shouts of killing came from the direction of Fancheng, and he knew that Fancheng was doomed.

After Guan Yu captured Fancheng, his next step was to attack the new fields. Now he had to return to the new fields as quickly as possible to organize defense and delay Guan Yu's progress!
He took dozens of remnant troops and fled for two days and two nights. When he arrived at Xinye, he couldn't help but be shocked. The city of Xinye was filled with fireworks. It was obvious that he had just experienced a battle, but Guan Yu had already replaced him at the top of the city. Army flag!
Zhang Xiu felt bitter in his mouth. How long did it take Guan Yu to conquer Fancheng?

Even though he spent several hours breaking through the city, he never stopped. How could he still get ahead of him?

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiu made a decisive decision and continued to flee north. Xinye was already lost, and he could not lose Wancheng too!

He continued to drive day and night for three days and three nights. When he looked at Wancheng from a distance, he felt dizzy and almost fell off his horse.

Wancheng is being attacked by Guan Yu's army. The city gate has been broken down and Guan Yu's army is filing in.

It's over, everything is over!

Guan Yu was too ruthless. He led so many people to march day and night. Is it a big deal?
Zhang Xiu looked at the dozens of riders around him, sighed, and said, "Let's go to Xudu."

The loss of the Fancheng Xinye Wancheng line means that the Jingzhou gateway that Cao Cao spent two years building was completely lost in a few days. And with Guan Yu's momentum, the next step will definitely be to counterattack Cao Cao, and this At the end of this passage is Xudu!

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiu, who fled in a hurry, felt bitter in his mouth. Although this time it was not entirely his responsibility, the loss of the three cities so quickly started in Fancheng, where he was stationed. After that, he was afraid that questioning would be inevitable.

A thought suddenly came to Zhang Xiu's mind. If Xu Du was defeated, would Cao Cao be in ruins?
What happened after that was exactly as Zhang Xiu expected. After Guan Yu captured Wancheng, he took a short rest and before Zhang Fei from Xinye arrived, he led his army to Xudu. He met and killed enemies along the way. The city was broken, and soon it was approaching the border of Yuzhou, only more than three hundred miles away from Xudu!
Guan Yu's troop dispatch exceeded all expectations of the world, and the results were fruitful. There were more than ten battles along the way, all of which were successful. It shocked China and caused Cao's army to be routed thousands of miles away.

The news spread to Xudu, the government and the public were shocked, and Cao Cao's subordinates were panicked. However, the officials of Emperor Liu Xie were secretly happy. Cao Cao finally got away with it!
If Guan Yu can break into Xudu and serve the emperor, then there is hope for the revival of the Han Dynasty!
Cao Ren, who was stationed in Xudu, knew that this was a critical autumn, so he immediately led his troops south to resist Guan Yu at the border of Yuzhou.

In Xudu, Chen Qun quickly summoned Cao Cao's subordinates. After Xun You left, Chen Qun was temporarily in charge of the internal affairs. This was not only because of his loyalty to Cao Cao, but also because Chen Qun was really considerate in his work and could achieve such a high level. quick.

However, Chen Qun did not specifically inform Xun Yu this time because he wanted to avoid suspicion and also wanted Xun Yu to avoid suspicion. After all, the relationship between Xun Yu and Cao Cao had worsened some time ago.

Because after Cao Cao became an official, he began to appoint officials to his subordinates. Officials who had not received official positions came to see Cao Cao one after another and asked for official positions.

Especially for Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao did not grant him an official title. After Xiahou Dun heard about it, he wrote to Cao Cao again and again, asking Cao Cao to personally grant him the title.

This is not to gain benefits, but to show loyalty to Cao Cao.

Because before Cao Cao was granted the title of Duke, all the official positions he was granted were in the name of the Emperor. In other words, Cao Cao's subordinates were actually ministers of the Emperor and were required to show their loyalty to the Emperor.

After Cao Cao was granted the title of Duke of Wei, he had his own ancestral temple and officialdom. In fact, the officials he granted were directly subordinate to Cao Cao, not the emperor!

This is why the Han Dynasty's enfeoffment was in fact no different from rebellion. Anyone with a discerning eye could see clearly that this was a naked attempt to poach the emperor and at the same time allow everyone to choose sides between the emperor and Cao Cao!

So the Xiahou clan of the Cao family took the lead and accepted the official position awarded by Cao Cao. The remaining generals and counselors with foreign surnames also followed suit. The Yingchuan faction was naturally the most diligent among them.

Not to mention Xun You and Chen Qun, Zhong Yao, Sima Fang and even Xun Chen all accepted Cao Cao's official positions, but there was one exception, Xun Yu.

The official position he had always held was the Shangshu Ling of the Han Dynasty, so in this reward, he did not even wait for Cao Cao to speak, but he stood up and said that his official position was enough and he did not want to accept any other appointments.

This is tantamount to publicly stating that he is on the side of the emperor Liu Xie. Regardless of what Cao Cao thinks, Cao Cao's subordinates are talking about it privately, making Chen Qun feel even more uncomfortable.

Because as Cao Cao's mastermind, such a statement had a very bad impact. Many people speculated that if Cao Cao hadn't been busy leading the troops, he might have made some move against Xun Yu!
(End of this chapter)