Chapter 173: Great Expansion, Clouds and Rain [Subscription Request]

Study, afternoon.

There were four message beads placed on the low mat in front of Cao Cao.

One of them was glowing faintly, with words emerging on it.

Zhang Liao's report on the battle:
"Liangzhou used 6,000 vanguards as the main force to prevent our army from approaching Chang'an. There was also another 4,000 rear troops who took advantage of the battle to sneak out, but they were all defeated by our army."

"We have won the first battle and are now pursuing the enemy."

When Cao Cao saw the battle news, he made a mark on the map, indicating that it was Zhang Liao's first victory of the journey.

Yu Wen took a seat nearby and watched.

Not long after, the second bead on the low mat also lit up slightly, with the message: Reached combat position.

"Who is coming here?" Yu Wen asked.

"Zi Long."

Cao Cao held the pearl and issued an order: "Deploy troops according to the plan!"

A month ago, Zhao Zilong entered Bingzhou from the northwest corner of Yanzhou, passing through the location where Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army was stationed. According to Cao Cao's instructions, he attacked the Baibo Army, which was the Yufuluo tribe of the Southern Xiongnu.

All the foreign soldiers and horses killed were beheaded and the heads were used to build the Jingguan.

Yu Fuluo fought against the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and was defeated in successive battles. He had already fled deeper into the grasslands further north, giving up his position to the Baibo Army, which was seized by Zhang Yan.

When Zhang Liao sent out his troops this time, the Black Mountain Army supported him and forced the governor of Henei, Zhang Yang, to retreat.

Zhao Zilong also followed the northern border, passed through the Bingzhou area where the Baibo Army was previously stationed, and continued westward, approaching Liangzhou.

The current power in Liangzhou is divided into two parts.

To the east, close to Chang'an, were Li Jue, Guo Si, and Fan Chou, formerly under Dong Zhuo's command.

Further west in Liang Province were the troops of Ma Teng and Han Sui.

Zhao Zilong secretly marched from the north, then turned south, with the goal of attacking the lair of Li Jue, Guo Si and others in Liangzhou.

So in addition to Zhang Liao approaching Chang'an head-on, there was Zhao Zilong leading the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry behind him, fighting against the Liangzhou army from both sides.

That afternoon, Li Jue and Guo Si learned that Hu Feng, the vanguard army, had been killed and the troops had been defeated.

The two deputy generals who followed the army also died in the battle.

Afterwards, he received the news that his hometown in Liangzhou had been attacked by Zhao Zilong and suffered heavy losses.

When Guo Si and Li Jue came to Chang'an, they used a strategy that imitated the methods used by Dong Zhuo in the past.

They mobilized their main forces to come to Chang'an to fight and plunder. If they could succeed, that would be the best. If not, they would retreat and use Liangzhou as their fallback.

The attack on Liang Province made them even more panic-stricken than the previous defeat of their army.

If the retreat is cut off, there is nowhere to escape.

The main force was in Chang'an, and Liangzhou was empty.

That night upon hearing the news, Li Jue and Guo Si separated their troops from Chang'an and headed to Liangzhou to provide support.

The night was hazy.

Zhao Zilong rode on a white horse, his battle cloak fluttering in the wind behind him.

He rode on the Jade Lion of Zhaoye.

It was Xiao Ma’s first time on the battlefield, but he cooperated very well with Zhao Zilong.

He was stroking the horse's mane with one hand, looking towards the Hexi Corridor, which connects Chang'an and Liangzhou:

"The governor asked us to try to ambush the Liangzhou army when they retreat, but we can't hit them too hard. It's hard to grasp the scale."

"In my opinion, the soldiers from Liang Province should be ruthlessly killed without leaving any room for them." Cao Chun was the deputy general of the army.

Zhao Yun: "The governor specifically told Li Jue and Guo Si to retain a certain amount of strength.

Wait until they return to Liang Province, and then force them to compete with Ma Teng and Han Sui for living space.

The governor is borrowing their soldiers to work for us, saving our own expenses in Yanzhou."

"I understand the reason."

Cao Chun said: "When we were young, we fought with the children of Lin County for territory and went to my eldest brother for advice.

The eldest brother said that we should hide first, show the enemy weakness, let the families in Linxian County divert their attention, and fight the other party who showed up first. We will rush over at the end and beat them to death with clubs.

There are some pretty good women from the Linxian boys. When they saw us winning, they came over. It was delicious!"

Cao Chun was so excited when he spoke that he seemed to be recalling what it felt like to be with those women.

December.

Cao Cao was stationed in Yanzhou and commanded the troops through Xunzhu.

My father-in-law, Yu Wen, has been coming to the study frequently in recent days.

After watching for a few days, he gradually understood Cao Cao's intention.

On the surface, Yanzhou sent troops to Chang'an to fight against the Liangzhou army, but in fact it was taking the opportunity to occupy the defenses along the line.

When the Liangzhou army in Chang'an was attacked from behind by Zhao Zilong, and then defeated head-on by Zhang Liao, it was unable to take care of both ends.

Starting from mid-December, Li Jue and Guo Si chose to evacuate Chang'an in order to preserve the retreat route to Liangzhou.

Cao Cao drove the Liang Province army back with the aim of continuously compressing their living space and forcing them to move towards the northwest to clash with Ma Teng and Han Sui and consume each other.

Li Jue and Guo Si's troops retreated.

Zhang Yang, the governor of Hanoi, became an isolated team.

To his east is Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, and to his north is the area where Zhao Zilong and his Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are currently active.

Luoyang to the south was occupied by Zhang Liao.

Zhang Yang, the governor of Henei, was naturally trapped because of Yanzhou's military deployment and was destined to be annexed by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao did not intend to welcome the emperor to Xu County, Yingchuan as happened in history.

Historically, that was due to the situation and lack of strength.

But the current Yanzhou, with 200,000 soldiers, can completely choose to control the situation and use another strategy to change the situation.

Some aristocratic families such as Yu Wen, and even princes from various parties, have been paying close attention to the situation in Chang'an in recent days and exploring the strategic goals of Yanzhou.

All parties marked the marching route to Yanzhou on the map.

Zhang Liao entered Chang'an via Luoyang, and his route was clear. But Zhao Zilong's route to the north suddenly attacked Liangzhou, but few people knew about it before.

Cao Cao had already laid siege to Zhao Zilong's troops months ago. Attacking the Southern Xiongnu was only a superficial goal, and the main purpose was to train the troops.

The real purpose was to prepare for the attack on Liangzhou and respond to Zhang Liao.

Cao Cao's military deployment began as early as when the emperor issued an edict to defend the country.

Zhang Liao and Zhao Zilong worked together, pretending to be loyal to the king, but their real purpose was to control Chang'an and Luoyang, and then make Zhang Yang of Henei submit to them.

At the same time, it forced a civil war in Liangzhou.

After Cao Cao took this approach, other families could see clearly that Yanzhou was using the pretext of serving the king to secretly plot something.

Late December, Jingzhou.

Liu Biao stared at the map in silence.

When Zhang Liao occupied Luoyang, he was still in Nanyang County and he felt something was wrong.

Because after Yanzhou sent troops, Zhang Liao was not far to the north of him.

At this time, Liu Biao had already moved south from Nanyang and retreated to Xiangyang, Jingzhou.

He stared at the map, his brows furrowed.

The areas along the Luoyang line are all in the hands of Yanzhou. If I had known earlier, I should have sent troops to support the king first... Liu Biao had a related thought.

He had thought about serving the king before.

But he felt that the consequences of fighting against the Liangzhou army would be too great.

Besides, Liu Biao was content to stay at home and had little ambition to expand outward.

He changed his mind at that time and gave up his plan to support the king.

At this time, seeing the huge benefits Yanzhou had gained from using troops, he felt very sorry.

Xuzhou.

At the same time, Tao Qian learned that Yanzhou had deployed troops to force back the Liangzhou troops in Chang'an, and he sighed:
"I know Cao Cao is a man with a sinister heart."

"He is not here to welcome His Majesty, nor to rescue His Majesty, but to take over the defense around Chang'an. In this way, he can gain an advantage in the use of troops in multiple states and counties..."

When Cao Cao first used his troops, no one could see his intention.

After the battle, he realized how much advantage Yanzhou had gained.

Cao Cao's goal has always been clear, which is to fight fast, and the battle with Jizhou is the highlight.

Before that, integrate the surrounding areas and accumulate advantages.

Then, at the lowest cost, defeat Jizhou and complete the unification of the north.

Tao Qian coughed and said, "In this battle, Yanzhou didn't spend much effort, but gained huge benefits. It's a pity that no one stopped him."

"Yanzhou has already occupied Yuzhou, and now it has occupied Luoyang and Chang'an, isolating Henei and clamping down on the line of Jingzhou and Nanyang... cough cough... my Xuzhou is in danger."

"I am in charge of a state... How can I bear to let the elders of the state be dragged into war with me..."

In the room were Liu Bei's three brothers and several trusted civil and military officials from Xuzhou.

It seemed that Tao Qian was planning to surrender Yanzhou.

But he ran out of breath and fainted, without being able to say anything about surrendering to Yanzhou.

"Brother, I think Taozhou Mu will not live long. He may not wake up again. We must make preparations early."

After leaving the governor's mansion, Guan Yu reminded Liu Bei.

"Our best plan now is to announce to the public that I am the governor of Taozhou and am worried about the fall of Xuzhou, so as to arouse the people's determination to fight against the enemy. Only then will we have a hope of defending Xuzhou." Liu Bei said.

Guan Yu sighed and said, "Cao Mengde is really good at using troops.

This time he sent troops to Guanzhong, and Yanzhou's power has increased after this battle, so it may be difficult to defend Xuzhou."

"We don't see that he is good at using troops."

Zhang Fei said indignantly: "Yuan Benchu ​​was too slow to react."

Yuan Shao did have a chance to stop Cao Cao from sending troops to Chang'an.

If he decisively declared war on Yanzhou, Cao Cao would not have sent troops to Chang'an.

The strength of Yanzhou will be on two completely different levels if Cao Cao occupies Chang'an or not.

"Yuan Benchu ​​had the will but not the strength. Cao Cao took advantage of the opportunity when he had conquered Youzhou to send troops to Chang'an. Even if Yuan Shao wanted to stop him, it was too late.

It will take time for the Jizhou army to cross the Yellow River, but Cao Cao will be able to handle it calmly no matter what. "

The conversation between Guan Yu and Zhang Fei made Liu Bei secretly sad.

In the north, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao each controlled several states and had strong men and horses.

But he still doesn't even have a piece of land. Who knows how he feels?

……

Changyi.

Night is falling.

Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief. He had been paying close attention to the war situation for days, and only now had the situation been initially determined.

[Your troops have won consecutive victories, you are in control of the battle situation, and your military luck has increased. You use the dragon python of luck to breathe in people's attention, gathering the energy of heaven and earth, your practice has improved, your military talent +1, 85.5]

[Your number of cities increased by 39, and the population increased by more than 1.76 million, reaching a total of 13.547 million.]

The troops from Liang Province were withdrawn, and Zhang Liao took over most of the defense along the Luoyang and Chang'an lines.

The emperor did not have to stay in Chang'an after being taken to Xu County as he did in history.

Zhang Liao stationed troops near Chang'an, but Cao Cao refused to accept him and did not allow anyone else to do so.

We will wait for a while and take this opportunity to allow Cao’s camp to expand further.

As the battle situation stabilized, Cao Cao glanced out the window and his thoughts turned to the beauties in his home.

Some people are at about the same level, and after a while they have developed feelings for each other and it's time for them to be funny.

He looked at the map again and his sights fell on the rich Nanyang County.

When Li Jue and Guo Si were retreating back to Liangzhou, an incident occurred which was related to Nanyang.

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(End of this chapter)