The stars are changing, and the time is soon entering the cool breeze of autumn.

At the end of September of the first year of Xingping (194 AD), Cao Cao launched two military operations at the same time, conquering Wancheng in the west and Yuanshu in the east.

Yuan Shu has been impatient and restless recently, Cao Cao has long wanted to clean him up, so he ordered Xiahoudun to be the main general, Niu Jin, Zang Ba, Li Tong, Lu Qian deputy, Cheng Yu joined the army, and raised 20,000 troops to attack Huainan.

As for Wancheng, it was owned by Zhang Ji's nephew Zhang Xiu in the original history, but in the current time, Zhang Xiu had already died at the hands of Dian Wei, and Zhang Ji was also killed by Cao Cao's army outside Luoyang City in the past, so now Wancheng is controlled by Liu Biao.

Wancheng is the hub connecting Jingchu and the Central Plains, and it is a very key strategic point for both Cao Cao and Liu Biao. If Cao Cao occupies Wancheng, he can wave his troops south at any time and attack Jingzhou. Vice versa, if Wancheng is in Liu Biao's hands, it will be convenient to invade the Central Plains at any time.

So for Wancheng, Cao Cao must hold it in his hands. Cao Cao knew that his biggest enemy in the north in the future could only be Yuan Shao, and sooner or later there would be a fierce battle between him and Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao never wanted to face the threat of Liu Biao in the rear when he fought a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

Compared with Huainan, Jingzhou is far superior in terms of territory and strength. For Yuan Shu, Cao Cao is not afraid, but Liu Biao is different. If Liu Biao is allowed to control a city that can plunge Xuchang into crisis at any time, I am afraid that when he fights Yuan Shao in a decisive battle with Yuan Shao on another day, Cao Cao will have trouble sleeping and eating at all times, lest he lose his rear.

Therefore, Wancheng must be taken!

And Liu Biao obviously knew the importance of completion, so he sent his nephew Liu Pan to lead 15,000 soldiers to guard Wancheng, and appointed Liu Pan as the Taishou of Wancheng.

Liu Pan was brave and won the trust of Liu Biao, and in the original history, Liu Biao awarded him the Taishou of Changsha as a barrier to the southeast of Jingzhou. However, now Wancheng is far more important than Changsha, and it must be guarded by a heavy confidant. Cai Mao and Wen Ping could not leave Xiangyang lightly, and Huang Zu had to stay in Jiangxia to defend against the invasion of the Sun clan in Jiangdong.

As for Cao Cao, who was determined to win Wancheng, this time he ordered Gao Shun to be the main general, Yu Ban, Lejin, and Cao Ang as the deputies, Xiahoulan and Hu Che'er as the vanguard, and Jia Xu to join the army, and also raised 20,000 elite soldiers to attack Wancheng.

In fact, if Gao Shun is matched to join the army, Guo Jia is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. Guo Jia does not need to sit in the court at all times like Xun Yu, and he and Gao Shun have a close relationship with each other, and they must be skilled in cooperation. It's a pity that Guo Jia has unfortunately contracted an illness recently and can't travel with the army, so he can only use someone else. Cao Cao was also generous, and ordered Gao Shun to choose one of his own ministers to join the army. Since it was a free choice, Gao Shun of course chose Jia Xu, a poisoner who was as famous as a ghost genius in terms of wisdom.

Cao Cao didn't trust Jia Xu, if he was assigned by himself, he was afraid that he would never let this person serve as a member of the army. However, since Gao Shun insisted, he would not impose his opposition, then Jia Xu is also a smart person, and now that he is strong and Liu Biao is weak, it is expected that he will not do things like betrayal like when he served Li Wei before. If it was not Liu Biao but Yuan Shao who was dealing with this time, Gao Shun still chose Jia Xu to join the army, Cao Cao might have to think about it.

Yuan Shao in the north has always been a powerful existence that cannot be ignored, and Cao Cao's most scruples are that Yuan Shao took the opportunity of his own army to attack him in the south, so the defense line in the north has not relaxed at all. Fortunately, the previous conquest of Xuzhou was relatively smooth, and neither military nor civilian power was consumed too much, so Cao Cao still had the spare strength to support the two-front battle at the same time while resisting the north. Of course, if Yuan Shao's army really goes south, I am afraid that these two armies that went out to fight will have to be turned back immediately.

For the commander who was appointed to conquer Wancheng this time, Gao Shunke was not happy at all. You must know that Cao Ming has been pregnant for half a year, who can predict how much time the war will take, although Gao Shun is keen on fame, but he also does not want to be unable to be by his side when his first child is born.

Gao Shun was not without struggle, he once told Cao Cao what he thought in his heart, hoping that he could reappoint others as the main generals and let him stay in Xudu.

However, Cao Cao did not appreciate this.

"The military order has been issued, how can it be changed overnight!" Cao Cao unceremoniously rejected Gao Shun's request, leaving Gao Shun with no room for rebuttal.

It doesn't make sense, it stands to reason that when a woman is pregnant, she needs her husband's care the most. And Cao Cao is undoubtedly a sister control, how could he drive her husband outside to fight when his sister was pregnant?

In fact, Cao Cao is jealous of Gao Shun, a bastard, why was the beautiful Diao Chan accepted by him for no reason? If it was other generals under his account, Cao Cao would just complain, but Gao Shun's kid was his brother-in-law, which made Cao Cao very unhappy.

So Cao Cao drove him to Wancheng, didn't he send him to fight, would he still be tired of being at home all day long and lingering with Diao Chan beauties? As for the pregnant sister, I will send someone to take care of it anyway, so you don't have to worry about it.

Besides, although Cao Ming has been pregnant for half a year, there are still four months before childbirth under normal circumstances. However, this expedition is only to attack a city, not for you to conquer a state. A city, no matter how difficult it is, is more than enough to conquer it in four months. If you don't come back in time when my sister gives birth, I won't take care of you.

This is what Cao Cao thinks now, he doesn't want to see Gao Shun sweetly messing with Diao Chan, and he wants him to return to Xuchang before his sister gives birth.

It's a pity that Gao Shun didn't know anything about Cao Cao's thoughts. If he knew, he would definitely shout that he was wronged, and he must know that he hadn't even touched a single hair of Diao Chan until now!

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In any case, Gao Shun was still under Cao Cao's order and marched towards Wancheng.

This war was also a test for Gao Shun. Although Gao Shun is a general of Zhichong, the troops directly under him are only 1,500 trapped camps. Except for the 7,000 men who commanded the defense of Dongjun in the past, Gao Shun no longer had the experience of commanding a large number of troops to fight.

Gao Shun is Cao Cao's sister-in-law, and his position will definitely get higher and higher in the future, and it is not impossible to be promoted to the general of the four towns and the four expeditions. At that time, in a high position, it is impossible for the army led by Gao Shun to be only one or two, even if these more than 1,000 people are elite soldiers with superior strength. After Gao Shun's position rises, it is inevitable to lead the army to take charge alone. Therefore, Cao Cao ordered him to command 20,000 people to go to Wancheng this time, which was also an opportunity for Gao Shun to experience.

Although he has never led such a large army, Yu Ban and Le Jin, both of the five good generals, obey orders as their deputy generals in the army, so Gao Shun has nothing to worry about commanding the army.

The only thing that worries Gao Shun is that Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, is eighteen years old this year, and Cao Cao also arranged him as a deputy general in his army this time in order to get better tempering. There are not many records of Cao Ang in later generations, Gao Shun only knows that Cao Ang is an unlucky guy who was unfortunately killed because of his father's affairs, and as for his ability, Gao Shun does not know anything. But in any case, Cao Ang is Cao Cao's eldest son, and he is Cao Cao's heir, the so-called battlefield has no eyes, in case this guy is too poor in martial arts or lacks ability in other aspects, and is accidentally killed by someone, then this black cauldron must be firmly buckled on Gao Shun's back.

This Cao Ang, he must protect himself strictly, and he must not let his nephew suffer the slightest damage.

Although Gao Shun is the commander of the 20,000 army this time, he relies most on the trap camp that he brought out single-handedly. In the process of attacking Xuzhou, although the Cao army itself did not suffer large casualties, the trapped camp fought with the Bai Wei soldiers and the Flying Bear army successively, so many people were also lost. Now that some of the seriously wounded have been eliminated and some more people have come in, the number of people trapped in the camp now stands at 1,200.

Twelve hundred people are not much, but they are enough. Elite soldiers, the number is not the most important, you must know that the original history of Gao Shun's trapped camp was only 800 people.

This time, the 1,200 elite soldiers all went out with the army, and Gao Shun divided the whole battalion into two divisions, each with 600 people, and two military marquis, each of whom received one.

Two military marquis, one is Wang Zhong, the other is Hao Zhao.

Wang Zhong is an old man in the camp, and when Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou for the first time, Wang Zhong made a meritorious contribution.

As for Hao Zhao, he was a famous figure in later generations, with 3,000 people guarding Chencang, Zhuge Liang attacked with 100,000 people for more than 20 days, and Leng could not break the city. It can be said that the excellence of Hao Zhao's talent can no longer be described with the word "good guard". You must know that in the past in the Dongjun City, Gao Shun carried Lu Bu's 30,000 army with 7,000 people, which was already extremely difficult. And the gap in the strength of Hao Zhao at that time was more than thirty times, not to mention that Zhuge Liang's military talent was far from being comparable to Lu Bu. In that desperate situation, Hao Zhao insisted on holding on until Zhuge Liang's army ran out of food and retreated, which is enough to prove how amazing his ability is.

At first, when Gao Shun learned that such a talent was actually serving in the trapped camp, he was immediately overjoyed. It's just that Hao Zhao was new to him at that time, and it was not good to reuse it immediately, after all, he was the only one who knew his ability now. During the conquest of Xuzhou, Hao Zhao also accumulated some credits, and Gao Shun pushed the boat down the river and worshiped him as a military marquis.

Xuchang and Wancheng are very close to each other, and the army has arrived on the outskirts of Wancheng in a few days, not far from the destination.