Fortunately, Yuan Xi rose up and repelled all the enemies.

The current Yuan Xi, with a strong military, seems to have returned to the grand occasion when Yuan Shao unified Hebei a few years ago. If he occupies and annexes the state again, then Yuan Xi will immediately become the most powerful prince in the world.

The generals are all determined to follow Yuan Xi, and seeing that Yuan Xi is expected to unify the world, can you imagine the excitement?

Yan Liang said: "In order to prevent Yuan Shang and Cao Cao from peeping into Hedong, the last general is willing to lead his army to garrison Hedong and Hanoi. Don't let the enemy take advantage of it. The lord also led the army back to Yecheng, reorganized the army, and prepared for the unification of Hebei. ”

"It's nature...."

Yuan Xi sat down and said, "Regardless of whether Yuan Shang and Cao Cao have evil intentions or not, we must leave a military force to garrison." and Liyang's navy, echoing from afar, forming a solid line of defense. ”

"General Yan Liang."

"The end will be." Yan Liang came out of the ranks.

Yuan Xi said: "I will return to Liyang tomorrow, and the matter here will be handled by you." The military and political yamen will send officials to govern in the shortest possible time, and your task is to assist them, pacify the people, and govern Hedong well. As for your military strength.... Tentatively set at 50,000. The rest will be handed over to General Gao Ran, and I will return to Yecheng for reorganization. ”

"No..." Yan Liang and Gao Ran responded.

After arranging.

The garrisons of Hedong and Hanoi were divided into two. Among them, 50,000 were led by Yan Liang and garrisoned in the two places. The rest (including the 180,000 Montenegrin Army, which had just been captured and recruited) returned to Yecheng along Hanoi and Liyang.

Yuan Xi had four differences, and he took the first step and went to Liyang to supervise the construction of steam engine warships.

Liyang.

On the banks of the Yellow River.

Ma Jun was conscientious and had already built the first small steam engine warship. After sailing experiments, it was able to reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

This kind of speed has to compete with the war horses on land.

Yuan Xi was very satisfied, rewarded Ma Jun with a large amount of gold, silver and silk, and ordered: "Next, we will build medium-sized warships, large warships, and even giant warships." It's all up to you. I hope that in a year or two, we will see all the warships take shape.... ”

"Don't worry, the lord will do a good job." Ma Jun said confidently.

"Hmm."

Yuan Xi slowly climbed onto the deck of the small steam engine warship, ready to test it again. Ma Jun stepped forward and said, "Lord, the fire in the boiler behind has been extinguished, and the accumulated steam has been used up just now." It needs to be re-ignited and gas to be able to sail. ”

"You know, I'm just going to take a look..."

Yuan Xi only remembered that the small steam engine warship was started with firewood. Every time there is a fire, you can only sail dozens of miles. If you want to sail continuously, the fire under the boiler cannot be extinguished. This requires a large amount of dry firewood.

How much can a small steam engine warship carry?

Yuan Xi smiled slightly, thinking to himself: "Fortunately, there is coal.... Wait for Yecheng to buy enough coal. Replacing dry firewood with coal will make sailing inconceivably faster and more durable. ”

Because of the importance of the matter, Yuan Xi did not break it.

instructed Ma Jun to continue to supervise the construction, and he returned to Yecheng by four first.

................................

................................

September of the eighth year of Jian'an.

Cao Cao personally led more than 60,000 elites to Chang'an and fought a bloody battle with Li Dao and Guo Yan who were entrenched in Chang'an. Due to the flanking attack of Zhang Liao's iron cavalry and the help of the Chang'an clan, Cao Cao easily defeated Li Dao and Guo Yan, and occupied the fortified city of Chang'an. After that, it successively occupied all the land south of the Wei River, including Tongguan, Hongnong, Hanguguan, Jingzhaoyin and other areas. and subdued the Xiliang army under Li Dao and Guo Yan, about 30,000 horsemen.

plus the tens of thousands of surrendered troops in Nanyang County, as well as the local army in the Chang'an area.

Cao Cao truly became the most powerful prince in the Central Plains! His territory is so vast that no one can match it. Even Liu Biao, the assassin of Jingzhou, Liu Zhang, the assassin of Yizhou, and Sun Quan, the warlord of Jiangdong, cannot be compared.

But...

After he captured Chang'an, the warlords of Xiliang also began to move.

Ma Teng, Han Sui, various Qiang branches...

These warlords are more or less fighting on weekdays, fighting openly and secretly for land, cities, people, money and food. However, Ma Teng and Han Sui are sworn brothers, and their relationship with the Qiang people is unclear. The so-called broken bones are connected to tendons. When the time comes, they will put aside old grudges and form alliances. Defend against foreign enemies.

Now that Li Dao and Guo Yan are finished, Cao Cao occupies Chang'an, posing a huge threat to Xiliang.

With Cao Cao's military strength, if he wanted to attack Xiliang, none of the warlords in the ten counties of Xiliang would be able to resist it.

..............

Ma Teng and Han Sui are both treacherous and cunning characters. After they felt threatened, they quickly occupied the territory of the former Li Dao and Guo Yan, and formed an alliance again. Unite all Qiang branches, about 200,000 foot cavalry, and arrange defense lines along the northwest of the Wei River and Gaoling.

Even Cao Cao didn't expect that Xiliang, who was like a plate of scattered sand, would form an alliance in just one month.

In the tent.

Cao Cao told Xiliang about it.

Cheng Yu frowned and said, "This is the side effect of conquering Chang'an. Ma Teng and Han Sui were worried that the prime minister would march into Xiliang and form an alliance to unite with the outside world. will seriously threaten Chang'an. ”

"The last general suggested that we cross the Wei River and defeat the coalition army led by Ma Teng and Han Sui!" General Cao Hong said.

"General, don't be impatient..."

Xun You calmed Cao Hong, hugged his fists at Cao Cao and said: "Our army has been fighting continuously, the army is tired, and it needs to rest urgently. Zhou Yu, who fought against Liu Biao, occupied Jiangxia County and did not attack Liu Biao again. He is bound to point the spearhead at Yangzhou, and the prime minister has to guard against it. Yuan Xi of Hebei has also just exterminated the Black Mountain Army, and his strength has increased greatly, isn't the prime minister going to form a naval army? It is really unwise to fight against Ma Teng and Han Sui now. Moreover, Ma Teng and Han Sui are not so easy to defeat, half of the 200,000 foot cavalry in their hands are elite, and our strength in Chang'an is difficult to compete with. It is better to leave a partial army, garrison Chang'an, and withdraw the army to the Central Plains to recuperate. ”

"What Gongda said is very true." Cheng Yu also echoed.

"Prime Minister..."

"Ahem." Cao Cao raised his hand and said, "From the beginning, I didn't plan to fight against Ma Teng and Han Sui. Fengxiao, immediately in the name of the Son of Heaven, crowned Ma Teng as the history of Xiliang Thorn and commanded the ten counties of Xiliang. He was crowned Han Sui as the general of the chariot and cavalry, and concurrently served as the captain of the Qiang Guard. ”

"Yes." Guo Jiaying said.

After the holy decree of rewarding Ma Teng and Han Sui was read, Cao Hong led 30,000 troops and garrisoned Chang'an. The rest of the battalions went to Hongnong County to rest. After that, they were stationed in Tongguan and Hangu Pass.... Cao Cao had a plan and made arrangements without hesitation.

"No..."

Everyone answers.

As Cao Cao expected, Ma Teng and Han Sui's 200,000 Xiliang troops, although they were very strong, did not dare to blatantly attack Chang'an.

First, the teacher is unknown. Cao Cao was the prime minister of the imperial court and represented the Han court. Ma Teng and Han Sui are just local guards, and their official positions are too low, how dare they confront the imperial court?

The second is to be afraid of Cao Cao.

Third, there is a shortage of grain and grass.

After receiving the holy decree issued in the name of the Son of Heaven and the news of Cao Cao's withdrawal, Ma Teng and Han Sui successively led their troops to withdraw from the Weihe defense line and returned to their own territory.

Tensions between Cao Cao and the warlords of Xiliang were also eased.