"Your Ministers obey." Xun Yu should be down.

Guo Jia's departure made Cao Cao feel critical. But at the same time, he also figured out one thing, Guo Jia knew that Jia Xu had a great talent, but he didn't recommend it, and he didn't say it until he died, why is this?

The reason for this.

The strategists under his command are all from the Yingchuan family, and they are very repulsive to outsiders.

And Jia Xu was born in Xiliang and has outstanding intelligence, which undoubtedly threatens the status of the Yingchuan strategist group, even if Guo Jia wants to recommend it, the Yingchuan family and other strategists under Cao Cao will not agree.

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

Xun Yu escorted Guo Jia's coffin back to Xuchang.

After Cao Cao grieved, he gathered his mind and began to discuss with Cheng Yu and others about the war against Yangzhou.

Yangzhou is in the southeast of Xuzhou, north of Jingzhou, also linked with Henan and Yan, in the past Yuan Shu dominated Huainan, that is, he controlled the entire Yangzhou, with three or four hundred thousand soldiers, even Cao Cao was very in awe of him.

Therefore, the importance of Yangzhou is not much worse than that of Yanzhou.

Although the battle situation was difficult, Cao Cao had to save him.

"Zhongde. The death of Feng Xiao has caused us a lot of chaos, and I am a little worried about the prospects of this war. What do you pay attention to? Cao Cao asked.

Sitting on Cao Cao's left and right, in addition to Cheng Yu, there are Xun Hui, Hua Xin, Xu Chu, Zang Ba, Dian Man, etc.

Cheng Yu pondered for a moment and said: "Yangzhou is adjacent to the Yangtze River and linked to Jingzhou, which can effectively clamp down on Soochow and consolidate our strength. Although the battle situation was difficult, the minister thought that Yangzhou had to be saved. And Xuzhou, only 50,000 soldiers and horses were left to garrison Pengcheng. When Zhou Yu is finished, it is not too late to return to the division. ”

"Is this your thoughtful suggestion?"

"Yes."

Cao Cao nodded, and asked Zang Ba again, "What do you think?" ”

Zang Ba replied: "The last general thinks that Tan County should be held, Tan County to the north is Kaiyang, Mount Tai, enter Qingzhou, retreat can be based on the mountain, even if Qingzhou can not be captured in the end, at least Yuan Xi can be contained, so that he can not advance Xu Yang." ”

"Hua Xin, what about you?" Cao Cao asked the minister Hua Xin again.

Hua Xin is a civil servant, and he doesn't know much about strategy.

He replied: "Our Divine Machine Battalion is all in place, so there is no need to worry about Yuan Xi's giant beasts." I thought... Troops should be gathered, face Yuan Xi from the front, defeat him, and recover Rencheng and Puyang. Drive Yuan Xi out of the Central Plains. Only by winning this battle can the Central Plains have long-term peace and stability. ”

"Huada, your idea is very unrealistic. Do you know how dangerous we are in the battle of Rencheng? Zang Ba said.

"I don't know how dangerous the battle of Rencheng is, it's a matter of the army, I only know that Rencheng and Puyang are not recovered, and Yuan Xi can invade Xuzhou at any time. This is the root cause of our exhaustion and our inability to overcome him. ”

"What you said is good, the Hebei army has strong combat effectiveness, and our army does not yet have the conditions for victory..." Zang Ba and Hua Xin had a dispute.

Cheng Yu asked rhetorically: "I don't know what the prime minister means?" ”

Cao Cao: "I am also in turmoil, it is difficult to decide whether to advance or retreat, but unfortunately Fengxiao is deceased, if he is here, he will definitely be able to decide for me..." After Cao Cao said this, he waved his sleeves and left.

Cheng Yu and the others were very ashamed, got together, and continued to discuss.

...........

Late Lunar Month.

Yuan Xi's army was stationed in Xiaopei, Xuzhou.

The city is not strong, but it has a long history.

Four hundred years ago, the hometown of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was here, and was called Pei Gong. It was here that he beheaded the White Snake Uprising, punished the violent Qin, and destroyed Qiang Chu.

Yuan Xi reminisced about history and stayed in Pei County for a day.

Xun Yu escorted Guo Jia's coffin back to Xuchang, and then tested Jia Xu according to Cao Cao's intentions. Jia Xu is a human being, and he has always put his own safety first, and he will never risk anything that involves his life.

Xun You threatened, he should have fled.

But he was clever enough to realize that Guo Jia was dead, and Cao Cao's threat to him at this time was most likely a temptation. Therefore, he gritted his teeth and coped without betraying Cao Cao.

When he survived, Xun You conveyed Cao Cao's will and asked him to rush to Pengcheng to give advice.

Jia Xu has been dormant for ten years and has finally been reused.

Immediately geared up and went to Pengcheng.

this day.

Yuan Xi's army left Peixian and marched towards Pengcheng.

It is still a hundred miles away from Pengcheng.

Cao Cao has not yet decided whether to garrison Xuzhou and fight Yuan Xi in a decisive battle, or rush to the aid of Li Tong and keep Yangzhou. In order to delay the formation of Yuan Xi, and to listen to Jia Xu's opinion, he sent Zang Ba, leading 30,000 troops, to block Yuan's army.

A certain valley.

Yuan Xi was in charge of exploring the road and found Cao Jun ambushed in the valley.

This is the only way to Pengcheng.

The terrain isn't dangerous, but it takes an extra day to get around.

After Yuan Xi weighed the pros and cons, he decided to annihilate this ambush army.

Return to the marching column.

Yuan Xi told Zhang Jaw about the previous situation.

Zhang Jaw suggested: "Zang Ba is stationing troops here, is he trying to block the advance of our army, or delay for a while. It was not difficult for the lord to defeat him, but within a few days, it was impossible to reach Pengcheng. The last general suggested that the troops should be divided into two routes, all the way to Pengcheng, and the ambush troops should be flanked halfway, and the first route should be from north to east to contain the ambush troops. ”

"In this way, we can not only achieve the goal of annihilating the ambush soldiers, but also rush to Pengcheng as soon as possible."

"You've got a good idea, so be it." Yuan Xi was very satisfied with this suggestion.

Zang Ba's ambush has more than 30,000 soldiers, which is a force to be reckoned with, and destroying him is equivalent to cutting off Cao Cao's arms.

..........

The night is as quiet as water.

Yuan's army split into two and marched forward.

The 50,000 troops who detoured to Pengcheng were led by Lang Gu and Yuan Xi explored the way. The 50,000 troops facing Zang Ba, led by Zhang Jaw, were responsible for containing Zang Ba and waiting for reinforcements.

In order to achieve the purpose of striking from both sides, the jaw opened to slow down the progress of the day.

At noon on the second day, he launched an attack on Zang Ba's ambush.

All the infantry marched up the hill along the path and carried out a strong attack. Mammoths, cavalry, and chariots all intercepted the official road at the foot of the mountain to prevent Zang Ba from escaping to the north. Soon after the battle began, Yuan Xi and Hao Gu rushed from the east to attack and kill Zang Ba's rear.

As the commander of the army, and the best at fighting mountain warfare, Zang Ba made a decisive decision, leaving a small number of troops to resist, and the whole army moved to the back mountain, preparing to build a defense line in the back mountain.

There are many jungles in the back mountains, which are suitable for Zangba's army activities.

Hundred-pound boulders can be seen everywhere, which can be used as materials for ambushes; Under the command of Zang Ba, several lines of defense were quickly constructed.

"Kill..."

The Zhangjaw army was like a bamboo, destroying the small force left by Zang Ba, but when it attacked the back mountain, it was firmly blocked. The whole jungle was full of ambushes, there were bunkers everywhere, and even bows and arrows were useless.

Yuan Xi probed the terrain of the entire mountain range and found Zhang Jaw: "No need to attack again..." ”

"Why?"

The jaw is puzzled.

Yuan Xi said: "In the future, it will be all mountains and jungles, and Zang Ba has turned an area of more than ten miles into a defense line, and no matter how many troops we put into it, they will be eaten by him." ”