In the second year of Xingping, the spring was full of joy, the wind and rain were smooth, and the drought year of last year seemed to be no longer repeated, but the sound of swords and soldiers left over from the famine last year was as loud as ever, and it would spread endlessly.

After the beginning of spring, the beacon fire spread from the hinterland of the Central Plains to the northern grassland, and the vast expanse of the troubled times also extended from the vast Saibei to the Jiangzuo Wu land where the grass grows and the warbler flies.

In the hinterland of the Central Plains, Yanzhou, which had ceased war due to famine and locust plague, rose again.

Within the boundaries of Yanzhou, Dongjun in the north was garrisoned by Zang Hong under Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao as Cao Cao's ally, and Zhang Chao as Zang Hong's benefactor.

Taishan, Jibei and other counties in the west of Yanzhou have not been able to make any waves, only Chenliu County, as the base camp of Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, is still fighting hard, and this confrontation between soldiers and horses in the east and west is concentrated in the competition for the two rich counties of Jiyin and Shanyang in the central part of Yanzhou.

At the beginning, in the context of the rebellion of the state and county, the seemingly dominant Lu Bu and Zhang Miaojun have gradually fallen into a disadvantage, Lu Bu was defeated by the powerful Li Jin in Jiyin, and led the army to Shanyang County, but then stationed in Shanyang Juye, a group of soldiers and horses led by Xue Lan and Li Feng in the state were also defeated by the Cao army, and Lu Bu, who went to the rescue, also suffered defeat and had to quickly withdraw the army.

Now Lu Bu, Zhang Miao, Chen Gong and others gathered in Dongyi City in Shanyang, gathered the remaining more than 10,000 soldiers, and prepared to find an opportunity to fight Cao Cao's main force in Juancheng again, and win or lose in the next battle.

Hebei Youji, the seemingly evenly matched confrontation between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan also ushered in a crucial decisive battle.

Gongsun Zhan, who is known as the whole Youyan, caught fire in the rear, and the Youzhou surname Xian Yufu and Xian Yuyin held high the banner of revenge for Youzhou Mu Liu Yu in Jicheng, united Yan Rou, who was known to be kind and trustworthy among the Hu people, recruited Hu and Han people, won tens of thousands of soldiers, attacked Yuyang County, and defeated Gongsun Zan placed Yuyang Taishou Zou Dan, beheading more than 4,000 levels.

After this battle, the people who rebelled against Gongsun Chan in Youzhou rose one after another, and Wuhuan of Liaodong County also joined the alliance against Gongsun Zhan, and the power of Xian Yufu and others rose sharply, and they also began to unite with Yuan Shao of Jizhou, preparing to welcome Liu He, the son of Liu Yu, who took refuge in Hebei, to return to Youzhou.

Gongsun Zhan, who was on the border of Youji, faced with this dangerous situation, had to hurriedly return to his division and prepare to quell the rebellion within Youzhou.

Thus, a war that decided the hegemony of Hebei came.

Lu Yi's soldiers and horses, in this war, once again demonstrated his military talent as the first general in Hebei.

He and Liu He took the soldiers and horses of Hebei, crossed the Taihang Mountains in the west, passed through the Flying Fox and the military capital, united the Wuhuan tribes of Daijun and Shanggu, and avoided the defense line under Gongsun Zhan on the border of Youji.

The unexpected Lu Yi and Liu He appeared in Youzhou, and the Hu and Han soldiers and horses of Xian Yufu, Wuhuan Qiaowang and others, known as 100,000, fought a decisive battle with the army of Gongsun Zan who rescued Yuyang County in Baoqiu Water, and the coalition army defeated Gongsun Zan and beheaded more than 20,000 people.

After this battle, Dai County, Guangyang County, Shanggu County, Youbeiping County and other counties completely rebelled and betrayed Gongsun Zhan, and raised troops to attack and kill the chief officials placed by Gongsun Zhan, Gongsun Chan completely lost control of Youzhou, and the remaining territory was only Zhuo County, a few cities in the north of Hejian County, and the isolated Pingyuan County and other enclaves.

The once famous White Horse General could only take the remnants of the defeated soldiers and retreat to Yijing, and Lu Yi and Hebei soldiers and horses also chased after him and launched a siege of Gongsun Chan on all sides.

In the river basin, Sun Ce, who was later called by Cao Cao as "the difficulty and contention of the children", was also under the command of Yuan Shu, and retrieved his father Sun Jian, a Huaisi elite soldier, with the support of Zhou Yu, Lu Fan, Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and others, took advantage of the opportunity of the confrontation between the two Yangzhou assassins, crossed the river into Wudi, and began the process of conquering Jiangzuo.

Although Liu Xuan, the assassin of Yangzhou, the county magistrates, Wang Lang, and Yan Baihu all resisted, after Sun Ce crossed the river, he rose to the occasion and became more and more courageous, which was like his father.

After Liu Yan's death, Yizhou's generals Shen Mi, Lou Fa, and Gan Ning rose up against Liu Zhang, and after being defeated by Zhao Wei, who was appointed by Liu Zhang, they fled to Jingzhou.

Liu Biao, who had already lifted the threat from the north, accepted these Yizhou generals, which soon caused a greater degree of hostility between the two sides, but due to the unresolved civil strife in Yizhou and the many rebellions in the southern counties of Jingzhou, the border between the two states was able to barely maintain peace.

In these places, only the strong soldiers were in the border, and there was an eerie calm.

It's just that Li Dao and Guo Yan's life is also not easy, Guanzhong, which was originally the country of abundance, has experienced natural and man-made disasters such as the flood of small money, civil strife, cold land invasion, internal strife and attack, drought and locust famine, and the people's livelihood has been zero, and the fertile land of Sanfu has also shown signs of abandonment on a large scale.

Li Dao and Guo Yan's soldiers and horses, after the beginning of spring, still had a shortage of military rations.

For this reason, they urgently need to find a way out for themselves and the Xiliang army.

···

Zuo Feng Yi, Chi Yang.

Li Dao and Guo Yan, who met each other with swords, came to each other on guard and brought troops to carry out a mutually discussed alliance.

In the big tent, the generals of both sides are based in one place, carrying swords and swords, and each is on guard. Only Li Dao, Guo Yan, and Zhang Ji, the three former captains of Dong Ying, can still be indifferent, but their words are becoming more and more estranged.

Among them, Zhang Ji, who has not recovered from a serious illness and has a sallow complexion, is even worse.

He lost his division and land, lost Hongnong County, and lost 50,000 troops, although Li and Guo invited him to take a seat with the friendship of the old people, and played the banner of retaking Hongnong County for him, but Zhang Ji was self-aware, he knew that in this conference, he was just a dispensable role, and it was Li and Guo who could decide the whereabouts of the Xiliang Army.

Li Wei waved his hand, Li Ru walked out with a smile, looked at the three of them, and began to say:

"Generals, the time has come for us to avenge General Zhendong and recapture Hongnong County. Before, the army did not move, firstly, because of the lack of military food, and secondly, because of the alliance of Yan and Duan two thieves, and the soldiers of Hedong and Hongnong were horns of each other, and now the soldiers and horses in Hedong are empty, it is a good time for us to form an alliance and work together to collect Hongnong and capture the land of Sanhe in one fell swoop! ”

After listening to Li Ru's words, although they had expected it, Li, Guo, and Zhang still set their eyes on Li Ru and waited for him to continue.

Li Ru smiled proudly and continued:

"Although the spies in Hedong were strictly investigated, and Li Lu sat down to block the news that Yan Yan sent troops to Xihe County, but I didn't expect that the battle on the northern grassland would be fierce, and we could get a real idea through the channels of Shangjun."

"According to the news from the Qianghu tribe in Shangjun, Hedong County dispatched an elite force of about 10,000 people, most of which were cavalry, and forcibly intervened in the competition for the position of Shan Yu within the Southern Xiongnu of Xihe County, and the leader is said to be Yan Yan himself."

When Guo Yan heard this, he raised his eyebrows and disagreed. Li Wei took Guo Yan's expression into his eyes, and he didn't move, but turned to look at Zhang Ji, smiled, and asked:

"I want to take this opportunity to recover Hongnong's lost land, what does Zhang Hou think?"

After all, Li Ji is under the banner of recovering the lost territory for himself, although Zhang Ji is cautious in his words and deeds under Guo Yan, but he has to speak at this time, he muttered for a while, and then began to say slowly:

"The great grace of the general of the chariot and cavalry is beyond words. It's just that the east of the river has the advantage of a boat master, and there is no opponent in the big river. If you attack the territory of Hedong, you are worried that the Hedong Boat Division will cut off the grain route in the rear of our army, so although there are fighters, but the quality of Jicai is dull, and you have not yet come up with a good strategy to break the enemy. ”

After listening to Zhang Ji's answer, the corners of Guo Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he was a little proud. Zhang Ji's answer was very self-aware, and it was obviously very much in line with his mind.

Although Li Dao's side threw out the so-called fighter plane, if there is no good strategy and interests that can persuade his side to send troops, don't think that his side will take advantage of Li Dao's anger and charge into battle.

After listening to Zhang Ji's words on the side, Li Ru looked at Li Ji's face and continued:

"General Zhendong doesn't need to worry too much, the good strategy to break the enemy, Confucianism has already planned for the generals, it is the eight words 'sound from the east to the west, avoid the real and attack the false'!"

When Guo Yan heard these eight words, he couldn't help it, and spoke first.

"Then Li Shizhong will talk about how to 'attack the west with a voice, avoid the real and attack the false'?"

"Our army can be divided into two roads, one way to make a big fanfare, send troops to collect Hongnong County, attack the weak Duan Xuan, lure Hedong to send troops to help, in order to annihilate in the field, the other way is to wait and see, after all the soldiers and horses in Hedong are transferred to the south, and then suddenly send troops to cross the river, following the example of the early years of the Han Dynasty, Han Xin pacified the affairs of Wei, rushed to attack Anyi, and decided Hedong in a war."

After Guo Yan listened, he didn't make a sound, and turned to look at Zhang Ji, Zhang Ji saw Guo Yan's gaze, shook his head slightly, and showed that he didn't feel anything wrong.

Guo Yan retracted his gaze, and his heart was opened. With Zhang Ji's experience, these veteran soldiers who have been on the battlefield for a long time have a certain fear of rashly invading Hedong, so Li Ji's plan to attack the east and the west is a good strategy, and by attacking Duan Xuan, to mobilize the defenders in Hedong, the most bad can also judge the reality inside Hedong, and prevent the next attack from repeating Zhang Ji's mistakes.

"It's just who is going to collect Hongnong, and who is going to attack Hedong?"

Guo Yan asked the question he was most concerned about.

Li Ru smiled faintly and did not answer, while Li Dao took over the right to speak, smiled Yanyan, and said generously:

"Since it is an alliance to the east, it is natural to work together, since this strategy is made by us, then where to lead, Guo Hou can choose first, I command the army, field battles, there is no choice!"

What a "nothing"!

Guo Yan knew that Li Dao's military strength was superior to his own, and when he heard him say this at this moment, he couldn't help but feel strong in his heart.

It's just that this fierce heart was quickly suppressed by Guo Yan. After the previous conflicts with Li Dao, although Guo Yan could not see through the conspiracy and tricks of Li Dao and Li Ru, he was also deeply vigilant.

To collect Hongnong, it is necessary to make a large army to dispatch, and the Tongguan of the simmering section of the attack section and the invitation to the reinforcements of Hedong also need to send a large army to win a decisive victory in the field.

Of course, the most important thing is that if his own side is the first move, Duan Xuan and Yan Yan are certainly strong enemies, but Li Wei, who can be the backhand, is more likely to turn his troops at a critical moment and give himself a fatal blow.

If you choose to attack Hedong, you can use it as a backhand to wait and see what happens, Li Dao has the advantage, then you will lead troops to take Hedong, and if Li Dao is unfavorable, you will transfer the troops, take Chang'an, and annex Li Dao's forces.

What's more, Zuo Fengyi is separated from Hedong by a big river, and Guo Yan is not at ease to let Li Dao pass through his territory with a large army to attack Hedong County.

And according to the principle that whoever takes the city is whoever fights, it seems that it is much more advantageous to capture Hedong County than to capture Hongnong County.

Therefore, choosing to attack Anyi all the way is obviously the best choice for yourself.

Guo Yan thought about it for a long time before he finally made up his mind and said cautiously:

"I'll take Anyi's way!"

Hearing Guo Yan's choice after thinking about it again and again, the smile on Li Wei's face became a little thicker, and what he and Li Ru combined was that they expected that Guo Yan would choose to capture the soldiers and horses in Hedong after various considerations.

Li Dao laughed, he had to finalize the details of the use of troops according to the original plan, and then make a blood oath.

"Okay, since Guo Hou has been chosen, then-"

"Slow!"

Unexpectedly, Guo Yan suddenly stood up again, interrupted Li Wei's words, he looked around at the people in the tent, and finally focused his eyes on Li Ru on the side, and slowly showed a treacherous smile.

"Hedong has the advantage of the boat division, I lead the army to attack Anyi, there is a worry that the rear will be cut off, you can't break its boat division without a good strategy, therefore, if I want to send troops to Hedong, I must first take Li Shizhong as a hostage, enter our army, and make plans for me!"