Chapter 8: Ready to Fly, Section 30

"How is the stockpiling and transportation of grain, grass and ordnance?" While instructing Wang Ling to write an order for Gao Shun, Li Hong turned his head to look at Jia Xu and asked him the question he was most concerned about.

"Have you seen Master Guo Ce?"

"I have seen it, and the decree has been given to him." Jia Xu said unhurriedly,

"According to the order of the imperial court at the beginning of the year, the grain, grass and ordnance of the four counties of Hedong, Taiyuan, Shangdang and Yanmen are being transported to Jizhou in a steady stream, and together with the grain and ordnance of Jizhou, they are stationed in Handan, Yecheng, Ganling, Xindu and other places, and then they are uniformly allocated by the imperial court."

"At present, Lord Guo Ce is organizing the people to transport grain and grass from Chidao to Youzhou. Part of this grain and grass was used by the Youzhou army, part of it was transported to Liaodong by sea, and some of the grain was used for relief. After the main army moves south in April, Jizhou will no longer transport grain and grass to Youzhou. ”

"Grain, grass and ordnance from the northern counties of Jizhou are being transported by water to Ganling City in the south of Jizhou through the Zhongxing Canal. After the spring ploughing is completed in April, the northern counties of Jizhou will recruit a large number of people, and at the same time transport grain and grass to the Central Plains from both land and water. ”

"The grain, grass and ordnance from the eastern counties of Jizhou have been transported to the sea and are being loaded onto ships. Mr. Guo said that it is estimated that in a few days, all 1,500 large ships will be full and ready to go. Li Hong thought for a moment and said to Jia Xu: "Look, did you write a letter to Song Wen, the Taishou of Bohai County, and ask him to supervise the fleet to immediately go south into the Yellow River?" Jia Xu nodded,

"Since the grain and grass baggage has been loaded, I think it is better for the fleet to enter the Yellow River as early as possible, so as not to have an accident in the Central Plains and we will be caught off guard. First, let the fleet be stationed in the area of Gaotang City, which is closer to the battlefield of crossing the river. ”

"Lord Song Wen always thought that the fleet was going north to Youzhou." Tian Chou suddenly said,

"At this moment we suddenly ordered him to go south, and he must have been puzzled. In order to ensure that the whereabouts of the fleet are not revealed, it is better for us to explain it to him clearly, so as not to cause anything to happen along the way and affect the overall situation. Li Hong was silent.

Jia Xu saw Li Hong looking at him and shook his head slightly.

"Spring plowing and spring harvest are coming soon, and government affairs are busy, so let's let Lord Song Wen stay in Bohai County." Li Hong pointed to Wei Yan and Sima Yi,

"You two immediately go to Bohai County and take over the fleet. Immediately after going to sea, he changed direction and hurried south. Wei Yan and Sima Yi bowed down to receive the order.

"For more than a year, the imperial court has collected, purchased, and built hundreds of large ships through various methods, plus the large and small ships of the coastal counties of Jizhou and Youzhou, which barely managed to gather 1,500 sea ships." Li Hong said solemnly,

"These 1,500 ships are of great importance to us, and they are directly related to whether the army can cross the river on time and quickly, without the slightest mistake."

"Please rest assured, Lord Wei and I will bring the fleet to the battlefield smoothly." Sima Yi bowed again, full of confidence.

In mid-March, Yuzhou Peiguo, Qicheng. Cao Cao and Liu Bei commanded a large army to storm Qicheng. The two sides fought bloodily.

Li Ye, Yang Hong, Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui and others swore to hold on, and the battle was very fierce. As time continued, rumors about Yuan Shu killing the monarch and usurping the throne, and Yuan Shao wanted to kill his relatives and lead the army to attack Jiujiang County spread all over the Jianghuai area.

The soldiers were panicked, and their morale was getting lower and lower. At this time, a shocking news suddenly came from Shouchun.

Yuan Shu fled Jiujiang County with his family and many cronies, and was sailing out to sea to Hebei.

The defenders of Qicheng were in chaos. Although Li Ye and others repeatedly refuted the rumors, and even did not hesitate to kill dozens of officials who took the lead in confusing the army's morale, they still could not stop the slackening of the army's morale.

Liu Xun, Mei Gan, Lei Bo, and Chen Lan secretly got in touch with Cao Cao, and after getting Cao Cao's promise, the four of them led their troops to surrender, opened the city gates, and put Cao Cao's army into the city.

The soldiers, who had long since lost their fighting spirit, dropped their weapons one after another. Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui broke through with their personal guards, but they were outnumbered and all died.

Li Ye and Yang Hong led the army to defend the government and resisted stubbornly. Soon Li Ye was killed by an arrow, and Yang Hong was hacked to death by Cao Jun's knife.

Cao Cao successfully captured Qicheng, killed 3,000 enemies, and captured nearly 10,000 prisoners. The news of the Central Plains reached Qicheng in time.

The Northern Xinjiang Army gathered heavy troops to attack Hanoi, and Yuan Shao was gathering troops and horses to prepare for a counterattack. Cao Cao believed that the attack on Hanoi by the Northern Xinjiang Army was only a diversion strategy, and the purpose was to ensure the stability of Jizhou, so that the main army of Northern Xinjiang could concentrate on quelling the rebellion in Northern Xinjiang.

However, Yuan Shao is very likely to make a plan, taking advantage of Hebei's inability to look south, and he sent troops to the Central Plains when Jianghuai attacked Shouchun.

Cao Cao wrote to Xun Yu, Xiahou Xuan, Xiahou Yuan and others stationed in Yanzhou to take precautions, and at the same time ordered the army to rest on the spot, temporarily abandon the attack on Shouchun, and wait for Yuan Shao's movements to be determined, and then plan for the future.

Guo Jia put forward a different opinion.

"Now everyone thinks that Hebei will continue to quell the rebellion in northern Xinjiang this year. There are many facts to prove this point. For example, at the end of last year, Hebei requisitioned a large army out of the fortress and dug a ditch connecting the Juma River and the Gushui River in Youzhou to transport grain and grass by sea. At the beginning of the year, Jizhou transported grain from both land and water to the north, and now the Northern Xinjiang Army is attacking the three cities of Hanoi to threaten Luoyang and so on. But there is a question, I don't know if you have thought about it carefully, how big is the scale of the rebellion in northern Xinjiang? ”

"The earliest news we got was that the two Xianbei tribes in the middle and east jointly elected Kirby Xiong as the king of Xianbei, and then the Liaodong rebellion broke out. We can take these two things as one thing, that is, in order to recapture the desert, Kirby Xiong deliberately took advantage of the opportunity of the Jizhou War when the Northern Xinjiang Army was unable to look north, and deliberately provoked the border war. The area of this rebellion was confined to the north of Dayan Mountain and the area of Liaodong, from which we can infer the scale of this rebellion. ”

"According to the information we received, after the battle in Jizhou, Li Hong did not stop and immediately went north to pacify Zhuhu. With the prestige of Jizhou's victory and his own great reputation, no one in the desert dared to oppose Li Hong except for Kirby Bear, who didn't know how to die. In other words, Li Hong stayed in the desert for a year last year, and he could have united with the Zhuhu Iron Cavalry to defeat Kirby Xiong. ”

"Is Kirby Bear as powerful as Murong Feng? Does he have the strength of Murong Feng? Murong Feng was defeated in Sunset Plain, why did he confront Li Hong? I heard that Kirby Bear's life was saved by Li Hong at the beginning, and with the disparity in strength between the two and the irreversible personal relationship, Li Hong can completely appease Kirby Bear. ”

"Even if Kirby Xiong is unwilling to be appeased, even if Li Hong's attack is blocked, but with Li Hong's consistent principle, he is bound to fight Hu with Hu and take the opportunity to vigorously weaken the strength of the Hu people. The Jizhou War had just ended, was it necessary for Hebei to exhaust its scarce wealth for a small rebellion? ”

"Therefore, I personally believe that Li Hong had put down the rebellion in northern Xinjiang as early as last year, and everything we see now may be fake, and it was all deliberately done by Hebei to show us. Their real purpose was to attack the Central Plains. Guo Jia was shocked, and the officials in the tent were dumbfounded.

"If the rebellion in northern Xinjiang is not quelled and the border is unstable, Hebei will not be able to attack the Central Plains in the south." Mao Jue questioned,

"In order to conquer the Central Plains as soon as possible, it is normal for Li Hong to attack the rebellious Hu tribes at any cost. If we had changed, we would have made the same choice. Although the Central Plains is now full of smoke and looks like a good opportunity, once the Northern Xinjiang Army moves south, the parties who are attacking and killing in the Central Plains will immediately release their previous suspicions and shake hands and make peace again, and join forces to fight Hebei again. In the case of the Northern Xinjiang Army's repeated resistance in front and the rebellion of the Hu people in the rear, it is considered lucky to return without success, and the slightest carelessness will wipe out the whole army, and it will lose its strength to chase the Central Plains. Li Hong has always liked to take risks in military affairs, but this time it is a matter of life and death in Hebei, and he will never dare to take such a risk. Cao Cao, Cheng Yu, Cao Ren and others nodded again and again.

Guo Jia didn't know the bottom in his heart, he thought for a long time, and said slowly: "In the eyes of your lords, the strength of the Hu people is always very strong, so strong that one Kirby bear and two Xianbei troops need Li Hong to use nearly 100,000 troops to fight. But have you ever thought about it, since the Great Battle of Sunset Plain, who still has the financial resources to support nearly 100,000 troops to fight in the fortress? No, even if the three states of Hebei did not suffer the heavy losses of the Jizhou War, it still did not have such huge financial resources. ”

"In other words, judging from the scale of the Northern Xinjiang Rebellion, Li Hong should not need to use the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and from the perspective of Hebei's financial endowment, the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army has no way to expedition to the desert thousands of miles away." Guo Jia swung his thin fist hard,

"All this, no matter how you look at it, looks like a deliberate scam carried out by Hebei." Cao Cao and everyone looked at each other, the more carefully they pondered, the bigger the doubts, and the little confidence in their hearts gradually disappeared.

If Guo Jia's judgment is correct, then the Central Plains is in danger?

"It's less than a year and a half before the Jizhou War the year before last." Cheng Yu was full of doubts, and it was difficult to accept Guo Jia's estimation for a while.

"Hebei recovered so quickly? Does it have the strength to attack the Central Plains? ”

"Since it has the strength to go to the border fortress, of course it has the strength to attack the Central Plains." Cao Cao frowned deeply, and kept tapping the desk with his right hand.

"If the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army suddenly appears on the north bank of the Yellow River, we will be beyond our reach and give the Central Plains to Li Hong." He turned his head to look at Guo Jia, who was deep in thought, and asked in a low voice,

"Fengxiao, then you say, do we immediately retreat to the Central Plains now, or continue to attack Yuan Shu?"

"If Hebei really attacks the Central Plains, with our current strength, we will not be able to resist the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and there is no point in immediately retreating to the Central Plains." Guo Jia replied,

"If we fight to the death with the Northern Xinjiang Army, it will be Yuan Shao and Liu Bei who will benefit. Yuan Shao can benefit from the fishermen and easily get the Central Plains, while Liu Bei can take advantage of the danger and seize Jiujiang County. ”

"Continue to attack Yuan Shu?" Cao Cao immediately asked.

"Continue to attack Yuan Shu, the loss is too great, and the situation in the Central Plains is now confusing and changing rapidly, once something happens, we don't have time to react. In my opinion, it is better to preserve the strength and kill Yuan Shu at the lowest cost first. In this way, if Hebei attacks the Central Plains, we can quickly return to the aid and join forces with Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and others to fight against Li Hong. If Hebei does not fight the Central Plains, we are purely unfounded, then make good use of the current situation in which Yuan Shao is held by the Northern Xinjiang Army and gain a foothold in Jianghuai. ”

"The soldiers entered Huaishui, coerced Shouchun, and waited for its changes." Cao Cao muttered to himself in a low voice, unable to make up his mind for a long time.

Once the Central Plains is lost, he will lose his place to live, and his life will be worried. In mid-March, Hanoi County, Binh Gao City.

Yan Liang, Zhang He, Wang Dang, and Xu Huang led the army to Pinggao City and met Zhang Liao and Zhang Xiu. At this time, the order of the great general Li Hong also arrived.

In the letter, Li Hong detailed the importance of quickly capturing Pinggao City, and asked Yan Liang to quickly take the city at any cost, and then start a river crossing operation.

Yan Liang discussed it with a few people, and then decided to attack the three gates together. The first day's assault was like a raging storm, overwhelming the defenders of the city.

That night, Zhu Ling received a letter from Guo Tu, urging him to withdraw his troops overnight and attract the Northern Xinjiang Army to Heyang and Wenxian.

On the morning of the next day, the Northern Xinjiang Army successfully entered Pinggao City. Yan Liang immediately ordered to burn the pontoon bridge on the Jishui River.

Fan Li, Zhao Hu led the army along the Jishui River to the west for sixty miles, and confronted the armies of Guo Tu and Zhu Ling stationed in Wen County across the river.

Wang Dang took the lead in leading the army to the bank of the Yellow River, preparing to cross the river to attack Chenggao and enter the Tiger Pass. In mid-March, Chenliu County, Yanzhou, White Horse City.

Yuan Shao led his army to Baima. The generals of the Henan Army, Jiang Qi, Meng Dai, and Han Meng, went out of the city to greet them.

"What is the movement of the Northern Frontier Army in the direction of Liyang?" Yuan Shao saw Jiang Qi and asked impatiently,

"Is Xu Huang's army still on the other side?"

"Xu Huang's army is gone." Jiang Qi bowed and replied,

"According to the scouts, the number of defenders in Liyang City is about two thousand." Jiang Qi is in his forties, burly, thin-looking, and looks very kind.

He was a friend of Frustration and was deeply appreciated by Frustration. He was able to lead the Henan Army because of his recommendation.

"What about the direction of Changshoujin?"

"There has been an increase in the number of troops in the direction of Changsangjin." Yuan Shao glanced at Jiang Qi in surprise,

"Isn't Xu Huang's army gone? Why is there an increase in troops? ”

"It's Gao Yan's centaurs." Jiang Qi explained,

Xu Huang was ordered to go to the battlefield in Hanoi, and the troops in the direction of Liyang immediately became thin. In order to ensure the safety of Jizhou, it was normal for Li Hong to send men and horses from the Gaolan army in Dongwuyang to the front line of Liyang to defend. Yuan Shao frowned and didn't say much,

"How many roads are there for the armies of Yuan Zhong, Gao Gan, and Gao Rou to be from Puyang?"

"There's still a day to go." Yuan Shao nodded with satisfaction,

"In two days, we will cross the river and attack Jizhou." Jump to