The marriage between Ye Zheng and Lu Lingqi was finally finalized in February of the fourth year of Tai'an, that is, the twelfth year of Jian'an (207 AD), but this time Lu Bu in order to prevent Ye Zhao from cheating again, Ye Zheng was detained in Wancheng, and he would not be sent back until after the marriage.

Nanyang is in full swing Zhang Luo Ye Zheng's marriage, and Ye Zhao continues to contain Cao Cao in the Tiger Pass, from time to time will send a small elite to attack Cao Cao's back road, although there is no war again, but the small-scale friction is never stopped, because Ye Zhao wants to ensure Cao Cao's every move, the scouts are arranged very widely, so the battlefield almost covers the area from Hanoi to Xuchang, and the small forces on both sides will have friction almost every day.

Although Ye Zhao's soldiers and horses were elite and well-equipped, if they encountered two or even more than three times as many enemies in the field, they would have to kneel.

In just one month, although the two sides did not go to war, this kind of small-scale friction and loss accumulated, which also made Ye Zhao and Cao Cao frightened.

Xingyang, Taishou Mansion.

Cao Cao rubbed his eyebrows a little tiredly, and Xun Yu on the side frowned and said: "Lord, Ye Zhao's move is obviously to consume with our army, wait for Nanyang to settle the matter, and then make a move, we can't afford to spend it with him!" ”

I really can't afford it!

Cao Cao nodded bitterly, although the Central Plains is rich, but in the past few years, Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou, Yuan Shao, and then fought with Liu Bei, almost never stopped, a little grain and grass in his hands is also regarded as a military posture, now Jizhou, Youzhou, Qingzhou are all new, and now they are contained here by Ye Zhao, it is difficult to transform the potential into actual combat effectiveness in a short period of time, and the war is always a money-swallowing machine.

And although Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou are rich, they have supported Cao Cao's southern and northern wars over the years, and there is not much surplus grain, which is still after defeating Yuan Shao, Jizhou's granary has given Cao Cao some confidence, so that he can spend it here with Ye Zhao now, but it will definitely not take long.

And although Ye Zhao's battle was a little sudden because of the relationship between the Tiger Prison Pass, although there have been wars in recent years, most of the forces he faced were the Xiongnu, Xianbei and the Western Regions, and the blood drawn from the other party was enough for Ye Zhao to govern the land, coupled with the accumulation of the country of Tianfu in Shuzhong over the years, Guanzhong, Xiliang, Bingzhou and other places can now be responsible for their own profits and losses, and the troops mobilized by Ye Zhao are not as big as Cao Cao.

In addition to Ye Zhao, Cao Cao also has to guard against Sun Ce, who is now very restless, and Ye Zhao only needs to supply the military supply and demand in Luoyang, Bingzhou, and Hedong, and there are various checkpoints stationed, and the generals of Bingzhou and Hedong are also selected Xu Rong and Ding Li, who are mainly stable, and the investment in troops is much smaller than Cao Cao, and the logistics pressure is naturally much easier than Cao Cao, and the most important thing is that Ye Zhao is most lacking in food now, and relying on the geographical advantage, Ye Zhao can afford it completely, and Cao Cao does not have Ye Zhao's confidence.

Now Cao Cao's situation is very embarrassing, he can't fight and can't fight, he can't afford to consume, he wants to seek a decisive battle with Ye Zhao, but Ye Zhao can't come out of the tiger prison, Cao Cao has even figured out how to deal with Ye Zhao's elite soldiers, but Ye Zhao doesn't give a chance at all, which makes Cao Cao feel like a dog gnawing on a hedgehog, and most importantly, this hedgehog is more powerful than a dog.

"Nanyang's matter, even if it can be done, the minister estimates that it will be difficult to threaten Ye Zhao." Xun You sighed.

If Lu Buken agreed to cooperate before, he would have the strength to fight, after all, Lu Bu's own ability to fight is not weaker than others, the two join forces, Yique Pass, Xuanyuan Pass, Revolving Gate Pass, and Tiger Prison Pass can break through one, and the rest of the levels will be wasted, and it will be difficult for Ye Zhao not to fight with them at that time.

But if you change someone, no matter who gets Nanyang, I'm afraid it will be difficult to reach Lu Bu's level, and then it will be equivalent to giving Ye Zhao a reason to send troops, and when the time comes, the battlefield will probably have to shift to Nanyang, but Cao Cao can't concentrate on a little attack, and the Tiger Prison Pass must also be watched, otherwise if Ye Zhao sends troops from here, then the entire Yanzhou and Yuzhou will be shrouded in Ye Zhao's attack range.

Of course, it is impossible to leave it alone, now that Lu Bu is determined to ally with Ye Zhao, if the two families join forces to succeed, then Cao Cao will have to face Ye Zhao, Lu Bu and Sun Ce at the same time.

These three princes are all warlike and extremely aggressive princes, and Cao Cao can't stop them even if he is covered in iron.

Cao Cao had a headache and lost a tiger prison, the chain reaction caused by Cao Ang's death was something he did not expect, he knew this, he should not have sent Cao Ang out hot-headed in the first place, if it was an ordinary messenger, even if Chen Qun and Zhong Xuan were killed, there was room for turnaround, of course, if Lu Bu was willing to discuss at this time, even if his own son died, Cao Cao was willing to swallow this breath and re-discuss the matter of joining forces with Lu Bu.

But Cao Cao's people are active, Ye Zhao's side also sent people to be active, plus a Ye Zheng is now in Nanyang and is about to become Lu Bu's son-in-law, even if Cao Cao has sent three groups of people to discuss with Lu Bu, they were all categorically rejected by Lu Bu.

"My lord, the minister has a plan!" Cheng Yu pondered for a moment before bowing to Cao Cao and said.

"What is Zhongde's plan, come quickly." Cao Cao's eyes lit up and looked at Cheng Yudao.

"Ye Zhao's army is well-equipped, it is indeed unwise for our army to collide with it head-on, now the river has not thawed, I don't know if we can send some elite soldiers from Hanoi to capture Mengjin, if we can get Mengjin, our army can go straight to Luoyang!" Cheng Yu bowed.

When Cao Cao heard this, his eyes couldn't help but light up.

Mengjin was called Mengjin in ancient times, although it was known as the eight passes of Luoyang, but in fact, it was a small ferry on the bank of the Yellow River.

Although the transition is small, but the origin is not small, it is the place where King Wu of Zhou summoned the princes, the blood is the place of the alliance, close to the present, and the Western Chu overlord Xiang Yu died in the river is also in this Mengjin, the ancients will include the terrain around Mengjin into a sentence, that is, 'three mountains and six tombs and one river' and this Mengjin is stuck in a river between the three mountains and six tombs, which is not only a ferry, but also an important checkpoint in the north of Luoyang.

On the river with hundreds of miles of face, if you start from Hanoi, you can only reach Luoyang through here, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the gateway of Luoyang.

But in fact, Meng Jin's importance is far less than that of Tiger Prison.

As for the reason, the most important point is that most of the northern armies are not accustomed to water warfare, and the time when the river is frozen enough for the army to pass through every year is only about half a month, and at other times, if you want to cross the river, you can only rely on the water army.

And the navy is definitely a scarce army in the north, even if there is a ship, most of the time it is only used to transport the army, and if you want to fight on the water, it is no different from looking for death, so although Mengjin is small, but relying on the terrain, if someone really dares to row a boat to attack, only 800 people are enough to call tens of thousands of troops in vain.

Therefore, although the location is dangerous, most of the time, there will be no war, and therefore, the strategic significance and status are difficult to compare with the Hujiao Pass and Yique Pass.

However, if you can break through Mengjin and march quickly, you can reach Luoyang in half a day.

Although Luoyang is now a wasteland, but it is an important grain transit station for Ye Zhao, if Cao Cao can break through Mengjin and capture Luoyang, he does not need to defend it, he only needs to burn the grain and grass that Ye Zhao hoarded in Luoyang, then no matter how fierce Ye Zhao's army is, I am afraid that it will only be defeated and withdraw from Sili.

"Good!" After thinking about the essence clearly, Cao Cao couldn't help but light up his eyes and looked at Cheng Yudao approvingly.

"But ......" Zhong Xuan on the side frowned when he heard this: "Now that Ye Zhao is full of scouts, if you want to break through Mengjin without alarming Ye Zhao and take Luoyang directly, I'm afraid it will ......."

"It's okay, then don't transfer troops from Xingyang and Aocang, the scouts on the Hanoi side need to be cleared!" Cao Cao stood up with a smile, what he was worried about before was how to defeat Ye Zhao, but now that he has a direction, no matter how difficult the problem is, he can always come up with a way to solve it.

"Judging from the arrangement of Ye Zhao's troops, the grain and grass are indeed very likely to be in Luoyang, and Zhongde has a very good plan, but to do this, a general is needed......" Xun You looked at Cao Cao.

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and then said, "What do you think, how is the wonderful talent? ”

Miaocai, that is, Xiahou Yuan, not only has high martial arts, but also first-class means of commanding troops, and what he is best at is to fight surprise attacks.

When Xun You and the others heard this, they nodded one after another, although there are many generals under Cao Cao's account, but those who are suitable for this battle really have to be Xiahou Yuan.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Cao Cao immediately ordered someone to recruit Xiahou Yuan, and ordered Xiahou Yuan to rush to Hanoi alone in the starry night, if he transferred troops from Xingyang or Aocang, he was afraid that Ye Zhao would be detected, so Cao Cao could only send troops from Hanoi to succeed.

After Xiahou Yuan received the order, without saying a word, he rushed to Hanoi with a flying horse, and early the next morning, Cao Cao, as usual, led his army to the Tiger Prison Pass to fight.

Ye Zhao was cunning, in order to prevent Ye Zhao from seeing the clues, Cao Cao did not make much action, just like in the past.

This time, Ye Zhao didn't notice it, and in the direction of Mengjin, although Ye Zhao didn't think that Cao Cao would attack, there were also thousands of soldiers and horses stationed there.

Meng Jin guarded the general, even if he was not as good as the general under Ye Zhao, but he was not an unknown person, but Wu Yi, the general of Shuzhong who was surrendered when he was in Shuzhong.

After all, although Ye Zhao has many soldiers and few generals, it is impossible to send generals to guard in a city that does not have much effect on weekdays, Wu Yi said that his ability is not bad, and he has followed Ye Zhao for many years, but he is also conscientious, although there is no great merit, but there is a lot of hard work, plus Mengjin still has a thousand soldiers stationed, whether it is Ye Zhao or Guo Jia and Li Ru, firstly, they do not pay enough attention to Mengjin, and secondly, they also feel that with the topography of Mengjin, even if Cao Cao really comes to attack, Wu Yi and a thousand defenders are enough to deal with it, In addition, Cao Cao has not changed much from the past, so that neither Ye Zhao, Li Ru, nor Guo Jia are aware of Cao Cao's intentions.