Yuan Shao heard that Xu You had something to say, so he said, "Ziyuan will say." ”

Xu Yu said: "My lord, Xu Hou and Meng De spread the word to the world, it is really a last resort, and the lord does not need to be angry about it." Besides, don't they still serve the lord as their head? The one who is really despised by the people of the world because of this is the general. So my lord, what Bao Jibei said may not be unreasonable, isn't you the only one who can fight against Dong Thief in this world? Now that you are ready to conform to the will of the people, send troops to the river, and then allocate thousands of elites in Baojibei to replenish the army, why not? ”

Yuan Shu has always been contemptuous of Yuan Shao's mother, Yuan Shao has a long-term grudge against this, listening to Xu Yu's words, he remembered that when he was in Luoyang, Xu Chu 'admired him', and Yuan Shu had no intention of visiting, so his anger decreased slightly, and he thought: The big thing has not yet been raised, Jizhou is still in the hands of Han Fu, and at this time it is really not necessary to make enemies on all sides and make more grudges. Then he got off the donkey and said with a smile: "Thanks to Ziyuan's reminder, I almost blamed Meng De and Zhongkang!" Yuncheng, you once led the cavalry with the late general He Jin, and you have a lot of experience in military strategy, I intend to allocate 2,000 elites to you, so that you and Zhong Jian will send troops together. ”

......

After the text was dispersed, no one was invited to raise troops, except for Yuan Shao, who sent troops to garrison near the river, and other places were like a stone into the sea, without stirring up the slightest wave.

After Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zhan, Tao Qian, Liu Dai and other princes received the text, their reactions were similar to Yuan Shao's, they were all very angry, but they were helpless.

Xu Chu, who was in Yangzhai, was not surprised by this, but was overjoyed.

Now that Dong Jun's morale is low, it is of course best that no one comes to compete for merit. Moreover, there are already Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses threatening the north of Luoyang, and if he and Cao Cao have no accidents, they should be able to win.

In late June, Xu Chu and Cao Cao officially launched their troops.

Except for the two of them, each of whom left a soldier and horse to cooperate with the county soldiers to guard against the Dong army at Yuyuan Pass, the rest of the men and horses all left the county, and they still went north through Liang County as they did last time.

Cao Cao appointed Xiahoudun as the head of the county soldier Cao Peng, but Xu Chu still left Xu Shu in charge of Yangzhai.

Last time, Cao Cao was the suspect and Xu Chu was the vanguard, so this time the task of the pioneer was handed over to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's department took Cao Ren and Cao Hong as the vanguard, commanding 3,000 elite troops, and he himself led the main force of the Chinese army with Xiahou Yuan, about 10,000 people, Shi Jian and Lou Yi were behind the palace.

Yingchuan is narrow, and the number of troops sent this time is far more than the last time, Xu and Cao's two troops and horses cannot enter at the same time, otherwise nearly 50,000 foot cavalry and subsequent baggage convoys can fill the road, but make the army walk more slowly, so two days after Cao Cao's departure, Xu Chu followed later.

Xu Chu's side is different from the last time, because during this time, a cadre of generals including Gan Ning, Li Tong, Chen Gong, Liu Bei and others actively sought to fight, so in the end, Xu Chu handed over the task of the vanguard to Gan Ning and Li Tong, with three thousand followers, two thousand is Gan Ning's ministry, and one thousand is Li Tong's subordinate. After Gan Ning and Li Tong, Xu Chu personally led the generals to follow, leading the main force of 10,000 people, and the last was the 2,000 soldiers who first entered the camp from Lejin.

It is worth mentioning that Fan A also traveled with the army. For this great doctor, this is the first time he has joined the army, and his feelings are extremely complicated. On the one hand, Fan A became nervous because it was the first time he fought with the army, and on the other hand, he was excited by Xu Chu's other eyes, and secretly made up his mind that he must behave well.

All the way to the west, Xu Chu was traveling in a car this time. It's not that he is playing music, but that Xi Zhong has not been in good health for a while and can't ride a horse, considering that there is another Guo Jia in the army whose physical condition is worrying, Xu Chu decided to change vehicles, and simply let Guo Jia, Xi Zhong, and Xin Bi all sit in the car and march.

"Ahem!"

Xi Zhong coughed twice, supported the cushion under his buttocks with one hand, and glanced at Xu Chu gratefully. He immediately took out the map, pointed to the map and said, "Lord, according to the arrangement before departure, General Cao has probably arrived here at this time. ”

The place that Xi Zhong refers to is only a hundred miles away from Dagu Pass.

Cao Cao was eager to fight, and now he had only traveled for five days from the day he sent out his troops, and he had already reached a distance where he could drive his troops at high speed.

After discussing the battle plan with Cao Cao, Xu Chu decided to attack Dagu Pass alone. Among the three passes they could reach, Yuyuan Pass was the most difficult to attack, Yique Pass was the farthest, and the terrain was more dangerous than Dagu Pass. Although the Dagu Pass is also built on the mountain, the terrain outside the pass is relatively open, which is convenient for the army to deploy and arrange. And as mentioned before, Dagu also has a big advantage, that is, once it is taken, it can go around to the back of the Yuyuan Pass and take a two-sided attack on the Yuyuan Pass, so that the Yuyuan Pass that makes Xu Chu extremely disgusting will no longer be owned by Dong Jun.

The main general of this line of defense is still Hu Zhen Hu Wencai, and more than 15,000 elite infantry cavalry in his headquarters are stationed at Yique Pass at this time, and it is Lu Bu's soldiers and horses who are guarding Dagu Pass, which is why Xu Chu and Cao Cao chose Dagu Pass.

Dong Zhuo still put Lu Bu and Hu Zhen together to guard the two passes of Yique and Dagu this time, not because he lost his mind, but out of helplessness. One is because of the interference of the Bai Bo army and Yuan Shao's Chen soldiers near the river, so that his soldiers and horses are a little stretched; The other is because changing generals in battle is not conducive to the morale of the army, and Lu Bu is indeed a fierce general, and the state soldiers are subdued by him, so they have to use it.

Of course, the direction of the main attack was set at Dagu Pass, and how to fight it was Cao Cao's own business as the vanguard department, and it was up to him to decide when he came to the opportunity.

Xu Chu looked at the place pointed by Xi Zhong, and was just about to speak, when the scout Pegasus came to the car.

Xi Zhong stretched his hand out of the car window, took the two reports sent by the scout, and unfolded them, but they talked about Kong Ling and Sun Jian.

After reading it, he handed over the information to Xu Chu and said, "Kong Yuzhou not only did not accept the invitation, but he didn't even see the envoy's face. ”

This is a step before leaving the county, Xu Chu fell down.

It is a sure thing that Kong Ling will not send troops, and Xu Chu invited him several times, not to ask him to send troops, but to peek into the reality of the state capital.

Offended this old man hard enough, although Kong Ling's ability is limited and he is just a corrupt Confucian, but he is very ambiguous with Yuan Shu, if he is not worried at all that Kong Ling will be bad behind his back after he leaves Yingchuan, it is also unrealistic.

The newspaper in Yuzhou also wrote that Kong Ling was sick after arriving at the state capital and did not open for a day.

Xu Chuxin said: Kong Ling was old, couldn't stand the fatigue of the boat, and after returning to the state capital, he fell ill again. If his illness is true, then the rear should be worry-free.

So he asked the scout and said, "The envoy who went to the state capital, have you seen Wu Zhi?" ”

The scout replied, "I see, Wu Zhi also has a letter to bring to the prince." ”

After reading Wu Yi's letter, Xu Chu can be regarded as having his heart in his stomach, and Kong Ling's illness is true.

Another report said about the situation of Sun Jian's department, this time, Sun Jian must participate, but he is now trapped in Liang County, watching Cao Cao with men and horses through, but because he is still fighting with Yuan Shu, without Yuan Shu's grain and grass funding, he will not be able to send troops.

Xu Chu also knew that with Sun Jian's character, he would eventually send troops, and the reason why Yuan Shu held on to the grain and grass was probably because he was afraid that Sun Jianli's credit would be too great, but sooner or later he still couldn't beat Sun Jian, after all, Sun Jian was not an easy person.

After Xu Chu passed Liang County, Cao Cao's military reports kept coming.

From the beginning of a hundred miles north of Liang County, Cao Cao continued to encounter the soldiers and horses of the Dong army, or the garrison camp arranged by Hu Zhen, or some roaming cavalry, in short, the war continued, there were several battles every day, Cao Cao's morale was strong, and he won the battle. Although they were all painless and irrelevant battles, they also boosted the morale of the troops under Xu Chu's army.

As soon as he came into contact, he knew that Dong Jun this time obviously did not have the sharpness of the last time.

In the evening of that day, Xu Chu ordered to camp and received a military report from Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao's troops advanced to the two passes of Yique and Dagu, he made a decision - let Cao Ren and Cao Hong attack Yique Pass at any cost.

After Xu Chu received the letter, he hurriedly called everyone to discuss the matter.

Guo Jia commented: "This is General Cao's plan to attack the west. Hu Zhen and Xu Rong in Yique Pass, at this moment, must think that we are the main attack on Yique Pass, and when the lord arrives with his troops, General Cao will wave his army and we will storm Dagu Pass, and we can fight a battle! ”

Xu Chu nodded, but frowned: "It's just that Hu Zhen is not a wise man, and Xu Rong is even more cunning, if he doesn't hurt them, he may still not be able to make Dong Jun trick." ”

At this time, the two armies were fighting, and the key point was the same as last time, Xu Chu and Cao Cao were very afraid that the war would be dragged on, and once it became a tug-of-war, they might still return in vain.

Although the comparison between the Dong army and the Xu and Cao coalition armies in Yique and Dagu Pass is that their own side has the advantage, but the victory or defeat of the two armies in the battle is never determined by the number of troops.

The biggest variable is Dong Zhuo, Jia Xu and others in Luoyang.

If Dong Zhuo and Jia Xu had discovered Xu Chu's and Cao Cao's combat intentions in time and hurriedly sent troops to aid Dagu Pass, the battle would have been difficult to fight.

Another variable should be Hu Zhen, Lu Bu, Xu Rong and other guards.

If the three of them can work together, communicate with each other, and cooperate tacitly, they can also discover the intentions of Xu Chu and Cao Cao in time, and the two support each other, and the battle will not be easy to fight.

Especially Lu Bu's Bingzhou soldiers, the soldiers will be fierce, although the number is not very large, but the threat of field warfare is great, in case a new reinforcement is sent to Dagu Pass and liberates Lu Bu, then Xu Chu will once again face the ruthless impact of the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry.

......

However, he said that Cao Cao went first, cleared the road from Liangxian to the two passes for Xu Chu, and after arriving between the two passes, he sent Cao Ren and Cao Hong to lead the headquarters of 3,000 elites to counterattack the Dong army outside the Yique Pass.

The commander of the Dong army outside the gate is Xu Rong, he climbed high and looked at it, and said to the left and right: "Cao Cao sent troops to choke the main road between our department and Yique Pass, and he led the main force to choke the main road between Yique Pass and Dagu Pass. ”

Li Meng, who was standing on the side, said: "The soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, no matter what ......tricks Cao Cao has, General Xu, please order Meng to destroy this army!" ”

Xu Rong thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay!" Captain Li is brave and powerful, and it is the time to use it! Pass my military order, and you will take 2,000 steps to the battle! ”

Li Meng led the army to fight fiercely with Cao Ren and Cao Hong, and fought for a day, with casualties on each other, but Li Meng could not capture the camp of Cao's army, so at sunset, Mingjin withdrew his troops. Counting the results of the battle, it is clear that Cao's army suffered greater losses.

Xu Rong had been watching the situation of the battle, and he thought: If it is a feint, there is no need to fight so fiercely with Li Meng, so regardless of casualties, it does seem like it is to clear the obstacles for the follow-up troops...... But in any case, the number of this Cao army is still smaller.

After Li Meng returned to the camp, Xu Rong immediately summoned him to ask questions.

"Who is the general of this Cao army?"

Li Meng replied: "Cao Ren, Cao Hong." ”

Xu Rong listened, and said, 'Huh'. Cao Ren and Cao Hong are both members of Cao Cao's clansmen, and they were appointed as vanguards, and they should not be suspicious of life and death.

The position of Cao Ren and Cao Hong is indeed very dangerous, and now Hu Zhen in Yique Pass must know about the war outside the pass, as far as Cao Ren and Cao Hong's headquarters are located, as long as Hu Zhen sends troops out of the pass, it is easy to be semi-surrounded by the Dong army, which becomes a situation of nine deaths and one life.

Xu Rong thought about Cao Cao, no matter how ruthless he was, he would not be so ruthless as to let his people go to 'death', so he hurriedly wrote a military report and sent someone to Guannei, asking Hu Zhen to immediately send troops to cooperate with the battle, and strive to encircle and annihilate all this Cao army.

At this time, Cao Cao was also in a dilemma.

Cao Cao didn't expect that Xu Rong, who was stationed outside the pass, would begin to doubt his motives so quickly, and send Li Meng to attack Cao Ren and Cao Hongbu so quickly. Now it seems that he underestimated Xu Rong.

The generals and colonels in the tent gathered, and one of them came out and said: "General, Zixiao and Zilian are not many people, and if they are tested by Dong Jun, I am afraid that it will be dangerous." ”

Cao Cao turned his eyes to it, and it turned out to be Cao Chun.

Cao Chun, Zihe, the younger brother of Cao Ren. This time, Cao Cao sent Cao Hong back to Peiguo to recruit troops, and Cao Chun, who had just won the crown, came with Cao Hong. Cao Chun's martial arts are good, and he is especially good at horse fighting, after his arrival, Cao Cao immediately appointed him as the cavalry marquis under Xiahou Yuan's account.

Cao Cao said with a smile: "Zihe doesn't have to worry too much, Xu Rong is too calm with his troops, Hu Zhen is shouldering two guards, the two of them should be the first ......to seek stability, besides, Zixiao and Zilian's martial arts are good, even if they encounter danger, as long as we support in time, they should still be fine." ”

Cao Cao said this, mainly to calm the morale of the army, in fact, he himself knew that Cao Ren and Cao Hong were in a very critical situation and needed to find a way as soon as possible. The problem is that if Cao Ren and Cao Hong withdraw their troops at this time, it is equivalent to telling Hu Zhen and Xu Rong that what he sent is only a suspicious army, and what he really wants to fight is Dagu Pass, so he is in a dilemma, and there is no good way for a while.

At this time, Xiahou Yuan came out and said: "The art of war is cloudy: encircling Wei to save Zhao." Meng De, it is better for me to personally lead the cavalry to display in the field, once the Hu Zhen Department in the pass invites the battle, I will lead the cavalry to attack the Xu Rong military camp. In this way, the danger of filial piety and honesty is self-solved. ”

Cao Cao sighed, the disadvantages of this are obvious, his feint attack on Yique Pass may be dragged by Hu Zhen and Xu Rong, and it has become a situation that cannot be broken.

Thinking about it, Cao Cao said categorically: "No need! I believe in the ability of Zixiao and Zilian, as long as they hold for two days, Xu Hou's vanguard will arrive, and if they hold for three days, we will be able to take our troops to attack Datani together! ”

Cao Chun still wanted to speak, but was glared at by Cao Cao, so he had to give up.