In the month after the Spring Festival, the ice and snow have melted, and everything on the earth is green, and a piece of spring is full of joy.

Occasionally, a misty drizzle would fall, wetting the ground.

However, it looks more refreshing.

However, pedestrians walking on the road are complaining because the road is muddy and it is not easy to walk. In particular, the reserve army responsible for escorting grain and grass for the New Han Army. It's just that no matter how difficult the road is, it is difficult to stop the enthusiasm of the soldiers and people of the New Han Dynasty, who also yearn for the unity of the world, and this idea has been deeply rooted in the bones of the soldiers and people of the New Han Dynasty.

Only when the world is unified can they develop more confidently and welcome a better life.

A month passed, and although Cao Cao made some bloody letters in his Xudu area to petition for the people, it did not affect the decision of the New Han Dynasty in the end.

A big war is inevitable.

Naturally, Cao Cao's military horses are also not idle, but he has always been on the defensive. Therefore, his food supplies have already been prepared, and there is no need for frequent transfers. What is needed is only to consider the overall nature of the war, where to defend and where to give up, and even, they are also thinking about whether they can wait for work and carry out some local counterattacks if the New Han army attacks and kills.

With Cao Cao's character, even if he didn't have much confidence to fight with the New Han Army, he was unwilling to give in and admit defeat, and still wanted to win the final victory.

Cao Cao's deployment of military horses is also very particular, and he will use Yanzhou as the main battlefield, Yuzhou and Yangzhou. If you can keep it, if you can't keep it, you will withdraw your troops back immediately.

And for some of the major cities. Cao Cao still sent his generals to lead the army to defend it.

The main case.

Cao Cao sent Cao Ren, Zhang He, Zhang Xiu and other generals to guard Chongzhou. Zhang Liao, Yu Ban, Le Jin, Li Dian and others will sit in Yuzhou, and Cai Mao and Cao Hong will guard Yangzhou.

Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Huang and other generals stayed in Xudu with Cao Cao, and led their troops to engage the middle army of the New Han Army before reaching the Tiger Pass.

Speaking of generals, Cao Cao still has a lot of them, all of whom are generals who can have a battle with the generals of the New Han Army.

In addition, the children of the Cao family, the children of the surname Xiahou. There are also many growing, if Cao Cao is really given more time to develop, in a few years, it will add a lot of help. It's a pity that Liu Yi can't give time to Cao Cao anymore.

When the time came, the various armies of the New Han Army invariably began to move at the agreed time, and for a time, the 3 million New Han Army troops were dispatched almost simultaneously. Let the wind and clouds change.

The first thing to start was the battlefield on the Jingzhou side.

The first battle of the final battle was fought by Chen Zhi and Wei Yan and Qin Jie of Wancheng, who first launched an attack on Xiangcheng.

Chen Zhi has stayed in Wancheng in recent years and has been preparing for the surrender of the army in Jingzhou. Wei Yan led the first 100,000 New Han troops to attack Hanzhong, and later after Chen Zhi recovered from his injuries, he was ordered to reorganize the army. Reorganize more than 100,000 Jingzhou young and strong troops transferred by Guan Yu. Today, the spirit of these Jingzhou troops is completely new. It's no longer the same disgusted and powerless way it used to be.

An army with conviction is the most effective army.

Wei Yan transferred back some elite military horses from Hanzhong and Yizhou. But not all of them were brought back, only 50,000 horses were brought back. Qin Jie is even more needless to say, Liu Yi had already let him lead a group army to participate in the attack on Jizhou alone, when Tai Shi Ci went to the northern battlefield alone to fight, he stayed in Jizhou, and then the overall situation in the north has been decided, after Tai Shi Ci returned to Jizhou, Qin Jie led his headquarters army and horses back to Luoyang, and after asking Liu Yi, he led the army to Wancheng.

After all, he has been guarding Wancheng for nearly ten years, and he already has a deep affection for Wancheng, so even if it is a whole army, he wants to lead the army back to Wancheng to rest.

It can be said that the military horses of these three generals can be regarded as having been recuperated for a period of time, and everyone is fierce and fierce, and the call for war is extremely high.

Officers and men of the three armies, they have waited too long for this day.

Early in the morning, it was still drizzling, and the officers and men of the three armies began to raise the banner of denouncing Cao Cao and set off from Wancheng.

From Wancheng to Xiangcheng, two hundred miles, if the Xinhan army first crossed the Yushui River and then to Xiangcheng, it is estimated that it will be easier, mainly because the road is easier to walk, but if it is along the side of the mountain, it will be a little difficult.

However, the three generals unanimously decided to bypass the edge of the mountain and attack directly under Xiangcheng.

In this way, it is easy to give up and difficult to take, and there is naturally a reason for three generals.

Because Cao Cao has always stationed heavy troops in Xiangcheng, and sent a general to guard the town, there are not a few troops, at least more than 200,000.

According to the intelligence of the spies, Cao Cao sent 100,000 elite cavalry troops in Xiangcheng, and another 100,000 infantry troops defending the city. Now, it is estimated that some more military horses will be sent, so it is estimated that the strength of Xiangcheng will also be around 250,000. In this way, in terms of troops, the three generals do not seem to have an advantage.

Knowing the time of the decisive battle, how could Cao Cao's army easily let the New Han army kill directly to Xiangcheng? Again, don't forget, the area on the other side of the Yushui River is now Cao Cao's sphere of influence, and the towns along the road actually have Cao Cao's defenders.

Also, the New Han Army did not have many troops left to guard Wancheng, only about one army, and they were all military horses drawn from Yiyang. If Cao Cao went to attack one city and one place, once Cao Cao's army knew that the New Han army in Wancheng was insufficient, and let him suddenly send out cavalry to raid Wancheng, it would be more than worth the loss.

Therefore, the three generals decided to attack Xiangcheng directly, forcing the Xiangcheng defenders to defend with all their might, and did not dare to easily send troops to attack Wancheng.

War is two-sided, it will never be as simple as attacking and defending, you attack, I can also attack. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account such a situation.

In addition, there is another situation, that is, it is safe to walk the mountain road, and you will not worry about being ambushed by Cao's army. Why? It is because the New Han Dynasty has always left people to operate in the northwest of Yuzhou. For example, Liu Yu, who once occupied the Yellow Turban Army in Runan, has been under the banner of bandits since he surrendered to the New Han Dynasty. Activities in Yuzhou.

Later, Cao Cao really took control of Yuzhou. Zhang He, Zhang Liao and other big men were sent to clear the bandits and bandits in the Yuzhou area, so that Liu Yu and others suddenly had a lot less room for activities. In this way, it had to withdraw to the mountainous areas north of Xiangcheng. On several occasions, Liu Yu was almost wiped out by Zhang Liao and Zhang He's Cao army, and he had to flee with his thousands of thieves to the vicinity of Wancheng to take refuge.

In this way, in fact, Cao Cao also vaguely knew that the remnants of the Yellow Turban operating in the Yuzhou area were very likely to be sabotaged by Liu Yi in his territory of influence. It's a pity that Liu Yu has always been a yellow turban thief. Cao Cao couldn't find evidence that Liu Yi was a thief, otherwise, this would also be a reason for Cao Cao to attack Liu Yi.

Liu Yu and the others are not having an easy time, if it weren't for the Xinhan Dynasty secretly allocating grain and grass to him, he is afraid that he will not be able to endure it for a long time. However, to explore the way for the New Han army and beware of the ambush of the Cao army, Liu Yu can still do it.

As for why Xiangcheng has so many military horses from Cao Cao? Needless to say. Xiangcheng has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times. Moreover, it is very close to Xuchang, but it is more than 100 miles, which is much closer than Wancheng to Xiangcheng. Therefore. Xiangcheng is the city that Cao Cao must defend, and it is a city that must not be lost.

Yuzhou, Zhang Liao, Lejin town guard the main city of Runan. Yu Ban and Li Dian guarded Xiangcheng.

In fact, for Li Dian. The Xiangcheng area is his nightmare. When he participated in leading the army from Xiangcheng to Xinye, preparing to fight against the New Han Army with the Jingzhou Army, he was ambushed twice by the New Han Army in the same place, and he was almost killed on the battlefield.

This time, though, he decided to get up from where he fell. Therefore, he took the initiative to ask Cao Cao for help and guard Xiangcheng. Cao Cao considered that Yu Ban would be better than Li Dian in the Forbidden Society, so he let Yu Ban be the main general and Li Dian as the deputy general. In addition, Man Pang was sent as a military advisor to help the two generals defend Xiangcheng to resist the New Han army.

In fact, such a distribution is understandable, but it has somewhat affected Yu Ban's judgment.

Originally, Yu Ban originally thought that he couldn't defend passively, and he had to take advantage of the opportunity of the New Han Army to be arrogant and despise them, and take the initiative to attack the unprepared New Han Army.

Think about it, the new Han Dynasty has already made a final deal with them, and in a month, if their lord Cao Cao does not surrender, then they will attack them.

Such a unilateral announcement of the timing of the dispatch of troops is actually the worst, because it is tantamount to telling the enemy that the enemy is ready in advance. Even, it can be targeted to make some actions that are not conducive to the New Han Army.

From Wancheng to Xiangcheng, more than 200 miles of mountain roads, there will always be many places suitable for their Tibetan army and suitable for them to ambush. However, because Li Dian had the experience of falling in the same place twice in a row, he did not approve of Yu Ban's idea, thinking that it was mainly safe and not easy to take the initiative.

Another point, Yu Ban himself is not completely sure that if the New Han army attacks them, it will attack them first, as well as the march route of the New Han army. Because, he only had a flash of inspiration to ambush the plan of the New Han Army, and in the end he failed to implement it.

Although Man Pang was full of talent, he was not very familiar with the art of war and tactics, and he could not give a positive opinion in this regard. He could only tell Yu Ban and Li Dian a big picture.

For example, Yuzhou cannot be defended, and it is difficult to defend, therefore, he believes that the most critical thing in the entire Yuzhou is Xiangcheng, including the strategic position of Runan City, which is not as important as Xiangcheng. As long as Xiangcheng is held, it is equivalent to being able to defend Yingchuan and Yingyang, and it can be guaranteed to be worry-free. When necessary, Man Pang even wanted Zhang Liao and Le Jin and other generals to concentrate the entire army of Yuzhou in the area of Xiangcheng.

It's just that it is still the early stage of the war, and even if it is a strategic initiative to shrink the defense, the whole army cannot be withdrawn immediately, otherwise, Yangzhou will not have to defend it, and it will be directly handed over to the New Han Dynasty.

Therefore, even Cao Cao's plan is the same, at the beginning, he must play a momentum, and he must fight with the New Han Army every inch, which causes him Cao Cao's determination not to back down and vow to fight the New Han Army to the end.

In the entire Yuzhou area, the Cao army was actually very nervous, especially the New Han Dynasty had publicly said that when the time came to attack them, the Cao army in the first place of every city was almost tense and always stared at the place where the New Han army and horses might appear.

In the Lushan area on the other side of the Yushui River, the Cao army guard general of the county seat, he led about thousands of defenders to watch the movements of the New Han army on the other side of the Yushui River.

That, thousands of Cao soldiers, want him to hold this first-line town, he really even wants to die.

Well, his name is Cai De, he is a member of Cai Mao's Cai family, because he has a little kung fu, and after Cai Mao's operation, he has obtained the position of a county guard. Originally, when the New Han Dynasty did not openly say that it would attack Cao Cao, in peacetime, Cao Cao's army would be stationed along the Yushui River to confront the New Han army on the opposite bank. Even, along the riverbank, a lot of military villages have been built, and there are quite a lot of fortifications.

However, now Cao's army has basically withdrawn from the military fortress on the riverbank, and does not intend to defend according to the defense line on the riverbank. In this way, the Cao soldiers who left Lushan County only had so many thousands. It also made Lushan County suddenly become a town that was the first to be attacked by the New Han Army.

That, Cao Cao knew that the New Han army had a large number of troops, and it was impossible for him to accumulate a large number of military horses along the Yushui River, Xiangjiang River, and Yangtze River to hold the thousands of miles of Yangtze River defense line. It is impossible to hold it, so the real war is completely different from the confrontation phase of the war. Cao Cao had to concentrate his forces somewhere. In this way, if you want to defend or attack, you can better launch.

Cai De's heart is like ashes, he doesn't dare to be like him, he leads these thousands of Cao troops, if the New Han army is killed, it will be hundreds of thousands of military horses, all over the mountains, how can he defend it?

Therefore, these days, Cai De's mind is not at peace for a moment, staring at the movement on the other side of the river, and worrying.

However, the new Han army in Wancheng did not directly cross the river to attack. Instead, he quietly marched from the mountains to the north early in the morning, avoiding the eyes and ears of Cao Jun.

Fast horses are running around, passing on information.

From Wancheng to Xiangcheng, more than two hundred miles, it is impossible to catch up in one day, unless they are all cavalry. However, if you take the mountain road, even the cavalry is a little difficult.

A day passed, Yu Ban, Li Dian, and Man Pang were in the meeting hall of Xiangcheng, pointing and scratching at some maps on the cloth, all wondering about something.

"It's strange, it's impossible for the New Han Army not to attack us, how can we report quickly, the 200,000 or 300,000 New Han Army assembled in Wancheng still hasn't moved? It can't be, it has to be like this, yes, it has to be like this! ”

Yu Ban was a little annoyed and pointed to some mountain maps and said: "Sure enough, it is not out of a certain expectation, the New Han Army is probably coming straight to our Xiangcheng!" ”

"W-This won't be, will it? The 300,000 or so Xinhan troops in Wancheng dared to attack us alone more than 200 miles away? Aren't you afraid that we will send a large army to destroy this army of his? Man Pang said with a look of disbelief. (To be continued.) )