Attacking Shouchun along the Huai River, this is not easy to say, and it is not very difficult to say that it is difficult.

The New Han Army under Gan Ning's command once attacked Shouchun City with Liu Yi, and forced Yuan Shu at that time to donate a large amount of money and grain to the New Han Army to solve the food crisis of the New Han Dynasty at that time. Having said that, the grain that Yuan Shu asked for in the name of borrowing back then has not been repaid by the New Han Army. Of course, now Yuan Shu has already become a dry bone, and the New Han Dynasty doesn't know who to go to even if it wants to go.

It is precisely because of the experience of an offensive that the naval army of the New Han Army actually has a very clear understanding of the terrain along the Huai River.

If it is difficult, it is that Cai Mao has built many water villages along the Huai River in recent years, and each section of the river is a little turbulent. There will be barrage fortifications arranged by Cai Mao, if it is an ordinary water army, do not want to open up the waterway of the Huai River.

For example, Cai Mao made it difficult for slightly larger warships to pass through the river, except for some sections of the river that must be guarded. Also, there are countless barrages along the river, and there are also floating barricades full of spikes. Along the river, there are many arrow towers, many fixed trebuchet batteries, and many river dam walls built according to the environment.

In the water, there are many means to attack the New Han army that has been killed along the river, and on the river bank, it can also cooperate with the layout of the river to form a flank attack on the military horses of the New Han army in the river. It can be said that with the conventional way of attacking, every time Cao Jun's water village is obtained, or a section of the river is occupied, the casualties will be relatively large.

However, the offensive of the New Han Army was not just from the river.

After seizing Si County and Xuyi County on the north and south banks of the Huai River, the New Han Army was actually divided into three routes, and the whole way was naturally a direct attack along the river. The other two roads, respectively on the north and south banks of the Huai River, the three routes of military horses go hand in hand.

Often, when I encountered a river that was difficult to capture and some water villages, and military fortresses on the banks of the Huai River. The New Han army was not in a hurry to attack directly, but used the water army in the river to contain the Cao army in its section of the river, and then attacked by land. And to attack by land. It was not to directly attack their military village, but to first detour back to the nearby important towns, some of the grain granaries of the Cao army. The liquidation of the nearby Cao army made the overall situation form a large encirclement of those difficult river sections and pass fortresses. Divide the hard-to-conquer river sections, camps, etc., and leave them alone.

In this way, it naturally made those trapped Cao Jun panic, just like Cao Hong was in Jiangdu City, seeing that he was besieged by the New Han Army. The whole army will naturally be in turmoil, and often, there is no need for the New Han army to attack. If those Cao troops hadn't desperately broken through and taken the initiative to abandon their defensive posts, the New Han army would have easily captured those dangerous river passes and villages. Otherwise, some Cao troops surrendered directly and submitted to the New Han Dynasty.

In fact. If they don't break through, they don't surrender. The New Han army can trap them to death, and when they run out of food and grass, they will also starve to death in their passes.

Therefore, the New Han army, which attacked by land, directly bypassed those dangerous river sections and directly attacked the rear of Cao's army at those dangerous passes. Sometimes, they can break through dozens of miles in a day, so how can those Cao Jun, who don't know the situation in the rear, not panic?

Of course. The New Han Army dared to let go of its hands and feet so much, and attacked all the way desperately, mainly because of the current Shouchun side, the strength has been seriously insufficient, and there are not too many troops to block the attack of the New Han Army. This, I have to thank Cao Hong, if it weren't for the fact that almost all of his more than 200,000 troops were left in Jiangdu, and Cai Mao's army had more than 100,000 horses intercepted in Hongze Lake, and he has not been able to get out of Hongze Lake so far. Then, the New Han Army really didn't dare to drive straight into Shouchun so long.

In this way, as the blocking forces of the Cao army along the Huai River were destroyed one after another, and one by one the pass water villages were captured by the Xinhan army, Cai Mao's remaining 100,000 water troops could only retreat again and again, and retreated to the Huai River water army camp outside Shouchun City.

Soon, after the New Han army arrived, it was blocked by Cao Cao's army, which had no way to retreat, under the river less than twenty miles away from Shouchun City. The naval armies of the two armies each occupy the upper and lower reaches of the Huai River.

But with the attack of the New Han army from the land route, Cai Mao's naval defense line could be broken at any time.

Faced with the attack of the New Han army, which was so urgent, Cao Hong and Cai Mao respectively urgently sent fast horses to Xuchang for help. At this time, they couldn't care so much, knowing that if there were no reinforcements coming, Shouchun was afraid that it would be difficult to hold on. Once the army of the New Han Army approached Shouchun City, the bombardment of the trebuchets that greeted the New Han Army would make them tremble, and it would be difficult for them to withstand it for many days.

In Cao Cao's big tent, in front of the case, there were letters and reports sent by Cao Hong and Cai Mao's secret envoys.

If someone can see Cao Cao's eyes at this time, they must be able to see it clearly, Cao Cao's eyes are jumping into flames, and he is furious.

In fact, next to these two epistle reports, there is a thick stack of report documents. However, none of the letters and reports sent to him by Cao Hong and Cai Mao made him as angry as they were.

With the advent of the day of the ultimatum of the New Han Army. Although Cao Cao is mentally prepared and determined, no matter what, he will not bow to Liu Yi, no matter what, he will have a big battle with Liu Yi, even if he loses to Liu Yi in the end, he is willing. Becoming the king and defeating the king, Cao Cao already had a belief in death and fought Liu Yi to the end.

However, even with psychological preparation, Cao Cao did not expect that the New Han Army's movements would be so fast, and the New Han Army's offensive momentum would be so fierce.

Once Xiangcheng is lost, then the New Han Army does not need to pay attention to the offensive in other directions, and the army of the New Han Army can completely kill from the direction of Wancheng through Xiangcheng to the city of Xudu. In this way, many of the arrangements he had laid out earlier would all come to naught, and in the end, it would immediately turn into a decisive battle with the New Han army in front of the city of Xu.

This is the last thing Cao Cao wants to see. If the New Han Army was allowed to kill Xu Du so quickly, then why did he make so many arrangements? Then why not simply recall the whole army to Xudu and let the New Han army kill Xudu for a decisive battle? The winner of the first battle is, not to mention the problems on the battlefield of other lines of defense?

So, Cao Cao knows. Xiangcheng must not be lost, and he must send reinforcements to support Xiangcheng.

However, Cao Cao couldn't make up his mind for a while about Man Pang's plan to annihilate the 200,000 troops of the New Han Army in front of Xiangcheng. Because he didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know how to send a large army there. Can you really destroy the 200,000 New Han army according to Manpang's plan? If it can't be extinguished and defeated, then it will affect his future fate.

When Cao Cao had not yet made a decision on whether to send a large army to support Xiangcheng and how many military horses to send. On the Runan side, Zhang Liao sent a fast horse again and reported the situation to him.

The New Han Army actually killed in front of Runan City? So, doesn't it mean that it won't work if you want Zhang Liao to lead the army of Runan to Xiangcheng to participate in the battle? In addition, Cao Cao also saw Zhang Liao's report. mentioned that Xiliang Ma Chao led 100,000 Xiliang iron horsemen to the front of Runan City. Seeing this news, Cao Cao suddenly felt bad. Immediately vetoed Manpang's plan to annihilate 200,000 Xinhan troops.

At this time, the situation has been completely unfavorable to him, at this moment, his military horses can ensure that they are not lost, and it is already good to be able to hold the place that he arranged earlier, and he dares to mention that he has destroyed so many military horses at one time? If you don't get it right, you will be bitten back by the Xinhan army. Then you will really be defeated.

The experience of fighting with the New Han Army earlier, lessons learned. Let Cao Cao deeply realize one point, that is, if you see that there seems to be an opportunity to defeat the New Han army, then you must be extremely careful. Because, most likely. This is the trick of the New Han Army. To be honest, even if it seemed that the New Han Army had been defeated, Cao Cao did not dare to take it lightly, because it might be the defeat of the New Han Army. It's seduction.

In this way, when Cao Cao learned that Xiliang Ma Chao's Xiliang Tie was riding there, Cao Cao immediately considered that this was very likely to be a conspiracy of the New Han Army. Suppose he sent a large army now, and ordered Zhang Liao's Runan Cao army to drive together to Xiangcheng to annihilate the 200,000 troops and horses of the New Han army. Ma Chao's Xiliang Iron Cavalry can assault the back of their military horses at any time. At least, according to the intelligence, the New Han Army under Guan Yu is about to reach Runan City, which means that Runan City will definitely be lost. If Runan City is lost, it will be equivalent to opening the southern gate of Xudu, so Cao Cao really doesn't dare to move lightly now.

The only good news is that now, his own troops have not suffered much damage, and he can basically maintain a full staffing establishment. As long as his strength is not lost, then Cao Cao feels that he must still have a chance. At that time, even before the battle with the New Han Army in Xudu, he would still have the confidence to fight with the New Han Army.

Then, the information that came made Cao Cao a little surprised, because the naval army of Cai Mao, whom he had given high hopes, was able to win the battle, and the victory was greater than he expected. This made Cao Cao feel that the navy he had spent so much effort and so much manpower and material resources to build was not in vain.

If this momentum continues, the situation in Yangzhou is gratifying, at least, Yangzhou will not be lost, then even if the Runan side loses, the New Han army will not dare to drive straight in. After all, in Yangzhou, there are more than 300,000 naval troops, plus more than 200,000 troops from the headquarters led by Cao Hong, plus some local military horses, and the military horses in Yangzhou are afraid of more than 600,000 troops. There are 600,000 troops, which is enough to fight a general battle with the New Han army. Therefore, Cao Cao was pleasantly surprised by this and felt very comforted in his heart. However, this surprise made Cao Cao unhappy for two days. Immediately there was news that he had fallen into the abyss.

Cao Hong won first and then lost in Jiangdu, and almost the entire army was directly wiped out, and only 30,000 or 40,000 military horses fled back to Shouchun with him. In addition, Cai Mao's army, because of Cao Hong's relationship, directly damaged the military horses in Jinguan. As a result, Shouchun is in danger, and the entire Yangzhou is already crumbling, and I am afraid that it is also in danger.

At this critical moment, the loss of these 200,000 or 300,000 troops at once is not a good sign. This is tantamount to destroying Cao Cao's overall plan.

Cao Cao was really angry in his heart, and felt that Cao Hong and Cai Mao were too rash. What's more, the two generals actually wrote privately and reported separately, without a unified pace, and it seems that the two generals have been at odds. If we don't get along, how can we win the battle?

Cao Cao's heart was already full of killing intent. In Yangzhou, he not only had to vent his own bad anger, but also had to give an explanation to the officers and men of the whole army. Therefore, Cao Hong and Cai Mao must die. Only in this way can Cao Cao calm the anger in his heart, and can he give an explanation to the officers and men of the whole army, as well as stabilize the morale of the army, and warn some generals who take it lightly, so that they can be conscientious and cautious in the face of the attack of the New Han army.

If it was just Cao Hong who wrote a letter to report to Cao Cao and put the fault on Cai Mao. Then, Cao Cao may be unbearable and behead Cao Hong, the villain who lost the battle, but shirked his responsibility and made greedy words. After all, Cao Cao's heart is like a mirror, and he knows what kind of person Cao Hong is from the bottom of his heart. It is true that he has saved Cao Cao several times, and it is also true that his own brother is true, but Cao Hong is a little happy and a little greedy for money, usually, there are already a lot of his black background, but Cao Cao remembered Cao Hong's merits, and remembered that he was his own family after all, so he turned a blind eye to it and did not bother with Cao Hong. However, in some major matters, if Cao Hong made a mistake, Cao Cao could no longer cover it up.

What's more, under Cao Cao's account, there are really no generals who are proficient in water warfare, and Cai Mao is still useful.

Unfortunately, almost at the same time, Cao Cao also received a letter from Cai Mao.

How to say it, if Cai Mao didn't have too much heart, he would have guarded Shouchun for Cao Cao's town with peace of mind, and he would have worked hard and complained, no matter what Cao Hong said about him, he wouldn't argue too much with Cao Cao, and Cao Cao would have no excuse to take a good old man, at least, Cao Cao couldn't kill a person who worked hard for him for no reason, paid silently, and would rather be framed himself, but also silently fight for himself.

However, Cai Mao's letter directly shows that Cai Mao's current heart is not at all about how to fight with the New Han Army, but about worrying about his own guilt, worried that he Cao Cao will not know right from wrong, and will use him to blame. That, Cao Cao asked himself, is he such a loyal and treacherous master, right and wrong are unknown?

also because of Cai Mao's letter, Cao Cao also woke up, this Cai Mao is actually not a good person, a real villain. Now, isn't it just right to take a man to blame him? (To be continued.) )