"Now that Lu Bu is dead and Yuan Shu is broken, where should General Zhang go? However, the world is big, and the only person who can vote for the general is Cao Gong. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info" Liu Yong smiled slightly and continued: "If the general votes for Prime Minister Cao, there are three advantages and no disadvantages. The position of Prime Minister Cao Gong is to be sealed by today's son, and he conquers the four seas in the name of the Son of Heaven, which is a benefit. Now in terms of power, Yuan Shao is strong and Cao Gong is weak, Yuan Shao has you as the icing on the cake, but Cao Gong has you like charcoal in the snow, this is two benefits. Third, Yuan Shao is wide on the outside and taboo on the inside, is indecisive and indecisive, hesitates and is suspicious, and it is difficult to reuse if the general goes; And Cao Gong is different, Cao Gong has the ambition of a king, the amount of tolerance, the corporal of courtesy, and the thirst for talent, and the former enemies are later submissive and reused. With these three benefits, what doubts does the general have? ”

Liu Yong's words were very convincing to Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu sighed: "It's all to blame Zhang Xiu for being stupid, listening to the general's words, which made me suddenly open, please worship the prime minister in the above book, Zhang Xiu is willing to surrender." ”

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he received Zhang Xiu's request to surrender, and personally led the Chinese military officials to meet him outside the city of Xudu, giving Zhang Xiu enough face. Cao Cao also asked Emperor Xian to add Zhang Xiu as the general of Yangwu, Jia Xu as the envoy of the ruling Jinwu, and Liu Yong as the Marquis of Yiting. Cao Cao was happy not only to accept Zhang Xiu, but also to get Jia Xu. Cao Cao asked: "Wenhe, now that Zhang Xiu has returned, the world is shaking, and I want to take the opportunity to surrender Liu Biao and Sun Ce, I don't know if it is feasible?" ”

Jia Xu shook his head and said: "Ming Gong, Liu Jingsheng sits on the seven counties of Jingxiang, has a base of thousands of miles, more than 100,000 soldiers, and the people are rich and the country is rich, how can he surrender easily?" Sun Ce shook the Quartet, his subordinates and military generals gathered, unstoppable, in just a few years, all the land in the east of the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River moat as a barrier, and he was not a surrenderer. ”

Cao Cao nodded and said to Liu Yong, "What does Chongru think?" ”

Liu Yong arched his hand and said: "Liu Yong thinks what Brother Wen He said is very true. For example, although there are many princes in various towns today, Yuan Shu's life is like a gossamer, and it is not worth mentioning; Jiangdong Sun Ce is heroic and martial, but he is new to Huiji and Yuzhang, and the domain is uneasy. self-care; Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, and Zhang Lu only knew how to defend the land and protect themselves, and they did nothing, and they didn't have to worry too much. In the next thought, the prime minister is a patient. Only Yuan Shao'er of Hebei. ”

Cao Cao asked again: "How about Gu Ruo send troops to recruit Liu Biao and Sun Ce first?" ”

"Prime Minister, don't!" Liu Yong bowed and replied, "Although Liu Biao is not afraid, it is not a matter of day; Our army is not accustomed to water warfare, and it is difficult to have a chance of winning a battle with Sun Ce. Even if you win. It must also be that the army is exhausted, the food and grass are useless, and the camp is full of wounded soldiers. ”

Xun You also said: "As he said, Xun You also feels the same way. The prime minister must first destroy Yuan Shao and unify Hebei before he can conquer Liu Biao and Sun Ce. ”

Cao Cao stroked his beard and laughed: "How can I not know the reason if I am familiar with reading military books." Lone just wants to try Chongru. Liu Yong couldn't help but sweat on his forehead when he heard this. I only heard Cao Cao ask again: "Chongru, in your opinion, how can Lone Dang make a decision?" ”

"Prime Minister. Liu Jingsheng is short-sighted, has no ambitions, is only content to defend the land, and does not want to forge ahead; He is a person who is wide on the outside and taboo on the inside, is indecisive, has talent but cannot use it, hears good but cannot accept it, and sits and talks about it. Prime Minister Ruo took the initiative to form an alliance with him to show goodwill. Liu Biao will gladly accept it, and since then the southwest has no worries. Sun Ce is brave and invincible, and there are Zhang Shao, Gu Yong and others under the account, and Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu in the martial arts. The soldiers are strong, Ke Liu Xun, defeated Wang Lang, unified Jiangdong, and the momentum is flourishing. It is not advisable for the prime minister to compete with him, it is better to take advantage of the initial decision in Jiangdong. When the people's hearts were not stable, the prime minister showed his merits and rewarded him generously, and Sun Ce would be grateful for the kindness of the prime minister. In this way, the prime minister has no worries, and he can deal with Yuan Shao with peace of mind. ”

"Chongru's words are very much in line with my opinion." Cao Cao thought so, nodded, and said to everyone in the audience: "If you befriend Liu Biao and Sun Ce, you will face Yuan Shao." The year before last, Feng Xiao had a 'ten wins and ten losses' theory for Gu Xian......"

The "Ten Wins and Ten Losses Theory" is extremely famous, and it is Guo Jia's conclusion through the comparison and analysis of various aspects of the Cao and Yuan families, saying that Cao Cao has ten victories, while Yuan Shao has ten defeats. However, Liu Yong is quite unimpressed. Although the Battle of Guandu ended in Cao Cao's victory in history, objectively speaking, Yuan Shao's troops were far greater than Cao Cao's, and there were far more opportunities than Cao Cao. It was only because of too many uncertain factors that these opportunities slipped through Yuan Shao's fingers one by one, and he didn't grasp any of them, which created this extremely famous classic battle in history where the weak defeated the strong and the less won more.

Liu Yong's thoughts were wild for a while, only to hear Cao Cao say again: "...... Even if he is lonely and has no worries, Yuan Benchu sits on the land of Hebei, Qing, You, and the four states, and the ministers are like clouds, the generals are like rain, the soldiers are full of food, and the strength is far greater than that of Lonely. Ladies and gentlemen, how will the lonely general deal with it? Cao Cao glanced at Liu Yong's thoughtful look, and asked, "Chongru, what is your good plan?" ”

Liu Yong was stunned in his heart, hurriedly calmed down, bowed down and replied: "Prime Minister, according to the young general's opinion, the Prime Minister should plan as soon as possible and take the initiative to take precautions." ”

Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "Chongru, then tell me, how should Lone send troops?" Cao Cao now appreciates and likes Liu Yong more and more, and this young man who came out of nowhere has too many delightful and unexpected ideas in his head.

Liu Yong thought that the prime minister and Yuan Shao would fight a decisive battle, in addition to facing each other head-on, the periphery should also be guarded against. Bingzhou, Mengjin, Yanjin, Baima, Zhencheng, and Qingzhou should all be guarded by troops in order to be fully prepared. "In the history of 2,000 years, all dynasties and generations have made careful and meticulous analyses of the battle of Guandu, so Liu Yong's insight is far more than everyone here.

"That's right. Chongru said again. Cao Cao nodded, twisted a few whiskers, and smiled.

"Even if Liu Biao and Sun Ce form an alliance with the prime minister, they should not be taken lightly. These two are not trustworthy gentlemen, if they just watch the fire from the other side, they are afraid that they will take advantage of the fire when the prime minister and Yuan Shao are in a stalemate and it is difficult to solve the problem, so they must be guarded against. ”

Cao Cao and the others laughed when they heard this, and Cao Cao laughed: "Chongru's words are so witty. In your opinion, how can Lone Dang divide his troops and defend it? Where should you choose to fight against Yuan Shao? ”

"Prime Minister. Please take a look...... Wan County, Liu Biao of Jingzhou; Kuang Qi, in case Sun Ce attacked. Also, here's ...... Ye County also has to be garrisoned to guard against the remnants of the Yellow Turban, Liu Pi and Gong Du. Liu Yong pointed to the map, pointed and said, and finally, fixed his finger firmly in one place, and said categorically, "After the prime minister's layout is completed, you can give it a go, and the decisive battle site is here-Guandu." ”

"Oh, why is that?" Cao Cao was a little surprised. When Liu Yong went to recruit Zhang Xiu, Cao Cao discussed with other strategists, and the recognized decisive battle location was in Guandu, but Liu Yong also considered it.

Liu Yong replied calmly: "From the perspective of troops and terrain, Yuan Shao's soldiers are now more generals, several times larger than Ming Gong; Thousands of miles of the Yellow River, Yuan's army can be crossed everywhere, if the prime minister divides his troops to guard, Yuan Shao only needs to concentrate his forces to attack any place to defeat with one blow, so it is impossible to prevent. What's more, Qingzhou is on the south bank of the Yellow River, which has been owned by Yuan Shao, and then fortified along the river, which is unfavorable.

Second, our army already has a small number of troops and horses, and we have to divide our troops into other places, so it is only appropriate to adopt the defensive strategy of 'waiting for work at leisure and striking at the rear'. However, this defense was not blindly passively beaten, but waited for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with Yuan's army. If the fortification along the river restricts the mobility of the armies. It is better to take a step back, choose a battlefield that is advantageous to you and unfavorable to the enemy, concentrate your forces, and fight a decisive battle with Yuan after the soldiers are exhausted.

Third, please look at the prime minister, the chasm connects Gong and Luo in the west, and goes down to Huai and Si in the east, and this Guandu is the starting point of Bianshui, which is not only the gateway to Xudu, but also the barrier to defend Xudu.

Fourth, from the point of view of military supply, retreating to Guandu, close to Xuchang, the supply of our army is convenient; On the contrary, the supply of grain and grass for the Yuan army was difficult.

To sum up the above four points, the decisive battle must be crossed. ”

Cao Cao looked up to the sky and smiled, and praised: "As he said, it is the plan agreed upon by Lonely." The former, Mr. Wen Ruo, once said that strangling Guandu is 'choking his throat and not entering', which is also the meaning. So you are what the heroes see. Okay, let's set the decisive battle in Guandu. ”

In August of the fourth year of Jian'an (199), in order to gain the strategic initiative, Cao Cao sent troops to march to Liyang, and ordered Hanoi to defend Wei Chong to contain Yuan Shao's attack from the side of Bingzhou and protect the left flank; ordered the Jianwu general Xiahoudun to lead most of his troops to defend Aocang, and sent a unit to garrison Mengjin to cover the security of the left side; ordered the general Yu Ban to lead 2,000 infantry cavalry to garrison Yanjin, and the eastern county to guard Liu Yan and guard the white horse, and jointly block Yuan Shao's army moving south; Cheng Yu, who stayed in Dongping to know about Yanzhou, led his troops to defend Zhencheng to ensure the safety of the right flank; Ordered Langya Xiang Zang Ba to lead elite troops into Qingzhou and capture Qi, Beihai and other places to contain Yuan's soldiers. At the same time, according to Liu Yong's policy, the rest of the places also carried out corresponding defenses.

When the deployment stopped, Cao Cao asked: "Who went to Xiangyang and Jiangdong to reconcile with Liu Biao and Sun Ce?" ”

"Liu Jingsheng and General Yangwu have always been good friends, and if he goes, he will be able to succeed immediately." Guo Jiayu said, "Send Shangshu to order Xun Yu to write to Sun Ce, and make him a rebellious general and Marquis of Wu, Sun Ce will be grateful to the prime minister, and Jiangdong will also have no worries." ”

"Okay, okay." Cao Cao nodded, "According to what Fengxiao said, Xun Yu sent an envoy to Jiangdong, and Zhang Xiu and Liu Yong sent an envoy to Xiangyang." ”

Liu Yong didn't expect to be an envoy so soon, so he had to resign to Liu Bei again. Liu Bei grabbed Liu Yong and told him about cooking wine with Cao Cao about heroes. Cao Cao and Liu Bei talked about the heroes of the world, Liu Bei responded with Liu Yong's previous answers, several times the heroes of the world, Cao Cao shook his head, and finally only said that only Liu Bei and him in the world can be called heroes.

Liu Bei said worriedly: "Cao Cao only has a blue eye on me. Liu Bei heard that if he was sitting on pins and needles, he was afraid that if he stayed here, he would have trouble sooner or later. ”

Liu Yong comforted: "Uncle Huang, don't worry. Liu Yong got the news that now Yuan Shu is at the end of his rope, and if he wants to go to Hebei to join his brother Yuan Shao, he must do it within a few days. Liu Yong has an internal response in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and if there is news, he will come to inform the emperor's uncle. When the imperial uncle got the information, he stepped forward and said that Yuan Shu would go north and pass through Xuzhou, and he recommended himself to lead the troops to encircle and suppress. Since then, the emperor has been able to return to the sea and the tiger to the mountains. ”

Liu Bei said worriedly: "Cao Cao's subordinates are like clouds, and several advisers regard me as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, and they can't wait to kill him as soon as possible, how can they agree to send Liu Bei to lead the troops?" ”

Liu Yong smiled and said, "Uncle Huang can rest assured. All the generals in Cao Gong's hands have been appointed, and they can't be withdrawn; And Guo Jia and other strategists have also been assigned to various business trips, and they are not in Xudu, this is the uncle of the Emperor of God. Liu Bei saw that Liu Yong was full of confidence, so he had to be suspicious and ready to go. (To be continued.) )