The final result of the internal chaos in Yanzhou was that Cao Cao took advantage of the weakness of the coalition forces to break through each other, and after a year of hard fighting, he won the Yanzhou battle with difficulty.

And his opponents have different endings.

Zhang Miao led the army to fight hard for half a year without success, and took the strategist Chen Gong to the south to defect to Liu Biao; Yuan Yi's luck was not good, as soon as the battle began, he was suddenly defeated by Cao Cao's general Xiahou Yuan, escaped from Yanzhou early, and went south to join his brother Yuan Shu; As for Bao Xin, he was dragged by Cao Cao with a partial division, and when Yuan Yi and Zhang Miao were defeated one after another, Cao Cao sent a messenger to persuade Bao Xin to quit the army, Bao Xin understood that victory was hopeless, and after thinking deeply, he took his headquarters to Xuzhou to defect to Lu Bu; There was also Zang Jie, who took the lead in raising troops, and he couldn't hold the city under the attack of Cao Cao's siege of three missing one, so he had to take the remnants of Yuan Tan in Qingzhou to the east; The worst ending was Zhang Chao, who was trapped in the lonely city for three months, unable to break through the siege after running out of food, and Cao Cao beheaded him after being captured.

However, Cao Cao, who had fought hard to defeat many opponents, still did not fully regain control of Yanzhou. Because, although the arrogance of the north was limited to logistical troubles, and did not take the opportunity to move south to use troops on a large scale, it would not watch it. It is impossible to send a large army, but there is no problem with using small forces. Taking advantage of the God-given opportunity of the civil strife in Yanzhou, Zhang Mad sent his subordinate general Chu Feiyan to lead his troops to cross the Yellow River south and break his tentacles into Yanzhou.

Chu Feiyan is the twin brother of Zhang Yan, the general of Zhang Yan's subordinates, and has been serving as Zang Ba's deputy for many years since joining the Taixing Army. Although he does not have the reputation of his twin brother Zhang Yan and has great credit, he is also a powerful general under Zhang Yan's subordinates.

Originally, the most suitable candidate for the task of invading Mount Tai was none other than Zang Ba, a local man in Mount Tai. But. Zang Ba, as the top five generals under Zhang Madness, is responsible for guarding one side, and the responsibility is not light, and he can't take the time to go south to Mount Tai. Therefore, this task was decided by Zhang Arrogant and handed over to Zang Ba's deputy. Chu Feiyan, who is also good at mountain warfare, will complete it.

With the cooperation of the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in Yanzhou, Chu Feiyan led the army to sneak into Taishan County, attacked the county guard Yingshao, and beheaded him. When Cao Cao came back to his senses and put down the rebellious county officials, when he wanted to deal with Chu Feiyan, Chu Feiyan had already relied on the favorable defensive terrain around Mount Tai to build a number of dangerous cottage strongholds between the mountains.

Facing the troops of Chu Feiyan, who were waiting for the battle, unless Cao Cao dispatched tens of thousands of troops to advance separately. Carry out a comprehensive encirclement, otherwise, it will be difficult for the Yanzhou army to get Chu Feiyan, who is good at mountain guerrilla warfare.

Fortunately, although Taishan County belongs to Yanzhou, it is actually located in the easternmost part of Yanzhou, bordering Qingxu and Xuzhou. If you want to talk about who is the biggest threat to after the Zhang Madman army controls Mount Tai, it must be Xuzhou. Even Qingzhou is more threatened than Yanzhou. As long as Cao Cao is willing to relinquish control of Taishan County. By building a defensive line on the edge of Taishan County, Yanzhou was not very affected by the fall of Taishan County.

Not to mention the arrogant robbery in the north. After such a full-scale war, Yanzhou's economy can be said to have suffered a big blow. Even though the civil strife had been over for about a year and he had successfully controlled almost all of Yanzhou's counties, Cao Cao's strength had not yet recovered to its pre-war level.

After leaving enough troops to defend against the evil neighbor to the north, Cao Cao went to King Qin this time. Being able to dispatch 6,000 elite soldiers is already the result of gritting your teeth and persevering. As for the issue of baggage and supplies, if there was no on-the-spot support from Zhu Hao, the forces that Cao Cao could use would have to be reduced by half again.

Relative to Cao Cao's aggressive actions. The speed at which Sun Ce led the army was slower. Cao Cao waited in the front-line camp for three days before an army of pure infantry slowly emerged from the southeast. However, the mental outlook of these infantry is very good, and they all seem to be high-spirited, giving people the feeling of being a victorious elite soldier. In comparison, Cao Cao's subordinates had a somewhat lifeless taste. Fortunately, when it comes to the neatness of the march and military discipline, Cao Cao's army should be slightly better.

The general who commanded this Yuzhou army was Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce. Sun Ce was a young man in his early twenties, similar to Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang. However, although Cao Ang has also been in the army for many years, because he has not had much time to fight, he still has not worn off those bookish spirits on his body. In contrast, although Sun Ce is very handsome, the fierce aura on his body bubbles up from time to time, which fully shows that this "Sun Lang" has experienced the bitter battle of the corpse mountain and sea of blood.

Of course, Sun Ce is not just a person who can scare people with ferocity. When he smiled, he immediately changed from an iron-blooded general to a cheerful young man. After contacting Sun Ce, Cao Cao returned to the camp and said to Xun Yu in private:

"Giving birth to a son should be like a grandson! Sun Yuzhou [Sun Jian] himself is already a hero among people, but he is equally good at giving birth to a son, which is really rare! ”

Listening to Cao Cao's sour words, Xun Yu smiled and explained:

"Although Sun Bofu is heroic, Zixiu [Cao Ang] is not bad? In terms of martial arts, Sun Bofu is slightly better. But if you want to compare classic literature, Zixiu must be far above Sun Bofu. Besides, you and Sun Yuzhou's heirs are so outstanding, but where do you want my family Yun'er [Xun Yun, Xun Yu's son] to hide? ”

After listening to Xun Yu's explanatory words, Cao Cao's mood improved a lot, and he said with a smile:

"Changqian [Xun Yun] What's wrong with this kid? If this kid is bad, doesn't it mean that I don't know talents? ”

The reason why Cao Cao said this was because Xun Yun married Cao Cao's daughter and was Cao Cao's son-in-law. This is also a marriage between Cao Cao and Xun Yu in order to get closer to each other in the long-term work together.

After careful analysis, in fact, Xun Yu took the initiative to come to Cao Cao's army from Yuan Shao's shogunate, but he shouldered the responsibility of wooing, communicating, or secretly monitoring Cao Cao's movements. For this point, no matter how clever Xun Yu is in his daily life, he can't completely dispel Cao Cao's vigilance.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao was defeated and died later, and his power was greatly reduced. Xun Yu also took the opportunity to get rid of his attachment to the Yuan clan and truly started an alliance with Cao Cao. Especially since Xun Yu and Cao Cao formed a family of sons and daughters, Cao Cao's vigilance and suspicion of Xun Yu no longer seem so heavy. And Xun Yu can finally meddle in Yanzhou's military and is no longer limited to civilians. The cooperation between the two has enabled the recovery and reconstruction of Yanzhou to be carried out smoothly. There are also Cao Cao's tuntian activities in Yanzhou to ensure the supply of military food, which were also well organized by Xun Yu.

The two talked and laughed a few words, and eased their emotions, and Cao Cao turned his words back to the battle in front of him.

"General Ma has been guarding the city for nearly a month, and the soldiers and horses of the Han thieves have been unable to attack the city, so I think I am exhausted. Our army is on par with the Western Thieves, but it is better than having sufficient physical strength. However, our army is composed of three parts, and it is inevitable that there will be some incoordination in command. Wen Ruo, you see, should our army divide its troops into three ways and flank the western thieves? ”

Although Xun Yu has been engaged in civilian work for a long time, he has unique views on the art of war. He listened to Cao Cao's words, thought about it, and said with a smile:

"If the generals of the Western Thieves gather, our army should be careful. Now there is only one Han thief in Hongnong City, and he has been severely injured by General Ma. With its more than 10,000 rabble, the tired army, our army can be broken by the [harmony] alone, not to mention the three-way joint force? My worries are not in the Korean thieves, but in the arrogance of the north......"

As soon as he talked about arrogance, the atmosphere in the tent suddenly became solemn.

Indeed, with his arrogant and good at seizing the opportunity, Cao Cao's bold attempt to lead his army out this time was quite dangerous. Although Cao Cao made efforts to make a gesture that he still stayed in Chenliu, the general Xiahoudun led a heavy army to defend the town. However, God knows if the arrogance will suddenly come out of the crack in Cao's defense line and give Cao Cao such a blow?

Cao Cao didn't have much hope for the disguise he had made in Chen Liu. In front of the Taiping Dao secret agent, who is known as "pervasive", it is only a matter of time before he arrogantly sees through Chen Liu's fake Cao Cao. However, the identity of the Son of Heaven has a different status for Cao Cao. Since he dared to personally lead the army to King Qin, he was fully prepared for the loss of a county.

"This matter can only rely on Yuan Rang. If you can hold the East County, you can choke the line of Zhang's southward movement. If Zhang Qiang wants to make a move in Mount Tai, presumably Lu Fengxian and Yuan Qingzhou will also be on guard. ”

Insolent actions have always been unpredictable, and when it comes to the topic of insolence, it is obviously useless to talk too much. The next moment, Cao Cao once again focused his attention on the Liangzhou rebels under Han Sui's command that he was about to face.

"Speaking of which, I once had a relationship with Han Sui. At that time, I was still in Beijing as Lang [Lang Guan], and he became famous in Taixue. Who would have thought that the hot-blooded warriors who were impassioned that day and denounced the eunuchs as disasters would later become a generation of traitors who brought disaster to the country and the people? ”

Cao Cao mentioned Han Sui, and the emotion in his heart came again. Speaking of which, Cao Cao's personality is quite sentimental, otherwise he would not have been able to write so many poems and verses that have been passed down through the ages. However, he was clearly able to distinguish between business and private affairs. Just mentioned his past friendship with Han Sui, and the next moment, Cao Cao was already coldly planning how to obtain Han Sui's head.

"There are many knights in Xiliang, and they are especially good at using spears. Our army should overcome it with bows and crossbows. The Qiang people are brave, but they are loose and undisciplined by nature, and our army should overcome them in formation. Han Sui has never been good at commanding, and in the past wars, Ma Teng was the front governor. This time he had no one available, so he had to go into battle on his own. If our army suddenly dispatches tiger cavalry, it is possible to win this wing in one fell swoop......"

The "tiger cavalry" in Cao Cao's mouth is an elite heavy cavalry he formed in the Yanzhou Civil War. Influenced by the large-scale use of cavalry in the Battle of Hebei, even in the Central Plains, which did not produce horses, the princes were also interested in the new cavalry corps.

If you really talk about it, the tactical changes made by Zhang Qiang in the cavalry of his subordinates do not have much technical content. The southern princes only had to send more people to inquire about it, or bribe one or two junior officers of the northern cavalry, and they would be able to ponder the insolent tactical reform to eight or nine points.

For this, Zhang Qiang also expected it in his heart. Otherwise, he would not have carefully hidden some cavalry techniques until his side mastered the most abundant horse source of the Han Dynasty, and then popularized it on a large scale. (To be continued......)