The Battle of Twenty Mile Slope ended uneventfully.

After three days of confrontation between the two armies, finally because of the threat of Tao Qian and Liu Xun's two partial divisions, the Xiliang army began to take the initiative to retreat, and has been retreating to the Tiger Pass, and the coalition army followed and regained Xingyang, and camped in front of the Tiger Pass.

Since then, the tide of battle has been dull.

Although the coalition army sent troops to attack the Tiger Prison Pass every time, they only sent Liao Liao's thousands of troops every time, and each attack was a vain response, never within ten steps of the Guancheng, let alone climbing the wall to capture the pass! It is more appropriate to disturb than to attack.

The strategy of the coalition army is very clear, that is, to drag, with a strong comprehensive strength to drag down the Xiliang army!

This situation did not change until Cao Ying returned from Wancheng, but at this time, Xi Liangxiao whipped Wang Fang quickly, and finally rushed to the Tiger Prison Pass with Ma Yue's secret letter.

……

Tiger Prison Pass, the camp of the Chinese army.

Jia Xu read the secret letter at a glance and ten lines, and couldn't help but show joy on his face, and Xu Chu, who was standing on one side, couldn't help but ask: "Military advisor, what did the lord say in the letter?" ”

"The lord's army has successfully arrived in Lujiang!" Jia Xu smiled and said, "The land of Xu and Yang will soon be full of wolf smoke, and the Kwantung Coalition Army is about to collapse, hehe." ”

"Great! The elder brother's army has entered the Lujiang River! Ma Chao slammed the knot and said excitedly, "Military division, General Ben thinks that in order to cooperate with his brother's actions, our army should fight back with all its might, and contain the Thirteenth Route Alliance Army in Yingchuan, so as to create a more favorable environment for my brother's army?" ”

"Fight back?" Jia Xu shook his head, a sly smile suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he shook his head and said, "No, not only can you not fight back, but the army will retreat instead, and not only must you withdraw from the Tiger Pass, but also abandon Luoyang and the four counties of Gyeonggi, and return to Hangu Pass!" ”

"Huh?"

Ma Chao and Gao Shun's expressions moved at the same time, and their faces showed contemplation.

"What?" Xu Chu was puzzled, and asked in a loud voice, "Why do you want to abandon the four counties of Hujiaoguan, Luoyang, and Gyeonggi, and keep returning to Hangu Pass?" If you haven't lost the battle, why do you want to withdraw to Hangu Pass? ”

Jia Xu stroked the willow whiskers under his chin, and said with a sly smile: "This is the lord's military order, does General Xu Chu dare to disobey the order?" ”

"Ah, this is the lord's military order?" Xu Chu was stunned when he heard this, scratched his head and said, "Since it is the lord's military order, then I can only do it." ”

Jia Xu smiled slightly and said to Ma Chao: "Young General, please give an order." ”

Ma Chao nodded awe-inspiringly, turned to face the generals and said quickly: "The generals listen to the order!" ”

……

Outside the Tiger Prison Pass, the coalition army camp.

Since Cao Ying's return to Yingchuan, Yuan Shu had no choice but to take a back seat and surrender the command of the coalition forces.

Although Yuan Shu was unhappy in his heart, he could only face reality! After all, Yuan Shu is not Yuan Shao, and his reputation among the princes of all walks of life is difficult to compare, but fortunately, Cao Ying does not have a monopoly on power, and Cao Ying will take the initiative to consult Yuan Shu's opinion when he takes action, and then make a decision, which can be said to give Yuan Shu enough face.

Yes, the princes from all walks of life gathered in the big tent.

"Report~~" When the discussion was being held, a small school suddenly walked into the tent, knelt on the ground and said urgently, "There was a sudden fire in the Tiger Prison!" ”

"Well, a fire?" Guo Jia's expression moved, and he said casually, "It seems that the Xiliang army is going to abandon the Tiger Prison Pass." ”

Cao Ying stood up and said to the princes from all walks of life: "Everyone, go with you to see what is going on." ”

The princes from all walks of life followed Cao Ying's fast horse to the outside of the Tiger Prison Pass, and sure enough, they saw the fire in the Guanzhong, and they seemed to be able to feel the scorching heat wave for several miles, in such a fierce fire, it was impossible for people and animals to stay in the Tiger Prison Pass, it seems that Guo Jia was right, the Xiliang army had indeed withdrawn from the Tiger Prison Pass.

"Good!" Yuan Shu struck the knot and said, "It seems that the Xiliang rebels can't afford to spend it, haha~~"

Cao Ying looked back leisurely, exchanged glances with Guo Jia, and then turned around and shouted: "Yuan Rang!" ”

Xiahoudun hurriedly rode forward, hugged his fists and said, "Meng De? ”

Cao Ying said: "Take water immediately to put out the fire." ”

"Command."

Xiahou clenched his fists and took the order.

……

In April of the fifth year of Emperor Jian'an of Han Xian (192 years), Ma Yue led the army from Hengjiang Port to the north, all the way to the ground, Lianke Liyang, Fuling, Hefei, Chengde, Yinling, Dangtu, at the beginning of May, Gan Ning, Chen Hu, Zhang Bao led Jinfan, Jiangxia Naval Army to Dangtu, and Ma Yuelu Division converged, and the soldiers pointed directly at Yuan Shu's old nest Shouchun.

Shocked to hear that the horse butcher led tens of thousands of land and water troops to attack, Lei Bo, who stayed in Shouchun, did not dare to slack off, and urgently mobilized military horses to defend the city, and on the other hand, he urgently reprimanded the fast horses to go to Xuchang day and night to report to Yuan Shu. However, Shouchun was not attacked in the end, and Ma Yue only waved his army to the east with a false shot, and with the assistance of the navy, he crossed the Huaishui River and went north into Xuzhou.

In May, Ma Yue's army swept the cave in Liting, and Lianke Xiaqiu, Worry, and Luxian, and set up a posture of attacking Pengcheng (Xuzhou Prefecture), Xuzhou did not drive Chen Gui for fear that Pengcheng would be lost, and while transferring troops to protect Pengcheng, he hurriedly sent his horse to Xuchang to inform Tao Qian.

……

Tiger Prison Pass, Cao Ying's big tent.

Guo Jia, Cao Ying, Xun You, and Cheng Yu sat opposite each other.

Cheng Yu hugged his fists and said: "Don't worry, my lord, Yu has planted people in various key roads, and if there is a fast horse from Xuzhou or Yangzhou passing by, the final general will definitely be able to intercept it." However, Yu thought that the truth about the horse butcher ravaging Xu and Yang could not be concealed in the end, and Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and others were afraid that they would still know the truth about the fire in the backyard, and when the time came, they would not only have to withdraw their troops, but also be very likely to anger the lord. ”

"Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and others will naturally know the truth about the backyard fire in the end." Guo Jia nodded and said in a condensed voice, "Fortunately, you don't need to hide Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and the others for too long, as long as there are two months, it's almost enough." As for the princes of Xu and Yang to ask for responsibility when the time comes, the lord can put the responsibility on the general Yuan Shao, after all, General Yuan is fully aware of this matter, and it is General Yuan's approval, hehe. ”

Guo Jia's idea is not insidious.

Two months is enough time for the horse butcher to turn Xu and Yang upside down! At this time, the slaughter of the Xu and Yang tribes by Ma Yue's butcher's knife to weaken the war potential of these two states is beneficial and harmless to Cao Ying, so why not do it?

Two months is enough for the middle lane coalition army to capture Hangu Pass with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai! When the coalition forces captured Hangu Pass, even if Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Sun Jian, Liu Xun and others retreated, it would not matter the overall situation, Cao Ying only needed to send a good general to defend Hangu Pass, and he could block the onslaught of hundreds of thousands of Xiliang iron cavalry in Guanzhong.

Guo Jiacheng is worthy of being a ghost, when Ma Yue and Jia Xu still wanted to wreak havoc on Xu and Yang to force the coalition to collapse, Cao Ying and Guo Jia were already ready to use Ma Yue's butcher's knife to weaken their strong opponents on the road to hegemony in the future! The so-called ambitious and far-sighted is nothing more than this.

Cheng Yu thought for a while and said: "The distance between Luoyang and Xu and Yang is long, and if you only need to block the news for two months, there should be no problem." ”

Xun You suddenly said: "Even if all the emergency documents of Xu and Yang counties are intercepted by Mr. Cheng Yu, what about Jia Poison? Will they send out a small team to spread rumors? The horse butcher took great pains to make a detour to Jingxiang to attack Xu and Yang, the purpose was to force Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and others to withdraw their troops, how could Jia Poison Shi have no response? ”

Guo Jia said: "Jia Poison will definitely spread rumors, which our army is unable to stop, but even if Yuan Shu and the others are suspicious, they will send someone back to the Zhidi to verify, and then send the news back, to say the least, it will be two months later!" ”

"So~~" Cao Ying's eyes lit up, and he said in a deep voice, "The key to the problem is whether the coalition forces can capture Hangu Pass within two months!" As long as the coalition forces can capture Hangu Pass within two months, the horse butcher will be trapped in Kansai, so that until the situation in the north is clear, the Xiliang army will no longer be able to pose a threat to Kanto. ”

"It's not easy to capture Hangu Pass." Guo Jia said in a condensed voice, "In the battle of Yingchuan, you have all learned the power of Jia Poison, and this person is ten times more intelligent than Jia (self-modest), which must not be underestimated. With Jia Xu's wisdom, it is impossible not to think of the important surname of Hangu Pass, so he will definitely send heavy troops to garrison it. ”

"However, it is not impossible." Guo Jia's voice fell, and Xun You continued, "After all, there is still a new force in our army that has never been put into the battlefield!" In the battle of Yingchuan, the coalition army suffered enough from the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, and now, should we also turn around and let the Xiliang Iron Cavalry taste the power of our army's tiger and leopard cavalry? ”

"Report~~" Xun You's voice fell, Cao Hong had already hurried into the account, and said urgently, "Lord, it's empty, it's all fucking empty!" ”

"Zilian." Cao Ying shouted, "What's empty?" Take your time. ”

Cao Hong gasped violently, and then said: "Luoyang~~Huhu~~ and Henan County, Hanoi County, Hedong County, and Hongnong County are all empty!" Luoyang has become an empty city! ”

"What?" Cao Ying was taken aback and lost his voice, "What about the Xiliang army?" ”

Cao Hong said: "The Xiliang army has completely abandoned the Guandong and directly withdrew to Hangu Pass. ”

"Misstep!" Guo Jia sighed, "This is really a plan that can't catch up with the changes, and now that the Xiliang army has retreated into Hangu Pass, things have become extremely tricky." ”

(To be continued)