"My lord, since this is the case, it is better to form an alliance with the horse butcher surnamed Suo." Cheng Yu suddenly proposed, "Although the reputation of the horse butcher is a little worse, but after all, he is a famous general, and he is also a big man, and an alliance with him should not attract the opposition of the world's corporal clans, and after forming an alliance with the horse butcher, our army can go all out to attack Xuzhou." ”

Xun You said: "But the question is, will the horse butcher agree to form an alliance?" ”

Cheng Yu said: "I thought that the conditions for an alliance with the horse butcher were fully met. ”

Cao Ying said: "I would like to hear it in detail." ”

Cheng Yu said: "Yuan Shao since the annexation of You, Qing Prefecture, the strength of the great boost, not only has thousands of miles of fertile fields, but also more than 200,000 elite soldiers, this is of course a great threat to the lord, but the horse butcher is also facing the threat from Yuan Shao, once Yuan Shao raises troops to the north of the desert, or west to the Hetao, the horse butcher will have to interrupt the plan of recuperation, panic to raise troops to fight, in the next thought, this is the horse butcher can not tolerate no matter what. ”

Xun You nodded and said, "So Zhongde concluded that the horse butcher would agree to form an alliance?" ”

Cheng Yu said: "Exactly." ”

"No" Guo Jia suddenly shook his head and said indifferently, "The lord must not have any illusions about the horse butcher!" The horse butcher is very jealous of the lord, just as the lord is very jealous of the horse butcher! If it is not bad as expected, the horse butcher would rather Yuan Shao enter the Central Plains than the lord of the Central Plains! ”

"Hmm." Cao Ying nodded and said, "What Feng Xiao said is very much in line with my wishes, and you must not have any illusions about the horse butcher, you must be on guard at all times!" Fortunately, the Central Plains can be defended in front of Guanzhong, and our army only needs to control its dangers, and the current strength of the horse butcher is absolutely insurmountable. ”

Guo Jiadao: "When the time passes, the land of Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and Hetao completes recuperation, and the horse butcher regathers hundreds of thousands of troops to want to go east into the Central Plains, the lord should have unified the Central Plains and Hebei. ”

"Understood, it's too simplistic to think of the horse butcher." Cheng Yu nodded and said, "The contest between the lord and the horse butcher is like a competition, the horse butcher is restricted by the population and the source of soldiers, and he can't make a big move within ten years, and the lord must unify the Central Plains, Hebei, and Jingyang within ten years, and then use the manpower and material resources of the whole country to compete with the horse butcher, is that so?" ”

"Yes, that's right." Cao Ying said in a deep voice, "This is indeed like a game. ”

Guo Jiadao: "It should be pointed out that the horse butcher's ten-year recuperation has been going on for three years, and now there are only seven years left, and there is no time to wait." ”

Cao Ying said to Liu Ye: "Ziyang, immediately arrange for envoys to go to Jingzhou and Jiangdong, and show Liu Biao and Sun Jian their willingness to get married, as for Hebei, it will trouble Ziyang to go in person, there are many scholars in Hebei, Tian Feng, Xun Chen, Gao Gan, Feng Ji, and trial are not easy to match, fortunately, Yuan Shao is so happy and self-serving, Ziyang only needs to grasp his weakness, and he will definitely be able to provoke Yuan Shao to crusade against and merge with the state." ”

……

Outside the city of Yuxian County, the camp of the Liang army.

"Cluck."

Ma Yue stepped on the ice and almost fell into a fight, but fortunately, Dian Wei behind him quickly stepped forward to help him, Ma Yue stretched out his hand and straightened the helmet that was crooked, and scolded hatefully: "This ghost weather, it's so fucking cold!" ”

"Brother, the old man is in Yuxian County and Cao Jun to consume, but I'm afraid it's not a way." Ma Chao came up and said in a low voice, "I have to find a way to defeat Cao Jun." ”

"What can be done?" Ma Yue muttered, "Cao Apu is not a mortal, this guy is extremely old-fashioned, and the three-point horn support is simply impeccable, coupled with the assistance of Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu and others, it is difficult to defeat Cao Jun!" In all fairness, it is already a good result that our army can force Cao Jun to such an embarrassment. ”

"If you can continue to consume like this with Cao Jun, it will not be a bad thing."

Before the words fell, Jia Xu had already flashed out of the tent on the side, Jia Xu was wearing a thick sheepskin jacket, and even a dogskin hat on his head, the whole person looked fat and bloated, and there was no Confucian should have the gentleness that a Confucian should have. Jia Xu pulled out his hands in his sleeves, put them to his lips and sighed, and then said: "I'm afraid that Cao Apu and Guo Guicai will make some conspiracy behind their backs, then our army will be in a dilemma." ”

"General Ben is worried too." Ma Yue said to Jia Xu worriedly, "Just now Fang Yue sent an urgent report from Hetao, saying that the state is not peaceful, and Yuan Shao is likely to attack Zhang Ji next spring!" Wen told you, is there Cao Apu in the middle of this? ”

"It's something that can't be questioned." Jia Xu said, "Inducing Yuan Shao to use troops against the state is not good in the long run, but in the short term, it is a good thing to kill two birds with one stone, one can force our army to withdraw from Nanyang, and the other can relieve the strong pressure from Yuan Shao from the north." ”

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Ma Yue said, "Tan Ma returned, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao with his son Liu Pan as the main general, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun as deputy generals, led 30,000 troops north out of Xiangyang Tun in Zhuyang, Huang Zhong, Wen Ping, Wei Yan and other Jing Xiang fierce generals also went out with the army, this time, the Jingzhou army is menacing." The Jingzhou army did not send troops early or late, but chose to send troops at this time, and it is difficult to say that it has nothing to do with Cao Apu. ”

"Jingzhou Army?" Li Su on the side said, "It's just a group of rabble, don't worry about it." ”

"No, Ziyan must not underestimate the Jingzhou army." Ma Yue said solemnly, "In the battle of Wuguan, the Jingzhou army was defeated by the light enemy, although the general had led eight thousand Xiliang iron cavalry to sweep Jingxiang, but the opponent at that time was the Jingzhou army, not the Jingzhou army, in fact, the Jingzhou army is still very powerful, Huang Zhong, Wen Ping, Wei Yan and others can also be called fierce generals, but Liu Biao's account has always lacked a general to lead the army, that's all. ”

"My lord." Jia Xu suddenly said, "I understand a little. ”

Ma Yue asked, "What did Wen He think of?" ”

Jia Xu said: "The tension in the state, as well as the Jingzhou army's departure from Zhuyang in the north, I am afraid that they are all planned by Cao Ying." ”

Ma Yue said: "Is it really Cao Ying? ”

"Hmm." Jia Xu nodded heavily, and said in a deep voice, "If it weren't for the continuous war, Cao Jun has not been able to get a chance to breathe, Cao Ying should have devoted himself to improving the surrounding situation a long time ago, although Yanzhou is good, but after all, it is a place of four wars, if you can't manage the relationship with the surrounding forces well, and make enemies on all sides like Yuan Shu, the period of defeat will not be far away." ”

Ma Yueluo thought about it for a while and figured out the stakes, and said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid it's not that simple, right?" ”

"Not bad." Jia Xu said, "Cao Ying formed an alliance with Liu Biao and Sun Jian, and then induced Yuan Shao to send troops and force our army to retreat, all in order to create conditions for attacking Lu Bu in Xuzhou in the east!" Yanzhou and Yuzhou under the rule of Cao Ying are both large states, with a large population and prosperous talents, but due to years of war, the two states have been extremely tired, and Xuzhou is due to Tao Qian and the people to recuperate, the people are rich, if Cao Ying can capture Xuzhou, its strength will be greatly enhanced. ”

"It's worthy of Cao Ying." Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "After cleaning up Lu Bu, it will be the turn of Yuan Shao in Hebei next, right?" If General Ben doesn't want to interrupt his ten-year plan of recuperation, he can only watch Cao Ying destroy Lu Bu first, then Yuan Shao, and then unify the Central Plains. ”

"yes." Jia Xu said awe-inspiringly, "Cao Apu is choking the door of the lord's life and not being able to make a big move!" Now, the lord and Cao Apu are rushing for time, the lord wants to accumulate enough strength within ten years, but Cao Ying wants to unify the Central Plains within ten years, and now it depends on who can achieve the goal first. ”

"Unify the Central Plains?" Ma Yue said coldly, "Don't even think about it!" This general would rather Yuan Shao, or Sun Jian, Liu Biao, and Lü Buzhi flow into the main Central Plains, and will never let Cao Apu get his wish (in Guo Jia's words, there is absolutely no possibility of an alliance between Cao Ying and Ma Yue). ”

"That's right, now Guan, Liang, and Hetao are indeed recuperating, and General Ben is indeed unable to mobilize a large army to go on the expedition, but if Cao Apu thinks that General Ben has nothing to do with him, then he is very wrong, because General Ben still has an elite army under his command that can fight well!"

Jia Xu said: "My lord, if Yuan Shaozhen attacks Bingzhou next spring, then our army can only withdraw from Nanyang!" With Yuan Shao's surname, if the battle of Bingzhou goes well, it is difficult to say whether he will take the opportunity to attack Hetao! After all, the Hetao has become a huge military horse farm under the rule of the lord, which is a fatal temptation for Yuan Shao, who lacks military horses. ”

"However, it is only October, and it will be at least three months before Yuan Shao sends troops next spring." A hint of cunning suddenly flashed in Jia Xu's eyes, and then said, "More than three months is enough to fight back!" Didn't Cao Apu want to use Yuan Shao's hand to force our army to withdraw from Nanyang? Then our army will have a-for-tat, tooth for tooth, and also use the power of Lu Bu to force Cao Apu to withdraw from Nanyang, to see who can't parry first? ”

"Oh?" Ma Yue's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said, "With the help of Lu Bu, this is a good way!" ”

Jia Xu said: "The lord can also promise Lu Bu some benefits to strengthen his determination to fight against Cao Ying. ”

"Hmm." Ma Yue said, "You can explain in the letter that if Lu Bu agrees to raise troops to attack Cao, General Ben promises to support 20,000 Liangzhou military horses and 5,000 sets of armor!" In particular, the letter asked Lü Bu to open a passage out of the Yellow River north before the Yellow River thaws next spring, so as to smoothly receive the military horses and armor transported down the Yellow River waterway. ”

……

Ten days later, Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

Chen Gong hurriedly walked into Lu Bu's official residence, only to see Lu Bu holding a book and looking out of the window in a daze, until Chen Gong's footsteps sounded, he woke up in shock, looked up to Chen Gong and said, "Gongtai, are you here?" ”

Chen Gong arched his hand and asked, "The lord summoned him late at night, is there something important?" ”

Lu Bu handed the book in his hand to Chen Gong and said in a low voice, "You can take a look at this first." ”

Chen Gong took the book and hurriedly read it, couldn't help but look abrupt, and said softly: "The horse butcher actually wants to form an alliance with the lord?" ”

"Hehe, yes." Lu Bu smiled faintly, and then said, "Just now, General Ben thinks it's funny, the world is impermanent!" General Ben has been fighting with the Horse Butcher for so many years, and now the Horse Butcher actually proposes to form an alliance with General Ben? Ridiculous, ridiculous. ”

"No, it's not ridiculous." Chen Gong said awe-inspiringly, "On the contrary, I thought that the lord should agree to form an alliance with the horse butcher!" ”

"What, promised an alliance?" Lu Bu was stunned at first, and then suddenly said, "I understand, Gongtai means to let General Ben falsely give the snake committee, pretend to promise to form an alliance with the horse butcher, and then deceive the horse butcher of the 20,000 military horses and 5,000 sets of iron armor promised in the horse butcher's letter, right?" ”

Chen Gong said: "Twenty thousand military horses and five thousand sets of iron armor are important, but the meaning of the next is not to let the lord and the horse butcher give the snake committee in vain, but should be a sincere alliance!" ”

"What?" Lu Bu lost his voice and said, "Really ally with the horse butcher?" ”

"Yes!" Chen Gong said, "Because the horse butcher and the lord have a common enemy, that is Cao Ying!" ”

"A common enemy?" Lu Bu frowned and said, "Cao Ying? So the public station thinks what the horse butcher said in the letter is true? Will Cao Ying really use troops against Xuzhou next year? ”

Chen Gong nodded heavily, and said in a deep voice: "The reason why I repeatedly suggested that the Lord Lord order General Zhang Liao to mobilize the army of grain and grass in advance is to prepare for the sudden attack of the Cao army!" It's just that now the Cao army is not ready, but our army is ready, so it is better to take the surname Suo to strike first. ”

Lu Budao: "But don't forget the public platform, our army and the Cao army are still allies!" ”

Chen Gong said: "At that time, Cao Ying formed an alliance with our army in order to crusade against Yuan Shu, and now that Yuan Shu has perished, this alliance has lost the basis for its continued existence. Look at Cao Ying's side, Yuan Shao in Hebei, how can the horse butcher in Guanzhong be able to win Cao Ying's current strength? Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Sun Jian of Jiangdong are too far apart, and only the lord's Xuzhou is within Cao Ying's reach! ”

"Xuzhou is rich, if Cao Jun can defeat Xuzhou, Cao Ying can alleviate the dilemma of lack of money and food, such a thing that kills two birds with one stone, how can Cao Ying not do it?"

"What the public station said is not unreasonable." Lu Bu was not stupid after all, and after a little thought, he figured out the stakes, and after a moment of silence, he asked in a low voice, "But if our army rashly raises troops, won't it be a nameless division?" ”

Chen Gong said: "The lord can issue an edict, just say that Cao Ying is holding the Son of Heaven hostage, and the name Han Xiang is really a thief!" Call on all the people in the world to raise troops to fight against it. Didn't Cao Ying also issue an edict back then? ”

……

Another ten days later, Nanyang Sui County.

Xun You hurriedly walked into the county hall with a shocked face, and said to Cao Ying and Guo Jia: "Lord, Fengxiao, it's a big deal!" ”

Cao Ying Huo Ran raised his head and asked, "What's the matter with Gongda?" ”

Xun You handed the book in his hand to Cao Ying, and said in a deep voice: "My lord, please take a look." ”

Cao Ying took the book and only glanced at it, and then said in shock: "The edict of the Son of Heaven!?" ”

"It's an edict!" Xun You said, "Lu Bu led the Xuzhou pastor, falsely passed on the edict of the Son of Heaven, did his best to slander the lord, and also called on all the candidates in the world to raise troops to fight together. ”

"According to the detailed report, Lu Bu has already done his best to fight against Yanzhou in two ways! The army of the North Road was led by the generals Cao Bao and Zhang Liao, leading 20,000 troops out of Langyu to attack the first line of Taishan County, Jibei Kingdom and East County, and the army of the South Road was personally led by Lu Bu and led 50,000 troops out of Pengcheng to attack the first line of Peiguo, Liang State and Chen State, and the soldiers pointed directly at Xu Du. ”

"What!?" Cao Ying was taken aback when he heard this, and said in a lost voice, "Lu Bu raised 70,000 troops to attack!?" ”

"Exactly." Xun You said in a deep voice, "Wen Ruo has ordered General Zilian to lead the army to Taishan County to meet Zhang Liao, and ordered Yin Li and Sun Guan to guard Peiguo and Liang Guo respectively to resist Lu Bu's troops, General Zilian may not lose to Zhang Liao, but Yin Li and Sun Guan will definitely not be able to resist Lu Bu, if the lord can't personally raise the army to meet the enemy, the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

"Misstep!" Guo Jia struck the knot and said, "It's really worthy of Jia Poison, it's a tooth for a tooth!" Our army wanted to use the power of Yuan Shao to force the horse butcher to withdraw his troops, but the horse butcher in turn used the power of Lu Bu to force our army to withdraw from Nanyang, and from now on, it seems that the horse butcher came from behind and took the lead, which is amazing! ”

"Bonghyo!" Cao Ying Huoran looked back at Guo Jia and said in a deep voice, "Lu Bu did his best to attack Xuzhou, but it is no better than the horse butcher, the horse butcher sent troops to Nanyang just to obtain the strategic point to restrain our army, but Lu Bu sent troops to Yanzhou to ask for his own life, what do you say?" ”

"The matter has come to this point, and I have to withdraw my troops from Nanyang!" Guo Jia said, "But Nanyang County can't be left to the horse butcher, at least not for nothing!" ”

Cao Ying said: "What does Fengxiao mean? ”

Guo Jiadao: "Nanyang County is under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou, the lord can order Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao to send troops to receive Nanyang, Liu Biao is the history of Jingzhou, and has always been angry that Nanyang County is not under the rule, if the lord proposes to return Nanyang County at this time, he will definitely be able to pull the Jingzhou army into the water." ”

Cao Ying said: "Liu Biao dares to risk turning his face with the horse butcher? ”

Guo Jia said: "Liu Biao is not enterprising enough, but he is more than successful, as long as the lord sends someone to state the interests and disadvantages clearly, Liu Biao will definitely send troops to attack Wancheng." ”

……

In the middle of October of the eighth year of Emperor Jian'an of the Han Dynasty (195), the Wei general Lu Bu led the Xuzhou pastor, and issued an edict calling on all the candidates in the world to raise troops to fight against the Han Prime Minister Cao Ying, and then responded to Liao Liao.

At the end of October, Lu Bu took Cao Bao, a fierce general of Xuzhou, as the main general, and Zhang Liao as the deputy general to lead 20,000 troops out of Langyu to attack Mount Tai, in an attempt to open up the communication artery out of the Yellow River in the north, so as to smoothly receive the 20,000 Liangzhou military horses and 5,000 sets of armor promised in the horse butcher's secret letter! Lü Bu himself personally raised an army of 50,000 out of Pengcheng, marched along Peiguo and Liang, and posed a posture of attacking Xudu in a big way.

At the beginning of November, Cao's army began to prepare intensively to withdraw its troops from Nanyang.

……

Nanyang County governs Wancheng, and guards the government too much.

Nanyang Taishou Chen Ji can be described as a dilemma at this time, the edict of the Son of Heaven is on the case, the edict claims that Chen Ji is the history of Xuzhou Thorn, Chen Ji is not a fool, of course he knows that this Xuzhou Thorn History is just an empty title, because Lu Bu still occupies Xuzhou, where is his thorn history?

Cao Ying's intentions are obvious, and the reason for transferring Chen Ji away is to give up Nanyang!

"Big brother!" Chen Zhi slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, "Nanyang County is the eldest brother's, why did Cao Apu give it to Liu Biao's old thing?" ”

Chen Ji's expression was gloomy and he was silent.

Seeing that Chen Ji was silent, Chen Zhi became more and more energetic: "Cao Ying is not benevolent, so don't blame us for being unjust, it is better to take advantage of Cao Ji's retreat to give him a ruthless blow from behind!" Then he took Cao Ying's head and went to the horse butcher, the eldest brother made a great contribution to this day, and the horse butcher forgave him for not treating him slowly. ”

"Confused." Chen Ji scolded, "The horse butcher and Cao Ying are all the way, and the situation under the command of the horse butcher will not be much better than now, Wudu is too shou Duan Xuan, and the former Nanyang is too shou Li Xuan have all defected to the horse butcher, but what in the end?" It's not that the horse butcher just made an excuse to kill him. ”

Chen Zhi said helplessly: "Then what do you say, big brother?" ”

Chen Ji said in a deep voice: "If there is no Nanyang County, this general will have no use value in Cao Ying's eyes, and Cao Ying's people will definitely squeeze out our brothers, so Xu Du will definitely not go!" Since you can't go to Xudu, and going to the horse butcher is a dead end, then you and my brother have only one way left. ”

Chen Zhi said: "Big brother, what do you say?" ”

Chen Jidao: "Defect to Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao!" ”

……

ps: The number of words in the following digression is a bit much, but the swordsman has calculated the number of words, and the number of words in the text has exceeded six thousand, and these digressions are still six thousand, and there is no suspicion of selling them for money, hehe.

……

Some readers always don't understand why it is so difficult for horse butchers to attack cities and land and form an army, but it is so easy for Cao Ying, Sun Jian and other Kwantung candidates, in fact, there is a reason, and it is completely reasonable.

First of all, the horse butcher has a bad reputation, and he has a bad reputation for killing hundreds of officials, and it is impossible to get the support of the local scholar clan gate lords, and if he does not get the support of the local scholar clan gate lords, even if he can capture the city, it will be difficult to defend it, unless he is also like treating Xianbei and other barbarians, he will slaughter the city after capturing a city, but the horse butcher obviously will not put the butcher's knife on his compatriots.

And Cao Ying, Sun Jian, Yuan Shao and other Kanto candidates are different, they have a good background, a good reputation, it is easy to get the support of the local Shi clan door valve, like Cao Ying after conquering Huainan, because of the support of the Shi clan gate valve, it is completely possible to stabilize the situation in a short time.

Therefore, it is difficult for the horse butcher to encroach on the surrounding territories like Sun Jian, Cao Ying, Yuan Shao and other Kwantung princes, because the resistance suffered by the two is completely incomparable, and the siege and land plundering of the Kwantung princes is only a contest between warlords, while the siege and land grabbing of the horse butcher must not only face the resistance of the hostile warlords, but also face the resistance of the warrior clan gate lords.

The second is the army, except for Dong Zhuo's new defeat, the short period of time when the horse butcher just became the boss of the Liangzhou warlord group, and the horse butcher has more than 200,000 troops under him, the horse butcher's army seems to have always been at a relative disadvantage, which is also for a reason.

Guanzhong, Liangzhou, Dadesert, Hetao are sparsely populated, coupled with years of conquest, there are many strong men killed and wounded, and the source of soldiers has almost dried up. That's why Jia Xu said that he couldn't make a big move within ten years.

Ten years later, nearly one million young men captured from Kanto have been integrated into the local area, coupled with the encouragement of the horse butchers to population production, there will definitely be millions of men at that time, and at that time, the horse butchers will have sufficient soldiers, and they will no longer have to stick to the route of elite soldiers.

But not now, the current horse butchers do not have enough capital, and they must take the route of elite soldiers.

However, Cao Ying, Sun Jian, Yuan Shao and other Kwantung candidates did not, they did not have the problem of depleting their troops, they could recruit new soldiers unscrupulously, and they did not have to worry about destroying local agricultural production, and the Kwantung Princes also had an important source of troops, that is, prisoners of war after the elimination of hostile forces.

Since there was no rejection, it was easy for the Kwantung Princes to recruit the captured army and make them their own soldiers when they eliminated another Prince, while the Horse Butcher had a bad reputation and was a Liangzhou warlord, so it was more difficult to recruit the Kwantung army. This is also the reason why the number of horse butchers has not been sufficient.

(To be continued)