"Achilles' heel?" Fu Xie's expression moved, and he asked, "The lord refers to the inconsistent orders of the coalition forces, and it is difficult to form a joint force?" ”

"Nope." Without waiting for Ma Yue to answer, Jia Xu had already answered, "Tao Qian and Liu Biao are famous, Yuan Shao and Sun Jian are practical, and the rest of Min Gong and Yuan Yi are just people who are also in the clouds, especially Cao Ying, who is very good at winning people's hearts, and is more accustomed to using his strength to mediate, and it is not difficult for the coalition forces to achieve the unification of orders." ”

……

Xuchang, the camp of the coalition army.

Cao Ying held the holy decree in his hand, high above, and Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Sun Jian, Lu Bu and other princes fell to their knees.

"The edict said: Yuan Shao is the general, Yuan Shu is the general of the chariot cavalry, Sun Jian is the general of the hussars, Lu Bu is the general of Wei, Tao Qian is the general of the light car, and the rest ......of the princes are generals, and all the soldiers and horses of the princes of all walks of life in the world are controlled by the general, but there is a reprimand, and the commission must not be prevaricated for any reason."

Cao Yingnian paused here, watched coldly, and saw Yuan Shao's face light.

“…… Prime Minister Cao Ying, staff and military, dedicated to assisting the general, the general Yuan Shu, the general of the chariot, and the general Tao Qian of the light car, immediately transferred grain from Xuzhou and Yangzhou to supply the army to rebel. ”

……

Luoyang, Ma Yue's official residence.

Fu Xie asked again: "Could it be that the allied army's grain and grass are not continuous?" ”

Jia Xu said: "Ji, Xu, and Yangzhou are rich, and the coalition army has no worries about food and grass. ”

Fu Xie said: "In this way, the lower officials don't know what the Achilles' heel of the coalition army is?" ”

Ma Yue said: "It's very simple, although the coalition forces are numerous...... But there are no cavalry! ”

The strategist Fa Zhen said worriedly: "But my lord, three years ago, the Eighteenth Route Coalition Army did not have any decent cavalry, on the other hand, Dong Zhuo had more than 100,000 elite cavalry in Liangzhou under his command, but the final result was that Dong Zhuo's troops were defeated by Bishui and Tiger Prison, and finally even Luoyang fell." ”

"That's Dong Zhuo, not General Ben!" Ma Yue waved his arm fiercely and shouted, "Dong Zhuo is guarding the pass with elite cavalry, waiting for hundreds of thousands of infantry from Kwantung to come to attack, he has already committed the taboo of soldiers, how can he be undefeated?" If the general was replaced in Luoyang, when a small number of elite infantry defended Bishui and Tiger Prison, and after the general led the three-way elite cavalry out of the flank, he attacked and harassed Ji, Qing, Yang, Henan, and Yanzhu with Liukou tactics, and the princes of the Eighteenth Route naturally retreated when they saw the fire in the backyard. ”

"Oh, so the lord already has a plan in his heart?" Fu Xie said, "I don't know how to fight this battle?" ”

……

Xuchang, Yuan Shao's big tent in the army.

A topographic map of mountains and rivers has been hung on the screen more than one person high, and the princes of the 13th Route of the Central Coalition Army and their respective generals and strategists stood around the screen in a half circle, and Cao Ying stood in the innermost part of the crowd, pointing to the map and explaining.

"According to the information sent back by Xizuo, this time the horse butcher gathered the barbarians under the Yueshi, Wuhuan, Qiang, Qin Hu, and Hu Qi of the Western Regions, together with the Liangzhou Han army, a total of more than 200,000 troops!" Cao Ying said this, and said with emotion, "I really didn't expect that in just three years, the army of horse butchers has reached more than 200,000. ”

Yuan Shu said: "What about more than 200,000, it's just a group of local chickens and dogs, and they are vulnerable." ”

Cao Ying snorted lightly, did not refute, and continued: "However, the only thing to be thankful for is that due to the containment of the combined forces of the West, North and South Roads, the 200,000 troops of the horse butcher were not all gathered in Luoyang. Among them, 20,000 troops were led by General Fang Yue to garrison the old camp in Hetao, 30,000 troops were led by General Xu Huang, stationed in Guanzhong and Wuguan respectively, and 50,000 Tuntian soldiers were stationed in Longxian County to support the front battle at any time, and the army really stationed in Luoyang was actually only more than 100,000 people. ”

"Hush." Sun Jian sneered, "More than 100,000 people, isn't it less than Dong Zhuo back then?" ”

Yuan Shao said: "Although the total number of horse butchers' troops is more than Dong Zhuo's Liangzhou army back then, in terms of combat power, the difference is not a little bit. ”

Cao Ying said: "What I said at the beginning is very true, in terms of the 100,000 troops in Luoyang, only 20,000 of them are the elite of a hundred battles, and another 20,000 Tuntian soldiers have participated in several battles after two years of training, which can be called elite soldiers, and the rest of the tens of thousands of Qiang soldiers and Hu cavalry in the Western Regions are just a rabble, and the remaining more than 20,000 Liangzhou rebel troops are all divisions of a hundred battles, but they are not long subdued, and it is good to really fight and not cause chaos to the horse butcher." ”

Henan Taishou Min Gong said: "Isn't it easier to defeat the horse butcher than to defeat Dong Zhuo?" ”

"Not really. When the two armies are in a war, the number of troops and the strength of the battle are not the only factors that determine the outcome of the battle. Cao Ying said in a condensed voice, "The ability of the main general is equally important. And at this point, the horse butcher is far stronger than Dong Zhuo back then! Horse butchers are more cunning and adept at using their troops, especially cavalry. ”

Sun Jian said: "That's right, the coalition army lacks nothing, but it lacks cavalry. ”

Cao Ying said: "Back then, Dong Zhuo trapped the fortified city with hundreds of thousands of elite cavalry, waiting for the coalition army to encircle and attack, and he had already committed the taboo of soldiers, so he was finally defeated. But the horse butcher is not Dong Zhuo, this person invaded into a surname, and with thousands of elite horses, he can sweep the desert and wipe out Xianbei, Xiu Tu, Western Regions and other Hu, therefore, he will never be trapped in Luoyang waiting for us to attack. ”

Sun Jian can be said to have a deep understanding of the horse butcher's use of cavalry, and even one of his own eyes was blinded by the horse butcher, so he couldn't help but nod and echo: "The Prime Minister is right about this, the horse butcher started with 800 liukou back then, and he did not taste a defeat in the Central Plains, which shows the magic of this person's use of cavalry." ”

Yuan Shao said: "So Meng De thinks that how will the horse butcher fight this battle?" ”

Cao Ying said: "The horse butcher is likely to defend the Tiger Pass with a small number of elite infantry, and then use the elite cavalry to attack the flanks of Ji, Qing, Xu, Yan, Yang, and Jing Zhuzhou, and use this to force the allied forces to retreat." ”

……

Luoyang, Ma Yue's official residence.

"The coalition forces fight the coalition forces, and we fight ours." Ma Yue waved his hand, and then said, "The road is facing the sky, go to each side!" ”

"The magic of using soldiers is to be single-minded." Jia Xu smiled and said, "The lord is called avoiding the real and attacking the false, and attacking it will be saved." ”

"Report ......" Jia Xu's voice fell, and a military general suddenly entered the report outside the door, "Lord, Mr. Frustration asks to see you." ”

"Then bet?" Ma Yue said, "Hurry up, please." ”

After a while, the black and thin frustration appeared in front of everyone, and as soon as he entered the hall, he hurriedly said to Ma Yue: "Lord, Luoyang has been down, Liu Bei has died, the revenge of the prince and General Gao Shun has been avenged, the righteousness of the lord and the righteousness of the ministers and soldiers has long been known to the world, why not return to Shiguanzhong at this time, and why fight this battle with the princes of the world in Luoyang?" ”

Ma Yuefeng frowned slightly, and asked in a condensed voice: "Then you think this battle shouldn't be fought?" ”

"You shouldn't have beaten it!" Fu Zhu said without hesitation, "The lord has just conquered Mobei and the Western Regions, and the army has been fighting abroad for many years, and the soldiers will inevitably be tired and war-weary, and in order to conquer Mobei and the Western Regions, our army's manpower, material resources, and horsepower have been consumed very much, and if there is no three to five years of recuperation, it is really not suitable to launch a big war." ”

“……”

"Also, the 100,000 Tuntian soldiers are undertrained and embarrassed, and Guo Yan's 20,000 old troops and Duan Xuan and Yang Feng's 8,000 old troops are all from the Liangzhou rebellion, and they are worried about mutiny before the battle. Although there is a slight stock of grain in Hetao and Beidi, it can only maintain the needs of 200,000 troops for half a year, and if all these things are not good for our army, if there is a war at this time, the chance of victory is slim. ”

“……”

"If the lord can postpone the war for five to ten years, the situation will be completely different, then Mobei and the Western Regions have already returned to the center, and the three generals Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, and Wang Yuan will be able to carry tens of thousands of iron cavalry south to the Central Plains, and the 100,000 Tuntian soldiers in the north have also been trained, and there are tens of thousands of elites under the command of the lord, who in the world can stop it?"

"And Hetao, Beidi, Guanzhong is quite rich in grain, ten years of accumulation is enough to support the Lord to conquer the world, the Lord can punish the general Tun Chencang, Ziwu, Wuguan to deter Hanzhong, Jing Yang, and then personally lead the cavalry army hundreds of thousands of east out of the Han Valley, chase the Central Plains, when the pear court sweeps the Central Plains, so ...... The world can be determined. ”

Ma Yue was silent.

He had to admit that Fu Zhu's strategic vision was indeed very unique, and the analysis he made was indeed reasonable, and it was undoubtedly an extremely safe way to do what Fu Zhu said. Unfortunately, the horse butcher is a complete gambler, and every time he gambles, he has a habit of betting all his possessions with his surname.

This time, however, the horse butcher had a reason to fight.

It's not that the horse butcher can't wait for ten years, in fact, the horse butcher is still young, far younger than Cao Ying, Sun Jian, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu, and he can afford to wait. The reason why the horse butcher was in a hurry to fight was because he knew that ten years later, the entire Central Plains would already be Cao Ying's world, and Cao Ying would still have a division of a hundred battles! At that time, even if the horse butcher carried hundreds of thousands of cavalry troops to fight the Central Plains, he might not be able to win the victory.

The reason is simple.

The horse butcher is located in the pass and the cool, although the army under his command is prosperous, but compared with Cao Ying in the Central Plains, there is a fatal weakness, that is, the population is too small, and there is a serious lack of talents!

Even if the horse butcher can gather hundreds of thousands of cavalry troops, it can only be a temporary prosperity, and it cannot last at all, but Cao Ying has tens of millions of people for him to consume, and he has an inexhaustible talent advantage! In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and schemes will be useless. Similarly, in the face of the huge population advantage of the Central Plains, the horse butcher who is partial to the safe and cool has little chance.

This battle seems rash, but in fact it is well-intentioned.

The horse butcher was by no means intoxicated by the front of his 200,000-strong army, nor was he carried away by the anger of hatred. On the contrary, he was more sober and calm than ever. In fact, the horse butcher has always been calm, even when he is in a thunderous rage, he is calmer than others.

If it weren't for that, the horse butcher wouldn't have survived today.

Ma Yue gestured to Jia Xu with his eyes, Jia Xu bowed his head lightly, and said to Frustration: "Note, although the lord needs five to ten years to recuperate, have you ever thought about what the entire Central Plains will become after ten years?" Cao Ying's heroic talent is strategic, his fierce generals are like clouds, and the strategists are like rain, and now he is coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, ten years later, I am afraid that the entire Central Plains has become Cao Ying's territory. ”

"This ......"

Jia Xu said again: "At that time, the lord did not use the soldiers of Guan and Liang to suppress the princes of the world, but used the manpower of Guan and Liang to fight against tens of millions of people in the Central Plains, and the success or failure is self-evident. ”

"However, do you know that in ten years, Cao Ying will be able to dominate the Central Plains?"

Although he has a unique strategic vision, he lacks the ability to read people, and he can't see Cao Ying's potential as clearly as Jia Poison and Ma Butcher.

"It is better to believe what you have than to believe what you don't have." Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "If it's not Cao Ying, then it's Yuan Shao, if it's not Yuan Shao, then it's Sun Jian, in short, there will always be someone who will dominate the Central Plains in ten years!" We must prevent this from happening, at least until the Hetao, Guan, and Liang have accumulated sufficient manpower and material resources, and we must not allow people to dominate the Central Plains alone. ”

Jia Xu took Ma Yue's words and said: "Therefore, the decisive battle of Luoyang is not really to fight to the death with the princes of the world, the real intention of the lord is just to take the opportunity of this battle to weaken the war potential of the princes of the Central Plains, that is, to make the entire Central Plains more chaotic and more evenly matched." ”

Fu Zhi bowed his head silently, and then sighed Haoran: "But it has also suffered tens of millions of people in the Central Plains." ”

Jia Xu said: "This is also a helpless thing, how can you force the people of the Central Plains to migrate westward if you don't do this?" If the people of the Central Plains do not migrate westward, how can they reverse the demographic disadvantage of the Guanliang land to the Central Plains? ”

"I see." Fu Zhuhao sighed and said to the horse, "Please rest assured, the truth that long pain is better than short pain, you still know it." ”

……

Xuchang, Yuan Shao's big tent in the army.

Yuan Shao frowned and said, "If the horse butcher really sent cavalry to attack the states, the matter is really a bit tricky, how does Meng De think the coalition army should deal with it?" ”

Cao Ying said concisely: "To control its dangers, it is all deep ditches and high bases, and it is not to fight!" In this way, in less than half a year, the 100,000 army of the horse butcher stationed in Luoyang will run out of food and collapse, and the coalition army will be victorious without a fight! Then, the northern, western, southern, and central allied armies marched together, taking advantage of the victory to pursue, and they would surely be able to sweep away the horse rebellion in one fell swoop. ”

……

Luoyang, Ma Yue's official residence.

All the generals have dispersed, and only Ma Yue and Jia Xu are left in the hall.

Ma Yue said: "Wen He thinks it is appropriate to bring how many soldiers and horses to the battle?" ”

Jia Xu pondered for a moment and replied: "There are fewer men and horses, it may be difficult to threaten the Xiongcheng Dayi in the rear of the coalition army, and the results are limited, but the large number of men and horses is not conducive to mobility, and I think that the scale of 8,000 elite cavalry is the most suitable, which can not only threaten almost all the cities in the Central Plains, but also ensure enough mobility." ”

"Well, then it's decided, Eight Thousand Elite Riders!"

"These 8,000 elite cavalry, does the lord plan to use the Qiang soldiers as the main force, or the Wuhuan and Yueshi cavalry as the main force?"

"The total number of Qiang soldiers, Wuhuan and Yue's cavalry is only 20,000, if General Ben takes away 8,000 at once, the troops left behind in Luoyang will be insufficient, so ......" Ma Yue's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he said in a condensed voice, "General Ben plans to select 8,000 elite soldiers from Guo Yan, Duan Xuan, and Yang Feng's old Liangzhou troops to go on the expedition." ”

"This ......," Jia Xu frowned, "Lord, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate to do this, right?" ”

"Wenhe can rest assured." Ma Yue said in a condensed voice, "Although these Liangzhou rebels are all ruffians, they are also all men with blood surnames, and they have experienced a hundred battles, as long as they are well trained, they may not be a tiger and wolf army!" General Ben is confident enough to lead this gang of rebels into an elite army. ”

Jia Xu nodded and said: "This is true, if you talk about the ability to lead troops, no one in the world can be on the right side of the lord." ”

Ma Yue said again: "Now Fang Yueyuan is in the Hetao, Xu Huang stays in Guanzhong, Gao Shun is seriously injured, Xu Chu and Dian Wei are brave and champion of the three armies, but it is difficult to stand alone, although Ma Chao is powerful in the Western Regions, but after all, he is a little too young." There are almost no available generals in the army, and I am afraid that the heavy task of staying in Luoyang will have to be picked by Wenhe. ”

"The lord can rest assured, I am sure that I will do my best to assist the young general to guard Luoyang." Jia Xu said this, and said without worry, "But the lord led a lone army into the hinterland of the Central Plains, surrounded by strong enemies on all sides, and there were dangers, so I can't be careless, if someone takes over, Xu Zhen should follow the lord to fight in the Central Plains." ”

"Haha......" Ma Yue laughed casually, "I think back then, this general only had 800 rabble, and he was still free to go and go under the siege and interception of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, and now he is leading 8,000 elite horsemen to gallop through the Central Plains, who can help me?" ”

……

Xuchang, Yuan Shao's big tent in the army.

Yuan Shaofang wanted to be exhausted, and suddenly reported that Prime Minister Cao Ying had come to visit overnight, and hurriedly got up barefoot to welcome Cao Ying into the tent.

"Meng Deshen is here to visit, I don't know what is important?"

"The original ......" Cao Yingyou glanced at the guards in the tent, and said in a condensed voice, "I have something urgent to discuss with you alone." ”

Yuan Shao understood, waved his hand to signal the guards in the tent to withdraw, and invited Cao Ying to sit down, and then asked, "Meng De, what is the matter?" ”

Cao Ying said: "During the day, when all the princes were present, the various armies that he said were dangerous, all of them were deep ditches and high bases, and they did not fight, in fact, they were only the next policy, and there were still two middle and upper strategies, but they were not enough for everyone. ”

Yuan Shao hurriedly asked: "What is the middle policy, what is the best policy?" ”

Cao Ying said in a condensed voice: "The middle strategy is to capture the Hetao, and the best strategy is to capture the horse butcher." ”

"Capture the Hetao, capture the horse butcher!?" Yuan Shao lost his voice and said, "How is this possible?" ”

Cao Ying said: "Although the old camp of Hetao is garrisoned by Fang Yue's 20,000 troops, it is not difficult to break through. ”

Yuan Shao said disapprovingly: "Meng De only knows that the old camp of Hetao is garrisoned by Fang Yue's 20,000 troops, but he doesn't know that there are still tens of thousands of iron horsemen from Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao in the Mobei grassland!" The cavalry under the command of these two people were all tiger and wolf horses brought out by the horse butcher back then, and they were only left in the grassland in order to pacify Mobei, if the horse butcher transferred this iron horse to Luoyang, the coalition army might not have a chance to defeat the horse butcher. ”

A hint of gloom flashed in Cao Ying's small eyes, and he said in a condensed voice: "Although Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang are the old departments of the horse butcher, they may not be loyal to the horse butcher. What's more, Fang Yue has the help of Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao in Mobei, and the North Road Coalition Army may not be alone. ”

"Oh?" Yuan Shao said in a condensed voice, "How do you say this?" ”

Cao Ying said: "Have you forgotten Gongsun Zan in Youzhou? ”

"Gongsun Chan!?" Yuan Shao shook his hand again and again and said, "Gongsun Zhan is the sworn brother of the horse butcher, and the battle of Julu was defeated by General Ben, and the two families have a deep grudge, this guy is not bad if he doesn't help Fang Yue, how can he help the coalition army in turn?" ”

"It's man-made." Cao Ying said in a deep voice, "If you haven't tried, you don't know that Gongsun Zan won't fall to the coalition army?" ”

Yuan Shao frowned and said, "Don't Meng De think it's redundant to do this?" ”

Cao Ying insisted: "At least you should try." ”

Yuan Shao shook his head and said: "It is impossible for Gongsun Zhan to fall to the coalition army, Meng De should talk about how to capture the horse butcher." ”

Cao Ying said: "The chances of capturing the horse butcher are even slimmer, but it is also worth trying. ”

Yuan Shao said: "I would like to hear about it." ”

Cao Ying said: "If nothing else, the horse butcher will definitely send elite cavalry to attack the hinterland of the rear of the coalition army, and Fang Yue and Xu Huang under the command of the horse butcher are in Hetao and Guanzhong respectively, although Ma Chao is powerful, he is still young after all, and the chief general Gao Shun is seriously injured, and he does not know whether he is alive or dead, so he ...... It is likely that the horse butcher will personally lead the troops into battle. ”

"Oh?" Yuan Shao said happily, "Meng De is saying that the horse butcher will personally lead the army to the expedition?" ”

Cao Ying said: "I can't say for sure, but at least six points are possible." ”

Yuan Shao said excitedly: "If the horse butcher really dares to lead the army to the battle, no matter how much it costs, he will be captured and beheaded in the Central Plains, as long as the horse butcher can be killed, this battle will already be won, and Luoyang will not have to fight, haha." ”

(To be continued)