readx;?“ What's going on with this shaft? Yuan Shu smashed the book in his hand on the case, stepped on it twice, and scolded with red eyes: "I can't stand it here, he still pushes and resists, do you want to see my jokes?" ”

Long before Liu Xiu's departure, in the middle of the winter month last year, Yan Yan, the deputy governor of the water division, and Sima Yanxing, the superintendent of the army, arrived in Jingzhou, and after a short stay in Jiangling for a few ri, they immediately rushed to Jiangxia and joined forces with Cai Mao, the governor of the Jingzhou water division. After Sun Jian got www.biquge.info the news, he didn't dare to be careless, and immediately sent the news to Hefei with a fast horse, and said to Yuan Shu that the Yizhou Sailor had arrived in Jingzhou, although he had not seen Liu Xiu's battle flag, but it was only a matter of time before he arrived in Jingzhou. He was about to face a joint attack by the Yizhou Army and the Jingzhou Army, and the 10,000 troops he had on hand were simply not enough, so he asked Yuan Shu to arrange support immediately.

After Yuan Shu received the news, he was also a little nervous. However, he was not surprised, from the fact that Liu Biao was squeezed out by the Jingzhou clan, he guessed that Liu Xiu was about to personally participate in the war, rather than sending one or two troops in the future. He immediately relayed the news to Yuan Kui, asking him to inform Yuan Shao to intensify his attack on Cao Cāo and relieve him of the pressure.

Although Yuan Shu was arrogant, he had fought side by side with Liu Xiu and knew that Liu Xiu's methods were powerful. He was not sure that he still had the strength to deal with Cao Cāo when facing Liu Xiu, and if he was attacked from both sides, he would definitely be dead.

But the message Yuan Shao replied to him very disappointed, so disappointed that he was annoyed. Yuan Shao said that although he took half of Youzhou, Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei were still in Liaoxi, and they didn't want to make a comeback all the time. The Yellow Turban Marshal Zhang Yan is in Zhending Tuntian again, threatening his back road at all times, he can't help but be on guard, recently received news that Beizhong Lang General Zhao Yun is mobilizing and Zhou Iron Cavalry, including Shuo Fang Taishou Lu Bu and other cavalry are among the recruits, it is estimated that they will soon go east to Jizhou, Jizhou is now being attacked on three sides, and the situation is not easier than Yuan Shu. In this case. He is also struggling, it would be good to be able to barely support it, where can he talk about taking the initiative to attack Cao Cāo.

Yuan Shu didn't believe Yuan Shao's words at all, what was the strength of Jizhou. He knew very well that Yuan Shao had at least 150,000 troops on hand, and a mere 20,000 and state iron cavalry made him so nervous? You still have 20,000 Youzhou Iron Horsemen in your hand.

Yuan Shu thought that Yuan Shao was not saving him when he saw death, and wanted to borrow Liu Xiu's knife to kill him, and after getting rid of him as a strong enemy, the strength of the Yuan family could only be attributed to Yuan Shao alone.

Yuan Shu was very angry and rushed to Runan to meet Yuan Kui in person. This matter can't be rectified, when is this happening, Yuan Shao still beats his little Jiujiu? Liu Xiu is the last reliance of the imperial court, and for so many years of the Kwantung War, Liu Xiu has been using various excuses to stay out of the matter and raise his strength. Now that he holds Sanzhou in his hand, and he is condescending, his shot will inevitably be a thunderous blow. Victory or defeat is in this move, and the Yuan family may not be able to stop him with all their efforts, if they still have their own thoughts. Then don't fight.

Yuan Kui was also very nervous, he knew that Yuan Shu was taking the opportunity to accuse Yuan Shao, but he also knew that most of what Yuan Shu said was fine. Liu Xiu attacked, and once the strength he had accumulated for several years was released, it would inevitably be an all-out blow. Whether the Yuan family can block this attack is directly related to the success or failure of the Yuan family.

If the Yuan family is defeated, Liu Xiu will be invincible, but if Liu Xiu is defeated, then no one in the world will be able to stop the Yuan family.

"You are guarding Jiangxia with peace of mind, what kind of person was you in the beginning. I know it. Yuan Kui said calmly: "He won't fail to see the danger here, and he won't borrow Liu Xiu's knife to kill you." Yuan Kui looked at Yuan Shu: "First of all, if he wants to kill you, he doesn't need to borrow Liu Xiu's knife at all." Secondly, now is not the time to kill you. ”

Yuan Shu was speechless, and then his face turned red. He heard a thick disdain from Yuan Kui's words.

"Okay, I'll go and fight with Liu Xiu. I want to see if if he can stop Liu Xiu alone if I die. Yuan Shu threw down a cruel word and walked away.

"You bother, don't let him get hurt." Yuan Kui owed Ma Teng, "It's hard work." ”

"Don't dare, it's my pleasure." Ma Teng bowed, got up and went out.

Yuan Kui sat alone in the hall for a long time, his two gray eyebrows frowning tightly together, and his eyelids throbbed for a while. Since the Yuan family raised their troops, there has been no way out, but there has been no progress at all in the fighting in the past few years, and on the contrary, they have lost Nanyang. As soon as Nanyang was lost, the Yuan family was confined to the Kanto region and could not move forward. Whether it is Yuan Shu or Yuan Shao, Rizi is not having a good time. Their current territory is similar to that of when they started the army a few years ago, as if they had been waiting for three or four years, waiting for Liu Xiu to go from weak to strong, and now the tiger is coming down the mountain.

Yuan Kui couldn't understand why he had been fighting for so many years, but there had been no progress? He looked at the map in front of him, and the more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. Originally, he didn't care much about military affairs, but in the past few years, he has been mobilized between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and he has more or less begun to understand what the so-called art of war is.

However, it seems to be a little late. He found himself making a big mistake, a mistake from the start. He only cared about seizing Yu Yanqing Xu and Jizhou, but he ignored and Liang, ignored Yizhou, and now these places are easily mastered by Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu relies on the Jing soldiers there, with the money and grain of Yizhou, and by the condescending terrain, he is a thunderbolt.

Over the years, Kanto has been fighting, although it has not yet reached the point where the people are not able to make a living, but the overall situation is not as good as before is certain, and Liu Xiu has been recuperating all these years, he is now enough to raise Jing Shen, coupled with the implementation of the new policy, the strength of Bingzhou and Liangzhou has increased to a certain extent, and the gap with Kanto is not so great. And Liu Xiu still has an advantage in his hand that they can't resist at all.

Cavalry.

Liu Xiu has a place to raise horses, but they don't, although Yuan Shao got half of Youzhou, but the strength of the Xianbei people today is not as good as before, and the Wuhuan people are also half-convinced, their awe of Liu Xiu is not a day or two, once Liu Xiu makes a move, whether these Wuhuan people are still willing to work for Yuan Shao is really an uncertain thing.

What's more, the number of war horses in Youzhou is far inferior to that of Bingliang, and the best pastures in Dahan are all in the Liangliang area. Liu Xiu controlled and Liang, that is, he controlled the extremely important strategic resource of war horses.

The horse is the great animal of the country. Yuan Kui only now really understood the meaning of this sentence.

"Husband, are you worried again?" Ma Lun stood at the door, looking at Yuan Kui worriedly. Since hearing the news of Liu Biao's self-avoidance, Yuan Kui's anger has been worse day by day, often waking up in the middle of the night, and his beard has turned white at a frightening speed.

"The striker of the Yizhou Navy Division has arrived in Jiangxia, but there is no room for it at the beginning." Yuan Kui rolled up the map and let out a long sigh, "I don't know how to face this situation. ”

Ma Lun walked behind Yuan Kui and stretched out a very well-maintained hand to pinch Yuan Kui's shoulder. Yuan Kui was stunned for a moment, it seems that such a thing has not happened for a long time, or after they got married, at that time he was still studying desperately, Ma Lun would be by his side, and discuss knowledge with him, if he was tired, Ma Lun would gently pinch his shoulders for him, beat his back, and the two of them laughed a few words, which could alleviate fatigue. But as his officials grew bigger and bigger, they were rarely so close to each other.

"Are you worried about Liu Xiu's cavalry?"

"Yes, it was better there at the beginning, but the cavalry on the road is getting fewer and fewer day by day, except for the personal guard cavalry of the generals, there is no formed cavalry."

"How many cavalry does Liu Xiu have?"

Yuan Kui pondered for a moment: "I estimate it to be around twenty thousand." ”

"You're too weak-hearted." Ma Lun smiled slightly and patted Yuan Kui's back gently: "Do you know how much food 20,000 cavalry consumes?" Even if Liu Xiu now holds Yizhou, he can't afford to fight for 20,000 cavalry for many years. ”

Yuan Kui turned his head to look at Ma Lun, with a puzzled look in his eyes. Liu Xiu is holding it in Heliang, and it is beneficial to the state, and he doesn't even have 20,000 cavalry? Seeing that he was puzzled, Ma Lun explained: "The cost of a war horse is equivalent to six foot soldiers, and 20,000 cavalry soldiers are equivalent to 140,000 foot soldiers, and nearly 300,000 stone of grain will be eaten in a month. This is still in Kansai, if it is in Kanto, I am afraid that the quantity will be even larger, because there is no suitable pasture in Kanto, and the war horses will have to replenish more grain. ”

Yuan Kui nodded. Ma Len is a native of Guanzhong, and she knows more about cavalry than he does.

"Liu Xiu implemented a new policy in Bingzhou, Liangzhou and Yizhou, but don't forget, his new policy is to revitalize industry and commerce as the core. He can make a lot of money, but his food production can't increase much in the short term. Food is the key. If there is food, he can persevere, and without food, even if he has 100,000 horsemen, he will not dare to use it easily. ”

Yuan Kui's eyes lit up.

"Liu Xiu will definitely use cavalry, but he won't put all of them into the battlefield at the beginning." Ma Lun took Yuan Kui's hand: "If we have food, we can hold on." Husband, Liu Xiu is not a god, he can't turn into food, and most of the most fertile land in the world is in our hands. We can hold on, Liu Xiu can't hold on, so ......"

"Therefore, we must not fight him in the field, but should defend the city, step by step, and fight a war of attrition with him."

"Husband is so right." Mullen nodded appreciatively: "However, we can't just defend and not attack. ”

As soon as Yuan Kui's train of thought opened, he immediately became transparent: "Is it to defend Liu Xiu, and to attack Cao Cāo?" ”

"That's right. It is necessary to defeat Cao Cāo in the shortest possible time and take the Qingxu area into my possession. Otherwise, our forces will not be able to be unified, and sooner or later we will be broken by Liu Xiu. By defeating Cao Cāo, we will not only have a larger range of activities, but we will also be able to gain the wealth and population of the Qingxu area, and I heard that the silk weaving business in Qingxu has been getting bigger and bigger in the past two years. ”

Yuan Kui couldn't help but be overjoyed, his eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands and said: "Yes, if we take Qingxu, it will be equivalent to cutting off the blood vessels of Liu Xiu's trade route in the Western Regions, and he will either give up the trade route or buy from us in a steady stream." He thought about it for a while, and frowned again: "Cao Mengde is not a good person, we haven't been able to defeat him for so many years, and now that Liu Xiu's army is pressing, do we still have a chance?" ”

"Opportunities are created by people." Ma Lun looked at Yuan Kui: "At this chance of life and death, should you let Ben cooperate and stop doing things on your own?" ”

Yuan Kui's eyes flashed, and he was silent for a moment: "I ask my brother to go to Jizhou and let Ben Chu act together." ”