On the day when the Xuzhou army and the little Yuan Sangong formally signed the armistice agreement, the first snow finally fell on the land of Huainan that was getting colder and colder, and in the snowflakes, the Shucheng defenders who had already been ready to retreat opened the city gate, and left the city under the personal leadership of the little Yuan Sangong.

This is a low-level expansion and anti-expansion war, the overall strength of the quasi-first-class Xuzhou army by virtue of advanced weapons and combat effectiveness advantages, but also by virtue of the strategy and tactics that did not make mistakes, as well as a good external environment, relying on these advantages together, head-on defeated the Huainan army, the overall strength can only be regarded as a second-rate upper part, successfully achieved the two major strategic goals set before the war, seize the entire territory of Huainan, see the Huainan army expelled across the river.

There are many reasons for the failure of the Huainan army, first of all, the combat effectiveness is indeed somewhat weak, the overall strength is not as good as the Xuzhou army, and there are fatal mistakes in several major decisions, and then the external environment is far less good than the Xuzhou army, because there were too many enemies before and too fast, resulting in the princes of the world and even Yuan Shu's half-brother Yuan Shu refused to lend a hand to the Huainan army, and the unrighteous widow led to a complete fiasco, and paid a painful price for the arrogance and arrogance of the little Yuan Sangong before, and the loss was reasonable. But it wasn't completely convincing - if the Huainan army had had been a little more lucky, the Xuzhou army might not have been able to take Jiujiang and Lujiang counties.

It's useless to be unconvinced, even after losing the battle, helpless and suffering from the enemy, helplessly, the little Yuan Sangong, who has completely lost the courage to fight against the Xuzhou army, can only repeat the old tricks, obediently hand over the jade seal of the country and the entire territory of Huainan, in exchange for the armistice and part of the concessions of the Xuzhou army, with the vitality of the surviving army and a large number of money and grain collected from the expulsion, rushed to the south of the Yangtze River to bully the more rookie Jiangdong princes, and passed on the losses to the sworn enemy Liu Miao and other weak Jiangdong princes, Looking forward to the day when there will be a comeback and revenge.

Diametrically opposed to the Huainan army that crossed the river south with grief and indignation, after the armistice agreement was signed, the ranks of the Xuzhou army of course resounded with earth-shaking cheers, because this agreement not only represents that the Xuzhou soldiers finally shed their blood for money, but also represents that the Xuzhou army finally won the first expansion war, won the whole territory of Huainan that is rich and prosperous in the whole world, and it also represents that every Xuzhou soldier is about to be rewarded with rich money and food, and further improve their already good life.

And unlike the joy of the soldiers, Deputy Director Tao, who officially became the master of Huainan, was very calm, because although the Xuzhou army took the entire territory of Huainan, it only completed the first walk of Deputy Director Tao's demolition of the world, and there were more and more difficult nail households waiting for Deputy Director Tao to conquer and dismantle. At the same time, the land in Huainan that has just been seized cannot immediately become the logistics base of the Xuzhou army, there are still countless aftermath work waiting for Deputy Director Tao to cook, and there are still more places waiting for Deputy Director Tao's money and food investment, how much time will it take for the Xuzhou army to gain a firm foothold in Huainan and build Huainan into an advance base for seizing Jiangdong, even Deputy Director Tao himself is not sure.

On the night of the withdrawal of the Huainan Army, in the Chinese army camp of the Xuzhou camp, he saw Deputy Director Tao playing with the lost and recovered jade seal, and seemed to have something on his mind. ”

Tao Ying nodded, and said unabashedly: "I am worried about the selection of our army to stay in Huainan, Zang Ba is a good choice, but Zang Xuangao will not be able to fight a water war, so it may be difficult for him to provoke the heavy task of forming a water army, and the other Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai who can fight a water war are not qualified enough, so they are worried, I don't know if the military advisor can give advice?" ”

"Regarding this matter, there is a matter to be told to the lord below." Lu Su took the opportunity to say: "I want to resign from the post of Xuzhou military advisor, please ask the lord for permission." ”

As soon as Lu Su said this, Jia Xu, Liu Ye and others present were inevitably taken aback, and Tao Ying was also a little surprised, exclaiming: "Zijing, won't you?" You even want to pick a stack? ”

"I have the courage to implore the lord to let me serve as the captain of the Xuzhou Navy Academy." Lu Su spoke again in an astonishing voice, and said sincerely: "Lord, this Xuzhou military division is very incompetent, and he is not good at changing opportunities. However, he was born in the river and grew up in the water town, and he has a lot of knowledge about water warfare, which is a small experience, so he dared to recommend himself to train the water army for the lord and build the Xuzhou water division, and he also hoped that the lord would be favorable. ”

"Zijing, people go to high places, why are you just the opposite?" Deputy Director Tao was overjoyed in his heart, but he said with a fake smile on his face: "It is not appropriate to put a military advisor under one person and above ten thousand people in the army, why should he be a naval captain and accept the command of his former subordinates in turn?" ”

"What the lord said is true, people go to high places, and water flows to places - in the lower five elements, the water is prosperous, so I want to flow to low places." The honest man Lu Su rarely said a joke, and said more sincerely: "Lord, this move is not a whim, but a long plan, I really think that I am not suitable for the position of military advisor, and I think that only by going to the water can I better serve the lord, and I also ask the lord to agree, and give him the opportunity to show his strengths in the next one." ”

Seeing that the old lackey Lu Su voluntarily demoted and stayed in Huainan, Deputy Director Tao was of course overjoyed, and after a little calculation, Deputy Director Tao nodded and said: "Okay, since Zijing is willing, then I will be sorry for Zijing who followed me at the earliest, and allow you to resign from the post of Xuzhou Military Division, and let you stay in Huainan to train the navy." ”

Lu Su was also overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted Tao Ying to thank him, and Tao Ying said: "In this way, Zijing, I will show you to the imperial court that you are the Taishou of Jiujiang, and that you will be the governor of Xu Yang's water division, and that you will command all our army's water divisions in Xuzhou and Yangzhou, as well as our army's Jiujiang soldiers and horses." As for Lujiang County, the post of Taishou will not be set up for the time being, let Xu Sheng lead the post of Minister of Lujiang County, lead the army to guard Lujiang, accept your command, and help you build a water division, Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai, local generals who can fight water wars, I will also leave them all to you. ”

In order to facilitate Lu Su to take charge of Huainan alone, he did not even set up Lujiang Taishou, and he considered Lu Su very well-intentioned, Lu Su was flattered, and it was inevitable that he was also very moved, and quickly knelt down on Deputy Director Tao's knees, choked and said: "The lord trusts Yu Su so much, Su is broken bones, and it is difficult to protect the lord's great grace!" ”

"Zi respectfully, you don't have to be so polite." Tao Ying left the table and picked up Lu Su with both hands, and sighed: "Zijing, it is said that Huainan in the rich world is handed over to you, but in fact, it is a mess handed over to you, Yuan Shupifu has made a mess of Huainan, and it is difficult for our army to restore the people's livelihood, and the Xuzhou Navy Division is basically starting from scratch, I am afraid you will have to work hard in the future." ”

"Su is entrusted by the lord and does not dare to claim to be hard, but Su will definitely do his best to repay the lord for his great kindness." Lu Su, the former small landlord of Jiujiang and the current boss of Huainan, replied from the bottom of his heart.

"I'm sure Zijing will do it." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and said with a smile: "There is one more thing Zijing must be concerned about, Jiangdong has a lot of talents, and the situation of the scarcity of generals in our army has just improved, but civilian officials have begun to have a serious shortage of them. ”

Lu Su nodded in agreement, keeping Deputy Director Tao's advice in mind, but Liu Ye was very envious, and only hated himself for being too late to become a thief, and he couldn't board Deputy Director Tao's thief ship early like Lu Su, otherwise, this time Huainan would definitely have his own share. Only Jia Xu was silent, and suddenly said: "Lord, although it is well-intentioned not to set up Lujiang Taishou, but it is necessary to prevent someone from taking the opportunity to use the room. ”

Tao Ying's heart sank, and then he remembered this troublesome matter, if he didn't show a Lujiang Taishou to seize the political upper hand, then once Cao Boss, who currently controls Emperor Han Xian's coercion of the Son of Heaven to make the princes, make it bad, and deliberately seal a potential enemy of himself as Lujiang Taishou, then even if he doesn't have to listen to Cao Boss's bullshit appointment, his potential enemy will immediately become a real enemy. Thinking of this, Tao Ying nodded and said, "What Mr. Wenhe said is very good, just show that my brother Tao Shang is the Taishou of Lujiang, and does not give Cao Thief a chance." ”

…………………………

In order to keep an eye on Deputy Director Tao's movements, of course, Boss Cao, who hated Deputy Director Tao, arranged in Huainan to monitor the movements of the Xuzhou army, but the road was impassable and most of the way was not controlled by Boss Cao's team, and the news was difficult to transmit, so when Cao Jun had not had time to send the final result of the Huainan battle to Boss Cao, Deputy Director Tao had already passed through the unimpeded road and sent it to Boss Cao's new old nest - Xudu City!

Deputy Director Tao's report documents and performance documents were nominally given to Emperor Han Xian, but the result was naturally sent to Boss Cao first, and after reading Deputy Director Tao's boastful requisition of Yuan Thief's successful report, Boss Cao's black face also turned iron blue, and he just roared when he patted the case, "Okay, you Yuan Shu puppet, you are so incompetent!" It only took five months to lose all Jiujiang and Lujiang, which is simply incompetent! ”

"Lord, Tao Ying's thief originally had five counties in Xuzhou, and he got the rich land of Huainan, if he didn't plan it as soon as possible, he would only become a big trouble." Xun You on the side warned: "Since the Tao Ying thief took charge of Xuzhou, he has continued to recruit troops and buy horses, appoint talents, make great efforts, make friends from afar and attack closely, and the military, politics and military strategy are all perfect, the five counties of Xuzhou are steaming, Xuzhou's military strength is growing, and now he has won the rich land of Huainan in one fell swoop, and the abundance of money and food has been the best in the world." If this thief is not eradicated as soon as possible, I am afraid that it will be difficult to do it in time. ”

"Gongda has a point." Xun Yu did not hesitate to vote for his nephew, and said: "When the lord spared Tao Ying thief under the city of Xuzhou, he was already suffering from the tiger and the thief, and now Tao Ying's thief's strength is growing, and the gap with our army is reduced, if you don't seize the opportunity to eradicate it as soon as possible, or try to weaken it, once the strength of Tao Ying's thief surpasses our army, I am afraid that it will be difficult for our army to get along with it even if you want to." ”

Cheng Yu and Man Chong and other strategists echoed one after another, and they all believed that they should take advantage of the current strength of Cao's army to overpower Xuzhou, and send troops to kill Deputy Director Tao's henchmen as soon as possible, otherwise, once the Xuzhou army grows to the point that Cao's army cannot be subdued, then the consequences can only be unimaginable - after all, the resentment between the Xuzhou army and Cao's army is too deep. The two initiators of the tiger relic, Cao Boss and Guo Fengxiao, had an embarrassed expression, and they both had a feeling that they couldn't wait to find a crack in the ground to get into.

Finally found an opportunity to wave his hand to interrupt the chatter of the strategists, Boss Cao said helplessly and angrily: "I don't know that the pottery thief should be eliminated early? I have also considered entering Xuzhou more than once, killing all the pottery thieves to avenge my father! But Yuan Shao, what should Yuan Shao do? The pottery thief is the best at sneaking and slapping horses, flattery, coaxing Yuan Shao to be dizzy, he is very partial, and now because of the matter of the Son of Heaven, I and Yuan Shao gradually became evil, so far the turmoil has not stopped, if I send troops to Xuzhou, Yuan Shao also sent troops to attack me, then what can I do? ”

"Ming Gong said this is very good, if you want to get rid of the pottery thief, you must first make an alliance with Yuan Shao, otherwise you must not move lightly." Guo Jia stubbornly echoed Boss Cao and also covered up his embarrassment.

"Don't worry, the lord, although Yuan Shao is strong, he is also controlled by the enemy of Gongsun Zhan." Full pet persuaded and said: "Gongsun Zhan's hundred-legged insect is dead and not stiff, and he can survive for a year and a half, as long as Gongsun Chan does not die, Yuan Shao may not have the courage to start a war on two fronts, even if Yuan Shao has this courage, he will definitely not go south, and the lord can divide his troops to refuse, and then use the main force to conquer Xuzhou in the south?" ”

"Mr. Berning's remarks, though reasonable, are too risky." Manzhong's words were unanimously opposed by Cao Boss's other dog-headed military divisions, and Xun Yu, who was most trusted by Cao Boss, also persuaded: "The lord must not take such a risk, the pottery thief is abnormal, and he has a close relationship with Yuan Shao, even if the lord personally mentions the main force to conquer Xuzhou, it will be difficult to break the pottery thief for a while. ”

"Since Mr. Wen Ruo understands this reason, why does he still urge me to eradicate the pottery thief as soon as possible?" Boss Cao asked with a wry smile.

"The lord may not have heard clearly, Yu is behind this sentence, there is another sentence." Xun Yu replied quietly: "In addition to saying that he would seize the opportunity to eradicate the pottery thief as soon as possible, Yu also said a word - or try to weaken it. If it can weaken part of the strength of the pottery thief, it will also be beneficial to our army. ”

"Managed to weaken?" Boss Cao's dark and thick eyebrows were raised, and he asked, "How to weaken?" ”

"There is no better way to weaken the enemy than to turn the enemy against other enemies and kill each other, so that I can reap the benefits." Xun Yu said gloomily: "Now that the lord of heaven is in hand, the order is the same as the law, why don't the lord make a fuss about the neighbors of the pottery thief?" Let them kill each other and attack each other? ”

"Mr. Wen Ruo's words are reasonable." Boss Cao nodded, and muttered again: "The pottery thief currently has a lot of neighbors, in addition to our army, there are also Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan and Liu Xuan's five armies, I don't know who to make a fuss about?" And how to make a fuss? ”

"Everything." Xun Yu was shocked, and said: "If the lord is willing, the princes of the Five Roads, including Yuan Shao, may turn against the pottery thief, and even send troops to attack the pottery thief together, it is not impossible." ”

"The princes of the Five Roads are attacking the pottery thief?" Hearing this, Boss Cao immediately came to his senses as if he had been beaten with chicken blood, and quickly sat up straight and said, "Please Mr. Wenruo try to explain the details." ”

"The princes of the five roads, Yuan Shu and Liu Xuan are the easiest." Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "Needless to say, Yuan Shu has just been taken away by the pottery thief Lujiang and Jiujiang two counties, and he hates the pottery thief to the bone marrow, and he will definitely fight back and take revenge when he has the opportunity." Although it is not clear whether the Tao thief violated the covenant, even if the Tao thief did not violate the alliance agreement, Liu Xiang will inevitably hate the Tao thief to the bone, and if he has the opportunity, he will definitely send troops to retaliate! ”

The first step is to send an edict to mediate the dispute between Yuan Shu and Liu Xuan, and then write a secret letter to the two of them, explaining the reason for the cold lips and teeth, and persuading the two to join forces to fight against the pottery thief. In the second step, the lord can seal the pottery thief's brother pottery merchant as the Yangzhou assassin history, and order the pottery merchant to lead the Yangzhou counties with the edict of the Son of Heaven, and then make people secretly tell Yuan Shu and Liu Xuan, saying that the pottery thief's cousin pottery merchant is the Yangzhou assassin history, and wants to send troops to annex the Jiangdong counties, Liu Yuan will definitely join forces to resist the pottery thief when he hears the news! Although the strength of this second route is slightly weaker, it can make the southern front of the pottery thief overwhelmed and disperse its forces on the northern front. ”

"Liu Biao's side, yesterday our army sent a message, saying that the pottery thief defeated Liu Biao's general Huang Biao in Lujiang, and the yellow shot was Liu Biao's only son of Huang Zu, Huang Biao was frustrated, Huang Zu must be angry in his heart, and Liu Biao will be unhappy even if he retreats. That being the case, the lord can show Huang Zu as the Lujiang Taishou, Huang Zu will regard the pottery thief as the enemy of the big Kou, give birth to the heart of annexing the Lujiang River, the lord and Liu Biao will issue an edict again, and the edict will send troops to attack Huainan, Liu Biao does not obey the edict is to resist the decree and seek rebellion, if the edict Huang Zu will definitely send troops to Lujiang! As soon as the war between Tao and Liu starts, the second army of Liu Miao and Yuan Shu will take advantage of the fire to rob them! ”

"Wonderful!" Cao Lao applauded with joy, and hurriedly asked, "What about Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao?" ”

"It's also easier for Gongsun Chan here, just an edict." Xun Yu replied lightly: "The lord can give Tao Ying an edict to destroy the thief, under the pretext that Gongsun Chan resisted the Son of Heaven and tried to rebel, so that he sent troops to Qingzhou to attack Gongsun Zhan's general Tian Kai, Tao Thief does not obey the edict is to resist the order and rebel, openly rebel, the edict is to take revenge, not to eliminate our army's provocation, Gongsun Chan and Tian Kai will have hatred of Tao Thief." ”

"Well, that's right." Boss Cao nodded and said, "Even if the pottery thief Yang disobeys the Yin, but does not send troops, it is enough to discredit him and contain some of his troops." ”

"Don't worry, the lord has a plan, so that the pottery thief will inevitably send troops to Qingzhou." Xun Yuyin laughed, "This plan is also related to the separation of Yuan Shao and Tao Ying's son-in-law, the lord should know that although Yuan Shao's heart is towards Tao Ying, Yuan Shao's beloved son Yuan Shang is also close to the Tao thief, but Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan hates the Tao thief!" The enemy of the enemy is a friend, and our army is relatively good to Yuan Tan, so why didn't the lord send someone to persuade Yuan Tan to ask for an order to capture Qingzhou and eradicate Tian Kai? ”

"Mr. Wen Ruo ordered the Tao thief to send troops to Qingzhou with a clear edict, and persuaded Yuan Tan to ask for an order to send troops to Qingzhou, if it is successful, there will naturally be a chance to make Yuan Tao fight evil, and even turn his face and start a war." Boss Cao hesitated a little this time, and said, "But, can our army say that Yuan Tan will follow the plan?" Even if Yuan Tan is moved, what if Yuan Shao refuses to agree? ”

"It's difficult, but it's not hopeless." Xun Yu replied: "Although Yuan Tan is the eldest son, he is not favored by Yuan Shao, and he is eager to prove himself by making achievements, and it is not difficult to convince him. On Yuan Shao's side, the lord had decided to show him in front of the Son of Heaven as the general and the captain, leading the governors of Ji, You, and Sanzhou, so as to show favor to Yuan Shao - in this case, why didn't the lord be an empty favor and let Yuan Shao simply take the Qingzhou pastor? Yuan Shao has the name of an empty Qingzhou pastor, can he not be greedy for Qingzhou? Wouldn't it be much easier for Yuan Tan to ask for another order to conquer Qingzhou? ”

"Mr. Wen Ruo's plan is wonderful." Guo Jia echoed: "Once Yuan Shao decides to send troops to Qingzhou, he will inevitably ask Tao Ying to send troops to help the thieves, and the Son of Heaven will order the Tao thieves to conquer Tian Kai, and the forces of the Tao thieves will be further dispersed." ”

Speaking of this, Guo Jia also added with a smile: "And once the pottery thief sends troops to Qingzhou, he will inevitably fight him, attack the city, and die, but the money and grain of the territory will be occupied by Yuan Shao - otherwise, wouldn't Yuan Shao marry a daughter for nothing?" ”

Cao Lao laughed a lot, and said a few times: "That's it!" First let the pottery thief's good neighbors move, disperse and weaken the pottery thief's power, and then use Yuan Tan to stir up the Tao Yuan dispute, so that the pottery thief loses Yuan Shao's support, and finally, I will take over the rich land of money and food that the pottery thief finally won! ”

(To be continued)