In the early winter morning, there was a thick white fog, and from the thin place, the fog had frosted. After being pruned by the autumn wind, the grass and trees and mountains suddenly become pink and jade, and the demeanor is lovely. The thin drift of snow turns into clear water when it enters the soil, and it is no longer visible, but in its fluttering, it sets off the nearby mountains more and more clearly and quietly.

The withered grass on the side of the road, topped with a layer of soft new frost, became so white and mysterious. The thousands of branches of the branches, which were hard and dry, were not poetic, but they were new and refreshing overnight, charming and quiet.

Wang Xu wore a fluffy robe and walked in the wilderness outside Chang'an City, savoring the beauty of winter.

Dian Wei, Yan Liang, and Xu Shu accompanied him, and dozens of guards and iron horsemen were followed behind to protect his safety.

"Lord!" Xu Shu exhaled a breath of heat and persuaded loudly: "Let's go back first, it's cold outside the city, beware of the wind cold!" ”

"Yes, the lord will go back and wait!" Dian Wei also said worriedly.

"It's okay!" Wang Xu waved his hand, looked back at the soldiers at the head of Chang'an City in the distance, and said with a smile: "The soldiers on duty are not afraid of standing at the head of the city, why am I afraid of the cold!" ”

"Huh!" Yan Liang's brows were furrowed, and his expression looked a little unhappy: "Lord, this Li Yan has been going north for more than ten days, but there has been no response until now, the last general thinks, don't wait any longer, maybe it's just to take the opportunity to get out, it's better to make plans early." ”

With the words, Wang Xu paused, looked at the north, stopped speaking for a long time, and his breathing became short, and bursts of white mist appeared in the cold air.

It was not the first time he had heard such persuasion from the generals, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, and Zhang He had all said that it had been since Li Yan went north to find Chen. Twelve days have passed. That's too long.

His faith was also waning day by day. In the past two days, he has been walking in the north of Chang'an City, saying that he is relaxing, but in fact, everyone knows that he is looking forward to the people in the north.

At this moment, he was silent for a long time, struggling between advance and retreat in his heart, because Li Yan in history was flawed in character, and he really didn't dare to be sure. But in the end, he continued to take steps and said lightly: "There is no doubt about employing people, and there is no need for suspicious people!" ”

"Lord, the longer you wait, the more disadvantageous it will be for our army!" Xu Shu hurriedly dissuaded.

"Wait three more days!" Wang Xu said in an unquestioning tone.

"Hey......" everyone sighed, looked at each other for a moment, and finally did not persuade again.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves galloping sounded in the hazy fog, but it sounded like there were only a dozen horses, and it was faintly impossible to see who was coming. Everyone quickly concentrated on vigilance and protected Wang Xu in the middle.

Wait for it to run closer. Only then did everyone see that it was Ling Wanqing with more than ten spy members.

"Wanqing, why did you get out of the city!" Wang Xu took a few steps forward and asked with a smile.

Ling Wanqing smiled charmingly, then turned over and dismounted, and hurried to the front: "Just now Luo An sent a battle report of the dispute between Yuan and Cao, and after the slave maid ordered the spy department to distribute it to all parties, she rushed to tell her husband about it. ”

"Oh?" Wang Xu frowned and asked, "What's the situation over there?" Is there a turnaround? ”

"Although there has been a full-scale war, the shape is not clear!" Ling Wanqing shook her head and replied softly: "After Yuan Shao's main army entered Liyang, he sent Wen Chou and Gao Ran to cross the river with superior forces to attack Baima. ”

"Then Cao Cao urgently dispatched the main army originally stationed in Guandu, went north to rescue, and first led troops to the south of Yanjin, disguised to cross the river to attack Yuan Shao's rear, so that Wen Chou divided his troops to the west to intercept, in fact, he sent Xiahoudun and Le Jin as the vanguard, light cavalry rushed forward, attacked the Yuan army camp that attacked Baima overnight, Gao Ran was defeated, and returned defeated, only with hundreds of horsemen to cross the river and flee north."

"During the period, Wen scandal news rescue, but was ambushed in the southwest of Baima, the soldiers were defeated, Cao Ren and Guan Yu rushed into the formation, who would have thought that Wen Chou saw Guan Yu fleeing without a fight, and hurriedly crossed the Yellow River north with the remnants."

"Flee without a fight?" Wang Xu interrupted Ling Wanqing's words in shock.

Yan Liangben was behind, and when he heard these words at this moment, his face was a little embarrassed, and he said: "Lord, you once said to the last general, don't fight with Guan Yu, vaguely indicating that Guan Yu's martial arts are still above the lord, and the last general can't even beat the lord, so I don't think it's Guan Yu's opponent." ”

"And that Wen Chou and the last general are friends, before secretly going south, the last general thought about his safety, and once told him that Guan Yu's martial arts are far beyond us, and he can't fight alone, so I think about it, Wen Chou should have believed my words, so he saw that he was ambushed, and he was powerless to fight, and when he met Guan Yu, he led his troops to flee."

"You are really righteous enough...... Wang Xu was speechless for a moment, and did not say anything more about it, but asked Ling Wanqing instead: "Then what happened?" ”

Ling Wanqing covered her mouth and smiled, and then said: "In this battle, there were 50,000 people in Yuan Shao's front, and only a few thousand of them were able to cross the river and escape back to Liyang, with more than 10,000 dead and wounded, and the rest surrendered. According to rumors among the soldiers of the Yuan army, Yuan Shao was furious at that time and almost beheaded the second general, but fortunately the ministers of Hebei interceded, which was spared. Subsequently, he waved 300,000 troops and divided them into five routes, intending to strengthen the Yellow River to the south. ”

"Cao Cao's troops were insufficient, in order to concentrate his forces, he did not want to compete with him along the stretching Yellow River, so he moved all the soldiers and people of Baima away, and the main army retreated to Changyuan and Lihu to curb the danger and hold its access to Jiyin Dingtao."

"Yuan Shao dispatched Feng Ji and judged the generals to lead 100,000 soldiers and horses to confront the Cao army in Lihu, and the main force of 200,000 attacked Changyuan, intending to annihilate the main force of the Cao army in Changyuan, so as to completely defeat Cao Cao."

Wang Xu nodded secretly when he heard this.

I thought to myself: Cao Cao was always in Xuchang in history, so after he withdrew from the Yellow River in Baima, he finally chose Guandu, a few hundred miles north of Xuchang, south of Wuchao Lake, and fought Yuan Shao to the death there.

Now because it occupies Nanyang and is adjacent to Yingchuan County, where Xuchang is located, its capital can only be moved to Dingtao, Jiyin County, further east.

In this way, if he wants to defeat Yuan Shao with a relatively inferior force, he will directly retreat to the vicinity of the capital Dingtao, break the cauldron and sink the boat, and fight to the death there, otherwise, he can only choose Changyuan, Changyuan's geographical location and terrain are indeed the best choice.

Thinking of this, Wang Xu had already raised his head and asked again, "Wanqing." What about the other soldiers and horses of the two forces? ”

"The Eastern War. Cao Jun, Zang Ba and other generals and Yuan Tan's Yuan army under the command of Yuan Tan. In Qingzhou, there have been dozens of battles, the most intense, but no one can help anyone, Yuan Tan's troops are superior, but Zang Ba and other generals have the ability to dominate, and now they are still evenly matched. ”

"In the western war situation, Yu Ban and other generals also quickly led their troops out of Yanjindu after Cao's army gave up the white horse. He went to Hanoi County in the northwest, led the crowd to resist Yuan Shao's nephew, and assassinated Shi Gaogan. Recently, Yuan Shao may have learned the news that the lord had entered Sili in the north, and ordered Gao Gan and Guo Yuan to lead the crowd to fight fiercely in Hedong and Hanoi, and constantly put pressure on them. Yu Ban and the other generals did not have enough troops, and the fight was very difficult,"

Xu Shu had been quietly listening to the battle situation of all parties, and finally couldn't help but speak out at this moment: "Lord, Yuan Cao is fighting for the hero, although the left and right wings of the Cao army are capable of generals and elite soldiers. But whether it is Zang Ba and others in Qingzhou, or Yu Ban and others in Hedong and Hebei. The strength of the troops is far lower than that of Yuan Shao, and it is not easy to resist, and it is difficult to make a breakthrough. I'm afraid that the main force in the middle will really decide the outcome or defeat! ”

"Hmmm! I understand! Wang Xu nodded, he was also very clear about this.

Because this is the case in history, the battlefield on both wings is auxiliary after all, and in the end, it is the main force of Guandu that decides the winner.

After thinking about it, he nodded and continued: "Now that Zhong Xuan has broken the situation with retreat, let me wait for the inability to go east, and I can't help Yuan Shao for the time being, so let's act according to the plan first!" ”

Wang Xu and Xu Shu discussed the war on all sides, and Dian Wei, who was following behind everyone, stopped unnaturally and turned his head to look north, because he keenly felt that there was something unusual over there, although he couldn't tell what it was, but he was staring intently.

Suddenly, he heard some strange sounds again, and with the cold wind, this time he concentrated his mind, and in an instant he understood, and suddenly shouted: "Lord, a large army of soldiers from the north is coming, and I faintly hear the sound of horses' hooves galloping!" ”

"Oh? It's true? Wang Xu was suddenly stunned, and he didn't care about talking to Xu Shu anymore, and then turned around and carefully discerned the voice in the wind.

"That's right, it is indeed the sound of cavalry galloping in the wilderness and echoing, if you listen carefully, there is still a faint sound of neat steps falling to the ground, and there should be a large number of foot soldiers accompanying it." Wang Xu then nodded.

Everyone stopped unnaturally, frowning and looking north.

"Everybody get on the horse first!" In order to prevent accidents, Wang Xu decisively ordered.

After all the horses were standing, he shouted in a deep voice: "Wanqing, you first take the spy crew back to the city, and let Chang'an be on guard in case of mutation!" ”

"No!"

When Ling Wanqing was doing things, she was never ambiguous, and after answering the order, she took the spy department to turn the horse's head and leave.

In a short time, the sound of horses' hooves in the north was very distinct, and it was obvious that the distance was gradually approaching, but unfortunately the fog was shrouded, and although some shadows could be faintly seen, it could not be clearly distinguished.

Dian Weize immediately took a few steps forward, the ice and fire halberd was clasped in his hands, and the thunder roared: "Who is coming?" Dian Wei is here! ”

"Stop the march, stop the march, don't have a conflict!" Soon there was a loud roar in the thick fog, and then the voice was heard shouting again: "General Dian, I am Li Yan!" ”

"Li Yan!" Wang Xu had guessed earlier, but he was not very sure, and when he heard that he reported to his home, he was immediately overjoyed.

After a while, the soldiers over there stopped marching, only two fast horses galloped from the dense fog, and when they were ten meters away, they could already see the appearance of the person coming, and the person in front of them was Li Yan who went north to persuade Chen Dao, and Wang Xu, a general behind him, did not know him, but he understood it in his heart.

Li Yan saw Wang Xu, who was smiling and silent in the crowd, and suddenly reined in the reins of the horse, and the war horse "drove" to make people stand up.

Then he got off his horse, ran quickly to the front and knelt down to salute: "Lord, Li Yan is fortunate not to disgrace his life, and his uncle and nephew have brought 10,000 horses and infantry to serve!" ”

As he spoke, he hurriedly looked back at the general who had also dismounted with him and followed him, and said with a quick laugh: "Uncle and nephew, come and see the lord!" ”

Chen Zhi was also decisive, waved his hand and threw away the spear in his hand, and knelt on one knee: "The last general Chen Dao, meet the lord!" ”

"Uncle and nephew, square! Hurry up, please! Wang Xu hurriedly dismounted and stepped forward to help the two of them up.

Xu Shu, who was not far away, smiled and said: "General Li Yan has been going to the north for more than ten days, and all the generals in the army think that Your Excellency has withdrawn, but the lord does not believe it, and walks outside the city every day to wait!" ”

Hearing this, Li Yan's face was full of astonishment, and then he looked at Wang Xu with emotion, and said excitedly: "Thank you for the trust of the lord, in fact, the last general and his uncle and nephew returned so late because they were looking for someone, so they were delayed." (To be continued......)