Taking advantage of the opportunity to take Xiapi and severely damage Zhou Yu, Cao Cao was ready to take Guangling again in one go, cross the Yangtze River with troops, and occupy the six counties of Jiangdong in one fell swoop. But it backfired, a fire broke out in Youzhou's backyard, and he had to end the Battle of Xuzhou and wave his army to the Northern Expedition to extinguish the rebellion in Youzhou.

Youzhou has always been the sphere of influence of the Gongsun family, as early as after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Gongsun Zhan took advantage of the situation and became the overlord of Youzhou, although he and Yuan Shao failed to fight and self-immolated in Yijing, but the power of the Gongsun family is deep roots, but it can not be shaken lightly.

After Cao Cao pacified Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zhan's son Gongsun continued to be the Taishou of Liaoxi County, and Liu Bei was the Taishou of Beiping County, and at the same time, Gongsun Xu inherited the position of Gongsun Zhan Yihou, and Liu Bei was made the Pavilion Marquis of Yicheng, wanting to use high-ranking officials Houlu to appease them, in exchange for peace in the north.

But Liu Bei is not the kind of character who is willing to ambush, he has developed in Youzhou for many years, and his wings are gradually growing, taking advantage of Cao Cao's inability to go south to Xuzhou, he killed the Youzhou assassin Shi Tian Chou appointed by Cao Cao, and Gongsun Xu together to rebel, and all parts of Youzhou responded together, Liu Bei's momentum was huge, posing a great threat to the safety of Yecheng.

The land of Hebei is Cao Cao's rear base camp, providing strong talent, material and financial support for Cao Cao's hegemony in the south, once the rear is unstable, Cao Cao's plan to pacify the world will be stranded, Cao Cao had to give up the southeast campaign, return to Youzhou, and quell the rebellion of Liu Bei and Gongsun Xu.

Since Cao Cao wants to fight, he is pouring all his strength into mobilizing 400,000 men and horses, ready to solve the Youzhou problem once and for all. Although Liu Bei and Gongsun Xu were well prepared, compared with Cao Cao, there was still a huge gap in strength, and in the battle of Yuyang, Cao Cao's general Xu Chu killed Gongsun Xu. After breaking Liu Bei's men, Liu Bei had to lead the remnants of his troops to flee to Liaodong. Cao Cao chased after him relentlessly, wanting to annihilate Liu Bei in one fell swoop.

At that time, Liu Bei's troops were less than 1,000, and there were only five people left in Zou Guan and Yantian, who were in great distress between the white mountains and black waters, but Liu Bei unexpectedly got the help of Guan Ning, who avoided the disaster in Liaodong. Guan Ningjian yì Liu Bei wanted to temporarily avoid Cao Cao's edge, cross the Yalu River in the south, and go to Lelang and Sanhan to seek development. Liu Bei obeyed Guan Ning's Jianyi, jumped over the frozen Yalu River on eight hundred horses, and jumped out of Cao Cao's hundreds of thousands of troops to chase and intercept.

Cao Cao fought for thousands of miles, but did not completely exterminate Liu Bei, he couldn't help but feel regretful, and the undulating mountains of Lelang County made Cao Cao's siege even more powerless, and finally Cao Cao had to appoint Tian Xu as the assassin of Youzhou. The commander-in-chief of the northern border soldiers and horses continued to implement the policy of encirclement and suppression against Liu Bei, and he led the main force of troops and horses back to Xudu.

For Cao Cao, Liu Bei was already worried about ringworm, and the princes Liu Ze, Sun Quan, and Ma Teng were the big troubles. Since Li Dao Guo Yan, Guanzhong has been in a scuffle, and after Cao Cao solved Yuan Shao, the biggest problem he faced was how to solve the disputes in Guanzhong. In a decisive battle with Liu Ze and Jing Xiang, Cao Cao had to maintain a steady position in the rear of Guanzhong.

Against this backdrop. Cao Cao sent Zhong Xuan as the lieutenant of the school, and supervised the troops in Guanzhong. After Zhong Xuan arrived in Chang'an, he adopted the policy of Huairou and broke up the alliance of Ma Teng and Han Sui. Forced by the form, Ma Teng handed over the command of the Guanzhong army to his eldest son Ma Chao, and entered Beijing with his other two sons, Ma Xiu Ma Tie. He was named one of the guards of the Nine Qings.

Although Cao Cao did not directly control the Guanzhong region, he had Ma Teng as a hostage, and he believed that Ma Chao would not dare to act rashly, so Cao Cao was ready to wave his army south again. Decisive battle with Liu Ze and Sun Quan in Jinghuai.

But when the news of Liu Ze's attack on Yizhou came, Cao Cao couldn't sleep. Liu Ze's intention is obvious, that is, to follow the path of Han Gaozu to dominate the world, first take Yizhou and then Hanzhong, and take Chencang or Meridian Dao to take Guanzhong, once Liu Ze's strategic intention is realized, Cao Cao will inevitably fall into the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy. Therefore, the battle between Guanzhong and even Hanzhong became the most important step on Cao Cao's chessboard, and Cao Cao did not care about maintaining a non-aggression situation with Ma Chao, and personally commanded the army to go west to Hanguguan and approach Tongguan.

Cao Cao's move made Ma Chao Han Sui frightened, as long as Cao Cao's soldiers and horses entered Guanzhong, their dominance in Guanzhong was probably going to end, so they refused to agree to Cao Cao's request to take Hanzhong through Guanzhong, Chen Bingtong Pass, and Cao Cao.

It is true that Cao Cao's dispatch did not mean to target Ma Chao and Han Sui, but if you want to fight Hanzhong, you must pass through Ma Chao's defense area, and Ma Chao does not agree, even if Cao Cao threatens the lives of Ma Teng's father and son, Ma Chao does not waver. In Ma Chao's view, Cao Cao's hand is clearly a fake way, nominally taking Hanzhong, but actually plotting against Guanzhong.

Cao Cao has no spare time to grind with Ma Chao here, Liu Ze has already entered Yizhou, and seeing that Zhang Lu's strength in Hanzhong cannot stop Liu Ze's progress at all, Cao Cao is really anxious. Since the "little horse" refused to give way, Cao Cao simply killed Ma Teng, Ma Xiu and Ma Tie, father and son, and the pro-unified army attacked Tongguan with all their might.

Ma Chao is not good at stubble, Tongguan and Cao Cao launched a decisive battle, won several battles in a row, and killed Cao Cao to cut his beard and abandon his robe, and the wolf was unbearable, and later Cao Cao used a discordant strategy to make Ma Chao and Han Sui resentful of each other, and the young and vigorous Ma Chao killed Han Sui in a rage. Cao Cao took advantage of the situation to sneak attack Pu Hanjin, and Ma Chao was forced to retreat from Tongguan and retreat west to Longshang.

Cao Cao's troops entered Chang'an and were about to march into Longshang, when he suddenly received a letter asking for help from Zhang Lu, the Taishou of Hanning, claiming that Liu Ze had occupied Yangping Pass and would attack Nanzheng in a few days, and asked the King of Wei to send reinforcements immediately.

Compared with the brave and unscrupulous Ma Chao, Liu Ze is a figure who makes Cao Cao more fearful, and now Liu Ze not only occupies Yizhou, but also stretches his hand very fast, and has arrived in Hanzhong, once Hanzhong is lost, Cao Cao will really be passive. So Cao Cao had the intention of going south to Hanzhong.

Cheng Yu dissuaded: "Although Ma Chao lost the battle in Guanzhong, but Yu Wei is still there, the counties of Longshang, produce more grain, grass and horses, if this rich land is based on Ma Chao, but in three or five years, Ma Chao will definitely make a comeback, fight the snake not to die but to be bitten by the snake, the King of Wei needs to take advantage of the victory to advance, capture and kill Ma Chao, in order to solve the trouble of Xiliang." If the lord's father-in-law conquers Hanzhong, Liu Ze is far away in front of him, and Ma Chao is secretly attacked in the back, and the enemy is attacked on his belly and back, how can he respond? ”

Cao Cao thought about it, so he sent Xiahou Yuan to lead 50,000 troops to reinforce Zhang Lu, and he personally commanded the army to march westward, preparing to solve the problem of Ma Chao once and for all. Xiahou Yuan is Cao Cao's confidant and favorite general, and what he is best at is long-distance running operations, and the reason why Cao Cao chose Xiahou Yuan is because he values his ability to run thousands of miles to fight.

After Xiahou Yuan led his life, he immediately led a large army to march into Hanzhong from Chencang Road. From Guanzhong to Hanzhong, there are several roads to go, the most precipitous one is not the meridian road, in comparison, Chencang Road is easier to walk, the road is also shorter, so Xiahou Yuan chose to take the old road of Chencang, all the way fast, seven days later Xiahou Yuan arrived in Hanzhong Nanzheng.

Zhang Lu led the crowd out of the city to greet Xiahou Yuan, and asked Xiahou Yuan to move his troops into Nanzheng and defend Hanzhong together.

"Where is Liu Ze's army now?" Xia Houyuan asked arrogantly.

"General Xiahou, Liu Ze has now attacked Dingjun Mountain, and I have sent Yang Song to Dingjun Mountain to block Liu Ze, and I will not advance an inch." Zhang Lu said with a smile on his face, this Xiahou Yuan and Cao Cao are originally a family, and they are brothers-in-law, and the relationship is extraordinary.

Xiahou Yuan sneered and said: "Since Liu Ze is in Dingjun Mountain, why wait for Liu Ze to attack Nanzheng, take the initiative to attack Liu Ze in one fell swoop, and let him taste the power of King Wei's army." ”

During the battle of Xuzhou, Xiahou Yuan did not accompany Cao Cao to fight, so naturally he had no chance to fight Liu Ze, Guo Jia died under the city of Xiapi, which made Xiahou Yuan deeply touched, not afraid but eager to fight Liu Ze to the death. This time, Cao Cao ordered him to command the army to march into Hanzhong, because he valued Xiahou Yuan's ability. Xiahou Yuan was full of confidence and decided not to enter Nanzheng City, and directly led the army to Dingjun Mountain to fight Liu Ze to the death. (To be continued......)