This attack, Yuan Shu is fully prepared, although only control the two counties of Yangzhou Huainan, but Yuan Shu before and after the crusade against Dong Zhuo, has been in Nanyang, Nanyang is the largest county in the world, the population before the Yellow Turban Rebellion is more than one million, the rich gentry are innumerable, and its wealth is also one of the best in the Han Dynasty. Yuan Shu in Nanyang rampant conquest, insatiable luxury, the Nanyang land was scraped three feet, and later Yuan Shu in Nanyang really had no oil and water to fish, so he waved his troops eastward, defeated Chen Yu, killed Chen Wen, the assassin of Yangzhou appointed by the court, and stole Huainan. At that time, Sun Jian died, and his grandson Ce led the old department to his account, bravely and kindly, and helped Yuan Shu to capture Lujiang County.

Sun Ce was disappointed by Yuan Shu's rebellion, and exchanged the jade seal of the country that his father exchanged for his life for Yuan Shu's 3,000 men and horses, and crossed the river to conquer Liu Xuan. Yuan Shu thought he had a plan, took the jade seal of the country and was complacent, and started the big dream of becoming the emperor in the Qingqiu period.

Originally, Yuan Shu had the heart of plotting Xuzhou, this time Cao Cao sent him a secret letter, saying that Liu Ze was plotting against Huainan, and he was preparing to ask the court for a consultation, and the court had issued an edict, and Liu Zeke was going to march on the day, Cao Cao was quite "sincere" to tell Yuan Shu, for the sake of old friends, he was kind enough to remind Yuan Shu to take precautions.

The grudge between Yuan Shu and Liu Ze was planted as early as when the princes were begging for Dong, and seeing Liu Ze effortlessly enter the position of Xuzhou Mu made Yuan Shu's eyes red. Regarding Cao Cao's "kindness" reminder, he naturally understood and said angrily: "Liu Ze, a man who pours coal and sells charcoal, also dares to occupy the prefecture and county, and is in the same column as the princes. If you haven't tried to get you, you have to raise troops in Huainan. What a hate! ”

Therefore, the 100,000 army was ordered, with the general Ji Ling as the main general, Zhang Xun as the deputy general, Changshi Yang Hong as the supervisor, Lei Bo and Chen Lan as the forward, and Chen Ji as the grain and grass supervisor, responsible for escorting the grain and grass. Ji Ling received the order, completed the oath, and set up the army. Mighty. Leaving Shouchun, along the Huaishui, the company camp for more than ten miles, the soldiers pointed directly at Xuyi.

Although Xuyi is only a small county town in the south of Xiapi Kingdom. However, it is bordered by Huaishui in the north and Guangling in the east. It is the southwest gateway of Xuzhou. The strategic location is extremely important. Once Xuyi is lost, Yuan Jun can cut the entire Xuzhou into two parts, and the north can take the Pi Donghai. Nanke can attack Guangling, so the successive Xuzhou Prefecture pastors attach great importance to Xuyi and deploy heavy troops to defend it. When Tao Qian was there, he often sent an army to garrison here, after Cao Cao's army rebelled in Xuzhou, the Xuzhou army suffered casualties, Rao was so, and Xuyi also maintained a garrison of three or four thousand people. After Liu Ze took over Xuzhou, he also attached great importance to the defense of Xuyi, and specially transferred more than 4,000 people who were originally stationed in Liuxian County to Xuyi, and sent the leading lieutenant Yu Poison to Xuyi to lead this army. Now Xuyi's garrison is exactly 7,000 people in a full army, but for Yuan Shu's 100,000 army, Yu Xuanna dared to go out of the city to fight, and while guarding the city, he sent people to Tancheng for help.

The news soon spread to Tancheng, and Xuzhou shook up and down.

Yuan Shu coveted Xuzhou for a day or two, no matter when he launched an attack, it was not beyond Liu Ze's expectations, the soldiers came to block, and the water came to cover it, so when Xuzhou was in a panic, Liu Ze was calm and calm.

At present, the army of Xuzhou, in addition to Lu Bu's 30,000 or 40,000 horses and Zang Ba's 10,000 horses are not in the scope of Liu Ze's consideration, the army under his jurisdiction has its own army brought from the plain after replenishment, and there are currently more than 30,000 people, Tao Qian's Danyang soldiers are 8,000, the Xuzhou soldiers under the original Cao Bao have an army of 7,000 people, Mi Zhu married 8,000 armed soldiers, Xuyi's garrison is 7,000, and there are more than 6,000 troops after the suppression of Xiao Jian's rebellion, plus more than 30,000 newly recruited soldiers, there are all kinds of soldiers, there are also 100,000 people, It is enough to be equal to the total strength of Yuan Shu's attack on Xuzhou.

But what gave Liu Ze a headache was the uneven quality of the soldiers, among these soldiers, the strongest combat effectiveness was undoubtedly the Pingyuan Army and Tao Qian's personal guard unit Danyang soldiers brought over by himself, and the newly recruited army and the family soldiers who were incorporated by the soldiers, lacked training, and were simply vulnerable. How to effectively reorganize the army and form combat effectiveness has always been a problem for Liu Ze to think about, but the affairs of Xuzhou are complicated, and the reorganization of the army will be a systematic and huge project, and Liu Ze really can't spare his hands. Although the prototype of the army formation has been formed in his mind, he has been suffering from lack of time, this time Yuan Shubing committed Xuzhou, Liu Ze has no time to engage in the reorganization of the army, can only wait for the end of the war.

As for facing Yuan Shu, Liu Ze is not ready to pull all the troops up, the soldiers are not many but the most expensive is fine, it has always been the line pursued by Liu Ze, although Yuan Shu has many soldiers, but most of them are also recruits who have just been recruited from Huainan, and the combat effectiveness is not strong, Liu Ze decided to focus on the plain soldiers and Danyang soldiers, gather the strength of five armies, plus an army in Xuyi to resist the invading enemy.

The army establishment of the Han Dynasty was based on the two-five system, five people were one team, two soldiers were one tithe, five tithes were a team, two teams were one tun, five tun was a song (there were also two tun for a song), two songs were one, and a full compilation was more than 1,000 people. Before Emperor Ling, the ministry had always been the highest unit of the army, but after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, there were still frequent wars, and the establishment of a thousand people was obviously unable to meet the requirements of large-scale operations, so five departments were set up as an army, led by generals or captains. Since the army needs to undertake independent combat tasks, in addition to combatants, it also includes a number of logistical personnel such as baggage, grain and grass, ordnance, medical care, and guards, and the establishment of a full army is about 7,000 people. Liu Ze mobilized a total of five armies, plus Yu Poison's army stationed in Xuyi, and the total number of troops participating in the battle reached more than 42,000.

In terms of generals, Guan Yu, Tai Shici, Chen Dao, Guan Hai, and Gao Ran each led an army, and strategists Jia Xu and Xu Shu followed Liu Ze to fight together in the Chinese military tent. The order of the five armies is the former army Tai Shi Ci, the middle army Guan Yu, the left army Gao Lan, the right army Guan Hai, and the rear army Chen Dao.

The military situation in front is like fire, Liu Ze's military orders are like a mountain, as soon as the order is reached, Guan Yu and other five generals immediately mobilize people and horses to assemble the team, and prepare for the fourth watch to cook food and five watch to go out.

Zhang Fei was dumbfounded when he saw it, Liu Ze didn't have his share in dispatching troops, he couldn't help but be annoyed, and shouted at Liu Ze: "Big brother, why don't you have my share if you want to fight?" ”

Liu Ze smiled slightly and said, "Since you are the Taishou of Donghai County, there is a reason to leave your post without permission, and your task this time is to guard Tancheng." ”

Zhang Fei couldn't help but speak, when he was transferred back to Tancheng from Xiaopei, Zhang Fei was still complacent about being able to sit in the position of the East China Sea Taishou, but he didn't know that this was a pit dug by Liu Ze for him, seeing that others went out to Xuyi but he wanted to defend Tancheng alone, he couldn't help but be annoyed, and said: "Then I won't be the East China Sea Taishou of this Laoshizi, as long as I kill the enemy in the array, and then let me be a separate Sima." ”

Liu Ze's face sank and shouted: "The military order is like a mountain, how can you bargain!" ”

On weekdays, Liu Ze rarely gets angry, but being so angry makes Zhang Fei startled, and muttered in a low voice: "I just see that the second brother can go into battle to kill the enemy, I haven't fought for a long time, and my hands are very itchy." ”

There are a lot of affairs today, Liu Ze has no time to grind with Zhang Fei, after the reprimand, Liu Ze also felt that his tone was a little harder, and his expression eased a little and said: "Third brother, for the general, you have to know how to relax and be moderate, although it is important to fight in front of you, isn't it more important to guard your base camp?" Tancheng is the Xuzhou Governor's Office, except for a confidant like the third brother, do you dare to entrust Tancheng to others for your brother? ”

Zhang Fei was speechless, it seemed that Liu Ze had made up his mind, and Zhang Fei would not be able to say anything more, it was indeed a heavy responsibility to protect the situation and guard Tancheng, Zhang Fei had no choice but to say: "The younger brother obeys the orders of the eldest brother." ”

Liu Ze patted him on the shoulder and said, "Third brother, guarding Tancheng is a heavy responsibility, you must not take it lightly and be negligent, if Tancheng is lost, we will be like a rootless Ping." ”

Zhang Fei said in a rough voice: "Don't worry, big brother, I will sleep with my eyes wide open, and I will keep it fine!" ”

Liu Ze gave him a blank look and said, "When did you close your eyes when you slept?" ”

Zhang Fei scratched his head embarrassedly and said: "I'm just making an analogy, no matter how big brother, don't worry, if you lose Tancheng, you will deal with me according to military law!" ”

"Third brother, you are a strong alcohol, you have no virtue after drinking, you punish your subordinates, you act hastily, you don't listen to people's advice, you want you to guard Tancheng, to be honest, I can't rest assured." No one knows Zhang Fei's character better than Liu Ze, and if he really wants Zhang Fei to guard Tancheng, Liu Ze has no bottom in his heart.

Zhang Fei said unconvincedly: "Big brother, I have followed you for many years, when did I give you a hind leg." You hand over Tancheng to the younger brother, you can rest assured to go, after you leave, I will never drink and make mistakes, do not whip the soldiers, listen to the advice of the people in everything, and ensure that Tancheng is safe. ”

Liu Ze pondered for a moment and said, "That's it, I'll leave Yuanlong to assist you in guarding the city, and discuss everything with him, so as not to make mistakes." Chen Deng acted steadily, and he was very relieved to have him to assist Zhang Fei and Liu Ze.

Zhang Fei said disapprehantly: "He is a civil official, what is he doing when he gets involved in military affairs?" ”

Liu Ze said: "Yuanlong is cautious and strategic, and with him to help you defend the city, I can rest assured." Go down, Chuan Yuanlong comes in, I have something to discuss with him. ”

Zhang Fei sang a promise, turned around and went out, and called Chen Deng in. Liu Ze and Chen Deng talked in the study, and it was not until late at night that Chen Deng said goodbye and left.

Liu Ze saw that it was the fourth watch, and ordered the guards to bring his armor and robes, put on the gold chain armor, buckle the heart cover, tie the armor silk, put on a gold-colored helmet, put on a scarlet brocade cloak, and hang the dragon sword on the left and the Tai'a sword on the right, just like a leading general.

"Lord, the armies have been assembled, please swear in the Lord's school." The Chinese officer came in to report.

Liu Ze nodded, turned around and walked out of the house, not going to the lobby, but going straight to Cai Yan's room. (To be continued......)