In 195, the second year of Xingping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, spring and February.

Under the city of Guangling, Xuzhou, the camp of the Cao army.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Cao Mengde sat on the head.

"Guangling City has thick walls, there are Lu Bu and Liu Bei inside, Sun Ce and Ji Ling outside, and the horns inside and outside, watching each other, and it is not easy to hit. Do you have a way to break the enemy?"

"Lord!"

A member of the hall clenched his fists and said: "The last general only needs 20,000 soldiers and horses, and he will be able to break the enemy in three days, and the enemy will be beheaded under the lord's account!"

Cao Mengde smiled when he heard this: "Gongming is not in a hurry. ”

It turned out to be the general Xu Huang and Xu Gongming.

Xu Gongming was newly recruited under Cao Mengde's account, and he was eager to make meritorious contributions, so he took the initiative to ask for battle.

It's a long story. Cao Mengde sat firmly in Yanzhou the year before last, and at the end of the year, he sent people to Langya, Xuzhou to invite his father Cao Song. Unexpectedly, Cao Song was killed halfway through, and Cao Mengde was saddened and angry, so he raised a large army to attack Xuzhou.

The result of this matter is the same as what Zhao Yu and Cao Mengde discussed at the beginning, but the process went wrong. Zhao Yu and Cao Mengde originally planned to get out of the shell of the golden cicada and make Cao Song fake his death, and then rely on the head of Tao Gongzu in Xuzhou, using this as an excuse to attack Xuzhou and include Xuzhou in the bag.

However, before Cao Mengde's plan to get rid of the golden cicada was implemented, Cao Song was killed.

This matter has a lot to do with it, in addition to Cao Mengde himself and Tao Qian, there is another black hand. It was this black hand, launched in advance, that disrupted Cao Mengde's plan and caused him to lose his father.

The ending may be what Cao Mengde is looking forward to, but the process makes Cao Mengde feel painful.

In a hurry, Cao Mengde raised a large army to attack Xuzhou, and within a month, he went down to dozens of counties in Donghai and Pengcheng counties, and surrounded Pi. Tao Gongzu had an army of 100,000, but he couldn't do it, and at a critical moment, he could only ask for help everywhere. Liu Bei and Yuan Shu are all in this list.

Just as Cao Mengde was planning to break through Xiapi and kill Tao Qian in one go, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao, etc., joined forces with Lu Bu and invaded Yanzhou, causing a fire in the backyard.

Cao Mengde then returned to Yanzhou. In this case, as early as Cao Mengde's calculations, although Lu Bu had the help of Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, he actually fell into Cao Mengde's calculations. As soon as he entered Yanzhou, he fell into a quagmire. was attacked by Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren who had been waiting for a long time, and it was still difficult to protect themselves, let alone steal from Yanzhou!

Chen Gong and others only knew at this time that the rebellion had already been discovered by Cao Mengde. In a hurry, he sent someone to contact Li Dao and Guo Yan in Guanzhong, but Li Dao and Guo Yan were full of contradictions at this time, and there was just infighting. Lu Bu Chen Gong had no choice but to let people tie Yuan Shu on the one hand, and on the other hand, he sent people to Hanoi to invite the white wave thief Yang Feng and others to attack Yanzhou.

Just as Cao Mengde returned to the army, a big battle was held, and Lu Bu was defeated in a row and fled in a panic. Yuan Shu sent the general Ji Ling to the north, but was blocked by Cao Ren from entering outside the Yingchuan River. The white wave thief Yang Feng led his army to cross the river, but was beheaded by Xiahou Yuan in Luoyang and surrendered to all of them. Xu Huang was under Yang Feng at that time, and after surrendering, he was appreciated by Xiahou Yuan, so he recommended it to Cao Mengde.

After the war, Cao Mengde appeased the people's hearts and purged the rebels in Yanzhou, which was almost overkill, and many gate lords were uprooted. At the same time, he dispatched troops and ordered Cao Ren to be the governor of the Southern Route Army, and went south to Yuzhou to attack Yuan Shu, in order to avenge Yuan Shu's attack on Yanzhou for aiding Lu Bu. He made Xiahoudun the governor of the Eastern Route Army, led the army to pursue the remnants of Lu Bu, chased all the way into Xuzhou, and held each other under the city of Xiapi.

When Cao Mengde completed the internal purge and re-settled the people's hearts under his rule, it was 194 years, the autumn of the first year of Xingping.

The internal stability was stable, so Cao Mengde started the war again, sent Yu Ban and Li Dian to lead 20,000 troops, and merged with Cao Ren's department, and ordered Cao Ren to attack Yuan Shu on a large scale. Cao Mengde himself led a large army to Xuzhou and joined forces with Xiahoudun under the city of Xiapi.

Under the rule of Cao Mengde, agriculture was prosperous, grain production was high, soldiers were good and there was enough food, and they were not afraid of attack. Since the autumn of the first year of Xingping, the war has been continuous. Up to now, Cao Ren's troops have driven all the Yuan Shu forces out of Yuzhou, and broke Shouchun, occupied Jiujiang, and marched into Jiangbei County of Yangzhou.

Yuan Shu fled to Jiangdong like a lost dog, and now while resisting Cao Mengde's offensive, he is fighting fiercely with Liu Xuan.

After all, Yuan Shu has a profound background, and he has an army of tens of thousands. He is also good at looting, and has abundant money and food. He fled to Jiangdong to fight with Liu Miao for Yangzhou County, but ordered the general Ji Ling to reject Cao Ren in Jiangbei, and ordered Sun Ce to lead his troops into Xuzhou to help Tao Qian and resist the army led by Cao Mengde.

However, Cao Mengde's troops were at their peak, and Ji Ling, who fought on Cao Ren's side on the West Road, was defeated again and again, and retreated one after another. Cao Mengde's department on the East Road was even more powerful, and he won successive battles. Even if Tao Qian had Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce's help, he could not resist Cao Mengde's soldiers, and by the time of the turn of the second year of Xingping, there was only one Guangling left in Xuzhou. Moreover, it was only by taking advantage of the geographical advantage of Guangling's dense water network that it was able to block the offensive of Cao's army.

The current situation is very good for Cao Mengde. However, because the army is too smooth, there are many problems. At least in terms of people's livelihood governance, it is difficult to keep up for the time being.

Cao Mengde's basic plate is no more than one Yanzhou, at most plus Yingchuan, Nanyang and his hometown Peiguo County. However, with the land of one state, the first war engulfed the entire territory of Yuzhou and the entire territory of Xuzhou except for Guangling, and there was some indigestion.

The most important thing is that this battle must be concluded as soon as possible. One can't leave a springboard for Yuan Shu in Jiangbei, Yangzhou, Jiangbei Lujiang County, and Xuzhou Guangling must be won. Second, the general trend of the world has changed dramatically because of this war, and Cao Mengde can't afford to drag it out.

So at this time, in the big tent of the Chinese army outside Guangling City, countermeasures were discussed.

Cao Jun and Tao Qian's coalition forces have been holding each other in Guangling for half a month, and Tao Qian now has only one Guangling left, and he has already used his strength to eat milk. It is impossible to strengthen the city of Guangling. In addition to the fact that the size of the city cannot catch up with a giant city like Chang'an, Luoyang, the height, thickness, and defensive means of the city wall make Cao Mengde feel tricky.

After appeasing Xu Huang, Cao Mengde's eyes fell on Cheng Yu and Xi Zhicai.

Cheng Yu pondered, and said after a while: "What the lord wants is to attack Guangling at the lowest cost. However, in Guangling City, there were still 50,000 or 60,000 troops at this time, and Sun Ce also had 30,000 troops outside the city. If it is attacked, it will definitely suffer a lot of damage. ”

Xi Zhicai on the side bowed slightly: "And because the lord's offensive shook the world, Hebei Yuan Shao already has signs of not being able to sit still." It is not advisable to storm strongly, there are too many losses here, and if Yuan Shao forcibly sends a large army south, it will be difficult to resist. ”

Why did Cao Mengde end this battle as soon as possible, and the movement of Yuan Shao in Hebei Province was an important reason.

Yuan Shao and Gongsun Chan were still fighting fiercely in the past year or two, but Cao Mengde's soldiers frightened Yuan Shao. It may not be that he will temporarily withdraw his troops from Youzhou and turn south to attack Yanzhou. After all, Cao Mengde's strength in the past six months has been too strong and awe-inspiring, and it will definitely make Yuan Shao like a man.

For Cao Mengde, one is to end the war in the south as soon as possible, and the other is not to lose too many soldiers and horses. Compared with Yuan Shu and Tao Qian, Yuan Shao is not in the same order of magnitude. Even if Cao Mengde is confident, he can't underestimate Yuan Shao.