Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

On June [-], in the mansion of the county government office in Hefei, Huainan, Guan Yu always felt a little restless and depressed recently.

He didn't know why, it seemed that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell.

Is it an illusion?

He said to himself in his heart.

Guan Yu thought about the recent military situation in Huainan. At present, Cao Wei was completely driven out of Huainan by him, and only Cao Jun was stationed in Jiujiang Shouchun and Xiquyang.

Due to food and armament problems, it is not easy to go north, so he is now rectifying military affairs.

Although the offensive has stopped, it is obviously impossible for Cao Wei to launch a counterattack, because Huainan is currently in the rainy season in the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River.

The heavy rain caused Huainan to be full of swamps and lakes, the roads were slippery and difficult to walk, and the grain and army could not get through. Cao Wei had almost no way to march over.

In recent years, the weather has become more and more strange. Huainan is a land of thousands of miles of prosperity. In the past ten years, there have been continuous rainstorms or severe droughts.

According to Xiaoqing, it seems to be called the Little Ice Age, which caused the weather to change drastically, either cold to death or hot to death.

So if the two sides want to fight, no matter whether they go south or north, they have to wait for a good weather.

Since you can't fight, what is there to worry about?

Guan Yu thought to himself.

Could it be that his death is imminent?
Thinking of watching the death of his friend Zhang Liao with his own eyes a few days ago, Guan Yu couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Recently, I heard that Huang Zhong, Jia Xu, Zhang Xiu, Huang She and others died of illness one after another, and some veterans also fell ill. Life is always so impermanent, which is embarrassing.

"Father."

Guan Ping was processing official documents nearby. Seeing that Guan Yu was sitting on the main seat looking at the documents in his hand, he seemed a little absent-minded, so he asked, "Is father worried about something?"

Guan Yu put down the document and sighed, "Maybe he is worried about your third uncle."

Guan Ping laughed and said, "Third Uncle is reckless, but with the two deputy ministers watching, nothing will happen. Cao Wei is now trying his best to provoke Third Uncle, and wants to force Third Uncle to a decisive battle, but even if there is a decisive battle, they will have some points Chances of winning? General Hussars sent all the cavalry over.”

"Ah."

Guan Yu smiled and said: "Xiaoqing has been a great help in Guanzhong. If he hadn't trained an elite cavalry, I'm afraid that when Cao Pi's army is overwhelming, the third brother may be under pressure."

Guan Ping said: "Father, now that Cao Jun has built a defense line north of the Huaihe River, should we also feign an attack to relieve the pressure on Third Uncle's side?"

"Well."

Guan Yu pondered, nodded: "Well, maybe you can give it a try."

Two people are chatting.

Suddenly a messenger came outside to report: "Report."

"What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty sent an envoy to call the General back to Xiangyang."

"Call me back to Xiangyang?"

Guan Yu was puzzled.

He was preparing for military affairs and was thinking about attacking Henan at the end of the year, so why did he suddenly call him back?

Guan Ping didn't understand, and asked, "Why did Your Majesty suddenly call father back?"

The messenger said: "Your Majesty is not in good health and wants to see the General."

"what?"

Guan Yu suddenly got up from his seat, frowned and said to Guan Ping, "No wonder I feel uneasy recently. Your Majesty was ill last year. I have to go back and call Wei Yan over."

"Yes."

Guan Ping hurried out.

After a while, Wei Yan was hurriedly called in, cupped his hands and said, "General."

"Long Wen."

Guan Yu had changed his clothes at this time, and said to him with a serious face: "Your Majesty hastened to call me back to Xiangyang. You are temporarily the main general and in charge of military affairs in the army. Remember, unless it is absolutely necessary, you must not take the initiative to attack."

"only."

Wei Yan was in a hurry to respond.

In history, Wei Yan was arrogant and had a quarrel with Yang Yi. After Zhuge Liang's death, Yang Yi sent Ma Dai to kill him.

But under Guan Yu's command, no matter how arrogant he is, he still has to hold back.

With this great god on his head, Wei Yan naturally did not dare to take credit and be as proud as Zhuge Liang's subordinates.

At this time, although he suddenly became the chief general, he did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly went to lead the horse for Guan Yu.

Guan Yu then ordered Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao to be Wei Yan's deputy generals, and the rest of the generals obeyed the order quietly, stationed in Hefei and surrounding cities, and took Guan Ping to the Chaohu Lake, and returned to Xiangyang by boat.

At this time, Shen Chen hadn't received the order yet.

Guanzhong is relatively close to Nanyang, about a thousand miles away.However, it is too far from Xiangyang to Hefei. It is more than 800 kilometers along the Yangtze River, nearly two thousand Hanli.

But if he couldn’t hold back, he could travel by water day and night, traveling south from the Han River, and then heading east along the Yangtze River. The messenger galloped at a speed of more than [-] kilometers per hour on a fast boat, and the letter was delivered to Hefei in just four days.

But relatively speaking, during the three years that Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen presided over the southern government affairs, they prepared to build pigeon bases and post station systems in various places, so that Hanzhong, Shu County, and Xiangyang could communicate quickly.

Although the carrier pigeon base in Chang'an has not yet been established, there is already communication between Xiangyang and Wancheng, which saves some distance. Wancheng immediately sent a fast horse to go directly from Wuguan to Guanzhong.

At the same time, Zhang Fei on the front line received an urgent report from Wancheng on the third day, and rushed to Xiangyang in a hurry.

Five days later, the day after Guan Yu received the letter, Shen Chen received the notice.

Inside the side hall of Weiyang Palace in Chang'an.

Shen Chen was sitting on the main seat and was holding a military discussion with everyone.

He has occupied Chang'an for a year.

The Northern Expedition began at the end of the fifth year of Zhang Wu, and then he broke through Chang'an City in May of the sixth year of Zhang Wu, and then began to manage Guanzhong.

A year later, Shen Chen moved people from Bashu, Hanzhong, Nanyang, Liangzhou and other places to the Guanzhong Plain, and began a vigorous land reclamation operation on the [-]-mile Qinchuan that was already deserted.

Guanzhong is now sparsely populated. The government did not relocate the people by force, but directly issued a decree. The people who voluntarily relocated will receive food subsidies from the government and then get a lot of land for free.

Based on a family of five, a normal family has to cultivate at least 28 mu and 40 mu of land to maintain their livelihood.

With the introduction of Champa rice and the comprehensive dissemination of fertilization technology, productivity has been greatly improved. Now only 18 mu and 26 mu are needed, which can basically make a family of five live well.

Therefore, the population in the south has greatly increased now, especially after the abolition of oral tax and calculation tax, sharing of Ding Ding into mu, and only collecting land tax, the people's desire to have children has greatly increased. In addition to the post-war baby boom, only the new students who registered last year It reached more than 20.

When the population increases, the land resources will be insufficient.

Although Cao Wei's power is smaller than the Liu Bei Group, they occupy Henan and Hebei with the best land. Almost the entire North China Plain is under their control, and the area of ​​cultivated land exceeds that of the Liu Bei Group.

Therefore, in order to expand the land, Liu Bei had to vigorously develop terraced fields in the south, while constantly squeezing the fields of the aristocratic family to ease the pressure on land resources.

But this is obviously not a long-term solution. It is difficult to develop terraced fields, and it is too much to offend the family by robbing the family's fields.

So we have to think of other ways.

Now that Guanzhong is in hand, there is an additional 3 square kilometers of land, more than enough to feed a population of 200 million, so it is natural to carry out resettlement and reclamation work.

This will not only allow the population of Guanzhong to be quickly enriched and relieve the pressure on the land in the south, but also can grow food on the spot to provide food and grass for the frontline army. In the future, there will be no need to transport food long distances from Hanzhong, Nanyang and other places.

The reason for the meeting today is that Cao Wei's side has been dishonest recently, and the cavalry from Hedong were dispatched to bypass the Chang'an defense line and sneak attack the military and civilian farms in the Youfufeng area behind, destroying Shen Chen's food plan.

Although this part of the cavalry was repelled by Zhao Yun, they had to guard against it.

Shen Chen looked around the crowd and said: "One year's preparation, we have enough food and grass, and more than 1 cavalry have been trained from the rear. The soldiers have enough food. I want to enter the east of the river. What do you think?"

Pound rejoiced and said: "Governor, I have long wanted to attack. The Cao army in Hadong has harassed us repeatedly. It is unbearable. There is no need to bear it any longer. It is time to defeat us in one fell swoop."

"good."

Zhao Yun also agreed: "Great Governor, there is no danger in the east of the river, and it is just right to go east to Bingzhou and threaten Cao Wei's lair."

"Ah."

Shen Chen nodded approvingly, took out the map and said: "Xu Huang is in Puban, Zhu Ling is in Pishi. These two places are the crossings of the great river. They are guarding the dangerous points. It is not easy to attack by force. It is best to go around."

Lei Ding, the deputy general next to him, looked at the map, widened his eyes and said, "Commander, the river is so long, is there no place to cross it directly?"

"Ha ha."

Before Shen Chen could speak, Pang De first smiled and explained: "I don't know if you haven't been to Dahe, there is a mountain to the east of Dahe. Although the mountain is not high, it blocks the river. After crossing it, you have to climb the mountain." , easily ambushed by the enemy."

The location of this mountain is just opposite the Yellow River in Hancheng City, Shaanxi Province in later generations, extending all the way down to the river bank. Ronghe Town in Wanrong County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, and Sunji Town in Linyi County, Yuncheng City are near this mountain range.

The mountains are actually not high, just a piece of hills extending along the banks of the Yellow River. In later generations, even the west of the mountains is close to the Yellow River beach and there is a large area of ​​farmland, which is a plain area formed by the alluvial fan of the Yellow River.

But in the Han Dynasty, it was still the waterway of the Yellow River, so after crossing the river, it was directly at the foot of the mountains. It was not easy to pass the army and supplies, and there was a danger of being ambushed.

Therefore, at that time, the connection between Hedong and Guanzhong mainly relied on the Pubanjin Ferry in Puban County, which was later the Yellow River Ferry in Puzhou Town, west of Yongji City, Shanxi.The second is Longmen Ferry in Pishi County, which is later Hejin City, Shanxi Province.

Only then did Lei Ding understand the reason.

Shen Chen said: "Although Cao Jun occupied these two important river crossings, there are more than [-] miles of land in the north and south of Pubanjin, and there are too many loopholes. It is relatively easy to attack by force. I plan to lead the army personally, cross the river from Pubanjin, and attract Zhu The spirit came to help. Pang De led an army and crossed the river from Longmen to attack the Pi family. Zhao Yun occupied Huayin and threatened Tongguan."

"Yes."

Pang De and Zhao Yun immediately took orders.

Shen Chen continued: "As I expected, Cao Zhen from Tongguan probably doesn't dare to invade Huayin, he will definitely cross the river from Fenglingdu to help Xu Huang, and it will be time to force him to a decisive battle."

Deng Ai said: "General Governor, it is easy to cross the river, but I am afraid it will not be easy to win. Cao Jun will not sit still and attack if he is halfway across?"

Although Hedong didn't bring it back, there were leaks in all directions.Ma Chao has so many cavalry that he didn't stop Cao Cao, let alone Cao Wei who has transferred all the main cavalry to the Henan battlefield?

Therefore, in the absence of mobility, Cao Jun would definitely not be able to directly set up a formation on the other side of the river to intercept them from crossing the river.

However, Shen Chen's army now has [-] people.

It was eighty thousand before.

But more than 2 cavalry under his command were sent to the battlefield in Henan, leaving only [-] infantry along the line between Chang'an and Zuo Fengyi.

Last year, Yu Jin continued to train troops in the rear, and recruited another 1 soldiers. This year, he trained more than 9 cavalry. When the follow-up troops arrive, there should be [-] horses.

Cao Wei lost more than 3 of the 1 troops left behind in the Battle of Chang'an, and only more than [-] fled back. However, Cao Pi added another [-] troops later, which is still about [-].

The soldiers and horses on both sides are not too big, but one thing is that Shen Chen's army is going to cross the Yellow River.

Even if some troops were left behind, and Zhao Yun was stationed in Huayin, and Pang De led some people to attack Pi's family, the number of troops led by Shen Chen himself would not be less than [-].

Crossing the river with so many people is by no means something that can be done in a short period of time. Not only does it require a large number of boats, but it also requires the construction of pontoon bridges and various facilities.

Cao Jun only needs to build a watchtower along the river bank to observe the situation on the other side of the river. Once he finds that Shen Chen's troops have the idea of ​​crossing the river, he immediately gathers his troops and waits until half of them have landed and the other half are still crossing the river. If they attack, the Han army will be very dangerous.

But Shen Chen naturally also considered these factors, and said with a smile: "The Jingzhou navy is useless, and now go to Jiaozhou to quell the rebellion and open up the coastal waters. You know why I transferred the craftsmen who made ships in the south at the beginning of this year. Are you coming to Chang'an?"

Jiang Wei said, "Does the governor want to rely on boats to cross the river?"

"Ah."

Shen Chen nodded and said: "Boats can be used not only to transport food and grass, but also to transport troops. Although the disadvantage is that few of my troops are good at water, they are not used for water battles. Crossing the river is enough. Then I will use Chariots, cavalry, infantry, and boats formed the Queyue Formation, just to lure Cao's army to attack."

"But the moon array?"

Jiang Wei wondered, "What formation is this?"

Deng Ai said with a smile: "This is the battle formation created by the governor. Use ships to land on the shore, and the infantry will take the chariots to disembark, and use the ships and chariots to cover them. Resist the enemy's infantry bows and crossbows, so as to counterattack."

Shen Chen used this formation in the battle of Xiangfan, but Yu Jin was too timid to fight, which made the moon formation useless. Deng Ai followed Zhou Buyi to fight with Shen Chen at that time, and he had seen this formation before. Law.

Jiang Wei immediately admired and said: "The governor really uses soldiers like a god."

Pound flattered him and said, "The governor should write another military book. Times are different now. Horses have stirrups and saddles. The previous military books didn't have the use of these equipment. The governor is the first. Record it for future generations to read and study."

"General Pang's words are very good. The general's military strategy is no worse than that of the predecessors, so he should write a military book."

"Yeah, yeah, the superintendent's supernatural power is so powerful that he should be famous forever."

"I think it makes sense."

All the officers and soldiers below suddenly kept rainbow farting, making the venue exaggerated.

Shen Chen smiled and waved his hands and said: "The book of war, I will talk about it in the future after I pacify the world for Your Majesty. The most urgent thing now is to rectify the military affairs and prepare for the expedition. I plan to raid Hedong in August. Within this year, I will win the battle." Bingzhou, I want Cao Wei's lands in Hebei and Henan to be under my army at any time, do you understand?"

"Yes!"

All the soldiers roared in unison.

Once Bingzhou is captured, Hebei can be captured from Taihang Baxing to the east, and Luoyang and Henan can also be harassed from Taihang Baxing to the south.

At that time, Tongguan will be broken from the rear, and the defense line will naturally be meaningless. The entire Cao Wei will face the threat of Shen Chen's soldiers.

So this battle is very important.

At that moment, Shen Chen was about to announce the adjournment of the meeting and ordered Pang De and Zhao Yun to act according to the order.

Zhao Yun first stationed in Huayin, while Pang De went north to defend Zuo Fengyi.

On the surface, the two were trying to prevent the enemy from continuing to attack the rear, but in fact Shen Chen continued to build ships in Chang'an. At that time, soldiers, horses, food and grass could be transported to the Yellow River through the Wei River, and officially launched the war against Cao Wei for the capture of Hedong and Bingzhou.

But at this moment, a messenger hurried in from outside the door, and came to the hall to report: "Report, a letter from Nanyang, Your Majesty summoned the governor to go to Xiangyang immediately."

"His Majesty summoned me?"

Shen Chen was puzzled, then suddenly realized that something was wrong, and immediately asked, "How is Your Majesty?"

"The prime minister said that His Majesty has lost weight and has been ill in bed for the past month, unable to get off the ground."

the messenger replied.

Shen Chen sat back on the seat, looking sadly at the south.

Duke Xuande's deadline is approaching?