Han Xiang

Chapter 613: Troops leave Tongguan to seize Hongnong

Yu Jin's entire army was wiped out, and Cao Ren had no hope of escaping.

The battle report was sent back to Xudu, and the government and the public were shocked.

At the end of the 13th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao couldn't wait for the end of the year or for Xun Yu to prepare supplies, so he personally led more than [-] troops and went straight to the border of Nanyang to kill.

Guan Yu's capture shocked China, and Cao Cao conscripted civilians for the southern expedition. Each factor caused changes in the surrounding situation.

As soon as Cao Cao's army arrived in Ye County, there were strong men in Jiaxian County of Yingchuan, Liangxian County of Henan, Luhun, Hongnong and other places who responded to Guan Yu.

Cao Hong and Cao Xiu handled the rebellion in Liang County and Lu Hun, while Jiaxian County was only more than a hundred miles away from Ye County, which was a real slap in Cao Cao's face.

However, Cao Cao was proficient in using troops and responded calmly and not impulsively when encountering difficulties. He then led Fenwu General Cheng Yu to attack and the army continued to march towards Wancheng.

In the first month of the following year, Cao Cao's army arrived at Wancheng.

Guan Yu did not dare to let Cao Cao's army cross the river and approach Rang County like he did with Yu Jin.

The Gan-Ning navy wanted to prevent Cao's army from rushing across, and relaxed its vigilance on the rest of the waters, so they asked Li Tong, the prefect of Runan, to seize the opportunity and use simple boats to cross the Feishui River to transport grain to Fancheng.

Although Cao Ren received military rations to survive, he came to Nanyang in summer, and his soldiers lacked winter clothes. They were unable to cooperate with Cao Cao in attacking Rang County, so they had to retreat to Fancheng and wait for the weather to return.

Cao Cao saw that Gan Ning was guarding the waterway and the winter clothes provided by Xun Yu were insufficient. Based on the failure experience of Cao Ren and Yu Jin, he was not in a hurry to fight Guan Yu.

There are many rivers in Nanyang, and food and grass supplies need to be waded through the rivers.

Cao Cao first wanted to ensure the safety of the grain road and prevent Gan Ning from harassing him from the waterway.

Considering that Guan Yu relied on waterways for his troops, Cao Cao ordered people to build a pontoon bridge on the Feishui River, and imitated Guan Yu's shipbuilding in Fancheng to threaten Xiangyang, and ordered Cai Mao to build warships at Liwu in Wancheng.

Guan Yu bullied Cao Cao into having no navy, so Cao Cao showed it to him in person.

The strategic significance exceeded the shipbuilding itself and put great pressure on the defenders of Rang County.

At this time, Cao Cao had many soldiers and generals, and abundant supplies in the Central Plains and Hebei. He could temporarily build a naval force for containment, which could be accomplished in two or three months.

If we wait a little longer and wait until the naval army reaches a large scale, it will become a giant stone crushing the eggs.

When the strength is strong enough, conspiracy is far more powerful than conspiracy.

Cao Cao used his troops so steadily that Guan Yu would be defeated sooner or later.

It is estimated that when the temperature rises in March and April, Cao Cao and Cao Ren will launch an offensive.

Tens of thousands versus hundreds of thousands, it would be difficult for Guan Yu to create another miracle.

A replica of the Chibi War, winning or losing will affect the world, and Guan Yu should not bear it alone.

After Liu Bei's squadron returned to Chang'an, he always paid attention to the situation in Jingzhou.

As for the situation in Liangzhou, Han Sui had been entangled with Zhang Fei and Ma Chao for half a year, and abandoned Jincheng and fled to Hexi at the end of last year, adding another hidden danger to Liangzhou after the war.

After the war, he was supposed to rest with his people, but when he learned that Cao Cao was personally leading his army to march south, Liu Bei could no longer wait and see and govern the prefectures and counties. He had to immediately send troops to open up new battlefields to reduce the pressure on Guan Yu.

Liu Bei took the post of Liangzhou Shepherd by himself, considering that Yang Qiu had sincerely surrendered and made a lot of contributions, and he was familiar with Liangzhou affairs.

At Zhuge Liang's suggestion, Liu Bei appointed Yang Qiu as the prefect of Jincheng, General Po Di, and Marquis of Ting, the capital, and ordered him to guard Jincheng to prevent Han Sui's comeback. He also appointed Mi Fang, Yuan Wei, and Ma Tie as the prefects of Tianshui, Anding, and Longxi counties respectively. .

After arranging the arrangements for the rear, Liu Bei summoned Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, Pang De and other generals to gather [-] Hu and Han troops at Tongguan.

In February of the 14th year of Jian'an, while Cao Hong and Cao Xiu went to Luhun and Liangxing to quell the rebellion, Liu Bei suddenly sent troops out of Tongguan to besiege Hongnong.

After hearing the news, Cao Xiu led his troops back to rescue him, but was eventually defeated by Zhao Yun and Pang De and retreated to Hangu Pass.

Previously, Ercao was keeping an eye on Tongguan, and most of his soldiers were soldiers from Hebei Province. Their combat effectiveness was inherently weak. Zhang Xiu's Xiliang spearmen were originally the most capable, but unfortunately they were transferred to Nanyang and were destroyed by Guan Yu.

Cao Hong and Cao Xiu's troops were few and weak, far inferior to Liu Bei's Hu and Han army in combat strength, so they could only write to Wancheng to ask for help.

After Cao Jun arrived at Wancheng, he reconnoitred the enemy's situation, supervised the construction of pontoon bridges, and warships. Zhang Liao was ordered to stalemate with Guan Yu on both sides of the river in Rang County, and no military conflict or confrontation occurred.During this period, Cao Cao's head wind disease recurred from time to time. Apart from paying homage to his eldest son Cao Ang and general Dian Wei, he spent most of his time in the city keeping warm and drinking.

Returning to the old place, there was wine but no beauty to accompany her. After the Zou family surrendered to Zhang Xiu, Cao Cao deliberately left Xudu in the cold.

Thinking of Zhang Xiu's death in the battle of Rang County and the ridiculous things in Wancheng in the past, Cao Cao often got drunk to avoid the sad past and numb headaches.

In mid-February, an urgent report came from Luoyang, and Cao Cao was still drunk.

No one dared to call out at that time, only Xia Houyuan rushed in through the door.

As soon as the heavy footsteps approached the bed, Cao Cao's body trembled and he subconsciously opened his eyes, holding the sword beside him in his hand.

In a flash, he raised his sword and rolled over to the ground, shouting in a daze:

"Who broke into my bedroom? It's easy to kill someone in my lonely dream."

"Prime Minister, it's me"

Thanks to Xia Houyuan's agility to avoid it, an ordinary civil servant would have been stabbed by the sword.

Cao Cao was awakened by a familiar voice, threw his sword to the ground and rubbed his eyes, and then asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Wonderful talent? Why are you here?"

"Prime Minister, something big happened in the north."

Xia Houyuan said as he saw Cao Hong hand over a letter: "Liu Bei sent troops to capture Hongnong, and Zixiao and Wenlie sent urgent reports."

"What? This big-eared thief"

Cao Cao read the letter and quickly read the contents. He held the letter in his hand and told Xia Houyuan, "Go quickly and order all ministers and generals to come to the front hall immediately to discuss matters."

"only."

Xia Houyuan clasped his fists and walked away.

Cao Cao then stretched out his hands and signaled the servant to change his clothes.

If Xia Houyuan hadn't broken in, the servant would have been killed by the sword. He was frightened for the rest of his life, and he shrank forward to change his clothes.

Cao Cao would not consider the feelings of small people. He had learned from the experience of Zhou Yu being poisoned, and he often changed the people around him. The servant thought that those 'seniors' were all killed by his master in his dream.

Not long after, Cao Cao put on his clothes and walked to the front hall to meet his ministers.

After sitting down, Cao Cao raised the letter in his hand and calmly stated that Liu Bei had sent troops to Tongguan to occupy Hongnong and threaten Luoyang.

As the saying goes, soldiers will fight against soldiers, and generals will fight against each other. Cao Cao should leave the generals to deal with Guan Yu, while he should go to confront Liu Bei personally, but he wanted to hear the opinions of the generals in the audience.

After all, Guan Yu played extremely well before, while Liu Bei has been running around all his life without any outstanding results.

Cao Cao believed in his heart that Guan Yu was more capable and must nip him in the bud first.

There was a commotion in the palace. Some people suggested that Cao Cao go there in person, while others suggested dividing his troops to occupy the enemy.

Only the two counselors Xun You and Jia Xu stood motionless and said nothing.

Xun You is Cao Cao's most important schemer, and has contributed countless ingenuity to his current achievements. His silence at this moment is Cao Cao's check on the Henan nobles.

Jia Xu often fished in the water, and Cao Cao was not surprised by it.

Cao Cao treated the Xun family as "passive and slow in work" and chose to reuse Jia Xu, a master of water paddling.

He stretched out his hand to stop everyone's argument, looked at Jia Xu, stroked his beard and asked, "Wen He kept silent. Could it be that he has a different opinion?"

"Yes, Prime Minister, I foolishly thought that Luoyang should not be saved."

(End of this chapter)