Han Xiang

Chapter 625: Good news in a blink of an eye

Jingzhou battlefield.

Cao Cao followed Jia Xu's advice and sent only [-] troops to reinforce Luoyang, determined to defeat Guan Yu first.

Although Cao's army is said to be one million, it is an exaggeration, but including Cao Ren's troops in Fancheng, the total number of Cao's troops in Nanyang exceeds 25, which is a huge challenge to Guan Yu.

In particular, the dispatch of Wancheng's newly built warships greatly restricted Guan Yu's previous tactics.

After Cao Cao's warship was launched and he regained control of Jingzhou's waterways, Guan Yu's navy was unable to contain it and could only be used to delay negotiations.

However, Cao Cao was different from Liu Bei in his emphasis on affection. He was a ruthless character who "would rather have my wife than let others betray me." Therefore, he directly marched into Rang County during the negotiation period and did not care about Yu Jin's life or death.

Due to the excessive disparity in military strength, defending Rang County is equivalent to digging your own grave.

Fortunately, Xu Shu and Guan Yu had a plan.

Long before Cao Cao entered Rang County, Xu Shu led all his infantry to retreat to Nanxiang.

The thousands of cavalry brought by Wei Yan from Guanzhong, as well as the cavalry formed by Guan Yu in Nanyang, all stayed in Rang County to deal with Cao Cao and delay.

Cao Ren invaded Nanyang last year, and Guan Yu implemented Xu Shu's plan of fortifying the walls and clearing the country, and moved all the people in the counties to Nanxiang for resettlement. He thought that if he could break the siege of Nanyang, he would return to his hometown. If he could not stop Cao's army, he would have to move to Guanzhong.

Xu Shu left Rang County early for Nanxiang mainly to relocate these people. However, he led a heavy army not only to relocate the people, but also to contain Cao's army in Nanxiang.

Nanxiang is located in the northwest corner of Nanyang County, on the bank of Danshui, the main tributary of Han River. Guan Yu also plans to use the waterway to make a fuss.

A small number of naval forces deploying defenses in Danshui can achieve twice the result with half the effort. However, Cao Cao's navy needs to take a very large U-shaped route when going south from the Huishui River, and must pass through river defense areas such as Xiangyang and Yanxian.

Because this route is too long and the Han River section is very fast, it is not friendly to the inexperienced Cao family navy. It is risky whether it is marching troops or transporting supplies.

If infantry and cavalry are used to capture Nanxiang by land, Cao's army, which has an absolute advantage in military strength, can cross the Dan River with effort.

However, the large and small rivers in Nanyang County almost all run vertically from north to south. From Wancheng to Nanxiang, you have to cross several large rivers, which makes supplying in the later period exponentially more difficult.

What's more, Nanxiang is close to Wuguan. If it is really dangerous, they can retreat into Guanzhong. If Cao's army crosses the river without the assistance of the navy, it will put itself in danger. After all, the cavalry accompanying Guan Yu is not a decoration.

There are less than [-] cavalry in the rear, and most of them were brought by Wei Yan and Ma Dai from Liangzhou. Their combat effectiveness may not be as good as that of the Tiger and Leopard cavalry, as well as the Wuhuan cavalry recruited by Cao Cao. There is also a gap several times in number.

But Guan Yu has the blessing of a telescope, and he can contain, harass, and retreat with ease.

After a brief resistance in Rang County, Guan Yu led his troops to retreat to Champion County, an empty city in the northwest.

After attracting the main force of Cao's army, they immediately retreated to the southwest without stopping, intending to lure Cao Cao to Yin and She counties where Liu Ye was stationed.

Guan Yu wanted to rely on the high maneuverability of the cavalry to continue to buy time for Liu Bei.

Taking a lesson from Cao Ren's repeated defeats, Cao Cao was very cautious when he entered Rang County and won the championship. He ordered the soldiers and horses of each battalion to keep a distance to facilitate mutual care and joint attack, and strictly ordered not to leave the group to attack privately.

Guan Yu abandoned Rang County and lost the championship. Cao Cao also saw that he was deliberately delaying. He also recalled that in Runan, Liu Bei also made tens of thousands of Cao's troops run around like a dog.

Liu Ye is also in Jingzhou, is he repeating his old tricks?

Cao Cao was different from the past. He took advantage of his own military strength, as well as the newly launched warships and navy, so he let down his guard and attacked boldly, and at the same time sent several lines of cavalry to surround Guan Yu.Guan Yu took advantage of his vision, divided into several small teams to lure the pursuers, led them on a detour through the wilderness, and then passed through groves, grassy hills and other obstacles to attack the lone team like ghosts.

In less than a day, Cao's army lost more than two thousand horses. Wei Yan and Ma Dai each had records of beheading generals, and Guan Yu even captured the famous general Gao Lan alive.

Cao Cao's jaw almost dropped in shock, while Zhang Liao once again showed his expression on the white horse, as if to say, "General Guan is a true god."

A bold attack resulted in the loss of troops. Cao Cao continued to send cavalry to chase without caring about his face. He immediately changed his mind and returned to his previous conservative state. He said to Guan Yunchang, you can run away as long as you want, but as long as you run out of Jingzhou, I will not chase him.

Through the information brought back by the sentry, Cao Cao learned that Xu Shu led the main force of Jingzhou to Nanxiang.

Cao Cao was sure that Guan Yu was also going to Nanxiang, and finally escaped into Guanzhong via Wuguan with a slight resistance, so he sent Xiahou Yuanxi to Danshui to intercept, making arrangements in advance to cut off Guan Yu's retreat, while he himself led the main force to continue the pursuit.

However, Guan Yu evacuated to Yin and She counties. This move made Cao Cao puzzled and thought, shouldn't the soldiers concentrate their strength?Is Yun Chang able to survive now that he has divided his troops?
Doubts are doubts, Cao Cao is not polite in using his troops.

After taking Rang County and driving away Guan Yu, the siege of Fancheng in the south was resolved. On the way to Yin and Fan counties, Cao Cao ordered Cao Ren to send troops from Fancheng to encircle the enemy.

The entire Nanyang strategic situation formed a situation where Cao Cao was in the middle, Cao Ren was on the left, and Xia Houyuan was on the right. It was a completely overwhelming situation.

Cao Cao's army of more than [-] people dealt with Guan Yu and Liu Ye's small defenders, which was Cao Cao's respect and recognition of Guan Yu and Liu Ye.

However, just as the three parties were encircling Yin and Xian counties, something happened to Cao Cao's newly formed naval army in Wancheng.

Tens of thousands of soldiers became fish feed in the Han River. General Mao Jie fled to Fancheng with his remaining troops. Cai Hao shot Gan Ning while commanding. Thousands of newly built warships in Wancheng were not warmed up, so they took over so quickly. Changed legal person.

Xu Shu and Guan Yu wanted to move the battle line from the Tuo River to fight near the Han River, using strategic depth to extend the supply line of Cao's army. In order to cooperate, Gan Ning handed over half of his navy to Liu Ye.

Due to the insufficient number of troops and warships, Gan Ning was unable to stop Mao Jie and Cai Mao at Guishui, so he could only fight and retreat towards the Han River, intending to continue fighting with Xiangyang as his back.

Cao Cao was very pleased to receive Mao Jie's battle report. He said that the reason why Cai Hao and Zhang Yun failed before was because the number of warships and naval forces was insufficient. In the face of absolute power, everything was futile.

Guan Yu couldn't stop the truth, so what could little Gan Ning do?
Shortly after Cao Ren sent troops to Fancheng, Mao Jie and Cai Mao also pursued Gan Ning to the waters of Xiangyang.

The two were about to rush each other to the battlefield upstream and cook out Guan Yu's men together with Cao Cao, but Lu Su arrived with his warships as agreed.

Lu Su and Gan Ning followed one after another, and Guan Ping ordered Jiang Qin to leave Xiangyang at the same time.

Mao Jie has not been in charge of the army for a long time. Where has he seen such a battle?Even Cai Mao encountered water surrounded on three sides for the first time, and suddenly felt that the sky was falling.

The battle report was sent to Cao Cao's camp. Cao Cao was so angry that he had a headache and fell into a coma. After he regained consciousness, he urgently ordered his troops to speed up the march, planning to massacre the city after victory to vent his anger.

Gan Ning left naval forces in Yin and Shan, and he and Lu Su and Jiang Qin won a great victory in Xiangyang. After the victory, thousands of warships sailed upstream.

Guan Yu originally planned to evacuate directly, but he did not expect waterway reinforcements to arrive so quickly. With a qualitative leap in military strength, he raised troops to confront Cao Cao in Yin and Shan.

After Mao Jie was defeated, Cao Cao was worried that Guan Yu would use his naval forces to encircle and harass his food routes just like he did with Cao Ren, so he was distracted during the confrontation.

The two sides faced off for seven or eight days, and the grain stocks in Yin and Shen Mansion were exhausted.

Guan Yu and Liu Ye took advantage of the waterway and once again moved the battlefield elsewhere.

(End of this chapter)