Overlord!

Just when the Song army had high hopes for Zhang Yan, another major event that shocked the world completely changed the current situation of the world.

To be precise, they were two major events, but the place and time of the two events were so close that the world regarded them as the same war.

In mid-April, Cao Cao, the great Han Sikong who defeated Guo Yuan, adopted the advice of his attendant Xun You: "I wish to go straight to the city without leaving the city, seize the Chaoge arsenal in the east, eat the millet of Liyang, and block the dangers of mountains and rivers to keep the princes at bay. If Zhao is not destroyed, the world will be settled."

Cao Cao personally led more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry directly across Hanoi County, and in one fell swoop defeated Hebei's military stronghold in Hanoi, Chaoge, and seized the arsenal in the city. His army swept across Liyang, killing more than a dozen Zhao generals including Sui Yuanjin, Lu Weihuang, and Wang Mo. Obtained Zhao Jun's logistics supplies.

Liyang was the most important granary for Zhao Jun's elite troops stationed on the front line in Yanzhou. Liyang was captured by Cao Cao, and the tens of thousands of Zhao Jun in Yanzhou suddenly became panicked and their morale fluctuated.

Lü Meng therefore took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack and captured the fortified city of Puyang in one fell swoop. The Zhao army on the Yanzhou front line completely collapsed. Zhao generals Zhang Ziqian, Gao Fan and others led 20,000 troops to surrender.

Lü Meng acted quickly, and then launched a large-scale army. With lightning speed, he broke through Dongwuyang, the seat of Dongjun north of the Yellow River, and almost cut off the Zhao army's retreat in the Yan and Henan areas. Therefore, Shenpei, who had been stubbornly holding on, was at risk of falling into the siege of the Song army.

At this time, Zhao's army was in disarray, and the final troops under his command would not exceed 30,000 to 40,000 people.

This was already chaotic enough, but what was even more terrible was that Yuan Shao in Yecheng was completely panicked and forced generals such as Shenpei, Gao Lan, Yan Rou and others to abandon their defense lines and immediately return to Yecheng for reinforcements.

Shen Pei was in a hurry and tried his best to complete the deployment. Cangting, where his main force crossed the river, was only one county away from Lü Meng's army. When he withdrew from Yangping, Lü Meng was also reorganizing his army in Dongwuyang.

The evacuation of tens of thousands of troops could not be accomplished overnight, so Shen Pei ordered Gao Lan's troops to resist the pursuit of Sun Ce's troops in Dong'a.

But Gao Lan was frightened at this time. The two sides fought and Zhao Jun lost, so Gao Lan led his troops to surrender.

Sun Ce immediately sent out his troops to attack Shenpei's rear army. Zhao's army was severely defeated. Thousands of people were beheaded, and thousands more died after crossing the river.

On April 21, the main force of the Song Army finally broke through the Yellow River defense line and continued to advance towards Wei County.

The main force of the Song army gathered from all directions, flags fluttering, and momentum was like a rainbow. They successfully broke through Wei County and forced the landing of Guantao guard Yan Rou.

At this time, the Yanzhou army and people killed Zhao general Liang Qi and others, and moved the counties to return to the Song Dynasty. The Song army captured all the prefectures and counties in Henan, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou from south to north.

As a result, Zhang Liao led his troops from Qinghe and Taishi Ci led his troops from Julu towards Wei County and gathered with Sun Ce's main force.

However, because Zhang Yan did not follow the military orders to attack Zhao County, which is what the Zhao family calls Jingzhao Yin, the Zhao army has not yet had war in the capital and was able to gather the remaining soldiers of the Zhao family.

Yuan Shao's senior officials from Shangdang, Shenpei from Yanzhou, and some generals from Jizhou led their troops to Yecheng to join together. Together with the recruits recruited by Yuan Shao in Hebei, there were a total of more than 60,000 people.

Of course, the Song army had a strength advantage at this time. Sun Ce and Lü Meng alone had more than 50,000 troops together. With the troops led by Zhang Liao, Tai Shici, Zhang Yan and others, the main force of the Song army was no less than 80,000.

In addition, there were surrendered generals Yan Rou, Gao Lan and other troops with a total of more than 10,000 people. Sun Ce was very broad-minded and did not dismantle his troops and allowed him to command his old troops to fight with the army.

The main force of the Song army gathered in Weijun and Julu areas totaled more than 100,000 troops.

At this time, the situation on the battlefield was already very complicated. There were heavy troops reorganizing the camp and preparing to move forward slowly. There were also elite troops rushing in for reinforcements as fast as the wind.

At this time, the inconvenience of communication became obvious, and it all depended on the general's personal performance.

Since Taishi Ci's troops were heading south in Julu and the distance was closer, more than 3,000 elite cavalry arrived at Yecheng first.

More than 30,000 troops from the Shenpai Division were retreating to Ye County. Upon seeing this, Taishi Ci immediately ignored the main force behind and raised his arms and called out: "Soldiers, follow me to attack the thieves."

The 3,000 elite cavalry he commanded were all elites led by Zhuge Liang. Although he used 3,000 cavalry to attack an army of more than 30,000 people, they showed no fear.

The three thousand cavalry were mighty and majestic, and they immediately launched a fierce attack on Zhao Jun.

Facing the sudden attack of the Song army, Zhao Jun immediately sent more than 2,000 cavalry to stop the attack.

Shen Pei personally supervised the formation of the three armies under the city, which was arranged in the south of the city and was more than ten miles wide.

Shen Pei's subordinate, Shen Rong, had more than 5,000 men, all wearing green scarves and yellow coats. They were called Euphorbia Soldiers. They were the elite of the army and were in charge of the central army.

Taishi Ci used his general talents to defeat more than 2,000 Zhao cavalry in one fell swoop.

Three thousand iron cavalry defeated two thousand Zhao cavalry in one battle. In any case, they are considered fierce and good at fighting, and they are indomitable.

The tens of thousands of men and women watching the battle in Yecheng all changed their minds.

However, half an hour was wasted in the cavalry battle, and the main force of the Zhao army's infantry had already formed its formation.

The Song Army's cavalry advanced forward and fell into a sudden formation, but they were completely unable to shake the Zhao Army's formation.

In particular, he was a loyal and generous judge who had been trained in the military for a long time. Even though he was a nobleman, he wore armor and went into battle. The 30,000 soldiers under his command were all elite soldiers from Hebei and heroes from Yan and Zhao, who fought hard for him.

The Song army fought hard, but failed in several battles. There were many spectators, such as sergeants and ladies from Ye, and some even went down to the city to watch the battle near the moat.

After attacking fiercely for more than an hour, the Song army was in a disadvantageous situation and could only retreat temporarily.

Taishi Ci and his deputy Lu Xun formed the formation. When Lu Xun saw the crowds of spectators on the city, he admonished Taishi Ci and said: "The situation is urgent and we should use our power to break it. Please offend the spectators first and take advantage of them because of their disturbance." "

It's just that the Song army had strict military discipline and strictly prohibited the slaughter of people.

Even a general like Tai Shi Ci could not decide this matter arbitrarily, and had to discuss the matter with the supervisor Liu Ye.

Liu Ye said: "When the matter is urgent, follow the authority. I share the responsibility with the general. It is okay to mess with it."

The three generals reached an agreement, and the Song army's cavalry was thinned under the city. The Xuanjia cavalry fired arrows randomly, and the city wall suddenly ran away with a loud roar, turning around and flying, the sound was like thunder.

Lu Xun then rode his horse in front of the formation and shouted: "The thieves have been defeated!"

The Song army regained its strength and attacked with all their strength.

The Shen Pei troops were defeated and retreated into Yecheng.

The main force of the Song army took advantage of the situation and entered Yecheng.

While the forward soldiers were making great progress, the top brass of the Song Army were not as optimistic as ordinary generals.

Mainly at the top level, they have to consider more than just the situation on the battlefield.

Sun Ce personally proposed that the army be stationed in Wei County, which was only a few dozen miles away from Ye County, the capital of Zhao State, and then the army was stationed here.

The most important reason why he did not continue to move forward was to be wary of Cao Cao in Liyang in the south.

At this time, Cao Cao had already entered Neihuang, and was only separated from the Song Army by a thin line. Along the Qinghe River, he could directly penetrate Wei County, the Song Army's most important logistics area. The Song army had to divide its forces to be vigilant in the south, lest Cao Cao suddenly cover up the city when he was attacking the city with all his strength, causing the Song army's 100,000 troops to be defeated and returned home at the foot of Ye County.

The situation of this battle also revealed the most fundamental reason for Yuan Shao's current defeat.

He falsely claimed to be emperor, which led to alienation between himself and the world's forces.

The ministers of the Han Dynasty originally intended to balance the situation in Guandong and prevent any prince from becoming dominant and threatening the status of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

If Yuan Shao had not proclaimed himself emperor, with Cao Cao's broad-mindedness, it was very likely that he would have put aside his past grievances and formed a coalition of Yuan and Cao with him to jointly fight against Sun Ce on the Yellow River defense line.

There are more cavalry in the north and more infantry in the south. In battles in Henan and Hebei, the advantage of cavalry is too great. Not weaker than the Battle of Chibi, the navy in the south had the advantage.

With the reputation of the Emperor of Han and the elite troops of Yuan and Cao, Yuan Shao resisted the main force of Sun Ce's army head-on. The Emperor's army came out of Nanyang to cover his rear.

Sun Ce's army must be stretched thin. Even if it does not mean that he will return in defeat, it will at least force him to end his Northern Expedition without any problem.

The imperial court had already intended to form an alliance with Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao claimed to be emperor, which made it impossible for the Yuan and Liu families to coexist!

Even if the imperial court knew that Yuan Shao's existence was more conducive to the continuation of the Han Dynasty, it could only choose to become an enemy of Yuan Shao, giving Sun Ce the power to command the world and supervise the thirteen states in the world to attack Yuan Shao.

This is a complete situation of drinking poison to quench thirst.

The result is self-evident. When the two Yuan brothers proclaimed themselves emperors, their power collapsed and attracted attacks from all sides.

What's even more similar is that the methods of defeat for both sides are so similar. Because there are no famous generals in the army, they were defeated at the hands of the enemy several times, and the main force was destroyed, and they were unable to recover.

The Yuan brothers paid too much attention to the reputation of celebrities, and the people who led the army were more scholars than heroes.

Naturally, he is not the enemy of the powerful armies in the world.

Although the probability of Cao Cao attacking the Song Army was low, the Song Army still had to defend.

After Sun Ce's army camped in Wei County, Sun Ce immediately sent people to the southwest to explore its military situation.

The results were soon obtained, and Zhu Ran personally reported the information to Sun Ce.

"Song Gong, according to the internal affairs of the imperial court, Cao Cao has recovered the land east of Henei and Hanoi, and now his troops are in Huang, planning to cross Hebei."

"The inner yellow." Sun Ce sighed: "Cao Mengde rose from this place. How can he be revived from this place?"

Although Cao Cao spent his military life, he experienced countless battles, big and small, including countless glorious victories and miserable defeats.

But the Battle of Neihuang was definitely a battle of extraordinary significance to Cao Cao.

It was from the Battle of Neihuang that Cao Cao officially entered the stage of separatist rule in the late Han Dynasty and began his career as a prince in the Southern and Northern War.

At that time, the Black Mountain bandits Yu Du, Bai Rao, and Sui Gu led more than 100,000 people to attack Wei County and Dong County. Wang Hu, the prefect of Dong County, could not resist. Cao Cao led his army into Dongjun and defeated Bailuo in Puyang. Yuan Shao therefore appointed Cao Cao as the prefect of Dongjun, and the place of governance was Dongwuyang.

In the third year of Chuping (192), Cao Cao garrisoned Dunqiu, and Yu Du and others attacked Dongwuyang. The generals suggested that Cao Cao return to rescue the army. Cao Cao wanted to take the opportunity to attack the enemy's home camp. He said to the generals: "Sun Bin saved Zhao and attacked Wei. Geng Yan wanted to attack Xi'an and attacked Linyi. Let the enemy know that our army is marching westward and returning. If they withdraw, Dongwuyang's urgent situation will be relieved. If they don't come back, I can attack their home village, but they will definitely not be able to take Dongwuyang." So Cao Cao led his troops west into the mountains to attack Yu Du and others. Bentun. After Yu Du learned about it, he gave up attacking Dongwuyang and returned to the army. Cao Cao then ambushed Neihuang, invited Suigu to attack, and fought with the Xiongnu Yufuluo, both of which won a complete victory.

The reason why Neihuang is so important is precisely because it has the intersection of three tributaries of the Qinghe River and the important Huangze Lake. It is not only a dangerous geographical situation, but also an important grain-producing place.

So Zhu Ran also said: "This should not be underestimated. According to rumors, Zhang He, the general of the Zhao army, has led his army to join the Han Dynasty. Now the Han Dynasty has more than 60,000 elite soldiers. What is lacking is food. There is food from Neihuang and Liyang. Cao’s army may not be able to regain its strength.”

Sun Ce did not comment on this. In troubled times, the most precious thing is elite soldiers, but the least valuable thing is also elite soldiers!

The so-called fifty or sixty thousand elite soldiers are just a mirror image.

Liu Wuzhou was so strong that he lost all the land where Li Tang was prosperous. The famous generals of the Tang army were bound to be defeated in every battle.

As a result, Li Shimin was forced to be employed, and it only took a few months for the situation to end.

The method of fighting is also very simple, that is, if you hold on to a strong wall without fighting, you will collapse when your food is exhausted.

Even if Cao Cao had an army of 60,000 and was victorious in many battles, the Song army would not be able to achieve great success if he lost many soldiers and generals.

As long as Sun Ce chooses a good general and resists it with a strong wall, Cao Cao will be defeated without a fight.

Therefore, Sun Ce said: "The Han Dynasty has a small territory and few people. It has insufficient food and grass. It is more than enough to defend itself and not to be enterprising enough. If a crowd of 60,000 people really comes here, they will tie themselves to me and capture them without working! Those who are worried about me will be killed. Is there anything else unusual?"

The situation that Sun Ce is most worried about right now is undoubtedly Cao Cao's letter to Yuan Shao, asking Yuan Shao to remove his imperial title and then surrender to the Han Dynasty again.

Generally speaking, the emperor of the Central Plains would be happy to see this kind of thing happen.

For example, Zhao Tuo, the king of South Vietnam, lost his imperial title and became a minister again. For example, in various vassal towns at the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was not uncommon for them to surrender after proclaiming themselves emperor. Qian Chu of Wu and Yue even surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and therefore enjoyed a true status of being co-regent with the country.

Even at the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Biao and Liu Yan had acted arrogantly, building emperor's staffs and offering sacrifices to heaven and earth in the suburbs, but the court tolerated them.

If Yuan Shao resigned from the imperial title and became a vassal of the Han Dynasty, it is difficult to say how the emperor would deal with it.

Zhu Ran also said: "The most eye-catching change in the Han Dynasty was that former general Liu Bei led his army to march towards Hanzhong. His ambition was not small, and he even had the support of the generals in Guanzhong."

Sun Ce was slightly moved and asked: "What do you mean by your words, the Han Dynasty and all the generals in Guanzhong want to invade Shu to relieve the shortage of food and grass?"

Zhu Ran nodded and said: "It was said internally that the imperial court had this proposal. Cao Cao refused to accept it at first, but after being persuaded by his advisers, he finally sent Liu Bei out of Shu."

After speaking, Zhu Ran sighed and said: "Song Gong, Cao Cao is a very ambitious person. He can put aside his past resentment and employ people. If he doesn't control it, he may end up being a trouble for me."

Sun Ce nodded slightly. He, Cao Cao, was willing to use Liu Bei to attack Shuzhong, which showed his broadmindedness and his vision.

The biggest problem for Cao Cao's power is undoubtedly the lack of food and grass, and Shuzhong is the only food-producing land in the world. Liu Zhang is too cowardly to take on important tasks, and his foundation can be taken away.

However, Sun Ce smiled slightly. He was strategically passive and the harder he tried tactically, the greater the failure he might cause.

So Sun Ce smiled and said to Zhu Ran: "This move may not be detrimental to me. It may be Liu Xuande who can quickly rule the world alone!"

Sun Ce has never recognized Liu Bei's military talents. He can be regarded as a famous general, but he can hardly be regarded as a peerless general.

Give him 10,000 troops, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to conquer Hanzhong in an overwhelming manner, and there is a high probability that the attack on Shu will not go smoothly and it will fall into a stalemate.

Especially since all his team members had been lost, Sun Ce thought for a while and said, "Maybe I can help Liu Zhang again." (End of Chapter)