Chapter 179: Surprise Attack on Wancheng, Cao Cao is Coming [Subscribe]

Dong Zhao is thirty-eight years old this year. He is tall and very thin. When he puts on clothes, he looks like a skeleton covered with clothes and moves around with light steps.

He has a square face and bright eyes, but gives people a very calm impression.

He was waiting in Ye County, which is the border between Nanyang County and Yingchuan.

Night is falling.

When Dong Zhao learned that Cao Cao had arrived, he straightened his expression and led his men out from behind the hidden mountains.

A team, like a ghost emerging from the night.

Dong Zhao was surprised to find that there was a layer of black air transformed from the night sky lingering around his team.

Their horses' hooves trampled on the ground, and the ground seemed to absorb the sound of the hooves, making very little noise.

Thousands of cavalrymen marched quickly, as if with the cooperation of heaven and earth, and without much noise, they arrived nearby.

When attacking Wancheng, Cao Cao left his carriage, Diao Chan and Wen Ji in the Gongzao Camp.

He was riding on the flaming Red Hare and saw Dong Zhao standing by the roadside, waiting for him.

Cao Cao fell off his horse and a series of information about Dong Zhao flashed before his eyes.

[Dong Zhao... He is your strategist, important official, and the founding father of Cao Wei]

"Dong Gongren!"

Cao Cao personally helped Dong Zhao up.

Gongren is Dong Zhao's courtesy name.

This word perfectly echoes his identity as a top worker.

"This humble servant greets the governor."

Dong Zhao attached great importance to etiquette, and the joy in his heart when he performed such a grand ceremony was simply indescribable.

He was optimistic about Cao Cao and believed that Cao Cao also was optimistic about him.

The two men, along with several generals accompanying them, began discussions on the spot.

Cao Cao said: "Gongren has helped me reduce many obstacles in Chang'an, and I have not yet thanked you."

Dong Zhao hurriedly said: "What I did is just icing on the cake. The strength of Yanzhou's army and the governor's great talents and strategies are the key to victory or defeat."

"Zhao just wanted to prove that he could cling to the decision of Yanzhou and contribute some effort to help the governor and achieve some achievements."

"I only hope that the governor of the state will not abandon Zhao's weak power."

Cao Cao nodded, looked around at the others and said, "What progress has been made in Nanyang County?"

Dong Zhao was cheered up: "Zhang Xiu is a smart man, but he is mercenary.

He has a general under his command, named Hu Che'er, who is quite brave and strong."

"In addition, Zhang Xiu's subordinates have no good strategies and no talent for governing. He has been in Nanyang for nearly a month, and the situation is still a mess."

Cao Cao thought that Zhang Xiu had the most powerful strategist of the time under his command, who was giving him advice.

In history, even Cao Cao suffered a great loss when he met Zhang Xiu, which had a lot to do with the fact that Zhang Xiu had Jia Xu under his command at the time.

Jia Xu, a corrupt and vicious scholar, once stayed under Zhang Xiu's command for a while.

He was secretly giving advice and almost got Cao Cao killed.

At this time, Cao Cao turned around and said unhappily, "Wenhe, we are all family members, you should also come out and meet them."

Jia Xu, like a young wife meeting a guest, revealed himself from his hiding state in the Dunjia diagram and politely greeted Dong Zhao.

Whenever Cao Cao went out, Jia Xu would always be brought along.

Not telling him his strategy makes it convenient to discuss things at any time.

Since he was in charge of the sending and receiving of messages in Cao's camp, he needed to inquire in a timely manner.

More importantly, Jia Xu can protect himself.

If we release him at the critical moment, both our enemies and ourselves will be surprised.

Even Cao Cao didn't know how many trump cards Jia Xu had saved up recently to protect himself.

With Jia Xu, Cao Cao could do whatever he wanted even though he was suspicious of his own. He didn't have to worry about his own safety being threatened.

Jia Xu came out to meet the guests, and Dong Zhao continued the previous topic:
"After I came to Nanyang, I sent a secret letter to Hu Che'er, a general under Zhang Xiu, in the name of the governor. It meant that Yanzhou wanted to recruit Hu Che'er. Hu Che'er did not respond, but I sent another letter along with a gift.

He withheld the gift.”

Cao Cao thought to himself, you are addicted to writing letters under my name.

Dong Zhao's intention in doing this was to cleverly alienate Hu Che'er and Zhang Xiu.

"Hu Che'er coveted the gift and accepted it, so I immediately sent another letter to Zhang Xiu, also in the tone of a governor, to persuade him to surrender.

But at the same time, he mentioned in the letter that the governor also highly regarded Hu Che'er, one of his subordinates, and gave both of them generous gifts. "

Everyone smiled.

Hu Che'er had to do nothing to hand over the gifts and letter from Dong Zhao to Zhang Xiu.

It is possible that Zhang Xiu would develop a grudge against Hu Che'er.

As time goes by, Zhang Xiu will become more suspicious of Hu Che'er.

It’s just that Cao Cao arrived too quickly, and the plan had not yet been fully implemented.

Dong Zhao also introduced Zhang Xiu's situation in Nanyang.

At present, Nanyang County has more than 30 counties, which lack a unified leadership and are full of undercurrents.

"Zhang Xiu has more than 20,000 soldiers and horses under his command, most of whom are veterans from Liang Province, and nearly 5,000 cavalry, so his combat power is still quite strong.

But after he came to Nanyang, he wanted to quickly replenish his food supplies. After occupying Wancheng, the situation with all parties in Nanyang became tense. "

"The Liangzhou Army is not only a foreign force, but also famous for its cruelty. Since the Dong Zhuo's rebellion, they have repeatedly plundered Nanyang and have deep hatred for the counties in Nanyang.

We go southwest from Xu County, pass Kunyang, Fangcheng, and go deep into the direction of Bowang. This is the best route to approach Wancheng.

It is the right time to launch a surprise attack and capture and kill Zhang Xiu."

After a brief analysis, several people were sure that the situation in Nanyang was very tense, with both internal and external difficulties. Cao Cao then used military tactics to cover up his tracks, passed through the city without entering, and sneaked into Nanyang at this time, as if entering an empty place.

Cao Cao personally led the troops with the intention of testing out military strategies.

The previous entry suggested that the military strategy was to conceal the truth and sneak through Chencang, and was promoted to the sixth of the Ten Heavenly Stems, 'Wu', and its power was greatly increased.

Cao Cao's march along the way was indeed very effective.

He led the team personally and marched at great speed.

The entire army was like being hidden in the fog, shrouded in a layer of ethereal aura, blending with the heaven and earth.

[You rush to attack Wancheng, command thousands of troops, sneak through Chencang, and conceal the truth from the world. Two strategies are used at the same time, and the power is superimposed]

[You successfully approached Wancheng, led the troops with strategy, coordinated with heaven and earth, concealed the truth and crossed the sea, skill value +1, secretly crossed Chencang, skill value +1]

Under the cover of night, Cao's army approached Wancheng in the center of Nanyang County!
At the same time, in the imperial palace in Chang'an.

Imperial Concubine Fu Shou walked into the main hall of the palace and looked at Emperor Liu Xie.

She is fourteen years old, one year older than the emperor.

A fourteen-year-old girl is at the age of sprouting like a young willow.

But like Liu Xie, the special environment accelerated their growth.

Fu Shou was intelligent since childhood, and her marriage to Liu Xie brought her with her a heavy responsibility for the family.

And the current situation seems to have finally improved a little.

Fu Shou, the Fu family behind her, and Emperor Liu Xie were all ready to seize this opportunity to restore imperial power.

"His Majesty."

Fu Shou came to Liu Xie's side with a clear voice:
"It's night time, Your Majesty, why don't you rest?"

Liu Xie looked somewhat excited:
"The troops from Yanzhou did not enter the city to take over the defense of Chang'an, but only stayed outside and took over the defense of Silizhou.

I finally don't have to face the threat so close to me, and I can do something."

Fu Shou raised the corner of his mouth:
"The governor of Yanzhou just wants fame. Your Majesty, please don't think too highly of him. The governor of Yanzhou sent troops to Chang'an and repelled the Liangzhou army just to occupy Sili. In my opinion, his heart is more sinister than Li Jue and Guo Si."

"Your Majesty should be on guard against it."

"I know."

Liu Xie: "But he did not imprison me, and he sent me food. Before, we were in the palace, and we almost ran out of rice to resist the Liangzhou army. Cao Mengde sent troops to defend the king, so he must have made some contributions."

"So your majesty rewarded him by giving him the governor of Yuzhou and the power to assist in the defense of Silizhou, and also made him a marquis. This is already a generous gift. There is no need to thank him for sending troops to rescue us." Fu Shou said.

The emperor's eyes sparkled. "My beloved concubine's family went to Yanzhou to pay a visit and asked the governor of Yanzhou to stop fighting with Xuzhou. How is the situation?"

Fu Shou curled her lips and said, "The governor of Yanzhou took his beautiful concubine out for a trip and actually left all the nobles in Changyi, and let his Sima receive them."

Liu Xie was somewhat surprised: "It is not like the governor of Yanzhou is so foolish as to offend the nobles for no reason."

Fu Shou: "This is a good thing for us. The several secret orders sent by His Majesty should be able to take effect soon and see results."

……

Wancheng.

Zhang Xiu was from Wuwei County, Liangzhou.

After Zhang Ji's death, he took over his troops and stationed in Nanyang.

For Zhang Xiu, he would follow whoever could win him over, promise him high positions and generous salaries, and impress him.

Liu Biao showed his intention to surrender and was willing to give up Nanyang and station troops there. Zhang Xiu immediately surrendered to Liu Biao in name only.

Some things happened in the past few days, and the situation became increasingly favorable for Zhang Xiu.

The emperor sent him a secret letter, trying to recruit him.

Spies from the Yuan family of Runan also contacted him secretly, saying that the Nanyang County he occupied was adjacent to Sili Prefecture and bordered Yanzhou.

However, Cao Cao has always been strong and would not allow his troops to be around.

Cao's camp is now full of brave soldiers and generals. If Zhang Xiu were to defect to them, he would certainly not be valued.

But Jizhou was different. Yuan Shao was willing to make use of Zhang Xiu.

The prerequisite is that Zhang Xiu must first establish meritorious service.

Yuan Shao and Yuan Wei intended to have Zhang Xiu lead his troops northward to cooperate with Jizhou in order to break the siege of Henei Governor Zhang Yang by the Yanzhou army.

If successful, Zhang Yang's troops will join forces with Zhang Xiu's troops, and with the support of the Jizhou army, they can attack when advancing or defend when retreating.

The entire war situation in Sili Prefecture will be revitalized.

Zhang Xiu will also make great contributions because of this.

Jizhou is willing to promise a high position.

Zhang Xiu was very excited.

If he suddenly led his troops north from Nanyang, there was a great possibility that he could tear open Yanzhou's defense line, and after joining forces with Henei Governor Zhang Yang, he could unite with Jizhou to help him gain a great advantage on the battlefield.

Zhang Xiu thought about it for two days and there seemed to be no more suitable option than this one.

He has decided to talk to the person sent by Yuan again and improve the conditions.

The situation improved, and Zhang Xiu, who had been nervous for days, relaxed a little, and his thoughts suddenly turned to his aunt.

Zhang Ji's widow, Zou, also lived in this courtyard. When Zhang Xiu thought of her, his heart was burning with anger.

Before Zou, he had never thought that there would be a woman like an aunt, whose every move would touch people's hearts and make them miss her forever.

My uncle Zhang Ji was shot and killed, leaving his troops to me, and my aunt... was also left to me.

Zhang Xiu's thoughts were in turmoil. Seeing that it was getting late, he climbed onto the bed and prepared to go to sleep.

The night is dark.

He had just fallen asleep when he was suddenly awakened by a loud noise.

Boom—the gate of Wancheng seemed to be struck by thunder, shaking the entire city!
Zhang Xiu suddenly sat up from the couch and thought in shock: Someone is attacking the city!
To be precise, the city was broken and Cao's army had already entered the city.

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(End of this chapter)