Chapter 230: Vertical and Horizontal Maneuvers [Subscription Request]

Xiangyang.

Knowing that Zhang Xian was rebelling, Liu Biao quickly sent people to collect information about the three rebellious counties and their current situation.

In his early years, Zhang Xian served as county magistrate in Lingling and Guiyang, and was in charge of local affairs. Later, he was transferred to Changsha as a prefect.

Therefore, it was not at all difficult for the three counties to unite and rebel against Liu Biao this time.

The other two counties followed Zhang Xian willingly.

The situation was even more unfavorable than Liu Biao had previously estimated.

He summoned Cai Mao and others to discuss overnight, intending to dispatch troops to plug the holes in the rear.

"Urge the front troops to retreat quickly."

When Liu Biao gathered troops to attack Yuzhou, he was afraid that they were not elite enough, so he used the best troops under his command.

At this time, he was afraid that people would be slow to return and delay the suppression of the rebellion, so he urged the troops that had entered Yuzhou to return quickly three times a day.

But bad news kept coming.

"Report - Jiaozhou has declared war on my Jingzhou and openly supports Zhang Xian. The two sides have joined forces!"

When Liu Biao heard that Zhang Xian had raised an army to rebel against him, he was anxious, and now he suddenly felt palpitations.

To the south of Jingzhou is the southernmost state of the Han Dynasty, Jiaozhou.

The governor of Jiaozhou was called Zhang Jin.

At that time, Jiaozhou was still a frontier land, and the coastal area in the south was far from being developed and was not as prosperous as Jingzhou.

But Jiaozhou is not small in area and borders Jingzhou, Yangzhou and Yizhou.

More importantly, Jiaozhou was connected to the three rebellious counties of Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling, and supported each other, which provided both strategic depth and the exchange of materials and supplies.

When they joined together, they had a territory that was no weaker than that of Liu Biao.

Liu Biao lost all the territories south of the Yangtze River overnight.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt short of breath. He put one hand on his chest and his lips turned purple.

He regretted it and should have not sent troops to attack Yuzhou.

Historically, Zhang Xian and others were rebels who had fought against Liu Biao, but Zhang Xian did not act together with Zhang Jin of Jiaozhou.

This time Cao Ying cleverly pushed the troops from behind the scenes, linking them together to make them more powerful in order to resist Liu Biao.

Cao Ren sent troops from Yuzhou again and launched a fierce attack on Jingzhou.

It goes without saying how bad Liu Biao's situation was.

Cao Cao was not in a hurry to raise troops before because he wanted to bring Liu Biao and others in.

The current Yanzhou is fully capable of fighting on two fronts.

Cao Ren led the troops and pressed forward step by step.

Zhang Xian and Zhang Jin behind him stabbed Liu Biao in the back again and again.

The latest news obtained by Cao's camp was that Liu Biao had been anxious for days and started coughing up blood.

Some of the Runan nobles also vomited blood like Liu Biao.

They had been repeatedly tricked by Cao Cao before, using the Yingchuan Xun family, Chen family and other aristocratic families to check and balance them. Forced by the situation, they bowed their heads and surrendered, and became the force surrounding Yanzhou.

Some noble families gained benefits from it and thought it was good to follow Yanzhou, so they really changed their stance and stood on Yanzhou's side.

But for some things, it is inevitable to pretend to obey but actually disobey.

This time, Yuan Shao sent people to secretly enter Runan to lobby, and several families immediately returned to Yuan's arms.

For example, the Li family and the Jiao family of Runan.

When Liu Biao's troops entered Yuzhou, they secretly provided support as friendly forces.

Unexpectedly, Liu Biao's people came quickly and left even faster.

It's only been a few days and I want to run away.

After hearing the news, the Li and Jiao families were horrified.

Cao Cao told Cao Ren that he should not keep such a rebellious person any longer, and should kill the chicken to scare the monkey and take the opportunity to remove him.

The night is dark.

The Li and Jiao families were filled with blood.

With Yanzhou's current power, exterminating some of the nobles will no longer cause unrest.

Guandu.

Cao Cao sat in the center of the army and controlled all sides.

The several wise and capable officials under his command all had very different personalities and some special features.

What they have in common is that they all have the talent to be a strategist and can stand on their own.

This time, each of them was responsible for the affairs of a state, and he wanted to let the people of the world see his ability to maneuver and make things happen in Yanzhou.

Xi Zhicai went to Qingzhou early.

That night, he went out and returned to the Qingzhou military camp.

Snowflakes are falling.

The first snow in Qingzhou this year came a little later than usual.

The weather was cold, and Xi Zhicai walked into the military tent wearing a straw raincoat: "Where is General Huang?"

"The general has personally led his troops north and has been gone for several days."

Taishi Ci sat in the tent, feeling a little depressed:

"Originally, I was supposed to lead the vanguard army and be the first to go into action, but General Huang said that everything had been arranged and he no longer needed to stay in the center of the army. He wanted to go to the front line to take a look. He left me behind and went to the front himself."

Then he asked, "Zhicai, you have been running around for days, when did you start what you were doing?"

"It's already started."

Xi Zhicai replied, sat down, took out a small copper kettle from his body, opened the stopper, brought it to his mouth and took a sip.

He was in poor health, so he carried with him medicines prepared by Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing.

Before leaving, his good fellow patient Guo Jia prepared an extra dose of medicine for him.

After taking a sip, I felt the warmth flowing into my stomach and felt much more comfortable.

After Xi Zhicai finished drinking the medicine, he saw a stove burning in the big tent. Taishi Ci was sitting in the tent in a green robe and armor.

There was tea warming on the stove, with two cups on top.

Xi Zhicai asked casually: "Who drank tea with you?" Taishi Ci said: "Kong Wenju just returned from Changyi. He knew I was in the army and came to visit me. He also brought many gifts. You know, Kong Wenju and I have a history, so it is inconvenient for me to refuse."

Xi Zhicai nodded and said that Kong Wenju was Kong Rong.

He had sponsored Taishi Ci and his mother in the past, and they had some friendship.

If Cao Cao had not tampered with history and intercepted Taishi Ci, Taishi Ci would have rescued Kong Rong when he was besieged in Beihai.

Xi Zhicai pondered for a moment and glanced at the teacup: "According to the news from Changyi, Kong Wenju seems to be particularly concerned about the wars in Yanzhou and Jizhou recently.

Did he ever talk to you about the war?"

"He did ask a few questions, asking how long we planned to stay here and whether there were any supplies that needed to be dispatched." Taishi Ci said.

After a while, Xizhicai came out of the tent. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

A strategist of his level, once he becomes suspicious, can find many anomalies and dig out clues with a little effort.

Kong Rong had always been at odds with Yanzhou and had criticized Cao Cao more than once.

The situation began to change after the emperor fell into the hands of Yanzhou.

Now Kong Rong comes to the military camp under the pretext of visiting Taishi Ci and shows concern for the war?

Xi Zhicai called over a soldier from the governor's mansion who had come with him to Qingzhou and said, "Take your men and keep an eye on Kong Rong to see who he contacts and what he does. Don't miss a single thing.

But do it secretly, so that he won’t find you.”

The imperial guards received the order and led their men out of the camp in the snow.

Xi Zhicai exhaled a breath of white air, warmed his hands, and looked to the north.

The things he was responsible for coming to Qingzhou for have also been accomplished.

When Liu Biao heard that Xun You and Cheng Yu were planning to seize Jingzhou, he was almost paralyzed by anger.

In Youzhou, Xi Zhicai was also responsible for finding two people.

These two people, one is called Xianyu Fu and the other is called Yan Rou.

The two men had great prestige among the Xianbei, Wuhuan and other tribes, as well as the local prefectures and counties of Youzhou, and had long been rooted in Youzhou.

When Gongsun Zan was in power, they were at odds with him and were considered a local opposition group.

Even with Gongsun Zan's arrogance, he was unable to do anything to the two men.

When Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, the two men asked Yuan Shao whether he had been appointed by the imperial court as to how he dared to seize power in You and Ji provinces?

So Xi Zhicai came with the emperor's appointment.

Cao Cao asked the emperor to draft a secret decree, appointing Xianyu Fu as the governor of Youzhou, and Yan Rou as a colonel to be in charge of the troops in the surrounding areas.

The two men, one civil and one military, became the officially appointed leaders of Youbeiping County and Shanggu County in Youzhou.

Xian Yu Fu was very excited. After receiving the order, he even wanted to follow Xi Zhicai back to Yanzhou to meet Cao Cao.

Xi Zhicai was held down and told to cooperate. He would go to meet Cao Cao after Cao Cao conquered Jizhou as the journey was still short.

Xianyu Fu and Yan Rou thus became Cao Cao's pawns in Youzhou.

The situation is similar to that of Jingzhou.

Everyone in Cao's camp is playing chess all over the world, scheming for power.

Xianyu Fu and Yan Rou took advantage of Yuan Shao's military operations in the front to fight a fierce battle with Yanzhou, and secretly cut off the supply of materials and supplies from Youzhou to the front line.

Yuan Shao was in Yangwu. When he received the news, his brows furrowed.

Since late December, Cao Cao has launched several military campaigns to attack the Jizhou army.

The troops from Jizhou that landed in Yanzhou were already showing signs of decline.

Yuan Shao transferred Zhang He and Gao Lan from the rear to the front line, and cooperated with Qu Yi. He had mobilized all his strength and was ready to fight a decisive battle with Yanzhou.

Unexpectedly, there have been changes in Youzhou, my own backyard!
Yuan Shao also received news that Jingzhou was withdrawing its troops.

Now, the only thing left for him to do is to secretly plan and get the assistance of Liu Bei's three brothers to influence the situation and help him save the situation.

……

At this time, outside the gate of Caoying, Cao Cao said happily: "Ziyuan, you come to my tent, I welcome you."

Xu You stood outside Cao's camp with hunched shoulders and a frightened and dejected look on his face.

Yuan Shao could not tolerate him, so he had no choice but to join Cao's camp.

In history, when Xu You came to surrender, Cao Cao was very excited and regarded him as a strong helper.

But there is no need for that now, as Yanzhou has strong military forces.

Xu You's surrender was pushed by Yanzhou behind the scenes.

Cao Cao looked at Xu You and thought: You are also a big mouth, and you don't know how to restrain yourself. You can't see the urgency of things. If you come to my camp and know how to advance and retreat, we can be fine. Otherwise, I can't protect you.

Beside Cao Cao, Xu Chu looked Xu You up and down.

He had an inexplicable dislike for this cousin of the same surname, and he was disgusted just by looking at him. He had no integrity at all and was willing to serve everywhere.

Cao Cao invited Xu You into the camp for a detailed discussion.

Xu You entered the camp and hurriedly prepared to pledge his allegiance: "Meng De, are your troops and food supplies sufficient?"

Cao Cao said: "My Yanzhou was the first to prepare for war, and it is very well equipped."

Xu You immediately offered a suggestion: "Now that Meng De is at war with Jizhou, the world is in a state of crisis, a matter of life and death.

"The Yuan army has food stored in Wuchao and is not prepared yet. We only need to send light cavalry to attack them and burn their food and grass. Within a few days, the Yuan army will be out of food and will be destroyed!"

Cao Cao shook his head slightly, thinking that the situation had changed. Yuan Shao was more cautious than in history.

He only put a part of the food in Wuchao.

Moreover, this battle was fought quickly, and Jizhou still had a lot of food reserves that had not yet been transported to Liyang.

This added great difficulties to the historical burning of Wuchao, which destroyed Yuan Shao's food supply in one fell swoop and secured victory.

Cao Cao had to destroy the grain supplies in Liyang and Wuchao at the same time in order to quickly defeat Yuan Shao and end the Battle of Guandu!
Of course, Cao Cao's Yanzhou was many times stronger than in history.

That night, Cao's army divided into two routes and launched a decisive offensive.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao set out from the Henei camp together, marched eastward, and attacked Liyang again!

Cao Cao himself also led 5,000 cavalrymen at night, carrying firewood and grass. The soldiers held their mouths shut and the horses had their mouths tied. He used the military tactics of concealing the truth and secretly marching through Chencang, and rushed to Wuchao through a small road at night.

Unlike historical records, Yuan’s army was not completely defenseless against Wuchao.

When Yuan Shao learned that Xu You had escaped, he urgently sent a message to Chunyu Qiong, who was stationed in Wuchao, to be on alert.

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(End of this chapter)