Chapter 101 The beginning is always smooth

Didao County is a small county town in Longxi. Although the land in Longxi is fertile, there have been frequent wars in recent years. In just ten years, Longxi County has changed ownership several times. From Ma Teng to Han Sui, from Han Sui to Xia Houyuan, from Xia Houyuan to Liu Bei, and later occupied by Sima Yi. When Zhao Feng settled Guanzhong last year, Longxi was also taken back by Ma Chao. In ten years, Longxi has changed hands back and forth five times. Di Dao is on the road of traffic. Once there is a war, he will suffer twists and turns. Therefore, most of the people in the city have either moved away or died in the war over the years. More than half of the houses in the whole city are empty.

"I didn't expect that the people's livelihood in Longxi withered, but it turned out to be like this!" Walking on the somewhat empty Di Dao Street, Zhao Feng also sighed. This is the third day after he came to Longxi. First, he waited for Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Zhang Fei to join the army and horses, and then wait for the main force of Cao's army to withdraw from Hebei. The army agreed to gather in Didao. Now Zhao Feng and others have also arrived one after another. Only Zhang Fei arrived a few days late because the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong had to hand over the defense.

"For so many years, the prince is still worried about the country and the people as usual!" It was Zhao Yun who came with him. Hearing Zhao Yun's words, Zhao Feng frowned unexpectedly and finally said, "Zilong, you and I are all old friends. Why should we be so vulgar?" To say that Zhao Yun is good at everything, but sometimes he is too rigid, and his name is so meticulous.

"Ha ha, general, you are still so free and easy!" Zhao Yun smiled. At this time, he rode a horse and rushed here. Immediately, a female knight was not someone else, but Zhao Yun's little wife, Ma Yunlu.

"Oh, Lord Zhao, I haven't seen you for a long time!" When Ma Yunlu saw Zhao Feng, he also said strangely in a shrill voice, which made the two big men smile bitterly. She is almost 30 years old, and she is as lively and active as a little girl. She is almost the youngest daughter of Zhao Yun. Of course, Zhao Feng also knows that Zhao Yun has always been extremely spoiled by this little wife, so now she is becoming more and more lawless.

"How about Yunlu, where's your big brother?" Zhao Yun didn't want Zhao Feng to be too embarrassed, so he quickly changed the topic and asked. When Ma Yunlu heard the words, he curled his lips, and then said, "Yesterday, several tribal leaders came to Wudu and took him to drink."

To say that Ma Chao's reputation is really not high. After arriving at Didao, there was an endless stream of leaders of these ethnic minority tribes who came to visit him. Finally, there is a horse that doesn't touch the wine. He can still collect the army after Pound and Ma Chao are drunk. Otherwise, when the war begins, Zhao Feng is not sure how many Xiliang Iron Horses can fight.

After a few more times, Zhang Fei also arrived. In history, in addition to Guan Yu and Huang Zhong, three of the five tiger generals of Shu Han were dispatched in this raid on Hebei. In addition, Zhao Feng and Zhang Ren, Pang De and Ma Dai, the lineup is simply eye-catching.

According to Zhang Fei, when he came, Guan Yu and others were almost mobilized. Such a frequent military mobilization can't be concealed from Cao Jun's details. At present, hundreds of thousands of Liu Bei's troops gathered in Qingxu, and Cao Pi in Yecheng soon got the news.

"Youqing, as you expected, Liu Bei secretly mobilized troops and horses in Qingxu's land. If we rashly send troops to attack Shanyang and other places, we will definitely be surrounded by Liu Bei and be defeated." After passing the latest information to everyone, Cao Pi was also a little proud.

"Your Majesty, in this case, we should gather soldiers and horses according to the previous plan, immediately cross the river to kill Henan, and take advantage of the situation to seize Jingxiang!" Cao Hong asked for help immediately after reading it. Cao Pi nodded, and then said, "According to the Tanma, the defense of Jingxiang's land is very loose. There are only a few thousand people in Wancheng. Most of Xuchang's troops have also been transferred to Shanyang and other places by Li Yan. If you march quickly and seize these places before Liu Bei, you can lay the foundation for the later march into the Central Plains!"

"That's right!" Cao Pi nodded and said that Cao Pi had already known the significance of this battle. Considering that his father has not been able to seize the furnace tripod in Jingzhou in his life, if he can take it down, he can naturally greatly inspire morale and the people.

After counting, 300,000 troops from Hebei gathered in Yecheng, and then went south to the Yellow River ferry, claiming that they would cross the Yellow River from Yanjin. Before leaving, Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei, also personally vowed to march for Cao Hong and other generals on this expedition.

"Uncle, drink this cup, and this time you will send troops to fight against the emperor!" After filling a glass of wine and handing it to Cao Hong, Cao Pi's hands trembled unexpectedly. Even though his surname has been calm since he was a child, he can't help but be a little nervous at this time. After all, the relationship between this war is too important.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I will live up to your majesty's trust and seize Jing Xiang and Xu Chang to repay your majesty and the former emperor!" Cao Hong trembled and took the glass and drank it all, but there was a trace of tears in the corners of his eyes: Meng De, Zixiao, Yuan Rang and talents are no longer there, but even if I am the only one left, I will do my best for you.

This army, with Cao Hong as the commander and Cheng Yu as the advisor, suddenly turned to the west along the river to Hanoi County after going south to the Yellow River ferry. Henan Yin Caotai has already prepared ships for the army to cross the river. Because the ships were well prepared, more than half of the 300,000 troops crossed the river in just one day, including all the cavalry, in addition to 10,000 tiger and leopard cavalry and 20,000 Hu cavalry, and there were also 20,000 swallow cavalry. More than 50,000 cavalry went down to Nanyang, and this momentum was absolutely strong.

"General Gongming, the key to success or failure of this battle depends on whether you can win Nanyang as soon as possible!" After convering with Hongnong's local Xu Huang, Cao Hong also said solemnly. Since Xia Houyuan's death, Xu Huang is recognized as the first person in Cao's raid, and even Cao Hong knows that he is not as good as Xu Huang.

"The general, don't worry, I will take Wancheng for the general and point straight to Xiangyang!" Xu Huang responded to the promise. Tanma has already been found out. At present, most of the military horses in Jingzhou have been transferred by Guan Yu to ambush in the Central Plains, and there are only thousands of defenders in Xiangyang and other places. If you are lucky, not to mention Wancheng, even Jingbei can fight.

The military situation was urgent. After the two parted, Xu Huang immediately led 50,000 soldiers to the south, and the front of the soldiers pointed straight to the land of Wancheng. At the same time, Cao Zhang led people to attack Xu Chang, and Cao Hong himself sat in Hanoi County to respond. This time, Cao Hong learned to be obedient and did not dare to send out all the troops easily. He just waited for these important cities to take over and make a decision.

The words were divided into two ends. Xu Huang's march was very fast, and the land of Nanyang was full of plains. Soon Xu Huang appeared under Wancheng City. Meng Da, the governor of Wancheng, was shocked when he saw Xu Huang's 50,000 troops suddenly coming here.

"General, what should I do?" Seeing that Meng Da was also at a loss, several of his staff members hurriedly asked him. Meng Da looked at the boundless army under the city. As the saying goes, there are thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of soldiers. In the plain land, the scene of tens of thousands of troops covering the sky is indeed shocking enough. Especially in Wancheng, there are only more than 6,000 old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers.

"The king of Xiangyang did not listen to our advice. He forcibly mobilized Jing Xiang's army and went to Xuzhou to set up an ambush. There are only 30,000 people in Jingzhou, and they are still stationed in Xiangyang and other places. There are only more than 6,000 people here. Why do you fight with Xu Huang?" Meng Da was even more chilled when he remembered what had happened before.

In order to ensure the confidential surname of the plan, only a few high-level people know about the whole plan. A small eunuch like Meng Da naturally does not know what Guan Yu and others have transferred all the troops for. In fact, because Cao Hong and Xu Huang are long-term generals, if they are fake defeats, even if you pretend to be similar, you will still be recognized. Therefore, Meng Da and these more than 6,000 defenders are used as bargaining chips to lure the enemy. If not, they will all be killed.

There is nothing we can do about it. In order to deceive Cao Pi, we still have to pay this capital. However, even Zhuge Liang did not expect that because Meng Da was afraid of death, the effect was more realistic in the end. After the siege, Xu Huang did not directly attack the city, but sent someone to persuade him to surrender. He clearly told Meng Da that his strength was almost ten times that of Meng Da. If you want to resist stubbornly, you can break through Wancheng in one day at most. At that time, there will be no one left in the whole city.

In the face of such an aggressive ultimatum and the previous resentment of Guan Yu's troop transfer plan, coupled with the fact that he was already a greedy and afraid of death, Meng Da did not need to bear any psychological pressure and soon agreed to surrender.

"Congratulations to General Meng for abandoning the dark!" Although he despised Meng Da's character, Xu Huang still had to say these scenes. Meng Da, like the previous one, immediately played the role of counterattack after surrendering: "General Xu, now there are only more than 30,000 infantry in Jingzhou, and the rest are county soldiers. Even in Xiangyang, there are only 5,000 defenders, and Fancheng is only 3,000. The general waved his army to the south as soon as possible, and he could determine Jingbei in one fell swoop!"

"Thank you, General Meng!" In fact, Xu Huang had already known the distribution of Jingzhou Army from Xizuo. Now that Meng Da said so, it shows that he was still sincere. Xu Huang was relieved and left 10,000 defenders to stay in Wancheng to prevent the enemy from Guanzhong. Xu Huang himself continued to lead the army to go south and attack Anzhong, Deng County, and even Xiangyang. And Fancheng, Xinye and other places.

At the same time, Cao Zhang's 50,000 horses came to Xuchang. Xu Chang's general was Zhang Da, who was left behind by Li Yan. Like Meng Da, when this man saw Cao Zhen's soldiers pressing the border, he did not resist at all and immediately surrendered. After Cao Zhen entered the city, he appeased the people. At the same time, he ordered someone to report Cao Hong, who was in the tiger prison, and let him make a decision as soon as possible.

"Okay, the king of Zhongshan and Gongming are indeed both generals. In just two days, it has penetrated more than 200 miles into the enemy's territory, which can be said to be a rapid progress!" Cao Hong was also very happy to see the military newspaper sent by the two. I knew that Guan Yu's nest was empty, but I didn't expect it to be so smooth. Wancheng and Xu Chang's generals surrendered to Kaicheng. Although several small counties resisted along the way, they were quickly flattened. Now Xu Huang has conquered Nanxiang and Xinye, and Bingfeng has pointed directly to Fancheng.

"The guard general of Fancheng is Guan Ping, the eldest son of Guan Yu. If he can capture or kill his people, his morale will be greatly boosted, and Jing Xiang can be determined in one fell swoop. However, hurry up, Guan Yu and others will definitely help after getting the news of Jingzhou's attack. If I don't capture Fancheng as soon as possible, I'm afraid I can't stand in Nanyang!" Cheng Yu also said. He said. Cao Hong naturally knew the key, and then ordered to send someone to transport the Thunderbolt to the front line overnight to help attack the city. In addition, he sent someone to inform Cao Pi of the situation as soon as possible.

(to be continued)